Mei in Schicksal (Continued)

Durandal explained that she was overwhelmed with work and unable to juggle her duties as both the bishop's assistant and the captain of the Blade of Immortality.

This is a very reasonable answer.

But for Rita, only she herself knows whether the title of a formal captain or the title of S-rank Valkyrie is more important.

"It's been a long time, Rita."

Using words befitting an old friend's reunion, Mei's voice was utterly cold, "So, are you going to test me this time too?"

She also didn't have much affection for Rita, the Valkyrie who had participated in the capture of Kiana and ultimately led to the current situation.

"Hehehe, Mei is joking."

"You are S-rank Valkyrie personally selected by His Bishop Sir, so Rita certainly has no right to deny it."

Faced with Mei's blunt sarcasm, Rita simply smiled slightly, her expression remaining elegant.

"Ah, I almost forgot, the bishop of Schicksal is no longer the Otto you all so deeply admire."

Mei said in a flat tone, Mei eyes slightly narrowed, "What a pity, I just missed 102.4 billion a few days ago."

It's just about hurting each other, is she afraid of this guy?

"In any case, it has always been the Schicksal under the leadership of Bishop Otto that has been protecting this world."

Rita said with a smile.

"With my abilities, if I were to kill you and the Valkyrie of the Blade of Immortality, I could also protect the world with your help."

Mei responded with a smile.

Didn't you want me to understand Otto?

If I were to choose to become Otto directly, how would you respond?

Rita: "..."

Can't we even have a proper conversation anymore?

Meeting the enigmatic gaze of the black-haired girl, Rita could only sigh helplessly and say, "Mei, we shouldn't be enemies."

Under the oppression of [Welt White], they should be on the same side.

"Whether someone is an enemy or a friend is never as simple as just saying it."

Mei merely sneered at Rita's candor. "When you were siding with Otto and aiding and abetting him, you probably never imagined that retribution would come so quickly, did you?"

Despite having a common enemy now, expecting her to forget all that Rita has done... sorry, she's not that magnanimous.

When Otto was still around, Rita and her gang didn't hesitate to harm her and the boy without any hesitation.

Now that Otto has run away, he wants to wipe all those things clean.

There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

"I am deeply sorry for what happened to Ms. Kiana."

With her head slightly lowered, Rita spoke earnestly.

Now that the deed has already happened, she won't make any unnecessary excuses to absolve herself.

Even though Otto had given them a very reasonable explanation, and even though the incident had a generally positive outcome, she ultimately believed in Otto and carried out his plan, didn't she?

The damage she has already caused to Mei and the others is irreparable, so she should naturally bear this resentment.

"..."

Looking indifferently at the maid standing before her with her head bowed, Mei's eyes flashed for a moment, but she ultimately uttered only a few cold words, "Boring!"

She hadn't even really put up her fight yet, and the other party had already given in so easily, making her feel like she had punched a cotton ball, leaving her with an immense emptiness in her heart.

"Miss Mei, please come this way. I will take care of showing you around the Schicksal HQ."

As if oblivious to the girl's coldness, Rita smiled and spoke, her movements perfectly graceful and submissive.

"Um."

With a soft reply, Mei left the airport led by her maid, but a sense of confusion welled up inside her.

The reason she left the World Serpent and came to Schicksal was simply because of Gray Serpent's orders.

According to the other party, this was to better enable the World Serpent to take over the Schicksal.

On the surface, this seems like a reasonable answer.

Even though she hadn't been a member of World Serpent for long, she had still managed to gather a considerable amount of information during that time.

While Welt White is undoubtedly the main combat force besides Kevin, for some reason, he rarely appears in the organization and seems to be secretly plotting some selfish and harmful schemes every day.

It is indeed reasonable to have her, the Herrscher of Thunder, make up for the lack of deterrence caused by Welt White's frequent disappearances.

But Mei always felt that there was something else hidden behind this.

Mei still can't understand why World Serpent forced her to join.

Before coming to World Serpent, she thought that one evil experiment after another awaited her, but the result was that World Serpent not only arranged a dormitory for her that was no less luxurious than a hotel suite, but also paid her a salary that was several levels higher than that of the Far East Branch, and even provided her with special subsidies for missions.

For a moment, Mei couldn't figure out whether World Serpent considered her Herrscher or not.

The only Jackal didn't seem like a good person and tried to invite her to do experiments was also driven away by Yae Sakura with the threat of deducting her funding, without causing her any unnecessary trouble.

While enjoying this almost meticulous care, the World Serpent only gave her trivial tasks, as if it was trying to numb her with this comfortable life.

How ridiculous! Does World Serpent really think he can bribe her like this?

According to Yae Sakura's explanation, she was only qualified to come into contact with the true nature of the World Serpent when she understood the true meaning of the Herrscher.

The significance of Herrscher...

As she pondered this, Mei subconsciously placed her hands on the Xuanyuan Sword and the Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge at her waist, and the terrifying figure of [Welt White] flashed through her mind.

After becoming the Herrscher of Thunder again, she could clearly feel the difference between this authority and the one Conquest Gem three years ago.

Compared to exercising power by Conquest Gem, she now clearly recognizes that the power of the Herrscher has become an instinct, which she can command at will.

This difference is probably why Welt White still had expectations for her after taking and destroying the Conquest Gem.

Logically speaking, after reaching this point, [Welt White] should have jumped out and completely reaped her power.

What's puzzling is that during the three months between when she became the fully-fledged Herrscher of Thunder and when [Welt White] failed to challenge Kevin, he did absolutely nothing.

Was it that [Welt White] was entangled in something and unable to extricate herself at that time, or... was there some secret within the Herrscher's authority that she was unaware of?

Just as she was thinking, a sudden burst of noise abruptly interrupted Mei's thoughts.

Looking up, Mei saw a group of people in black uniforms with pale white Ring Serpent rings on their chests sealing off a building that was clearly a research institute. They even used extremely rough methods to force some researchers into a small transport ship.

"Serpent Squad is on the move again."

Having witnessed the same scene, Rita let out a helpless sigh.

"Serpent Squad?"

Upon hearing this, Mei couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Yes, it's a special operations team personally ordered by the current Bishop Sir, specifically for... Miss Mei should be able to guess, right?"

After all, the people inside all came directly from the World Serpent.

Rita spoke softly, her expression somewhat somber.

"Oh."

Mei immediately understood.

Although she couldn't claim to have a deep understanding of the World Serpent, she could figure out what this so-called Serpent Squad did with just Kiana's brain.

Throughout history, the transfer of power has always been quite brutal. For example, Rita, who was next to her, lost her title as S-rank Valkyrie and became the first non-sacrificial S-rank Valkyrie in the history of Schicksal.

Well, although Welt White's joking reason could be explained, in most people's eyes, Rita's demotion was undoubtedly due to the new bishop's suppression.

Of course, there is also a small group of people who claim that this is a great victory for the Ghost Story Party, shouting some things that are incomprehensible to others.

"Even Durandal can't stop them?"

Mei thought for a moment and then asked.

Even though she didn't feel any sense of belonging to Schicksal, she still leaned more towards Schicksal than towards the World Serpent.

"Durandal is not currently in Schicksal."

Hearing the girl's words, Rita couldn't help but sigh softly.

Durandal undoubtedly played the biggest role in preventing the Schicksal Church from disbanding under the leadership of Welt White.

In fact, most people believe that this strongest Valkyrie is the new leader of Schicksal, and that she has to endure humiliation and submit to Welt White in order to preserve Schicksal's power.

"Not determined by Schicksal?"

Mei was somewhat surprised.

"Yes, Durandal said she has some very important things to do and will disappear for a while every few days."

As she spoke, Rita glanced at Mei's face with a slightly inquiring look.

"Is it the same in Schicksal?"

Mei frowned and fell into thought.

Back when she was still in the World Serpent realm, she had noticed this pattern in Durandal, and each time the other reappeared, she would look exhausted, as if...

Mei glanced at Rita beside her and quickly suppressed those thoughts.

"Does Mei know something?"

Rita asked with a smile.

"No, I don't know the specifics either."

Mei gave a perfunctory reply, quickly averting her gaze. After a pause, she continued, " With Durandal gone, you're helpless?"

She recognized that the leader of the Serpent Squad was an executive of the World Serpent Organization, but his strength was only slightly stronger than that of an average A-rank Valkyrie, not enough to allow him to act with impunity in Schicksal.

Moreover, as far as she knew, [Welt White]'s appearances in Schicksal didn't seem to be much more frequent than Anti-Entropy's in the past.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have reached the Schicksal.

It's worth noting that Yae Sakura, who also received the title of S-rank Valkyrie, is still stuck in World Serpent.

"So far, the Serpent Squad has mostly blocked research that involves a lot of resources and is related to Artificial Stigmata and Herrscher, but has not touched the core interests of the Valkyrie Squad."

Rita explained softly.

"That guy sounds like a pretty nice person?"

Mei pouted.

Having read Otto's "confession," she naturally knew the general nature of these studies.

"Yes, if His Bishop Sir hadn't diverted those resources originally intended for research to his own account."

As she spoke softly, Rita's lips twitched slightly.

She suspected that Welt White was simply after those resources.

Or rather, the vast resources possessed by the Schicksal are the World Serpent's sole objective.

Mei: "..."

Okay, she overestimated [Welt White] and the World Serpent.

It's obvious that the World Serpent has never been a charity.

"Artificial Stigmata..."

As she pondered this, a glint flashed in Mei's eyes. After a moment's thought, she said, "The Far East Branch has developed a type of armor that can, to some extent, compensate for the defects of Artificial Stigmata."

Before the War of Schicksal, the Moon Ring series of armors had already taken shape.

After the boy's "sacrifice," based on the data he left behind, Einstein and Tesla of Anti-Entropy also participated in the improvement of the Moon Ring Armor, which quickly made it useful.

Although it lags behind the mainstream armor of Schicksal in terms of effectiveness, it excels in safety and stability, providing an extra layer of insurance for Valkyrie who are not highly adaptable to Honkai Energy.

"What does Mei mean?"

Upon hearing this, Rita's eyes lit up immediately.

"I'm just telling you about this; how you handle it is up to you."