"What? You’re telling Kiana is missing?"
The hand Theresa held her phone with trembled violently. In that single mont, all her ominous premonitions were confird. As she continued to listen to i’s explanation, she pressed an ergency button.
"When we woke up this morning, we were going to ask Kiana to get breakfast with us, but she was already gone from her room..."
"What about Michael? Is he still with you?"
Thinking of the man who, from many angles, bore a striking resemblance to her grandfather Otto, Theresa knew he was an extrely dangerous character. For a mont, she didn’t know whether to hope he was "there" or "not there."
She felt she couldn’t label Michael a "bad guy" based solely on personal preference and speculation without any evidence. At the very least, during his two years at St. Freya, he hadn’t made a single "inappropriate" move. While that wasn’t enough to earn her "trust," if he truly was a good person, then having him by Kiana and Bronya’s side now would be the best way to protect them, wouldn’t it?
But if he... just as her own sixth sense suggested, was not purely a good person, and if Kiana’s disappearance was sohow related to him, then his presence near i and Bronya would put those two girls in real danger, wouldn’t it? Especially with i being the Third Herrscher—would the Gem of Conquest inside her also beco a target for Michael and her grandfather Otto?
"Michael is missing too. We’ve already reported the situation to the Valkyrie units at HQ. They said they could help us pull up last night’s surveillance footage, but we haven’t heard back yet."
"So it’s true..."
Theresa unconsciously pinched the soft flesh of her chin. This was it, the worst-case scenario.
"Damn it! If I’d known, I would have done anything to stop Grandpa Otto from taking them to Schicksal HQ!"
It was too late for regrets now. From the mont she left Schicksal and ran off to the Far East to establish St. Freya High, she had, albeit reluctantly, co to view her grandfather as a "potential adversary to be defeated."
But... why was Kiana the one who disappeared? From any logical standpoint, i, who carried the Gem of Conquest, was far more valuable. Theresa’s worries about them going to HQ had always been focused on i. What value did Kiana hold for her grandfather? Was he planning to use Kiana as leverage against her again, like he did years ago? But what did she have that was worth being blackmailed over?
"Oh, right... I never really thought about it before, but now that I do, it’s so strange, isn’t it?"
It was strange. Back then, her grandfather Otto had told her that Kiana had been gravely injured while escaping Schicksal and he had brought her back to HQ. It was because he used this as leverage that Theresa didn’t leave Schicksal imdiately, but instead chose to co to the Far East to pursue Cecilia’s now-impossible ideal.
Later, after eting Kiana in Nagazora, Theresa had thought her grandfather had deceived her. She believed Kiana hadn’t died, that the one Siegfried took with him was the real Kiana. As for the one who was seriously injured and on the brink of death, it must have been the clone they had originally intended to rescue.
She hadn’t completely dismissed the opposite conclusion before, but she had always talked herself out of it. After all, who would have thought Siegfried would sacrifice his own daughter to save a clone? Who could have imagined he would give his own daughter’s na to the one who had indirectly caused her death?
But if that were the case, everything would make sense. And it would be perfectly in line with the values of those Kaslana idiots.
"Damn it! I should have realized it sooner! If this Kiana is K-423, then it’s only natural that Grandpa would want to ’capture’ her. But in that case, where is the real Kiana, the one he claid was saved and brought back to Schicksal, gravely wounded? And why didn’t he capture K-423 the mont she appeared? What role did the equally missing Michael play in all this?"
Theresa shook her head hard and slapped her forehead with the heel of her palm, forcing herself to stop her thoughts from spiraling and focus her brainpower on the imdiate situation.
"i, Bronya. Starting now, you need to hide imdiately."
"Huh? Principal... But Principal, we’re still waiting for the investigation report from the Valkyrie units..."
"Forget it!"
In her agitation, Theresa’s voice rose. Hiko, who had just entered the principal’s office with Hua after receiving the ergency signal, turned to look at her, surprised by her tone. "Theresa, what’s going on?"
Theresa glanced over, shaking her head from side to side to signal Hiko to wait. She took a deep breath to calm herself before speaking again.
"The details are complicated to explain. I’ll just ask one question: Who at Schicksal HQ could make a Valkyrie disappear without a trace? I hate to say this, but... i, Bronya, prepare yourselves. Schicksal HQ... is no longer a safe place. I still have so intel I need to confirm. I’ll contact you again then, but until that ti, you need to find a good hiding place and maintain radio silence. From this mont on, don’t trust a single person at HQ, understand?"
A burst of noise ca from the other end of the line. Theresa didn’t know what was happening and didn’t dare to speak rashly.
This went on for a full three minutes before i’s voice ca through again. "Understood, Principal. But I don’t think we can hide for long. And Kiana..."
"Your only mission is to hide and make sure nothing else goes wrong. Leave Kiana to !"
"We... we understand. But we probably can’t stay hidden here for long..."
"We’ll get there as fast as we can. The Hyperion at full speed is much faster than the ship you took. You only need to stay hidden for eight hours at a minimum. Eight hours! At most, we’ll be delayed by another half-hour to an hour, but we will get to HQ. I’ll tell you what’s happening then. But until then, you must hide well, understand?!"
"Understood..."
Theresa hung up without hesitation. This kind of traditional electromagnetic communication offered no privacy or security. Especially in a situation like this, they had to limit their communication ti to avoid revealing their location.
Although, in her own judgnt, Theresa was completely pessimistic about whether i and Bronya could last for eight or nine hours...
But what was her next move...? Did she really have to break with Schicksal? Theresa tried to control her breathing, to calm her heart and ensure she was thinking with maximum rationality, not acting on a montary impulse.
There was no denying that Schicksal was the most powerful organization on the planet. Both Shenzhou and Anti-Entropy were firmly contained in their respective regions. If she left Schicksal as an individual, like she had failed to do years ago, it might be one thing. But for the entire Far East Branch to secede...
Would that be fair to the others in the Far East Branch? Without Schicksal’s protection, even if they succeeded in rescuing Kiana, how would they fend off Schicksal’s retaliation? She didn’t believe for a second that her grandfather would go easy on her just because she was his granddaughter.
Or to put it more bluntly—was it necessary for her to do all this for K-423, a girl with whom she shared no blood?
To risk everything she had, everything St. Freya High stood for...
Theresa couldn’t give a quick and definite answer. But she knew her desire to defy Schicksal, to defy her grandfather, was not just about Kiana, and it wasn’t just about this mont.
Besides, Kiana might be a fake Kiana, but the affection that had grown between them over nearly three years of living together was real. And Siegfried had accepted this girl, the very one who had once taken everything from him, and had given her the na "Kiana." If that was the case...
Then she was Kiana Kaslana, not the clone experint K-423!
As for this rebellion, it was the culmination of decades of defiance, a continuation of the resistance from years ago. It was sothing that she, Theresa Apocalypse, was ant to do!
"Hah..."
She let out a soft breath, thought for a mont, then turned to Hiko. "Hiko, please relay the combat order. Under the guise of a drill, have the Hyperion enter a state of combat readiness imdiately. Bring Seele aboard as well, and await my next command."
"Understood!" Hiko replied out of habit, then asked with so hesitation, "Has another ergency occurred?"
She had heard Theresa ntion Schicksal HQ and Kiana. While she couldn’t make out the words from the other end of the line, the voice was clearly i’s. Thinking of Kiana’s track record, she naturally made a basic assumption. "Did that girl Kiana get into so kind of trouble at HQ?"
"It would be easier if she had just gotten into trouble."
Theresa sighed softly. She was no longer a teenager who got overly excited the mont she made a decision. But how she wished she could show a little more excitent, a little more fervor... She had no confidence in what she was about to do, but she couldn’t let that sense of despair show before things even started, much less let it affect others.
"I still need to confirm so things. Hiko, go carry out your orders. F... Classmate Hua, could you stay here and wait for for a mont?"
"I think I understand." Hiko nodded. "By the way, Theresa, good news—the Moonlight Throne engine has been installed on the Hyperion. This trip might be a lot shorter."
Without another word, Hiko turned and left the office.
Hua sighed silently. Her eyelids drooped slightly, her brows furrowed, and her gaze shifted to the side.
Unlike Hiko, as soone who "already knew so information," she easily deduced what had happened from just a few keywords in Theresa’s speech.
She wasn’t surprised. Well... actually, she was a little surprised. She had thought Michael would accomplish this in a gentler way. She hadn’t expected him to be so direct...
Was he provoked by what happened in New Zealand? Or... was he deliberately being so radical, so extre, just to attract "their" attention?
Hua couldn’t say.
She had used the first rated power of Fenghuang Down too many tis. The title of "Fla-Chaser," the na "Fire Moth," had beco nothing more than a hazy impression in her mory.
What kind of people they were, what kind of person she used to be—it had all beco a burden she couldn’t recall.
But... they had to be different from Michael, right? They were a group of people who fought to the very end, true to their beliefs. And Michael... he had truly strayed so far from his original self.
What she, a forr "Fla-Chaser," wanted to do should be the sa as what they wanted to do, right?
Hua felt it should be.
But sothing still felt wrong. While Theresa began contacting Schicksal HQ to question Otto, Hua silently moved to the side and leaned against the wall.
She felt... as if she had forgotten sothing important.
But she had forgotten so, so much. Even things that had happened just ten minutes ago required a great deal of effort to recall.
This wasn’t a side effect of using Fenghuang Down’s first rated power too often. When her Sword Heart shattered, it had caused imasurable damage to her consciousness. Too many unnecessary things were retained, accumulating in her mind and weighing down her already fragile consciousness, weakened by repeated use of Fenghuang Down’s first power.
She had a premonition that if this continued, it wouldn’t be long before her mind would be overwheld. At that point, she might need to use Fenghuang Down to regularly clear her mories...
And... there was one more thing she hadn’t told anyone.
Ever since using Fenghuang Down during the Second Honkai Eruption, she felt a listless fatigue no matter what she did.
After observing her own consciousness with Fenghuang Down, it was not difficult to reach a simple conclusion—
Her consciousness, ravaged by the repeated use of Fenghuang Down’s first rated power, was indeed on the verge of collapse. As of now, she had only one last chance.
After this one ti, her consciousness would approach a state of infinite collapse. If she was lucky, she could drag this body along and barely survive. If it was the worst-case scenario, she would probably have to rely on the backdoor she left in Fenghuang Down to walk her final path...
"Grandpa! Do you have anything you want to explain? Fine, fine... I understand..."
Theresa hung up the phone through gritted teeth, her grip almost strong enough to crush the device.
She shot a quick glance at Hua, cleared her throat, and asked with a mixture of embarrassnt and pleading, "Hua... could you pass a ssage to Master Li for ? I... I hope to receive so help from Shenzhou. Of course, if..."
She bit her lower lip, but her fingers seed to unconsciously dial a mysterious contact number.
She knew that as Schicksal’s ally, Shenzhou would most likely refuse.
But she had another source of support... though whether she could persuade them, and whether it was the right thing to do... she couldn’t be sure.
"I understand what you an, Theresa. Shenzhou will not directly intervene with ard forces, but we can provide other... things. Such as supplies, and sanctuary. As for the ’strength’ you need right now, I think... I know another group of people who might be able to help you with what you’re trying to do."
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