A few days later, in the Mediterranean Sea, high in the sky, at the headquarters of Schicksal.
This giant floating island group located above the Mediterranean Sea is not only the administrative center of Schicksal but also the core research facility of the entire organization.
With the mission of fighting the Honkai, it operates day after day without stopping.
Of course, at this stage, the vast majority of ordinary people, they are still unaware of the existence of the so-called Honkai.
All the Honkai disasters were tacitly explained away by Schicksal and Anti-Entropy using the excuse of natural disasters.
Well, to some extent, this is indeed a natural disaster.
And in the center of this floating island, in the command room of the Bishop of Schicksal—
"…The above is the intelligence report on the outbreak of Nagazora City, Your Excellency the Bishop."
A tall, dark-blonde woman reported to the other party what she had seen and heard.
She is none other than one of the current S-rank Valkyries, Rita Rossweisse.
With the mission given by the Bishop of Schicksal, she rushed to Nagazora City under the pretext of assisting the Far East Branch in dealing with the Herrscher incident.
This is a reasonable and legitimate reason that will not arouse anyone's suspicion.
She completed the mission of searching for survivors perfectly, just like every mission she had performed in the past.
However, what Theresa and the others didn't know was that Rita arrived in Nagazora City much earlier than them.
Rita said methodically:
"I sneaked into the ME company to investigate. Although most of the operation records have been erased... I did find a trace that is enough to prove that this Honkai outbreak was not a natural occurrence, but a man-made disaster."
According to the residual data she investigated, a batch of devices containing high concentrations of Honkai energy was secretly transported from the ME Company to the interior of Chiba Academy in the name of material support.
"Hehe... Is this a political power struggle within Anti-Entropy?"
The blond man slowly slid the screen in his hand, on which were displayed the high-level people of Anti-Entropy.
Among them, there are middle-aged men wearing glasses who look mature and steady, as well as scientists who look very young and have long been recorded in textbooks.
Many of them are old acquaintances of his. They have clashed with each other many times over the long years. Therefore, Otto knows very well that these old acquaintances would never do such a thing.
After all, they are a group of true idealists.
Considering what happened not long ago, when ME company president Ryoma Raiden was sent to prison for economic embezzlement, the answer becomes clear.
The culprit who caused this outbreak is—
The screen finally stopped on a blonde woman.
"It must be her, Cocolia, a woman from the Siberian military."
Otto said casually.
"Yeah, Rita thinks so too."
The dark golden-haired woman nodded.
"Let her struggle inside Anti-Entropy. It will actually be good for Schicksal."
Otto supported his chin with his hands crossed and said nonchalantly.
Schicksal has no reason and no need to help Anti-Entropy solve the problem of internal struggle. It is better to say that he is happy to see such a thing happen.
He actually didn't care much about anything related to Cocolia. This woman was not worthy of being his opponent.
Compared to the so-called mastermind, he was obviously more concerned about another thing:
"How is the situation with the Herrscher?"
"It has been confirmed that the third Herrscher is Mei Raiden, and according to Rita's observation, Kiana Kaslana has also come into contact with her."
Rita reported.
"The girl who had the gem of conquest implanted in her body? This result is not surprising."
The situation of the Herrscher Gems created by the Second eruption has always been the focus of Schicksal's surveillance.
Of the four Herrscher Gems, only the Gem of Conquest is in the hands of Anti-Entropy, and the remaining three are in the custody of Schicksal.
"I have had contact with the Third Herrscher on Hyperion. Although her emotions are a little unstable, she doesn't seem to have any major problems at the moment.
"As for Kiana Kaslana... she seems to have been fighting to survive in Chiba Academy during this incident, but she has not shown any strength beyond expectations."
The dark-gold woman continued to report.
"Hehe, she is still an unpolished gem and has no way to control the power in her body."
Although she has the core of the Herrscher of the Void embedded in her body, she lacks the corresponding training and is not qualified to control that power.
She is still far from mature both physically and mentally.
"Anyone else of note?"
"In addition, Theresa also recovered a man and a woman, Bronya Zaychik and Kirataka."
Rita retrieved more information about the two individuals.
Compared to the investigation capabilities of the Far East Branch, it is obvious that the Schicksal Headquarters has more extensive clues and tracking capabilities.
So, one of Bronya's identities was revealed and presented to Otto.
——A famous killer who was once listed in the "Killer List", [Silver Wolf of the Ural].
Her name was enough to scare ordinary people, but after a certain period of time, this terrifying killer disappeared and was never seen again.
Some people speculated that she failed in an assassination mission and is no longer alive, while others believed that she had retired from the underworld.
However, in Otto's opinion, the answer is obvious -
"She is Cocolia's chess piece, right?"
"Do we need to get rid of her?" Rita inquired.
"It's just a minor role, don't worry about it."
As Otto spoke, he shifted his gaze to the last survivor.
"...male?"
After seeing Kirataka's photo, he rarely showed a look of surprise.
"Yes, Your Excellency. May I ask you if something about him?"
"Haha, Rita, you don't know that none of these men who are qualified to enter the Honkai field are easy to deal with - this is the truth I have learned in my long life."
The former First Herrscher Welt Joyce, the current Anti-Entropy leader Welt Yang, and the head of the Kaslana family Siegfried Kaslana.
They have all caused themselves a lot of trouble in the past to varying degrees.
——Otto has never liked anything beyond his control. Unfortunately, these men all fall into this category.
Well, as the most outstanding wise man in the Apocalypse family, Otto's intuition told him that this man was no simple man.
The information Rita collected about Kirataka made Otto pay more attention to it.
"It has been confirmed that this individual is not the third Herrscher but has demonstrated powers similar to those of the Herrscher of Thunder. He manipulated electromagnetic force to destroy fifteen anti-entropy tactical mechas. The principle is unknown."
He recited word by word.
Only one Herrscher will be born from each great eruption this is an iron law.
The Herrscher core actually exists in Raiden Mei's body, so this Kirataka definitely cannot be a Herrscher.
Is it the power of imitating the Herrscher? Or is it some other special ability?
In the long five hundred years that he had studied Honkai, he had never seen a case like it.
This aroused Otto's strong interest.
If it is confirmed that he can imitate the power of the Herrscher of Thunder, then can the abilities of other Herrschers also be reproduced one by one?
For example... the one he cares about the most, the Herrscher of the Void.
Although the plan against Kiana is already very complete and only requires the natural passage of time, Otto would naturally not mind making more backup preparations.
"Where are they now?"
Otto asked.
"Now Miss Theresa has brought all four of them back to the Far East Branch. According to what I have learned, she plans to enroll all four survivors as students into St. Freya Academy."
Otto did not expect Theresa to do this.
She is also an out-and-out idealist, but unfortunately, she is still a little immature and even childish in doing things.
'——Well, this is also because I, as an elder, was too doting on her in the past.'
"Haha, anyway, let our dear Miss Kiana enjoy her school life. The happier and happier she is, the better. As for Kirataka... well, let's observe for a while before making a decision."
He hoped Theresa could help him accomplish this by making a girl who had been wandering alone for a long time fall in love with her relatives and friends again and feel the beauty of love.
His granddaughter would do such things spontaneously, and he was happy to see such results and was even very happy to provide various kinds of help.
When the time is right, he will let the Herrscher of the Void descend again according to his planned script, and then use the stimulation of the death of relatives and friends to awaken the Herrscher's humanity.
By that time, the key props for him to resurrect Kallen would be completely polished and formed.
As for who will be the specific target of sacrifice at that time... Otto has only set a preliminary target at present.
——His granddaughter, Theresa Apocalypse, is a very suitable candidate.
There is no doubt that Otto loves his granddaughter very much, second only to his love for Kallen.
However, if the purpose is to revive Kallen, everything else can be abandoned, including Theresa.
However, after seeing the information about Kirataka, he had some new ideas.
——Emotions can also be divided into many types.
The affection between family members, the affection between friends, and... love.
The stronger the emotion, the better the effect of bringing back Kiana's self will be at that time.
So, after seeing that this man named Kirataka was about to enter St. Freya Academy, Otto came up with a new idea.
——Maybe he would be a more suitable candidate than Theresa.
Thinking of this, Otto couldn't help but smile slightly, and then instructed the Valkyrie under his command:
"Rita, you take a break first. I will arrange for you to go to St. Freya Academy for a while in a few days. At that time, there will be a special task for you to do."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Rita bowed slightly and then left the command room of the Bishop of Schicksal.
Otto turned his chair around and adjusted the screens around the control room to be transparent so that he could have a clear view of everything on the floating island from the inside.
He had spent five hundred years turning Schicksal into what it is today, a super-large organization that actually rules over most areas on the planet.
Most of the ordinary Valkyries worship him as the god who saves the world;
Others who knew some of his secrets viewed him as a demon who brought disaster.
However, during these five hundred years, no one knew the true significance of his hard work and perseverance.
Everything he did, whether it was a good thing worthy of praise or an evil thing that angered God and people, was just for a simple purpose.
Only he himself has never forgotten the reason for moving forward.
Resurrection, my beloved.
Otto took a sip of the red wine in the glass slowly, and then said leisurely:
"Love... is the most vicious curse in this world."
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