Chapter 199: Lin Wei: Am I About to Screw Up?
As the saying goes, plans often come with surprises.
Therefore, true to form, Lin Wei unexpectedly encountered… the unexpected.
From a statistical perspective, the more complex and detailed a plan is, the more likely it is to go wrong as the number of steps increases – even if each step has only a 1% chance of failure. When a plan reaches 100 steps, the cumulative probability of failure can reach a staggering 64.4%.
This mathematical model, although overly simplistic and lacking many other important factors, is sufficient to illustrate a simple truth.
Lin Wei, of course, understood this principle all too well. It was precisely for this reason that he always disliked overly complicated things.
But what he faced was an extremely chaotic and complex world – a tangled mess of threads, where pulling one could unravel everything.
If he possessed Kevin's strength, he could naturally choose the simplest solution: using overwhelming force to cut through the Gordian Knot. But Lin Wei didn't.
So he had to settle for the next best thing – to find the most important thread in this tangled mess, locate the most opportune point of entry, and strike at the most opportune moment to seize it, unraveling the whole thing.
In essence, Lin Wei was still using complexity to fight complexity – using complex thinking and precise execution to achieve the effect of "unraveling the threads."
But the margin for error with this approach was extremely low.
This was precisely why Lin Wei was almost obsessively pursuing "absolute certainty," meticulously preparing one or two backup plans for each step of his plan to ensure, as much as possible, the successful achievement of his ultimate goal.
Just like he did with the Herrscher of Corruption in Nagazora…
But in the end, Lin Wei was only flesh and blood. Even if he thought long and hard, and prepared as much as possible, there were bound to be blind spots in his vision.
After all, the "prescient" information advantage he relied on never included everyone and everything in this world. Therefore…
The sky was still dark, the dawn about to break.
Lin Wei discovered that his plan, which was 90% complete, was now facing the danger of collapse at the last crucial moment –
"Damn it, why did all those Valkyries return to the central hospital?"
Lin Wei gazed into the distance, his expression turning grim.
It didn't take much effort to notice these youthful Valkyries. They stood out like sore thumbs wherever they went – especially when they were almost fully armed and on guard around the central hospital.
Of course, to avoid disturbing the ordinary patients and medical staff, the Valkyries were not overly conspicuous, and their weapons were mostly concealed.
Perhaps to ordinary people, they were just a group of lively and adorable girls traveling together, but they couldn't hide from someone with a keen eye – like Lin Wei.
"Didn't I already divert them all?"
Lin Wei put down the tablet, a corner of its screen now broken from his grip, muttering to himself in disbelief.
In his original plan, the incident at the Philippine National Central University was enough to draw the entire manpower of the Snow Lotus Squad. T
hen, they would be tied up by a series of complex tasks such as investigation, combat, cleanup, and aftercare – which would give Jackal enough time to regroup.
At the same time, the clues discovered at the university were enough to arouse the attention of all Schicksal personnel, including Otto – therefore, both Otto, who was hiding his identity, and the Snow Lotus Squad, as the local garrison force, would definitely do their utmost to investigate and prevent those dangerous individuals from escaping.
And after the investigation?
Of course, they would pursue them with all their might!
Would Otto let the available forces at his disposal go to waste? No way!
That guy would squeeze three pounds of oil out of a stone!
Lin Wei grumbled internally…
Therefore, in Lin Wei's original prediction, the Snow Lotus Squad would at most leave one or two Valkyries to watch over the unconscious Anna, and the rest would go all out to track down the location of World Serpent!
It was precisely because of this consideration that Lin Wei, after much deliberation, took the risk of choosing this place as the "delivery" location.
In fact, he didn't have many choices – if he didn't want to expose the fact that "Raven was a mole," then Lin Wei had to find a reasonable explanation for his preemptive attack on Jackal.
Therefore, it could only be Anna, it could only be here, that would make Jackal feel reasonable, feel at ease – and then wholeheartedly cooperate with him, allowing him to smoothly approach her and take control of the overall situation.
"Damn it, why is this happening?"
Lin Wei glanced at the tablet with the broken corner again, confirming that there were at least six or seven Valkyries present.
Seriously, aren't these people supposed to be working?
Otto, what were you thinking?
Lin Wei was completely baffled.
He could never have imagined that the person who brought the biggest variable to his plan was the Valkyrie squad leader whom he had been ignoring, the one whose name he still didn't even know – the somewhat greedy Jell Meister, who also wanted to protect both the people and her team members.
And precisely because her will was so clear, Otto, confident that he and Durandal were enough to ensure everything went smoothly, didn't mind going along with her wishes at this time.
Just as if Jell had chosen to take her team to the front lines, Otto would not have objected either.
If Lin Wei's existence was the unknown factor that Otto had been kept in the dark about from beginning to end, then the captain of the Snow Lotus Squad was Lin Wei's helpless blind spot.
But he couldn't be blamed.
Lin Wei's time was too short, his information channels too narrow, and the things he had to do were too many and too intensive. Being able to manipulate Otto and Jackal in the palm of his hand was already a lucky outcome with too many accidental factors. He really couldn't ask for too much.
After all, transmigrators are not omnipotent.
Lin Wei did indeed have the advantage of knowing many people's personalities and the future direction of this world in advance – all of this allowed him to have the opportunity to overcome great odds, to win against stronger opponents, in any difficult situation.
However, while he knew many, many things, there were also many things he didn't know – for example, the other people in this world.
In the real world, there are no "bystander A, B, C, or D." Everyone is striving for their own lives and ideals.
For example, the Valkyrie captains in this world, besides the brilliant Durandal, also include the well-known Ragna and Himeko.
For example, the so-called Valkyrie forces are not limited to the Immortal Blades at headquarters and the Herrscher-ridden Fifth Squad of the Far East Branch.
In this world, besides the "protagonists" who are active in the spotlight, there are many other Valkyries who are unknown but are still active every moment in every corner of the world, united under the banner of Schicksal, fighting for the future of this world.
For example, Jell's Snow Lotus Squad.
They were the most insignificant pawn on the chessboard of Manila, even seeming a bit overconfident.
Otto didn't expect them to contribute much, only hoping that they would serve as cover to help him hide his identity.
Jackal didn't take them seriously, and even now she disdained to make any targeted arrangements against them.
As for Lin Wei…
Unfortunately, he was truly powerless.
If Anna had introduced him to Jell back then, perhaps the current awkward situation could have been avoided. But there are no "ifs" in the world, only consequences and results.
The result was that, without anyone knowing, the Snow Lotus Squad, which had been ignored by everyone, including Lin Wei, had inadvertently made the highest contribution to the Schicksal camp so far – by throwing the biggest wrench into the key step of Lin Wei's plan.
The irony was that even Jell herself didn't know about this – she just didn't want Anna to be ambushed by World Serpent while she was unconscious.
Because, Lin Wei was also someone who was collectively ignored by everyone except Jackal.
This was another humorous aspect of the matter…
"Tsk, this is troublesome…"
Lin Wei found himself in a dilemma, realizing that he was seemingly on the verge of screwing up.
According to his plan, there should have been only one or two Valkyries guarding and protecting Anna in the hospital at this time.
And he only needed to sneak in beforehand, use the feather's power to make them fall asleep, and then calmly expose himself, letting World Serpent "capture him" as planned.
At the same time, he would send the first communication to Durandal, making her rush here only to find nothing.
The unconscious Valkyries would not be able to provide her with any information. She might not even know that there were other Valkyries here – if it were Rita, perhaps not; but the casual Durandal would not bother to learn about such things in advance.
Therefore, apart from learning that "He Kun is missing," she would know nothing.
At this time, the only thing she could do, besides pursuing the misleading clues deliberately left at the scene, was to report this bad news to Overseer Otto – and Overseer Otto, who was busy pursuing with the Valkyries, would not complicate matters at this time, and would only send some simple instructions as usual, requiring her to cooperate with his actions at any time.
Then, Lin Wei would send a second unknown message to Durandal at the right time – and, the mission accomplished.
This risky plan seemed bold, but it was actually very feasible, because it precisely exploited the crucial time difference!
However…
"One or two Valkyries falling asleep because they couldn't resist the drowsiness of early morning, that's understandable…"
Lin Wei couldn't help but complain.
"But if six or seven Valkyries fall asleep together… even Susannah would see that something's wrong!"
Are you kidding me!
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
If he couldn't make those Valkyries fall asleep as planned, then the original plan had already lost its meaning. Forcibly executing it would only bring unpredictable risks to himself.
It would likely nullify his efforts to drive a wedge between Otto and Durandal's coordinated efforts – the Valkyries would call for reinforcements; Durandal, upon hearing the news, would formally join forces with Otto…
At this point, the situation Lin Wei had painstakingly created would be broken in an instant. The plan to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat would be bankrupt, and he would only be able to cut his losses and retreat – directly flipping the table, bagging Jackal and kidnapping her, then destroying all clues of World Serpent, leaving Otto with nothing but a mess and a fruitless return!
The main point being, if I fail, you won't have it easy either.
So, he had to find another way!
But…
"Why did this happen? Did Otto realize something was wrong?"
Perhaps because he was in the middle of it, he was too wary of Otto, leading to tunnel vision. Or maybe it was a side effect of the "prescient" advantage, causing him to have blind spots in his vision.
In short, he still suspected that this was Otto's doing, rather than the Snow Lotus Squad captain who didn't even have a name in the original story.
"As expected of Overseer Otto, he truly cannot be underestimated."
Lin Wei looked at the Valkyries guarding outside the hospital building from a distance, feeling a bit emotional.
He had no interest in "worthy opponents" or anything like that – he preferred playing against bots rather than matching with players at the King rank.
Therefore, the current situation made him very annoyed.
There's no turning back, time is running out, but he was unexpectedly tripped up here.
He was originally going to catch someone else's timing, but instead, he got his own timing caught. This feeling was really, really frustrating…
"Sakura, please investigate for me."
After a moment of shock and doubt, Lin Wei, who never waited for death, decided to take action.
"Use the feathers to probe the memories of those Valkyries and see what happened."
Otto wouldn't know that there was a third person in the world who possessed the power of Fenghuang Down, so even if this was Otto's scheme, he wouldn't be guarding or setting traps against something that didn't exist.
It was precisely this point that made Lin Wei feel that even if Otto had really seen through his plan and was hiding somewhere here, planning to turn the tables, he still had a chance to turn the tables again.
Sakura soon appeared beside him, nodded, and prepared to set off. She also knew that it was much safer for her to do it than for Lin Wei to go himself.
"Remember to change your skin~"
Lin Wei didn't forget to tease at this time.
"Raven's appearance is out of the question. It's not good to keep exploiting the same person."
Yae Sakura glanced at him speechlessly, thought for a moment, and then transformed into the appearance she had when she encountered Durandal, and went to the hospital to investigate.
Under Pandora's cover, with Yae Sakura's current strength, especially after being taught stealth techniques by the Elysian Realm's Sakura without reservation, those B-rank Valkyries were simply not strong enough to discover her whereabouts.
She even deliberately revealed some traces of her presence a few times, and then disappeared again before the Valkyries could notice.
Doing so was also a provocation to Otto – if he himself, or Schicksal's S-rank Valkyries, were really here, then Yae Sakura's whereabouts might indeed be exposed. But in that case, the purpose of gathering intelligence would also be achieved.
After all, even if they really fought, if Yae Sakura wanted to retreat, no one could stop her.
Soon, Yae Sakura returned with six or seven feathers carrying the memories of different people, and calmly handed them to Lin Wei.
"…"
After reading these memories, Lin Wei was also speechless.
His plan had indeed encountered an unexpected event, but it was only a minor one – of course, if he had really been frightened just now, the minor unexpected event would have really turned into a major one.
From the memories of those Valkyries, in addition to piecing together a vivid and complete image of the Valkyrie captain, he did not find any conspiracy of Otto's.
Even if Otto could hide from the memories of those Valkyries, Yae Sakura's arrogant taunting just now did not trigger any consequences. These two pieces of evidence combined were already quite sufficient.
"Hehe, I overestimated Otto…"
Lin Wei was speechless about his own act of battling wits with the air, but he couldn't help but feel a trace of emotion and respect for the Jell captain he had never met.
A person who always sticks to their duty, whether friend or foe, deserves respect.
At the same time, Lin Wei was also secretly warning himself – indeed, no one can be underestimated.
Fortunately, it was just a false alarm this time. He couldn't make similar mistakes next time.
If he continued to treat others as unimportant NPCs, this kind of arrogance and conceit would be no different from Jackal's, and he would eventually suffer a big loss…
Lin Wei summarized the lessons for himself.
But even if it was just a minor unexpected event, the plan still needed some minor adjustments, Lin Wei thought silently.
At least, he couldn't let Durandal come here, otherwise they would really meet up.
After all, how could these star-struck Valkyries let Durandal go if they saw her?
Major changes were unnecessary, but minor adjustments were still needed. Lin Wei was thinking rapidly, racing against time.
But, what should he do?
Chapter 200: Shhh… Quiet!
It has to be said, World Serpent's execution is truly strong.
Before nightfall, Jackal selected a few of her subordinates, ordering them to infiltrate the central hospital in advance and wait for their "prey" to arrive. Thus, these low-level operatives quickly gathered there.
And then, they saw the excessive number of Valkyries inside and outside the hospital…
This situation was far beyond the expectations of these low-level operatives, leaving them staring at each other, at a loss for what to do.
Didn't the intel say that only an A-rank Valkyrie was staying here?
But judging by the security they were seeing, it was clearly overkill. It felt like the whole damn nest had been stirred up!
If it weren't for the fact that this place was so far from Schicksal HQ, they would have even suspected that the person lying inside wasn't some A-rank Valkyrie, but an S-rank Valkyrie, or maybe even the Overseer of Schicksal!
"Jackal-sama, something's not quite right…"
These operatives exchanged quiet glances, then hid themselves even more carefully, while also taking the time to report the situation to Jackal.
"Schicksal has heavy security here. It's very difficult for us to find an opportunity to strike!"
It has to be said, although it was far from Jell's original intention, her arrangement was still extremely effective – after scaring Lin Wei, she also managed to trip up World Serpent,
killing two birds with one stone, so to speak…
Therefore, in a sense, Captain Jell could be considered the MVP of the Schicksal team in this match.
(ノへ￣,)
Back to the main story.
On the other side, Jackal was closely monitoring "Yuno's" movements in her "new home."
Seeing her prey move exactly according to her predicted route, Jackal was overjoyed and began to race against time, meticulously setting up her trap. She made up her mind to show this overly impulsive and naive little girl what it meant to be treacherous!
And then, her mood was mostly ruined by the communication from her subordinates…
"A bunch of useless trash, can't even complete such a small task?"
At the mention of Lin Wei's name, Jackal felt like she had been slapped in the face. She was instantly enraged, and gave new orders, as if gritting her teeth.
"Since those Schicksal Valkyries are already on guard, you'd better be careful and don't add unnecessary trouble to the operation on the other side!"
At this moment, regarding the issue of dealing with Otto (Yuno), Jackal and Lin Wei had a rare understanding. Neither of them wanted to distract him (her) from their current course.
Jackal struggled for a long time, thinking of the soon-to-be-captured "Yuno," and finally managed to make a relatively wise decision, gritting her teeth and saying,
"…Use your judgment. If the situation really doesn't allow it, you are permitted to withdraw from there."
Two prey, catch the most troublesome one first!
As for Lin Wei… there will always be opportunities, Jackal consoled herself bitterly.
"Yes!"
The subordinate on the other end of the communication was relieved, and then hung up.
"Hmph, what a cunning guy!"
After hanging up the communication, the more Jackal thought about it, the angrier and more unwilling she became, cursing without reservation.
"Because he's afraid of my revenge, he used some ridiculous reason to lure those Valkyries to that hospital to protect him?"
"What a despicable and shameless guy! Trash! Coward!"
Jackal looked down on Lin Wei, she did in the past, and she still did now.
In her opinion, Lin Wei had always been a villain who only knew how to use others' power. He was despicable, weak, and unambitious. Handing over the precious Divine Key and Stigmata to such a person was a complete waste!
Such a person was worthless except to be put on the experimental table, for her to cut open his body and study him thoroughly!
It was precisely because of this that she felt dissatisfied with Gray Serpent's repeated obstruction of her.
In Jackal's eyes, Lin Wei's trajectory over the past year was as follows:
He learned some truths about the Previous Era and the Honkai from somewhere, and then abandoned everything before the doomsday to escape from his doghouse.
Then, he used Hua to suppress the Herrscher of Corruption, used the Herrscher of Corruption to suppress Gray Serpent, and even dared to offend the supreme lord – this was something he especially couldn't tolerate – and then used Gray Serpent to suppress her…
In her opinion, in this whole process, Lin Wei hadn't done anything except jump back and forth and use others' power, and instead, he himself had gained the greatest benefits!
Just a mere ant, what right did he have?!
Jackal thought jealously and resentfully.
Perhaps it was her long-term research on the Stigmata Project that made her understanding of the concept of "human" become increasingly abstract.
Also, in the various cruel experiments she conducted day after day to advance the Stigmata Project, after personally cutting open the chests and throats of countless people, dismantling and manipulating their bodies like building blocks and toys…
Perhaps she had once been a gentle woman.
But after countless times, while listening to the terrifying and miserable screams of men and women, old and young, while cutting them until they were covered in blood…
Over time, she began to become desensitized to it. She even began to slowly enjoy this feeling, to be excited about getting new prey, to tremble at the prospect of having new things to study…
Slowly, Jackal began to become increasingly indifferent and contemptuous of "individual people," considering herself to be unequal to the vast majority of humans.
She became arrogant because of her contempt.
And because of her arrogance, those beautiful golden eyes of hers only looked up at the sky, no longer knowing how to lower her self-proclaimed noble gaze to see the infinite possibilities of humanity itself.
She would never think: Since Lin Wei could make so many people work for him, there must be something extremely valuable about him that was worth exploring.
She only saw a cunning little person, relying on his cleverness, constantly playing the trick of "borrowing someone else's authority," stealing things that he was not worthy of touching!
And since he had already touched them, she could generously grant him the honor of becoming her experimental subject.
At this point, Jackal began to become stupid because of her arrogance…
The sudden change at the university did not make her reflect on her own rashness and mistakes, but rather, because Lin Wei led Schicksal to destroy her hidden base, she became even more stubbornly convinced – he was just a villain who relied on others' power!
Therefore, she would guess that after "successfully humiliating her," Lin Wei would definitely go to the hospital to visit Anna, and beg for her favor like a dog – and she would not realize at all that this was a clue deliberately exposed by Lin Wei.
She would only think that she could easily capture him when Lin Wei was "proud of himself," and take away all the things that should not belong to him…
But now, she wouldn't even consider that the unexpected event at the central hospital was a decision made by the Valkyries' own will, and had nothing to do with Lin Wei. She never thought that the biological weapons called "Valkyries" were anything worthy of respect.
She would only think that it was Lin Wei, relying on his pitiful cleverness, playing another boring trick of "borrowing someone else's authority" on her.
Although she was still very angry, in order to ensure that she could successfully capture the other prey that was about to fall into her net, Jackal could only make a painful choice.
"Hmph, I'll see how long you can play your little tricks!"
With a sense of all-around superiority, Jackal muttered to herself in a slightly pitying tone, as if Lin Wei's fate had already been pronounced by her.
Jackal considered herself generous and complacent.
But she didn't know that it wasn't a question of whether she would let Lin Wei go or not.
It was that Lin Wei didn't want to let her go yet.
.........
Meanwhile, at the central hospital.
It has to be said that human nature is really a very subtle and interesting thing:
When your superior gives you a lot of unreasonable work, you will instinctively feel resistant, and then you will inevitably feel resentment and slack off.
But when your superior understands your difficulties and tells you to do your best, you will often, out of a momentary feeling of gratitude, or the more utilitarian idea of wanting to perform better, become more motivated and start thinking of ways to accomplish the tasks assigned by your superior.
For example, those low-level operatives who were struggling to play a real-life version of a "stealth game" under the tight guard of the Schicksal Valkyries.
Originally in a dilemma, after learning of Jackal's extremely lenient order, they were relieved, but also felt that their mission could still be pushed a little further.
Of course, this was just a coincidence of various factors colliding.
Because Jackal, who regarded her subordinates as disposable tools, would probably never understand or care about these things – of course, these low-level operatives would never know these things either.
At this moment, they just wanted to try again, to see if they could complete the order given by Jackal-sama.
Courage is certainly commendable, but the difficulties in reality are extremely complex, and it is absolutely impossible to be invincible by shouting "courage" and "bonds" along with moving background music.
This kind of thing requires the protagonist's halo and the spotlight called "camera" to be effective. Both are indispensable – otherwise, why do the previous protagonists of the series always encounter various accidents?
And these low-level operatives of World Serpent obviously wouldn't have this.
Therefore, they could only exchange glances from a distance, and then rely on their long-standing tacit understanding to tell their companions that they needed to find a suitable place to re-discuss the action plan.
Then, they dispersed again, using separate actions to make themselves appear less conspicuous.
Otherwise, there were already few people at night, and suddenly several people sneaking around together would look suspicious!
And those seemingly delicate and seemingly easy-to-bully Valkyries, at that time, would have already taken out their knives and surrounded them, using physical means to tell you who was the easier one to bully…
Therefore, these several low-level operatives who were currently "addicted" to playing a real-life version of a "stealth game," after searching for a long time, finally found a relatively safe "safe house" – the morgue.
The morgue, also known as the mortuary. Using this place as a safe house was, to say the least, a bit of dark humor.
But Valkyries are also girls, and they will instinctively feel resistant to places like the morgue. So, this place naturally became one of the few blind spots for the Valkyries of the Snow Lotus Squad.
Therefore, these uninvited guests of World Serpent didn't really have many choices besides this place – of course, the people of World Serpent were all those who had walked the line of death, and had seen countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood, so they naturally wouldn't avoid this.
"Hurry up, make it short…"
The leader cleared his throat and said straight to the point.
"The target Jackal-sama ordered us to capture may appear at any time! But there are too many Schicksal Valkyries outside. If we continue with the original plan and carry out the capture here, it is very likely to alarm those Valkyries. Jackal-sama does not want to see such an accident, so we must find another way! What do you think, do you have any suggestions?"
He looked expectantly at his companions, but they also looked at each other in difficulty, unable to find a good solution.
Directly forcing it was definitely not an option.
Blocking him on the road outside?
But this area was so large, with roads extending in all directions. With just a few of them, they simply couldn't monitor it all!
There really was someone who didn't play along and raised this suggestion – a young man squatting in a relatively marginal position raised his hand, hesitated slightly, and said,
"We split up and guard the key intersections. As soon as that guy appears, we take him down on the spot, wouldn't that be fine?"
"No!"
The others said in unison, shaking their heads repeatedly. The young man obediently shut up and squatted back down.
The leader explained,
"Jackal-sama instructed us that although this target is weak, he carries a Divine Key. Therefore, we must set up a trap in advance and use the sacred relic specially bestowed by Jackal-sama to restrict the Divine Key! Only by stripping him of his reliance can we capture him!"
The other people also nodded in agreement, obviously knowing this very well.
"I see…"
The young man who asked the question suddenly realized, and then asked curiously,
"Then what kind of sacred relic is it? It can actually restrict a Divine Key?"
"That, of course, is…"
The leader stood up proudly, carefully took out a box about a dozen centimeters long, black and gold, from his arms, and was about to say its name loudly, but suddenly became alert.
If he made too much noise, it might attract the attention of the Valkyries, so he quickly lowered his voice. But this alertness also made him notice something abnormal, and he immediately woke up and questioned,
"Wait, each of us was informed in detail about the mission details. How come you don't know anything?"
"Oh, so it's this thing!"
Since he had been discovered, Lin Wei stopped pretending. He directly and casually took the box from his hand while he was still stunned, and was about to examine it carefully, but found that the others around him were getting restless.
"Shhh… Quiet!"
Lin Wei unceremoniously put the small box in his arms with one hand, put the other hand in front of his mouth, smiled slightly, and said in a low voice,
"You don't want to alarm the Valkyries outside, do you?"
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