"Because you would really die for him, he will definitely come."
Otto's simple words sent a sudden chill through Anna's heart.
"Actually, you yourself know he will definitely come, which is why you're so desperately seeking death, isn't it? What a touching sacrifice..."
"Kill me!"
Anna broke down in an instant.
"Durandal, Overseer, I beg you, kill me..."
A golden feather fell, and Anna's violent struggles ceased. She drifted into a deep sleep, and Durandal gently caught her in her arms before she could fall to the ground.
"Alright, Durandal, you know what to do?"
Otto asked with a satisfied smile, putting away the Void Archives.
"...Overseer, why?"
Durandal asked the question again.
"Your obsession with that person... it can't be explained by just a Key of Corruption."
She didn't understand why Otto was so calculating, just as she didn't understand why Lin Wei acted so drastically. But at this moment, she suddenly realized that their actions, in a way, explained each other's.
And so, she was even more confused...
"Yes, why indeed?"
Otto looked up at the high ceiling, closed his eyes in thought for a moment, then opened them and smiled.
"Of course, it's to remove a huge obstacle to our plan!"
"...Does the Overseer really think he will be an obstacle to our plan?"
Durandal was skeptical. She didn't believe Lin Wei was truly their enemy.
"Hahaha, Bianka, have you forgotten how much misunderstanding and mistrust he had for me when we last met? You were right there, listening and watching, when he was spewing all those insults and attacks!"
Otto laughed.
"Under these circumstances, if he were to learn that we want to revive the Second Herrscher, with his heroic spirit of sacrificing himself on the Honkai battlefield, would he agree to such a dangerous experiment? And if we add his meticulous step-by-step calculations..."
"...Alright, I understand."
Before Otto could finish, Durandal had completely understood. It was a choice between two options, and they had no choice at all.
I just hope Lin Wei doesn't hold it against us, she thought silently. Then she pointed to the unconscious Anna in her arms.
"What about her?"
As she spoke, she didn't forget to pop Anna's two dislocated arms back into place. With two crisp cracks, a flicker of pain crossed Anna's face, but she didn't wake up.
"Isn't this a bit too cruel to her?"
"Hehe, it's precisely because reality is too cruel to Anna that the esteemed Mr. Lin, as the culprit who pushed her into this situation, will be even less likely to stand by and do nothing."
Otto smiled.
"Protect her, don't let her do anything irrational. And of course, most importantly: with you looking after her, there will be no opportunities for any riff-raff to take advantage."
"I'm not good at taking care of people, Overseer," Durandal said with a blank expression.
"Hahaha, I have faith in you, Bianka," Otto said in a joking tone, then his expression turned serious.
"There are some things that our Miss Anna doesn't need to be told. When she wakes up, just tell her that I've assigned her a dangerous mission. She'll know what to do on her own."
---||---
Anna certainly knew that the "dangerous mission" Otto had assigned her had ulterior motives, but she had no choice.
She naively thought that if she completed all the preparations before the official appointment was announced, and then set off on that perilous journey before Lin Wei got the news, then both Lin Wei and she could be free.
But she never expected Lin Wei to arrive so quickly. Before she was mentally prepared at all, she received a notification from Durandal, telling her that "Lin Wei's plane is about to land"...
And so, just as Anna had gone, she was brought back the same way. The only difference was that the guide had changed from Durandal to Rita—and there was also Yuno, who seemed more like an "accomplice."
"Weren't you always so fierce before? Why are you so obedient now, huh?"
Perhaps her own state of mind had changed, or perhaps Yuno really had changed, but Anna had never felt that she was so unreasonable before!
"I..."
Yuno opened her mouth hesitantly, but before she could answer, Rita, who was walking in front, answered for her.
"Because neither Mr. Lin nor Miss Yuno wants to make things difficult for you. This is their goodwill."
As she spoke, she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of Yuno positioning herself between her and Anna, seemingly to protect her. Of course, if she were to make a move, it would also be more convenient.
"Is this also Mr. Lin's arrangement?"
Rita secretly weighed the situation. After all, how could Lin Wei really be so submissive and cooperate with her and the Overseer's arrangements without any preparation?
"In that case, his favoritism towards Yuno is really quite strong..."
Rita sighed at this result. After all, Yuno had once been a member of her Immortal Blades—though not an official member.
But life is unpredictable. What could she do but accept the facts?
Similar to the original timeline, Schicksal's main base here was located underground. Not long after separating from Lin Wei, Rita and Anna entered the passage leading to the underground base.
But unlike the original timeline, perhaps due to Lin Wei's butterfly effect, or perhaps because Schicksal had not yet made plans to imprison the Herrscher of the Void here to prevent her from easily escaping with her powers, the underground laboratory here was not buried thousands of meters deep, but much shallower.
Even so, the fact that they were underground still made Anna uneasy.
"Rita, are you taking us this deep to imprison Yuno as well, to force Lin Wei to submit?"
Anna questioned her bluntly. From the moment Lin Wei appeared, her unease had reached its peak.
"Miss Anna, you're overthinking things," Rita explained with a smile.
"It's just that the sun is hot and the sand is scorching on the surface, which is really no place to entertain guests. So we have to ask you two to bear with it for a while."
Her tone made it sound as if Anna were also a guest.
Anna wanted to say more, but since the real guest, Yuno, had no objections, what could she say? She could only glare at her angrily and follow without another word.
"If you're all determined to die, then I'll just die with you!"
Anna thought, half in a huff, half with resolve. But when this thought arose in her mind, she actually calmed down a lot.
"We're here. This way, you two."
Rita pushed open the door to a room and gestured to the two behind her.
"Meow?"
As soon as the door opened, a cat with a strange fur color poked its head out curiously, wanting to see who had entered its territory.
Its gaze swept past Rita and Anna, then settled on Yuno.
"Meow!"
After just one glance at Yuno, the cat's fur stood on end. It let out a startled cry, leaped high into the air, and swiped at her with its claws!
Clang!
Before Yuno or Rita could react, Rita had already summoned her scythe out of thin air to block it. The force of the blow made her stumble slightly. She looked at the cat with a smile that didn't reach her eyes and asked eerily, "Stan, did Lady Durandal overfeed you before?"
This cat is so disobedient. I should just throw it out, Rita mused silently.
No, wait, this seems to be a man-made Honkai beast with considerable strength. Maybe I should just take this opportunity to eliminate it?
Rita began to consider a more permanent solution...
"Meow!!"
Seeming to sense the dark aura emanating from Rita, Stan's fur bristled even more fiercely for a moment before suddenly flattening. It then tucked its tail between its legs and squeezed out through the crack in the door.
When you're under someone else's roof, you have to bow your head. If I can't afford to provoke you, I can at least afford to hide!
"My apologies, I've made a fool of myself in front of you two."
Seeing the unexpected incident resolved smoothly, Rita put away her scythe, and the smile on her face became elegant and proper again. She explained apologetically, "This cat was brought back by Lady Durandal after a mission not long ago. It's actually a man-made Honkai beast with intelligence comparable to a human teenager, and it's somewhat dangerous. I just never expected it to suddenly attack Miss Yuno. I am truly sorry."
This cat had been living in Schicksal for a while and had never attacked anyone before. It was only because Lady Durandal had been transferred here that she had brought it along to amuse herself in her spare time.
Why would this usually well-behaved cat suddenly attack someone?
Rita was a little puzzled by this.
"Yuno, it seems you're not very popular. Even the cat is scared of you!"
Anna laughed strangely.
"I wonder if Lin Wei is scared of you too?"
Yuno, who had been slightly cheered up by the small incident, froze at the mention of Lin Wei, and her spirits, which had just lifted, fell again.
"Mm... no."
Yuno thought for a moment and answered briefly.
"Is it because animals have a keener intuition for danger?"
Anna's words made Rita recall Yuno's "fierce reputation" in the Immortal Blades. She couldn't help but secretly study Yuno's back, lost in thought.
"Although the aura around Yuno is much more restrained than before, perhaps animals can still sense a threat?"
Having tentatively reached a conclusion, Rita pushed it aside for now. While inviting the two to sit down, she used it as a conversation starter and said with a light laugh, "Speaking of which, I heard from Lady Durandal that there's a reason she was able to adopt this cat, and it has something to do with Mr. Lin!"
Before Yuno could say anything, Anna let out a cold, dismissive laugh.
"Is that so? Even with such a connection, you're still harboring ulterior motives?"
By now, she was filled with resentment and rejection not only towards Otto, but also towards Durandal and Rita.
"..."
The conversation was completely shut down by Anna from the very beginning. Rita could only smile helplessly and pretend she hadn't heard what was just said. She stood up and said, "Please, have a seat. I'll go prepare some tea and refreshments for you."
With that, she turned and left the room, partly to prepare tea and refreshments as she had said, and partly to resettle Durandal's precious pet cat.
"Sigh, Lady Durandal is wonderful in every way, except when she sees a cat, she gets a little too excited..."
Rita sighed secretly. Besides indulging her, what else can I do?
As soon as Rita left, and only the two of them were left in the room, the increasingly gloomy Anna suddenly became animated. She grabbed Yuno's hand tightly and asked eagerly, "Yuno, tell me, what's Lin Wei's plan?"
She knew that Lin Wei was always full of ideas and could always find a solution to any predicament. But now he was facing Overseer Otto and Schicksal's two S-rank Valkyries. This was nothing like the difficulties he had encountered before; the danger was far too great!
"I... I don't know how to say it..."
Yuno frowned in thought and said something that saddened Anna.
"Yuno, don't you even trust me anymore?"
Anna looked at her former friend in disbelief, a wave of indescribable sadness washing over her.
"No, it's just..."
Yuno shook her head vigorously, then looked up and glanced at the several corners of the ceiling.
"...Is that so? I understand."
Anna froze, then quieted down and smiled apologetically.
"I was mistaken..."
Right, this is a Schicksal base. How could there not be surveillance?
It's okay, Yuno conveyed with her eyes, not taking it to heart. She didn't forget to squeeze Anna's hand tightly to express her attitude.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
A few minutes later, Rita returned with a tray, placing cups of black tea and several exquisite desserts in front of herself, Anna, and Yuno.
But as soon as she finished, she saw Anna give her a deep look, then suddenly grab the pastry in front of Yuno and stuff it into her mouth, her small mouth completely full.
Then she gulped down the cup of black tea in front of Yuno. She ate so quickly and ferociously that she choked, and tears streamed down her face.
Anna had always been very ladylike. So neither Rita nor Yuno had ever expected her to have such a wild side.
"...Is Miss Anna a little too distrustful of us?"
Rita understood why Anna had done this. She picked up the cup of black tea that belonged to Anna, took a gentle sip, and sighed lightly.
"Even if we really meant you harm, why would we poison you in such an obvious way?"