After a long moment, their lips finally parted. Bronya instinctively turned her face away, while Seele’s cheeks were now as red as a ripe apple.
“It seems that Sister Bronya has made great progress in many areas over these past few years…”
“Seele… I…”
“It’s okay. I still like Sister Bronya just the way you are.”
Bronya turned her head back, and seeing Seele’s shy but happy expression, a smile tugged at the corners of her own lips. She gently pulled Seele into her arms.
“Seele, once I’m done with my work here, I’ll come keep you company.”
“Mm. I’ll go find Liliya and Rosaliya then. I won’t disturb Sister Bronya any longer.”
After Seele left, Bronya continued her inspection of the Oceanic City’s defense systems. The brief break had given her some better ideas.
At present, the defense systems of Oceanic City were like a house built from construction materials of all different specifications, models, and varying quality. After some time had passed, the poorest-quality parts had already begun to show signs of damage. Bronya’s original idea was to remove the damaged sections and replace them with better materials.
But the problem was, as soon as she took away the faulty parts, the house that was already barely standing would inevitably come crashing down. So the wisest approach was to leave the existing structure untouched. After identifying the bugs, Bronya no longer tried to modify them directly; instead, she added an extra layer of firewall over the problematic areas.
This was equivalent to adding another layer around the house’s exterior, achieving the same effect of keeping it from collapsing.
“Dr. Einstein, the inspection of Oceanic City’s defense systems is complete, and all problematic areas have been properly addressed.”
“Bronya, you’ve worked hard. But personally speaking, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you: Schicksal’s fleet has already withdrawn. All that overtime you just put in was, in a sense, wasted effort.”
Bronya was taken aback for a moment, then shook her head:
“It doesn’t matter. Oceanic City’s defense systems had many flaws. The fact that Schicksal didn’t seize this opportunity to attack is actually our good fortune. Solving the problems before the enemy comes knocking is the best possible outcome.”
Of course, Bronya wasn’t actually that noble-minded. No matter who you are, learning that everything you’ve worked yourself to the bone on ended up being useless is bound to stir up some negative feelings. It’s just that the joy of being reunited with Seele had swept away the gloom that had just begun to form in her heart.
On the morning of March 21st, Anti-Entropy and Theresa’s group held another meeting at Oceanic City. However, to many people’s surprise, Bronya—who was always punctual—was late. By 9 a.m., everyone else had arrived, but there was still no sign of her.
“Bronya didn’t oversleep, did she? Mama Cocolia, I’ll go get her.”
Rosaliya, who had come to the meeting room only to be told there was nothing for her to do, was feeling bored. When she noticed Bronya hadn’t shown up, she suddenly perked up with interest.
Cocolia, however, gently shook her head and looked toward Theresa and Einstein:
“Let’s wait a little longer. If she’s still not here in ten minutes, we’ll start without her.”
At 9:08 a.m., accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps, the meeting room door was pushed open and Bronya rushed in, breathing heavily. Seele followed closely behind, looking a bit shy. Both of their faces carried a happy blush.
Seeing this, all the adults immediately understood what had happened. Though Theresa had never experienced anything like that herself, she remembered that back at St. Freya Academy, Kiana and Mei had shown up in similar situations more than once.
Ahem. “Have a seat. Since everyone’s here now, let’s begin.”
Cocolia spoke up first, helping to ease the awkwardness for her two daughters.
Einstein looked around the room and slowly began:
“According to the message Dr. Tesla sent, Schicksal’s special squad, Immortal Blades, previously appeared in Tiangong City. Both the squad’s captain and vice-captain—S-rank Valkyrie Rita Rossweisse and Schicksal’s strongest Valkyrie, Durandal—were also spotted in Tiangong City.”
“What?!”
Theresa shot up from her seat. As an S-rank Valkyrie herself, she naturally knew exactly what those two were capable of. Even if Mei gave it her all, she probably wouldn’t be able to defeat Durandal.
“Ms. Theresa, please don’t rush. Over in Tiangong City, Dr. Tesla sent us one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.”
“The bad news is that their deal with World Serpent was obstructed by Schicksal, and up until now, they still haven’t been able to locate Kiana.”
“The good news is that Kiana did not fall into Otto’s hands. The Immortal Blades forces also withdrew from Schicksal headquarters yesterday, and both Dr. Tesla and Miss Raiden Mei are safe.”
“Phew~”
Theresa let out a long sigh, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and sank back into her seat with visible relief.
But Einstein’s expression grew even more serious:
“The reason Schicksal’s forces suddenly pulled back from both Oceanic City and Tiangong City is that their headquarters came under attack. It wasn’t until this morning that Anti-Entropy received confirmed information: at Schicksal headquarters, a new Herrscher has been born.”
“Based on what we know so far, aside from Otto himself being missing and some facilities being damaged, there have been no casualties at all—just mass unconsciousness. This suggests that this Herrscher isn’t a monster that only knows how to destroy. Rather than trying to eliminate her, negotiation might be a possibility. Until we get more information, I recommend we avoid any major moves so as not to provoke the Herrscher.”
“In addition, according to the Alliance Leader’s direction, we should take advantage of Schicksal being preoccupied with its own problems to open the Sea of Quanta Eye and conduct further exploration of the Sea of Quanta. Based on past experience, we’ll need someone familiar with the internal conditions of the Sea of Quanta, as well as someone with both sufficient combat ability and the skills to analyze data.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s eyes turned to Seele.
“Though it was a tragedy, the end result is that Seele is indeed the best candidate for exploring the Sea of Quanta. Of course, the final decision still depends on your personal willingness.”
“But… this…”
Cocolia immediately wore a worried expression.
Seele stood up and took Bronya’s hand:
“Sister Bronya, Mama Cocolia, everyone—please don’t worry about me. Actually, over these past two years, I’ve entered the Sea of Quanta… well… no fewer than ten times. Although I returned to the real world within less than an hour during the first two trips, Sister Eno said it was to avoid leaving me with trauma…”
“You mean post-traumatic stress disorder, right? That’s a psychological condition. Miss Enoxia was worried that you might have experienced something terrifying in the Sea of Quanta, causing you to instinctively become alert, avoidant, or even lose your ability to function entirely out of fear whenever someone mentioned it.”
“Yes, that’s exactly it… Anyway, going into the Sea of Quanta is something I’ve gotten used to by now. I have a bit of an understanding of my own unique constitution. Since I have this special ability and it can help everyone, that’s something worth being happy about for me too.”
Bronya placed her other hand on top of Seele’s:
“Bronya respects Seele’s decision, but… I want to go with Seele.”
Seele’s expression shifted from concern to acceptance:
“…I understand. There are many places in the Sea of Quanta that are different from the real world. I’ll protect Sister.”
Welt Yang pushed up his glasses:
“Don’t get too excited. This expedition to the Sea of Quanta is extremely important, and we’ll be holding multiple discussions about it. Bronya, if you’ve truly made up your mind, stay behind after the meeting.”
——-
World Serpent Headquarters.
“Eno, a new Herrscher has been born. But how come you don’t seem worried at all? From the perspective of her authority, she’s a bigger threat than the Herrscher of Ice. Schicksal headquarters is already in complete disarray. Are you really sure those good-for-nothings can handle her?”
“Sirin, you’re right in terms of Herrscher authority. But her most formidable trait isn’t actually her Herrscher powers. Let her do as she pleases. Once she’s had her run-in with Durandal, she’ll come here. By then, Kevin will give her a proper welcome. We have more important things to focus on right now.”
“Relying only on ourselves gives us far too slim a chance of success. We need to find a way to get Raiden Mei to come here.”
“So I should just drag her over?”
Seeing how serious Sirin was, Enoxia quickly waved her hands:
“No, no, no—that would be kidnapping. I need her to come to World Serpent willingly. Looks like… I’ll have to put some effort into working on Kiana instead. But I really don’t want to see those two end up on the rooftop of Chiba Academy again, reenacting that Sinners’ Requiem…”
“The opening of the Sea of Quanta Eye… maybe that’s a good opportunity.”
“By then, besides you, I’ll probably need Misteln to lend a small hand.”
