Chapter 138: Kidnapping
"Is that so?" Einstein looked at Irene, pondering for a moment before nodding. To them, Irene had always been a mysterious figure, someone who seemed to know everything.
Since she was making such a request now, there must be a use for it. In that case...
"We will do it," Einstein nodded. "But Miss Irene, are you absolutely sure you cannot tell us why exactly you want to do this?"
"I cannot." Irene shook her head. One more person knowing meant one more degree of risk. It was best if this entire affair remained known only to her and the little companions in her mind.
"I also hope Miss Einstein and Miss Tesla will not tell Theresa. Please."
If she had any other good method to provoke Cocolia into leading a team over, she wouldn't have contacted Einstein and Tesla in the first place.
"Then I'll leave it in the hands of Miss Einstein and Miss Tesla." After waving to the two, Irene cut the communication, leaving only Einstein and Tesla in front of the screen.
"Are you sure we should do this?" Tesla turned to look at Einstein. Just as she had said, when that fellow Cocolia went crazy, there was truly no telling what kind of things she might do.
Moreover, the current Cocolia was already harboring a belly full of fury from being exploited by the two of them. Telling her now that her daughter had been kidnapped was tantamount to lighting a cigarette on a powder keg.
That fellow might genuinely explode. When that happened, it would be truly hard to guarantee what kind of actions she would take.
"But this matter also holds benefits for us," Einstein sighed. "Just as Irene said, if Cocolia fails this time, we can take the opportunity to further diminish Cocolia's authority."
"Is there no possibility of her succeeding, then?" Tesla looked at Einstein. It wasn't that she wanted to side with Cocolia, she was just worried that if something truly happened over at St. Freya, it would be a disaster.
"Do you even believe what you just said?" Einstein calmly drank her coffee. Could they not be clear on what cards Cocolia held in her hand?
It was nothing more than Titans, and their technological level wasn't even as advanced as theirs. The strength of those so-called Herrscher of Reason replicas wasn't high either; they were only marginally stronger than an A-Rank Valkyrie.
It was even hard to say if Cocolia still had any left on hand right now. Otherwise, given Cocolia's temperament, she wouldn't have gone this long without raising the banner of the replicas again to build momentum for herself.
This did not fit her usual methods. The only explanation was that Cocolia likely no longer had any usable Herrscher of Reason replicas left, or perhaps they possessed temperaments that even she couldn't control.
If it was just ordinary Titans, St. Freya should be able to handle them. Furthermore, given Irene's capabilities, how could she possibly fail to guess what cards Cocolia would play?
There were only those two cards in total; there wasn't even a need to calculate. After all, Cocolia wasn't a researcher. She didn't have a myriad of bizarre inventions on hand, and she couldn't just pull new cards out of her pocket to replenish her hand.
And out of those two cards, which one hadn't Irene already beaten? It was just that they still couldn't figure out why Irene wanted to do this. What use was there for her to intentionally enrage Cocolia?
"In short, since we've agreed, let's execute it properly." Einstein finished her coffee, stood up, and walked toward the door. "From another perspective, we indeed owe Cocolia a bit of a return."
The two of them had already snatched an unknown amount of funding from Cocolia to build their own projects. Cocolia could obviously see this, but she truly needed the Honkai Resistance Enhancer to shut the others up.
And those mouths could only be shut by her, not by the two of them. Otherwise, she would be completely destroyed by the masses. Of course, Einstein and Tesla also didn't want to bother with that bunch.
If it weren't for the fact that they had funding, Einstein and Tesla genuinely wouldn't have wanted to deal with them. Especially since some of their requests were truly bizarre.
Their conversations were full of wild, unrealistic ideas, and their style of doing things basically treated the Honkai like child's play. They only thought about how to topple Schicksal so they could become the next Schicksal themselves.
It was simply a joke. Therefore, Einstein and Tesla truly did not want to interact with those people; it was exhausting. Only Cocolia was willing to deal with them.
"Fine." Tesla nodded. It was a pity that Cocolia likely wouldn't personally go over to join the battle. That was somewhat regrettable; otherwise, she would have loved to see what would happen if that fellow got caught.
Watching Einstein's departing figure, Tesla hurriedly followed. "Wait up, Chicken Nest Head, I'm coming too."
"Of course I will wait for you." Einstein looked back at Tesla. She wasn't good at trash-talking or provoking people, but Tesla was absolutely outstanding at it.
However, Irene making such a request still gave her the feeling of an impending storm. The truth behind this matter was definitely not that simple.
It was just that Irene was unwilling to explain to them what exactly was going to happen. Sigh. Just like with her previous advice, it was only when they encountered the situation that they would realize what Irene's suggestions truly meant.
Speaking of which... Einstein turned her head to look at a communicator resting on the only relatively clean desk in the corner of the laboratory.
"That guy Joachim, if he's really alright, he should hurry up and come out. We're currently short on hands."
St. Freya
Irene returned to the window of the villa and slipped back inside. She looked at the communicator in her hand, thought for a moment, and decided to just keep it with her for now.
She then prepared to head straight back to her room, but just as she opened the door, Irene saw someone lying on her bed.
"Hm? Theresa?" Irene looked at Theresa lying on her bed. "Why are you in here? Aren't you going to sleep in your own room?"
"You made me take out the communicator in the middle of the night, and you didn't even let me listen in." Hearing Irene's voice, Theresa sat up, looking at Irene with a face full of resentment.
"How could I possibly feel at ease with you acting like this? And looking at you now, you definitely don't plan on giving me any explanation, right?"
"That's right, I don't intend to give you any explanation." Irene looked at Theresa and nodded. "This is something only I need to know. I'm sorry. I truly cannot tell you even the slightest thing about this matter."
"You say that as if you were planning to tell me before." Theresa looked at Irene. "You clearly said that if anything happened, you would rely on me, but right now, all I see is you slowly piling all the burdens onto yourself, step by step."
"That's because the time hasn't come yet." Irene shook her head, entered the room, and closed the door. "I cannot bear the cost of losing control. The only thing I can control is myself."
"I don't want any of you to suffer unnecessary harm because of this."
"But you acting like this makes me really worried." Theresa flipped over and stood on the bed, attempting to use its height to offset the height difference between her and Irene.
"You've buried so many of your worries deep in your heart, I... I don't know how I'm supposed to help you!"
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Irene looked at Theresa and smiled. She stepped forward and gently bumped her forehead against Theresa's. "Trust me, Theresa. If the plan goes smoothly, there will very soon be a time where you can play your part."
I just hope you won't be angry once you find out it was my plan. The thought flashed through Irene's mind in an instant. After all, by doing this, she was practically pushing Kiana into a pit of fire herself, wasn't she?
But if she didn't do this, what if Otto came knocking on his own? What kind of things would happen then? Irene truly did not know.
"Then tell me, what exactly are you trying to do?" Theresa pushed Irene's face away. "You seem to always be worrying about something. What exactly are you so worried about?"
"I am worrying about the future." Irene patted Theresa's head before finally sitting down on the edge of the bed. "I want to prevent my future from happening to all of you here."
"But haven't you already done enough?" Theresa looked at Irene. "Didn't you say Wendy would become a Herrscher? Haven't you already prevented that now?"
Irene shook her head. "But that is not the most severe danger. An even greater danger lies ahead. This matter is far from over; it is not yet time for it to end."
"Then what exactly is going to happen? Is it related to Grandpa?" Theresa suddenly grew a little anxious. Judging from her recent actions, Irene seemed exceptionally guarded against Otto.
Could it be that the next crisis was related to her Grandpa?
Irene looked at Theresa and shook her head. Finally, just as Theresa wanted to press further, Irene reached out, wrapped her arm around Theresa's shoulders, and fell backward, pulling Theresa down onto the bed with her.
"!"
"Alright now." Irene patted Theresa's head, forcefully dragging her into a proper sleeping position. "Don't think so much. Do you really think I would harm you?"
"Go to sleep. Thinking too much is bad for your health. Little kids shouldn't stay up late, otherwise you won't grow taller."
"Who's not going to grow taller?!" Hearing Irene's words, Theresa instantly wanted to blow her top, but Irene's strength was surprisingly great, and Theresa found herself unable to break free right away.
"Wait a minute, Irene, when did you get so strong?"
"Whoever answers is the one I'm talking about~" Irene shrugged. "Besides, it's not like I haven't been improving this whole time. If I hadn't been improving, how could I possibly protect all of you?"
"Alright, get a good night's sleep. Nothing bad will happen."
Theresa looked at Irene and sighed. "I really don't know what you're hiding. Also, give me back the communicator. You shouldn't feel comfortable just holding onto it."
"Sure, here you go." Irene nodded, handing the communicator back to Theresa. She only needed to use it this once anyway. In the future, borrowing Little Corruption's communication channel would be enough.
Placing the communicator on the bedside table, Theresa snuggled into Irene's embrace. "Irene, I hope that no matter what you do, you must guarantee your own safety."
"I will." Irene nodded. "After all, there are still many things I haven't done. Alright, there's nothing to worry about. Go to sleep with peace of mind."
"Alright." Theresa sighed. When Irene stubbornly refused to speak, there was nothing she could do. She would just have to sneakily ask Einstein and the others tomorrow to see what exactly Irene had entrusted them with.
Watching Theresa close her eyes, Irene patted her shoulder, then reached behind to pull the blanket out from under them and drape it over both of their bodies.
[Sigh, time is running out, huh.] Irene hugged Theresa, staring up at the ceiling.
[Speaking of time running out, Sister Irene,] Pardo suddenly spoke up at that moment. [Is Boss Kevin going to be coming back soon too?]
[It shouldn't be that fast. The agreed-upon time limit back then was one year.] Irene shook her head mentally. Although everyone had strongly demanded that Kevin must go find Griseo.
And that if he didn't, it would be better for him to simply never come back. For Kevin, comrades were very important, and the promises made to comrades were also very important, but to him, defeating the Honkai was the most important of all.
If a certain amount of time truly passed, Kevin would still find his way back on his own. It was impossible to use Griseo's matter to chain him to the Sea of Quanta for a lifetime.
And that timeframe would generally fall within the span of one year. But right now, it wouldn't be quite that fast.
However, speaking of Kevin, it was indeed unclear how he was doing right now. Irene was actually quite looking forward to seeing whether Kevin could chop up Sa and snatch Griseo back. After all, it wasn't good to leave her staying there all the time.
-Phosphoros
"I feel like things have been a bit too quiet lately." Vita held a little girl who looked remarkably like her, squishing and rubbing her face.
"Wuu, wuu, wuu~~" Yixin sat on Vita's lap, trying to resist, but she could only endure Vita's fondling. "I worked so hard to fix my hair into that style!"
"Oh, was it really Little Yixin who fixed it?" Vita pinched Yixin's cheek, a smile on her face. "I don't think it looks like it. Are you telling the truth?"
"Of course it's the truth." Yixin took the opportunity to jump off Vita's lap. "It took quite a while to mess with it."
"Mm, then I'll believe you~" Vita let Yixin down. "Alright, go play with the others."
"Okay~" Yixin immediately made a run for it, leaving only Vita in the room. Vita sighed and stood up. She didn't know if it was because she had been assigning too many tasks usually.
Having not been called up to work for a while now, she actually found herself a bit unused to it. Logically speaking, this wasn't the type of character she was supposed to be.
Vita leaned against the window, her fingers lightly tapping the sill. "But this isn't too bad either. I just hope no accidents happen... for example, Sa showing up to assign a task in the very next second."
"Hm..." Just as Vita was about to reach into the pile of snacks by the window and toss one into her mouth, the entire city suddenly shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck.
"What's happening? What's going on?" The voices of Yixin and the other little Vitas came from outside the window. They looked around in panic; this kind of situation had never happened before!
Vita also had a face full of confusion. Had she actually jinxed it? Was she about to be put to work right now? She had just extended her perception outward when a steady, yet angry male voice rang out from behind her.
"Don't move. Hand over Griseo."
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