Chapter 322

Childbirth has always been a heavy burden for women, even for Valkyrie with extraordinary power. Therefore, after giving birth to Kiana, Cecilia has been resting and has not gone on any missions.

"Thank you for your concern. Actually, I feel completely fine now," Cecilia smiled gently, though a hint of confusion lingered in her expression. "But Siegfried keeps urging me to rest a little longer..."

"This is no small matter, Cecilia," Siegfried quickly interjected. "Since His Holiness the Bishop hasn't given any orders, why don't you rest a bit more and spend some time with little Kiana? Wouldn't that be better?"

"But I've been resting for over a year now," Cecilia said with a somewhat helpless smile. "I am, after all, a Valkyrie, burdened with the mission of protecting humanity..."

"It's alright, we're still here, aren't we?" Theresa quickly chimed in, "There are so many ways to fight the Honkai now, we won't miss you."

The little girl held in Cecilia's arms didn't speak, but she clung tightly to Cecilia's clothes, as if she also wanted to express that she "didn't want to leave her mother."

With all three of them unanimously dissuading her, Cecilia naturally had no choice but to agree—after all, she couldn't very well abandon her daughter.

With Theresa and Siegfried's seamless cooperation, the two quickly moved on from the topic and refocused their attention on Kiana. Cecilia also put aside her inner turmoil and, under Siegfried's guidance, cooperated by taking many photos of Kiana.

For parents, documenting their child's growth with photos and videos is a truly joyful thing.

However, at this tender moment, a sudden ringtone sounded. Theresa instinctively pressed the receiver hanging on her ear, and then saw a bright red screen light up in front of her.

That was an emergency mission notification.

And the urgent task at this point in time...

Theresa's expression changed instantly. She subconsciously closed the interface, then stood up, only to notice the gazes directed at her by Cecilia and Siegfried.

Cecilia's eyes were full of curiosity, while Siegfried's gaze seemed somewhat solemn.

"It's nothing, Grandpa's looking for me," Theresa quickly explained, then smiled and waved to Kiana, "Sorry, Kiana, it's time for Theresa to go now."

"Is everything alright?" Cecilia asked softly.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it!" Theresa replied confidently, then repeated in a soft voice, "It will definitely be resolved."

She turned and left quickly, but a series of memories that shouldn't have existed flashed through her mind.

In those memories, the mission not only ended in failure, but also unleashed a terrifying enemy that caused the deaths of tens of millions of people, and even killed his own friends...

But this time, we will never repeat the same mistakes!

Theresa snapped out of her reverie, clenched her fists tightly, and her face was filled with determination.

She is not Theresa of this time—according to the suddenly appearing deity, she is currently in a strange state of "rebirth," having returned from the future decades in advance to this point in time in order to make up for past regrets.

And all of this happened just a few days ago.

"Hey, calm down, friend. Don't look so bitter and resentful."

Accompanied by a strange tone, a figure appeared beside Theresa.

"God, Your Majesty?" Theresa suddenly looked up, then cautiously surveyed her surroundings, only to find that no one seemed to be paying attention. "What is this?"

"I forgot to tell you, this time it's not as serious, at least not as serious as the original 'Second Honkai Outbreak'." The god raised an eyebrow, then pointed behind Theresa, "Besides, I also found other helpers."

Theresa instinctively turned her head and saw Siegfried and Cecilia say something before running towards them.

A moment later, in Theresa's own room.

"So, you're also... uh, Reincarnator?" Theresa looked at Siegfried before her, a somewhat subtle expression on her face. "I thought I was the only one who had been reborn..."

"What can you accomplish by yourself?" Siegfried crossed his arms, his expression grave. "But to be honest, even with the two of us, it's hard to say what we could change, right? Mr. Ai Yue, do you have any other plans?"

"Don't worry, even if you two didn't 'reborn,' it wouldn't make any difference," Ai Yue said from the side. "Strictly speaking, changing the future and your rebirth are two different things. It's just that we're taking this opportunity to test it out."

"I'm getting more and more confused," Theresa frowned. "You mean, even if the two of us hadn't returned from the future to the present, the outcome of this matter would still have been different?"

"After all, the world has changed a lot," Ai Yue said meaningfully. "Haven't you investigated a lot as well?"

"That's true... Even putting everything else aside, Grandpa's transformation alone is quite astonishing." Theresa sighed. "To be honest, at first I thought I'd stumbled into some parallel universe."

"Not only that, even the power of the Kaslana family seems to have changed." Siegfried raised his right hand. "It wasn't always so easy to control."

With Siegfried's will, a faint blue light emerged from his arm, quickly transforming into a chilling ice crystal armor that covered his arm. Compared to ordinary light armor, this power clearly possessed a unique tendency and could exert more influence.

In the original timeline, Siegfried was able to master the power of Fused Warrior at the ancestral level by being inspired by Kevin's will contained within the Soulium Seed. However, in this world, due to Ai Yue's intervention, the power hidden in Kaslana's bloodline has changed from the original power of Fused Warrior to the Power of Light, which is why this deviation has occurred.

"This matter is rather complicated to explain in detail, so let's skip it for now," Ai Yue waved his hand, clearly not intending to explain the principle of Perfect Timeline and reality fusion to these two. "So let's get down to business, about the 'Second Honkai Outbreak'."

Upon hearing this, both of them became serious.

"Relax, I told you not to be so tense." Looking at Theresa and Siegfried's tense expressions, Ai Yue couldn't help but shake his head. "Okay, I'll be blunt—what's about to happen is a pre-arranged script, and you two just need to participate."

"Script?"

Theresa and Siegfried exchanged bewildered glances, clearly not understanding what Ai Yue meant.

"Teacher, let me explain this part."

Accompanied by a new voice, Kiana appeared before the two of them.

"Kiana?" Seeing his daughter appear in her future form, Siegfried almost jumped out of his chair, but he quickly covered his head, a slightly pained expression on his face. "Uh, this is..."

Theresa, standing nearby, had the same reaction, because the moment she saw Kiana, even more of her sealed memories surfaced.

Those memories clearly record the fact that the entire world was gradually collapsing amidst turmoil.

"Auntie, and Dad, you should remember by now," Kiana said, watching the two gradually regain their composure. "Our original world is collapsing, and what we need to do now is save this civilization by resetting the timeline."

"I understand the logic, but what does this have to do with the script?" The oblivious Siegfried was the first to accept reality. "Besides, rewriting the timeline... that wasn't part of the original plan, was it?"

"Because the situation is far more complicated than we previously imagined... In short, let's put all that aside for later." Kiana sighed with a complicated expression. "Simply put, because we need to reshape the timeline, we must ensure that some key time points remain consistent with the original timeline."

"Time points, you mean those events with significant impact, right?" Theresa, as expected of the future Bishop of Schicksal, finally realized what was going on. "Then the 'Second Honkai Outbreak' must be included?"

"Yes, this has to happen." Kiana nodded, then continued, "However, to recreate the original events and cause the sacrifice of tens of millions of innocent people again would clearly be against moral principles."

"So that's why a script is needed?" Siegfried seemed thoughtful. "By recreating this event through acting, we can avoid the deaths of innocent people, is that what you mean?"

"Now that you mention it, I suddenly remember," Theresa said, as if struck by a sudden realization, "When I broke into Grandpa's office a couple of days ago and searched the 'Tower of Babel Laboratory,' I only found a blank folder!"

Theresa initially thought Otto had used layers of encryption to conceal the true Tower of Babel plan, but now it seems that the plan may never have existed at all!

"Yes, the Tower of Babel laboratory does exist, but it's actually empty now." Kiana nodded in agreement. "There are no experimental projects, no scientists, and naturally, no orphans to be used as guinea pigs."

"But then the Second Herrscher wouldn't be born there, right?" Siegfried looked puzzled, clearly having noticed a problem. "Even if it's a script, there needs to be an enemy. Without the Second Herrscher, how can the Second Honkai Outbreak be triggered?"

"No!" Theresa discovered an even bigger blind spot. "If the Second Herrscher wasn't born there, then Kiana, you..."

Siegfried then realized what was happening and looked at Kiana with concern.

They all knew that Kiana's true identity was not Siegfried and Cecilia's biological daughter, but rather Herrscher clone "K423" created by Otto based on the DNA of the Second Herrscher, Sirin. But if the Second Herrscher wasn't Sirin, then how was Kiana born?

"I'm only able to continue existing thanks to the special nature of the Herrscher of the End... but that's not important. You just need to know that I'm still me," Kiana scratched her head, clearly not quite sure how to explain it either. "As for the enemy, I'll naturally play that role."

"In other words, when you enter the Tower of Babel Laboratory, the Herrscher you will face... is actually me."

Chapter Thirty-One: What's the difference between this and living in a dream?

After these words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.

"Wait, you might have misunderstood something," Kiana quickly added, realizing she might not have explained herself clearly. "I'm not acting as your enemy as the 'Herrscher of Finality,' I'm just playing the role of the 'Herrscher of Void.'"

The implication is that Kiana will only be able to use one type of Herrscher power at that time.

Hearing this, Siegfried finally breathed a sigh of relief, "I knew it. If we were to face the Herrscher of the End in our current state, ten lives... no, a hundred lives wouldn't be enough, would they?"

"Don't even think about it. The Herrscher of the End is simply beyond human capabilities to defeat. Don't forget that back then... no, we in the future only managed to exploit a loophole." Theresa sighed. "But does that mean Grandpa was also in the know?"

Even if the Babylon Laboratory is just an empty shell, it's not a project that just anyone can decide on. Based on what the two people just said, Theresa could naturally guess that there was someone else supporting this plan behind the scenes.

"Otto knew about it too? Really?" Siegfried stared wide-eyed, his tone full of doubt. "That old fox who only does things for personal gain, he'd do anything for his own selfish desires. Would he really be willing to help with something like this?"

Siegfried's words were actually quite harsh, but no one refuted them. After all, Otto had tricked him into killing his wife and taking his daughter away. The fact that he only said such things at this moment was already quite a display of composure.

"Grandpa... that's really how it is." Theresa sighed. Compared to the oblivious Siegfried, she was clearly aware of many things. "So I guess, you did something to Grandpa too, just like what we're about to do?"

Kiana glanced at Ai Yue, then smiled and nodded, "Auntie, you'll find out soon enough."

Schicksal reacted quickly, or rather, Otto had been waiting for this. Therefore, within half an hour of Theresa receiving the alert, a complete and detailed battle plan was presented to her, along with a fully equipped combat squad and their dedicated vehicle.

However, although it's called a combat team, even including Theresa and Siegfried, there are only four people in total, and the other two are using code names.

"'Violet Orchid' and... 'Green Lily'?" Siegfried, waiting for his teammates to arrive at the assembly point, repeatedly looked at the roster of this makeshift team, his head full of question marks. "What are these? Elite Valkyrie secretly trained by our dear Lord Otto?"

Using a code name, gaining Otto's trust, and being assigned to such a secret mission— Siegfried could only draw the above conclusions.

"I think the truth will probably surprise you..." Theresa seemed to remember something, a strange expression appearing on her face. Then she looked at Kiana beside her, "But Kiana, is it alright for you to follow us like this?"

"Of course it's okay, don't worry, I have my own little tricks, no one will find out." Kiana smiled, then leaned closer to Theresa, "Or is it that Aunt Flo doesn't want to see me?"

"What nonsense are you talking about, child!" Theresa gently patted Kiana's hand, then showed a somewhat nostalgic expression. "Of course I want to spend more time with you too."

After Kiana became the Herrscher of the End, she never left the moon again, while Theresa became the Bishop of Schicksal, constantly overwhelmed by endless documents. The time the two spent together was thus compressed to an extremely pitiful degree, making their time together now seem so precious.

Siegfried silently approached his youngest daughter, gently stroking her hair. In such a heartwarming moment, they looked like a family of three—except it was a father with two daughters.

Just then, the sound of two approaching footsteps interrupted this tender moment. Siegfried looked up alertly and saw a blond man and a white-haired woman walking side by side toward them.

Despite their masks, Siegfried immediately recognized the blond man. "Otto? You're personally involved in this mission?"

As he spoke, he instinctively stepped in front of Kiana and Theresa, clearly showing he had no trust in Otto whatsoever.

"Is this strange?" After being recognized by Siegfried, Otto made no attempt to hide it. Since there was no one else around, he simply removed his mask. "This is a highly confidential mission, and there's no real danger, so it's most appropriate for me to handle it myself."

Siegfried gave an ambiguous hum, then looked Otto up and down before suddenly asking, "So, you are 'Violet Orchid'?"

He still harbored resentment towards those two code names.

"No, I am 'Green Lily'." Otto shook his head, a subtle expression on his face as he spoke. "This one over here is 'Violet Orchid'."

Siegfried then turned his attention to the woman standing quietly to the side, and immediately frowned. From Otto's words and actions, it was not difficult to tell that this woman's identity was not simple, and her long white hair seemed to suggest that she was also from the Kaslana family, but Siegfried had no recollection of her.

Siegfried's eyes widened only when the other person removed their mask.

He had seen that face in many places, such as the statues at the Schicksal Headquarters, the murals of the Kaslana family members throughout history, and even on Theresa's face—so he wouldn't mistake it; it was Kallen Kaslana!

Siegfried's mind was in complete disarray. After a moment of silence, he suddenly blurted out, "No wonder Otto was so easy to talk to..."

How could he not be reasonable? Otto's greatest obsession is right before his eyes, which means he hasn't become increasingly twisted because his desires can't be fulfilled. Under these circumstances, perhaps Otto could really become a good person.

"In short, Mr. Siegfried, we are now comrades-in-arms." Otto extended his hand, extending a gesture of goodwill. "For the sake of the same goal, let's temporarily set aside our prejudices."

Siegfried stared at Otto's hand for a long time, then finally shook his head with a subtle expression. "No, I can't accept it right now. Let me take my time."

The enmity between Siegfried and Otto was irreconcilable. Although he knew that none of this had happened yet, and theoretically it probably wouldn't happen given the current situation, the hurdle in his heart was not something he could easily overcome.

To be honest, if he hadn't clearly realized that the things that caused the feud between the two hadn't happened yet, Siegfried's fist might have already smashed into Otto's face the moment he recognized Otto.

If he hadn't been "reborn" and didn't remember everything that happened on the original timeline, things might have been much better.

"It's alright, we have plenty of time." Otto had anticipated this, so he didn't show any displeasure, simply withdrawing his hand. "So, shall we prepare to set off?"

On the other side, Kallen and Theresa had become very close. After all, although Theresa was nominally named Apocalypse, those in the know understood that she had absolutely no relation to Apocalypse.

"I can't believe it really is you." Theresa sighed as she looked at Kallen approaching. "So, this world has been changed at least five hundred years ago, hasn't it?"

Through various details, Theresa was able to determine that the Kallen before her was not resurrected by Otto after her death, but rather that her fate of death had been altered from the very beginning, allowing her to live from five hundred years ago to the present day. This also proved many of her suspicions.

"Yes, little Theresa, I even held you when you were born." Kallen smiled and patted Theresa's head, then pouted, "It's a pity that Otto wouldn't let me have any contact with you after that, otherwise we would never have waited until today to recognize each other."

"Grandpa must have his own reasons, like keeping it a secret," Theresa couldn't help but understand, after all, Kallen's existence was probably a very high-level secret within Schicksal. "Speaking of which, Kiana, you don't seem surprised at all?"

"After all, she already knew," Kallen interjected before Kiana could speak, "Right, Master?"

Master?

Theresa hadn't shown such shock when she learned Kallen was still alive. She stared dumbfounded at the somewhat embarrassed Kiana, with only one thought in her mind.

What exactly is happening in this world?

While they were en route to Siberia by plane, Kiana briefly explained what had happened, and Theresa finally understood why such a chaotic situation had occurred.

"I see. So, the Pre-Civilization had completely defeated the Honkai, which is why our timeline suddenly collapsed," Theresa stroked her chin. Although the principle behind it was rather complex, it wasn't too difficult for her to understand, given her exposure to many advanced scientific theories. "Then, Mr. Ai Yue was a god from the Pre-Civilization? Just like you Kiana?"

She subconsciously scanned the cabin, only to find that the man who had given her a "second chance" was not there.

"My teacher is different from me. He has already surpassed the Cocoon of Finality," Kiana shook her head. "After all, even if you fully master the power of the Cocoon of Finality, it doesn't necessarily mean you can reshape the timeline."

"Indeed, such a monumental undertaking, so transformative, is something I wouldn't even dare to dream of if I hadn't heard you mention it." Theresa sighed, then asked about something she was more concerned about, "But does this mean that Cecilia could also..."

Theresa realized this as early as when she knew that the "Second Honkai Outbreak" would be a scripted event.

However, at that time she didn't dare to say it out loud, fearing that it was just a fantasy of hers and that once she said it, it would be ruthlessly exposed.

But seeing Kallen, who should have died five hundred years ago, standing perfectly fine before her, Theresa could no longer suppress her emotions. She desperately wanted to know if her friend had the same chance to avoid such a tragic end.

However, despite this, she still harbored some hesitation, to the point that she didn't even dare to ask the question in its entirety.

"Of course, our goal is to save tens of millions of innocent people," Kiana nodded vigorously, responding to Theresa's question, "Including Mother Cecilia."