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

In the days that followed, all was calm and tranquil. Lin Wei's life became quite regular.

Leisurely reading books, playing games.

Of course, Yae Sakura supervised his daily physical fitness and combat skill training. Usually before dawn and after nightfall.

This led to Lin Wei often using daytime to catch up on sleep, which Yae Sakura, always diligent and self-disciplined, couldn't understand.

"How can this guy be so lazy?"

To this, Lin Wei was righteously confident.

"Because I am lazy!"

And then happily received Instructor Yae Sakura's extra training package…

Besides that, he would go fishing by the sea every afternoon, and after returning home in the evening, play a few rounds of intense solo matches against Bronya.

Speaking of which, ever since they played games together that day, Bronya would come online almost every night on time, inviting Lin Wei to play games with her, and would chat a few words, but never talked about anything other than games, let alone asked him about the "quantum realm" or other information about Seele.

Lin Wei also tacitly kept silent.

For Lin Wei, maintaining a stable status quo and a relatively friendly tacit understanding with Bronya was a pretty good outcome.

For Bronya, Lin Wei's existence was a tangible dream of hope, uncertain how much was true and how much was false. But as long as he was there, letting Bronya feel that she could see him, reach him, she would feel at ease.

Even if it was really just a dream bubble, she didn't want to burst it.

Therefore, the two were just like ordinary online friends, playing games every day, and only talking about games. When night fell, they said goodbye and logged off, agreeing to meet again tomorrow.

And then, Lin Wei, as if finishing a day's work, fell into a deep sleep in various bizarre and colorful dreams.

While Bronya, once again connecting to Schicksal's data center, continued to work hard to find a way to turn the "dream" into "reality."

This world was like this, everyone lived for themselves, running around for their own corner of the world, each with their own life, each with their own troubles.

Bronya endured the low efficiency of groping blindly, flipping through one entry after another in the vast data sea, and retrieving all information connected to it, upstream or downstream, starting from any keywords that caught her attention.

Then either discarding it in disappointment, or thoughtfully storing it in her database.

By the next morning, she would drag her tired body to class, and then enter power-saving mode in class, starting to catch up on sleep. The work of studying and organizing notes was all delegated to Project Bunny to do on her behalf.

Overseer Otto, far away at HQ, saw all of this clearly.

"What exactly does this little girl want to do? Does she want to publish some cutting-edge academic paper?"

Otto looked at the extremely broad search range, pondering for a long time, indicating that he really couldn't understand the connections and intentions in it.

He just felt that this Valkyrie cadet was too diligent.

"Tsk tsk tsk…"

Since Otto couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.

He transferred all the information he valued from the data center and placed it separately. Then decided to wait and see what happened.

After all, changes of this degree didn't show any obvious consequences, and could only be considered some very minor accidents, not yet to the extent that he needed to intervene in the "experiment progress."

He just sent a message to Fu Hua, telling her about Bronya's anomaly, while once again emphasizing to Amber to monitor Anti-Entropy's movements, to prevent accidents.

After arranging these, he devoted his energy to more important matters.

These things happening within Schicksal were temporarily far from Lin Wei. He neither knew about them, nor could he interfere.

"Sakura, how are things?"

On the vast sea, far from shipping lanes, a fishing boat floated quietly. The boat owner had dropped anchor, dozing off in the cabin, leaving the calm sea and vast sky to Lin Wei.

At this moment, he was standing by the railing, seemingly casually casting his fishing rod, while asking Yae Sakura in his heart.

"Energy has been stable, no anomalies, and no Honkai beasts living on the seabed."

Yae Sakura's voice was clear and calm.

"We've been to several sea areas these past few days, and the results are similar, no dangerous aura exists."

Yae Sakura had always had a beast-like keen sense of smell. When guarding the village in the past, she was always able to detect the presence of danger at the first moment, then rush to it and eliminate it. Now she was just using the power of the Divine Key to further develop her specialty.

"What about Chiyou?"

Lin Wei asked noncommittally,

"Seal is intact. If not for paying full attention, I wouldn't even be able to find its exact location…"

Yae Sakura replied calmly, then asked in some confusion,

"Lin Wei-kun, you've asked this question so many times. But for some reason, I feel that your unease is growing day by day?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Lin Wei smiled helplessly, put away the empty hook, rebaited it and cast it out again, replying seriously,

"Because this is consistent with the information I got from Anti-Entropy."

During this period, Lin Wei was still doing as usual, using fishing as a cover, while actually investigating and monitoring the energy tide situation in Southeast Asia.

After several days of this, Lin Wei suddenly felt a little uneasy, and proactively contacted Anti-Entropy, asking them about their Honkai energy detection situation in the Southeast Asian region.

"The outbreak of Honkai follows certain rules. It's a sudden occurrence after regional energy accumulates to a critical point. Like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, there will always be some precursors, which professional institutions can observe and warn about. And Schicksal and Anti-Entropy are clearly proficient in this."

Lin Wei explained seriously.

"The Honkai outbreak in Manila was so significant. Except for not birthing a Herrscher, the damage and losses caused are almost no less than the Nagazora City Honkai."

"But whether it's our own detection, or the information synchronized from Anti-Entropy, they all show that this area is too stable, everything is normal. Tesla even mocked me for being paranoid…"

Empty hook again. Lin Wei, in a fit of pique, simply stopped fishing, directly throwing out a spear and chain, forcibly spearing a tuna from the seabed.

"..."

Yae Sakura was a little helpless at Lin Wei's childishly sulking behavior.

"But this 'normal,' in the eyes of you and me, who know what's about to happen, is 'too abnormal'."

After venting his frustration, Lin Wei felt better, breathed out a long breath, and said seriously.

"Sakura, I now suspect that the Honkai outbreak in Manila, like the Nagazora City Honkai, was also a tragedy artificially triggered by someone."

Natural disasters were tragedies, man-made disasters were catastrophes. Lin Wei's classification standards were always subtle and fitting.

"…Do you suspect it's World Serpent's revenge? Because of Coral Island?"

After so long, Yae Sakura gradually managed to keep up with Lin Wei's train of thought, but still couldn't believe it.

"Don't they consider the consequences?"

"Just a guess, but not impossible. Have you forgotten that Gray Serpent admired Cocolia's 'unscrupulous methods'? Hehe, birds of a feather flock together…"

Lin Wei liked talking to Yae Sakura, because she knew all his secrets, so he could be completely frank with her.

"But this guess raises another question for me, which is… going to so much trouble, paying such a heavy price, just to retaliate against a Valkyrie squad? Where's the benefit? I just can't figure it out no matter what."

Lin Wei tried to put himself in World Serpent's mindset to think, but found himself instead falling into greater confusion, unable to piece together a complete jigsaw puzzle of information.

"Also, if we really continue to deduce according to this possibility, the Manila Honkai was World Serpent's retaliation for the Snow Lotus Squad destroying the Coral Island incident… then there's another question here—now, in the Coral Island incident, there was my intervention."

Lin Wei sneered.

"If they really had to choose one person between me and Anna to retaliate against… Heh, wouldn't I, who has provoked World Serpent again and again… be more likely to arouse World Serpent's hatred than Schicksal's Snow Lotus Squad?"

He said this, but he felt quite helpless in his heart. He just wanted to sneak in quietly, then quietly leave with the people, letting World Serpent suffer a minor, unacknowledged loss. But Anna's sudden intrusion made him sink deeper and deeper without realizing it, and in the end, made things bigger and bigger.

Although he had plenty of reasons to excuse himself, World Serpent's actions had never been reasonable.

Therefore, Lin Wei felt he needed to prepare for "if the other party is unreasonable, then I won't be reasonable either"—

"Sakura, tell me…"

Lin Wei narrowed his eyes, asking softly.

"Is it possible that this 'Manila Honkai' that's about to break out… will, because of me, turn into a 'Singapore Honkai'?"

"After all, for some people, whether it's the death of these millions of people, or those millions of people, they're just the same cold numbers, aren't they?"

"!"

Yae Sakura felt a chill run down her spine.

She and Lin Wei had lived there for a while. Although it wasn't that they had feelings for the place, she still didn't want to see this prosperous city destroyed.

"The storm is coming…"

Lin Wei looked up at the azure sky, only feeling that under the vast sky, on the boundless sea, he was really as small as dust. He couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Let's go, Sakura, it's time to go back. There are still many things to do…"

After a moment, Lin Wei opened his eyes, and said calmly,

"Although it's a pity, I'm afraid the vacation really has to end."

… … … … … …

World Serpent • Some Unknown Base.

The closed laboratory was filled with a strong smell of disinfectant, but the two figures present here were oblivious to this unpleasant odor, just looking with interest through a transparent wall at a culture tank churning with bubbles.

"Ms. Jackal, this is your latest masterpiece?"

Gray Serpent seriously admired the gray kitten sleeping in the culture tank. More accurately, he admired the eye-catching Stigmata patterns on its forehead and ears, and couldn't help but express his appreciation.

"Truly quite interesting…"

"Hmph, you don't need to tell me!"

Jackal couldn't help but raise her head to look at the chandelier on the ceiling, revealing a neck as proud as a swan's.

"I already said, the technology I've mastered will take the Serpent's cause to the next level!"

Gray Serpent smiled, silent. The meaning of that smile was like appreciation, and also like noncommittal.

"Truly tasteless…"

Jackal was obviously dissatisfied with this ambiguous attitude.

"Hey, Gray Serpent, what's your attitude towards my plan?"

Gray Serpent raised his head slightly, just about to speak, but was interrupted by Jackal first. She glared fiercely at Gray Serpent, warning.

"Better speak plainly, and don't give me any of your incomprehensible riddles!"

"Naturally it's approved, Ms. Jackal. World Serpent will fully cooperate with your plan."

Gray Serpent smiled. As colleagues for many years, he naturally knew Jackal's personality very well.

"Oh? Really? That's good then."

Sure enough, as soon as Jackal heard this, she was immediately satisfied. With her mood improved, she no longer directed her anger at her teammate.

"That Lin Wei, just a lucky guy who happened to obtain a Divine Key. Want to gain the Lord's favor with that? Heh, what a joke!"

Then, without waiting for Gray Serpent to speak, she proactively began to describe her plan non-stop.

"That arrogant madman, what he relies on is nothing more than the Divine Key… Key of Erosion? Hmph! Don't think I don't know, even with the help of the Divine Key, plus the power of the Stigmata, he can only barely go toe-to-toe with a mere Emperor-class Honkai Beast… A holy relic like the Divine Key is just wasted in his hands! It's blasphemy! It's an insult to Heaven's gifts!"

It had to be said, putting aside her character. Jackal, who always spoke without restraint, and would answer ten questions if you asked her one, was simply a breath of fresh air in an organization like World Serpent, full of riddle-makers…

She looked at the kitten sleeping in the incubator with obsessed eyes, fascinated by the scene she envisioned in her heart.

"And my masterpiece, how can a mere Emperor-class Honkai Beast compare? Even Schicksal's so-called S-Rank Valkyries won't be its match… Key of Erosion? Hmph… When we meet next time, that guy will obediently lie on my experimental platform."

"By then, I think I'll be very magnanimous to forgive his previous offense and impudence. And then, teach him to learn awe and respect…"

Gray Serpent remained silent throughout, not commenting on Jackal's infatuation.

"Hey, Gray Serpent, why aren't you talking?"

Jackal was greatly dissatisfied when she saw that the person beside her wasn't cheering her on.

"Just didn't want to interrupt your pleasure, Ms. Jackal."

Gray Serpent smiled, saying unhurriedly,

"However, I still need to remind you of one thing. Although World Serpent will fully support your plan, after all, we're facing the Key of Erosion. So I'm sorry, 'Gray Serpent' will probably be hard-pressed to appear as a foil on your stage."

Jackal frowned, then stopped thinking too much, indicating understanding. It was nothing more than replacing some assistants.

"Oh, please forgive my interference."

Gray Serpent reminded her again,

"Natasha has a good private relationship with Lin Wei. So for safety's sake, I suggest you don't rashly disturb her."

The meaning conveyed in full, Gray Serpent elegantly nodded to a somewhat stunned Jackal, and then turned to leave.

"Gray Serpent, you stop right there!"

Jackal was now unwilling to let it go. If you guys won't play with me, who the hell am I supposed to find to help?!