And at a time like this...
With just a tiny little push, her plan would be complete.
Chapter 22. What Is a Little Sacrifice Like This!
Cocolia's plan was actually simple.
When it all came down to it, their side, Anti-Entropy, was on par with Schicksal when it came to low-tier combat strength.
The problem, however, was that the gap in high-tier combat strength was far too wide.
To put it bluntly, Anti-Entropy's only high-tier combat strength was the Alliance Leader Welt Yang. The rest were Titans and more Titans—was there even any difference?
Siegfried could be considered an ally to Anti-Entropy, true, but that one-handed man was no longer the strongest savior of the world he once was.
The current situation was that Welt Yang's whereabouts were unknown on a daily basis due to severe injuries.
Siegfried had joined forces with Anti-Entropy, but compared to his prime, his combat strength was less than ten percent.
The gap in high-tier combat strength between Anti-Entropy and Schicksal was simply too vast. If there were the slightest mishap, Schicksal could easily rely on its upper-tier might to secure a tremendous advantage.
Under such circumstances, Raiden Ryoma actually used the Gem of Conquest to seal the stigmata of Raiden Mei—could Cocolia just sit back and take that?
If Raiden Mei could be made to awaken, allowing the Gem of Conquest to completely unleash the power it deserved, then all Cocolia needed to do afterward was capture Raiden Mei to obtain a flawless Gem of Conquest.
Whether she decided to use it on the Heavenly Triad or the Moonlight Throne by then, both options would be vastly superior to leaving the gem inside the body of a little girl.
It was precisely from that moment on that Cocolia began plotting against Raiden Ryoma.
Raiden Ryoma was a clever man and a qualified businessman.
ME Company was thriving under his stewardship, and if things continued this way, Raiden Ryoma's position within the organization would only grow more and more secure.
However, his intelligence did not mean he was without flaws.
Having seized upon a commercial vulnerability of Raiden Ryoma's, Cocolia successfully sent her old colleague to prison and wrested control of ME Company.
Beyond seizing ME Company, Cocolia had another objective in sending Raiden Ryoma to prison.
According to the analytical data within the organization, the awakening of a Herrscher required a sufficiently suitable host body, followed by the host's emotional state plunging into or nearing despair.
Cocolia knew that Raiden Ryoma doted on his daughter. As long as he was free to act normally, Cocolia would never be able to bypass Ryoma to strike at Mei's heart.
With Raiden Mei's emotional pillar destroyed, her state of mind would naturally cease to be as carefree as it once was.
If she then employed a few petty methods—such as coercion and enticement—to make the people around Raiden Mei begin radiating malice toward her, then Raiden Mei stepping step by step into despair was an absolute certainty.
After contacting those schoolmates around Raiden Mei, Cocolia even discovered that coercion wasn't even necessary. With just a tiny bit of temptation, those students who used to have great relationships with Mei very decisively bared their fangs at her.
All people harbored jealousy, and when the object of their past envy fell from grace, their choice to kick her while she was down was hardly strange.
Originally, according to Cocolia's plan, she only needed to follow this pace to thoroughly pressure Raiden Mei into becoming a Herrscher step by step.
Unfortunately, an accident occurred.
First, Siegfried's daughter, Kiana Kaslana, appeared.
She chose to stand by Raiden Mei's side, lifting the spirits of the young girl who had already been sliding toward despair quite a bit.
Had it been anyone else, Cocolia would have long since taken action to deal with her.
However... it just had to be this girl.
Cocolia had not forgotten that back during the Second Honkai Eruption, when she had almost died in the Honkai, a woman with hair as white as snow had saved her.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the identity of that woman was Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie and the great hero who had died in battle during the Second Honkai Eruption.
The woman named Cecilia Sania was Cocolia's savior, as well as Siegfried Kaslana's wife and Kiana Kaslana's mother.
No matter how ruthless Cocolia's methods were, she wasn't vicious enough to ruthlessly slash down and kill the daughter of her own savior.
As for the people she had sent to warn the other party...
Well, one had to say she truly was the daughter of Lady Cecilia.
She could genuinely throw down; whenever eight or ten ordinary people were sent over, she easily dealt with them all, leaving Cocolia utterly helpless on that front.
What irritated Cocolia even more was that it wasn't just Kiana—other elements obstructing her plan had also surfaced.
Lin Yu.
This transfer student who had inexplicably appeared at Chiba Academy had also disrupted Cocolia's plans.
He had helped Raiden Mei more than once, and just this morning, when Cocolia was preparing to have those schoolgirls ramp up the pressure on Raiden Mei, Lin Yu had directly intervened and beaten those female students up.
It was precisely for this reason that Cocolia seized the opportunity while both Lin Yu and Kiana were away from the school to strike directly and mess with Raiden Mei's mindset once again.
The umbrella had been ruined by those punky brats.
The robber had been hired by her.
Coupled with the fact that Cocolia had instructed Anti-Entropy to use electronic warfare to jam the signals in the vicinity, Raiden Mei's attempts to contact those two would inevitably fail because her calls wouldn't go through.
Everything was already in place, and now...
--As long as her state of mind is further ruined, my plan will be that much closer to success.
The personnel dispatched by Schicksal were growing more and more numerous.
Those two idiots, Tesla and Einstein, were still dragging her feet...
Hmph, these fools had no idea of the severity of the situation.
In the face of saving humanity...
--What did the sacrifice of a few million matter!
Inside the commercial street, Lin Yu, who had completely lost track of Kiana, felt a slight ache in his head.
He attempted to contact Rita, but Rita did not respond.
After searching the street for a long time and asking a bunch of people, he found that more than one person had seen the white-haired brat. However, by the time Lin Yu rushed over in the direction they pointed—with Kiana's high mobility—he naturally had no way of spotting her.
Ah, the trouble was truly massive this time.
Moreover, Rita wasn't returning his messages. Judging by this, she was probably busy with work.
And anything requiring an S-rank Valkyrie like Rita to mobilize could only be...
Was Anti-Entropy seriously preparing to stop hiding and directly resort to force???
Ding! Detected that the host meets the conditions for claiming a reward. The reward has been sent to the system mailbox.
Huh?
Wait??
What the hell???
Listening to the voice popping up in his mind, Lin Yu froze right on the spot.
According to the system, surviving survival crises and facing impending major crises were the two scenarios in which he would obtain rewards.
Surviving a survival crisis... He hadn't noticed any survival crisis he'd just been through.
Which meant, by elimination, this reward fell into the other category.
No, wait, I only lost track of Kiana for such a short while, and you're already telling me a survival crisis has arrived?
Just how petty is that bastard Otto in this regard, hey!
Chapter 23. One Is One, and Two Is Two
In times past, as a Honkai Impact 3rd player...
Fine, his phone sucked and couldn't run Honkai Impact 3rd.
As a casual armchair fan of Honkai Impact 3rd, Lin Yu had more than once seen readers give Otto high praise in related fanfiction novels.
Oh, not just readers—authors too.
According to these people's descriptions, Otto should be a brilliant mastermind, very friendly to ordinary people, and for the most part a reliable superior.
Humanity surviving to this day was entirely thanks to Otto—or so they claimed.
These people saw Otto's achievements in leading Schicksal, but forgot that Schicksal's feats in fighting the Honkai never belonged to Otto alone.
Damn it, the Valkyries and knights were fighting bloody battles on the front lines, while Otto issued commands yet simultaneously stabbed people in the back. Calling that Otto saving the world was utterly, mind-bogglingly absurd.
As for why Lin Yu was muttering to himself so intensely right now.
Duh, he was currently one of Otto's subordinates.
And an unlucky subordinate who was very likely to be bumped off by Otto at that.
Under the pressure of survival, merely muttering a few complaints without directly cursing up a storm made him feel like he was already maintaining his cool.
Hmph, Otto? Mere green-hatted turtle from the fanfiction sector... oh wait, he was a green-hatted turtle in the official canon too.
To correct myself, a mere green-hatted turtle persecuted in both official and fan works held zero threat before you, someone armed with a cheat.
After guessing that he wanted to bump you off, you took one look at the super-duper, insanely powerful 'casually cobbled-together Narration System', and you completely calmed down.
I'll calm your big head—seriously, if you're going to brag about yourself like that, at least pull your weight.
You silently noted in your heart that you were keeping score of this grudge.
This narration laced with private agendas...
Whatever, let's check the rewards first.
Forcing himself to suppress his unease and irritation, Lin Yu opened his system mailbox.
Then...
Ding! The reward claimed by the host this time is (Special Item - Advanced Skill Book Lottery Ticket), (Special Item - Advanced Skill Book Lottery Ticket).
Ah, have we already started openly padding the word count?
No, because the rewards are independently drawn, these are two separate rewards, so naturally they must be sent separately.
Oh, I see, two rewards...
Two???
That's right, the host needed to survive two survival crises.
One is one, and two is two. Unlike those exploitative black-hearted systems, this system doesn't shortchange anyone.
Well then... many thanks!
The problem is, where did two survival crises come from, hey!
I know this world is dangerous, but this place is already dangerous to this degree...
Oh, this is Changkong City, never mind then.
After all, this was Changkong City, home to the Thunder, the Void, Previous Era Erosion, Current Era Pseudo-Herrscher Yae Sakura, and Pseudo-Herrscher Yuno.
Add in the high probability of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy throwing down here, and even without those Herrscher entities, getting caught in the crossfire of those two major factions would still leave me...
Oh wait.
I'm a Schicksal person.
Anti-Entropy's Saint had just been beaten up by me.
The probability of dying just went up.
Viewing it this way, the fact that I only needed to survive two survival crises means my luck is really great, hahaha.
Yes, exactly like this—you must have this kind of confidence. Believe in yourself; you are the chosen one, an invincible existence!
Chosen your big head! Can't you tell from my tone that I'm on the verge of a breakdown?!
At this moment, Lin Yu gazed at those two lottery tickets and unhesitatingly used both rewards.
Being in a bad mood, a brief session of grumbling was enough.
Before you continue