Honkai, why do you only throw me into high-level battles?

The Crystal Edge, a standard blade for Valkyrie units, was said to completely freeze enemies upon being unsheathed. But marketing slogans… well, take them with a grain of salt.

It was also said that this weapon was quite popular among Valkyrie units in tropical regions. After all, who wouldn't love a portable air conditioner?

But in Anna's hands, it seemed to truly live up to the boasts of the St. 7308 Institute researchers, possessing the magical power to freeze enemies.

The narrow underground space, like a cramped beast cage, not only left Anna with no room to retreat, but also hindered the already massive mech, leaving it with no choice but to watch as a petite girl, wielding a gleaming blade, sliced through flames and heatwaves, shattering the relentlessly firing rotary machine gun.

"Crack!"

Perhaps it was an illusion, but the moment Anna unsheathed her blade, Lin Wei, who was watching from the sidelines, even felt the oppressive heat in the confined space, which had been steadily increasing like an oven, suddenly decrease.

Small body, big power. Lin Wei marveled. As expected, the girls in this world were all capable of taking down monsters with a single punch.

With the first strike successful, Anna didn't lose momentum. She nimbly maneuvered past the mech in the narrow space, using the wall behind it for leverage to leap out again. This time, she fiercely slashed at the mech's other leg joint, causing its already struggling, bulky body to tilt. Its clenched fist crashed to the ground with a deafening boom, sending debris flying.

Unfazed, Anna moved like a vengeful spirit, her blade flashing, swiftly dismembering the mech's limbs in the blink of an eye. Next was the final blow!

"Damn invaders!"

Suddenly, the mech torso, now reduced to a large metal lump, emitted an electronic voice filled with rage, cursing Anna. This unexpected turn of events startled Anna, causing her furious assault to abruptly stop.

Although Anna had extensive experience fighting Anti-Entropy mechs, it was mostly from simulations. She subconsciously assumed her opponents were cold, unfeeling machines. She had never considered the possibility of a human pilot. This unexpected development left her momentarily disoriented.

This brief lapse in concentration gave the enemy a chance to counterattack. The mech torso glowed a menacing red, gathering a dangerous aura. The electronic voice roared,

"Die!"

"No!"

Anna's face paled. A Titan mech's self-destruct sequence, once initiated, was unstoppable!

Just then, a slender black shadow sliced through the air, piercing the about-to-explode mech torso. The intensifying red glow faltered, flickering before abruptly extinguishing. The dangerous aura dissipated, leaving only deathly silence.

"Don't just stand there! This one's yours too!"

The sudden turn of events caught Anna off guard. Still stunned, she heard Lin Wei shout from behind. Turning, she saw that the mech Lin Wei had disabled had reactivated, and Lin Wei had retreated to a corner, shouting,

"Be quick this time! I can't hold it back again! If this thing self-destructs here, we'll be buried alive!"

Anna was both embarrassed and angry, realizing that Lin Wei had saved her at the critical moment. She had promised to protect him, but in the end, it was Lin Wei who risked his life to save her.

How embarrassing for an A-rank Valkyrie like me!

How irresponsible!

Filled with shame and rage, Anna turned back, swiftly dismembering the mech, then, with a hateful thrust, pierced its single red eye. Her frost-covered blade completely destroyed the central core, paralyzing the mech's systems.

"I… I…"

After the successful strike, Anna seemed to realize something. Her fierce, cheetah-like demeanor vanished, replaced by the panic of a startled rabbit. Her eyes darted nervously between the weapon she had discarded in the mech's eye and Lin Wei, who was walking towards her.

Anna's mind was in turmoil, wanting to say something, but only managing a stammered "I…" before falling silent.

"It's okay. It's alright. Anna, relax. You did nothing wrong."

Lin Wei understood the pain of taking a life all too well.

"They are unreasonable madmen. If we had let them self-destruct here, not only would we have died with them, but the chances of rescuing those we came to save would have been even slimmer."

He forced a smile, trying to comfort her, but two tears rolling down his cheeks betrayed his lie.

"I'm fine now. Let's leave quickly… It's not safe to stay here too long…"

Anna sobbed softly.

She understood the logic, but she couldn't accept it.

Weren't Anti-Entropy mechs supposed to be AI-controlled? Why were there people inside?

Raised as a Valkyrie since birth, Anna had never imagined she would one day stain her hands with the blood of her own kind, let alone that saving some would require killing others.

These absurd facts assaulted her already shaken heart, filling her with panic and unease, even leading to a sense of despair—No matter what I do, it's wrong.

Lin Wei gently wiped the tears from her face with the back of his hand, looking around, then at Anna, who was now silently clenching her fists, her head bowed. He knew that in her current fragile state, leaving her alone might make her feel abandoned and helpless.

After a moment of thought, Lin Wei pulled Anna towards the pile of scrap metal, forcing a gentle, reassuring smile.

"Anna, you know, sometimes our eyes deceive us, our ears deceive us, even our feelings deceive us. So, what we see, hear, and feel, and what we perceive based on these, may not be the truth."

"What do you mean?"

Anna sniffed, confused.

"I mean, you can open it up and take a look. It might not be what you think."

Lin Wei pointed upwards, towards the hilt of her blade, almost entirely embedded in the mech.

"I'll handle the other one. Don't worry, it'll be fine."

He gave Anna an encouraging smile, ruffled her hair, and was about to leave when he glanced at the burning car wreckage. He grimaced, abandoning that idea.

Although confused, Anna obediently climbed onto the wreckage. After a moment of hesitation, she gritted her teeth, channeling her power into the blade, pulling it down forcefully, splitting the metal torso open. She stared at what was inside, then gasped,

"What is this?"

It wasn't a corpse as she had expected, but a bisected brain, frozen solid.

"See? It's not a human. It's just a bioweapon, a monster like the constructs we saw earlier."

Lin Wei arrived behind her, his explanation like a voiceover.

"Remember what I said? What you hear, see, and assume may not be the truth."

"...Yes!"

As if seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, Anna turned and embraced Lin Wei, tears streaming down her face.

"That's… that's so good…"

Having endured so many blows recently, she couldn't handle any more pressure.

"Alright, alright, that's enough…"

Lin Wei felt his clothes getting soaked. He awkwardly raised his hands, saying helplessly,

"There's still a bomb over there that needs to be dealt with. Seeing how hard you've worked, I'll go take care of it. In exchange, do me a small favor, okay?"

"What favor?"

Anna's eyes, filled with tears, were full of questions.

Lin Wei smiled mischievously, pointing at the still-burning car wreckage.

"Go put out the fire. It's too hot. My god… Don't you feel it?"

Anna shook her head blankly. As a Valkyrie, adapting to high and low temperatures was part of her basic training. She didn't find the current heat unbearable.

Then, she realized that the man before her was just an ordinary person caught in this dangerous situation because of her. He must be suffering.

"I'll go right away!"

With a gust of fragrant wind, she darted away. Moments later, darkness returned, but the accumulated heat lingered.

"What a pain…"

Lin Wei muttered, walking along the wall to the mech that had failed to self-destruct. He reached out, pulling his cane from a gap. The cane had already fried the internal electronics upon impact.

"Heh, after all this time, still no backup. This place is even more boring than I expected."

He sneered inwardly. These words weren't meant for Anna's ears.

"System-controlled mechanical and bioweapons can't detect anything unusual under Pandora's influence, but humans can. No reaction after so long, are there really only two humans in this place?"

"You said those two mechs had human pilots? Then why did you just…?"

Yae Sakura sounded slightly emotional.

"Mr. Lin Wei is truly considerate."

"Using obvious truths to deceive, that's all I'm capable of. After all, who's to say a flesh-and-blood brain can't be inside a metal body?"

Lin Wei smiled, glancing at the lifeless metal beside him. A final, mournful electric arc crackled, turning the fragile brain inside to charcoal.

"But it's enough for Anna. Dealing with bioweapons is her job. As for the dirty work of killing… heh, it's better left to a bad guy like me…"

Just then, Anna, having extinguished the fire and completed her reconnaissance and perimeter check, walked back in the darkness. The darkness posed no obstacle to her Valkyrie vision. She carefully supported Lin Wei, afraid he might stumble in the dark.

"The situation isn't good. The passage is blocked. I'm sorry, this place is no longer safe, and I don't think I can get you back to the surface."

She had just checked. After the Titan mech's impact, the fire, and the subsequent battle, the "car elevator" was severely damaged. Anna felt incredibly guilty.

"I didn't expect there to be an Anti-Entropy base here. I've dragged you into this mess. I'm so sorry."

The blame shifts across the Pacific. Anti-Entropy, catch!

"It's okay. Since we can't go back, let's move forward. We can't just stay here and wait for the enemy to corner us."

Lin Wei didn't bother defending Anti-Entropy. Their reputation wasn't his concern. This place was like an oven, making him incredibly uncomfortable. He just wanted to leave quickly.

"Since they chose to hide underground and keep abducting people, I'd guess this is more likely a secret research facility. Perhaps those two mechs we destroyed were their strongest defenses."

Lin Wei comforted Anna.

"Don't worry too much, but stay alert."

"Yes, that's all we can do."

Anna nodded slightly. Lin Wei was right. They could only move forward. Staying in this cramped space was too dangerous. She helped Lin Wei up, switching on her flashlight, carefully leading him deeper into the darkness.

Lin Wei: "..."

Well, I'm used to this.

The narrow passage wound like a snake. Lin Wei noticed that World Serpent seemed to love this style, much like their preference for ancient Egyptian pyramid architecture above ground. But the passage was shorter than expected. After two turns and a hundred meters, they reached the end.

A heavy metal door, like a vault, stood before them, its dull concrete color blending with the surrounding walls under the flashlight beam.

Above, a massive mechanical lock was visible. One of its locking bars was thicker than a human arm, clearly not something that could be moved by human strength. Lin Wei seemed to understand the primary function of those two mechs.

Anna stepped forward and tried, but with her current strength and equipment, she couldn't break through. She became anxious.

"Step back."

Lin Wei called out, gently pulling away from Anna. He stepped back, tapping his cane lightly on the ground and the walls on either side. Anna watched, confused.

"Authorization successful…"

A crisp AI voice suddenly announced, startling Anna. The voice came from behind them!

She quickly turned, shining her light towards the source of the sound. A small door, just tall enough for a person to pass through, had silently opened on the wall about ten meters behind them, near the previous turn.

"What's going on?"

Anna looked at Lin Wei, seeking an explanation.

"Don't be fooled by what you see, Anna."

"Those constructs need to come and go every day, sometimes even bringing back 'prey.' Do you think something as insignificant as them is worth the trouble of having two giant mechs open and close doors for them?"

Lin Wei sneered.

"Besides, this metal door is too conspicuous. In a secret underground base hidden so deep, it's too out of place. It could even be a trap. Just ignore it. Isn't the real door over there?"

Lin Wei pointed behind them, then walked towards the small door. Anna followed, confused.

I didn't understand that. For the first time, I feel like I'm a bit slow.