AQK 031-050 (Patreon)

AQK 031-055

Chapter 31: Arrogant Enemies

"Bang."

Accompanied by the flash of fire, a autonomous defense robot was instantly destroyed, and the sizzling current emitted a puff of black smoke.

As the base of Anti-Entropy, it is naturally impossible for only the Titan troops to defend.

After all, although the Titan is very powerful, it is too large and not suitable for activities in a small space.

On the other hand, funds are also a problem.

Something like the Titan which costs hundreds of millions to manufacture, are more similar to the super-high-tech weapons in the hands of major countries.

Every time this weapon is used, it is basically burning money.

Although Anti-Entropy, which controls North America, is not poor, it is not to the point of squandering money.

In order to fill the gap in basic operations and reduce costs, Anti-Entropy has developed these small and flexible autonomous combat machine robots.

After being equipped with conventional weapons, they can be used to deal with more common enemies.

However...

Among the two invaders, Mei has nothing to say. Although her family swordsmanship is very sharp, it is useless against firearms.

But Kiana is different.

With superior physical fitness and fighting instincts, plus the gunfighting skills that have been passed down for hundreds of years in the Kaslana family and taught by Siegfried himself, She is definitely not an ordinary person.

For the siege of these autonomous machines, she only needs to follow her intuition to dodge the necessary bullets, and then she can accurately shoot these autonomous machines with the Artemis' Guardian, which has the power comparable to a sniper rifle.

"Hehe, that's all."

With the last bullet destroying the autonomous machine that tried to attack stealthy, Kiana's face was full of confidence as she looked down on these autonomous machines.

But the next moment, she threw away her confidence and turned her head with expectation.

"How is it, Mei? Am I good?"

It is certainly gratifying to clear out the enemies that are in the way, but for Kiana, she wants to hear Mei's praise.

"Hmm..."

Mei also saw Kiana's little thoughts and nodded.

Of course, this is not to cater to her.

For the skills that Kiana just showed, she really admired and envied her.

It is certainly a good feeling to win without doing anything,

But for Mei, she just stood aside and was protected by others without being able to intervene.

This feeling of powerlessness is really uncomfortable...

Although her IQ is often offline, compared with her IQ, Kiana's EQ is still above the passing line.

"Mei, let's go!"

When she noticed Mei's forced smile, Kiana took the initiative to change the subject.

"Hmm..."

She buried the feeling of powerlessness deep in her heart and nodded when she recalled the main purpose of this trip.

The elevator to the underground base was within reach.

But...

The elevator display showed that it was rising.

Looking at that simple number,

Mei suddenly felt panic for no reason.

She didn't even understand why she felt this sudden feeling.

But the very intuitive Kiana also felt the same as Mei. She stared at the closed elevator door solemnly.

"Ding."

The elevator arrived and then slowly opened.

The two people's sight bumped into the leisurely, hooded, blue-haired man in the elevator.

"Oh?"

Seeing the two figures, Welt(Clone)'s frivolous expression revealed a hint of happiness, just like a hunter finding his prey.

"Are you waiting for me at the door?"

He was very satisfied.

“Not bad, not bad. I thought it would take some time to catch you.”

From the moment this man appeared, the atmosphere in the air became extremely heavy.

The pressure was like a mountain pressing them, making Mei unable to speak, and her lowered fingertips trembled uncontrollably because of the fear in her heart.

Danger... Extremely dangerous!

The biological instinct to avoid harm made Mei realize that the man in front of her, with his very annoying temperament, was the most terrifying enemy she had ever seen so far.

If they confronted each other head-on...

Would she die? She would definitely die!

Mei had no doubts about this suspicion.

Suddenly...

A warmth came from between her fingers.

Mei paused and looked down.

It was Kiana holding her hand.

She raised her head and met Kiana's blue eyes.

The emotion in them was encouragement and comfort.

It was like saying, "I will protect you," the same.

Instantly, Mei felt an emotion different from negative emotions such as fear, panic, and uneasiness in her heart.

This was courage!

The fear in her heart was dispelled by this sudden courage, and her trembling fingertips calmed down.

"Hey, who allowed you to do so many little movements in front of me?"

As the voice sounded, a terrifying gravity acted on the two of them.

This sudden change made Mei lie on the ground.

Kiana was better, because she reacted in time and had a strong tolerance, only kneeling on one knee.

This made Welt(Clone) frown and feel unhappy.

Feeling that he was disobeyed, Welt(Clone) was upset and instantly controlled the gravity, arranging a stronger attack for Kiana that was more powerful than Mei's.

"Bang."

Without a doubt, the gravity of more than ten tons instantly pressed Kiana to the ground.

Only after seeing this did Welt(Clone) show a satisfied expression. His irritable mood also calmed down.

With a condescending attitude, he glanced at the two people who were lying on the ground with difficulty.

In a disgusting tone, he said frivolously and playfully. "Okay, let me guess which one is my kind."

As he said this, he glanced at Kiana and Mei, and finally stopped his gaze on Mei.

"Oh... It's you."

"It's really a surprisingly weak..."

He spat out the words full of contempt.

Welt(Clone)'s somewhat twisted face appeared a little dissatisfied.

“I thought there would be something remarkable”

"Forget it, I don't have any expectations for you anyway."

Listening to these words full of contempt and ridicule, Mei felt it was ridiculous.

Feeling her body weighing as much as a thousand pounds and unable to move, the previous feeling of powerlessness reappeared.

Courage…

What's the point in this sheer power disparity?

Mei was helpless about what was happening in front of her, she hated herself for being so weak.

Why?

I have nothing...

"Click"

The sound of bones rubbing against each other rang in her ears, causing Mei to look at the source of the sound.

It was Kiana who was also crushed.

At this moment, she was struggling to stand up tremblingly with great difficulty. This move is undoubtedly a struggle against the gravity exerted on the body.

"You can still struggle under my gravity field that is dozens of times stronger than mine? Interesting."

This time, Welt(Clone) did not increase the gravity to crush Kiana like before, but showed a little teasing at the same time.

Originally, he was going to see the quality of Mei as the third Herrscher.

But Mei's powerless appearance, without any struggle, really made him lose interest.

But this scumbag who accompanied her, with this kind of disgusting tenacity like a bug, really made him want to crush it!

"As a reward, and also to kill time, I will play with you!"

-----

Chapter 32: Stubborn Resistance

Hardship, pain—Kiana could feel every cell in her body wailing from the brutal gravity.

Witnessing that wanton, playful smile, she knew that this annoying man was not serious at all; he was just playing.

The difference in strength between her and her opponent was like a chasm. This was something Kiana had noticed from the beginning, thanks to her keen intuition.

But...

Looking at her opponent's arrogant expression, Looking at his wanton mockery and contempt for Mei, For everything about this annoying man, Kiana felt disgust and unwillingness rising from the bottom of her heart.

She absolutely did not want to lose to this vile man.

Anger, unwillingness, the desire to protect Mei, the desire to protect this city, and to uphold the Kaslana name—driven by these emotions, Kiana struggled to get up from the ground, raised the Artemis' Guardian, and aimed it at Welt(Clone), her face filled with anger.

"I'm going to blow up your disgusting face!"

The trigger was pulled. With a "bang," the bullet constructed from Honkai energy flew toward Welt(Clone)!

At the speed of the bullet, such a short distance only took a moment.

But now, for some reason, the bullet was moving so slowly.

Was it an illusion? Of course not!

This bullet was indeed moving at a speed visible to the naked eye which was comparable to a snail's pace, as if it were stuck in a quagmire.

Welt(Clone) looked at the bullet with contempt, stretched out his hand, and lightly tapped it.

In an instant, the strong gravity acted on the bullet, crushing it into a light spot and making it dissipate.

Then, he looked at Kiana with a playful expression and motioned for her with his finger.

"Bang."

The horizontal gravity field smashed Kiana against the wall.

Welt(Clone) glanced at the Artemis' Guardian on the ground with some disdain.

The gravity field that emerged instantly acted on the body of the Artemis' Guardian, causing it to immediately fall apart and turn into a piece of scrap metal.

"Kiana!"

Without the same strength and willpower, Mei could only watch helplessly, sadness filling her eyes.

Powerless. Powerlessness.

The unbearable feeling of powerlessness.

Just like being in the question-and-answer space, crying while holding the bloodstained Kiana.

I don't want this...

So, I must seek strength.

Herrscher...

Seeking the power of the Herrscher...

No, no.

There isn't enough Honkai energy.

With the current concentration of Honkai energy, even if she voluntarily transform herself into a Herrscher, she won't be able to.

There's nothing she can do.

Despair filled her heart, and Mei bit her lips tightly, drawing blood from the pressure.

Inadvertently, she noticed the glasses she had obtained earlier lying quietly beside her.

They had probably fallen out of her pocket due to the sudden gravity.

But...

What good is this fallen glasses?

Though these glasses were indestructible and could automatically adjust their prescription, neither feature would alleviate the current desperate situation.

Mei looked at the useless glasses dejectedly.

Speaking of which, she hadn't worn them since winning them. She probably wouldn't have the chance to wear them in the future.

Thinking of this, Mei took the glasses with difficulty and put them on.

Suddenly, her vision became clearer and more expansive.

Ah, is this the ability to adjust the prescription?

However, Mei immediately felt something was wrong.

She suddenly realized that her mind, previously muddled by powerlessness and frustration, had become clear.

At the same time, a strong power appeared to surge within her.

…

Unaware of the changes in Mei, Welt(Clone) looked at the pained expression on Kiana's face and couldn't help but feel relieved.

"What a great expression."

With a bit of bad taste, in compliance with the tyranny in his heart, Welt(Clone) began to increase the gravity on Kiana.

However, he did not increase it all at once.

Instead, he raised it slowly, by tons.

"Hahaha, this feeling of getting heavier and more painful isn't very pleasant."

Welt(Clone), growing more excited, described it with great interest. "You will gradually feel your internal organs being crushed and your bones being pulverized. That feeling must be very pleasant, right?"

Then, he laughed mockingly.

"Beg me. If you beg me, I might let you go."

That said...

But just looking at his expression, it was clear that this despicable man would never let Kiana go.

He said this only to see how humbling Kiana would become in order to survive.

In response, the struggling Kiana spoke under the pressure of gravity, using all her strength to utter a few words.

Welt(Clone)’s excited expression faltered when he heard the extremely faint words..

"What? I can't hear you. What are you saying?"

Thinking Kiana was about to surrender, he reduced the gravity field just enough for her to speak.

But for this...

Kiana simply repeated her words.

"Dream on!"

These two words reached Welt(Clone)'s ears clearly, making his excited smile vanish instantly.

His previously joyful mood was like a cornfield trampled by a wild boar, and a surge of anger rose within him.

This feeling of being fooled drove him to madness.

"Damn bastard! How dare you fool me!"

With overwhelming fury, a more terrifying gravity field than before was unleashed on Kiana.

Under his deliberate control, the gravity field was confined to a level that made Kiana feel as though life was worse than death—tortured, but not killed.

Kiana was in agony, but she clenched her teeth and tried not to make a sound.

It hurts. It really hurts.

But she never wanted to see this bastard who took pleasure in torturing others die because of her wailing.

Just seeing that disgusting expression, Kiana felt it was more painful than the physical pain she had endured.

At the same time...

For the pain inflicted on her body, Kiana felt a sudden sense of déjà vu.

It was as if... she had experienced this pain before, or even something worse.

Though it was somewhat perpleSin, it was precisely this feeling that allowed Kiana to endure the pain more.

"...Damn bastard!"

Welt(Clone) noticed Kiana’s defiance.

When he found that he could not achieve his goal, and that he wasn’t receiving the satisfaction he sought from her suffering, his face twisted with murderous intent.

"In that case, you can die!"

Originally, Welt(Clone) wanted to play with this bastard because he thought it was fun and could relieve his boredom. But Kiana’s stubbornness was like that of a stink bug. It disgusted him.

So, he was no longer going to suppress his abilities.

"Look, I'll let you understand what is..."

Before he could finish his words, Welt(Clone)’s face suddenly changed, and he looked behind him.

This terrifying Honkai energy?!

-----

Chapter 33: When the Thunder Roars

Red arcs of electricity wrapped around her body.

At this moment, Mei was wearing the glasses she had previously regarded as useless, and she was emitting a terrifying and powerful Honkai energy from her body.

This look of power that radiated from her was obviously completely different from the weak and helpless appearance she had just moments ago.

"What's going on?"

For this earth-shaking change, Welt(Clone)'s annoying face was full of confusion and bewilderment.

Why did this useless person who was originally lying on the ground, become so powerful in just a few minutes after turning around?

The puzzled Welt(clone) began to feel irritated by this development, which was beyond his control.

"Forget it!"

He simply stopped thinking about it and focused his attention on Mei, who had changed so dramatically.

"Although I don't understand why a waste like you suddenly changed so much..."

"But... if this is all you have, you're still too young to resist me!"

Although he could sense the Honkai energy emanating from Mei, Welt(Clone) did not consider her an equal. He still spoke in an extremely arrogant manner.

"Submit to me!"

"It just so happens that I am a little tired of those useless subordinates. Since you can show such power, I will allow you to submit to me!"

This attitude of superiority—like everything was as it should be, and that his words should be respected and obeyed—was evident in his tone.

"As long as you submit to me, I can consider letting this bastard go."

Although he was very angry with Kiana, the bastard who disobeyed and resisted him, and wanted to tear her into pieces, if Mei was willing to submit and become his loyal subordinate, then, as a superior, he could consider showing mercy and forgiving her.

To Welt(Clone), this was already a great gift to his subordinates.

You should know that people who disobey him usually only meet one end: being crushed to pieces by his terrifying gravity field in pain.

"Okay, make your choice quickly! I don't have much patience to waste here!"

Welt(Clone) urged Mei to make a decision, his impatience clear, and his words were extremely arrogant.

Faced with the great anti-entropy leader Welt(Clone)'s order to surrender, how should she answer without even thinking?

Of course, it was natural.

Faced with this rude and arrogant order, Mei looked at Welt(Clone) without thinking about it, as if she were looking at a circus clown.

"...?! What's that look?!"

Welt(Clone)’s forehead was deeply hurt by this look, and his face twisted with fury. "How dare you stare at me like that?!"

"Okay, okay, one by one, you damn bastards are disobeying me!"

"In that case, don't surrender!"

"I take back what you said before. You lowly bastards are only worthy of being crushed by my power. Smash!"

Words full of brutality and murderous intent reached Mei's ears.

However, Mei did not show any cowardice or fear at this moment.

She simply opened her red eyes, reflected by the glasses, and slowly raised one arm without losing her composure.

Looking at the completely different visual effect, she followed her instincts and clenched her fist.

In an instant, the Honkai energy surged in the small space around her.

The sound of red thunder crackled, flowing out from Mei's fingers.

"You dare to hurt Kiana and destroy the weapon given to her by Kiana's relatives?!"

She looked up and fixed her gaze on Welt(Clone)'s twisted face. Her face was as cold as ice, and a strong murderous intent rippled from her every word.

"I will not forgive you. Absolutely not!"

"Haha, then give it a try!"

Welt(Clone), who was not frightened at all, was a little excited by it, his face full of violence.

"When I tear your disgusting mouth apart, I want to see if you can still do this!"

"Let you feel my full strength!"

As he said this, the terrifying gravity field fell toward Mei's position.

"Under a hundred times the gravity, you will be crushed to pieces!"

Instantly, the air changed.

It became sticky, like glue.

The gravity field fell directly onto Mei.

Seeing this, Welt(Clone) showed a cruel smile.

The only result for this bastard who was hit directly by his move would be to be crushed to pieces.

This time, he did not hold back.

Because he was extremely angry at the attitudes of the two people one after another, Welt(Clone) almost exerted all his strength and used the gravity he could control to the extreme.

It stands to reason that next, he would see Mei being pressed to the ground in an instant, turning into a pile of rotten meat with blood splattering everywhere.

But...

Why?

As time passed, Welt(Clone)’s expression changed from initial confidence to confusion and horror.

How is this possible?

This damn bastard was clearly in the hundred times gravity field of this master, but why didn’t she waver at all? She didn’t even show a strained expression?!

Looking at Mei’s calm face s if she were unaffected, Welt(Clone) even doubted whether he had failed to apply the gravity field to her.

However, from the heavy air visible to the naked eye, that area was clearly covered by gravity. But if that was the case... then why didn’t his gravity field have any effect at all?!

Mei remained calm.

The reason she wasn’t affected was very simple. A hundred times the gravity was too light for her, now that she possessed some of the power of the Herrscher of Thunder and her physical condition was temporarily enhanced.

This level of gravity would have no effect on a normal Herrscher.

Even if Mei only possessed some of the power and was not a full Herrscher, this degree of gravity would only make her body feel heavier.

Of course, she didn’t have only this method of resisting gravity. If given some time, Mei could completely use some of her authority to manipulate the electromagnetic force to offset this gravity field.

Manipulating the movement of the electromagnetic field to affect gravity—that is the power of the Herrscher of Thunder.

It’s just that this requires some brains to play with.

Mei wasn’t lacking in brains now.

As soon as she put on these glasses, she felt her IQ rising constantly.

But it seems she is still a little lacking in pure knowledge, so Mei is still a bit confused about how to use the power. Right now, she could only bear the gravity field.

But it didn’t matter. This level wasn’t painful for her.

“Is your attack over?”

Seeing Welt(Clone)’s ugly face, Mei remained calm.

The red thunder surged all over her body, reflecting her face like that of a god or demon.

“Then it’s my turn now. No objections?”

-----

Chapter 34: The Power of the Glasses

"What a joke!"

Listening to the words that sounded like a declaration and seeing Mei's calm and composed demeanor, Welt(Clone)'s face twisted as he felt that everything was mocking him.

He roared, repeating over and over that he was applying a gravity field to Mei's position.

"How can I let you get through this easily with my hundred times gravity?!"

"Die, die, die, die, die! Die!"

Welt(Clone) struggled with all his might, his words meaningless and filled with the aura of a loser.

Yes... meaningless.

Simply based on Welt(Clone)'s physical strength and genetic perfection, a hundred times gravity was already his limit.

If he tried to go higher, even at the cost of his life, there would be no breakthrough.

This was the limit that inferior beings could reach.

At this level, he could do nothing to Mei, who had mastered part of the power of the Herrscher of Thunder.

Even if the power of the Herrscher of Thunder was only partial, it was enough to match the Gem-given Herrscher in the state of the Queen of Thunder in the Moon Shadow Chapter in the manga.

The Queen of Thunder could crush the stronger Welt(Clone) with just a wave of her hand.

Mei who had mastered the power of the Herrscher of Thunder would naturally not lose to Welt(Clone)'s original clone in front of her.

With calm eyes, Mei let the sea of blood-red electric arcs swallow Welt(Clone) completely.

Under this relentless attack, even the screams lasted only a moment.

——The third Divine Key passed down from the previous era: the Key of Sanction·Seven Thunders of Retribution.

The enemy's body structure would be broken down from the atomic level by the bullets fired from the Divine Key, truly crushing their bones and turning them to dust.

Mei who had mastered part of the power of the Herrscher of Thunder could naturally achieve a similar effect.

Of course, since it was only part of the power, Mei could only reach the molecular level at most.

However, this was more than enough to deal with inferior beings like Welt(Clone).

Once Welt(Clone)'s only proud method failed to work on Mei, the battle was practically over.

All Mei needed to think about now was how to deal with her opponent.

Of course, using pure lightning to burn the opponent was an option, and it would make Welt(Clone) feel immense pain. It would also serve as revenge for everything he did to Kiana.

But this kind of enemy abuse obviously didn't align with Mei's personality.

With her shy and introverted nature, her decision to kill Welt(Clone) came from the rational thinking provided by the glasses. It had helped immensely.

So, Mei chose the fastest and most direct method.

This was not entirely due to her personality. It was also partly because her IQ, enhanced by the glasses, allowed her to make the decision to master some of the powers of the Herrscher of Thunder.

After dealing with Welt(Clone), Mei took off her glasses and went to see Kiana.

"Are you okay, Kiana?"

The wise expression faded, and her worried eyes nervously fell on Kiana. Her words were filled with concern.

"...I'm fine, Mei."

To avoid worrying Mei, Kiana sat up despite the pain all over her body. She smiled and shook her head, but the forced smile couldn't be concealed.

You could tell from her appearance.

How could Kiana be fine?

Her originally pretty face was covered with scratches and dirt, and she was still pale from enduring several bouts of intense pain.

Her clothes were also slightly torn due to Welt(Clone)'s abuse.

The only positive thing was that, apart from the wounds, she didn't seem to have any serious injuries.

But that was only on the surface.

You should know that Welt(Clone)'s gravity field completely affects a person's entire body.

Unlike the appearance, the fragile internal organs didn't have such strong endurance.

Even though she was controlled to a level where she wouldn't die, and her physical strength far exceeded that of an ordinary person, Welt(Clone)'s previous actions had made Kiana's insides a mess.

If it were an ordinary person, this situation would basically be a death sentence.

Fortunately, the Kaslana family has a strong life force, so Kiana was likely only seriously injured and wouldn't die.

As long as she finds a hospital and rests for three or four months, she would probably recover her lively appearance.

However, compared to the physical pain, Kiana's psychological pain at this moment was actually more severe.

The reason was simple.

It could be seen in her dark, sorrow-filled eyes when she looked at the Artemis' Guardian twisted by the gravity field not far away.

It wasn't because she had lost an important weapon.

For Kiana, this Artemis' Guardian was far more important than any weapon.

Through Kiana's eyes, Mei understood the source of Kiana's sadness and sighed.

If she had realized the power contained in these glasses earlier, then everything just now wouldn't have happened, right?

"...Oh, that one just now."

Recalling Mei's attitude earlier, the still confused Kiana looked at Mei with a questioning expression.

Mei was too lazy to explain too much and directly opened the information table of the glasses.

[Glasses that won't break] (activated)

[Just like Hulk's underwear won't break, this pair of glasses has the same property. In addition, this pair of glasses also has the ability to automatically adjust the degree.]

[Hidden attribute 1: Dr. MEI's wisdom]

[Trigger condition: The wearer is the Mei of this era.]

[Effect: Intelligence rises significantly, and the way of thinking becomes more rational.]

[Negative effect: The moral bottom line may become more flexible.]

[Hidden attribute 2: Red Thunder]

[Trigger condition 1: Possessing the Gem of Conquest.]

[Trigger condition 2: The wearer is the Mei of this era.]

[Effect: Acquire some of the power of the Herrscher of Thunder and using them more fluidly.]

[Negative effect: Using the power will consume a lot of Honkai energy.]

[One pair of glasses, double the happiness.]

"This...?!" Kiana was a little surprised.

In addition to the previous introduction, there were so many more details.

So, Mei suddenly became so powerful because of these glasses?

She remembered that she had tried wearing them before but hadn't felt anything.

She hadn't expected these glasses to be limited to Mei.

"...It's all my fault for not paying attention to that little tip before." Mei's face was full of helplessness and regret for her carelessness.

There had been a reminder about these glasses before.

But at the time, she didn't take it seriously because she felt that what she got wasn't very useful.

Besides, because there was no change when Kiana wore them, and because Kiana didn't like wearing glasses, she put them aside in her pocket.

If it weren't for Welt(Clone)'s sudden gravity field, Mei would never have thought about these glasses again until her dying day.

"After this, if we get this kind of strange item again, we must not underestimate it."

A difference in one thought led to such a miserable situation now. Mei had learned from this.

----

Chapter 35: Reunion with Bronya

The monitoring screen is now dark.

The reason is that Mei suddenly rose up and destroyed the surveillance camera while hammering Welt(Clone).

As a result, Cocolia can't see what happens next.

Of course, this is not a problem. Even if she can't see the result, facing Welt(Clone)'s powerful strength, the result is basically doomed.

However...

If she recalls Mei's sharp posture before the monitoring was destroyed, Cocolia's expression becomes unnatural.

According to the researchers, the Honkai energy response detection in that area, according to the standard of Schicksal, is undoubtedly close to the emperor-level Honkai beast.

Although it is far from the level of a Herrscher, the failure she sent out is not a true Herrscher either. It only has the defective gravity manipulation ability derived from its DNA.

Although this kind of failure has the ability to crush a normal A-level Valkyrie of Schicksal, it is not good enough if it encounters an Emperor-level Honkai Beast that is almost comparable to an S-level Valkyrie.

However, this does not mean that Welt(Clone) has no chance of winning. As mentioned before, the Valkyries of Schicksal are basically sensitive units with high attack and low health.

Even S-rank Valkyries are basically in this category.

So, if they are not careful, the S-level Valkyries will fall into Welt(Clone)'s hands.

So... she should be able to win, right?

After thinking for a while, Cocolia herself didn't have much confidence in Welt(Clone).

But it didn't matter.

Although she had the idea of winning when she chose to wake up Welt(Clone), for this defective product, even if he really lost or died, Cocolia would probably just frown, and then use the collected data to improve and create the next, more perfect Welt(Clone) clone.

As a cunning female vixen recognized by the anti-entropy conservatives, she would never put all her treasures in one place.

"Hehe, if you can really defeat that failed product..."

"Then I'll prepare a surprise for you."

Cocolia after all, still had a trump card in her hand that could turn the tide of the battle. She raised her mouth, as if she had thought of how wonderful the expressions on the faces of these two people would be at that time.

...

Having dealt with Sin, but not noticing for a long time, Bronya, who noticed the signs of a disturbance in the underground base, guessed that Mei and Kiana might have encountered an accident. So, she took the initiative to follow the road outside the base to look for the two people.

Soon, in a wide corridor, Bronya saw the two people.

"...Too..."

She was originally a little dissatisfied, but after seeing the miserable look of Kiana, supported by Mei, Bronya swallowed the words she had not uttered and looked at Mei with some doubts.

"What happened to Idiot Kiana?"

Mei sighed and repeated everything that happened just now.

"Is that so..." Bronya understood, and then casually recalled what Mei said about Welt(Clone), and frowned. "A blue-haired man who can control gravity?"

She had never seen a man like that under Mother Cocolia. Such a person...

Then, this person is probably the hidden card of Mother Cocolia.

Thinking of this possibility, Bronya's light gray eyes flashed a little apologetic.

"Sorry, Bronya miscalculated, Sister Mei."

According to Mei, if she hadn't suddenly figured out how the magical glasses work, and completed a big turnaround, her body would probably be cold now.

She had considered that Mother Cocolia would have a certain degree of hidden cards. But, given her trust in the fighting power of Kiana and Mei, Bronya chose to ignore it.

But unexpectedly, Mother Cocolia's cards far exceeded her expectations.

"It has nothing to do with you. Without seeing the future, no one can predict that Kiana and I will encounter such a troublesome enemy."

Mei didn't mean to blame Bronya. She knows that the current situation has nothing to do with Bronya.

On the contrary, she has a lot of problems.

If she had used it earlier and not underestimated the existence of the glasses, then the plan to stop Cocolia would not have been so bumpy, and Kiana would not have been injured so much.

Mei turned her head and glanced at the weak Kiana lying there, and said worriedly: "However, Kiana is not in a good condition now."

Because of the serious injuries and excessive consumption of willpower just now, Kiana has fainted.

In this state of no resistance, she is still in the enemy's lair. It was already dangerous.

Although Kiana said before she fainted that she didn't need to worry about her and should stop Cocolia's plan first, how could Mei be willing to leave Kiana alone in this dangerous place and then go to stop Cocolia alone?

Saving the city is important.

From the perspective of numbers, Kiana's possible danger and the safety of millions of people in this city, from an outsider's perspective, it is more appropriate and correct to choose the latter.

But Mei is not the Hero of Justice from the next set next door.

Although she had the fantasy of becoming a hero when she was a child, she realized that such a thing is simply unrealistic when she grew up.

Life is priceless.

Simply choosing based on numbers, this extremely arrogant behavior does not fit Mei's character.

At the same time, Mei also has special and unparalleled feelings for Kiana, who saved her.

"...Let Project Bunny come."

By looking at her eyes and the way Mei gently stroked Kiana's scarred fingers, Bronya understood her concerns. She called out Project Bunny and gave her a solution.

Since they can't leave, let's take them with them.

Let Project Bunny protect Kiana, and then follow them to stop Mother Cocolia's plan.

As for why Project Bunny wasn't completely left behind to take care of her...

It's because a large part of Bronya's combat power is made up of Project Bunny.

If they meet Cocolia later, what troublesome means will Cocolia take out again?

Then Bronya will definitely have to call Project Bunny back to her side, and then Kiana will be in a dangerous state without anyone around her.

And there is another advantage of bringing Kiana with her: if something unexpected happens later, you can also take Kiana away with you at the first time.

"Hmm."

Mei also understood what Bronya meant. She looked at Kiana, and hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly.

Stopping Cocolia later will basically be a BOSS battle. This kind of situation is undoubtedly very dangerous when bringing a seriously injured teammate.

But she has no choice now. If she chooses to terminate the operation and send Kiana to the hospital, what will happen in the meantime?

If that woman Cocolia makes this Honkai break out early, then the hospital will be an extremely dangerous area, and it will be meaningless to stop Cocolia at that time. So, it is safer to bring Kiana with you.

At the moment when you can master some of the power of the Herrscher, there is no place safer than with Mei.

-----

Chapter 36: The Betrayed Silver Wolf

It stands to reason that mechanical creatures like Project Bunny are very rigid when it comes to taking care of people.

However, given that it is a technological product from the previous era and has taken care of Bronya for many years, Kiana lying in the large mechanical palm of the heavy-armed bunny did not feel many bumps at all under Bronya's special instructions.

It can only be said that she is quite skilled.

Mei was still a little worried while she keeps an eye on Bronya.

While the guide Bronya walks in front.

This base is not small, but rather large.

The walk in the middle is also very stable.

No accidents happen.

It's as if Cocolia didn't find them at all.

Or, she did find them, but has no trump card to stop them?

If so, that's probably the best case.

But will her cunning adoptive mother really be helpless because of this?

Bronya didn’t know.

Although she felt that her actions were cautious enough to basically eliminate Cocolia's ability to resist, the extremely powerful Welt(Clone) that Mei encountered made Bronya realize that she didn’t know everything about her Mother Cocolia.

However, even so, what needs to be done will not change.

Bronya stopped and looked at the door in front of her with a calm face.

"Click."

The door to the main control room opened without even requiring identity verification.

With the opening of the metal door, everything inside was reflected in the eyes of Mei and Bronya.

The computing equipment that had been full before was now empty, and only the end of the room, representing the main control position, still had a figure.

"Is that Cocolia?"

Mei glanced at the figure and looked at the person wearing a dark green coat, a plump figure, a beautiful face, and unusual calmness.

"Hmm..."

Bronya nodded slightly to confirm Mei's question. After seeing Cocolia, Bronya still had a blank expression, but her eyes were full of complexity.

"Hmph, you're finally here."

Cocolia also reacted, hugging her shoulders with both hands, sweeping the two with cold eyes. She paused when her gaze fell on Bronya, then scolded in a somewhat harsh tone: "Bronya, you disappoint me so much."

Most people who know Cocolia basically only have negative words such as insidious, cunning, and cruel for her. Even so, she has things that she cherishes and can give everything for.

—Cocolia’s orphanage. That’s what Cocolia has been doing since she was a Soviet colonel. Even after becoming the executor of Anti-Entropy, this mission has never stopped.

Cocolia treats the children in the orphanage as her own children and loves and trusts them very much.

And Bronya’s actions so far are undoubtedly the most serious betrayal of the trust she has given.

"Bronya is sorry, but she does not regret it."

Cocolia's disappointment and resentment toward her did not shake Bronya's heart. She looked at her adoptive mother calmly, as usual.

Indeed, her adoptive mother has devoted a lot of effort to them in the past.

However, through the experimental accident many years ago, Bronya had already realized the extremely bad nature of her adoptive mother.

For the sake of a momentary pursuit, she can sacrifice the most precious things without hesitation. But after losing them, she will do whatever it takes to win them back.

For such this kind of person, if it weren’t for the fact that her purpose this time was related to saving Seele, Bronya wouldn’t want to get close to her.

"No need to talk too much nonsense with her."

Mei who had a very bad impression of Cocolia interrupted the communication between the two and stared at Cocolia coldly.

She framed her father, tried to destroy the hometown where she grew up, and caused Kiana to be so traumatized. Each of these actions made Mei feel nothing but disdain toward Cocolia.

"I still have to take Kiana to the hospital."

Kiana's current condition is not optimistic. Mei is now extremely anxious.

In this case, she doesn't even want to waste time torturing Cocolia, the culprit; she just wants to get rid of Cocolia as soon as possible and end her evil plan.

"Really? Can you get rid of me in a short time? Anyone can say such big words."

Seeing Mei's anxious mood, Cocolia's expression was somewhat mocking.

Mei, who didn’t realize that the other party was deliberately provoking her, was already in a bad mood, and Cocolia's teasing made it even worse.

"Whether it is a big talk or not, let you experience it yourself."

Blinded by anger and anxiety, Mei didn’t even pay attention to the surrounding environment. She was too lazy to waste time with Cocolia and directly took out the glasses from her pocket.

Then...

A black shadow flashed by.

Mei felt a pain in her wrist, and when she looked down, she found that the glasses in her hand were missing.

Resisting the panic in her heart, she looked at Cocolia.

After seeing the short figure standing next to Cocolia, her pupils shrank slightly.

"Bronya...you?"

Looking at the familiar figure handing the glasses to Cocolia, Mei paused for a moment, puzzled.

Why? Why did Bronya, who was determined to stop the other party just now, stand on Cocolia’s side in such a short time?

"Curious, right?"

In response to this doubt, Cocolia raised her hand and stroked Bronya's cheek with a smile.

Bronya at this time is very different from the image just now.

She is wearing a close-fitting armor made of unknown material, with black as the main color. The original satin hair accessories have been replaced by mechanical products like headphones.

Her light black eyes are now blood red, revealing biting ruthlessness and murderous intent, and the conspicuous red lines on the skin under the corners of her eyes are unique.

Although cold before, she could still detect emotions. Compared to the existing Bronya, this Bronya in front of her is probably closer to a weapon than a person, right?

"After the accident that year, I placed a special control chip in Bronya’s head. Once activated, Bronya can be turned into an emotionless killing weapon."

Cocolia casually let go of her hand and even sighed. "It was just an unintentional act, but I didn’t expect it to come in handy today."

"If I’m not mistaken, your amazing changes all come from these glasses?"

She shook the glasses that Bronya had given her in her hand, with a little mockery.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't have to take out this kind of thing, right?"

Although we can’t see the scene when Mei turned the tables due to deliberate sabotage, we can easily infer the result by carefully considering Mei’s changes before and after.

For an experienced old fox like Cocolia, Mei is still too young.

With a playful look at the somewhat panicked Mei, Cocolia raised the corner of her mouth.

"Now, do you still have the ability to get rid of me in a short time?"

----

Chapter 37: Salted Tuna Sword Performs a Great Service!

Crisis

The current situation is undoubtedly the same crisis as the one she encountered just now.

Mei looked at the cold and unfamiliar Bronya with a grim expression.

Although Bronya is not as powerful as Welt(Clone) in terms of overall combat ability, with her glasses now taken away, Mei has to defeat Bronya herself...

To be honest, describing it as "difficult as ascending to heaven" is probably the most conservative statement.

Aside from close-range, head-on confrontation, all of Mei's abilities are overwhelmed by Bronya.

The presence of Project Bunny has curbed her only advantage over Bronya in close combat.

And these conclusions are based on the analysis of the previous battle.

According to Cocolia, Mei understands that Bronya is now completely an emotionless killing machine.

Compared to the previously unserious Bronya, the controlled Bronya in front of her is undoubtedly more dangerous and difficult to deal with.

Plus, there's also the ignorant Cocolia standing next to her.

This battle is almost impossible to win.

But even so,

It is impossible to retreat.

Seeing the teasing in Cocolia's eyes, Mei knew that this time the opponent would not let her and Kiana escape like before.

So...

"I can only fight."

Mei knew she had no choice but to look stern.

In order to stop Cocolia's plan, protect her hometown, and live safely with the injured Kiana, even with no chance of winning, she could only choose to draw her sword.

"Useless struggle."

Cocolia sneered and commented on Mei's actions. She waved her hand and gave an order to Bronya beside her.

"Bronya, take her down!"

After receiving the order, Bronya raised her head and locked onto Mei with cold, emotionless eyes.

The faint murderous intent emanating from her body seemed to make the air temperature drop several degrees.

Compared to the previous silver-white version, Project Bunny that had appeared to have fallen into a pile of carbon now quietly appeared behind Bronya. The mechanical compound eyes that were synchronized with Bronya glowed.

On the mechanical arm, the close-range combat weapon module emerged, shining under the light.

In the [Black Nucleus] state, Bronya should have used heavy firepower coverage as her main means of combat.

But unfortunately, this is underground.

If too much firepower is used, a collapse could occur and bury them all alive.

Therefore, Bronya judged the surrounding environment as unsuitable for heavy firepower weapons, so she had to choose low-power weapons.

Fortunately, Bronya in the Black Nucleus state originally has a close-combat module.

[Optical camouflage has been activated.]

Accompanied by the cold prompt sound in Bronya's mind, her body slowly disappeared from sight.

"!!!"

Seeing this, Mei was horrified.

Is this... invisibility?!

Having seen this ability in many comic books, Mei looked around in a panic, cursing inwardly. She had no chance of winning against Bronya, and now she had turned invisible. She truly had no chance.

"What should I do..." Mei was anxious upon encountering this unprecedented ability for the first time. Her palms were full of sweat as she gripped the sword's hilt.

The most frustrating thing about invisible enemies is that you can never guess where they are, how they will attack, or when they will strike. In this environment, people's emotions become restless which adds great psychological pressure. Even a short minute becomes psychological torture.

"..."

In her extreme restlessness, Mei didn't collapse. Instead, she calmed herself down after reaching a critical point.

Using the floating method to deal with the sound-based positioning that was usually used to counter invisibility, Bronya's invisibility and stealth were indeed perfect, but it was probably impossible to find any flaws with conventional methods.

But if you think about it,

Why do you have to find flaws to guard against your opponent?

If the opponent has no flaws, then I'll create one.

Thinking of a rough plan in a very short time, Mei took out something she had been carrying.

On the side, Cocolia, who was watching the scene, saw Mei attempting to take something and immediately wanted to order Bronya to stop her.

But after carefully inspecting what it was, Cocolia was confused.

Yes, this was the Salted Tuna Sword, full of slots.

"Is this self-destruction?"

Seeing that Mei wasn't guarding against Bronya but instead chose to take out a salted tuna, even Cocolia with all her knowledge was very confused.

Whether Cocolia was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Salted Tuna or not, Bronya, who had been hiding in the dark and ready to launch an attack, also experienced some emotional fluctuations upon seeing the Salted Tuna.

This directly caused her previously well-concealed breath to become disordered.

This was exactly what Mei wanted.

"Salted Tuna stab!"

After catching Bronya's leaked breath, Mei swung the Salted Tuna sword in her hand without hesitation and activated its special skill.

"Shua!"

In an instant, a huge Salted Tuna emerged from the ground, rushing towards Bronya at a very fast speed.

Everything happened in a very short moment, so even with Bronya's inhuman reaction ability, she couldn't react in time.

It was only thanks to Project Bunny's power that the shield module blocked the Salted Tuna just before it would have struck.

But what was truly outrageous was that the power of the Salted Tuna was so terrifying that even with Project Bunny's strength, it only managed to resist for a moment before the Salted Tuna and Bronya were knocked against the wall with a large sound, causing the wall to tear down!

"...What the hell is this?!"

Because the event happened so suddenly and was beyond imagination, Cocolia was momentarily doubtful.

Why could a Salted Tuna have such strong power?

What's even more outrageous was that the Salted Tuna actually jumped out of the ground.

She'd heard of monkeys jumping out of stones, but never of a salted tuna jumping out of thin air from the ground.

Of course, Mei wouldn't miss this opportunity.

While Cocolia was momentarily confused, Mei grabbed the Salted Tuna and rushed toward Cocolia.

At this point, Cocolia finally reacted. Looking at Mei, she was full of complaints, and her corners of her mouth twitched.

"... Coming directly at me?!"

It would be reasonable for her to be angry.

But seeing Mei holding a Salted Tuna, Cocolia couldn't help but laugh despite herself.

"Alright."

"It's been a long time since I last took action."

Without any fear of Mei approaching, Cocolia grabbed her favorite weapon, which had been prepared and placed aside; Judgment By Dawn.

The broad blue blade possess full of sharp serrations which could easily cut flesh and bone in half.

Effortlessly picking up the heavy Judgment By Dawn, Cocolia smiled slightly.

"Come on!"

---

Chapter 38: Cocolia Falls

The main purpose of the Judgement By Dawn since its design was to deal with large, high-defense creatures. The sharp teeth, combined with sufficient force, can easily split the target in half.

Although from a technological perspective, this weapon which was designed many years ago is not the most advanced, but is more than enough to deal with the humorous Salted Tuna in Mei's hand.

Cocolia was very confident in this, so she did not consider any fancy techniques at all and slashed at Mei with her knife, vowing to chop Mei and the funny Salted Tuna together.

However, when Mei and Cocolia collided, both of them changed their expressions.

"It's so heavy!"

Mei felt numb from the heavy pressure in her palm.

"How is this possible?!"

Cocolia, on the other hand, was not easily defeated after clashing with her Judgement By Dawn. But it was really weird. Instead of hearing a fish getting sliced, the weapon made a "clang, clang, clang" sound as its rotating saw teeth exchanged metal. She looked like as if she'd seen a ghost.

This hardness—this Salted Tuna must be made of soulium, right?

However, the strong smell of seafood proved that this thing was indeed a Salted Tuna.

"...Hm."

The strangeness of the Salted Tuna threw Cocolia's calculations off, but after feeling the power of the Salted Tuna sword, she sneered.

This Salted Tuna is indeed strange. The Salted Tuna that knocked Bronya away just now may be connected to this thing.

However, weapons are all about the person wielding them. If the basic quality is lacking, then even the strongest weapon will be restricted by its user.

Now, based on strength alone, she was completely in the upper hand.

And...

Bronya who had been hit against the wall by Mei's sudden attack had returned to her fighting stance and was charging toward them, though slowly.

"Haha, the situation is settled."

Feeling in control of the situation made Cocolia smile, and she added more force to her swing of Judgement By Dawn.

"Buzz buzz buzz."

Due to her lack of strength, Mei could only watch as Judgement By Dawn headed for her shoulder, struggling bitterly.

The electric saw teeth had already in contact with her clothes, mercilessly tore through them, leaving scars on her skin and flesh.

The pain in her bones made Mei's face pale, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

Cocolia's Judgement By Dawn was pressing down on her from the front, while behind her, the controlled Bronya was quietly approaching.

It was like a losing game.

"Damn it!"

Although she had expected it, Mei still felt unwilling and angry after experiencing this situation again.

In the long-lasting endurance battle that was sure to be lost, Mei's injuries and pain worsened as Judgement By Dawn continued to sink deeper, and the Salted Tuna sword fell to the ground.

Due to this series of misfortunes, she collapses under the mental and physical strain.

Falling to the ground, Mei subconsciously reached for Kiana, closed her eyes in despair, and her consciousness faded into darkness.

"Lock them up..."

Cocolia pulled back Judgement By Dawn when it was about to hit Mei. She looked at Mei and prepared to tie up Mei and Kiana, who was lying in the corner.

However, when her eyes fell on Kiana, Cocolia froze.

"Oh... you're awake?"

Seeing Kiana, who had woken up and was staring at her with slightly open eyes, Cocolia was somewhat surprised and said mockingly:

"But with your current state, it's meaningless even if you wake up."

"You've lost..."

Her voice stopped abruptly.

Feeling the intense pain in her chest, Cocolia looked down in confusion.

A short spear with a strange shape had been inserted into her heart.

"What is this...?"

What's going on?

I’ve obviously won.

Why... is this happening?

Cocolia, who had no idea what was going on, fell to the ground in a daze.

Kiana watched all of this silently, her expression cold and unchanged.

Gold filled her eyes, and the iconic cross pupils of the Herrscher of the Void were glaringly obvious.

On the side, Witnessing Cocolia's end, Bronya had just reacted.

But she did not show any sadness.

Bronya was still in her [Black Nucleus] state. This was a mode merely for being a killing weapon.

And now, she had locked onto Kiana as her target.

From the logic of her control chip, Cocolia was her superior, so Bronya would obey all of Cocolia's orders and protect her when in danger.

Now that Cocolia had been killed by Kiana, she would naturally regard Kiana as an enemy.

As for the [Black Nucleus] state, Bronya, in this state believed that the [enemy] must be eliminated.

After determining that the person she needed to protect was gone, the blackened Project Bunny removed the previous light weapon module and loaded the heavy firepower module instead.

"..."

In response, Kiana slowly stood up.

She gently raised her hand.

The short spear embedded in Cocolia's chest instantly transformed into white silk and returned to her back.

She glanced at Bronya with indifferent eyes, and it seemed that a hint of disdain could be vaguely seen in their depths.

The atmosphere in the air became heavy.

Bronya was the first to enter combat mode, activating tactical optical camouflage and disappearing from Kiana's sight.

Then, she emerged from behind Kiana.

Project Bunny raised the special shotgun mounted on her left arm and unleashed a curtain of fire.

In response, Kiana made no move at all.

The Sub-space lance behind her instantly unfurled into a round curtain.

All the shotgun shells were instantly absorbed and disappeared as they entered the curtain.

Then, the Sub-space lance adjusted slightly.

The shotgun shells fired by Project Bunny were instantly redirected out of the transformed circular curtain, but now the target was Bronya herself.

This was also a common tactic used by the Herrscher of the Void to fight enemies.

Use one entrance to absorb the enemy's attack, then return the attack through the exit.

Ideally, two Sub-space lances would be used.

But unfortunately, Kiana could only use one now.

However, this Sub-space lance wasn’t created by her.

It was specially recalled after sensing the presence of a nearby Sub-space lance.

Nevertheless, this level of power was enough to deal with Bronya.

Although Bronya in the state of Black Nucleus was much stronger than an ordinary Valkyrie, she was still within the A-rank Valkyrie category.

And now, even with multiple debuffs like insufficient Honkai energy and physical injuries, Kiana could easily defeat an A-rank Valkyrie with just this Sub-space lance.

This was proven by Cocolia, who was killed before she could even react.

Unlike other Herrschers who fought with straightforward tactics, the Herrscher of the Void always fought with an element of the unexpected.

"Ding, ding, ding."

The speed of the bullets was very fast, making it almost impossible to dodge them.

So... facing the shotgun shells that were now redirected back, Bronya, very simply, allowed Project Bunny to block them with its alloy shield.

This special alloy shield could block most attacks, including anti-material weapons and high-powered artillery shells.

With Project Bunny's terrifying reaction speed to protect its master, this was undoubtedly a turtle shell.

However, in front of the Herrscher of the Void, the turtle shell meant nothing!

----

Chapter 39: Damn, Where is Judah?!

The smell of disinfectant fills the air.

What she sees is the classic ceiling.

At first, she is a little confused, but then she remembers something and suddenly sits up.

The sudden movement makes the bed frame creak.

She looks around vigilantly and is stunned.

The windowsill reflects the sunlight.

The bracket for hanging the saline bag.

This seems to be... a hospital?

Why?

Mei remembers that she should have been knocked down by Cocolia.

How did she end up in the hospital?

"Hey, Mei is awake!"

A voice familiar to Mei comes from the side, filled with excitement.

She turns her head and looks to the side, seeing Kiana lying on the other bed, leaning on the bed rails.

"Kiana?!"

The moment she sees Kiana, Mei subconsciously breathes a sigh of relief.

Fortunately...

Although she doesn’t know what happened, Kiana is still by her side.

And she looks pretty good.

Hmm... probably pretty good?

Looking at Kiana’s face and all parts of her body that are tightly wrapped in bandages, and there are several bone fixation plates. Mei isn’t sure if her judgment is correct.

"Oh, right!" she says. "What happened?"

Thinking back to what happened before she passed out, she finds herself in the hospital now. Mei can't figure out what's going on, so she looked at Kiana as if hoping to get the answer she wants from her.

"Click."

The door is pushed open. The two look at the door at the same time.

"Bronya?!"

"Shorty Pudding?!"

Kiana and Mei are both a little surprised to see the figure at the door. In their surprised gaze, Bronya sat on an automatic wheelchair as she entered the room.

"Bronya, do you know what happened?" Mei asks.

The question makes Bronya go silent.

Generally speaking, she didn’t know what she did or went through while being eroded by the Black Nucleus. Bronya didn’t even know she would become like that. But...

Bronya touches her aching shoulder, which is covered with a thick hemostatic bandage.

Then she glances at Kiana, her eyes revealing a very complicated emotion.

Although she doesn’t remember, she can only look at the traces at the scene and the scars on Cocolia’s body, which are exactly the same as her shoulder’s injury.

Bronya knows that Kiana must have something to do with Cocolia's death.

…Although she had mentally prepared for this outcome from the beginning and even considered doing it herself, it was just a thought.

No matter how much she disagrees with Cocolia, the adoptive mother, for what she did, she is the benefactor who raised her and provided them with a safe and beautiful childhood.

"Hey, why are you staring at me?!" A little scared by Bronya’s gaze, Kiana felt uncomfortable.

"Nothing, Bronya is just thinking about something."

"...Bronya, do you remember what happened when you were controlled before?"

Recalling Bronya in the state of being eroded by the Black Nucleus, Mei asks tentatively.

"Controlled...?"

Although Bronya had already suspected something, the puzzle in her mind was instantly solved when she heard Mei’s words.

No wonder she had no impression of the previous events.

She was controlled.

It must have been Cocolia's doing...

Normally, Bronya would be very angry thinking about it, but considering that Cocolia is dead, she doesn’t feel any anger anymore.

After thinking it through, Bronya tells Mei and Kiana what she had deduced. Of course, she processes the information, leaving out the part about Cocolia's death, Kiana’s dangerous state, and how she got injured.

With Cocolia's death, the crazy artificial catalysis plan was declared a failure. As long as other anti-entropy executors deal with it later, the large amount of Honkai energy accumulated by Cocolia to implement the plan means that Nagazora City is now safe.

"Regarding Uncle Ryoma, Bronya tried to contact the other anti-entropy executors."

While recovering from her injuries, Bronya wasn’t idle and had been addicted to the computers. Through hacking, she contacted the conservatives who were hostile to Cocolia, known as the famous Crazy Science Duo.

They replied quickly, stating that they would help fix the situation.

This news made Mei happy, and she hugged Bronya’s cheek and kissed her.

Kiana, very jealous about this and became envious.

...

...

...

Far East Branch, Saint Freya Academy

The Principal's Office

The head of the Far East branch, the head of the academic support department of Saint Freya Academy, the granddaughter of the Archbishop of Schicksal, and the current head of the Apocalypse family—Theresa Apocalypse—who holds many titles, is lying on a soft, high-end office chair in a disheveled state. She’s staring at the latest comic book with Hom as the protagonist, eyes shining and crystal saliva at the corners of her mouth, unaware.

On the wall, the pendulum clock that had been swinging stopped at some point.

Theresa notices something is unusual, puts down the Hom comic book, and looks around.

"What’s going on?!"

Theresa, looking at her pale surroundings, realizes this is obviously not her office and is filled with doubt.

She immediately reaches for the Oath of Judah placed beside her but touches nothing.

"Hey, it’s someone I haven’t seen before!"

A voice with a bit of surprise comes from the side.

Because she is now in an unfamiliar environment and without Judah, Theresa is on high alert.

She looks in the direction of the voice.

Then she’s stunned.

"This...this..."

Isn’t this Kiana?!

Initially very familiar with Kiana, Theresa looks at the face which was now obviously more mature than the one she knew when she was a child, but with only a few changes. She becomes excited, but then her wariness kicks in.

Why is Kiana here?

If Theresa remembers correctly, Kiana should be with Siegfried, that bastard.

"You’re so small!"

As she thinks this, Kiana approaches, her face full of surprise.

With a little curiosity, she says:

"Little sister, what’s your name?"

"If you tell me, I’ll give you candy later!"

Kiana completely regarded Theresa as a child who accidentally entered the Q&A space, so she used the moves she always tried to coax children.

But...

"Little sister, what’s your name?"

"If you tell me, I’ll give you candy later!"

Hearing these words that were used to scare her like a little devil, Theresa’s reason is instantly overwhelmed. The veins on her forehead suddenly pop.

Subconsciously, she reaches behind her.

Then, she touches nothing.

"Damn it, where is Judah?!"

-----

Chapter 40: Theresa, Who Looks Like a Decent Person in Front of Others

For Kiana's disrespectful behavior, which shows no respect for her elders, athough she didn’t find Judah, Theresa still didn’t hesitate to use her iron fist to begin the Kalpas-style education—chasing and beating.

"Hey, hey, hey~ Why are you hitting me?!"

Kiana who was being chased and beaten cried out in pain as she felt aggrieved by the wounds on her body that hadn’t yet healed.

Finally, she couldn’t bear it anymore and stopped, hands on her hips, angrily saying:

"Stinky brat, if you hit me again, I’ll be rude to you!"

Upon hearing this, Theresa’s face remained expressionless.

She beat Kiana with her backhand, causing her to scream.

"Damn it! This annoying brat!"

Theresa's impression in Kiana's heart had shifted from a cute little brat to a nasty brat. The girl had turned into an annoying brat.

This made Kiana, who wanted to maintain her dignity, want to show her strength to calm Theresa down.

But soon, Kiana realized something very sad.

That is, she was unable to beat this annoying brat.

Beside her...

Mei and Bronya were watching.

They didn’t show any concern for Kiana being beaten.

Because everyone could see that although Theresa was beating Kiana, she didn’t have any hostility. That action looked more like an elder teaching a younger generation.

"This person... Bronya seems to have seen this person somewhere."

Looking at Theresa’s face, Bronya frowned.

"Although I don’t have a clear memory, she shouldn’t be an ordinary person."

Wearing the glasses she had found, Mei glanced at Theresa.

"The movements were very neat and tidy. She must have received some training similar to yours, Bronya."

She paused while observing Theresa.

"From the flexibility of her movements... this girl is completely different from her appearance."

"And..."

"Bronya, have you noticed?"

Mei adjusted her glasses and said with interest:

"There are many similarities between this girl’s movements and Kiana’s."

"The same white hair..."

"Think about the surprised expression she showed when she saw Kiana just now, and the sudden anger after hearing Kiana’s words."

"Surprised means she knows Kiana."

"Angry means there’s something in Kiana’s words that angered her."

Hearing this, Bronya glanced at Mei who was analyzing Theresa’s information with great interest, and decisively chose to tiptoe and snatch Mei’s glasses.

"...What’s wrong? Bronya?!"

Without her glasses, Mei, who had lost all her wisdom, was a little puzzled by Bronya’s action of taking her glasses.

"...Nothing, it’s just that Bronya thinks Mei doesn’t look good with glasses."

This was a lie.

Bronya simply felt that Mei had been stealing her role after wearing these glasses.

To protect her role and defend her wise character, Bronya chose to let Mei return to her normal IQ when she felt that she appeared to be a little inferior.

"Eh... Is that so?"

Mei subconsciously touched her face.

She felt fine.

But since Bronya thought it was ugly, it was probably really ugly.

Forget it, for the sake of appearance, she decided to wear glasses only when necessary.

[No fighting in this space]

The control consciousness, which hadn’t played a role for a long time, finally couldn’t stand Theresa and Kiana’s fighting and added a new rule at the speed of light.

In an instant,

Theresa found that she couldn’t move.

The same was true for Kiana.

[For the appearance of new visitors, the popularization of science about this space will be left to you as seniors]

No one knows if it’s because it hasn’t appeared for too long, but the control consciousness appeared to have become lazy and directly handed the task of popularization to Mei and others who arrived first.

"Huh? I don’t want it!"

Kiana’s face was full of displeasure.

Just now, this hateful kid was still chasing her and beating her, and now she was asked to give her a science lesson?

Dream on!

Not only did she not want to do it, but Kiana also took Mei and Bronya with her, looking unhappy.

"Mei, Bronya, don’t tell her that this is a space where you can get all kinds of information and rewards by answering questions correctly!"

After the sound fell,

Mei and Bronya both covered their faces.

"So that’s it."

After listening to Kiana’s words, Theresa showed a little understanding.

As the head of the Far East Branch, the dean of St. Freya Academy, and the current head of the Apocalypse family, Even though there were many shady dealings, her ability was still impressive.

"Although it sounds a bit incredible, if you think about it carefully, there are actually many incredible things in this world."

From Kiana’s words, Theresa felt very skeptical about the information regarding this strange place, but after experiencing so many years of ups and downs, she was able to let it go.

"...Damn it!"

Kiana finally realized that she was the one who made a mistake, and she looked unwilling.

"Don’t look at me, I will never say another word to you!"

"...Really?"

Looking at Kiana’s stubborn look, Theresa smiled, shook her head slightly, and looked at Mei and Bronya.

"It seems that you are Kiana’s friends."

"Thank you for taking care of Kiana. I think my careless niece must have caused you a lot of trouble."

Using an extremely polite tone,

The information revealed in Theresa’s words stunned the three people present.

"...Niece... niece?"

Mei looked at Theresa in disbelief.

She was shocked.

Although she had analyzed that Theresa might have something to do with Kiana when her IQ soared just now, She never expected that this little girl, who looked only thirteen or fourteen years old, was actually Kiana’s great... aunt?!

Bronya also had an expression of shock for a hundred years.

What?!

This girl which looked not much different in height and appearance from herself was actually the aunt of the Idiot Kiana?

Kiana’s expression wasn’t much better. She looked like she had eaten something unpleasant and stuttered with a constipated expression. "Ha...ha, you’re really... really my... aunt?!"

"Absolutely genuine."

Theresa said with some nostalgia, "Speaking of which, I held you when you were a child~"

She said with some regret:

"It’s a pity that I came here a little suddenly, otherwise I would have brought the photo hanging on the wall."

"Oh... by the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet."

If you talk for a long time but others don’t even know your name, it is undoubtedly extremely impolite.

So...

"Theresa Apocalypse."

Very seriously, Theresa smiled and reported her first and last name.

"So, what about you?"

----

Chapter 41: I, Theresa, Will Never Fail!

I didn't care much about Bronya's name.

However, Theresa slightly raised her eyebrows at Mei's name.

"Raiden... Mei?"

Thinking carefully about this special surname reminded her of the executor of Anti-Entropy, an enemy of the Schicksal Organization.

"Is your father Raiden Ryoma?"

"...Have you met my father?"

Mei was a little surprised.

"No... No, I just got to know that person a little bit because of some standpoint issues."

Theresa shook her head and added.

"However, Siegfried seems to know Raiden Ryoma."

"Huh?! Stinky dad?"

Hearing the news about her father, Kiana couldn’t help but speak up. She wanted to ask, "Um... Theresa, do you know where my stinky dad went?"

"Bang."

"You should call me Auntie!"

Theresa, who didn’t really care, unexpectedly struggled with the title and corrected it with a bit of annoyance.

Then...

"I don’t know much about Siegfried. But that guy asked me to take care of you if I met you."

Theresa had a bad impression of Siegfried. She put her hands on her hips and looked unhappy.

"What an irresponsible man!"

After giving this concise evaluation, Kiana nodded repeatedly, then temporarily giving up the idea of chatting about family matters. If they were at St. Freya Academy or some other place, Theresa would still be interested in reminiscing with Kiana, but forget about this weird place. The most urgent thing now was to thoroughly understand the details of this so-called Q&A space.

"Well, now you should explain the situation in this space to me, right?"

Uderstanding the importance of things, Theresa focused her attention on Bronya.

Among the three of them, this little girl, who seemed a bit emotionally weak, appeared the most reliable.

As for Mei...

She glanced at Mei inconspicuously. She had actually been observing this side when she was teaching Kiana a lesson just now.

At that time, the girl looked full of wisdom.

Theresa had only seen that feeling in her grandfather, the destined protagonist Otto.

But now, the feeling Theresa got from looking at Mei now was just that of a French village girl.

...So the feeling before was really an illusion.

It must be because she stayed up late reading the latest issue of Homu comics, coupled with a heavy workload, that this illusion occurred.

"Hmm..." Kiana was a little embarrassed about this. She had just shouted not to tell Theresa about this space, but she didn’t expect Theresa to be her aunt.

Considering that Theresa was Kiana's aunt, the three of them naturally had no intention of hiding anything. They told Theresa everything about this space, as well as the changes and encounters they had during the period.

After understanding how magical and special this space was, Theresa was surprised.

After hearing about Cocolia’s crazy plan, Theresa was angry.

After learning that the three of them were wounded because they had stopped Cocolia's plan, Theresa was silent.

In just a few minutes, her mood changed repeatedly.

Finally, she said, "You've worked hard."

She glanced at Mei, Bronya, and Kiana one by one. Her eyes were a little complicated.

At such an age, they tried their best to stop such a conspiracy.

"No, although I went through a lot in the middle, I succeeded suddenly in the end."

Kiana scratched the back of her head unconsciously and said unhappily,

"I wanted to punch that bastard named Cocolia in the face!"

"If I meet her again, I will teach her a lesson!"

...You won’t meet her again.

Back to the topic.

Since Theresa had understood the situation in this space, the most important thing in this space would naturally begin.

[1. In the final stage of escaping from Nagazora City, Kiana’s action put the Third Herrscher to sleep. After that, where did Kiana, Mei, and Bronya go?]

[A. Under Theresa's deliberate arrangement, they were invited by Himeko to enter St. Freya Academy and became Schicksal Valkyries.]

[B. They were captured by the Anti-Entropy executor Cocolia and became test subjects.]

[C. They went to Yae Village and were entertained by Yae Sakura, the leader of Yae Village.]

[D. They went to Mount Taixu in Shenzhou and became the apprentice of the Immortal Jingwei.]

"Himeko... She's the red-haired woman who fought with my future self at that time, right?"

Recalling what she had seen with her own eyes, Mei said uncertainly.

"Hmm."

According to the description they had told her before, Theresa nodded slightly. She glanced at answer A, her eyes moving.

This answer revealed a lot of information. If it had been before, a lot of useful information could have been obtained... but that was before.

Since Mei and the others had no reason to hide anything from me, she already knew almost all the information she could infer.

"A is the correct answer."

Theresa decisively judged the answer to this question.

There was basically no need to think about it. Since Kiana and the others had met Himeko head-on, Himeko would definitely report the relevant information to me.

At that time, I would definitely make the decision to accept Kiana into St. Freya Academy.

Mei had the dangerous identity of the Third Herrscher, so naturally it could not be ignored.

For such an existence, there were only two options: either kill her or keep her under guard. The former was certainly convenient, but considering that Mei was Kiana's friend, she would definitely not do that.

The other three answers...

After looking at them one by one, Theresa shook her head slightly. On the surface, these answers did not reveal much information, and some were a bit unexplainable.

"Choose A."

[Correct]

As expected, Theresa had been right.

[2. After Kiana and the other two entered school, during the fall of Nagazora City, Theresa, who detected another abnormal Honkai reaction in Nagazora City, encountered a pseudo-Herscher and successfully overturned.

Excuse me, which of the following options is the pseudo-Herscher who caused Theresa to overturn?]

[A. Avrora]

[B. Yuno]

[C. Yae Sakura]

[D. Shigure Kira]

When this question appeared, Theresa's face turned black in an instant.

To be honest, there is a lot of useful information revealed in this question. But what does this "overturn" in the question mean?!

She is an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, and she also has the Key of Binding which was ultimate weapon against Honkai, the Oath of Judah!

Even if a real Herrscher runs into her, she has the confidence to kill the opponent!

And this... a mere pseudo-Herscher can make her overturn?!

Fake. Something must have gone wrong!

-----

Chapter 42: The Car Overturned

Knowing that the most urgent task was to answer the question correctly, Theresa chose to be patient for a moment. Then, she began discussing the content of the question with Kiana and the others.

"For option A, do any of you know her?"

"No."

Kiana, Mei, and Bronya replied in unison.

"...I don't know this person either, so it seems I can only rule her out for now."

Theresa was a little helpless about not having any impression of Avrora.

"Then, option B..."

"For this one?"

"No!"

This time, only Kiana and Bronya's voices were heard. Naturally, they turned around.

"Hey, Mei, do you know her?"

Mei gave no answer and looked thoughtful. Kiana was a little surprised by the curious expressions of the other two.

"...Well, I don't know her personally, so I guess..."

She scratched her chin with her index finger, and Mei's face was full of memories.

"She is a student of Senba Academy like me."

"When I was in school, I met her when I went to the library to borrow books."

"But, generally speaking, it's probably just a one-time encounter, and I know her name."

Subconsciously, she smoothed her drooping hair, and the soft strands brushed against her fingertips.

"That child always gives off a gloomy feeling, and there's something about her that feels... off."

Finally, Mei added a sentence.

"I heard rumors that her interpersonal relationships seem to be really bad."

Theresa was thoughtful after hearing this information. She gave off a gloomy vibe and had bad interpersonal relationships—she was the type prone to psychological disorders.

According to the question, this girl was a pseudo-Herscher. She was probably from Senba Academy.

"Keep option B."

Compared to option A, which provided no clue, option B was clearly the better choice. So, Theresa decisively chose to keep option B. However, she didn’t pick it right away and continued to look at the next option.

"Option C, Yae Sakura?"

"This name... the answer to the previous question has appeared." She muttered the name carefully. "The leader of Yae Village..."

After confirming that she had no further impression, she selectively focused her attention on Kiana and the others. "Have you heard of Yae Village?"

"No!"

This time, all three answered together.

"Sure enough..."

Although a little disappointed, Theresa was not surprised. Yae Village, from the name, seemed like a remote village. The world is so vast—unless someone has direct contact with it, how would anyone know about such a village?

Since there was no clue, it seemed that it could only be ruled out.

The only option left was...

[D. Shigure Kira]

Seeing this option, Theresa's previously calm expression suddenly changed. It was an old acquaintance. Back then, she had a good relationship with the other person.

But now... how had she become a pseudo-Herscher with thick eyebrows and big eyes?!

Theresa looked incredulous.

According to the report from Schicksal Headquarters about the Second Eruption, all the members of the Snow Wolf Squad should have been buried in the ice fields with Cecilia.

Theresa had been deeply saddened by this at the time and hadn’t drunk her beloved bitter melon juice for several days.

But now...

She’s here, and she’s become a pseudo-Herscher?!

Give me back my bitter melon juice!

"Aunt, you seem to know this person?"

Looking at the strange expression on Theresa's face, Kiana was full of curiosity.

"Know."

Theresa said two words simply and directly, not planning to say more with a dark expression.

"She has nothing to do with this question."

Theresa was very sure of this.

Although she didn't know how Shigure Kira who had thick eyebrows and big eyes had become a pseudo-Herscher, she was certain that even if she had become one, Shigure Kirara must be in Siberia, a remote place, and had nothing to do with Nagazora City.

"Then, the only answer we can choose is B?"

With A and B unclear and D being ruled out, Bronya tilted her head, and the Roman volume shook.

"Hmm."

Theresa nodded and confirmed the answer.

"Choose B."

[Correct]

As expected, Theresa was right.

The question was now answered.

"Protest! I will never be defeated!"

Theresa could no longer bear it, so she launched a resolute resistance against this evil question.

And the control responded.

A light screen popped up out of thin air.

Then, an image appeared on the light screen.

Theresa, who had been talking to the monitoring department, was sitting in the cabin in the picture. After a moment, she suddenly jumped out of the open cabin door with a cross twice as big as herself.

"Bang."

The already ridiculously heavy Oath of Judah hit the ground and instantly created a big pit, with cracks spreading outward in a spider-web pattern.

Theresa who wore a nun's uniform landed on the cross very easily.

Seeing this scene, Kiana and Mei were stunned, and Bronya, whose face was stiff, also subconsciously opened her mouth.

They looked at Theresa with strange expressions.

No-parachute version of high-altitude skydiving, while carrying a Divine Key that looked to weigh at least a ton...

Is this really not a human-shaped Godzilla?!

"..."

Theresa pouted.

They continued watching the video.

After landing, Theresa communicated with the monitoring department and came directly to the gate of the academy.

This academy was not unfamiliar to Mei; it was Senba Academy.

Carrying the Oath of Judah, Theresa walked into the academy boldly. She didn’t worry about any accidents.

Soon, in some part of Senba Academy, Theresa met Yuno, the plant pseudo-Herscher, her target for this trip.

The two sides had a conversation.

Then, the fight started.

Theresa smashed the Oath of Judah on the ground with a backhand, creating a hole. She pulled out a long obsidian spear from the unfolded Judah and stared at Yuno with confidence.

As she had said,

As one of the three S-rank Valkyries in Schicksal, and the holder of the Key of Binding, Oath of Judah, she was a real Honkai killer.

First, Judah’s chains would restrain the enemy’s Honkai energy and deprive the enemy of freedom.

Then, the sharp obsidian spear would easily break through its defense and nail it to the ground.

Just like this process, Judah, with Theresa’s strong body, easily suppressed Yuno, putting her at a disadvantage.

"Hehe, this is me!"

Off-screen, Theresa was very satisfied with her performance and was in a good mood.

What do you mean by overturning?

Isn’t this a very smooth fight?

Next, I’ll definitely kill the opponent easily and win this time.

It's just a slandering title, pure lie, lie!

The scene continues. Theresa on the screen looks confident, like she was sure of winning.

Then, she suddenly falls.

This sudden change made Theresa who was watching turn pale with disbelief.

-----

Chapter 43: Deliberate Mistakes

Because of her carelessness, Theresa was accidentally poisoned by Yuno and instantly fell into a disadvantage, unable to move. The originally one-sided situation was reversed. It could be said to be a real rollover scene.

The video ends here.

Theresa’s expression stiffened, and her face flushed.

"Damn it! I didn’t expect to roll over because of something like this?!"

"Yuno, huh? You’d better watch out, the dean is on you!"

Feeling embarrassed in front of Kiana because of the video, Theresa secretly targeted Yuno.

However…

Since Kiana and the others had stopped Cocolia’s plan, the third eruption in Nagazora City probably wouldn’t happen. Yuno wouldn’t become a pseudo-Herrscher because of it.

Theresa probably wouldn’t have the chance to get back at her now.

Theresa naturally realized this and instantly displayed an unwilling expression.

Unlike Theresa who was focused on her own failure, Mei and Bronya were thinking about the information revealed in the video.

Based on what was shown in the video, Theresa was poisoned and then overturned.

So, what happened next? What would occur?

Theresa naturally understood what they were thinking and said unhappily, "Although it seems like I fell into the hands of that bastard, it’s not that serious."

Even though she couldn’t move because of the poison, she still had the Divine Key, Oath of Judah, next to her. Judah which had a high degree of autonomy would automatically protect its master when in danger.

So, although she couldn’t see what happened afterward, Theresa wasn’t worried about being killed.

As for the poison…

With her own physique, she should be able to hold on until she got back, right?

Well, probably no problem.

Theresa was a little unsure but, after thinking carefully, she concluded that since she survived the dangerous Second Eruption, How could she be killed by a mere pseudo-Herrscher?

As the image disappeared, the next question popped up:

[3. After the second eruption and in order to achieve his goal, The Archbishop of Schicksal Otto secretly planned Project Sirin. Please select the only successful individual number from the following options.]

[A. K421]

[B. K423]

[C. K426]

[D. K10086]

"... Project Sirin?"

This question was a mystery to Kiana, Mei, and Bronya.

But Theresa was different.

"Grandpa..."

Seeing Otto’s name appear and the mention of the former enemy of mankind, Theresa’s expression grew complicated.

"Aunt, do you know the answer to this question?"

Facing Kiana’s curiosity, Theresa shook her head slightly.

Although there was a familiar name in the question, Theresa didn’t know anything about the so-called Project Sirin and had never even heard of it.

However, one thing she was sure of was that if it was related to the former enemy of mankind, and the plan was created by Grandpa, it was definitely not a good thing.

And…

The naming format with numbers reminded Theresa of bad memories from the past.

Meanwhile, considering that this question was somewhat difficult, Mei decided to put on her glasses.

"Miss Theresa…"

After considering for a while, Mei addressed her, though it might not have been the most appropriate name.

With glasses, Mei’s intelligence would increase significantly, but that only applied to pure intelligence. Without information, it would be impossible for her to guess the correct answer.

So, she focused her attention on Theresa, who obviously knew a lot.

"Can you please explain what you know?"

Theresa didn’t hide anything and spoke slowly. After a while, Kiana and the others had a rough understanding of Otto and Sirin, as mentioned in the question.

With this information, Mei began to use her brain.

The "K" must be the code name for the plan, and the numbers likely refer to specific individuals, right?

421, 423, 426…

If the first numbers are correct, it means this Project Sirin had many experimental templates. Then, connecting it with the Void mentioned by Theresa, it likely referred to the experimental template for the Herrscher of the Void.

But the Herrscher of the Void should be dead, so the experimental template probably referred to…

"Clones?"

Mei was thoughtful, having made a rough guess about the Project Sirin.

But…

Even though she had an idea of what the Project Sirin was about, Mei still didn’t have much clue about the answer to the multiple-choice question before her.

The only thing she was sure of was:

"D is wrong."

Among the four answers, the last one was the most outrageous. Based on previous experience with these questions, when the space presented options, it always added some nonsensical and loophole-ridden choices to the serious ones. So, this time, option D was probably a trap.

"So, there are only three answers left?"

Theresa crossed her arms, glanced at the remaining three answers, and sighed. "These three answers are too similar. Which one should I choose?"

Even though Mei had eliminated one option, with three left, the range was still too large.

"Bronya thinks we can let Idiot Kiana try."

At this point, Bronya spoke up.

In Kiana’s somewhat surprised expression, she said expressionlessly:

"Idiot Kiana’s intuition works well."

"It was Idiot Kiana’s intuition that worked last time. Since there’s no answer, why not leave it to her intuition?"

"... Although I’m touched that you, Dwarf Pudding, believe in my intuition."

Kiana was torn, feeling a little irritated. "But I’m not a tool!"

"Intuition… that kind of thing…"

When it came to such unscientific things, Mei raised her eyebrows, hesitating to say something, but in the end, she didn’t.

Although she didn’t think intuition was very reliable, since it was Kiana, she let it go.

With no objections from the others, Kiana, the intuitive player, officially stepped up.

She scanned the answers: a, b, c. Finally, with a pounding heart, she paused on option b and took a deep breath.

"I choose C!"

[C. k426]

[Wrong]

[Correct answer: B. k423]

"... I’m wrong, but there’s nothing I can do about it."

Theresa sighed, tiptoeing to pat Kiana on the shoulder.

"I’m sorry."

Taking off her glasses, Mei comforted Kiana. "Directness is sometimes effective and sometimes not. Kiana, you don’t need to blame yourself. It’s just a question."

Meanwhile, Bronya had a blank expression. In her gray eyes, there was confusion.

Just now, Kiana’s eyes were clearly on option B, but she chose C without hesitation.

Could this be intuition?

Bronya didn’t think so.

------

Chapter 44: Theresa's First Unboxing

She was puzzled by this, but after thinking about it, Bronya kept it to herself and didn’t say anything.

Once the previous question was finished, the next question popped up:

[4. Bronya's Roman curls are often called turbocharged. Which of the following options represents the number of Roman curls Bronya has never had?]

[A. Single turbocharged]

[B. Double turbocharged]

[C. Triple turbocharged]

[D. Quad turbocharged]

"..."

Bronya's face froze instantly. From this question, she could smell malice.

What the hell is this turbocharged?

"Puff."

Kiana glanced at Bronya's two Roman curls, then thought of the turbocharger mentioned in the question and couldn’t help but laugh.

"..."

Bronya silently called out the Project Bunny.

Kiana instantly calmed down.

"Okay, okay..."

Theresa also wanted to laugh, but seeing Bronya’s black hair, she quickly made a roundabout comment.

"Let's answer this question first."

Since it involves Bronya's own hairstyle, this question should naturally be left to Bronya to solve.

"Yeah."

Bronya nodded expressionlessly, then began to think about this malicious question.

Perhaps influenced by her mother in her memory, her hairstyle had always been this kind of Roman curl.

If it's a single Roman curl...

Bronya thought about it carefully and shook her head slightly.

It always felt a bit strange to have only one Roman curl. So, she didn’t remember having a single Roman curl.

If it’s a double Roman curl, that’s the hairstyle she’s been keeping for now, so it can be ruled out.

Then there are the triple Roman curls, quadruple Roman curls...

After Bronya thought about it carefully, her mind went blank.

She didn’t remember having this hairstyle before. After thinking about it more, Bronya still couldn't come up with the correct answer.

She had to confess: "Except for answer B, Bronya has no impression of the others."

"Well... that's troublesome. If Bronya doesn’t know, then it’s even more impossible for us to know."

Mei was a little embarrassed.

When faced with such a completely private question, even with her glasses enhancing her intelligence, she could only scratch her head.

"It seems this is another question that can only be answered with blind guessing." Theresa said to Bronya helplessly. "Since this is a question about yourself, you should make your own choice."

It wasn’t very friendly to choose one out of three. Even Bronya herself had no confidence in whether she could answer this question correctly, but she had to do it anyway.

So...

"Bronya chooses A."

Bronya picked one of the three options at random, relying on luck. Then she waited with a little trepidation.

[Error]

[Correct answer: C. Triple turbocharged]

The result was wrong. This made Bronya feel a little empty.

At the same time, she raised her head and opened her mouth to speak.

Before she could say anything, a picture popped up.

The sea-blue beret worn sideways pressed down the gray hair, and on the opposite side was a somewhat asymmetrical Roman curl. Compared with the double Roman curls from the past, the single Roman curl at this time appeared a little lonely.

However, it wasn’t ugly. With the accessories that tied the hair, the lonely Roman curl brought a little asymmetrical beauty.

Wearing a sailor suit, with her beloved Hom scarf tied around her neck, Bronya had bright eyes and her pink lips slightly parted, with her white teeth vaguely visible.

"So it’s Bronya from the future..."

Seeing herself in the picture, Bronya understood instantly.

Then...

[No]

After seeing this response instantly, Bronya was thoughtful.

The self with four Roman curls should also be the future, but she was rejected when she wanted to get relevant information.

The information revealed here...

Before Bronya could think about anything further, another message popped up.

[This question ends here.]

[Number of answers: 4]

[Correct answer rate: 50%]

[Theresa Apocalypse gets 2 Homu Boxes]

As the answers were settled, the surrounding scenery gradually returned to normal.

Looking at the familiar objects and furnishings, and the pointer that had hardly moved, if it weren’t for the two reward boxes marked with the Homu logo on the table, Theresa would have thought she was dreaming.

"Ding ding."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Theresa sat at the table, propping up half of her face, looking at her casually.

The door opened.

A red-haired woman in casual clothes, with a busty figure and a beautiful face, came in with a thick stack of documents and then unceremoniously dropped them heavily on Theresa’s desk.

"You’re lazy again."

Himeko glanced at the half-opened Homu comics and the two Homu boxes on the table, looking quite annoyed.

They were the subordinates working hard, but you, the boss, were happily idle here.

But as Theresa’s bad friend, she was also used to this.

"...No!" Theresa quickly threw the Homu comics into the drawer with a serious face. "It just happened to be there. I didn’t read it!"

"If I believe you, I’ll be damned."

Himeko rolled her eyes at Theresa’s words.

"Hey, hey, hey... none of this matters."

Theresa didn’t plan to dwell on this for long but smiled and touched the two Homu reward boxes on her desk.

"Just now, I experienced something very interesting~"

She deliberately dragged out the last word.

"Really..."

Himeko was a little uninterested. Compared to listening to Theresa’s story, she found it more interesting to take a day off and pick up a handsome guy.

Though she thought so, she still listened patiently to what Theresa had to say.

Ten minutes later, Himeko who had probably understood the situation, raised her eyebrows slightly.

"You’re not kidding me, are you?"

To be honest, what Theresa said was really beyond her understanding. If she hadn’t had a good relationship with Theresa, she would have thought she was making up a story.

"No, why would I make up a story to lie to you?"

Theresa, confident in her story-telling skills, said unhappily. "And I’m not good at that either."

"Look, these two Homu reward boxes were obtained from that space."

As she spoke, she stared at the Homu logo on the reward box with shining eyes.

As a Homu enthusiast, Theresa was keen on collecting all kinds of Homu peripheral products and would follow every issue of Homu Adventure on time.

This Homu Box was truly exciting for Theresa, making her reluctant to open it.

"Since it’s a reward, then open it... It’s so magical. Isn’t it a waste to treat this kind of thing as a collection?"

Seeing Theresa’s reluctance, Himeko who knew her well was quite annoyed.

"Well... You’re right, I’m really curious about what’s inside!"

As she said this, Theresa reluctantly opened the box under Himeko’s gaze.

For a moment, golden light bloomed.

-------

Chapter 45: The Long-Awaited Dawn

Himeko was stunned when she saw what came out of the first Houmu reward box.

"Is this... a tape?"

Yes, what emerged from the first box was a tape for an ordinary-looking, old tape recorder.

"What's the use of this thing?"

She pinched the corner of the cassette, looked around, and didn’t find anything special.

"Well... since it's a tape, maybe the things stored inside are special?"

"Is there an actual tape recorder in the academy that can play this kind of tape?"

Himeko waved her hand and said bluntly, "That kind of old antique has been obsolete for ages, how could there be..."

As an institution dedicated to training Valkyries, although the overall appearance of Saint Freya Academy is classical, the internal facilities and equipment are all advanced and high-tech.

"That's right..."

As the head of the academy, Theresa naturally knew the situation at Saint Freya Academy.

Forget it, since there’s no instrument, let’s take a more general approach to understand it.

From Kiana and the others, Theresa had learned that the items opened in this box could display the information about them.

So...

In Himeko’s surprised eyes, a light screen appeared on the videotape.

[The tape with the modified version of Hope Sail]

[Introduction: The material of the videotape itself is very ordinary, and there is nothing noteworthy, but the tape contains a radio gymnastics music from the East that terrifies students.]

[Effect 1: People who hear this music will learn it without a teacher.]

[Effect 2: People who hear the music will involuntarily follow the beat (this effect varies depending on the target's willpower resistance).]

[Effect 3: After completing Hope Sail, under the music, physical fitness will increase depending on the situation (limited to once a day).]

[Note: Who said you can't get stronger by doing radio gymnastics?]

After reading the properties of this videotape, Himeko spoke first.

"Let’s not talk about the previous things for now, but as for the last effect..."

She paused.

Theresa immediately understood what Himeko was thinking without her even saying it.

If there are no major problems, just based on the last effect of improving physical fitness, this tape could be considered a magic weapon for cultivating Valkyries.

To improve physical fitness, you need to exercise relentlessly, but with this, you can improve by simply doing radio gymnastics.

"Let’s test it first and get the approximate data," Theresa said, tapping her knuckles on the table. As the dean of Saint Freya Academy and the head of the Far East Branch, Theresa made a decision. "If there are no problems, we’ll introduce this in the academy’s morning sessions."

"Then, there’s one reward box left..."

Himeko’s eyes shifted to the remaining reward box.

This time, her expression was different from the previous one of just watching for fun. She was taking it very seriously now.

"Hehe, look at the dean’s super luck!"

This expression was exactly what Theresa had hoped for, and she happily opened the last Houmu box.

Instantly, golden light flashed.

This time, it was a card.

Theresa glanced at the pattern on the card, and without thinking, she opened the card’s information sheet.

[Archangel's Breath]

[A special card from a certain world, created by a strange ability called Nen, with very magical effects.]

[Effect: Unconditionally heals all injuries and restores all abnormal states.]

[How to use: Use, Archangel's Breath.]

[Note: As long as you have a breath left, you can believe in Archangels.]

This card didn’t have as much information as the previous tape.

It was simple and straightforward.

But it's effect was also extremely powerful.

As long as there is a breath left, all injuries could be healed unconditionally.

As a Valkyrie, Theresa naturally knew what this meant.

With this card by her side, even if she were in danger of her life, she could get a chance to start over.

But...

At this moment, Theresa did not focus much on the healing aspect. Instead, she stared at the "Restore all abnormal conditions" mentioned in the latter part of the card.

In the fight against the Honkai, Schicksal chose the cruel path of training young girls to become warriors who fight against the Honkai.

Ordinary girls couldn’t become Valkyries who could compete with Honkai creatures.

Therefore, through the analysis of the technology left from the previous era, Schicksal developed a product called artificial stigmata.

Artificial stigmata would give Valkyries the ability to resist the erosion of the vicious Honkai energy with their mortal bodies and provide them with a certain amount of power.

But unfortunately, this technology was not perfect.

Artificial stigmata could not completely isolate Honkai energy.

Therefore, Valkyries with artificial stigmata would inevitably be eroded by Honkai energy in the fight against the Honkai.

Over time, the accumulated Honkai energy would exceed the limit that the Valkyries’ bodies could withstand, and they would become the running dogs of Honkai—the enemies of the past—the zombies.

Her adjutant, Himeko, as a battle-hardened Valkyrie, was no exception.

After a long time, Himeko’s physical condition was as bad as a candle in the wind.

Theresa who regarded her as a friend had always wanted to find a way to save Himeko.

But unfortunately...

The Schicksal organization which had stood for so many years had not been able to save the Valkyries from going to their end. How could Theresa alone do it?

In the end, all she could do was try to prevent Himeko from fighting, to delay the arrival of the end for the Valkyrie named Murata Himeko.

But now...

On the card opened from the magical Homu box, Theresa appeared to see the dawn of hope.

"Here you go."

Without any nostalgia, Theresa handed the card in her hand to Himeko without hesitation.

In response, Himeko opened her mouth slightly, wanting to say something.

But when she met Theresa’s eyes, she stopped.

"Use, Archangel's Breath."

Under Theresa’s urging, Himeko recited the instructions on the card, one byte at a time.

The card in her hand turned into a light spot and dissipated.

The scattered light points gathered together, forming a figure emitting holy light in front of the two women. She was the Archangel.

"Archangel, can you remove the Honkai energy from her body and repair her scarred body?"

Seeing the Archangel’s appearance, Theresa was a little surprised, but she didn’t forget her main purpose.

On the side, Himeko was nervous. She was very worried that the Archangel would give a negative answer. In that case, not only would she lose hope, but she would also waste a precious card from Theresa.

Under the nervous gazes of the two, the Archangel glanced at Himeko, then spoke with a light tone and confidence:

"It’s a small matter."

------

Chapter 46: Bronya, the Earner of the Family

"How do you feel?"

After the Archangel disappeared, the curious Theresa looked at Himeko with her eyes closed.

Opening her eyes, Himeko shook her arms.

"I feel much lighter than before, not so heavy anymore."

"Maybe it feels like I'm back to my teenage years?"

There was some uncertainty in her words. Feeling the lightness in her limbs and the vitality bursting from every cell in her body, Himeko looked eager to try. In her current state, she felt she could fight on the front lines for another ten years.

However, Himeko soon realized something, and her face changed slightly.

"What's wrong?" Theresa asked quickly, keenly noticing this.

"..."

Himeko didn't answer but began to take off her clothes on the spot.

Startled by this sudden move, Theresa took a few steps back and shouted in dissatisfaction, "Hey, what do you think you're doing, Meat Bomb Girl? Are you being a hooligan? This is the dean's office, you'd better not do anything rash!"

Although she said this, Theresa didn’t do anything practical.

Himeko took off her upper body clothes and turned her back to Theresa.

"Ha... the artificial stigmata on your body are gone?!" Theresa exclaimed, a little surprised at the smooth and empty back.

As a battle-hardened Valkyrie, Himeko's back had never been pleasant to look at, as it was covered with scars. But now, all of them were gone.

Also, the artificial stigmata she had been using had disappeared.

"...Is it because of the Archangel?" Theresa immediately figured out what had happened. Artificial stigmata have various disadvantages, and this kind of defective thing, which harms the host's body.

This probably seen as a negative state in the eyes of the Archangel, right?

"...Huh, it seems I’ll have to implant another stigmata later."

Himeko put her clothes back on, her expression somewhat helpless.

Although artificial stigmata had many disadvantages, without them, she wouldn't be able to fight against the Honkai creatures at all.

"Let's talk about this later."

Theresa was not happy with Himeko's idea of re-implanting artificial stigmata.

In her opinion, that thing was not beneficial. If there were no other way, she wouldn’t allow her students to implant such things.

Himeko had just gotten out of the sea of suffering, but now she looked liked she wanted to run back into the quagmire.

Looking at Himeko with a bit of displeasure, Theresa immediately remembered that she still had things to do.

"I'm heading to Nagazora City next," she said briefly.

No further explanation was needed; she had almost said as much when she told Himeko about what had happened in that space just now.

"Meet your niece? Okay, I’ll make arrangements."

Himeko didn't object and immediately turned to make arrangements for Theresa’s trip.

Saint Freya Academy is located on a small island in the Far East, surrounded by the sea.

To leave, airships are typically used. However, for the current secular world, airships which are far beyond current technology are impractical. A blatant departure would cause a lot of trouble. Therefore, the most suitable way is to travel by water.

Normally, traveling by water from Saint Freya to Nagazora City takes at least half a day.

...

...

...

Basement of ME Building, Anti-Entropy Base

"Cocolia, the female vixen, is really dead?"

The pretty face of the red-ponytailed girl, wearing casual clothes and glasses was full of disbelief.

People of Anti-Entropy were always good at surviving, and Cocolia—especially the female vixen—was extremely skilled at survival. Once she sensed danger, she would typically escape without being caught.

Such a cunning female vixen with excellent survival skills died so easily?

It was unrealistic. Tesla looked at her companion and asked, "Hey, Mophead, do you think this female vixen is faking her death?"

Although Cocolia's body was covered not far away, as an experienced scientist, Tesla wouldn't conclude anything so hastily.

Didn't her own leader often play similar tricks?

Well... although Welt was better at leaving only the core and no body.

"Not sure, but she shouldn't have any reason to fake her death."

Einstein, with messy hair and dark circles under her eyes, shook her head slightly.

To be honest, she didn’t think Cocolia would die so easily. But if you carefully considered Cocolia's motives, there was no need for her to pretend to be dead.

"There's surprise and confusion on her face. Maybe something unexpected happened that she didn't anticipate," Einstein guessed about Cocolia’s death.

"...Okay, let's assume she's dead."

Tesla didn’t want to waste time on this. She curled her lips and said bluntly, "This woman deserves to die, even if she managed to plan that kind of plot."

After Bronya communicated and took over the base, they learned almost everything about Cocolia’s plans.

But the more they knew, the more terrified they became.

If that bastard Cocolia's conspiracy had succeeded, Nagazora City, with a population of one million, would have likely turned into a dead zone in an instant.

Fortunately, the conspiracy was finally uncovered.

"I’m curious about who stopped that bastard Cocolia."

Tesla’s face was full of curiosity. Although there had been a lot of communication, Bronya hadn't told Tesla and Einstein about her, Kiana, and Mei's plan to stop Cocolia. Plus, the monitoring system inside the base had been destroyed, so Tesla and Einstein had no way of knowing.

"Ha, let’s think about that later. Now... let’s get Ryoma out first."

Einstein had been working on experiments all night and rushed over almost immediately after receiving the news, so she looked tired and yawned listlessly.

"That's right."

Tesla nodded. Ryoma was still in prison. One of their goals was to get Ryoma out. This wouldn’t be easy, as their main operations were based in America. It was a bit too far to extend influence to the Far East. However, America still had a strong presence in the Far East, so it wasn’t entirely hopeless.

...

...

...

Meanwhile, Theresa is on her way to the Far East by boat.

Einstein and Tesla are hunting for Electric Ryoma.

Kiana and Mei are in the hospital.

Bronya...

While Bronya is in the hospital, she is also handling some follow-up matters.

Although Cocolia was a pit, some of her industries were very important to Bronya. For example, the orphanage in Moscow.

As the place where Bronya spent her childhood, the orphanage’s funding had all been supported by Cocolia. After Cocolia’s death, this effectively meant the funds had been cut off.

To fill the gap, Bronya has been using the funds at her disposal to make money on the online stock market to support the orphanage while recuperating.

Since Sin still holds the identity of the Anti-Entropy executor, there will be no issues with the orphanage.

------

Chapter 47: Theresa's Invitation

Schicksal Headquarters

For his own purpose, Otto who had been following the whereabouts of Kiana, the protagonist of the Project Sirin also learned that Cocolia's plan had been blocked.

"It was blocked? What a pity."

At first, he was surprised, but then came a faint regret.

Although Cocolia believed that her plan was very secretive and that almost no news leaked, Otto actually knew about it. However, he did not intend to stop this plan, but rather held some expectations.

After all, Cocolia's plan to create and control the Herrscher overlapped with his Project Sirin in the ultimate goal. Although the former's plan was too rough, Otto did not think the other party would succeed.

However, it was not a bad thing to obtain the required data through such an experiment to improve the Project Sirin.

There were too few Herrschers at present. Although Otto had personally participated in the first two major eruptions, due to various reasons, the intelligence and data he obtained were not complete.

For this reason, Otto needed more intelligence and data to perfect his plan and achieve his goal.

Although he was not going to actively create an uncontrollable Herrscher, Otto was very happy to watch Cocolia create the Herrscher and then get what he wanted.

"Are there any clues about who stopped it?"

In addition to regret, Otto looked at his adjutant Amber with some doubts in his heart. Referring to the special individual created from Kallen Kaslana, although it was a failure, Otto still regarded it as his confidant because of its nostalgic appearance and excellent administrative ability.

For the handling of daily affairs, Otto conveyed it through Amber.

"The intelligence department does not have many clues in this regard," Amber replied respectfully. "But the only clue at present seems to point to the white-haired girl you have been paying attention to."

"Really?"

Hearing this news, Otto was thoughtful.

It was actually related to K423. Well, this was something he hadn't expected. But since this is the case...

"Then I can probably guess something."

Otto understood, with a hint of amusement on his lips.

If it was K423, the test subject of the Herrscher of the Void, she would indeed be able to give Cocolia a surprise.

His lovely granddaughter appeared in his mind. After careful calculation, Otto couldn't help but miss her a little. He asked Amber about Theresa's recent situation.

"Ms. Theresa has shown no change as usual, but..."

Under Otto's special instructions, Amber had been monitoring the Far East Branch, so she reported the situation truthfully, pausing at the end.

"Lady Theresa went out to Nagazora City."

"Oh?"

After paying attention for a moment, Otto understood Theresa's purpose and said casually, "Maybe she went to K423?"

"Okay, this is planned anyway..."

...

...

...

In the Hospital Ward

Theresa, who looked a little dusty from her haste, finally saw the sweaty gi lying on the bed—Kiana, with bandages all over her body.

Mei and Bronya beside her consciously moved away a little to make some private space for Theresa and Kiana.

Outside…

"Sister Mei, Uncle Ryoma will probably be able to come out in a while."

Sitting in a wheelchair, Bronya, who had received a reply from Einstein and Tesla, told Mei the news.

"...Ah."

Mei was stunned for a moment after hearing the news, and then she remembered that she still had an old father waiting in line.

During this period, she had been recovering in the hospital with Kiana and Bronya. Because she was quite happy, if Bronya hadn't mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten about it.

"That's great."

Mei's expression was a little happy.

Her small coffers were basically empty after this period of time. Bronya paid for the high cost of her and Kiana's hospitalization.

Mei still cared about this. But now that her father could come out, she could return the money to Bronya later!

In a good mood, Mei chatted with Bronya about family matters and pushed Bronya outside to see the scenery before returning to the ward.

At this time, Kiana and Theresa have finished their conversation. Seeing Mei and Bronya coming back, Theresa spoke first:

"Would you two like to enroll in my St. Freya Academy?"

Since the two were friends of Kiana and both had excellent qualities, Theresa decided to invite them after considering it.

"St. Freya... Academy? What is that?"

Hearing this unfamiliar name, Mei was a little confused.

"St. Freya Academy is a Valkyrie training institution under Schicksal, and its main function is to train special forces to fight against the Honkai—Valkyrie."

Theresa introduced it briefly.

"A training institution for warriors who fight against the Honkai. Well..."

Mei understood it roughly and then hesitated for a moment about Theresa's invitation, looking at Kiana's expectant eyes.

"Has Kiana chosen to enroll?"

After seeing Theresa's affirmative answer, Mei rubbed her fingers and finally made a decision.

"I'll join."

Hearing this answer, Theresa secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want Mei to refuse.

Because Mei herself had a very sensitive identity—the body of the third Herrscher—but considering Kiana, she couldn't take tough measures against Mei.

And Mei herself actually understood this. Although she was relatively calm and weak in character, she actually preferred to be an ordinary person at home instead of fighting and killing.

But as the body of the third Herrscher, how could she live an ordinary life? Although her father had a distinguished status, he could not protect her for her whole life.

So, in order not to implicate her father, for the safety of this city, and for…

“Hey, I can be with Mei again!”

Kiana was very excited about Mei’s choice.

She had a special feeling for Mei and hoped that Mei could always be with her. She did not want to force Mei to make a choice that she did not want to make.

So, when Mei made her choice, all Kiana could do was look forward to it and pray in her heart.

Now that this expectation had been fulfilled, Kiana was naturally very excited.

Of course, she, who was unaware of herself as a wounded person, would also pay the price for this action.

"PainPainPain~"

The action pulled the wound, and Kiana grimaced in pain.

"Kiana, you..."

Mei was a little helpless about this. From the first meeting to now, Kiana had always been so worrying. If you didn't watch it with your own eyes, it really made people feel uneasy.

----

Chapter 48: Questions and Answers

Mei has made her choice.

Now, the only thing left is...

Theresa looked at Bronya and said, "Bronya, what's your choice?"

The atmosphere grew subtle.

"..."

Bronya was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke under the gaze of Kiana and Mei.

"Bronya's choice is the same as Mei's."

Like Mei, she didn't have much room for choice.

If she followed Kiana and the others, Bronya's only option would be to return to the orphanage.

This, in fact, wasn’t a bad thing.

After Cocolia’s death, the orphanage would likely be stabilized with Bronya’s return.

But...

There were still important people waiting for Bronya.

To achieve her goal of bringing Seele back, staying with Kiana and Mei was undoubtedly more beneficial than returning to the orphanage.

Besides, Sin had already returned to the orphanage.

Even if she didn’t go back, Sin’s abilities were enough to manage it in an orderly manner.

Of course, there was another reason Bronya chose to enroll in St. Freya Academy.

Well... naturally, she couldn’t bear to leave Mei.

After being with Mei for so long, Bronya instinctively felt very comfortable and didn’t want to leave.

That feeling was different from being with Seele.

When she was with Seele, Bronya felt happy every day.

When she was with Mei, Bronya felt incredibly lazy and didn’t want to move, much like the warm comfort of a mother’s embrace.

Well, if she had to evaluate, Seele was definitely better.

But if she had to choose, Bronya said:

“I want them both!"

After Bronya made her choice, the subtle atmosphere in the room instantly dissipated.

"Tsk."

Although Kiana had been looking forward to Bronya joining her at St. Freya Academy, she felt bad when she thought of Bronya always stealing Mei away from her. Mei didn’t think much about it, but she was sincerely happy that she and Bronya wouldn’t have to separate.

"I’ll go help you with the discharge procedures later."

The purpose of this trip was to see that her niece and Theresa, who had completed the Herrscher body treatment, took the initiative to speak.

"The medical unit inside St. Freya Academy is much better than here."

As a Valkyrie training institution under the Sky Mandate, the medical facilities at St. Freya Academy were a world apart from the outside hospitals. Many of the world’s terminal illnesses could be effectively cured with technology years ahead of the world’s current medical standards.

Of course, not all branches of Schicksal were like this.

For example, Africa, Oceania, and other sub-bases had advanced medical resources, but they were only at a relatively good level.

The Far East Branch was different. Although it was located in a very remote area, the head of the Far East Branch, Theresa Apocalypse, was the beloved granddaughter of Schicksal’s Bishop, Otto.

To ensure Theresa’s health, the eccentric Otto arranged the Far East Branch to meet the standards of Schicksal’s headquarters.

The Far East Branch could be considered a beneficiary of Theresa.

Of course, due to some of Otto’s moves, the Far East Branch had crazy medical resource allocation but was like a stepmother in some other aspects. In terms of basic funding, it was even worse than the poorest African branch.

Even if Theresa threw in her own exaggerated private funds, there was still a significant gap.

Back to the topic.

Kiana and Bronya had no objection to Theresa’s arrangement.

Mei hesitated for a moment.

Because she was still a student at Senba academy, and her father was still in prison, it would feel a bit unkind to leave without saying goodbye.

For the former, Theresa could arrange it.

For the latter...

Visiting the prisoner again would be a good choice.

But recalling her father’s behavior of abandoning her when she was young, Mei felt a little angry and decided to repay him.

Of course, she wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.

Mei planned to leave a letter at home, which her father would find when he was released from prison. She could come back to visit him during the holidays.

The only regret was that by leaving without saying goodbye, she wouldn’t be able to replenish her coffers.

...

Under Theresa's proper arrangement, Kiana and the other three were transferred to the medical institution inside St. Freya Academy for recovery.

With St. Freya Academy’s extraordinary allocation of medical resources and Theresa’s generous support, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya’s injuries—which would have taken at least several months to recover from—healed in just about a week.

Once they recovered, they officially entered St. Freya Academy and completed all the necessary procedures.

During this period, the CD of the Q&A space had also cooled down.

Kiana, Mei, and Bronya were called to Theresa's office.

At the same time, there was one more person.

Kiana, Mei, and Bronya were no strangers to this person.

It was their teacher, Murata Himeko.

When they first saw Himeko, they were actually quite surprised.

After all, in the illusion of the Q&A space before, it was Himeko who fought against Mei after she became a Herrscher.

Although Theresa had told them about Himeko’s existence, it was inevitable that they would still feel a strange sense of unfamiliarity upon meeting her in person.

"You called me here this time because of that... Q&A space? Is it going to appear?"

Not paying attention to Kiana and the others, Himeko leaned on the table and spoke to Theresa casually: "Didn't you say that you have to be selected to enter that thing?"

She curled her lips. "I wasn't selected."

"Well, it depends on your luck."

Theresa was lying on the sofa chair, which looked a bit oversized compared to her small body.

"If you stay with us, you might get in, right?"

"...Why do I feel something is wrong."

Himeko raised her eyebrows, feeling that this statement was somehow off.

"Don't worry about it."

Theresa didn’t care, but glanced at the pendulum clock on the side.

"TickTickTick."

The pendulum kept swinging, slowly coming to a stop under the gaze of everyone present.

In an instant, the environment changed.

Everyone in the office disappeared on the spot.

Of course, it wasn’t just the people in the office who disappeared.

There were also...

------

Chapter 49: Who is the oldest among the following options?

"Well, is this the Q&A space? It looks pretty good."

After taking a look at the surroundings, Himeko smacked her lips and made a very pertinent evaluation of the changes in the environment.

Although this place looks empty, white, and monotonous, it also appears simple and pure because of this.

"Huh... You came in too."

Theresa was relieved that Himeko could join them.

Kiana, Mei, and Bronya are all here; there is no shortage of people.

The only question is probably...

"Um, can I please ask."

Wearing a deep blue training suit, red-framed glasses, and with ropes tied in her long hair, the girl looked confused and puzzled.

"Where is this?"

This is Fu Hua, who was sent by Otto as an undercover agent.

"Hey, it's Fu Hua, you're here too!?"

Because they were in the same class and had met during the day, Kiana had a good impression of her. She put her arm around Fu Hua's shoulders.

"Uh..."

Fu Hua tugged at the corner of her mouth at Kiana's natural and familiar behavior, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Just moments ago, she had been reporting to Otto that she was close to the target.

Now, she unexpectedly bumped into Kiana, which felt rather embarrassing.

However, after a long period of training, Fu Hua was very good at not showing her true feelings.

After that brief moment of awkwardness, she quickly concealed the unnaturalness in her expression.

It was very brief.

Bronya considered it to be her first time entering a strange place and was frightened by Kiana's reckless behavior, so didn't care much.

"What a coincidence, I thought you were pretty good during the day."

"I heard that this place used to only allow one person to enter at a time, but today you and I actually entered."

Upon seeing Fu Hua, Himeko was surprised and smiled slightly.

During the day, the performance of this girl named Fu Hua in class had been very impressive. Himeko was quite satisfied. She was serious in class, meticulous in her work, willing to help others, and very humble.

Except for some old-fashioned things, she was definitely a good student in the eyes of the teacher.

Well... Kiana was the opposite.

Himeko glanced at Kiana and silently sighed in her heart.

This person was completely the opposite of Fu Hua. She was careless and impatient, and what was even more outrageous was that she had openly slept during the first class.

If Kiana's personality weren't so grating to Himeko, she would have considered banishing her to the cold palace based on this brief interaction.

"Well, so... what is this place?"

Fu Hua asked the question that concerned her most at the moment, somewhat conflicted.

Theresa and Mei exchanged glances and decided not to hide too much from Fu Hua.

In fact, it was not easy to keep it hidden.

Even if they didn’t tell Fu Hua, when the voice of the manager of the Q&A space appeared, Fu Hua would surely learn what she needed to know.

In this case, it would be better to tell Fu Hua openly.

This would also help avoid creating a rift with her.

After making this decision, Theresa briefly explained the nature of the Q&A space to Fu Hua.

"…"

Fu Hua was silent.

She had lived for a long time—what hadn't she seen?

But as for what Theresa had just introduced—this area, where you could ask questions and receive information about the future and the past, as well as magical rewards—Fu Hua could only say she had never seen anything like it before. This was a new experience.

The still shocked Fu Hua silently wrote down everything Theresa said, word for word.

She believed that the Archbishop far away at the headquarters of Schicksal would be very interested in this space’s existence. However, before that, Fu Hua had to get out of this strange place. To leave, she had to answer all the questions in the space.

Therefore...

[Start answering questions]

A concise voice announced the start of the questioning. Then, a light curtain appeared out of thin air.

[1. Please choose the oldest person from the following options]

[A. Kiana Kaslana]

[B. Murata Himeko]

[C. Fu Hua]

[D. Theresa Apocalypse]

The title loomed.

After seeing this title, Theresa's face darkened.

Himeko was laughing.

Fu Hua...

Fu Hua looked calm and composed.

But the trembling of her hands hidden in her sleeves revealed her true feelings.

It was a cool autumn day, and she was in a comfortably warm question-and-answer space. But Fu Hua felt her hands and feet growing cold, she was unable to sense even the slightest warmth.

This malicious question made her suspect that the space itself was making things difficult for her!

Theresa was naturally unhappy.

It’s said that age is a forbidden topic for women. Appearance-wise, she was nearly 48 years old, so it was only natural.

If it weren’t for not having brought Judah, and if the person asking the question were human, she would have made the person asking feel the warmth of Judah!

Unlike the other two, Himeko laughed aloud.

She didn’t care about age. After all, as a Valkyrie who had been fighting on the front lines for a long time, she lived day by day, not knowing if she might die the next day.

So there was no point in caring about age. And, in truth, she wasn’t even that old.

But seeing Theresa who pretended to be young all the time and defeated by a simple question, Himeko felt quite pleased as a mischievous friend.

However, Kiana, Mei, and Bronya's reactions to Theresa and Himeko were a bit confusing.

"Hey, Instructor Himeko, is Auntie older than you?" Kiana asked curiously, and Mei and Bronya were equally curious.

Actually, they had wanted to ask this question before.

Theresa who looked so young could be Kiana's aunt.

When chatting in the ward earlier, Bronya had even imagined the age of Kiana’s mother.

Due to their detailed speculation, Kiana had once thought her terrible father was too cruel.

No wonder he hadn’t told her about her mother.

For this reason, she secretly decided to teach her rotten father a lesson when she caught him later.

"Ahem."

Himeko had nothing to hide. Seeing everyone waiting expectantly, she immediately cleared her throat and prepared to reveal Theresa’s age.

"Himeko~"

From the side, Theresa’s voice full of resentment made Himeko shudder.

Seeing the familiar expression, she naturally understood what Theresa meant: if you dare say it, you won’t get your salary next month!

Of course, Himeko suspected that Theresa wanted to use this as an excuse to cheat her out of the salary she owed her for nearly three or four months.

For the sake of her salary, she could only pout and show a somewhat apologetic expression.

This naturally disappointed Kiana and the others, who had been eagerly awaiting the answer.

However...

Even if Theresa didn’t want to reveal it, what could she do? After all, this question had to be answered, didn’t it?

Himeko glanced at the question and showed a malicious expression.

-----

Chapter 50: Immortal Jingwei, I Didn't Lie

The question still needed to be answered.

Although Theresa was not happy about exposing the cruel fact that she was the oldest person present, there were too many reward boxes. It was simply impossible to refuse them.

In order to get more reward boxes, she needed to answer the questions in this space as much as possible.

This question was a blatant free point.

After a little struggle, Theresa who was addicted to opening boxes finally straightened her attitude.

Since the question involved the oldest person present, it naturally belonged to her.

Others had no objections, only Fu Hua hesitated to speak but ultimately said nothing.

"I choose D."

Theresa made her choice, then waited for the correct answer to come up, expecting surprised expressions from Kiana, Mei, and Bronya.

[Error]

"This kind of question is not at all difficult."

Theresa maintained a confident expression, believing the answer would be correct.

But then, she quickly realized something was wrong.

"What... what?!"

Looking at the bright red error on the screen, Theresa was stunned by the result. Himeko was also stunned, Theresa reacted and shouted in dissatisfaction:

"Hey, hey, hey, is something wrong with the question? I am obviously the oldest here, right?!"

As a man-made person, she was born in 1972, and more than 40 years had passed since then. The second oldest, Himeko, was only nearly 30 years old—almost 20 years younger than her.

As for Kiana and Fu Hua, she had never considered them.

She had even held Kiana when she was born. And the latter, according to the files, was not much older than Kiana.

For this question, no matter how she looked at it, the correct answer should be her, right?

[Correct answer: C. Fu Hua]

[Current age: 50,000+]

Theresa couldn’t accept the correct answer when she saw it, but after seeing the next part, everyone present became very excited.

"Hey, hey, hey, what’s going on here? 50,000+? Does that mean she’s lived for at least 50,000 years?!"

"Is this a joke?!"

All things considered, human civilization hadn't existed that long. How could someone be over 50,000 years old?

[The answer is correct.]

It seemed that to prevent further doubts, the control consciousness of the Q&A space added a sentence.

In response, Fu Hua showed a bitter smile. The moment she saw the question, she had anticipated the outcome.

"Well, this wave of the lurking mission is probably going to end right here."

With such a big age difference from the age written in the file, it would be a miracle if she could still gain the trust of the target and approach them.

However, it was not without a way to remedy it. As long as Fenghuang Down was used to erase the memories of everyone present, the lurking mission could still continue.

After a while, Fu Hua let go of this method.

Fenghuang Down did not respond at all. No matter how she urged it, it was like a pool of dead water—motionless, as if it were truly just an ordinary ornament.

She probably knew the reason.

In this strange space, the Divine Key was unable to function.

No... Not only the Divine Key, but even the Edge of Taixuan, driven by Honkai energy, did not respond.

...

Theresa also reacted.

Since she said the answer was fine, it must be their side that had a problem.

"Aren't you going to explain this to me, Fu Hua-san?"

Through that outrageous answer, Theresa had noticed something. She looked at Fu Hua with a bad expression.

Although she didn’t know what was going on with this exaggerated age, this obviously ancient "monster" had appeared in her academy. This was a serious problem.

"... I have nothing to say."

After a moment of silence, Fu Hua gave her answer.

Since things had come to this point and Fenghuang Down couldn’t be used to save it, the lurking operation had failed.

"Hmph."

Theresa snorted coldly.

Even if Fu Hua didn’t say anything, she could probably guess what was going on.

Being able to modify the internal files of Schicksal and specially arrange for this old "monster" could only be the work of her difficult grandfather.

The purpose was unclear, but she was certain it wasn’t something good.

Theresa glanced at Fu Hua and asked, "Will you report everything here to Grandpa truthfully?"

Fu Hua did not answer, but she already knew the answer.

Theresa felt a headache coming on.

If Grandpa knew about this space, she would never have any peace.

"Auntie, what are you talking about?"

Kiana was puzzled by the changes, she looked confused. Wasn’t everything fine just now? How did the atmosphere suddenly become tense?

Before she could say more, Mei tugged on her arm.

Mei who had put on her glasses at some point shook her head slightly, signaling her to stay quiet.

Through the conversation between Theresa and Fu Hua, Mei had figured out what was going on.

It wasn’t just a half-understanding. Combining the information she had obtained previously with the current details, Mei’s deductions were more complete than Theresa’s.

When Fu Hua saw this rational, wise, and knowledgeable look, she felt a trance. The long-forgotten figure overlapped.

"You..."

Fu Hua opened her mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say.

In this tense atmosphere, the Q&A continued.

[2. After completing the task of bringing K423 back and defeating Benares, Fu Hua met Otto and completely understood his nature through a conversation with him. In the end, Fu Hua decided to stop Otto’s crazy plan and make up for her mistakes, but was shot in the head by Otto’s Mimicry Judgment of Shamash. Excuse me, before Fu Hua died, which of the following sentences did Otto say?]

[A. Immortal Jingwei, I didn’t lie.]

[B. I’m sorry, old friend.]

[C. This is a test.]

[D. Sorry.]

On the light screen, after the first question, the second question appeared.

After seeing the content of the question, Fu Hua was stunned for a moment. She rubbed her eyes subconsciously, thinking that she had read it wrong.

But after reading it again, the text still didn’t change, proving Fu Hua hadn’t made a mistake.

"..."

Fu Hua was silent.

The amount of information in this question was overwhelming, and she was a little paralyzed.

Aside from Fu Hua, the person in charge, Mei naturally wouldn’t miss the opportunity to obtain useful information from this huge amount of details.

K423. This was the body of the Project Sirin mentioned in the previous question.

Took away, and related to Fu Hua, this so-called K423.

"It really refers to..."

Mei glanced at Kiana without leaving a trace, and her heart sank.

After gaining control over part of the power of the Herrscher of Thunder, Mei had realized that Kiana had a problem.

But she didn’t expect it to be... like this.

----

Chapter 51: Only You

Ten years can see the coming and going of spring and autumn, a hundred years can prove birth, aging, sickness, and death, a thousand years can lament the change of dynasties, and ten thousand years can see the shift of the stars.

Few memories of the past remain.

Only [Protecting Shenzhou], which was a promise made with an old friend, has never been forgotten.

Known as the Immortal Jingwei by the world, she has protected the land of Shenzhou for thousands of years.

Until the fire happened.

Because of the accident, Phoenix was severely injured, and only one-tenth of her strength remained.

It was difficult to continue to fulfill the promise with her friend.

Then came the Archbishop of Schicksal, Otto Apocalypse.

In desperation, in order to continue to fulfill her promise with her friend, Immortal Jingwei had no choice but to make a deal with Otto.

She was driven by him, and in exchange, he would protect Shenzhou with the power of Schicksal.

As part of the deal, Phoenix agreed to change her name to Fu Hua and came to Saint Freya Academy to monitor a girl named Kiana Kaslana.

However, she didn't expect the task to be abruptly solved by the questions in the strange Q&A space.

And that was not the end.

The next question felt like a heavy stone, thrown into Fu Hua's heart, causing ripples.

From Theresa's previous explanation, Fu Hua understood that the questions in this space were related to their past, present, and future.

This question clearly revealed her future. She would obey Otto's orders, lurk and monitor Kiana, then one day, take Kiana away to defeat an unknown monster, but eventually wake up and decide to make up for her mistakes.

"Is this my future?"

Having had no prior contact with him, Fu Hua, who had no understanding of the future revealed by the question, showed a rare moment of confusion in her eyes.

"...Anyway, I should answer the question first."

Unlike Theresa who still worried about Fu Hua being an undercover agent sent by Otto, Mei who was the calmest at the moment, spoke up, pulling Fu Hua from her confusion.

Her tone was not harsh.

Although the question clearly indicated that Fu Hua would take Kiana away, Mei, at least, knew that Fu Hua regretted her actions in the end and would make amends.

Of course, this is because Mei was wearing glasses, so she was in a calm and rational state. If she were normal, and she wouldn't have known that Fu Hua was after Kiana. The moment she made the move, it would have been enough to pull Fu Hua’s favorability into the negative.

"...I understand." Fu Hua nodded slightly.

Since they were in this space, it was only natural to focus on Q&A the questions first.

If the questions weren't answered, they couldn't even return to reality.

It was pointless to think too much.

With a complicated look, Fu Hua took another glance at the question and then focused on the four answers.

[A. Immortal Jingwei, I didn’t lie.]

[B. I’m sorry, old friend.]

[C. This is a trial.]

[D. Sorry.]

To be honest, all four answers could align with Otto's tone.

However, C could probably be ruled out.

Its meaning was unclear. Saying something vague before killing oneself would be too much of a riddle.

D could likely be ruled out as well.

Thinking carefully about her interactions with Otto, Fu Hua had never heard words like "sorry" or "apologize" from the Overseer. She didn'

t recall any apology from him.

Based on the future described in the question, Otto should not have apologized to her.

The conflict between her and Otto was probably about rejecting his ideas and actions.

Excluding C and D, the remaining answers were A and B.

Both answers sounded like something Otto would say.

Fu Hua suspected that Otto may have said both of these sentences.

However, since the question asked for what Otto said in his final moments, they had to distinguish between the first and last.

"I choose A."

Without hesitation, Fu Hua made her choice.

She didn’t think much about it.

Between the two, she simply picked one at random.

This was her first time in this space. Although Theresa had told her that good things would come from Q&A the questions correctly, Fu Hua didn't care about it.

In the years of guarding Shenzhou, her desires had been few. She didn't need much. If something good came, that was fine, but she wouldn't be affected if it didn't.

[Correct]

The green color representing correctness covered the screen.

Fu Hua was a little surprised by the correctness, but she didn't dwell on it.

She was more concerned about the information revealed about her future by the question.

As she thought, the screen that appeared after Q&A the question came into view, drawing everyone's attention.

The background of the image showed the sci-fi headquarters of Schicksal. Fu Hua, dressed in a sleek, black, technologically advanced Valkyrie armor, stood in it. Opposite her was a figure familiar to Theresa—her grandfather, the Bishop of Schicksal, Otto Apocalypse.

Otto who considered Fu Hua his friend did not hold back. He directly revealed his plan: using the DNA of Kiana and the second Herrscher, he created the experimental subject K423. He arranged for K423 to meet others and form a deep bond, then turned K423 into a Herrscher, using the bond to control her.

Thus, the Herrscher who could be controlled by others was born.

This incredibly insane plan was revealed to the others watching the video.

Theresa, Himeko, Bronya, and Fu Hua were all shocked and heartbroken.

Except for Mei, as she had already guessed part of Otto’s plan.

And...

"...So, that’s it."

Crystal tears slid down Kiana's cheeks, and her beautiful face, once like a flower, now looked lost and panicked.

She lowered her head, recalling everything that had happened.

In this moment, everything hidden became clear.

Tears rolled down as her blue eyes stared at her trembling hands.

This body, this name...

So she was just a false copy?

An unstoppable sadness surged in her heart. Kiana appeared heartbroken and alone.

"..."

Mei sighed.

When she pieced these things together, she had sensed this moment might come.

But she hadn't expected it to arrive so quickly.

She took off her glasses and put them in her pocket.

Then, without hesitation, she opened her arms and embraced Kiana.

The sudden action caused Kiana's trembling body to stiffen, but the warmth of the embrace made her not resist.

"Listen to me, Kiana..."

Mei's voice was soft but full of tenderness as she leaned her head against Kiana's ear.

"No matter how others see you, in my eyes, you are the only Kiana."

With complete certainty in her words, Mei leaned against Kiana's forehead and said, word by word:

"The Kiana I know is only you, and it will only be you!"