2. Theresa: What I did today was merely a tactical expedient / 3. Otto, you're not going to keep screwing me over, right?

"On the contrary, I think the number of people left at headquarters is a bit too small. What if Otto takes advantage of our visit to Kolosten to launch a surprise attack on the Salt Lake Base?"

"Although I think it's unlikely, it's normal for you to have such concerns..." Theresa had anticipated this. "In fact, besides Sirin and the others, Mr. Welt has also gathered quite a few executors who are out there."

"For example, Mei's father, Mr. Ryoma; An Mar from Cocolia; and Ada, the AI that was previously in charge of the restoration work on Arahanto, etc..."

"From this perspective, the combat strength at the Salt Lake Base is actually not much different from ours."

"So, all we need to do is focus on dealing with Grandfather's plan... Kiana, are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous, but I have mixed feelings about facing Otto this time."

"After all, the grudges between him and me are too numerous to count... This time, let's settle things once and for all."

"That's right, that's right. I still remember all the things Otto did in Berlin. This time, when I return, I'm going to teach him a lesson!"

Tesla's voice also came from the side.

"Ain, Tesla, what are you doing out here too?"

Theresa turned around and saw two Doctor, one in red and one in blue, standing behind her.

"We're about to land, so I'm here to let you know to get ready." Ain's voice paused for a moment, then continued, "Also, the team that will be receiving us from Schicksal is the Immortal Blade Squad, and Durandal."

"Durandal... and what about Grandfather?"

"Otto's whereabouts are currently unknown, but if it's Durandal, at least we don't have to worry about a fight breaking out as soon as we land."

"That's great..." Theresa breathed a sigh of relief.

Xia Ling's whereabouts are still unknown. Although it is almost certain that she is related to Otto, if they start fighting within five seconds of meeting, it would undoubtedly be a very unfavorable situation for obtaining intelligence.

At least in their eyes, Durandal is the easiest person to communicate with in Schicksal right now.

As the Hyperion docked in the port, the group could see Durandal and a group of members of the Immortal Blade waiting at the port.

"Huh, Doctor..."

Kiana, walking beside Tesla, paused for a moment. "Have you noticed that Durandal's expression seems a little strange?"

"I saw it. Generally speaking, this kind of expression only appears in... well, I'm not quite sure how to describe it."

Tesla thought for a moment and said, "Probably... if we forced a good child to do something immoral, this would be the expression on their face?"

"I already had a feeling that Otto was definitely planning something big for us."

"So, Kiana..."

"What's wrong, Doctor?"

"Keep an eye on Theresa later. Although I seem to be the most short-tempered among you, in terms of potential, Theresa, who can evolve into Reimu's Collapsed State, might be the most 'short-tempered' one."

"After all..." Tesla said with a look of utter exasperation, "If we're talking about being disgusting, Otto is second to none in the world."

To be honest, Kiana didn't really pay much attention to Dr. Tesla's advice.

After all, they were newcomers and didn't even know what Otto was up to. Otto certainly wouldn't just throw out his trump card like that.

However... Kiana realized she was wrong; she still didn't know Otto well enough, and she had greatly underestimated his background.

"Ladies and gentlemen, before he officially set off to see the bishop, he asked me to give you a gift."

After a moment of inner struggle, Durandal, with an air of "ready to die," slowly opened a box.

Inside the box... was a Herrscher Core still stained with an unidentified red liquid.

Judging from the fluctuations above... the owner of this core is about to be revealed.

Chapter Two: Theresa: Today's Actions Are Nothing More Than a Strategic Maneuver

Let's rewind to when we first disembarked.

"Captain Durandal the Immortal Blade, by order of Bishop Otto Apocalypse, is here to greet Theresa Apocalypse of the Far East Branch."

"No need for formalities, Durandal." Theresa didn't bother with the formalities. "As you know, the situation is quite complicated, so I'll get straight to the point—"

"What are the bishop's plans for the future? And what is the meaning of the Herrscher Core matter?"

"His Lord Bishop is currently dealing with matters related to his resignation and is unable to attend to other matters. As for the Herrscher Core..."

Durandal seemed unsure how to begin, and after a moment's thought, she explained, "You all must have seen the current state of Kolosten on your way here."

"Hmm, if I weren't on the Hyperion, I would have thought I'd traveled back five hundred years," Ain continued. "So, you think this situation is related to the Herrscher Core?"

"I am not a researcher. I only know that His Lord Bishop has indeed been conducting some experiments related to the Tree of Imaginary recently, such as linking the World Bubble in my body back to the Tree of Imaginary."

"However, His Lord Bishop explained that the use of the Herrscher Core had caused an anomaly in the spacetime environment here—according to him, this seems to have a similar nature to the previous Changkong City."

"In other words, under the worst-case scenario, this place could develop into Imaginary Invasion like Changkong City did back then?"

Ain's expression turned grim. The Imaginary Corpse had caused them far more trouble than they had imagined, and given Kolosten's current situation, if such a large-scale phenomenon were to occur... she would probably need to consider seeking help.

"Don't worry, His Lord Bishop said that the situation is still under his control. He invited you all here only for Her Lord Theresa's coronation ceremony."

Durandal tried her best to explain, after all, it was a bit too much to ask a Valkyrie whose primary role was combat to explain the mess Otto had made from an academic perspective.

"Wait, Durandal."

Theresa astutely noticed a problem.

"You just said that Kolosten's anomaly is related to the Herrscher Core, but... you didn't say which Herrscher Core it is."

"Then... if Grandfather has the resources to conduct experiments on the Herrscher Core, then this core definitely wouldn't have come from Xia Ling, who just disappeared from the Salt Lake Base."

"So, what exactly is the problem with the Thousand-Man Herrscher?"

"This..."

Durandal's expression visibly turned guilty.

"Lord Theresa, please be sure to remain calm."

"This was given to me by the Lord Bishop when I set off. To be honest, even though I've been stationed in Kolosten for so long, I've never heard of the core of Thousand-Man Herrscher appearing here."

"However, His Lord Bishop said that if you ask about the Thousand-Man Herrscher, bring this out."

Durandal took out a small box.

He said that this was a gift he asked me to give to you all before you officially set off to see him.

She slowly opened the box, and a strong Honkai Energy fluctuations instantly began to spread outwards.

A core, still stained with an unidentified red liquid, lay quietly inside the box.

And the fluctuations emanating from this core... without a doubt, it belongs to Xia Ling.

Theresa's eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

"Theresa, calm down!"

Tesla was startled and immediately grabbed Theresa's arm, fearing that Theresa might lose control of her emotions and break down on the spot.

Don't ask why Tesla isn't excited. Putting aside the fact that she had some suspicions before, this core alone doesn't really prove anything.

After all, she had already had ample experience of being mentally manipulated by Otto back in Berlin; in layman's terms, she was... numb.

"...?"

Durandal was startled the moment she opened the box.

Although she already had a general idea of what was in the box when she received the "gift" from Otto.

After all, the unique energy fluctuations, coupled with the Hyperion's reply this morning regarding Xia Ling's disappearance, already made the answer self-evident.

But to her utter surprise, Otto had added something extra to the core.

She didn't believe that Otto hadn't even wiped away the blood after removing the core before putting it in the box; it was clearly intentional.

No wonder Otto insisted on assigning her, who was never in charge of external communication, to carry out the mission, instead of Amber or Rita... In case something really went wrong, she was indeed the only one among these people who could guarantee her own safety.

"Don't pull me... I'm fine."

After a moment, Theresa's soft voice broke the eerie silence.

"You don't look like you're alright..." Sirin muttered softly from the side. However, she didn't dare to speak too loudly, for fear of offending Theresa.

"I'm really fine... I can sense that the 'blood' on the core doesn't smell like Xia Ling's. Moreover, the energy fluctuations of this core are far less than those of the Herrscher of Domination we faced back then."

Theresa pulled her hand away from Tesla's arms, took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself down before looking at Durandal seemed restless.

"Otto gave you instructions. What are you going to do next?"

"Ah, he said... If you still have any doubts, you can go to the St. 537 Church to talk to him in detail, but before that, remember to leave someone in the Hyperion to handle the liaison."

"Some of the civilian staff of the Immortal Blade will also stay behind to assist everyone with communication."

"Oh! To!"

Are you out of your mind?!

Inside the St. 537 Church, Xia Ling, who had been inexplicably brought there by Otto, unleashed a sharp explosion powerful enough to pierce through the entire church.

Just now, Otto mysteriously summoned her to St. 537 Church, saying he was going to put on a "good show" for her.

But who knew he'd get himself into such a huge mess!

"I knew it! This morning I suddenly felt like you had taken out the core of a Soul Steel body. So you were just waiting to trick me, weren't you!"

"And you said it was just normal wear and tear... How could a Soul Steel body have any wear and tear? I actually believed your nonsense!"

"Hahaha... Don't get excited, Miss Xia Ling, I'm just prioritizing efficiency..."

Otto laughed heartily as he lifted the blonde little girl who was clinging to him and hitting him.

After all, Theresa and the others were in Kolosten at the moment, and Xia Ling also needed to prevent her identity from being exposed if she were seen. Therefore, she had not yet changed into her original form.

Seeing Xia Ling's fierce "I'll bite you to death" expression, Otto felt even more pleased.

"Even Miss Xia Ling found it so hard to control her emotions, but little Theresa managed to hold them back... Not bad, it seems my little Theresa has grown quite a bit during the time Miss Xia Ling and Theresa have been together..."

Chapter 3 Otto, you won't keep messing with me, right?

"You're so inefficient! I seriously suspect, no, I'm pretty sure you're doing this on purpose!"

"You just want to put yourself in opposition to Theresa and the others so they won't hold back, but why did you drag me into this!"

Xia Ling felt like her head was about to explode. Only now did she realize that she should never mess with Otto if she had nothing to do, otherwise who knows when he would retaliate against her.

She could have easily gotten away with it, since Theresa was easy to fool, and once Otto died, her attention would definitely not be on her side, so she could just shift all the blame onto Otto.

Now that Otto has pulled this stunt, Xia Ling is in a situation where she can't clear her name no matter what she does. Now she can only pray that Otto will give Theresa more work so that she won't have too much time to deal with herself after this is all over.

However, Xia Ling thought again... If the work pressure is high, wouldn't you need a good place to relieve the pressure even more?

Xia Ling, this time I really have to send it.

"It seems Miss Xia Ling understands what I'm going to do... That's good. See, isn't this working very well?"

"Now, even Durandal has no reason to continue speaking up for me. When I tell Durandal that I plan to turn the world back five hundred years, she will definitely stop me without hesitation."

"So, I'm the only one who got hurt, huh? All I did was trick you during the Schicksal War back then, is this some kind of revenge...?"

"Hey, this isn't revenge, it's a legitimate way to improve your relationship with Theresa."

"I'm afraid if things continue like this, Theresa will turn into a yandere and lock me up in the basement of the bishop's office," Xia Ling said, pursing her lips.

"Isn't that perfect? Anyway, after I leave, the secret room used to store the Kalujiuwubalin Lingmenglian figurines and related items will be freed up. Given Miss Xia Ling's size, it seems there's more than enough room to hide her."

"You even prepared this for Theresa?!"

Although Xia Ling only wanted to turn Otto into Otto at this moment, reason told her that it was not worth fighting this guy, after all, this soul steel body was no different from acting cute when fighting.

But if I switch back to my original body... who knows if I'll run into Kiana who's scouting ahead or Fu Hua who's taking a stroll.

"So, O6. <Ming Si Baba> 'Chun Tuo, you don't really think they'll believe you killed me and then used the core to provoke them, do you?'"

Xia Ling said seriously, "I'm afraid that apart from Durandal, no one would think that way."

"Even Durandal should be able to notice something is wrong after a while. Putting aside the fact that it's not my blood at all, even the energy level of the Herrscher Core doesn't match up at all. Otherwise, how could an ordinary little box have sealed it?"