Durandal and Anna

Around the same time that Lin Wei parted ways with Jell and Anna woke up, Durandal had just returned to Schicksal Headquarters, ascending to the floating island hidden in the clouds.

"Lord Overseer, I have returned."

After returning to headquarters, Durandal reported to Otto first.

From Southeast Asia to Europe, a distance spanning almost half the globe, even with the flight performance of the fourth-generation Valkyrie Battlesuit "Bright Knight: Excelsis," Durandal would need three to four hours to cross this distance at full speed.

And when she was carrying extra burdens in her arms, her flight speed would inevitably decrease.

Don't get me wrong, it was mainly because the person and cat in Durandal's arms probably couldn't withstand her flight speed, which often broke the sound barrier—one could only say that the physical constitutions of people were still slightly different...

"You've worked hard, Bianca."

At this time, Otto had just spent a few hours retrieving the memories stored in the Void Archives and organizing them.

It has to be said that having a Divine Key like the Void Archives, which was bound to his consciousness and would follow wherever his consciousness was, really saved Otto a lot of trouble—such as a memory that was not so important, but too late to back up.

"Is this the guy you mentioned in your previous report?"

Otto first glanced at the kitten carefully held in Durandal's hands, and then focused his gaze on the cyborg girl she was carefully holding in her arms. He looked at her carefully for a few moments and said with great interest,

"She looks more like a machine than a human girl?"

The metal and mechanical components on the cyborg girl's body were too eye-catching, making it easy to see at a glance that she had undergone extensive limb modification.

"She's still alive."

Durandal said calmly, slightly objecting to Otto's somewhat cold evaluation in her own way.

"Hehe, alright. This poor little girl is the only survivor you found in World Serpent's base..."

Otto easily accepted Durandal's point of view and said with a smile,

"In that case, send her to Elizabeth's laboratory for proper care. I hope we can get some valuable intelligence from her after she wakes up."

"Yes."

Amber, who was standing by, responded. Then, while her eyepiece data streamed, she began to contact St. 1504 Research Institute. She pushed out a hospital bed from somewhere, and signaled Durandal to place the cyborg girl on the bed, waiting for someone to take her in.

"By the way, ask Ms. Nagamitsu to do a physical examination for this little guy."

Durandal also handed the still unconscious Stan to Amber. Amber had just curiously received it, and before she could hold it steady, she was so frightened by Otto's words that she threw it out—

"Is this the cat-shaped Honkai Beast?"

Otto looked at Stan strangely and asked,

"What did you bring it back for? Schicksal doesn't have much interest in Honkai Beasts."

Durandal hurriedly caught Stan in mid-air before it was thrown to the ground, carefully held it in her arms, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then she looked at Otto seriously,

"I think it's necessary for Schicksal to conduct some research. What do you think, Lord Overseer?"

"Uh..."

For some reason, Otto actually read a trace of something like a "threat" from Durandal's eyes, like a little girl finding her favorite toy and not wanting the annoying adult to take it away—this feeling was quite novel.

Sigh, forget it, if she likes it, let her have it. Otto thought, and instantly changed his mind,

"Let St. 1504 Research Institute be responsible for it as well."

"Ms. Amber, don't worry, it's seriously injured and probably won't wake up anytime soon."

Durandal comforted Amber softly,

"And its transformation device has been destroyed by me. It's not a threat now."

"...Yes."

Amber's voice trembled slightly. She tremblingly took this furry thing and immediately sent two words to Nagamitsu Research Institute: "Urgent."

Take it away quickly!

After dealing with the issue of this person and cat, Durandal briefly and concisely reported the key points of her mission process over the past few days.

"I will submit the specific mission report in writing later."

Durandal concluded, with some regret and self-blame in her tone,

"However, in the end, I still let those guys escape, and I was unable to rescue Mr. He Kun, not only letting him sacrifice in vain, but also letting his efforts come to nothing. In any case, this is my mistake."

"Don't be sorry, Durandal. Being able to force them to escape in that way and confirm that the Second Divine Key is in World Serpent's hands is already a huge gain."

Otto said with a smile,

"As for Mr. He Kun, it is indeed a huge regret. In this way, Amber, please send a obituary to Anti-Entropy's friends on my behalf, saying that Mr. He Kun unfortunately died due to some reasons. Schicksal deeply regrets this and is willing to provide some necessary humanitarian compensation."

Although he did admire that guy's talent, since he was already dead, he could only put him aside after expressing his regret.

After all, dead people have no value.

"Anti-Entropy?"

Durandal was stunned, puzzled,

"What does this have to do with them?"

Then, Otto explained the causes and consequences of this matter to Durandal.

"...So that's it, so Mr. He Kun was originally from Anti-Entropy and had nothing to do with Schicksal. He was just used by you, Lord Overseer."

Durandal suddenly realized, and felt that it was really absurd,

"Just because he was monitoring you disguised as Yuno at that time, and you discovered it?"

She didn't like this kind of truth, but she had to accept this result. In the end, she could only condense into silent silence.

"Used? How could that be?"

Otto looked surprised,

"I obviously discovered his talent and gave him an opportunity to serve Schicksal—see, didn't our respected Mr. He Kun do a great job? I will also issue his pension in full and on time, I just hope Anti-Entropy's friends can help transfer it~"

"..."

Lord Overseer, you're talking nonsense again.

Durandal, who had finished reporting and didn't want to waste time with Otto here, immediately took her leave and turned to leave,

"I'm going to see what Yuno has been doing during this time."

Otto smiled and watched Durandal leave, not stopping her.

"Lord Overseer, contacting Anti-Entropy may not be possible for a while."

Only then did Amber finally have time to report to Otto.

"Oh?"

Otto raised an eyebrow, extremely surprised by this news. What were those guys trying to do?

"Some time ago, Anti-Entropy's top executives collectively disappeared. This matter is of great importance. At that time, Lord Overseer was still in Manila and could not deal with it in time, so I took the liberty of entrusting Rita to investigate. If there is anything inappropriate, please punish me, Lord Overseer."

Amber said fearfully.

"No, Amber, you did very well!"

Otto's expression was serious. He digested this news slightly, and then asked seriously,

"How is Rita's progress?"

"Some time ago, Anti-Entropy was in chaos, and many high-level officials disappeared at this time. Many clues contradicted each other, so Rita's progress was not smooth."

Hearing that Otto did not punish her, Amber breathed a long sigh of relief and returned to the role of an excellent assistant,

"However, when I last contacted her, she said that she had found some clues that made her a little concerned in Singapore and was investigating in depth. There is no result yet."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Otto leaned back slightly, carefully browsing the information about Anti-Entropy during this period. It was indeed intricate and confusing, giving a ridiculous feeling of "conservatives and radicals joining forces to eliminate other local branches", which made Otto frown. What is all this mess?

What are you guys in Anti-Entropy doing?

He couldn't find any clues for a while, so he had to put it aside for the time being. Since Rita had taken on the responsibility of investigating this matter, he might as well wait for her to make new progress, and then make a decision.

.........

Meanwhile, on the other side, Manila, Philippines.

The lively and experienced Anna woke up from her coma and soon couldn't stand the quiet and cramped single ward. She discussed with her captain whether she could be transferred to a general ward, so that there would be people around and it would be more lively.

Jell considered that the reason why Anna was not allowed to leave the hospital for the time being was just not to make headquarters suspicious and investigate Anna, who had recovered too quickly, bringing her unwanted trouble.

Under this premise, it was not important which ward she was "recuperating" in. Therefore, Jell readily agreed to Anna's request and helped her with the procedures for changing wards.

"Thank you, Captain!"

Anna smiled and happily moved to a general ward with several beds.

Soon, she found that she had overthought it—even if there were people here, it was not lively.

Lying on those beds were elderly people, middle-aged people, men and women, and young children. Together with the accompanying family members, everyone looked worried.

"..."

Infected by this atmosphere, Anna's mood couldn't help but become depressed,

"I knew it, I shouldn't have changed wards..."

Anna complained a little in her heart, but she was really embarrassed to mention this request to the captain again. She could only show a polite smile to these "roommates", and then quietly lay down on her new bed.

Fortunately, Captain Jell had arranged a bed by the window for her. With a slight turn of her head, she could see the distant coast, the beaches, reefs, coconut trees, and the sparkling sea, as well as countless tourists playing there.

Just quietly looking at this scenery, Anna's somewhat depressed mood couldn't help but become open and calm.

This beautiful scenery belonging to the earth, the ocean, the tropics, and the coastal city made Anna feel a little moved. She felt that these seemingly ordinary things were what she, as a Valkyrie, should protect.

"This beautiful sister..."

Just as Anna was immersed in this scenery, a weak child's voice suddenly came from beside her, like a crisp stone thrown into her inexplicable emotion, waking her up just right.

Anna turned her head and looked in the direction of the voice. It was a delicate little girl, about five or six years old, lying on the next bed. Although her face was pale due to illness, her big black eyes were full of curiosity as she looked at her.

Seeing how cute she was, Anna couldn't help but smile slightly. In order not to disturb the rest of the other patients, she lowered her voice slightly and asked,

"Little sister, what can I do for you?"

"Ugh... I want to ask sister to help me with a favor..."

The little girl smiled a little shyly, then raised her head, looked carefully in the direction of the door, made sure that no one would come in, and then pulled out a large pile of pills from the quilt with a bitter face, and said to Anna in a low voice, a little embarrassed,

"This medicine is too bitter... Can sister help me throw them out the window with a 'whoosh'?"

"..."

This brat!

Anna was speechless and amused, and asked,

"Why didn't you throw it yourself when I wasn't here?"

The little girl's face was wrinkled with bitterness,

"With so many adults watching, how dare I! They will tell my mom and dad..."

"...Then aren't you afraid that I will tell?"

"Hehe... I see that sister is so beautiful, she must have a good heart, she will definitely not tell!"

The little girl blinked her big black eyes and smiled very brightly.

"...Where did you learn that?"

Anna was speechless. Where did this clever little devil come from?

"Hehe, my brother taught me."

The little girl saw that this trick didn't work, and smiled shyly, stuck out her tongue, and told the truth,

"My brother said that if I'm a little sweeter, others will like me..."

"..."

Anna was speechless. This didn't seem wrong?

Anna thought about herself. When she was this age, she seemed to be quite naughty?

Ahem...

"I think your brother is right!"

Anna, who remembered her embarrassing childhood, decided to quickly skip this page.

"Sister, then you agree to help?"

The little girl was happy to hear Anna say this,

Great, I don't have to take medicine!

"No."

Anna smiled, politely, and refused,

"Only by taking medicine on time can you get better faster~"

"Oh..."

The little girl lay back down dejectedly, still muttering something. Anna listened carefully, and it was roughly complaining that what her brother taught her was not reliable at all...

"Where are your mom and dad?"

Anna felt that this little girl was quite cute and didn't mind chatting with her more, so she smiled and said,

"And your brother. Why did they leave a little girl like you in the ward? Aren't you afraid?"

Anyway, the time lying in the hospital was quite boring, so she might as well find a companion to pass the time.

"Mom and Dad went to the cafeteria to eat, they'll be back soon. When they come back..."

As the little girl spoke, she looked like she wanted to cry,

"Wuwu, I don't want to take medicine!"

"Well, I think your mom and dad are right."

Anna smiled slightly. The little girl was still pretending to be pitiful, I used this trick long ago!

Of course, it was equally useless. Schicksal's instructors were very strict!

Anna couldn't help but think of her painful past.

While chatting like this, after a while, a middle-aged couple pushed the door open and walked in, carrying exquisite lunch boxes. They walked to the little girl's bed, first smiled and greeted Anna, who was chatting with their daughter, then gently sat on the edge of the bed, reached out and helped the little girl sit up,

"Wenwen, it's time to eat. After eating, Mom will supervise you to take the medicine obediently, and then have a good sleep. The doctor said that if you eat on time, take medicine, and rest well, you can go out in a few days."

"Oh..."

The little girl named Wenwen looked at Anna helplessly, had to obediently give in, and took the spoon extended by her mother with a sad face.

"Slow down, be careful it's hot."

The father on the side touched her head and said with a smile,

"Your brother is now working part-time in a place not far from the hospital to save money for his college tuition. I said, having this spirit is enough. When you get better, let him take you out to have fun, okay?"

"Yes!"

The little girl immediately cheered up and nodded happily.

Anna on the side quietly watched this family of three, creating a warm corner in this hospital with a generally low atmosphere, at least making the atmosphere in this ward no longer heavy.

"It's so nice..."

Anna smiled slightly, and felt that it might be impolite to just watch their family like this, so she turned her gaze back to the window, and looked back at the beach, the reefs, the coconut trees, and the sparkling coast.

For a time, the world seen in the eyes outside the window and the world heard in the ears inside the window converged into a complete picture in Anna's heart, making her love it and linger.

Gradually, the word "Valkyrie" began to change gradually in her heart.

The "glory" she had always pursued faded away and became unimportant, while the "responsibility" became more and more clear and weighty.

These families and cities are so lively, beautiful, and full of vitality.

Anna suddenly felt that protecting this family with laughter and laughter, protecting thousands of families in this city, and protecting them from disasters and the apocalypse, this is what she should do as a Valkyrie!

As for the so-called "glory"? Perhaps it is the flower that blooms after fulfilling responsibility to the extreme...

For a time, Anna felt that her heart was surging and full of motivation. She just wanted to return to the base immediately and tell her captain about her current thoughts, and share her current thoughts and feelings with Yuno, Rita, Durandal, and Lin Wei, with all her friends.

Just do it! Anna immediately took out her communicator and began to edit the text.

As she wrote, Anna couldn't help but feel troubled, and her heart was depressed,

"No, I'm still 'unconscious' now? How can I send messages everywhere?"

Anna scratched her head painfully. The feeling of having a lot to say but nowhere to share it was really painful!

Thinking about it, it seemed that Captain Jell and Lin Wei were the only channels she could choose to confide in at the moment?

"Wuwu, I hope that guy Lin Wei won't secretly laugh at me..."

Anna bit her lip and thought for a while, and decided to edit this letter carefully. Then she selected Jell and Lin Wei respectively, hesitated for a moment, and clicked send.