Give It a Pat / Raising Kiana

Theresa secretly rolled her eyes, but then let out a tragic howl.

"Gentlemen, who will escort me on my way? Even if I die in battle, my grandfather, Bishop Otto, will surely reward your actions!"

Yes, they would indeed reward you; they should reward us with being buried with you...

At this moment, everyone trapped in each unit of Heimdall Laboratory, even the few remaining Valkyrie, looked at each other in bewilderment.

When the first area was breached, all the loyal employees hiding inside followed Theresa's example and decisively raised their hands.

With this example set, the remaining blocks were quickly opened until all [Schicksal] members surrendered collectively.

P. S.: I'll update at 3 PM today, it's a bit late. Sorry.

I'll update earlier tomorrow, probably around noon.

I've been experiencing writer's block lately, and I'm not entirely satisfied with some of the plot design, so my update schedule is fluctuating. Please forgive me.

Chapter 381, Section 399: Let's Pat Our Butts

Schicksal, Floating Island, Bishop's Hall.

After Theresa honestly reported the losses of Heimdall Laboratory, she voluntarily handed over some of the intercepted mixed virus experimental data and a semi-finished inhibitor to her grandfather Otto, and then hunched over, awaiting her fate.

"Okay, you can go now..."

Unexpectedly, the Lord Bishop's reaction was indifferent, which left Theresa, Cecilia had made a grave mistake, feeling confused and guilty.

Theresa subconsciously looked up, concerned about her grandfather's health, and immediately noticed that Otto was acting strangely today. Not only was his voice high-pitched, but he was also wrapped up tightly in a blanket.

It seems that Grandpa's virus has gotten worse; not only has his voice become hoarse, but his chest has also swollen into two lumps.

The little nun, who seemed a bit dim-witted, immediately showed an expression of half pity and half sorrow, wanting to come closer and ask a few more questions about filial piety. However, Otto, who was recuperating in bed, avoided her like the plague.

"Go out!"

Looking at the face that was exactly like Kallen's, Otto felt even more disgusted with his current body. His male pride made him refuse to face that similar face with this appearance.

"Oh..."

Theresa hung her head and obediently retreated towards the door. Grandpa was acting strangely today.

Bishop's Hall, Otto ripped off the scarf covering half his face, rhythmically tapping his left hand on the glass tabletop while his right hand placed chess pieces one by one, carefully analyzing the situation.

In this clash, [Schicksal] suffered heavy losses. Their headquarters on the Floating Island was attacked, and the spies planted by that group have yet to be cleared away.

The Super AI Ai, also infected by Electronic Virus, suffered from disordered thinking and a program downgrade.

In other words, their intelligence has plummeted, rendering them incapable of fulfilling the electronic defense mission of the Schicksal Floating Island.

The biggest problem with this incident is that his prestige, which he had maintained for 500 years, was destroyed in an instant, inevitably causing the ancient vassal nobles, who had continued for dozens of generations, to waver.

Following this, the global interception of funds and financial attacks against the [Schicksal Mandate Branch] caused the nobles and wealthy individuals who sensed the danger to choose to protect themselves and avoid a full-scale battle.

Therefore, the Valkyrie who fell to the mortal realm were entangled in endless trivial matters and had no power to maintain the normal operation of the organization.

At the same time, many of its weakly defended subsidiaries were attacked, and the Origin Stone, the Key of Blank, and the second container Kiana, were successively stolen.

Otto even suspected that the hybrid virus planted in him was not only meant to restrain him, but more importantly, to indirectly reveal the location of the [Origin Stone]...

Although no one died overall, indicating that [Anti-Entropy] was not prepared for a full-scale war with [Schicksal], in short, the situation of [Schicksal] can be described in one word.

Chaos!

The economy was in chaos, the administration was in chaos, and people's hearts were in chaos... The chaos was so intense that everyone was overwhelmed and unable to take care of themselves... In the end, they were defeated inexplicably... They were caught in the middle of the chaos at every turn.

What a brilliant scheme to profit from chaos! They dared to release Welt as bait, distract me, and then launch a surprise attack on the Schicksal Floating Island. What audacity!

Even he failed, let alone Theresa. The closer we get to this point, the calmer we need to be. To take our anger out on others is the act of a fool.

Could it be that the leader of [Anti-Entropy] has changed?

Or perhaps, Welt and I are both pawns in your game...

At this moment, Otto, who had vaguely guessed the key, clenched his right hand, and the crystal chess piece turned to dust between his fingers.

The White House, United States.

After hanging up the phone, President Benford rubbed his temples, placed the [Anti-Entropy] emblem on the table into his glasses case, and looked somewhat sentimental.

The situation has really changed. The new leader has caused [Schicksal] to suffer heavy losses as soon as he took office. His methods are indeed brilliant.

Even more incredibly, the brilliant minds of [Anti-Entropy] unanimously approved and strongly supported the change of leadership. I really don't know how they managed to do that.

But precisely for this reason, a president who is loyal to the country should keep a distance from the leader of a secret organization to avoid blurring the lines between public and private matters.

President Benford closed his glasses case, his meaningful gaze drifting towards the drizzling rain streaming through the window.

The ocean, Oldest One cradle of life, is often known for its mystery. To this day, human development and understanding of the ocean are extremely limited, amounting to only about 5%.

In the western North Pacific Ocean, a submarine without obvious markings is preparing for a deep dive.

Beneath the silver mask, Kevin gazed at the colorful schools of fish and swaying seaweed outside the window, then casually switched off his communication device.

Otto probably still doesn't understand why the once glorious Schicksal collapsed like an avalanche.

Besides the fact that some were intentionally plotting against others, the 500-year hegemony of [Schicksal] also sowed the seeds of its own evil consequences.

Stark Industries, Trask Industries, the SCP Foundation, the Crawford family, the Gongen Financial Group... these are not the truly fatal causes.

The most powerful economy in the world is not [Anti-Entropy], nor [Schicksal], but an organization called "nation".

If you dare to attack the Anti-Entropy Headquarters in Yellowstone District with your Floating Battleship, who can guarantee that Schicksal won't send a warship to the White House in the future?

The Crusades, your iron hooves swept across Asia, Africa, and Europe, even the kings' power derives from the Pope...

Despite the victory in the Battle of the Kipchak Steppe, the attack on Shenzhou shook the foundations of the Ming Empire, leading to a century of foreign rule over the Central Plains...

Indulgences issued, Germany becomes your cash cow, Europe pays the price for defeat...

Even with the rise of the British Empire, the king still had to bow down to you and expend resources to expand globally for the sake of "Schicksal"...

The North American Branch was formed, but due to ideological differences, you nearly wiped out numerous brilliant minds from around the world with your own hands, S.H.I.E.L.D..'s painstakingly developed "Paperclip" project, which had been in the works for many years, was almost destroyed...

The collapse of the Red Empire and the rise of the Schicksal as the sole superpower—nobody would believe it without your influence...

When the Toko City Honkai and a natural disaster strikes, the Far East Branch stands idly by, while [Anti-Entropy] steps in to help...

The Babylon Tower rose from the ground, Honkai energy reactor was built, causing widespread water and soil pollution, and resulting in the deaths of many civilians...

The Second Herrscher's Arrival, presenting the best opportunity to kill Sirin, and you actually let it slip by...

So, you've lived too long, acted arrogantly and domineeringly, and even your stance on the very foundation for resisting the Honkai seems ambiguous, which makes those people very unhappy.

If you can break the 500-year undefeated myth and bring you down from your pedestal, these once servile dogs will turn on you and bite back with the most vicious and ruthless attacks.

Therefore, the financial attack that night, based on the source of the funding chain, involved not only covert financial allocations from the US government, encouragement and tacit approval from Japan, Shenzhou's quiet profiteering, Russia's opportunistic exploitation, and the stab in the back by the Britain, but even the German Hydra, which had been lying low, surfaced to take a share of the profits.

In this world, no one is a fool, and I'm not the only one playing chess with you.

A person who only sees the chessboard can't win, because I like to flip the table...

"Smack!"

Just as Kevin was finalizing his plan, a furtive figure crept up from behind and slapped him hard on the buttocks.

"Hug... hehe... hug..."

Kevin stumbled and bumped his head on the special glass. As he frowned and turned around, a little white-haired girl in an ice-blue princess dress, holding HOMU, was pouting and reaching out to him.

P. S.: If you think about it this way, Otto really offended a lot of people, he was hated everywhere, so his death wasn't unjust.

Chapter 382, Section 400: The Development of Kiana

Why is this girl out again?

Kevin felt a headache coming on. A few days ago, the YoRHa Unit, skilled in electronic warfare, led by 2B and the Commander himself, and with the help of the unemployed World-Ending Diva Zero, rescued the little guy from a laboratory under the European branch.

Originally, he planned to send the little one to Siegfried to comfort his depressed friend, but Kiana unexpectedly regarded him as family and refused to leave him no matter what.

Kevin was a bit of a headache dealing with this nominal "little sister," but under the little girl's crying and tantrums, he had no choice but to take on the job of childcare.

At this moment, Kiana in his arms was not behaving herself, trying to remove Kevin's mask several times, but he easily avoided her each time.

Hmph! You won't play with me!

The sulking little girl pulled her hair and pinched her face, her methods quite vicious.

"Here you go, please keep this with you..."

Kevin simply yanked the mischievous kid off him and tossed him to the [Raven] nearby.

Fu Hua's body stiffened for a moment, then she regained some of her senses from "standby" and, mimicking the technique she remembered, gently patted Kiana's back, humming a lullaby to lull her to sleep.

In this quiet and profound atmosphere, the little girl, who knew very well how to treat people differently based on their status, shrank her neck and behaved quite obediently.

So, in your eyes, I'm the kind of person who's easy to bully, right?

Kevin pursed his lips, casually found a place to sit down, and with the slight rocking of the boat, he closed his eyes. After a few minutes, his body began to lean backward.

Fortunately, Cocolia happened to pass by and came over, gently placing Kevin's head on her knees, her gaze somewhat complicated.

Since returning to B-17 military fortress, this man has never slept a wink. He is always deep in thought, carefully considering every step he takes. No one can fathom his closed-off inner world.

But eventually he will get tired, he will grow weary...

Cocolia wanted him to sleep a little longer, but the submerged ship encountered several undercurrents and rocked violently.

"What's going on?!"

Kevin, alert, abruptly stood up. After confirming that everything was alright, he glanced at the pitch-black sea outside, rubbed his temples, and continued his questioning.

Where are we?

"Designated area, 11°20′N, 142°11.5′E, has reached a depth of 7000 meters. Still some distance from the Mariana Trench. Let's sleep a little longer..."

"No need. Prepare to activate the detection equipment and locate that lost city as soon as possible..."

The Mariana Trench, the deepest known fissure on Earth, is 11,034 meters deep and has been formed for nearly 6 million years. According to internal intelligence from Anti-Entropy, it contains the highly advanced civilization city of the previous generation— the Abyssal City.

If we can obtain some technical support from this, then the chances of success for lunar missions should increase significantly.

Of course, Kevin had another reason he didn't say: Abyssal City was not only a treasure trove of high-tech achievements, but also connected to the Quantum Sea, where the previous generation's Super Soldier, the World Serpent, resided.

However, things did not go smoothly. After spending half a day, the ship found nothing and could not find a way to open the Abyssal City.

Kevin was suffering from a headache due to prolonged insomnia and anxiety, so he went into his room and lay down on the bed.

In a daze, his consciousness sank deeper and deeper, traversing layers of colorful World Bubble, and in a bizarre dream, he reunited with that figure.

"Long time no see, you've grown so much... even more perfect than I imagined..."

The two faced each other, like reflections in a mirror, similar yet subtly different, blending together yet repelling each other.

"The first question: When the Toko City Honkai due to a natural disaster, the surrounding ecological environment underwent a qualitative change, as if it had become a womb nurturing a special life form. Its ultimate purpose was to choose a vessel for [God], right?"

Kevin, too lazy for pleasantries, cut straight to the Door Opening: the [Origin Stone] came from the moon, which is where the [God] resides. The coincidences were too much for him to bear, making him suspect that the Honkai Will's scheme had already begun.

"That's right, if [God] hadn't made a mistake in his calculations, Ouma Mana would have become the Final Herrscher's Host..."

[World Serpent] nodded slightly.

"So, your disagreement with the Super God Academy started back then. You wanted to use that special environment to substitute me for the main body conceived by Toko City, that is, to become an existence similar to the Final Herrscher..."

Kevin pondered for a moment. Theoretically, the stronger humanity Honkai, the stronger the Honkai becomes; humanity cannot destroy the Honkai.

How can Human Civilization be preserved? By assimilating with the Honkai... This was the philosophy of the former [World Serpent] organization... and he will become a pioneer in assimilating with the Honkai.

Unfortunately, due to his own wavering as an experimental subject, he ultimately created a freak with Angel Gene and half- Honkai genes.

"The second question is, are you still alive?"

After answering the first question, Kevin continued to press for more information.

"Physically, I'm already dead. Within the same spacetime, there can't be two [selves]. This is the price of the world reset, and also my choice..."

[World Serpent] was quite calm.

"So, just like Mei and Raiden Mei, Himeko and Murata Himeko, I am your alternate dimension counterpart..."

"However, the spacetime I inhabit does not belong to this world, and it is precisely because of this that an unregistered soul can bring about change..."