Honkai Impact

Ling Feng glanced at Rita, remembering he'd fallen for a trick yesterday because of tea. Now, this cup of tea...

Rita seemed to understand his meaning, chuckling lightly. "Captain, please rest assured. This is authentic, original Fragrant Tea, with no other additives. Please drink it without worry!"

Both of them knew what "additives" referred to...

"Uh... Thank you!"

Despite his lingering unease, Ling Feng drank it. He was genuinely thirsty, and while Rita was a bit... cough, he didn't believe she intended to harm him, so he drank it with peace of mind...

"Rita, I want one too!"

As a foodie, Kiana wouldn't miss out on such a delicacy. Her nose immediately caught the fragrant aroma of the tea!

"Of course, Kiana. Please, enjoy..."

Rita poured a cup for Kiana, then poured one each for Bronya and Mei.

"Thank you, Miss Rita!"

Mei didn't stand on ceremony, accepting the Fragrant Tea and saying thank you.

"You're welcome. It's my duty..."

Rita merely smiled. As a maid, she was quite experienced.

"How strange. I actually slept until noon today and missed my morning practice..."

Mei muttered, feeling a bit dejected. She was usually an early riser and early sleeper, and apart from special circumstances, she hadn't missed her morning practice for years. Yet today, she'd broken her streak and slept straight through to noon...

"Perhaps Mei simply prefers the atmosphere of her hometown, which is why she slept so soundly!"

Rita remained calm, subtly shifting the blame to Mei herself. Besides, her black tea was perfectly fine; it just contained a bit of sleep-aid medication. Such medication was quite common, used by many insomniacs to help them sleep. As for her own... well, she'd just used a little more than usual!

"But sleeping until noon like this feels so great!"

Kiana stretched lazily, a relaxed expression on her face. "I wish I could live like this every day, without having to wake up early or go to school..."

"Sleep, and you'll have everything in your dreams..."

Ling Feng said faintly. He wished he could have that kind of life too...

"Hmph..."

Kiana huffed, slightly displeased, and continued eating her lunch. "But I did have a wonderful dream last night, and I dreamt about the Captain..."

"Huh?"

Ling Feng's subconscious panicked. He didn't know why he was panicking, but it was because he'd done something bad last night, and he couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

"What did Kiana dream about?"

Mei's interest was piqued. Even though it was just Kiana's dream, she was quite curious!

"Hmph hmph, of course, it was about delicious food!"

Kiana placed her hands on her hips, looking proud. "In my dream, the Captain was so generous, willing to buy me lots of snacks. Plus, he was handsome, so much better than the Captain in reality. Sigh..."

Ling Feng: "..."

"Then you should keep dreaming..." Ling Feng told Kiana she could continue dreaming and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it wasn't a particularly crucial dream...

"Oh... That sounds really nice!"

Upon hearing it was about snacks again, Mei, who was used to it, quietly continued eating her lunch. She figured Kiana's mind was probably only filled with snacks.

After lunch, the group planned to head out. Since they'd slept half the morning, it was time to go find the gift in the afternoon. As for where the gift was, only Mei would know!

ps: It definitely wasn't me, it was a friend of mine!

Chapter 69: Heading to ME Company!

"You've searched for a whole week and really found nothing?"

"I apologize, Madam Cocolia. I've searched every possible location from the records, but I haven't found the so-called gift. We've checked Mei's favorite amusement park, the mountaintop she used to visit, and even Lightning Mei's former home. We found many gifts, but I don't believe any of them can counter a Herrscher!"

In a maid cafe, a man in a suit was speaking to his boss via phone.

"Never mind. It's not your fault. That Ryoma fellow is indeed not as simple as he seems..."

Cocolia, on the other end of the phone, pondered for a moment. "From now on, stop searching. Mei and the others have arrived. Follow them. Once you obtain the gift, capture both the gift and Mei. Do you think I wouldn't dare to make a move on you once you leave Shanghai?"

"Understood, Madam Cocolia. However..."

The man hesitated. "Madam Cocolia, Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie Rita Rossweisse is also with them. With our current strength, we likely cannot contend with her!"

"Rita? That maid full of perverse tastes? I dislike that woman..."

Upon hearing her subordinate's report, Cocolia considered it again and changed her mind. "Then, you monitor them for now. I will dispatch more mechs. Furthermore, my dear daughter Bronya will also assist you when necessary. In any case, this is our best opportunity to capture the Third Herrscher, and we absolutely cannot miss it. As for that annoying maid, just keep her occupied; there's no need to fight her!"

"Understood, Madam Cocolia!"

The man replied respectfully, and Cocolia ended the call.

"Hoo... Fighting an S-rank Valkyrie head-on?"

The man sighed powerlessly, chuckling self-deprecatingly. "Heh... This is truly a difficult mission. But I suppose Rita won't go all out for them..."

"Is this... ME Company? Is this the place you like to go?"

As the four of them followed Mei towards the gift location, Ling Feng saw a building that was both unfamiliar and familiar – the ME Company headquarters. As for why Ling Feng knew about it, isn't that obvious?

After all, Ryoma was once the president of ME Company, so how could he not understand it? Many details could be found with a quick search online!

"Mhm, that's right!"

Mei nodded slightly, then looked at the ME Company building with a hint of nostalgia and smiled, "This is my favorite place to come, at least, it used to be!"

"Uh... I see, that's good, that's very good, it suits Mei's personality!"

Ling Feng pretended to be calm and nodded, but he actually hadn't expected Mei to come here at all. According to the plot, at this time, people usually go to places they liked to play when they were children, such as...

An amusement park. This place isn't very convenient for leaving gifts, so it's a pass!

Secondly, a mountain, a place full of memories, and then burying the gift in a certain spot...

Finally, Mei's old house, which is currently sealed off. Perhaps the gift is hidden in the house!

But none of those turned out to be the case...

"Mhm!"

Mei smiled meaningfully at this, then walked forward, "Ling Feng, let's go in. Kiana, Bronya, and Miss Rita, we might take quite some time. You can wait outside. There's a coffee shop nearby, or you can come in together!"

"I won't go in..."

Rita understood Mei's meaning immediately, but didn't say it directly. She smiled and said, "ME Company also has a nominal cooperative relationship with Anti-Entropy. As an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, appearing here might cause some unnecessary misunderstandings. Therefore, I'll wait outside!"

"Kiana, Bronya!"

Before these two girls could speak, Rita preempted them with a smile, "I heard there's a good cold drink shop nearby. I suddenly feel like having some. Do you want to go together? As seniors, I'm very willing to treat two juniors to ice cream!"

"Let's go!"

Kiana agreed without hesitation, then turned to Mei and said, "Then, Mei, Ling Feng, I'll wait for you outside. Hurry up!"

"Okay, Kiana, we won't take too much time!"

Mei cast a grateful glance at Rita. Being smart, she naturally guessed that Rita had figured out her intentions. Having such a smart person around is indeed much more convenient, and Kiana is really too easy to fool...

Rita smiled slightly, returning a polite smile, but she still felt a little nervous. Although Mei was thanking her now, if Mei found out the truth later, well... In short, after completing this mission, she would return to Schicksal headquarters first, lest she be targeted by the Third Herrscher...

Bronya had no objections either, so they split into two groups. Mei and Ling Feng entered ME Company to find the gift, while Rita took the two little girls to eat ice cream. Well done, Rita!

"Hello, how can I help you?"

Upon arriving at the main entrance of ME Company, the receptionist asked Mei, but unfortunately, it was in Japanese, and Ling Feng couldn't understand it at all...

"Hello, I am Lightning Mei. I'm here to use the dojo!" As she spoke, Mei handed over her identity card...

"Lightning Mei..."

The receptionist was stunned for a moment, then scanned Mei's identity card. Well, it really was Lightning Mei. She immediately returned the identity card to her, "Registration complete, Miss Mei. You can use the dojo, but please abide by the dojo's terms!"

"Thank you!"

Retrieving her identity card, Mei waved to Ling Feng, "Let's go, we can go in!"

Ling Feng "???" What... what are you guys talking about? He was at a disadvantage due to his lack of cultural knowledge...

As they walked towards the dojo with Mei, Ling Feng finally understood some of the general situation through Mei's explanation. ME Company, although nominally an electronics manufacturer, was actually the world's largest arms supplier, covering almost all military fields!

For example, professional submarine maintenance, nuclear warhead refurbishment, maintenance, leasing, modification, polishing, painting, and interior decoration!

At the same time, they recycled used aircraft carriers, performed major overhauls of nuclear reactors, cleaned aircraft carrier oil tanks, replaced the three filters for space shuttle maintenance, conducted daily maintenance for warships, and improved Honkai energy engines, and so on!

High-altitude operations to clean dust from satellite surfaces, replace solar panels, wholesale Titan-type first-generation mechs, second-generation mechs, Thunder God Mechs, and so on. They also accepted custom Valkyrie armors, and even one-to-one life-size simulation armors!

In short, if you can think of it, they basically have it!

Since they were involved in so many fields, they naturally wouldn't neglect the weapons of the Valkyries. In fact, among Schicksal's many Valkyries, at least one-fifth of them used custom weapons from ME. They also sold some lower-strength weapons, which is why ME also had facilities like dojos. Their main purpose was to test weapon performance and provide a performance venue for guests who needed it!

Furthermore, as long as the dojo was not damaged, it could be used for free, but only officially certified Valkyries could use it for free. Mei handing over her identity card just now meant this.

.

.

ps: Anyone want a second-hand Rosaliya? After spinning around in the abyss for half the day, she finally managed to kill a Titan! Then in the second wave, she switched to Queen, used her full energy finger snap, and then two more normal attacks, and it was done... What use do I have for this loli?

Chapter 70: Frozen to death while eating ice cream?

As the two approached ME Company, a woman noticed them and quietly followed them. Anyway, she was wearing an ME Company employee uniform, so if she wasn't stupid, the chance of being discovered was very low!

However, although they were going to the dojo, Mei did not head towards the dojo upon entering ME Company. Instead, she quickly led Ling Feng towards the core area. The dojo was originally just an excuse to enter ME Company; her real purpose was to collect the gift!

Upon reaching an intersection, a holographic electronic barrier rose up, and a glass door blocked the path!

Mei walked directly forward and entered the password on the holographic image, but the first attempt failed...

"As expected, it's impossible not to change the password..."

A flicker of hesitation flashed in Mei's eyes. She thought for a moment, then used her body to shield it and entered the second set of passwords...

"Beep..."

The door opened...

"Ling Feng, let's go!"

There was no time for explanations. Mei grabbed Ling Feng's hand and pulled him inside as the glass door closed behind them...

"Damn it..."

The woman hurried to follow, but it was too late. The door had closed too quickly. As a mere employee, she didn't have permission to enter the core area.

"But, what's that... the storage area?"

The woman thought for a moment. She recalled that everything belonging to Ryoma and Mei in the storage area had already been cleared out and investigated. Why was this girl going to the storage area? Could it be that they had missed something?

No, she had to report this immediately...

The woman took out her phone and dialed her superior's number, reporting that Mei and Ling Feng had entered the storage area. No matter what happened next, she had done her best!

"Mei, how did you know the password here? Wasn't it changed?"

Walking hand-in-hand with Mei, Ling Feng felt like he wanted to enjoy the moment, but he couldn't resist his curiosity. Although Mei was the daughter of the former president, it was unlikely that ME wouldn't change the password for three years, right?

"Of course it was changed, but mine is the final password!"

Mei chuckled softly, deliberately leaning her head closer to Ling Feng and whispering, "My father told me. The final password cannot be changed because changing it would mean resetting all servers. But ME Company's servers are connected to almost the entire world. A reset could potentially cause some chaos, and the process is very troublesome. The final password has the authority to unlock all permissions, meaning it's the Supreme Command!"

"This... this seems very dangerous..."

Ling Feng nodded thoughtfully. He had to admit that the final password had been a great help, but at the same time, its existence was a pitfall for ME. If the final password were exposed, it would be incredibly dangerous for ME. So, this design was truly a pitfall, more so than a nuclear bomb's password...

"That's true, but it was set by ME's founder!"

Mei also nodded gently, a thoughtful expression on her face. "But they never went back to change it because only the successive presidents knew the final password, so hardly anyone knew about it or used it!"