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

Hearing Lin Wei say this, Rita was clearly not satisfied.

"Hehe, Mr. Lin Wei, you're quite the comedian. As far as I know, you've only known Ms. Fu Hua for a little over a year. How could you possibly forget something that happened in such a short time?"

Rita unceremoniously dismantled every loophole in Lin Wei's statement,

"And in such a short period, to be taught to such a degree by Ms. Fu Hua, it would likely require long-term, day-and-night supervision and contact – and in that case, are you suggesting that you're also a student at St. Freya Academy?"

At this point, Rita gently covered her delicate mouth, feigning surprise,

"If I remember correctly, Mr. Lin Wei lived in a small town adjacent to St. Freya Academy for a period of time, so I presume I don't need to elaborate on that, do I?"

She was gradually revealing her knowledge of Lin Wei's information, bit by bit, creating a tremendous pressure that "everything about him was seen through."

"But unfortunately, Schicksal's Valkyrie academy never admits male students – so your reasoning is impossible. And since that's the case..."

The usual smile on Rita's face gradually became dangerous, and her voice became colder,

"If you continue to refuse to tell the truth, I'll have to be so bold as to invite you to return to Schicksal with me as a guest, so that I can express my sincerity and fulfill my duties as a host."

No matter what secrets he was hiding, Rita believed that as long as she had him in her custody and brought him back to Schicksal HQ, no secret could remain hidden!

Rita had never been an indecisive person; on the contrary, she was actually ruthless and extremely decisive.

Making up her mind, Rita's steps and movements elegantly attacked Lin Wei again.

Her constant elegance represented her ingrained cultivation, it did not mean her movements would be slow or gentle; on the contrary, they were extremely sharp and decisive.

The previous probing was enough. Now Rita had lost interest in toying with her prey and only wanted to quickly capture this guy who dared to posture in front of her.

"Clack!"

Rita was empty-handed, but Lin Wei, showing a distinct lack of martial ethics, pulled a sleek, matte black cane from the gap in the sofa. With a flick of his wrist, the tip of the cane aimed directly at Rita's chest.

He had secretly hidden it there the moment he entered the room, noticed the anomaly, and Fu Hua's feather clone had just warned him, precisely to deliver a surprise attack at this moment.

"Despicable!"

Rita's reaction was also extremely fast. She cursed inwardly, her body deftly dodging to the side to avoid the direct thrust of the cane. At the same time, the hand reaching for Lin Wei did not lose its force, while her other hand struck at the cane, preparing to break it in one fell swoop.

But at the moment of contact, Lin Wei gave a slight flick of his wrist. The tail end of the cane dipped slightly, and the shaft of the cane struck Rita's wrist.

At this moment, the shaft of the cane was raised. Lin Wei smiled slightly, gripped the head of the cane with his five fingers, and thrust his arm forward, the rather sharp tail end of the cane aiming straight for Rita's throat!

"Hehe, Miss Rita, I forgot to introduce myself."

Lin Wei, seemingly mirroring Rita's current state, showed no mercy with his hand movements, but a warm smile appeared on his face. He said cheerfully,

"In addition to some rudimentary martial arts, someone else also taught me some simple sword and blade techniques. I apologize for my clumsiness, please don't laugh..."

His tone was restrained and friendly, even self-deprecating, but to Rita, it was full of sarcasm.

After all, she had just used the information she had to pressure Lin Wei step by step, but now she was suddenly countered unexpectedly. This was undoubtedly a silent mockery – it seems you don't know much, do you?

Most importantly, Lin Wei's way of speaking was almost a complete return of Rita's previous performance towards him, which could be said to be quite malicious.

Ultimately, Lin Wei's performance in the previous exchange with Rita was too passive, completely led and suppressed by Rita, which inevitably led to her underestimating him. Therefore, this sudden counterattack was able to greatly exceed Rita's expectations and achieve such an unexpected effect.

"..."

This thrust was as fast as lightning, swift and decisive, aiming straight for the vital point of the throat. Rita, in a hurry, had to dodge further to the side, and the strike aimed at Lin Wei was also inevitably delayed. Lin Wei seized the opportunity to roll over the coffee table, moving from the cramped sofa area to a relatively open space.

It had to be said, the "Newbie Village" [Elysian Realm, a tutorial level in the game] wasn't for nothing. A year ago, Lin Wei wouldn't have been able to pull off this set of fluid movements even if his life depended on it!

"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. But facing a distinguished S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, I had no choice but to use my full strength. Please forgive any offense..."

After regaining his balance, Lin Wei turned to face Rita, his arms slightly raised to the sides to show that he had no hostility, displaying a polite smile, and said calmly,

"You see, all my moves were easily neutralized by you. And I, despite my best efforts, barely managed to escape. If it happened again, I'm afraid I'd have to surrender!"

"...Is that so? Mr. Lin Wei, you are truly full of surprises, which I find quite admirable."

Rita's charming eyes narrowed slightly. She wouldn't be fooled by Lin Wei's posturing. They were both foxes from the same mountain, what were you trying to pull? [Meaning: We're both cunning, don't try to fool me.]

In any case, this brief exchange, on the surface, seemed to end in a draw, but Rita knew that she had ultimately fallen into a disadvantage.

The more she thought about it, the more unwilling she felt, and she couldn't help but sarcastically say,

"However, with your manner of conduct, you could never be a disciple of Ms. Fu Hua."

The implication was clear: how could Fu Hua possibly take a liking to such a despicable person?

"Hehe, you're right. If a despicable person like me were really Fu Hua's disciple, I'd probably be expelled within two days..."

Lin Wei nodded, acknowledging it somewhat shamelessly, and then smiled and retorted,

"However, facing an uninvited 'guest' who entered without notice, I don't think there's anything wrong with what I did."

We're not good people, so don't put on airs in front of me. Who are you trying to fool?

"Hehe. In that case, it was indeed Rita's fault first."

Rita resumed her usual elegant and polite posture, speaking with a smile and a gentle tone,

"Since that's the case, Rita can only solemnly invite you to return to Schicksal with me as a guest, so that Rita can fulfill her duties as a host and express her apologies..."

"That won't be necessary..."

Lin Wei waved his hand, generously saying.

But before he could finish, the elegant young lady, who had previously seemed like a noblewoman, suddenly transformed into a cheetah, swiftly rushing towards Lin Wei.

Rita had made up her mind. Facing this despicable, cunning, and scheming fellow, it was best not to waste words with him here. She just needed to use her full strength to capture him.

In the face of an absolute gap in strength, any schemes would seem so ridiculous.

"Bang!"

Unsurprisingly, when an S-rank Valkyrie unleashed her full power, Lin Wei was instantly overpowered and pinned to the ground by Rita, a slender knee pressing on his spine, leaving him completely unable to move.

"Hehe, Mr. Lin Wei, now..."

Rita was about to taunt him, but suddenly her expression changed drastically. She immediately released Lin Wei and retreated far away.

"Crash! Rattle..."

The moment after Rita retreated, everything within a three-meter radius around Lin Wei, whether it was the sofa, the coffee table, or the TV cabinet, was instantly flattened and crushed by an invisible force, like sandcastles swept away by a wave, collapsing into a mess of debris.

Seeing this scene, Rita felt a lingering fear.

The reason she retreated so decisively just now was purely due to her consistently sharp combat instincts. And in the instant she pulled back, she clearly felt her body weight suddenly increase, as if an invisible force had suddenly placed a burden several times her weight on her, almost crushing her to the ground.

Rita was an extremely intelligent person. She recognized the nature of this invisible force in the instant she felt it.

"This is... gravity?"

Rita looked at Lin Wei, who stood up calmly from the ground, her voice somewhat hoarse,

"Are you... Welt?"

Of course, it wasn't out of fear, but pure wariness, and a sense of the absurdity of a glorious image shattering.

The Welt who fought to the death for human civilization in the Second Eruption was actually like this?

Fake, right?!

"Oh, think whatever you want, I'm not Welt anyway."

Don't talk nonsense, that name is unlucky!

Lin Wei muttered inwardly, while quietly retracting the "Projection: Star of Eden," which had been hidden behind him. Then, he pretentiously patted the wood chips and debris from his clothes, shook his head, and sighed,

"Controlling the force is really troublesome. You know, if I'm not careful and crush the floor, the neighbor's house downstairs will be ruined too!"

As Lin Wei spoke, he looked at Rita with some blame, his tone even turning to a lecture,

"Everyone's just trying to make a living, can't we be a little more considerate of each other?"

"..."

Rita looked at Lin Wei's act and couldn't help but take a deep breath, somewhat speechless.

What kind of person is this?

She only had one thought in her mind: this could absolutely not be Welt!

Welt could not possibly be this cheeky and rogue-like!

"Is Anti-Entropy's Star of Eden in your hands?"

Rita asked coldly. If it wasn't Welt, then this was the only answer,

"It seems, even if you're not Welt, your status in Anti-Entropy is definitely not low!"

With Rita's rationality and intelligence, she would never get stuck on one idea, nor would she be so easily misled.

"Hehe..."

Lin Wei slowly took out a black, gorgeous sphere that seemed to devour all light, holding it steadily in his hand, and smiled calmly,

"Guess?"

Seeing this, Rita's heart sank.

Lin Wei appeared calm on the surface, but he sighed silently in his heart.

Even though Lin Wei didn't want to cause trouble, now that he was facing Rita, he naturally wouldn't surrender. He had been going all out from the beginning.

Similar to Rita's previous approach, Lin Wei was also gradually increasing the pressure on Rita, step by step.

At first, he showed weakness to mislead her and make her underestimate him, then he launched an unexpected counterattack to get her attention.

Finally, when Rita was serious and going all out to capture him, he seized the opportunity to reveal a corner of the Divine Key, using the appearance of the Star of Eden to completely arouse her vigilance and wariness.

"The Star of Eden is in my hands. If you don't summon your Valkyrie Battlesuit and show your true full strength, what makes you think you can fight me?"

At this point, Rita had realized that whether she wanted to continue fighting and complete her mission, or retreat safely and plan for the future, she needed to equip her Valkyrie Battlesuit to deal with the situation calmly.

And this was Lin Wei's goal.

Normally, Rita equipped with her Valkyrie Battlesuit was her strongest form, and he should have taken her down when she was unarmed.

But for Lin Wei, who held the Key of Erosion [Pandora], Rita equipped with her Valkyrie Battlesuit was precisely her weakest!

Then, the corrosive virus would invade the Battlesuit's control system, and the invincible armor would instantly become a binding cage, leaving her unable to move, helplessly at his mercy, unable to resist.

But with Rita currently in her everyday clothes, even if he really subdued and captured her, he would have to be constantly wary of her secret preparations for a counterattack.

But when she was inside the close-fitting cage called "Valkyrie Battlesuit", she would have absolutely no such opportunity!

Therefore, in Lin Wei's view, this was the most foolproof method.

So, from the first moment he saw Rita, he had formulated such a step-by-step plan to lure the tiger into the trap. And so far, everything was going smoothly.

"..."

Rita looked at the "Star of Eden" in Lin Wei's hand and knew that she could no longer hold back. Without hesitation, she opened the quantum transport system. A stream of light instantly enveloped her body, and from it emerged a Valkyrie in blue and white armor, holding a giant scythe, heroic and valiant – "Argent Knight: Artemis"!

"Got her!"

Both Lin Wei and Rita were now full of confidence in themselves.

Rita crouched slightly, ready to strike.

Lin Wei made a grasping motion with his empty hand, preparing to reveal Pandora's true identity.

The tension was palpable!

But, at this moment, a sudden ringing sound broke the freezing tension.

"Ring ring ring..."

Lin Wei and Rita's eyes turned simultaneously to the phone that had been thrown aside.

Lin Wei raised an eyebrow. He didn't bother to walk over and pick up the phone. Instead, he remotely answered and turned on the speakerphone, making it easier to hear clearly.

"Hello, Lin Wei!"

Dr. Tesla's distinctive energetic voice came from the phone's speaker, but now it sounded extremely panicked,

"Something's wrong, we're in big trouble!"

"What?"