Silver Wolf instantly felt an inexplicable chill run up her spine to the back of her head, as if she had been targeted by something extremely troublesome.
"Actually,"
Madam Herta spoke again, her voice still steady, but the content made the recently eased atmosphere subtly tense once more. "There's one more... well, a personal request, that I hope you can help with."
Kafka's eyes flickered slightly: "Oh? Please, do tell."
Madam Herta's fingertip pointed directly at Silver Wolf, who was quietly shrinking behind Kafka: "Whether you help with this or not is entirely up to you. I hope... she can accompany me for a while."
"Me? Accompany you for a while?!"
Silver Wolf bristled as if her Tail had been stepped on, instantly jumping out from behind Kafka, her face full of shock and resistance. "What do you want to do?! I'm telling you, I'm not some personal accessory! And we're very busy! We don't have time to 'play' with someone of unknown origin like you!"
Kafka also fell silent, a flicker of genuine surprise and scrutiny in her rose-red eyes.
This request was indeed too abrupt and... easily led to speculation.
A mysterious and powerful entity, after establishing a strategic partnership, suddenly specifically asks for another member to accompany her?
What was the purpose behind this? Control? Surveillance? Or... something else?
Madam Herta looked at the instantly wary and strange expressions of the two in front of her, immediately realizing that her statement seemed to have caused a serious misunderstanding.
Even though most of her face was obscured by the shadow of her witchs hat, she could feel a hint of awkwardness emanating from her.
She herself felt that, coupled with her villain BOSS-like attire, that sentence just now indeed sounded like some kind of... forced acquisition scenario.
"Cough,"
She coughed lightly, trying to salvage the situation, "I mean, to conduct some... technical exchanges, or merely peer observation. Not what you're imagining."
She tried to explain, as the true purpose of "collecting data" obviously couldn't be stated directly.
Kafka quickly weighed her options, her face once again adorned with an impeccable smile that nonetheless conveyed a clear sense of distance: "I apologize, Madam Herta. Silver Wolf is an important member of our team; she has her own tasks and responsibilities. I'm afraid she cannot leave the team for an extended period to 'accompany' you alone. Please allow us to refuse this request."
Her refusal was swift and unequivocal.
After speaking, she gave a slight nod to Madam Herta, then pulled Silver Wolf, who was still fuming and muttering, "Technical exchange? Who wants to exchange techniques with someone who looks like Herta!", and turned to walk towards the door.
Their figures quickly merged into the shadows of the corridor and disappeared, leaving decisively, as if afraid Madam Herta would change her mind.
Watching their almost "fleeing" backs, Madam Herta stood in place, shrugging slightly with a hint of helplessness.
A trace of regret flickered in her purplish-black eyes.
(What a pity, such a good data collection subject... The potential in that little hacker feels like it would be very suitable for "persuading" certain Golden Descendants...)
So she elegantly raised her hand, her fingertips lightly brushing the brim of her hat, complex emotions swirling in her purplish-black eyes.
"System," she murmured in her mind, "Have the relevant Stellaron Hunters data been recorded?"
[Ding! Basic energy fluctuations and dialogue patterns of two key targets have been successfully recorded. However, to fully analyze their combat data, closer contact is needed, especially Miss Silver Wolf's hacking ability, which is very valuable for analyzing the confinement in the database.]
"What a shame," Madam Herta shook her head slightly, "But since I've come to Jarilo-VI, I can't leave empty-handed."
She turned to face the window, overlooking the snow-covered Belobog.
Every life in this city contained unique data streams, though not as powerful as the Stellaron Hunters, they held irreplaceable reference value for the plan to rescue the Golden Descendants.
"System, initiate the 'data puppet' plan. Let's send a little... surprise to a few key figures in this city."
[Four key coordinates have been located: Mechanical Workshop, Governor's Mansion, Underground Stronghold, Scholar's Study. Commencing deployment of data collection units.]
A mysterious smile curved Madam Herta's lips, and she randomly transformed into a purplish-red data stream under the moonlight, dissipating into the air.
Inside the Mechanical Workshop in Rivet Town, Clara was carefully tucking in the sleeping Perkins.
For the little girl adopted by Svarog, the most peaceful time of day was late at night after she had taken care of all the robots.
"Good night, Perkins," she whispered, turning to her small bed.
Just then, she noticed a never-before-seen doll on her pillow.
It wore an exquisite black and purple witchs hat, its grayish-white long hair like real strands, its purplish-black Lolita dress was astonishingly detailed, and even had several miniature skull ornaments hanging around its neck.
"Is this..." Clara tilted her head in confusion, "a gift from Mr. Svarog?"
She carefully picked up the doll, finding it unusually soft and carrying a faint, cool fragrance.
Most astonishingly, the doll's purplish-black eyes seemed to have a life of their own, flickering with a faint glow in the dim light.
"Are you lost?" Clara softly asked the doll, just as she usually treated all robots, "Just like I used to be..."
She gently held the doll in her arms and walked to the window, gazing at the starry sky.
Since being adopted by Svarog, she finally had a sense of belonging, but the appearance of this doll awakened an indescribable resonance deep within her—a curiosity for the unknown.
"If you don't have a home, stay here," she whispered, placing the doll on her pillow, "Mr. Svarog and I will take care of you."
Before falling asleep, Clara seemed to see a faint purple light flash in the doll's eyes, but she dismissed it as an illusion caused by the moonlight and smiled as she drifted into dreams.
In the sleeping quarters of Qlipoth Fort, Bronya was reviewing the last document.
As the heir to the Supreme Guardian, she bore the heavy burden of the entire Belobog, treading on thin ice every day.
As she rose to change, she found an unfamiliar doll on her dressing table.
It was too exquisite to be a product of Belobog, its black and purple attire style unlike any culture she was familiar with.
"Guards!" she instinctively called out, but then realized there were no signs of forced entry into the room.
Bronya cautiously examined the doll, finding no mechanical structures or dangerous substances; it was just an ordinary doll—too ordinary, in fact, making it even more suspicious.
"Is it some new toy? Or..."
She thought of some recent anomalies reported by the Silvermane Guards, her brows furrowed.
As a leader, she could not take any anomaly lightly.
But strangely, as she gazed into the doll's purplish-black eyes, a peculiar sense of calm welled up within her, as if this doll represented something beyond Belobog's current state.
"Regardless, Qlipoth Fort's security must be strengthened tomorrow."
She made up her mind, locking the doll in a drawer, but then hesitated at the last moment and placed it on her bedside table.
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