Rita's Solo Mission / A Plan Put on Hold

In other words, Duck Duck is now a free Duck Duck!

This is also a prelude to the upcoming trip to Oceania. After all, Oceania is already chaotic enough, so we don't want Cocolia to get involved any more.

After returning to the St. Freya Academy, the Moon Throne was docked in St. Freya's exclusive port area.

Strangely, Theresa didn't inquire much about the matter.

Xia Ling guessed that Doctor. Einstein might have revealed some information to Theresa, but in any case, this plan was not important to Xia Ling.

In fact, this plan was indefinitely shelved in later episodes, after all, all sorts of things were happening almost every month from now on.

It wasn't until the Finality battle that this plan was revised and re-proposed.

Kiana quickly put the matter of the Moon Throne out of her mind. After all, she still considered herself a student, and suspicious things like the suddenly appearing unidentified warship were clearly matters for her parents to handle.

Compared to the Moon Throne, something else was troubling her most at this moment.

The annual Valkyrie Exam is just a few days away.

With the exams approaching, the atmosphere in the classroom became tense, and the daily combat training was constantly intensified.

However, combat training is not a problem for Kiana. Under Xia Ling's special training, her combat teamwork with Mei and Bronya has probably reached the top level among students, so passing the combat assessment will naturally not be a problem.

What really bothered her was the ever-present academic subject.

Especially after Welt left, Himeko took on the role of history teacher, which made Kiana's already drowsy state in class even worse.

With no other option, Xia Ling had to start tutoring Kiana again, but with the exam approaching, Xia Ling herself couldn't spare much time.

So Himeko found Fu Hua to be Kiana's tutor.

Xia Ling naturally had no objection to this, after all, Fu Hua was a fairly reliable student. If you really think about it, although she hadn't had any plot interactions with Fu Hua in the past two years, Xia Ling believed that her private relationship with Fu Hua was pretty good.

This can be seen from the fact that Otto has not caused her any trouble so far.

After all, Xia Ling's arrival was completely exposed to Otto's view, and Otto must have asked Fu Hua to spy on his situation. So since Otto didn't take any action, it means that Fu Hua didn't report him, and may even have helped her cover up some things.

Moreover, it doesn't matter if Kiana fails the exam this time, since strictly speaking, Kiana won't be able to wait for the next Schicksal upgrade exam anytime soon.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Rita's Solo Mission

"Rita, are we going on another mission?"

In the Immortal Blade's exclusive base, Durandal, who was teasing Stan with Yu, looked up at Rita, who had just entered the room.

"Yes, His Lord Bishop has assigned me another solo mission. Sigh, this is how special agents are born. Xi, you must never choose my department in the future."

Rita sighed and half-jokingly suggested to Xi.

"A solo mission? Do you need me to secretly accompany you? Like that time in London." Durandal blinked, trying to find a loophole in the mission.

"I'm sorry, Durandal, this mission is another observation mission."

Rita seemed quite helpless about this. "I feel like I'm becoming the Lord Bishop's personal observer. Wendy's matter isn't over yet, and now another similar task has come up."

"What about the mission objective? Oh, if it's classified, then there's no need to say."

"No, this isn't exactly a secret mission." Rita shook her head. "On the surface, we're going to the St. Freya Academy to observe the annual Valkyrie assessment and to check on the Moon Throne that was docked in St. Freya Port a while ago."

"As for the secret stuff... one thing is to check if Kiana's physical condition is stable, and the other..."

Rita pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "There is a visitor from outside the Intrinsic World inside the St. Freya Academy."

"Her name is Xia Ling. Her strength is unknown, but it should be quite good. She appeared two years ago."

"They are... from the World Bubble?" Durandal was taken aback.

"The situation is still unclear, but based on the current information, her original world should have been destroyed... After all, cases like the one where Durandal's inner World Bubble are relatively rare."

"Most World Bubble are headed for a doomed end."

"However, the Lord Bishop doesn't really care about her background. After all, she has been living peacefully for two years and has even nurtured many outstanding students for Schicksal."

"However, His Lord Bishop the Lord Bishop has instructed me to find out exactly how strong she is, and to test her strength if necessary. He will then be responsible for handling any repercussions afterward."

"So, Rita's going to fight?" Xi looked up and asked in a clear voice, "Will it be dangerous?"

"No, it won't happen." Rita patted Xi's hair. "Don't worry, your Rita sister is S-rank Valkyrie, she's very strong, so she'll win."

"Hmm... now that you mention it, I'm even more worried..."

Xi opened a scroll, crawled inside, and then peeked out from the painting a moment later.

"Here, take this out and use it when you're fighting."

Xi handed a scroll to Rita.

"This is..." Rita curiously opened the painting. It was a portrait. Depending on Xi Ping's abilities, this type of portrait could summon a short-lived individual, and the individual was usually quite powerful.

The painting depicts a pale-faced man with gray hair, a green robe, and long antlers.

"This person is also one of the powerful individuals I observed before. His name is 'Mokuren' Ektirnil."

"If we want to probe her strength, it's probably inconvenient for Rita to do it herself, so let's use this instead. It will automatically dissipate after the Honkai Energy is exhausted, leaving no trace."

"As for strength, although my painting can only replicate a small part of his strength, ordinary A-rank Valkyrie should be no match for him. Even Rita would need quite a bit of time to capture him."

"Hmm... it sounds like a very precious painting. Well then, thank you, Little Xi. I'll keep this painting with me."

Rita gently lifted Xi out of the painting and nuzzled her. Seeing Xi's adorable appearance while holding the painting, Rita couldn't resist giving Xi a quick kiss on her soft cheek, making Xi blush slightly.

"By the way, I remember your monthly trip to Oceania is coming up soon, right? Won't that cause any problems?"

Seeing the pleading look from Xi, Durandal cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject to try and distract Rita.

"Over there...sigh." Rita couldn't help but look a little worried when Oceania was mentioned.

"A storm is brewing over there; it's about to explode."

"That serious?" Durandal was startled. "Shouldn't headquarters intervene?"

"Unfortunately, I had already suggested to His Lord Bishop whether we should intervene, but His Lord Bishop's attitude was very firm."

"He said he wanted to take this opportunity to test another possibility for the Herrscher to regain his humanity."

At this point, Rita fell silent; the rest was not information that could be easily revealed.

She couldn't help but recall the scene from that time.

"Rita, don't you think the strength of this Companion Honkai Beast is ridiculously weak?"

In the bishop's office, Otto tapped rhythmically on his desk as he looked at the report in his hand.

"Your Lord Bishop, didn't you say that it was because Wendy hadn't fully awakened?"

"This is only one possible reason, but in reality, Honkai Beast are different from Herrscher; their strength is almost fixed at birth..."

"Plus these biological characteristics of this Highmore... could it be...?"

"Your Lord Bishop, should I intervene? With the strength of the Oceania Branch, even if it meant wiping out the entire branch, I..."

"No need, just let things take their course."

Otto put down the report in his hand and pondered for a moment.

"But based on the intelligence I received from the Oceania Branch, if things continue like this..."

"It's alright. Companion Honkai Beast aren't so easy to kill, especially this one in the Oceania Branch. It might not even be its true form."

"Moreover, it would be better if she really died."

"Love can free humanity from the shackles of the Honkai Will, allowing them to become Herrscher with self-awareness. So, could an equal amount of hatred achieve the same thing...?"

Otto glanced at Wendy's medical report and smiled slightly, "Especially... given that you weren't even a qualified Herrscher host in the first place..."

"I'm really looking forward to it, Wendy, what will you eventually become...?"

Rita shook her head, banishing the distracting thoughts from her mind.

Although she felt a pang of reluctance, she could not disobey the bishop's will.

Therefore, all she could do was offer some prayers for the two people far away in Oceania.

After all, who would want a couple they've watched grow up to have a tragic ending?

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Plan Temporarily Shelved

"Strange, I'm so sleepy..."

Kiana put down the game controller and yawned, a rare occurrence for her.

"Kiana can actually have times when she's lacking energy?"

Bronya looked over, somewhat surprised.

"It must be the Class President's fault! The Class President is giving me extra lessons, which is why I'm so tired lately."

Kiana tried to shift the blame onto Fu Hua.

"If you're sleepy, go to sleep first." Xia Ling checked the time. "It's getting late, and the exam is in a few days. It's most important to get enough rest during this time."

"Okay... then goodnight, Sister Xia Ling, and goodnight to you, little one too."

Kiana stood up, stretched, and walked towards her room.

"... Idiot Kiana!"

Watching Kiana's retreating figure, Xia Ling also fell into deep thought.

Is this... a sign that Sirin is waking up?

"So, Elysia, after hearing this story and my plan, how feasible do you think it is?"

Inside the system space, Xia Ling and Elysia sat together, with a somewhat messy timeline and schedule in front of them.

"The Second Honkai Outbreak and Cloning Technology..."

Elysia pondered, digesting the immense amount of information Xia Ling had just conveyed.

"I never imagined Kiana had such a background... I'm becoming more and more interested in her?"

"However... there's one thing I think is a bit off."

"Whether it's Kiana or her other personality... well, let's call her Sirin for now, we shouldn't define them as good or evil."

"They are essentially the same two people. The reason why there is a distinction between good and evil is because they inherited different things."

"But... that doesn't mean they can only move in the direction of so-called good or evil."

"Xia Ling should understand this principle too, right?"

"Of course, that's precisely why I don't want them to go their separate ways completely, as they were originally destined to, which is why I came up with this plan..."

Xia Ling nodded seriously.

"I'll definitely cooperate with you, but at least for now, your plan isn't very feasible."

Elysia shook her head, her expression somewhat subtle.

"Well... I just went out to take a look, and Sirin's consciousness... is a little too active right now."

"Putting aside the fact that it would be difficult to inflict the kind of erosion you mentioned on Sirin with Herrscher Core, don't forget that Hua isn't entirely your ally right now."

"If you try to tamper with Kiana's mental space, Hua will almost immediately see through it. With her Feather Dust, she definitely has the ability to do so."

"If it were just a short time, we could have Su Lai help cover it up, but your plan spans a long period of time..."

"So, Elysia, what do you think is the best time to implement this plan?"

"Probably... here." Elysia pointed to the point in time that marked the beginning of the Elegy of the Sinner.

"During this period, Kiana suppressed Sirin's consciousness almost entirely. At the same time, according to you, we were in a relatively safe environment, and we had plenty of time to implement our plan."

"Furthermore, you can also find time to save Bella during this period. It can be said that if your plan succeeds, we can achieve almost the perfect result."

"Hmm... what do you mean by 'if it succeeds'? I have complete faith in Elysia, so it will definitely succeed!"

"You... considering how much you trust Miss Fairy, I'll let your little selfish motives slide~"

Elysia pinched Xia Ling's cheek. "However, you'll have to start accumulating the amount of the Corrosion Virus in advance. Although the timeline you drew looks very long, it's actually only been a few months."

"Hehehe..." Xia Ling laughed foolishly, "Then I'll look forward to that day."