"I hope you can help us complete Seele's unfinished X-10 experiment..."
"Don't... go..."
Hearing Cocolia's words, Bronya, who had been expressionless until then, suddenly struggled in pain.
Clearly, Cocolia's words had dealt Bronya's mind an enormous blow, pushing her to the brink of losing control.
Cocolia coldly reached out and touched Bronya's shoulder. Bronya's expression then returned to its former indifference.
"Rosia, listen to Cocolia... Mother..."
After saying that, Bronya painfully closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
Forcibly controlling the biological chip inside her body would inflict immense damage on her mind and could even affect the structure of her brain.
"Rosia, your Mother Bronya is tired. She needs to rest for a while."
After controlling Bronya into saying the last thing she needed to say, Cocolia knew that Bronya's task was complete.
Next, she would send Bronya to a more distant base and let her calm down for a while.
"If... it really can bring Mother Seele back..."
The blue-haired girl raised her head and met Cocolia's gaze, her expression solemn.
"I can take part in the experiment."
"Lord Bishop, should we notify Lady Durandal and Lady Rita?"
The blond boy leaned against the station sign, his emerald eyes gleaming with an unreadable light.
He had recorded everything from his earlier confrontation with Cocolia to every detail of this operation, while Amber had been observing them all along as well.
To be honest, even Amber could clearly tell that the Bishop was not in a particularly good mood right now.
That Anti-Entropy executor had undoubtedly slapped Otto across the face this time.
"There's no need."
Otto spoke softly.
"Help me trace my little online friend's signal. I'll handle this matter personally."
Originally, Otto had not planned to interfere. In his eyes, this had merely been an internal conflict within Anti-Entropy and had little to do with him.
Even sending Rosia to Shenzhou was not a major issue.
Yet for some reason, Otto now felt strangely stifled.
This was the first time in five hundred years that he had felt this way.
The feeling of having power but nowhere to use it made Otto sigh inwardly.
He wanted to see whether Cocolia's abilities were really as formidable as her words.
"Yes, Lord Bishop."
It was the first time Amber had seen Otto's expression turn so cold.
Otto had always worn a cheerful smile. Even when his plans went wrong, he remained calm and unhurried, looking as though he did not care in the slightest.
"Was that little one doing it on purpose?"
Otto recalled Rosia's expression from then. She clearly knew many things, and her decision seemed to have been planned long ago.
"Ah... what a bother. This deal really is..."
Though he called it troublesome, Otto showed no trace of anxiety.
He was merely considering what methods he should use to make that Anti-Entropy executor pay a small price.
In the past, the only person capable of confronting him had been Anti-Entropy's leader, Welt. Even the few scientists Anti-Entropy had now were not worth taking seriously in Otto's eyes.
Anti-Entropy's entire organizational structure was nothing but a pile of loose sand to Otto. Without Welt, that pile would disperse on its own before long.
"Reporting to the Bishop, the current signal is in a small city one hundred kilometers off the coast of the Far East."
The blond boy put on his dark green hat and jumped down from the top of the station.
"Heh, my little online friend, it seems you still need a little help."
One day later
"Miss Bronya, please do not struggle pointlessly. Lady Cocolia has instructed us that if you make any extreme moves, we may take special measures."
Outside a room resembling a specialized isolation cell, a guard opened the door and passed food inside.
The room was filled with a mist meant to numb the body and suppress control, specially designed for Bronya.
Besides the mist, the base also housed ten specially modified Heavy Titans—the sort that Bronya's Project Bunny could not possibly defeat in a short time.
Through the window, Bronya could see everything inside the base.
She knew that Cocolia had arranged things this way because she wanted Bronya to give up completely.
Bronya did not take the food being offered. Instead, she picked up the liquor Cocolia had left beside her and poured herself one glass after another.
Since coming to St. Freya Academy, Bronya had rarely touched alcohol. But now, every drink brought her a different experience.
She began to understand why people of Shenzhou liked to drown their sorrows in drink, raising a cup to invite the bright moon...
"Ha..."
Bronya gripped the glass and drained it in one swallow.
During the time Cocolia controlled her, she had remained conscious, but she had been utterly incapable of disobeying Cocolia's commands.
Whenever Bronya thought of how she had watched herself being used to speak those utterly disgusting words, she felt sick.
She hated herself. She should have taken Rosia and left the Far East earlier, even if it meant hiding everywhere at great risk.
She had thought she could hold Cocolia back, yet she had never expected Cocolia to have another card up her sleeve.
Just as when she had first tried to assassinate Cocolia, she had thought victory was certain. But no one could handle what lay beyond their expectations.
Helplessness, pain, self-reproach...
Countless negative emotions battered Bronya's mind. Her brain had already become more sensitive because of the chip, and now constant stabbing pain nearly engulfed her. Bronya could only rely on alcohol to numb her thoughts and retain a little rationality.
She had observed the situation. Even at her best, she could not deal with the Titans outside, much less the various standard weapons trained on this area.
The moment she dared step out of this space, there was no chance she would leave safely.
"I'm sorry... Rosia..."
This was the third time Bronya had repented: the first time was Theresa's plan, the second was Joyce's attack, and the third was Cocolia's order.
As a mother, she had had three chances to protect Rosia, yet she had failed to seize even one.
In the end, Bronya had protected nothing—Seele, Rosia...
She was about to witness the people she cherished leave before her eyes again and again.
Death and coldness made it almost impossible for Bronya to breathe.
"I'm sorry... Seele..."
Bronya had thought they would have a chance to reunite someday, and that it would be the happiest time of their lives. But now, everything was about to crumble.
She poured glass after glass down her throat, the burning liquor stinging her throat until she could barely speak clearly.
After draining the last glass, Bronya exhaled and weakly leaned against the cold wall. With her eyes closed, she waited in silence.
Just as she was waiting to fight her way out with her life on the line, the base's alarm sounded.
It was followed by the sound of countless firearms opening fire, then the screams of personnel.
The Titans' roars alternated endlessly with the tremors caused by their footsteps.
The heat of flames gradually spread through the entire space.
The clash of metal echoed throughout the base.
Then came the sound of one machine after another collapsing.
At last, when all movement had vanished, Bronya opened her eyes.
A golden figure opened the door and tossed a long case before her.
"Heh, my little online friend, although there was a small issue with my after-sales service, I still take responsibility for what I sell..."
"You are... Otto?"
Bronya had never expected the older man she had been messaging online to be a blond boy even younger than her.
Smelling the strong scent of alcohol in the air, the blond boy chuckled.
"My friend, this liquor smells quite good."
"Won't you offer me a drink?"
Hi, Mother Seele, I'm Taking You Home
Picking up the case the blond boy had thrown over, Bronya took out the gun inside and struggled to her feet.
Although the anesthetic gas Cocolia had deployed had mostly dissipated, it still took Bronya a long while to recover.
Enduring the stabbing pain in her head, Bronya looked over the chaotic scene, where sparks still occasionally flew.
More than a hundred armed guards and ten Heavy Titans had all been taken down by the blond boy alone.
Though she had long guessed that whoever could sell her this weapon possessed extraordinary strength, she had not expected him to be this capable in a fight.
At that moment, Bronya did not dwell on why he had failed to send Rosia to Shenzhou as agreed. Instead, she activated the tracker and asked him,
"Do you know where Cocolia took her?"
Bronya had never thought he might be on Cocolia's side. Clearly, he had come to save her, which meant he must know something.
"Heh, I don't have a habit of following little girls around, but I do know a little..."
Otto said with a smile.
He had been able to find Bronya because her communicator had been provided by Schicksal, so Schicksal naturally knew her signal.
But even Otto had no way of finding Rosia's precise location.
"What are your conditions?"
After checking her ammunition, Bronya slung the gun over her back and asked.
She understood the implication behind the blond boy's words.
"If you need money, I still have some savings I can transfer to you."
Although she had spent all her savings before, Bronya had still earned quite a bit of money in her spare time.
"No, no, no. I'm not short on money. I only want to ask—can you take me with you? There are some things I want to say to your Anti-Entropy executor."
Otto waved his hand.
"...Fine."
Bronya agreed after only a brief moment of thought.
Though she did not know what he was plotting, for now, they could stand on the same side.
"Excellent. I like working with smart people."
Although Otto did not know where Rosia had been taken, he knew where Cocolia was carrying out the X-10 experiment.
If his guess was correct, they should find the information they wanted there.
Beneath the sea of the Far East
"This child's talent..."
Before you continue