A few days later...
"Sigh, my first real mission was so easy. No challenge at all."
On a certain battleship, Kiana complained that the mission had been too simple.
She felt it was less intense than a warm-up.
"Idiot Kiana, the simpler the mission, the better. It means fewer casualties. But why didn't they take this battleship with them when they fled?"
Bronya was curious. Logically, this battleship was superior to most of Schicksal's fleet.
Such a strategically valuable asset wouldn't be abandoned so easily by any faction.
"Who knows? If no one wants it, let's check the control room. Maybe we can take it back to St. Freya and get more allowance from Aunt Theresa. I have so many limited-edition comics I want to buy."
"...Idiot Kiana, always thinking about fun. But this time, Bronya agrees. Bronya also wants to buy limited-edition Houkai plushies."
So, the group headed to the control room, where Bronya used her hacking skills to infiltrate the battleship's system.
But just as she was about to crack it, the control panel suddenly displayed a message.
『The password for this battleship is Kiana Kaslana's birthday.』
"Huh? My birthday? Is this someone's birthday gift to me?"
Kiana scratched her head in confusion.
"Let's try it. No harm in testing."
"December 7th."
『Password confirmed. All permissions granted.』
"It really is my birthday! So, who sent me this battleship as a gift?"
Seeing that her birthday actually worked as the password, Kiana was completely baffled.
Who among her acquaintances could afford to gift her a battleship?
"Who cares? Let's take it back to St. Freya—"
Before she could finish, Bronya suddenly clutched her head in pain.
In the next moment, Bronya's armor turned dark red, and even her Project Bunny underwent a transformation.
"Target identified: Herrscher of Thunder, Raiden Mei, and Kiana Kaslana. Preparing for containment."
"Hey, hey, shorty, what's wrong with you? Are you sick or something?"
Seeing Bronya aiming her cannons at her, Kiana knew this was serious.
She immediately went on guard, and even Mei drew her katana.
"Containment initiated. Project Bunny, fire—!"
Raising her cannon, Bronya unleashed a barrage of projectiles at Kiana and Mei.
Fortunately, the two were prepared and easily dodged the attacks.
"Shorty, if you keep attacking, I won't hold back!"
In response to Kiana's shout, Bronya fired another round of projectiles.
"Kiana, be careful. Bronya's probably being controlled. Don't hurt her."
"I know, Mei. But now I finally have a reason to teach this shorty a lesson. Hehe, let's go!"
This time, Kiana wasn't wearing her White Comet armor but her standard White Lily suit.
The White Comet was too draining, and Kiana wasn't yet capable of using it as her default armor.
Facing their combined assault, Bronya struggled to keep up.
Finally, in a pincer move, Mei knocked Bronya unconscious with the back of her katana.
Seeing Bronya unconscious, Mei and Kiana tied her up with rope.
"Mei, do you know how to pilot this battleship?"
"...No."
"Ah? Then how do we get back?"
"Please specify destination."
"Huh? St. Freya Academy?"
『Destination confirmed. Activating auto-navigation and auto-pilot modes.』
With the destination set, the battleship began its journey to St. Freya Academy.
"By the way, how are you so sure Anti-Entropy would send this battleship over?"
Waiting at the docking area of St. Freya Academy for Kiana and the others to return, Theresa asked the two beside her.
"Because that's what the script says. And even if they didn't, I'd just go over and take it by force."
Chang Yuan didn't seem concerned.
If Anti-Entropy didn't follow the script, he'd just teach them a lesson.
"That's so like you. It's like only Anti-Entropy is in the dark."
As Theresa remarked, she noticed a small dot approaching St. Freya Academy.
"It's the Moonlight Throne. Looks like the script is still on track."
"Of course. This is an essential part of the future."
Seeing that Anti-Entropy had obediently delivered the battleship, Chang Yuan dismissed the idea of paying them a visit.
A short while later, the Moonlight Throne's AI recognized the docking area and began its descent.
Once it landed, the hatch opened, and three figures emerged—one of them being carried.
"Aunt Theresa, Bronya was controlled and tried to capture Mei and me. Do we have anyone at the academy who can treat her?"
"We'll need to run some tests first. Take her to the medical department."
Although she had known this would happen, Theresa couldn't help but feel disgusted by Cocolia's ruthlessness.
To do something like this to her own daughter, even if not by blood, was truly despicable.
Meanwhile, in the medical department...
"After examination, we found a biochip in her brain. Removing it carelessly could be life-threatening. Our recommendation is to wait and see if an opportunity arises in the future."
Using X-rays, the medical staff came to this conclusion.
The chip was too close to the brain, and any mistake could have severe consequences.
Without absolute certainty, no one dared to perform the surgery.
So, they could only admit their helplessness.
"Why does Bronya have a biochip in her brain? Ugh, I want to find out who did this to her and punch them in the face."
Despite their usual bickering, Kiana considered Bronya a close friend.
Someone had done this to her friend, and Kiana wanted to find the culprit and give them a few punches.
As if she had rested enough, Bronya slowly opened her eyes.
"Bronya, are you awake? Or are you still being controlled?"