Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

But what happened today?

Kiana frowned, her doubts growing stronger. Although she wasn't fond of thinking things through, it didn't mean she was stupid; on the contrary, she was highly sensitive to subtle emotions. The image of the gentle, aloof Anna Schariac kneeling in front of the boy, wiping her lips flashed through her mind. She suppressed the urge to pin Shen Liang and Anna against the wall and torment them until they cried, and carefully recalled the scene.

There are indeed points of doubt.

There was no strange smell in the air, their clothes were neat, and my junior brother was clearly out of sorts. Besides, why did they have to go to the washroom when they could have been in the bedroom? And why did they have to do it in front of me?

So... Sister Anna...

The white fluffy ball's eyes sharpened.

Anna's picture might not pass the review.jpg

Chapter 209 Valkyrie Strength Ranking

It was midnight. Shen Liang had finished packing all her luggage, then sat in the swivel chair in front of the computer desk with a mirror, leaning back to rest.

Upon closer inspection, this table is probably not a computer desk. The Shaniat family lives in an old castle, where every piece of furniture is an antique crafted by artisans decades or even centuries ago. There is a pear wood fireplace mantel from China, on which sits a clock from the Austro-Hungarian imperial family, and the floor is covered with Scandinavian handmade wool carpets.

The family's wealth and heritage over a thousand years are astonishing; even the guest rooms reflect their antiquity and formidable riches. The table in front of them is most likely an old-fashioned dressing table passed down from ancient times. The Shaniat family has never had a male guest for centuries, and it's obvious that there were many oversights, from the lack of a men's restroom and the princess-style curtains on the bed to this dressing table.

He opened the laptop provided by the Shaniat family, checked his email, and after thinking for a moment, he still didn't contact Cocolia.

His relationship with Cocolia wasn't actually bad. In the orphanage, he was the eldest child, and taking care of the younger sisters relieved a lot of the nuns' and Cocolia's workload. When they were little, Cocolia liked him very much, and would even take him to bathe in the bathtub until Bronya objected. He was always the most sensible person in the orphanage.

But being sensible means being more mature, and Shen Liang never proactively calls Cocolia "Mom." He takes on the role of "older brother" among all the children, yet he can never condone the orphanage's actions.

He was the only child who didn't get involved in the Siberian War; he was from China. So, while his sisters had all experienced the horrors of war, had faced numerous hardships and near-death experiences, and were willing to undergo military training, he was the only one who refused to receive special agent training.

He believed from a young age that his life would not be associated with blood and fire, so he chose to leave at the age of eighteen.

However, he still couldn't escape his destined fate... and even ran away with his sisters to someone else's territory, without considering Cocolia's feelings at all.

Since Cocolia is also a ruthless individual on the transcendent side, she must have learned about his current life through her own channels. Yes, his appearance shrank, he entered the transcendent side, adopted the alias Pandora, and married a girl from the Shaniat family, recognizing a woman from the Shaniat family as his mother.

This last point is especially important.

Therefore, Shen Liang didn't want to contact Cocolia for the time being; he didn't even dare to answer her calls. Bronya frequently received calls from Cocolia asking her to transfer the calls to him, and the silver-haired, emotionless loli could only rack her brains to come up with reasons to refuse for her brother.

Shen Liang casually logged into "Saintess Lake," a large public forum developed by the renowned Saint Freya Academy, a prestigious academy on the supernatural side. Almost all the Valkyries of Destiny were chatting there, and he had used it to attract countless eyes to Aisha last time.

As a result, the first post highlighted in red caught his attention.

"Pandora's true identity as the 'Son of the White Flower' revealed! The mother of the peerless beauty who was embezzled by the Shaniat family for many years was actually her!"

Son of the White Flower?

He probably knew the code name because he could use the Black Abyss White Flower, but who came up with this effeminate nickname? He had only been exposed to the public for one day, how did he get a nickname already? Are the Valkyries of Destiny so idle?

He clicked on it and found several photos of himself at the Shaniat family home. Judging from the angle, they seemed to be candid shots, but the camera was very high-resolution. There were pictures of him getting out of the car and being led by Cecilia through the castle gates, pictures of him smiling as he stretched out his hand on the grass and watched a white dove land on his arm, and pictures of him staring defiantly at Maria in the church.

The timing of the photos was perfect; every single one showed the boy's delicate and flawless face. More than twenty photos were posted in total. However, Maria only had one photo, and it was taken alongside Shen Liang.

The caption briefly mentioned Maria and Shen Liang's reunion as mother and son, but the rest of the content was mostly about gushing over her.

Shen Liang glanced at the poster's ID and found it was an anonymous user. He guessed it was probably posted by someone from Shaniat's family, since the purpose of this was to spread the word and make others think twice about Shen Liang's background. However, the anonymous user probably felt that openly fawning over a young boy's looks wasn't appropriate, especially since they would have to meet him again within the family later.

The replies below were indeed not serious either.

"OP really understands me! Who wants to know who Pandora's mom is? It's not me anyway! And do you have more photos?"

"Waaaaah, my baby is so cute! I fell in love with Elsa the moment she first appeared. Why am I not the baby's mom?! Oh, I'm only eighteen. Oh well, never mind."

"I really want to be Pandora's dog, but he said he likes cats, and I cried..."

"The discussion has gone off-topic. Wasn't it about 'Witch' Maria actually having a son? The Shaniat family can now have a boy through IVF? Has human genetic technology reached this level?"

"To be honest, I really doubt whether Little Pandora is even a boy... Does such a beautiful boy really exist? I need him to prove it! Right now! Immediately! Send me the pictures, Shaniat family!"

"You don't want the account above anymore? Saintess Lake belongs to Theresa, and she and the Saintess are sworn sisters!"

Shen Liang's face twitched as she looked at the thousands of posts on this thread, almost all of them asking for follow-up photos or shameless confessions.

It's true what they say, people have two faces online and in real life. The Valkyries he knew were all wealthy, powerful, and well-connected ladies from prestigious families, or at the very least, middle-class. But what kind of people were they online, dropping all their pretenses?!

Shen Liang leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

“So many people want to be your dog, brother.” Rosalia, who had already snuggled into his arms, rubbed her face against Shen Liang’s, then handed him a half-eaten chocolate bar. “Rosalia is different.”

Shen Liang wrapped his arms around his sister's slender waist, holding her tightly in his embrace. He rested his chin on Rosalia's shoulder, took a bite of her snack, and casually said, "How is it different?"

"Rosalia wants her brother to be her dog!" the pink-haired loli declared loudly and matter-of-factly.

Shen Liang, expressionless, reached out and grabbed the base of her tail, squeezing it hard.

"Aaaaaah, brother, brother, let go! It hurts! It hurts!" Rosalia almost jumped up. "It hurts! It hurts! Brother, brother, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

The tail is a sensitive area, and ever since the Arlene sisters got tails, he has had another means of punishment.

However, looking at Rosalia's little tail wagging happily behind her every day, Shen Liang also felt a pang of sympathy. In order to live a "normal" life in front of him, his sisters could only suppress their physiology with drugs. Only when he stepped into the supernatural realm, or even moved into the Shaniat family, could they freely show their inhuman side and live their lives.

They are born to belong to the extraordinary side and cannot return to normal society... He is the same.

"Why did you come alone?" Shen Liang asked. "Where's Lilia?"

"Hehe, Lilia fell asleep right on time at seven o'clock. Rosalia sneaked over to keep you company, without letting Seele and Bronya find out!" Rosalia crossed her knee-length white-stockinged legs and placed them on Shen Liang's feet, sitting on his lap and looking up with a grin. "Today, you're all mine! Hmm, to prevent you from having trouble sleeping in your new environment, Rosalia came to keep you company. Isn't that super thoughtful!?"

"Thoughtful my foot," Torachiyo muttered.

Shen Liang ignored Hu Qiandai's resentment, casually holding Rosalia and quietly closing his eyes to rest for a while, then heard the computer beep.

He tapped the screen and saw an email in his inbox. It had been sent via the deep web and the sender was Anna Shaniat.

Before even opening the email, Shen Liang replied, "Aren't you asleep yet, it's so late?"

The other party quickly replied: "Isn't Pandora awake too?"

"I was about to fall asleep when my sister sneaked over and woke me up."

"I really envy your relationship. I've brought you some documents. I saw the light was on, so I guessed you weren't asleep." Anna, wearing white pajamas, leaned against the headboard, typing on a tablet. A hint of tenderness flashed in her eyes as she gazed at the glowing blue screen. "Now that you've joined the Shaniat family, you're essentially under the watchful eye of the Destiny Organization. The sooner I bring you this basic knowledge about the relationship between families and Destiny, the better."

"This kind of work could be left to the family's maids. Why do I feel like you're always busy, Anna?"

"In the eyes of the family, I am more familiar with you. Everyone thinks it is not good to assign maids to boys, so they simply let me do some things."

Does "not good" mean you're afraid I won't be able to control myself?

"Hmm? Strictly speaking, the family is worried that the maids won't be able to control themselves. Our Shaniat family's maids are all Valkyries, you know. Most people know just how terrifying your value is, little Pandora, so they're worried about letting the second young lady's boyfriend be snatched away by someone else."

"..."

After chatting casually for a while, Anna lay on her pillow with a gentle smile on her lips, just about to continue typing, when she suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.

"Who is this?" Anna asked casually, guessing it was probably the head maid reminding her to go to bed early in the middle of the night.

"It's me, Kiana."

Anna was instantly filled with fear.

--------

Shen Liang discovered that the information Anna sent was quite detailed, not only introducing the history of the Shaniat family, but also briefly explaining the current power structure of the Destiny.

"The rulers of the Mandate of Heaven are three families with a history spanning thousands of years: the 'Bishop' Apocalypse family, the 'Saint' Shaniat family, and the 'Knight' Kaslana family. Among them, the previous head of the Kaslana family, Siegfried, died, and his two daughters, Kiana and Sirin, inherited the Shaniat family name. Therefore, it can be basically concluded that the Kaslana family has perished."

"The Shaniat family, the lineage of the Saintess, is currently the most cohesive family. Due to a bloodline issue, this family cannot produce male offspring and has always needed male in-laws to maintain its existence. The head of the family, Cecilia, and the head of the Kaslana family, Siegfried, were once husband and wife until Siegfried died in the Siberian War. The Shaniat family does not have deep control over destiny, but as a family, it is very independent. The sense of belonging of Shaniat family members is more inclined towards the family than destiny."

"However, because the members of the Shaniat family are too powerful, even though they are highly independent, they are still the core force of Schicksal. Sister Leah herself is recognized as the best in the supernatural realm, and everyone knows that she is about to die. No one wants to offend a dying person. Her deterrent power is probably comparable to all the rest of Schicksal."

"Then there is the Apocalypse family. The Apocalypse family has been the leading family of Schicksal since ancient times, but since five hundred years ago, this family has ceased to be a family. Otto Apocalypse, the Schicksal bishop from five hundred years ago, is still the current Schicksal bishop. The Apocalypse family has been wiped out in five hundred years, leaving only him and a granddaughter he created through artificial humans... He is a complete dictator."

"To some extent, the entire Destiny was developed through his planning alone, and the most bizarre thing is that he is actually a man. His direct power is the Destiny Headquarters, where three S-class Valkyries ensure Destiny's supreme status on the supernatural side."

Anna sent a list of Valkyries of Destiny. Shen Liang knew that the list was not very prestigious and that many older women with insufficient information were not included. However, as a certification of the world's strongest Valkyries, Shen Liang still opened it to take a look.

The first one, Bianca Durandal Atagina, S-rank, belonging to the Fate Headquarters. Shen Liang had a deep impression of her.

Second place: Theresa Apocalypse, S-rank, belonging to the Fate/stay night branch of Schicksal. Shen Liang remembered her as the headmistress of St. Freya Academy, but he didn't expect her to be the granddaughter of Otto's homunculus. It seems that the branch's strong members cannot be considered Valkyries directly under Schicksal's control.

Third, Maria Schariac, S-rank, belonging to the Schariac family of Schicksal. This one's simple, she's my mom.

Fourth place: Rita Losweiser, S-rank, affiliated with the Fate Headquarters.

Fifth place: Shigure Kira, A-rank, formerly affiliated with the Destiny Headquarters, now a free agent.

Sixth place: Thales Ionia, A-rank, affiliated with the United States.

Shen Liang stopped there. Although A-rank Valkyries were top-tier combat power, there were simply too many of them to count at a glance, so there was no need to look at too many.

But this list alone is enough to show how terrifying it is that Destiny can be revered as the World Government in the Extraordinary realm.

All S-class warriors are either from Schicksal headquarters or are under Schicksal's command. Although Valkyries like Theresa and Maria, who are only superficially aligned with Schicksal headquarters, cannot be considered part of "Schicksal's directly controlled forces," how could any country that wanted to challenge Schicksal not take into account the existence of these powerful individuals?

However, Shen Liang discovered that only two S-rank individuals from the Heavenly Mandate Headquarters were on the list, and the third seemed to be hidden due to insufficient information. This was not surprising; just as Shenzhou had a powerful figure like Cheng Ling Shuang, it was normal for Heavenly Mandate to keep some secrets.

From this perspective, it seems they've latched onto a very powerful ally; the Shaniat family's fighting strength is practically comparable to the World Government. With Cecilia and Maria around, this family should have no problem taking on a medium-sized country.

As Shen Liang pondered, he noticed that Rosalia had fallen into a deep sleep. He looked at the screen and realized that Anna hadn't responded to his last email in a long time.

Without thinking much, he carried the little one to bed, pulled down the princess-style curtains, and fell asleep.

Chapter 210 Encountering Maria's Mother During a Morning Run

"Tell me, you deliberately put on that act to get my attention, didn't you, Anna? What are you really thinking?"