Artificial Stigma technology.
It is one of the pillars that has allowed Schicksal to expand its Valkyrie forces to their current scale and to ensure that no large-scale Honkai disasters have erupted in a world undergoing rapid development.
This technology was born from the sin-filled Babylon Labs in Siberia, steeped in bloody guilt from its very inception.
The principle of this technology is to use biotechnology to cultivate an artificial Stigma outside the body and then implant it into the body of a prospective Valkyrie. This completes the chaotic Stigma factors in the Valkyrie's genes inherited through genetics, thereby awakening the Valkyrie's own power.
It sounds wonderful, but in reality, it is still fraught with danger.
Especially for the user.
Human genes are full of mystery. Even in the technologically advanced Previous Era, no one dared to claim they understood all the secrets of genetics.
After being implanted into a Valkyrie's body, Schicksal's artificial Stigma, due to its incomplete Stigma genes, places a long-term, continuous burden on the Valkyrie's body.
Consequently, although the Valkyrie forces have expanded on a massive scale, the professional lifespan of a Valkyrie is now shorter than it was before the year 2000, lasting only until they are less than thirty years old.
Valkyries like Murata Himeko, who can fight on the battlefield until retirement, are an extreme rarity.
And even after leaving the front lines, a retired Valkyrie's remaining lifespan is short.
Theresa knew this was difficult to change, but as a compassionate superior, she didn't want to watch her subordinates lose their lives to old injuries.
The young girl put down Murata Himeko's increasingly cold medical report, glanced over the reports of the three girls, and focused all her attention on the one belonging to Brian.
Kiana is an artificial lifeform created by Otto to resurrect a Herrscher. Raiden Mei is a combination of a Herrscher and a Stigma-awakened individual. Bronya relies on Project Bunny for combat...
The data from these three was of no help to Murata Himeko.
Only Brian...
"I'm not a professional, I can't see how this could be of any use at all."
Theresa was deeply troubled.
The open road lay right before her, yet she didn't know how to extract the key information from it.
The experiences of the only boy in St. Freya High School since Nagazora City could be described as legendary.
Theresa wasn't interested in his past; she was only focused on the part where he obtained his Stigma.
When he first entered St. Freya High School, his Honkai resistance was already outstanding, head and shoulders above all the other males. After obtaining the power of the Pseudo-Herrscher Yae Sakura, his weakness in Honkai adaptability was also remedied.
The former gave him the ability to survive in high-Honkai-energy environments; the latter gave him the ability to finely manipulate Honkai energy.
Moreover, his Stigma was practically created from nothing. The data from his body was an absolute boon for Murata Himeko.
But!
"I don't get it, I don't get it at all!"
She tossed the documents aside and slumped her face onto the desk.
Theresa squashed her baby-fat cheeks into a pancake, filled with an indescribable frustration.
A mountain of gold was right in front of her, but she, the gold prospector, couldn't find a way in.
This was solely because the Far East Branch's scientific research capabilities were too weak; all their achievements relied on support from Schicksal HQ.
If she wanted to save Murata Himeko...
"..."
Crossing her arms, Theresa's expression suddenly lit up. "I'll just go find another Stigma that can also be implanted into Himeko, won't that solve it?"
She thought she was a true genius!
A perfect plan was taking shape under the Kaslana's world-shaking wisdom.
The great Principal was about to distill the plan in her mind onto paper, lest she forget the details after drinking her bitter melon juice.
Suddenly.
"Principal, something's happened to Captain Himeko!"
An unsolicited communication came through.
"Hang on, I'm on my way!"
The Principal rushed over in a flurry, reaching the Far East Branch's medical department in a flash.
Location: ICU.
"Eileen, how is Himeko?"
Separated by a wall, inside the sterile ward behind the glass curtain, lay Murata Himeko, already hooked up to tubes and lying on a hospital bed.
In a place like a hospital, they weren't afraid of you screaming your lungs out; they were afraid of you collapsing without a sound.
Undoubtedly, Murata Himeko was the latter.
Her condition had deteriorated so rapidly this time that she didn't even have a chance to call for help, forcing Eileen, the head of the medical department, to notify her, the Principal.
The woman called Eileen looked through the glass wall at Murata Himeko, who was being kept alive by machines, her face filled with the calm of someone accustomed to life and death partings.
"Himeko's physical condition is extremely poor. The Honkai energy corrosion has already penetrated deep into her marrow. Even if we send her to Schicksal HQ, they won't be able to extend her life by much."
Theresa: "..."
"You know as well as I do, Himeko's aptitude as a Valkyrie isn't particularly outstanding. From the moment she got off the operating table for the artificial Stigma surgery, her career was destined to be shorter than others'."
The artificial Stigma surgery was not a guaranteed success, with a success rate of less than 90%. If the surgery failed, even if one didn't lose their life on the spot, they would end up with a lifelong disability.
Although Murata Himeko had narrowly escaped death's door, she had also paid a higher price than others.
Now, several years after her retirement, her career as a Valkyrie had come to an end, and her life was running out.
And Theresa was determined to save her subordinate.
She looked up. "Eileen, if I can find another complete set of Stigmata, is there any hope of saving her?"
"Of course."
Eileen nodded. "Although the symptoms of these retired Valkyries are varied, the root of the problem lies in insufficient Honkai resistance."
"The artificial Stigma technology granted them the qualification to be Valkyries, but it couldn't provide complete protection against Honkai energy."
"A little bit of Honkai energy is trivial, but the accumulation over time has riddled their bodies with holes."
"If you can find a complete set of Stigmata and implant it into Himeko's body, I can't say it will let her live to be a hundred, but living at least another ten years shouldn't be a problem."
"Alright then."
With her plan approved by a professional, Theresa no longer hesitated.
"I'll leave Himeko to you. I'm going to go figure something out."
After saying that, Theresa left on her short legs. She had to go back and do some thorough research to see if Schicksal had what she needed.
The Herrscher of Corruption from 55,000 years ago could push open her own coffin lid and roar at the world; the Far East Miko from 500 years ago could become a Pseudo-Herrscher under a Herrscher's influence.
The world is so big, and history is so long. There had to be something out there that could help her achieve her goal.
...
The news of Murata Himeko's collapse spread like wildfire.
Kiana had been happily preparing ingredients for dinner, but the moment she heard the news, she almost dropped everything she was holding.
"Teacher Himeko is unconscious?"
The reckless Kiana didn't hesitate for a second and immediately went to find her aunt.
Although she had only been with Murata Himeko for a little over ten days, she had already felt the teacher's care.
She didn't want to see someone she felt close to die in front of her.
"Auntie, can Teacher Himeko still be saved?"
"Quiet!"
Theresa's hands didn't stop moving, and she had no time to deal with Kiana. "I'm trying to figure something out right now. Kiana, you and Bronya go play somewhere for a bit."
This was adult business; children should stay out of it.
At least in Theresa's eyes, a clumsy idiot like Kiana couldn't help at all.
Just then, Bronya stepped forward and asked, "Principal, is there anything the Bronya can help with?"
Undoubtedly, compared to the reckless Kiana, Bronya, who held the protagonist template, was much more reliable.
Theresa paused her work and decided to share her plan after all. "Himeko's body is reaching its limit due to the side effects of the artificial Stigma."
"Right now, there are only two ways to solve this problem."
"First, repair the damage caused by the Honkai energy corrosion in her body. Second, find a mostly complete set of Stigmata and implant it."
The former was very difficult. It was said that Schicksal HQ was currently developing related technology and was not far from the clinical trial stage.
But as for the latter...
"Principal, can the set of Stigmata on Brian be used as a reference?"
The Stigmata on the young man Brian was also an external product, a gift from the Pseudo-Herrscher Yae Sakura.
Logically, it could be of great help in the medical work to treat Murata Himeko, or at the very least, a lot of Stigma data could be collected.
Theresa threw up her hands. "Bronya, use that little brain of yours and think about it. I can't just pull the Stigma off his back and stick it onto Himeko's."
"Besides, do you think Stigmata are like your toys, that they support hot-swapping?"
Furthermore, the young man Brian was currently researching hot-swapping with Raiden Mei. If she, an elder, were to suddenly show up, wouldn't that be incredibly awkward?
Later, they'll talk about it later.
Thinking of this, Theresa suddenly remembered a crucial issue and hurriedly gave Kiana a task.
"Kiana, you and Bronya go to the library and look up Schicksal's records of Stigma-awakened individuals."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The white-haired girl gave a salute. "Bronya, let's hurry up and complete the mission."
Without giving Bronya any time to react, she energetically pushed Bronya out of the Principal's office.
Once she confirmed that the two worrisome students had left her office, Theresa stealthily opened the surveillance feed of Brian's ward. Watching the developments on screen, she quietly spat, "These shameless young people, they have way too many tricks up their sleeves."
The intense battle in the ward had completely ceased.
But the person lying on the bed was now a completely limp and weak Raiden Mei.
As the old saying goes.
An older brother with money might not necessarily spend it on you, but a younger brother with energy will definitely spend it on you.
...
"Bronya, do you have any leads on your end?"
The days of searching for information were always tedious and boring.
The white-haired girl looked up at the familiar ceiling, having lost count of how many times she had asked the same question over the past few days.
For her, studying was just too difficult.
In the dense forest formed by tall bookshelves, the cute silver-gray-haired girl placed an ancient book back in its place. She looked at this white-haired furball who was acting like a salted fish, her eyes as calm as an old well.
"Kiana, if you don't want to help Teacher Himeko, I think you can go back and help Sister Mei with the cooking now."
Upon hearing this, Kiana swung her two pigtails so fast they became a blur.
"No, no way. I don't want Teacher Himeko to lose a chance at treatment because of my negligence."
"Then help me look through these records and see if there's anything else useful to us!"
It wasn't that Bronya hadn't found any information about Stigma-awakened individuals.
Vlad the Impaler from the old Schicksal era, the 19th-century philosopher Nietzsche, Leonardo da Vinci from the Renaissance...
These figures who left their names in history were all recorded as Stigma-awakened individuals in Schicksal's records.
But they left very little behind.
Trying to find useful information for them in the dusty archives of history was truly difficult.
But burying their heads and searching at least offered a glimmer of hope. If they didn't even try, then Murata Himeko could only wait to die in her hospital room.
Murata Himeko had woken up these past two days, but her spirit was not what it used to be. She looked as if she were on the verge of death.
Although she was still comforting the two students, Kiana and Bronya could already feel her undisguised weakness.
Forcing herself to cheer up, Kiana brought another stack of records for Bronya.
There were no records for the Americas, not much useful information for Europe, leaving the section on Shenzhou as their last hope.
"Ji Xuanyuan, Xuanyuan Sword... battled Chiyou at the Plains of Zhulu, finally sealing it in the land of Jiuyou..."
These few words from myths and legends caught Bronya's attention.
If the mural in this record was not mistaken, then the weapon in this Ji Xuanyuan's hand was the legendary Key of Domination.
In other words, this Ji Xuanyuan was likely a Stigma-awakened individual.
One had to remember that modern humans are descendants of the residents of the Previous Era's shelters, and everyone carries Stigma factors.
These Stigma factors became muddled through heredity, making it difficult for most modern people to activate their Stigma.
But in ancient times, when the Stigma genes were not yet mixed, awakening a Stigma was much easier than it is today.
This Ji Xuanyuan might just be their hope for saving Murata Himeko.
Bronya closed the ancient book and, without stopping, grabbed Kiana's pigtail and started walking out. "Let's go, Kiana. We need to find the class monitor and ask her about the situation."
"Huh? Why are we looking for the class monitor?"
The silver-gray-haired girl's eyes were deep, like Sherlock Holmes discovering Watson. "Because the class monitor is hiding secrets and a past that we don't know about."
Kiana: "..."
She looked down at her own chest, where she could still see her toes, and then thought of Fu Hua's flat-as-a-board chest.
So...
Was the class monitor's chest wrap really that amazing, that it could reduce her cup size to zero?
She was utterly perplexed.
Scratching her head, Kiana couldn't make heads or tails of it.
But she had always been a smart person. When faced with something she couldn't understand, she would choose to toss it aside. Who knew, maybe one day she would understand?
"Bronya, wait for me!"
Kiana followed her friend's determined stride and found Fu Hua practicing her martial arts.
"Class monitor, do you have a moment? We'd like to ask you about something."
Bronya was concise, stating her purpose directly.
Fu Hua: "What is it, Bronya?"
The girl opened the record in her hand, showing Fu Hua an ancient mural. "Class monitor, what are your thoughts on the war between the Xuanyuan clan and Chiyou?"
The slender girl was just about to answer when a sudden, baseless stabbing pain shot through her mind.
If one had to describe this feeling, 'an amnesiac being stimulated' would be a more appropriate description.
The familiar feeling Fu Hua experienced indicated that she knew this Ji Xuanyuan, and might even have had a memorable experience with her.
It was just that, for various reasons, she could no longer retrieve these memories, which was why she only had these vague feelings.
Fu Hua was not good at lying, but she also knew she couldn't reveal her true identity.
So she replied, "In the records of Shenzhou, Chiyou is a massive Honkai Beast. This creature was enormous, said to be able to swallow an entire city in one bite."
"Swallow an entire city in one bite?"
Kiana thought of herself eating her extra dinner hamburgers one by one.
The wise Silver Wolf of the Urals' expression did not change, choosing to speak with data.
"Chiyou appeared several thousand years ago. At that time, the Shenzhou region was still in the tribal era."
"That Ji Xuanyuan was likely a Stigma-awakened individual who used the Key of Domination as a weapon. In that case, this Chiyou should be an Emperor-class or higher Honkai Beast, most likely a Judgment-class Honkai Beast."
"Plus the record of Ji Xuanyuan sacrificing her life to seal it in the land of Jiuyou..."
Bronya looked up, feeling she had found useful information. "That Ji Xuanyuan's Stigma might have been left behind in the so-called land of Jiuyou."
Here came the key question.
"Where is Jiuyou?"
Kiana asked the soul-searching question.
Several thousand years of history were enough to bury all information.
Future generations would have no way of confirming the exact location of the Jiuyou from thousands of years ago. After all, even if Ji Xuanyuan had left behind guiding stars, they would likely have been destroyed long ago.
Fortunately, among the three present, there was one woman with hidden depths.
Fu Hua said, "The so-called Jiuyou, in Shenzhou's culture, represents a deep and secluded place. Ancient tribes were built by water, so we can start from that angle."
She gave a reasonable suggestion.
Bronya understood. "Then the most likely location for Jiuyou is in the sea near Shenzhou. If we conduct Honkai energy scans in that area, we should be able to find the Honkai Beast Chiyou."
Since it was sealed, not killed.
And Honkai Beasts are Imaginary, silicon-based lifeforms; they don't have the same lifespan as humans.
After several thousand years, the Honkai Beast Chiyou might be extremely weakened, but it should still show signs of life.
Bronya: "I'll go inform the Principal of this news."
...
Medical Department.
Murata Himeko had regained consciousness. Theresa was visiting her subordinate and friend. Raiden Mei and Brian had also come to visit.
There were no cliché or old-fashioned fruits, only a nourishing porridge that Raiden Mei had personally cooked for Murata Himeko.
"Teacher Himeko, your body is weak. I made you some porridge to help you recover."
The gentle girl placed the insulated food container on the bedside table, which made Murata Himeko smile. "Mei, thank you for the trouble. I'm actually not that weak."
Theresa retorted, "Indeed, not that weak. Just not far from death."
Don't be fooled by the fact that Murata Himeko could still talk normally, and might even be up and about in a couple of days.
In Theresa's eyes, all of this was just a final burst of energy before kicking the bucket. Who knew when she might fall asleep and never wake up again.
Knowing her own situation, Murata Himeko, who had long anticipated this outcome, was very open about it. "It's alright. People have their ups and downs, their births, aging, sickness, and deaths."
"The day I became a Valkyrie, I was prepared to die on the battlefield."
Murata Himeko's smile was full of peace and tranquility. "I just didn't expect that I would be the only one among everyone to retire normally and live for a few more years."
"Theresa, and you guys, don't worry about my death. I've long been prepared for this day."
"It's just a bit of a shame that I've been retired for so long and still haven't shed my status as an older, single woman and found a boyfriend I like."
Never having had a boyfriend, not even a man she found attractive.
This had always been a thorn in Murata's heart, to the point where she began to doubt her own charm.
Hearing this, Theresa blurted out, "How about we have Brian play the part? He's guaranteed to satisfy you."
She had little interest in the affairs between men and women, but since Murata Himeko liked it so much, letting her use him didn't seem like a bad idea.
At least in her view, Raiden Mei was already prepared for the fact that her boyfriend would cheat.
After the brutal treatment, which resulted in a peace sign and heart eyes a few days ago, she felt that this thought might have grown even stronger in Raiden Mei's mind.
Hearing this, Murata Himeko forced a smile. "That... wouldn't be very appropriate, would it?"
Her hair was red, not yellow.
Raiden Mei: "..."
Young man Brian: "..."
He wasn't some Divine Artifact Purple Mood, why was he being passed around like that?
For a moment, Theresa's thoughtless words created an eerie silence.
It wasn't until the arrival of Kiana and the other two that the somewhat strange atmosphere was broken.
"Auntie, we've found a way to save Teacher Himeko!"
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