In a ramen shop in Nagazora City.
Kiana devoured a large bowl of noodles and then shouted to the waiter, "Boss, another one!"
Raiden Mei and Wendy looked on in horror at Kiana, who had already eaten three bowls of extra-large tonkotsu ramen.
The white-haired girl had grease at the corners of her mouth and sighed contentedly, "I haven't eaten this full in a long time."
She looked at Chen Ran, who was sitting beside her, and smiled, "Thanks for treating."
Chen Ran shrugged and said, "The funds allocated by Schicksal would be a waste if not used, and since it's being spent on you, the headquarters won't have any objections."
Kiana blinked, "Am I that special?"
Chen Ran retorted, "What do you think you joined Senba Academy for?"
"Isn't it because this Miss is exceptionally talented and was discovered?"
"I hope you have that kind of confidence during the exams too."
Their banter felt like a comedic routine, with both playing their parts perfectly.
Sitting next to Wendy, Raiden Mei, who was across from Kiana, asked, "But I am really curious, the matter with ME Corp shouldn't have anything to do with Kiana, right? Then why..."
It wasn't quite right to say directly that Kiana was of no use.
But Kiana currently didn't seem to have much utility.
Chen Ran casually asked, "Kiana, what's your last name?"
"Kaslana, why?"
Wendy, who was dealing with her noodles, suddenly realized, "Oh, I get it now."
The girl's eyes revealed a 'I knew it' expression as she said, "Kaslana is a knight family of Schicksal, and every member of the Kaslana family is a born warrior against Honkai."
However, her words made Kiana a bit suspicious: "Although I've heard my old man mention this, I've always thought he was just messing with me."
She asked Wendy, "Do you know where my father is? His name is Siegfried?"
Wendy shook her head, "I don't keep track of that, but if you want to know, you can come to the Eastern Branch, and I'll introduce you to Teacher Theresa. She's in her forties and should know a lot."
Kiana immediately perked up, "Great!"
Chen Ran sighed.
He figured out why the Eastern Branch had sent someone over.
So, this was within your expectations, Otto.
However, from his own standpoint, he didn't feel the urge to expose the entire Sirin plan just yet.
After all, he had seen the plot and understood that some things were 'necessary sacrifices.'
Ultimately, if he defeated Finality, then none of this would happen.
Of course, that was just a thought.
Kiana couldn't wait to say, "Then... once we handle the situation in Nagazora City, I'll follow you to, um, the Eastern Branch, and then find your Teacher Theresa."
Raiden Mei seemed hesitant to speak.
Chen Ran noticed her thoughts and said, "You are special; Schicksal will arrange things for you."
He paused and added, "But that's not something I can decide."
There were too many things Chen Ran couldn't decide.
However, given the current situation, Raiden Mei probably wouldn't Herrscher out again.
After all, the previous Raiden Mei had been redeemed by Kiana in her moment of despair, and now it was different; she hadn't even felt despair.
Of course, Honkai was unpredictable.
Until the system reminded him of the end of the simulation, he couldn't let his guard down.
At that moment, his communicator beeped with a message alert.
An email was transmitted to his phone.
"Ah, Wendy, Mei, I need to step out for a bit."
...
...
He had to admit that the computer knowledge provided by the system was indeed very useful.
Although he had left ME Corp early, he had left behind a built-in Trojan in ME Corp's internal network.
Raiden Ryoma had just been imprisoned, and Cocolia didn't have complete control over that place; he believed Cocolia would still need ME Corp.
After all, this was the source of Anti-Entropy's free funds; would Cocolia let it go?
Even if Cocolia would let it go, Chen Ran didn't believe that there were no secrets within ME Corp's internal network.
The alert he just received was the data transported by the Trojan, concerning ME Corp.
He had to acknowledge that the firewall within ME Corp was indeed very good; even without Raiden Ryoma, the security department had gone into a passive standby state, but it still took a long time for the Trojan he set up to transfer the data.
His eyes skimmed through the production information of ME Corp, searching for the most important details.
The location of the Honkai Energy reactor.
One should know that if Cocolia were to plan the Honkai in Nagazora City, it wouldn't be a spur-of-the-moment decision; she would have prepared everything in advance before starting the plan.
Otherwise, not to mention anything else, could Cocolia guarantee that Schicksal wouldn't get involved when Raiden Ryoma suddenly fell?
It seemed she really could.
As Chen Ran browsed through the information, he pondered, "It seems that aside from me mentioning Anti-Entropy's actions to the headquarters, they haven't provided any information here."
"Does the headquarters not value Anti-Entropy?"
This was a question worth considering.
But after a brief thought, Chen Ran gave up.
He had no intention of probing into the truth regarding Nagazora City; he just wanted to finish the simulation scene and go back.
The information transported by the Trojan was, as he expected, some data about the Honkai Energy reactor.
However, what made Chen Ran frown was that the information about the Honkai Energy reactor had already been transported to Nagazora City before Raiden Ryoma was imprisoned.
"Tsk."
His eyes fell into contemplation: "If the Sirin plan revolves around Kiana, then the Divine Authority plan is a supplement to the Sirin plan."
"Nagazora City really is quite disaster-prone; it should be renamed."
A hint of thoughtfulness crossed his eyes, and just then, his communicator sounded an alarm.
"Damn, a Trojan has been installed."
At the moment the alarm blared, a warning flashed through his mind.
A bullet was shot towards Chen Ran.
Chen Ran reacted quickly, instinctively dodging, only to find that the bullet hit a target ten meters to his left.
In other words, even if he hadn't dodged, the bullet wouldn't have hit him.
He looked up and saw Bronya standing on the opposite high-rise.
Clearly, this was 'communication.'
Without hesitation, Chen Ran followed suit.
Ignoring the astonished gazes of those around him, he leaped high from the ground and soared up the high-rise using the wind.
There was no doubt this would cause public outcry, but for Chen Ran, this was just a simulation scene.
Future public opinion issues had nothing to do with him now.
That was how Chen Ran thought, and that was how he acted.
Bronya, not to be outdone, jumped from her high-rise to the other side.
To be precise, she wasn't jumping; she was being carried down by Project Bunny.
This special machine sent by Seele allowed Bronya to move as if on solid ground anywhere, as Project Bunny could fly.
The machine behind the girl acted like a knight, protecting Bronya from being caught by Chen Ran.
Chen Ran clicked his tongue, "I'm not playing a racing game with you."
"But if you want to play a game, I'll join you."
Although he didn't grow wings, with his mastery of fluid dynamics, his speed would increase.
Even though using his powers would accelerate the consumption of his consciousness, it didn't matter. After all, his consciousness could recover slowly.
From this perspective, Chen Ran had no worries.
As Chen Ran closed in, Bronya frowned.
"According to the intelligence gathered by Anti-Entropy, a Senba Academy teacher named Chen Ran is a special intelligence member of Schicksal, and for some reason, he has become involved."
Cocolia whispered in her ear, "According to the agreement, Schicksal should not interfere in the matters of Nagazora City. There are now two possibilities: either the bishop of Schicksal has changed their mind, or he acted on his own. Bronya, your task is to ascertain his background; we don't need to stir up unnecessary trouble."
"Bronya understands."
"What are you doing? Why is there noise on the communicator?"
"It's the sound of the wind," Bronya said expressionlessly. "Bronya just took a shot and is now escaping."
She paused and added, "This is the fastest way to communicate with someone."
Cocolia: "..."
She felt that this child had some strange misunderstanding about communication.
...
...
Chen Ran's speed was fast, but Bronya's speed was not slow either.
After leaping up and down the high-rise, he saw Bronya had already started riding the motorcycle made by Project Bunny.
"Tsk, did I stir up her competitive spirit?"
He frowned and chose to continue the chase.
While chasing, he shouted, "You better run faster; otherwise, if I catch you, I'll definitely spank you hard."
Bronya remained expressionless.
Chen Ran could use his physical advantage to throw down threats, but she naturally couldn't retaliate in that regard.
Moreover, throwing down threats wasn't her style.
Ambushing was.
Chen Ran suddenly felt a sense of danger; a bullet was fired from who knows where, aiming to pierce his shoulder.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and he redirected the wind to alter its trajectory, but even so, the bullet nearly grazed his body.
"Tsk, this counts as you provoking me first, so in that case..."
"I won't hold back."
Mastering the power of fluid dynamics was actually more terrifying than one might think.
Currently, Chen Ran hadn't fully unleashed the capabilities of ideal fluids because, in the real world, there were no ideal fluids; he couldn't create something that didn't exist out of thin air.
However, he could control other fluids.
And fluids could not only accelerate him but also interfere with others.
"Next, you better be careful."
"Wind and rain, heed my command!"
He shouted, but all he saw was the clouds in the sky gathering, and the moisture in the air condensing into droplets.
Nagazora City is located in the far east, bordering the sea, with a rich moisture in the air.
And he could not only control the wind but also the water.
Bronya saw a huge water bubble appear ahead and immediately adjusted her direction to turn.
However, at that moment, a massive wall of water emerged, like a tsunami from the end of the world, sweeping towards her.
The girl's eyes revealed a hint of determination as she chose to accelerate.
She was taking a gamble.
Chen Ran was from Schicksal, and Schicksal would not create such a terrifying natural disaster in Nagazora City. Therefore, the water wall in front of her was most likely an illusion meant to confuse her.
Bronya's guess was correct.
This was indeed an illusion.
He could not create a large-scale tsunami from thin air; essentially, these were just the refraction of light caused by water droplets in the air, resembling a mirage.
However, while the tsunami was fake, the moisture was real.
After she passed through the tsunami, the anticipated impact did not come. But she was completely soaked.
Of course, that was not the main point; the main point was that Chen Ran had somehow gotten ahead of her.
Just as Bronya had rushed through the 'water wall' and relaxed her mind, she was suddenly lifted by Chen Ran.
"Got you."
Chen Ran ignored Bronya's protests and directly threw her over his shoulder, then said maliciously, "I told you, next time I'll spank you hard. So, are you ready?"
Bronya: "…"
She remained silent.
Bronya had once been an assassin, and to complete her mission, she had disguised herself in various identities.
Being humiliated in terms of dignity was nothing to her.
Then, she heard a crisp sound.
Bronya gritted her teeth, remaining silent as a sharp pain shot through her.
Chen Ran did not spank her; instead, he placed his palm on her back.
He was actually quite measured in his actions; hitting her back could be seen as a minor punishment, but spanking was a humiliation of her character.
Although he wouldn't return after this simulated scenario ended, he had no need to provoke unnecessary trouble.
He could distinguish between punishment and humiliation.
Chen Ran set her down and said lightly, "If there's a next time, I will definitely spank you."
A hint of gratitude flashed in Bronya's eyes.
She spoke softly, "Cocolia Mama asked Bronya to ask you why you broke the agreement between both parties."
"Agreement?"
Chen Ran frowned involuntarily.
Bronya seemed to ponder, "You don't know? Then Bronya can understand."
Clearly, Schicksal had not taken the so-called agreement to heart and continued to do as they pleased.
Then, Cocolia's so-called agreement had never been taken seriously by Otto.
Since that was the case…
Schicksal had no genuine intention to cooperate; Cocolia had been deceived all along.
Realizing this, Bronya said, "If that's the case, then I misunderstood. Goodbye."
"Don't say goodbye."
Chen Ran directly pulled her back, "I haven't figured out the situation yet; tell me everything you know."
Bronya replied coolly, "Bronya refuses; secrets regarding Anti-Entropy cannot be disclosed."
"Is that so? Then what if I disclose secrets about you?"
He suddenly leaned down to the girl's ear, whispering against her earlobe, "You have a biological chip implanted in you, right? Have you ever thought about what would happen if the biological chip issued commands that did not originate from your will?"
The boy's voice was like a devil's whisper.
Bronya's pupils slightly constricted.
Her lips continued to repeat, "Bronya refuses to answer your questions."
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