Siegfried, Your Daughter's Here to See You!

The notebook was blank; there was nothing inside.

"It's a bit of a pity. I thought I could really see someone's autograph," Lin Wei thought, disappointed.

But strictly speaking, that wasn't entirely true.

Lin Wei opened the cover again and clearly saw that a page should have been torn out between the cover and the first page. There were still clearly visible torn edges.

Seeing this, Lin Wei felt a strange feeling in his heart. Did she actually sign it?

That straightforward?

The truth was indeed like this...

Back then, Lin Wei, as "He Kun," had left a very good impression on Durandal. So much so that when she thought "He Kun" had died, she felt regret and guilt, believing that it was her mistake that led to his sacrifice.

And when the "token" he gave her became a "relic," that regret was magnified, and the memory of the "deceased" became clearer and more idealized.

So, in this situation, Lin Wei's seemingly rude "autograph" request resurfaced in her mind and took on the color of a "last wish"—especially when she held the notebook in her hand, that subtle feeling became even stronger...

So, with a mentality of "fulfilling" and "compensating," Durandal opened the first page in a trance and wrote her full name—Bianka Durandal Astagina—on the "autograph book" that didn't have a single name on it.

After fulfilling someone's last wish, Durandal put down the pen, looked at her neat handwriting, and chuckled, thinking that it didn't seem as embarrassing as she had imagined.

Then...

Immediately after, realizing that she had been tricked, Durandal opened the autograph book again, expressionlessly tore out the page, threw it into the shredder without hesitation, and became even more annoyed at her own foolishness.

Watching her name being shredded by the shredder, Durandal felt so embarrassed that her toes almost dug through the floor.

"What kind of stupid thing did I do?"

...

Back in the present, when Lin Wei got the "autograph book" without a single name on it and found that something seemed to have really happened, he couldn't help but laugh, his mischievous thoughts resurfacing.

He closed the notebook and carefully lifted it.

"Um, Miss Durandal..."

"..."

Durandal ignored him. In your dreams!

"Don't be like that, I'm really your fan!"

Lin Wei cried out,

"If that doesn't work, just write 'Durandal is the best'!"

"Hey, enough!"

Durandal had a vein throbbing on her forehead. This guy's annoying behavior was exactly the same as before, it really didn't seem like he was acting.

As she thought this, she suddenly accelerated again, forcing Lin Wei to shut up as the wind caught in his mouth.

And the last trace of resentment in her heart also vanished invisibly with the wind amidst Lin Wei's "nonsense"...

...

In the end, Lin Wei didn't get his way.

Durandal seemed to have returned to her initial state, ignoring him completely, as if he didn't exist, and just focused on flying towards their destination.

She was very fast, even with Lin Wei as a "limiter," still as swift as a meteor, speeding towards their destination.

Crossing the Pacific Ocean, over the coastline, shuttling across the vast North American continent, overlooking the cities passing by, Lin Wei couldn't help but sigh,

"It's really insignificant..."

Durandal glanced down at him, saying nothing.

All those cities, big or small, no matter how bustling and lively, could instantly become giant tombs burying everyone. Along the way, he had seen several such rusty dead cities, like scars on the earth.

Beneath the facade of prosperous modern civilization, there were already numerous hidden dangers. Perhaps the people on this street were still laughing, bustling, and enjoying a good life, while on another street around the corner, it was already deathly silent, littered with corpses...

Silently watching, Lin Wei gradually understood why Durandal, Rita, and the others tacitly approved, or even supported, Otto's actions.

The people fighting on the front lines understood the true nature of this world best. "Doomsday" and "civilizational destruction" were just a few short words on paper to bystanders. But to them, it was a reality they had to face, a collapsing dam, a monstrous flood that intended to devour everything...

No one could stop it, but it had to be stopped. Facing this reality, the more powerful they were, the more they understood how limited their power was...

As the saying goes, "When the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up." With the destruction of the Previous Era not far behind, as the undisputed strongest of this generation, Durandal was under the greatest pressure.

Everyone could rely on her, but she could only rely on the one who had single-handedly nurtured her—Overseer Otto.

She didn't know what the Honkai was, but Otto confidently said he knew.

She didn't know how to save the world—whether it was the big world she lived in, or the small world she also wanted to protect—but Otto confidently said he had a way...

Since there were no other options, besides trusting him, helping him, tolerating him, and cooperating with him with all her might, was there a better choice?

No.

Unless Otto personally admitted that he had deceived everyone, she could only stand firmly on his side, making her power a weapon for him to achieve his plan...

Durandal had never told anyone about this, but Lin Wei knew it clearly. He had never expected to make her switch sides, and he had never thought of using this rare opportunity of "being alone" to badmouth Otto, nor had he thought of telling her about her origins.

He shouldn't try to be clever and do something even Rita hadn't done. Otherwise, aside from being regarded as a gossipmonger by Durandal, causing her disgust and hostility, there wouldn't be any other outcome.

Not to mention, he had no concrete evidence. Even if he did, with his current awkward identity, he didn't have any persuasive power.

Because of this, Lin Wei didn't say anything he shouldn't have said along the way. Apart from his initial fooling around, he maintained an appropriate silence, keeping a relatively safe distance between them—although physically, the distance between them was as close as it could get.

After some time, Durandal suddenly said,

"We're here."

With that, she carried Lin Wei through the thick clouds and began to descend towards the ground.

"Is that so?"

Lin Wei composed himself and prepared for "landing."

It had been a while since he separated from Yuno. Even though Durandal's flight speed was much faster than the aircraft Yuno was piloting, it was impossible to intercept her mid-flight. She must have been "intercepted on the ground" by Anti-Entropy for a while now.

"I hope those guys aren't too useless..."

Lin Wei grumbled inwardly. I've already given you the answers to the test, I hope you don't perform too poorly. At least don't be like Theresa in the original world line, getting beaten up by Yuno...

"Thud."

Landing lightly on the ground, Durandal gently put Lin Wei down and asked,

"Can you walk?"

"Ugh..."

To be honest, after being carried and blown by the wind at high altitude for several hours, Lin Wei felt weak all over. Before he could say anything, the Stigmata on his back glowed slightly, dispelling all his discomfort.

"..."

Lin Wei frowned, but didn't say anything, just said softly,

"I'm fine."

Durandal saw that his face had quickly returned to its normal color from its previous paleness and nodded without suspicion,

"That's good."

The place they landed was in a suburb near New York City. At the foot of a mountain not far away, a doorway that was extremely out of place with the surrounding environment was wide open, as if it had been torn open by extremely brute force. The mechanisms on the door were dismantled, occasionally sparking.

Inside and outside the entrance, several tragically mangled mecha wreckage were scattered about, also dismantled, with broken parts extending deep into the passage, sparkling and crackling.

"Heh, such ruthlessness."

Lin Wei chuckled,

"Venting your anger should also have its limits. It's time to calm down. Miss Durandal, let's go."

Durandal glanced at him, noncommittal, and just followed him into the passage.

"Tsk, why does everyone like to play with underground bases?"

After passing through several severely damaged fire doors, Lin Wei waved his hand, activating Pandora. After easily retrieving the information he needed from the base system, he led Durandal straight to their destination.

After walking through several more violently demolished passages, intense crashing sounds and ground tremors came from deeper within.

Lin Wei was speechless and quickened his pace with Durandal. The latter moved even faster, shielding Lin Wei behind her.

"Die! Die! Die!"

After turning a few corners, a girl's voice howled hysterically like a vengeful ghost. At the same time, the crashing sounds and tremors became clearer and stronger, and the air began to heat up, with a few muffled groans of pain from a man faintly audible.

Good, just in time.

Lin Wei breathed a sigh of relief and walked through a few more corners with Durandal. At the end of their line of sight was a spacious hall, the air scorching hot. Looking down, the floor was covered with charred vines.

Durandal's heart stirred. She picked up a few vines that had been burned to charcoal and examined them. There were still a few flower buds that hadn't been completely incinerated.

"It seems Yuno used her poisonous abilities again. Her toxins are colorless and odorless, making them hard to detect. By the time you realize it, you're usually already deeply poisoned," Durandal thought, recognizing the signs. She then looked at the raging flames and heat waves rising from the hall, and sighed,

"But her opponent was able to keenly detect this potential threat immediately and take countermeasures, burning away the hidden toxins in the air with flames. That's a remarkable tactic."

"Siegfried! Siegfried!"

At this moment, Tesla's anxious voice came from the distant loudspeaker,

"Don't push yourself anymore, come back! I'll send the remaining mecha units to cover you!"

"Hehehe... Hahahahahahaha!"

This voice further enraged Yuno. She laughed and raged hysterically,

"You damned bastards, none of you are getting away!"

"Ah, it's Mr. Siegfried, no wonder he has such a keen battlefield sense. And those flames must be from the Judgment of Shamash," Durandal said admiringly,

"I heard that Mr. Siegfried is Madam Cecilia's husband, and he made great achievements on the battlefield of the Second Honkai Eruption. Seeing him today, he truly lives up to his reputation."

"..."

Looking at Durandal, whose face was filled with admiration and even a bit of eagerness to try, Lin Wei was dumbfounded.

Wait, aren't you missing the point?

Your dad is almost getting beaten to death!

Lin Wei didn't bother with this suddenly excited person and rushed out of the passage first. Using Pandora to hijack the system, he shouted at the vine-entangled, fiery girl,

"Yuno, playtime's over. Keep your promise, it's time to stop!"

"Hahahahaha..."

Yuno, who had been laughing wildly and relentlessly pursuing the one-armed, white-haired man who was already struggling, froze when she heard this voice, then ignored it and continued her attack.

"Just as I thought."

Lin Wei sighed helplessly, then said to Durandal, who was a step behind him,

"Please go and break up the fight."

Durandal had only been indulging in a moment of admiration and emotion. She naturally knew what was important. Hearing Lin Wei's request, she rushed to Siegfried, who had already been knocked to the ground, and stopped the hysterical Yuno. Just like in the Schicksal training room, she said calmly,

"Let's have a spar."

Siegfried was already overwhelmed, barely holding on with sheer willpower, almost losing consciousness. Hearing the voice of reinforcements, he relaxed and immediately fainted.

Judgment of Shamash fell to the ground with a clang, the sound echoing loudly in the enclosed space.

Seeing that the prey she had finally managed to knock down was about to be taken away, the irrational Yuno became even more furious and attacked Durandal mercilessly.

Durandal's expression remained calm.

The Bright Knight: Excelsis's armor erupted with cold air, sweeping away the accumulated heat in the room and freezing the ubiquitous vines. Then, she conjured a giant, armored guard out of thin air. The giant sword slashed down, severing all of Yuno's vines.

"Ugh... Ah!"

The vines were all connected to Yuno's limbs. Faced with such a merciless attack, she couldn't help but cry out in pain.

Then, before she could make any other move, Durandal followed up with a punch, sending her flying, tumbling to a stop in front of Lin Wei.

"She's all yours."

Durandal said flatly, scrutinizing Lin Wei. She was dissatisfied with him letting Yuno lose control like this.

Treating her squad member, even a former one, like this, she didn't mind teaching him a lesson.

Durandal was always magnanimous, never targeting the person, but the matter. But she wasn't without temper. In the original world line, she had expressed clear hostility towards one person—Raven.

The reason was simple: she had killed her squad member.

"Heh, alright."

Lin Wei chuckled, stepped forward, and caught Yuno before she hit the ground. Then, before she could attack again, countless black feathers fell, gently landing on her eyelids.

"Have a good sleep. When you wake up, everything will be fine."

Lin Wei said softly, like a lullaby. Yuno felt a trance and fell into a deep sleep.

"..."

Durandal naturally recognized what this was, and couldn't help but be surprised. But seeing that Lin Wei had calmed Yuno down, she didn't ask further, just squatted down and began to check Siegfried's injuries.

Although he was a traitor to Schicksal, in Durandal's eyes, he was also a respectable senior.

Siegfried's injuries were not optimistic. Durandal thought for a moment, then raised a hand and summoned Abyss flower, holding it upside down over Siegfried, chanting softly,

"I am the black from the abyss, I am the white descending from the clouds..."

Zeroth Power—Ataegina's Welwitschia, activate!

"Wow, what a filial daughter!"

Lin Wei, who had witnessed this "touching scene," exclaimed in admiration.

Hey, Siegfried, wake up, your daughter's here to see you!

Lin Wei shouted inwardly, somewhat regretting not bringing any popcorn or sunflower seeds.

"Ugh..."

After a moment, Siegfried slowly woke up. He opened his eyes and saw the bright overhead lights. A pair of arms held the familiar Abyss flower. The face was somewhat blurry in the light, but the figure was vaguely familiar,

"Ceci... lia..."

The battered man murmured, tears streaming down his face.