Hello, Police?

Schicksal Headquarters, Floating Island.

Thump!

Thud!

Smack!

Durandal navigated effortlessly back to the Immortal Blades' base. The occasional tremors underfoot served as a clear map marker – recently, the Immortal Blades' base had become something of an inside joke within Schicksal:

"There wasn't any noise from the Immortal Blades last night, and it kept me up all night!"

For instance, the Immortal Blades had recently been complained about for this very reason. As far as Durandal knew, no one had dared to tell the person involved yet...

What was all this about?

Durandal, somewhat bewildered, entered her squad's base – she hadn't been back for a while, and it felt a little strange.

"Captain, you're back?"

Alvitr, who had also recently returned, waved happily at her captain, a bit excited – it had been a long time since she'd seen the captain in the flesh.

She had actually returned to headquarters a little later than Durandal; but because Durandal had spent time reporting to Otto and entrusting Nagamitsu with Stan's examinations, Alvitr had finished her work earlier – she only needed to hand over the returning EOS to the logistics department for maintenance and ask the equipment department to re-inspect the main cannon and power systems.

"Yes."

Durandal nodded in response, then glanced towards the training room.

"Is Yuno inside?"

Although she asked, she already had her suspicions and just wanted confirmation.

"Yes, she's in there."

Alvitr nodded, then said with some distress,

"She seems to be in a really bad mood lately, always making a lot of noise, and we don't dare to try and talk her out of it... Maybe you should go see her, Captain?"

Durandal nodded, indicating she understood, and told Alvitr to rest. She then pushed open the training room door and entered without hesitation.

"..."

As soon as she entered, she saw a training room that was sparking everywhere and utterly ravaged; the gray-haired girl inside seemed to hear Durandal's movement, stopped what she was doing, and turned to look at her.

"Didn't Nagamitsu tell you not to overexert your powers?"

Durandal spoke in a tone similar to a senior lecturing a junior,

"This kind of aimless venting won't help you control this power."

Nagamitsu had reported to her in detail about Anna bringing Yuno to him for help, so Durandal was fully aware of the situation.

"He lied to me."

Yuno said expressionlessly, answering a question that wasn't asked.

"Who? Nagamitsu?"

Durandal was confused. How could Nagamitsu have lied to her?

"It's the Overseer, he's lying to me."

Yuno said seriously,

"The trees and grass told me they saw another me leave this island. I don't know who she is or where she went; but since then, I haven't seen that Overseer again."

The words "Overseer" were spoken without respect, filled with dissatisfaction.

"I feel like he's using me."

"..."

Durandal couldn't refute Yuno's accusation.

Overseer Otto was always like this, always plotting something, scheming something, and it was often hard to tell how much of him was genuine and how much was fake.

She couldn't judge Otto's actions, but she understood Yuno's dissatisfaction with him.

After thinking for a moment, she decided to skip these complex and meaningless questions and get straight to the heart of the matter.

"Instead of getting angry over these pointless things, save your time and energy to master this power as quickly as possible – only by truly possessing power, knowing how to harness and use it, can your anger and dissatisfaction have any real meaning."

It might sound harsh, but this was Durandal's honest opinion, and it was how she always pushed herself.

"Hmph!"

Yuno was somewhat displeased. More of the same.

"As your captain, I can promise you that if you can truly master your power and pass my test, I can grant you the authority to act independently; then you won't be as restricted as you are now."

Durandal decided to set a goal for Yuno.

"How about it?"

"You said it!"

Yuno looked intently into Durandal's eyes, seemingly trying to see if she was also deceiving her.

"Of course, it's true, as long as you can do it."

Durandal calmly walked up to Yuno, gently kicked aside some broken debris, and challenged her,

"Now, show me how much you've improved lately. Is it really as stagnant as it looks?"

Yuno, provoked by this, naturally didn't hold back and attacked Durandal with all her might.

She knew there was one advantage to fighting Durandal: she didn't have to worry about hurting her, nor did she need to consider holding back. She just needed to use all her strength – she probably wouldn't win anyway.

"Terrible!"

After a brief but intense exchange, Durandal knocked Yuno to the ground with a fierce spinning back kick. She then frowned and criticized Yuno, who was sitting on the ground, panting,

"All brute force, no control. Starting today, your training room time is reduced by two-thirds; in addition to more meditation and basic training, I'll have the Overseer arrange some simple assistance work for you – if this continues, you'll lose the balance between being human and your power."

This was actually a suggestion from Otto; Durandal was just conveying it.

According to Otto, the virtual personality, whose data was completely collected from Yuno and almost perfectly replicated, had, during a trip to Manila, in the process of associating with Anna and the Snow Lotus squad, almost visibly dissipated and settled the lingering resentment in the fake "Yuno" – these things, as an observer, Otto saw clearly.

And during this time, the number of times "Yuno" actually used her power was minimal.

"Perhaps, what that little girl really needs is not to learn how to fight, but to relearn how to be a 'person'."

Otto's slightly smiling voice still echoed in her ears,

"This can be considered a small compensation from me, a thief who stole a part of her life, right?"

"A steady heart leads to a steady hand."

Durandal understood it this way and believed it was worth a try.

Yuno didn't know Durandal's thoughts, but she had no right to object and could only agree.

Drip, drip, drip...

Just as things were wrapping up, as if on cue, Durandal's communicator rang. As soon as she opened it, Amber's characteristic businesslike voice came through,

"Durandal, the Overseer has a new mission for you."

"Okay, understood."

Durandal wasn't surprised at all, as if she was used to this seamless transition. She calmly nodded and hung up the communicator.

"Go back and rest early. You should learn to relax now."

"Instructor time" was over. Durandal reached out and pulled Yuno up from the ground, putting away her serious expression and revealing a comforting smile. She patted her shoulder,

"Don't rush, I'll wait for you."

"…Okay."

Seemingly unaccustomed to Durandal's gentleness, Yuno was stunned for a moment before nodding gently.

After comforting her subordinate, Durandal returned to Otto's location without delay.

"Overseer, you called for me."

"Yes, I have a new mission for you."

Otto, who was adjusting various parameters on the lab bench, said without looking up,

"K-423 has been at St. Freya Academy for quite some time now. Although it hasn't officially started, the actual start date is getting closer every day. To ensure everything goes smoothly, I plan to conduct several simulation experiments in the memory simulation device before the official start, so we can identify and fix any issues in advance."

With that, Otto looked up and gave Durandal a pleading smile.

"Once the plan starts, we won't have a second chance. This mission is very important, and I can only entrust it to you, Bianka."

"Spending a few days and some minor effort to avoid potential threats and losses in the future is a great idea, Overseer. I'm duty-bound."

Although their starting points were different, Durandal and Otto were equally serious.

"When do we start?"

"Right now!"

Otto said impatiently.

...

The Snow Lotus squad was busy, Schicksal Headquarters was always busy.

It seemed that at this moment, in this world, only Anna and Lin Wei were idle.

Anna was bored in her hospital bed, chatting happily with the little sister she had just met.

Lin Wei was even more straightforward. After treating Anna's injuries, he found a hotel and slept soundly; after waking up the next day, he boarded a plane back to Singapore.

"Anyway, everything's done, why rush?"

Lin Wei said righteously.

And there was a small episode in between – he almost couldn't get a ticket.

"Tsk, did I almost screw myself over?"

Lin Wei, who had hacked into the ticketing system's backend and forcibly locked a seat for himself, muttered to himself after boarding the plane,

"The number of people leaving Manila recently has visibly increased…"

But it was a good thing. Lin Wei smiled slightly, closed his eyes, lowered his seat, and continued to nap.

Hours later, the plane landed at Singapore Changi Airport. Lin Wei, who had just stepped off the jet bridge, received a long, enthusiastic message from Anna, full of optimism and anticipation.

"This silly girl, the world isn't as simple as she thinks."

Lin Wei read it carefully, a wry smile on his face.

"People's dreams always go through several rounds of reality shattering. This process is called 'growth'."

But just as one dream was shattered, another was about to begin? Thinking of this, Lin Wei sighed softly.

"Anna's growth process is a bit too cruel and painful."

However, ideals should still be affirmed, shouldn't they?

So, Lin Wei composed a message of affirmation and encouragement and sent it back. A few seconds later, he received a smiley face and a blushing emoji. Lin Wei could imagine Anna smiling shyly behind the screen.

"If you're worried, should we go back and check?"

Yae Sakura said.

"You better not say that, because I might actually be tempted."

Lin Wei smiled wryly.

"For a city, those strangers I don't know, I can 'turn a blind eye', but for you, for her, for my friends, it's still hard for me to do that…"

Yae Sakura didn't dare to speak again. She didn't want Lin Wei to return to that city and face unpredictable risks.

"…Tsk, what a busy life!"

Lin Wei thought it over and still couldn't rest easy. He took out his phone and dialed the Anti-Entropy scientist's number, wanting them to help monitor the situation in Manila and provide rescue if necessary.

As long as the disaster could be reduced, Anna's dream shattering would also be reduced, and it would be relatively less painful.

Ring… Ring… Ring…

Lin Wei narrowed his eyes. It still couldn't connect?

A few days ago, when facing the dilemma of Jackal and Otto, he had also thought of seeking help from Anti-Entropy, but the call wouldn't go through.

At that time, he thought Grey Serpent was interfering, cutting off his external support; and when he successfully broke through and counterattacked with his own abilities and calculations, he no longer needed help and didn't think deeply about this issue.

But now, the Anti-Entropy scientist was still unreachable, which was beyond Lin Wei's expectations; at this delicate moment, he couldn't afford to overthink.

"…Go home first, I need to think carefully."

Various fragmented thoughts flashed through Lin Wei's mind like a revolving lantern, unsystematic, making Lin Wei want to find a quiet place to think carefully.

"Then, let's go to Anti-Entropy's lair and see what's going on!"

Thinking this, Lin Wei left the airport, expertly hailed a car, sat in the back seat, closed his eyes, and began to think about various things, but they remained unsystematic, with more confusion than answers.

"We've arrived."

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Wei was awakened from his thoughts by the driver's reminder. He still hadn't sorted out a clear and complete logic.

"Tsk, you're really giving me trouble."

Lin Wei pursed his lips, turned and went upstairs, but the moment he pushed open the door, he was stunned, and then he couldn't help but laugh.

"The trouble just keeps piling up!"

"I sense the aura left by the Fenghuang Down."

In the depths of his mind, the feather left by Fu Hua moved slightly, transmitting Fu Hua's voice.

"It seems the original has been here and left a message."

"Really? It seems there's more than one guest?"

Lin Wei stopped smiling, then calmly closed the door, looked around the spotless room, sniffed, frowned, and waved his hand.

"Where's this perfume smell coming from?"

Lin Wei complained as he walked to the bedroom, reached out and pushed open the window, took a deep breath of the fresh air outside, nodded with satisfaction, and walked to the other end of the room, pushing open the window there.

A cross-breeze flowed through the room, causing the pervasive scent to quickly fade and dissipate.

"Ah, that's much better!"

Lin Wei looked at the scenery outside the window and stretched comfortably.

At this moment, a clear, elegant, and even slightly alluring voice suddenly came from behind him.

"So, this gentleman prefers the scent of nature. That's quite surprising, isn't it?"

Lin Wei's body stiffened. He turned around abruptly and saw an uninvited guest sitting on the sofa in the living room.

A girl dressed in neat clothes was sitting in the middle of the sofa in an extremely elegant posture. Her short grayish-gold hair perfectly covered one eye, while the other exposed eye was a beautiful wine-red color.

She was looking at Lin Wei with an interested gaze, seemingly anticipating what kind of reaction he would have to her sudden appearance.

Tch, I knew you'd show up like this!

Lin Wei looked Rita up and down expressionlessly, then took out his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Hello, police? There's a thief in my house. Please come and deal with it."

The mysterious smile on Rita's face stiffened slightly.