Chapter 131
142. Absolutely no innocent person will be harmed.
K422 was unaware that Otto was still secretly observing her, and at this moment she had to face the troublesome old men in the Senate.
"Gentlemen of the Senate, I apologize, I didn't hear you clearly just now, please repeat—"
"Miss Kiana, our Senate hopes that you can stop the war against Shencheng Medicine. Humanity should not be scrambling internally like this."
"The Grand Elder is right..."
"Miss Apocalypse, we should make peace with Shencheng Medicine have them compensate us for our losses."
"Yes, yes, Elder Cavendish makes sense. We should make Shencheng Medicine compensate us; there's no need for the Valkyrie to suffer any more casualties."
"We also need to criticize the local branches. Shencheng Medicine has so many Honkai Beast hidden underground, yet the local branches didn't even know."
"Miss Kiana, you should also hold the managers of the local branches accountable, and perhaps take back some of their power."
"..."
Elderly men dressed in Cardinal- style robes took turns trying to persuade K422 to cease hostilities.
Don't believe a word these old political men say. When they need her, she can be a staunch defender of the Valkyrie, but when they don't, Valkyrie's just a slightly more advanced experimental subject in their hands.
K422 narrowed his eyes.
If reason hadn't stopped him, K422 would have loved to kill everyone in the Senate.
Although Otto did not use the Senate, the families that made up the Senate were the elder families who had followed Otto in building the empire. Even though their power was repeatedly reduced, they still possessed enormous wealth that was beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Most importantly, they can still use the political capital of the Schicksal, unless the Schicksal directly dissolves the Senate and labels them all as sinners.
Unfortunately, K422 cannot do it; at least, with her current prestige, she cannot support the dissolution of the Senate.
However, the Senate, as the dark side of the Schicksal, does more than just abduct and kidnap ordinary people.
Furthermore, Valkyrie went missing on the battlefield were secretly moved and used for certain experiments.
K422 has no way to deal with these old guys directly, so she can only hope that Laguna and Anti-Entropy will take down the research institutes related to the Senate as soon as possible, and then bring them to justice one by one after she takes over the entire Schicksal.
In fact, the people of the Senate only left a trace in K422's mind.
Now they stand before K422, feigning concern for the Valkyrie, their faces etched with worry about the internal strife within humanity.
From acting skills to attitude, from stance to rhetoric, everything is so correct that it is impossible to refute.
If she chooses to cease hostilities at this point, through the machinations of the Senate, the Schicksal, as the victor of this war, could obtain the entire Shencheng Medicine; however, continuing the fight might very well result in gaining nothing at all.
Just like the damage K422 caused to the headquarters building of Shencheng Medicine.
Almost all the facilities from the basement level to the bottom floor were burned down, and even many Honkai Beasts that had not yet been fully modified died on the spot.
Even if they win this war of Schicksal against the Shencheng Medicine, they will gain nothing but cause more Valkyrie to die needlessly.
However, anyone can say that, except for the members of the Senate.
K422 looked at the group of old men from the Senate with a displeased expression.
Unlike Otto, who had always let the Senate run rampant, the more K422 investigated Schicksal's database, the more he wanted to destroy the entire Senate.
Of course, even if she destroyed the Senate, she would never harm any innocent people, because there are no innocent people in the Senate.
But taking down the Senate is not something that can be done overnight. The Schicksal's diplomacy almost entirely depends on these shameless old men, because politics requires shamelessness, and these old men are probably the most shameless people in the world.
Otto completely ignored the Senate. After seizing the main power, he didn't care about what the Senate did. K422 deeply understood why he always said that he was not suitable to be the Grand Bishop.
This bastard doesn't care about anything else; he only cares about his experiment to revive Kallen.
The Senate was aware of this, which is why they never dared to approach Otto and assert their presence.
After all, the last time they did this, their heirs were all 'accidentally' killed.
For example, the House Cavendish head's son and daughter-in-law both died in an accident.
If she continues to provoke Otto like this, Otto might just make the House Cavendish patriarch's only granddaughter confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Only at times like this does K422 feel nostalgic for that bastard Otto.
Although Otto is a complete scoundrel and extremely ruthless, he is indeed able to keep shameless old men in check.
K422 looked at the veteran actors, each one a master of acting, and then, displaying an acting ability worthy of an Oscar, mourned and wept before her.
Ceasefire, reparations, reducing damage to the Valkyrie —the old folks kept rambling on about these topics, but K422 just glanced at them sideways.
"Excuse me, members of the Senate, it is up to me to decide when this war will end. I am now the Grand Bishop of Schicksal."
What K422 hated most about the Senate was that after she refused to restart the Senate, the old men in the Senate changed their address for her from Acting Grand Bishop to Miss Kiana.
They only bullied her because she was only nine years old and could only rely on Otto's remaining influence.
After K422 finished speaking, she prepared to enter the room where the Jackal was placed. She wouldn't give the Jackal a chance to escape her sight.
Of course, they wouldn't let the Jackal die so easily; they had already instructed Welt to arrange for a medical unit.
"Miss Kiana, you can't say that. Your attitude will make you lose people's hearts."
The House Cavendish head rushed forward to try and stop K422, but K422 dodged him.
"House Cavendish, please don't underestimate me because of my youthful appearance. In fact, I really don't want to listen to your nonsense..."
Even if Otto was someone she disliked, he wouldn't disgust her.
However, the senators of the Senate, the former Cardinal of the Schicksal, can be quite disgusting.
"Let me tell you straight, this war was started by Shencheng Medicine, but I decide when it ends. I don't care if you're doing this for the benefit of Shencheng Medicine' representatives or because you're cooperating with some organization to secretly release the Jackal. In short, don't show your face in front of me, or I'll do the same thing as Otto. The secret forces of Schicksal are in my hands."
Upon hearing K422's blunt answer, the faces of the elders in the Senate all changed.
After K422 entered the room, several Valkyrie stood guard at the door, and the elders of the Senate left the scene in a sorry state.
Once everyone was out of sight, the elders of the Senate launched into a tirade of curses, hurling insults at both Otto and K422, who bore the name Kiana Apocalypse.
"Tsk, calm down, calm down... Take it slow, none of them will escape..."
In the temporary room used to imprison the Jackal, besides the unconscious Jackal, there was also a medical team treating them. As soon as K422 entered the room, he chose to lean against the wall to think.
The more K422 dug into the darkness of the Schicksal, the more powerless she felt. She couldn't understand how Otto managed such a huge organization.
Almost none of them are clean, except for the Valkyrie.
In fact, even among the Valkyrie, there are some who are not clean.
K422 felt that rather than taking charge of the entire Schicksal and settling scores, it would be far better to destroy the entire Schicksal and then rebuild it.
"You damn bishop, is this your Schicksal?"
She couldn't help but want to complain.
They really used it as a tool, and a disposable one at that, without caring whether the Schicksal would be finished in the future.
After reconnecting with Welt, looking worried, quickly asked.
Are you alright?
"It's alright, Mr. Welt, please continue. I'm very interested in becoming stronger."
"This matter cannot be rushed. Just follow my advice and start by mastering a single ability. Although I am not sure if you have awakened the power of the Herrscher of Reason, if you have the power of the Herrscher of Reason, I personally recommend that you first master the power of the Herrscher of Reason."
Welt explained patiently.
"Really? It's not the Ice power, nor the Void power, but the power of the Herrscher of Reason? Okay, I understand."
K422 naturally possesses the power of the Herrscher of Reason. Although she doesn't understand why her physique is so overpowered, just as Welt said, K422 has a premonition that once she masters the power of the Herrscher of Reason, she can easily integrate the power of other Herrscher.
"Mr. Welt, thank you."
K422 quickly thanked the special advisor she had invited.
Welt shook his head.
"I'll help you with the training then. By the way, what did the Senate want to talk to you about?"
"It's nothing, just a ceasefire, and then negotiating with Shencheng Medicine. With those old fogies' appetites, they want to swallow the entire Shencheng Medicine whole, aren't they afraid of overeating?"
"I haven't had much contact with them and don't know much about their situation. It seems the Acting Grand Bishop is in a tough spot. Should I come and help?"
K422 naturally looked down on all the members of the Senate with a serious expression.
If destroying the entire Senate now wouldn't paralyze Schicksal's diplomacy, K422 would have already deployed his secret forces.
Don't assume that just because she's gentle and kind, she won't use a knife.
How dare the people from the Senate come up to her and provoke her, and even talk nonsense with her? Do they really think she can't lift a knife?
It would be no problem for the secret forces to cripple their three generations of descendants.
"No need. The biggest characteristic of the Senate is their thick skin. They always speak shamelessly. Even if you scold them to death, it won't do any good... Those people will act like nothing happened the next day."
So what if we lose our son, as long as we can restart the Senate?
Once the Senate system is reinstated, the Senate will have the same supreme power as Otto, and they will dare to openly select Valkyrie and use them as guinea pigs for experiments.
"... It's really complicated. Is this the structure of Schicksal?"
"Yes, the Schicksal is centered around Otto, and whatever that bastard bishop says goes—that's supreme power. The Senate is just a figurehead now. But that bastard can't do everything himself; things like diplomacy have to be delegated to his subordinates. So he lets the old fogies in the Senate handle diplomacy, while the Schariac Family focuses more on image projects, like charitable work—"
143. This statement is indeed valid.
After ending the communication with Welt, K422 continued to lean against the wall in deep thought.
In fact, the Senate was completely dispensable to Otto. If he had focused on managing the Schicksal, he could have made Schicksal just as good at diplomacy as he did without having the Senate do any diplomacy.
Ultimately, no one can surpass Schicksal in the fight against Honkai Schicksal.
In today's world, fight against Honkai is politically correct, and Otto happens to monopolize knowledge in this area.
The Senate, which initially fought alongside Otto to conquer the world, has now become merely a figurehead after its replacement.
Otto had no interest in diplomacy, national policy, or the situation on the Honkai battlefield.
Therefore, the Senate, the other two major families, and local branches gained certain powers, but everyone knew that the true power of the Mandate of Schicksal lay in its access to a database that recorded a large amount of technology.
Tesla is now so obsessed with Schicksal's database that he's even planning to bring Einstein and Iserin to Schicksal Headquarters.
Of course, I also took the opportunity to express my contempt for Theresa's privileges.
An S-rank Valkyrie has lower authority than an A-rank Valkyrie.
No one knows how much technology is in Schicksal's database, but K422 is certain that Otto did not record all of the technology in the database.
But K422 knew that there was a technology in Schicksal's database that everyone wanted—
That is the technology of immortality.
Yes, the database of Schicksal does indeed record many technologies for extending lifespan, and the most terrifying thing is that it does record technologies for immortality.
The permissions granted to Tesla and Welt by K422 still do not include access to restricted areas.
Even the scientists with the highest authority in the Schicksal rarely have the power to access forbidden technologies. And there aren't many technologies in the database that can be called forbidden, but each one is enough to drive the country that obtains it crazy.
She had no idea why Otto had included such technology in the database.
But upon closer examination, it becomes clear that any organization that dares to usurp the technology of Schicksal will become the target of all forces.
A war fought over technology... that would definitely affect the whole world.
"... Yes, that's a technology that allows you to live forever."
Currently, only K422, who has this permission, can access this technology.
In addition, she can access information on other forbidden techniques.
Compared to such dangerous things, assassination lists and records of human experiments all seem adorable.
However, the Schicksal Database is full of things that could easily trigger a world war.
"We must urge Sister Laguna to act more quickly and eliminate as much of the Senate's expanding influence as possible."
Although K422 was not yet the Acting Grand Bishop when he encouraged Laguna to cooperate with Anti-Entropy, he was unaware that the darkness of the Schicksal was so unfathomable.
But now, she genuinely believes that Laguna's collaboration with Anti-Entropy will help her take down the Senate.
"To be honest, I'm really disgusted. A bunch of old geezers who shouldn't be waiting to go to their coffins are just showing off their acting skills..."
Just a few days ago, the Senate wouldn't have dared to provoke her like this.
This shows that Otto's influence weakened after his departure, which led the old men, whose sons had died, to consider restarting the Senate.