Chapter 140: Anticipating the Next Reunion
Early in the morning, Anna saw a freshly released "Volunteer Recruitment Notice" on her communicator. Its wording, phrasing, layout, and the restriction on "A-Rank Valkyries" were completely identical to the one she had seen before, only the posting time had been changed.
This familiar notice made Anna feel deeply uneasy. Without even bothering to wash up, she rushed out of her room, banging Captain Jell's door open with a force that conveyed her urgency, as if "if she's late, it'll be too late," while shouting loudly.
"No, you're not allowed to go!"
Her voice was quite urgent, not at all like her usual gentle tone, as if terrified that if she were a second late, they'd be separated by life and death.
Captain Jell got up early, and was standing by the window, facing the morning light, single-mindedly trimming flowers. Anna's sudden shock made her jump.
"...What's not allowed?"
Jell looked at the flower bud she'd accidentally clipped off with a shake of her hand, half-amused and half-helpless.
She put down the tools in her hand, gently pushed the remaining flower arrangement into the sunlight, then turned around, looking at Anna's urgent face with a helpless expression.
"Where do you think I'm going?"
"Uh…"
Anna looked at her captain in casual shorts and a t-shirt, and that helpless expression of being disturbed from her leisurely and elegant pursuits, and immediately calmed down, realizing she'd been too impulsive. She greeted her a little awkwardly.
"Haha… um… Captain, good morning…"
"Mm, good morning, Vice-Captain Anna."
Jell replied in an aloof tone.
Recently, because of Durandal's active role, the other Valkyrie squads had become much more idle. Captain Jell was also happy to spend such leisurely days, enjoying the ordinary beauty of life. Unfortunately, her peaceful mood was ruined early in the morning by some reckless person.
"What a busybody…"
Jell sighed inwardly, while waving to signal Anna to come in from the doorway.
"Who greets someone with such a grand entrance? Speak, what's the matter that makes you so flustered? …Close the door."
Anna closed the door a little sheepishly and walked in. Seeing her captain looking normal, she wished she could slap herself twice. Why were you so impulsive?
But what was done was done, and regret was useless. Anna had no choice but to bite the bullet and state her purpose.
"Captain, that notice… you haven't seen it, have you?"
She thought to herself, it would be best if the captain hadn't seen it, so she could persuade her to dismiss the idea before it was too late.
But Captain Jell's reaction made Anna's heart sink.
"Mm, I saw it."
After going to the orphanage with the captain last time, Anna had, on the one hand, resolved her inner conflicts.
But on the other hand, she was also a bit frightened by the captain's dangerous mentality, which could even be described as "yearning for death," afraid she would do something dangerous.
Seeing the captain's calm and composed smile, Anna couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Captain, you… haven't done anything… right?"
Captain, please be normal, I'm scared!
Captain Jell looked at Anna's hesitant and anxious appearance, and couldn't help but laugh, comforting her.
"Alright, I know what you're worried about. Don't worry, I'm not going."
Anna's eyes lit up, but still worried she might be deceiving herself, she asked hesitantly again,
"…Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
Captain Jell was both amused and exasperated, and also a little touched by Anna's reckless but sincere worry and care. But she said in a stern tone,
"There are only you and me, two A-Rank Valkyries in the squad. Even if I wanted to just walk away… with Vice-Captain Anna in such a clumsy state right now… Hmph, I'm still worried the Snow Lotus Squad's reputation will be ruined in your hands!"
Anna smiled awkwardly and nodded repeatedly, humbly accepting the captain's criticism.
Although her criticism was harsh, Anna actually breathed a sigh of relief. After all, if possible, who would want to lose someone close to them?
"You…"
Jell smiled helplessly.
Although the actual age difference between the two wasn't that big, both being A-Rank Valkyries, Anna always had a spirit of enthusiasm and persistence mixed with naivety.
And of course, also some naivety and recklessness. Maybe it was because her life experience was too shallow.
"Practice more and it'll be fine," Jell thought.
The spirit in Anna, her deeply rooted kindness, and her unwillingness to admit defeat were all things she liked and valued very much.
"Captain, I heard noises from your room just now. Is something wrong? …Ah, Vice-Captain is also here!"
The door was pushed open again, and a Valkyrie teammate, still a bit sleepy-eyed, poked her head in, asking inquisitively. Seeing Anna was also there, she couldn't help but jolt awake.
Are these two fighting again?
She couldn't help but mutter to herself in her heart, hesitating whether she should go in to persuade them, or whether it would be best to make a hasty retreat.
"One after another so early in the morning…"
Jell shook her head and smiled helplessly, casually making up a reason.
"It's okay, I'm fine… Just accidentally bumped something while arranging flowers just now."
"Ah? Oh…"
The Valkyrie teammate looked suspiciously at the intact vase on the windowsill, feeling that things shouldn't be like this. Then she saw the lonely flower bud placed beside the vase, and felt like it really was like that.
Looking at the two captains in the room, the atmosphere in the room was indeed not the kind of tense feeling of conflict. She stopped thinking too much and obediently closed the door and left.
"Then… if there's nothing else, I'll leave too…"
Anna also tiptoed towards the door, wanting to slip away now that things were resolved.
"Wait a minute!"
Captain Jell didn't intend to let her go just like that, pointing to the windowsill.
"What's the rush? You're already here, help me trim the flowers."
After speaking, without waiting for Anna's reply, she walked straight into the bathroom to start washing up, only the sound of rushing water was heard.
Anna obediently walked to the windowsill, picked up the scissors, and began to carefully trim this vibrant flower arrangement.
Even though its buds hadn't yet bloomed, she still easily recognized it was a bouquet of daffodil lilies, with lush green leaves, delicate and vibrant.
But the stem of one of the flowers was bare. Its bud had been cut off, and was now lying pitifully beside the vase.
Anna, as the culprit, blushed slightly, then carefully trimmed off the damaged part, and then tidied it up slightly, making it beautiful and harmonious again.
"Mm, well done."
After a moment, Captain Jell, who had returned to her side, looked at Anna's work with satisfaction, and then said with a smile.
"Alright, I'll give it to you."
Anna was slightly stunned when she heard this. This gift was a bit sudden.
"Don't look so surprised, Anna."
Jell smiled slightly, pointing a finger at the vibrant leaves, and asked softly.
"If I remember correctly, the Schariac family crest is a lily, right?"
"Mm, yes."
Anna nodded, then hesitated, a look of embarrassment on her face, unsure of how to phrase it.
"But… these are daffodil lilies…"
She was worried that the captain had confused the two kinds of lilies, but even more reluctant to spoil the captain's good intentions, making her feel awkward.
"I know, Anna. Here, you're Vice-Captain Anna of the Snow Lotus Squad, not a member of the Schariac family. This bouquet, it's just a blessing from me, your captain, to my teammate."
Jell smiled, dispelling her concerns.
"'Yearning for the future,' 'anticipating reunion,' this flower language suits you very well, doesn't it?"
Anna was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed red, getting a little anxious.
"I'm not… I didn't… don't talk nonsense!"
Seeing her flustered appearance, Jell couldn't help but laugh heartily, her laughter crisp and cheerful, as clear and sharp as her sky-blue short hair.
Anna became even more embarrassed.
Jell laughed for a good while, only stopping after she'd laughed enough, and said,
"Alright, accept it. Just a blessing, no other meaning."
Some things, it wasn't that she didn't notice. But if the other party was unwilling to speak, then she wouldn't ask.
"Family, friends, comrades… it can all be included, can't it?"
"…Thank you, Captain."
Although Anna's face was still a bit red, she still had to accept this kindness, picking up the bouquet to leave.
When she reached the door, she suddenly thought of something, turned back, and asked seriously,
"Captain, can I invite a friend to come here as a guest?"
Some people, it really was time for a reunion.
… … … … … …
In some unknown corner of the world, Jackal, dressed in priestly robes, stood behind thick protective glass, looking down from a high vantage point at a deep pit that resembled a coliseum.
Inside, there were countless animals, cats, dogs, weasels, rats…
Hundreds and thousands, tens of thousands, densely packed, countless.
Densely thrown into the same area, yet relatively safe and sound.
The reason was that each of them had a red light flashing on their body, controlling their actions.
Unable to move, the animals could only endure their rumbling hunger, roaring at the prey beside them or the world that hunted them.
"Experiment start…"
Jackal folded her arms, her golden pupils watching the distant grand scene with interest, issuing an expectant command.
"First, let's eliminate the trash that has no cultivation value."
As the order was issued, the lights in the entire laboratory suddenly dimmed.
In contrast, at the top of that coliseum, bright flashes suddenly lit up on the edge of that circle of high walls. Violent currents surged down the steel walls, instantly sweeping across the poor animals below.
Screams suddenly rose sharply, then stopped abruptly.
Electric arcs flickered and jumped, most of the animals were electrocuted on the spot, some even had their fur burned, emitting a pungent burnt smell.
Of course, Ms. Jackal, who was strictly protected, couldn't smell this odor. She just admired this miserable scene, corners of her lips upturned, while lightly tapping her fingers, counting time. 3, 2, 1…
"Stop!"
As a new command was issued, the lights in the laboratory returned to bright.
Those animals would no longer make any sound. The "screening" just now had killed at least 80% of them. The remaining survivors were also stiff all over, barely emitting painful whimpers to show they were still alive.
The lights on their bodies had long since been damaged by the electric current and lost the ability to control their actions, but they themselves were already motionless now.
The dark door of the coliseum opened, and hundreds of small cleaning robots entered, collecting all the animal corpses that had died. As they left, the once densely packed arena suddenly became empty, and the surviving cats and dogs sparsely collapsed in various corners.
"Heh, looks like the pet food problem for the next period is solved."
Seeing everything going smoothly, Jackal was in a great mood, and then issued a new command—
"Next, let's screen out the little darlings with cultivation value."
In another area of the base, several Titans, upon receiving instructions, put pre-prepared Honkai beasts into the ready-to-use Honkai Furnace.
The Honkai beasts disintegrated instantly, extracting pure Honkai energy, which, following energy pipelines, was released into that coliseum.
Another large portion of the surviving animals instantly turned to ashes.
Among the small portion that didn't turn to ash, yet another large portion began to faintly turn purple-red, but were sniped and killed one by one by the prepared mechs just before mutation.
The surviving animals watched numbly as another wave of cleaning robots entered and left.
And then, the arena now appeared incomparably empty.
"Oh? Still so many left? But that's also a good thing."
Jackal turned her head, looking at the remaining number displayed on the instrument. She was a little surprised by the number of survivors.
"Alright, it's time to give these cute little guys some rewards."
As the experiment progressed, Jackal's address for the test subjects became more and more affectionate.
"Bang!"
Several drones flew over, throwing some medicines and food into the coliseum like trash. The scent wafting in the air stirred the surviving creatures' desire for life.
"Alright, the last step…"
The amount of food and medicine was relatively scarce, not even enough for half of the animals to eat.
"Let's screen out the strongest, most determined little guys~"
Jackal's voice was extremely cheerful. She greatly enjoyed this feeling of controlling other's lives in her hands.
Even if they were just animals.
"Woof woof woof… Awoo!"
Those originally quite cute cats and dogs now struggled to exert their last bit of strength, getting up from the ground.
Those close to food and medicine were both lucky and unlucky.
Lucky, because they soon swallowed them into their bellies.
Unlucky, because they were soon torn apart by even more of their kind, and then, along with what they had swallowed, became food and medicine for the others, replenishing their life energy.
Among them, a light gray cat was quite clever. It didn't compete with them, just darting into the feast of torn flesh and blood, snatching a bite and running away.
If other animals attacked it, it would also fight back fiercely.
In the end, the brutal revelry came to an end, leaving only a dozen or so victors on the field.
"Very good, send them to my laboratory."
Jackal was satisfied. She believed that among these little darlings, she would definitely cultivate the weapon she wanted.
… … … … … …
Nagazora City, ME Corp.
This was Cocolia's private territory, but at this moment, she was standing alone on the roof of the hundred-story building, enduring the whistling cold wind at high altitude.
After a long while, she seemed to hear some movement, turned around, and said impatiently,
"Jackal, you're late…"
"Contacting me so suddenly. If you can't give me a satisfactory answer, I can't guarantee you'll walk out of here alive."
Chapter 141: Vacation is Over
In the days that followed, all was calm and tranquil. Lin Wei's life became quite regular.
Leisurely reading books, playing games.
Of course, Yae Sakura supervised his daily physical fitness and combat skill training. Usually before dawn and after nightfall.
This led to Lin Wei often using daytime to catch up on sleep, which Yae Sakura, always diligent and self-disciplined, couldn't understand.
"How can this guy be so lazy?"
To this, Lin Wei was righteously confident.
"Because I am lazy!"
And then happily received Instructor Yae Sakura's extra training package…
Besides that, he would go fishing by the sea every afternoon, and after returning home in the evening, play a few rounds of intense solo matches against Bronya.
Speaking of which, ever since they played games together that day, Bronya would come online almost every night on time, inviting Lin Wei to play games with her, and would chat a few words, but never talked about anything other than games, let alone asked him about the "quantum realm" or other information about Seele.
Lin Wei also tacitly kept silent.
For Lin Wei, maintaining a stable status quo and a relatively friendly tacit understanding with Bronya was a pretty good outcome.
For Bronya, Lin Wei's existence was a tangible dream of hope, uncertain how much was true and how much was false. But as long as he was there, letting Bronya feel that she could see him, reach him, she would feel at ease.
Even if it was really just a dream bubble, she didn't want to burst it.
Therefore, the two were just like ordinary online friends, playing games every day, and only talking about games. When night fell, they said goodbye and logged off, agreeing to meet again tomorrow.
And then, Lin Wei, as if finishing a day's work, fell into a deep sleep in various bizarre and colorful dreams.
While Bronya, once again connecting to Schicksal's data center, continued to work hard to find a way to turn the "dream" into "reality."
This world was like this, everyone lived for themselves, running around for their own corner of the world, each with their own life, each with their own troubles.
Bronya endured the low efficiency of groping blindly, flipping through one entry after another in the vast data sea, and retrieving all information connected to it, upstream or downstream, starting from any keywords that caught her attention.
Then either discarding it in disappointment, or thoughtfully storing it in her database.
By the next morning, she would drag her tired body to class, and then enter power-saving mode in class, starting to catch up on sleep. The work of studying and organizing notes was all delegated to Project Bunny to do on her behalf.
Overseer Otto, far away at HQ, saw all of this clearly.
"What exactly does this little girl want to do? Does she want to publish some cutting-edge academic paper?"
Otto looked at the extremely broad search range, pondering for a long time, indicating that he really couldn't understand the connections and intentions in it.
He just felt that this Valkyrie cadet was too diligent.
"Tsk tsk tsk…"
Since Otto couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.
He transferred all the information he valued from the data center and placed it separately. Then decided to wait and see what happened.
After all, changes of this degree didn't show any obvious consequences, and could only be considered some very minor accidents, not yet to the extent that he needed to intervene in the "experiment progress."
He just sent a message to Fu Hua, telling her about Bronya's anomaly, while once again emphasizing to Amber to monitor Anti-Entropy's movements, to prevent accidents.
After arranging these, he devoted his energy to more important matters.
These things happening within Schicksal were temporarily far from Lin Wei. He neither knew about them, nor could he interfere.
"Sakura, how are things?"
On the vast sea, far from shipping lanes, a fishing boat floated quietly. The boat owner had dropped anchor, dozing off in the cabin, leaving the calm sea and vast sky to Lin Wei.
At this moment, he was standing by the railing, seemingly casually casting his fishing rod, while asking Yae Sakura in his heart.
"Energy has been stable, no anomalies, and no Honkai beasts living on the seabed."
Yae Sakura's voice was clear and calm.
"We've been to several sea areas these past few days, and the results are similar, no dangerous aura exists."
Yae Sakura had always had a beast-like keen sense of smell. When guarding the village in the past, she was always able to detect the presence of danger at the first moment, then rush to it and eliminate it. Now she was just using the power of the Divine Key to further develop her specialty.
"What about Chiyou?"
Lin Wei asked noncommittally,
"Seal is intact. If not for paying full attention, I wouldn't even be able to find its exact location…"
Yae Sakura replied calmly, then asked in some confusion,
"Lin Wei-kun, you've asked this question so many times. But for some reason, I feel that your unease is growing day by day?"
"Is it that obvious?"
Lin Wei smiled helplessly, put away the empty hook, rebaited it and cast it out again, replying seriously,
"Because this is consistent with the information I got from Anti-Entropy."
During this period, Lin Wei was still doing as usual, using fishing as a cover, while actually investigating and monitoring the energy tide situation in Southeast Asia.
After several days of this, Lin Wei suddenly felt a little uneasy, and proactively contacted Anti-Entropy, asking them about their Honkai energy detection situation in the Southeast Asian region.
"The outbreak of Honkai follows certain rules. It's a sudden occurrence after regional energy accumulates to a critical point. Like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, there will always be some precursors, which professional institutions can observe and warn about. And Schicksal and Anti-Entropy are clearly proficient in this."
Lin Wei explained seriously.
"The Honkai outbreak in Manila was so significant. Except for not birthing a Herrscher, the damage and losses caused are almost no less than the Nagazora City Honkai."
"But whether it's our own detection, or the information synchronized from Anti-Entropy, they all show that this area is too stable, everything is normal. Tesla even mocked me for being paranoid…"
Empty hook again. Lin Wei, in a fit of pique, simply stopped fishing, directly throwing out a spear and chain, forcibly spearing a tuna from the seabed.
"..."
Yae Sakura was a little helpless at Lin Wei's childishly sulking behavior.
"But this 'normal,' in the eyes of you and me, who know what's about to happen, is 'too abnormal'."
After venting his frustration, Lin Wei felt better, breathed out a long breath, and said seriously.
"Sakura, I now suspect that the Honkai outbreak in Manila, like the Nagazora City Honkai, was also a tragedy artificially triggered by someone."
Natural disasters were tragedies, man-made disasters were catastrophes. Lin Wei's classification standards were always subtle and fitting.
"…Do you suspect it's World Serpent's revenge? Because of Coral Island?"
After so long, Yae Sakura gradually managed to keep up with Lin Wei's train of thought, but still couldn't believe it.
"Don't they consider the consequences?"
"Just a guess, but not impossible. Have you forgotten that Gray Serpent admired Cocolia's 'unscrupulous methods'? Hehe, birds of a feather flock together…"
Lin Wei liked talking to Yae Sakura, because she knew all his secrets, so he could be completely frank with her.
"But this guess raises another question for me, which is… going to so much trouble, paying such a heavy price, just to retaliate against a Valkyrie squad? Where's the benefit? I just can't figure it out no matter what."
Lin Wei tried to put himself in World Serpent's mindset to think, but found himself instead falling into greater confusion, unable to piece together a complete jigsaw puzzle of information.
"Also, if we really continue to deduce according to this possibility, the Manila Honkai was World Serpent's retaliation for the Snow Lotus Squad destroying the Coral Island incident… then there's another question here—now, in the Coral Island incident, there was my intervention."
Lin Wei sneered.
"If they really had to choose one person between me and Anna to retaliate against… Heh, wouldn't I, who has provoked World Serpent again and again… be more likely to arouse World Serpent's hatred than Schicksal's Snow Lotus Squad?"
He said this, but he felt quite helpless in his heart. He just wanted to sneak in quietly, then quietly leave with the people, letting World Serpent suffer a minor, unacknowledged loss. But Anna's sudden intrusion made him sink deeper and deeper without realizing it, and in the end, made things bigger and bigger.
Although he had plenty of reasons to excuse himself, World Serpent's actions had never been reasonable.
Therefore, Lin Wei felt he needed to prepare for "if the other party is unreasonable, then I won't be reasonable either"—
"Sakura, tell me…"
Lin Wei narrowed his eyes, asking softly.
"Is it possible that this 'Manila Honkai' that's about to break out… will, because of me, turn into a 'Singapore Honkai'?"
"After all, for some people, whether it's the death of these millions of people, or those millions of people, they're just the same cold numbers, aren't they?"
"!"
Yae Sakura felt a chill run down her spine.
She and Lin Wei had lived there for a while. Although it wasn't that they had feelings for the place, she still didn't want to see this prosperous city destroyed.
"The storm is coming…"
Lin Wei looked up at the azure sky, only feeling that under the vast sky, on the boundless sea, he was really as small as dust. He couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"Let's go, Sakura, it's time to go back. There are still many things to do…"
After a moment, Lin Wei opened his eyes, and said calmly,
"Although it's a pity, I'm afraid the vacation really has to end."
… … … … … …
World Serpent • Some Unknown Base.
The closed laboratory was filled with a strong smell of disinfectant, but the two figures present here were oblivious to this unpleasant odor, just looking with interest through a transparent wall at a culture tank churning with bubbles.
"Ms. Jackal, this is your latest masterpiece?"
Gray Serpent seriously admired the gray kitten sleeping in the culture tank. More accurately, he admired the eye-catching Stigmata patterns on its forehead and ears, and couldn't help but express his appreciation.
"Truly quite interesting…"
"Hmph, you don't need to tell me!"
Jackal couldn't help but raise her head to look at the chandelier on the ceiling, revealing a neck as proud as a swan's.
"I already said, the technology I've mastered will take the Serpent's cause to the next level!"
Gray Serpent smiled, silent. The meaning of that smile was like appreciation, and also like noncommittal.
"Truly tasteless…"
Jackal was obviously dissatisfied with this ambiguous attitude.
"Hey, Gray Serpent, what's your attitude towards my plan?"
Gray Serpent raised his head slightly, just about to speak, but was interrupted by Jackal first. She glared fiercely at Gray Serpent, warning.
"Better speak plainly, and don't give me any of your incomprehensible riddles!"
"Naturally it's approved, Ms. Jackal. World Serpent will fully cooperate with your plan."
Gray Serpent smiled. As colleagues for many years, he naturally knew Jackal's personality very well.
"Oh? Really? That's good then."
Sure enough, as soon as Jackal heard this, she was immediately satisfied. With her mood improved, she no longer directed her anger at her teammate.
"That Lin Wei, just a lucky guy who happened to obtain a Divine Key. Want to gain the Lord's favor with that? Heh, what a joke!"
Then, without waiting for Gray Serpent to speak, she proactively began to describe her plan non-stop.
"That arrogant madman, what he relies on is nothing more than the Divine Key… Key of Erosion? Hmph! Don't think I don't know, even with the help of the Divine Key, plus the power of the Stigmata, he can only barely go toe-to-toe with a mere Emperor-class Honkai Beast… A holy relic like the Divine Key is just wasted in his hands! It's blasphemy! It's an insult to Heaven's gifts!"
It had to be said, putting aside her character. Jackal, who always spoke without restraint, and would answer ten questions if you asked her one, was simply a breath of fresh air in an organization like World Serpent, full of riddle-makers…
She looked at the kitten sleeping in the incubator with obsessed eyes, fascinated by the scene she envisioned in her heart.
"And my masterpiece, how can a mere Emperor-class Honkai Beast compare? Even Schicksal's so-called S-Rank Valkyries won't be its match… Key of Erosion? Hmph… When we meet next time, that guy will obediently lie on my experimental platform."
"By then, I think I'll be very magnanimous to forgive his previous offense and impudence. And then, teach him to learn awe and respect…"
Gray Serpent remained silent throughout, not commenting on Jackal's infatuation.
"Hey, Gray Serpent, why aren't you talking?"
Jackal was greatly dissatisfied when she saw that the person beside her wasn't cheering her on.
"Just didn't want to interrupt your pleasure, Ms. Jackal."
Gray Serpent smiled, saying unhurriedly,
"However, I still need to remind you of one thing. Although World Serpent will fully support your plan, after all, we're facing the Key of Erosion. So I'm sorry, 'Gray Serpent' will probably be hard-pressed to appear as a foil on your stage."
Jackal frowned, then stopped thinking too much, indicating understanding. It was nothing more than replacing some assistants.
"Oh, please forgive my interference."
Gray Serpent reminded her again,
"Natasha has a good private relationship with Lin Wei. So for safety's sake, I suggest you don't rashly disturb her."
The meaning conveyed in full, Gray Serpent elegantly nodded to a somewhat stunned Jackal, and then turned to leave.
"Gray Serpent, you stop right there!"
Jackal was now unwilling to let it go. If you guys won't play with me, who the hell am I supposed to find to help?!
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
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54 Power
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