Ah, My Sister / What a Great Bargain

After pulling a new phone out of her bag and placing it on the table, Rita said with a smile.

"I thought you sensed how dangerous the mission was and wanted to abandon it and run away."

"Dangerous?"

After picking up the phone from the table, Lin Yu looked down at it and said.

"Honestly, if all my companions hadn't lost contact, I really wouldn't think protecting that little girl is dangerous."

"Sis, was this mission affected by some other factors? Otherwise, headquarters wouldn't have sent just this handful of people out to be slaughtered by the enemy."

"Well, how should I put it."

Resting a finger on her lips, Rita looked up at the ceiling and said indifferently to Lin Yu.

"You guessed right."

"The identity headquarters arranged for you this mission is an exchange student at Chiba Academy, so you should have already heard a name at the school."

"Raiden Mei, you shouldn't be unfamiliar with that name, right?"

Chapter 4. Ah, My Sister

Raiden Mei—of course you wouldn't be unfamiliar with that name.

Or rather, this young girl who had not yet awakened her powers was easily the one easiest to get along with among all the main characters.

Because after Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned, she was ostracized by the people around her; although she had met Kiana Kaslana by this time, that didn't mean she rejected others' goodwill.

Especially to a young miss from a girls' school like Chiba Academy, if a handsome male could show her goodwill at a time like this, heh heh heh...

And then she'd get killed by the Herrscher of Thunder the moment she awakened, right?

After mentally talking back to the narrator, Lin Yu immediately said to Rita.

"Of course I know, she's a celebrity at the school."

"Besides, she's also Raiden Ryoma's daughter."

"That's right. Some members within Schicksal know that Raiden Ryoma is an Anti-Entropy Executor, and now, it's been quite a while since Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned by Cocolia, who is also an Anti-Entropy Executor."

After softly saying "thank you" to the waiter who delivered the food, Rita continued speaking to Lin Yu.

"At first, we in Schicksal didn't understand why Anti-Entropy would engage in internal strife to this extent while in a position of weakness, but later, a senior brought us some news."

"The Gem of Conquest, one of the four great gems taken away by Anti-Entropy back then, was taken by Raiden Ryoma, and Cocolia falling out with him was probably because of this matter."

"In addition, according to that senior, after Cocolia got rid of Raiden Ryoma, she still couldn't find the Gem of Conquest, so now we suspect—"

"You suspect the Gem of Conquest has something to do with Raiden Ryoma's daughter, right?"

Picking up a sandwich from the table and taking a vicious bite out of it, Lin Yu muttered to himself with a gloomy expression.

"No wonder, no wonder the other companions were all eliminated."

"Cocolia also noticed that the Gem of Conquest might be related to Raiden Mei, so she set her sights on Chiba Academy, discovered us Schicksal members, and that's why she made a move to carry out assassinations, right?"

"But sis, you're saying that the companions other than me are all..."

"Did a mole betray our intelligence? Otherwise, there's no explaining how we were wiped out in one fell swoop so quickly."

"Yeah, a mole."

Having uttered this word, Rita shook her head helplessly.

"Everyone thought so at first, and someone even suggested that if you ended up fine in the end, the probability of you being the mole would be very high."

"However, the companions in the security department responsible for this mission stated clearly that someone breached their firewall and found the roster for this mission."

"If you hadn't joined the mission temporarily and hadn't managed to get on headquarters' roster in time, you probably would have been wiped out in one fell swoop too."

"Yet even so, some people have started suspecting there's something wrong with you, considering how you suddenly requested to join this mission and then trouble struck."

Hearing Rita's words, Lin Yu let out a faint sigh of stale air.

"Understandable. If I were in their shoes, I'd harbor suspicions too."

"So when you just arrived, you suspected I wanted to run away?"

"That's right, exactly like that. But these are just suspicions; headquarters still needs you to continue executing the mission."

Retrieving a vial of reagent from her bag, Rita placed it on the table.

And the instant this vial of reagent appeared...

Oh! You recognized at a glance that this thing would be of great use to you!

HSN Serum—this potion developed by Schicksal's genius Dr. Mags would become a true "God-Slaying Spear" after fusing with Saniate Holy Blood!

Even used on its own, it could suppress a Herrscher's powers to a certain extent—provided that Herrscher hadn't completely awakened all their power.

The item truly was a fine piece of work, the problem being...

—Schicksal giving me this sort of thing definitely means they want me to go take risks, right?

"HSN Serum, this is a new type of potion developed by Dr. Mags."

"And after confirming its efficacy, the Overseer directly gave it the temporary codename: Honkai Killer."

Looking at the silently brooding Lin Yu, Rita said indifferently.

"Headquarters won't make you execute a suicide mission just because you have slight suspicions; this single vial of serum can relieve the Honkai Corruption state on your body when you are about to completely turn into a Meele."

"Although this will lower your Honkai Energy control and Honkai Energy strength, you yourself are not a warrior capable of wielding Honkai Energy anyway, so this negative effect is equivalent to nothing to you."

Well said! But this woman didn't tell you that this special test tube is equipped with a positioning system and a self-destruct system.

As long as certain conditions are met, this test tube will self-destruct, directly evaporating the serum inside.

Although this woman didn't speak falsely, she didn't tell the whole truth either—this was unquestionably deception to you! This is simply intolerable! Who needs a sister like this anyway!

You secretly swore in your heart, you'll remember this grudge!

Hold on a second, narrator, how are you making me sound like some clueless third-rate villain?

Picking up this vial of serum and properly putting it away, Lin Yu looked at Rita helplessly.

"Understood, anyway I'll continue carrying out the mission."

"Sis, go ahead and busy yourself in peace, don't worry too much about me, I know what I'm doing."

Watching Lin Yu stand up, Rita said with feigned sorrow.

"Sigh, my A'yu has grown up too. Sister here always feels a little lonely, you know."

"Alright, enough said, I'm off."

After all, today is the first time she and I are meeting, and a meticulous woman like Rita has too strong a capacity for catching details. If I don't leave soon, my cover will be blown sooner or later.

Escorting Lin Yu's departing back with her gaze, the loneliness on Rita's face vanished instantly.

At this moment, the maid gazed at her adoptive brother's back, feeling her heart to be incomparably complex.

Although Lin Yu had been very careful with his phrasing, Rita still easily caught the abnormalities on Lin Yu.

While this couldn't prove anything, but ah...

Sigh, my foolish brother, if you don't adjust your state during a mission, it's very easy to die in battle.

Just then, a waiter on the side walked over to Rita and, completely changing his previous attitude, said to her with utmost respect.

"Lady Rita, contact from the Overseer has arrived. May I ask—"

"Of course, connect it."

Upon uttering those words, a light screen instantly appeared in front of Rita.

Within the light screen, Rita's direct superior, Schicksal's Overseer Otto Apocalypse, watched Rita with a smiling face.

Chapter 5. What a Great Bargain

Before connecting the communication, Rita had already adjusted her mood and expression, looking quite calmly at the light screen that had appeared before her.

Subsequently, looking at the man appearing within the light screen, Rita said very respectfully.

"Overseer, Rita has already transferred the HSN Serum to Lin Yu."

"Mm, very good."

Observing Rita's expression at the moment, Otto nodded slightly.

"Since you handed the potion over to him, it seems you've judged that the problems cropping up in this mission have nothing to do with him, right?"

"Rita, I trust your judgment; let this matter rest here for the time being."

"Yes."

"In addition, I've also read the mission report. For this mission, I've already notified Durandal."

"Even Lady Durandal?"

Hearing Otto's words, Rita said at this moment with a hint of surprise.

"Does this mission require Lady Durandal to be dispatched?"

"If it's merely to seize the Gem of Conquest, then not quite."

If it's merely to seize the Gem of Conquest... is that so?

Before participating in this mission, Rita didn't have many thoughts about it.

Although her combat prowess was inferior to Durandal's, because she was meticulous and conscientious in her work, she had received numerous directives from Otto and had participated in and completed a great many missions.

To Rita, although this mission involved the Gem of Conquest among the four great gems, it wasn't fundamentally very different from other missions.

Though Changkong City was Anti-Entropy's turf, Anti-Entropy's Alliance Leader had been missing for a long time, and their strongest combat power boiled down to nothing more than the Titan armor they took so much pride in.

Such armor might bully ordinary A-Class Valkyries, but for Rita, even without using armor, she could easily defeat a large number of Titan armors simply by using the Stigmata Weapon Aphrodite.

What's more, Schicksal had now completed the God-Slaying Armor Pallid Eclipse—suited for Rita—and the soul-steel Stigmata Weapon Frosty Skadi. With her combat power reaching new heights, those Titans had lost even the final shred of possibility of threatening her safety.

Yet under such circumstances, did Overseer Otto still determine that the extremely busy Lady Durandal needed to come to Changkong City?

"Could it be..."

Having guessed a certain possibility, although the expression on Rita's face barely changed, her tone had already grown several points graver.

"Just as you guessed, this mission has already involved a Herrscher."

Seeing that her reliable subordinate had immediately guessed the truth, Otto didn't bother wasting time playing riddles.

"According to detections from headquarters here, multiple small-scale Honkai outbreak phenomena have already appeared all over the world."

"And frontline personnel here in Changkong City have also sent in reports, feeding back that Changkong City has seen a massive surge in electrical appliance failure phenomena recently. The after-sales departments of various electronics manufacturers are probably worried sick."

"These phenomena... are they brought by the Gem of Conquest?"

As an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal and a confidante who also had to help Otto execute some unspeakable work, Rita naturally knew the true appearance of the four great gems.

Conquest, Pestilence, Desire, Serenity—the true appearances of these four great gems were actually the cores of the Herrscher of Thunder, Herrscher of Flames, Herrscher of Wind, and Herrscher of Death.

Aside from the Gem of Conquest falling into the hands of Anti-Entropy, the other three gems were still preserved at Schicksal headquarters.

Small-scale Honkai outbreaks erupting across the world, coupled with the negative impacts related to electromagnetic force appearing in Changkong City, were already enough to illustrate one thing.

"The Third Honkai Outbreak will erupt here, causing the Herrscher of Thunder to be born right here... Is this why you requested Lady Durandal to come here?"

"Mm, and Theresa and her subordinates will come to reinforce you as well."

Even Lady Theresa?!

Lady Durandal possessed the Divine Key Black Abyss White Flower, while Lady Theresa possessed the Divine Key Oath of Judah.

Rumor had it that both of them possessed undefeatable combat power when fighting Herrschers head-on. It seemed this time, the Overseer was truly worried about trouble arising here in Changkong City.

Wait, then that HSN Serum I handed to A'yu...

This was fundamentally not a serum prepared for A'yu; I've known this matter all along.

Yet at first, I thought this was bait used by the Overseer to test A'yu's loyalty.

But I was wrong. This was a move laid down by the Overseer.