"No, she won't. Even if Siegfried meets her, she won't go with him."
Otto spoke confidently.
"She's a lovely child. She can't be heartless or cold-blooded, and she can't think in a single-minded way. Precisely because of that, she understands trade-offs and compromise."
"As expected, I should have killed you here."
Welt raised the Eden Star he had created with his power, but the moment it entered the range of the anti-Honkai wave, it immediately broke apart into particles of light.
"It seems there will be no victor this time. But next time, this secret weapon will definitely pierce your heart."
Otto shrugged. He had neither lured out World Serpent nor truly dealt with Welt. As far as he was concerned, this bait plan had at most succeeded in delivering K423 to Siegfried, while also cleaning up the trash organization that had long hindered Schicksal's archaeological work.
After clearing away those sewer rats, he would naturally reclaim the relics of the previous era's civilization that those rats had stolen.
In fact, the Valkyrie troops he had dispatched had been assigned precisely that task.
"Next time, I won't hesitate either."
Welt felt deeply unwilling that he had failed to deal with Otto.
Under the Holy Blood's anti-Honkai wave, neither Otto nor Welt could continue fighting.
Otto could only sigh inwardly. Bringing out this trump card too early in order to test the Holy Blood had been a mistake.
It was not as though he was no match for Welt.
It was simply that countering the Simulated Black Hole would indeed require a great deal of effort from him.
A draw was no big deal. In any case, the ensuing pursuit would surely leave Anti-Entropy severely weakened.
He just wondered how many of Anti-Entropy's secret bases could be destroyed this time.
Otto and Welt parted ways without looking back. At the same time, the destruction of the Floating Island continued.
Rumble, rumble.
Another two-hundred-meter floating transport ship that had not been swallowed by the Simulated Black Hole fell from its badly damaged supports toward the Mediterranean, breaking apart as it fell.
The Floating Island was still descending, and its outer shell began to come apart during the fall.
Meanwhile, deep within the Floating Island, K422 was jolted by the violent shaking and accidentally crashed into a laboratory.
Inside the laboratory, a white Knight Lance with a black shaft lay quietly on an experimental table.
Clearly, several senior researchers had been studying the Sixth Divine Key: Black Abyss White Flower here not long ago. But when the Floating Island came under attack, the senior researchers had evacuated.
Honestly, K422 did not think the senior researchers were innocent.
If she ran into them, she would not mind giving them a physical memory wipe.
At that moment, another violent tremor struck, and K422 nearly fell over.
"Why has it been shaking nonstop since earlier? Don't tell me damn dad, or that Alliance Leader or whatever, started fighting Bishop Otto."
Although she did not know just how earth-shattering a battle between Anti-Entropy's Alliance Leader and Bishop Otto would be, it was probably no weaker than a fight between B-rank Valkyries. If things went badly, the two of them might tear this Floating Island apart.
"I should find True Kiana first. Mom, please guide me forward."
As she spoke, K422 picked up the Sixth Divine Key: Black Abyss White Flower from the experimental table.
The moment she gripped Black Abyss White Flower, she sensed a faint call.
K422 tightened the lab coat around herself.
The lab coat had belonged to the researcher upon whom she had performed a physical memory wipe.
She wrapped the oversized lab coat around herself to conceal her figure and face. Of course, her petite build still made it easy to expose her identity, but this layer of protection had only ever been self-deception.
With this layer of protection, she could at least find an excuse later.
Though she did not necessarily have to surrender to Bishop Otto, judging from the current situation, there was more than an eighty percent chance that she would.
Whether or not she found True Kiana, K422 did not believe Bishop Otto would let her leave Schicksal.
This was her only chance to find True Kiana.
It was also the only chance to free True Kiana from Schicksal.
"If I had told Bishop Otto about the consciousness space back then... no, True Kiana would definitely have been forced into experiments. So hiding the consciousness space was the right choice. At least True Kiana hasn't suffered too much."
K422 gripped Black Abyss White Flower tightly.
Naturally, she knew Black Abyss White Flower's abilities.
As her mom's close friend, Aunt Theresa had told her quite a lot about Mom.
That included the two abilities of Mom's weapon, Black Abyss White Flower.
One was destructive power, and the other was healing power.
When its destructive power was activated, it could break down a target from the inside out.
Its healing power, meanwhile, could save someone on the verge of death.
Now that she had Black Abyss White Flower, K422 naturally no longer feared the barricade walls blocking her path.
In fact, several laboratories marked on the map had been abandoned because barricade walls had fallen and blocked access.
"I wonder how much time is left. That Alliance Leader or whatever, you'd better keep it up. I'm rooting for you. It'd be best if you beat Bishop Otto to death on the spot."
After satisfying her urge to talk big, K422 seriously examined the map.
She had already searched more than a dozen laboratories belonging to Bishop Otto, but K422 had found almost nothing. She even suspected that the laboratories known to other researchers were merely Bishop Otto's public-facing labs.
The laboratories hidden within the Floating Island were Bishop Otto's true laboratories.
"If that's the case, then this place, this place, and this place are all suspicious."
Based on the map's structural layout and the actual size of the laboratories, K422 naturally believed there were secret compartments between several of the labs.
"...I'll use Black Abyss White Flower to open the way."
Although it was her first time using Black Abyss White Flower, K422 felt as though she had divine assistance. She easily used Black Abyss White Flower to bore a hole through the laboratory wall.
After opening holes in the walls of the laboratories that had aroused her suspicion, K422 indeed found a secret passage.
When she passed through that secret passage and entered a laboratory,
she was stunned by the sight of blue sky and green grass before her.
Watching a little white-haired girl with a single braid and a face similar to her own run past her, followed by a frail little blond boy,
K422 felt that she was done for.
She had discovered a huge secret.
Bishop Otto might silence her for it.
He'll Punch You Later, Too
K422 could not help sighing that she had really uncovered an incredible secret.
This was even more serious than dancing in front of Bishop Otto after rescuing True Kiana.
So the possibility of her being silenced was truly very high.
Honestly, she was a little panicked now... oh, she meant scared.
"I should never have come this way. Sigh, I finally crashed and burned."
The laughter of the girl and boy rang in her ears. The two figures chasing each other beneath the blue sky, white clouds, and green grass represented far too much.
K422's gaze fell on the frail blond boy.
He had delicate features and wore an old Schicksal-era cleric's uniform, yet somehow managed to make it look like women's clothing.
His emerald-green eyes held only the cheerful white-haired girl with a single braid ahead of him.
Meanwhile, the fleeing Welt found Siegfried.
"Why are you here?"
Siegfried was still wearing that Humo mascot costume made from high-performance anti-Honkai Energy fabric. At the same time, he held a sleeping white-haired little girl in his arms.
The moment Welt saw the little girl, the Herrscher Core inside him gave a slight pulse.
"???"
Honestly, Welt was completely dumbfounded at that moment.
He had thought the clone used as a substitute for the Substitute Little Princess would be newly manufactured.
Who could have expected it to be a clone implanted with the Second Herrscher Core?
Was something wrong with Otto's brain?
"What's wrong, Welt?"
"...Maybe I sensed it incorrectly."
Welt could not determine Otto's intentions, so he could only reserve his opinion.
"It's time to go, Siegfried."
"What? Wait a minute, Welt. What do you mean?"
Siegfried once again used Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment to blast through a laboratory's metal door. Looking at the empty laboratory, he turned and questioned Welt.
Wasn't Welt supposed to be holding back Bishop Otto right now?
Faced with Siegfried's question, Welt said urgently,
"There's no time. Otto has begun closing the net."
"So soon? Weren't we supposed to have two hours?"
"I don't know either, but something Otto did not anticipate must have happened, forcing him to use the new version of Holy Blood."
It was not as though Welt had not considered that Otto might eliminate the Simulated Black Hole by other means.
But in order to deal with him faster and more thoroughly, Otto had clearly brought out the new version of Holy Blood. He had simply underestimated its power.
"New version of Holy Blood? What's that?"
Siegfried looked utterly confused. He did not know that Schicksal possessed any Holy Blood.
"I'll explain the Holy Blood in detail later. There's no time now. We need to retreat."
"But my daughter is still inside."
When Welt emphasized the need to evacuate again, Siegfried looked extremely unwilling.
He had searched nearly every secret laboratory he could think of, as well as the special laboratories where Valkyrie modification surgery could be performed, yet he had only found the clone in his arms.
"There's no time. We have to go."
After saying that, Welt used Eden Star to blast through the wall beside them. Then, with one hand gripping Siegfried, he used Eden Star's gravity-controlling power to reduce their weight and escaped directly from the falling Floating Island.
"Welt!!!"
Siegfried had not expected Welt to do that.
He roared furiously, but could only watch helplessly as the Floating Island grew more distant.
Siegfried struggled continuously, but his rough movements woke the sleeping little girl in his arms. Feeling the unease radiating from her, Siegfried could only force himself to calm down.
Anti-Entropy's Floating Battleship soon arrived at the scene. Tesla stood at the open passageway, holding down her twin tails as the wind tossed them about while welcoming Welt and Siegfried back.
"Quick, faster! The Floating Battleships Bishop Otto sent everywhere are about to return. We don't have much time."
As transportation for Valkyries heading to battle zones, a standard Floating Battleship was approximately two hundred and eighty meters long, with a deck around one hundred and eighty meters in length.
Powered by nuclear energy, it contained six nuclear fusion reactors and could carry up to two hundred people.
The Floating Battleship was powered by Leonov anti-gravity engines, with two engines each at the front and rear of the ship. The anti-gravity engines allowed the Floating Battleship to take off and land vertically, or hover in midair.
After returning to Anti-Entropy's Floating Battleship, Tesla immediately had it leave the battlefield. Next, they would have to face Schicksal's pursuit.
Siegfried glanced at Welt, then took the little girl in his arms to the medical room for an examination. Before leaving, he unhappily threw out one sentence.
"Welt, let me punch you once later. If I don't vent this anger, I won't be satisfied."
Welt smiled and said that was fine. Then, after Siegfried left, he weakly leaned against the passageway wall and slowly sat down.
Before you continue