Real World, several years later.
The terrifying global calamity of several years past had finally come to an end.
The Finality was overcome, the Honkai was contained, civilization endured, and the war that had exhausted everyone, body and mind, was finally declared victorious.
However, the end of the war did not mean stagnation, but rather a new beginning. The aftershocks of the disaster were far from over.
In the most difficult years, humanity had abandoned almost all small and medium-sized towns and villages, huddling together in a few giant cities to survive. Human civilization had almost instantly regressed to the city-state era.
And now, the disaster had become a thing of the past. The world ravaged by the Honkai needed to rebuild civilization. The displaced people needed to bury their deceased loved ones, dry their tears, return to their ravaged homelands, gradually forget the nightmares of the past, and start new lives.
Governments needed to restore their functions from a state of shutdown and paralysis.
The economy needed to recover. Transportation networks, almost completely severed in various places, needed to be reopened.
The calamity had caused chaos, and since ancient times, chaos has always been a breeding ground for evil. These tumor-like evil organizations within human society became huge obstacles to rebuilding homes, restoring the economy, and reviving civilization.
How to accurately find and efficiently eliminate them was also a long and tedious long-term project.
These were all major problems on Schicksal's desk, urgently awaiting resolution.
Why Schicksal?
Could you really count on those governments that had long been dysfunctional, themselves in dire need of Schicksal's relief? "This is truly an excellent opportunity to establish a united human government. At a time like this, who else but us?"
The then-Overseer of Schicksal—Lin Wei, who had absorbed the remnants of Anti-Entropy and World Serpent and incorporated them into Schicksal—stated to everyone at a meeting, "The Honkai is over. We cannot look at problems with old perspectives. The Post-Honkai era has its own unique challenges. The Honkai is over, the great enemy has disappeared, but human desires will not disappear. If we don't take advantage of this window of opportunity to unite all of humanity and establish a truly unified government—hehe, I'm afraid it won't be long before humanity starts killing each other again in various ways."
Lin Wei, dressed in his Overseer's attire, scanned the Schicksal higher-ups, former Herrschers, and Valkyries seated below the stage at the meeting, and said decisively, "To avoid such consequences, it's better to intervene early and lead human civilization onto a new track of rapid development!"
Thunderous applause erupted from below the stage!
Thus, in the Post-Honkai era, Schicksal began to appear before human society in a new guise, undertaking even more arduous work. In this regard, Lin Wei, as the Overseer of Schicksal, was simply overwhelmed...
Schicksal Headquarters, Floating Island, Overseer's Office.
Lin Wei's eyes were glued to the screen, his brows tightly furrowed, his ten fingers flying, his teeth clenched, completely overwhelmed by the enormous problem before him.
Finally, he stood up in anger, slammed the Soulium controller, which was almost crushed in his hand, onto the floor, grabbed the Overseer's dedicated phone next to the computer, dialed a number, and roared,
"Bronya, what kind of crappy game did you make? Is this for people to play?"
"Huh? What did you say?"
The rather intellectual voice on the other end of the phone was extremely surprised.
"I just had Kiana test it. Her feedback was that the difficulty was too low, and she suggested increasing it."
"...You actually believe what Kiana says? Has your brain been fried from coding! Where did the incredibly smart Bronya from before go?"
Lin Wei was exasperated. He hung up on Bronya and dialed another number, intending to settle accounts directly with Kiana.
"Tsk, Lin Wei? Is that you?"
The voice on the other end sounded a bit flustered.
"Mei isn't with you, right?"
"No, she's leading a team on a business trip to St. Fountain."
Lin Wei said irritably.
"No one confiscated your snacks."
"Hehe, you're still the best."
Kiana chuckled, instantly relieved.
"Looking for me to play games? Let me tell you first, I haven't finished my homework yet!"
"Sigh, how pitiful. Among the new students enrolled in St. Freya Academy in 2013, there's one who's been held back until now. I won't say who..."
Lin Wei clicked his tongue in amazement.
"What were you doing before? No one can control you now. Himeko is busy with new students and has no time to check your homework."
"No, I can't be led astray by you. Today's work must be done today."
Kiana remained unmoved, shaking her head vigorously.
"Speaking of which, aren't you nervous at all about what's happening in St. Fountain?"
"Need to be nervous?"
Lin Wei raised an eyebrow.
"That's true too."
Kiana deeply agreed. With her and Lin Wei keeping an eye on things, no one could stir up any trouble. She was even worried that those otherworldly fellows would be played to death by this inhuman guy, Lin Wei.
But now it seemed Lin Wei wasn't very interested in this matter...
"Don't worry, I've already pinned down Welt beforehand."
Lin Wei picked up the controller again, wiping off the dust.
"That guy, it's better if he doesn't run around. He should obediently go back to making his games! Just look at how Bronya has ruined a perfectly good IP!"
"..."
Even after so many years, she was still often left speechless by Lin Wei's peculiar train of thought. After a while, she said,
"No, I have to check on Mei's side, in case she has any accidents."
Kiana, far away on the moon, tilted her head slightly, her gaze crossing the vast distance to land on a small dot on Earth.
"Huh? Why does Mei look like she's slacking off? When she fought alongside me before, she was always at the forefront!"
Kiana saw through Mei at a glance. Most of her effort was put into special effects; she wasn't actually exerting herself, but instead, she was exhausting the few rookies partnered with her. She was instantly baffled.
"What's wrong with her? Is she not feeling well? No, I have to call her!"
"Stop! Don't cause trouble. It was my request to her."
Lin Wei hurriedly stopped her.
"It's peaceful times now, there aren't many opportunities for actual combat. Now that we finally have a training ground, don't you dare ruin it for me!"
"Huh?"
Kiana was a bit dumbfounded.
"Huh what? Mei is there to hold the line. The pressure and danger that should be experienced on the battlefield, these rookies still need to experience it—anyway, with a max-level expert by their side, no one will die. Before they set off, Lewis seemed to have secretly met with Mei, asking her to give Carole more responsibilities, not to let her be too comfortable."
Lin Wei's smile was a bit wicked.
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a loving mother..."
"..."
Kiana continued to be speechless, feeling sorry for those otherworldly fellows.
For dignified invaders to be bullied like this, it was too undignified...
"I've already thought it through, a rotation system. Mei is only leading the first team. Once they're proficient enough, the next team will rotate in—newbies need to be tempered more. As for the team leader..."
Lin Wei thought for a moment, then said through gritted teeth,
"That Bronya fellow, her brain is almost fried from coding lately. Let her lead the second team. Let her get some good exercise, don't just stay cooped up at home all day, her brain will rot!"
"...Hasn't Bronya already resigned from Schicksal?"
I've been quite a homebody lately too, Kiana thought to herself.
"That's fine, I have my ways."
Lin Wei said confidently, then poked his head out from behind the large computer screen and said loudly,
"Assistant, tell Bronya that as long as she agrees to lead this team, Schicksal can help cover fifty thousand copies of her unsellable new game."
After thinking for a moment, he added,
"Also, to stimulate her initiative, give her an additional performance bonus of up to fifty thousand copies. The specific amount will depend on her work results. That's all, go."
"Scraape..."
The harsh sound of a chair moving was heard.
From another desk piled high with documents not far away, a short, white-haired dumpling with an otherworldly aura in her eyes walked out.
That wasn't all. Lin Wei's demonic voice floated over again.
"Oh, by the way, help me draft the list of new recruits for the second team entering the St. Fountain battlefield. Once it's drafted, hand it over to our director."
Theresa, the Overseer's assistant, who was being crazily exploited by Lin Wei and wanted to die from overworking, glared at him fiercely. Filled with resentment, she walked out of the office to carry out this new task.
"A hundred thousand copies?"
Kiana, unaware of Theresa's tragic fate, was surprised by this number.
"Schicksal doesn't seem to have that many people, right?"
"Oh, it's fine, I've already thought of where they'll go."
Lin Wei waved his hand and said magnanimously.
"Later, I'll take some nice photos of you, make a new game cover for these unsellable backlogged goods, and call it 'Arahato—God of Earth Co-branded Edition.' Then I'll put up some recordings of you successfully clearing the game as advertisements."
Lin Wei stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"As for the price... double it again. I refuse to believe it won't sell!"
"I don't mind, but..."
Kiana was dazed by his maneuver.
"Why didn't you tell Bronya this trick earlier? She was almost dying of anxiety because her game wasn't selling."
The black-hearted capitalist Lin Wei was righteously indignant about this:
"If I told her earlier, how could I get her to work for me?"
"...You scoundrel should be hung from a lamppost!"
Kiana grumbled indignantly, seeking justice for her good friend.
"Then shall I tell Mei that Kiana was caught secretly eating snacks by me?"
Lin Wei was perfectly calm.
"...Please continue."
Kiana instantly chickened out and forcibly changed the subject.
"Do you need my help?"
"No need, just obediently do your homework. Absolutely do not interfere!"
Lin Wei waved his hand and reminded her seriously.
"I'm afraid you'll scare them off early. That wouldn't be fun."
"..."
So you're really the most dangerous guy in the world, huh?
Kiana grumbled inwardly, but she was still worried that Lin Wei was being too arrogant.
"Will Mei be alright on her own?"
She was still concerned about Mei's safety.
"Don't worry, I've already had the Void Archives infiltrate those guys' ranks. Those brainless idiots, to be tricked into running in circles by this Void Archives fellow? Tsk, how disappointing..."
Lin Wei pursed his lips with some disdain.
"With him coordinating from the inside, Mei just needs to play along with him. There won't be any accidents."
"Void Archives? Otto's Divine Key? You still have it?"
Kiana was incredibly surprised by this news.
"Didn't it disappear along with Otto's death? Where did you find it?"
"Surprised? As long as I control all the Soulium bodies Otto left behind, that fellow will naturally walk into the trap. Ho, just like this."
Lin Wei snapped his fingers lightly.
"As long as I promise it a complete body, plus some insignificant tricks, I can naturally make it obediently submit and serve me."
"How can you be sure it won't really defect to the enemy?"
Kiana loathed Otto intensely, and by extension, she deeply distrusted anything he left behind.
"Aren't you being a bit too arrogant?"
"Don't worry, with the backdoor left by Vill-V, the designer, Void Archives can't escape my grasp."
Lin Wei smiled calmly.
"Besides, even without these things, if Otto could control him, why can't I? Do you have so little confidence in me?"
"That's not it. I have plenty of confidence in you in certain aspects!"
"Thanks for the compliment—then do you not have confidence in Mei's strength?"
"No, no..."
Kiana shook her head like a rattle drum. Mei seemed amicable now, but when she fought, she was still as formidable as ever.
"Then what are you saying? Besides, even if I don't intervene much, aren't you still watching from the moon?"
Lin Wei comfortably propped his legs on the desk and said lazily.
"Would you sit by and watch your friend face danger?"
"Alright! So you still weren't planning on letting me off the hook!"
Kiana, realizing this, said indignantly.
"After all this time, so this is where you were waiting for me?!"
Lin Wei, you scoundrel, your heart is truly rotten to the core!
"What's the big deal? It's just a final safety net. It's not like you have to intervene."
Lin Wei chuckled, teasing the riled-up Kiana.
"Did you forget? I'm still afraid you'll scare those guys off."
"That's true too, huh?"
Kiana thought about it, found the logic sound, and was instantly persuaded. She decided to end this topic and said excitedly,
"Come play games, play games! Let me tell you, I'm so bored by myself, even playing games isn't fun..."
Lin Wei raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
"Huh? Aren't you supposed to be doing homework?"
"Aiya, just for a little while!"
Kiana blushed and said somewhat bashfully.
"It's all your fault! You talk about Mei one moment, then Bronya the next, making my heart itch. Everyone has interesting things to do, how can I possibly focus on my books? It's really boring!"
Lin Wei chuckled.
"Hey, you actually have a bit of your old style now..."
"Say that again and I'll hit you!"
Kiana, reminded of her dark history, was not happy.
"Alright, alright. I happen to be bored now too, so let's play for a bit."
Lin Wei glanced at his empty desk, completely ignoring the pile of documents on Theresa's desk.
"Let me say this first, just for half an hour, okay!"
Kiana was easily satisfied.
"Hehe, half an hour is half an hour, that's enough!