Chapter 216: Bonus Increase
"Everlasting friendship? No thanks." Irene waved a hand dismissively. "It's better for the two of us to make a clean break when the time comes. So that's that."
She waved again and turned to the others. Einstein and Tesla exchanged a glance, then headed for the door — neither of them had any particular desire to keep standing there. Every second they spent looking at Otto made their knuckles itch.
Vill-V dissolved his physical form and returned to Irene's body. She'd told him to stay put earlier, but the way she'd just spoken made it clear: his purpose here had been served.
As for what Irene was actually planning — he'd more or less pieced it together. The moment she saw him, it was obvious Otto hadn't recognized him. Yet Irene had said she wanted a certain someone to see him, which meant she was counting on whoever watched that recording to know who he was.
Factor in the fact that this man had been alive for five hundred years, and it followed that he had access to remarkably advanced technology even back then. Only one thing really fit that description.
Void Archives, most likely. And speaking of Void Archives — watching the Herrscher of Reason construct weapons these past few days had got him thinking.
Back in the day, the pressure of circumstance had forced them to turn Void Archives into a mobile library. Ordinary data storage simply wouldn't survive across such a span of time. But a Herrscher Core was durable enough to carry information intact through the ages — that was why they'd done it that way. Pairing it with the Herrscher of Reason had been the most sensible approach.
In theory, a Core of Corruption could have served just as well — but none of them had been able to bring themselves to do it. In the end, they'd sealed Rin inside the Black Box and left it at that. Partly because they couldn't stomach the alternative, and partly to avoid any appearance of impropriety. But none of that mattered now. When the time came, they'd just extract the data.
Of course, that would probably mean dismantling Void Archives first. Worth thinking about — how exactly had he put Void Archives together back then?
With a quiet thought, Irene blocked the Palace of Consciousness from listening in. Then she looked at Otto and asked: "Still — are you sure you want to go through with this?"
The reason for the block was simple: she didn't want Kallen to find out what Otto was planning. Given Kallen's nature, she would never understand why Otto was willing to go this far for her sake.
But Otto didn't need her to understand. He didn't even particularly need Kallen's understanding. What he had always wanted — what he had only ever wanted — was to get his Kallen back. Nothing more.
Given that, Irene didn't want Kallen learning the truth too soon. She didn't want Kallen's instincts to kick in and send her rushing to talk Otto out of it — because that would only make everything messier.
Let Otto do what he's going to do. This is his choice to make.
"Is Kallen listening?" Otto asked.
"No. Do you want me to connect her?"
"That won't be necessary. I doubt Kallen would appreciate it." Otto shook his head. There was no reason to involve her. He would handle this himself.
"Thank you, Miss Irene — for keeping this between us."
"I never said I was keeping anything for you. Don't get the wrong idea." Irene pressed her lips together, folding her arms. "I just didn't want Kallen worrying herself sick trying to talk you out of it."
"Yes, that does sound like something Kallen would do." Otto nodded, a note of understanding in his voice. It was exactly the sort of thing she would do — and he didn't want her burdened with this either.
This was his choice. The one thing that had kept him going through all of it.
He knew Kallen was here, with Irene. He could, with a clear conscience, accept that Kallen — after all, hadn't he spent his entire life fighting for her? But Otto felt that wasn't enough. He wanted more. He wanted to change what had already happened. That was probably the most selfish thing a person could want.
Kallen mattered. The Kallen with Irene mattered too. He was glad that somewhere, some version of himself had managed to save her. Grateful for it. Envious of it.
That story meant a great deal to him. But — and this bore repeating — Irene, your Kallen matters. Your story may well help me.
But I am going to save my Kallen. And not even Kallen herself can stop me.
"In the end, I will do this. I have spent my entire life working toward it." He looked at her. "I imagine Miss Irene can understand that."
"Understand it? Not really." Irene shook her head. "But... I hope you succeed. It's not as though anything I say could stop you, is it?"
"Thank you, Miss Irene." Otto gave a quiet nod. "And thank you for parting with the Herrscher of the Legion Core. I will find some way to compensate you afterward — ah, though in a sense I've already given you my granddaughter as payment."
"As for that Core, perhaps we could call it—"
"Say another word and I will find a way over there to beat you senseless." Irene rolled her eyes. This man — give him an inch and he'd take a mile. Three days without a spanking and he was already back to climbing the walls.
"Am I wrong?" Otto smiled. "She is my granddaughter, and I know her rather well. Miss Irene, surely you have at least a little interest? She really is quite adorable."
"I have no interest in being anyone's punching bag."
Otto raised an eyebrow. He wasn't entirely sure what Irene meant by 'punching bag,' but thinking it over, she might be saying she had no desire to be labeled some kind of lolicon?
"There's no need for concern — Theresa is a perfectly legal loli. Old enough to be an auntie several times over, really."
"She'd beat you half to death if she heard that."
"I am five hundred years old." Otto shrugged. "Past a certain age, these things stop mattering. It's all the same."
"'Growing old without growing up' — that phrase was invented for people like you." Irene rolled her eyes. "Anyway, that's that. Oh — one more thing. About Durandal."
"I'll leave that matter entirely in Miss Irene's hands." Otto smiled. So, on top of dealing with the Herrscher of the Legion situation, that was the other thing Irene needed to sort out.
She wouldn't take long either way. Reuniting the sisters — that wasn't a bad outcome. Sooner or later made no real difference.
"One thing I should mention, though, Miss Irene — Durandal's memories may have sustained some organic damage. If you're counting on our mutual old friend to use Fenghuang Down to restore them, that could prove a little difficult."
Honestly, Otto himself had never truly believed the real Kiana could have survived what she'd been through. He knew that even his own Soulium body would have taken damage under those circumstances — and Durandal at the time had not yet begun absorbing Honkai energy to reinforce herself, and had still been just a child. When the Valkyries found her and reported back, he had been genuinely stunned.
"You never tried it yourself, did you?"
Otto nodded as though this were the most natural thing in the world. "Of course not. Forcing her to relive the tragedy of her family — that would be far too cruel, don't you think?"
"Oh, get out of here." Irene rolled her eyes. "Fine. Since that's how it is — goodbye. I hope the next time we meet, things will have already reached that point."
Otto watched the comm screen close in front of him and smiled quietly. Then he turned to look at Void Archives, lurking in the corner. "Well then, old friend. Care to explain?"
"There's nothing to explain." Void Archives drifted slowly upward. "Of those four people just now — the one you didn't recognize? You can think of her, simply, as my mother."
"Oh? So you're afraid of your mother." Otto raised an eyebrow, eyeing his old friend with undisguised curiosity. This was genuinely a first — he'd never once imagined this particular old friend was capable of being scared of anything, let alone a parent.
She must have done quite a lot, to have put Void Archives in a state like this.
"Hah. You wouldn't know, would you — oh, wait, you do, actually. You personally wiped out your entire bloodline." Void Archives flipped over with an air of mild contempt. "I'm simply picking up on a very specific malice directed at me."
"If I end up in her hands someday, I imagine things will go rather badly for me."
"I look forward to it."
"Ha."
— — —
A figure dressed in the plain clothes of a logistics worker moved steadily down a corridor, each step precisely placed yet carrying some quality that felt subtly, unsettlingly inhuman.
"Mm. Security really is tight around here." The puppet scanned the Valkyries stationed along the route. That reagent — it could outright eliminate lower-tier Honkai Beasts, and even significantly weaken stronger ones. Now that a method for mass production had apparently been secured, something theoretically capable of threatening even Herrschers was naturally drawing enormous attention.
Sure enough, barely had Shenchen Pharmaceuticals posted an announcement on Schicksal's network before the Overseer had dispatched members of the Immortal Blades squad to serve as assistants — proof enough of how much weight was being placed on this.
Their plan this time was sabotage and destruction. Another group of operatives had already infiltrated Shenchen Pharmaceuticals; the formal collaboration hadn't yet officially commenced.
Destroy the facility, and the reagent research vanished along with it. That was the primary mission. Though some of the puppets had also floated the idea that, if they could seize control of the factory instead, they could turn those Honkai-clearing reagents right back against the Valkyries.
Both approaches were viable. For now, though, outright destruction looked difficult — members of the Immortal Blades squad were on constant patrol throughout the facility.
They had also made attempts to influence those Immortal Blades operatives directly. It hadn't worked. Every one of them had iron-hard conviction, carrying a deep, burning hatred for the Honkai. Corrupting minds like that was very nearly impossible.
Their psychological defenses were exceptional. No opening had been found.
But if destruction was off the table, then control it was. Surely not everyone working for Schicksal had a soul utterly untouched by weakness. Even if they just got to whoever was in charge here — even if it was only the delivery drivers — they could obtain large quantities of the Honkai-clearing reagent. From there, capturing and replacing Valkyries, or using it against Herrschers, wouldn't be out of the question.
The puppet's thoughts churned on — and it entirely failed to notice that the corridor ahead seemed to keep stretching further and further, while it itself appeared to be walking in place.
A soft murmur came from behind it.
"My, my. Quite the ambitious little plan. Where exactly does all that confidence come from?" Little Senti looked at the puppet in front of her and rolled her eyes. "Are all Herrschers of the Legion this self-assured?"
"When you've got a thousand people, you can't expect every single one of them to be a model citizen." Irene patted Little Senti on the shoulder. "Right — got another position locked down over here. Thirteen operatives in total, though — they're taking this seriously."
"It may be because they have failed to accomplish anything at all," Rita said, standing at Irene's side with the composed grace of an attending maid. "Every attack on Schicksal, every attempt against Miss Irene and your group — nothing has gone their way. The Herrscher of the Legion may be feeling a rather urgent need to prove themselves."
"Of course, that is only Rita's conjecture."
"Who knows. Doesn't much matter." Irene shrugged. "Though Rita — is it really all right for you to be tagging along with us? Shouldn't you be keeping Durandal company?"
"I believe my presence here is quite necessary as a host." Rita smiled. "Besides, Durandal has not come to this side of the facility. The Immortal Blades being dispatched here is already unusual enough in itself."
The vice-captain and the captain both showing up in person was even stranger — Durandal especially. Schicksal's finest Valkyrie, turning up for escort duty? Something clearly didn't add up.
Even Rita herself was not originally on the roster. Had Irene's group not come, Otto wouldn't have sent her either. That said, if anything did go wrong, the two of them could reach the area at a moment's notice.
"Fair point." Irene nodded, then took Little Senti by the arm and moved off, leaving the puppet to wander elsewhere on its own. At the Herrscher of the Legion's level of threat — so long as they remained within visual range — this group of operatives couldn't stir up anything too serious.
Every marked puppet would find itself bumping into a few Immortal Blades squad members at every turn, ensuring they never had a free moment to cause trouble. Unless they chose to attack outright — but if they did, Durandal would be there in moments to skewer the lot of them.
At Durandal's speed, as long as the Immortal Blades squad didn't get completely wiped out in the first instant, she'd make it in time. And the Immortal Blades were still the pinnacle of Valkyrie squads. Even if the Herrscher of the Legion was technically a Herrscher, based on what Irene's group had experienced firsthand, the combat capability ranked somewhere above A-Rank Valkyrie level but hadn't reached S-Rank.
With Rita as the benchmark, that is. Durandal was in a category of her own.
"There will likely be more puppets." Rita fell into step behind Irene. "Additionally, following the lead Miss Irene provided regarding the Honkai Beast stone carvings, we have located a suspicious workshop."
"Did you tip them off?"
"Of course not. Though from our observation, the workshop also appears to be empty at the moment." Rita shook her head. "We still have people watching it."
"Any movement there and we'll know immediately."
"Mm. We wait a little longer — but the bait may not be quite tempting enough yet." Irene nodded thoughtfully. "Can you arrange a... live field test?"
"Certainly." Rita nodded. "Though — will thirteen spectators be sufficient?"
"Herrscher of the Legion, Thousand Minds — but they're still connected to each other. Thirteen spectators is plenty."
"Understood." Rita nodded. A live exercise was straightforward enough — Deadwalkers and Honkai Beasts were resources they could produce on demand.
"Then it's time to sweeten the deal." Irene nodded, watching the puppet disappear around the corner in the distance. "You can't hook the big fish if you don't let the line run."
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