Please Let Me Marry BT!

"Who knows when you might walk through some door or go through a physical exam, only to head back to your room, eat hot pot, and sing songs, just to be detained by a Gold Saint."

"When it comes down to it, you're just cowards. Why is it so hard to admit it when it's one of our own?"

"..."×n

"Beat her!"×n

A gruesome brawl had broken out inside the Theater of Domination—the kind where a dozen or two young girls swarmed and beat up a single girl.

Still, play was play and antics were antics; Anqi was not the type of person to act on a sudden impulse and reverse decisions on a whim.

Clashing with Otto was probably something they could not bypass. After all, the man needed Anqi's Dominion Authority, and if they ultimately failed to coordinate, the Anqis would simply have to bite the bullet and send Lord Bishop to meet Miss Kallen.

Yet they still could not afford to directly cross paths with Otto right now; that was also reality. The man had accumulated five hundred years of foundations, and his various methods were completely unfathomable, whereas the Anqis had only just begun to develop. To gamble at this moment on being able to hide themselves right under Otto's nose—that wasn't bravery, it was sheer brainlessness.

"Sigh! Let's take a detour. Fortunately, we still have time. Infiltrating the headquarters is too risky; let's start by carving up a branch instead!"

Cocolia leafed through the massive amount of Schicksal data gathered by Anti-Entropy. After a long moment, she leaned back against her seat and sighed as she spoke.

"Mom!"

"Mhm? What is it, my precious An?"

"Can you stop patting me? I want to go play..."

In the cozy and soft sofa, An lay on her side with her petite body, turning her head to complain with a resentful gaze at Cocolia, who was stroking her hair.

Cocolia tossed the documents in her hand onto the desk covered in paper files, cupped An's face, and planted a heavy mua on her pouting lips. Then, sounding even more resentful than An, she replied:

"Sigh, but Rosaliya and Liliya are both still resting, and Bronya has grown her wings and abandoned me. Now I only have you as my good daughter. If you leave, who is going to keep me company?"

"...So I'm just what was left over? Did you only come looking for me because you had no other choice?"

An instantly broke free from Cocolia's grip and said in exasperation.

Cocolia stroked her own smooth, delicate cheek and said with a look of utter innocence:

"What else?"

"Ahhh!!!"

"Sigh, look at you—jumping and shouting at the drop of a hat, throwing tantrums, occasionally calling yourself this lord, and wearing all those non-mainstream, edgy clothes... By comparison, even though Rosaliya and Liliya are a bit foolish, at least they're still cute girls who love wearing skirts."

"This lord was just... I—I'm not talking to Mom anymore! Hmph!"

Stomping with da-da-da steps, An ran off in a huff.

Only then did Cocolia let out a mischievous chuckle.

Then, the communicator sitting in the corner of the desk transmitted Gray Serpent's cold voice.

"You had me contact you at this hour just to watch a family comedy between you and your daughter?"

"Of course not! You should count your blessings. If we weren't partners, I wouldn't let anyone else appreciate my darling daughter's cute face and voice, not even for a hundred billion!"

"...You really have changed a lot."

"Can't be helped. I've already lost so much, and now I only have these few daughters. How can I not cherish them? Look here, Gray Serpent, I don't mind letting you know my weakness because we are partners. But I also want to remind you of one thing: no matter what plans you have in the future, you'd better not touch my daughters, or else... you wouldn't want to know what a driven mother can do."

As she spoke, Cocolia picked up the empty cup on the table. Because the last daughter who could help pour water had just been chased off by her own teasing, she could only pour a cup for herself with a wry face.

Gray Serpent fell silent for a moment, then nodded on the other end of the communicator.

"Fine, I've accepted your warning."

"Hehe! Don't think I'm being impolite either. After all, by the same token, you've also realized that using matters related to my daughters to persuade me in the future will be the most effective method, hasn't it?"

Cocolia took a sip of water, then spread her hands wide and crossed her legs with casual ease.

She was dropping a hint that if Gray Serpent produced something capable of curing Rosaliya and Liliya, it could be traded for huge benefits.

Gray Serpent naturally understood the implication as well. He shook his head and said:

"I truly don't have anything at present, but I will increase my investments."

"Thanks!"

Cocolia raised her cup and said sincerely.

Although she was preparing to take action herself, until Rosaliya and Liliya were truly and successfully cured, she would value any other potential options just as much.

"Then let's get down to business. What do you want?"

"A piece of intelligence regarding the recent itineraries of all high-ranking officials in Schicksal's branches."

"Mhm? What are you planning to do?"

"The Gem of Desire and the Gem of Serenity—before the Herrscher of Thunder is successfully captured, these two are also targets worthy of attention. I intend to take some foolproof measures, though I won't share the specifics with you."

"What about your own intelligence network? Didn't you claim even Schicksal's headquarters could be infiltrated?"

"You're exaggerating. Those were just some opportunistic little tricks. Everyone focuses on different aspects when it comes to intelligence networks. Of course I have one of my own, but adding yours will naturally make it more comprehensive and precise. Are you going to help or not?"

Cocolia said with absolute candor.

Right, the original Cocolia never possessed such capability; what fooled Gray Serpent was merely a tiny bit of Anqi's foreknowledge, at least for now.

As for Gray Serpent, who was listening to this honest talk, he naturally didn't believe a word of it.

"What are you trading for it?"

"In the future, I will unconditionally provide you with three pieces of important intelligence. They can be things I judge to be crucial, or you can ask for them directly. Don't worry, we've cooperated for so long; I won't let you suffer a loss over such a small matter."

"Three is not enough."

"Stop messing around. Truly critical intelligence is priceless; I've already shown plenty of sincerity. I just want to take out an insurance policy for my own plan, and if you raise the price, I can just do without it. Can't you tell? Having you trade a piece of intelligence everyone already has in exchange for three pieces of critical future intelligence is compensation I specially prepared for you because of last night's discourtesy!"

Cocolia leaned closer to the communicator screen and hoodwinked him with utmost sincerity.

The reality was that Anti-Entropy didn't possess such an incredible intelligence network at all—at least Cocolia didn't. Information as vast and scarce as the movements of all Schicksal branch higher-ups could only be requested from World Serpent.

Gray Serpent paused for a while, seemingly deep in thought, before finally speaking:

"Five."

"Only three!"

"Four."

"Tch, you really do push your luck. Fine, just to ensure smoother cooperation in the future, four."

Cocolia sighed and nodded, acting as though she had taken a loss but had no choice other than to accept it.

Gray Serpent nodded in satisfaction and hung up the communicator.

Both sides felt they had made a great profit.

"A skirt—you said this would do, are you happy now!?"

Just as Cocolia was silently thanking her ally for his generosity, An appeared before her wearing a small red dress and white shoes styled for cuteness and obedience, her face full of displeasure.

The child might throw a tantrum with her mouth, but she actually understood that Cocolia was trying every possible way to make her a bit more ladylike. And on this day when Cocolia was overwhelmed with stress, An chose to swallow her pride and satisfy this little expectation of her mother's.

Cocolia was stunned.

Truly stunned.

After all, how stubborn and tsundere the child An Mals was had been crystal clear in the plot and in the original Cocolia's memories.

Right now, didn't this child's behavior indicate that her approval of the current Cocolia was, at the very least, no lower than that of the original Cocolia?

"Come here."

Cocolia smiled and beckoned.

An clutched her skirt, seemingly unaccustomed to such insecure attire that would flutter at the slightest breeze. She showed a trace of hesitation, but ultimately walked over with a twist and a turn.

Cocolia pulled her into an embrace.

Though it wasn't Rosaliya or Liliya, but An, Anqi now felt the sensation of effort yielding rewards.

This was wonderful—it carried a reassuring sense of truly blending into this world, something all the Anqis deeply appreciated.

Chapter 41: Please Let Me Marry BT!

In December 2014, the Siberian ice field, nearing the coldest period of the year, was struck by an abnormal arctic blizzard. The temperature in the core snowstorm region was detected dropping below minus seventy degrees Celsius, surpassing even the coldest weather records of the North Pole.

Even more bizarrely, that storm zone was moving toward the Norilsk region at a high speed of 250 kilometers per hour.

"Beep-beep-beep—"

"Hurry! Hurry! Form up!"

Amidst piercing alarm sirens, a row of gray-green powered exoskeleton soldiers sprinted like lightning toward the distant base. The excessively fierce acceleration caused the thrusters scattered across their torsos and joints to vibrate unsteadily.

"Hum—"

Suddenly, a strange electronic noise rang out. Above the advancing column, white mechs sixteen meters tall materialized out of thin air. Those huge figures dashing through the air possessed immensely thick torsos and limbs, every curve of their metal armor radiating overpowering mechanical might and a sense of raw power.

"Titans in position! Pilot column, board!"

"Understood!"×35

Accompanied by Lieutenant Kuerla leading the charge, thirty-six pilots clad in steel armor leaped high, landed among the drooping fingers of the Titans, and were smoothly guided into the open cockpits.

"Woohoo! My dear BT-7213, I'm back! Did you miss me to death?"

"Pilot, I am not human. Please direct your reproductive desires toward a proper target—at least a carbon-based lifeform."

"Aww, what does it matter! Your voice is so cute, I'll be totally fine!"

"Pilot, that constitutes sexual harassment."

The hot-blooded pilot column had just interrupted a long-distance drill, and the moment they stepped into their cockpits, they began bantering with their Titan AIs.

Naturally, they had no idea that behind every single intelligence lay Titan Anqi, who controlled them through her Dominion Authority. If Titan Anqi were in human form, her expression at that moment would undoubtedly have been exceptionally stiff.

The Titan BT72 Model was nominally a magical-upgrade Plus version of the Godfather mech model, equipped with a high-intelligence collaborative system developed by Cocolia's research team. In reality, however, they were merely puppets manipulated by Titan Anqi through her Dominion Authority.

Inside such Titans, Anqi supplied hard conditions like Honkai Energy, mech control, and mech reinforcement, functioning essentially as the body and limbs. Meanwhile, the pilots provided the judgment and decision-making capabilities of elite warriors, functioning as the brain. This lowered the difficulty of Anqi's multi-tasking and utilized the pilots' military proficiency to push the performance and combat efficiency of every single Titan to the absolute maximum.

"Bzz—"

A piercing, shrill electronic noise suddenly sounded in the ears of all the pilots, forcibly cutting off the flirtatious banter of these veteran slackers.

Following that, Kuerla's icy-cold voice reached everyone's ears.

"I've said it before, the pilots are not objects for your rutting. If you have needs, go find a partner! Also, switch to autopilot mode and prepare to enter the remote conference; we have a mission!"

"Understood!"

The thirty-six-member pilot column simultaneously turned serious.

Play was play, but the earlier siren had indicated a severe situation. They were all talents carefully selected from various frontline bases, and it was impossible for them not to distinguish between priorities.

Soon, a solemn conference room appeared before their eyes.

Cocolia's stunning, dashingly imposing military uniform appearance materialized as she stood before a digital map of Siberia, pointing at a region dyed crimson.

"The situation is urgent, so I'll skip the nonsense. The target is supposed to be a special variant Honkai Emperor, but the monitored energy level is already approaching the limit of a lower-tier Honkai Beast and could evolve into an Emperor-class Honkai Beast at any moment. Its ability manifests as an ultra-low-temperature blizzard. It will arrive in Norilsk in four hours, at which point 1.5 million civilians will freeze to death. Your mission is to intercept and eliminate it halfway!"

"Real-time map information has already been sent to the BTs. Judging by the current speed, you are expected to enter the low-temperature blizzard's affected area in thirty minutes. After that, according to the plan provided by the tactical command post, you have two hours to search for and destroy this Honkai Beast. If you fail, we will launch the Silver Bullet."

"Is that clear?"

Following her decisive words, Cocolia's purple eyes stared straight ahead like sharp swords, as if she could gaze through the remote signal right at all the soldiers.

"Understood!"×36

"Good. Reserve ten minutes before arrival to confirm tactics and perform self-diagnostics on your chassis; right now, we have twenty minutes to chat. Let me share some bad news with you in advance: we haven't encountered a Honkai disaster of this scale in nearly twenty years, and the last time it happened, the Sovereign himself resolved it. Therefore, I have already prepared to hold a collective funeral for you."

"Commander, you're being too formal. Which one of us sitting here hasn't long since prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice? Otherwise, we wouldn't even be qualified to possess our own BT72, would we?"

A soldier said with a chuckle.

Hearty laughter from the rest followed.

Standing before the digital map, Cocolia also revealed a smile.

"I'm glad to see your resolve—though even if you wanted to desert, you wouldn't be allowed to anyway."

"Whoa! Such a ruthless statement! Truly worthy of our Executor!"

"Listen, don't mess around. The performance of the BT72 far exceeds your imagination. As long as it is utilized properly, even an Emperor-class Honkai Beast is not impossible to defeat. This battle is both to protect our compatriots and to test the long years of hard work put in by the Siberian military and research departments—you'd better complete the mission brilliantly, or else all of us will become the laughingstock of Anti-Entropy."

"Received, Commander! By the way, I have a small request on my end."