Chapter 171
"Oh, by the way, this terrorist organization is just a shell; it's actually part of the World Serpent organization. I had some members of Anti-Entropy and Schicksal impersonate that terrorist organization and place orders with Mikoyan through channels provided by Cocolia and Jackal. These orders were mixed in with a large number of smuggled orders, and Mikoyan Company didn't detect them at all..."
"..."×3
Freya did not notice the speechless expressions on the faces of Welt, Tesla, and Theresa.
191. This world is never short of repeaters.
It's an open secret in the weapons manufacturing industry that some companies take on shady orders.
Some countries even sell weapons to rebel groups in other countries, making their internal conflicts even more intense. Once the rebels gain the upper hand, they immediately sell the weapons to the government of those countries.
This would not only exacerbate internal strife but also slow down the development of other countries.
It also allows you to dispose of weapons that are about to expire and obtain a large amount of money.
Most arms dealers don't sell the latest weaponry; they mainly buy out weapons that have passed their service life and are about to be scrapped from various countries at low prices, and then resell them at high prices to less developed countries.
These countries are often plagued by internal strife or wars with neighboring countries over resources or land issues, for various reasons.
Of course, behind these countries are the shadows of powerful nations.
It's fair to say that the arms industry is a place where you can make money indefinitely.
Race, nation, skin color, religion... there are many reasons to start a conflict. Even Schicksal, an organization that fight against Honkai, will choose to sell Honkai Energy weapons that have passed their service life to arms dealers.
However, the Schicksal will not be so obvious. In addition, once the Honkai Energy in the Honkai Energy weapon goes out of control, it will cause a small-scale explosion. The spread Honkai Energy will corrode the human body and attract a large number of Honkai Beast.
In order to combat the Honkai Beast appearing on the battlefield, the sales of Honkai Energy weapons that were about to be phased out will increase.
If you encounter an insurmountable Honkai Beast, you can only ask Schicksal for help. Schicksal will then send one or more Valkyrie squad, but such help is not free.
Sometimes it's the mines of those small countries, sometimes it's the oil field shares they're vying for, and so on... Anyway, there are many ways for Schicksal to make money, especially by monopolizing professional technologies.
It's not that no one has tried to analyze Schicksal's Honkai Energy weapons, but once those near-obsolete Honkai Energy weapons are disassembled, it's basically an explosion caused by an imbalance of Honkai Energy.
Welt, Tesla, and Theresa were speechless for a moment.
They didn't know much about the arms trade, but they did know that the profits in this area were enormous.
Even Ryoma's ME Company is involved in arms dealing and accepts illicit orders, which shows just how lucrative this sector is.
Crucially, compared to firearms and Honkai Energy weapons, the political resources possessed by Schicksal and Anti-Entropy allow them to purchase retired fighter jets, tanks, and other heavy weapons from major powers' militaries at extremely low prices.
But as mentioned before, there are many ways for Schicksal to make money, and ME Company is no exception.
On the contrary, the Mikoyan Design Bureau itself is a manufacturer of heavy weapons, and their only way to make money is by selling arms.
After all, World Serpent members are scattered all over the world, so Mikoyan Manufacturing Company doesn't need to become omnipotent. For example, the president of a Swiss bank is also a member of World Serpent. If it hadn't been exposed by Schicksal, World Serpent would never have fallen into financial difficulties.
Freya had members of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy impersonate the World Serpent mercenary organization to place an order for weapons of enough quantity to start a small-scale war. She then sent a threatening letter to a major power in the name of this organization, confirming that the mercenary organization was an extremist terrorist group.
Then Cocolia reported that Director Mikoyan was secretly funding this terrorist organization.
This instantly ruined the director's reputation, and even Mikoyan's board of directors to decide to remove him...
After the lawsuit is over in a few days, Cocolia will replace that director as a director of Mikoyan.
Then they slowly seized control of the entire Mikoyan Design Bureau.
After all, Cocolia once tried to frame Ryoma, implicate Ryoma in the ME Company scandal, and arrest him so that she could seize control of Anti-Entropy's ME Company.
Although the plan has changed somewhat, it was still prepared in advance, so framing that director was not difficult. Cocolia bribed several directors and used coercion and enticement to make them willing to obey the orders of Schicksal.
Therefore, the fate of the director who stubbornly fought against Schicksal is already sealed.
He was ousted by the board, prosecuted for funding terrorists, and then imprisoned.
The judge presiding over the case had already been bribed by Cocolia, so there was no way the case could be overturned. There were no famous detectives in this world who were solely focused on finding the truth.
As for what kind of war is being started in the Middle East, that's not the point. The most important thing is to use the war in the Middle East to send a message or intimidate the major powers behind the scenes... After all, the weapons in the order are enough to destroy the resources that the major powers want to fight for.
Ultimately, that director sided with World Serpent. Although he didn't flee with World Serpent, his headstrong decision aroused the resentment of the other directors.
The board of directors of Mikoyan Company has changed several times. Not everyone knows that the Honkai crystal Inlay technology used by Mikoyan comes from the World Serpent, and they do not believe in Kevin.
They only knew that investing in Mikoyan Company would bring them even greater profits. When one of the directors hindered their ability to make money, even if he was the largest director or the founder of Mikoyan, he would be excluded from this game of capital.
Cocolia started it all, and then the other directors kicked her while she was down.
That's right, the real reason that director was ruined was because of the other directors kicking him when he was down.
"Let Cocolia handle this matter. We can have the others withdrawn..."
Freya plans to have all the people disguised as World Serpent's overseas mercenary organization withdraw. Of course, the heavy weapons that were bought with only a Schicksal will also be brought back to Schicksal's research institute. Before Cocolia and Mikoyan defect to Mikoyan, they can study these weapons first... As for the final payment, Freya naturally plans to default on it.
Anyway, this overseas mercenary organization is no longer of any use, and Freya will have them fabricate a story that their destruction was due to unequal distribution of spoils before they retreat.
This is the fate of most terrorists: either they are unable to divide the spoils equally, or they are directly crushed by a stronger army.
As for being suspected by other countries... Freya is not afraid at all, given the current momentum of her Schicksal.
Moreover, what truly provoked a backlash from major powers was the involvement of this overseas mercenary organization in the Middle East wars. In reality, however, this overseas mercenary organization only sent out threatening letters, merely pretending to intervene in the wars in the Middle East.
"..."
Welt remained silent, though sometimes he couldn't stand Freya's actions either.
However, he must also admit that Freya's approach was indeed very efficient.
Of course, after comparing Freya with Otto, Welt was able to accept Freya's approach.
After all, Freya only extremely harsh on her enemies, but quite friendly to her own people.
Meanwhile, Otto, once he started fighting, even betrayed his own people...
It's important to know that the predecessor of Anti-Entropy was the North American Branch of Schicksal. From Tesla and Einstein to Planck and Edison, they were all Schicksal researchers.
Otto tricked them into becoming the founders and implementers of Anti-Entropy.
It is clear that his practices are largely unpopular.
Many Valkyrie and researchers who realized that Otto did not want to fight against Honkai were quietly dealt with by the so-called Scavenger Squad.
Anti-Entropy saved many researchers who were being dealt with, and for this reason, they harbored extreme hatred towards the Schicksal.
Even now, he still stands in the camp of the Reformists and is unwilling to cooperate with Schicksal.
Even though some of the Reformists members have switched sides to the Conservatives under Freya's influence, some members still go their own way and regard Schicksal as their greatest enemy.
Of course, Freya has no intention of changing the opinions of these people.
It's not necessarily a good thing for an organization to have only one voice; she actually hopes that the so-called Reformists can surpass Schicksal.
Unfortunately, all those Reformists could do was shout "Oro! Otto!", which disappointed Freya.
This world is never short of repeaters.
Without expecting the Reformists to surpass Schicksal, Freya could only strive to make the alliance between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy even stronger.
"Let's put Mikoyan's problem aside for now; Cocolia can handle that. Mr. Welt, are there any urgent matters that require immediate attention?"
Freya's efforts to accelerate the development of Schicksal were naturally not without their challenges.
The excessive strength of Schicksal itself would arouse the suspicion of great powers. Although Freya destroyed an organization Human Alliance, the old fogies in the Senate were not the real cause of such anti- Schicksal.
Defiance of Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and the supremacy of humanity ultimately revolve around self-interest.
In fact, there are also powerful countries behind the Human Alliance. Freya is unsure whether Human Alliance, which is facing financial difficulties and is on the verge of dissolution, will be taken over by someone.
To prevent any accidents, she placed an undercover agent within the Human Alliance.
"Yes, the Valkyrie who remained in Schicksal have objections to the order of priority for replacing the Type-B Stigmata— "
Welt flipped through the documents in front of him. He had originally intended to deal with this matter in the afternoon, but judging from Freya's speed in handling matters that morning, this matter could be brought forward for review.
"And the impact on the current Valkyrie levels after the power surge following the replacement of the Type-B Stigmata..."
The entire Assault Team has been upgraded to Type-B Stigmata. Several Valkyrie with A-rank combat power, such as Laguna and those with apricot-colored wavy hair, now possess combat power equivalent to Theresa. The other Valkyrie below A-rank have all far surpassed the combat power of a regular A-rank.
Even though the Assault Team itself is powerful, it has indeed proven the terrifying boost that the Type-B Stigmata provides to combat power.
Most importantly, the technology of the Type-B Stigmata is still in the process of being perfected. Therefore, simply replacing a new Stigmata will increase combat power several times over and naturally impact the existing Valkyrie level.
It's important to know that being A-rank Valkyrie in Schicksal represents status, including the ability to establish Valkyrie squad, apply for an independent Floating Battleship, and be stationed in a Honkai battlefield, among many other benefits.
In the past Schicksal favored A-rank Valkyrie because A-rank Valkyrie were so rare and many Valkyrie died in battle after the Second Eruption War. To replenish their fighting strength, the difficulty of the assessment was lowered. But now, simply changing the Type-B Stigmata is enough to become A-rank Valkyrie, which has indeed raised new issues.
Fortunately, the production of Type-B Stigmata is currently limited, and only the Assault Team and Lewis Squad have replaced Type-B Stigmata so far. However, this problem will inevitably surface sooner or later.
192. They're so damn jealous!
Welt's question was indeed very important, and Freya gave it serious consideration. Tesla also sent the question to his staff team in the Far East.
This question touches upon the significance of the Valkyrie's existence.
Before the Aristocratic Faction and Commoner Faction, the Valkyrie were originally warriors trained by the Schicksal to fight the Honkai head-on on the front lines, responsible for eliminating or capturing the Deadman and Honkai Beast generated after the Honkai.
Since women are generally much more adaptable to Honkai Energy than men, and young girls are particularly adaptable, these warriors are mostly young girls, who are called Valkyrie.
Coincidentally, the Schicksal Headquarters is located in a cluster of Floating Island, and the nine main floating islands are named after the nine kingdoms in Norse mythology.
However, due to technological immaturity, or perhaps Otto's deliberate actions, artificial Stigmata can also cause great burden and damage to the host, significantly shortening the Valkyrie's lifespan.
As the organization has grown, the duties of modern Valkyrie have expanded significantly, including security assistance, logistical support, intelligence gathering Valkyrie, and even infiltration and assassination.
Simply put, any task involving upholding the interests of Schicksal and requiring combat power is likely to be assigned to the Valkyrie.
Valkyrie are generally divided into four levels, from A to D, and can be promoted by passing an assessment.
Only Valkyrie of rank B or higher are qualified to fight, while Valkyrie of rank A or higher not only have the authority to fight alone and the opportunity to be directly assigned missions by headquarters, but can also apply for their own warships and form their own combat squads. For most Valkyrie, rank A is the ultimate goal.
In addition to the four regular ranks, there is a special S-rank, but this rank is reserved for Valkyrie who have 'special significance' and cannot be reached through ordinary promotion.
However, this situation no longer applies to the current version.
However, the four levels of A, B, C, D, and even S are no longer sufficient to measure the Valkyrie's ability to replace the Type-B Stigmata.
Of course, although Theresa is used as a combat unit, her strength is actually limited by the Judas' Oath. If she uses the Blood Knight: Moonbeam Armor, even without relying on the Judas' Oath, Theresa can be more than ten times stronger than in her normal state.
Judah's true power is the Divine Grace Barrier, but this ability to seal Divine Grace Barrier Honkai Energy is not favorable to Theresa, the user.
Valkyrie with the new Type-B Stigmata will have at least A-rank combat power. With suitable Valkyrie Armor and Honkai Energy weapons, it's not difficult for her to unleash power above A-rank.
Meanwhile, the B-rank Valkyrie have been at the forefront all year round easily gained combat power above A-rank under the enhancement of the Type-B Stigmata. Their Honkai Energy has also been improved. Valkyrie could not directly use Honkai Energy to fight in the past can now use the Type-B Stigmata to be as flashy as they want.
Even without weapons, they can manipulate Honkai Energy to perform attacks with attributes such as ice, fire, lightning, and water.
The days when we could only fight Honkai Beast and Deadman with Honkai Energy weapons are over.
A-rank Valkyrie like Laguna, once equipped with the Type-B Stigmata, become standard S-rank Valkyrie in terms of combat power, and their Honkai Energy manipulation rises to an unbelievable level. Those who don't know the situation might think that Laguna possesses Stigmata, but in reality, Laguna's Stigmata awakening rate is only 56%.
The more Type-B Stigmata gene fragments a person has in their body, the more exaggerated the enhancement of their combat power. For example, Himeko's Stigmata Honkai Energy has reached the level of Simulated Herrscher.
That is, Freya's level when she first awakened the power of the Herrscher.
In fact, in a recent test, Himeko successfully fired an Armor Piercing Flame Spear at the target, but due to the damage caused by the modification of the Valkyrie, as well as the burden on her body caused by the rejection between the artificial Stigmata and the original Stigmata fragments, even with the Type-B Stigmata, Himeko's body could not hold on for long. She completely lost her combat ability after just three conversions of the Armor Piercing Flame Spear.
The intense headache and the heaviness in her body caused her to collapse.
It must be said that her body was so fragile that even Laguna asked her to rest and did not regard her as the Assault Team's top combat force at all.
Yes, Himeko is now arguably the strongest fighter in the Assault Team.
Previously, Honkai Energy could only strengthen the body, and even if one gained Honkai Energy manipulation, it could only amplify the attack power of Honkai Energy weapons to a certain extent.
The current Type-B Stigmata can enhance the physical strength of even the weakest B-rank Valkyrie, and their control over Honkai Energy can reach a level that was unimaginable in the past.
This made the Valkyrie who hadn't yet equipped themselves with the Type-B Stigmata even more envious.
The Aristocratic Faction Valkyrie have a broader perspective and are more aware of the impact that Type-B Stigmata will have on the world in the future, compared to the Commoner Faction Valkyrie.
Therefore, they couldn't wait to change their Type-B Stigmata.
However, Freya repeatedly rejected them due to limited production, which is why the Valkyrie had doubts about the order of succession.
For example, the Lewis squad, which is composed entirely of B-rank Valkyrie.
Due to the review mechanism, the B-rank before the Second Eruption was much stronger than the current B-rank, while the A-rank was the elite of the elite.
Lewis's B-rank is from the Second Eruption War, which naturally means that her combat strength is genuine. It's just that she didn't take the A-rank Valkyrie exam, otherwise she would be A-rank Valkyrie now.
However, she herself seems to believe that A-level should be the standard in the Snow Wolf Squad.
After changing to the Type-B Stigmata, she was even able to manipulate gravity and the earth. This manipulation of Honkai Energy caused an astonishing increase in her physical strength, to the point that... she has recently become very distressed and even wants to retire early.