MDV 051-075 (Patreon)

MDV 051-075

Chapter 51: Don't Come Over Here!

Time goes back to not long ago.

After Himeko brought Lin Ling back to Hyperion for emergency treatment...

"Just stay on Hyperion and don't wander around! Lieutenant Hina, Lieutenant Huayan," she turned around and said to the two girls in military uniforms. "Even though this one's legs are broken, she won't stay quiet given her personality. You need to keep an eye on her."

"Yes! Major Himeko!" The two girls in military uniforms saluted Himeko, then said in unison, "We will definitely keep an eye on Miss Lin Ling."

Afterward, they stood on either side of Lin Ling's wheelchair like two jailers escorting a prisoner.

"Yeah," Himeko nodded in satisfaction. "Well, after all, she's in a wheelchair now, so I doubt she'll cause much trouble."

With that, Himeko, who seemed busy with something else, hurried to another cabin.

…

"Hey~ you two beauties, I feel so stuffy in here. Can I go outside for some fresh air?" After Himeko left, Lin Ling started getting restless again.

"..."

Although the two Valkyries weren't very familiar with Lin Ling, her reputation preceded her, and they knew what kind of person she was. So they chose to ignore her.

However, Lin Ling sneered inwardly.

Hmph~ You think I can't do anything just because you're ignoring me?

"Cough!... Cough... Cough!..."

Suddenly, the white-haired girl in the wheelchair started coughing violently!

Or rather, it seemed like she was suddenly struggling to breathe, as if she was completely out of breath...

"Miss Lin Ling, what's wrong with you?" Hua Yan asked anxiously when she saw this.

"Cough... Cough..."

Lin Ling used her trembling hands to search through her pockets, but after much searching, she didn’t pull out anything. The terrified expression on her face only grew worse.

"These symptoms..." Lin Ling's behavior reminded Hina of something. She and Hua Yan exchanged glances. "Could it be that Miss Lin Ling is having an asthma attack? I’ve never heard of her having this condition before."

Upon hearing the word 'asthma,' Lin Ling nodded repeatedly, trembling as she pointed toward the cabin door and then to the ground. Meanwhile, her wheezing grew more severe.

Hua Yan understood Lin Ling's gesture and quickly said, "Did the medicine fall outside? Hina, keep an eye on her! I'll go find the medicine! Operator, open the cabin door immediately!"

Hua Yan rushed to the cabin door, anxiously waiting for it to open.

However, just as the cabin door opened and the B-rank Valkyrie Hua Yan was about to move...

Whoosh!

A gust of wind rushed past, far faster than she could react.

Watching the wheelchair rapidly disappear into the wilderness, kicking up dust as it went, Hua Yan stood there, stunned. "This... is this really a wheelchair?!"

...

'Hehe~ With the chef’s electromagnetic catapult, the gravitational space curvature, and Wendy’s Wind assist, you think you can catch me? Not a chance!'

The girl in the wheelchair, speeding recklessly between the city and wilderness, maneuvering in ways that defied all logic, was secretly proud of herself~

Of course, Lin Ling could easily repair her broken leg using the power of the Herrscher of Death.

But...

If she healed her leg instantly, how could she win the favor of the adorable Wendy?

Besides, if she healed too quickly, others might become suspicious. Now wasn’t the time to reveal her full strength.

...

"Why are you here!?" Wendy’s first reaction upon seeing the person she’d been thinking of was to run, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave. She wanted to steal a few more glances at the white-haired girl.

However, after Lin Ling’s dramatic entrance, she noticed no one was paying her any attention.

“Ahem!”

She coughed awkwardly twice before her expression shifted dramatically, like a performer in a Sichuan opera.

"Wife! You lied to me!" Lin Ling clutched her chest dramatically, feigning hurt. "We agreed to sit in wheelchairs together, but you suddenly flew off to the sky! What are you, Chang’e? Don’t abandon me!"

"..."

After three years of inhumane suffering, Wendy had grown to despise the world.

What sacrifice? What salvation? Who was sacrificed? Who was saved?

It was all hypocrisy!

Now, all she wanted was to destroy the entire world.

But then she met the students from Saint Freya. Though their words were naive and ridiculous, they were at least sincere, especially the silver-haired girl with a drill who treated her like a sister.

As for... the weirdo in the wheelchair with a thick plaster on her leg?

Wendy didn’t know how to describe her feelings about her...

It was complicated, to say the least. Despite the white-haired girl's terrifying, bizarre, and unbelievable behavior...

She realized that everything Lin Ling had done was for her. It appeared that Lin Ling genuinely liked her.

Thus, in her confusion, the one thing Wendy knew for sure, despite the Honkai corruption eroding her will, was: She didn’t want to hurt her!

To avoid losing control and unintentionally harming her, she chose to stay away from Lin Ling—as far as possible...

"I, I..." So, when Lin Ling asked Wendy why she lied, she didn’t know how to answer. She was filled with regret.

"But~ it doesn’t matter!" Seeing Wendy’s conflicted expression, Lin Ling immediately softened. "It’s just a leg. I’m already satisfied seeing Miss Wendy flying freely in the sky. But I hope Miss Wendy can step out of the shadows and live a carefree life with everyone at the academy..."

"No... I don’t believe you! You just want this gem! You don’t care about me at all!"

"No! You’re wrong! If you don’t believe me... well..." Lin Ling suddenly recalled something, narrowing her eyes. "Miss Wendy, it seems that both of your legs are corroded by the gem and you can’t move, so~"

As she said this, Lin Ling raised her left hand high, preparing to strike her right leg again.

"Stop it!"

"Are you insane?!"

"Stop her!"

The three besides Lin Ling rushed to stop her madness.

But they were a step too slow.

Lin Ling’s thoughts moved too erratically, her actions were too fast, and most importantly, she was ‘ruthless’—she didn’t hesitate at all when it came to harming herself.

So, the three who were caught off guard, could only watch as Lin Ling’s left hand rapidly slashed down...

Fortunately, Not only did the three acted, but Wendy in the sky also moved at the moment of Lin Ling’s ‘madness.’

Several air currents, under her control, formed a transparent barrier to stop Lin Ling’s rapidly descending hand.

"You lunatic! Pervert! Don’t follow me anymore! Give it up—I won’t like you!"

After stopping Lin Ling, Wendy disappeared once more, leaving only the echoes of a girl's fury~

Chapter 52: Actually, You Like Me**

"Hehe~ Where are you going, little sister~ Let's fly together!"

As the fastest wheelchair speedster, Lin Ling wasn’t going to let Wendy get away so easily. She immediately turned into a flash of lightning and chased after her.

"Damn it!"

Wendy, seeing this, immediately increased her speed!

By the way, she began to question how her wheelchair had turned into a rocket in Lin Ling's hands.

But now wasn’t the time to think about these absurdities. She shook her already confused head and forced herself to focus, flying as fast as she could to escape the relentless pervert chasing her...

Soon, the two disappeared over the horizon.

………

"Cough, cough, cough!" x3

Only Mei, Kiana, and Bronya remained, left in the dust and wind kicked up by Lin Ling's wheelchair.

"Did Wendy fly off again? Damn it! We're running out of time!" Kiana, who had eaten a mouthful of dust, complained angrily.

"But luckily, I didn’t expect Lin Ling to be able to keep up with her speed." Mei helped Kiana and Bronya to their feet, both of whom had been knocked over by the speed of the two girls. "We need to hurry and follow them. If a fight breaks out, Lin Ling with her injured leg will definitely be at a disadvantage!"

Bronya sighed in her usual emotionless voice after some data flashed across her eyes: "According to Bronya's analysis... Lin Ling's wheelchair defies all laws of physics..."

With that, the three of them chased after Wendy and Lin Ling.

At this moment, Himeko sent another communication, and her anxious projection appeared. "Have you found Wendy? There's no time! In two minutes, the S-rank Valkyrie will arrive in New Zealand! The Anti-Entropy floating battleship should be here soon, too."

"Damn it! Is it really too late?" Kiana once again felt the weight of her weakness. With her current strength, she couldn't save anyone, and the frustration made her desire power even more...

Fortunately, Theresa finally came through with some crucial news. She suddenly appeared on the communication channel and brought everyone much-needed hope: "Don't worry about the S-rank Valkyrie and the Anti-Entropy forces for now."

"Could it be?" Mei asked while continuing to chase Wendy and Lin Ling. "Did you order the S-rank Valkyrie to stand down?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have that kind of authority." Theresa shook her head slightly, then smirked. "But~ I do have the authority to know their location."

"Oh~" Kiana immediately caught on. "So, you’re saying...?"

"Yes, I broadcasted their location on the public platform. Anti-Entropy's communication system is so advanced that they can definitely monitor my broadcast. Those foxes will definitely try to ambush the S-rank Valkyrie."

Kiana suddenly realized: "No wonder I heard an explosion in the distance earlier!"

"Even though it's a bit shameful to betray my own, Durandal won’t lose to Anti-Entropy’s pile of scrap metal. Hopefully, those scraps can buy us some time."

"Okay!"

The three nodded at Theresa in unison.

"It's up to us now!"

"Oh, right! One more thing," Theresa said just as Bronya was about to shut off communication to focus on chasing Wendy. Himeko asked, "Have you seen Lin Ling? That little girl quietly snuck out of Hyperion. She shouldn't even be able to move around, but she’s still running wild. She's really a handful..."

"Lin Ling..."

Bronya thought of the wheelchair that seemed to have descended from a Mountain...

…

On the other side, Wendy, realizing she couldn’t shake Lin Ling, suddenly braked, turned around, and glared at her. "You're so persistent! Fine, let me teach you a lesson!"

Lin Ling immediately responded, "Miss Wendy, please believe me. You’ve been corrupted by the Will of Honkai and have lost your true self..."

"Hmph! That same old rhetoric again!" Wendy interrupted impatiently. "I’ve heard it all before..."

"Do you think I would say something like that? You’re totally wrong." Lin Ling cut her off. "What I want to say is... Miss Wendy, you just need to follow your heart!"

"My heart? Hmph!" Wendy sneered. "My heart wants to tear you to pieces with the storm right now!"

Hearing that Wendy wanted to kill her, Lin Ling quickly responded: "No! You liar. If you really wanted to kill me, you’ve had countless opportunities before, but you never did. Why is that?"

"Why... why?" Wendy was clearly taken aback. At that moment, her mind was a mess, and she was curious about the answer herself. She had become the messenger of Honkai, the Fourth Herrscher, the Herrscher of Wind, capable of destroying the entire world without a second thought.

Why couldn’t she bring herself to harm this girl?

"Because you like me!" Lin Ling shouted for Wendy. "Deep down, you want to marry me and sit in a wheelchair together, growing old side by side. Come on, wife~"

Lin Ling scooted over, leaving half of the space on her wheelchair open.

"This space is big enough for both of us! Come on, let's go home together! Okay? qwq"

"..."

Lin Ling received a blank, idiotic stare from Wendy.

"You think I don’t know? Soon enough, your legs will heal, and you’ll be walking around freely on the earth again, playing and fighting with those normal girls. In the end, I’ll be the only one stuck in this wheelchair!"

"No!" Lin Ling punched the plaster cast on her left leg, shattering it.

"What are you doing?!" Wendy exclaimed angrily. "Are you trying to threaten me with self-harm again? It’s useless! I’ve seen through your tricks!"

"No! What I’m saying is, if my leg does heal, I’ll break it again without hesitation! And I’ll keep doing it every so often, just so I can stay with you forever!"

"Enough! You psychopath! I don’t want to listen to you anymore!"

Wendy raised her hand, summoning a powerful storm...

Chapter 53: Sticking

This powerful move would have instantly killed an ordinary A-rank Valkyrie.

But Lin Ling simply closed her eyes and even opened her arms toward Wendy~

As if she were welcoming the attack...

"Damn it!"

On Wendy’s side, just before the attack was about to hit Lin Ling, she closed her eyes, turned her head, and forcibly changed the direction of her strike.

The invisible blade, formed from the ideal fluid she had created, sliced past Lin Ling, splitting the wheelchair in two before crashing into the ground behind her.

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted instantly, sending Lin Ling and the remnants of her wheelchair flying.

"Ah! There’s an explosion over there! Lin Ling and the others must be nearby!"

Kiana, who wasn’t far away, heard the noise and hurriedly called for Mei and Bronya to rush over as fast as possible!

……

"Wendy! How dare you hurt Lin Ling!"

When the group arrived, they saw a white-haired girl lying motionless on the ground, her wheelchair shattered to pieces behind her.

In front of her, Wendy hovered in the air, stretching her hand out toward Lin Ling.

However, upon hearing Kiana’s voice, Wendy’s hand, which had been about to touch Lin Ling, suddenly jerked back.

In truth, she just wanted to check on Lin Ling. She hadn't hit her directly with the attack, and Lin Ling had only been affected by the blast.

Although a normal person would likely be seriously injured, the other party was a Valkyrie—how could she suddenly become motionless? Wendy couldn’t help but worry...

"I wanted to talk to you and persuade you to come back peacefully this time! But I didn’t expect you to be so cruel that you even harmed Lin Ling, who’s been nothing but kind to you. It seems I have no choice but to beat you down and take you back by force!"

There were no other witnesses around, so Kiana and the others naturally assumed Wendy had attacked Lin Ling.

Which, of course, was the truth.

"No, I—I didn’t... I wasn’t..."

Wendy, clutching her head in pain, shook her head and fled into the sky once again.

"Not you?!" Kiana, her anger rising, pulled out her dual guns and aimed at Wendy. "Is there a third person here?! Who else could it be if not you?"

What on earth? Why are they fighting again?

Originally, Lin Ling had planned to play dead to win Wendy’s sympathy, but she didn’t expect Kiana and the others to arrive so suddenly.

In a sense, it was a relief. After all, she’d been terrified when Wendy attacked her earlier. Although Lin Ling was certain Wendy didn’t want to hurt her, what if the Will of Honkai had taken over at that moment? What if she attacked again after the first strike?

In that case, even with her abilities tied to the Herrscher of Death, it would be tough to take the hit.

And if she were too severely injured, when Cocolia’s Anti-Entropy army arrived, she wouldn't be able to do anything!

"Don’t worry, I’m fine..."

Lin Ling quickly "woke up" in Mei’s arms, who had rushed over to check on her.

"Lin Ling, are you okay?"

"I’m fine, Mei. Although Wendy attacked under the influence of the Honkai, she changed the direction at the last moment, so I’m unharmed. It’s just a pity..."

"Pity?!" Mei gasped, her concern deepening. "Are you injured?"

"I’m sorry, Miss Wendy." Lin Ling simply picked up a piece of the wheelchair debris from the ground and, with a sorrowful expression, said to the green-haired girl in the sky, "I failed to protect our token of love qwq!"

"..."

Wendy remained silent, but after seeing Lin Ling was unharmed, she stopped clutching her head in pain and appeared to regain some stability.

"Stop worrying about your broken wheelchair!"

Kiana, still furious, couldn’t believe that Lin Ling was thinking about her 'token of love with Wendy' at a time like this!

She felt like punching Lin Ling, but now wasn’t the time for that. Besides her anger, Kiana also felt a strange bitterness welling up inside her~

She turned to the others and said, "Durandal and the Anti-Entropy forces could show up at any moment. Let's take Wendy down and bring her back, fast!"

"No, we can’t hurt Wendy." Lin Ling quickly tried to dissuade her.

"Wait! Kiana! Bronya wants to talk to Wendy." Bronya, too, spoke up in her calm manner, stopping Kiana.

Seeing everyone else in agreement, Kiana reluctantly lowered her guns, as if conceding.

"Don't come near me! I don’t want to, I don’t want to talk to you, Bronya! Stay away!"

Wendy displayed the same resistance to Bronya as she had to Lin Ling earlier, though not as dramatically.

Of course, this didn’t deter Bronya from trying to have a heart-to-heart with her.

"Wendy, you remind Bronya of..." Bronya began, looking into Wendy’s eyes as she recalled her past. "Back at the orphanage, Bronya had a sister named Seele. Like you, Wendy, she was a strong and kind child. Although Seele was once controlled by the Honkai, she eventually overcame it. Bronya was also in agony when she was transformed, even now... the pain lingers."

Wendy glanced from Bronya to Lin Ling, and her eyes slowly softened.

Seeing this glimmer of hope, Bronya continued, pressing her advantage: "But... as long as there’s a sliver of hope ahead, you must move forward with determination. Bronya understands Wendy’s inner pain. Bronya also understands Wendy’s strength in enduring this pain. So, please don’t give up. No matter what, Bronya will always believe in you!"

"Wife, me too!" Lin Ling quickly chimed in, eager to join in.

But she was immediately pinched in the side by Mei, who twisted hard!

"Ow!"

Lin Ling yelped in pain.

Mei leaned in close and whispered, "Lin Ling! Don’t interrupt! Don’t ruin such a good moment again!"

But as soon as she said it, Mei tilted her head in confusion, wondering.

Again? Why did I say 'again'?

...

"...I... I believe in Bronya..."

Finally, Wendy’s eyes fully regained the gentleness from when they first met.

She slowly floated down to stand before the group.

"If Miss Lin Ling, Sister Bronya, and everyone else are willing to believe in me, then I’m willing to believe in myself... just this once."

Seeing Wendy finally return to her senses, Mei smiled happily. "Great, it looks like Miss Wendy has finally regained her consciousness."

"Phew~" Kiana exhaled in relief. "Alright, let’s head back to Hyperion together. We’re all strong Valkyries, Wendy. But if the Honkai takes control of you again, I’ll take you down immediately."

Bronya stretched out her hand toward Wendy. "Don’t worry, Wendy. Come home with Bronya."

"By the way, Sister Bronya... can I ride your robot again? Please?" Wendy asked shyly.

"No problem. Project Bunny, initiate."

Bronya lovingly summoned her Heavy-Armored Bunny once again and lifted Wendy up with care.

"Bronya! I want to ride the robot too! I want to sit with Wendy!"

Upon seeing Wendy ride the Heavy-Armored Bunny, Lin Ling suddenly made a playful, childlike request.

Although she didn’t want to leave Mei’s soft embrace, Lin Ling realized she had to sit on the hard mechanical Project Bunny to face what was coming next.

"...Is that alright?"

Bronya glanced at Wendy for confirmation.

"Well... it’s fine... I guess..."

Wendy blushed and nodded shyly.

"Okay then..."

A little exasperated, but complying with their wishes, Bronya used the Bunny’s large mechanical hand to lift Lin Ling up as well.

"Hehe~ Wendy, you really do like me..."

"No~ I don’t, Miss Lin Ling. I just... think you’re a good person..."

Just as the two girls sat on the robot and the white-haired one tried to hug the green-haired one, a middle-aged woman's voice suddenly rang out in Bronya’s mind: "Bronya, my dear daughter, now... reclaim the Fourth Herrscher!"

Chapter 54: In My World... Only You Are Left!

The owner of this voice was Cocolia, the leader of the Anti-Entropy radical faction.

She had already implanted a chip developed by Anti-Entropy in Bronya's brain, allowing her to communicate with her directly.

She told Bronya, "The Fourth Herrscher is an important experimental sample. If she cannot be recovered, she must be destroyed. She must not fall into the hands of Schicksal."

"No, no!" Bronya flatly refused upon hearing Cocolia's inhumane order in her mind.

"My child, your sense of self-awareness is growing stronger. But~ it's all pointless resistance."

Although the previous conversation between the two carried faint traces of a mother-daughter bond, after seeing Bronya dare to disobey her, Cocolia immediately activated the final restriction measures without hesitation.

"Highest authority order: Even if you cannot defeat the Fourth Herrscher, you must hold her back for me! My main force will arrive soon."

The next moment, Bronya, who was already emotionless, looked even more hollow, as though she had completely lost her soul.

But in reality, she was doing her utmost to fight against the control chip that Cocolia had implanted in her brain back in the orphanage.

Unfortunately, she failed. The biochip had already become deeply integrated with her body, almost completely fused. Forcing a fight would only harm both sides, or worse, both could die!

Eventually, she lost control of her body...

Then...

Bronya's iris instantly turned into a strange red color, and several red lines, formed by Honkai energy, began to spread under her left eye. A set of black and red armor, created by Anti-Entropy, materialized around her.

It seemed as though she had been replaced, inside and out.

The replaced 'Bronya' then muttered to herself in a cold, robotic voice: "Highest authority command input, Project Bunny, switch to combat mode. Attack the Fourth Herrscher."

As soon as the voice fell, Project Bunny, who had been gently holding the two girls as if they were cherished, suddenly struck with its other hand, fiercely!

The ruthless momentum seemed to threaten crushing the girls into pulp!

"Be careful!"

Fortunately, Lin Ling had anticipated this.

Since she had been sitting on Project Bunny, she had been "poking" Wendy, while Wendy had been reluctantly accepting it with a shy face. Now, the two were holding each other tightly.

Thus, as soon as Lin Ling noticed Bronya's transformation, she used her still-intact right leg to push off the "ground," leaping out of Project Bunny's grasp with Wendy.

In this way, they narrowly avoided the attack!

Bang!

Just after the two girls escaped, Project Bunny's hands slammed together with a loud metallic thud.

As an advanced robot from the previous era, Project Bunny's strength far exceeded that of an ordinary Valkyrie. If unprepared, even an A-rank Valkyrie could be seriously injured from a single blow.

Plop!

At this moment, the two girls, who were embracing due to their leg problems, landed safely on the grass below.

Kiana and Mei watched the scene in disbelief.

All the troubles and conflicts had been resolved just a second ago, and everyone could have gone home happily. Why had the situation suddenly taken a turn for the worse?

Kiana couldn't understand it at all and could only shout at Bronya, who had suddenly launched the attack, "Bronya! What are you doing?!"

"..." But Bronya ignored her completely because at that moment, 'she' was no longer herself. Under the chip's control, 'she' only had the command to "capture the Fourth Herrscher" in her mind.

After disregarding Kiana's words, 'she' focused all her attention on where Wendy had fallen.

Preparing to go and retrieve her.

Whoosh!

But in the next moment, a fierce storm lifted the two fallen girls once again.

"Sister Bronya?! Why... did you attack us?!"

This power was released by Wendy, who had transformed back into the Fourth Herrscher after being attacked and betrayed once more.

At this moment, her face was filled with rage from the betrayal, and her green hair billowed wildly in the intense wind, making her look like a devil returning from hell.

Wendy, furious, demanded answers from Bronya. She raised her right hand as a powerful air current gathered before her.

"Were you deceiving me with everything you said?! I... I can’t trust anyone anymore..."

"No! You can still trust me, always!"

Just as Wendy's powerful attack was about to launch, the girl who had fallen with her moments earlier embraced her once again, preventing her from losing control.

This hug also extinguished the attack Wendy had prepared halfway.

"... Miss Lin Ling..."

Wendy dispersed the storm in her hand.

She turned her head and gently stroked the cheek of the person holding her, her eyes filled with endless affection...

"You... are the only person I can trust in this world..."

"Hah..."

Hearing this, Lin Ling let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, her favorability bar is full. Wendy might not completely turn dark, right?

But just as Lin Ling relaxed...

Wendy instantly fixed her gaze back on Bronya. A stronger gust of wind gathered in her hands as she declared, "So! Anyone who dares to harm my 'only' will be torn to pieces!"

"No!" Lin Ling immediately reached out to stop her.

But how could she be a match for a true Herrscher now?

She felt that Wendy's slender right hand was like steel; no matter how much force she applied, she couldn't bend it.

She could only watch as the powerful tornado shot towards Bronya...

Chapter 55: Let's Get Married After This Fight

"No! Wendy!"

Although Bronya had done something completely incomprehensible, the feelings cultivated by long-term companionship and several life-and-death experiences made Kiana and Mei instinctively step in to shield Bronya without hesitation.

One summoned a giant cat's paw, while the other swung her sword against the wind.

At the same time, Bronya herself controlled the heavy artillery to release a powerful attack.

This barely offset Wendy's assault.

However, Kiana and Mei's actions further enraged Wendy. She furiously shouted at the trio: "You're on her side? I knew it! You're all accomplices! Liars! Hypocrites! I want you all dead!"

"Damn it!"

At this point, Kiana was truly furious with Wendy.

The move Wendy had just made was definitely not something Bronya could block alone... In other words, Wendy genuinely intended to kill! If it hadn't been for Mei and herself, Bronya might have already...

Worried that Wendy might harm Bronya again, Kiana spread her arms and stood in front of Bronya: "I don't know what's happened to Bronya, but the Bronya I know would never be the kind of person to attack someone from behind. Until we get to the bottom of this, I won’t let you lay a finger on her!"

"Miss Wendy, please believe us, Bronya isn’t what you think!" Mei added, "Last time, Bronya was affected by something called the Moonlight Throne Engine, and she suddenly attacked u. She must be under the influence of something external again this time and isn't acting of her own will!"

"Excuses! Lies! Do you think you can deceive me with this nonsense?"

But Wendy who was betrayed again, couldn’t listen to anyone!

Except... the 'one' in her mind.

"Wendy, Bronya really didn’t mean to hurt you!" Lin Ling said anxiously in Wendy's ear. "I've also heard that Bronya has a chip in her head. She’s being controlled by it, right?!"

"Really, really..."

Even Lin Ling was defending Bronya now, which caused Wendy to hesitate a little...

But no matter what, it was an indisputable fact that Lin Ling had almost died at the hands of the Project Bunny just moments ago. Wendy, who was teetering on the edge of her Herrscher state, still insisted on destroying Bronya for daring to hurt them.

"No! Lin Ling, don’t be fooled by their sweet words! Bronya tried to kill you! Let me avenge you!" Wendy declared, preparing to attack again.

"No, no! Bronya is really a good person, believe me!" Lin Ling hurriedly stopped Wendy by holding her from behind, trying to prevent her from taking any further action.

"Let me go! After we kill them, we can go anywhere we want. Don’t you want me to marry you? Let’s get married after this fight!"

"Ah... let’s talk about marriage later!"

Boom!

Just as the two were entangled in the air, Bronya, still controlled by Cocolia, suddenly fired another shot.

But this time, unlike before, the attack deliberately avoided Wendy and instead targeted the white-haired girl behind her.

Puff!

As a result, the exposed half of Lin Ling’s body, left unprotected by Wendy, was suddenly covered in blood.

"How dare you!!!!"

Wendy, who was already on the verge of losing control, could no longer contain her destructive rage after seeing the one thing she cherished most in life gravely injured!

In an instant!

The sky and earth shifted!

Countless massive and terrifying tornadoes descended from the heavens with Wendy at their center...

———

Chapter 56: Shocked, Two Herrschers Fight for a Woman

"Hmph~"

Looking at the horrific scene of wind sweeping away clouds, flying sand and rocks, lightning and thunder—an apocalyptic sight stretching across the distant skyline—Cocolia raised her mouth with pride.

"Sure enough, attacking that white-haired girl can enrage the Fourth Herrscher to the greatest extent. She won't leave easily now. I just don’t know how long those three Valkyries can hold out. You! Leave some mechas to continue stopping this S-rank Valkyrie, and the rest of you follow me!"

After ordering a subordinate to continue delaying Durandal with minimal effectiveness, Cocolia took half of the latest Titan tactical mechas from Anti-Entropy and rushed toward the eye of the storm, aiming to capture the Fourth Herrscher.

"This strong storm? It seems that the Fourth Herrscher is over there!"

The movement in the distance naturally attracted the attention of the S-rank Valkyrie Durandal, sent by Schicksal to capture the Herrscher. She immediately used all her strength to launch a more fierce attack on the Anti-Entropy troops blocking her.

Although Cocolia had taken away half of their combat power, the remaining mechas ignored the risk of overload or even destruction and launched a desperate, suicidal attack, resulting in a burst of offensive power greater than when all the troops were present.

Even Durandal could not quickly and easily eliminate them.

...

On Lin Ling's side.

She reflected on the miserable life she had endured since gaining part of the Power of Reason from Old Yang, who had pretended to be a teacher, she secretly complained,

"Hiss~ It seems that the Power of Reason is truly a disaster attractor. The first-generation Herrscher Joyce was died at a young age, the second-generation Joachim repeatedly went back and forth between the rivers of death, the third-generation Bronya was always defeated, and now I am also injured in various ways. Alas~ I should have known better than to seek this cursed power."

However, despite her complaints, she still had to perform her duties.

Although the impact of Bronya's cannon earlier was substantial and posed a deadly threat to ordinary people and even Valkyries, it was far less severe than the punch Fu Hua 'delivered' a few months ago. Lin Ling's strength had dramatically improved, so this "minor injury" was not life-threatening.

Under the "dual-core drive" of Death and Reason, her body was recovering rapidly.

Meanwhile, the Fourth Herrscher, Wendy, shouted, "Die for me!"

Holding Lin Ling, who was partially injured, Wendy unleashed all her current power, intending to destroy Bronya and the others in one fell swoop.

A storm tornado, like a steel meat grinder, descended from the sky, heading straight for Bronya. Wendy aimed to tear apart anyone who dared to harm Lin Ling!

But rather than Bronya, the first to be attacked was Kiana, who stood in front of her.

"No!"

Seeing Kiana in danger, Mei's eyes flashed purple-red, and her Herrscher persona was about to emerge again, regardless of the risk.

However, someone was faster. Kiana's eyes had turned into a strange, malevolent amber.

"Give her to me!"

She shouted, summoned an imaginary portal to absorb the incoming storm, and then opened a imaginary portal connected to Lin Ling, instantly bridging the distance between them and arriving at Lin Ling's side.

She reached out to grab her.

"Don't even think about it!"

Seeing someone trying to take away her "only one," Wendy could not agree. She raised her hand, and a strong wind blade sliced through the figure that had just emerged from the imaginary portal!

Kiana, whose eyes were amber, also summoned a massive sub-space lance to fight back.

At this point, the awakened queen had no anti-Honkai energy serum in her body. With the blessings of the Death and Void double Herrscher cores, she was more than capable of contending with Wendy, who had just awakened and possessed only one core.

Boom!

After their clash, the queen's sub-space lance shattered Wendy's wind blade instantly.

Seeing this, Wendy hurriedly created another wind barrier in front of her to block the attack. Although she was not injured by the wind barrier, Wendy was still pushed back, and the white-haired girl in her arms was thrown out.

Fortunately, the white-haired girl fell into the arms of another white-haired girl.

"No!!"

Watching the only thing in her possession fall into another woman's arms, Wendy roared with reluctance!

"Give her back to me!"

She prepared to exert even more force to retrieve Lin Ling!

However, the queen’s focus was no longer on Wendy. She directed all her attention toward healing the white-haired girl once more...

---

Chapter 57: Lin (Ling)

"Hmm?! Is she... healing her?"

Just as Wendy was about to make her move, she suddenly realized that with the soft white light radiating from Kiana's hands, Lin Ling’s injured body beneath her broken Valkyrie Battlesuit was rapidly healing. After a short while, her pale, delicate skin reappeared, smooth as if unscathed.

"Thank you, thank you... huh!?"

But just as Wendy was about to express her gratitude to Kiana for healing Lin Ling, Kiana suddenly attacked!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

A barrage of sub-space lance shot toward Wendy from all directions.

However, as the Herrscher of Wind, Wendy wasn't so easily caught off guard. Using her ability to control the ideal fluid, she deftly twisted and maneuvered through the air, dodging every spear with ease.

But while Wendy was busy evading the incoming attacks, the queen had stealthily approached her and grabbed the leg where the Gem of Desire was implanted.

"Reunite with me, my other half~"

The queen had only been forcibly awakened after seeing Lin Ling in danger. The Honkai energy within Kiana's body wasn’t enough to sustain her for long, so the Gem of Desire in Wendy's body was the perfect supplement. If she could reclaim it, she wouldn't have to worry about falling asleep again.

Moreover, the Conquest Gem was nearby. If she could retrieve both, she would nearly return to her full power!

"Give her back to me!"

Unexpectedly, Wendy's body erupted in a violent storm at that moment, deflecting the queen's hand. At the same time, she reached out with one hand, aiming to grab Lin Ling, who was still in the queen's arms.

"Don't even think about it!"

Realizing that she had failed to seize the gem and nearly lost her prize, the queen swiftly changed her tactics. She instantly summoned imaginary portal, retreating into it to distance herself from Wendy.

But she was just a half step too late…

…

Mei, who had been anxiously observing from the ground, witnessed an astonishing sight.

Lin Ling's body was "split in two"!

Her lower half was held tightly around the waist by the queen on one side of a circular imaginary portal, while her upper body was in Wendy's arms on the opposite side, held securely under her arms.

Caught between the two Herrschers, Lin Ling suddenly felt two immense pulling forces, threatening to tear her in half.

“Ah! It hurts! Stop pulling! Stop pulling! My waist is going to break!” she screamed in pain. “Put me down!”

Hearing Lin Ling’s cries, both Wendy and the queen were taken aback and immediately stopped pulling. After exchanging glances, they threw Lin Ling toward Mei, who had been watching from the ground.

Then, the two Herrschers resumed their battle!

As for Bronya, she was no longer deemed a threat by either of them. Once they eliminated the main competitor in front of them, they could easily finish her off to avenge Lin Ling.

[System Prompt 4: The host has made Wind Herrscher Wendy jealous. Honkai energy manipulation power has increased by 14.44%.]

[System Prompt 5: The host has made Void Herrscher Sirin jealous. Honkai energy adaptability has increased by 14.44%.]

Oh my god! Don’t scare me!

Lin Ling was stunned by the system notifications.

Of course, her shock wasn’t due to the small percentage increase. As her base attributes improved, diminishing returns became inevitable. She had come to realize this over the past few months of teasing beautiful girls. The later the stage, the smaller the year-on-year increases would be.

What truly terrified her was the word "jealous." Unlike previous system notifications that mentioned "shock," "fear," or "anger," this was the first time she had heard this word.

Jealous?! No way! Did they really take it seriously?!

...

"Lin Ling, are you okay?"

After catching Lin Ling, who had been thrown to her by Kiana and Wendy, Mei immediately checked her body for any injuries.

"Ahaha~ It tickles! Mei, stop it! My wounds are all healed!"

"Really?" Mei looked incredulous. Lin Ling’s injuries had been severe—any ordinary person would have died. And Mei had never witnessed or known the magical power of the Herrscher of Death, so she was understandably concerned.

"It’s true, it’s true," Lin Ling nodded repeatedly, even stomping on the ground a few times. "See? I can run and jump!"

When the queen healed Lin Ling's cannon wound earlier, she also treated her leg injury. So now, Lin Ling was fully recovered.

Unfortunately, her Valkyrie Battlesuit was still broken, which significantly reduced her combat effectiveness.

"That’s good."

Mei was finally relieved. Although it seemed unbelievable, after thoroughly checking Lin Ling's body, she couldn’t find any trace of injuries.

Looking up at the two Herrschers battling in the sky, Mei asked worriedly, "So, what do we do now?"

"I..."

To be honest, Lin Ling was just as confused. The current situation had deviated significantly from the original plot she was familiar with. Even the queen had awakened—something she hadn’t anticipated.

However, she knew the Titans was their way. Though she seriously doubted the scriptwriter’s decision to a Titan knock Wendy, a Herrscher, down with one punch, she still had to be prepared.

After a quick thought, Lin Ling said to Mei, "Anti-Entropy's forces will likely arrive soon. You should leave before they capture you! After all, you have a Gem inside you too!"

"No!" Mei refused, "How can I run away alone?"

...

"Hahaha! I’ve won! Lin Ling is mine!"

As Lin Ling and Mei discussed their next move, Wendy's triumphant laughter echoed from the sky.

Though the dual-core queen had stronger power, she was still limited. After an intense battle, her initial advantage faded as she grew weaker, and eventually, she succumbed to exhaustion. Her eyes went black, and she suddenly fell unconscious.

With the queen out of commission, her shared body with Kiana plummeted from the sky.

"Kiana!"

Seeing this, Mei rushed forward, desperate to catch her.

Lin Ling prepared to flee, but before she could take more than two steps, Wendy appeared before her like a gust of wind.

"Where are you going, Miss Lin Ling? Why are you only thinking about her? Don’t you like me anymore? Is she the one you truly care for?!"

"I..."

Faced with Wendy’s question, Lin Ling was at a loss for words...

Chapter 58: Don't Forget Your Original Intention~

At first, she was a little frightened by the sudden appearance of Wendy with her sickly face.

But after regaining her senses, Lin Ling immediately gave the same response as the queen: "Ms. Wendy, of course, I like you the most!"

"Hmm~" Upon hearing the satisfactory answer, the wind emanating from Wendy gradually dissipated, and her eyes became less frightening than before, or rather, as gentle as when they first met.

Did she calmed down?

Lin Ling was slightly relieved when she saw this.

However, in the next moment, Wendy said something terrifying in an extremely gentle tone. She shyly held Lin Ling's right hand, and at the same time, released a gentle breeze, slowly lifting the two of them up: "In that case... Miss Lin Ling, after killing everyone here, let's leave together~"

"But! I refuse!"

Lin Ling rejected her without hesitation.

"I will never allow you to hurt them, because you are all my favorites! What I hope for is that everyone can love each other forever and live happily together forever!"

"Huh!?"

Wendy slightly opened her mouth and didn't recover for a long time, as if deeply shocked by Lin Ling's words.

"What!?"

Not only Wendy, but even Mei, who was still conscious, was shocked. She couldn't understand why Lin Ling would say such words that would anger Wendy at a time like this.

However, while Lin Ling was making her typical bold declaration, her hands were not idle.

She pulled Wendy, who had been hovering half a foot in the air, back into her arms with her right hand. At the same time, her left hand instantly pulled out the folding Guandao from behind her and struck with all her strength at the empty space behind Wendy!

Clang!!

The next moment, the Guandao collided with something invisible but incredibly hard, causing the blade to roll.

At the same time, a sharp metallic sound echoed, far louder than Project Bunny's previous clapping.

"Tsk, I didn't expect to be discovered. All tactical mechas, disengage stealth!"

The command was given by a middle-aged woman.

The light and shadows around Lin Ling and the others shifted.

A large number of tall and imposing robots emerged from the shadows!

Only then did Mei clearly see that Lin Ling's blade had collided with the massive fist of one of the mechas.

Ever since Lin Ling had been completely healed by the queen, she knew danger was near, so she had been using the "electromagnetic induction" of the Herrscher of Thunder and the "spatial perception" of the Herrscher of the Void to carefully monitor all the movements around her!

Anti-Entropy's stealth technology was far from flawless.

If the mechas had simply remained in stealth standby, Lin Ling might have found it difficult to detect them. But the moment they initiated their attack, she keenly noticed a trace of movement.

Without hesitation, she drew her blade to block the strike!

Additionally, she had been attacked by Bronya and seriously injured again. But being surrounded by girls who were all Herrschers, she had managed to recover a significant amount of strength. At this point, her power was no less than that of strong A-rank Valkyries.

So, it was no problem for her to block the attack of a Titan.

As for Wendy, she had only recently awakened and had been engaging in high-intensity activities all day. During this time, she experienced a series of extreme mental fluctuations under external stimuli, and had just had a major fight with another Herrscher a few minutes ago.

Both her physical strength and energy were severely depleted. She was exhausted both physically and mentally, and her strength had diminished significantly.

Had Lin Ling not been on guard, she might truly have been taken down by a Titan in a single blow, just like in the original timeline.

"Lin Ling... you... I..." So, although she was extremely angry when she heard Lin Ling say she liked someone else, she felt an indescribable mix of emotions when she realized that Lin Ling had saved her once again...

"Tactical mechas, target: capture the Fourth Herrscher! Anyone who tries to interfere will be killed without mercy!"

At this moment, realizing the sneak attack had failed, Cocolia ordered the mechas to attack directly.

Several massive mechas advanced towards Lin Ling and Wendy with earth-shaking force.

Lin Ling didn't dare to face them head-on, so she retreated, dodging with the dazed Wendy.

However, during the retreat, she was accidentally grazed by one of the Titans.

"You! Lin Ling! Even you have betrayed me! Unforgivable..." Finally, after a few seconds, Wendy snapped out of her daze. She remembered Lin Ling's earlier words, and rage consumed her. She even had a sudden thought.

I want to kill Lin Ling and keep her by my side, so I can have her all to myself...

But suddenly!

"Puff~"

Lin Ling, who had been struck by the Titan, coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Some of it even splashed onto Wendy's face.

Touching the still-warm blood on her face, Wendy, who had just wanted to kill Lin Ling, instantly felt her anger turn to heartache. She asked with concern, "Lin Ling! You... are you hurt!? Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," Lin Ling forced a smile and nodded. "I was just scratched accidentally, it's nothing serious. But, Miss Wendy, there are too many robots. I can't handle them alone. Can you help me?"

"No problem!"

Wendy agreed without hesitation!

She then pulled herself out of Lin Ling's arms and roared at the surrounding mechas: "You broken hunks of metal, turn to scrap!"

In the next moment, a massive tornado storm formed around Wendy, blowing away all the approaching mechas. While attacking, she also summoned a gentle breeze to carry Lin Ling to a safe distance.

She knew she was the real target, and the only way to protect Lin Ling was to distance her temporarily.

Bang bang bang...

Beep~beep~beep~

However, just after landing, the mechas stood up again and resumed their assault on Wendy.

"Hmph, Fourth Herrscher, it seems your strength has diminished after prolonged fighting," Cocolia remarked, growing more confident as she saw that her mechas had not sustained significant damage. "In this case, capturing you will be easy~"

Upon hearing this insult from a mere human, Wendy sneered with disdain: "Hmph! You coward, hiding behind your machines! If you're so brave, come and see for yourself whether I'm weakened!"

"All tactical mechas, attack! That..." The cunning Cocolia, of course, wasn't going to fall for such a superficial provocation. She simply ordered coldly, "White-haired girl!"

"What!?"

Chapter 59: Don't Call Me Wife! / Mission Failed?

Originally, Wendy, worried about Lin Ling getting hurt, placed her in a relatively safe spot and prepared to deal with the joint attack of the large group of mechas alone.

But she never expected it!

That anti-entropy woman was so despicable! Instead of attacking her, the Herrscher, she ordered all the mechas to turn around and besiege a girl who was also human!

Beep~

Bang!

After a rapid transformation, some Titan mechas turned their fists into gun barrels and fired a large number of high-energy shells at the white-haired girl in the distance!

"Huh!?"

Because the attack happened so suddenly, Lin Ling didn't have any time to react. She could only raise her arms to cover her face like a frightened girl, helpless in the face of the overwhelming barrage.

However, just when the missile launched by the Titan was about to hit her...

"No!!" Wendy let out a heart-wrenching roar of anguish, unable to stop the shells in time.

A circular imaginary portal, about the size of a person, suddenly opened in front of Lin Ling, swallowing all the shells fired by the Titan.

If someone had been close to Lin Ling and observed her expression, they would have seen that her face, hidden under her hands, bore a confident smile, completely at odds with her frightened actions.

'Hehe~ Since the Queen woke up just now, I don't have to pretend! Later, if anyone asks about the imaginary portal, I'll just say, "I don't know? Maybe the Herrscher personality in the Chongchong hasn’t completely lost consciousness, and it’s secretly protecting me," or something like that.

Although the shells were successfully blocked, just as Lin Ling was about to imitate the Queen and open another portal to send the shells back to the Titan, a sudden feeling of breathlessness and weakness came from deep within her body, preventing her from doing so.

Lin Ling pressed her chest to calm her overexerted body.

No wonder the Queen needs to inject a lot of Honkai energy to wake up. It seems that this ability really consumes a lot of it.

As Lin Ling was weakened and recovering, another Titan mecha disappeared out of thin air and suddenly reappeared right in front of her, swinging a massive metal fist toward her face!

"Die!"

Fortunately, Lin Ling wasn't fighting alone.

As soon as the imaginary portal swallowed the shells, Wendy had already flown towards her like the wind.

Now, she had closed the distance with the flashing Titan, simultaneously swinging the ultra-high-intensity ideal fluid air blade in her hand, instantly slicing the Titan in two!

Learning from her previous mistakes, Wendy, knowing her power had greatly diminished, abandoned her energy-consuming AOE attacks that had no significant effect. Instead, she focused on breaking them one by one, which seemed to be working quite well.

Lin Ling, who had narrowly escaped danger, breathed a sigh of relief and sincerely thanked Wendy in front of her~

"Hehe~ Thank you, wife~"

"Don't call me wife! You scumbag! Just wait until I deal with these Titans, and then it’ll be your turn!" Wendy snapped at Lin Ling after hearing her words. She then turned to the approaching Titans, muttering, "These hunks of junk, once I get serious, I can tear them apart easily."

However, things weren’t as simple as Wendy made them out to be.

If the Titans were only attacking her, she could easily dodge them with the elegant and agile power of the Herrscher of Wind, then dismantle them one by one with her ideal fluid blade, which flowed like a high-speed chainsaw—defying the laws of physics with no viscosity or compressibility.

But the Titans completely ignored Wendy, focusing solely on Lin Ling.

As an ordinary human, Lin Ling was naturally far less agile than Wendy, the Herrscher of Wind.

So, Wendy had no choice but to fight on behalf of the scumbag, which cost her some of her mobility advantage.

Fortunately, Lin Ling wasn’t entirely helpless, managing to launch some effective attacks with the Guandao in her hand.

Together, they managed to destroy many Titans.

But over time, as they faced the tireless robots, both Wendy and Lin Ling started to falter due to their own excessive power consumption...

Even the Sword in Lin Ling's hand had been completely destroyed in the constant clashes with the Titans.

Bang!

"Ah!"

After Wendy rescued Lin Ling again, she was accidentally grabbed by a Titan.

"Run!"

Despite being caught, Wendy’s first words to Lin Ling, who now held only half a sword handle, were: "Scumbag! I'll hold off these mechas! You get out of here!"

"Inch Force! Sky Splitter!"

Lin Ling’s response, however, was a punch!

Even without her weapon, she still had the peerless fist techniques she had learned from the immortal!

Boom!

Under the powerful attack of the immortal fist, Lin Ling blew up both the Titan and her own fist!

At the same time~

A blonde girl was rushing over from the distance.

"Damn! The S-class Valkyrie of Schicksal is so strong? She wiped out half of the mecha forces so quickly?" Cocolia recognized the approaching figure. It was Durandal, known as the strongest in Destiny. She immediately gave new orders: "All tactical mechas, switch targets! Capture the Fourth Herrscher!"

Originally, she had the mechas attack the white-haired girl to weaken Wendy. Now that the goal was achieved, there was no need to target her anymore.

"Miss Wendy~"

At this time, the foolishness and perversion on Lin Ling’s face had disappeared, replaced by a bright, sunny smile. She grabbed Wendy's hand, which had slipped from the Titan’s grasp, and said gently,

"You are the free wind. Don’t let anything bind you—not even me, a scumbag~ So~ go, Miss Wendy! Please! Fly freely..."

With her last ounce of strength, Lin Ling threw Wendy into the sky with the assist of Ideal Fluids, where no one could reach her...

...

"No! I don’t want that! Lin Ling! Even if I die, I want to die with you!"

Though she had escaped the Titan’s grasp, Wendy immediately tried to fly back, determined to live and die with Lin Ling.

But this made Lin Ling furious. With Durandal almost upon them, any delay would surely result in Wendy falling into the hands of either Schicksal or Anti-Entropy. Either way, her future would be grim.

So, Lin Ling shouted at the returning Wendy: "Why are you so stupid? Once you recover and grow stronger, saving me will be easy! Why should we both die here? Don’t worry, I’m just an ordinary person. Cocolia won’t kill me, and my harem isn't even close to full! I won’t die!"

Hearing this, Wendy finally stopped her desperate return. Lin Ling was right. If she insisted on coming back, neither of them would survive. She would have to wait until she regained her strength...

"I will come back to save you! You scumbag can only die by my hand! Do you understand!?"

With that, Wendy disappeared into the sky at the fastest speed.

……

"You damned scoundrel!"

Seeing the "Easy Goal" fly away, Cocolia was furious. But with Durandal closing in, she could only give the order, "Capture the Third Herrscher and that human. Retreat!"

Although Wendy managed to escape in the end, Cocolia’s mission was not a total failure. During the chaos, she had separated part of the mechas to capture Mei.

Taking Lin Ling was just an added bonus. With her in custody, the Fourth Herrscher would eventually fall into the trap...

---

Chapter 60: She is my beloved; how can I betray her?**

"Come to think of it, it was too chaotic at the time. I didn't see clearly; it seems that Chong Chong was not caught, right?"

"Well, at the last moment, Sister Mei sacrificed herself and threw Kiana to the S-rank Valkyrie who came here, so she was the only one who escaped."

In the company base, the drill girl whose pupils had turned back to silver-gray was talking expressionlessly with a white-haired girl whose right hand was covered with thick plaster and bandages.

'Well, it seems that although Wendy's future was reversed, Mei still couldn't escape the fate of being captured. I feel a little sorry for her.'

After listening to Bronya's explanation, Lin Ling nodded thoughtfully and habitually held her chin to think.

Then her chin was hit by an uppercut from her plastered right hand.

"Ouch! It hurts."

While Lin Ling was rubbing her chin with the other hand, Bronya kept staring at her injured right hand. Although she had no expression on her face, she bit her lip and apologized, "Yes... I'm sorry, Bronya was... um!"

"No, no, no~" But before Bronya could finish speaking, Lin Ling suddenly stretched out her right index finger to stop her, "No need to explain. You just need to know that I absolutely trust you~"

"Lin Ling..."

Looking at Lin Ling's sincere eyes, Bronya didn't say anything else.

However, she, who should have no feelings, suddenly felt a long-lost warmth in her heart...

"Originally, the intelligence said that a certain innocent and cute little girl was a bad woman with a philandering heart. I didn't quite believe it. I didn't expect that she would seduce my daughter even after falling into this kind of situation."

And at that moment, the voice of a middle-aged woman broke the touching atmosphere between the two girls. "It's so unpleasant to say that, mother-in-law. I'm just communicating with your daughter in a normal way."

"Mother-in-law? Humph, you dare to talk nonsense in the enemy's base camp. You are really a..." Although Cocolia wanted to find a suitable word to describe Lin Ling, after thinking for a long time, she found it hard to describe...

So she simply changed the topic and returned to her original purpose.

She addressed Bronya first: "Bronya, my dear daughter, you really made a great contribution this time. Go and rest for a while. I will talk to Miss Lin Ling alone."

No one knows whether she was forced by Cocolia's momentum or if she didn't want to talk to her at all, but Bronya left without saying a word.

Then there were only Lin Ling and Cocolia in the metal room or "cell."

"Then a smart person like Miss Lin Ling should know why I came to you, right?" Cocolia asked first.

"I don't know." Lin Ling shook her head immediately, "You don't want to recruit me, do you?"

"Okay~ Stop talking nonsense. I'll just say it straight. I need bait to catch a fleeing wind. Although this bait can be used regardless of life or death, if she can listen to my orders obediently, then I can save a lot of effort."

"No!" Needless to say, Cocolia's words were about using herself to capture Wendy, so Lin Ling flatly refused, "Wendy is my dearest wife; how can I betray her?"

"Oh~" Cocolia looked at Lin Ling with curiosity, "Aren't you the beauty in the honey trap that you guys used to capture the Herrscher? Or, you wouldn't really fall in love with a Herrscher, would you?"

"How is that possible? How could I fall in love with a Herrscher? Lady Cocolia, you misunderstood me. I actually meant to say~" Lin Ling made an international finger-rubbing gesture towards Cocolia, "You have to pay extra~"

...

"Lin Ling, Mother Cocolia took you to the operating room just now, didn't she? What did she do to you?"

Half an hour later, Lin Ling, who could walk around freely in the building, met Bronya again, and the latter anxiously asked her some questions.

"It's nothing~" Lin Ling pointed to her head, "It's just that a biochip like the one in your brain was implanted in mine."

"What!?"

Although her tone was still flat, Lin Ling could feel the worry from Bronya's heart. "It's okay." So she smiled and touched Bronya's little head, comforting her, "Why not? Isn't this better? This way we're a couple~"

"..."

However, seeing Bronya's clenched teeth and fists, it was obvious that Lin Ling's comfort had failed.

"Well~ these things are not important. Take me to visit Mei. I heard that her limbs are all hung up; it's too miserable. I don't know if she has eaten for so long." As she said that, Lin Ling took a bottle of mineral water from the vending machine next to her.

"Yeah." Bronya didn't say much and took Lin Ling to the laboratory where Mei was imprisoned.

Sure enough, Mei's hands were covered by two ring-mounted machines, and she was hung up; even her feet didn't touch the ground. The whole person was completely suspended in the air, looking very miserable.

If it were an ordinary person, being hung like this might almost break her hands. Fortunately, she was a Valkyrie and a Herrscher, so it was no big deal.

But judging from her frowning brows even in her coma, she must not be relaxed.

Then Lin Ling pinched Mei's soft little face and shook it up and down.

"Hey~ Mei, don't sleep anymore. The sun is shining on your butt; wake up quickly. Cook~ It's time to cook~ Wife!"

"What, what is this?... Why am I here?... Lin Ling!?"

At first, Mei didn't know whether she was too seriously injured or too exhausted from the previous battle, and Lin Ling's calls did not rouse her.

It was only when she finally yelled "Wife" that she successfully woke up.

After a brief confusion, Mei quickly recalled the memory before being knocked unconscious by the Titan.

"Lin Ling, your hand? Are you okay?!" She asked with concern, "Oh, right! And Kiana, where is she?!"

"Don't worry." Lin Ling rubbed Mei's face, which had been slightly pinched by her, and then comforted her, "Kiana is fine; she was rescued..."

Lin Ling was quick to say 'She was rescued by her sister,' but fortunately, she was quick-witted and changed the second word 'sister' to 'rescue.'

"As for my hand~" Then Lin Ling raised her plastered right hand, "It's nothing serious; it's been cured. Don't worry."

"Huh..."

After hearing Lin Ling's explanation, Mei breathed a sigh of relief and then turned her eyes to Bronya.

"That's good, but... Bronya, are you okay?"

"Um..."

Seeing that Sister Mei, who was captured by her, was still concerned about her, Bronya felt very uncomfortable and didn't know what to say for a while...

Maybe it was because the atmosphere between the two was a little awkward and weird.

"Well, well, well~" Lin Ling quickly handed the bottle of mineral water she had brought along to Mei, whose lips were a little chapped, "Mei, drink some water first. It must be very uncomfortable to be hung for so long."

---

Chapter 61: Forgive me, Mei, this is the last time...

"Hmm..."

Mei did not refuse. She was exhausted after a day of running around and hadn't had a drop of water. Feeling very thirsty, she drank from Lin Ling's offering.

At this moment, Lin Ling continued speaking casually.

"Speaking of which, I find that Schicksal has no future. I don't know what that Overseer, Otto, is thinking. It seems he doesn't care much about saving the world. It feels like he has some other selfish motives. On the other hand, Anti-Entropy is wholeheartedly resisting the Honkai for mankind. Well~ But those things aren't important. What matters is that just now, Lady Cocolia promised me that after the gem is removed from your body, your body will be at my disposal. So~ I surrendered to Anti-Entropy~"

"Pffft!!!"

Hearing this, Mei, who was drinking water, choked instantly, spraying the white-haired girl in front of her...

"Ah, this..."

Lin Ling touched her face, now covered in mineral water, and complained, "If it were Chongchong, she might be really happy to be treated like this. After all, she always says she wants to drink Mei's... mei..."

"You actually betrayed us?!"

Before Lin Ling could finish speaking, Mei, full of anger and disappointment, interrupted her with a roar.

"I, Kiana, and everyone else like you so much, and you betrayed us!?"

"Like me? Uh... ahem, it's okay, I like you guys too... So I'm going to help Anti-Entropy defeat Schicksal. Lady Cocolia also said that after we completely defeat Schicksal, she will give me Saint Freya Academy. Then I’ll turn it into my harem, hahaha~"

With that, Lin Ling laughed arrogantly, like the infamous villain, Lady Ishiji.

"You!"

Mei could never have imagined that Lin Ling, who was so kind—kind to the point of seemingly mentally unsound—could betray them. She even stayed with Wendy, who she’d just met, despite her broken leg.

Mei felt like her heart was bleeding...

Sigh~

Seeing the tears welling up in Mei's eyes, Lin Ling felt her heart aching too.

But she could only keep the villainous grin, and then extended two fingers, pointing at Mei’s forehead...

"Hahaha~! Cry all you want. The more you cry, the more excited I get~"

'Forgive me, Mei, this is the last time I’ll lie to you...'

[Ding~ System prompt: The host made Mei extremely sad, increasing the power of the Herrscher of Thunder by 10%.]

At the same time, the system's prompt rang in Lin Ling's mind. She had successfully acquired the very rare Herrscher power, which increased her chances of winning.

According to the original plot, Wendy would die after the gem was removed, but now that Wendy was gone, she worried that Mei would become the replacement...

So, she had no choice but to do everything possible to increase her strength before Cocolia made her move—even if it meant doing bad things—to ensure a higher chance of saving Mei.

However, having obtained such immense power from Mei, Lin Ling didn’t want to upset her any further.

She then turned to Bronya and said:

"Okay, Bronya, it seems the rice cooker can’t accept my grand harem plan just yet, so let her stay here for a while. When she can't stand being left out, she’ll agree to be my wife. Let’s go, let’s grab some food. I’ve been busy since getting off Hyperion yesterday and haven’t eaten anything. I'm almost starving. I just hope the food at Anti-Entropy is as good as the cook’s."

Mei didn’t want to see Lin Ling anymore. When she heard her dare mention cooking, she immediately roared, "Get out! Don’t ever think about eating my food again!"

"When my plan is completed, what food will I need? I’ll eat you directly~ hehe."

Lin Ling smiled and walked away indifferently.

"Well..."

Bronya didn’t say anything but followed Lin Ling silently. Still, with her IQ of 180, she couldn’t shake the feeling that things were not as simple as they seemed.

Lin Ling's indifferent attitude was far too abnormal; she was completely unlike the person Bronya once knew...

...

"Hey, isn’t this Bronya? How come she has a new crippled sidekick after just a few days?"

Since it was lunchtime, the cafeteria was quite crowded, and Lin Ling and Bronya happened to bump into a short, purple-haired girl with an annoying expression.

This person was Sin, who had lived with Bronya at Cocolia’s orphanage. Although she admired Bronya greatly, she didn’t know how to express it, so she would bully and mock Bronya on purpose, much like a little boy who teased his female classmates to get their attention.

However, Bronya usually ignored her. Now, in her foul mood, she didn’t want to acknowledge Sin at all.

"..."

She simply ignored her.

"Damn it!" Sin was furious when Bronya didn’t even glance at her and turned her gaze to Lin Ling instead.

Although Lin Ling was a few years older and much taller than her, Sin, the little girl, wasn’t afraid. In fact, she wanted to provoke her.

"Hey! You new here? Do you know the rules?!"

Lin Ling, still eyeing the food in the window, responded perfunctorily, "What rules?"

"Other than Mother Cocolia, I’m the boss here, so you have to listen to me in everything, got it?"

"Oh, you’re the boss, huh?" Lin Ling glanced at Sin, then looked at her modest chest. "Nothing there? Are you sure you’re not a boy?"

"Who cares about size!?" Sin was immediately furious. "And I’m not a boy!"

[Ding~ System prompt: The host has seriously angered Sin Mal, increasing her Honkai energy control power by 10%.]

Oh~

Hearing the system's prompt, Lin Ling was quite surprised. This little girl had increased her Honkai energy control power so much? As expected of the character players used to call "Uncle Sin" in her previous life. She seemed so easy to anger.

Now that Lin Ling knew Mei's location, she figured she could toy with Sin for a while.

"Oh~ So you’re a girl. Well, it doesn’t matter. By the way, one of my hands is broken right now. It’s not convenient to eat with one hand. Can you feed me? Maybe together with Bronya?"

The purple-haired girl looked incredulous. "Huh~?! Why should I serve a newbie like you dinner?! Who do you think you are?!"

...

"Not enough! It’s far from enough! I need more power!"

On the other side of the world, a green-haired girl in New Zealand was clutching a spherical metal device emitting a constant purple light with her bare hands.

She was Wendy, who had escaped pursuit. After parting ways with Lin Ling, she returned alone to the ruined New Zealand branch of Schicksal, which had been ravaged by the Honkai, leaving all personnel evacuated. She found some intact energy reactors that hadn’t been taken by Schicksal in time.

She began absorbing their power frantically...

Chapter 62: Tonight's Weather: Sunny, No Wind

"Are you just going to watch my Valkyries be captured? Are you just going to swallow your anger when two gems are taken away?..."

Bang!

After communicating with headquarters, Theresa, the Dean of St. Freya Academy in the Far East Branch of Schicksal, angrily hung up the call.

She then turned to Kiana and Himeko, her face filled with displeasure. "Damn it! The headquarters refused to send anyone to rescue them, saying it’s not time to go to war with Anti-Entropy yet! They even told us not to go."

"..." Hearing this, Kiana turned and left without a word. "Even if I’m alone! I will go save Mei, Lin Ling, and Bronya!"

"Hey, where are you going?! Who allowed you to act alone? Do you want to die?" Himeko immediately grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Let me go! What's wrong with going alone? It’s better than just watching you do nothing."

"Idiot, that’s not what I meant." Himeko pointed at herself. "Who told you to die alone? Three people make up a Valkyrie Squad."

"Three? Himeko! You're willing to help me?! Thank you!... But, judging by your words..." Kiana thanked Himeko gratefully and then turned her eyes to a certain older woman. "Auntie, are you coming too!?"

"Hmm~ Do I even need to be asked? Though I haven’t gone out in person for a long time~" While Kiana and Himeko were talking, Theresa had somehow already changed out of her nun uniform and into advanced Valkyrie Battlesuit. She then turned and said, "Let’s not delay! Let’s go! Mission objective: rescue everyone!"

...

On the other side, at Anti-Entropy Headquarters:

"Lord Cocolia, all tactical mechas are in place and ready to engage at any time. In addition, 'Wodan' is nearly charged, and the major fleets of Anti-Entropy are converging on headquarters. Our plan will be foolproof!"

"Lord Cocolia, the new Miss Lin Ling went to visit—or perhaps humiliate—Raiden Mei with Miss Bronya after the operation."

"Lord Cocolia, all doctors and equipment will be ready in half an hour. The gem separation procedure can be initiated at any time."

"Lord Cocolia, satellite detection shows no significant military movements from the headquarters of Schicksal or its major branches. It seems they do not intend to go to war with us. However, a ship from the Far East Branch, which is the closest to us, has been launched."

"Yes, I understand."

Listening to her subordinates' reports, Cocolia nodded without much comment. Then, she asked a seemingly irrelevant question. "So~ what’s the weather like tonight?"

"Weather?" A high-ranking Anti-Entropy officer was momentarily stunned. She didn’t understand why Lord Cocolia would care about the weather at such an important time. But since she was her superior, she answered promptly. After checking the data on the tablet in her hand, she replied, "According to meteorological satellite data, there’s a 95.43% chance of clear weather from tonight until noon tomorrow, with no wind."

"Really~ Then it’s truly calm." Despite the favorable weather report, a trace of dissatisfaction appeared on Cocolia’s face.

......

"Alright, the ME headquarters building is just ahead. The intelligence department has confirmed that Mei, Bronya, and Lin Ling are all imprisoned here. Are you ready to sneak in?"

Kiana nodded firmly, then pulled out two pistols. "Ready! I’m going in now!"

"Wait!" Himeko held Kiana back again. "Kiana, do you even know what sneaking means?"

"Kiana-chan, don’t be so impulsive." Theresa also advised. "The ME headquarters building is heavily guarded. We still need to scout the area, find an entry point, and map the layout inside."

However, after thoroughly investigating the area, the three-person team led by Theresa found nothing.

"The ME building is like a fortress. Every passage is heavily guarded. It’s worthy of being Anti-Entropy’s headquarters."

The more Himeko investigated, the more worried she became. Not only could they fail to rescue the others, but they might get caught themselves.

"We’ve been near the building for too long. We may have already been detected. We should retreat for now."

"No! How can we just leave like this? I still say, even if I’m alone..."

"Stupid Kiana, don’t be impulsive..."

Just when their rescue mission seemed blocked and uncertain, an unexpected person contacted them through an encrypted channel.

"Huh? Eh...? Bronya! Is that you?"

"The ME guards are tight, but Bronya will guide you in." Due to the circumstances, Bronya kept her message direct and short.

"Great!" Kiana was overjoyed. "We were just trying to figure out how to sneak in."

"Wait!" The experienced Himeko wasn’t as naive as Kiana. She voiced her suspicion. "We can trust Bronya, but don’t forget she was the one controlled, which led to Mei and Lin Ling’s capture. And why is she contacting us now? The timing seems too convenient, doesn’t it?"

"Major Himeko, please believe in Bronya. No matter what, Bronya wants to save Mei and Lin Ling."

"Himeko... I don’t think Bronya sounds controlled, and I know Bronya wants to save Mei and Lin Ling even more than I do."

"..." Looking into Bronya’s sincere eyes and seeing Kiana’s anxious face, Himeko hesitated. She thought about her three students, practically family, who were likely suffering at the hands of Anti-Entropy. She fell silent for a moment.

"I can’t deal with you all~ Well, if everyone is ready to risk their lives, let’s take a chance!"

In the end, it was Theresa, the eldest among them, who made the decision.

"Then, head to the C7 channel of the building. The password is 'xcvf,' and authentication authority is granted. The door will be open..."

With Bronya’s help as an insider, Kiana and the others successfully infiltrated the ME building. They steadily advanced toward Mei's location, following the optimal route with minimal opposition.

However, despite their caution, they were inevitably discovered by a large number of patrolling mecha troops, which led to some small-scale skirmishes. Fortunately, the three were strong enough to defeat the enemies quickly and retreat before reinforcements arrived, thanks to Bronya's carefully calculated route.

……

Boom~

After a sudden tremor, Lin Ling, who had been eating in the cafeteria while most others had already left, dusted off debris from the ceiling and muttered to herself in confusion:

"Oh? Was that an earthquake?"

"It’d be better if it were! Then you, a glutton, would be buried under it forever! Unfortunately, it wasn’t."

At that moment, Sin, the only one still bickering with Lin Ling in the cafeteria, grabbed her collar.

"Stop eating! There’s an enemy invasion! It’s time to prove your loyalty to Mother Cocolia! Get ready for battle!"

…

Meanwhile...

Somewhere between Japan and New Zealand, a massive tropical cyclone, completely out of season, suddenly formed in the Pacific Ocean.

Then, it began heading north...

Chapter 63: The Appointed Period Has Arrived, and Wendy Has Returned.

"Little brat! Let me go! You're too short for me to walk with. If you delay my mother-in-law's plan, can you bear the consequences?"

"Damn it! What's so great about being tall?" Normally, Sin wouldn't listen to Lin Ling, but she just wanted to grab this guy by the collar and humiliate her to get back at her for all the tricks she'd played on her.

But the mention of Cocolia at the very start made her let her go obediently.

"No!" But as soon as she released her, Sin realized there was something wrong with what she just said.

This girl called her Mother Cocolia "mother-in-law," so what does that make her?

Then she glared at Lin Ling fiercely: "Who are you calling 'mother-in-law'? Don't talk nonsense to me!"

"What time is it? And you're still worried about trivial matters like that?!" Lin Ling shouted back, more viciously, fiercely, and louder than her. "Are you a traitor sent by Schicksal? Are you trying to deliberately delaying us to buy time? Huh!?"

"Huh!?... No, no, I'm not..."

Sin was stunned. She was always the one being mean to others, and had never been on the receiving end herself. Lin Ling's shout rattled her a little.

She even stuttered when she spoke.

"You, you, you!"

"What do you mean 'you, you, you'!? Tell me, who's calling?!" Lin Ling seized the opportunity, striking while the iron was hot, "How many people are there? What do you want me to do? Hurry up!"

"Ahem... who else could it be? Of course, it's those three old lovers of yours from Schicksal!" Sin, after a brief moment of confusion, couldn't let herself lose momentum, so she said proudly, "Heh, they're entering our encirclement with Bronya's help. It's hilarious! They're so naive, these brainless fools. They knew Bronya was under our control but still believed her words and walked right into the trap we set long ago."

Hah! As expected, she's just a kid after, she easily gave the information away, but... only three people came to the ME Building, just like in the game?

Is Otto really not afraid of an accident? They don’t even have to worry about three people crossing the top lane, right?

However, despite all her thoughts, Lin Ling acted indifferent, merely responding with narcissism: "Oh~ So it's my wives who came to save me? As expected, they can't bear to be apart from my young and beautiful body."

"Wives? From your tone, you're not planning to betray Mother Cocolia, are you?" Sin immediately grew suspicious.

"How could I?" Lin Ling pointed to her head. "I've got a remote-controlled bomb here, and there are plenty of cute girls like you in Anti-Entropy. Why would I betray you? Alright, fine. I'll help you catch them."

"What!? I'm... is cute?!"

...

"Password: ghddd, authentication authority. The door is open."

Beep~

On the other side, thanks to Bronya's remote control, a heavy mechanical door slowly rose.

Himeko looked at the monitor: "Okay, according to the map Bronya sent, this is the passage to the lab where Mei is imprisoned. Let's go save her!"

"Yes!"

Beep~ Thunk!

However, just as Kiana's rescue team entered the passage, the door quickly fell and sealed behind them.

"What’s going on?!" Kiana exclaimed in shock and immediately asked Bronya on the communicator, "We're trapped! Is this a setup? Bronya, what's happening?"

"Oh, I'd always heard you were a fool, Kiana. It seems~" The voice from the other end of the communicator was no longer Bronya's familiar 'cold exterior but warm heart,' but the voice of a proud, middle-aged woman. "You're surprisingly sharp in a crisis."

"This voice?" Even though she knew they'd fallen into a trap, Theresa didn't panic. She just calmly asked, "I’m guessing you’re the infamous Cocolia, right?"

"Yes, I am Cocolia. And you must be Theresa Apocalypse, huh? I didn’t expect someone so important to come along." Cocolia continued to sneer proudly. "I’ve heard you’re quite the warrior, but I didn’t expect you to fall into this trap so easily. It’s one thing to hear about you, but to meet you in person, well~"

"Tsk, I've always heard you were a cunning fox, and it seems true." Theresa shot back without missing a beat. "Besides, the bait was so luxurious, we’d have been embarrassed not to take it."

"Though it’s unpleasant to fall into a trap, things are simpler now." Himeko immediately drew the large sword on her back. "Now we just need to rush into the lab, rescue Mei, and fight our way out! Might as well tear down the entire ME company while we’re at it."

"Hmph, you're so full of yourself," Cocolia scoffed. "My bunker is solid as a rock. You’re not getting out now~ And even if you did somehow manage to destroy the building, you wouldn’t be able to escape. My invincible fleets from the major Anti-Entropy branches are on their way. Even if a full-on battle with all of Schicksal were to break out, you three little kittens wouldn’t stand a chance."

"Damn it!"

Hearing this, even the normally composed Theresa frowned.

Though Schicksal has a longer history, is well-established, and boasts many talented Valkyries, Anti-Entropy has been able to compete with Schicksal for years. Their continued existence is no fluke. While Schicksal excels in archaeology, Anti-Entropy is far ahead in scientific research, particularly in unmanned mechas and flying warships, giving them a significant technological edge.

If a large number of Anti-Entropy fleets really arrive, rescuing Mei and Lin Ling would be almost impossible...

"Lady Cocolia! Something’s wrong!"

Just as Cocolia's words were making Theresa despair, a panicked female voice came over the communicator.

"What’s all this commotion?!" Cocolia had been mocking Theresa and the others, only to be interrupted by her subordinate. She was clearly displeased.

"Lady Cocolia, a super typhoon over 500 kilometers in diameter, with wind speeds far exceeding the maximum scale of 17, the strongest in human history, is rapidly approaching and about to make landfall!"

"What?!" Cocolia knew Wendy would come, but she hadn’t expected her to be this fierce. She quickly asked, "What about our fleet?"

"I’m sorry, Lady Cocolia, except for the five floating warships docked at headquarters, the other branch warships have been blocked by the storm. One even collided with the storm head-on and has lost contact... But rest assured, our engineers are working to improve the warship engines and aerodynamics, and in two hours, we should be able to navigate the storm."

"So, we’ll be two hours late? Damn it! Why now, of all times?"

"Hahaha!" Kiana laughed. "God is really our favor!"

"No, Kiana..." Theresa's expression darkened. "This isn't divine intervention. It's not typhoon season, and this is an unprecedented super typhoon. It can only mean... she’s here."

"Well, she did deal with our toughest reinforcements right away. Perfect timing~" Himeko glanced into the distance, nodding approvingly. "It seems our little Lin Ling is quite the charmer..."

...

Thunder boomed, sand flew, stones fell, heavy rain lashed, and tsunamis raged...

At this time, the strongest typhoon in history, codenamed "Revenge," along with numerous secondary storms, swept across the Japanese islands at speeds far exceeding the limits set by physical formulas...

And in the sky at the storm's center...

A girl with green hair, blue eyes, and wings brought with her the sound of doomsday’s tide.

"Miss Lin Ling, I’ve come to save you as promised. If anything happens to you, I’ll make the whole world pay..."

----

Chapter 64: Wives, it's hot!**

"Hmph! Don’t get too excited too soon! Under this unscientific storm, I don’t have to worry about your reinforcements arriving. So~ you don’t really think that the three of you can break through my building?"

As Cocolia spoke, a large number of mecha troops of various types poured in like a tide.

Himeko easily split a small mecha that was approaching with a knife and then taunted, "Just these broken pieces of metal? You’ll find out soon whether I’m bragging!"

"Then I will welcome you in the laboratory. I hope you don’t die on the way and make me wait in vain."

After leaving the last taunt, Cocolia hung up the communication.

...

With Kiana and others fighting hard all the way, they were about to reach the end of this road.

"Look, it’s Mei!"

A purple-haired girl who was hanging motionless in the air finally appeared in Kiana’s sight. And just at that moment...

Another girl with a silver-gray double diamond hairstyle stopped them.

"Bronya!? Great! You’re here too?!" Kiana was immediately surprised and walked forward to pull Bronya away. "Hurry, let’s go back together!"

"..."

Boom!

But Bronya’s response was... a hand cannon!

Clang!

"Be careful!" Fortunately, Himeko had sensed something was wrong with Bronya from the start, so she was prepared and immediately used a heavy sword to block the attack aimed at Kiana. "She is no longer the Bronya we know!"

Kiana was immediately furious: "Damn it! That despicable woman! She is still controlling Bronya!"

Pa pa pa~

Then, with a round of clapping, Cocolia’s face, which Kiana and others hated very much, appeared on the communicator again: "You actually made it here. It seems I really underestimated you."

"Humph!" Theresa immediately folded her arms and said proudly, "Since you’re afraid, surrender quickly, and then respectfully invite us out."

"Huh? Sure enough, little brats like to dream."

"Who are you calling a little brat! You have completely angered me now. Even if you kneel and beg me, I will not go out. I will tear down your broken building! Himeko, Kiana, hurry up and grab people!"

"Hmph! You don’t know the true value of the Herrscher at all. As long as you understand how the Herrscher controls the power of nature, human technology will advance by leaps and bounds. Bronya, stop them!" When Cocolia saw that the other party was going to force their way through, she immediately ordered Bronya to stop them.

She knew that although Bronya was definitely no match for the three of them, these three people were naive and still remembered their old friendship. They would be restrained and dare not kill. In this case, with Bronya plus the mecha army, she would win...

However, the development of events immediately exceeded Cocolia’s expectations.

"Bronya, don’t be controlled anymore. Wake up. We will take you home, a real warm home!"

After Kiana’s sincere plea from the bottom of her heart, Bronya just raised the hand cannon in her right hand and immediately pressed it down with her left hand. Then, she seemed to regain some spirit in her soulless pain.

"When Bronya was young, her parents died, so in Bronya’s heart, Cocolia is like a mother... But Bronya met Mei, and Mei is very good to Bronya, so Bronya doesn’t want to hurt Mei, and won’t fight."

"What are you talking about, Bronya!? Why don’t you act!?" Seeing that Bronya was reluctant to act, Cocolia ordered again in an anxious tone, "The highest authority is activated. Bronya, attack these three Schicksal Valkyries!"

However, even with the highest authority, Bronya remained unmoved. She just said to Kiana: "Kiana, take Mei away quickly. Bronya has... burned the biochip."

"Are you kidding!?" Cocolia’s voice became flustered. "The biochip is implanted in your brain! If it burns, do you want to commit suicide?"

"Bronya thinks that Mei is more important than her own life." Bronya looked back at Mei, who was still falling in the air and had fallen into a coma again. "Bronya has... will not accept any orders that will hurt Mei. Goodbye, Mei..."

After saying that, she slowly closed her eyes, fell to the ground, and never moved again...

"No! Bronya, don’t!" Seeing that her friend chose to commit suicide rather than hurt her friend, Kiana shouted in despair and grief!

"Kiana! Quick, take the unconscious Bronya!" Fortunately, Theresa’s words brought a glimmer of hope to the desperate Kiana. "Although Bronya’s brain is damaged, it’s not time to despair! Take her back to St. Freya Academy for timely treatment, and there should be hope for recovery."

"Yes!" Hearing this, Kiana’s eyes instantly regained their spirit, and she immediately picked up the small figure on the ground and carried it on her shoulders.

"It seems that no matter how advanced the technology is, it can’t manipulate people’s hearts at will." Himeko also covered Kiana, who was carrying Bronya and was inconvenient to move, and said, "Let’s go in and take Mei, then leave here!"

"Do you think I will let you leave just like that?! Mecha troops! Overload operation!"

Under Cocolia’s orders, a large number of mechas arced and rushed toward Kiana and others at a faster and stronger speed, putting them in a hard fight.

"Damn it!" When Kiana reached Mei’s body, she found that the two ring machines locking Mei’s arms were very tough. With her strength, she couldn’t break them forcibly. Even a pistol or a cat’s claw could only leave a tiny crack, and it couldn’t be easily broken.

"Are you okay?" Seeing that Kiana hadn’t saved Mei for a long time, Theresa, who was dealing with a large number of mechas at the laboratory door, hurriedly urged, "Kiana, hurry up, there are more and more enemies!"

"Don’t rush, Auntie. This thing is a bit difficult to unlock!"

"This is a facility designed to trap the Herrscher. Do you think you can break it so easily? Don’t dream!" Seeing this, Cocolia mocked again.

Bang!

"Damn it!" At this time, Himeko, who was weaker than Theresa, was accidentally hit by a long-range attack from a mecha and suffered some minor injuries.

"Aunt Himeko!? Are you okay!?"

Himeko gritted her teeth and forced a smile. "I’m fine! Don’t worry about me, just keep saving Mei!"

Crack~

Finally, after seeing Himeko injured, Kiana exerted her strength in a hurry and forcibly broke the restraint on Mei’s left hand with great force.

However, the left hand alone wasn’t enough; the right hand also required considerable effort. In this case...

Maybe it’s too late?!

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" The anxious Kiana was on the verge of tears.

"Don’t worry, wives! I’m here!"

At that moment, a voice that used to sound annoying but now was extremely pleasant came from a distance.

Chapter 65: Infernal Affairs, Mission Impossible and Impossible

"It’s Lin Ling!"

Theresa, Kiana, and Himeko were overjoyed.

"Great, now everyone is here. Let’s fight our way out!"

But Mei, who had just been awakened by Kiana's actions, immediately warned loudly upon seeing Lin Ling: "Everyone be careful, Lin Ling has betrayed us!"

"What!?" Everyone was shocked by the news and looked at Lin Ling with suspicion.

However, Lin Ling immediately proved herself with her actions.

She took out a sword from Anti-Entropy and used the another [Hokushin Ittō-ryū sword move!] again!

While slashing a mecha, she instantly arrived in front of Kiana and Mei.

"I'm sorry, Mei! I lied to you. I only pretended to betray you to gain Cocolia’s trust so I could come and save you." Then she immediately took out a small electronic device. "I have a key here that can immediately unlock your restraints. Then we can go home together and get married!"

However, as soon as Lin Ling inserted the so-called "key" into the matching slot on the restraint device, the device did not open but instead released a strong electric current that shocked Lin Ling, making her scream.

"Hmph~ You little rascal~ It’s truly a false surrender! But do you really think I would believe you so easily? The key I gave you is fake! Hahaha!" Cocolia laughed. "The reason I accepted your surrender was simply that you are more useful alive, but now the Fourth Herrscher has been attracted and is falling into my trap. You are useless! Tactical mecha, kill everyone except the Third Herrscher!"

"Damn it! You are so despicable!" After cursing Cocolia, Lin Ling quickly turned to Kiana and said, "Kiana! My right hand is injured, and it's inconvenient for me to handle a group attack. So, unlocking Mei’s handcuffs is up to you. Go help Aunt Himeko and the others!"

"Okay! But you need to move quickly! Even with my help, there are too many enemies! You can’t hold on for too long." Kiana agreed immediately. "Aunt Himeko, I will help you!" She then turned to Himeko, who was struggling more than Theresa.

Lin Ling, who stayed behind, said nothing, raised her sword, and gathered her strength, then slashed at the restraint on Mei’s hand.

Clang!

A large crack appeared. It appears that it would take at most two more strikes to completely split it, and then everyone would be saved.

"I'm sorry, Lin Ling, I wronged you..." Looking at the white-haired girl in front of her, dragging her injured hand and still struggling to save herself, Mei felt deeply guilty for her earlier accusations.

"I'm sorry... Mei..." However, Lin Ling immediately apologized to Mei, "I’m a liar..."

"Huh? Lin Ling... why, why? Why are you saying this all of a sudden?" Mei was puzzled.

Before Lin Ling could answer, seeing that only Lin Ling and the unconscious Bronya were left around Mei, Cocolia hurriedly ordered: "Lin Ling! Kill Mei! Retrieve the gem! Then come to the agreed place to find me!"

After that, Cocolia closed the communication again.

Lin Ling raised her sword for the second time, but this time, her target was no longer Mei’s hand, but her... chest!

"What?!" Mei was shocked. "You!"

"No!! Lin Ling, what are you doing!" The other three were horrified by this scene!

......

Time went back a while.

When Lin Ling expressed her intention to help deal with the Valkyries of Schicksal, Sin immediately refused: "Don’t meddle; Bronya is already handling this."

"No, no, no~" Lin Ling shook her head. "Bronya is not a treacherous villain like me. She will never do anything to hurt her friends, so backstabbing teammates should be left to someone who is skilled at it, like me."

"Uh..." Sin was stunned for a moment. She had scolded others daily, but this was the first time someone had scolded her seriously. She was speechless, "You are quite self-aware, but Mother Cocolia said you only need to deal with the Fourth Herrscher. You don’t have to worry about other things."

"The situation has changed." At this moment, Cocolia's projection suddenly appeared before them. "This person is a bit unreliable. Not only the Fourth Herrscher but also the people in St. Freya Academy have a good impression of her. Let her go to Mei first!"

"Why? Isn't Bronya there?" Generally speaking, when plans change midway, it indicates either the plan was poorly formulated or something went wrong. So Sin hurriedly asked, nervous, "Is... she in trouble?"

"Bronya, she... she has..." Cocolia’s voice wavered slightly at the mention of Bronya, but she quickly insisted, "The plan has changed! Don’t ask so many questions, just follow the order! Continue your mission and let Lin Ling go to Bronya!"

"Yes, Cocolia!" Although Sin was confused and worried about Bronya, she had to comply.

Then only Lin Ling and Cocolia remained.

"So, mother-in-law, what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to... kill Mei!"

"No! We agreed that you only needed to retrieve the gem. The rest was left to me!"

"The situation has changed. Bronya... her mission failed, and the Fourth Herrscher has fallen into the hands of Schicksal. Fortunately, they haven’t escaped completely. To prevent the Conquest Gem from being taken by Schicksal, you must do this! And when you get the gem, give it to me quickly. I will use it immediately! It’s urgent!"

"No! I refuse..."

"Do you have any conditions to refuse? The highest authority: kill Mei and retrieve the Conquest Gem!..."

"Damn it!"

...

So, under Cocolia's threat, Lin Ling had to make the decision to kill Mei... but that was impossible!

Clang!

After another sound of metal clashing,

Plop~

Something soft fell to the ground. It was Mei, who was safe and sound. All the restraints were slashed. She looked at Lin Ling in shock: "Lin Ling... you!?"

L

"Hehe~ Although you said you would never cook for me again, I still can’t bring myself to kill you."

Then, to the collective surprise and confusion of everyone, Lin Ling bent down, picked up a fragment from the ground, and placed it into a special Anti-Entropy box that could isolate Honkai energy. She also said to Mei, who was sitting on the ground with a shocked expression,

"I'm sorry, I couldn't protect you, so I worked hard for you. 'No matter what the gentleman’s argument is, do I have to betray it?' The continuous summit road turned everyone a bit, but the ending was good. What do you think looks good?"

Lin Ling then waved her sword, stood and left, she spoke without looking back,

"Go first. When I took action just now, I also dismantled all the surveillance cameras around here, so Cocolia doesn’t know that I actually betrayed her. Well, it’s not right to say betrayal. I have never submitted to her. Anyway, I’m going to give Cocolia a big surprise. You should also know that I have a wife who may be looking for me like crazy. If I don’t show up, she will cause a big fuss. So, you don’t have to wait for me. Hmph. Go ahead. But remember to leave a pot of rice for me. I will definitely be hungry when I return. But since Mei is unwilling to cook for me, I think I have to brace myself. Uh, Himeko? Uh, Kiana? Uh, forget it. I feel that I might as well steal Anti-Entropy's tribute than eat the food they cook~ Ah Mei, why do you treat me like this~"

As she spoke, Lin Ling disappeared.

"Damn it, you were being cool but now your talking so much nonsense? Complaining about the food I cooked—you're so annoying~" Kiana grumbled in dissatisfaction after watching the white figure disappear into the corridor.

Mei was about to cry but had no tears. "Although I did say some unpleasant things because of a misunderstanding, she's too vindictive..."

----

Chapter 66: Whoever Backstabs Someone Will Eventually Be Stabbed in the Back

"Look, Cocolia, the wind outside has suddenly become weaker!" Cocolia, who was anxiously rushing to a mysterious area, immediately turned her head and looked out the window upon hearing her secretary's words.

Sure enough, the environment, which had been dark and dusty just moments ago, had suddenly calmed—eerily so.

The strong wind that had been sweeping everything away just a moment ago had disappeared step by step.

There was only one possibility: the eye of the typhoon had arrived!

If this were an ordinary typhoon, it would indeed be possible to relax in the windless area of the eye.

But the problem was that this was no ordinary typhoon!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Continuous vibrations, far exceeding the previous ones caused by the Valkyrie of Schicksal—akin to a magnitude 12 earthquake—rippled through the building.

"Cocolia! Come out now!" At the same time, an extremely angry girl's voice came from the sky.

It was the owner of the typhoon, the Herrscher of the Wind, Wendy, who had returned!

As a former high-ranking female Valkyrie of Schicksal, she knew the location of several Anti-Entropy Headquarters. So, she guessed that Lin Ling, who had been captured by Cocolia was likely here!

As she raised her hand, a massive tornado descended from the sky, completely enveloping the building, as though it intended to uproot the entire Anti-Entropy Headquarters!

However, the Anti-Entropy Headquarters was not an ordinary brick-and-concrete building. The interior was almost entirely composed of high-tech alloys. Even Wendy couldn't tear it apart easily, at least not immediately.

…

"Is it finally here? I've been waiting so long. Although there were some minor setbacks, everything is still under my control..."

Despite the looming danger and the violently shaking building, which made it difficult for Cocolia to stand steadily, a confident smile of success tugged at the corner of her mouth.

She turned to the secretary, who was pressed against the wall with a terrified expression. "How is the status of the Wotan?"

"L-Lady Cocolia! I'm very sorry! We've done our best to charge Wotan, but the energy required to power it is immense. It really needs the Herrscher core to function. But now the third Herrscher has been taken by the people of Schicksal, and our plan to retrieve the gems is—"

"It doesn’t matter. I’ve sent my trump card to acquire the Herrscher core."

"But, Lady Cocolia, the legs of Wotan haven’t been fully completed yet. It can’t move for the time being. Even if it can be powered up, it can only fight in place. If it faces the flying Herrscher of the Wind, it will be at a huge disadvantage..."

"Don't worry about that. As long as my trump card remains intact, the Fourth Herrscher will come to us on her own, so we don’t need to initiate an attack." Cocolia pulled up the very nervous and frightened secretary. "Let’s hurry to Wotan. Maybe our savior has arrived ahead of us."

---

On the other side, Lin Ling, carrying the 'gem,' had indeed arrived at the meeting point agreed upon by Cocolia. Her Valkyrie-enhanced body allowed her to reach the destination quickly.

Then, she saw a massive, super-sized mecha, reminiscent of Ultraman or Pacific Rim.

"So cool~," she marveled. "Seeing it in person is far more impressive than on screen. I really want to use it to destroy everything~ It’s a pity it’s only 90% complete and can’t move."

"That may not be the case. With you here, it might be able to move."

As Lin Ling admired the machine, Cocolia's voice came from behind.

"Miss, head to the control room and prepare," Cocolia ordered her secretary before turning to Lin Ling. "Quickly hand over the gem to me, and then go outside to lure the Fourth Herrscher."

"Yes, Lady Cocolia."

Lin Ling obediently handed the soul steel box to Cocolia.

"What a shame. I wanted to dissect the third Herrscher’s body to find out how an ordinary girl could wield such power. That would have provided more useful data. But I’ll have to settle for this." Cocolia took the box and patted Lin Ling's shoulder in satisfaction. "You did well this time. After this is all over, you may choose any of my daughters as a reward."

"Wow~," Lin Ling gasped, raising her eyebrows in excitement and even rubbing her hands eagerly. "I’ll thank my mother-in-law in advance!"

Looking at the seemingly innocent white-haired girl, now with a perverted expression, Cocolia sneered internally.

'Humph. I didn’t expect a girl who appears so harmless to actually be so lustful. Sure enough, no one can resist the temptations of wealth, sex, and alcohol. But this works in my favor. The greedier they are, the easier they are to control.'

"Alright, go outside for now. It’ll take some time to install the gem and activate Wotan. Wait for my signal to bring in the Fourth Herrscher."

"Okay, okay!" Lin Ling nodded repeatedly and then ran off.

But after a few steps, she turned back and asked, "Lady Cocolia, if I perform better, can I have a few more daughters? Maybe assign me more tasks, and I’ll complete them all together!"

Hearing such greedy words, even Cocolia couldn’t help but twitch her mouth. Her tone grew cold. "Complete the current task first."

"Hey~"

"Highest authority command!" When Lin Ling appeared ready to argue, Cocolia quickly used the highest authority.

But Lin Ling’s next words made her stop.

"Lady Cocolia~ If you use the highest authority, I’ll be completely controlled by the chip, and I might become cold and robotic. Wendy may see through me. Are you sure you want that?"

"Fine! My daughter is yours. Do whatever you want with her. Just help me catch Wendy!" Cocolia had no choice but to grit her teeth and hand over a blank check.

"Okay, Lady Mother-in-law! Hum♪ ♩ ♫ ♬ ~"

Delighted at the promise of full ownership of Cocolia's daughters, Lin Ling happily hummed a tune as she left.

"Ugh, what a greedy little thing. Why is a girl so obsessed with other girls? I heard she was fished out of the sea. Could it be she really has water in her brain? Whatever. Now isn’t the time to think about these trivial matters. After this is over, I can find some excuse not to give her my daughter. With the chip in her brain under my control, she’ll be at my mercy."

Cocolia then reached the foot of the giant Wotan mecha and pulled out a pair of work gloves capable of isolating Honkai energy from the toolbox. Only with these could she install the gem. She opened the box Lin Ling had handed her.

In the next moment, she froze.

"What!? Where’s my gem?"

The box didn’t contain the Gem of Conquest—only a piece of broken glass!

Cocolia was stunned. Without the gem, how could she power Wotan? Without the mecha, how could she capture the Fourth Herrscher? How would she capture the Third Herrscher? And Kiana, the suspected Second Herrscher?

Would all her carefully laid plans be for nothing?

Was it Lin Ling? Did she do it?

She wanted to chase after her and demand answers, but—

"Ah!!!"

Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing pain pierced her back, through to her chest.

"You!" Cocolia gasped, staring at the bloodied sword that had impaled her. She turned in horror.

It was the white haired girl with the bandage on her right hand!

"Why? Why did you do this?"

"I knew it! You wouldn’t give me your daughters! I heard it all, you liar! Go to hell!"

"Just… just because of that?!"

Cocolia couldn’t believe it. She had planned everything, and success was within her grasp—only for it all to unravel for such a ridiculous reason…

----

Chapter 67: I Was Called "My Wife," Now I’m Called "Miss." Do You Have a New Love!?

Just after Cocolia had unwillingly closed her eyes in death...

"No!!!"

A short-haired girl with purple hair rushed over angrily and kicked Lin Ling!

However, it was futile.

The current Lin Ling was no longer the same as before. After these days of constantly causing those around her to slip and fall, who knows how much strength she had accumulated?

Perhaps, aside from practical experience, her other abilities were no less than Rita's now.

So, when faced with Sin's kick, Lin Ling accurately grabbed her ankle without even looking back and stabbed Cocolia straight to the heart!

Psssh

Cocolia fell into a pool of blood, then she held the girl, whose eyebrows were wet with tears, upside down in front of her.

"Hey, it’s Sin. After just a little while, you're greeting me with your feet? How enthusiastic. Do you miss me that much?"

"Why!? Why did you kill Mom?!" Sin kept swinging her fists and kicking her other foot, trying to tear apart the person who killed Cocolia, but she couldn't even touch Lin Ling's clothes.

Lin Ling pretended to be angry and replied, "Because she didn’t give me my wife! She lied to me! So I killed her! I decided to find a wife for myself."

"Huh? What?!" Sin's face showed the same shock that had just appeared on Cocolia's face, and she was speechless for a long time...

When she finally came to her senses, something felt off: "No, I don’t believe it. Cocolia clearly gave your chip the order not to hurt her. How were you able to attack her? Did someone help you? Is it a mole from Schicksal?!"

Seeing that Sin wasn’t as foolish as a typical child, Lin Ling decided not to argue further.

"Why do kids think so much? You may not believe it, but I was fished out of the sea by Aunt Himeko, so my brain got a bit waterlogged, and the biological chip short-circuited when it came in, making it useless." Of course, this was a lie to the child. In reality, Lin Ling used the Power of Reason to create a layer of nano-level high-molecular polymer organic insulator to wrap the chip that entered her brain, so she was never controlled at all.

After saying that, Lin Ling dropped Sin and turned to leave. "Forget it. I don’t want to argue with you, kid. I need to go outside and get some fresh air."

"No, it's impossible... With our technology, how could this happen? This must’ve been premeditated..." Sin picked up Cocolia, who was lying in a pool of blood. "Mom! I will avenge you... huh?"

To her surprise, despite the knife being lodged in her heart, Cocolia still had a heartbeat and was breathing!

If treated quickly, Mother Cocolia could still be saved!

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Sin stared at the white-haired, bandaged girl who was leaving, praying she'd leave quickly so she could rush Cocolia to treatment.

"Oh~" However, perhaps Sin’s gaze irritated Lin Ling, who turned back after taking only a few steps and scratched the back of her head with a silly smile. "I almost made a big mistake. I haven’t finished my attack yet~"

"No!!!" From hope to despair again, Sin spread her arms to shield Cocolia. "Don’t hurt Mother Cocolia! I’ll do anything, just don’t kill her..."

"But~" Lin Ling glanced at Sin with disdain, shaking her head. "I’m not a pervert into kids. I don’t like children! Come back and talk in a few years... Oh, or not. I don’t like boys either."

"...I, I..." Sin felt conflicted. She couldn’t follow this person’s line of thinking at all and didn’t know how to respond. She never met someone like this.

"By the way~ Are you really willing to do anything?"

Fortunately, Lin Ling finally gave Sin a sliver of hope.

Or rather, Lin Ling hadn’t intended to kill Cocolia completely from the start.

When she stabbed Cocolia in the back earlier, Lin Ling, relying on the female anatomy knowledge she had learned over the past few months, caused maximum pain while skillfully avoiding all vital points. Not removing the blade had also stemmed the bleeding. With Anti-Entropy’s medical technology, it wouldn’t be a problem to heal her.

One reason Lin Ling did this was because she had already changed the history of this world. Cocolia didn’t kill Wendy or Mei, so Lin Ling decided to spare her.

Of course, this was only part of the reason. Another was that, according to the original historical trajectory, Cocolia was still useful in saving Seele. Although Lin Ling had altered history, she wasn’t sure if the future would be corrected by the fate line, so she figured it was better to keep Cocolia alive. Otherwise, she might soon end up in jail.

...

After bidding farewell to Sin, Lin Ling headed alone to the top floor...

“Wow!”

But the moment she opened the door to the rooftop, she was instantly caught up in a whirlwind!

"It’s Lin Ling!"

Fortunately, Wendy recognized the person she had missed so much at a glance and quickly stopped her storm attack. She flew forward and scooped Lin Ling up in a princess carry.

From Lin Ling’s perspective, after a moment of dizziness, she found herself in the arms of a girl... and upon closer inspection, it was Wendy!

"Lin Ling! Are you alright? Huh? Your hand! I’ll destroy all of Anti-Entropy—no! All of humanity to accompany you in death!"

"Wait, wait, wait! What bury you? I’m not dead yet! Calm down, Miss Wendy!" After just a few days apart, Lin Ling quickly realized that Wendy’s mental state had grown increasingly unstable, possibly due to excessive Honkai energy corruption.

This frightened Lin Ling a bit, and she even... didn’t dare to call her "wife."

"What did you call me?!"

But times had changed. This time, Wendy was not called "wife" by the girl in her arms, and she looked incredulous.

A strong green light emanated from Wendy’s body, and her hair moved as though caught in a breeze. She furiously questioned Lin Ling, "We agreed to be husband and wife, and now you’re calling me 'Miss'?! Are you betraying me again?! Did you find someone else"

---

*Chapter 68: Could it be that Miss Lin Ling, if you want to open a harem, you are also controlled by Cocolia?*

On the other side.

With the fall of Cocolia, the Anti-Entropy Headquarters, which lost its chief commander, was in complete chaos.

Because of this, although the number was still huge, facing the brainless mechas with no one to command, the pressure on the Saint Freya rescue team suddenly decreased a lot. Not long after, Theresa, Himeko, Mei, and Kiana, holding Bronya, successfully fought their way out, broke through the layers of siege, and returned outside the Anti-Entropy Building.

"Huh~ I finally escaped," Kiana breathed a sigh of relief but immediately looked back at the Anti-Entropy headquarters. "But, Lin Ling is still in there... should she be okay?"

"She will definitely be fine. That little rascal is very smart, and judging by the sudden inflexibility of the Anti-Entropy mechas, she probably doesn’t even know that Cocolia, whom she betrayed, has suffered a great loss at her hands." Although her combat talent is inferior to Kiana's group of cheaters, Jizi is a real genius in command and quickly analyzed the situation. "Besides, doesn’t that Wendy love her very much? She’s so strong that as long as she’s there, Cocolia can't hurt her."

"No..." But unlike Kiana, who had fainted at the time, and Jizi, who arrived later, Mei had witnessed the interaction between Wendy and Lin Ling throughout the whole process and knew that their relationship... maybe... is not as simple as ordinary... 'love.' She looked up at the cloud wall formed by the distant typhoon and said worriedly, "Compared to Cocolia, I’m more worried that Miss Wendy might hurt Lin Ling..."

"How is that possible?" Kiana shook her head repeatedly, then said with an unhappy face, "Mei, don’t jump to conclusions. Lin Ling, that playboy, must be having fun with Miss Wendy. She’s probably forgotten all about us, surrounded by other beautiful girls!"

"Okay, okay, it’s useless for us to guess here," Himeko said at that moment. "Let's go back to Hyperion first. Although the medical facilities on the ship aren’t as good as those in the academy, Bronya’s brain injury is serious, and she urgently needs life support equipment to survive!"

---

*At the same time~*

Lin Ling, who was "enjoying herself" with the beautiful girl, as Kiana guessed, was sweating profusely.

"How could I betray you?! It’s just that you didn’t seem happy when I called you ‘wife’ before, so I stopped calling you that. But since you like it!" Seeing that the situation was dire, Lin Ling quickly shouted the words Wendy wanted to hear most at that moment, "Wife, wife, wife!~"

"Um... um..."

Sure enough, after a few calls of 'wife,' Wendy, who had just been like a demon from hell, instantly calmed down. The intimidating aura around her, which had made Lin Ling's hair stand on end, also subsided.

"Indeed, it can't be considered betrayal..." Wendy's tone softened a little, but the content was still chilling. "Because you, you scumbag, wanted more than just me from the start, so... if I’m not the only one, and you can’t treat me as the only one, then I have no choice but to kill you and then commit suicide..."

"Wife~" Lin Ling interrupted the green-haired girl's words, looking into her eyes affectionately. "Before you kill me, can you let me say one last thing?"

Wendy stared into Lin Ling's eyes. "What lie do you want to tell?"

"I want to say... um, wait, no! I want to tell you that I’m not the only one who loves you in this world. Do you... remember your sister, Bronya?"

"That traitor!" Wendy's fury reignited as she thought of the girl who betrayed her and almost killed Lin Ling. "Don’t worry! I’ll bring her to you and kill her immediately!"

"No, no, no!" Lin Ling hurriedly stopped her. "You can kill me, but don’t kill her!"

"So, Bronya’s life is more important than yours?! Fine! Then I'll kill you both!"

"Ah... that’s not what I meant. What I’m trying to say!" Lin Ling, flustered, realized she was dealing with someone even more extreme than herself. She decided to cut straight to the point. "Bronya is different from me. She’s actually a good person. She was just controlled by Cocolia. She had no choice but to attack you and me. In the end, to stop being controlled by the chip and hurting her friends, she chose to kill herself. It’s not her fault; it’s Cocolia’s!"

"Really, really?" Wendy, who thought she had been betrayed by the entire world, was suddenly stunned. "Sister Bronya, she really..."

"Of course it’s true! I have a similar chip in my brain right now, also implanted by Cocolia. Luckily, my body structure is different from that of ordinary people, so it doesn’t work. If you don’t believe me..." Lin Ling stretched her head toward Wendy. "Open my skull and take a look!"

Wendy was silent for a while. "Is it really like this?"

"It’s absolutely true! In fact, that day..."

"Cocolia! So, it was you! You almost killed Lin Ling and made me misunderstand Sister Bronya!" Finally understanding the truth of that day, Wendy shouted angrily to Lin Ling, "It seems I’ll have to change my plans and kill Cocolia first!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Lin Ling nodded repeatedly. "That’s it! She’s the source of all evil! We’re all innocent!"

"Then I’ll kill you afterward!"

"Yes, yes..." Lin Ling continued to nod out of habit, then suddenly realized something was wrong. "Ah, no, no! Why do you still want to kill me?"

"Why can’t I kill you?" Wendy tilted her head in confusion. "Miss Lin Ling, is your desire to cheat also controlled by Cocolia?"

---

Chapter 69: Elbow, follow me back to the house~

Hmm? Something is wrong.

At this moment, however, Lin Ling noticed that Wendy's expression wasn't as desperate as before. There was a bit of life in her eyes, unlike her previous words and actions.

This made Lin Ling wonder.

'Does she really want to kill me? I don’t believe it. If she truly wanted to kill me, she would’ve done it already. Why bother talking so much nonsense? In that case... I’ll give it a try and take the initiative to attack! Anyway, I have the power of the Herrscher of Reason and Death. As long as she doesn’t keep watching over my body, I can resurrect after she leaves...'

"Hmph, okay then!" Lin Ling made up her mind and said to Wendy, "Kill me quickly, and then go find your sister Bronya! Anyway, I’m not your only one. Everyone likes you. You don’t need me anymore. I’m useless..."

"No, no, no!" Wendy shook her head repeatedly, panicking. "Miss Lin Ling, I—I don’t mean that. Didn’t I say it? Kill Cocolia first, and then... Anyway, I won’t kill you now!"

"Not now? But you’ll still have to kill me in the end. Instead of living in fear, I’d rather die early and reincarnate sooner, and then you can be with your sister Bronya... Ah~ I don’t want to live anymore, kill me~"

Then, the white-haired girl in Wendy's arms kicked and flailed like a naughty child, throwing a tantrum.

"No, I didn’t..."

Wendy was speechless for a moment. She clearly didn’t mean it that way, but after hearing Lin Ling’s words... it seemed like she did? She even felt guilty and a little sorry for Lin Ling...

After a moment of silence, she turned her gaze back to the Anti-Entropy headquarters building and shouted the name of the culprit.

"Cocolia!"

A hundred-meter-long giant wind blade, formed by an ideal fluid, fell from the sky, tearing a massive hole in the ME building that had already been shaken by Wendy's previous attack!

Wendy then hugged Lin Ling and rushed inside, killing everyone within and easily destroying countless mechas and large facilities.

However, due to the plan’s failure, the Anti-Entropy members had already evacuated through underground tunnels in the building.

Cocolia had also been taken by Sin to an Anti-Entropy submarine to escape the storm and seek refuge in The Deep.

"Damn it, she actually ran away!"

Although Wendy's attack had reduced the ME Society building to ruins, apart from a few billion in economic losses, it didn’t cause much other damage.

"By the way, Wendy... oh no, wife, I heard that Anti-Entropy’s flying battleship is improving its aerodynamic layout and engine. I believe it’ll soon be able to break through the typhoon wind wall you created. You must be a little exhausted today and not in the best condition to keep fighting them. It doesn’t matter if I die, but if you get hurt, my heart would break..."

"Lin Ling..."

Wendy’s nose stung with emotion. She was about to kill her, yet she’s still worried about her safety...

"Cocolia is a nuisance, but there will be plenty of chances to deal with her. She’s not worth risking your life for. Plus, Bronya’s injury needs urgent treatment at Saint Freya, but your typhoon will keep the battleship grounded..."

Seeing that Wendy was softening, Lin Ling quickly struck while the iron was hot. "So! Let’s go home together!"

"Home..." Wendy stared blankly at Lin Ling. "Do I... still have a home?"

"Of course! My home is your home! Even though the radicals in Anti-Entropy and Destiny aren’t good people, everyone at Saint Freya Academy won’t discriminate against you or hurt you. They’ll definitely treat you like family!"

"But..." The murderous green light in Wendy's eyes faded completely, but she still said timidly, "I’m a Herrscher... I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself and might hurt you..."

"What’s the big deal? You know that Chongchong and the cook—I mean, Kiana and Mei—are also Herrschers, but I live with them every day. We see each other day and night, sometimes even fight over the bathroom, and we’re all still fine~"

"You live with them day and night? ..." (gritting teeth)

Though Lin Ling meant to convey 'I’m not afraid of you hurting me,' Wendy was more focused on the idea of her beloved Lin Ling living with other beautiful girls. Jealousy flickered in her heart, and even the murderous intent she had just managed to suppress began to rise again.

"Ah? Don’t overthink it!" Lin Ling quickly clarified, "I just mean, if we can live together, what's there to be afraid of? So, come live with us. We’ll be a family from now on~"

"...Yeah!"

After a long pause, Wendy finally nodded firmly at Lin Ling.

Then, the typhoon Wendy had created dissipated~

A warm ray of dawn broke through the clouds and illuminated the crystal tears falling from the green-haired girl, reflecting a rainbow of colors...

---

Elsewhere, back on Hyperion...

The "Cooked Duck" was sent for emergency treatment.

Those who had been busy all day were finally getting some well-earned rest.

Only Mei, who had been suspended for almost a day and was now a bit weak, was still working.

She went to Hyperion’s ship kitchen and carefully prepared a large pot of simple but delicious curry, eagerly awaiting the return of a certain white-haired girl...

————

Chapter 70: I Couldn't Have Endured the Darkness if I Hadn't Seen the Light

Unfortunately, Mei's meal appears to be unable to wait for Lin Ling...

"Himeko, the wind is so strong outside. Will our ship be affected?" Kiana asked worriedly, gazing at the howling wind outside.

"Well, this wind is indeed strong, but it’s not a big issue," Himeko explained. "Although Hyperion is a flying warship, it is still a 'ship' and can even operate as an underwater vessel. As long as we sail in the deep sea, we can avoid this storm, though the speed will be significantly reduced."

"Ah? Will it affect Bronya's treatment if it’s too slow?" Kiana continued to ask.

"Well... it shouldn’t be a major problem. Although the medical facilities on the ship are far inferior to those at the school, we can still maintain life support..." Himeko replied with a calm demeanor, though she was anxious internally. Bronya’s brain injury, being the most mysterious and vulnerable part of the human body, made it risky with Hyperion's technology.

"Report to Captain Himeko! According to satellite data, the typhoon codenamed 'Revenge' is dissipating at a very rapid pace!" At this moment, a girl in military uniform brought good news.

"Oh!?" Himeko immediately looked out the window. Sure enough, the fierce typhoon that seemed to threaten everything had begun to dissipate at an unscientific rate.

"I know where Lin Ling is!" A little white-haired girl wearing headphones suddenly exclaimed with joy. "She broadcasted a codeword over the public channel, saying she’s fine and asked us to leave first. Now that the typhoon has disappeared, a large number of Anti-Entropy fleets are arriving outside. Let’s go back quickly!"

"Okay!" Himeko nodded to Theresa and then ordered the driver, "Hyperion, set a course for home! Leave here, it’s time to go home!"

Whoosh!

As Hyperion's engine roared with its loudest sound, the entire ship quickly disappeared into the horizon like an arrow.

Swoosh, swoosh!

Less than three minutes after Hyperion disappeared, a large number of Anti-Entropy floating warships arrived above the ruined Me Company building at astonishing speed.

"The Pacific Fleet has arrived! Lord Cocolia, we are here to support you. Please respond if you receive this."

"..."

"Headquarters, please respond if you receive this!"

"..."

On the leading battleship, a communications soldier tried to reach Anti-Entropy Headquarters through an encrypted channel but received no reply.

"Really... Cocolia called us for urgent help, but now her people are nowhere to be found. It’s quite frustrating." Seeing no response on the screen, a girl with twin ponytails said dissatisfiedly, "Mophead, look at the ruins of the ME Company building. Could it be that Cocolia has completely died this time?"

"I don’t know," the blue-haired girl known as Chicken Coop Head shook her head. "But let’s go down and check it out. There are a lot of valuable things here. I hope they’re not all damaged."

...

"Hey~ Wife, what do you want to drink? Is wine okay?"

On a beautiful beach with sunny weather, blue sea, and sky, Lin Ling, dressed in a beach dress, a beach shirt, colorful sunglasses, and a sun hat, asked a girl sunbathing on a lounge chair.

Being called "wife" in public, the girl on the lounge chair shyly replied, "Vegetable juice is fine, Miss Lin Ling. We are all minors and cannot drink alcohol."

"Huh? Vegetable juice?! What’s so special about that? We’re at the beach; why would you want vegetable juice?" Lin Ling pouted in dissatisfaction. "Even if you don’t want alcohol, you should at least have some soda, right?"

"Soda... It contains carbon dioxide, which isn’t good for bones. My legs are..." Over the past three years, Wendy had been living in a wheelchair under constant surveillance and control, so her diet had been strictly monitored. She had developed a strong aversion to unhealthy food.

"What are you afraid of? Billions of people drink it. Just take it!" Lin Ling pressed the carbonated drink into Wendy’s hand and then patted her head. "You’re free now; don’t worry about these strict rules! Do whatever you want..."

Rewinding a few hours, since Wendy withdrew from the typhoon, Lin Ling had planned to return to Hyperion with her.

But... seeing Wendy’s tattered clothes and her own garments ripped into fishnet stockings by Wendy’s accident, Lin Ling had an idea: "Wife, this is a rare opportunity. Let’s go on a romantic trip, just the two of us!"

"What! What?" Despite her mind being affected by the Honkai, Wendy still couldn’t follow Lin Ling’s sudden change in plans.

She had been asked to kill her not long ago, but now she was being invited to have fun?

Confused, Wendy could only... nod in agreement.

After that, the two went to a seaside tourist city. With the 100,000 euros provided by Otto, Lin Ling took Wendy shopping and sampling local snacks. After eating and drinking, they relaxed on the beach together...

At this moment, Wendy felt the fizz of countless tiny bubbles bursting in the drink in her hand, along with its enticing fruity aroma. She looked at the white-haired girl in front of her, smiling warmly.

Having not felt such warmth in three years, she couldn’t help but get teary-eyed. "Thank you, thank you... Miss Lin Ling..."

"Hey hey hey! Why are you crying again?" Seeing this, Lin Ling squatted in front of Wendy. "If you don’t want to drink it, don’t! I’ll get you vegetable juice right away! Just let me finish this cup!"

As she spoke, Lin Ling took a sip...

And quickly finished the juice from Wendy’s glass through the straw.

"Really, Miss Lin Ling, what else should I drink after you’ve finished?"

"Ahaha~" Hearing Wendy’s tone of laughter, Lin Ling raised her head and scratched the back of her head, "I thought you didn’t want to drink?"

"As long as it’s given to me by Miss Lin Ling, even if it’s poison, I would drink it without hesitation."

To prove her words, Wendy bit the straw Lin Ling had just used, downed the remaining soda in one breath, and said to Lin Ling, "The beach... is really fun."

"Yeah, I’ll bring everyone to play together when I get the chance. But, do you still call me Miss Lin Ling? You asked me to call you wife, so what should you call me? Isn’t it time to change your words?" Lin Ling teased Wendy, who had finally returned to her original soft and cute self.

As expected, Wendy blushed, then lowered her head shyly and stammered in a barely audible voice, "Um... Li..."

"Hey~ What did you say? I can’t hear you. Can you speak louder?!"

...

Meanwhile, Mei, who had returned to the dormitory, prepared another delicious meal with abundant ingredients after the curry was eaten by everyone on the spaceship.

But.

Until the food was completely cold.

The girl she had been thinking about still hadn’t returned...

"Lin Ling, are you okay? Are you in danger?"

---

Chapter 71: The Great Scientists in My Textbooks Are Not So Cute!

"I'm very sorry, ladies, we only have one king-size bed room left in our hotel today."

"No way, is there really such a plot that only appears in novels?"

When Lin Ling and Wendy had played comfortably for a whole day and were planning to find a hotel to rest, she heard a line from the receptionist that only appeared in novels, movies and TV dramas, and they had to be bloody love stories.

Looking at the front desk lady's face full of aunt's smile like her female classmates in the previous life who were obsessed with BL couples, Lin Ling expressed great doubt: "Are there really no other rooms? More than two people are fine."

The front desk lady still squinted her eyes and shook her head with a smile on her face: "I'm sorry, miss, there are really no more~"

"Wife~" Lin Ling immediately turned back to look at Wendy in the wheelchair, "How about we change hotels?"

However, Wendy appeared to be afraid to look directly into Lin Ling's eyes. When Lin Ling turned her head, she also turned her head away, making it difficult to see her face...

Lin Ling asked again with some curiosity, "Wife?"

"However~" Then Wendy, who turned her back, said a little shyly~"However...let's take this one..."

"Huh?!"

...

Then~until noon the next day.

After working hard for several days in a row, Lin Ling slowly woke up from the soft and comfortable quilt.

"Ah~" Like a kitten that just woke up~ Lin Ling stretched her body lazily, "It's so nice to sleep until I wake up naturally~ I feel that I have never slept so comfortably since I lived with the squad leader~"

Boom~

But soon, she found that her fist appeared to have poked something soft...

Looking carefully, she found that a green-haired beautiful girl was lying next to her without her knowing when! ?

"Huh!? Wen, Wendy?!"

Instantly, a lot of memories flooded into her mind, and Lin Ling remembered that she was not sleeping with an honest old timer last night, but with that scary... Miss Wendy.

Wendy, with dark circles under her eyes, said with a somewhat dissatisfied tone, "You're awake..."

"Good morning, wife... How was your sleep last night?"

"Hmph..." Wendy stared at Lin Ling's eyes with resentment, "Fortunately, there was a very honest person sleeping next to me, so I slept well..."

It turned out that due to excessive fatigue, Lin Ling was motionless as soon as she touched the pillow last night, like a dead dog, leaving a certain excited girl alone and unable to sleep all night.

...

"By the way, M... Lin Ling, when are we going back?" While eating breakfast, Wendy couldn't help but ask Lin Ling, who was still drinking milk and reading the newspaper leisurely in her pajamas.

"Oh? Are you in a hurry to go back?"

"Well..." Wendy nodded, "Lin Ling, didn't you say that Sister Bronya was injured? I want to go back and visit her as soon as possible."

"It's okay, it's just a minor injury. There is an old Chinese doctor from Shenzhou in our dormitory who specializes in treating various difficult and complicated diseases. It will be fine with her there."

"But... even if it's okay, I still want to visit Sister Bronya. I want to talk to her about the misunderstandings before..."

"Well, don't be in a hurry, wife, we must go back... But~ I changed my mind, we won't go back for the time being."

After saying that, Lin Ling put down the newspaper and continued to eat.

The headline of the newspaper was printed with a photo of the destroyed Anti-Entropy headquarters building. Next to the building in the photo, there were two girls, one red and one blue, who were somewhat conspicuous among a group of mechas and a large number of male members.

As a transmigrator, the biggest golden finger is of course the system, but the strongest advantage besides that is naturally knowing history, so under normal circumstances, Lin Ling will not deliberately do anything to change the timeline.

Because this kind of cheat ability that can predict the enemy's moves without intelligence investigation and reasoning analysis is naturally reserved for the most important and critical moment...

And now is this time.

According to the original plot, after rescuing Bronya, Kiana will experience the Second Eruption in the Queen's illusion, and soon after that, Durandal and Fu Hua will forcibly knock her out and take her away. These two people, one hanging on the wall and the other almost full-level boss, are definitely not defeated with her current strength.

It seems that she can only avoid the edge temporarily, otherwise, if Otto suddenly wants to let Dudu kidnap her and study her, it will be troublesome. And Wendy, may be in danger if she goes back now...

So, after some thought, Lin Ling decided not to go back for the time being.

In addition, she has an important seed planted in Anti-Entropy a few months ago, and now it is time to harvest it.

So after breakfast, she suddenly said to Wendy, "Wendy, let's go back to Nagazora City."

...

"Hey, Mophead!"

In the former ME building of Anti-Entropy, which is now a ruin, a red-haired girl pointed at a huge robot and said to the blue-haired girl beside her, "Look, even the Wotan has been dismantled like this. It seems that Cocolia really played with fire this time. However, after losing most of its power, Cocolia is no longer able to control Anti-Entropy. Next, it's up to us to correct the Anti-Entropy that has gone astray."

"Yeah." The blue-haired girl nodded without comment, and then continued to study the large robot in front of her, "However, according to the detailed overnight inspection by the staff last night, Wotan is not completely scrapped. It should still be usable after repair."

And these two girls are the second executors of Anti-Entropy, the highest leader after the Alliance Leader.

Different from the centralized management method of Schicksal, Anti-Entropy adopts an alliance-style management system. There is a class called "executors" in it, such as Cocolia, Raiden Ryoma, Einstein and Tesla, who are all executors of Anti-Entropy. Their status is only below Welt, and their authority is independent. They are in charge of different institutions under the Anti-Entropy force.

These executors are roughly divided into two factions.

The doves or conservatives, mainly Einstein, Tesla and the leader, advocate "eliminating the Honkai without harming people themselves".

The hawks/radicals believe that Welt's ideas are too old-fashioned and not conducive to the development of Anti-Entropy. They believe that any means can be used to eliminate the Honkai. These reformists are headed by Cocolia.

The X-10 experiment, blaming Raiden Ryoma for seizing the ME Society, and making Welt's clones, which are contrary to the original intention of Anti-Entropy, are all manipulated by Cocolia.

This caused great dissatisfaction among the conservatives, but as the leader Welt, who supported the conservatives, disappeared, Cocolia, who was more ambitious, more cunning and more powerful, gradually took control of the actual leadership of Anti-Entropy.

However, this situation was completely changed by the failure of Cocolia's operation.

She spent a huge amount of resources to capture the Herrscher and obtain their power.

But not only did she fail, but she also suffered heavy casualties, even her headquarters was destroyed, and she almost lost her life. She could only flee with the remnants to the former civilization ruins of The Deep located 6,000 meters under the sea for refuge.

Because of this, the doves can also take this opportunity to regain control of Anti-Entropy.

However, when the two dove leaders were checking whether there was anything that could be recycled in the ME company building on the second day, A staff member stepped forward and reported,

"Dr. Tesla, Dr. Einstein, a white-haired girl said she wanted to see you no matter what."

----

Chapter 72: Tesla/Miss Einstein! I'm a Fan of Yours! (Flutter)

"White-haired girl?" Tesla turned to Einstein after listening to the staff's report. "Mophead, is she your friend?"

"No..." Einstein thought hard. She didn’t remember to know any white-haired girls and hage any appointment to them.

"Oh, by the way, the white-haired girl said..." the staff added, "She's your fan."

"Fan?"

Tesla was even more confused. Researchers like them weren’t celebrities who appeared in public. They spent all day buried in the lab. Where would a fan come from?

She waved her hand dismissively. "She’s probably a troublemaker. Just chase her away."

"But..." the staff said with some embarrassment, "She’s already forced her way in and says she wants to meet her idol. We can't stop her..."

"Can't stop her? If you can’t stop her, don’t you know to let the mechas handle it? I don’t believe she can cause more trouble than a Titan."

Bang!

Before Tesla could finish, a medium-sized mecha suddenly fell from the sky and landed beside them. The powerful shockwave almost knocked Tesla and the others to the ground.

"Protect the Executor!"

Seeing their boss in danger, many security guards immediately surrounded them.

Then, two slender figures slowly emerged before them.

They were two girls.

The white-haired one was probably the "fan" the staff had mentioned. Beside her, there was a green-haired girl sitting in a wheelchair, being pushed along.

---

"Lin Ling, those are all Anti-Entropy people. Won’t it be dangerous for you to go there?" Wendy asked worriedly, seeing Lin Ling walk directly toward the Anti-Entropy forces.

However, Lin Ling, who knew the script, wasn’t worried at all.

"It’s fine. The Anti-Entropy senior executives here are two kind old ladies, not crazy people like Cocolia."

"Really?"

Wendy, now harboring a very negative impression of Anti-Entropy due to Cocolia, thought they were no better than Schicksal—both were crazy organizations willing to do anything to achieve their goals. So, while she had some doubts about Lin Ling’s words, she chose to trust her.

"Of course it’s true. And what’s there to be afraid of? Don’t I have the woman I trust the most by my side? A day has passed, and the Anti-Entropy fleet has mostly withdrawn. There’s no need to worry about a fight with the remaining few ships."

Hearing Lin Ling refer to her as the person she trusted the most made Wendy feel a bit happy, so she decided to go along. "Well... alright, let's go. I’ll protect you."

The two of them forced their way through unimpeded (after forcibly destroying multiple road-blocking mechas) and slowly approached Anti-Entropy’s Red and Blue Doctors.

"Look, that's them," Lin Ling pointed at the alert Tesla and the calm Einstein.

"This is... an old lady?" Wendy was surprised. "Lin Ling, why did you lie to me again? They look like just young women, not much older than me."

"What do you mean, 'lie again'? I’m telling the truth this time. They are old ladies. Don’t be fooled by their appearance. If I remember correctly, the blue one is 79 years old, and the red one is even more terrifying—she’s 83."

"Hey!!" As a 'blooming flower of youth,' Tesla was very unhappy when she heard someone describe her as old. "Who are you? Why are you looking for me?"

Are these two the gender-swapped versions of the two great gods from different timelines? Finally, seeing the legendary Tesla—praised on the Internet in her previous life—and the gender-swapped version of Einstein, humanity’s strongest brain, standing before her, Lin Ling couldn’t help but feel a little excited.

She quickly stepped forward, got out of the wheelchair, and lunged at the two.

"Ms. Tesla! Ms. Einstein! I’m a huge fan!"

This time, Lin Ling wasn’t lying. She truly admired and adored these two figures who had almost single-handedly changed human history—whether it was their ♂ versions from her past life or the even better, beautiful girl versions standing before her now.

"Hey! What are you doing all of a sudden? Get away from me!"

...

After a lot of effort to finally push the clingy white-haired girl away, Tesla said, "You’re really a fan? And this enthusiastic? Mophead, I didn’t expect we’d ever be treated like this. But..." Tesla was still a little confused. "So who are you, miss? Why did you go through so much trouble to find us?"

"You may not believe me, but I’m the strongest Valkyrie in Schicksal, General Lin Ling!"

"Huh?!"

Tesla looked at Einstein, then back at Lin Ling, suspicious. "The strongest in Schicksal? Do you think I’m a three-year-old? I’ve seen information on Schicksal’s Valkyrie. She’s obviously blonde and, well... her figure is much better than yours. Hey, what are you doing, Mophead hair?"

As Tesla continued to express her doubts about Lin Ling, Einstein, still calm, tugged on Tesla’s sleeve and handed her a tablet.

"What is that... ah... ah!" Tesla’s pupils trembled after seeing the display, and she immediately glanced between the tablet and the person standing in front of her. "Is this... the Fourth Herrscher!? And the one next to her is... the one who betrayed Cocolia!?"

"All personnel, prepare for battle!" Tesla quickly ordered her staff. "Immediately recall the Anti-Entropy ships that just evacuated nearby. We need reinforcements!"

--

Chapter 73: Fully Automated Strategy System

"Don't be impatient, Dr. Lobster." Lin Ling smiled kindly and gave a French military salute to the very nervous Dr. Tesla. "We have no ill intentions at all. If we really wanted to harm you, we would have done so already~"

"Well, indeed..." After brief consideration, the always calm Einstein found Lin Ling's words reasonable. Even if they had to fight, continuing the conversation would be better to buy time for reinforcements to arrive than starting a fight immediately.

So, Einstein asked, "In that case, Miss Lin Ling, what brings you here?"

"Of course~ You’re so adorable, I decided to join you."

Tesla had been prepared for a fierce battle, but she was taken aback when this stranger used a word she hadn’t heard in decades to describe her, "Huh?~"

"Dr. Red and Blue," Lin Ling continued, "I need your help. I believe you're good people, and I hope you can believe me. If you're uncertain, you can ask Dr. Maki, who joined you a few months ago. I helped him a bit before."

"Dr. Maki?"

After Dr. Maki left the hawkish Cocolia and joined the dove-like Dr. Red and Blue, despite losing Gem of Serenity, his anti-Honkai energy serum continued to shine and treated many Honkai energy-related illnesses.

Currently, Anti-Entropy is working on reducing costs to make mass production possible. If successful, the serum could greatly mitigate the damage caused by the "infection" and "erosion" properties of Honkai energy. Despite defecting from his mortal enemy, Dr. Maki is now highly valued and trusted by the Anti-Entropy doves.

Tesla immediately called him for a video chat.

"Lord Tesla, what can I do for you?"

"Dr. Maki, I have a question for you." Tesla got straight to the point and pointed the camera at Lin Ling. "Do you know this person?"

"...Oh! It's Miss Lin Ling! Of course, I know her! It’s been a while since we last met. Thanks to her for saving my life, I have the opportunity to atone for my sins and save people."

"It’s been a while, sir. I’ll visit you when I get the chance." Lin Ling greeted him casually, then asked, "By the way, do you have any of the serum you developed? I urgently need some."

"No problem! That’s a small matter. I owe my life to you, Miss Lin Ling. You can have whatever you need. Just tell me the address, and I’ll send it via drone!" Although the serum was difficult to produce and extremely valuable, Dr. Maki agreed without hesitation upon hearing Lin Ling’s request and started preparing it during the call.

"As for the address..." Lin Ling glanced around and pointed at Tesla. "Send it to Dr. Lobster. I’ll pick it up from her when the time comes. Thank you, sir!"

"Alright. By the way, how are the other two girls doing?"

"They’re fine. Thank you for your concern."

"Oh, that’s good to hear. Ever since we last met, I’ve wanted to thank you in person, but since we're on different sides, I haven’t had the chance."

"It’s alright. I’ll be sure to send you our wedding invitation later— Ah?! No, no, nothing!" Lin Ling, realizing she had misspoken after sensing a strong murderous aura behind her, quickly corrected herself. "Sorry, I meant the graduation ceremony... graduation ceremony..."

"Hey, hey!"

Finally, Tesla couldn’t help but interrupt their chat. Though she gathered from Dr. Maki that Lin Ling was trustworthy, she was annoyed that they had been chatting while she held the communicator for them, and her hand had gone numb. So, she cut in, frustrated, "White-haired girl! Are you done talking yet?! And why are you sending things to me? And lastly, who is Dr. Lobster?!"

Lin Ling, however, wasn’t bothered by Tesla’s irritation. "I’ve never betrayed Cocolia because I never joined her. And I don’t entirely obey Schicksal. I follow Theresa, the principal of St. Freya Academy... though, to be honest, I can’t fully trust her decisions. I trust her character but not her IQ. So, if I must pick a side, I’ll always stand with my wife!"

"Wife?"

Dr. Red and Blue looked at Wendy, who was now blushing shyly behind Lin Ling.

They sighed. She actually conquered a Herrscher. This person is terrifying!

At this moment, Lin Ling quietly added a few words in her heart—"and my other wives."

"Okay, enough with the chit-chat. What exactly do you need our help with?" Tesla, ever hot-tempered, asked.

"Two brilliant doctors," Lin Ling turned her gaze to Wendy, "I hope you can make her walk again."

Tesla stared at Wendy’s legs for a long time. "Come to think of it~ She’s a Herrscher, right? Why is she in a wheelchair? Isn’t she the Herrscher of Wind?"

"It’s because Schicksal embedded the gem in her leg bones, but her body doesn’t seem fully compatible with it, so it’s eroding her," Lin Ling explained.

Lin Ling's words reminded Einstein of someone. "I see... It's the same situation as the girl named Raiden Mei?"

"Yes, but... it might be even worse. Mei can at least walk, while Wendy has no visible injuries, yet she still can’t move. Schicksal hasn’t been able to cure her for three years, so I was hoping Anti-Entropy might have a solution."

"Hmm... Based on the powerful typhoon earlier, Miss Wendy can already use the gem’s power, which suggests she has been accepted by it. Her legs should recover slowly," Einstein analyzed.

"But," Lin Ling said, still unsatisfied, "how slowly...?"

"Don’t worry." Tesla, after observing Wendy for a while, said confidently, "As long as you get an exoskeleton, you’ll be able to walk again, and you won’t need a wheelchair anymore."

...

'So it was... all for me?!'

As Lin Ling continued talking with the two Anti-Entropy doctors, Wendy's heart warmed.

'Was Lin Ling risking everything by coming to Anti-Entropy just so I could stand again?'

...

Chapter 74: Worried Mei / Recycling K423 / 'Old Chinese Medicine Doctor' Shows Her Might / Two Steps Without Illness

"Mei, did you cook too much again? Is it because your hand was injured last time from being hung for too long that you can't control the portions? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Looking at nearly a third of the food left, Kiana asked Mei, who had been restless since she returned, with some concern.

"Huh?" Kiana's question brought Mei out of her thoughts, and she repeatedly apologized. "No, sorry... I'll share some with the other students later... It won’t go to waste... Besides, my hand is fine..."

"Well... Why did you make so much food? Even though I can eat a bit more than others," Kiana made a small gesture with her fingers, "I don’t need to eat this much..."

"I... I’m just worried about Lin Ling... What if she suddenly comes back? You know how she gets when she hasn't eaten in a while, like you. So, I thought if she returned hungry, there would be a hot meal waiting for her."

"Hmph! That guy... I bet she's already... very happy... uh... what was I thinking?"

Kiana appeared to struggle with an idiom from her hometown, so Fu Hua chimed in. "Kiana, do you mean 'happy but not thinking of home'?"

"Yes, yes, exactly! She’s probably living it up with Wendy and forgetting all about St. Freya! Honestly, that girl can’t resist a pretty face. There are so many beautiful girls here! Is she already bored of them? Ugh, I can't stand it! But... sigh..."

Suddenly, Kiana, who had been energetic just moments ago, became dejected.

"Why hasn’t she come back yet... Could something have really happened to her?"

"Well... Don’t worry. I’ve repaid all the money I owe her. As long as she remembers her account and passwords, she can withdraw 100,000 euros from any phone. She won’t starve, even if she’s wandering around out there," Theresa reassured her.

"I hope so... Oh, by the way!" Remembering something, Kiana asked urgently, "Auntie, the other day you said that the only way to cure Bronya is to bring her back to St. Freya. She’s been here for a day now— is she getting better?"

"She should... should be improving soon." At this point, Theresa, unusually quiet tonight, forced an awkward smile. She then put down her bowl and chopsticks, saying, "Ah, I’m full. I’m going out for a walk. Don’t follow me."

With that, she left alone.

"Auntie is acting really strange tonight..."

Theresa’s poor acting had caught Kiana’s attention. Not long after Theresa left, Kiana made an excuse and quietly followed her.

Then Fu Hua stood up as well: "Sorry, I have something to attend to tonight, so I’ll be going out for a bit."

"Haha," Himeko chuckled, noticing how quickly the room had emptied, "Mei, it’s just the two of us now. That’s rare. But with all those noisy little ones gone, the house feels a bit... empty."

"Yeah... yes... Instructor Himeko."

Beep beep~

At that moment, Himeko’s phone rang. After finishing the call, Himeko smiled apologetically. "I’m sorry, Mei, I have to go as well. I couldn’t take off during the storm last time and almost missed the big event, so I planned to modify the Hyperion when I got back. We’re trying to transfer the Moonlight Throne’s powerful engine onto the Hyperion, but the engineers ran into some trouble and need my input. So~ excuse me~"

"It’s fine, Instructor Himeko." Mei smiled gently. "Go handle your work, leave the housework to me."

...

Meanwhile, after leaving the dormitory, Theresa made her way to the academy’s most secure archive room.

Because Bronya’s injuries were in her brain, St. Freya’s current medical capabilities could heal her physical wounds but were powerless against the mental and consciousness-related damage. Theresa had a vague memory of seeing some confidential files related to consciousness and the brain, so she wanted to check if there was a way to heal Bronya’s mind.

What she didn’t realize was that a white figure was quietly following her into the room...

...

In a ward at the school hospital, a quiet girl lay on the bed.

It was Bronya, who had been rescued from the operating room but still showed no signs of waking up.

Though it was already late, a blue-gray figure entered the room. The visitor skillfully pinched Bronya’s wrist, as if an experienced Chinese doctor, though her voice still sounded young.

"Well... Although her pulse is weak, it’s stable. It seems she’s out of danger. The reason she hasn’t woken up is due to damage at the consciousness level, right? In that case, let’s use Fenghuang Down..."

After analyzing Bronya’s condition, the girl with long blue-gray hair gently placed her hand on Bronya’s forehead, and a strange red light flickered.

Suddenly, the girl on the bed, who had been lying still like a doll, finally showed faint signs of movement on her face...

...

"Durandal, you have a new mission."

"Overseer Otto, please give me your orders."

"The time is right. It’s time to bring the white-haired girl home."

"Yes, sir."

Meanwhile, the top leader of the Schicksal Headquarters gave a secret order to his strongest Valkyrie.

"One more thing," Otto added just as Durandal was preparing to carry out her mission.

"Any additional instructions, Bishop Otto?"

"Bring the other white-haired girl we’ve been tracking. Also, if you encounter the Fourth Herrscher, bring her back if possible. If not, eliminate her and recover the Desire Gem. Don’t let her interfere with my plan."

"Understood."

...

"Lin Ling, look! I can walk!"

At a distant Anti-Entropy base, a green-haired girl, still walking awkwardly like a baby learning to walk, called out in joy.

She quickly beckoned the white-haired girl next to her to watch.

"Wow! My wife is amazing! Keep going, my wife!" Lin Ling cheered excitedly. "At this rate, you’ll be back to normal in no time."

"Hmph! You don't even thank me! I’m the one who built that armor!" a red-haired girl, feeling ignored and like she was being fed dog food, grumbled.

"Sorry, I almost forgot." Lin Ling turned to Tesla, smiling, "Thank you so much, Miss Tesla. I can only repay you with my body!"

"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting now..."

Before Tesla could voice her dissatisfaction.

"Lin Ling!"

Wendy, who had just been learning to walk like a baby, suddenly approached Lin Ling with a fierce aura.

"W-Wife..." Lin Ling stammered. "I-I was just kidding... Ah!? Look! You’re walking normally now!"

----

Chapter 75 (Part 1)

At the same time, at St. Freya Academy.

Due to the previous incident involving the ME Society, Bronya couldn't bring herself to fight against her companions. To free herself from Cocolia's control, she chose to burn the biochip implanted in her brain.

However, this action also caused damage to her brain, leading her to fall into a deep sleep from which she could not awaken.

Even the advanced technology at St. Freya Academy was unable to wake her up.

In an effort to save Bronya, Theresa went to the underground central church within the academy. This hidden location housed some of the highest-level biotechnology developed by Schicksal. She hoped to find a cure for Bronya here.

Unaware that a sneaky girl with a ponytail was quietly following her.

Once she reached the underground database, Theresa immediately initiated a search program to locate data related to brain function and consciousness.

"Damn it, has he hidden the information again?"

Strangely, because this technology involved secrets related to 'Sirin,' most of it was classified as top-secret. The only accessible record was related to the Second Eruption.

"Is it from that time? Whatever, I don’t have time to worry about that. Database, retrieve the data."

Theresa commanded the machine.

Just then, Kiana noticed that the light and shadows in the entire basement shifted, and Theresa's figure disappeared.

"Huh? Auntie vanished? I need to follow her... Ah?"

As the girl hurried to follow, she suddenly found her vision becoming blurry.

'Virtual space constructed. Time: 3:00 PM, February 7, 2000.

Location: Babylon Laboratory, Siberia.'

A strange voice echoed in her ears.

"Where... am I?"

When Kiana’s vision cleared again, it was as if time and space had shifted. She now stood in the middle of a vast, snowy plain.

At first, she was confused and unsure of what to do. But then, she encountered a figure she had always dreamed of meeting: her mother—Cecilia.

Together with her mother, they defeated the Herrscher of the Void, Sirin, who had instigated the Second Eruption.

"Lady Cecilia... Can I hold you just a little longer? Just a little longer, please," Kiana said, her voice filled with the joy of victory, as she hugged her long-lost mother.

"Of course... You can hold me as long as you want. You’ve done well, Kiana." Cecilia gently stroked her daughter’s head.

"Mmm... Hehe~"

But at that moment of familial bliss...

"Kiana!? What are you doing here?" came a puzzled and surprised voice.

Kiana turned around to see Theresa, looking quite bewildered. She proudly replied, "Theresa? Haha, you’re too late! Lady Cecilia and I have already defeated the Second Herrscher!"

"Huh? What are you talking about, Kiana?" Theresa asked, confused. "There’s no one else here..."

"What do you mean, no one? Lady Cecilia is right here beside me...!" Kiana turned back, only to realize that the gentle, intellectual woman who had been standing next to her was now gone, and the snowfield had vanished as well. In its place was a dim, mechanical room.

Theresa rushed forward and tried to pull Kiana away. "How did you sneak into this data space? We need to leave immediately; this place is dangerous... huh?"

Boom!

Suddenly, an explosion tore open the door to the data space.

"To avoid hindering our mission, I ask that you leave, Dean," Fu Hua appeared, but she wasn’t alone.

"You!?" Hearing the voice of her student, Theresa sensed that something was wrong and immediately stepped forward to shield Kiana.

But another figure with blonde hair blocked her, wielding a lance.

"Durandal, what is the meaning of this?" Theresa recognized the person in front of her as Durandal, the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal.

"Apologies, Lady Theresa. These are the Overseer's orders."

Fu Hua then walked toward the white-haired girl, who was trembling with fear, confusion, and uncertainty.

"Class monitor..." Kiana hurriedly asked, staring at the gray-haired, fully armed figure before her. "Where are we? Where’s my mother?"

With a heavy sigh, Fu Hua delivered the harsh truth. "Kiana, your mother isn’t here. All of this is just your fantasy."

Chapter 75.2: The Paramecium is Caught/Escaped/Establish a United Front Against Schicksal and Anti-Trust

"All this is just your fantasy." Fu Hua's cold words suddenly shattered Kiana's once-burning heart.

"No, impossible! You're lying!" Kiana grabbed Fu Hua's shoulders tightly, disbelief etched across her face. "Mom has always been by my side! We just defeated the Second Herrscher together; I protected my mom. Give my mom back to me!"

"From the moment you entered this data space, you've been standing there." Although reluctant, Fu Hua still told the harsh truth to the girl on the verge of collapse. "This is all an illusion done by the Herrscher, making you immerse yourself in your own dream. Everything you have seen and experienced is fake. The Cecilia you are looking for, the mother you are trying so hard to protect, is just an illusion created by your desire."

"No... Impossible..."

Though she continued to deny it, Kiana's body had already collapsed to the ground. She covered her face with her hands and uttered a painful wail, or... an unwilling echo...

"Mom must be here! I will definitely find her! Oh! And there is that magic spell!! Ich☆liebe☆dich! As long as you recite it, any wish will come true!"

This German phrase was the universal spell that Kiana had received in her dream. As long as she recited it, the world would become as beautiful as she desired...

Unfortunately, it was all fake.

The chanting of the 'universal' magic spell ended...

But her mother's figure did not appear.

Only a girl, whose dream was completely shattered, began to transform into a Herrscher out of despair...

"Ah..."

Fu Hua sighed softly, looking at the white-haired girl before her, whose eyes gradually glowed with amber light.

"No, this time, the world will not change according to your thoughts... This Dream, it's time to wake up..." Then, the moon armor on Fu Hua's body emitted an orange light, and a mask fell onto her face. She stepped forward and punched Kiana hard...

...

"Overseer, Fu Hua has captured the target, and Theresa has been suppressed. How should we proceed?" Durandal, who had fought with Theresa and easily gained the upper hand, even knocking her to the ground in a short time, called the Archbishop of Schicksal again.

"Hehe, since Theresa is my lovely granddaughter, let her go. However, hasn't the other little girl been caught yet?"

"I'm very sorry, Overseer, but we haven't found any traces of Miss Lin Ling and the Fourth Herrscher at St. Freya Academy."

"Then ignore her for now, and bring the target in your possession to headquarters quickly. Still, I am very interested in that little girl."

"Yes."

...

After Durandal and Fu Hua took Kiana away, Theresa, injured by Durandal, weakly raised her head from the ground. She connected to the artificial intelligence Ai·Hyperion:

"Ai-chan, notify Himeko to prepare for an attack immediately. The target is the Schicksal Headquarters... Also, transfer Bronya to the Hyperion... We... don't have much time... Kiana... We will definitely come to save you!"

Although her voice was very weak, Theresa's tone was full of determination.

However, she also knew that the power of St. Freya Academy alone could not compete with the Schicksal Headquarters.

So, after notifying Ai-chan, she immediately dialed another mysterious number...

...

"Ms. Lin Ling! Come over here quickly!"

Just as a white-haired girl who had escaped a disaster was selecting weapons in the anti-entropy arsenal, Dr. Tesla, with red twin ponytails, suddenly sent a communication, urgently asking her to come over.

"What's wrong, Grandme Tesla?"

"Grandma?!" Hearing the outrageous name, Dr. Lobster was furious. "Be serious! I have something important to say! Come over here!"

"What serious matter? Has the express delivery that the uncle sent to me arrived? Is it necessary for an executor to personally notify me for such a small matter?"

"We'll talk about the express delivery later. Your parents called me! Come over here!"

"Parents?" Lin Ling was very confused. She didn't even know she had parents... But she quickly reacted. "Could it be that they're being targeted by him? Could it be that the green guy has officially taken action?"

Without time to think about it, Lin Ling immediately pulled Wendy, who could walk like a normal person with the help of leg armor, and rushed to Dr. Tesla's location.

"Great, Lin Ling, I'm glad you're okay."

After arriving at the battleship where Tesla was, Lin Ling and Theresa, who was on the screen, immediately found each other.

"Oh~ Auntie, I missed you so much after not seeing you for two days~" Lin Ling greeted warmly. "By the way, you've even found Anti-Entropy? Do you miss me that much? I am really touched~ Unfortunately~ due to some irresistible reasons, I can't take our relationship further~"

"Stop talking nonsense! Cough, cough!" Although Theresa, who had just lost another niece, felt rare comfort after seeing Lin Ling safe and sound, she was still a little angry at the other party's nonsensical chatter.

Moreover, she had been injured in the battle with Durandal not long ago and couldn't help coughing up a trace of blood foam.

Seeing this, Lin Ling quickly put away her playful smile and asked with concern, "Auntie! Why are you coughing up blood? Don't scare me! What happened?"

"It's a bit complicated~ I'll make it short. Kiana... was captured by Grandpa!..."

Theresa then told Lin Ling and Dr. Red and Blue of Anti-Entropy about Kiana's capture and Fu Hua's betrayal.

"Mophead!" Tesla looked at Einstein very nervously. "It seems that the madman Otto is ready to take action officially. We have to act too. We must not let the Second Eruption that caused the deaths of tens of millions of people happen again!"

"Yeah." Einstein nodded, then asked an important question, "Ms. Theresa, how did you handle the engine of the Moonlight Throne?"

"We are installing it on the Hyperion." At this moment, Himeko's figure appeared on the screen again. She said, "But it happened suddenly, and it will take some time, so we went there on the transport ship first."

"What?! Transport ship?" Tesla was shocked after hearing this. "You're so brave; you dare to attack the headquarters of Schicksal in a transport ship?"

"Haha." Himeko laughed. "Aren't there allies like you?"

Einstein, understanding the urgency of the matter, said, "Please hold on, everyone in Saint Freya; our reinforcements will be here soon."

Afterward, Wendy, who was a little confused, and Lin Ling, who pretended to be confused, boarded the battleship of Anti-Entropy and embarked on the mission to attack Otto.

...

It turned out that as early as when 'Welt lite' invaded Saint Freya Academy, other high-level members of Anti-Entropy took the opportunity of 'Welt lite' causing trouble in the academy to quietly avoid everyone's surveillance, especially that of Archbishop Otto of Schicksal, and contacted Theresa, the Dean of Saint Freya Academy.

They told Theresa all the secrets about the clone K423, also known as Kiana, and Otto's plan to revive the Second Herrscher.

Then, due to common goals and similar ideas, the two forces that were supposed to be hostile secretly formed an anti-Otto alliance.

Additionally, the faction of anti-entropy conservatives gave the Moonlight Throne battleship, equipped with a mysterious and strange engine, to St. Freya Academy almost for free.

All this was done to join forces today to deal with Otto's insane plan.

---