Manila Airport...
A handsome young man pushed a wheelchair off the plane.
A petite girl with silver-gray hair sat in the wheelchair. The harmonious atmosphere between them was just like their first meeting in Nagazora City.
"I never thought I'd have the chance to be in a wheelchair again."
Back then, Bronya was a speed demon who would race her electric wheelchair along the coastal highway, but now she was a qualified Valkyrie.
"It can't be helped. This planet is still mostly populated by ordinary people. The truth would only throw a peaceful society into turmoil."
"To avoid exposing the existence of the Honkai, we'll have to trouble you for a little while."
young Brian's warm palm rested on the girl's head.
If not for the complete lack of resemblance in their hair color and features, they could almost be a model example of a warm brother-sister pair.
"True."
Bronya's small face was calm.
There was no shortage of ambitious people in this world; Cocolia was just one of the luckier ones.
Schicksal could forcefully suppress Honkai outbreaks everywhere, but it was powerless against the chaos of the human heart.
She asked again, "Has our contact arrived? Who is supposed to meet us?"
Glancing around the airport terminal, Bronya didn't see the Schicksal symbol, nor did she see any strangers walking towards them.
Perhaps... the local person in charge of receiving them hadn't arrived yet?
The man pushing the wheelchair smiled. "That's simple. Just find the most beautiful girl here, and we'll know who our contact is."
As everyone knows, the genes that have been passed down from the Previous Era are the best of the best.
Being able to become a Valkyrie was in itself a testament to the girls' excellence.
At the very least, from the beautiful sights Brian occasionally enjoyed at St. Freya High School, even among the Valkyrie candidates, there were almost no girls whose looks were below par.
Their contact this time was named Ana Schariac, the vice-captain of the Valkyrie squad stationed in Manila.
It was said that she was a very beautiful girl.
...
"Captain, I've arrived."
"But I don't see them."
A beret concealed her iconic hair color, and sunglasses covered the girl's delicate face. Combined with her very ordinary attire, it made Ana Schariac successfully blend into the crowd, becoming plain and unremarkable.
It couldn't be helped.
As a Valkyrie of outstanding beauty, further enhanced by her Nordic Schariac lineage, she always encountered the kind of troubles that only beautiful girls experience when walking down the street.
Regardless of whether they knew her or not, countless eager suitors would swarm her and try to win her affection.
After this happened too many times, Ana, who had little interest in romance and aimed to be like Durandal, became fed up. Every time she went out, she had to disguise herself.
But she never expected that this habit would cause trouble at this juncture of meeting her colleagues.
On the other end of the phone, Ana's captain checked the files in her hand and gave a suitable suggestion: "Perhaps... you could just wait where you are?"
Ana: "..."
Huh?
I should just stand here while everyone else stands in two different places, freezing in the cold?
On the other side, Natalie Langley, who was on standby at the Valkyrie squad's base, was also a bit confused as she looked at the files.
What's this about having a unique insight into beautiful girls...
Isn't this just short of saying the guy is a total pervert?
She was somewhat dissatisfied with the Far East Branch's lack of seriousness, but the information about the two contacts was indeed scarce, almost feeling like a security measure.
Helpless, Natalie, who had no better ideas, could only offer advice based on the intel, hoping it would help her teammate.
Though she wasn't very hopeful.
However...
"Captain, I've found them."
For some reason, Natalie sensed a hint of excitement in Ana's voice, like a human child seeing something that interested them.
And then there was what she just said...
"Could it be that I was right?"
Having a unique insight into beautiful girls...
When did Schicksal let in such a professional pervert?
Whatever, let Ana handle it herself. She was the one who volunteered to be the contact person anyway.
Besides, she was a headquarters-certified Valkyrie, and the only difference between her and an A-rank Valkyrie was a title. Dealing with a pervert should be a piece of cake.
...
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ana Schariac."
The girl in front of them looked plain, carrying an unfashionable handbag.
But the skin beneath her sunglasses shimmered with a luster like fine white jade, completely at odds with her attire.
Ignoring Ana Schariac's plain outfit, the person before them was undoubtedly a lovely beauty, in a completely different league from Raiden Mei.
The Russian loli in the wheelchair looked this woman up and down. Based on her years of experience and her understanding of the man behind her, she came to a conclusion.
—Raiden Mei's second major rival has appeared.
Never mind Rita, that wicked woman with a penchant for younger types.
Kiana was half a pet and half a concubine, currently being played with in the palm of Raiden Mei's hand; she herself had no sexual interest in the Blondie behind her, only wanting to be with the world's cutest little sister, Seele.
Teacher Murata Himeko was an old woman and no longer a threat; Principal Theresa looked like a fool, and it wouldn't matter even if she got screwed.
Only this woman, whom she was meeting for the first time, seemed very interested in this Blondie, and she was also very beautiful.
"Hello, I'm Bronya Zaychik."
Bronya shook hands with Ana, and they were considered acquainted.
"I'm Brian."
The black-haired youth nodded with a smile, feeling a slight coolness from the girl's slender palm.
For some reason, he always felt that this Ana Schariac was constantly sizing him up.
They had never met before, nor had they had any prior interaction.
Yet, upon their first meeting, he received an unimaginable amount of enthusiasm. It was truly a hair-pulling kind of trouble.
Perhaps sensing that her gaze was too impolite, the well-behaved girl quickly said, "Sorry, I forgot you just got off the plane. It must have been a long journey."
"This isn't the place to talk. Let me take you back to the base first."
She took Bronya and Brian to an unremarkable small car and drove towards the Snow Lotus Squad's base.
On the way, the chestnut-haired girl removed some of her disguise, her light pink, bright eyes full of sunny vitality.
"Let me reintroduce myself. I'm the B-rank Valkyrie of the Snow Lotus Squad, Ana Schariac. I will be your guide and assistant for the time being."
"Also, if you feel that calling me by my name is too formal, you can also call me Senpai~~"
The chestnut-haired girl was full of vitality, her lively appearance not feeling distant at all.
Unlike the other Valkyries they had met, Ana Schariac, a graduate of St. Freya High School, felt more like the kind of girl who had ideals and beliefs and lived her life seriously.
Whereas most of the Valkyries in Schicksal saw fighting the Honkai as their sole creed in life, as hollow as fighting machines.
Bronya and Brian sat in the back seat. With no outsiders present, she no longer needed to pretend to be disabled.
"Hello, Senpai Ana. I am Bronya Zaychik, an emotionless assassin."
"Pfft~~"
In the rearview mirror, the chestnut-haired girl heard this and broke into a brilliant smile.
"Bronya, you look very cute right now. Can you take a couple of photos with big sister later?"
Cute girls have a powerful destructive force on humans of all ages.
Although Ana didn't have Rita's fondness for delicious children, she didn't mind getting close to a cute girl like Bronya.
Bronya's face was cool. "Only one. I make billions a minute, my time is very precious."
"Alright, alright, Sister Ana knows our Bronya is a very smart and good girl."
The interaction between the two was filled with a childlike playfulness, and the two girls acting childishly were quite amusing.
But he didn't know if it was his imagination, but Brian always felt Ana's gaze was vaguely on him.
It was completely different from the lustful gazes of the eager suitors at St. Freya High School, carrying a sense of scrutiny and assessment.
However, Brian didn't ask the question in his mind.
A beautiful girl being curious about him might be a good thing; the process of completing the mission was still long, and there was plenty of time for him to figure out what kind of attitude Ana would have towards him.
Although it was the most prosperous city in the entire Philippines, the urban area of Manila was not large.
After leaving the port and airport, the atmosphere of prosperity and civilization gradually faded, and a slightly empty industrial park came into Brian and Bronya's view.
"We're here. This is the base of our Snow Lotus Squad."
Ana continued to introduce, "The enterprises here are all subordinate institutions of our Schicksal, so we don't have to worry about leaks here; as long as we don't make a very big commotion, there usually won't be any problems."
The youthful and brilliant girl let her chestnut hair dance with the sound of the wind, guiding the two towards the heart of the Valkyrie base.
This industrial park looked unremarkable on the surface, but upon entering its depths, one would discover a super-era sci-fi atmosphere consistent with Schicksal.
Preparations to welcome Brian and Bronya had long been completed.
But the current situation left no extra time for the Snow Lotus Squad to hold a welcome reception for them.
"This is the intelligence we have recently collected. Apart from some assassins and mercenaries, we have not found any traces of Anti-Entropy members entering or leaving."
At work, Ana Schariac showed a capable aura.
Under the grand premise of fighting the Honkai, some of her personal hobbies were insignificant and had to make way for the mission assigned by the Far East Branch.
However, she didn't know what the real purpose of this mission was.
Although Theresa was a bit of a fool and was treated as a mascot by the entire Far East Branch, she wasn't so stupid as to widely publicize the news that Schicksal Headquarters had lost a Herrscher Core.
The orders she gave to the Southeast Asian Valkyrie squads were only to pay close attention to the movements of Anti-Entropy in their jurisdictions and to investigate suspicious targets.
Although Ana was curious about the real purpose of this mission, as a Valkyrie, she chose to silently obey orders.
Bronya and Brian picked up the documents collected by the Snow Lotus Squad through various channels and began to examine them one by one.
"Mercenary... Chen Tianwu..."
Apart from some special occupations common in third-world countries but not in the great eastern nation, there were no major abnormalities in population movements.
Looking at the Honkai energy environment monitoring...
"Honkai energy concentration curve is stable, no abnormalities..."
It was all useless information.
The chestnut-haired girl's delicate face showed an apologetic expression. "Sorry, Schicksal doesn't have any professional intelligence personnel in the Philippines. This is all the information we could gather."
Valkyries in the intelligence system were different from combat-proficient ones like them. They were very rare and usually stationed in key areas like Singapore.
A place like the Philippines, not particularly developed or important, had to rely on the Snow Lotus Squad's own efforts to gather local intelligence.
The black-haired youth shook his head. "It's not your fault, don't worry about it. But I think we need to change our direction for gathering intelligence."
He looked at Ana. "What are the well-known or large-scale enterprises in Manila and the Philippines?"
Ana: "Apart from Schicksal's local investments, there is only one pharmaceutical company from Shenzhou, Shencheng Pharmaceutical."
A sharp light flashed in the man's eyes.
The snake's tail, isn't it right here?
"Ana, do me a favor. Check the island transaction records for the recent period."
Ana: "..."
The chestnut-haired girl tilted her head, her delicate face full of confusion.
Just a moment ago, he was investigating well-known enterprises, but in the next sentence, he was asking her to investigate island transaction records worldwide.
The leap was a bit big, like she had just met Bianka, and in a flash, that girl had sped through Schicksal HQ and become an S-rank Valkyrie.
"O... Okay..."
After Ana left, the Russian loli who was working hard also had the same question in her eyes.
"Why are you investigating this? Is it related to our mission?"
The materials that the Snow Lotus Squad had painstakingly collected were casually tossed on the table, having only given Brian a rough understanding of the current situation.
He answered, "Do you remember the woman who rescued Cocolia from the Far East Branch?"
Bronya: "..."
Her little brain was exceptionally sharp. "She wants to buy an island?"
"That's right. She has a villa and island dream."
The man smiled, as if he could see the assassin who had almost been defeated at his hands.
"What does this have to do with our mission?"
Bronya was full of doubt.
"As far as I know, that Miss Assassin and Shencheng Pharmaceutical belong to the same mysterious organization."
young Brian concealed some important information. "If it's them, they might have some common interests with Cocolia."
"Are they the financial backers behind Cocolia?"
Bronya understood, but not completely.
For a faction to exist, besides military strength, logistics and funding are of course crucial.
When Cocolia was in Siberia, she was merely a warlord ruling over a region, just an ant that could be crushed at will in the eyes of Anti-Entropy and Schicksal.
After receiving support from a mysterious backer, this woman completed a series of operations, swallowing up smaller entities, which allowed her to intervene on the stage of the game between Anti-Entropy and Schicksal and reach where she is today.
In Bronya's eyes, the capital group behind Shencheng Pharmaceutical should be Cocolia's backer.
The two forces have some common interests, and some of Cocolia's very disjointed plans were also due to the requirements of this mysterious backer.
And something like a Herrscher Core...
"Is it true that Schicksal Headquarters made a breakthrough in treating Honkai sickness through research on the Gem of Serenity?"
"It's true. They are now preparing for mass production."
With Jizo Mitama, Brian was equivalent to having a supercomputer that could gather intelligence for him at any time. No one in the entire Far East Branch had better information than him.
Bronya was once again misled. "Shencheng Pharmaceutical's main business should be medical technology, and Dr. Magi was the leader of the Gem of Serenity research."
"It seems this Shencheng Pharmaceutical group has sufficient motive to covet the Gem of Serenity, intending to reap economic benefits from it."
young Brian was a bit stunned. He hadn't expected to mislead Bronya in this direction.
But some things couldn't be revealed to her yet. The deceit and intrigue between adults were not yet suitable for this emotionless assassin.
"You can think of it that way."
"I asked Ana to investigate Raven to trace the possible flow of funds on her; if this woman suddenly became rich recently, it must mean someone hired her to do something big."
"Why investigate her? She's just a mercenary."
Lacking the key puzzle piece, Bronya still didn't quite understand.
But Brian didn't intend to explain further, just ruffling her hair. "Bronya, you're still too young. There are some things you don't understand."
"I've killed more people than you've had meals."
Muttering, Bronya didn't press the matter further.
If she didn't know the inside story, so be it. It wouldn't help her save Seele anyway; knowing less about the dark secrets might even save her some trouble.
The two went about their respective tasks, searching for any potentially useful key information in the documents in the room.
The clock on the wall gradually pointed to the evening. Miss Ana, who had left, finally returned before dusk ended.
"I found it. Three months ago, someone bought an island near Singapore. The buyer was a young lady."
Not only the snake's tail, but even Raven's feathers had been found.
Immediately.
"Ana, have someone place a batch of remote-controlled bombs on this island."
"..."
"Also, get ready. We're going to pay a visit to Shencheng Pharmaceutical."
97