Collapse, Kiana's Cross-Dressing Strategy, Chapter 17

She forced her aura to stabilize and said, "So, Bishop, the 'information' you mentioned is actually very important. And some related matters aren't as easy as the academic system at St. Freya?"

The young girl took a step forward.

"The situation there is either very dangerous or very complicated, right?"

Otto chuckled, trying to cover up his guilt.

"What danger could St. Freya possibly have? You know, Theresa was once an S-rank, so the safety there is quite guaranteed."

Durandal, however, automatically filtered out this excuse.

She began to ponder how to figure out the situation at the Far East branch, especially today, after she had refused to join St. Freya.

Use a vacation as an excuse? But going there specifically for a vacation would be too deliberate.

Pretend to be passing by while on a mission?

First of all, the Honkai in the Far East region was the responsibility of the Far East branch. It would be problematic for her to interfere nearby without reason.

The Third Honkai War had only recently ended, and the Far East branch had already recovered and was gradually taking over the local aftermath.

With her identity, appearing there would be too conspicuous. She would easily be under constant surveillance, making it impossible to investigate.

Or, should she ask Rita for her opinion?

No, that would make Rita misunderstand her intentions. And as Bai Yan's superior, she would have to avoid suspicion regarding certain matters.

What should she do...

Durandal fell into deep thought. Otto, who had been silent for a moment, spoke up.

"Speaking of which, Bai Yan's Honkai adaptability is quite high. If trained properly, he has a promising future.

"I remember during his evaluation, he had a good chance of becoming A-rank, and even S-rank wasn't impossible.

"It's just a shame that he himself doesn't seem willing to go to the front lines, and his performance behind the scenes is quite outstanding...

"Actually, Bianca, your wish for him to become your companion needs to be considered from other angles..."

Just as Otto was trying to subtly steer the girl's thoughts in another direction, she, as if on a completely different server, continued her own train of thought and then punched her palm.

"Bishop, aren't you worried about the combat effectiveness of the Far East branch? Especially in an environment like St. Freya, the Valkyries trained there might lack combat experience in high-pressure situations."

"Uh..."

After being interrupted, Otto slightly shifted his train of thought.

His adorable granddaughter was quite unwilling to see him, but she hadn't truly broken away from him.

It was just difficult to show concern for her normally.

Otto never considered the issue of teaching quality; St. Freya was just a place for his granddaughter to play house.

As for its significance to his plan, it was merely a convenient coincidence.

To cultivate someone who shoulders a mission, a true protagonist of the world, one must not rush the process or be overly eager for success.

Once she had experienced a complete life and understood the truth, she would eventually break free from trivial pursuits and contemplate the meaning of her own existence.

However, in the meantime, finding a suitable excuse to go to St. Freya; on one hand, he could see Theresa, and on the other, he could observe K423's growth. That sounded pretty good, didn't it?

With that thought, Otto nodded, "Indeed, the extent of training results is often inversely proportional to the casualty figures. Inspecting and guiding some of our branches is also one of the headquarters' obligations."

Otto cleverly used the word "results" instead of "effort."

Sirin back then was terrifying. Did it only take effort and sweat?

Of course, Dumb Goose didn't have these details and didn't notice the Bishop's subtle word choice.

Her attention was completely captured by the words "inspecting and guiding."

"Bishop, I am willing to participate in this inspection and guidance work!"

She said righteously, without any shame for her ulterior motives. Instead, she felt happy about it.

This way, she could take the opportunity to investigate Bai Yan's situation and help her colleagues in various branches improve. It was truly a win-win solution.

Seriously, why hadn't she thought of this before?

"Of course," Otto nodded, his gaze shifting slightly to the screen. "I think we can consider using competitions, which lean as much as possible towards actual combat, to assess the situation of each branch."

"It looks like I'll have to call Ragna, as she's currently in charge of training new recruits.

"This is a large-scale event, so we will need about two months for preparation..."

In reality, Otto intended to dump all the remaining inspection work onto Ragna after visiting St. Freya.

If absolutely necessary, he would also assign Amber to help Ragna.

What a perfect little plan.

"Bishop, I recall Raiden Mei is also at St. Freya. Is Bai Yan's mission related to her?"

"Of course not. His mission is to approach Kiana Kaslana—"

Otto then put on an expression of "Ah, I was so careless," but he didn't change his words or try to hide anything.

Durandal frowned.

"Kiana Kaslana..."

She didn't press further, believing the Bishop had intentionally stopped there, and she wasn't one to harp on things.

However, at that moment, she had already marked Kiana Kaslana as a priority for this "evaluation and guidance."

Volume 1: Chapter 22: Bai Yan: What a joke!

Inside the hotel room, Bai Yan put down his communicator.

"It seems this can't be resolved peacefully. With Dumb Goose's stubborn personality, I'm afraid she'll really push me to the limit."

"She knew the reason after that incident, yet she's clearly too embarrassed to admit it."

Before the Egyptian incident, Schicksal was in a state of near-total combat power vacuum.

Bianca had already experienced a tragic sacrifice at the Taj Mahal.

The Second Honkai War had taken too many elite forces capable of fighting the Honkai, almost completely depleting high-end combat power. Sigfried, Cecilia, and Fu Hua were gone, dead, or incapacitated.

Out of the five A-rank members of the Snow Wolf squad, four died and one went missing.

Countless others, whose names couldn't be listed one by one, also perished.

Therefore, before Durandal was officially promoted to S-rank, Schicksal was likely at its weakest period since Otto's official ascension.

As a member of the logistics department, Bai Yan's job was not simply dispatching and recording supplies.

After the Egyptian battle, Bai Yan and his colleagues from the logistics department went to the emergency center, where the recently transported casualties were.

Some casualties were not handled by the medical team.

"It's that kid from logistics... so, I'm really going to die..."

She was wrapped in bandages, with only half her face exposed, but she was smiling as she looked at Bai Yan.

"Heh, just as I expected from you, you even know my tastes so well."

She took a large cup of warm milk tea and sucked on it with a look of satisfaction.

After finishing it, she handed the cup back and said, "I originally wanted to wait until you grew up a bit before making a move, hehe... cough cough cough..."

Bai Yan placed his hand on her head and gently stroked it.

"Oh, you saying that makes me feel even more regretful. You're so young yet so sensible..."

"It's a bit cold, can you turn up the heat?"

The young man nodded.

"Then I need to hurry—by the way, do you people in Shenzhou believe in reincarnation? Like, after a person dies, all their memories are wiped, and they are reborn into the world."

The young man nodded again.

"If I reincarnate now and start a new life, will the Honkai have already been defeated by then? My new life should begin in an era without the Honkai, right?"

"Yes."

"Haha, you're that certain..."

Soon, her expression became flippant.

"Sigh, what if the new me becomes your family? Would the titles be reversed? The new, little me runs over and calls you 'Uncle,' hahaha..."

She clearly held a grudge for being called "Auntie" before, but couldn't find a way to retaliate.

Bai Yan suddenly laughed, "What if she calls you 'Dad'?"

The Valkyrie laughed even harder; this joke made her unable to hold back.

But gradually, her voice grew fainter, and her eyelids began to feel heavy.

"I... I..."

She reached out her hand, and Bai Yan immediately took it.

"You... live well... on..."

Her hand slowly slipped away, and Bai Yan gently placed it on her chest.

After closing the white cloth, the young man stood up.

"Little Yan, this work isn't necessary..."

"It's fine. Perhaps after they leave, they'll see I'm a decent person and silently bless me."

"..."

"What about the autopsy reports?" Bai Yan asked again.

"The first batch has been summarized, and the handling of the bodies..."

"Leave the makeup to me."

"But..."

"Remember to bring a batch of needles and thread, the demand will be very high this time."

"Okay."

A notification sound interrupted his memories. He picked up his communicator again, only to find a message from someone who never replied.

[Anna: Where are you?]

Bai Yan curled his lips and casually replied.

[Bai Yan: On a mission, can't return to HQ for a while.]

Anna quickly sent back a "crying" emoji.

[Anna: I just received an order to return to HQ. They say it's for some special mission.]

[Bai Yan: Then be careful.]

[Anna: That's weird, did you ever actually write me a love letter confessing your feelings?]

[Bai Yan: I did.]

[Anna: How come I have no memory of that at all?]

[Bai Yan: It's my fault for not being cultured enough. I'll write another one after I study more, and you can give me your honest critique.]

[Anna: ??? Hey, can you be a bit more serious?]

Seeing this, Bai Yan couldn't help but chuckle, and he couldn't help but sigh.

"The Kaslana genes are really strong~"

He looked at the Kiana sisters. They clearly had Saniate's genes in them, yet they weren't gentle at all!

This recessive inheritance was too much.

The older sister's mind was full of strength, the younger sister's mind was full of eating and strength; they hadn't inherited a single bit of their mother's personality.

After chatting with Anna for a while longer, seeing that it was time, he checked out of the hourly room and returned to St. Freya.