A Storm Is Brewing

As he unleashed his power, the familiar sensation of crushing a body did not follow. The Valkyrie he had just defeated remained lying there unharmed.

"At such a young age, he's already killing this and that every day. It seems I, his new secretary, am not so friendly."

Xia Ling slowly walked out of a portal, a strangely shaped staff-like device floating in her hand.

"Oh, another one coming to die. Are your Schicksal Valkyrie like the Calabash Brothers?" the clone sneered.

"Hey, how can you talk to your boss like that, my little secretary?"

Xia Ling didn't take it to heart. Since he wanted to talk, it wouldn't hurt to stall for time with him.

"Who is your secretary!"

"Wait, secretary? You, you're Theresa?"

The clone seemed to know Theresa's strength, and its tone became somewhat flustered for a moment. "How could Theresa be here! And wasn't she a white-haired dwarf? How come she's black-haired now?"

"..."

"So, you didn't completely deny the dwarf, right?" Xia Ling smiled and clenched her fist.

So what if I'm 1.5 meters tall? Did I eat your rice? Oh wait, I did get a salary from Anti-Entropy, so it seems I did eat their rice.

In short, after hearing his provocation, Xia Ling decided not to waste her breath on him.

The Crescent Rose instantly appeared in her hand. Xia Ling didn't even unfold the scythe; she directly pointed the gun at the clone.

"Haha, no way! Weapons like these, which are made of ammunition, are completely useless under my hundred times gravity..."

Before he could finish speaking, a burst of blood exploded on his shoulder, and one of the clone's arms had vanished.

As if unable to accept it for a moment, the clone stared wide-eyed, its only remaining hand covering the severed area on its shoulder.

But judging from the fact that his movements were not hindered at all, Cocolia probably made some kind of adjustment to him, such as blocking pain.

"What! How can you...?"

Xia Ling's lips curled up slightly, and the collection in her left hand slowly released its power.

"Your abilities aren't working anymore, what happened?"

For a replica that can only be manipulated by gravity, Xia Ling's collection is naturally restrained, after all, the name of this collection is Angelina's Conception.

In the game, this collectible can slow down all enemies by 15% and reduce their weight by one level.

In reality, the ability of this artifact is even more brutal and simple, becoming the ability to simply increase or decrease gravity.

While it may not reach the level of Star of Eden, which can create Simulated Black Hole, it is more than capable of destroying a mere clone.

"Well then, goodbye~"

Xia Ling happily pulled the trigger again.

However, this time, accompanied by a roar and smoke, the bullet landed in empty space.

"Oh? So it used its overload ability to escape? For a clone, that's like drinking poison to quench thirst..."

Having deliberately let the clone escape "accidentally," Xia Ling's face showed a hint of helplessness. Looking at the mess in the villa, Xia Ling shook her head and looked at Bronya beside her.

"Take good care of Fu Hua and Mei, especially Class President Fu Hua. She's badly injured, so don't let her try anything brave. I'll go and take care of that guy."

Xia Ling keenly sensed that Fu Hua beside her seemed to tremble slightly.

Suppressing a smile, Xia Ling casually opened a door and disappeared.

A moment later.

"Mei! I'm here to save you!"

Wearing the third-generation Valkyrie armor "White Comet," Kiana landed gracefully from the sky, only to find that the battle seemed to be over.

"Huh?"

"Hey, what are you doing, you idiot Kiana." Bronya glanced at Kiana who had fallen from the sky and said helplessly, "Hurry up and get the first-aid kit. The battle is over, Sister Xia Ling has already gone to chase after the enemy."

"Class President Fu Hua seems to be seriously injured. Bronya needs to treat her quickly."

"Wait, Bronya, I already said I'm fine..."

"Sister Xia Ling said you would definitely show off, so Bronya must give the Class President a full check-up before she'll feel at ease."

"Kiana, Mei's bandaging is up to you."

Upon hearing this, Kiana's frustration at missing the battle vanished instantly.

"Hehe, yay, Mei, here I come!"

On the other side, in the grove outside the college.

This place, which was originally intended to produce dog food and raise small animals, has now become a hunting ground for chasing.

Xia Ling leisurely hung behind the clone, calmly expending his energy.

There's no rush to take him down, but after that, we'll have to wait here for Welt and Einstein. So, this thing we use to kill time is still quite necessary.

However, Xia Ling had almost finished playing the cat-and-mouse game, because she had already spotted a figure with short blue hair and a brown-haired man who was just passing by.

"Oh, Mr. Welt, do you need help?"

Looking up at the speaker, the clone felt a sense of relief upon discovering that it was Einstein who had spoken.

"It's Secretary Einstein! Great! Come quickly and help me deal with this one behind us..."

"No need, I can do it myself."

Then, to the clone's horrified gaze, the brown-haired man, whom he had considered harmless, easily subdued him, placed his hand on his shoulder, and activated his ability.

Before it could even utter a sound, the copy was rapidly compressed into a. zip file by gravity tens of thousands of times stronger.

"As expected, only the official version can make a move; the difference in strength is not just a little bit."

"You flatter me, Miss Xia Ling." Old Yang casually erased the traces left by the clone and looked at Ain beside him. "Ain, how did the talks with Theresa go?"

"Principal Theresa hesitated a bit, but she didn't refuse. After all, the clones in the lab had quite a shock to her."

"Cocolia didn't say anything, but she seemed satisfied with the result and left directly."

"Cocolia ... these Joyce clones are already quite complete. The radicals on the Abyssal Eye won't gain any advantage. Cocolia must still be plotting something... Ain, don't believe her appearance."

"Don't worry, I will."

After a brief exchange with Welt, Ain looked at Xia Ling, who was smiling to the side.

"Well then, Miss Xia Ling. Now that we have reached a certain level of cooperation with Theresa, I believe our cooperation can become even closer."

"Of course, rather, I've never been wary of the conservatives of Anti-Entropy. You can ask Mr. Welt if you don't believe me." Xia Ling smiled and asked, "Doctor, is this something you're bringing up now because there's been progress on the Abyssal Eye?"

"That's right, the first activation experiment of the Abyssal Eye will begin at the end of May." Ain nodded. "At that time, the Alliance Leader and I will participate in this experiment. If Miss Xia Ling is willing, she can also come and observe."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely go then." Xia Ling blinked. "In fact, I'm also very curious about the opening of the Abyssal Eye."

Chapter Forty-Six: The Storm is Brewing

In mid-April, in Changkong City.

"Reed, Reed, come here for a second."

Upon hearing this, Flame Willow turned her head and saw Raven calling to her mysteriously at the kitchen door.

"Hmm? Is there something you need?"

Setting the cleaver aside and wiping her hands on her apron, Flame Willow walked out of the kitchen.

"Hmph, this is a big deal."

The Raven's face was filled with barely suppressed joy, completely unlike the calm and collected Raven it usually was.

Upon entering Raven's room, Flame Willow immediately spotted a map spread out on the table.

"Could it be...?"

"That's right, just what you think!"

"I've finally saved enough money to buy a villa island!"

Raven's tone was filled with joy, pride, and satisfaction, and the light it emitted made Flame Willow almost unable to look directly at it.

"You, you've already bought a villa island?" Flame Willow asked, trembling.

Not long ago, she was wondering if she could avoid the fate of her villa island sinking in this life, but she never expected things to happen so suddenly.

It seems the villa island is destined to sink...

"Of course not?"

Raven gave Flame Reed a strange look, as Flame Willow suddenly became dejected.

"Huh?"

"Such a big matter, I definitely need to discuss it with you before making a decision. What, are you not going to move in with the children after they move to the villa island?"

Raven said matter-of-factly, "So, everyone in this family has the right to make decisions. Let's leave aside the children who don't understand these things, isn't the only one who can give me advice the only one left?"

"Wow, I never knew I was so important to you." Flame Willow grabbed Raven's hand. "Don't worry, I'll definitely protect your island!"

"Huh? Why are you suddenly getting so close...?"

Raven turned his head away somewhat embarrassedly, but didn't want to pull his hand away, so he pretended to look at the map and changed the subject, saying, "Ahem, anyway, the area I've initially decided on is this part."

Raven pointed to an area circled in pencil on the map.

"The scenery here is beautiful and the environment is secluded. At the same time, it is not far from several nearby countries, making it very suitable for living in seclusion."

"After buying the island, we'll open another 'House of Ciora' in a nearby city, and then we'll live in the city with the kids most of the time, and go to the island for a few days when we're bored..."

Raven talked on and on about her plan, completely unaware that Flame Willow was deep in thought, staring at the map.

The Raven circled the location in the Atlantic Ocean, and not far from her island... was the Schicksal Headquarters.

"Raven." Flame Willow pressed Raven's shoulder and looked directly into her eyes.

"W-what's wrong?"

"Don't you feel that this place is a little too close to Schicksal?"

"Uh... it seems so?"

"Think about how Durandal almost burned our skewers to a crisp last time. Do you think this location is safe?"

"But..."

"If you're worried about the children's safety, you can find a place with a branch of the Schicksal organization stationed there. There's no need to come all the way to the vicinity of the Schicksal Headquarters, is there?"

"Then... North America?"

"That's the lair of Anti-Entropy."

"Africa?"

"Are you serious?"

"Um..."

Raven pondered for a moment, "You're right, this location should indeed be considered carefully."

"I haven't been to as many places as you have, so you can make the decision. I trust you. Just make sure it's far from the Schicksal Headquarters." Seeing that Raven had given up on the original location, Flame Willow nodded with satisfaction.

"Alright, I'll ask Gray Serpent if he has any recommendations..."

It was evening, during the monthly summary meeting.

"So, Raven's villa island has been saved?"

"It's almost certainly going to be a sure thing." Flame Willow reviewed the requirements she had made: to stay away from the headquarters of Schicksal Headquarters Anti-Entropy Headquarters, to be close to a prosperous city with development potential, and to have branches of Schicksal or Anti-Entropy stationed nearby.

If a similar island sinking event still occurs under these conditions, then it can only be said that Raven's island was destined to perish.

"Furthermore, I also told her to let me take a look at the location she chose first. Even if she chose a location near a plot point, such as the area around Canghai City, I can ask her to change it."

"Therefore, Raven's Island is a sure thing."

Flame Willow gave a thumbs up and revealed a confident smile.