K424 of the Collapse World

"......Eh?"

"I originally intended to give it to Otto as a gift, but who knew that old bastard would actually plot against me? His kindness was really taken for granted. So, I finally decided not to give it away."

Hillis, who was walking in front, suddenly interrupted. Charlotte, who was interrupted, could only roll her eyes, droop her ears, slightly puff up her cheeks, and did not refute. Claire was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but smile bitterly.

"This is really... I can see that Miss Charlotte should be very strong, right? Even Lady Shilis's pet is more useful than me... Hehe, don't take it seriously, I'm just kidding..."

Looking at the red-haired girl's somewhat ruffled wolf ears, Claire smiled and waved her hand, and her heavy mood eased a little.

"Tsk! You little girl..."

"Hey, hey~ I'm not a little girl. My name is Claire Shaniat. Don't be fooled by the fact that I've become like this because of the experiment, but I'm already 22 years old."

"Oh? Twenty-two years old... But unfortunately, to a 575-year-old like me, you are still just a little girl~?"

"Huh?! What the hell are you talking about..."

The corners of Claire's mouth twitched, and she was about to ask something, but when she suddenly saw Shirley's slightly serious look, she stopped immediately.

"Put aside the small talk for now, you two. I'm afraid we'll have to speed up our pace a bit."

Sensing the gradually increasing energy reaction around her, Shirley frowned. It seems that because of the noise just now, the surrounding search teams have already noticed it...

"Stay with me, Charlotte. There is only one optional goal left in the planned plan. After completing that, we can leave here."

The area located on the eastern edge of the underground area of ​​the Tianming headquarters is the scope of the Saint 1504 Research Institute. As one of Tianming's most famous weapons research institutes, it, like the Saint 7308 Research Institute, also has a place in the floating island of the headquarters.

In a locked laboratory, a girl with long black hair sat in front of a mechanical furnace, staring at the metal gradually melting in the furnace. She only wore a tight vest on her upper body, revealing the narrow but well-proportioned muscle contours on her back, and her white coat was tied directly around her waist with the sleeves. She only dressed like this when she was alone.

There was a faint sound of an alarm outside the door, but the girl, who had already poured all her mental energy into forging the sword, was completely unaware of it at the moment.

Although there are a large number of affiliated facilities in the industrial area of ​​the headquarters, Changguang still prefers to stay in the underground laboratory where no one will disturb him when doing his favorite work.

Watching the molten alloy slowly flowing into the casting mold, the girl's eyes became clear and bright. In her cherry-colored pupils, it seemed that only the fire of the furnace was reflected on her irises...|;...

Although she has studied many techniques and theoretical knowledge, Changguang's purpose in learning these is to use all these techniques to serve her main job - sword forging.

The casting was completely completed, and the girl finally showed some relief on her face. At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind her...

"Can we talk, Miss Changguang from Saint 1504? Let me make it clear first, I didn't disturb your work this time~"

"...!"

543 successfully "reached consensus"

"This voice seems to be K... No, it should be Miss Shilis, right?"

After a brief moment of shock, Changguang's eyes calmed down, and her heartbeat, which had just become rapid, also quickly slowed down. Until now, she had not made any moves, and she did not even subconsciously turn around to look at the person who was speaking behind her.

"I heard that after the last incident, Bishop Otto signed a cooperation agreement with Anti-Entropy. In other words, you are here as a visitor now?"

"I guess so. Anyway, Otto should have no objection to my actions."

"..."

Hearing Shirley's vague answer, Changguang frowned slightly, then relaxed, and listened to the vague chaotic noise coming from outside, and laughed softly. Then, with her back to Shirley, her eyes became sharp.

"

This is not okay... Coming to my private laboratory without permission, even Otto himself does not have this privilege, let alone a guest who comes to visit. So... Dear Miss Hillis, we are not related or have any special relationship, but you broke into my private space, do you know what this means?"

"No, I don't know what it means, and I don't want to know such things. My legs are on my body, and I am free to go wherever I can reach. But you, Miss Changguang, do you really think that I must get a permit to come in here?"

Looking at the girl who was slumped in her seat like a rock, Hillary seemed to have sensed something. She snorted, raised her hand to signal Charlotte and Claire to stay where they were, and then walked towards her from the door of the laboratory.

"Let me give you a piece of advice in advance, Miss Changguang. It will be good for all of us if you give up some of your ideas as soon as possible."

"..."

When she was about five steps away from Changguang, the girl stopped, looked at the several finished heavy swords placed next to the iron felt, then looked at Changguang who had no reaction at all, and clapped her hands gently.

"This kind of solid and pure fighting spirit... I can see that you must have practiced some kind of internal power of ancient Shenzhou martial arts, and your attainments are not low. But unfortunately, with these miscellaneous and unrefined things of yours, you can't defeat the current S-level Valkyrie, let alone me who defeated them all."

"...Oh? This is really surprising. Miss Shilis, as far as I know, you are a humanoid from Northern Europe, but you have lived in the Far East for a period of time. I didn't expect that you are familiar with the martial arts culture of the East?"

Hearing Xili's calm voice, Changguang finally let out a deep breath after a moment's hesitation. As her sitting posture became more casual, the suffocating sense of solemnity that had just enveloped the laboratory seemed to dissipate.

Indeed, after the girl approached him, Changguang could also feel that the K424 standing behind him was completely different from the weak and desperate experimental subject...

The last time they met, she was not aware of her own strength. But now, the girl revealed the essence of her power with just one sentence. It was obvious that Changguang could no longer take risks as easily as last time.

So, it would be better to relax and have a good chat with the girl in front of you to see what her plans are.

As she spoke, she stood up from her chair and turned around. Her deep and bright cherry purple pupils met Shirley's eyes for the first time.

"That's right. In the early days of my travels, I once became a disciple of Taixu and asked the swordsman of Tianqiong Peak for the martial arts of Shenzhou to improve my sword-forging skills... But as you said, they were just miscellaneous skills. What I, an outer disciple, learned was just the basics of Liuxin Jue."

"Liu Xin Jue? It's a branch of Taixu Sword Intention... If you master this martial art, then you should be able to see something from me."

Hillis went on to speak, looking calm and composed, as if she was not on her way to escape from the Savior Headquarters, but was leisurely visiting here.

"On your body...? Well, although my eyesight can hardly see any useful information, but according to this indescribable familiar feeling, if I am not mistaken, you should have practiced a similar mental method as mine, right?"

"Yes, but I should be closer to the origin. No matter how many variations and branches of the Taixu Sword Intent there are, there is only one original founder. Since we are both disciples of that person, then now, do we have some relationship?"

Clenching her fist, Shirley stood opposite Changguang, looking at the girl who was ten centimeters shorter than her. On the other side, after hearing Shirley's suggestive words, Changguang frowned again. After a brief thought, she shook her head, and her face with a polite smile quickly became serious.

"Please tell me directly, Miss Hillis, what is your purpose in coming to see me?"

After hearing this, Silis thought for a moment and her expression became relaxed. The next moment, with a sincere look as if she was asking for help, the girl opened her red lips.

"Well... I'll be frank with you then. The reason I'm here is precisely because of you, Miss Changguang."

"Eh......?"

"To be precise, I hope you can come with us, because in order to fight against the Honkai, Anti-Entropy and the Far East Branch need a forger like you, Miss Changguang."

Changguang was stunned for a moment, as if she didn't understand what Shilis meant. But as the girl explained, she showed a subtle look of realization.

"So you want to kidnap me and make me your slave laborer?"

"It's not hard work! We will pay you a reasonable labor fee, and you will be our guest of honor at St. Freya Academy.

So it’s a good deal for both you and us.”

Shilis walked over slowly and persuaded softly. Although her voice was weak, it was sincere and there was indeed a hint of pleading in her tone. But after hearing her words, Changguang's eyes revealed a trace of embarrassment, and his slightly frowned brows became deeper.

"But, I don't understand... Although the Saint 1504 Research Institute that I am in charge of has some research and development results, those are not achieved by me alone. And in terms of reputation, the Saint 7308 Research Institute is much stronger than me. Most of the "Throne of the Gods" weapons of the Mandate come from there. So, if you need an outstanding weapons expert, you might as well kidnap the director of the Saint 7308 Research Institute..."

"Well, well...wait a minute, Miss Changguang, it seems that before I send you an invitation, I must first explain to you the situation of the Far East Branch. As the oldest large organization in the world, Destiny has so far developed countless relics of former civilizations and seized a large amount of soul steel mining sources. I know very well that the so-called throne weapons of the Destiny Organization are all made of soul steel, a relic of former civilization that cannot be replicated at present. However, we are different from the Destiny headquarters. Neither the Far East Branch nor Anti-Entropy has a large amount of usable soul steel as weapon material, nor does it have decent rare minerals as substitutes. Even if I kidnap the director of Saint 7308, it will be useless."

"..."

"But Miss Changguang, you are different. I know that although you are not good at processing soul steel materials, more than 7308 years ago, you were able to use the scraps of Honkai beasts and combine them with alloys to create powerful weapons that are comparable to the current thrones of the gods! If you compare the so-called director of Saint with you, no matter how you look at it, it is obvious who is stronger and who is weaker."

"Ah ha ha......"

Seeing through her tricks instantly, Changguang could only laugh awkwardly. Although she had just tried to push the blame on Director Dean of Saint 7308, Changguang herself despised the director who advocated high-cost waste production. Now that she was compared with that guy by Shirley, she didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"But Miss Hillis, since you are so good at fighting and can even break through the headquarters' defenses to get here, why don't you just take the Soul Steel back from the Destiny Organization? That would obviously be easier and less risky..."

543 successfully "reached consensus" >>

"No, that's not easy at all. If you were to choose, which one would be easier, carrying several tons of raw stones or kidnapping a girl?"

"Uh......"

"The Far East is not technologically advanced, and anti-entropy resources are scarce. So, taking you with us to the Far East is the most cost-effective solution for us, right~☆?"

As Shiris spoke, she blinked at Changguang in a cute way. Her deliberate cuteness seemed to be accompanied by the sound of Kirakira~☆. At this moment, the girl's pretty face no longer had the dignity it had before, and she looked completely like a cute young girl.

However, Changguang doesn't buy it.

"But what good will this do me?"

"We will provide a higher salary than Tianming, and try our best to meet all your work needs. After all, in Miss Changguang's eyes, there is nothing more important than forging a sword, right? We will meet your needs for the workshop, furnace, iron felt, and all other material needs."

"Material requirements?"

"That's right! When you make weapons, you often use Houkai energy as materials, right? Then the Far East Branch must be a more suitable place for you! See the girl standing behind me? She is a humanoid Judgment-level Houkai beast. There are many similar creatures in our place. Moreover, I am also a genuine Eleventh Herrscher. Think about it, if we can help you obtain experimental data, it should be of greater help to your work!"

"hehe......"

Changguang smiled bitterly, sighed, and spread his hands.

"Well, it's indeed a very tempting condition. But having said that... As you can see, the conditions provided by the Destiny Organization are probably better than those of Anti-Entropy. Look, an inexhaustible supply of Honkai materials, Honkai-powered furnaces, electron collision cutting guns, and soul steel forging hammers... When I first saw these things, they exceeded my imagination of the working environment. May I ask, can Anti-Entropy really provide something better?"

"Maybe... maybe? Tesla's super electromagnetic technology is something that Tianming doesn't have..."

"Okay, I'll reserve my opinion on this. But... since you've invaded here, Otto will definitely freeze all the emergency escape pods here and block all the passages. After all, that golden-haired bishop thinks highly of me, and that's why I haven't been secretly eliminated by that jealous Dean for so many years. Do you think that Otto will let you take me away so easily?"

Changguang shook his head and was about to say something else, but Shilis quickly stepped forward, passed Changguang who was confused, and

His hand pressed on the sensor screen of the emergency escape cabin.

——Drip~

"Certification passed, Silis Kaslana"

Looking at the operating screen that turned green, Changguang's mouth twitched and his expression changed again and again, but the astonishment in his eyes could not be concealed no matter what.

"Eh? Why hasn't the system frozen yet... No! Why were you able to activate my escape pod?!"

"Look, there is no blockade or restriction on the system, everything is running normally. Miss Changguang, I have already said it just now, although I have done many things beyond the limit, they are all tacitly approved by Otto, including coming here to find you..."

"Well, how could this happen..."

The unexpected development caused the black-haired girl to lose consciousness for a short time. But soon, after hesitating for a moment, she shook her head gently.

"It still doesn't work... I work for Destiny here, and Destiny meets my work needs. This is the promise I made with Otto a hundred years ago. How can an oath be broken so easily?"

"Oh?"

Faced with Changguang's rejection, Shiris was stunned for a moment, and a hint of cunning flashed in her eyes. It was obvious that she still did not intend to give up.

"When did I ever say that doing this would make you break your vows?"

"...Isn't it considered breaking the oath if you have blatantly changed jobs?"

Looking at the confused Changguang, the smile on the silver-haired girl's face became more and more sly.

"Because I forcibly captured you! From the perspective of the people of Destiny, the development of the matter is like this: 'Director Changguang of Saint 1504 was abducted by the Ruler of Constraint, taken to the Far East and imprisoned, and forced to work for the Far East Branch and Anti-Entropy'. Think about it, how can such a force majeure factor be considered a breach of promise?"

"..."

Looking at the silver-haired girl who looked as if it was a matter of course, Changguang was stunned for a moment and was completely speechless. Just as she was hesitating again, the girl's faint voice suddenly crossed a distance of several meters and rang directly in her ear.

“Don’t try to find excuses to shirk your responsibility. If you refuse again, don’t blame me for turning the fake show I just mentioned into reality! Don’t forget, I have the initiative in my hands now! If things develop like this… hehehe~ By then, I’m afraid the work I need you to do won’t just be sword forging.”

Leaning close to Changguang's ear, Shilis looked at the petite black-haired girl and smiled maliciously.

"In fact, there is a very scary perverted lolita lover inside the Anti-Entropy Organization... To be honest, you are quite cute. According to the Eastern aesthetics, your appearance can be rated above 85 points. Moreover, the world's number one swordsmith is actually a beautiful girl who is less than meters tall? This dual identity forms a huge contrast, which is her favorite cute point! In addition, you are so beautiful in appearance. If you are imprisoned as a prisoner, she will probably not let go of such a perfect prey, right?"

"..."

The black-haired girl's face began to become embarrassed. Although she tried her best to hide it, the goose bumps on her arms could not be hidden from Shirley's eyes.

Although this knife maker has experienced thousands of years and seen all kinds of things in the world, she has a little understanding of the modern culture of the Far East, so naturally she does not want to experience that unimaginable and terrible experience...

"Hehe... Hehe... A cute appearance is nothing but skin. If you praise my forged works by saying they are cute, I might be happier..."

"But a certain perverted doctor doesn't think so. So, have you figured out what to choose? Miss Changguang, are you going to pretend to be captured by me? Or are you going to really be captured by me?"

"...Do I have any choice now?"

With a helpless grumble, Changguang looked at the gradually cooling metal in the casting mold reluctantly, and finally gave up on being stubborn. Moreover, although she seemed very reluctant, she was actually a little curious about what terrible things the Far East Branch, which the Valkyries usually talked about, had...

He easily picked up the red heavy sword placed in the corner, put it on his back, and came in front of Shilis and the other two. He folded his arms and puffed up his cheeks slightly.

"Okay, let's go."

"Master Changguang, do you have no other luggage?"

Looking at the angry girl, Claire spoke awkwardly. Although she knew how important an excellent blacksmith, or weapon expert, was to her, the method that Shiris used just now was really not fair and aboveboard...

"There are many more, but I can only take this Ushikiri now. It's not important. According to the agreement, you should provide other things."

"Yes, that's right! Anyway, don't worry... the Far East Branch, which integrates Anti-Entropy and Destiny technologies, will definitely not let you down."

Hillis beside her responded with a smile, then raised her hand and directly pressed the emergency escape hatch start button of the closed laboratory...

544 Methods of Repairing the Contract

"Now, can you tell us the situation?"

In the main building of the ruins in Haiyuan City, Einstein and the other three who were stationed in the Anti-Entropy finally met the uninvited guest from the destiny in the meeting room. On the left sat Einstein, Walter and Iselin who was there to make up the numbers, and on the right sat the two commanders, Yulandel and Rita. There was a table between them, and they sat opposite each other.

At this time, Einstein was the first to break the silence.