Chapter 317
Bianca and Sophia's faces both darkened.
"Miss Shakespeare, since you look down on us, why don't we have a contest? Whether it's me or Sophia, we promise not to use Honkai Energy."
"Hahahaha? What kind of contest? Close combat? First mate, are you interested in exchanging a few blows with this crazy girl?"
Shakespeare laughed.
She herself had planned to test the skills of the others.
"I refuse."
The Iron Mask answered very decisively.
Bianca was about to make a sarcastic remark about Shakespeare when the Iron Mask immediately replied.
"If the troupe leader gives me an extra bonus this month, I might consider it."
"Oh? So confident? You should know that the Valkyrie of today are different from those of the Alliance era."
Bianca looked at the Iron Mask and said.
"Hahahaha, no problem, no problem. A theater owner who withholds overtime pay isn't a good captain!"
Shakespeare, perhaps a bit of a troublemaker, chimed in.
She was clearly testing Rita and the others' abilities, and Rita gave a charming smile.
Or perhaps Rita's smile was so alluring that even Shakespeare, a woman himself, couldn't help but glance at her twice.
"In that case, I have a favor to ask."
"Oh?"
"Since the captain wants to test our strength, and there are exactly three of us, how about the captain arranges for one more person so we can have a three-on-three duel?"
Rita's gaze never left the Iron Mask.
The Iron Mask, who was completely covered up, was more suspicious than the submarine's captain, Shakespeare.
"You can tell? Well... I won't stand on ceremony then. My boatswain Leila is quite capable too."
Shakespeare smiled and agreed.
A dozen minutes later, the group began a three-on-three match on the shore of the small island they had landed on.
On one side was a team consisting of the captain, first mate, and boatswain of the Caledonius, and on the other side was a team consisting of the first mate of the Saintess Schicksal the Alliance and two Titled Knights.
Because Shakespeare said that the world's energy recovery rate had slowed down a hundredfold, Bianca and the others also chose to conserve Honkai Energy during the battle.
Unable to use their familiar weapons and techniques, Bianca and Sophia could only rely on the martial arts and Fajin Technique taught by Immortal Fu Hua.
"Inch Force! Heaven-Opening!!"
"Inch Force! Heaven-Opening!!"
The captains and bosuns in the captain's crew were completely dumbfounded.
He was beaten so badly that he questioned his existence.
Meanwhile, Rita kept testing the captain's first mate.
As the manager of the Covert Mobile Force and the head of the intelligence agency, Rita didn't specifically study any special techniques, but she did have a talent for assassination.
As for the 'Dragon Slaying Technique' taught by Freya, even though Rita was initially reluctant to learn it, she eventually mastered it for Freya's sake.
Of course, Rita was only testing the Iron Mask at this point.
To demonstrate the strength of the league, two Sealed Rank knights are enough.
The Iron Mask had long been drawn to the two girls, who were only twelve years old.
"So strong... Even Leanna isn't this powerful."
Hearing the Iron Mask's exclamation, Rita's eyes lit up.
The name the other party mentioned seemed to be related to the Schicksal.
According to Shakespeare, she learned about the Schicksal from her first mate, the Iron Mask.
Rita slightly increased the distance; since the outcome on Bianca's side had already been decided, she naturally didn't need to stand out too much.
Rita, who was deep in thought with a serious expression, quickly recalled the owner of the name.
"Leanna... Leanna Brigantia? One of the holders of the Black Abyss White Flower, the strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal in the past?!"
"You know Lady Leanna? Lady Leanna died on November 24, 1955, during the Thanksgiving Day disaster, also known as the New York Incident. You were involved in the New York Incident? But neither Tesla nor Einstein mentioned any other survivors..."
Perhaps the name the other party inadvertently revealed was too shocking, because Rita couldn't even control her mouth.
Rita didn't expect that the other person's shock was no less than hers.
"What? Tesla? Einstein? Why would they be associated with the Schicksal Ones?"
For the Iron Mask, it was difficult to determine good and evil within the Schicksal, but she particularly disliked one of Schicksal Grand Bishop.
Given such a conflict, she didn't think Tesla, Einstein, and the others would maintain a friendly relationship with Schicksal; the only option would probably be for the entire North American Branch to betray them.
Rita quickly shut her mouth, and the Iron Mask immediately regained his composure; both of them chose to remain silent at the same time.
Although she didn't find out anything, Rita decided to use the Black Cube to contact Tesla and the others later.
After all, this Iron Mask was far too suspicious.
Meanwhile, Shakespeare, who had been knocked down by Bianca's punch, remained immersed in grief.
There were no earth-shattering special effects, no blooming of the Buddha's wrathful lotus, and no epic duels of masters flying through the air. All that was there was a punch to the stomach, a heavy blow that almost came from lunch.
Shakespeare, lying on the shore, looked incredibly forlorn.
The sudden surge of water engulfed her, and as the waves receded, Shakespeare, soaked to the bone, appeared all the more desolate.
"...Sorry, I might have hit too hard."
Even without using Honkai Energy, the physical strength of the new generation of Valkyrie far exceeds the limits of humanity; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them new humans.
If the research team needs to use Honkai Energy to smash a double-decker bus with Fist of Mountain Splitting, then the combat team can smash a double-decker bus with their bare hands without any enhancement, and some can even blow it up directly.
Although Splitting Mountains, Dividing Seas, and Creating Heaven were just names given jokingly by a certain Saintess, the reason why the 13th batch of freshmen liked these names so much was because they hoped that they could one day reach that level.
"Of course, I've already held back. If I had used Honkai Energy, I could have blown up a small mountain."
"..."
Upon hearing Bianca's words, Shakespeare's expression became even more miserable.
It can basically be described as a state of utter despair.
They even brought out stomach acid, and then they said they were going to go easy on him, even though he once blew up a small mountain. Who are they looking down on, Newton? Or Einstein?
Shakespeare glanced at Bianca and Sophia, who seemed unfazed by the situation and didn't appear to be putting on an exaggerated show.
If it were her, although she certainly couldn't blow up a small mountain, she would definitely use an exaggerated performance to make others believe that she really had.
Of course, this is also what makes her different from others.
However, the two men's calm demeanor finally convinced Shakespeare that Bianca might actually have blown up a small mountain.
Thinking about it this way, Shakespeare was even more confused.
I'm still alive!!!
360. How did the Schicksal become like this?!
Shakespeare, washed by the waves several times, still lies on the shore.
She originally wanted to test just how strong the 'Valkyrie' her first mate had described.
Moreover, seeing that Bianca was younger and more ambitious, only about twelve or thirteen years old, she naturally wanted to win by relying on her rich combat experience, and then ridicule her in a condescending manner after winning...
As a theater company director who thrived on chaos, Shakespeare enjoyed teasing little girls like Bianca.
Certainly.
This teasing is not the same as that teasing.
Those who have impure thoughts should go stand in the corner and reflect on their actions.
To be precise, it is the care and love that elders have for younger generations.
It is also a test for those who are capable.
However, her plan was shattered by a punch that the other party 'showed mercy' to.
Ah, to be honest, Shakespeare never expected to survive. Even though her mind was now capable of wild thoughts, she was still in a daze from being beaten by Bianca.
I feel terrible.
I want to cry.
Fortunately, I wasn't the only one suffering.
Her boatswain suffered the same pain, his back arching in agony like a roasted shrimp.
The young girl who had knocked her boatswain down with one punch looked at the flames on her fist, secretly extinguished them, and hid her hand behind her back. An embarrassed smile appeared on her fair and innocent face.
Well, Shakespeare has to admit the boatswain was worse off.
"Alright, I admit, your strength has exceeded my expectations."
She had initially wanted to boast that "the gravity on this planet is too strong," but after careful consideration, she realized that her body probably couldn't withstand a second punch, so she had no choice but to admit defeat.
"..."
The Iron Mask fell silent.
Seeing the Valkyrie's current performance, she was immediately filled with a sense of bewilderment, as if she had been completely abandoned by the times.
When did the Valkyrie in Schicksal become this strong?
She knew Leanna Brigantia, the strongest Valkyrie from the original Schicksal.
Even the strongest Valkyrie from the original Schicksal, Leanna, was not as powerful as these two young Valkyrie.
Moreover, when introducing themselves, the other party said that they were Titled Knight of the Apocalypse Knights directly under the Alliance's Schicksal Saintess.
Based on her understanding of the Schicksal, the Schicksal Saintess was just a nominal position, mainly an ambassador selected by the Schariac Family, while the so-called Apocalypse Knights could be traced back to the period when the Schicksal Church was developing and growing in Europe, when the Schicksal Church expanded its territory with the four major knightly orders.
After the famous Eastern Expedition failed, the Apocalypse Knights gradually declined. Starting with the unexpected death of the Grand Master of the War Knight Order, the Grand Masters of other knightly orders also died due to accidents or illnesses. In the end, the Apocalypse Knights disbanded for various reasons.
When the Iron Mask made contact with the Schicksal, the Schicksal no longer had the so-called Apocalypse Knights.
"How long have I been gone...?"
The Iron Mask, from the mid-twentieth century, is increasingly perplexed.
What exactly is the League? And what exactly is Titled Knight?
Seeing Bianca frankly admit his strength, Shakespeare happily reached out and helped him up from the ground.
"You guys are really strong..." Shakespeare said, rubbing his stomach.
Sophia, looking embarrassed, also pulled up Boatswain Leila.
"Seriously, how exactly did you train her? My first mate never said Valkyrie could be this strong."
Shakespeare complained.
She felt that her crushing defeat was entirely her first mate's fault; it was her deliberate refusal to reveal the Valkyrie's immense power that had embarrassed her, the troupe leader.
Her words drew the attention of Bianca and Sophia to the suspicious-looking Iron Mask.
Bianca glanced at the Iron Mask a few times, and to satisfy Shakespeare's curiosity, she gave a brief explanation of the Alliance's current system.
Originally, the Saintess believed that the new generation of Valkyrie should be trained with more time and money, and it would be safer for them to spend more time in school and wait until they were sixteen years old before going on missions.
However, people have different talents, and in the end, the Saintess decided to determine the graduation threshold for students based on their strength and achievements.
That being said, she increased the training costs by hundreds of times.
It's worth noting that Valkyrie used to be very inexpensive to produce, which may be why Valkyrie were treated as consumables.
Organizations like Anti-Entropy wouldn't treat their Titan Mech as consumables.
Each one of those things is incredibly expensive to manufacture; even if it could be produced using an automated production line, it would still cost the equivalent of a Boeing passenger plane.