(Author's note: I made a mistake earlier. The location of this event is Singapore, not New Zealand. New Zealand is where the Gem of Desire and Wendy's experiments were. I got them mixed up because there are too many and it's confusing. It's too much trouble to change, so I'm making a special note here.)
"Periodic comms check, A12, report on the situation in the hall."
"Reply, situation normal, no anomalies."
"Have any suspected Valkyries entered?"
"Um... a man and two women did just enter the restaurant..."
The guard observing from the shadows watched Kiana, who was devouring food like a hurricane, having already cleared two large tables. He swallowed in amazement and then spoke into his hidden earpiece:
"But don't worry... they should just be normal people, just a bit on the hungry side..."
"Good, continue observation. Don't let your guard down."
Ryn, who was eavesdropping behind the guard, was internally exclaiming at Kiana's prowess!
Using her strengths to blend into the dining hall and feast, thereby deceiving the enemy's perception and making them think Kiana was just a normal guest enjoying the hotel's top-tier cuisine.
Yeah, right!
Who comes to a high-end hotel just for the buffet?!
Ryn speechlessly placed his finger on the back of the guard's head, hacking into his brain to search for any mission-related memories and altering the guard's cognition to identify him, Kiana, and the others as highly trusted personnel.
"As expected of someone who could mistake the gluttonous Kiana for a normal person... his head is completely empty."
Ryn regretfully withdrew his hand. This guy was just a common grunt with little useful information.
But he did learn that a large number of guards were stationed at the VIP room on the 36th floor. If all goes as expected, that should be the room where the mission target, Dr. Magi, is located.
Ryn sent the information he obtained to the three-person special operations team's communication channel.
Dr. Magi was originally one of Schicksal's chief scientists, appointed by Otto to conduct experiments on an artificial Herrscher using the Gem of Serenity.
But as the experiments failed one after another and the test subjects died, research stalled due to a lack of subjects. To speed up the process, Otto told Dr. Magi's granddaughter, Lin, about the Herrscher gem experiment, and she volunteered to participate.
But the result was the same as always: the experiment failed. The test subject, Lin, couldn't withstand the Honkai energy of the Gem of Serenity and was annihilated into particles by the power of decay...
Witnessing Lin's death with his own eyes, Dr. Magi felt immense pain in his heart and eventually defected from Schicksal, taking the Gem of Serenity with him.
While on the run, he contacted Anti-Entropy and killed all the Valkyries sent to pursue him...
Because Dr. Magi was indeed talented and had some people in the lab who trusted him, Otto's official statement was that Dr. Magi was an indispensable talent, and if he was willing to return to Schicksal, Otto would let bygones be bygones.
But Otto's private order to Ryn was to kill on sight. Even knowing that Ryn could brainwash and control him, Otto's order remained to kill on sight.
Otto: "I, and Schicksal, can accept defection... but we cannot accept a hypocrite who joins forces with others and strikes down former comrades without a shred of remorse or mercy."
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After receiving Ryn's message, Fu Hua looked at Kiana, who was still happily enjoying her meal beside her, and shook her head helplessly.
*Forget it... this mission was meant to be a paid vacation for Kiana anyway...*
Fu Hua briefly explained the situation to Kiana, leaving her to continue feasting in the restaurant while she headed to the 36th-floor VIP room Ryn had mentioned to find Dr. Magi.
Since everyone was already aware of some of her abilities, Fu Hua didn't plan to hide her strength any longer.
Taking off the glasses she used as a disguise, Fu Hua revealed her androgynously beautiful face. Tens of thousands of years had left no trace of time on her.
(Fu Hua during this period still had a chest... then later, the 'Fu Hua is a steel plate' meme became so popular that the officials nerfed her into a washboard...)
Illusory crimson feathers from Fenghuang Down drifted past every pedestrian and guard. Fu Hua walked into the heavily guarded elevator as if it were an unguarded area and ascended to the 36th floor.
And then Fu Hua was captured...
A clone of Walter Joyce—Welt II—had been lying in wait in the room, watching Fu Hua through the surveillance monitors.
As soon as Fu Hua entered the room, several waiting Titan Electromagnetic Tarantula Mechas instantly charged, releasing a million volts and electrocuting Fu Hua, causing her to collapse.
"Heh... those good-for-nothing fools. I'll get rid of them all later. I don't know what tricks you used to bribe them, but those tricks have no effect on me."
With a flick of his hand, Welt II altered gravity, lifting the paralyzed Fu Hua into the air.
The unconscious Fu Hua's body contorted in mid-air due to the uneven distribution of the gravity control. She pretended to be woken up by the motion and opened her eyes.
Then she put on a pitiful, frightened, weak woman act.
"Let... let go of me!"
"Oh? You still have the strength to resist? What a resilient will you have.
According to Cocolia's orders, I need to stay here for a while longer... During this time, you can play with me and we can do some enjoyable things together!"
"Need my help? There's no point in pretending against this kind of trash," Ryn's voice came from a necklace woven from fresh grass around Fu Hua's neck.
"Who's there! Who is it!" Welt II quickly distanced himself from Fu Hua, his eyes warily scanning the surroundings.
"Ryn, I'm not pretending. A proper display of weakness is enough to make the enemy lower their guard, allowing me to extract the necessary information from them."
With a burst of strength, Fu Hua broke free from Welt II's gravitational restraints and landed smoothly on the balls of her feet.
Seeing Fu Hua looking completely at ease, with none of her previous 'captured by the enemy, begging for mercy' act, Welt II exclaimed in shock:
"How is that possible! That was a million volts! Even a Valkyrie couldn't recover that quickly!"
"You have a lot of questions, don't you? Although it would be polite of me to answer them, I'm sorry, but I don't want to waste too much time on a disgusting person like you."
Fu Hua wiped away the blood that had trickled from the corner of her mouth due to the internal injuries from being electrocuted by the tarantula mechas. It wasn't exactly carelessness; after all, who would have thought that someone would pack so many Titan mechas into such a small room...
"Hah, don't talk as if you've already won. Since you insist on finding pain for yourself, I'll grant your wish! Thousand-fold gravity!" Welt II spread his hand, forming an extremely weakened version of the Star of Eden, and unleashed a gravitational wave at Fu Hua.
"Too bad I'm no longer the bystander who forgot to bring Fenghuang Down that one time."
An illusory crimson feather floated past Welt II's eyes, and his consciousness was pulled into a bizarre and fantastical illusion.
Then, Fu Hua struck Welt II's abdomen with an inch-punch, knocking him unconscious. She then used Fenghuang Down to extract his memories, searching for the location of the Gem of Serenity.