Who Are You Putting on an Act For? / Splendidly Wonderful, Terribly Awful

"Notify Bronya, and have her investigate this brat's identity and address."

"Understood."

Hearing Cocolia's order, the staff member nearby immediately transmitted the command to Bronya, who was currently on standby.

Minutes later, Bronya proactively contacted Cocolia.

"Mother, Bronya has already found this man's residence. Furthermore, Bronya's investigation revealed that he is a transfer student at Chiba Academy."

"Good. Go to his residence and check if there is anything we want. Also, clean up the area after he returns."

Cocolia did not spell it out, but Bronya already understood her adoptive mother's intentions.

This man was also a pawn planted by Destiny in Changkong City, and even someone planted right by their target, Raiden Mei.

If they did not eliminate him now, this man would very likely interfere with Cocolia's plans.

For Bronya, who desperately desired to find Seele through the power of the Herrscher, this was something she absolutely could not tolerate.

The Silver Wolf of Uluru was not a soft-hearted person; if anything, having been trained as a child soldier for several years, she already had quite a few lives on her hands.

If it was for Seele, Bronya did not mind letting her hands be stained with blood once again.

As for why Cocolia sent Bronya to execute this mission, the reason was simple.

Previously, when she sent other subordinates to carry out clearance operations, a few of them were almost counter-killed by Otto's lackeys due to insufficient strength.

If Cocolia had not been slightly more cautious this time and sent enough personnel, those rats might have escaped a dangerous situation and continued to linger in the outside world.

Yet this time, this young man had not even been detected as a member of Destiny by Anti-Entropy members beforehand.

Under these circumstances, Cocolia felt she should maintain her prior caution and dispatch her strongest subordinate to carry out the mission.

"Hmph, an S-rank Valkyrie... Though truly tricky, she wouldn't dare to act too presumptuously in this place."

"After dealing with that rat, I'll think of a way to put a little pressure on Raiden Mei."

Minutes earlier, Bronya Zaychik, having arrived at Lin Yu's residence, immediately initiated a search of the apartment.

Yet regrettably, perhaps because the other Destiny members lurking in Changkong City had been wiped out entirely, Bronya failed to find any useful information inside the man's residence.

"Hmm, nothing for it."

Connecting to the nearby surveillance system through her internal chip, Bronya suddenly perceived that Lin Yu had already returned to the bottom floor of this building.

In just a few minutes, Lin Yu would return to this place.

Mother's meaning was crystal clear to Bronya.

Investigating this fellow was not an important task.

Making this guy incapable of interfering with Mother's plans—that was the actual mission.

Quickly tidying up the scene, the young girl reined in her presence and completed her concealment.

And the very instant that man stepped into the room, Bronya made her move.

Having already mastered powerful combat techniques, the girl had spotted the opponent's flaws the moment he came into her line of sight.

To be honest, though, were there not way too many flaws?

An operative dispatched to Changkong City by Destiny... Didn't Mother say they were all difficult to deal with?

This completely unguarded posture was simply... just like an ordinary person.

Could it be that they had guessed wrong?

Or perhaps the data Bronya found was simply placed in the database by Destiny to confuse them, and he really was just an ordinary person?

Though doubts had already arisen in her mind, Bronya did not stop her actions.

In battle, hesitation usually meant defeat.

In past missions, many of Bronya's enemies had looked down on her because of her youthful appearance.

Naturally, those enemies who once looked down on Bronya were no longer in this world.

Of course Bronya would not commit such a stupid mistake; even if this man truly were just an ordinary person, she still had to give it her all at a time like this!

With such thoughts in mind, Bronya—who had already prepared to knock Lin Yu out—in the very next moment...

"Sigh."

Amidst Lin Yu's sudden sigh, he directly grabbed the girl's powered exoskeleton and slammed Bronya heavily onto the floor.

Chapter 8: Who Are You Putting on an Act For?

From a theoretical standpoint, Lin Yu was undoubtedly a novice when it came to combat.

Though he had the hand-to-hand combat techniques blessed by the narration, having them and fully mastering them were two entirely different things.

Possessing this skill while having a skill proficiency of zero meant he could at most bully ordinary people with it.

Wanting to defeat Bronya—who had undergone life-or-death training and fought up to the present—using a combat enhancement skill with zero proficiency... that was pure daydreaming.

Had he not also drawn another skill, Mirror Mind, beforehand, he would definitely have chosen to turn tail and run the moment he discovered the opponent's tracks.

Upon entering the room, Lin Yu had already activated the Mirror Mind ability.

Once he triggered this ability, he could clearly feel that his sensory perception had been vastly enhanced.

Never mind the petite figure emanating malice behind him; he could even sense the subtle changes in airflow caused by her movements.

It was precisely because his sensory perception had skyrocketed and his state of mind had grown incomparably calm that Lin Yu was able to determine Bronya's location based on the air currents without even seeing her, then grab her exoskeleton directly and slam her heavily onto the ground.

Although the enemy's sudden counterattack caused the young girl to feel a twinge of pain, this degree of pain was not enough to make Bronya lose her fighting spirit or her composure.

Executing a quick ukemi to leap up from the ground, Bronya distanced herself from Lin Yu and began staring at him with extreme vigilance.

As expected, it was just Bronya overthinking things earlier.

Not only was he not an ordinary person, but this skill... was definitely among the most troublesome bunch of Destiny operatives.

Even his seemingly unguarded state when he first walked in was all an act.

By appearing completely defenseless against everything around her, he had lured Bronya into seizing the initiative too quickly; in that hasty moment, Bronya was prone to overlooking details, making it easier for him to catch her flaws.

This was tricky.

This was not an opponent Bronya could steadily take down in a short amount of time.

Should she summon Heavy Cannon here?

Scanning her surroundings, Bronya instantly dismissed the thought.

Heavy Cannon was undoubtedly her trump card, but right now...

If she revealed her trump card in this place, she was confident she could defeat the opponent.

However, this apartment was extremely close to Chiba Academy, and Raiden Mei's apartment was also in this vicinity.

He had probably chosen this location for the convenience of monitoring Raiden Mei.

If Bronya acted recklessly, she might instead disrupt Mother's plan.

The time had not yet come; she had to wait a little longer...

!!!

Before Bronya could ponder for long, Lin Yu had already made his move.

Bronya thought she was concealing a trump card unknown to the enemy, but in front of Lin Yu, a time-traveler, this trump card had long since been exposed.

Lin Yu wouldn't dare claim he understood Honkai Impact 3th inside and out; after all, he was only a casual player whose storyline knowledge wasn't complete and whose lore understanding might not be total.

The problem, however, was that he wasn't completely clueless about the Trio's initial setups before entering St. Freya Academy.

Now he finally understood why the system had judged that the intruder into his apartment would bring him a life-or-death crisis.

Bronya was strong, but Lin Yu, having acquired the enhancement skill, wasn't going to die at the hands of this little brat.

The issue was—she also had a Quantum Mech.

Once Bronya was driven into a corner and summoned the mech, the one dying would be Lin Yu himself.

In fact, had Lin Yu chosen to retreat at that moment, leaving his back to the enemy, Bronya might have directly summoned a mech and blasted him full of holes.

His only remaining path to victory was to knock the little brat unconscious before she realized something was wrong.

After all, Bronya during this period was essentially a summoner; all her lethality lay in her summons, making her physical body a weakness.

Having made his judgment, Lin Yu launched a relentless offensive without the slightest hesitation.

And the moment he struck, Bronya became thoroughly convinced that Lin Yu had simply been playing the novice earlier.

Lin Yu's moves weren't complicated, but as a child soldier, Bronya knew that killing techniques had no need for excessive complexity.

This man's striking speed and precision were simply too high; after he charged in, the two exchanged fewer than ten blows before Bronya fell into a disadvantage.

And that wasn't even what gave her the biggest headache.

Right now, Bronya could sense that Lin Yu's moves were growing increasingly proficient, and his attack angles were becoming more and more tricky.

If the Lin Yu from a moment ago was like a beginner with extremely fast reaction speeds but insufficient technique, then the Lin Yu of the present was definitely growing at breakneck speed.

Naturally, no matter how much he grew in under thirty seconds, he couldn't directly transform into a martial arts master.

Yet paired with his terrifying state right now, this newly-grown Lin Yu—beating her up was definitely more than enough.

Merely because of these stray thoughts, Bronya—who had been distracted for a split second—was struck squarely in the head by Lin Yu's fist.

Feeling the world go black before her eyes, the young girl was immediately struck by a violent impact slamming into her abdomen.

Giving her no time to react at all, following the continuous barrage, Lin Yu hurled her away.

Feeling her body completely devoid of control, Bronya smashed heavily into the apartment door before sliding slowly down to the floor.

"Ah, I won just like that?"

Looking at the seemingly unconscious Bronya, Lin Yu felt something was slightly off.

Judging by their earlier exchange, as long as Lin Yu practiced his combat techniques just a little more, defeating Bronya wouldn't have been a problem.

Yet she passed out from just these few quick hits...

The frail young girl before you looks already unconscious; normally, you would definitely... hehehe.

Yet your wise and formidable self knows very well that she is feigning sleep, and at a time like this, you should use the iron fist of justice to ruthlessly teach this little brat a lesson so she learns that lying is wrong!

Indeed.

Wait, "wise and formidable"... stop phrasing it like I'm so full of myself.

"Hmm, looks like the problem is solved. Now then..."

Good, this guy has taken the bait; the moment he drops his guard, Bronya will...

"Who are you putting on an act for?"

Before Bronya could take action, Lin Yu sprinted right to her side and hauled Bronya up from the floor.

"Come to think of it, we have no grievances, yet you hit so viciously—I suppose there's no need for me to hold back at this point either."

"Plus, you're an accomplice aiding villains in awakening a Herrscher. Naturally..."

"—You'd better just die right here, Bronya Zaychik."

Chapter 9: Splendidly Wonderful, Terribly Awful

"—You'd better just die right here, Bronya Zaychik."

Although Lin Yu had spoken these words aloud, it did not mean that any actual killing intent toward Bronya existed within his heart at that moment.

If anything, Lin Yu, currently in the state of Mirror Mind, was utterly incapable of generating such an emotion.

From his current perspective, striking down the enemy who threatened his life was simply the right thing to do.