Please Increase the Intensity, Thank You

Then, Irene contacted Otto, the Archbishop to whom all the Valkyrie of Schicksal were loyal.

"The mission is accomplished. As you said, he is an exceptionally outstanding child, so outstanding that... it makes one unconsciously worry."

What are you worried about?

"I'm worried that she's been exposed to darkness too early, and I'm worried that she won't become the person she's supposed to be."

"What is right and what is wrong is not for us to decide, Irene."

Otto's voice was laced with laughter, as if he were implying something.

So Irene couldn't help but ask.

"Does His Holiness the Bishop have any plans for her? To be honest, this is the first time I've received a task like this. As an examiner for the A-level assessment, I didn't explain anything to the child at all, but simply watched her complete the task."

"Irene, she's special, that's all I can say."

Fu Hua's disciple, the inheritor of the Taixu Sword Qi, at only 14 years old, she was able to put up a considerable fight against the out-of-control Ji Lin. But at the same time, she is also a survivor of Changkong City, a little girl carrying too much on her shoulders.

Undoubtedly a genius, undoubtedly exceptional.

Anqi achieved A-rank, which unlocked the files for Changkong City. After that, will she turn against St. Freya and the others, or will she compromise and accept it after a painful struggle?

Otto didn't know how things would develop; he only knew it was an inevitable outcome, and he seemed to be left to observe from the sidelines.

"Record your findings. As for the rest, we can only watch and wish her well."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

After the call ended, Irene couldn't help but glance in the direction where Anqi had disappeared. Among the passersby, she could no longer see that outstanding but overly young child.

"Well..."

She would rather face a child like Anna Saniyat, awkward, nervous, and trembling, who would stare at her with teary eyes, anxious yet full of anticipation, when the assessment was over.

Instead of a child like Anqi, who shows no emotional fluctuations from beginning to end.

"Speaking of which, I heard that Anna has been kidnapped by Anti-Entropy. I wonder what arrangements Bishop Xian will make? Sigh, and that Himeko, I don't know where she found out about this, she comes to bother me every day—I should inform her so that I don't get woken up by her in the middle of the night again."

Irene sighed at her poor choice of friends and had to take out her phone to report the good news that everything was going well to Himeko.

This is the second task I've taken on.

'It's obvious that Mei did something.'

Anqi was unaware of Raiden Mei's statement to Kiana. Even Anqi, the Herrscher of the Void residing within Kiana, could not monitor everything around Kiana at all times.

But Anqi could easily guess some of the situations.

If Raiden Mei hadn't expressed some kind of determination, given Theresa's hesitant approach of not acting until the very last moment, she wouldn't have changed her strategy of suppressing Anqi by a higher level.

'Cocolia is developing.'

Ji Lin must protect Xiaoxuan.

'Skyfire and the Jackal need to slowly digest and dominate the World Serpent.'

'Su also needs to digest the legacy he left behind.'

'The most crucial one, Yae Sakura, we haven't yet found an opportunity for Otto to actively recruit her—perhaps we should try to create such an opportunity?'

'Sigh, there are more and more clones merging into the world.'

Anqi stood atop a tall building, holding the ancient sword that resonated with her heart, gazing up at the moon, a complex expression appearing on her usually indifferent face.

Yes, there are more and more clones.

But only she, who was in St. Freya, was the original Anqi. The others, more or less, carried the marks of others, in order to blend into the environment they needed to stay in.

She wasn't afraid of this multifaceted life, but it seemed like there was no end in sight.

Let's discuss how to get Otto to bring Yae Sakura into his plans.

'It would be inappropriate to ask for it willingly; it doesn't fit Yae Sakura's character.'

' Otto sees Yae Sakura as some kind of... legacy left by Kallen, so he will take care of her, protect her, and even undoubtedly arrange a proper way out for her before he rushes to the top, just like five hundred years ago, continuing to give everything he can for Kallen.'

He had no motive to drag Yae Sakura into this unless he realized that his plans would be hindered without Yae Sakura involvement.

In other words, is it about creating a sufficient sense of crisis?

Anqi's eyes flickered, and she gradually formed some ideas.

Chapter 156 Please increase the intensity, thank you

"Ha~~"

Himeko walked toward the headmaster's office, yawning incessantly.

I always feel a little out of place when Anqi isn't around.

Without the human-shaped body pillow that I could always scoop up in my arms, the food at home also felt less refined. It was as if something was suddenly missing from my usual daily routine of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, and I always felt uncomfortable.

"Oh my god, am I really going to be raised into a useless person by her?"

Himeko rubbed her squinty eyes, then slapped her cheeks hard to wake herself up.

Today is a workday, how can I be a teacher when I look so tired and lethargic?

After slightly rousing herself, Himeko unceremoniously pushed open the door to the headmaster's office.

"Theresa, you've been slacking off again!"

After the usual loud shout, what was seen was not Theresa's excellent feigned serious expression, but rather her indifferent and solemn look.

Theresa frowned, glanced towards the door, then continued staring at the tablet in her hand, her expression growing increasingly grave.

Himeko blinked, puzzled.

"That's strange, the sun didn't rise in the west today. What are you looking at?"

"I've already told you to respect the headmaster, you useless drunkard!"

Theresa rolled her eyes at Himeko, who was leaning closer, and then handed her the information on the tablet.

Then, Himeko's expression also turned serious.

"Anqi's... S-rank Valkyrie qualification review report? What does that mean? I don't recall submitting such an application to headquarters!"

"It was clearly Grandpa's decision on his own. In conclusion, headquarters has already recognized Anqi's qualifications, and her promotion no longer needs to go through the evaluation and assessment process at headquarters."

"Wait, doesn't that mean..."

"That means the decision to promote Anqi to S-rank Valkyrie is now entirely in my hands."

Theresa interlaced her fingers with her fair, delicate hands, pressing them against her pointed chin, and struck a very dignified pose.

Himeko put down the tablet, her brows furrowed, and said:

"Your Excellency, is there any purpose behind this?"

"I don't know, but my intuition tells me it's definitely not as simple as wanting to cultivate Anqi because she's talented. Let's ignore Grandpa's thoughts for now; Anqi isn't graduating anytime soon, so we have time to figure it out. The problem now is—this final decision is a hot potato! Is Grandpa deliberately making things difficult for me?"

Theresa's distress and entanglement were fully displayed in her scratching her head and cheeks, and the dignity she had just built up was instantly washed away.

Then the two fell silent.

They have discussed the reasons for this countless times; it is an unsolvable problem, so there is no need to bring it up again.

Finally, Himeko spoke up:

"Putting everything else aside, Anqi did a pretty good job! The evaluation in the report was quite high. She truly deserves to be my student!"

"Yes, yes, it's all thanks to your excellent guidance."

"What kind of tone is that? Are you looking down on my teaching skills?"

"By the way, about the assistant Irene this time, didn't you say you gave her some pointers before? What did she say? Did she mention anything to you?"

Theresa, who doesn't slack off, is quite shrewd and quickly remembered that she needed to get more information.

Himeko understood, but could only shake her head regretfully.

"She didn't mention the archbishop, nor did she mention anything about the assessment."

"That's true. Since it's a secret assessment, it certainly won't be leaked. So what did she mention?"

"I've mentioned that Anqi is aloof and unapproachable, and too decisive when killing. Oh, and also, during the gap before the mission target arrived, she visited a few ordinary people's homes. She didn't do anything, just sat on a telephone pole in the middle of the night, staring blankly at the houses, which was a bit eerie."

"What the heck?"

Theresa slowly tilted her head, her small face filled with big question marks.

Himeko scratched her cheek, feeling both amused and helpless, and said:

"Those who bullied her before, of course, I mean those who escaped the net but weren't torn to pieces by her in the alley."

"Holy crap, he holds a grudge like that!"

"What nonsense are you talking about? It hasn't been long. What's wrong with remembering it as someone involved? In fact, she was already very restrained by not rushing in and attacking people. What more do you want?"

Himeko put her hands on her hips and immediately became unhappy.

Our Anqi has suffered so much injustice before, and now she has to abide by the Valkyrie's code of conduct. She can't just rush in and drag her enemy out to beat her up. She's so pitiful and sensible, how can we criticize her?

Theresa, intimidated by that unfriendly gaze, forced a dry laugh:

"I didn't say no—wait a minute, I got a message, let me check it first."

A cell phone did ring, and Theresa took it out to look at it, her expression immediately turning strange.

"Tachibana Yuki wrote to me saying that Anqi sent her an email asking her to help her mess with a few people... to make them lose their jobs or go bankrupt."

It's connected! It's all connected!

It wasn't that she held back her feelings; she went after the other person's entire family!

Himeko patted Theresa on the shoulder and gave her a sharp look that said, "You'd better watch out."

Theresa rolled her eyes and replied to the other party.

Please increase the intensity appropriately, thank you!

The two then looked at each other and both broke into bright, radiant smiles.

On this day, Durandal received a letter from a long-lost friend, and happily opened the envelope to read it.

[To my dearest Durandal: We're in Anti-Entropy, currently we have food and clothing, the food is decent, but the sea breeze is a bit strong...]

Wait, how come Anna is with Anti-Entropy?

"Um?"

Durandal looked up with a puzzled expression.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Then, she finally remembered that Anna had indeed been kidnapped by Anti-Entropy during the Manila Honkai Outbreak!

It's not that she has a bad memory; the main reason is that after that incident, she quickly took on a series of tasks, including the Divine Key mission in London, the investigation mission for Yae Sakura, the training and observation mission for Yae Sakura, the testing mission for Chikai Ichijo, and so on.

As a Valkyrie who is dedicated to her duties, it is only natural that she is single-minded when working, right?

Besides, Otto had also analyzed that Anna wouldn't be in any danger.

So Durandal unconsciously buried this matter deep in her mind, and if she hadn't received this letter, she probably wouldn't have thought about it for a long time.

"Yes, I wonder if Lord Otto has any plans. I'll go ask him later."

Now that she had remembered, Durandal naturally expressed her concern for her friend.

I wonder how much suffering Anna endured over there. She must have written this letter to ask for help, right?

Durandal's heart tightened, and she quickly continued reading the letter.

[... I performed exceptionally well on the construction site, and just received my third 'Outstanding Cadre' award and bonus!]

"Um???"

Where am I? Who am I? What is this letter about?

Durandal blinked hard, then looked at the letter again. It still contained the same content, unchanged.