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

The sound of a knife cutting through muscle and fascia.

The sound of tongs picking up something.

"No, no, no! You monster! Take that thing away! Take it away! Ugh! No, don't take it anymore... Please, he's there, he's looking at me! Get out... Ahhhhhh!"

Anna turned her back. Every time Shen Liang interrogated her, she would look away. Listening to the desperate screams of the tortured, even she felt a chill run down her spine.

She tried to cover her ears, unwilling to think about what kind of torture that person had suffered. Fortunately, Shen Liang never asked her to help with such matters, otherwise she might not have been able to continue as the translator.

She even felt a mixture of fear and relief towards Shen Liang.

—After all, I am also a Valkyrie of destiny.

Given this boy's current attitude towards destiny, he probably wouldn't even blink an eye if he killed a Valkyrie. But Shen Liang always treated her politely, like an ordinary boy.

Anna knew this was because the eldest and second daughters of the Schariac family were still considered his friends, and the Schariac family was probably a relatively reliable support in his mind. Therefore, he still showed respect and friendship to Anna.

But this guy was definitely not harmless. Anna knew very well that his mentality was extremely unstable. Right now, he was practically like Shuten-dōji from Japanese mythology, a cruel and bloodthirsty figure. Legend has it that Shuten-dōji was also a beautiful young man with the appearance of a young girl, but his heart was that of a demon. He would even cut off the breasts of virgins to use as a snack, and he ate the flesh and blood of women and children.

Anna glanced at Shen Liang discreetly, her feelings somewhat complicated.

But if the historical Shuten-dōji was really as handsome as him... then probably 89 out of 10 girls he kidnapped were there willingly, right? Who knows, when Minamoto no Yorimitsu broke into Mount Ōe, those girls might have even complained that he was meddling in their business.

After Shen Liang cut off the tongue of the third corpse, the mercenary's defenses finally crumbled! He shouted through sobs, "What do you want to ask! Tell me! I'll tell you everything! Ask away!"

"Didn't I ask?" Shen Liang was taken aback, looking at Rosalia. "Didn't we ask?"

Thinking about it carefully, it seems I didn't actually ask.

Shen Liang knew that Bronya and Seele had escaped, and since the mercenaries hadn't captured them, they couldn't possibly know where Bronya had gone. As for the remaining questions… it seemed they had indeed been interrogating her, but she simply didn't know what to say.

Suddenly I felt a little awkward.

"You mercenaries have already defeated the government forces, what are you still doing here?" Shen Liang put down the fire tongs and asked in a deep voice.

"Ruins! The ruins that destiny seeks!"

Fearing further torture, the mercenary immediately shouted, "Aisha discovered the ruins, right there in that church! Your sister was also captured because she discovered the development of the ruins! The Valkyries said she's an agent from Siberia and absolutely must complete the development of the ruins before Siberia finds out!"

Shen Liang then realized why Bronya hadn't shown up.

The development of the ruins won't take long. If Bronya returns home and informs Cocolia, the ruins will already be fully developed. By then, Great Britain and Schicksal will have withdrawn, leaving no way to verify anything, and nothing will be of any use... Great Britain is also one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; you can't expect Great Britain to hand over all the artifacts from the ruins.

If Bronya really has designs on the ruins, she has no choice but to stay and wait for an opportunity.

Those Valkyries might not even know that Bronya is a Valkyrie, so they simply accelerated the excavation of the ruins instead of making a huge fuss to find Bronya.

"What exactly are these ruins? Why is Destiny so concerned about them?"

"I don't know! I really don't know!" the mercenary cried. "I'm just an ordinary human, you're superhumans, how could I possibly know what you want! I'm just following orders to start a riot in Aisha, how could we mercenaries possibly know anything about the inside story! Believe me!"

That's true. The mercenaries are essentially here to instigate war and give Great Britain a chance to intervene. They can't possibly let the mercenaries know too much. If it weren't for the fact that the development of the ruins required the mercenaries to work, they might not even want to tell them the location of the ruins.

"Who recruited this mercenary group?" Shen Liang was more cautious this time. The last time he asked this question, Smith was sniped and killed. This time, he was prepared in advance.

"It's a Valkyrie!" The mercenary finally realized what was going on when the topic came up. He had no intention of keeping a secret and hurriedly said, "It's that Valkyrie on the other end of the phone! I've never met her, but she paid us a two million dollar deposit! And there's a ten million dollar balance after we complete this mission!"

It doesn't seem like much. Shen Liang roughly estimated that this mercenary group had three hundred people, which would only amount to forty thousand US dollars per person.

However, launching a coup in a small country like El Salvador is a relatively simple task compared to various war missions, and it almost doesn't involve risking one's life... if one hadn't met Shen Liang.

Shen Liang glanced at the walkie-talkie on the armory box. He hadn't hung up the communication because he was planning to call back after dealing with this group of people... He didn't expect such an unexpected surprise.

He put down the mercenary and picked up the walkie-talkie. The walkie-talkie had probably broken during the recent battle; only static could be heard, indicating that communication had been lost long ago.

But Shen Liang didn't care. He waited for a response on the walkie-talkie, but there was none, so he spoke.

"The Valkyrie of Destiny, huh?"

The walkie-talkie is silent.

“Hello, I am Pandora Shaniat, an unofficial member of the Shaniat family. You attempted to kidnap and harm my two sisters, leaving their fate unknown to this day. I don’t know if they are in your hands, but if they are, I hope you will treat them well. That way, when I come to you, you will still have a bargaining chip to save yourselves.”

“But if I find out that my sister is dead, or has suffered some irreparable injury,” Shen Liang said in a chilling tone, “then it’s simple. I will make all of Elsa’s current Valkyries pay with their lives for my sister’s, not a single one will be left. Of course, you may think I’m just spouting nonsense, but I still hope you are prepared, because that day may not be far off.”

Another five seconds of silence.

Then, a slightly suppressed female voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie.

"The Shaniat family has no member named Pandora. Who are you?"

"You just need to wait and see." Shen Liang crushed the walkie-talkie.

Then he took a deep breath of the gunpowder-smelling air.

The pressure was enough.

Although it's unclear who's on the other end of the walkie-talkie, it's definitely a Valkyrie. Elsa can't possibly have that many Valkyries, so putting pressure on her will get through to the others.

This is a warning; if the Valkyrie of Destiny doesn't believe it... that's fine too.

It really doesn't matter.

“Pandora…are you serious?” Anna asked softly, “Are you really going to kill so many people?”

For some reason, Anna actually felt that he wasn't spouting nonsense... Although she knew very well that even an A-rank Valkyrie wasn't the strongest in Destiny, looking at Shen Liang's expressionless face, she felt... that Shen Liang really could do that.

“I’m also a Valkyrie in Elsa…” Anna said hesitantly, fiddling with her fingers.

Shen Liang chuckled to himself.

Cute Rosalia.jpg

Chapter 140 Sister Ta's Daily Overthinking

Inside a helicopter over Tallinn, used for coordinating satellite phone frequency signals, the people of Arvit were dumbfounded.

She is a Valkyrie from Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie squad, "The Undying Blade," and serves as the squad's communications officer. This squad only deploys during exceptionally significant Honkai-related events. For example, at the Aisha Ruins, Alvite and the vice-captain, along with several subordinate Valkyries, were dispatched together.

There were only seven people in total.

The seven Valkyries are a force that can absolutely do whatever they want in Elsa's world. How could anyone dare to threaten such a force?

But Arvit was so scared she almost wet her pants!

She's not the vice-captain. Vice-captain Rita Losweisse is undoubtedly a match for ten thousand men, but she, Alvitt, is just a communications officer. Although she is theoretically an A-rank Valkyrie in terms of combat strength, she generally doesn't go to the battlefield. To put it bluntly, she's even forgotten how to fight!

And the boy on the other end of the walkie-talkie... yes! He was actually a boy!

Arvit knew he was a madman!

The screams of the mercenaries coming through the walkie-talkie made it very clear to Alvitt what had happened. There were at least a hundred mercenaries in that camp, and the sounds of fire roasting, crackling oil, and the gradually fading wails in the background all proved that those people were unlikely to still be alive.

"I actually messed with such a ruthless executioner!" Alvitt was on the verge of tears.

Shen Liang had accumulated enough violence and fear in the heart of this young girl who was only in her early twenties. He had always regarded the Valkyrie as something like a "special forces soldier" or "agent of a powerful organization," like the kind of person raised in the Cocolia Orphanage.

But he misunderstood. In fact, even among Valkyries, most Valkyries have not experienced much warfare, and many of those non-combatant Valkyries are actually clerical workers.

Before becoming a Valkyrie, most people just live their lives as usual, right? Who would go to the front lines to fight for no reason? Even Valkyries who are skilled in combat usually train on their own, and getting stronger on the treadmill in the gym is the daily routine for most Valkyries!

Where in this world are there so many battles between superhumans?

Valkyries are generally considered to be the unsung heroes who maintain order in human society. What does "unsung hero" mean? It means that they are rarely needed to take action and can only slack off, which is euphemistically called "maintaining order in secret".

Shen Liang misjudged the concept of "Valkyrie," so his words, which were akin to a "murder threat," would terrify even an A-rank Valkyrie like Alvette.

"What are you all standing around for? Quickly contact the Shaniat family and ask them where this Pandora came from!" Alvitt ordered her Valkyrie subordinates in a frantic manner. "When did the Shaniat family produce such a murderous bastard? And a man at that! What man could be this strong? Siegfried and the Saintess's illegitimate son? How come I've never heard of him before?"

She picked up the satellite phone and dialed quickly, "Vice Captain! Help! That boy you met with Anna last time has specifically named someone and is here to kill us!"

Meanwhile, beneath Tallinn lies the long-abandoned grotto sewer system.

Rita Losweisse, the vice-captain of the strongest Valkyrie squad "Undying Blade" and an S-rank Valkyrie, connected to a satellite phone and calmed the communications officer down.

She was overseeing the excavation of the ruins, more than a hundred meters away from the church shrine where Honkai energy was violently reacting. As the highest-ranking officer of the Valkyrie unit that had arrived in Aisha, Rita could not leave her side as the ruins were about to be unearthed.

Once the construction team unearths the underground shrine recorded in the records, Rita will take the sealed artifact with her. Entrusting such a sealed artifact from a previous civilization to any logistics company is unsafe, not even Schicksal's own logistics, so Rita herself must bring it back to Schicksal headquarters.

Pre-civilization sealed artifacts are extremely powerful and mysterious man-made objects discovered by Destiny during archaeological projects around the world.

In layman's terms, these are all legacies left behind by a previous human civilization that perished approximately 50,000 years ago. That civilization's technological advancements far surpassed those of modern humans, hence the discovery of such legacies often sparks fierce competition among nations worldwide.

As the most powerful and officially recognized supernatural force in the human world, Destiny has unearthed the relics of previous civilizations on more than one occasion. Based on these relics, Destiny's technological capabilities even surpass those of other nations in some respects.

However, the most powerful forces in human society remain the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Destiny can only strive to maintain a balance between itself and the five permanent members, and try to control these pre-civilization seals with a political attitude as independent as possible from those countries. While those already in its grasp are manageable, once the ruins are discovered, the five permanent members, upon hearing the news, are unlikely to allow Destiny to take these legacies away.

Although the value of pre-civilization relics varies, the most famous seal of Destiny is the "Key of God: Oath of Judah".

It was a golden cross shaped like intertwined chains, passed down through the millennia of the Mandate of Heaven, the exact details of its excavation now lost to time. But though its origins are long unknown, its story is astonishing: on January 14th, 33 AD, in an era before the Mandate of Heaven was called the Mandate of Heaven, a superhuman named Judas crucified Jesus Christ on this very cross.

Yes, it's the one from the Bible.

This cross was sealed away for a long time until the 14th century, when the Oath of Judah, which had been gathering dust in the Vatican for over a thousand years, was reactivated by Destiny. The cross's power is very simple: it seals the operation of all Honkai energy within its domain, essentially acting as the Valkyrie Commandment—a nemesis to all superhuman beings.

Incidentally, the cross is currently in the hands of Theresa Apocalypse, the head of the Far East branch of Fate Seeker. She is also the headmistress of St. Freya Academy, the one that recruited Shen Liang.

It is because of this commandment of the cross that Theresa was able to suppress the Honkai energy of thousands of Valkyries in the entire school by herself, ensuring that no student in St. Freya Academy would go berserk and fight every day using their superhuman strength and become a delinquent girl.

This setting feels strangely familiar.

“The child next to Anna… Pandora Shaniat?” Rita frowned slightly. “How did the Shaniat family know that Aisha had the ruins of a pre-civilization? I shouldn’t have revealed my identity to Anna.”

"It sounds like he's saying we hurt his sister! He's going to kill someone! I'll be the first one!" Alvit threatened her. "If anything happens to his sister, you won't get away either!"

“Impossible,” Rita pondered for a moment, then slowly said, “How could we have encountered a child from the Shaniat family? It’s clearly a fabricated charge, a pretext to steal the sealed artifact. It seems even the Bishop can’t control the Shaniat family anymore… Is that saintess becoming so reckless because she’s nearing the end of her life?”