Ling Feng silently glanced at Rita. He had fallen for it yesterday because of tea, and now this cup of tea...
Rita understood what Ling Feng meant and immediately chuckled. "Please rest assured, Captain. This is proper, original Fragrant Tea, with no other additives. Please drink without worry!"
They both knew exactly what those "additives" referred to...
"Uh... thank you!"
Although he was still a little worried, Ling Feng drank it anyway. He really was thirsty, and while Rita was a little... ahem, she definitely had no intention of harming him, so he could drink without concern...
"Rita, I want some too!"
As a foodie, Kiana naturally would not pass up something so delicious. Her nose immediately caught the fragrance of the Fragrant Tea!
"Of course, Kiana. Please enjoy..."
Rita poured Kiana a cup as well, then poured cups for Bronya and Mei respectively...
"Thank you, Miss Rita!"
Mei did not stand on ceremony. She accepted the Fragrant Tea and thanked her!
"You're welcome. It's simply my duty..."
Rita merely smiled. As a maid, she was quite experienced in such matters...
"This is so strange. I actually slept until noon today. I even missed my morning training..."
Mei could not help complaining, feeling somewhat depressed. She had always gone to bed early and risen early, and aside from special circumstances, she had kept up her morning training for years without interruption. Yet today, she had broken that streak and slept straight through until noon...
"Perhaps Mei simply prefers the atmosphere of her hometown, so she slept more soundly!"
Rita remained perfectly calm, subtly shifting the source of everything onto Mei herself. Besides, there had been nothing wrong with her black tea. She had merely added a tiny amount of sleep aid. It was actually very common; plenty of insomniacs used it to help them sleep. As for hers... the dosage had only been a little higher than usual!
"Still, it feels amazing to sleep all the way until noon!"
Kiana stretched lazily and said with a languid expression, "I really hope I can live like this every day—no getting up early, no going to school..."
"Go to sleep. You can have anything you want in your dreams..."
Ling Feng spoke flatly. He wanted that kind of life too...
"Hmph..."
Kiana snorted unhappily and continued eating her lunch. "But I really did have a wonderful dream last night, and the Captain was in it..."
"Huh?"
Ling Feng panicked instinctively. He did not know why he was panicking, but since he had done something bad last night, he could not help feeling guilty...
"What did Kiana dream about?"
Mei immediately became interested. It was only Kiana's dream, but she still wanted to hear it!
"Hehe, delicious food, of course!"
Kiana put a hand on her hip and said proudly, "In my dream, the Captain wasn't stingy at all. He was willing to buy me tons of snacks whenever I wanted, and he was handsome too. He was so much better than the Captain in real life... sigh..."
Ling Feng: "..."
"Then you should keep dreaming..." Ling Feng indicated that Kiana could continue dreaming, while inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. Good, good. It was not some particularly important dream...
"Oh... that really is nice!"
Once she heard it was about snacks again, Mei was already used to it. She silently ate her lunch. Kiana probably only had snacks on her mind...
After lunch, the group prepared to head out. After all, they had slept through half the morning, so it was about time to set off in the afternoon and look for the gift. As for where the gift was, Mei should have been the only one who knew!
PS: It definitely wasn't me. It was a friend of mine!
Heading to ME Company!
"You spent an entire week searching, and you really found nothing at all?"
"My apologies, Lady Cocolia. I searched every possible location listed in the records, but I found no so-called gift. Mei's favorite amusement park from childhood, the mountaintop Mei used to visit, even Lightning Mei's former home—we searched them all. We found many gifts, but I do not believe any of them contain something capable of opposing a Herrscher!"
Inside a maid café, a man in a suit was speaking with his boss through his phone...
"Forget it. This isn't your fault. That Ryoma really wasn't so simple after all..."
Cocolia on the other end of the call thought for a moment, then said, "From now on, stop searching. Mei and the others have already arrived, so follow them. Once they get the gift, capture both the gift and Mei. They left Magic City—do they really think I don't dare touch them?"
"Understood, Lady Cocolia, but..."
The man hesitated slightly. "Lady Cocolia, Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie, Rita Rossweisse, is also with them. With our current strength, I'm afraid we cannot contend with her!"
"Rita? That maid full of terrible taste? I hate that woman..."
Listening to her subordinate's report, Cocolia thought again before changing her mind. "Then keep watching them for now. I will dispatch more mechs, and my dear daughter Bronya will help you when necessary. In any case, this is our best chance to capture the Third Herrscher. We absolutely cannot miss it. As for that annoying maid, just hold her off. There is no need to fight her!"
"Understood, Lady Cocolia!"
The man answered respectfully, and Cocolia ended the call...
"Phew... facing an S-rank Valkyrie head-on?"
The man sighed weakly and mocked himself. "Hehe... this really is a difficult mission. But I doubt Rita would go all out for their sake..."
"This is... ME Company? This is the place you liked coming to?"
As the four followed Mei toward the gift's location, Ling Feng saw a building that was unfamiliar yet familiar—the headquarters building of ME Company. As for why Ling Feng knew it, wasn't that obvious?
After all, Ryoma had once been ME Company's president. How could Ling Feng possibly not look into it? A lot of information could be found with a simple online search!
"Yes, that's right!"
Mei nodded slightly, then looked at the ME Company building with a nostalgic expression. She smiled. "This is the place I liked coming to most. At least, it used to be!"
"Uh... I see. Nice, very nice. It suits Mei's personality!"
Ling Feng nodded with feigned composure, but he had never expected Mei to come here. According to the plot, this was usually when they would go somewhere she liked visiting as a child, such as...
An amusement park. It was not a very good place to hide a gift, so that was out!
Next, some mountain filled with memories, where the gift would be buried somewhere...
Lastly, Mei's old home. It was currently sealed off, so perhaps the gift had been hidden inside!
Yet it was none of those...
"Mm!"
Mei gave a meaningful smile, then stepped forward. "Ling Feng, let's go in. Kiana, Bronya, and Miss Rita, we may be inside for quite a while. You can wait outside for a bit. There's a café next door, or you can come in with us!"
"I won't be going in..."
Rita instantly understood what Mei meant but did not say it outright. She smiled. "ME Company is nominally affiliated with Anti-Entropy, while I am an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. My appearance here might cause some unnecessary misunderstandings, so I'll wait outside!"
"Kiana, Bronya!"
Before the two girls could speak, Rita smiled first. "I heard there's a nice cold dessert shop nearby, and I suddenly feel like having some. Would you like to come with me? As your senior, I would be happy to treat you two juniors to ice cream!"
"I'm going!"
Kiana agreed without hesitation and turned to Mei. "Then, Mei, Ling Feng, I'll wait outside for you. Hurry up!"
"Alright, Kiana. We won't take too long!"
Mei gave Rita a grateful look. Being clever, she naturally guessed that Rita had already understood her intentions. Having someone so smart by her side really did make things much easier. Besides, Kiana really was far too easy to fool...
Rita smiled faintly and returned a polite smile, though she was a little nervous inside. Mei was thanking her now, but if Mei learned the truth later... well, after finishing this mission, she should return to Schicksal headquarters first. She should not let the Third Herrscher hold a grudge against her...
Bronya had no objections either, so they split into two groups. Mei and Ling Feng entered ME Company to look for the gift, while Rita took the two girls out for ice cream. Nicely done, Rita!
"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?"
Upon arriving at ME Company's main entrance, the receptionist asked Mei a question. Unfortunately, it was in Japanese, and Ling Feng could not understand a word...
"Hello. I am Lightning Mei, and I have come to use the dojo." As she spoke, Mei handed over her identification card...
"Lightning Mei..."
The receptionist froze for a moment, then scanned Mei's ID card. Well, it really was Lightning Mei. She immediately returned the card to her. "Registration complete, Miss Mei. You may use the dojo, but please abide by its regulations!"
"Thank you!"
Mei took back her ID card and waved at Ling Feng. "Let's go. We can enter now!"
Ling Feng: "???" What exactly were they talking about? This was the disadvantage of not knowing the language...
As he followed Mei toward the dojo, Ling Feng finally learned the general situation from her explanation. Although ME Company was nominally an electronics manufacturer, it was actually the world's largest arms supplier, with its military business covering nearly every field!
For example, it professionally repaired nuclear submarines, refurbished, maintained, leased, modified, polished, and repainted nuclear warheads, and handled interior fittings!
It also recycled secondhand aircraft carriers, overhauled nuclear reactors, cleaned aircraft carrier fuel tanks, maintained space shuttles and replaced their three filters, performed routine warship maintenance, improved Honkai energy engines, and more!
It performed high-altitude cleaning to remove dust from satellite surfaces, replaced solar panels, wholesaled first-generation Titan mechs, second-generation mechs, Thunder God Mechs, and more. It accepted custom Valkyrie armor orders and even produced life-sized simulation armor!
In short, if you could think of it, this place probably had it!
Since it dealt in so many fields, it naturally could not neglect Valkyrie weapons. In fact, among Schicksal's many Valkyries, at least one-fifth used ME's custom weapons. ME also sold lower-powered weapons, which was why it had facilities such as a dojo. Their main purpose was to test weapon performance and provide a demonstration venue for customers who needed one!
Also, as long as the dojo was not damaged, it could be used free of charge. However, only officially certified Valkyries could use it for free. That was why Mei had handed over her ID card just now!
.
.
PS: Does anyone want a secondhand Rosalia? I spun around and around in the Abyss for ages, and finally spun a Titan to death! Then, for the second wave, I switched to Queen, snapped my fingers at full energy, and followed it with two normal attacks. Done... What do I need this loli for?
Eating Ice Cream to Death from the Cold?
After the two entered ME Company, a woman noticed them and quietly followed. Since she was wearing an ME Company employee uniform, as long as she was not stupid, the chance of being discovered was very low!
However, although they claimed to be heading to the dojo, Mei did not proceed in the dojo's direction after entering ME Company. Instead, she led Ling Feng swiftly toward the core area. The dojo had merely been an excuse to enter ME Company. Her real purpose was to collect the gift!
When they arrived at an intersection, a holographic electronic barrier rose ahead of them, with a glass door blocking the passage!
Mei walked right up to it and entered a password into the holographic display, but the first attempt failed...
"Of course. There's no way they wouldn't have changed the password..."
A trace of hesitation flashed through Mei's eyes. After thinking for a moment, she shielded herself with her body and entered a second password...
"Beep..."
The door opened...
"Ling Feng, let's go!"
There was no time to explain. Mei grabbed Ling Feng's hand and rushed inside, and the glass door immediately closed behind them...
"Damn it..."
The woman hurriedly tried to follow, but she had no time to get inside. The door had closed too quickly. As an ordinary employee, she did not have authorization to enter the core area...
"But that was... the storage area?"
The woman thought for a moment. She remembered that everything in the storage area related to Ryoma and Mei had already been cleared out and investigated. Why was that girl still heading there? Had they overlooked something?
No, she had to report this quickly...
The woman took out her phone and called her superior, reporting that Mei and Ling Feng had entered the storage area. No matter what happened next, she had done everything she could!
"Mei, how did you know the password here? Hasn't it been changed?"
Walking hand in hand with Mei, Ling Feng was enjoying it immensely, but he could not suppress his curiosity. Mei had once been the president's daughter, but ME could not possibly go three years without changing its passwords, could it?
"Of course it was changed, but that was the ultimate password!"
Mei smiled softly and deliberately leaned close to Ling Feng's head, whispering, "My father told me about it. The ultimate password cannot be changed, because changing it means resetting every server. But ME Company's servers are connected to almost the entire world, and resetting them could easily cause chaos. The process is also extremely troublesome. The ultimate password has the authority to unlock all permissions. In other words, it is the Supreme Command!"
"This... feels like an extremely dangerous design..."
Ling Feng nodded thoughtfully. The ultimate password had certainly been a huge help, but its very existence was also a major vulnerability for ME Company. If it were exposed, it would be incredibly dangerous for ME. This design was truly terrible—worse than a nuclear launch code...
"That's true, but it was set up by ME's founder!"
Mei nodded gently as well, her face taking on a thoughtful expression. "Yet no one ever changed it afterward, because the only people who knew the ultimate password had always been the successive presidents. So almost no one knew about it, and almost no one used it!"
Before you continue