The battle on the Rhine River front, as Captain Kael had predicted, presented a strange state of being "lively but without danger."
Although the Third Empire's offensive seemed fierce, it was more like a desperate, all-out gamble, lacking subsequent strategic support.
In the face of Schicksal's powerful defense system and the elite Valkyrie troops personally led by Otto who arrived later, it was quickly contained.
After Bishop Otto arrived, he did not interfere much with the front-line command, spending most of his time on her exclusive flagship, the void archives.
Occasionally, some macroscopic, perplexing orders would come from her, while specific tactical execution was entirely delegated to the various ship captains.
Kael and his Asgard were assigned to a relatively safe area for vigilance and support, and his days were even more... leisurely than when he was "harassed" by Theresa at headquarters?
Apart from having to constantly guard against the possibility of Bishop Otto suddenly having a whim and calling him to discuss philosophy or appreciate poetry, Kael spent most of his time on routine patrols and data analysis.
He looked at the intense firefight signals in other areas on the main screen, while his side was calm, and he even had the illusion that he had come to the wrong battlefield.
And Bishop Otto also seemed to genuinely be there just to "relax" and "observe."
A few days later, the Schicksal army began to organize local counterattacks.
Kael received an order to lead a small team to clear an area on the east bank of the Rhine River that had just been recaptured, to confirm if there were any remaining enemies or dangerous facilities.
This area, having been subjected to artillery bombardment, appeared somewhat desolate.
Kael led his team cautiously, checking damaged buildings and fortifications one by one.
Most places were empty, with only the remnants of war.
However, as they approached a low-lying building disguised as an ordinary warehouse, Kael's Honkai Energy detector suddenly emitted a sharp alarm!
The Honkai Energy concentration here was unusually high, and extremely unstable!
"Alert!" Kael immediately ordered, and the team members quickly dispersed, taking advantageous positions.
He carefully pushed open the severely deformed, almost detached metal door, and a foul odor, a mixture of blood, chemicals, and a strong Honkai Energy scent, rushed out, making him nauseous.
The scene behind the door made even Kael, who was accustomed to battlefields, feel a chill down his spine.
This was not a warehouse at all, but a secret laboratory! And it was a laboratory conducting inhumane human experiments!
The interior of the laboratory was a mess, obviously having undergone a hasty evacuation and destruction.
Various broken glass instruments and twisted metal equipment were scattered everywhere, with dark, suspicious stains remaining on the walls and floor.
Some culture tanks were broken, empty inside, but the residual slime and fragments suggested that something had been stored there.
Most shocking was the central area of the laboratory, where several restraint beds were placed, still with unfastened leather straps and dried bloodstains.
On the adjacent tables were scattered various horrifying surgical instruments and record boards filled with insane data.
Kael picked up a record board, and its contents made him frown deeply.
Researchers from the Third Empire had conducted a large number of inhumane experiments here, aiming to create controllable "humanoid Honkai weapons" by injecting ultra-high concentrations of Honkai Energy and forcibly implanting Honkai Beast gene fragments, among other methods.
Records showed that most test subjects either died quickly in extreme pain or underwent terrifying mutations.
"Captain! There's a discovery here!" A team member's voice came from deep within the laboratory, tinged with shock and unbearable sadness.
Kael hurried over and stopped in front of a relatively intact life support pod, covered with wires and needles.
Inside the life support pod lay a small girl who looked only ten years old.
She had rare long purple hair, a pale and gaunt face, her eyes were tightly closed, and various monitoring probes were connected to her body, her tiny frame almost submerged by complex wiring.
On the display screen of the life support pod, the indicator representing Honkai Energy concentration was alarmingly high, almost off the charts, yet it strangely maintained a fragile balance.
She was still alive!
Kael immediately checked the nearby records.
This girl, designated A-521, was the last test subject, injected with a Honkai Energy dosage far exceeding all previous test subjects.
Records showed that her Honkai Energy adaptability was abnormally high, and it was this extremely high adaptability that allowed her to miraculously survive such inhuman torment, but her body was also severely ravaged, and she had remained in a coma.
"These beasts!" A team member couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Kael's face was terribly grim.
He looked at the frail little girl in the life support pod, who seemed as if she would break with a touch, and a strong surge of anger and pity welled up in his heart.
Such a small child, subjected to such inhuman treatment!
"Immediately check the status of the life support pod and assess the possibility of transfer! Contact the medical team! Highest priority!"
Kael suppressed his anger and quickly gave orders, "Thoroughly search the entire laboratory, ensure there are no other survivors or dangerous items! All experimental data must be sealed and brought back!"
The team members immediately sprang into action.
Kael, meanwhile, stood by the life support pod, looking at the purple-haired girl inside with complex emotions.
Her brows were tightly furrowed even in a coma, as if she was enduring immense pain.
He thought of Kiana, that child who also had innocent eyes and could be made happy with just a hug and a pudding.
If Kiana were to experience something like this... Kael couldn't even imagine.
Just then, his personal communicator rang; it was an encrypted communication from the void archives.
After connecting, Bishop Otto's voice, tinged with a hint of laziness and playfulness, came through: "Oh my? Captain Kael seems to have discovered something interesting? A high-concentration Honkai Energy survivor test subject? That's... a delightful find."
Her tone sounded completely unsurprised, even with a hint of... excitement?
Kael's heart tightened, and he said in a deep voice: "Bishop Otto, we have found a survivor, a young girl, with weak vital signs but extremely high Honkai Energy concentration. Requesting immediate medical support."
"Hmm~ I know."
Otto's voice remained light, "No need to be nervous, Captain Kael. Maintain the life support system, and I will send a specialist to receive her. Remember, she and all the experimental data are extremely valuable 'trophies,' so be sure to bring them back intact."
The word "trophies" made Kael extremely uncomfortable, and he couldn't help but say: "Bishop Otto, she is just a child, a victim..."
"Of course, she is certainly a victim, the poor little dear."
Otto's tone sounded full of sympathy, but Kael detected a hint of coldness, "So it's even more necessary for us Schicksal to 'properly' care for and study her, isn't it? After all, such high Honkai Energy adaptability is one in a million... Perhaps it can provide us with new insights to combat Honkai?"
Kael gripped the communicator, silent for a few seconds, then said in a low voice: "...Yes, Bishop Otto."
After hanging up the communication, Kael looked at Sirin in the life support pod, his mood becoming even heavier.
He vaguely felt that Bishop Otto's attention to this matter was unusual. What she wanted was probably not as simple as just saving a victim.
This purple-haired girl who survived a hellish laboratory, her future, it seemed, would not become bright just because she was rescued; instead, she might be drawn into another deeper, more complex vortex.
Kael sighed and told his team members to speed up. Whatever the future held, at least for now, he had to ensure this child survived.
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