"Mr. Xu?"
The bespectacled adjutant asked Xu Yanwu in confusion, unsure why Xu Yanwu had suddenly fallen silent in the middle of speaking.
"Hmm? It's nothing. I suddenly thought of something... something about myself."
Xu Yanwu shook his head. "Do you like Schicksal?"
"Like it... I wouldn't say that." The bespectacled adjutant said, "If you mean the Far East Branch, then perhaps a little more."
"Looks like the Far East Branch and Schicksal aren't the same in your heart..." Xu Yanwu said meaningfully. "Then... what do you think of Anti-Entropy?"
"Anti-Entropy? Hard to judge."
"I see..."
Xu Yanwu nodded. "Thank you for answering my questions."
"It's nothing. But, Mr. Xu, people like you are rare these days."
"Mm-hm? Then I'll... take that as a compliment."
Xu Yanwu said, "I'm not an especially good person, but... I do have a bit of human warmth."
One month after Anti-Entropy's invasion.
On the German-Danish border.
An elderly white-haired man in a white lab coat was fleeing through the snow, clutching a box in his arms.
Though the surroundings were frigid, the old man was dressed lightly as he ran, as if he were evading someone's pursuit.
And indeed, people were chasing him from behind.
As he ran across the snow, a bullet suddenly pierced his shoulder. The momentum of the bullet and the sudden pain sent the old man tumbling into the snow. Crimson blood immediately stained his shoulder, standing out starkly against the snow and his white lab coat.
Soon, three Schicksal Valkyries in light Valkyrie armor appeared before the old man. They aimed their guns at him and said expressionlessly, "Doctor Maki, stop running."
"You are the chief scientist of Schicksal's Third Research Institute, and an indispensable talent to Schicksal."
"As long as you return what you stole, Lord Otto