Chapter 533

"You're really amazing."

Bronya sincerely praised Susanna, saying that she had not succumbed to despair because of her current situation, but instead chose to live on strongly, which was already very commendable.

"Huh? No, no, I'm actually still at the stage of finding fabric for the hammock. And... Bishop, you came to save me, didn't you? Bishop, to repay your kindness, I've decided to work twice as hard from today onwards and become A-rank Valkyrie as soon as possible!"

Susanna watched as Shen Gonglin clenched her fist firmly. The bishop had actually brought people to rescue her, an unknown B-rank Valkyrie. This feeling of being valued welled up in Susanna's heart. It was wonderful.

... This Valkyrie of Schicksal seems a bit off. Did Shen Gonglin come all the way to save her? And does she think A-rank Valkyrie are some kind of trash? Although it seems like everyone around Shen Gonglin has S-rank combat power, that's still the top tier in the world. Don't think it's a simple matter.

Seele and Bronya explained to Susanna what had happened on the moon, to prevent the woman from overthinking things and developing any inappropriate feelings for her boss.

"Sigh... Eh? But if that's the case... then why was I teleported here? I'm neither Herrscher nor Stigmata Awakener, so why me?"

Having grasped the general outline of the situation, new questions arose one after another, overwhelming Susanna's mind. Everyone here was a special person, either Herrscher or Stigmata Awakener. How could a mere B-rank Valkyrie like herself possibly be able to get along with them? Could it be that she possessed a special quality she had never even considered?

But she discovered that apart from being able to eat an extra bowl of rice compared to others, she didn't have anything special about her.

"Bronya doesn't understand either. Susanna, you said you took a nap at work before you came here, what happened?"

Focusing her attention on this important point, if Bronya wasn't mistaken, that timing was quite significant.

"Miss Bronya, please don't mention this in front of the Bishop... Bishop, I'm sorry, I was helping Changguang prepare for an experiment! Not long ago, Schicksal just finished repairing the Thousand Worlds. Before starting the new experiment, we needed someone to clean the inside of the Divine Key to make sure there was nothing left that would interfere with the experiment. To be honest, the air in there was completely stagnant, stuffy and hot... Bishop, I promise I just wanted to rest my tired arms, and I accidentally fell asleep."

Admitting to slacking off in front of her highest superior... This put immense pressure on Susanna, a mere B-rank Valkyrie. Although the bishop seemed like a mascot, he held considerable prestige within Schicksal. The three publicly acknowledged S-rank Valkyrie had excellent relationships with him: Lady Theresa was his principal, Durandal and Rita were among the top-ranked Valkyries in Schicksal 'Valkyrie internal rankings, and the newly emerged S-rank Valkyrie, Miss Li, was completely obedient to him. Furthermore, the entire Schariac family, represented by Miss Anna, supported him...

So Susanna assured Shen Gonglin that she really didn't mean to be lazy.

"... And then you woke up and found yourself here?"

The Seele in her Black Seele form wasn't as polite as before, which meant she had just woken up and arrived here? He and Seele had just woken up on the moon after a nap; it seemed he couldn't just sleep around so easily anymore.

"Yes. Could it be that the power of the Divine Key is at work in the dark..."

Susanna considered this possibility. There is a saying that the Divine Key all have their own will, after all, they are the crystallization of the wisdom of the predecessors. Could it be that the Divine Key guided her here in the dark?

"... There might be other, simpler reasons for this. But we don't have enough evidence right now, and discussing it would probably just be a waste of time. By the way, Susanna, you mentioned before that all the communication equipment here is broken. What's going on with that?"

Having considered certain possibilities, Bronya didn't reveal the details for the time being. Considering the function of the Thousand Worlds, she had already made a guess that Susanna would appear here. However, since she said that the communication equipment was broken, Bronya felt that she could help.

"Ah, I did some simple testing on that. It seems that some integrated circuits in the equipment were burned out. I was hoping to repair them so that I could re-establish contact with the outside world... but there are simply no repair materials available."

Susanna helplessly spread her hands. As a formally registered Valkyrie of Schicksal, she had a basic grasp of this technique, but even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. How could she repair it without any ingredients?

Is the damage to communication equipment also one of the consequences of Stigmata Plan? Or perhaps...?

"No problem. Speaking of which, Bronya, aren't you the Herrscher of Reason? Repairing something like this should be a piece of cake, right?"

This is where the all-powerful Bronya comes in. Seele crossed her arms and looked at Bronya. For the Herrscher of Reason, repairing a communicator should be a piece of cake. If she can't even do something like that, then what's the point of talking about analyzing and constructing everything?

"Huh? Miss Bronya can do something like that? So you're... the Herrscher of Reason?"

As soon as Susanna blurted out her words, she was met with a glare from Bronya. The girl's gray eyes were fixed on Susanna, making her want to punch her. What "Herrscher of Reason"? Luckily, Shen Gonglin was distracted and didn't hear her, otherwise Bronya felt she would have a new nickname.

"No, Bronya isn't entirely sure. But... we can give it a try."

Chapter 453 The State of the People on Earth

With their own ideas, the group arrived at the damaged communication equipment under Susanna's guidance. Bronya examined it briefly and came to the conclusion that even if she wasn't the Herrscher of Reason, she was indeed proficient in mechanical matters.

"I see. Although the exterior is intact, the key internal components are severely damaged."

"Yes, under normal circumstances, there is definitely no hope of fixing it... It's like being struck by ball lightning."

Susanna was also somewhat disappointed. She had already checked it beforehand, and to fix this thing, she would definitely need replacement parts. But judging from the way the bishop and the others were acting, it seemed unlikely that anyone would carry a toolbox with them. Oh, the doctor from Anti-Entropy would probably do that.

"That being said, with the new state of the Herrscher of Reason, repairing it might not be difficult."

Bronya pondered for a moment and said that although this was her first time dealing with such common sense, she believed there shouldn't be any problems based on her understanding.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Bronya held her breath, sensing the entire machine's structure with her intuitive understanding of truth. AND, OR, NOT, and XOR... modern integrated circuits are the physical result of superimposing these four logical operations trillions upon trillions of times. Therefore, no single individual has the ability to repair a severely damaged electronic chip. All they can do is replace it with existing parts.

However, for a fully Herrscher of Reason, her uniqueness lies precisely in her ability to create something from nothing.

Blue structural energy flowed into the communication equipment, and to Susanna's delight, the previously black screen lit up again.

"Ah! It's started!"

It seems everything is going smoothly.

Bronya withdrew her hand with satisfaction. The emotionless girl glanced at Shen Gonglin with a smug look, wondering if he would still say she was useless in the future. Now she was particularly good at repairing things.

"Well done, Bronya, I hereby declare you to be the Herrscher of the Triode!"

Shen Gonglin gave Bronya a thumbs up, but the girl's composure instantly crumbled again. Couldn't this girl say something nice? The Herrscher of the Triode? Who is that?

"It seems to be fixed, but even so, this machine doesn't seem to be of much use. The entire Earth is being reorganized by the Stigmata Plan, so who can ordinary communication devices contact?"

Seele poured cold water on Susanna's frustration as she watched her fiddling with the communication device. It was certainly a good thing it was fixed, but what good would it do? She still couldn't contact anyone. Bronya remained silent; this was indeed a big problem. The device was fixed, but who could they contact?

"Let me see... 750... 620... 570... Ah, found it, Bishop! This instrument has channel 495!"

Just then, Susanna let out a surprised scream. At that moment, Shen Gonglin rushed over. Susanna happily grabbed his hand, and Shen Gonglin also became excited.

"I never expected it to have 495 channels, that's really amazing!"

Huh? Is there anything special about this? Seele and Bronya were particularly surprised to see even Shen Gonglin showing such a delighted expression. This so-called 495th channel...

"Shen Gonglin, what is the purpose of these 495 channels?"

Seele quickly stepped forward and asked, "Why is Shen Gonglin so agitated?"

"Have no idea!"

Shen Gonglin responded confidently, which froze Seele's expression. What are you so excited about? If she weren't outmatched, she would have slapped Shen Gonglin twice. How could she let herself get away with this?

"Channel 495! This is a special channel used by Bishop Otto and Professor Planck to avoid accidental clashes during the confrontation between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy in the past. It is also called the Atlantic Telephone."

Unlike Shen Gonglin, who was excited without understanding anything, Susanna seemed to know what this channel represented, which was why she was so excited—she could finally contact someone.

"Oh, but what do those two people from the past have to do with us now?"

Having become a qualified person to ask questions, Seele crossed her arms and looked at Susanna. "Is that so? So what?"

"Because as long as the Schicksal Headquarters is still operating, the people there may be able to establish contact with us through Channel 495!"

"I can't believe it!" Susanna said excitedly. Ignoring the girl's astonishment, the B-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal quickly began operating the communication device that originally belonged to Anti-Entropy. As expected of a formally appointed Valkyrie of Schicksal, even though she was only B-rank, she had undergone rigorous training. Her work yielded immediate results in about three minutes. A voice finally came from the communication device. She had just sent out their current basic information through encoding.

[Susanna? Is it really you? And you're with the bishop and Kiana?]

First came the sound, and then, after Susanna's adjustments, a rather familiar face appeared on the screen. With a bright smile, the Valkyrie first gave a military salute to Shen Gonglin. Shen Gonglin remembered this person; he was the communications officer of the Immortal Blade.

[Bishop, Bronya, Seele, and of course Susanna, long time no see! It's so good to see you all safe and sound! Schicksal's one and only designated tool reporting for duty!]

With a strong sense of self-awareness, Alvit greeted everyone happily. Receiving news from the bishops at this time was truly the best thing ever.

"Hmm, hello tool, you've already gotten a general understanding of our situation from Susanna's description... So, what's the current situation at Schicksal Headquarters?"

First, they asked about the thing that everyone was worried about: although they had returned to Earth, what was the current situation of the Schicksal Headquarters and the Anti-Entropy Headquarters?

"To maintain the existence of the Schicksal Headquarters amidst the sudden spatial anomaly, Rita, Changguang, Amber... and Lady Zi have all been on the front lines directing operations to ensure the defense against the Imaginary Invasion is foolproof. Lady Zi has been a great help; she seems to have a very good understanding of this kind of spatial anomaly. Under her command, the Schicksal Headquarters is still relatively intact. In addition, regarding Anti-Entropy, we have also established basic contact with the Salt Lake Base. Currently, Welt has won, and Einstein and Dr. Tesla are fighting there."

After learning the situation, everyone breathed a sigh of relief; the worst-case scenario they had anticipated had not occurred.

Chapter 454 Tripartite Meeting

"Is that so? What about Theresa? Do you know anything about her?"

Knowing that Anti-Entropy and Schicksal are still relatively safe, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Bronya then mentioned Theresa's condition. Upon hearing this, Shen Gonglin Jingu blushed, realizing that she had completely forgotten about Theresa. In fact, Theresa should have been the first person affected by the Stigmata Plan. After separating from her, she went to the lunar base and didn't know her current condition.

I should have asked Yu Tu back then; it's a bit of a mistake to only think of Theresa now.

"No, the Vice-Bishop is still missing. We can't even detect whether she has returned from space. In addition to Lady Theresa, there are some other unexpected situations. Rosaliya and Liliya are also missing at the Salt Lake Base. According to the surveillance footage, they sneaked out of the Salt Lake Base ten minutes before the space mutation. Judging from their lip movements, they were probably planning to sneak to the convenience store to buy cakes."

"Huh? These two idiots!"

After reporting the missing persons investigation report and learning about those two guys, Black Seele couldn't help but swear. Perhaps because she rarely heard such words from her sister, Bronya was somewhat taken aback. It felt quite incongruous for her to say such a thing while wearing the Seele's appearance.

"... Seele, venting your emotions now will probably not help. Alvit, under the current circumstances, we need to arrange a three-way meeting between Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and those of us in Sea Abyss City. Can you arrange it?"

After offering some advice to Seele, Bronya brought up the most important thing to do in this situation: exchange information and determine the next course of action. This was their purpose in returning to Earth. Alvit first looked at Shen Gonglin, and only after confirming that the bishop had no objections did the "tool girl" nod. After all, he was the Bishop of Schicksal, and as Schicksal's tool, she naturally had to obey his orders.

"I will do everything I can to find a way. I will contact Anti-Entropy now and try to hold a meeting as soon as possible."

After speaking, Alvit on the other side of the screen got busy. While she might not be the most outstanding combat assistant, she was absolutely capable of providing intelligence support. Bronya trusted Alvit quite a bit in this regard. And then...

"Well then, without further ado, Susanna, you stay here and continue communicating with Alvit. Seele Shen Gonglin, and I... we'll split up to notify the others and try to organize a three-way meeting in half an hour. Is that alright?"

Speaking of splitting up, Bronya gave Shen Gonglin a subtle look. It would be better not to let Shen Gonglin act alone when splitting up, otherwise there would be a high chance that she would have to go and find him separately. Whether he was in a group with her or with Seele, she couldn't let him be alone.

"Alright! No problem, this is also to welcome Durandal and Sushang!"

The B-rank Valkyrie seemed very energetic, after all, the situation was much better than before. Back then, she was all alone at the Salt Lake Base, and she was even planning to do wilderness survival. But before she could even build a shelter, someone came. So now Susanna felt that she had to do her part. The leader was right in front of her, so when else would she have a chance to show her skills?

"... As long as Schicksal and Anti-Entropy can put together enough people, that's fine. But shouldn't we say that appearances can be deceiving? Susanna, you're really useful. You've done a great service."

Seele looked at Susanna with a teasing expression. She had thought Susana was a useless and stupid Valkyrie, but it turned out that they really owed her a lot this time. If it weren't for her, they wouldn't be able to establish contact with the Schicksal Headquarters. It was really unexpected.

"Seele, mind your manners."

Bronya adopted the air of an older sister and spoke up to remind the girl. The unruly girl became much more compliant in Bronya's presence, crossing her arms and turning her head to the side. She was just joking; why take it so seriously?

"Tsk, alright, alright. Everyone has their strengths, is that alright? Bronya, you really have no sense of humor at all. This won't be good for your future life."

According to Shen Gonglin, she just likes to talk a lot of nonsense. It felt like Bronya even wanted to lecture her. Black Seele couldn't help but complain. Couldn't she tell that she was joking?

Bronya, do you have no sense of humor?

Seele's words dealt a heavy blow to Bronya. After all, she herself was aware of this possibility. The girl immediately thought about her future life with Shen Gonglin. Shen Gonglin was naturally playful, and if she continued to be so dull... Infidelity, abandonment—these scenarios flashed through Bronya's mind. Thinking of this, the Herrscher of Truth fell into a kind of anxiety. She looked at Shen Gonglin for help, hoping that such a thing wouldn't happen.

"It's okay, don't listen to Seele's nonsense. Bronya, you're actually quite funny-looking."

Shen Gonglin tried to comfort the girl, but his words instantly broke Bronya's defenses. The girl knelt on the ground, slumped forward in despair. Was all of Genki's humor just about his appearance? Bronya had thought she was quite pretty, but she never expected that Genki was just a ridiculous-looking person in Shen Gonglin's eyes.

"... You, you're much more sarcastic than me. What are we going to do now? You caused this situation, so it's only right that you solve it."

Seele found Bronya's condition amusing, but another Seele seemed to feel sorry for Bronya. So Seele could only pass the buck to Shen Gonglin, letting whoever caused the trouble clean up the mess. Since Bronya was in this state, it was up to Shen Gonglin to deal with it.

"Ah... I didn't say anything too offensive... Okay, Bronya, you're not funny at all, is that alright?"

Shen Gonglin didn't understand why Bronya had become like this. After thinking about it carefully, Shen Gonglin could only change her tune. Isn't it good that she's funny-looking? Shen Gonglin felt that this was something to be happy about.

Good heavens, I can't even be funny anymore? What's the point of me living like this? I guess I should just be a Kiana. I'll inherit Kiana's name.

Chapter 455

By the time Bronya had composed herself, Seele had already informed the others who had split up, and the group reunited. Although Kiana and the others were a little curious about Bronya's distant and seemingly indifferent behavior towards Shen Gonglin, they had to keep their questions to themselves for the time being once the screen communication was established. It was truly surprising that Bronya would also have a falling out with Shen Gonglin.

Although not all core members of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy can be present at the moment... in the current situation, such a three-way meeting is already extremely valuable. Fortunately, we still have the Archbishop of Schicksal here.

The communication was connected, Einstein and Tesla appeared on the screen. Although it had only been a few days since she last saw them, it gave Shen Gonglin a feeling of a long-awaited reunion. She didn't expect Einstein to joke like that. He was right, they also had the Archbishop of Schicksal overseeing the overall situation.

[Alright, you with the Chicken Coop Head, stop being so polite, let's get down to business... Oh, the communication from Schicksal has come through too.]

Tesla is always energetic, but I can't stand the slow, polite personality of the guy with the Chicken Coop Head. In this situation, what's with all the politeness?

[Lady Rin, seeing that you are all alright is the best news right now... Durandal and Sushang just sent a message as well; they are still on their way and are expected to arrive soon. As for now... how about we let Dr. Tesla chair this meeting? That should ensure a concise and efficient process.]

The S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal appeared on the channel. After receiving this three-way communication, she rushed back from the front line. Currently, the front line is being handled by Yukari Yakumo and Amber. With most of the high-end combat power absent, Rita, as the only remaining S-rank Valkyrie, is under a lot of pressure. But now, things are alright, Shen Gonglin and the others are back.

Without further ado, let's start the meeting as soon as possible. Just as Dr. Tesla said, it's inevitably a bit tedious for others to chair the meeting, so let Tesla is the most efficient speaker, chair it.

"... Alright, I might as well say a few more words. Shen Gonglin, the people gathered in Sea Abyss City right now include you, Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Seele, the Herrscher of Consciousness, Fu Hua, and Susanna, who's somehow appeared there, right?"

Tesla readily took over the role of chairing the meeting. He first checked on the people from Sea Abyss City. He could understand the others, but why was Susanna there? It seemed like a strange character had infiltrated their group.

Having received confirmation from Shen Gonglin, Tesla continued, saying that being able to contact Shen Gonglin at this time had greatly eased the mood of the Red-haired Twin Tails doctor, allowing her to focus more clearly on her work.

Based on our previous synchronization, most of you were sealed on the moon by the Stigmata Plan and eventually returned to Earth through a stargate from the Previous Era, arriving at Sea Abyss City. However... this alone isn't enough to explain the state of Sea Abyss City ... For example, can anyone from Schicksal explain how Susanna ended up there?

The question was then passed to Schicksal: how did this B-rank Valkyrie appear in Sea Abyss City? What was so special about her? Or was it someone's doing it on purpose?

[Reporting to Tesla! I launched Susanna there using the Thousand Worlds method!]

A new person joined the communication channel, Changguang reported confidently that the culprit had appeared. However, the word "launch" was used very well.

[...Oh, so it was you who did it... Wait, you just mentioned the Thousand Worlds? Isn't that thing extremely difficult to activate? How could it be such a coincidence? Did you use Susanna for your experiment?]

Tesla anticipated this. The anomaly had just occurred, Changguang had just activated the Thousand Worlds? That's too much of a coincidence.

[Actually, we were planning some experiments related to the Thousand Worlds at the time, and Susanna was responsible for cleaning the interior of the Divine Key. When the spatial anomaly began to occur, due to the urgency of the situation, I didn't have time to notify Susanna or anyone else, so I let the Divine Key autonomously choose the most stable space on Earth at the moment and launch her out first... After all, as you can see now, due to the enormous scale of the Stigmata Plan, we have temporarily lost the opportunity to use this Divine Key ever since.]

He briefly explained why Susanna appeared in Sea Abyss City. At the time, he only had this one choice, adhering to the principle of saving as many as possible. Given the circumstances, he could only make this choice. Now, he sees that his actions were correct. If he hadn't launched Susanna there, how would they have been able to make contact now?