"The Bishop just assigned me another task.
"Given the recent performance of the Far East Branch, I have been specially dispatched to take up residence here, bolster the Far East Branch's strength, and deal with the potential renewed invasions of World Serpent and Anti-Entropy."
A reserved smile appeared on her face, but her gaze seemed to have already captured the person before her.
"..."
Rita Had Come to Reward Herself
At first, Bai Yan suspected that Sister Tazi was rewarding herself, but on second thought, the main responsibility lay with Theresa.
Not long after the new year began, she had lost all of Changkong City. Afterwards, she had not held the culprit accountable, acting like a sealed program that only dealt with Honkai Beasts and nothing else.
And now, the armory had been blown up, and the academy had been damaged to some extent. Although no one had been hurt, its hard power had taken a hit.
This competition had also exposed the Far East Branch's lax education, and it had even been broadcast across all of Schicksal...
Leaving someone behind to supervise and inspect them was not excessive. If anything, Otto was already pulling strings for his granddaughter.
Sending Rita to take up residence in the Far East—who knew who was really being punished?
"Is Xiao Yan happy?"
"...Happy."
Her slacker days were over.
"Xiao Yan doesn't need to change any of her previous decisions. Continue with everything as usual."
So that was it. Sister Tazi wanted to enjoy the show for a while first.
Bai Yan said, "Understood."
"World Serpent's actions have thoroughly enraged Lady Theresa. The Far East Branch should have a deployment mission before long."
"The Gem of Desire?"
"That is Lady Theresa's intention."
Thinking about it, that was only natural. Rather than have Schicksal deploy its elite forces and make World Serpent wary, letting the Far East Branch carry out the retaliation was just right.
But Bai Yan still felt that something was off.
"You're telling me this now... Don't tell me I'm on the operation roster too?"
"You'll have to ask yourself that, Xiao Yan. After all, that man in black was a powerhouse personally recognized by Lady Durandal, yet you managed to hold him back briefly."
Rita revealed a mysterious smile. "So, Xiao Yan, have you made up your mind?"
She had thought it through.
"The Far East Branch's Fifth Squad isn't the Immortal Blade."
"Is that truly what Xiao Yan thinks?"
"Yes."
After this was over, she would be promoted to intermediate clerical staff. Even if she was forced to work for Sister Tazi, combat would not be her main duty.
In that case, having some strength was actually a good thing. She could deal with unexpected situations.
Rita once again felt something strange in her heart. Looking at the beauty before her, she grew increasingly unsettled.
Suddenly, Rita's communicator flashed with a notification. After answering it, she quickly nodded several times.
Then she tossed out, "I'm going to see Lady Theresa. See you in a bit," and hurried away.
After thinking for a moment, Bai Yan turned and headed toward the armory.
Less than a kilometer from St. Freya's campus, the armory had already become rubble, with very little surviving equipment left.
The technicians were busy taking inventory and conducting assessments.
Both Himeko and Ragna were there. Once the latter no longer needed to stand guard, she had come over to take a look.
"Xiao Yan—you're here!" Ragna nearly let something slip, correcting herself in time.
"I heard this girl has a rather handsome older brother at headquarters?"
"Yeah, he calls me Mom."
Himeko did not entirely approve of the fact that Ragna actually seemed happy about that, but she did not refute her.
"You two are close?"
"Yeah. I picked her up from Siberia. You happened to be away that day, or you'd be Mom too."
"..."
Seeing Himeko's awkward expression, Bai Yan's eyes darted around before she said, "A teacher for a day, a mother for life. Teacher Himeko can be one too."
"You little brat..." Himeko said helplessly.
Ragna said nothing and merely chuckled to herself. She knew her former squad member very well.
"But Xiao Yan, before long, you'll be heading out on an operation. That's the Principal's decision. Don't worry too much; your mission won't be difficult," Himeko said seriously.
"I understand."
"Still, you and Kiana seem to get along quite well. I just don't know how well you cooperate in combat."
"We haven't tried, but I think we can."
Himeko nodded and said with some emotion, "I'm very relieved about you. Even Durandal came to ask me about you just now. It seems she thinks highly of you too."
Ragna found that even more amusing.
"Oh, I appreciate that lady's recognition. I'll work hard."
"Why does it sound like you're not that fond of her?" Himeko asked curiously.
She had gone to the homeroom teacher to gather information? What generation was she, trying to steal Mom's job?
"Huh? No, that's not it." Bai Yan quickly changed her tone. "It's mainly because being noticed by the strongest person feels like a lot of pressure."
"Sigh, who wouldn't feel that way? Even Kiana was pretty shaken just now. That punch must have left a deep impression on her."
Actually, for one brief moment, Bai Yan had hoped Durandal would beat Sirin out and then give her a vicious thrashing.
Then she could tell her, "If you ever turn into that Herrscher thing again, I'll use my fists to knock you awake again."
The sisters would form a bond, and the pufferfish would suffer a new setback. The best of both worlds.
Unfortunately, Otto would not allow it.
"The armory was damaged pretty badly. It'll take some time for the new equipment to arrive.
"This is the first time I've seen the Principal this furious. She practically wants to burn down World Serpent's home right now."
"The new equipment will take some time to arrive?" Bai Yan asked.
"About a week. Training may even become a problem during that time," Himeko replied.
That was already considered fast. Weapons and equipment allocations were not online shopping; they could not simply be shipped after placing an order.
Application, verification, approval... Even if they skipped a major organization's procedures and just sent a few people to headquarters to pick them up, it would still be troublesome.
By nightfall, St. Freya had finally returned to peace.
Otto and the rest of the headquarters inspection team, aside from Rita, all left.
Before Ragna departed, she rubbed Bai Yan's head and told her to keep in touch.
Durandal said nothing and did not appear before Bai Yan. She simply led her subordinates away with the main group.
For once, Kiana took it upon herself to comfort Theresa, which left the latter pleased for more than twelve full hours.
Her smile completely vanished when Kiana personally brought up that promise.
"Uh, Kiana, actually..."
Theresa hemmed and hawed for a long time without managing to say anything coherent.
Bai Yan, who had come to submit the Fifth Squad's equipment list, exchanged a glance with Rita in her maid outfit.
Amusing.
"I really didn't expect this, Auntie. You're actually this kind of person! You don't keep your promises!"
"Huh? I-I-I... I was doing it for your own good..." But her voice gradually faded.
"Hmph!"
"Kiana, then let Auntie compensate you with something else. Tell me what you want?"
Kiana's brain suddenly started working at this moment.
She pretended to be reluctant. "No, I only want what we agreed on before..."
She had even learned to play hard to get.
After this round of negotiations, Kiana had won big.
Bai Yan nodded approvingly from the side, but Rita soon shot her a teasing look.
She mouthed, "You become like those around you."
Bai Yan hurriedly replied, "I'm utterly devoted to Sister Rita. I've never used it!"
From today onward, Rita would be stationed at the Far East Branch. That meant Bai Yan had to make absolutely certain no one would launch a nighttime raid before she dared lock her door and begin her ritual.
She met her master once every night—Master Jingliu.
Now that she had a way to contact her in the future, the contact name "Master" would belong exclusively to Jingliu.
Just as she lit the mosquito coil and was about to trigger the resonance, someone suddenly knocked on the door.
"Perfect timing..."
At this hour, everyone had only just returned to their rooms and was unlikely to be asleep, but they had also stopped their activities outside. If someone went looking, they could usually find their target right away.
"Did Kiana get so shaken up that she wants me to give her some intense training?"
Bai Yan had already prepared all kinds of devilish training routines in her mind, waiting only for Kiana to figure things out and speak up.
She unlocked the door and opened it.
It was Raiden Mei, wearing an extremely revealing set of sleepwear.
A Late-Night Talk Between Girls
The purple-haired girl was tall and captivating, dressed in a scanty two-piece outfit beneath the cover of night.
Her abdomen was flat, and the clear lines of her abs were visible under the moonlight. Her legs were long, their curves harmonious yet powerful. Her slender arms were snow-white, and both hands were tightly clasped before her chest, just barely concealing her figure while inadvertently revealing her state of mind.
"Mei?"
"Mm. Can I come in for a while?"
Bai Yan quickly stepped aside. "Come in. Make yourself at home."
Raiden Mei slowly entered and sat by the bed. Bai Yan gently closed the door, sat beside her, and quietly observed her expression.
She looked somewhat worried. It seemed she was still bothered by what had happened during the day, Bai Yan guessed.
Still, did this count as a mission benefit?
Bai Yan felt a little overheated.
As everyone knew, a certain special dimension was constrained by height, and Raiden Mei was the tallest member of the Fifth Squad.
The value of being only three centimeters smaller than Sister Tazi's dimension.
"Does Mei have something on her mind? Don't worry. Since you've come here, what you say next will remain between heaven, earth, you, and me." Bai Yan patted her chest in assurance.
A strained smile tugged at Mei's lips. "Mm, okay."
Bai Yan heard a deep breath.
"Xiao Yan... you know some things about me, right?"
"My brother works in the Intelligence Department. He knows a fair amount about many things," Bai Yan said, as though implying something.
"That man in black was very strong."
Before you continue