To quote Chu Yunfei, Mobius was the kind of person who always managed to come up with something new every time she appeared.
"What you mean is," Ryoma said, his expression grim, "you've created a clone of the Sovereign with an identical appearance, an independent consciousness, attributes that surpass a standard A-rank Valkyrie, and the ability to replicate the Herrscher of Reason's control over gravity with the Star of Eden through muscle memory?"
"That's right," Mobius said with an innocent face, her eyes filled with a clear, lucid stupidity.
"And during transport, some unknown faction got wind of it and hijacked the cargo ship carrying the clone?"
"Yes, yes! It was the very same fishing boat your precious daughter was on!"
Ryoma's fists clenched unconsciously, the veins on his forehead throbbing as he took a deep breath.
"Why the hell did you create him!!!"
There was something that, even within the conservative faction, only a few close associates like Einstein and Tesla knew.
The first Herrscher of Reason had already perished in the Battle of Manhattan, alongside the S-rank Valkyrie Reanna Brigantia, under the Honkai Fission Bomb fired by Otto to protect the citizens of New York.
It was Joachim Nokianvirtanen, then less than ten years old, who had taken the Herrscher of Reason's core and the name "Welt" from him, transforming into the "Welt Joyce" the world knew, establishing Anti-Entropy, and maintaining it to this day.
It couldn't be helped. Otto's original intention was to wipe out the North American branch without leaving a single survivor, and the only person who could make him hesitate was the Herrscher of Reason.
Even so, Otto, who wielded the Key of Subtlety, "Planetary Control," still caused natural disasters on the American continent from time to time, a true shining star among humanity.
However, regardless of the circumstances, Anti-Entropy itself was an organization built on a deception.
It was Welt Joyce's reputation that had prompted one executor after another to join, and the faith of the rank-and-file was also placed in this Herrscher who had chosen to fight for humanity.
Once someone pushed a Herrscher of Reason clone to the forefront, even the organization's founders like Einstein and Tesla would have to obey his commands on the surface.
Otherwise, other high-ranking Anti-Entropy members who had long been dissatisfied with them would immediately raise the banner of loyalty to the true king and launch a massive crusade against them.
The most typical example was Cocolia from the previous loop. After the Third Honkai Eruption, she used a Welt clone to command the disloyal in the name of the emperor, completely suppressing the executors of the conservative faction.
"Let me correct you on one thing," the serpent said with a sheepish grin, discreetly hiding behind Fuli. "It's not 'him,' but 'them'."
"So you're telling me you created more than one Herrscher clone?!"
"Only one was hijacked this time!" Mobius puffed out her chest proudly, her soft peaks pressing directly against Fuli's back.
Bigger than Mei's and Kallen's. On par with big sis Himeko, the boy quickly assessed.
And as for Ryoma—
You're proud of this?!
He was so enraged that his three spiritual entities leaped and his five inner fires blazed.
His strong, powerful hand unconsciously rested on the Plasma Kagehide at his waist, but then, as if realizing something, he calmed down.
The speed of his change in expression earned the sincere admiration of Mei and Fuli, who thought to themselves, As expected of a major figure who's been navigating the political arena for many years.
The reason the man could calm down was simple.
The appearance of a Welt clone was all harm and no benefit to the conservative faction. But for the reformist faction, it was a pie falling from the sky.
And Mobius, a member of the reformist faction, had not only not exposed the truth but had also used this method to inform Ryoma that someone within Anti-Entropy had already realized the issue with Welt Yang's identity.
She was releasing a signal of goodwill, warning them that the paper would not be able to wrap the fire forever.
As for how the fire was started, well, you didn't need to know. It was the kind of thing that made you grit your teeth in hatred, yet you were completely helpless.
"Are you done talking?" Ryoma then said. "If you are, you can get lost."
He now understood Mobius's other reason for coming. Fuli and Mei had left the fishing boat before the cargo went missing. Once this matter came to light, the two of them would inevitably be drawn into it.
And if Mei was drawn in, Ryoma would not be able to escape either.
Simply put, everyone present was now tied to the same boat. If they could find or destroy the missing Herrscher of Reason clone before the matter blew up, then all would be well. If not, with a single command from the mastermind holding the banner of righteousness, half of Anti-Entropy would become their enemy.
"What is this?" Fuli complained. "First, I was wanted by the Schicksal Senate, and now I'm about to go up against half of Anti-Entropy? Does God think too highly of this little shrimp?"
He caressed the Sparrow's Cry longsword at his waist. This weapon I just got three days ago isn't going to break again, is it?
No, I don't want that! I'm running out of names from the Remembrance! The next one will have to be from the Incinerators!
"It'll be fine as long as you can get it back in time. If you really can't, you can just break up with Raiden Mei. No one will give Theresa's charge a hard time," Mobius said, stretching and starting to walk out.
Mei watched her retreating back.
Cloning a Herrscher was not a simple matter. In the whole world, aside from Mobius, there were only a handful of people who could do it.
And making it self-aware was even more difficult. Why was Kiana's designation K423? It was because even a genius like Otto couldn't awaken the self-awareness of the first 422 vessels.
Mei murmured to herself, "This is a true genius..."
"Are you hungry?"
A hand holding a plate extended from the side.
"This plate of garlic scape stir-fried pork is the only thing on that table that could be considered normal," Fuli chattered on. "You'd think someone so brilliant in research could be a little more normal in their daily life. Unlike our Mei, who's a master in the hall and a master in the kitchen."
The young woman, staring at him, was momentarily stunned, then a smile gradually bloomed on her lips.
That's right. Mobius might be a prodigy in the field of life sciences, but Raiden Mei was superior in her versatility.
Power, electromagnetism, mathematics, mechanics... not only was she proficient in all of them, but with the help of Fuli's ability, she could advance in all fields at a speed far beyond that of ordinary people.
Sooner or later, whether it was Mobius, Otto, or even the genius founder of the Helixcraft, she, Raiden Mei, would surpass them all in their respective fields!
...
As one flower blooms, another branch sprouts.
The twilight by the Thames had already seeped through the glass curtain walls, coating the silhouettes of the crowd in the terminal with a layer of leaden gray.
The moment the cabin door opened, a cold wind carrying fine raindrops swept in.
A white, frilly maid's cap, a black and white lace-trimmed maid's dress, standard silk long gloves, a slightly exposed back, and tantalizingly slender legs, made even more alluring by pure black stockings. A perfectly placed rose ornament made it impossible to look away.
Rita Rossweisse, returning home, tightened the collar of her maid's dress, her fingertips brushing past the silver lily brooch on her lapel—a gift from Ragna when she became a Valkyrie.
The sound of her high heels clicking on the gangway was crisp and restrained, as if every step had been precisely calculated, forming a subtle contrast with the roar of the small jet's engine behind her.
Her crimson eyes, under her gray-gold bangs, glanced at the large screen outside the airport. Exactly 6:00 PM.
"I should still have time to go home and see Mother and Father," Rita thought, her steps quickening as she left the airport.
As the vice-captain of the Immortal Blades and the captain of Schicksal's assassination squad, the perfectly elegant maid was always busy.
The reason she was able to return to her homeland, the British Isles, this time was mainly to investigate the remnants of the Nazis that had appeared in London—the so-called Hellfire Unit.
The brutality of World War II was known to all. After the earth-shattering war ended, due to various political considerations, some Nazi elements were not completely purged.
They fled to South America under the leadership of their remaining high-ranking officers and, taking the name of their rumored final ace, established the medium-sized organization known as the "Hellfire Unit."
These people inherited the human modification technology from before the empire's collapse. Not only were their methods extremely radical, but they also harbored a deep hatred for Schicksal, which had united the European front to completely defeat the Axis powers.
If these rabid dogs with no bottom line were allowed to spread in London, it would be a tragedy for all sides.
Fortunately, according to intelligence, the Hellfire Unit had only dispatched a single detachment of a few dozen men this time. Their leader, "The Immortal" Heinrich, was quite outstanding among A-ranks, but he was still far from a match for Rita.
The only troublesome thing was that her superiors had instructed Rita to capture this rare successful experiment alive.
In the late stages of World War II, Germany was already bogged down in the quagmire of Stalingrad, and in Africa, the German army was also experiencing a series of major defeats.
The continuous setbacks on the front lines made the German high command, with a strong premonition of their impending doom, turn their attention to human modification, occultism, and other such fields.
Astrology, the Earth's axis from Shangri-La, off-world technology, immortal zombie legions... even an ordinary person would likely be familiar with these terms with a little research.
In the real world, where supernatural powers did not exist, these scientists of course found nothing, at most just drugging the cannon fodder at the front to numb their nerves and make them more fearless in the face of death.
But on the Honkai-infested Earth, the Nazi scientists had actually developed an HTR-type modification drug that could create super soldiers.
After being injected with this drug, the subject would experience an extremely intense pain, as if their entire body was being crushed and reassembled. Their nerves, brain, and mind would remain completely conscious under the drug's influence. Even people with congenital analgesia would have their pain receptors forcibly activated, making them feel the full extent of the agony.
This process would last for three days and four nights, during which the user had to endure the unusually intense pain while establishing their own belief in their mind.
If they could survive these three days and four nights, the subject would not only awaken special supernatural abilities based on the belief established during the modification but also receive extreme physical enhancement. They could take a missile head-on without a scratch, move faster than the speed of sound, and even with their entire body suffering comminuted fractures and torn muscles, they could still maintain over 80% of their combat effectiveness and fully recover within a day.
Such a powerful drug undoubtedly drew the covetous eyes of the US, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and even Schicksal. Unfortunately, due to the plane carrying the specific data and formula being shot down over East Germany by a stroke of luck, the HTR-type modification drug had become a mystery that even the Hellfire Unit could no longer replicate.
That was why Baron Heinrich Baden von Trier, who had been successfully injected with the drug and awakened supernatural powers, was so precious. Many scientists in the Fourth Sector were eagerly awaiting Rita's mission, hoping she would bring back a little guinea pig for them to play with.
Even if they couldn't fully replicate the drug's effects, mass-producing a low-grade substitute would be excellent.
Clearly, the rise of the Taixuan Front had already made Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, which had dominated for half a century, sense a crisis, not to mention the World Serpent stirring up trouble in the shadows.
Regarding this, even someone as elegant as Rita couldn't help but complain inwardly.
This was the so-called "the higher-ups just move their mouths, while the people below run their legs off."
Those scientists had already promised her before she left that "once the drug is successfully produced, regardless of the cost, a dose will be provided free of charge for Ms. Rita and her parents!" However, putting aside whether her ordinary parents could survive the extreme pain, these guys, full of empty words, were generally not to be trusted.
—That's right, just like that person.
The flower shop window at the corner suddenly entered Rita's field of vision. Cornflowers and white roses bloomed under the warm light.
The young woman suddenly remembered when she was twelve, standing in front of a flower stall in the old district of Manchester, clutching the Schicksal badge Ragna had given her. The remains of a Honkai Beast were still burning behind her when a small hand suddenly patted her on the chest.
"Are you scared, miss?"
"Don't worry, Mama Ragna is very strong! A Honkai Beast of this level is no problem for her!"
The childish male voice that had sounded in her ear was like a piece of glazed jewelry falling to the ground, striking a chord with a past the young woman had never forgotten.
"Hmph, what a smooth talker."
She chuckled softly, her gray-gold bangs covering half of her face.
Rita in the glass reflection had long since shed her childishness. Her posture, as precise as trimming flower branches, was enough to make every stranger who passed her by hold their breath.
Theresa had once commented from the perspective of a senior: among Schicksal's S-rank Valkyries, two relied on extreme talent, while one relied on extreme effort.
Many people who had met Durandal would subconsciously assume that she was the one who had become an S-rank Valkyrie through effort.
She was always either on a mission or in the gym. It was only in the last three months that she would find time to go to the Hyperion for a clandestine meeting with her little lover.
In fact, the person who had truly climbed to her current position through effort was Rita.
She had neither a natural stigmata nor the support of a powerful background or bloodline. She had simply relied on day and night of hard work to rise from a clumsy little girl who couldn't even defeat a Honkai zombie to one of Schicksal's top faces.
Rita had the constitution to stay awake for a whole day with only four hours of sleep. This had once been highly praised by the Valkyrie instructor who taught her combat, and it was even written into her official background check.
But the question was, did Rita really only need four hours of sleep to stay awake for a whole day?
Or was it that she forced herself to sleep only four hours a day, using the extra time for all sorts of massive training?
Other than the person herself, no one knew.
After all, besides her father and mother, the only person who had witnessed her transformation from the timid little red-eyed rabbit of the past to the perfect and elegant figure she was today, Ragna, had already died in Siberia in 2010.
This was also one of the reasons why Rita had immediately set off for London after learning that the Hellfire Unit had been spotted in the city.
She was a rare normal person in the Honkai world, with both parents alive and a harmonious family.
Even with the protection of the Royal Dragoons, and Rita herself having spent a fortune to hire retired Valkyries to protect her family 24/7, Heinrich and his squad were not to be taken lightly.
—And the current situation was proof of that.
"Miss Rita!"
A blonde woman in her mid-thirties ran across the zebra crossing in a panic, completely ignoring the flashing red light and the curses of the drivers.
She was wearing a large apron similar to a gardener's. Her full chest heaved with her rapid breathing. Her beautiful, above-average face had been lightly made up, but it now looked distorted due to her long run and the rain falling from the sky.
The woman's name was Maria. She was one of the few retired B-rank Valkyries who still retained their normal physical functions, and she was also one of the personnel entrusted by Rita to protect her family on a rotating basis.
At the same time, seeing Maria's staggering appearance, a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in Rita's heart.
As expected.
"Your father, Mr. Alexander, he!"
"He was kidnapped by a Galaxy Ranger who calls himself Boothill!"
...