Rita Has Nothing to Say

"Wow! A famous scene from a horror movie! Why didn't I bring a camera?"

"Pah, pah, pah! Please excuse my poor performance, Delta."

The Valkyrie, covered in dirt, crawled out of the mound, spat out the mud and sand from her mouth several times, and replied awkwardly.

Delta spread her small hands and snapped her fingers. A wisp of wind swirled around her, quickly restoring the battle-damaged Valkyrie to its clean state.

"Do you know which way that guy with the jewel ran off to?"

"Well, satellite imagery is no longer useful. We tried to track it using drones and Mechs, but as you saw—they were all destroyed by the Herrscher of Reason. So..."

"So we can't keep up with it. Let's try to contact Archbishop Otto. I've been working all night, let me get some sleep."

As Delta spoke, she landed on the other person's back, and as soon as she finished speaking, she fell peacefully asleep.

The Valkyrie was left completely bewildered. She turned her head and saw that cherry-like pink face resting on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the chaotic and unrecognizable land. She had no communicator in her hand and could not see the figure of her lost comrades. She stood there frozen, at a loss.

"Delta- sama... Delta- sama..."

"Hmm? Is it dawn yet?"

"It's already bright outside; it's afternoon now."

"Who am I? Where am I? Swoosh!"

Delta stared blankly and swallowed hard.

The Valkyrie who had gathered immediately covered their mouths, their shoulders trembling, wanting to laugh but daring not to.

The Valkyrie who had been carrying Delta the whole way was the most composed, and she steadily handed a communicator to Delta.

"Delta, Archbishop... Pfft... looking for you."

Delta blinked blankly, then casually took it and saw Otto's image.

"Hello, may I go home now, Archbishop?"

"Wendy is on the Hyperion, heading to the Anti-Entropy East Sea Base. Judging by the time, she'll arrive soon."

"... I want triple overtime pay."

"I'll give you ten times the reward, so work hard, Delta."

Otto ended the call with a smile, clearly in a better mood.

Over the past five hundred years, he has come to understand how foolish impotent rage is. The Gem of Serenity is lost, so be it. If all else fails, he can retrieve the Gem of Pestilence from Vermilion Knight: Eclipse: Eclipse, or pay Delta to infuse the power of the Gem of Desire into it; both methods would serve to awaken the Herrscher of the Void.

Therefore, the actual losses are not as unacceptable as they seem.

Besides, isn't there still a possibility of taking it back?

There's no need to let this affect your rationality. Instead, using this unexpected event to catch the big fish currently submerged and to take a good look at the real world situation might not necessarily be a bad thing.

Otto took it all in stride, but Delta looked sullen.

"Delta, are you hungry?"

A Valkyrie asked cautiously, offering some compressed rations and a bag of water with both hands.

"Gurgle~" ×n

The sounds of hunger emanated from the various Valkyrie.

Delta glanced around at the battle-damaged, dusty Valkyrie and tilted her head.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"Well, the food we retrieved is limited, so it should be prioritized for the highest-ranking Valkyrie. We've received rigorous training, so a few days of hunger won't be a problem. We'll be fine once the support troops arrive."

"Forget it, I'm Herrscher, it doesn't matter whether I eat it or not, you guys can divide it up yourselves."

The main reason is that living standards have improved, people have become more discerning, and have no interest in dry, unappetizing food.

But the Valkyrie around them clearly didn't think that way. For some reason, they all showed expressions of being flattered and touched.

"You're not quite what we imagined."

"Oh."

"To be honest, we were all a little hard to accept when we first learned that the new S-Rank Valkyrie was a so-called Artificial Herrscher. After all, common sense tells us that Herrscher are humanity's greatest enemy."

"You have pretty high privileges, you even know my real identity."

"I'm a seasoned S-rank Valkyrie, after all. Unfortunately, after one mission with Lady Rita, I knew I'd never make it to S-rank in this lifetime."

"It's a real shame, S-ranks are supposed to have long-term vacation rights... but I suspect I've been tricked. I've only been an S-rank for a few months, and I've already been on several business trips. It's nothing like the leisurely life promised during the recruitment process!"

Delta said with deep resentment.

Although, the reason for the business trip was always that I was causing trouble.

After complaining, Delta looked at the young ladies with some guilt—not only had they played guerrilla warfare with me all night, but they were also in such a sorry state, and now they had to endure the cold wind in this wilderness for another day or two.

But the Theater in the East China Sea has already started, and that silly Wendy, without someone watching her, might run into something dangerous.

It's always best to take care of your own people yourself for peace of mind.

Delta sighed, took flight, bid them farewell, and headed towards the East China Sea.

The East Sea Base, an increasingly large and stable sea fortress, is still undergoing active expansion.

In the noisy and bustling edge area, Anna, suspended by a safety rope, descended below the deck to drive steel nails. A well-fitting safety helmet was securely fastened to her chin. She looked at Durandal and Yae Sakura sitting on the steel bars opposite her and blinked blankly.

"Durandal, what are you doing here?"

"Anna, what are you doing here?"

Two close friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time asked the same question in unison, blinking their equally innocent and bewildered big eyes.

Yae Sakura tilted her head in confusion, a series of question marks appearing above her head.

"Anna, are the reinforcing nails all driven in?"

"Boss, just a little bit more. Go keep an eye on the steel plates over there. I forgot to count them. I'll go up myself after I'm done here. I'm an S-rank Valkyrie, I won't get hurt."

"Okay, then you'll have to do the work."

"Absolutely!"

Anna skillfully dealt with the foreman, then, holding the electric drill, thought for a while before excitedly and happily swinging on the safety rope.

"You've come to save me, Durandal? That's great! I thought you'd forgotten about me. I knew you'd come to save me. We're best friends, hahaha!"

"Uh, actually no, we're here to find the Gem of Serenity."

The air suddenly became quiet.

Anna remained suspended in the air.

Durandal also lowered her head in shame.

Only Yae Sakura looked at the two of them and regretfully realized that she hadn't brought potato chips and soda, which was a real blunder.

Chapter 190 Rita Has Nothing to Say

"You said they were from your hometown and came to seek refuge with you?"

"Yeah yeah!"

"But they look so delicate, are you sure they can handle the work?"

"Hey boss, you're underestimating me! Since you're from my hometown, you're bound to be strong and hardworking like me, you definitely won't let me down! So, what do you say?"

Anna patted her chest and assured the foreman.

The foreman stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, then frowned and said:

"I still feel something's off. Didn't they have jobs before? What are they doing here working on a construction site?"

"Uh... well... it's mainly because I wasn't happy with my previous job, just like me."

"How so?"

"Sigh, the work over there is so complicated, I don't even want to talk about it. Unlike on a construction site, where good is good and bad is bad, every Brick and every shovel of mortar is crystal clear, right?"

Anna adjusted her little yellow hat, looking earnest and weary.

Yes, things are much more complicated outside.

A close friend of so many years, and she just forgets me like that.

Anna almost lost all hope and considered becoming the Herrscher of Ash.

But she was a gentle and kind girl. Even though Durandal had wronged her first, Anna could only agree to be a ladder for her friend at her best friend's request, helping Durandal and Yae Sakura get into the construction site.

The foreman sighed upon hearing this, looking like someone who had been through it all.

"That's true. I've had enough of those idiots who only know how to make empty promises, which is why... cough cough! Never mind, I trust your judgment, but has the higher-ups approved it? We're a military base, we can't just do whatever we want."

"Uh... Think about it, if they didn't have permission, could they have landed here? Could they have swum all the way across the ocean and then climbed up? Don't worry, I know Lady Cocolia very well. I wait outside her house every day!"

Anna suppressed her guilt and remorse and lied to the foreman who had always been kind to her.

These words are clearly effective.

Before long, Durandal and Yae Sakura received their work clothes and yellow hats.

As a skilled worker, Anna took on the task of mentoring the two newcomers.

Watching Durandal and Yae Sakura, dressed in overalls, diligently dusting off the grime under her direction, though not very skilled, Anna patted her little yellow hat. For some reason, a sense of accomplishment welled up inside her.

"It seems like I'm getting closer and closer to becoming a white hat!"

Anna muttered to herself, a little smugly.

On construction sites, hats are ranked: red for senior leaders, white for site managers and supervisors, and yellow for ordinary workers. The hierarchy is strict and inviolable.

"Ahem! Anna, you just said you're very close to Cocolia?"

"Hmm, what's wrong, Durandal?"

"Um, could you introduce us to her too?"

Durandal was filled with shame, but driven by duty, she shamelessly made the request again.

According to the information she knew, Cocolia was the mastermind and the big boss of this incident. Theoretically, kidnapping Cocolia would greatly increase the chances of resolving the issue peacefully.

Durandal possesses martial prowess, Yae Sakura's Jizo Mitama is a divine artifact for controlling humans. As long as they can get close to Cocolia, the chances of success are quite high.

Anna was still daydreaming about how impressive her hat would look after the color upgrade, and didn't think much about what Durandal was up to. She just subconsciously replied:

"Of course, no problem. Lady Cocolia is really nice. Although she scolds me every time I go to her, she never hits me. Sometimes when she's in a good mood, she'll even share some snacks and fruit with me!"

"I think, well, it's all over."

Durandal hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Anna clearly knew and liked this place; she didn't seem like a prisoner at all, nor did she seem like a Valkyrie.

There seems to be a thick barrier between them.

The essence of infiltration is to play your role well.

So Durandal was very focused, Yae Sakura felt that what was about to happen would be even more interesting, so she also became very focused.

Just as the three of them were engrossed in their work, the foreman walked over with a bright smile.

"Listen to me, listen to me. The manager from the construction site next door came over and said he needs a few people to go and help out. He specifically asked for Anna, so you guys should go together. Do your best!"

"Huh? You want me? Why?"

"Because you did a great job! Haven't all the awards for excellence over the past few months been deposited into your account? There must be a lot of people at the top who appreciate you."

"Hehe, it's not that tough! Let's head over there, boss!"

Anna felt like she was one step closer to the white hat, and suppressing her excitement, she casually beckoned Durandal and Yae Sakura to walk outside together.

The woman who arrived was a beautiful, curvaceous, and gentle female leader, wearing a red hat that Anna couldn't even imagine at the moment.

She chatted warmly and amicably with Anna for a while, arranged for her to go upstairs to do some work, and then led Durandal and Yae Sakura toward a corner.