Anna felt that it was very pitiful. She thought of her own team members. They were always smiling, but behind the scenes, she had seen them cry secretly many times.
Aren't Valkyries the same?
Like the beluga whale in the aquarium, their lives had been arranged since the day they could remember.
This beluga whale had to perform constantly in the lonely and oppressive aquarium, and so did they. Under Schicksal's orders, they executed missions day after day, not allowed to have any thoughts of their own regarding the missions.
Because even if they had thoughts, it would be of no avail. The outcome wouldn't change; instead, they would become a burden within the efficient system and be rejected as anomalies.
"10 meters deep is very spacious for humans." Li Wu saw through Anna's thoughts. He walked to the information sign and rubbed his finger on it. "But I think for them, it's just enough to turn around."
"I heard before that when a captured beluga whale despairs, it will automatically shut down its respiratory system, sink to the bottom of the pool, and die."
Li Wu recounted this story based on what he had seen and heard in his original world.
"How do we... capture them and bring them here?" Anna asked.
"Explosives, probably. Driving boats and using explosives to force the school of fish into the prepared nets. Actually, it didn't go that smoothly at first. There are smart ones in the whale pod; some whales will sacrifice themselves to lure the hunters away."
"Did they succeed?"
"Maybe they would have succeeded in the past, but now technology is very advanced. Planes watch their escape routes from the sky. How could they escape?"
"..."
Hearing Li Wu's answer, Anna remained silent for a long time. After pondering for a long while, she finally said, "If even self-sacrifice can't exchange for the survival of the people one cares about, isn't that too pitiful..."
There seemed to be a hidden meaning in her words.
Regarding whether sacrifice could bring redemption, in this world, probably no one understood the weight of this sentence better than Li Wu.
Without Return by Death, just one life, even if exhausted completely, probably couldn't stop tragedies from happening.
"Many things cannot be avoided even with careful precaution. The only thing you can do is convince yourself—convince yourself to persist, or give up."
"I don't want to give up."
"No one wants to give up. Persistence is hard, but giving up isn't easy either. Alright, don't think so much. Next time, we won't come to the aquarium."
Looking at the dejected Anna, Li Wu couldn't help reaching out and gently flicking her forehead.
"Ouch... Mmh!" Anna, having had her forehead flicked, came back to her senses and nodded heavily.
As if destiny had decreed peace for this period.
The journey that followed was full of sunshine and warm breezes.
Anna recorded the subsequent experiences in every diary entry on her phone.
June 23rd.
Strolled along country paths with Li Wu. Sunshine, breeze, wilderness, small paths... The people here are very simple. Maybe because I paid very generously, Li Wu seemed to like this kind of response very much. Record, record...
June 24th.
Climbed a long-abandoned shrine in Seto with Li Wu. The cherry blossoms were blooming brilliantly. The wooden plaques hanging there had faded, written with various wishes, illegible.
June 25th.
Took a yacht into the Antarctic with Li Wu. Penguins everywhere, never seen them before, very cute. But penguins aren't cute when they open their mouths; their mouths are full of spikes, terrifying! Why does Li Wu keep asking the penguins in a weird tone: "Do you top up Q-coins? Do you top up Q-coins?"
What are Q-coins? Top up? Is it some kind of currency? How could penguins use human currency...
June 26th.
Walked into a small town in Vienna with Li Wu. Medieval style. The administrators here seem to intentionally keep the city in the style of hundreds of years ago, very interesting. Don't know why, Li Wu seemed very interested in the torture racks.
June 27th.
The last day of the vacation. Returned to a super first-tier city in Shenzhou with Li Wu, but was arranged to stay in an old-style apartment, completely lacking the prosperity of a metropolis.
Li Wu liked it very much. He took me to watch old men playing chess at several stone tables. I didn't understand it, Li Wu taught me, and I barely learned.
In the afternoon, we played chess on the noisy street, surrounded by many people. This was the first time Li Wu didn't dislike people gathering their gaze on him. I was very happy; he seems to have become better.
But happy as I was, why did he keep complaining after losing: "Impossible, are you kidding me!?"
Then after saying that, he dragged me to play another game. Except for the first few games where I was learning the rules, Li Wu lost every battle afterward, yet kept fighting despite repeated defeats.
This game called Shenzhou Chess, the rules are hard to calculate, aren't they? Similar to other chess games. Did Li Wu not know that when I was fourteen, I took second place in an International Chess competition?
But it doesn't matter. Later on, I went easy on him, and Li Wu won. He was very happy, and I was very happy too.
Playing with two people is indeed much happier than playing alone. I want to come out and play with him next time too.
...
At night, Li Wu was exhausted and went to sleep early.
There was only one bedroom. Li Wu vacated it for Anna, while he took a quilt from the utility room, washed and dried it, then threw it on the sofa to sleep.
"Mmh..."
Anna sat at the desk in the bedroom, looked back through the crack in the door at Li Wu who was already fast asleep in the living room. Carefully, without making a sound, she approached and carried Li Wu back to the bedroom.
A sofa is just a sofa; no matter what, it definitely can't compare to a bed in a bedroom...
After doing this, Anna dimmed the desk lamp and continued writing the mission report.
She had to write the observations of these few days into the report.
However, at some strange points, Anna paused, and after thinking for a moment, chose to skip them.
For example—
Li Wu drank all the Holy Blood at the very end of his spine, said something about "effect diminishing," and then fell into a heavy sleep.
These definitely couldn't be recorded. If Schicksal found out she shared Holy Blood with Li Wu again, she would be done for.
The matter of the Holy Blood must not be leaked no matter what.
After returning, she would have to think of a way to give some benefits to that black market merchant to shut her up completely. Mmh, open an account for her as soon as I get back!
After writing the entire report, Anna turned off the desk lamp. The bedroom instantly fell into pitch darkness, where one couldn't see their own fingers.
"Getting close to you doesn't seem to be such an unlucky thing."
"...Goodnight, Stupid Li Wu."
Anna walked out of the bedroom, covered herself with Li Wu's previous quilt, and slept quietly on the sofa.
June 28th.
Vacation ended.
When Anna woke up, she found herself changed into her combat uniform, her Valkyrie battlesuit fully charged.
Standing in a high tower, she felt as if she were in the clouds, overlooking the entire Siberian snowy plain.
Light was blinding; apart from silver-white, not a single vibrant color could be found.
"Your mission today is very simple. Honkai Energy Detector. You have learned its operation steps."
A man in a white coat stood in front of Anna. Beside him was Li Wu, placed inside an experimental pod.
Li Wu had his eyes closed, not yet awake, or unable to wake up.
Anna wanted to see the man's face clearly. It was very familiar; she felt like she had seen it somewhere, but she couldn't remember. It was always similar to those faces in her memory yet distinctly different.
"And then? What should I do?" Anna calmed herself down, not letting a shred of emotion show.
However, her gaze stole glances at Li Wu in the experimental pod from time to time.
Secretly praying in her heart that Li Wu wouldn't wake up.
Actually, Li Wu couldn't wake up. Experimental subjects sent into the pod were usually injected with a special drug that anesthetized consciousness. Not to mention Li Wu looked so sleepy last night; he must be sleeping very soundly, impossible to wake up.
"The Honkai Energy Detector will detect any factors related to Honkai Energy in the subject's body and produce a color spectrum. Different colors correspond to different power pathways. A-rank Valkyrie, Anna Schariac, as the Holy Maiden of the Schariac family of this generation, your grades are excellent; you should know very well what to do."
The researcher, or rather, Otto Apocalypse.
He uploaded his consciousness to a Soulium avatar in the Babylon Labs, concealing his true identity, and stated today's mission to Anna face-to-face. It was also—Anna Schariac's last mission.
"Based on the test results, make one of three dispositions: 'Ignore,' 'Observe,' or 'Kill.' We have already observed him, Li Wu. There indeed exist certain uncontrollable factors which you did not mention in your mission report. Originally, you should have received a severe punishment, stripping the Sapphire Squad of three years of resource investment from Schicksal and confiscating your quota as squad captain."
"However, given that you were in a coma during the mission, plus your status as the Holy Maiden of the Schariac family, you have a chance to make amends. You only need to... provide the 'standard answer' explanation as you learned at Schicksal Headquarters."
Otto handed the terminal connected to the instrument to Anna.
From left to right, they were green, blue, and purple. Based on the depth of the color, different branches of the corresponding power system were analyzed.
For example, purple represented Honkai Energy. Light purple was Honkai Energy manipulatable by Valkyries, while deep purple was high-concentration Honkai Energy that only Herrschers could master.
Some Herrschers could drive authority even without a Herrscher Core.
Green was harmless, handled as "Ignore."
Blue was unknown, handled as "Observe" based on color depth.
Purple was dangerous, handled as "Kill" based on color depth.
"This is the simplest mission. Once completed, you can return to headquarters. This Red-level mission will settle the resources for your promotion to S-rank Valkyrie. Records show this is your lifelong dream."
"I hope you grasp it well and make more contributions to Schicksal."
After speaking, Otto turned and walked to the door. When the mechanical door sensed him and opened automatically, Otto slowly disappeared from the laboratory.
Cold instruments, empty environment, dim light...
Everything made Anna feel so uncomfortable.
She walked to the Honkai Energy Detector. As an honor student and the top-ranked Valkyrie in assessments, she was all too familiar with how to operate this instrument.
However, after several minutes, Anna's gaze still lingered on the start panel, occasionally looking at Li Wu sleeping in the experimental pod.
"Sure enough, it has come to this step... Even if I found Li Wu, I still couldn't avoid it."
"Li Wu, oh Li Wu, please, you must not... become a heretic, become... Schicksal's enemy..."
Anna started the detection according to the procedure in her memory.
The detector would automatically proceed according to the process; this part didn't need human operation.
So Anna walked to the experimental pod, pressed her hands on the transparent glass, and looked at Li Wu with worry.
The detection would take an hour.
Before the detection ended, Anna took out her phone again and carefully read every word of the mission content.
The deadline was tomorrow at 00:00.
A bit strange.
It was only past nine in the morning now. The detection only took an hour; it didn't need that much time at all.
When Schicksal issued missions, they always kept a tight schedule, rarely extending a simple mission of a few hours to the next day.
Hope the result is okay.
Anna's mind was attracted by the scanning results of the detector.
However, during this period, she was recalling other things in her mind, so much so that the corners of her mouth would occasionally curl up unconsciously, revealing a genuine smile that only showed when one felt happy.
Whenever this momentary smile was noticed, Anna would immediately keep a straight face, as if the smile just now was a special kind of cancer.
Outside the window, the bleak scenery of Siberia could be seen at a glance.
Most of the Babylon Labs was wrapped in a special material similar to carbon alloy, except for a few windows at the top of the tower.
"One, two, three..." Anna stood by the window, counting the snowflakes falling from the pale sky.
Her mind constantly recalled the pleasant all-talk journey with Li Wu during the vacation—bustling, simple, depressing, happy...
Since she realized she was alive, there had never been a time like the previous journey where her emotions rose and fell, sometimes sad, sometimes satisfied.
This feeling... is probably the experience a normal person should have, right?
Just like Li Wu. Usually dangling around, looking heartless, but smarter than anyone else. He always became despondent...
Whether it was that night in Nagazora City being soaked like a drowned rat by heavy rain, or that dejected look as if the whole world was bullying him before leaving Nagazora City, he needed her to coax him every time, or else it felt like it would last forever!
In that case, wouldn't I have to stay by his side for a lifetime?
What if one day Li Wu turns back into that state and I'm not by his side? What should I do...
Kiana? Mmh, I don't know what this fiancée thinks exactly, but I heard from Auntie that she is very lazy and has no hobbies other than reading books. Counting on her is definitely not going to work.
Raiden Mei? This one is even more out of the question. Someone who crazily absorbs other people's energy. Even if she just came into the world, she still lives in her own world, moving herself first, then moving others.
Anna hadn't spent much time with her and didn't know what kind of person Raiden Mei exactly was, but she had collected data from many sources, including but not limited to former friends, mercenaries arranged by nobles to monitor Raiden Mei, and relevant personnel monitoring the Nagazora City incident...
Li Wu relied on feeling.
Anna didn't feel what kind of person Raiden Mei was with that much heart. She had learned a lot and was better at analyzing a person through intelligence and data.
Under her systematic judgment, this woman's personality defects were severe. It was just that Li Wu took care of her too well, not giving her a chance to show them.