Honkai: You're telling me this difficulty is from Honkai Impact 3?!

Theresa's choice for the third stop was the ninth basement level.

In her few short days at Fire Moth, Rita had already visited every place she was permitted to go. After all, Fire Moth was still an unfamiliar place to her, and she needed to acquaint herself with her surroundings.

In truth, Otto had granted Rita extremely high clearance, high enough to even access the twelfth basement level. He just hadn't told her.

Like Natasha and Bronya, Rita had been a well-known figure on the former [Web].

Unlike the other two, who were mercenaries that took any job, Rita was a pure "assassin." Outside of her profession, the most she would do was take on easy intelligence-gathering gigs.

Otto had not anticipated Rita's voluntary appearance. In his projections, Rita was supposed to arrive much further in the future, or be brought back by Shu or one of the subsequent pioneer squads.

For her to show up now, while Fire Moth was still relatively "unknown," forced Otto to be wary of the possibility that she had arrived with ulterior motives.

But Otto was equally unwilling to let Rita slip through his fingers. So, he granted her the clearance but didn't mention it, waiting to see if Rita would make any out-of-line moves. Regardless of what she did, this clearance could be used to curry favor with her later, proving how much he valued her.

No matter how you looked at it, this was a "favor." Exchanging a bit of "carelessness" for a future debt was an excellent bargain.

As for whether this favor would be enough to make Rita abandon her original client if she were truly on a mission... Otto knew that was impossible. In that scenario, the favor would have to be saved for the final reckoning to be of any use.

Until then, Otto was confident he could outmaneuver Rita.

And the first card he played... was Bianka.

"Lady Theresa, why have we come to the ninth basement level?" Bianka asked, looking at the somewhat familiar streets with confusion.

There's a reason why a simpleton can sometimes be the perfect counter to a master.

"Ahem—!" Theresa let out an embarrassed cough, then said with bold confidence, "The simulated city on the ninth basement level is one of the most important landmarks in the Fire Moth base! Every person who comes here must take a tour!"

"But..." Bianka scratched her head. "I pass through here every morning... Doesn't that already count as a tour?"

She went for a morning run through these streets every day. After a few days, she was already very familiar with the layout of the nearby buildings and the condition of the roads.

Although her room was equipped with a treadmill, she still preferred running outside.

"No, no, no..." Theresa wagged a finger. "You've only familiarized yourself with the local geography. That doesn't count as having toured the area at all."

Bianka was confused. Why didn't that count? Could it be that there were secret passages in this ninth basement level?

"Hmph, hmph... For example, you have no idea which breakfast shop on the ninth basement level is the best!" Theresa declared, puffing out her chest and placing her hands on her hips.

Bianka: "..."

So that's how you pose a question?! That's incredible!

No, wait, Lady Theresa must have her reasons for doing this... So, the taste of a breakfast shop could be related to...

Bianka felt that she might not be as smart as she thought. She couldn't seem to grasp the true meaning behind Lady Theresa's words... This was so disappointing...

At this thought, Bianka couldn't help but cast a pleading gaze toward Rita.

"Ahem..." Rita cleared her throat elegantly. "Is it because a qualified warrior must be able to filter for useful information and discard useless and complicated dross?"

"Huh?"

"Is that right?"

The two questions came out almost simultaneously. However, Theresa's reflexive utterance was drowned out by Bianka's. By the time Bianka noticed something was off and looked at Theresa, she had already hidden her awkward expression and raised her hand with forced composure.

"Yes... that's exactly it! Bianka, you... uh..."

What about Bianka?! And what am I even thinking?! Did I really not want to take Bianka for a stroll, but actually wanted to test her information-gathering skills?!

How did I not know that?!

Receiving another look begging for help, Rita's face remained fixed in her eternally placid smile.

"Lady Bianka, Lady Theresa must have noticed some of your shortcomings in intelligence gathering and processing. That's why she brought you to the place you are most familiar with, to test your specific abilities."

Bianka and Theresa both gasped in unison, amazed at "Theresa's" wisdom.

I'm screwed. This woman knows 'Theresa' better than I know myself!

"I see..." Bianka muttered under her breath. Theresa turned to look at Bianka, who had her head lowered and fists clenched, and raised a hand as if to stop something.

That's not it at all, I just wanted to invite you for a walk, really, just a walk.

"Lady Theresa, please rest assured!" Seeing the farsighted and painstakingly thoughtful Theresa raise a hand towards her as if worried about something, Bianka's heart suddenly swelled with emotion.

"Since this is my weakness, then I must show my true self. Lady Theresa, you don't have to worry about me or spare my feelings. I will do my absolute best, and then I ask that you please point out my flaws!"

With that, Bianka gave Theresa a deep, solemn bow to express her determination and gratitude.

Theresa slowly lowered her hand and averted her gaze.

Hah... whatever, it doesn't matter anymore...

Since it's come to this, let's just start the tour.

With a sorrowful expression, Theresa put on a face mask and sunglasses, effectively hiding her emotions.

"So this is a lesson in disguise..." Bianka nodded seriously, then patted herself down.

It seems I'll need to carry sunglasses and a mask with me from now on to be ready to disguise myself at any time. What an educational first lesson this is...

Theresa: "..."

Deep breaths... Stay calm... Just pretend I'm Shu... After all, for the past three months, Shu went through the same thing I'm going through now.

No matter what you do, people will overthink it into something else, and you have to maintain your image and can't expose the truth... This feeling of having to guess what others are guessing about you is really... weird.

And so, Theresa embarked on a "field investigation" trip with a maid who only smiled and fanned the flames, and a passionately earnest junior.

I really, really just wanted to take Bianka for a walk, ahhhhh!!!!