Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 208 Maria and Otto

The final result was gratifying; they reached a reconciliation, but their relationship could never go back to what it was before.

However, the relationship between them is quite peculiar. Although they have only met once, they regard each other as their salvation and develop feelings of longing for each other.

In particular, Chen Tianwu would often romanticize Anna in his mind, even though they hadn't seen each other since the collapse incident.

Every time he could use the power of the World Serpent to investigate Anna's whereabouts, he would insist on going to find her himself. Whenever he couldn't find her, he would comfort himself by saying that Anna was just too busy. The world is so big, and as a Valkyrie, she couldn't stay in one place forever.

Perhaps at first Chen Tianwu only wanted to fulfill that promise with Anna, but over time, his feelings became less pure, and perhaps it was at that time that Chen Tianwu fell in love with Anna.

Anna is in a similar situation, because the person she was supposed to find had already died in front of her, so she is trapped in deep guilt and cannot get out of it.

She constantly apologized to Chen Tianwu in her heart, and eventually this guilt was twisted into a strange love. Perhaps that's why she was chosen to be the Herrscher in this Honkai event.

However, now that the incident is over, one question remains for everyone.

That's where Anna is. Now that she's a Herrscher, Schicksal can't just go back anywhere.

After all, Otto's attitude is unclear. Although he repeatedly says he wants to create Herrschers with humanity, Herrschers who fight for humanity, in reality, he only wants one thing: the Second Herrscher.

For Otto, the power of the Second Herrscher, Sirin, was the key to completing his plan, or rather, to reviving Kallen. As for the other Herrschers outside of his plan, Otto always maintained an indifferent attitude, and their presence or absence had no impact on him.

Therefore, the captain dared not gamble that Otto wouldn't do anything bad to Anna. As for World Serpent, although Schicksal and World Serpent are currently in a period of cooperation, it is clear to everyone that this is only temporary.

Given their completely different philosophies, this fragile partnership was bound to break down sooner or later.

At that time, Schicksal and World Serpent will inevitably return to a hostile state, and frankly, the captain does not think Anna can be so heartless as to turn against her former comrade.

Just as the captain had expected, Anna showed a conflicted expression after he told her about the potential situation after joining World Snake Day.

On the one hand, she really wanted to try to repair their broken relationship with Chen Tianwu, but on the other hand, she really couldn't bring herself to do it; she simply couldn't bring herself to harm her former comrade.

Since that's the case, there's only one option left.

Under the setting sun, the captain, Chen Tianwu, and Anna stood on a shoreline in an extremely remote area of ​​Coral Island, where waves crashed against the cliffs, creating white foam-like sprays.

An air supply ship was slowly descending to a suitable altitude, and then a familiar figure stepped out of it.

"So this is the surprise you were talking about?"

Tesla tried her best to control her body, but her trembling voice betrayed the fact that she was not calm at the moment.

"That's right, are you surprised or not?"

"Surprise my foot! It's more like a shock!"

Tesla finally lost her temper, and the next moment her mouth transformed into a telegraph operator, spewing out a string of words that needed to be censored.

A few minutes later, Tesla, finally calmed down, asked irritably, "So tell me, what exactly happened?"

Seeing this, the captain began to explain the whole story to Tesla from the beginning. During this time, Tesla frowned frequently, as if she was thinking about the pros and cons. Finally, she sighed and said...

"You've really given me a tough question. I admit that there are indeed two Herrschers in Anti-Entropy right now, but that doesn't mean that Anti-Entropy is a Herrscher containment organization. Don't just throw any Herrscher here! Especially since one of them is a former Valkyrie of Schicksal and the other is a World Serpent executive. How am I supposed to explain this to others?"

Yes, after much thought, the captain still believes that Anti-Entropy is the safest option.

The main reason is that they already have two Herrschers. As the saying goes, more debts are not a burden, so having one or two more Herrschers won't make a difference. Besides, it's common knowledge among the three major organizations that Theresa has led St. Freya Academy to join Anti-Entropy.

What kind of place is St. Freya Academy? It's a renowned Herrscher academy, and most of the Herrschers there are graduates of St. Freya Academy.

I really don't know what kind of suffering Theresa has gone through. Almost everyone she's close to is a Herrscher, and it's just that they haven't realized this yet. Otherwise, Theresa would probably be the first to jump up and object (just kidding).

"Just tell me if you agree or not," the captain asked.

"I already agreed, isn't that enough! Honestly, you know perfectly well that I can't refuse those conditions, yet you're still confirming it here."

Tesla shouted, "Hey you, Chen Tianwu and Anna Shaniat, right? You two come with me. From now on, you're Anti-Entropy people. If you don't want to cause trouble, come with me now!"

With that, Tesla turned and went back inside the airship without looking back. Anna took one last reluctant look at Coral Island before boarding the ship. Chen Tianwu bowed deeply to the captain to express his gratitude before boarding the ship as well.

And so, with the captain watching, Tesla drove the airship away from Coral Island, just as Raven appeared behind the captain.

"Have you spoken to them yet?" the captain asked without turning his head.

"Of course, who do you think I am? I just spent a little extra time explaining to them what happened, but is that really a good thing?"

"What do you mean?"

“I can explain things to the Heavenly Mandate, but what about the Lord? I can’t possibly use the same words to deceive the Lord, can I? You know that lying is useless to the Lord.”

"Don't worry, I'll talk to Kevin about it. You don't need to worry about that," the captain reassured him. "Now that the matter is settled, it's time for us to leave."

“That makes sense,” Raven agreed. “Let’s leave the disaster relief to Destiny and the others. They’re professionals in this area, so we won’t get involved.”

So the captain and his crew set off to return to the World Serpent's base, while at the Schicksal headquarters, at the Shaniat family mansion.

With a bang, a wine glass was violently overturned on the table. The wine inside spilled down the edge of the table and onto the floor, staining the expensive carpet a dark red like blood.

"Oh dear, how horrible! How long has it been since I've seen you angry, Miss Maria? Thinking back, I really miss it!"

The speaker was a blond, blue-eyed man who sat elegantly in front of Maria, wearing a purple bishop's robe, casually swirling a wine glass in his hand.

Under the splendid lights of the Shaniat family's drawing room, the man before them was so dazzling; the word "aristocrat" seemed tailor-made for him, so perfectly fitting.

He was the most respected person in the entire Schicksal, Archbishop Otto Apocalypse.

Maria, like the other Valkyries, once longed for and loved him, but unfortunately, Otto's eyes could only ever hold one person: Kallen Kaslana, the Saintess of Destiny from five hundred years ago.

Therefore, Maria, like everyone else, hid her emotions deep inside until later, when Otto, considering eliminating the threat to himself, launched two Honkai Fission Bullets toward Siegfried's location on the eve of the end of the Second Honkai.

Since then, Maria has lost her most beloved older sister. Then there was Siegfried, who wanted to escape with Kiana. They were discovered on the night of their escape. Although Siegfried eventually escaped, Kiana's fate has been unknown ever since.

Until recently, she finally discovered that Durandal was Kiana, and then this man actually put her sister Angelia under house arrest because of this. How could she not be angry!

If she once adored Alto, she now loathes it just as much.

Even though the emotions in her heart were as fiery as magma, Maria ultimately did not express them.

After all, Angelia was still in Otto's hands, and no matter how angry Maria was, she couldn't openly break off relations. So, after Maria took a deep breath and calmed herself down, she asked.

"What exactly is your purpose?"

"Heh, my purpose is very simple, Anna Shaniat, do you know that?"

Maria frowned. She knew Anna Schariac; after all, she was a member of the family and Kiana was practically a cousin.

However, if Maria remembers correctly, Anna is a child with little talent. Neither her ability to control Honkai energy nor her excellent physical qualities, two characteristics of the Schariac family, are clearly evident in her.

Her limit is only A-rank Valkyrie, that's Maria's assessment of her.

Logically speaking, a mediocre player like Schariac shouldn't be worth Otto's attention, so why is he mentioning her here?

"So what? Is she related to what we're going to talk about next?"

“Of course, my friend.” Otto picked up his wine glass and took a sip. “Just now, Durandal and the others sent a report that the Coral Island incident has officially ended, and the confirmed Herrscher codename has been officially confirmed as the Herrscher of Ice, and the Herrscher’s original body is Miss Anna Schariac.”

"But the end of the Honkai event also means that Anna has been defeated, and her soul should rest in peace. Yet you are talking to me about a member of the Schariac family who has already sacrificed himself?! Isn't this a bit inappropriate, Bishop Otto?"

"Sacrifice?" Otto laughed. "No, no, no, my dear Maria, who told you she's already sacrificed herself?"

"Hmph! Ichi... Durandal's strength is no match for a mere Herrscher. Bishop Otto, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to use this as a bargaining chip?"

"Haha, Miss Maria, don't judge things by appearances. Anna Schariac is not dead at all, and Durandal was not involved in the attack on the Herrscher of Ice. In fact, it was our Schicksal partner, World Serpent, who was attacking the Herrscher of Ice."

Otto continued, "Although I don't know why they didn't choose to attack Anna Schariac, the Herrscher of Ice, they used a method I didn't even know to successfully restore Anna Schariac's human consciousness, making her a Herrscher with humanity. Now she has betrayed Schicksal and joined my granddaughter's team. What I want you to do is very simple: go to Anti-Entropy and bring Anna Schariac back. Then I will release your sister Angelia. How about that? Isn't it a good deal?"

"..."

To be honest, Maria didn't want to get involved in Otto's family affairs, but the thought that her sister was still in Otto's hands and that Durandal was now obeying Otto's orders made Maria have to carefully consider the pros and cons.

"You should know that I am at most an A-rank Valkyrie. Facing a Herrscher who requires an S-rank Valkyrie to intervene, I am simply not enough on my own."

"Are you still hiding your true abilities now?"

Otto squinted at Maria, who clearly felt a chill emanating from him and instinctively shivered.

“Maria Shania thought I didn’t know that you’ve been secretly training yourself all these years since Cecilia’s death. Although you outwardly chose to retire after inheriting the position of Saintess Shaniat, you secretly disguised yourself and started working as a Valkyrie under a false identity, rising to A-rank once again. Just when you were about to be promoted to S-rank Valkyrie, your false identity vanished without a trace, and not long after, news came that you had died unexpectedly. Am I right, Miss Alice?”

Maria's pupils contracted. She never expected that her carefully crafted false identity had been seen through by Otto, and that Otto had already figured out her strength.

Maria gave a wry smile: "How did you know?"

"Haha, no matter what, I have been the Archbishop of Destiny for five hundred years. Naturally, I will pay more attention to nobles like you who have inherited your lineage. Besides, the methods you used are all methods that I have already used. It would be too easy for me to investigate."

Then, knowing full well what was going on, Otto asked, "So, Miss Maria, are you going to grant my request?"

“What else can I say?” Maria said with a wry smile. “I will fulfill your request, but before that, I must confirm with my own eyes that my sister is safe!”

"Of course! Of course! I will naturally fulfill Miss Maria's small request, but before that, you need to come with me to two places."

As Alto got up to leave, Maria called the butler to clean the living room and then followed Alto.

After a while, Otto led Maria to the basement where the fourth-generation Valkyrie armor was stored.

"What are these...?"

"The fourth-generation Valkyrie armor—the Godslayer Armor," Otto replied. "After all, you're going to the Anti-Entropy organization, which has many Herrschers. Having a powerful enough armor will at least provide some protection, won't it?"

So which one do you intend for me to use?

"Hmm... I don't know."

"do not know?"

"After all, when these armors were designed, no specific person was considered who would wear them. Therefore, I select wearers based on how well they match the armor. So, to be honest, I can't tell at first glance which armor suits Miss Maria best."

"So I need to try them on one by one, right?"

"That's one way to understand it, but some of them already have wearers, so Miss Maria doesn't need to worry about those armors."

As he spoke, Otto pointed out to Maria one by one that the armors already had suitable owners, and then Maria began her matching journey.