After watching the young people leave, Theresa walked over to Himeko and took a serum vial from her pocket.
"Here, for you. A souvenir from Schicksal HQ."
"Wow, such a nice gift this time."
Looking at the serum in her hand, Himeko asked in surprise.
"If I'd known you could swipe good stuff like this from HQ, I would have urged you to go back more often."
"Forget it. Don't talk about things you'd never do."
Leaning back in her office chair, Theresa spoke to Himeko with a hint of fatigue.
"An improved version of the HSN serum. It's an experimental serum Schicksal just recently developed."
"According to Grandpa, anyone injected with this will have the Honkai Energy within their body weakened."
"Huh? This thing, for me...!"
Himeko, who was about to say something, immediately realized the implications this serum had for her.
The root of Himeko's problems was essentially the mess caused by Honkai Energy.
If the Honkai Energy in her body could be weakened, the corrosion it caused would naturally decrease.
In other words, while injecting this serum would weaken the strength of Murata Himeko the Valkyrie, it would extend the lifespan of Murata Himeko the human.
For Himeko, who had been desperately searching for a way to prolong her life, this serum could, to a large extent, solve one of her biggest problems.
If it were anyone else, upon receiving this serum and understanding its effects, they might have injected it into their body without a second thought.
But the problem was, Himeko was highly intelligent.
After understanding the serum's effects, she also recognized another issue.
"Theresa, to what extent can this serum weaken the Honkai Energy in my body?"
"Well..."
After a moment of thought, Theresa said with a troubled expression.
"I don't know the specifics. I only know that Leo Ash, who suppressed the Third Herrscher and has been assigned to our branch, used this serum to suppress the Herrscher of Thunder's consciousness, allowing her human personality to take control of the body."
"The serum in your hands is a 'youth edition', weakened countless times over by adjusting the ingredients and concentration."
"Even if you say that, the difference between a human and a Herrscher is huge."
Gently swirling the serum in her hand, a complex look appeared on Himeko's face.
"After using this serum, how much power will I have left?"
"I don't know, but there's a high chance you'll become a normal person again."
At this, Theresa suddenly became very angry.
"Hmph, and that's for the best! It'll stop you, you daredevil, from constantly connecting to the Nexus System."
"You used the Nexus System again this time, didn't you? Can't you save me some money? The maintenance for the Hyperion's energy cannon is very expensive, you know."
"What can I say... I can't just watch my subordinates die in front of me, can I?"
Seeing Theresa's annoyed expression, Himeko knew perfectly well that Theresa wasn't actually upset with her over money.
Though Theresa and Himeko hadn't known each other for a particularly long time, as friends, they knew the other was just looking out for them.
The real reason for Theresa's anger was that Himeko's habit of using the Nexus System at the drop of a hat seemed, in her eyes, to be a reckless disregard for her own life.
"Thank you, Theresa. I'll hold on to this serum for now."
"Don't just hold on to it!"
Seeing that Himeko had no intention of using the serum on the spot, Theresa became even more anxious.
"Use it right now, and then you can obediently retire—there's already a huge pile of documents, you should have helped me process them long ago!"
"Even if you say so... at least, not right now."
Picking up the terminal from the coffee table, Himeko opened a file and placed the terminal in front of Theresa.
"I have a feeling our Far East Branch has an important mission to complete in the near future."
"An important mission—what, Shenzhou?"
Looking at the information displayed on the terminal, Theresa couldn't understand why the mission destination would be there.
"That's strange. Haven't Shenzhou and Schicksal always maintained a policy of non-interference?"
"For so many years, I remember Grandpa instructing us to always treat Shenzhou with an attitude of equality and friendship."
"And Shenzhou, they've been fighting the Honkai with the Mechanical Sentinels developed through their advanced technology. If they encounter a particularly strong Honkai Beast, their own 'martial artists' will handle it directly."
"For such a powerful region to ask us at Schicksal for help... how strange. Has this ever happened in the last five hundred years?"
"They're just asking us to be prepared in advance."
Himeko corrected Theresa's mistake and continued.
"After all, upon discovering a region suspected to be Jiuyou, the people of Shenzhou suspect that Anti-Entropy might also get involved."
"And now... heh, Anti-Entropy's reputation is in the gutter."
"Jiuyou is the place where the hero of Shenzhou, Ji Lin, fought the Judgment-class Honkai Beast, Chiyou. If the legends are true, Ji Lin's Stigmata and the weapon she used to seal the Honkai Beast, the Xuanyuan Sword, should still be there."
"Shenzhou has indicated that they are willing to hand over the natural Stigmata if necessary, and the Xuanyuan Sword can be temporarily entrusted to us at Schicksal, but on one condition—if Anti-Entropy shows up, we must help them deal with it."
"Anti-Entropy, huh..."
Theresa, who was about to say 'Anti-Entropy isn't all that bad,' suddenly recalled the events of a few days ago and felt that Shenzhou's actions were indeed understandable.
The other executives of Anti-Entropy, though they disliked Schicksal, would at most fight within the established rules.
But Cocolia—that woman just flips the whole table.
Raiden Ryoma was her colleague, and she betrayed him.
ME Corp was Anti-Entropy's money pot, and she looted it and left it for Schicksal to occupy and plunder.
And what did she do? She planned to blow up Nagazora City to trigger the Third Eruption.
If she were just insidious and cunning, Shenzhou probably wouldn't be this cautious.
But Cocolia's actions were no longer just insidious; they were completely unpredictable.
She was ready to blow up Nagazora City in a heartbeat, a city where Raiden Ryoma had already set up numerous contingencies. How would she treat a region like Shenzhou, which had been friendly with Schicksal for generations? Since she was likely to go berserk wherever she went, it was perfectly normal for Shenzhou to be prepared.
"And ultimately, Shenzhou's research on Honkai Energy weapons and Stigmata is inferior to ours at Schicksal."
At this, Himeko smiled helplessly.
"They say they'll give us these things if we go, but frankly, it's just their way of getting a piece of the pie."
"After all, their Mechanical Sentinels can only handle lower-level Honkai Beasts. Stronger ones require their martial artists to step in."
"And those martial artists, although they can cultivate their skills to fight Honkai Beasts using the many secret manuals left by Ma Feima, the sixth disciple of the legendary Immortal Red Kite, the process is ultimately too slow."
"They probably wouldn't be able to figure out much from the Stigmata even if they got their hands on it. They might as well take this opportunity to show goodwill, and then use it as an excuse to see if they can trade this natural Stigmata for some of our research findings on Stigmata."
"After all..."
Glancing at her own body, Himeko gave another self-deprecating smile.
"Artificial Stigmata may be fatal, but they can make a person strong quickly."
"In terms of efficiency, it's much faster than 'cultivating martial arts'."
"Wow, so complicated."
After listening to Himeko's analysis, Theresa clutched her head, looking pained.
"Why are you all so scheming?"
"Hmm, wait, what's this..."
Looking at the mission personnel list below, Theresa clicked on it, feeling that something was not right.
Required Mission Personnel as follows—
Kiana Kaslana (D-rank Valkyrie)
Raiden Mei (D-rank Valkyrie)
Bronya Zaychik (D-rank Valkyrie)
Yuno (D-rank Valkyrie)
Leo Ash (B-rank Knight)
Fu Hua (A-rank Valkyrie)
"The one who issued this order is—of course it's Grandpa."
"This is absurd! I'm going to talk to him right now—"
"I'd advise you to drop that idea, Theresa."
Looking at the list on the terminal, Himeko said, exasperated.
"Haven't you figured it out yet? The reason the Bishop is willing to break the rule that D-ranks are not allowed on the battlefield, just to have these young people participate in this mission?"
"Fu Hua is from Shenzhou; she's the team leader responsible for guiding the team and analyzing intel on-site."
"I've heard about Leo Ash too. He's a rising star from HQ. He's probably the vice-captain."
"As for the other four, the Bishop clearly wants to promote them, to get them to A-rank or even S-rank quickly."
"When he's already made up his mind, do you think saying any of this will make a difference?"
No.
Theresa knew, even without thinking too hard, that this was the conclusion she would reach.
Otto doted on her, yes, but on certain matters, he would not back down just because of his affection for her.
This order was issued by Otto at some unknown time, which meant he had already made his decision when he sent it.
And what terrified Theresa the most was that she felt Himeko's analysis was spot on.
This mission seemed very dangerous, but considering there was a Herrscher, a Pseudo-Herrscher, a promising A-rank, and a B-rank who had defeated a Herrscher on the team, she felt there was a limit to how dangerous it could be.
To put it bluntly, this was Otto's way of giving these people a chance to earn prestige. And considering the identity of one particular person...
The 'Kiana' that Siegfried had been raising all these years was so important to Grandpa, and Grandpa had been involved in some big plans back then...
Did that mean Grandpa's target this time was actually Kiana?
...
On the way to Himeko's house, Fu Hua, walking at the front, couldn't often turn back to observe the others, but as a master martial artist, she could still make basic judgments from the sounds of their footsteps.
Among them, Kiana's and Yuno's footsteps were ordinary, the normal sounds an untrained person would make.
Bronya moved with prosthetic legs, so she was an exception.
Leo Ash's footsteps showed some training, but not much.
The one with the lightest and steadiest steps was, contrary to her delicate appearance, Raiden Mei.
*The Herrscher of Thunder, and she has some martial arts experience herself...*
*And now, Otto has placed K423 here, which means the situation he described to me at Schicksal HQ was correct.*
*After retrieving K423, he already knows how to proceed to the next stage of his plan.*
*He sent me here, claiming it was to form a powerful anti-Herrscher squad, but in reality... heh, it's just to monitor them.*
*But why did he ask me to pay close attention to Leo Ash?*
*He has a pseudo-Fenghuang Down. If he wanted to know more about Leo Ash, he could just hypnotize him directly.*
*It's strange that Otto would take an interest in a young man.*
*But then again, someone who can suppress the Herrscher of Thunder, even with the help of the HSN serum, is indeed not to be underestimated.*
*I'll find a chance to spar with him and see what he's made of.*
*If he is truly committed to fighting the Honkai, it wouldn't be a bad thing for such a talented young man to grow stronger.*
*Sigh... strange, whose name was I just trying to recall?*
Behind Fu Hua, Leo Ash remained silent, but looking at the character profile panel popping up on the system, he could feel his desire to complain bubbling up.
[Name: Fu Hua]
[Identity: One of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, the Immortal Red Kite of Shenzhou, Schicksal's S-rank Valkyrie, a spy sent by Otto to the Far East Branch.]
[Current Affection: 15.]
[Note: She thinks highly of you, but...]
[But—seeing the system's prompt, you become vigilant.]
*Alright, alright, we've known each other for five days now. Do me a favor and let me be a part-time narrator with weekends off, okay?*
[Oh, fine. You've had a rough time, I'll give you that. But this system just has a few last words.]
*Ah... fine. If you're willing to cut me some slack, I can't just shut you up completely.*
[Looking at the woman before you, you let out two cold laughs, already fantasizing about the future.]
[You are a master manipulator who can even deceive Otto. Fu Hua, who is constantly played by Otto, is no match for you in this regard. In due time, you will surely be able to...]
*I will surely be able to?*
[Hehe, can't say, can't say. In short, keep it up, Host. After all...]
[The taste of an immortal, it's really good~]
....