"Is that so wrong? And what if it is? Heh... Theresa, who was it that kept stopping me from going to Schicksal Headquarters? Don't you know that yourself?!"
Siegfried was not in a good mood.
Back after the Second Eruption, disappointed in Schicksal's Grand Bishop, he had resolved to leave the organization. Yet he had failed to take his daughter away from Schicksal with him.
The Grand Bishop of Schicksal had seen through his escape route, and on the day he decided to leave, he was surrounded and attacked by Schicksal forces.
By the time he had driven off the troops surrounding him and returned home, his daughter was already gone.
Only afterward had he escaped danger with Theresa's help.
After defecting from Schicksal, Siegfried had constantly searched for his daughter.
But his daughter had vanished without a trace. He had even secretly returned to the Kaslana Family, yet found no answers there either. In the end, Siegfried came to believe that his daughter had been killed and completely gave himself over to despair, drinking himself senseless every day.
Theresa had always insisted that his daughter was in Bishop Otto's hands.
But if his daughter had fallen into Bishop Otto's hands, her fate might have been even more horrific.
That was precisely why Siegfried had become completely dependent on alcohol.
He used to drink, but never this badly. Now, he never stopped from morning until night.
After all, every night, Siegfried dreamed of his daughter screaming in agony as she was cruelly cut into pieces, then stored in jar after jar filled with formaldehyde.
In those dreams, his wife Cecilia endlessly questioned why he would not save their daughter. To escape those nightmares, Siegfried chose to numb himself. Of course, he wished he could rush straight to Schicksal Headquarters and perish alongside Bishop Otto using Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment.
But every time, Theresa stood before him and stopped him.
It was not until last year that news came from Schicksal Headquarters: Kiana Kaslana, who had suddenly fallen terminally ill, had been cured. However, due to an accident during an experiment, she had lost many memories.
Bishop Otto announced that he would become Kiana Kaslana's guardian.
Having believed his daughter was dead, Siegfried could not describe the feeling of getting her back after losing her.
Furious, he had prepared to storm Schicksal Headquarters and rescue his daughter.
But this time, Theresa had still stood in front of him and stopped him.
Siegfried also knew that the plan he had devised would be far too easy for Bishop Otto to see through.
Once his tracks were exposed, he would have to hide from the troops Bishop Otto sent after him. Then it would become even more impossible to rescue his daughter from Schicksal Headquarters.
Again and again, Siegfried forced himself to calm down.
Listening to one heartbreaking piece of news after another coming from Schicksal Headquarters.
Again and again, enduring it as Theresa told him to.
Until now, Siegfried could endure no longer.
"Theresa! I don't care what exactly you're planning, but I can't wait any longer. I'm taking Kiana away, taking her somewhere no one can find her!"
Siegfried slammed his fist onto the table. Countless bottles were jolted straight off it, crashing into fragments with a clatter. The heavy smell of alcohol clung to his entire body. Clearly, he no longer cared about the consequences.
Theresa's teeth itched with anger. She wanted nothing more than to walk over and slap Siegfried across the face.
She could understand how he felt, but his plan was so crude it left her speechless.
First, rush into Schicksal Headquarters. Second, unleash Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment. Third, take Kiana and leave headquarters... What kind of bullshit plan was that?
He might be exposed before he even reached Schicksal Headquarters.
As civilization developed, Schicksal's technological level had continued to rise. It had long since placed the entire Mediterranean under surveillance.
And as for unleashing Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment, never mind the enormous price it required—what if he accidentally caught his own daughter in the blast?
Was Siegfried planning to take away a grilled Kiana? Or a charcoal Kiana?
Growing even more annoyed, Theresa said, "You muscle-brained idiot, you say you want to take Kiana away, but do you even know where she's being held?"
How could she not want to take Kiana out of Schicksal Headquarters?
Every time she went to Schicksal Headquarters and saw Kiana being influenced by Bishop Otto, her heart ached more.
She had once sworn to protect Cecilia.
But she had failed to protect her.
That was why Theresa wanted to protect everything Cecilia had wished to protect.
Whether it was the foolish man before her or the heart-wrenching Kiana at Schicksal Headquarters, both were people Cecilia had wanted to protect.
To keep Theresa from pinpointing Kiana's location, Bishop Otto frequently had Kiana moved from room to room.
Aside from a few Little Maids Kiana favored, the teams of maids around Kiana were also replaced batch after batch.
During her investigation, Theresa had also accidentally learned where K423, Kiana's clone, was being kept.
Theresa even suspected that Bishop Otto had deliberately let her learn of K423's existence.
"But if this continues, Kiana is going to become a Valkyrie." Siegfried said unwillingly.
"Becoming a Valkyrie isn't necessarily a bad thing. Of course I know becoming a Valkyrie shortens one's lifespan, but in this world, becoming a Valkyrie actually gives her a better chance of protecting herself. Is the Kaslana Family's Bloodline Power necessarily stronger than a Valkyrie? Besides, she also has the Schariac Family's Bloodline Power. It would be such a waste if she didn't become a Valkyrie."
The moment Theresa heard from Bishop Otto that Kiana would undergo Valkyrie modification surgery, she applied to return to Schicksal Headquarters.
But because the Assault Team had been transferred to Britain and could not return anytime soon, Amber rejected her application.
Though the reason for rejection was perfectly legitimate, Theresa knew Bishop Otto had done it deliberately.
He wanted to prevent her from causing trouble while Kiana underwent Valkyrie modification surgery.
But Bishop Otto did not know that Theresa had already changed her mind.
Even if Cecilia had not wanted her daughter to become a Schicksal warrior.
Theresa still wanted Kiana to have the ability to protect herself.
After all, as long as Honkai remained, nowhere in this world would ever be absolutely safe.
"Theresa!!" Siegfried roared.
"Can you protect her for the rest of her life?!"
Theresa shouted back without yielding an inch.
Fortunately, the private room was well soundproofed. Otherwise, their argument would definitely have carried outside.
"Of course I can!!"
Siegfried stood up and faced Theresa.
"So you've decided to keep Kiana by your side and prevent her from meeting anyone. How is that any different from Kiana being at Schicksal Headquarters? The only difference is that the person locking her up changes from her grandfather to you."
Theresa could not help sneering.
Hearing the contempt in Theresa's words, Siegfried fell silent. His knees gave way, and he weakly sank back into his chair.
Theresa watched Siegfried without changing expression.
She knew very well that both she and Siegfried wanted to protect Kiana.
If Kiana's situation were truly terrible, then no matter how flawed Siegfried's plan was, Theresa would support him.
But the problem was that Kiana's situation was not as bad as she had imagined.
Her grandfather had not subjected Kiana to cruel experiments either. Kiana, who had initially brought up leaving Schicksal Headquarters to Theresa, no longer mentioned it now. She even smiled happily every day.
Especially after borrowing Theresa's account and Laguna's documents to make a new account, then scoring ninety-five thousand points twice in Kallen Fantasy.
For those few days, her grandfather Otto had been in an extremely foul mood.
"Kiana now has a group of admirers at Schicksal Headquarters, and she's very good at making friends. The trainees from her cohort all admire her greatly," Theresa said calmly.
According to Theresa's investigation, it was K423, the clone, whose situation was quite terrible.
It was said that K423 had recently undergone an excessive Honkai Energy injection experiment and had been paralyzed on one side for half a month.
Because she was also an experiment subject, Theresa sympathized with K423 even more and wanted to rescue K423 from Schicksal Headquarters.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"
Siegfried viciously clawed at his hair, raging at his own helplessness.
His wife had not wanted their daughter to become a Schicksal warrior, and had once been delighted to learn that their daughter had not awakened the Schariac Family's Bloodline Power.
Yet she had never expected that their daughter would now activate the Schariac Family's Bloodline Power.
And under the Grand Bishop's influence, become a warrior loyal to Schicksal.
"...I'll find a way to let you meet Kiana."
Seeing Siegfried like this, Theresa could not bear it either.
But the rescue plan she and Siegfried had thought up was far too simplistic. Even if they rescued Kiana, the two of them could only hide away in some remote, uninhabited place.
If Kiana's circumstances at Schicksal Headquarters were truly awful, Theresa would risk her life to help Siegfried.
In truth, she had already made Kiana's situation sound worse than it really was.
Theresa did not know why Bishop Otto favored Kiana so much. He practically doted on her as though she were his own daughter.
People who did not know the truth had already begun spreading rumors that Bishop Otto intended to adopt Kiana Kaslana.
And Kiana Kaslana was treated like a little princess at Schicksal Headquarters. She had a dedicated dressing room, and Bishop Otto had placed over a thousand outfits inside it.
That was only this year's share. Supposedly, next year he would build two dressing rooms for Kiana.
Honestly, Theresa was a little jealous. She had never received treatment like that back then.
That was also why Theresa had such a headache.
After all, Kiana had been far too young when she and Siegfried were separated. Theresa could not be sure whether Kiana still remembered Siegfried as her father.
"Really?"
Theresa's proposal filled Siegfried with joy.
Unfortunately, Theresa did not think much of Siegfried's chances.
After all, on one side was Schicksal's Grand Bishop, and on the other was a slovenly middle-aged man reeking of alcohol.
No normal person would choose the latter as their father.
"It's true. I'll arrange it, but... I hope you won't get too excited when the time comes. Don't reveal your identity immediately. I can't be sure what Kiana is thinking now..."
I Was This 'Naive' and Foolish
Although she had agreed easily enough, Theresa had a headache over how to smuggle Siegfried into Schicksal Headquarters.
Meanwhile, aboard the Anti-Entropy Ark.
After wandering around outside for more than half a year, the Anti-Entropy Alliance Leader had made a rare appearance at a leadership meeting.
Unlike Schicksal's centralized management structure, Anti-Entropy used an alliance-based management system.
Within Anti-Entropy existed a rank known as Executors. Their status was second only to Alliance Leader Welt, but they held independent authority and oversaw different organizations under Anti-Entropy's influence.
As an organization, Anti-Entropy had developed too quickly, making it unsuitable to continue using the management system from its days as a Schicksal branch.
After all, Anti-Entropy's veterans were mostly researchers lacking the ability to command armies or run businesses. Thus, the Executor system was created, allowing each of them to take responsibility for the fields they excelled in.
Most Anti-Entropy Executors were people who, for one reason or another, were unwilling to cooperate with Schicksal, or were even hostile to it.
Anti-Entropy had once attempted to recruit Siegfried Kaslana, but he had politely declined.
Because they could play important roles in the fight against Honkai, Welt gave them considerable freedom. He hoped every Executor would support and assist one another in their respective fields of expertise, making it impossible for Schicksal to easily eradicate Anti-Entropy.
However, because Anti-Entropy's Executors each acted independently and held vastly different ideals, their cooperative relationships were extremely unstable.
Welt Yang had attended this meeting to mediate the situation among the various Executors.
He also knew that Conservatives and Reformists were gradually taking shape within Anti-Entropy. But at present, the Reformists were too weak to affect the position of the Conservatives led by Einstein and Tesla.
In fact, it was precisely this system that had allowed Anti-Entropy to develop so rapidly.
Take Raiden Ryoma, one of the Executors. Publicly, he was the president of ME Company.
ME Company's goal was to create Honkai Energy weapons that ordinary people could use. But because Honkai Energy utilization remained inefficient, the weapons currently produced lacked sufficient power.
Secretly, as an Executor, he provided Anti-Entropy with conveniences and arms.
The return of Anti-Entropy's Alliance Leader was naturally a major event.
After all, the Executors had long grown accustomed to him vanishing for a year or half at a time without warning.
Before you continue