"I'm sorry, Reanna, you must have had a difficult day."
After returning to the doll, Tian Shi smiled ironically at Reanna in the Sky Dome Hotel.
This magnificent hotel has been reserved in its entirety by World Serpent to house the people of Anti-Entropy.
As for the members of the Immortal Blades... well, at first they were quite frightened.
But later, Rita and Bianca reached an agreement and said that both sides would form an alliance temporarily.
Regardless of whether the team members believed it or not, the matter was settled.
After all, their own captain and vice-captain had said so, and the formation of Anti-Entropy was indeed quite terrifying, so the members of the Immortal Blades team have calmed down.
"Isn't it simply about turning enemies into friends? That's probably what I meant by politics, right? Anyway, we, the rank-and-file soldiers, just have to follow the captain and the others."
"I have no problem with that, but I always have the feeling that your future, Lord Alliance Leader, could be... a bittersweet experience."
"How is it that you are using such modern language now?"
Tian Shi looked helplessly at the knight princess, who was giving him a mocking look.
"It was just a spontaneous comment, after all, it comes from the people around you..."
Reanna smiled and shrugged, then pointed to Senti, who was scratching her head beside her.
Well... everyone has something important to do, except Senti.
Or to put it another way, Senti's true business consists of "revolving around Master Tian."
"Don't just stand there like a monkey."
Tian Shi looked at Senti with a weary expression.
"How about we find something to do?"
Senti scratched her head; she really didn't have anything she wanted to do at that moment.
"How about I prepare a cup of tea for you, Master Tian?"
"I think it would be great if you could volunteer for Ciora, it seems she has changed her mind and plans to buy a villa on the outskirts, I doubt a single person can take care of everything."
"That person..."
Senti scratched her head.
She didn't know Ciora very well.
She had only chatted with her for a while when she and Kiana were "catching someone cheating."
Well, in fact, Senti doesn't know most of the people she isn't interested in.
"Forget it, last time I kicked her door down, even though I replaced it with a new one, I doubt she wants to see me."
"..."
"Professor Tian, why are you looking at me with such concern? What did I do wrong?"
"No, it's just that I think it's not easy for Hua to be so self-aware."
"I understand, it's that 'your child has finally grown up' feeling, right?"
Reanna nodded repeatedly at his side.
"What do you care?!"
Although Senti didn't understand the situation, her intuition told her she was being insulted.
"I'm older than you, aren't I?"
Reanna shrugged, without refuting what Senti had said.
"But speaking of that, it seems some people didn't show up this morning."
Tian Shi said, changing the subject.
"Besides Joyce and his son, the only people who weren't there were Theresa and Cocolia."
Reanna thought for a moment.
"Theresa stayed outside the door for a while, but seeing everyone crying, she wiped her tears and left without entering, as for Cocolia..."
"What happened to Cocolia?"
"What do you think of Cocolia?"
Reanna suddenly changed the subject.
"Your question is giving me a bit of post-traumatic stress, you know?"
Tian Shi couldn't help but raise his dead fish eyes.
Seeing Tian Shi's expression, Reanna couldn't help but smile.
"After all, Cocolia is no longer young, when I met her and Alexandra in Siberia, she was already in her twenties, now she is over forty, it's time for her to find someone."
"So you're just giving her to me?"
"Because you don't need her for a title, and you know her quite well."
If Tian Shi only had one woman by his side, Reanna certainly wouldn't have told him this.
But since you, the Alliance Leader, have more than twenty women around you, it wouldn't matter if you added Cocolia to your list of relationships.
Besides, although Cocolia is forty years old, Reanna thinks Cocolia is not bad at all, and she is also quite family-oriented.
Although Cocolia's military training has made her style quite tough, Tian Shi is her superior, and with this pressure, Cocolia could become the kind of woman who is a good partner.
"Get in there yourself! Do you think Professor Tian is a garbage collector?"
Senti, who seemed to understand what was happening, got a little angry and glared at Reanna.
"Why don't you get in there?"
Hearing this, Reanna looked at Senti with a bewildered expression.
"..."
Senti realized something again.
"Speaking of which, Cocolia back then was a bit like Bianca, a reckless girl."
Ignoring Senti, Reanna's face reflected nostalgia.
"When I first saw her, she was guarding a car in which a pregnant woman was traveling and shooting at the approaching Honkai Beasts."
"That pregnant woman must be Bronya's mother, right?"
"Yes."
Reanna nodded.
"Back then, Cocolia was falsely accused and imprisoned for reporting her superior, Bronya's father, for corruption, however, during the Second Honkai Impact, the Honkai Beasts destroyed the prison facilities, and Bronya's father also perished as a result, which allowed Cocolia to escape."
Reanna smiled as she said this.
"Afterward, Cocolia took Alexandra hostage and fled by car; well, actually, I don't think that counts as hostage-taking, as Cocolia had no need to take a pregnant woman who was a burden, especially since she was her enemy's wife; that's why I took her in after the Second Honkai Impact."
"Ha..."
Senti made an annoyed sound.
"Saving your enemy's wife? If it were me, I would have killed her long ago."
Reanna smiled at Senti but didn't correct her.
"At that time, I was impressed by this girl's integrity: she didn't abandon the weak during the disaster, nor did she take out her anger on others."
Tian Shi nodded.
If Tian Shi were to comment on the situation where someone has just left prison and immediately encounters their enemy's wife, stealing the car and leaving Alexandra to her fate wouldn't necessarily be considered morally reprehensible.
After all, the resentment caused by being falsely accused cannot be explained simply by the phrase "the sins of the family should not fall on the innocent."
Furthermore, during her subsequent flight, Cocolia did her best to comfort Alexandra instead of throwing her out to distract the Honkai Beasts.
Disasters are moments when we witness the limits of humanity, and in this moment, Cocolia demonstrates those limits.
"Although it may seem a bit presumptuous on her part to say this, Alliance Leader, you do have some issues with Cocolia, don't you?"
Reanna said, looking at Tian Shi.
"Well... I can't deny that my impression of her isn't bad, but my assessment of her isn't very high."
Tian Shi didn't deny what Reanna said.
"In my opinion, Cocolia is too mediocre... a mediocre mother, a mediocre soldier... well, that might be my stereotype."
Now, due to the extreme integration of Anti-Entropy, Cocolia has no chance of being a double agent.
She is blameless as a soldier, and Tian Shi has also helped her in her role as a mother.
From the current perspective, Cocolia seems to be a very good woman.
"And with Cocolia around, she can help you keep those little girls in check, or take care of your children in the future."
"Use her to take care of children?"
Tian Shi couldn't help but say.
"Reanna, why are you getting involved in these kinds of things too?"
"I just want to help Cocolia find a home."
Reanna said smiling, ignoring Senti, who was showing her teeth and threatening her at her side.
"Think of it as me using our relationship to put her name on the registry."
While titles and status aren't always useful, they can be invaluable in situations like this.
With a formal title, Cocolia will undoubtedly be attracted to Tian Shi.
Furthermore, Reanna thinks that girls like Bronya, if they have children in the future, might need to learn from Cocolia, who is also a mother; you can't expect Tian Shi to take care of a group of children all by himself, right?
Besides, Reanna seriously doubted how much time her leader would have available to take care of the child by then; it was impossible for everyone to get pregnant at the same time...
Seeing others with children to play with, it would be strange if everyone didn't feel envy and a competitive spirit...
So, when things reach that point, it can be considered that both are getting closer, and over time, their nominal relationship could become a real relationship.
And more importantly, Cocolia is not very ambitious, she is a family person and won't cause trouble.
Reanna would never betray Tian Shi in such an important event in his life, although Reanna wondered if something her leader could celebrate more than twenty times could really be considered an important event.
Or perhaps it could be considered a once-in-a-lifetime event if everyone participated together?
No, that's impossible; there are too many people.
Cocolia's only flaw is her seniority...
But Reanna noticed that her own leader asked about everything except seniority, and neither did Senti who was at his side.
They might not really care about seniority when it comes to Anti-Entropy.
Besides, her own leader's seniority is already at a celestial level.
To be honest, all those girls, including myself, could marry a man of a higher social class than our own.
Furthermore, if we were to seriously consider seniority, people like Dr. MEI, the one at his side called Senti, and the original owner Hua, who are clearly disciples, would be dismissed without a second thought.
Let's stop talking about seniority, it makes no sense.
"Hey, isn't this Theresa? What brings you here?"
After realizing that showing her teeth wouldn't intimidate Reanna, Senti began to look around and finally caught Theresa sneaking up the stairs.
"Not even a greeting? Are you not my friend anymore?"
"You're the only one I'm not friends with."
Theresa wanted to say this, but because of Senti's position, everyone was already aware.
Theresa wouldn't fail at this point.
"Ehm... I saw you chatting so happily, I wanted to join."
Well, to be honest, we don't know each other very well, and Theresa didn't want to talk about that subject.
Of all the people present at the morning meeting, Theresa didn't know: MEI, Tian Shi, and the Herrscher were standing in front of her.
Yes, Theresa and Tian Shi really don't know each other.
Although she later learned that Tian Shi was beside Himeko back then, in fact they didn't know each other at all.
Last year she found out about Tian Shi's existence.
"I get the impression that, Theresa, you are becoming less and less interesting to me."
Senti crossed her arms and shook her head.
"And what are you doing upstairs?"
"I'm going to check my room..."
Theresa sighed.
"And I always have a slight sense of crisis."
"Sense of crisis?"
"Mmm... I wouldn't know how to explain it well, but my gut tells me it's best to find a place to hide right now."
Theresa frowned, trying to free herself from Senti.
"You haven't caught the eye of that lolicon Rita, have you?"
Releasing her, Senti joked with Theresa and also made a sarcastic comment about Rita.
"She doesn't have time to worry about me."
Theresa had just made a gesture with her hand when Rita's voice was heard from outside the door.
"Miss Vera, this is the hotel where we are staying now, but it has been reserved by our tour group, however, if you have nowhere to stay, I can talk to them."
Rita spoke to the blonde woman beside her with a polite smile, while unconsciously glancing at Theresa and Senti, who were blocking the way on the stairs.
Mmm... this looks familiar.
Wait, does this look familiar?
Rita, who had just arrived at the door, suddenly stopped, her smile gradually fading as she looked silently at "Lisa," who was walking behind with her head bowed next to Li Sushang.
"Miss Lisa, could you lift your head for a moment, please?"
Rita restrained "Vera," who was trying to enter the room, while looking expressionlessly at the silver-haired girl behind her with her head bowed.
I've been thinking so much about men these last few days that I don't even remember what Theresa looks like anymore.
The woman behind her, "Miss Lisa," doesn't look exactly like Theresa, but she at least looks 90% like her!
"Waaah..."
"Eh? What's wrong?"
Li Sushang had no idea what was happening.
"Miss Rita, why are you scaring Lisa?"
"Lisa..."
Rita arched an eyebrow.
"Is this lady's name really Lisa?"
"Ah... this..."
Li Sushang and Rita crossed glances for a few seconds before Li Sushang gave in and silently looked away.
She is not good at lying at all.
Seeing Li Sushang's guilty look, Rita immediately found herself in a predicament.
Then, several terrifying assumptions came to mind instantly: guess what?!
Nowadays, the only person who looks so much like Theresa is probably the one next to the Bishop!
"Secretary Amber?"
Rita spoke with an uncertain expression and then silently moved a few meters away from the woman beside her.
"Uf... Miss Rita, this..."
Hearing Lisa's words—that is, Amber's—Ragna quickly distanced herself from her, with a clear expression of alarm.
Even if the other person is a secretary, she is nothing more than a figurehead... The person behind her cannot be underestimated at all.
Only Bianca remained, standing next to Lady Sabrese with an expressionless look.
"Hey, what are you guys doing standing here?"
Senti also arrived at the door at that moment.
Feeling guilty, Li Sushang was startled to see Senti.
"Hey! What are you doing here, old lady?"
"Ha?"