"Write a sign and hang it up at the door," the store manager said succinctly, "and change the sign from closed to open."
Youlandel in Changkong City has probably brought all the information about her store back to the Tianming headquarters, and it is unlikely that she will be able to come back for a while. However, the store manager suddenly recalled that the situation of this store was also brought back by Rita from another time point.
Although he was not sure how the Destiny headquarters in that world would react to this store, considering that he had lured Kiana to the store and temporarily taken away her power of the void, then, based on the store manager's understanding of the Destiny Bishop, he would probably immediately call the Destiny's highest combat power to Sky City.
Well, judging from the speed of Tianming’s reaction, Yulandel’s people should have arrived in Tianqiong City?
I wonder if Rita in Sky City had a good sleep last night...
Thinking about these things, the store manager walked to the door, lowered his head, and wrote on the hanging board while mumbling:
"Youlan Daier and dogs are not allowed to enter..."
After writing it, the store manager thought about it again and felt that the sentence was a bit too hostile and insulting, so he crossed out the words "and dog".
"Yulandel (crossed out) and dogs (crossed out) are not allowed to enter. Well, let's leave it at that for now."
After giving such a stern warning, there won't be another stupid goose that suddenly breaks in, right? The store manager who hung the sign on the door handle praised himself for his wit.
——2017, Sky City airspace, Eos transport ship.
Yulandel has always been a person with a very tight sense of time.
So after receiving the order from Bishop Otto, she simply made simple preparations and traveled across nearly one-third of the world map in her physical body to reach the designated location of the mission. In total, the time spent did not exceed two hours.
After arriving in Sky City, she completely took over the Eos from the crew members stationed on board. In fact, she has been in this main control room for some time.
Out of concern for her colleagues, after arriving at Eos, Yulandel did not choose to knock on Rita's door immediately.
Although her mind was so dull that she could hardly perceive Rita's feelings, Yulandel's observation ability was actually quite sharp, so during the video communication last night, she had already noticed that something was wrong with Rita.
Red cheeks, slightly rapid breathing, and misty eyes - if it weren't for her adjutant's repeated denials that she had suffered any physical injuries, Yulandel would have thought that Rita had been poisoned by some incurable poison.
In short, since she, as the captain, came to Rita's side, then as the deputy captain, she naturally got some breathing space. So after learning that Rita had returned to the room a long time ago, Yulandel decided to let her have a good rest and did not disturb her. She stayed in the main control room, repeatedly reading the mission reports and precautions uploaded by Rita.
A strange cafe, another long-haired "Rita Rossweisse" with extremely high attainments in consciousness, the Herrscher K423 who was hammering screws in the cafe, and the young store manager who claimed to have seized the power of the void and demonstrated the ability to cut through space... These are roughly the information that Rita recorded.
To be honest, even with Yulandel's calmness and composure, she still had a sense of absurdity when she saw the report, followed by the same sense of difficulty that Rita had when she first saw the cafe.
Yulandel was not worried about "Rita Rossweisse" who was good at playing with consciousness.
After all, no matter how good Rita in that cafe was at playing with consciousness, Yulandel didn't think that her attainments in the consciousness level could be compared with that of a pioneer she had faced who had survived for nearly 50,000 years.
What she was more worried about was the "store manager" who was obeyed by the "Rita" who manipulated her consciousness.
In the last encounter, Rita on her side and all the members of the Undying Blade team hiding in the dark were easily controlled and captured by the "Rita" who manipulated their consciousness. In other words, if there was a conflict with the other party again, she would most likely have to face a situation where she had no teammates available.
With my current strength, can I defeat the store manager who is suspected of taking away and completely controlling the power of the sky?
Although Yulandel is confident, she is not arrogant.
The store manager's abnormality was completely beyond her imagination.
Moreover, since the other party can seize the power of the Herrscher of the Void, does that also mean that he can seize the power of other Herrschers?
If the store manager can do this, then not only will she not have a direct conflict with the store manager, but in order to fight against Honkai, she must also ensure the store manager's life safety.
Thinking of this, Yulandel couldn't help but feel a little headache.
Although she has a wealth of knowledge, to be honest, negotiation has never been her strong point since she was a child.
Compared with her talking skills, Yulandel is better at using her fists to persuade others, so when the effect of fists is infinitely reduced, this Valkyrie with the strongest destiny unconsciously develops a feeling of being at a loss.
By the way, why hasn't Rita woken up yet...
Yulandel, who was sitting in the main control room, raised her head unconsciously.
She glanced at the sky shown on the monitor and couldn't help but frown deeply.
The spring sunshine was very bright, and even when looking at the pictures on the monitor, Yulandel couldn't help but feel quite warm.
There is no doubt that Tianqiong City will usher in a long-awaited good weather today.
But at the same time, such a bright sky meant that the time had unknowingly reached almost eight o'clock.
Have I been sitting here for that long?
No, compared to which one, why hasn't Rita woken up yet?
Yulandel arrived at the Eos at a little before one in the morning, and about seven hours had passed since then.
But... according to Yulandel's understanding of Rita, no matter what happened the night before, as long as she slept for four hours, this capable adjutant would be resurrected with full health the next day.
When she first met Rita, Yulandel always felt that her adjutant's almost immortal-like lifestyle might lead to sudden death one day. But now that she had gotten used to it, she saw that Rita slept for more than seven hours according to a normal person's schedule... no, maybe eight hours, including the time she spent rushing here. Yulandel felt something was wrong.
She counted the seconds silently in her heart, and when the clock struck eight o'clock, Yulandel walked out of the door of the main control room without hesitation and went straight to Rita's room.
Da da da--
"Rita, are you awake?"
The knock on the door and Yulandel's voice stopped, and the surroundings returned to silence again.
There was no response from inside the room, only the faint sound of somewhat rapid breathing could be heard.
"Rita?"
Yulandel's expression became serious and she knocked on the door more frequently.
"Are you okay?! Give me an answer!"
"..."
Still no response.
Yulandel tried to turn the door handle, but it didn't move at all. It must have been locked from the inside, but Rita in the room didn't respond to her. Now was not the time to worry about the door lock.
"I'm in!"
While loudly declaring her declaration of intrusion, she exerted great force between her five fingers. The lock core that was locked together by metal elements twisted under the heavy load with a harsh sound, and the door was pushed open by Yulandel in an extremely rough manner.
"Rita! Are you okay..."
For an instant.
After seeing the scene in the room, Yulandel's mind suddenly went blank.
water.
An unknown amount of water had flowed out and soaked the entire bed sheet. Rita's body, covered with mosaics, curled up on the bed on her side. Her charming face was full of confusion and intoxication, and her misty eyes were unfocused. If it weren't for her body still moving and her chest still rising and falling, Yulandel would probably have thought that Rita had lost consciousness with her eyes open.
The next moment, the wonderful smell that entered her nose made Yulandel's face turn red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"You...you...you...I, I...I..."
The strongest and fearless Valkyrie took a crucial step backwards, representing the difference between following her heart and defeat. Her eyes were confused and her expression was panic-stricken, like a child who had made a mistake.
Was it the sound of footsteps that awakened Rita? The mosaic woman lying on the bed suddenly shook, her vision slowly recovered, and her breathing rhythm changed from the original rapid and irregular to heavy again.
Rita blinked in confusion. She first looked towards the source of the footsteps based on her hearing. When she saw Yulandel, her expression lit up with joy, and then she subconsciously wanted to get out of bed.
"Lord Yulandel, you..."
Ok?
Why are your feet wet?
Rita's expression froze, and her neck became as stiff as steel, as if she had realized something terribly bad.
With a "click, click" sound similar to the twisting of metal, Rita's neck trembled and lowered like a robot.
She saw her own body, the wet floor and sheets, and the clothes scattered all over the floor.
She raised her head again and looked at Yulandel, who had a horrified expression. She pondered for a moment, and finally tapped her palms, and naturally came to the only conclusion.
--ah.
I seem to have lost the value of living in this world.
She pursed her lips, smiled at Yulandel, then stretched out her hand, and a huge sickle appeared out of thin air in a burst of pale blue light.
Finally, Rita brought the sickle to her neck without hesitation, with a peaceful smile on her face.
Yulandel gasped, her expression horrified: "Hiss! Wait! What are you doing!?"
He stretched out his hand and tightly grasped the handle of the sickle that was about to be swung.
"Lord Yulandel, please let go." Rita smiled, and the handle of the sickle in her hand trembled uncontrollably. "Rita, I am no longer qualified to appear in front of you."
“You, you, you, don’t be impulsive! Rita!!” Yulandel was at a loss, her voice trembling. In order to prevent her adjutant from wiping his neck, she racked her brains to argue for the other party, “I, I, at least I have read "Body Book for Girls", this kind of thing is just a normal behavior for women! One by one, it’s not strange at all!! I also occasionally...呸呸呸呸!! What am I talking about! Nothing!!!”
The dawn of life began to light up in Rita's eyes.
"Anyway, don't let your mind wander. Let's discuss this properly!" Yulandel was still nagging. She stared at Rita's eyes for a long while. After confirming that she had given up the idea of slitting her throat, she quietly snatched the sickle from her hand. "I'll take your weapon first. It's wrong for me to break into your door suddenly. I, I, I, I'm going out first! I'll come in after you've sorted yourself out!"
"Please don't do anything stupid!!"
After saying this, Yulandel grabbed the huge pale blue sickle, rushed out of Rita's room as if fleeing, and slammed the door that she had torn apart.
The poor door was tottering in its frame.
"Woo..." Just after rushing out of the door, Youlandel suddenly squatted down, holding her head with both hands. Steam came out of her head and her eyes rolled around without any regularity. "What am I doing... Why can't I give Rita a little more trust..."
Just as he finished speaking, the shaky door was pushed open with a creaking sound.
"I'm sorry to have made you worry, Lady Yulandel."
Yulandel stood up suddenly and turned around:
"No, no, no, it's okay! You don't have to apologize to me! I—"
The words got stuck in his throat as he saw Rita, dressed neatly in a maid outfit. He couldn't help but start to doubt whether the scene he saw half a minute ago was an illusion caused by eating too many mushrooms.
After being stunned for a long while, Youlandel lowered her shoulders and sighed deeply: "Anyway, I'm glad you're okay."
She patted Rita's shoulder and opened her mouth, but was unable to speak immediately. She was a little hesitant about whether to discuss matters related to the mission with the adjutant who had just suffered a major mental blow at this time.
Chapter 4: No Zuo No Die (k)
Fortunately, although Rita was so devastated by the humiliation of social death that she wanted to slit her own throat on the spot when she woke up, she was still the Valkyrie that Yulandel was familiar with.
Seeing the captain in a dilemma, Rita, who had just experienced a major blow, took the initiative to take the lead: "There is a report about that cafe, Lord Yulandel, what do you think?"
Yulandel was silent for a moment. She spent ten seconds forcing herself to forget everything she had just seen in Rita's bedroom, and then spent another second recalling the mission report that she had read repeatedly after arriving at Eos.
She stated her judgment in a calm tone, "On the way to Tianqiong City, I found the coffee shop according to the coordinates provided in your mission report. However, in order to prevent the other party's reconnaissance system from noticing my arrival, I have not yet made contact with the coffee shop. I have only confirmed the existence of the coffee shop within the limit of my naked eye."
"...It was a conscious choice." Rita sighed softly, "Because of my reckless actions, the manager of that cafe seems to have developed some unfriendly views on our destiny. Lord Yulandel, I will take full responsibility for the failure of this operation."
"It's not like you to say such discouraging things, Rita. Our operation is not over yet. As for your disposal plan, I will make a judgment after the incident is over."
Yulandel's expression softened slightly, but immediately became serious at the sound of the communicator beeping.
She connected to the visual communication, and a projection screen unfolded in mid-air, and Bishop Otto's face appeared on the screen.
"Bishop." Yulandel nodded as a greeting.
"It seems that you have reunited with Rita, Yulandel."
Otto on the other end of the line smiled gently.
"Have you confirmed the situation at the cafe?"
Yulandel nodded. "It's confirmed. The cafe is not Rita's hallucination, but a real building. However, just like Rita's report, except for me who can see the cafe with my naked eyes, neither the satellite images nor the other members of the Undying Blade team seem to be able to capture the existence of the cafe."
"That is to say, that is a cafe that only you, Rita... and subject K423 can see." Otto showed a thoughtful expression. "Since all man-made equipment cannot capture the image of that cafe, then there is a high probability that I... cannot see the existence of that cafe."
Yulandel's expression moved slightly.
Indeed, the body that Bishop Otto is currently using is made of soul steel. In a sense, his body is certainly within the scope of man-made equipment. Since the existing man-made equipment cannot capture the existence of the cafe, then by the same token, in Otto's vision, the location of the cafe should also be a void with nothing in it.
Otto didn't seem to be frustrated about his inability to open the cafe. He touched his chin and suddenly turned his gaze in the direction of Rita: "However, according to your two reports, during the process of Rita's contact with the cafe, you stood on the 'edge' of the cafe and talked to their manager, right?"
"Yes." Rita nodded. "It was during this period that the 'other Rita' in the cafe controlled all the members of the Undying Blade team lurking around."
Otto narrowed his eyes slightly. "So... although only the two of you and subject K423 can see and touch the cafe at this stage, the people in the cafe can observe and interfere with the world we live in at will, right?"
Rita pondered for a moment and nodded uncertainly: "...At least, based on the information we have now, this is correct."
Otto touched his chin and suddenly raised the corner of his mouth: "In other words, we must let the people in that coffee shop take the initiative to walk out of the 'edge' that distorts the space. Only in this way can we have a 'fair' dialogue with their store manager."
Looking at Otto's raised mouth, Rita and Yulandel looked at each other, both revealing a thoughtful look.
"But how can we lure the people out of that cafe?" Rita whispered.
"The people in that cafe must have strong reconnaissance capabilities, otherwise the members of the Undying Blade team wouldn't have been knocked down without even making a sound." Otto smiled, "However, no matter how powerful the reconnaissance capabilities are, there must be a limit. Otherwise, the moment Youlandel and you met up, the people in that cafe would have taken the initiative to attack."
