Honkai, why do you only play high-end games?

"Yuno, have headquarters and the Eternal Blade told you when to return?"

"Well, no..."

Yuno thought for a moment, then pointed to the communicator on her wrist and said,

"But maybe, not for long."

"Come to think of it, you're a new recruit after all, so it's normal to have less vacation time! Just like me back then..."

Anna put her hands on her hips, intending to show off her qualifications, but then her face turned bitter, and she remembered her painful experience.

"Vacation? There's no such thing... Just be content... Woo woo woo..."

“Is the vacation allowance so small?”

Yuno was stunned for a moment.

"I heard that the Far East branch has a very relaxed management of the apprentice Valkyries..."

"Huh? The Far East Branch?"

Anna was stunned for a moment. This term had a very low presence in the Destiny Headquarters, making her feel a little unfamiliar for a moment. She had to ponder her memory for a while before she remembered that there was indeed such a place.

The Far East branch's presence is really too low.

Its leader: Theresa Apokalis, the granddaughter of a distinguished bishop, a powerful Valkyrie who had made illustrious achievements during the Second Honkai Impact—such a hero should have been renowned, but even at headquarters, almost no one knew who she was. This showed just how insignificant the Far East branch was now...

The reason why I can remember Theresa's existence is because my last name is Shaniyat after all. I am more or less related to her and can hear some things from the elders.

If I remember correctly, there is a Valkyrie Academy in that place. The student welfare and treatment are outrageous, but the success rate is also so low that it is unbearable to look at.

"Ahh Yuno, how can you be so unmotivated and compare yourself to those guys over there?"

I remember that Orchiddale stayed there for a few days, but then couldn't stand it anymore and came back.

He couldn't even lead Youlan Dell! Isn't that kind of place the standard for misleading young people?

"No, don't misunderstand..."

Yuno explained,

"I just heard that one of their students was a former classmate of mine. So I know a little bit about him..."

"I'm sorry, Yuno..."

Anna remembered that the third collapse in Changkong City was suppressed by the Far East Branch alone, and Yuno was one of the survivors rescued by them.

It seems that my view of them just now was really biased.

Actually, it wasn't her fault. The Far East Branch, the Third Herrscher it had taken in, and several other special students within it, their existence and news had all been deliberately downplayed by Otto. Except for a few people, few people had heard of them.

Otherwise, the Third Herrscher actually became a Valkyrie—this explosive news would have blown away most of the Destiny.

"Want to go there and take a look? Okay, I'll contact the Far East branch and I should be able to apply for it."

Anna said as she turned on the communicator.

Since Yuno cares about this matter, she is also happy to help Yuno make more friends. It is really heartbreaking to see her being alone like this all the time.

"No, Anna, thank you."

Yuno reached out, extinguished the unsent communication, and shook her head.

"There's nothing to see. It doesn't make any difference anyway... so, it's all the same."

"How can it be the same?"

Anna wanted to give Yuno some advice, but seeing Yuno's insistence, she had no choice but to give up.

Just at this moment, a thick white cloud in the sky was blown by the wind, blocking the scorching sun, making the originally stuffy air suddenly cool.

Anna didn't want Yuno to think too much about those unpleasant things, so she simply stood up, stretched comfortably, and changed the subject.

"Okay, we've rested long enough! Let's go to the beach while the weather's nice! Hurry up, or we'll have to put on sunscreen again when the sun comes out!"

Yuno looked at the empty cup in her hand, then at the nearly full cup of coconut water Anna had left behind. After a moment's hesitation, she picked them up side by side and tossed them both into a nearby trash can before starting to follow Anna.

There are people coming and going on the beach, men and women, old and young. Two beautiful girls walking through the crowd always attract everyone's attention.

It just looks like one has a bright and cheerful smile, while the other has a stiff and indifferent expression. This contrast makes the picture feel more like a story.

Yuno seemed to be a little uncomfortable under such intense gazes, and she felt a little restless. Anna also keenly noticed this awkwardness, grabbed her hand, and walked away quickly.

"Let's go! Let's find a place to dive. There are fewer people there and we won't be disturbed. Let me tell you in secret, the corals on the seabed are so beautiful! They... eh?"

Anna was running and talking excitedly, but she suddenly stopped and stopped talking, as if she suddenly saw something unexpected.

"what happened to you?"

Yuno followed Anna's gaze and saw that there were only ordinary tourists there, and there didn't seem to be much to be surprised about.

"...Nothing, I must have seen it wrong."

Anna looked at it carefully again, her tone inexplicably lost.

"After all, there are so many people here, it's normal to feel dizzy for a while... Well, why are we wasting time here?"

Then he smiled again, putting aside the disappointment he had just felt due to the misunderstanding, and pulled Yuno away.

"Let's go, let's go diving!"

Yuno glanced in that direction a few more times with some suspicion, and only after making sure that there was nothing unusual did she feel relieved and followed Anna away.

……

"...Anna's observation skills are too sharp, aren't they? She can even spot me in this state?"

After a long while, a pile of sand moved, and a head wearing sunglasses rose from it. It was Lin Wei, who was enjoying a "sand bath". At this moment, he used the cover of his sunglasses to secretly watch the backs of the two women who had already gone away. He smiled bitterly with a headache.

"This is a bit troublesome..."

"Yes, Mr. Lin Wei is always in trouble."

Yaezakura said this in a somewhat unpleasant tone, and Lin Wei could only smile awkwardly.

"Speaking of which, Lin Weijun has been carefully observing for several days."

Yaezakura was a little confused.

"We're all familiar people who can communicate, so why are you making things so difficult for yourself?"

"That's exactly why I have to be careful, Sakura."

Lin Wei put away all his smiles and said calmly,

"How do you know it's Yuno who's here, and not someone else?"

Chapter 81: "Yellow Bird"

Time goes backwards.

"I've heard that a Valkyrie named Yuno from the Sky Mandate Headquarters has been temporarily assigned to Southeast Asia."

"You'd better pay attention, don't let it come directly at you!"

When Lin Wei heard the news, he was stunned for a moment.

He was already surprised to hear this name from Anna before, and now he was even more surprised to hear her name again from Ni Entropy.

After a long time, he finally took a deep breath and asked for confirmation,

"Is the news reliable?"

"Of course! Do you think we at Anti-Entropy have so much free time that we would specifically call you to play house with you?"

Tesla's tone remains the same.

"Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up now!"

"and many more!"

Lin Wei interrupted his rapidly working brain and quickly called her to stop. Then after several seconds, until Dr. Lobster on the opposite side became impatient, he said seriously,

"I have a question that I've wanted to ask you for a long time..."

"……what is the problem?"

Tesla seemed to have heard the seriousness in Lin Wei's tone, so he didn't explode again. Instead, he said with a somewhat helpless tone, and then, as if he felt that he had lost face, he pretended to be ferocious and tried to make amends for himself.

"Don't be so nagging, just say what you want to say!"

"My question is simple: Why did you mistake me for Otto?"

Lin Wei took a deep breath and asked seriously.

"what?!"

Tesla's tone was extremely exaggerated, as if he felt he had heard some incredible joke.

"Dr. Tesla, you may misunderstand me. I understand. After all, you saw me use the Key of God with your own eyes..."

Lin Wei continued to speak seriously,

"But Siegfried and I had never met before. Why was he so hostile to me the moment we met, shouting about war and killing right away? I don't think he has a bad temper, nor does he seem like someone who would be easily provoked by words. So, I'm very confused..."

"What on earth is there about me that makes you so hostile towards me?"

"..."

Tesla on the other end of the phone fell into a rare silence. After a long while, he asked in a somewhat weak tone,

"Why are you asking this question which is completely irrelevant to the issue at hand?"

The aggressiveness in her tone completely disappeared, as if the question also made her feel confused: Yes, why?

She had never thought about this question before, as if it was something as natural as breathing, eating and sleeping.

"No, this question is very important."

Lin Wei's tone became more serious.

"Because I never hesitate to assume the worst about the people and situations I face, and this question allows me to gain the most important perspective."

………………

Time returns to now,

"Sakura, how do you know... that the girl who appeared here is Yuno herself, and not someone else pretending to be her?"

Lin Wei turned his head back, put on his sunglasses and closed his eyes, as if he was really enjoying the warm sand bath, and smiled lazily and casually.

"Oh. You know, when Bishop Otto was in disguise, even the meticulous Rita couldn't tell him apart..."

Not far downstream in the original timeline, Susanna, played by Otto, once gave Rita a headache, but she still couldn't notice that there was anything wrong with the guy in front of her.

"...So this is why you insisted on hiding yourself this time?"

For several days, Lin Wei just watched from a distance and couldn't even hear what they were talking about. Yae Sakura felt that this was a waste of time.

"But the way we are now, our efficiency is very low..."

"if not?"

Lin Wei smiled helplessly.

"Didn't you see that even from such a distance, Anna almost noticed me? This little girl's observation skills are too sharp, aren't they?"

"Isn't this the trouble that Mr. Lin Wei caused himself?"

Yaezakura smiled gently, a little sarcastic,

"I think with your intelligence and talent, these minor obstacles will not be a problem."

"..."

Lin Wei felt that what was buried on his body now was not sand, but a cocoon he had woven for himself, a cocoon that trapped himself.

But there was no way to explain this. After all, Yae Sakura had also experienced the whole thing and knew as much as herself. The more she tried to defend herself, the more guilty she would appear.

"Whether it's an obstacle or not, as long as you don't care about it, it doesn't really matter. After all, we're just strangers, and I don't have to meet Yuno..."

Lin Wei ignored the sarcasm in Yaezakura's words and spoke his own thoughts.

"If it turns out that I'm overthinking it and it's indeed Yuno herself who's here, then after she's had enough fun here for a few days, she'll naturally return to her destiny headquarters. There's no need for me to interfere too much, right?"

"And if it turns out that there is indeed something fishy going on here, and that this 'Ms. Yuno' is indeed up to something, then that would be even simpler."