"Ugh... mmh..."
Teardrops, large and small, fell onto the floor.
It shouldn't be like this...
It shouldn't be like this...
It shouldn't be like this...
Anna didn't understand why she was crying. She clearly didn't hate Li Wu, but the tears just couldn't stop flowing; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop them.
Relief, sadness, loss... countless complex emotions intertwined in her heart, finally forming a huge circle that trapped her tightly inside.
Can I still get along with him in the future?
Can I still talk to him normally in the future?
Anna buried her face low, her mind filled with these strange thoughts, tangled and messy.
A mess of unknown origin had simply thrown her mind into chaos!
She liked talking freely with the passionate, cheerful, and occasionally slightly scheming Li Wu, without needing to worry about worldly opinions or social etiquette.
Li Wu was a big bad guy anyway. Even if she scolded him, he would just treat it as amusement and become even happier, right?
Li Wu was bad; he always liked to joke around, seizing others' weaknesses to sprinkle salt on them without showing any mercy!
But...
Anna recalled Li Wu's expression and attitude every time they met. Even his breathing was different—sometimes light, sometimes heavy.
When encountering problems, he liked to shoulder them alone. His jokes stopped at the appropriate point, and if the other party got angry, he would immediately apologize. For the sake of the Raiden Mei he cared about, getting himself scarred all over wasn't enough; he even dragged her down with him!
Every time she met this guy, countless unlucky things would happen, more and more, so many that she repeatedly broke the rules and almost died...
Why did Schicksal arrange such a mission? Should I not have accepted this mission?
I clearly made up my mind to stay away from him long ago, so why...
A blush rose on Anna's cheeks at a speed visible to the naked eye, making her small earlobes even more charming. Her fingers subconsciously unlocked her phone and pulled up the photos of Li Wu she had secretly taken in her album.
There were his spirited, carefree smiles, and also his desolate, decadent expressions...
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Anna turned off her phone and threw it onto the bed. Her eyes darted away in panic, but she couldn't help stealing a glance at the wet patch on the bed sheets.
So embarrassing!
Li Wu definitely saw her drooling in her sleep!
Ahhh! My image is completely ruined!
Anna frantically messed up her own hair with both hands, only stopping when it looked like a bird's nest.
She quickly got up and walked to the vanity in the room, restyling her hair in the mirror. Her short chestnut hair remained smooth. Her powerful genes kept a Valkyrie's body in peak condition year-round; unless she neglected care for a long time due to overexertion, she could basically maintain her best state indefinitely.
Anna looked at her dashing, heroic short hair in the mirror and suddenly felt it wasn't that perfect. There were flaws everywhere; it wasn't pretty, far inferior to Raiden Mei's.
Wait.
Raiden Mei isn't better looking than me, right?
Isn't it just that her hair is a bit longer, her chest a bit bigger, and her legs a bit longer...
Anna lowered her head, glanced at her toes, and fell into a deep silence.
"I'm not fixing it anymore. Why should I care about this? Valkyries compete on strength!"
Anna put down the comb, took her phone, and walked back to the window to begin summarizing yesterday's mission.
After every mission, a summary had to be written. Then, after comprehensive analysis by Schicksal professionals and AI, a mission score would be determined and finally uploaded to the Schicksal database.
The more detailed and complete the key information, the higher the score. Therefore, after every mission, everyone would write a very long mission report.
Short ones were a thousand words, while long mission reports could be tens of thousands of words, almost catching up to short novels!
Exams would also test on these verified materials, such as the Star-Devouring Worm.
The introduction to the various abilities of the Star-Devouring Worm was basically copied from that S-rank Valkyrie's mission report, with only minor professional modifications.
Anna looked at the mission report. The cursor in the input box blinked, seeming to remind her to input content.
But what should I write in the mission report?
Li Wu has foresight? Not only did he know a Star-Devouring Worm would appear in the mid-risk zone, but he also predicted all of the Star-Devouring Worm's attack routes and left safely while the worm had locked onto his pheromones?
Anna bit her lip, her brows furrowed tight, her gaze fixed on the mission report on the screen where the character count remained zero.
This clearly exceeded the scope of an ordinary person's abilities. If she wrote the facts exactly as they were, Li Wu would definitely be flagged as—Suspected Herrscher.
Valkyrie battlesuits could achieve Time Fracture, slowing down the flow of time in a fixed space, but that was only temporary, and it could only decelerate time; predicting the future was absolutely impossible.
The Star-Devouring Worm possessed an "Abyssal Field," continuously generating an "Energy Perception Masking Domain" in the surrounding area where its main body was located, severely interfering with energy scans.
Moving at low speed underground, the ground vibrations were minimal. Even her Empty Snow battlesuit failed to detect it. Standing far away, it should have been impossible for Li Wu to perceive it unless... he possessed Herrscher Authority.
Aside from Herrscher Authority, Anna couldn't think of any power that could achieve this level. Even an S-rank Valkyrie couldn't do it, right?
I don't know where to start...
As an honor student, this was the first time Anna had trouble with her "homework." As the captain of the Snow Lotus Squad, she had never been troubled by mission reports before.
I finally understand why my team members look so pained every time they write mission reports. The tables have turned; now it's my turn to suffer.
Ten minutes passed, and Anna finally voice-typed a few hundred words.
Looking at her "masterpiece," Anna couldn't help frowning. "Tsk, it feels a bit fake. Should I revise it? I alone killed 1000 lower-level Honkai Beasts and 74 Templar-class Honkai Beasts within 24 hours, and then escaped the tracking range of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast—the Star-Devouring Worm—while carrying the ordinary civilian Li Wu under its pursuit. No matter how you look at it, it's weird. Only an S-rank Valkyrie could achieve this level..."
Although activating Time Scar: Void could briefly enhance her body to the level of a quasi-S-rank Valkyrie, there was still a considerable gap from a true S-rank Valkyrie.
Moreover, the second "pseudo-authority" itself was fabricated. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be enough to support her escape from the Star-Devouring Worm's tracking range. Schicksal's professionals would know it was nonsense at a glance.
"Ahhh, so annoying! Forget it, the draft will be like this for now. I'll find a way to fix it later!"
Anna experienced the pain of a poor student. She turned off her phone and sat quietly on the bed, her pale white hand gently stroking the bed sheet, which still retained the lingering warmth from when they were embracing.
Although nothing substantial had happened, still...
Anna suddenly felt her face burning hot, and her vision gradually blurred as if covered by a thick layer of fog.
She unconsciously lowered her head, letting her hair fall to cover her face, which she dared not check. Right now, my expression must be very strange... I have to adjust quickly, otherwise what will I do when Li Wu comes back?
Anna thought to herself, her hand exerting force, clutching the warm bed sheet tightly, trying her best to discard the strange thoughts in her mind.
About half an hour later, Li Wu knocked on the door and called out from outside.
Once, twice.
Anna didn't open the door. She had long since walked to the door, leaning her back against it, pressing her hand to her chest, listening to Li Wu call her name again and again with an urgent tone.
"Anna, are you okay? Don't stay silent. I bought breakfast. If you don't want to see me, I'll leave the breakfast at the door and go right away..."
Just as Li Wu bent down, preparing to place the bought breakfast at the door, dazzling sunlight spread before his eyes.
Through the crack in the door, Li Wu clearly saw Anna's profile. She was pursing her lips. After meeting his gaze, she turned away, her voice not as tough as before, adding a touch of a young girl's delicate weakness.
"Come... in."
Anna pushed the door open.
Li Wu walked into the room holding two flat boxes and placed them on the table next to the TV.
"I didn't know what you liked to eat, so I bought two pizzas with different flavors. Oh, and three different flavors of yogurt. You choose first; give me the rest."
"I'm fine with anything. You choose first."
"I'm fine with anything too."
The atmosphere became very subtle. Even Li Wu felt something was wrong with him. Why did I suddenly start being so polite?
"If you had been this polite when you begged me for help back then, that would have been great."
Anna opened the two flat boxes. The juicy pizzas glistened gold in the sunlight. Putting on disposable gloves, she divided both pizzas in half. "Half for each of us."
"Okay."
Li Wu didn't stand on ceremony anymore. He put on disposable gloves and began to wolf it down.
He was indeed very hungry. Apart from the Holy Blood, he hadn't eaten for over 24 hours. The extra-large pizzas in front of him weren't actually that much; Li Wu was completely confident he could wipe them clean.
Watching Li Wu's ferocious way of eating, Anna not only didn't feel disgusted but felt much more relieved. The corners of her mouth rose slightly as she stared blankly at Li Wu. Only when she occasionally remembered she hadn't eaten yet would she pick up a small piece and put it in her mouth to chew slowly.
Li Wu choked on his food, and Anna timely opened a bottle of yogurt and handed it to Li Wu.
"Eat slowly. There are no combat missions for these seven days. Don't be so tense. Here... it's very safe." Anna sat up straight, her gaze uncontrollably looking out the window.
This hotel was located on a small emerald island in Northern Europe. The scenery was excellent, possessing the world's most luxurious things—warm sunshine, cool summer breezes, lush greenery, and leisure time.
There wasn't much modern technology on the island; it was more like a resort from the last century, simple and unadorned. There were few cars on the road outside the window; more often, young men and women rode bicycles along the coast.
Further ahead, a fruit shop owner wearing flip-flops sat on a wooden stool with his legs crossed, leisurely waving a fan, enjoying the warm morning light. A family of three stood in front of the shop, carefully selecting watermelons.
The child beside them looked on eagerly, pacing back and forth saying something, while the parents smiled helplessly and placed the watermelon on the scale, intending to buy it.
"It really is no different from paradise. But I don't trust the person who issued you the mission. They're definitely full of bad intentions! Yesterday they almost let us die in Siberia, and in the blink of an eye, they give us a seven-day long vacation with no danger at all, purely to enjoy vacation life. It's not like we're newlyweds on a honeymoon..."
Li Wu breathed out a sigh of relief, returning to his original roguish manner. But as he spoke, he suddenly stopped and looked away.
He had experienced the leisure of this place when he went out to buy breakfast. Not only that, Li Wu had asked many people what this place was, and the answer he got without exception was the most cost-effective vacation heartland for ordinary people—Ireland Island.
Many people came because of the strange mirror-like phenomenon that appeared after the tide rose by the seaside. But they found that aside from the "Sky Mirror," the entire island perfectly met all the public's needs for a leisurely life, just like returning to the last century.
Here, there were very few high-tech products. Even if there were, they were only used to assist people in better immersing themselves in a simple life.
Vacationing abroad, a couple's hotel, a top-tier vacation island with no acquaintances—this made Li Wu subconsciously blurt out "newlyweds on a honeymoon."
He stopped halfway through his sentence and immediately fell into extreme silence, but it was too late. Just the word "newlyweds" was enough for Anna to realize what he was going to say next, let alone the final word "honeymoon."
Anna lacked common social knowledge of different countries—for example, in Shenzhou, which way the fish head should face, that people of lower status should lower their cup when clinking glasses, the different meanings represented by different seats...
She indeed didn't know those things, but that didn't mean Anna was an idiot. Having lived for sixteen years, even if she hadn't seen a pig run, she had definitely seen pigs walking.
Li Wu stiffly turned his head, just in time to meet Anna's delicate, hot gaze. As if electrocuted, both of them reflexively turned to the same open window, pretending to want to look at the beautiful scenery outside.
"To be honest, the scenery on this island is really nice. This cloud is so white, this sky is so blue..." Li Wu laughed awkwardly.
"Mmh-hm! Very, very nice!"
"..."
"..."
"Li Wu."
"I'm here. What is it?"
"I..." Anna stood up, pursed her lips, her gaze slightly stagnant, seeming to want to say something. But in the end, the words didn't come out. Her gaze, which had finally become determined, softened back down. She flusteredly took out her phone. "Um, Schicksal has arranged the itinerary for later..."
Hearing this, Li Wu instantly tensed up, waiting seriously, his tone becoming grave: "Do they want us to go subjugate Honkai Beasts again? It's fine, we can definitely come back alive. I promise you, we will definitely... come back alive together."
"No, not that kind of mission. You misunderstood!" Anna reached out her hand, spreading it like a kitten opening its claws, and waved it at Li Wu. "It requires us to shower and change into the prepared clothes, then stay at Ireland Beach from 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM, a total of six hours."
"Are there Honkai Beasts there?"
"How is that possible? Aside from special regions like Siberia, you can't find many small islands ravaged by the Honkai in the whole world! Don't look down on the work of Schicksal Valkyries..."
Li Wu paid a little attention. Staying on the beach for six hours sounded like an incredibly simple task at first glance. He thought there was some trap, but it turned out to be purely a vacation?
No, I still can't relax my vigilance. The person issuing the mission definitely has bad intentions and must be brewing some conspiracy against me.