Facing Durandal's current train of thought, Rita could only smile bitterly and shake her head.
*Sigh, Lady Durandal is still too young.*
Although the Overseer and Mr. Aaron appeared to be allied in the eyes of the outside world, their 'alliance' was filled with mutual suspicion.
According to the standard ceremony for appointing a Branch Head, the appointee should have been invited to Schicksal HQ by the Overseer to give a report before heading to the branch to take over its operations.
Of course, given Mr. Aaron's special circumstances, it wasn't strange to deviate from the standard procedure.
However, while it was Mr. Aaron's business if he didn't follow protocol, it was actually quite rude for the Overseer not to extend an invitation at all.
For the Overseer, who usually did everything to maintain appearances, this move clearly revealed a piece of information.
He was guarding against Mr. Aaron... no, one could even say he feared Mr. Aaron, which was why he chose not to meet him proactively.
The Overseer was no coward; when certain missions required it, he would even choose to hide his identity and operate on the front lines.
From this perspective, his apprehension toward Mr. Aaron was definitely not ordinary.
Under these circumstances, how could he possibly let Mr. Aaron lay a finger on a mission that seemed so important?
"How should I put this? After all, we only just turned from enemies to friends with Mr. Aaron..."
After a moment of thought, Rita smiled and offered the excuse she had prepared.
"It's not strange that the Overseer wouldn't want to trouble Mr. Aaron too much at a time like this."
"Is that so..."
*That excuse feels really forced. Is Overseer Otto the kind of person to be polite about these things?*
*I feel like it's more reliable to say that Overseer Otto feels there's no benefit for him if Aaron touches this mission.*
*Hm, I don't know why, but I feel like those two just don't get along...*
*It's strange. I've never even seen them talk to each other, so why do I have this weird idea?*
"Forget it, never mind that. If the intelligence is accurate, the only enemies we'll face this time should be those Titan mechs."
Recalling the report she had finished reading, Durandal stretched her waist and spoke with a hint of boredom.
"If it's just mechs, this mission won't be much of a challenge."
"Um, Lady Durandal, regarding this mission... this one feels we should treat it with a bit more seriousness."
At this, Rita put away the report and spoke softly to Durandal.
"The Titans mentioned in the mission briefing are just the enemies that will definitely appear. In reality, among the enemies we face, there may be two formidable opponents who are very difficult to deal with."
"Although the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy, Welt, has been missing for a long time, no one knows if he has returned to Anti-Entropy during this period."
"He is the genuine Herrscher of Reason, not a fake like a Pseudo-Herrscher that is easy to deal with. According to information from the intelligence database, not only does he have abundant combat experience, but he can also simulate Divine Keys during battle to attack his enemies."
"Mm... that is true. The Anti-Entropy Sovereign has been missing for so long that I forgot such a person existed. Then the other strong enemy..."
At the moment she thought of Divine Keys, Durandal's expression immediately darkened.
"Are you referring to... Siegfried?"
"Yes. Your father, Siegfried Kaslana, is undoubtedly a difficult enemy as well."
"He and Lady Theresa are old friends, and he is your biological father. If he acts at a time like this, then you and Lady Theresa's combat effectiveness will inevitably be affected."
Faced with Rita's point, Durandal had no way to refute it.
*Affected... that's putting it politely.*
Knowing that her father might be controlled by a hostile organization, Durandal only wanted to bring him back to Schicksal and free him from the enemy's domination.
If she encountered her controlled father at a time like this... even knowing that battle was unavoidable, Durandal still couldn't muster any will to fight.
"And according to Lord Otto, since Anti-Entropy has already chosen the unsavory method of [Consciousness Control], then if they realize The Deep might be ambushed, the probability of them dispatching Mr. Siegfried there... is quite high."
"After all, the only organization capable of attacking Anti-Entropy, aside from that organization hiding in the shadows, is Schicksal. And the more lives of Schicksal members that stain Mr. Siegfried's hands..."
Speaking to this point, Rita gave a bitter laugh and did not continue.
But having said this much, Durandal naturally understood her friend's meaning.
Although her father would be forced to attack his former colleagues after having his consciousness controlled, if he killed her colleagues, then even if his control was lifted in the future, he might fall into deep agony due to his past actions.
*Those bastards at Anti-Entropy are truly detestable!*
*To think they came up with such a poisonous scheme!*
"No, in that case, we must rescue Father from Anti-Entropy even more."
Thinking of the miserable state Siegfried might face in the future, Durandal felt she couldn't sit still any longer.
"When it comes down to it, now that this intelligence has circulated, Schicksal knows there's an issue at The Deep, so Anti-Entropy definitely knows that the information about The Deep has been exposed."
"Under these circumstances, they already know we will inevitably go there—is there any point in us choosing a covert operation?"
"I'm going to find the Overseer. Let's be decisive this time; just give me enough manpower, and I'll charge straight to The Deep—"
"Lady Durandal, please calm down."
Seeing the agitated Durandal, Rita felt incredibly heartache.
The young girl before her had finally learned of her father's whereabouts, yet she had to go to war with him and perhaps even kill each other.
Under these circumstances, Rita actually understood her desire to save Siegfried very well.
The problem was, the timing wasn't right.
"With both sides fully aware of the situation, Lord Otto will absolutely send out a large force—but that large force is, in the end, just a feint."
"After dispatching the main force, as long as Senior Specter and colleagues from other intelligence departments disguise themselves as us and charge in openly, the people at Anti-Entropy will naturally focus their attention on the main force—after all, the combat power of the Immortal Blades is second to none among active Valkyrie squads."
"...That's not good, is it?"
Hearing Rita's statement, Durandal frowned slightly.
"Senior Specter's disguise skills are strong, yes, but she... although she is an A-Rank, with her combat power, if she encounters Anti-Entropy's snipers..."
"Missions are inevitably accompanied by risks. What our four-person squad needs to do is take down The Deep at maximum speed while our comrades attract fire for us."
"Once Anti-Entropy discovers that The Deep is being attacked by a powerful force, they will definitely return to defend it immediately. In that situation, Senior Specter and the others will have bought us enough time and attracted some of the fire. They just need to hold out for a little while."
"As long as we manage the time difference well and eliminate the enemies before Anti-Entropy's defense force returns, the teams on both sides will have it much easier—so Lady Durandal, when facing Mr. Siegfried, please be serious."
"After all, your every move concerns the lives and safety of others."
"...I understand."
*Father... is there really no way to take Father away from Anti-Entropy this time...*
*If it's truly as Rita predicted, the enemies we'll face should be the First Herrscher and my controlled father.*
*The enemy's combat power consists of one Herrscher-level combatant and one Divine Key user, plus a pile of Titan mechs.*
*On our side, I can use a Divine Key, and Senior Theresa is also a Divine Key user.*
*We won't have a huge gap in high-end combat power.*
*Rita shouldn't have a problem dealing with those Titan mechs, and Senior Himeko just needs to protect herself.*
*But in that case, if neither side can suppress the other and we fall into a stalemate... mm, the Anti-Entropy troops facing Senior Specter will return.*
*We'll be at a disadvantage then.*
*No, if I don't put in the effort here, forget about saving Father, we won't even be able to complete the mission.*
*Sure enough, I have to give it my all this time.*
*For the safety of my colleagues, and to free Father from the enemy's control...*
*Maybe I should use that power depending on the situation.*
*Although I can't control that power perfectly yet, if it really comes to that point...*
*—I can only try and see if liberating that power can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop.*
.....................
The Next Day. A Certain Schicksal Transport Ship
Inside the transport ship, Specter, who had already disguised herself as Durandal, felt cold sweat pouring out of her uncontrollably.
As an ace spy, under normal circumstances, she should have excellent psychological resilience and wouldn't start scaring herself just because a mission was tricky.
But the problem was, all the missions she faced in the past were spy missions she was good at!
Lurking inside Anti-Entropy to gather intelligence, the highest combat power she had to face... oh, aside from the Welt series clones later on, she could pretty much 'Dynasty Warriors' her way through other Anti-Entropy members most of the time.
After all, Anti-Entropy mainly relied on mechs for fighting. As for the remaining staff, even as just an A-Rank from the intelligence department, she could slaughter them easily.
But this mission was different!
She had been dumped here by Overseer Otto to disguise herself as Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, Durandal. To put it bluntly, she was set up here waiting for someone to beat her up.
Although with the combat power of the other members of the Immortal Blades, they wouldn't be under too much pressure if a few Titans attacked, this mission looked like such a huge operation. God knows what weird attacks Anti-Entropy would come up with to snipe Durandal.
"Captain, a colleague from the intelligence department just sent a message. They found no sign of enemies in the vicinity. Shall we continue advancing?"
"Continue advancing..."
After taking a deep breath, Specter spoke to her colleague on the other end of the terminal.
"You can be a bit more open with your movements now. We want to emphasize arrogance."
"Those Anti-Entropy bitches... hmph, forget it, whatever."
At this moment, Specter suddenly sneered and spoke to the others on the comms channel.
"Those cowards at Anti-Entropy don't dare to oppose us, the Immortal Blades. Let's just go to The Deep in peace and prepare to accept the legacy technology of the Mu Continent."
*Before the operation, I already lowered the encryption system of the comms channel by two levels.*
*If the decoders over at Anti-Entropy aren't totally useless, they should have already hacked into our comms channel and known our movements.*
*Now I can only use this method to 'notify' those Anti-Entropy guys to come and attack us.*
*Anyway, stalling for a minute is a minute gained.*
*As long as Durandal's mission goes smoothly, the Anti-Entropy attack force here will be distracted no matter what.*
*When that happens, whether they fight or retreat, the initiative won't be in their hands.*
*Durandal, Rita, Theresa, Himeko, you have to work hard.*
*Whether we can secure the initiative on the battlefield depends entirely on you.*
.................
At the Same Time. A Certain World Serpent Base
Inside a World Serpent base, Jackal listened to the broadcasted dialogue, the corners of her mouth rising slightly.
"Heh, it seems they really took the bait. Gray Serpent, the first part of this plan is complete."
"When do we act? Whether it's eliminating Raven or fishing her out, we can't drag this on any longer."
"No, there's no rush for that."
Facing Jackal's suggestion, Gray Serpent suddenly spoke up.
"It doesn't matter what happens to Raven. For us right now, there is something more important to focus on."
"...Have you gone crazy?"
Hearing Gray Serpent's sudden change of tune, Jackal spoke grumpily.
"If we don't solve the problem with Raven, the coordinates of our home base will be known to Anti-Entropy sooner or later."
"They have a quantum teleportation system, hey! Once these guys know our coordinates and launch a counterattack, everything in our base will be ruined!"
"No, it's not just that. Even Hare's Project Stigma might be interfered with because of this!"
"Yes, everything you say is correct. But Jackal, these are all secondary compared to what we need to focus on right now."
*What?*
*Our home is about to be raided, and you're telling me this?*
Jackal knew that although the Gray Serpents were connected, in a sense, they were also independent individuals.
Every Gray Serpent had slight differences in hobbies and style of action.
So now Jackal suspected that maybe the more reliable Gray Serpents had been sent to their deaths, which was why the Gray Serpent she was dealing with now gave her a feeling of 'Is this bastard stupid or crazy?'
"I know you might be muttering in your heart right now, probably even cursing me for being crazy. But this time, I truly feel that World Serpent's lucky break has arrived."
At this moment, a fierce light suddenly flashed in Gray Serpent's single scarlet eye. Then, he slowly began to explain the reason for his change of plans to Jackal.
"Just now, I hacked into Schicksal's internal team communication channel. And the difficulty of hacking in was almost the same as hacking the communication channel of a regular Schicksal combat unit on a normal day."
"However, the team Otto dispatched this time is the Immortal Blades—can the electronic security system of the Immortal Blades be the same as that of a regular Valkyrie squad?"
"It's definitely not on the same level—the problem is, can you cut the crap?"
Seeing that Gray Serpent seemed to plan on speaking another few thousand words of nonsense, Jackal couldn't bear it anymore and slammed the table.
"Get to the point!"
"Mm, simply put. The internal communication security system of the Immortal Blades is off. I thought about it; if this team was really the main assault team, they wouldn't make a mistake on such a detail. Unless..."
"—Someone in this team wanted to actively let Anti-Entropy know something, so they lowered the security system. I don't know if anyone at Anti-Entropy noticed the security system was off, but after I learned this, I made a deduction."
"This team isn't the Schicksal team attacking The Deep at all; they are just a continuous stream of bait. And this bait team was so afraid Anti-Entropy wouldn't find them that they deliberately self-exposed their coordinates and mission in this obscure way—all to make Anti-Entropy notice their existence."
"In that case, Schicksal's main combat force might have already fought their way to The Deep!"
"Well said—isn't this a great opportunity?"
Hearing this, Jackal was even more baffled.
"According to you, Schicksal's main combat force might already be fighting Anti-Entropy. Anti-Entropy's internal defenses must be emptier than usual right now, so isn't this the perfect time for us to..."
"I told you, Raven's life or death is irrelevant. The fighting has likely already started at The Deep. And although Anti-Entropy's Sovereign is missing god knows where, Siegfried Kaslana is their ally."
"On Schicksal's side, since Otto used the 'Immortal Blades' as a feint, it means the combat unit he dispatched must also contain sufficiently powerful warriors—at minimum, there must be a Divine Key user."
"Siegfried is a Divine Key user. And the other person is also a Divine Key user. If two Divine Key users confront each other head-on, the energy erupted will very likely interfere with the Eye of the Deep at The Deep!"
"And once we reach that step—our chance will come!"
"If a large-scale energy projection operation is carried out at the special node that is the [Eye of the Deep], it may cause spatial turbulence, leading further to the collapse of the spatial structure—this is intelligence stolen directly from Cocolia."
"And after the spatial structure collapses, a spatial rift connecting the Sea of Quanta and real space might appear. Or rather—the key to opening the Sea of Quanta lies in today!"
"When using a Divine Key, terrifying energy inevitably erupts. And if the energy used for combat completes a confrontation, the probability of the spatial structure collapsing will also rise. At this step—if a spatial rift appears, then the Liege might be able to seize the opportunity to kill his way out of the rift!"
!!!!!
"Is this true!"
Upon hearing this news, Jackal instantly became incredibly excited.
She finally understood why Gray Serpent couldn't be bothered to care about Raven's status at such a critical moment.
How Raven was doing right now really didn't matter.
The reason World Serpent had fallen into such a miserable state, aside from finding the wrong partners, was ultimately... they lacked a powerful backer.
Or rather, they lacked sufficient high-end combat power.
The Liege's ELF was originally only supposed to guard the Second Divine Key—and then that ELF got dismantled.
As for Raven, a Divine Key user... it wasn't that Jackal wanted to trash her, but the problem was that Raven, who was only a tiny bit stronger than an ordinary Valkyrie, plus a Divine Key that was prone to being temperamental and was half-crippled and unrepaired—her comprehensive combat power was really not enough to look at.
Although Raven, Theresa, and Siegfried were all Divine Key users, Jackal had no doubt that Siegfried and Theresa's group could probably beat Raven up with one hand even without using Divine Keys.
As for other combat power...
Gray Serpent could transform into Emperor-class using potions, and Jackal could modify some beasts to possess Emperor-class power for a short time.
Hare's mission was more important so it wasn't convenient for her to show her face. Other combat power...
Gone.
Yes, without the Liege, Kevin, the combat power they could mobilize in their normal state was only this much.
But as long as the Liege could kill his way out of the Sea of Quanta, everything would be completely different.
Without using a Divine Key, just by using the power of a Fusion Warrior for the first time, Liege Kevin was enough to easily kill the Herrscher of Fire who had burned down a continent.
And after fusing with other Honkai Beast factors multiple times subsequently, Liege Kevin's power had improved even further.
As long as the Divine Key users from Anti-Entropy and Schicksal fought this time, World Serpent really might be able to release that person who was crucial to them.
"Is there anything we can do now?"
"Give me all the transformation potions you have on hand—right now, all we can do is make the scene even more chaotic."
"As long as the Liege can return, our World Serpent won't be so miserably controlled by others anymore!"
......................
Oceania Branch. Branch Head's Office
In the Branch Head's office, Aaron originally wanted to enter the Demon Castle to contact his companions inside and see if Dr. Magi could complete his materialization, then come out to the laboratory here to start his research.
But at this moment, Bronya suddenly contacted him proactively, saying there was intelligence to report.
"Master, the situation is like this—"
"I've told you so many times, don't call me Master."
Hearing Bronya's address, Aaron spoke with a massive headache.
"Before, it was just the four of us acting together, so I couldn't be bothered to police how you addressed me. The problem is now the whole branch is watching—do you know how many weird looks I've encountered in the two days since I woke up?"
"My not-so-cute new subordinates are probably discussing in private whether to call the police and have me, a person who abducts underage girls, arrested and thrown in jail!"
"This..."
Recalling certain energies she sensed from those people, Bronya tilted her head and said.
"If I'm sensing correctly, you should have stabbed them with that tachi you used to stab Bronya back then, right?"
"Now they, like Bronya, cannot defy Master. So Master, what exactly are you worried about?"
"My reputation for purity and innocence... forget it, we'll talk about this later. Anyway, change it for me right now."
"Bronya understands, Master."
*...Motherf_cker.*
*What is going on with the Key of Corruption? What happened to eroding the flesh and will?*
*Why is it so difficult just to get this girl to change a form of address... is there a problem with the Key of Corruption's power?*
*That's not right either; her resistance is only a notch stronger than an ordinary person's. It's impossible for her to resist the Key of Corruption's power so easily.*
*Hahaha, it couldn't possibly be that because deep down I don't object to her calling me that, she can 'defy' my order, right?*
"Anyway, this time Bronya discovered some information through the intelligence network."
After handing the organized information to Aaron, Bronya slowly added.
"This information started spreading inexplicably throughout the entire Dark Web on the day you fell asleep, Master."
"By now, I estimate that people in the Dark Web all know that there might be some black technology left over from the Previous Era at The Deep."
"Hm... someone is intentionally screwing with Anti-Entropy."
Scanning the intelligence ten lines at a glance, Aaron tapped his finger on the desk in front of him, then...
*Analyze what? My brain isn't as sharp as hers. I'll just ask for her opinion directly.*
"Bronya, what do you think?"
"First of all, this intelligence couldn't have been released by Anti-Entropy—because Anti-Entropy just went through internal strife. Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla are probably busy dealing with the issues left behind by the radical faction right now."
"At the same time, this shouldn't be intelligence dumped by Schicksal either—if Schicksal knew there was something fishy at The Deep, their method would definitely be to sneakily raid the base and find a way to grasp the legacy technology there for themselves."
"Releasing this intelligence fits neither Schicksal's interests nor Anti-Entropy's. Considering that if this intelligence was obtained by intel merchants or mercenaries in the Dark Web, their normal approach theoretically should be to use this intel to exchange for profit, rather than making it public."
"Then, analyzing it finally, it's likely an organization of a certain scale needs Schicksal to attack Anti-Entropy, so they released this news—nine out of ten, it's that group who stopped us from seizing the Second Divine Key back then."
"...World Serpent."
"World Serpent, The Deep... crap, this is a huge problem."
Associating these two terms immediately, Aaron took out his communicator and contacted Kiana directly.
"Kiana, where are you right now?"
"Aaron? We're helping other branches deal with Honkai Beasts. There are a lot of missions over here today—is something wrong?"
"I think I know what the situation is. You and Mei be careful out there."
*Damn, something's fishy.*
*With Kiana and Mei's strength, hacking through anything non-Emperor-class right now is a casual slaughter.*
*Under these circumstances, if she still feels there are 'a lot' of missions, then the quantity of missions is definitely problematic.*
*And the intelligence Bronya just gave me clearly mentioned that she intercepted the communication content of Schicksal's action unit—meaning Schicksal really has targeted The Deep.*
*That bastard Otto was afraid I'd interfere and cause complications, so he didn't tell me about this. That's normal.*
*And to prevent Kiana and her group from having free hands, he probably specifically ordered people from other branches today to dump all combat missions onto Kiana and Mei in one go.*
*I...*
*I was sleeping these past few days, no wonder Otto didn't put his focus on me.*
*I don't know if Welt has returned to Anti-Entropy.*
*If Siegfried knows The Deep might be attacked, he'll definitely go back to defend it.*
*And Kiana... she isn't suitable to meet Siegfried right now, so I'll just go resolve this matter myself.*
*If a major problem occurs at The Deep, Kevin might just jump out.*
*Let me think. I wanted to go to Anti-Entropy to warn them that The Deep had issues... yesterday.*
*Fighting breaking out in just one day? This is too coincidental.*
"Master, are we launching an operation now?"
"Ah, you stay here and pay attention to intelligence trends. I'll go to The Deep first—if Kiana and the others come back, find a way to stall Kiana for me and don't let them come over."
"Bronya understands—but Master, how will you get to The Deep?"
"There is always a way."
Taking out [Dimensional Formation: Shambhala], Aaron helplessly connected his spirit with this Teigu.
Previously, when saving coordinates everywhere outside, aside from keeping coordinates on some deserted islands, Aaron had also left coordinates at some locations mentioned in the plot.
For example, Manila, which would change the lives of Chen Tianwu and Ana Schariac in the future.
And for another example—the Mariana Trench.
North Latitude 11°20.9', East Longitude 142°11.5'—after directly completing the target positioning, Aaron activated Shambhala's teleportation ability, transporting himself to the sea level of the Mariana Trench.
"The approximate location of The Deep is about 6100 meters below sea level... although charging in with my physical body is one method, to be safe, I'd better stack some armor first."
Taking out the Drake Zecter and the Drake Grip, Aaron installed the Zecter onto the Grip.
"Henshin!"
As heavy armor was paved over Aaron's body, Aaron, now transformed into Masked Rider Drake, began to condense power into his right fist.
*If I can make it in time, then everything isn't a problem yet.*
*But if I don't catch up...*
*Kevin, with my current power, can I repel that tricky guy?*
*Forget it, never mind that.*
*Magnetic Field Rotation: 330,000 Horsepower—*
"Whale-Slaying Tyrant Fist!"
A fist blasted onto the sea level before him. With this strike, relying on his mixed powers, Aaron forcibly punched open a passage through the sea level.
Leaping down along the passage, he approached The Deep at maximum speed.
Only, before he could reach the designated location...
—In the sky above The Deep, the scene he least wanted to see appeared one step ahead.
..................
A Few Minutes Ago. Near The Deep
Near The Deep, the Schicksal Valkyrie four-person squad, having already charged near The Deep via a special submarine, looked at the Titan mechs nearby and exchanged glances simultaneously.
If The Deep's defensive strength was only this much, then without needing Theresa and Durandal to act, Rita, wearing Godsbane Battlesuit, could easily handle these Titans alone.
But the problem was—things would definitely not be as easy as they imagined.
Unless the people at Anti-Entropy had completely abandoned The Deep, it was impossible for them to dispatch only this many guards to patrol nearby.
If there were more mechs here, it would imply there were no other strong individuals, hence the need to use mechs to stack numbers and stall for time.
But with so few mechs here...
Siegfried, the Herrscher of Reason—at least one of these two was near The Deep. This point could basically be confirmed.
"Theresa, you're the commander of this mission—come up with a plan, how do we do this?"
"Plan... plan... plan my foot, just fight our way in."
At this moment, Theresa very decisively took Judah's Oath and charged straight out.
"This submarine couldn't have escaped Anti-Entropy's search forever anyway. They would have discovered us sooner or later, so we might as well fight our way out before we're discovered. At least we can catch them off guard."
"Himeko, you be careful. Durandal and Rita, just follow me!"
"Yes!"
"This one understands. Senior Murata, please be careful yourself."
Watching the three of them leave the submarine one after another, Himeko smiled helplessly and followed their pace.
Unlike those three monster colleagues, her physical fitness was obviously a large cut below theirs.
Relying on diving equipment to approach the vicinity of The Deep, Himeko discovered that the three had already begun a standoff with two men who had appeared there.
Then she recognized him—wasn't this Professor Joachim???
"You are... Professor Joachim?"
At this time, Theresa, having recognized Welt's disguised appearance, immediately spoke fiercely.
"I didn't expect a guy with big eyes and thick brows like you to be one of Anti-Entropy's people! Good grief, you infiltrated our St. Freya Academy; surely you stole quite a bit of intelligence!"
"No... I just went there to recuperate. And I didn't need to pry into that intelligence of your St. Freya Academy."
At this moment, glancing at Murata Himeko not far away, Welt withdrew his gaze very helplessly.
Murata Himeko was originally his student, who had walked onto this divergent path because of a lie of his back then.
Now, this student of his didn't have long to live because she became a Valkyrie. Welt, who had been dormant at St. Freya Academy all these years, originally wanted to find some way to see if he could help her.
As a result, just recently, Welt, who had been monitoring intelligence from the Dark Web, discovered that the intelligence on his own Anti-Entropy's The Deep had been suddenly made public.
Immediately realizing someone was guiding Schicksal and Anti-Entropy into battle, Welt could only give up on recuperating. After submitting a resignation letter directly, he returned to Anti-Entropy HQ immediately.
After undergoing Tesla's reprimand and Einstein's lecture, Welt immediately informed everyone of the intelligence he had obtained.
Einstein and Tesla weren't incompetent either; they had already learned of this matter and had decided to dispatch Siegfried there as a goalkeeper.
As for the culprit, Yuno and Raiden Ryoma, who had just returned to HQ, were each keeping watch on one suspect.
After Welt's return, the assurance of Anti-Entropy holding The Deep became even greater.
Under normal circumstances, after reattaching an arm, Siegfried's strength had recovered to eighty or ninety percent of what it was during the Second Honkai Eruption.
Although he still couldn't activate the Meta-Morph Factor to fight recklessly, a recovered Siegfried was already sufficient to handle most enemies under normal conditions.
Adding a Welt whose injuries were more than half healed, as long as the two didn't face powerful enemies and fall into a bitter struggle, they could usually win with crushing superiority.
Then the strong enemies arrived.
Appearing before the two of them now, aside from the belated Murata Himeko, among the remaining three people, there were two Divine Key users.
And what was more troublesome was that Durandal was actually Siegfried's daughter, Kiana.
And Theresa was also an old friend of Siegfried.
Against Theresa, Siegfried's combat effectiveness would drop by at least a third. Against his daughter... it would be nice if he could exert one-third of his strength.
Welt was in an even more awkward position. Never mind that his injuries weren't healed, his proud student was nearby, and he had to worry about not hurting him.
It felt like the difficulty level had suddenly jumped to Hell Mode.
"Say, Theresa..."
Looking at the exasperated Theresa, Siegfried scratched the back of his head with a bitter smile and said.
"We all know each other so well. You don't want to fight me, and I don't want to bully you. How about you take your people and leave, and we end it here?"
"Siegfried, ignoring your remark about 'bullying me' for a moment—do you think I have the final say in this?"
Faced with Siegfried's advice, Theresa also felt an incredible headache right now.
"I don't want to fight you either—the problem is Kiana is still in Grandpa's hands. If I don't obey, what will happen to her? Have you thought about that problem?"
"Kiana's problem... of course I've thought about it."
At this moment, Siegfried's eyes suddenly became incredibly strange.
No, not just Siegfried. Even Durandal and Rita next to Theresa had expressions that turned very peculiar... wait, hold on.
Why did the face of that Herrscher of Reason guy also look a bit weird?
What was going on?
What exactly was this atmosphere where only I am out of the loop?