I was transported to a broken world, yet my dreams are connected to Star Iron?

　While the three on the stands were locked in a battle of wits, the situation on the training field was also quietly changing.

　With Bronya unleashing her full firepower, Heavy Bunny's laser cannons went into berserk mode, wreaking havoc on the training ground. While Bronya was suppressing Bronya's firepower, Kiana, who was closing in, had a glint of gold in her eyes.

　"Oh?"

　Rita's gaze sharpened instantly. Because her attention was focused on Kiana, she clearly "caught" that the two bullets did not fly along their original trajectory the moment they left the muzzle, but instead disappeared directly into the muzzle.

　Immediately, Wendy's wheelchair emitted several strange metallic clanging sounds before coming to a complete stop.

　Wendy's eyes widened suddenly.

　As the Herrscher of Wind, Rita could see things clearly with her naked eye, so she could naturally perceive them even more clearly with her powers—at the same time Kiana fired her gun, the two bullets were directly "sent" into Wendy's wheelchair.

　Wendy wasn't surprised that the other party could break her wheelchair. In fact, because Suzumo had been training her to master the Wind Power, the wheelchair was actually a power-sealing device for her. Without the wheelchair, she could fly even faster.

　What surprised Wendy most was that Kiana actually possessed the power of the Void?!

　As a former top student, Wendy hadn't neglected her history studies. Especially after learning about Suzuma's true identity, she even researched the Second Honkai Impact and learned about Suzuma and the Second Herrscher, Sirin.

　After arriving at St. Freya Academy, Wendy had been wondering about one thing: why, despite Kiana, Mei, and Bronya all having high affection levels for Suzuma, Suzuma's relationship with Kiana was the only one that had made a significant breakthrough. After all, this white-haired girl seemed a bit clumsy, and even in the battle of love, she didn't seem like the type to make the first move.

　But what if this Kiana is actually related to the Herrscher of the Void, or even possesses the core of the Herrscher of the Void or a portion of its powers...?

　The reason why Lingmo was closest to her is obvious.

　However... even if the other party might be Suzuma's "official wife", Miss Wendy will never admit defeat!

　Driven by some inexplicable competitive spirit, Wendy once again became a source of flammability!

　“Alright, the three of you… I have to admit, your tactical skills and combat abilities far surpass those of other Valkyries of the same level, however…”

　"Now, please witness the true power of the Gem of Desire—"

　"time up."

　Miss Wendy, who had just started to ignite, was immediately given emergency fire-fighting measures by Ragnar on the sidelines.

　"This...Professor Ragnar, it shouldn't be three minutes yet, right?"

　Rita blinked and looked at Ragnar, who had directly deactivated the virtual training equipment.

　"The main problem is that Wendy's skills are not yet proficient. If she uses this level of exertion, I'm afraid she will lose control of her abilities. If that happens, it would be bad if someone actually gets hurt."

　Ragnar offered a flawless explanation with a smile.

　Ragnar, are you really the kind of person who's afraid of students getting hurt? Why did you never say that when you were training me...?

　Rita's lips twitched slightly, but she didn't say anything more.

　Putting everything else aside, the biggest problem remains Theresa, who is standing to the side.

　Ragnar isn't afraid that Theresa might accidentally reveal something, but Rita is genuinely afraid. For example, if she accidentally lets slip Kiana's identity or accidentally reveals something about Anti-Entropy, should Rita, as a special agent from headquarters, investigate or not?

　It has to be said that having such an idiot as an opponent is quite a restraint for Rita.

　It's decided. Tomorrow morning I'll stake out Lady Theresa's office and make up for all the frustration I suffered today...

　Rita, who had already booked her itinerary for tomorrow, smiled and gave up on pursuing the matter of Kiana.

　After all... when Kiana was able to use the power of the Void on her own, and in such a concealed way, Rita had already obtained what she wanted to know.

　“Then… Professor Ragnar, Lady Theresa.”

　After patiently waiting for Theresa to finish the remaining rituals of the assessment, Rita stood up and said, "Now that the assessment is complete, Rita will take her leave. Headquarters needs me to put together a report by today, so I need to hurry back and summarize it."

　"So rushed... It seems headquarters' style is still the same as before."

　Ragnar, who also had experience working at headquarters, was very understanding of Rita and simply waved her hand, letting her leave.

　However, judging from Ragnar's ambiguous smile... she clearly guessed something.

　What did they guess? Did they realize they were secretly carrying out a mission? Or did they figure out that their target was Kiana?

　Rita frowned slightly as she walked down the street. To be honest, even after becoming an S-class Valkyrie, the opponent she least wanted to face was still not Durandal, but Ragnar. After all, based on today's situation, Rita still hadn't figured out how much information Ragnar knew.

　You could say she didn't know, since several crucial interruptions came from Ragnar; but you could also say she did know... Rita simply couldn't find any evidence.

　However, just then, a voice interrupted Rita's thoughts.

　"Miss Rita."

　Rita looked up in surprise, and then her gaze met a pair of captivating purple eyes.

　"【listen to me.】"

　Chapter 191 Otto: What are Suzumo's trump cards? Why does she insist on dragging me into this gamble?

　"Hmm... Kaffa's character cards are really useful."

　Although Suzuma herself also possesses mental perception abilities, and when she activates the Aili Stigmata to amplify herself, her erosion powers are actually quite adept at modifying memories.

　However, just to be on the safe side, Suzuma chose to use Kafka's character card for modification.

　After all, Otto could also simulate the power of erosion, and it wouldn't be good if Otto found any strange traces.

　Thinking of this, Lingmo, whose hair color had turned pinkish-purple, somewhat similar to Xiaoshi's hair color, decisively snapped her fingers again, and strands of purple silk, like spider webs, instantly wrapped around Rita's entire body.

　Hmm, it feels really good, as expected of the Herrscher of Tenderness...

　As Lingmo gently ran her fingers along the smooth black stockings on Rita's side, she felt an incredibly wonderful sensation on her fingertips.

　Unlike herself and Wendy, who have a girlish style, Rita, whose style and charm are completely mature, obviously looks much better in black stockings than any black stockings that Suzumo has ever touched or worn... No, I seem to have gone off on a tangent.

　Suddenly realizing that she seemed to have been seduced by Rita's beauty, Suzuma coughed awkwardly a few times, and then began to activate the power of words granted to her by the character card, modifying Rita's memories of the assessment results.

　"[Listen to me] Regarding Kiana's assessment, you only saw that Kiana's physical fitness and combat power have improved significantly. However, her second personality is still only showing signs of revival and is in an extremely unstable state. We still need to continue to observe her to determine whether she has awakened."

　"Listen to me, you don't remember anything about our meeting tonight. After the Valkyrie assessment, you went straight back to your residence without encountering anyone on the way."

　Amidst the flashes of purple light, the power of the words had fully taken effect. Seeing this, Lingmo breathed a sigh of relief, retracted the threads binding Rita, and watched her leave towards the reception area.

　To be honest, Suzuma had considered using Kaffa's character card to subtly insert some elements, such as boldly confessing her feelings to Durandal after returning home, or laying the groundwork for the upcoming War of Destiny. After all, Kaffa wasn't used very often, and using her only once would be a bit of a waste, but...

　After watching Rita walk away, Lingmo sighed and nodded slightly towards a rooftop in the distance. Then, the half-exposed maid's headband on that rooftop seemed to respond by swaying and then disappearing.

　Well... as expected of a veteran Valkyrie, even in this extremely awkward position of being caught in the middle, Ragnar still manages to maintain a good balance in her interactions with everyone and keeps their power struggles within acceptable limits.

　Placing her in Oceania is really a waste of her talents... But in theory, the Honkai will end in two years, so Ragnar should be able to continue to shine in the merged Schicksal by then.

　After all, judging from what happened later, the new Destiny is really lacking a Valkyrie like Ragnar who has principles, ability, and shrewdness.

　"This matter should be considered over by now... Ugh, I should think about how to deal with Kiana and Sirin tonight. Although yesterday was already quite a mess, I still have a feeling that they're going to launch a night raid on me again tonight... Should I lock the door tonight? The problem is, for the Herrscher of the Void, locking the door seems to only lock myself in."

　……

　Two days later, at the headquarters of Destiny.

　"That concludes my observations at St. Freya... However, on the day after the assessment ended, which was also the day I left, some additional circumstances arose. Although I don't know how Miss Suzuma brought them together, Kiana and Wendy's relationship seemed to improve considerably. Kiana even invited Wendy to stay at Himeko's villa for a while."

　"However, due to time constraints, I can't continue to investigate this matter in depth. After all, the Oceania delegation will be staying in St. Freya for quite some time, and I have no reason to stay in St. Freya to observe further."

　"Their relationship has improved? Hmm... that's quite normal."

　Otto leaned back in his office chair, looking as if he had expected this: "Miss Suzuma still has her own charm. I didn't expect her to be too distracted by this kind of thing anyway. On the contrary, the observations about Kiana are more important..."

　"Your Excellency, is there a problem with Miss Kiana's observations?"

　"..."

　Otto didn't speak, but frowned slightly and pondered for a while.

　"Never mind, Rita, you should go back first. Let me think about this some more."

　"Yes, Lord Bishop."

　Rita bowed respectfully, turned around, and prepared to leave the bishop's office.

　However, at that moment, Otto snapped his fingers lightly, and a small golden cube instantly appeared in his hand.

　Rita, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped in her tracks, her eyes vacant. Clearly, Miss Rita had fallen into a hypnotic state again.

　"Void Treasury, Mimicry of Jizo's Soul, check Rita's body for any signs of erosion."

　The Void Treasury, which had transformed into a katana, emitted several golden rays that enveloped Rita. After a moment, it turned back into a small golden cube and swayed slightly.

　"No... Then continue the examination with the Mimic Feather Crossing the Dust."

　However, even after the golden feather was extracted from Rita's body, Otto still did not get the answer he wanted.

　“It wasn’t Lingmo’s own erosion power, nor was it her old friend who helped her with Feather Dust… Strange, then why are the observation results different from my guess? Could it be that the situation over there has changed?”

　After much thought, Otto could only wave his hand, scattering the golden feathers, while Rita, after a slight pause, continued to leave the office without noticing.

　“Your Excellency… since the verification results are different from your guess, do I need to make any changes to the arrangements I had made before?”

　Seeing that Otto remained silent for a long time, Amber stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

　"...Not for now. Since this test didn't yield any results, let's just pretend it never happened."

　Otto sighed.

　"Lingmo, Lingmo... what big thing are you hiding that makes you so confident of victory, that you have to accumulate all your cards before revealing them when the plan is about to be implemented?"

　"This is really... forcing me to take a gamble..."

　“But, you know, I never gamble when it comes to Karen… Amber.”

　"Yes, Your Excellency."

　"Call Changguang over. I need her help with something. Also... bring Youling back. We don't need her to keep an eye on Lingmo's situation anymore. I have a new task for her."

　Chapter 192 Lingmo: Let me see what destruction left me... Holy crap, golden blood?

　"Yes, this phase of the renovation is probably complete."

　Having received the experimental data from the Black Tower, Ruan Mei tapped the sample of Jianmu sap that the Black Tower had sent and nodded in satisfaction.

　"Theoretically speaking, Lingmo should now have the ability to leave Jianmu, but she cannot be away for too long. According to estimates, her body can only last for about three days before collapsing."

　"However, considering Lingmo's own feelings, and the fact that the imbalance between these two destinies is a gradual process, I personally suggest that Lingmo return to Jianmu every other day to refresh her physical condition in order to avoid any problems."

　"That is to say..."

　Lingmo tilted her head: "I still can't leave the Immortal Ship?"

　"Actually, it'll be soon. Lingmo, you haven't been exposed to the process of completing an experimental project, so you don't quite understand."

　Hei Ta coughed lightly and explained, "In this kind of experiment, the most difficult part is the breakthrough from 0 to 1... Once this breakthrough is achieved, the subsequent progress will basically be a natural progression."

　"At this rate... your body should be fully trained before you head to Pinocchio."

　"Completed, training is finished...? That sounds so strange."

　Lingmo ruffled her hair a little shyly: "And, the breakthrough from 0 to 1... I do understand the example you gave me, Black Tower."

　"?"

　Black Tower slowly typed a question mark. Although there was no evidence, if she guessed correctly, the 0 and 1 she was talking about were not the same concept as the 0 and 1 that Lingmo was talking about.

　That little pervert!

　"Anyway..."

　Seeing the two suddenly switch gears and start flirting, Ruan Mei tilted her head in confusion. Having been friends with Hei Ta for so long, she had never seen Hei Ta interact with others in this way before, which aroused Ruan Mei's curiosity.

　“Through my research on Lingmo, I’ve come up with some new ideas about the other ‘patient’ I’ve been treating… Especially given that Huanlong has inflicted such strong aftereffects on that Miss Tingyun, perhaps the samples extracted from Lingmo can actually suppress the effects caused by Huanlong.”

　"But... Suzuma shouldn't mind, right?"

　"If it can save lives, of course I don't mind... It would be good if Tingyun could recover soon."

　Lingmo said without hesitation.

　“Alright…then I’ll leave Lingmo’s ‘exit’ to you, Black Tower.”

　Ruan Mei nodded: "Remember to record the situation as it unfolds and let me know so I can make minor adjustments to the induction drugs for the next stage."

　"Alright, don't worry. Although I'm not an expert in your field, I'm still a genius, so I won't make mistakes in these areas."

　Black Tower hung up the call helplessly, then looked at Jianmu.

　“According to Ruan Mei, Ling Mo, you can probably come out now… Is there anything I need to prepare?”

　"Uh……"