From a certain perspective, the Valkyrie who is affiliated with destiny can actually be regarded as a kind of public official.
Although Destiny is not an organization belonging to any country, when faced with this behemoth that transcends the conventional social structure, almost all political systems will acquiesce in the fact that the Valkyrie of Destiny has law enforcement power that overrides government agencies in their own territories.
These political bodies tacitly allow the Valkyries to enjoy law enforcement powers beyond conventional political institutions. This is of course closely related to the military power of the Mandate of Heaven that is superior to the rest of the world. But in the final analysis, it is because during the five hundred years that the Mandate of Heaven has ruled the world, it has successfully left an image of fairness and selflessness in the hearts of most people.
This relationship of trust has risen to a level close to faith.
Everything Destiny does is for the sake of humanity. In the hearts of the vast majority of people, even those cold-blooded politicians, this understanding has been deeply imprinted in their brains like a spiritual brand over the past five hundred years.
As a member of the Valkyries and the captain of the Valkyries' strongest team, the Undying Blade, Yulandel naturally enjoys this kind of law enforcement power that transcends political systems throughout the world.
She could enter the territory of every country without paying any attention to the national borders. Even if she caused serious damage to local buildings in the process, no country would cause trouble for her.
"Executioners" like Rita, who have been walking in the dark for years, may even exercise greater authority than Yulandel in the process of completing their tasks.
As one of the few S-rank Valkyries in Destiny, if necessary, she can even kill people in public without asking anyone for permission or collecting evidence of the suspect's guilt, and she will not be subject to any legal sanctions - on the contrary, if she wants to kill someone, even if there is no evidence or legitimate reason, the local law enforcement agencies can only cooperate with her with all their strength.
But having said that, because of her upright and serious character, Yulandel herself did not take this kind of power, which could be almost arbitrary, for granted.
Although she is better at solving problems with her fists, she is not an unreasonable person. So if Otto really gave her an order to punish someone, she would not deprive the other person of his life without any psychological burden like Rita did before getting clear evidence and reasonable reasons.
From this perspective, although on the surface Rita is the more gentle and humble one in the Undying Blade team, in the process of executing the mission, Yulandel's methods are more gentle.
——Of course, all these rules will only be effective when facing reasonable "humans".
Faced with the collapse that had no reason to exist from the beginning, Yulandel's code of conduct naturally changed quickly from "convincing people with reason" to "attacking directly at the weaknesses quickly, accurately and ruthlessly".
Because she knew very well that when facing the collapse, if she acted one minute late, more people might be killed, and solving the collapse as quickly as possible was the only way to go.
In the midday sun, the azure comet plummeted, and unparalleled violence severed the rock formations in an instant.
The raging shock wave pushed away the air and turned into a gale similar to a sandstorm. The entire science and technology park was blown up, the lush green belts were uprooted, and the street lights and electric poles collapsed in the violent shaking.
With Yulandel's dive, not only was the ground within a radius of several hundred meters smashed to pieces, but even the foundation, which was actually more than fifty meters deep, sank completely, forming a huge deep pit.
But after seeing the scene deep underground, both Yulandel standing in the ruins and Rita standing on the edge of the deep pit had their pupils shrink at the same time.
A pungent smell hit me in the face, the smell of rotting meat and the stench of stagnant water filled with excrement all mixed together. Bodies that looked no different from corpses were buried in the gravel, bloodshot eyeballs rolled in the rubble, and muscles that were forcibly peeled off the bones were squeezed by the stones, splashing with a strange liquid that was not sure whether it was blood or something else.
Even though their bodies were already rotten like this, those corpse-like figures were still stirring, and sounds coming from their throats were not even whimpers.
The nightmare-like scene made Yulandel and Rita look so nauseous that they almost vomited.
"Death warrior?"
Although her stomach was churning with an intense feeling of nausea that made her want to vomit, Rita, as an executioner destined to be executed and accustomed to seeing corpses, did not lose her composure. She gazed at the scene underground from afar, and her voice was colder than ever before.
"Ms. Xiola, can you please answer me? Why is there such a laboratory with so many assassins hidden in the basement of Shencheng Medicine?"
The moment these words came out of Rita's hand, a beam of icy blue light appeared, and the huge sickle pointed at the consultant's neck amid the whistling wind.
Because she needed the other party's testimony, Rita did not choose to deprive the other party of his life at the first time. But even so, after seeing the underground laboratory of Shencheng Medicine, a trace of uncontrollable murderous intent overflowed from her eyes, and her blood pressure soared uncontrollably.
She remembered clearly that last night, when she, the experimental subject K423 and the manager of the cafe were confronting each other, the manager of the cafe told her that the Herrscher power of the experimental subject K423 had actually been taken away by the manager of the cafe. Therefore, Rita had also speculated that the frequent collapse events around Sky City might have little to do with the Herrscher's body.
But she really didn't expect that just one day later, the culprit of these collapse events appeared before her in such an unreasonable manner.
After the anger, what followed was an incomparable fear. She did not have the strong spatial cognition ability of Yulandel. If she was the only one who came to connect with Shencheng Medicine today, then Rita thought that she would not have much chance to discover the crimes committed by Shencheng Medicine.
Feeling the cold touch on her neck and Rita's murderous eyes like a sharp blade, the consultant rolled her eyes, raised her hands, and said tentatively: "If I say that I actually don't know what the scene below is, can you believe me?"
"What do you think?" Rita laughed angrily. She dug the tip of the sickle into the consultant's skin slightly, and a trace of blood seeped out from the separated skin. "You'd better not try to fool us, Ms. Xiola. Even without you, we can still force our way into your Shencheng Medicine's database and collect the evidence and information of your crimes bit by bit. Please believe that with Tianming's technical level, it is not difficult to do this. It just may take some time."
"You stepped into someone else's territory without permission, and you peeped into their secrets without restraint... You Tianming are just as I imagined, arrogant and ignorant."
"..." Rita's expression turned cold. She no longer showed any mercy and exerted force on the sickle in her hand. The blue tip of the blade cut into the consultant's neck without any hindrance, and blood splattered everywhere.
——No, what splashed out was not blood, but a flock of pitch-black crows.
Just before Rita was about to chop off the consultant's head, her body was suddenly covered by a shadow-like curtain. At the same time, a flock of crows flew around, flapping their wings wantonly, and the thick fog that blocked her vision spread out at lightning speed.
Rita raised the sickle without changing her expression. She inserted her slender fingers into the handle of the sickle and turned it rapidly like an electric fan. Then she stretched out her arm and swung the shield formed by the rapidly rotating sickle around her body.
The crisp sound of metal collision, accompanied by flying sparks, kept echoing on the handle of the sickle. The short nails made of feathers were quickly bounced off by Rita's watertight defense and scattered on the ground around her.
"As expected of you, you are an S-class Valkyrie of destiny. It seems that if I want to defeat you, I have to use the latest achievements of 'Snake'."
In the dark fog, the consultant's voice came from all directions. Rita raised her eyebrows slightly, and a hint of disdain flashed in her eyes.
"Heh, do you really understand what kind of opponent you have provoked?"
"Oh." The consultant laughed sarcastically, "Are you talking about yourself?"
"Although Rita doesn't think she will be defeated by you, unfortunately, only in this situation, what Rita said is really not herself~" Rita smiled, "Are you right, Lord Yulandel?"
As if in response to Rita's words, a violent explosion sounded, accompanied by a violent shaking of the ground.
"Varied--"
In the face of Yulandel's indiscriminate violence, the dark fog covering Rita's body and the counselor hiding in the fog were blown away by the fierce storm.
"Woo——"
The pitch-black cloak billowed in the hot midday sun.
The consultant lady, who had changed into a tight-fitting suit at some point, turned her body a little awkwardly while flying in the air.
In the field of vision, at the edge of the deep pit, Yulandel, with a bright blue flame spewing from behind, was suspended in the air, standing side by side with Rita.
"I'm sorry, Lord Yulandel, it was Rita's incompetence that failed to capture the fleeing rat."
"Now is not the time to be discouraged." Yulandel said calmly, "I have already cleared out those assassins in the underground laboratory. Rita, you go and retrieve the information of Shencheng Medicine. As for the escaping crow, I will catch her back."
"I understand, Master Yulandel."
The moment Rita's voice fell, the spewing flames grew stronger, but just as Youlandel was about to flee from the consultant's pursuit -
——An indescribable chill suddenly ran up the spine of the strongest Valkyrie.
At this moment, the Honkai energy within a radius of hundreds of kilometers formed a huge vortex and gathered towards an extremely cold "center point".
She subconsciously turned her head and looked towards the source of the cold air.
Thousands of meters apart, two pairs of extremely similar blue eyes met.
Then, the next second.
The figure of the silver-haired man, who had been standing thousands of meters away a moment ago, suddenly appeared in front of the two S-rank Valkyries without any warning, as if he had teleported.
Seeing the person coming, Yulandel and Rita's pupils shrank at the same time. Although the color was the same as Yulandel's, the deep blue pupils seemed to come from a predator tens of thousands of years ago, easily awakening the fear engraved in the deepest part of human genes.
Yulandel's eyes sharpened, and the moment she saw the person coming, she immediately realized that the action of chasing the consultant lady had completely failed, and the blue tail flame behind her retracted.
She took a step forward, vaguely protecting Rita with her body, raised her hand and waved, pointing the knight's gun that appeared out of thin air in the direction of the silver-haired man: "You, you must be the leader of their Shencheng Medicine."
"..." The silver-haired man glanced at Youlan Daier silently and said lightly: "Come on."
"As you wish!" Yulandel said in a deep voice.
——At the same time, in the Hyperion Cafe.
After a brief communication, when everyone in the hall reached a consensus, the atmosphere in the cafe became peaceful and comfortable again.
Bronya sat at a table with the two magical girls, eating the red stewed beef rice bowl prepared by Raiden Mei, while Kiana very consciously picked up a broom and swept the wooden floor.
At the staircase on the second floor, Xilin popped her head out holding a long red banner: "Finally it's done..."
"What is that?" Kiana, who was sweeping the floor, raised her head and asked curiously.
"A banner with a welcome slogan is said to be a custom in the store manager's hometown." Xilin said as she spread out the banner in her hand, which read: Warmly welcome the principal of the Magical Girl Academy to come and give us your guidance!
"..." Seeing the banner, Kiana felt like she didn't know what to say for a moment. At this moment, a red figure suddenly floated out from behind her with a complicated expression: "Your store manager...was he from Shenzhou before?"
"Rather than saying it's Shenzhou, it's better to say it's a place that's somewhat similar to Shenzhou. I'm not sure." As she spoke, Xilin's expression suddenly changed. "Why do you suddenly ask this?"
"Well, because I'm from Shenzhou, and this banner... does look like a custom we have over there." said the red figure.
At this moment, the door of the cafe suddenly opened, and a little girl with pink hair poked her head out slyly. She glanced around the hall, then trotted to the side of the bar and asked Rita standing behind the bar, "Hello, hello. I'm hungry. Do you sell lunch here?"
Seeing that cute pink-haired figure, Fu Hua felt a slight pain in her brain.
Chapter 4: Hyperion Cafe in Paradise (k)
Many, many years ago, under the influence of the super-mutation factor, Fu Hua, who suffered from hyperthymesia, has been affected by the memories that have accumulated over time.
Because those memories were too clear, to the point that she could remember every minute and every second, in order to suppress their brutal growth and reduce the burden on her consciousness, Fu Hua had to screen her memories regularly and remove from her mind those memories that were not important for fighting the collapse.
Later, after Fu Hua became more proficient in controlling and using Yu Duchen, she learned to use memory as fuel. Although Fu Hua herself was actually quite reluctant to discard all her memories, if it came to the necessary moment, she would not hesitate to do so.
——The final result is the residual spirit that is now floating in Kiana's body.
Fu Hua today no longer has many memories of the past.
For a long time, she even had only a general impression that she was a pioneer from the previous civilization era, but did not have much memory or real feeling.
But no matter what, in order to complete her mission, there is only one type of memory that she cannot forget.
That is the knowledge and information about [Honkai] and [Hersherrs].
During these fifty thousand years, whenever Fu Hua closed her eyes, she would think about how to fight against the Herrschers she had encountered in the past.
Except for a few Herrsers with special characteristics or whose output and scale are really unattainable, she has found ways to deal with the vast majority of Herrsers.
If she had maintained the strength she had in her heyday, Fu Hua today would probably be able to easily defeat most of those Herrsers of that time alone.
Among these few memories that have been preserved and considered by Fu Hua to be the "most important" ones, there are also memories of the "Thirteenth Ruler" from the previous civilization era.
Why did Fu Hua agree to Otto's Xilin plan? Because she knew that under the influence of "that one" in the previous civilization era, the Herrscher born in the current civilization era did have the possibility of escaping the control of Honkai.
The First Ruler of this era is the ironclad proof that this possibility has become reality.
However, because she was not clear about the specific technical details of Xilin's plan, Fu Hua at that time did not know how heavy the so-called "price" prepared by Otto was.
...But even so, even if she did retain some memories of the "Thirteenth Herrscher".
When Fu Hua saw the little girl who suddenly visited the coffee shop, her brain still felt a slight pain, almost like confusion, so she was unable to confirm the other party's identity at the first time.
The little girl stared with a pair of sparkling pink eyes, and while asking if the store had any lunch, she couldn't help looking around with eyes filled with curiosity and strong desire for knowledge.
Cute girl.
Cute girl.
Super cute girl.
Wow~ The girls in this store are so~ cute~ The sister floating in the sky is so pretty too!
Why are there so many beautiful girls in this store?
Could this shop be the paradise [Elysia] in the storybook that can only be found after reaching the end of the world?
What? Isn’t the legendary paradise right in this store?
Paradise is clearly here, so why does the storybook say it doesn’t exist?
Sure enough, the stories in the book are not reliable at all! The pink-haired girl said to herself quietly in her heart.
At the same moment when the little girl who had begun to show signs of being a lesbian was looking around with joy, the long-haired maid standing behind the bar couldn't help but cast her burgundy eyes, which were gentle yet mixed with a little surprise, at the pink-haired little girl who had no flaws at all.
——Rita Rossweisse.
——No matter which world I am in, I am an incurable lolita complex.
She suppressed her criminal thoughts and tried her best to remind herself to maintain her dignity as a maid and not to destroy the image of this cafe. She also gave this little customer a polite and gentle smile:
"This cafe, of course, provides simple meals for sale. My lovely little customer, are you alone? Where are the adults in your family?"
A gentle and graceful voice with a caring tone.
Rita couldn't help but feel worried. Although this girl with pink hair had an almost flawless face, her whole temperament revealed a sense of being travel-weary.
A simple black robe covered her petite body, and the backpack behind her was almost taller than her.
The pink hair looked like it hadn't been trimmed for a while. Although it wasn't ugly in contrast to her appearance, if someone could help her tidy it up, the already cute little girl would probably become even more destructive to a lolita control like her.
At least, when she said this, Rita had already regarded the other party as a dress-up doll that existed only in her imagination, changing her images unscrupulously.
This one is very pretty, and that one is very cute... Oh, really, this child has such a perfect foundation, why don’t the elders help her dress up at all?
The pink-haired little girl was a good kid who didn't know how to lie at all, so when she heard Rita's caring words, she answered the question almost without thinking:
"Adult? I don't have an adult with me. My home is very far away. I am traveling alone!"
Hehe! Isn't that great! The girl raised her nose and for some reason showed a very happy expression, as if she was waiting for others' praise.
"Ah this..."
