Chapter 340
"White Serpent, I'm leaving this matter to you to investigate."
At this moment, Kevin chose to stop trusting his own memories.
He believes that memories are likely deceptive; Previous Civilization had the technology, and in modern times, even modifying memories wouldn't be difficult. In fact, the current Schicksal possesses the technology to extract and modify memories.
"Yes, ma'am."
Kiana bowed to Kevin in salute.
"I believe in you."
"..."
Kiana's expression stiffened slightly upon hearing Kevin's encouragement.
Kevin would never say something like that, so Kiana was completely stunned when Kevin encouraged her.
In the end, Kiana could only leave the hall with a serious expression.
But after leaving the hall, she could no longer control the expression on her face. A mixture of surprise, joy, and a wry smile instantly filled her delicate, pretty face.
Just as the World Serpent are nervous about the Alliance's underhanded tactics, the various national powers are also feeling tense.
It is clear that the alliance's move was indeed quite earth-shattering, causing all the forces that were originally in a wait-and-see state to take their positions ahead of time.
Rita, Bianca, and Sophia, still trapped in the World Bubble, continue their adventure.
Freya felt at ease because Rita was there to help.
Whether they were her 'heroes' or her 'knights', Freya was always worried about whether they had been injured.
Of course, if Rita gets injured.
Freya intends to chop off whoever extends their claws.
Freya has made quite a few arrangements for Tesla, Einstein, Ryoma, Theresa, A-374, and Amber.
Leaving aside Welt, who had already set off, Immortal Fu Hua and Planck didn't stay long at all in order to get to Shenzhou as soon as possible to handle some trivial matters, so they didn't know much about them.
However, the crisis in the World Bubble was escalating to the point that Freya was worried about whether Rita and the others could control the situation.
Although the two crystals have been located precisely, finding them will still be fraught with difficulties and obstacles.
Of course, the process of recovering the seven powers of the Holy Sword Durandal looks just like a stall where you can make a wish by collecting seven beads.
This made Freya somewhat worried.
After all, a work that collects seven beads will encounter extraordinary difficulties.
At the same time, Freya also has the urge to have the two of them draw out the real Otto, but she needs to rely on A-374 and Amber.
Unfortunately Otto didn't really take the bait, which made Freya somewhat dissatisfied.
Meanwhile, Bianca and her companions were adventuring in a place called the Yucatan Peninsula. Because of Bianca's displayed strength, she was quickly regarded by the villagers as the incarnation of a God of War.
Iknar, the 'Oracle' who hit it off with Bianca at first sight, told Bianca her wish to minimize the influence of the gods on ordinary people. She hoped to complete the transformation by committing suicide so that the villagers would obey the oracle that 'mortals must leave themselves' and that gods and humans should separate.
Bianca's sense of justice suddenly surged, and she struck Iknar.
He prevented Iknar from committing suicide, and then began to work on Iknar's wishes, clearly going further and further down a strange path.
386. Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to beat you up.
The investigation team heading to the Sea of Quantum deviated further and further from its original purpose. Initially, it was just to investigate the anchor structure of the World Bubble, then it went on to search for the missing Saintess, and finally it veered off course to embark on a grand sea adventure with Captain Shakespeare.
Just when you think the story is heading in the ONE PIECE direction, the adventure suddenly takes a 180-degree turn and becomes a grand adventure to save the world.
Now Bianca and the others are starting to help Iknar's village, much like a side story unfolding in the Hero series of games.
Freya was delighted with this development.
The girl, who was originally raised to be a 'hero,' is now growing straight in that direction. What could be more gratifying for her than this news?
It even relieved a lot of the pressure brought by the previous series of terrible news.
Of course, Freya initially trained 'heroes' to prevent herself from 'losing control,' which coincided with the idea of a certain bastard bishop who had prepared an excellent candidate for her training.
Freya, however, is currently unaware of her own situation.
According to information revealed by SU, her ability to become K422, i. e., her previous self from the Previous Civilization, was a foreshadowing laid in order to seize the power of the Herrscher of Finality.
Unfortunately, it can only be considered a half-success.
After all, if the Previous Civilization wanted to seize the power of the Herrscher of Finality, its target should have been Kiana.
As for why it became K422, one can only say that the Previous Civilization only succeeded halfway.
However, in reality, she possesses some of the powers of the Herrscher of Finality, which means she shares powers with the true Herrscher of Finality.
In other words, I can completely regard myself as a controllable Herrscher possesses some of the powers of the Herrscher of Finality.
Since she has control over the power she wields, it means she doesn't actually need to prepare any safety devices to restrict herself.
But Freya did not stop training her 'heroes' because of this.
Although the purpose of training a 'hero' is no longer to prevent herself from 'losing control', having an excellent subordinate to share some of the tasks can still lighten Rita's burden.
Besides, some things are simply impossible to explain clearly.
Freya didn't think her Previous Civilization self was mentally sound.
There is only a fine line between genius and madness. The most terrifying kind of madman is the one who can put the crazy ideas in his head into action.
The Previous Civilization itself was clearly a madman in this category.
After all, she was different from her predecessor in the Previous Civilization, Freya felt that she should indeed prepare more trump cards.
"It seems the hero's adventure continues."
"Your Saintess Lord, perhaps..."
Meanwhile, in the World Bubble, Rita, who was traveling with the group, used the Black Cube to contact the command center.
When Rita asked her question, Freya shook her head and smiled.
"Rita, don't stop them. Raw stones need constant polishing to become dazzling gems. It's a good thing that my lovely hero has such a strong sense of justice."
In order to help the village, Bianca decided to go to the Commonwealth's Tulum Fortress to get them to recognize the village's right to independence.
"Yes, I understand."
Rita replied with a hint of reluctance.
Freya was also somewhat reluctant, since Bianca's continued involvement in these side quests would inevitably prolong their time in the other world.
Such 'detours' are essential for the growth of brave warriors.
Because the Black Cube can only communicate with the combat command center, Freya couldn't use the line to whisper sweet nothings to Rita. She could only have Rita report the situation and then upload the sample data that Sophia had collected in the 'Waka Tunnel'.
Unlike the fully armed 'Heroine,' the 'Knight' was merely a tool this time, reserving the quantum portion for various supplies and investigation tools.
Therefore, while Rita and Bianca were on their way to the Yucatan Peninsula in search of the Dominion Crystal, she was leading a squad of Inca Republic soldiers to collect data on the Aether Anchor in the tunnels.
After finishing her reports, Freya also asked Rita to take good care of Bianca.
The current hero is clearly impulsive, and because of his constant smooth sailing, he has developed a tendency to be anxious and easily angered.
To put it simply, Bianca is now a grumpy young woman.
This is far from the 'hero' Freya desired.
On her way back to her laboratory after leaving the combat command center, Freya made a special trip to the supernatural ability research department.
Since most Valkyrie now fight using supernatural powers triggered by Stigmata, the Valkyrie within the Alliance have also established a research department specifically for studying supernatural powers.
Whether it's using so-called superpowers in combat, logistics, or support, superpowers are the current mainstream of Valkyrie development.
The convenience brought by superpowers far exceeds that of strengthening the body with Honkai Energy, so new superpower development paths are highly sought after by the Valkyrie.
Of course, if one day the weapons research department's weapons can surpass superpowers, the Valkyrie might be able to open up a development path related to machinery.
Freya arrived at the research institute of the superpower research department and, under the guidance of relevant personnel, saw several mainstream research projects.
One aspect is research on using superpowers in combat, such as how to maximize the effectiveness of superpowers or how to eliminate enemies in the simplest way...
Combat is the Valkyrie's mission; no, "Schicksal" is more appropriate at this moment.
Just like the name of the Schicksal organization.
The Valkyrie fight against the Honkai Beast, as if it were a mission bestowed upon them by heaven.
Although Valkyrie are now divided into combat Valkyrie specialize in combat and non-combat Valkyrie focus on logistics and support, non-combat Valkyrie do not mean that they are not involved in combat. They simply stay away from the battlefield and participate in combat in other ways.
It can be said that researching how to use superpowers to eliminate enemies is indeed the mainstream research in the superpower research department.
Just like Valkyrie can manipulate flames through the power of Stigmata, simply releasing flames at the enemy is not very effective in killing them.
However, if the ability to manipulate fire is released using the principle of thermobaric bombs, the destructive power will naturally surpass that of simply releasing fire.
After all, simply releasing flames would only turn the Valkyrie into a human-shaped flamethrower.
Freya quietly watched the Valkyrie in the research lab studying attack methods, without allowing the staff who were showing her around to announce her arrival.
After observing for a while, Freya moved on to the next laboratory.
Beyond the most mainstream supernatural combat, whether the Valkyrie's supernatural abilities can lead to technological upgrades or facilitate development is also under the research of scientists.
Compared to research on supernatural combat, these areas of research involve many researchers who are not Valkyrie.
Freya had visited many research labs along the way, and naturally decided in her mind which labs needed more funding and which needed to have their funding cut...
"Saintess Highness, are you going back? There are still many research labs you haven't visited yet."
"That's enough. I was just browsing casually anyway."
"Saintess Highness, the projects that the Supernatural Abilities Research Department is currently researching are only beneficial to the Alliance..." The person leading the way was also a researcher in the Supernatural Abilities Research Department. At this moment, she hesitated whether to apply for funding from Freya.
So while leading Freya on the tour, she made sure to say nice things to Freya.
Freya felt like she was hearing this so many times that she was sick of it, so she just smiled politely.
"I have to go now."
"Yes, Saintess Highness, please take your time."
Freya didn't mention the word "funding" at all, as if she really was just there for a visit.
Of course, many of the original Valkyrie also possessed the power to manipulate supernatural abilities, but the level of manipulation they had was vastly different from that of the current Valkyrie, thus requiring major modifications to the combat methods that had been established in the past.
Just like Freya saw in a research lab before, where they were studying electromagnetic-related abilities, some Valkyrie suggested using electromagnetic power to manipulate iron sand, and then using the iron sand to fight Honkai Beast, creating a high-frequency blade effect through vibration.
As a result, the proposal was rejected outright. First of all, the Valkyrie of the past did not have strong electromagnetic capabilities, and even when they manipulated iron sand, they could only manipulate one or two cubic meters.
This allows Valkyrie equipped with the Type-B Stigmata and at 30% activation to manipulate electromagnetic fields, which is equivalent to the carrying capacity of one or two cargo ships.
Furthermore, MEI Corporation affiliated with the alliance, has already developed a technique called a high-frequency cutting knife. In other words, such a technique is clearly redundant. Rather than creating the effect of a high-frequency knife by manipulating the vibration of iron sand, it would be far better to simply apply for a high-frequency cutting knife.
Freya felt genuinely gratified to see the Valkyrie discussing the power of electromagnetism.
Then they decided to cut their funding.
Yes, cutting budgets due to emotional reasons is normal practice.
Even though Freya knew that research into superpowered combat took time and understood that rushing things wouldn't yield significant results, that didn't stop her from drastically cutting the lab's budget in half after her visit.
Perhaps because superpowers are too convenient, the actual combat power of Valkyrie who use superpowers in battle is far inferior to those Valkyrie who only use superpowers as an auxiliary tool and mainly use them to enhance their bodies.
After deciding to happily cut the budget, Freya didn't take a detour this time, but returned to her research lab.
Without Rita by her side to encourage, inspire, comfort, and soothe herself, Freya felt intensely uncomfortable as soon as she sat down.
A strong urge to call Rita back welled up within him.
"If we bring Rita back, Bianca and Sophia will suffer..."
Freya has always had high expectations for the heroine and knight she has trained.
She did not hesitate to keep her most important person Rita, by their side.
Even though Cecilia's mother sang a lullaby in the room last night, without Rita's embrace, even the most familiar bed lacked a sense of security.
"Lord Freya... I heard you just visited the supernatural ability research department!! Could you tell me your impressions?"