March 28, 2014, 1:34 PM, Raiden Tower Underground Garage, Bay D07—
In a space illuminated by dim lights, standing before a modern steel beast over five meters long, Mei was taking small bites of a croissant Kiana had pulled out of her four-dimensional skirt.
Her fragrant tongue swept the creamy white filling that had accidentally stained her lips into her mouth. She sucked her fingertip, her beautiful eyes rippling with brilliance as she looked at the boy. "It's amazing you noticed this."
"For an Enforcer's Adjutant to have nothing on her but a single C-Rank standard issue weapon... even for a temporary promotion, it shouldn't be that shabby. Yuya is clearly a miser."
Fuli, who was inspecting the vehicle's configuration, didn't look up, naturally missing this incredibly sensual and alluring scene. "The only thing I didn't expect was that she'd be into this sort of thing."
The reason things had developed this way stemmed from Fuli's decision to achieve another [Praise of High Morals] achievement after robbing Susannah, deciding to extort the poor little beauty Yuya one last time before leaving.
The reason, as he said, was that an adjutant with only a C-Rank naginata must have spent her salary somewhere.
Under Mei's constraint of "answer every question," the little beauty couldn't refuse Fuli's demands. She quickly confessed where all her savings went: [Building a big house in her North American hometown, paying all the damn taxes, having her elders confusedly donate money to door-to-door animal protection organizations, beating up a marching LGBT group because she couldn't stand them and being forced to pay damages, and modifying her newly acquired beloved car.]
This was a pure windfall. Setting aside the first four rather characteristic expenditures, Fuli and the others could rely entirely on the beloved car she mentioned to escape the impending encirclement and interception, waiting for the upcoming Third Eruption (lol).
Things like Titans required identity verification to pilot. Alice's promise was only to help the three escape the Raiden Tower; she wouldn't care what happened after that. Trying to pilot a Titan out would 100% result in the machine turning against them.
And the steel beast before them fully demonstrated Yuya's taste.
—Yangwang U8 Modified. An amphibious vehicle Yuya spent a fortune building. SUV styling, fully enclosed body, three rows of seats, capable of carrying up to eight people (when not driving in India).
It featured a Car Mode and a Submarine Mode, with a maximum dive depth of 150 meters.
The body's structural limit could withstand the simultaneous bombardment of five anti-tank missiles and ignored point-blank fire from conventional sniper rifles. If necessary, the vehicle's jet mode could be activated to provide explosive acceleration, requiring a thirty-second cooldown after use.
Onboard weaponry included twelve mini-missiles housed under the bumper, six torpedoes, two vehicle-mounted drones, and four fixed 12.7mm heavy machine guns installed under the windshield with a capacity of 50,000 rounds.
[Note: How many times have I said this! Do not print my swimsuit photo on the car doors! Not on the hood either! —Cocolia]
"What do you mean 'I'm into this sort of thing'? Did my love for cars offend you?!"
Yuya, who was being led over on a leash by Kiana, whispered in protest, "Can't girls like cars? Using saved-up money to modify a beloved car, driving out to enjoy the scenery and relax during free time—this is recognized as the top enjoyment of the modern era!"
"Women who like to travel alone are bitches."
The elusive Alice (projection) coldly delivered a controversial take.
"Hey!"
Kiana, innocently catching a stray bullet, was just about to retort when she realized she was only out wandering because she was forced to find her smelly dad, not because she liked doing graduation trips across Eurasia or whatever, so she tacitly accepted the other's view.
With nothing else to do, she tapped here and looked there, sitting on the hood and swinging her legs. "This car... must cost over ten million, right?"
"No, just a few million US dollars!"
Yuya acted super proud. "I modified it all by myself by hand. From start to finish, I only paid for the materials!"
"Great. It's ours now."
Fuli pulled open the car door, and two distinct feminine scents wafted out, making him step back.
One was the scent of citrus shampoo from Yuya, while the other was more intense, emitting the scent of a woman who is thirty like a wolf, forty like a tiger, fifty sitting on the ground able to suck the dirt—scratch that—emitting a scent full of extreme aggression.
"It's Mother Cocolia."
Bronya, lying on his back, spoke faintly into his ear. "During the few months in Nagazora City, this car was her exclusive ride."
Fuli paused.
He silently raised a hand chop.
"Bronya has no way to resist anymore."
The girl stared at him unblinkingly, her small cherry lips pouting, a trace of grievance revealed in her grayish, doll-like big eyes.
Sob, sob, sob.
Cute enough to kill.
"Miss Bronya?!"
Fuli had hidden her so well that Yuya didn't realize she was there until the Duck spoke up.
It was also at this moment that the female adjutant completely made peace with her fate.
—See? Even the Little Angel Bronya, strong as a 5A-Scenic Area, gets handled by these people. It'd be a miracle if a scrub like me could beat them.
Fuli asked the other two in the team if they should knock Little Duck out.
"No need."
Mei smiled gracefully. "In a sense, this Bronya is also a victim."
In the girl's view, even though superiors often act this way, Cocolia's disregard for Bronya's safety was still unacceptable to her, which restored some of her goodwill toward the girl.
Well, the main reason was that during their talk last night, Fuli 'abandoned' Bronya to 'choose' her.
As a woman, there was no harm in being magnanimous.
Since Mei didn't object, Kiana naturally couldn't say anything either.
"Just, use that Cleansing Mantra on her a lot!"
She grabbed Fuli's hand, instructing him earnestly like a mother hen. "Don't let her get a chance to summon that giant mechanical monster again."
"It is Project Bunny!"
The Duck corrected seriously.
"Steel rabbit, right, right, right."
Kitty-Cat Kiana didn't care.
With Bronya's situation handled, it was finally Yuya's turn.
"Take her with us?"
"Take her for what? As a hostage?"
Fuli opened the passenger door and moved Bronya from his back to his arms, both to get used to the seat and to signal to Kiana that they already had a more useful hostage.
"Taking her isn't impossible."
Mei, in the driver's seat, made a gesture as if to get out and execute justice. "For example, if we're undecided, we can kill one to sacrifice to the flag, letting those who dare draw blades against us know our cruelty."
Kiana and Yuya shivered simultaneously.
"No no no no no no!"
"I'm fine being tied up! Really fine!"
Mei laughed out loud. "I'm kidding! And Kiana, hurry up and get in, we're driving off."
Your expression just now didn't look like a joke at all...
Kitty-Cat Kiana muttered to herself as she got into the back seat, then happily started fiddling with the various weapons mounted on the vehicle.
Seeing her companions seated securely, the Raiden Queen stepped on the gas with style.
BANG!
The steel beast roared and slammed into the wall in front of it.
"Cough! My bad, my bad..."
The novice female driver and General of Car Crashing, Little Mei—who wasn't old enough to get a license yet—awkwardly shifted gears to reverse. Carrying her companions who were looking at her with dead fish eyes, they swerved and sped away.
The only one left behind, the adjutant, complained helplessly, "At least untie the ropes on me! If a few men accidentally break in later, in this dark environment with one woman and N men, isn't this going to develop into the kind of terrible plot that can only be uploaded in a premium subscriber group?"
Well, she was just running her mouth with rotten jokes.
First, as a Valkyrie of the Honkai world, Yuya's body had been soaked in high-concentration Honkai energy. Her corrosive skin was enough to turn any ordinary male who dared to touch her into a zombie or reduce them to ash.
Second, she could tell that if they hadn't wanted to avoid a massacre in front of that white-haired beauty named Kiana, plus Bronya waking up midway causing Fuli to restrain himself, she would have long been chopped into mincemeat by those two, with absolutely no chance of being left alive.
Surviving was already good enough; why ask for a bicycle?
Unfortunately, she thought too soon and too optimistically.
BOOM!
Trailing Shadow sword qi erupted from the inside out, slicing Yuya into scattered Valkyrie fragments just like that.
...
Minutes after Fuli and the others drove away, crisp footsteps echoed in the empty underground garage.
Radiant golden hair was bound with a ribbon. The custom-made top, designed with military elements in silver and blue, genially blended the unyielding spirit a warrior should have with the grace and luxury of a noblewoman strolling down the street.
Beneath the skirt were thigh-high black silk boots wrapping around a wondrously beautiful body. As a finishing touch, the designer had included cutouts at the side of the hips, revealing pure white flesh—holy, graceful, seductive, yet full of heroic spirit.
Carrying the nobility unique to a ruler, the stunning beauty mentioned above—who would make any man flush red at a glance—arrived in front of Yuya's fragments.
"Stop pretending."
Standing still with arms crossed, she raised a finger. A beam filled with Honkai energy projected from the corner, and the bloody chunks of meat on the ground began to reshape, originating from a tiny, nano-level core.
Moments later, the reassembled adjutant stood up, her face covered in tears. "Lady Cocolia~"
After joining Anti-Entropy, Yuya had volunteered to become a candidate for the Enforcer code-named [Infinity], a lab rat on the operating table.
Although the modification into a weapon for preemptively striking super-large Honkai beasts ended in failure, and the only ability she gained was psychokinesis, as long as the nano-core implanted in her body wasn't damaged, she could recover extremely quickly from any damage provided there was enough external energy.
Obviously, even a temporarily appointed adjutant had the responsibility of guarding the Enforcer.
Immortality—this was the reliance behind the girl's protection of Cocolia, and her ace in the hole for seeking death actively time and time again.
Looking at the blonde beauty before her, Yuya stretched her limbs and asked in confusion, "By the way, why did you suddenly change back into this outfit?"
Cocolia's current look highlighted an explosive lethality, especially the peaks on her chest that seemed ready to burst out, making one want to compose a poem upon seeing them:
From afar, the logic is big.
Up close, big logic.
The logic is truly big.
Truly big logic.
Setting aside these blood-pumping factors, this luxurious and holy custom dress was the symbol of the Reformist faction leader. Since falling out with conservative leaders like Einstein last November, Cocolia hadn't worn this outfit again.
Now, not only had she changed back into these clothes, but she was also wearing the Sacred Glory Cross Medal symbolizing the position of Enforcer again.
Realizing something, Yuya's eyes lit up. "You regained your authority from Femirins?!"
"Tell me everything that happened while I was away. use the most concise wording."
"Yes!"
Receiving the order, the adjutant straightened up and spilled everything that had just happened like pouring beans from a jar.
Then she saw the big boss's eyelid twitch noticeably, making her already anxious heart feel even worse.
Surrender and admit defeat, lose half! Surrender and admit defeat, lose half!
Harboring this tip for workers she heard from somewhere, she bowed her head to admit her mistake with lightning speed. "All of this is due to your subordinate's poor guarding. Please punish me heavily, Milady!"
"This isn't your fault."
Sure enough, Cocolia took the responsibility. "The reason you were caught off guard by those two brats' surprise attack is primarily that I didn't expect the dragnet I laid out to be breached one by one without alerting anyone. If you had faced Raiden Mei alone, I believe you wouldn't have been defeated, at the very least."
Yuya tested the waters. "So getting to the bottom of it, this matter is Lady Cocolia's responsibility?"
"Yuya."
"Here!"
"Let's discuss your punishment for leaking classified intelligence. Of course, the content of the punishment will still be unilaterally decided by me, the Enforcer."
"Eek! Mmph mmph mmph—"
Too lazy to listen to her quibbling, Cocolia waved her hand. Manifested chains hoisted the adjutant—who still wanted to say something—back into the air, conveniently stuffing a gag into her mouth.
To be honest, it would have been fine if Yuya had leaked other intelligence; in Cocolia's eyes, those things were at most little worldview trivia, harmless no matter how much was said.
But no matter how loose you are, you can't just reveal the news that [Raiden Ryoma left safely] in its entirety!
And that high-sounding explanation... it made her, the person involved, feel embarrassed!
At first glance, it seemed she had indeed allowed Raiden Ryoma to be taken by Einstein and the others after getting the answer she wanted, even providing necessary data in the cabin to help them clear his name.
In reality, this was just a necessary compromise.
Restricting the personal freedom of a fellow Enforcer for nearly four months—even with a barely plausible excuse of embezzlement—how could the other high-ranking officials not have opinions?
Fighting without breaking the system is the bottom line. If you, Cocolia, dare to imprison Raiden Ryoma today, will the butcher's knife be swung at us old fogies tomorrow?
To sit in that position, no one misunderstands the concept of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold."
But coming from Yuya's mouth, it turned into her boss having 'a sense of the big picture!' and 'considering Raiden Ryoma's dedicated contribution to fighting the Honkai!'
Is that a sense of the big picture? Anyway, Cocolia felt like she was about to have a cerebral hemorrhage.
The key was that she couldn't refute this statement. Who told her to set up this persona beforehand?
It was precisely relying on this that she could rise abruptly within the faction-riddled Anti-Entropy, fighting her way from a former Northern Great Power soldier to the position of the Reformist faction's powerful leader in just a few years.
You win some, you lose some; that is the principle.
Gathering her chaotic thoughts, Cocolia waved her hand, and a 3D holographic map covering a small part of the city slowly unfolded before her.
Houses and streets woven from threads of light were lifelike, emitting a pale blue glow that dispelled the chill of the underground garage and illuminated it.
Yuya, suspended in mid-air, had her eyes light up. "Mmph, mmph, mmph!"
On the light-woven 3D map, the Yangwang U8 she had personally modified was rampaging through the streets and alleys, constantly dodging repeated bombardments from units like Heavy Assault Mechs and Padrino Mechs.
—Tianshu Modeling, also known as the Live Spot Map. One of the privileges granted by Anti-Entropy's super AI [Femirins] to personnel with status above senior employee.
This map automatically investigates and records the surrounding building terrain within a ten-kilometer radius, various secret passages, and the movements of humanoid lifeforms, providing the most basic annotations in real-time.
Of course, as always, powerful individual units or anti-surveillance abilities can evade it to a certain extent, and releasing high-intensity Honkai energy can also cause interference.
But regardless, the appearance of Tianshu Modeling meant that Einstein had reopened Femirins to Cocolia's group. They no longer had to be run in circles by three mere brats like before.
Noticing the excited Yuya, Cocolia raised an eyebrow. "Curious why that old stubborn mule Einstein relented?"
"Mmph mmph!"
"With Raiden Ryoma returning, they had to show some appreciation."
Mutual gestures of goodwill were one aspect; the abortion of the Third Eruption was another.
The past was the past; the present is the present.
Since Cocolia's attitude had softened, Einstein was also afraid that pushing her too hard would make her smash the pot and act out of desperation.
"It's a pity that the functions unlocked by the AI are currently few, far from the peak Enforcer authority."
Reflecting the battered Yangwang U8 under siege in her beautiful eyes, Cocolia's lips curled up. "Even so, catching these little mice who ruined my plans won't be a problem."
Relying on information asymmetry, Fuli and the others had managed to escape time and time again.
But now, driving away, they were firmly locked onto by the Live Spot Map. If they could still get away, then she, Cocolia, should stop being an Enforcer and just go home, find a younger guy, marry him, and make babies.
But that car...?
The roof of the Yangwang U8 rippled under the afternoon sun, finally transforming into the alluring image of a blonde mature woman in a swimsuit reclining on a beach chair applying sunscreen.
Seeing this, Cocolia's face twisted in anger.
"I told you not to print my swimsuit photo on the car doors, so you used gradient materials to sneakily paint it on the roof?!"
"Mmph mmph mmph (The roof isn't the door)!"
This is what you call actively admitting mistakes, but never repenting.
...