"Okay."
Having received a response, Rita, who had already arrived at the outskirts of the camp, climbed onto the small airship resembling a jet ski, answered, and immediately took off, rushing toward the location where the energy reaction had just appeared.
Ten minutes later, the nearest reinforcements Rita had called for arrived. Seeing that Rita had yet to return, Anna followed Rita's orders and sent Gwen onto the airship.
Yet before the airship could begin its return journey, Anna received another order from Rita and urgently stopped it—
"Please wait a few minutes. Lady Rita will be returning shortly and will head back to headquarters with the patient."
Less than five minutes later, Rita, who had clearly been speeding, returned to the camp. After greeting Anna, she boarded the airship and was carried back to Schicksal Headquarters alongside Gwen.
"I hope everything goes smoothly..."
Watching the airship disappear from view, Anna offered a silent prayer for the man she had only met once or twice. Then she stopped dwelling on it and focused on the work in her hands—
Before leaving, Rita had entrusted the camp entirely to Anna. It was both trust and responsibility, and Anna had to fulfill it with all her heart.
Furthermore, before departing, Prometheus had unlocked most of its permissions and opened up the vast majority of the remaining data in this unimportant base to Schicksal. That made it even harder for Anna to feel the slightest bit lax.
Meanwhile, aboard the airship returning to Schicksal Headquarters, Rita, who was bringing Schicksal the most valuable gain from this expedition, did not feel much joy.
In the room containing only herself and the sleeping Gwen, Rita wore a calm expression and kept her eyes slightly closed as she considered how she should report to Schicksal's inscrutable Bishop once she returned to headquarters.
Although Rita had ordered Anna to keep silent, and Gwen's giant form remained a secret for the time being, the surveillance footage at the camp meant it could not be hidden from the Bishop.
Then... how could she make Bishop Otto view Mr. Gwen more favorably, reducing the chances of him encountering something unpleasant?
—Although Rita considered herself quite loyal to Bishop Otto, who had preserved the current state of human civilization, when she thought of the figure she had seen less than half an hour ago, she instinctively wanted to keep the man lying quietly on the hospital bed from falling into some terrible situation.
However, Rita did not have much time—
Even though it was merely an airship equipped by a remote branch, Schicksal's organizational nature ensured that there would not be the slightest issue with the performance of such a vessel.
Thus, less than an hour later, the airship docked at Schicksal's Third Air Harbor. The medical staff waiting there swiftly took away the still-unconscious Gwen, while Rita headed with Amber, who had also been waiting there, to meet Schicksal—or rather, the current ruler of more than half the world—Schicksal's Archbishop, Otto.
After walking down a familiar corridor, Rita and Amber arrived at Otto's office—
Though she was only an A-rank Valkyrie, Rita had received special training and possessed S-class potential, making her far from an ordinary A-rank Valkyrie. The nature of her work also meant she was no stranger to Otto's office.
When the two entered Otto's office, Rita saw Kallen Fantasy ready to be played at any time on a display screen nearby. However, Otto was currently seated behind his desk, watching the footage on the screen before him with rapt attention.
From the continuous explosions coming from the speakers, Rita quickly determined that what Otto was watching was precisely the scene that had unfolded outside Schicksal's archaeological camp a little over an hour ago.
Although Rita and Anna, the two people involved, had kept it under wraps, and the less-than-one-minute surveillance footage had been locked away, that clearly did not affect Otto, Schicksal's Archbishop.
In fact, the moment Gwen appeared before Rita and the others, the news had already been sent to Otto, causing the Archbishop of Schicksal to spare a rare bit of attention from his score-grinding game.
As for the locked surveillance recording, Otto had replayed it over and over for quite some time. Even now, it was still playing before him.
Seeing that Otto had no intention of speaking, Amber did not leave Rita waiting at the side. She arranged for Rita to sit down, then went to deal with the game Otto had yet to close.
A moment later, just as Rita was mentally rehearsing her prepared answers again, Otto finally looked away from the video.
"Hehe, Rita, this time, you really brought back someone quite extraordinary."
With a remarkably cheerful smile on his face, Otto ignored Amber's crisp, efficient movements beside him and spoke to Rita.
"You flatter me, Bishop. Rita merely did what she was supposed to do."
At his words, Rita immediately rose to her feet and bowed respectfully before slowly continuing,
"Besides, if Schicksal had not always devoted itself to fighting the Honkai under your leadership, Mr. Gwen likely would not have chosen to help Schicksal."
Three, Two, One, One, Two, Three, Ah Ah—
"Hehe, enough, Rita. You need not be so modest.
Even from the standpoint of successfully negotiating with Mr. Gwen and making him choose to trust Schicksal, you completed your task exceptionally well."
Otto paused before continuing,
"However, for now, let us first discuss Mr. Gwen, this pioneer of the Previous Civilization.
I would like to hear your opinion of him, Rita, as the first person to speak with Mr. Gwen, who chose to help our civilization."
As a close friend of Immortal Chi Yuan, the owner of Void Archives, and the greatest surviving archaeologist of the Previous Civilization, Otto knew far more about the Previous Civilization than Rita did.
Naturally, Otto had his own views regarding Gwen, this person from the Previous Civilization who had just been unearthed.
However, that less-than-one-minute surveillance recording had made Otto even more interested in Gwen, prompting him to learn as much about him as possible.
"Yes."
After respectfully answering Otto, Rita began her account...
"Where am I...?"
As his consciousness slowly surfaced and he regained awareness of his body, Gwen felt as though a great many chaotic memories had been forcibly stuffed into his mind. They did not make his head feel like it was splitting apart, but they still left him deeply uncomfortable and wanting to knock his head hard.
When he tried to lift his hand, Gwen realized that his body, which had recovered somewhat, seemed to have returned to the state it had been in when Luciel had smashed him to pieces. It was even weaker than before, and his entire body felt as though it had been drained dry.
Forget knocking his seemingly broken head—Gwen felt that even raising his hand was difficult right now.
Sensing that his body seemed excessively weak, Gwen's still-hazy consciousness rapidly cleared. He noticed that he seemed to be immersed in some sort of liquid.
"Hm? It seems he's awake?"
At that moment, as though she had noticed Gwen awakening, a voice sounded beside his ear.
With some effort, Gwen opened his eyes and confirmed that his earlier sensation had not been an illusion. He truly was soaking in an unknown blue liquid.
Through the unknown blue fluid and the transparent walls of the container, Gwen could see a woman standing close enough that her face was practically pressed against the container wall, as well as an Abyss that should not be stared at...
"Mm, it seems you're still a little out of it...
Come on, repeat after me. Three, two, one, one, two, three, ah ah—
Hurry up..."
Hearing those strangely familiar words, Gwen did not follow her instructions. Instead, he rolled his eyes at her, then closed them again and carefully sensed his current condition.
"Mm, it seems he's in quite good condition..."
The woman standing outside the nutrition pod did not mind having her words ignored. Instead, she nodded with satisfaction, a playful smile on her intelligent face beneath her smooth wine-red hair.
She wore a dark purplish-red sweater beneath a white lab coat that had obviously been specially altered, giving her an air of mature intellectual charm.
Yet even with her tightly wrapped sweater and deliberately modified work clothes, the badge hanging from her chest was still practically lying there.
"Ms. Elizabeth, please do not disturb the patient's rest."
At that moment, a medical staff member who had noticed her actions tugged at the woman's clearly privately modified work uniform and reminded her,
"His vital signs are stable, but his condition is not very good."
"Relax, I was only checking whether he had woken up."
Elizabeth spread her hands, showing that she was helpless as well.
"Besides, you know I don't work here. I was called over, but that lady over there won't even let me touch him.
You wouldn't want me to damage your equipment and add another expense to your bill, would you?"
"..."
Inside the nutrition pod, Gwen clearly heard the woman's words. The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, and he silently warned himself to stay away from this woman in the future if possible—
When he had first opened his eyes to assess his surroundings, Gwen's attention had not been wholly drawn to Elizabeth, who was right in front of him—
At the very least, Gwen had already spotted Schicksal's emblem in the surrounding environment.
Guessing that Rita had probably brought him back to Schicksal, Gwen did not feel particularly alarmed—
Given the identity Gwen had prepared for himself, he probably would not need to worry about being put on an operating table for research that could cause irreversible harm before every last bit of his value had been extracted.
Of course, Gwen was not placing all his hopes on Schicksal being reasonable—
As he closed his eyes and sensed his condition, Gwen also attempted to circulate energy in order to recover as quickly as possible.
Although he seemed to have entered some rather special state at the time, Gwen clearly remembered what he had done and knew that he had completed his first transformation after leaving Nexus.
While the details of the process remained somewhat unclear, Gwen could still sense faint warmth, different from the nutrient fluid around him, coming from his seemingly empty wrist.
After confirming that the most important thing was still on him, Gwen began checking his own condition—
His stamina was nearly depleted, and his abilities were likewise nearly depleted. As for that light, it had become more active and intimate than before. Though it was still incomparably far from Nexus's level, it gave Gwen the feeling that it was completely his own...
However, although both his stamina and abilities were nearly exhausted, Gwen could feel his body absorbing the energy within the nutrition pod at a remarkably rapid rate, converting it into stamina and abilities to replenish his weakness and depletion.
Yet before Gwen could fully recover, the liquid in the nutrition pod was drained away. The pod opened, exposing Gwen to the air of Schicksal Headquarters' medical center.
Then, before Gwen could say anything, a bath towel was tossed over him.
"There. Your body's not bad, but you should still be a little more mindful."
Although she said that, Elizabeth, who had thrown the towel onto Gwen, had no intention of avoiding suspicion whatsoever. She continued to openly look at Gwen, who wore only underwear.
"Then I'll take that as a compliment."
Gwen casually replied as he wrapped the towel around himself and picked up his personal belongings from a nearby table.
"Mm, you're in better shape than I expected. It seems those nutrient fluids did help."
As she spoke, the woman raised a hand and pointed Gwen in a direction.
"There, that's the lounge. You can take a shower inside, change clothes, and then go meet our Archbishop.
He's extremely interested in you."
"Mm, thank you."
Gwen nodded and turned toward the direction she had pointed.
After Gwen had gone farther away, a doctor familiar with Elizabeth walked over to her side and teasingly asked with a smile,
"Elizabeth, you seem rather interested in this gentleman?"
The Approachable Archbishop
"When was I the interested one...?"
Elizabeth shrugged and casually replied,
"It's clearly our Archbishop who's interested—
I had nothing to do with this, yet he called me over. He obviously intends to assign me extra work, and there's a ninety-percent chance it has something to do with that gentleman.
Since that's the case, for the sake of making future work easier, of course I had to see what kind of person my future partner was."
"What do you think of Mr. Gwen, then?"
The doctor did not take it seriously and asked with a smile,
"Could he capture the heart of a little temptress like you?"
Gwen, the subject of that conversation, knew nothing about it.
After briefly washing up and changing clothes, Gwen was speaking with Prometheus.
While Gwen had been bathing, Prometheus had already given him a brief account of what had occurred during his unconsciousness, including but not limited to a certain red-haired woman trying to approach him—his transformation device—only to be shocked by its activated defense system.
"..."
After finishing its account of what had happened, Prometheus fell silent for a moment before continuing,
"I apologize for not detecting your physical condition in time."
"Hah?"
Gwen laughed at that and waved his hand.
"There's no need for that, Prometheus.
Besides, the equipment in the base could not support a detailed examination."
"Mm."
The transformation device's red display flickered, as if Prometheus had blinked. Then Prometheus's voice continued to sound in Gwen's mind.
"Prepare yourself. I have seen traces of Previous Civilization technology in Schicksal's medical equipment. Schicksal may know more about the Previous Civilization than expected."
"Doesn't matter. Whether my identity as a person from the Previous Civilization is real or fake, Schicksal won't grant me absolute trust.
Besides, we still need to keep observing what role this Schicksal truly plays in this world, don't we?"
Gwen neither agreed nor disagreed with Prometheus's words as he adjusted his clothes in front of the mirror.
Before you continue