Striving

Otto's calm departure didn't surprise Lin Wei.

After all, he had used all sorts of methods to finally make Otto fully understand that he was a huge obstacle in his path.

It sounded like he was asking for trouble, but this was precisely the effect Lin Wei wanted to achieve.

After all, it was much better to be taken seriously by Otto than to be underestimated by him...

Once Otto thought you were nothing special, that he had the "upper hand," he would always do some unnecessary, Being smart actions. If that were the case, Lin Wei would have to constantly guard against Otto's ubiquitous insidious schemes.

Rather than getting entangled like that, it was better to chop off his claws a few times from the start, so that reason could firmly occupy the high ground, and he wouldn't dare to act rashly before making full preparations.

At least it would make Otto clearly understand that now, with the Second Divine Key just a step away, it wasn't advisable to cause more trouble. Who knew if Lin Wei's hidden "third card" would be used to make a big fuss?

Although Durandal was strong, she was only one person. She couldn't be in two, or even three, different corners of the world at the same time.

This wasn't really a weakness, but Lin Wei could use it to his advantage. If he were given more opportunities, who knew what kind of trouble he could stir up?

In that case, it was better to "shake hands and make peace" first, deal with the current minor troubles, and then come back to deal with the big trouble that was Lin Wei—such as securing the Second Divine Key.

This would take some time, and Lin Wei also needed some time to deal with some of the troubles he was facing...

"Heh, one trouble after another, never letting anyone rest..."

Lin Wei shook his head and chuckled, then waved to Rita, who was still standing quietly,

"Miss Rita, you can clock out now."

She was just a worker after all. Lin Wei didn't want to make things too difficult for her if it wasn't necessary. He even smiled and teased,

"Before you clock out, just remind Durandal for me."

After saying that, Lin Wei inexplicably felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had said, "You can go now, call in the next one"...

"...Mr. Lin Wei, you're really good at ordering people around."

Rita smiled helplessly, her eyes, half-hidden by her short hair, staring at Lin Wei,

"Of course, you're also very good at causing trouble for yourself and others."

She couldn't understand what was the point of Lin Wei's reckless actions...

"Is that so? Trouble seems to find me more often!"

Lin Wei sneered, then waved his hand and said,

"Don't forget to tell Durandal to hurry up. Yuno doesn't hold back, and given Anti-Entropy and Siegfried's situation... heh, I'm afraid if we're too late, she'll regret it later."

The implication of this sentence was too subtle, and Rita couldn't help but be startled,

"You..."

"What about me? What did I say?"

Lin Wei looked puzzled,

"What are you surprised about?"

"..."

Rita was silent, just staring intently at Lin Wei's eyes, as if trying to find something in them.

There were some secrets that even she had only learned by chance. How could Lin Wei, an outsider, know?

Moreover...

"Don't look. I don't know anything, and I don't want to make a fuss about it, otherwise I wouldn't have said it so easily at this time."

Lin Wei naturally guessed her worry and vigilance, and said calmly,

"I never wanted to cause any trouble, and I don't want to have any relationship with you. If you hadn't barged into my house, if the Honkai hadn't suddenly erupted, I would still be living an ordinary and peaceful life at home in Singapore. Even after the Honkai ended, your Overseer Otto had his eye on me, which is what led to the current situation."

Lin Wei looked at Rita, his tone indifferent,

"Miss Rita, I don't mean to be harsh on you. But I don't think you, as a high-ranking Schicksal official who knows countless secrets, have the right to question me like this."

He originally wanted to say, "You don't have the qualifications," but changed it to a softer expression.

It was true—even though he had put himself in such a passive position, Otto still couldn't do anything to him.

If he had deliberately sabotaged Schicksal from the beginning, Schicksal would have been in chaos, if not severely damaged.

"..."

Rita heard the suppressed dissatisfaction and anger in Lin Wei's seemingly calm tone, and quickly put aside her vague thoughts, explaining with a wry smile,

"You misunderstand. Rita was just a little worried, after all..."

Rita stopped mid-sentence. After all, Lin Wei hadn't made it clear, so she couldn't take the initiative to point it out.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, they'll be fine."

Lin Wei said casually, not mentioning any names.

Some things, if left unsaid, were tacit understanding. If they were pointed out, an explanation would be needed. For now, it was better to play dumb.

Rita, as a genius at playing dumb, naturally understood Lin Wei's intention. She didn't bring it up again, just softly replied, "Understood," and didn't say anything more.

Rita stopped talking, and Lin Wei didn't intend to say anything more, so silence fell between them.

Seeing Lin Wei leaning against the ruined wall with his eyes closed, as if he didn't want to talk to her anymore, Rita could only helplessly step back a little, waiting with him as time passed, feeling the sun and the wind...

After a long time, Rita's heart stirred. She looked up and saw a familiar blue stream of light flying from the horizon, rapidly descending from the sky, and landing lightly and steadily between them.

"Rita."

The valiant blonde girl nodded to her partner, but didn't have time for further conversation,

"Time is of the essence, I must go."

"Yes, safe travels, Lady Durandal."

As soon as Rita finished speaking, she saw Durandal unceremoniously scoop Lin Wei up into her arms, transform into a stream of light again, and fly towards the rising sun...

"Whoa!"

Perhaps the Valkyrie armor technology was truly advanced, or perhaps Durandal was intentionally protecting him. In short, although it seemed like he was flying at high speed without any protection, Lin Wei only felt slightly uncomfortable.

Noticing that Lin Wei seemed to be doing alright, Durandal increased her speed until Lin Wei's face turned slightly pale and his breathing became a little rapid, before stopping the acceleration and maintaining a relatively stable speed.

"This guy… did that on purpose, right?"

Lin Wei panted heavily, couldn't help but complain inwardly. But after thinking about it, Durandal probably wouldn't bother with such petty tricks, so he let it go.

This was the second time Lin Wei had been held in Durandal's arms, but the first time while he was conscious. He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable all over. But no matter how he twisted and turned, Durandal's seemingly slender arms were always like iron hoops, firmly holding him in place, unable to move.

"...No matter how many times, I still think this is unscientific!"

Lin Wei complained inwardly, and couldn't help but poke Durandal's slender yet powerful arm with his hand.

Durandal frowned slightly.

Lin Wei poked again, feeling that the touch was good, not as hard as he had imagined. He couldn't help but gently pinch it with his index finger and thumb...

Wow, amazing!

Durandal finally couldn't take it anymore and snapped,

"Hey! What are you doing?"

At this moment, she wanted to just throw this guy down.

"Sorry, I lost my composure..."

Lin Wei withdrew his hand awkwardly,

"I've always heard that, after Overseer Otto's careful training, Miss Durandal's physical strength is comparable to Soulium, so I was curious and couldn't help but want to verify it."

"..."

Durandal was speechless. What kind of person is this?

"...It feels, apart from the muscles being a little firmer, not much different from other human girls?"

Lin Wei muttered to himself in confusion. Could the rumors be wrong?

"Hmm?"

Yae Sakura became alert.

"..."

Durandal had a vein throbbing on her forehead. After a moment, she sighed and said,

"If you find the atmosphere awkward and don't know how to talk to me, you don't have to resort to this, do you?"

"Haha, sorry..."

His little trick was seen through, and now Lin Wei was truly embarrassed,

"I feel like you hate me now."

"Not really."

Durandal said expressionlessly,

"I just don't want to hear any more of your made-up stories."

"I was forced to do it back then. There was no better way. After all, I couldn't beat you, and I didn't want to be your enemy."

Lin Wei said honestly,

"I thought that after we parted ways, we would never meet again. You know what happened later."

"Is that so?"

Durandal was noncommittal, her heart unmoved.

"Besides, I wasn't lying completely. I did fulfill my promise to give you a cat!"

Lin Wei laughed, but the wind caught in his mouth, and he quickly closed it, whispering,

"That cat from World Serpent, I saw that you liked it, so I found a way to put it in front of you. How is it, do you like it?"

"..."

Durandal lowered her gaze and looked at Lin Wei for a moment. Seeing his genuine smile, she didn't ask about other details, just said in a strange tone,

"I like it very much, thank you."

Since bringing the cat back to HQ, she hadn't even had a chance to feed it once. Just thinking about it made her feel incredibly regretful...

"Is that so? That's good."

Lin Wei smiled gently, then sighed and didn't say anything more.

Seeing Lin Wei quiet down, Durandal frowned. After waiting for a moment and pondering, she asked in a deep voice,

"What's your purpose in doing all this?"

She had been holding this question in for a long time.

She didn't think Lin Wei was an unreasonable villain, nor an irreconcilable enemy. But his actions were all actively moving in a direction of hostility towards her.

She felt some regret about this, and some incomprehension.

What was the point of doing this?

"All this what?"

Lin Wei asked.

"Everything."

Durandal pressed.

"Everything? Oh dear... that's a long story. To put it simply..."

Lin Wei sighed deeply, his expression gradually turning serious. After pondering for a moment, turning everything over and over in his mind, he finally answered in an extremely flat tone,

"It's just a struggle for survival."

"What do you mean?"

Durandal didn't understand.

"Whether it's someone as strong as you, Durandal, or someone as weak as me, even an ant as insignificant as dust... as long as it's a living being in this world, who isn't struggling against enemies, against heaven, against fate?"

Lin Wei's tone remained flat,

"'Power' is a very luxurious thing. Not everyone has the right to control their own destiny. But when disaster strikes, if you don't fight back, are you supposed to kneel down and wail, praying for heaven's mercy, praying for the enemy's leniency?"

After saying that, Lin Wei couldn't help but sneer,

"When the Honkai descends, have you ever seen anyone spared by 'prayer'?"

"..."

Durandal was silent for a moment. She felt that although Lin Wei's words seemed to be off-topic, they were clearly revealing his true thoughts and were very easy to understand.

After a moment of silence, Durandal sighed and said,

"You're not weak at all."

It wasn't just absolute strength that could be called "powerful"...

"Is that so? Thank you for the compliment, I'm truly flattered."

Although he said so, Lin Wei's expression didn't show any surprise, but was extremely calm,

"That's also the result of my struggles, step by step, starting from Nagazora City. Now I'm just continuing to struggle."

"Let's not talk about this anymore."

Durandal shook her head, ending the topic. She tightened one arm around Lin Wei, quickly withdrew the other, took something out of her bosom, and forcefully... uh... gently and steadily patted it into Lin Wei's arms,

"Here's your thing back."

"What is it?"

Lin Wei was puzzled. He took it and looked at it carefully, then was stunned,

"Where did you pull that out from? Your armor doesn't look like it has pockets."

Durandal had a vein throbbing on her forehead. That's what you're focused on?

The thing Durandal handed to Lin Wei wasn't unfamiliar to him—it was the notebook he had taken out to trick Durandal into signing for him.

Lin Wei still remembered that it had made her extremely embarrassed, and she was unwilling to sign it for him.

But in any case, this incident did leave a deep impression on her. So before the final operation began, Lin Wei deliberately used it as a "token" to lead Durandal down the wrong path...

The past flashed through his mind, and Lin Wei couldn't help but feel embarrassed again,

"I didn't expect you to keep it..."

"Someone's relic, I naturally have to keep it safe."

Durandal glanced at Lin Wei and said indifferently,

"Since someone has come back to life, it should naturally be returned to its original owner."

"Is that so? Thank you..."

Lin Wei was sweating profusely, panicking as he clutched the notebook tightly in his arms.

It could be seen that Durandal had kept it very well, as clean as new. This fact made Lin Wei feel even more guilty and embarrassed.

It seemed that he had really tricked her badly back then!

And even tricked her into signing for him...

She actually didn't punch him into the ground. She was really quite magnanimous!

"By the way, speaking of which..."

Lin Wei suddenly remembered something, his heart stirring. He carefully opened the first page, as if he was about to see something extraordinary.

"Hold on tight!"

Durandal suddenly accelerated, almost making Lin Wei faint.

"Slow down, I almost dropped it!"

Lin Wei protested loudly, I haven't even had a chance to take a look!