Rita disagreed with Otto's overly arbitrary judgment: "Is it possible that they don't have any hostility towards us, so they won't take the initiative to attack us?"
"Of course there is such a possibility. In fact, this possibility is not small." Otto said calmly, "But since that cafe chose to take away the power of the Herrscher of the Void right under our noses, then they should be mentally prepared to be the enemy of Destiny. If they are not prepared in this way, there are only two possible situations."
"In the first case, the power of that cafe is very strong, so strong that it can easily ignore us."
"Chapter 2: Situation. The people in that cafe were too naive. They were so naive that they thought we could just watch the Herrscher of the Sky's power being taken away and remain indifferent."
At this point, Otto paused and said, "No matter which situation it is, the choice we need to make is the same. The premise of negotiation is that both sides have equal positions. Dialogue without equal positions will only become unfair coercion."
“Even if the coffee shop is really powerful, we have to find ways to break this stereotype.”
"To put it bluntly, it's called bluffing."
"The Anti-Entropy people have used this trick on me before, and it worked quite well."
"And if that cafe is the latter case—"
As he spoke, the corners of Otto's mouth gradually raised into a cruel arc.
"For an existence that can help us control the power of the Herrscher... we must do everything we can to keep it firmly in our hands."
"Of course, it's to fight against Honkai."
Looking at Otto's expression which was cold and slightly sarcastic, Yulandel and Rita couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
But they had to admit that Otto's words were quite convincing.
Otto laughed, and his voice was gentle and calm, as if it had a magical power that could convince people:
"This operation is very important. We must succeed and not fail. I have already loaded my body, which has been adjusted to the best condition, onto the transport ship bound for Sky City. After I meet up with you, I will upload my consciousness to that body and personally formulate the operational details of this mission. In the meantime, the two of you will stay on standby on the Eos."
"Anything else you want to report?"
Rita hesitated for a moment and asked, "What's the response from Shencheng Pharmaceutical?"
"Shencheng Pharmaceutical? Oh, that company that has been providing free assistance to Shenzhou. Look at my memory. When I find something interesting, I immediately forget all the boring things."
Otto patted his head in a somewhat pretentious manner.
"Of course, we cannot stop sending resources to Shencheng Medicine, but now that K423's whereabouts have been confirmed, you no longer need to rely on this company's medical records and information channels. Deliver the medicine before I arrive in Tianqiong City. As for the so-called inspection work, you can just deal with it casually. I'm sure the people in that company don't welcome us from the bottom of their hearts."
"I understand." Rita responded to Otto's words, then turned to look at Yulandel, "The medicines that need to be transported are all on the Eos. Lord Yulandel, please come with me to the Shencheng Medical Center first."
Youlandel nodded: "Okay, but since we are going to do the inspection, then do it seriously. I will also inspect the work area of Shencheng Medicine with you, Bishop, we will complete the inspection as soon as possible. After the inspection is completed, please send the coordinates of the transport ship."
"Well, that's it for now." Otto nodded. "Good luck to you, my lovely Valkyries."
After saying that, Otto hung up the phone, and the air nearby returned to silence again.
At the same time, Hyperion Cafe.
On the second floor, in a temporary bedroom.
Kiana and Raiden Mei were lying on the bed, staring blankly at the bedroom ceiling with their eyes full of dark circles.
"Good morning, Mei."
"Good morning, Kiana."
A weak greeting came out of the mouths of the two girls who were exhausted both physically and mentally.
"Mei, didn't you sleep last night?" Kiana asked blankly.
"You are the same..." Raiden Mei replied in the same dull voice, "How can I sleep at a time like this..."
"..."
silence.
Then, there was a simultaneous sigh filled with sleepiness and exhaustion.
"Get up..." said Mei Raiden.
"That's true..." Kiana agreed.
The two girls straightened their upper bodies like zombies, then turned to look at each other. Looking at each other's faces that looked no different from those of dead people, they couldn't help but sigh deeply.
Life is not easy, the girl sighed.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
"May I come inside?"
...Although she had complained about it countless times in her heart, no matter how many times she heard that voice that was like a nightmare to her speaking in such a polite tone, Kiana would always feel a strong sense of disharmony.
Ugh.
Why wasn't the Xilin she knew such a lovely person?
Even when being hugged by the store manager, she was more...
Snap! Kiana suddenly slapped herself in the face, neither too hard nor too light, and her face turned red with shame.
...Pah, what kind of nonsense am I suddenly thinking about? ! !
Kiana said hesitantly in a somewhat guilty tone: "Yes, yes, we are awake, the door is not locked, please come in."
The sudden slap startled Mei Raiden, but after seeing Kiana's red face and hearing her guilty voice, she had already guessed what the other party was thinking, and helplessly supported her forehead with her palm.
Click, with the sound of the doorknob being turned, the door was pushed in from outside, and Xilin, wearing a school uniform, put two sets of clothes on the bedside table.
"Since you guys haven't woken up yet, I brought you your uniforms first. They're specially tailored for you, so they shouldn't be too small to fit you."
After putting down her clothes, Xilin turned her gaze towards the two girls sitting on the bed, frowning slightly: "You look so bad, would it be better if you lie down for a while?"
"No, no, no thanks." Kiana patted her cheek.
Although she did feel a little sleepy, if she admitted this, the topic would inevitably turn to "What did you do last night?"
So she immediately opened her eyes, stepped both feet into her slippers, and said in a guilty conscience, "We just overslept a little bit. Sleeping any longer will only make us feel worse. I'm going to the bathroom to wash my face first, and then I'll go to the first floor to report to the store manager."
"Oh, there's one more thing." When she reached the door, Kiana suddenly turned around and smiled brightly at Xilin, "Thank you for sending the clothes to us."
After saying that, Kiana ran away with hurried footsteps.
"Uh..." Xilin blushed and scratched her hair. "I didn't rush her. Has she always been so impetuous?"
"Yeah." Raiden Mei also got off the bed and smiled gently, but her eyes became inexplicably complicated. "It's great to see her reckless side here again."
"Rash...that doesn't sound like a good word." Xilin said with a complicated tone.
"You're right, rash is not a good adjective, but that's how Kiana is." Raiden Mei walked to Sirin's side, lowered her head slightly, and looked at the magical girl who was almost the same height as Theresa with some emotion. Suddenly, she couldn't help but touched her head with gentle force.
Xilin was startled: "You, what are you doing suddenly?"
"Ah, sorry." Raiden Mei withdrew her hand awkwardly. She obviously realized that her unconscious behavior was quite rude. "It's just that I really didn't expect that Xilin would be so likable. It's completely different from my original stereotype."
Chapter 4: Queen: Broken Defense, Damn (k)
"...I can't quite tell whether you're praising me or scolding me."
Xilin put her hands on her hips, with a somewhat speechless expression on her face, but suddenly she sighed:
"Forget it. I'm not very interested in the situation in your world. I can't control what Xilin from another world will become. I don't have the time to argue about it."
Mei Raiden's palms tightened slightly, and she said nervously, "Have you noticed it?"
"Do you have any misunderstanding about me? Although I am young, the worlds I have traveled with the captain are much more than those of you who have not yet escaped from your own world." Xilin raised her neck and put on a proud expression as if she had won a victory. "It's just that 'myself' is from another world. It's not like I haven't seen it before."
Boom—headache.
For some reason, the moment she heard the word "Captain", a slight pain came uncontrollably from the depths of Raiden Mei's mind, as if something was suddenly broken.
Strange scenes flashed before her eyes like lightning, but she was completely unable to catch them. She could only watch those memories that should have belonged to her but were now very unfamiliar to her slip through her fingers like sand.
In those unfamiliar pictures, there is a red-haired boy, and the "Ships" logo on his military cap is faintly visible.
Mei Raiden pursed her lips, and suddenly felt a little blocked in her heart for no reason. She lowered her eyes slightly and asked softly: "Excuse me, who is the captain you mentioned?"
"Why are you asking this?" Hearing this question, Xilin frowned and her expression became a little alert.
"Sorry, I don't mean anything else." Raiden Mei waved her hand and showed a somewhat forced smile on her face. "It's just that, as you said, for those of us who haven't escaped from our own world, it's inevitable that we will be a little curious about people who can travel in different worlds. If you don't want to answer, just pretend that I didn't ask this question."
"…It's okay to tell you." Perhaps because Mei Raiden's expression looked really sincere, Xilin, who was not particularly hard-hearted, finally softened.
Even so, she still did not directly reveal the news that "the manager of this cafe is the captain", but said in an ambiguous manner: "If you want to find the captain, I advise you not to think about it. After all, that person has not been a captain for a long time. Apart from the social contacts necessary for life, he probably doesn't want others to intrude into his private space without permission."
"Has it been... a long time since I last served as captain?" Raiden Mei whispered, her emotions becoming uncontrollably depressed.
It was obvious that she and Xilin were talking about a stranger she had never met before, but when she heard this, Raiden Mei still felt a strong sense of loss surging in her chest, as if a huge, yet formless, unknowable and unpredictable "meaning" had suddenly disappeared.
She took a deep breath and suppressed the huge sense of loss in her heart. Then she gave Xilin a sincere smile: "Thank you for telling me these things."
There were hurried footsteps outside the door. Kiana, who was still wearing a set of loose pajamas, returned to the bedroom after washing up: "Mei, I'm done with the bathroom."
"Okay, I got it." Raiden Mei nodded and walked out the door. "You should get along well with Xilin. Don't bully her just because she's young."
"How could I possibly bully her!" Kiana complained unhappily, "Am I such a bad person in Mei's eyes?"
"That's hard to say. Who told you to quarrel with Bronya over a trivial matter not long ago?" Raiden Mei said dimly, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"I, I was..." Kiana wanted to argue for herself, but she was at a loss for words, so she could only stammer and could not say anything.
"I say, you two, how long are you going to treat me like air? Why do you have to start a conversation with me based on the premise that I will be bullied? Do I look so easy to bully?" Sirin crossed her arms and couldn't help rolling her eyes, but after seeing the interaction between Raiden Mei and Kiana, she couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief deep in her heart.
Forget it... I don't want to bother with you two.
To be honest, when Mei Raiden suddenly asked about the captain, Sirin had already silently raised the alarm in her mind to the maximum, because according to past practice, the fate between them, the original members of Hyperion, and the captain mostly started with curiosity about the unknown. This curiosity usually turns into goodwill in a very short time. By the time they realize that they can no longer live without that person, everything is too late.
Of course, Xilin does not regret this ignorant but firm emotion, and she believes that most people who are willing to stay with the captain are the same as her.
Even if she could go back to the past and be given another chance to choose, Xilin would still reach out her hand to the "Captain" at dawn when her best friend lost his soul, and then firmly grasp the hand that the other party handed over as if it was a matter of course, representing reliance and unconditional trust, and never let go of it.
But having said that, as a normal human female, Xilin's natural food-protection mentality made her not willing to see other girls make the same choice as her.
Therefore, she almost instinctively tried to break the flag that was faintly visible on Raiden Mei's head, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that the other party was indeed not very interested in the captain.
"I'm going to go back to the first floor to help. You two, put on your uniforms and report to the manager as soon as possible."
Xilin's expression became a little stern. "Several customers have reserved a table for dinner tonight. Those customers are very important to this cafe. I don't know if you have ever worked as a waiter in a cafe before. You should get used to the job during the day when there are fewer people. Although you two are only temporary waiters, don't embarrass this cafe in front of customers."
"I know, I know! I'm just a waiter at a cafe. It's not like I haven't done this before. Mei is also very capable. I promise you in the name of Kaslana that I will never let you down~"
Kiana waved her hand casually, then spread out the shop assistant uniforms that Xilin had brought them from the bedside table, her eyes lit up:
"Wow, this uniform is pretty nice! Look, Mei!"
"Hmm... Indeed, the workmanship and materials used are quite exquisite."
Originally, she thought the uniforms in the cafe would be rather ordinary, but after seeing the dark green suit that Kiana unfolded, Raiden Mei couldn't help but reveal a hint of surprise on her face.
If Kiana only thinks that these two clothes are beautiful from an aesthetic point of view, then what Mei Raiden, a former young lady, can see is that these two uniforms are quite extraordinary.
In the world they live in, if they wear these two suits, they will not look strange or out of place even if they go to places that only the aristocracy can enter. Perhaps those old-fashioned ladies will ask them with surprise which designer designed these two uniforms, and spend a considerable amount of money to customize a suit of similar style.
"Humph, after all, these are clothes I specially made for you, isn't it natural for them to be exquisite?"
Seeing the surprised expressions on Mei Raiden and Kiana's faces, Sirin, whose vanity was greatly satisfied, immediately turned up her nose.
"Did you make both of these sets of clothes?" Raiden Mei asked in surprise.
"Is it strange? I am a fashion designer." Xilin said confidently.
"..."
For some reason, after hearing Xilin's confident assertion, Kiana suddenly fell silent and her expression inexplicably became a little nervous.
Mei Raiden was very keenly aware that something was wrong with Kiana.
Although Kiana claimed that the Herrscher of the Void's will had been completely suppressed by the store manager, she never saw with her own eyes the scene in which the store manager suppressed the Herrscher of the Void's will.
Therefore, until now, Mei Raiden has been paying close attention to Kiana's every move, fearing that she will not be able to control her in the first time when Kiana loses control.
"Kiana, what's wrong with you?" Raiden Mei asked cautiously.
"Ah, I'm fine..." Kiana shook her head instinctively at first, not wanting Raiden Mei to worry too much about her, but she suddenly closed her mouth, with a tangled expression on her face: "Well, no, I can't say I'm fine."
Hearing Kiana take the initiative to tell her about the abnormality in her body, Raiden Mei breathed a sigh of relief, because it meant that Kiana was gradually beginning to no longer resist getting their help.
Mei Raiden is actually not afraid of facing the problems that Kiana encounters. After all, most of the problems that Kiana encounters are similar to those she has encountered before.
What's more, now they have received help from this cafe.
Compared to the problems of the Herrscher, what Mei Raiden fears most is that Kiana still stubbornly chooses to bear those problems alone, and is unwilling to seek help and communicate with others.
It was a great progress that she took the initiative to tell herself about the abnormalities in her body.
