I Am in Honkai, But Integrated Strategies Has Been Activated

So, Flame Willow could ask Little Kong for help concealing some of her "little secrets."

"Sister Reed Grass, about how long will you be gone?"

"Hmm... calculating the time, it should be about three or four more days."

As she spoke, Flame Willow pinched Little Kong's cheek and said softly:

"If you want anything to eat these next few days, feel free to ask me. Consider it... a bribe for you guys?"

Little Kong shook her head and whispered, "I just... heard what Sister Reed Grass said earlier and got a little worried about Teacher."

"It's fine. My destination this time is with Raven, and I'll help keep an eye on her for you."

"Huh? Is that so?" Little Kong looked up, asking with some surprise, "Is Sister Reed Grass going to confront Teacher?"

"How could I? If I confront her, I might not be able to stay with you all anymore."

"But, you know, taking care of Raven from the shadows is still possible."

"Then Sister Reed Grass, you absolutely must keep a close watch on Teacher."

"Don't worry, with me here, nothing will happen."

As night fell, in the system's snowfield research team camp, several people sat around a bonfire.

"Flame Willow, you still haven't changed your habit of making predictions, have you?" Duska Ling said with a sigh. "The most important thing is that you always get severely taught a lesson by reality, and then you do it again next time."

"It's okay, I have strong regenerative abilities and I'm durable," Flame Willow said, unconcerned.

"I'm having a bit of a problem on my end," Highmore said with a frown. "Ever since I successfully sidelined the Valkyries in Oceania during the great Manila Honkai, I've clearly felt that the Branch Leader has become a bit too presumptuous lately."

"It's only been two months, and he can't sit still already?"

"I'm afraid it's precisely because he's transferred all the veteran Valkyries away that he's so impatient now."

A voice with a distinctly childish tone sounded from the fourth person's position.

"Lately, I've been sharing consciousness with Highmore in the system every day, and I can clearly see that the Branch Leader's high-level combat power is a bit stretched thin."

"That's why he wants to accelerate the experiment and cultivate a batch of his own high-level combat forces."

"But it's really too much! He took a small sample from my arm today," Highmore complained. "Even though I can block pain, Wendy looked so distressed watching."

"Isn't that perfect for you to gain more favor? Unlike me, who's stuck in the system space doing nothing every day, like an old man making rounds, only able to share consciousness with you all."

That's right, the voice coming from the fourth person was the fourth character card Duska Ling had redeemed.

As for her identity...

"Dusk, you could totally practice your painting skills more," Flame Willow said with a grin. "Otherwise, having all this ability but not even being able to paint a landscape, wouldn't that be terrible?"

Dusk rolled her eyes. "Don't start. According to the plan, I'm supposed to infiltrate Schicksal. By then, there will be plenty of teachers to teach me how to paint; I won't have to fumble around on my own."

"Besides, this kind of lackluster painting skill fits our meticulously prepared persona even better, doesn't it?"

Dusk, one of the twelve beast fragments, and also one of the few pitiable characters whose prestige decreases as the plot progresses.

Even so, her potential is incredibly strong. Even though the system only retained her Ink-Summoning Soldiers and World within Paintings abilities from her character card, among Duska Ling's current characters, Dusk is considered to have a very excellent "mechanic."

However, the only problem is that Duska Ling can't paint, and it seems the character card didn't come with Dusk's painting skills.

So... after Duska Ling saw the abstract world Dusk painted with her abilities, which looked like a Witch's Barrier from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, they dared not let Dusk have free rein anymore.

In Duska Ling's words, it was "harmful to heaven and earth," and just looking at it made you lose sanity.

It's worth mentioning that to adapt to Duska Ling's upcoming plan, she specifically asked the system to make a small modification when generating her body.

As for the modification...

Looking at the Dusk, who appeared to be around twelve years old, Duska Ling smiled, "Painting skills don't really matter. Even if Otto doesn't help you, you can totally ask Rita."

"Believe me, Rita will definitely find a way to keep you once she sees you."

"And by then, Durandal will have just adopted Stan, and she'll definitely speak up for Rita."

"At that time, you'll be the pampered favorite of the Blade of Annihilation."

Chapter 2: An Unexpected Encounter

"Being the pampered favorite or whatever isn't that important."

"Compared to that, usually, any one of us is the one taking care of others. Someone like me being taken care of is actually quite rare. Thinking about it, I'm quite looking forward to it."

"Look forward to it, it's useless to look forward to it," Flame Willow said nonchalantly, playing with the flames in her hand. "I still have three or four days before I depart. Moreover, you still have to stay at St. Freya during this period, acting as a teleportation anchor."

"Your part only comes after we've finished all our preparations."

"Sigh, speaking of which, when will the system ever change this ability that requires the host's individual body as an anchor? Switching back and forth is really troublesome..."

[Ahem, this ability is actually being updated by the system. It's highly likely to be optimized so that it can teleport to a marker on the host's individual body.]

"But it will take some time for the optimization to be completed. It's expected to go online along with the Elysian Realm teleportation module after the security system upgrade, right?" Duska Ling rolled her eyes. "I've memorized what you said."

[Hehe, I can't help it.]

"Ah, right, speaking of Elysian Realm, Duska Ling, when will we summon Elysia?" Flame Willow suddenly asked.

"I'm not sure yet... After all, according to the system, the cooldown for summoning 'Wrath' is equivalent to three days per node."

Duska Ling shook her head. "I'll have to wait until you get there before I teleport over to take a look. We need to find the location of the Second Divine Key first before we can summon Elysia."

"Although the original source mentioned its approximate location was above the River Thames, searching within that range is also a time-consuming task."

"In the original story, Otto mobilized Schicksal's mecha units to scan the entire area comprehensively before finding the exact location. However, it might be a bit easier for me to find it."

"After all, your abilities are also related to space, aren't they?" Flame Willow chimed in. "Alright then, I'll set off in three days. What about St. Freya? Have you handled things there?"

"Mhm, I told Theresa and Welt that I sensed something concerning within the Sea of Quantum."

"After I return this time, I'll use this opportunity to leak some news about Kevin to Anti-Entropy."

"Poor Kevin is going to get caught in the crossfire."

Three days later, under Little Kong's reluctant gaze, Flame Willow boarded a plane to London.

Of course, the identity she was using this time wasn't the one Raven had arranged for her, but rather the fake one obtained through Duska Ling's deal with Anti-Entropy.

Speaking of which, although Duska Ling didn't expect Anti-Entropy to completely ignore this identity, she was surprised by how unguarded they were about it.

While Duska Ling tested out this identity a few times herself, she also had Duck Duck secretly record who was collecting information related to it.

After several attempts, Duck Duck reported that no one had accessed any information related to this identity. Not even other executors of Anti-Entropy had any thoughts about it.

Somewhat puzzled, Duska Ling dug into Anti-Entropy's internal affairs and, through some subtle probing of Welt, finally understood the reason behind it.

Despite their constant, overt and covert opposition to Schicksal, Anti-Entropy was fundamentally a loosely affiliated organization, even receiving covert funding from several countries. While the conservative faction was relatively manageable, some radical elements engaged in shady dealings that were no better than Babylon's laboratories.

Identities that suddenly appeared like this seemed to be quite common within Anti-Entropy. Since it was difficult to trace which executor was behind them, Anti-Entropy's internal policy was to not investigate further as long as the identity verification was in order.

Otherwise, what if they actually uncovered something?

Once again marveling at how much of a good person Welt was, Duska Ling felt at ease using this identity for various activities.

Lending the identity to Flame Willow this time was naturally incorporated into this series of activities, making it appear unremarkable.

Flame Willow had initially planned to put on some makeup and change her appearance, but she later realized that makeup and she didn't mix well. So, she simply changed her single-sided ponytail, which usually hung to her left, into a youthful, high ponytail before hastily landing on London soil.

"So, what's next... I should find a hotel first."

Half an hour later, under an eave, Flame Willow looked speechlessly at the rainy street scene.

"London's weather is truly unpredictable," Flame Willow sighed. "I miscalculated. I was so focused on familiarizing myself with all the identity documents that I forgot something as important as an umbrella."

"And coincidentally, there isn't a convenience store nearby where I can buy one."

Duska Ling's gloating voice echoed through the communication channel.

"It's inconvenient for me to leave right now. If I want to bring you an umbrella, it'll take at least another half an hour. In the meantime, you can enjoy the London rain."

"Of course, if you really don't want to wait, we have a backup plan."

Watching someone else's misfortune is often more fun with company. Highmore, who was bored and lying on the operating table, also chimed in with mockery.

"Remember that collectible we gave you after we finished the roguelike last week, the Scale Cloak?" Highmore didn't hide the malice in her voice. "We can have the system disable its equipment effect and temporarily restore its original function as a rain cloak."

"Get real. With that shape, I'd just look like some street performance artist."

Flame Willow pouted, deciding to temporarily mute these guys who were clearly bored out of their minds. However, just then, someone suddenly tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

"Hello, did you forget your umbrella? If you don't mind... is that you?"

The moment Flame Willow turned around, both she and the person behind her were startled.

"Reed Grass?"

"Anna?"

The unexpected reunion left both of them in complete shock, at least for Flame Willow.

She was already frantically trying to get reinforcements on the channel.

"Help, help! What's going on? I've run into a familiar face I absolutely didn't expect!"

"How is Anna here?" Duska Ling was also greatly surprised.

"Hypothesis: This location is very close to Schicksal headquarters, and the cleanup of the Manila Honkai incident has just concluded," Dusk stated calmly. "Therefore, she's likely here on vacation."

Despite the intense discussion in her mind, Flame Willow maintained a serious expression in reality.

"Ahem, what if I told you that you've mistaken me for someone else? Could you pretend you didn't see me?"

"How could I possibly do that?!"

"Sigh, this is so troublesome."

"You find it troublesome just because I said hello?" Anna's eyes widened. "Am I some kind of terrible person?"

"So, what are you doing in London?" Flame Willow averted her gaze.

"Don't answer a question with a question!"

Although Anna said that, she still obediently answered Flame Willow's question.

"After the Manila Honkai incident concluded, I returned to Schicksal headquarters for treatment. Simultaneously, I received commendations and a promotion, and retained my position within the Snow Lotus Squad."

"Bishop Otto said the promotion process would take a long time, and rebuilding the team would also take time. So, with a wave of his hand, he granted me three months of leave to relax."

"I asked Rita for her advice, and she recommended London. So, here I am."

Chapter 3: You Seem a Bit Kaslana

"That... sounds pretty reasonable."

Flame Willow nodded slightly to herself.

"What kind of impression do you have of me? Why would I lie to you?"

Anna felt exhausted, as if she had used up her entire year's worth of complaints today.

"Honestly, I have a pretty good impression of you Valkyries from Schicksal, especially the Kaslana and Saniyat families."

"Huh, really? Why is that?"

Anna blushed slightly at the unexpected praise and asked shyly.

"They're foolish, have a lot of money, are easy to fool, and most importantly, they're basically all good people."

Flame Willow gave a thumbs-up.

"You... forget it. I really shouldn't have had any illusions about you." Anna was so angered she couldn't speak.

"Wait, no." Suddenly, Anna remembered the deduction Commander Duska Ling had made about Flame Willow earlier.

"Why are you really here? This is very close to Schicksal headquarters. What do you want?"

Seeing Anna suddenly become vigilant, Flame Willow smiled helplessly. "You're just like before, completely lacking in caution. I've been trying to get information out of you for ages, and only now are you suspecting my identity."

"You really do have another motive?" Anna gasped. "What, what do you want to do?"

"Hmph hmph, I'm going to punch Schicksal and Otto. I want to feel his Soul Steel face creak under my hands."