The dirt beneath her feet seemed to let out an involuntary groan as it was kicked.
Durandal couldn't help taking half a step back.
Bai Yan immediately put on a pained, stunned expression.
Seeing that, Durandal quickly said, "I didn't— You—"
"Hmph..."
Bai Yan turned around, hugged Bronya, and ran off to the side with her in her arms.
Durandal: "..."
Yet for some reason, her fists still clenched.
She had originally wanted to tell him about her unusual experience just now, but now she had no desire whatsoever to share it with that guy!
She would talk to Rita once Rita woke up!
"That airhead has already been fooled by me. From now on, we'll stick to the story we came up with earlier."
"Mm!"
Bronya gave Bai Yan a thumbs-up.
With Durandal out of trouble, all of Southeast Asia was safe.
As for letting Cocolia go, it was because Bai Yan didn't want her to actually get caught and tortured into revealing something.
After all, they needed a scapegoat for the Gem of Desire's whereabouts.
And afterward, she would have to accept this baseless charge, because in a sense, she needed something from Bai Yan.
Mama Cocolia, Seele must be very lonely all by herself in the Sea of Quantum, right?
Oh! I have an Authority!
Her smile immediately faded. Bronya was still beside her.
At that moment, Fu Hua was the first to wake up.
Her first reaction upon waking was to check on the Herrscher of the Void, only to discover that two people here were completely unharmed.
Bai Yan repeated what he had told Durandal. Fu Hua didn't suspect a thing and thanked the two of them for arriving in time.
Then, to keep her from asking too many details, Bai Yan turned the question around and asked why she had suddenly appeared, as if she had specifically been guarding against Kiana going berserk.
With secrets weighing on her mind, Fu Hua hemmed and hawed without managing to explain herself.
Bai Yan then deliberately sighed that girls really ought to have their own little secrets, letting the matter pass.
Of course, they had discussed all this behind Durandal's back.
Because the Fifth Squad had no secrets.
The first person Rita saw after waking up was Durandal, and all her worries immediately vanished.
Then she checked herself and found that the medicine had been applied perfectly, the bandages were neat and meticulous, and there was even a thoughtful little bow tied on top.
She knew Bai Yan had done it herself, and couldn't help feeling deeply reassured.
As for what had happened at the scene, Durandal relayed Bai Yan's version once again.
The lie had basically taken shape. All that remained was to see how well Cocolia could take the blame.
After all, even if Schicksal attacked Anti-Entropy's sphere of influence across the world, it would be difficult to dig up that old fox's whereabouts.
And if they couldn't dig up her whereabouts, they couldn't uncover the truth.
Only then did communications gradually recover, and Bai Yan soon received a call from Raiden Mei.
Upon learning that everything here had ended without disaster, Raiden Mei felt relieved, but also somewhat guilty.
She believed she shouldn't have left Kiana alone to guard that place, or the accident would not have happened.
Bai Yan comforted her aloud, saying that the decision at the time had been perfectly reasonable, but inwardly she thought, You're right.
But there was no helping it. The Insignia of Salvation would not let Kiana go. Otherwise, World Serpent would not have used a minor Honkai outbreak as bait.
About ten minutes later, Kiana finally began to wake up.
Everyone tacitly concealed what had happened with the Herrscher of the Void and instead told her that World Serpent had ambushed her.
"Damn it, World Serpent again!" Kiana gritted her teeth in hatred.
Then she began feeling Bai Yan over.
"Xiao Yan, are you hurt? What about Bronya?"
She continued searching Bai Yan from head to toe, as though refusing to miss even the slightest trace of blood.
"Alright, alright." Bai Yan grabbed her hand. "It's over, and I wasn't hurt. You're the one who needs to be careful. I just bandaged you up, so don't move around and tear your wounds open."
"Oh, oh."
She actually had quite a few sword wounds on her body, but Bai Yan had wrapped her up so thoroughly that no one could tell.
The bruises on her face from Fu Hua's beating, however, were still visible.
"Xiao Yan, I just had a dream. I think I dreamed about... Mama Cecilia."
Rita, who had been speaking with Durandal, suddenly cast a subtle glance their way.
Fu Hua also unconsciously looked over.
Even Bronya watched the two of them with some confusion.
Bai Yan said nothing and stroked Kiana's head.
"But she didn't say anything..."
Kiana's mood sank.
Bai Yan simply pulled her into an embrace.
"Maybe she wanted to see you. After all, Kiana is growing up, and you've changed a lot."
"Mm..."
Kiana had the feeling that it hadn't been a dream, but something she had seen with her own eyes, because it had felt far too real.
Besides, her last memory before passing out was clearly seeing that face.
Her memories grew more and more chaotic, and she vaguely felt her head starting to hurt again.
Then she suddenly looked up at Durandal.
"What's wrong?" Bai Yan asked.
"Uh, nothing." She withdrew her gaze. "I remember... Mama Cecilia used the Black Abyss White Flower too..."
"The Sixth Divine Key has always been wielded by the strongest Valkyrie of each generation. Perhaps only then can its power be fully unleashed."
Kiana clenched her fists, a competitive spirit surging within her.
"This time was so embarrassing. I actually passed out halfway through..."
She had originally planned to use this chance to make a spectacular showing, cutting down gods if gods stood in her way and Buddhas if Buddhas blocked her path.
She wanted to show off the results of her training and let everyone see how strong she had become!
But what annoyed her even more was that Durandal had been there too.
The quiet corridor stretched ahead as Fu Hua walked slowly onward, light and shadow shifting across her calm face.
The doors opened. That lonely figure, steeped in a hundred years of solitude, sat there staring blankly at something on the screen, lost in thought.
Only when he noticed Fu Hua's arrival did he turn around.
"Old friend, you're here? How did it go?"
His smile did not seem fake, yet it still made one uncomfortable.
"It progressed faster than you expected. But before that, I want to confirm something. What exactly is your true plan?"
Fu Hua looked at him coldly, her voice utterly devoid of warmth.
"Haha, old friend, you still misunderstand me too deeply. My plan is this simple."
Fu Hua said nothing and merely watched him.
"Humanity's power is insufficient to resist Honkai, while the power of Herrschers is difficult to control. Therefore, what we need are Herrschers who possess humanity."
Fu Hua spoke. "She does not seem mature."
"She still needs to grow. Right now, she has a teacher, friends, and family. She already possesses nearly everything needed for a complete life.
"The term artificial human no longer applies to her. A real person, the things a real person must do, and the path she must bear are all gradually taking shape.
"And all that remains is a single trial, a contest between humanity's will and Honkai's will.
"Old friend, once all this is complete, the world will head down an entirely different branch, achieving the path that the Previous Era failed to achieve..."
Otto spoke of boundless ambition in a steady tone. Five hundred years of solitude had consumed all his youth and passion.
Only the end of the road remained in his eyes.
Fu Hua ignored much of what he said. Instead, she recalled what had happened in Singapore several months ago.
The Herrscher of the Void had grabbed her by the throat and thrown her aside before plunging into another fierce battle...
Now, having met Otto again, she had already decided to remain silent.
Bai Yan had not left a particularly good impression on her. She would zone out during training, and when speaking, she would occasionally use sarcastic remarks to deliberately provoke Fu Hua.
Yet she was the one person in the whole class who spoke with Fu Hua the most.
Perhaps it was because their cultures were similar and they came from the same hometown.
Whenever an entire day passed without Bai Yan speaking to her, Fu Hua would even feel slightly unaccustomed to it, wondering whether something cyclical had happened to her body.
Of course, after Fu Hua asked that once, the other girl seemed to have been enraged. Her usually subtle sarcasm immediately turned into direct personal attacks.
Mm, she couldn't say that classmate was sick.
"But old friend, what do you think of World Serpent's actions?"
Fu Hua gathered her thoughts.
World Serpent...
Their ultimate goal was unclear. Did they want the Herrschers, or the Gem? By now, even Fu Hua's side was thoroughly confused.
Before they left, it had clearly been the best opportunity to take both Herrschers and the Gem.
Yet they had all left without the slightest hesitation, just like last time. It was as if they had only come to play, then left after they were done.
"I don't know. World Serpent's actions are impossible to fathom."
Otto fell into thought.
"Generally speaking, a person only ceases acting after achieving their goal or completely losing all hope of achieving it.
"Looking at the situation then, World Serpent clearly still had strength to spare. Therefore, the conclusion is that they achieved their goal."
What change had occurred that led World Serpent to conclude that they had achieved their objective?
According to the intelligence, they had even deployed the Thousand Worlds One Step they had just acquired...
Otto tapped the desk lightly with his fingers, sinking into endless confusion.
Surely their goal hadn't been to let K423 meet that person who looked exactly like Cecilia?
At that thought, Otto began wondering what Feather Rabbit would bring to his plan.
In the end, he couldn't help chuckling twice.
"Haha, I've actually become so anxious over gains and losses."
According to Durandal's report, that Feather Rabbit seemed to possess extremely strong regenerative abilities, which did fit the characteristics of a manifested Saniate stigmata.
But even against Durandal, she seemed not to have gone all out.
Before you continue