Completely unaware that he had triggered Mobius's withdrawal symptoms, Fuli stood up, dried his wet bath towels, and wandered through the vast spa center.
This was the downside of high-end establishments: they were too big and easy to get lost in.
And now, it was 11:30 PM, outside normal business hours, so the staff had long since clocked off.
Seeing the surrounding environment become increasingly unfamiliar, the boy, who had been wandering for over half an hour, scratched his head. He muttered to himself, should I just go back to the open-air hot springs? Those two should have recovered by now, right?
"Are you lost? Do you need 'our' help?"
Accompanied by the patter-patter of footsteps, a concerned, childish voice reached the ears of the hesitant Fuli.
He turned around and saw a cute little girl even shorter than himself.
She had short red hair with tips that shone with a sun-like golden luster. A few playful bangs scattered across her forehead, giving her an overall lively and spirited appearance.
She wore a child's yukata embellished with fresh flowers. Her almond eyes were large and round, her cheeks slightly chubby with baby fat, and her light purple pupils, with slightly drooping corners, exuded an air of innocence.
Fuli looked around and found that this little girl was the only one in front of him.
While wondering about the strange self-reference "we," he answered her question: "I am indeed unable to find my way for the moment, but this is the men's bath, isn't it? Why are you here, little kid?"
"You don't look much older than 'us' either!"
Little Ti laughed it off.
As an ancient hot spring dating back to the Roman period, the Bath complex was artificially divided into the Roman Baths and the modern Thermae Bath Spa.
Although the former was no longer open to the public due to cultural heritage protection, if VIPs came from afar, the British Royal Family would activate the baths to host them, allowing guests to experience authentic ancient Roman style.
Tonight, such a big shot had arrived in the foggy city.
Theresa Apocalypse, the principal of St. Freya Academy. She had come at the invitation of the British Princess and the twelfth member of the Schicksal Senate, [Tribios], to discuss further cooperation with the Far East Branch while also deterring Raiden Ryoma's group, who were becoming increasingly assertive at the negotiating table.
Tribios and Theresa had quite a good personal relationship. Every time the latter visited, Her Royal Highness would activate the highest configuration of the Roman Baths to host her.
So, what did all this have to do with Fuli?
Answer: Because there was no one to guide him, this unlucky child wandered around randomly and actually got lost in someone else's territory.
The responsible Little Ti certainly couldn't ignore this. Such a delectable little boy, all alone... what if he met a strange bearded uncle on his way back and was abducted into a room to look at "something good"?
Little Ti was quite self-aware of Great Britain's reputation as the "Corrupt Country" (a pun on "Island Nation"), so she grabbed Little Fuli's hand without explanation: "Come with us first, we'll help you contact your family!"
"Eh? Into the women's bath?"
Fuli was stunned. "Th-this isn't appropriate, is it?"
When did he acquire the Yuki Rito constitution, where family members rushed to give him fan service?
Not knowing he had run to the wrong place, he thought he had accidentally entered the women's bath of the spa center. Thinking that he might see the bathing-limited skins of Mei and Sister Rita next—
Well, I eat too well usually, so this is nothing special.
"It doesn't matter! Hold on tight to us!"
Little Ti looked back with a lively smile, her slightly chubby cheeks making one want to pinch them.
In her opinion, he was just a little boy anyway. It didn't matter even if he saw things he shouldn't.
Which boy hadn't been taken to the women's bath by his mother or sister when he was little? And who could really remember the scenery seen back then?
The octagonal hall was extremely luxurious, with marble colonnades supporting the four sides, gilded statues of Venus pouring spring water, and skylight filtering through the stained glass dome.
"Haa, so comfortable..."
In the central warm water pool of the Roman Baths, Theresa, leaning against the wall, exhaled a breath of turbid air.
She fiddled with her snow-white hair tied into a bun, her tone carrying a hint of embarrassment: "I make you spend money every time I come, Tribios."
"If you really treat me as a friend, don't say such distant words."
The beauty sitting on the edge splashing water raised her calf in mock annoyance. Crystal clear water droplets adorned her slender, fair foot, and ripples spread in all directions.
Thick, smooth red hair fell on Tribios's shoulders, decorated with a few exquisite white flowers. She wore a white form-fitting dress with a golden ribbon tied around her waist, adding a touch of splendor to her overall look.
"Okay, okay, it's this principal's fault."
Glancing enviously at the unnamable objects jiggling on the other's chest, Theresa switched to the offensive: "Since we're not strangers, you can't renege on my share of the benefits in the upcoming negotiations with Anti-Entropy!"
"Don't worry, the usual 40-60 split. You get sixty, I get forty."
"No, this time it has to be a 30-70 split."
Theresa paused. "Schicksal seven, St. Freya three."
Tribios's face froze, clearly unprepared for her friend's exorbitant demand.
Schicksal seven, St. Freya three... even if this profit was the surplus gained by using Theresa's (former) S-rank Valkyrie status to force Raiden Ryoma to make concessions in the negotiation, this left absolutely nothing for her!
Soon, Her Royal Highness realized something from the Principal's firm attitude.
"Is this the Overseer's intention?"
Theresa curled her lips. "You can't hide your private dealings with that woman Mobius from Grandpa."
—Mythological Sequence Holders, also known as Golden Scions or God Slayers.
Simply put, perhaps due to talent, some people in this world are born with abilities corresponding to a certain deity in mythology.
Golden blood flows in their veins, and they wield divine power like true divine authority. However, this power is quite weak at first, only granting the Golden Scions extraordinary potential.
They need to continuously enhance their divinity through spiritual sublimation or other means until they kill the god corresponding to themselves and refine its godhead into a Tinder. Only then are they considered to have officially grown to their peak.
Tribios was such a Golden Scion, and also a rare Living God who had completed the fusion of the Tinder.
The godhead she killed was [Janus], the god of gates in ancient Roman mythology. As one of the oldest godheads, He was also the protector of the Romans.
Of course, the powerless Tribios couldn't solve the opponent single-handedly. Fortunately, as a member of the Senate, she not only had the backing of Great Britain, one of the Five Permanent Members, but also possessed partial command rights over Schicksal's fleet.
With the frantic bombardment of Honkai-side weapons and the full deployment of Valkyrie troops, the ancient godhead, no matter how unwilling after being served in turns, could only end up paving the way for others.
But after all, He was the earliest deity of ancient Rome. Tribios, after fusing with the Tinder, was surprised to find that her brain was continuously splitting off new personalities.
Little Tribbie, Trianne, Trinnon, Tribios...
Although these personalities possessed parts of her memory, each had their own character. Some were lively and obedient, others were quiet and introverted. The only common point was that they were all curious about this world like infants.
And accompanied by the continuous splitting of personalities, Tribios's own power was also rapidly declining.
This naturally caused panic in her, but soon, the Schicksal Medical Department came up with a plan for this symptom.
The method was simple, crude, and effective: dispatch spiritual professionals to infiltrate Her Royal Highness's sea of consciousness every once in a while to wipe out all those newborn personalities that were dividing her power.
To this, Tribios's answer was to consider it.
If this were a decisive protagonist who killed without blinking, they certainly wouldn't have hesitated.
But seeing those little cuties in her sea of consciousness, with different personalities but looking exactly like her childhood self, Her Royal Highness really couldn't bring herself to do it.
So, she secretly contacted Mobius of Anti-Entropy, asking this expert in the field of life if there were other methods.
Snake-Snake quickly came to a conclusion: Oh, isn't it just multiple personalities? I'll create a few clones using your genes, and you can just guide the little guys' personalities into them, right?
This job sounded easy, but in reality, it wasn't simple at all.
The only person in the world who could guarantee a 100% success rate was Mobius, who could even clone the Herrscher of Reason.
Of course, since she was the one performing the surgery personally, it was hard to guarantee that this woman wouldn't leave some backdoor in her body.
Even Ryoma, a fellow Anti-Entropy Executor, was worried to death, let alone Tribios, who was a member of the Schicksal Senate.
"But you still traded with her."
Theresa sighed, shrinking her small body into a ball in the warm water. "And Grandpa found out about this."
Otto could allow Anti-Entropy spies to operate within Schicksal. Let alone A-rank Valkyries, even department-level executives—it didn't matter if some unimportant positions wanted to play both sides.
Moles couldn't be killed off anyway, so it was better to keep them for strategic deception at critical moments.
Besides, he also had many spies planted in Anti-Entropy. It was a courtesy exchange; no one called anyone out.
But the Senate was different.
The twelve supreme senators could be stupid, idle, or bad. It was fine if they secretly caused trouble or undermined him, and Otto couldn't be bothered to care about trade with Anti-Entropy, since he did it privately too.
But having a Supreme Senator's life held in the hands of an opposing Executor—this was the only thing Otto would absolutely not agree to.
Because at a critical moment, this person could really turn traitor, and without hesitation at that.
Realizing this, Tribios sighed with emotion: "In other words, after this negotiation ends, I, the Senator, will be removed, right? Who does Lord Overseer intend to choose as the replacement? Charles? George? Or Charlotte?"
The twelfth seat of the Senate had been held by the British Royal Family since the 18th century. If she stepped down, naturally someone else would replace her.
"No!"
Theresa gritted her teeth. "It's Situ Qinghong from the Taixuan Front!"
The air in the bath fell silent, leaving only the sizzling sound of flowing spring water.
After a long while, Tribios spoke faintly: "I should have thought of it when Pheme completely withdrew."
Last night, in order to quickly find the bodies infected with the ghoul virus, Mobius ordered Pheme to shrink her positions in London.
Originally, Ai-La intended to sit on the sidelines and let the capital of the British Empire turn into a sea of fire under the ravages of ghouls, then expose the truth afterwards to put Anti-Entropy in a dilemma under various pressures.
Although she didn't go that far out of respect for her brother (Fuli), she took advantage of Pheme's absence to quickly capture a pile of network permissions in London.
Because they hadn't anticipated Pheme's abrupt withdrawal, the British high command was completely unprepared for this.
Nowadays, the control rights of countless military and civilian equipment, including the Honkai energy furnace 'Crucible' and the Starlight Observatory, had fallen into Schicksal's hands.
In other words, the value of the Senate seat given to the Royal Family by Schicksal to indirectly control Britain had now plummeted.
This wasn't over.
Tribios sighed. "Next, in order to maintain a basic balance, Britain, having lost its seat, can only get closer to Anti-Entropy than before."
Closer = paying money.
Even closer = paying more and more money.
This money could be converted into industries, finance, ports, foreign exchange, anything Great Britain could offer.
To summarize, in this wave of events in the Fog City, Schicksal made a bloody fortune, Anti-Entropy made a huge profit, and only Great Britain lost so badly they almost lost their underwear.
What about the situation? Did paying so much bring any benefits?
No. It was still half Schicksal, half Anti-Entropy. Offshore balancer, semi-neutral zone.
"Dark... truly fucking dark..."
Tribios seriously suspected that the reason Mobius let Pheme withdraw so readily was precisely because of this calculation.
This is called "when the boss and the second-in-command fight, the one who gets killed first is usually the third."
"Every single one of them is an old schemer. Whatever, in the end, it's just a lack of strength."
She sighed with emotion and buried half of her delicate body in the hot spring to soothe her terrible mood.
No wonder Shenzhou scrimped and saved to create the super AI [Bai Ze] of the same level. You're either at the table or on the menu; this is ancient Eastern wisdom.
Theresa felt a little embarrassed, but only a little.
One day she would also become the Overseer of Schicksal. Once sitting in that position, many things had to be done against one's conscience.
But before that—
She extended her slender fingers. "For the Valkyrie training quota this time, St. Freya can give you 300 spots."
Tribios perked up instantly. "300 more? Including artificial stigmata implantation? What about the third-generation Valkyrie armor?"
She couldn't help but be excited. Thanks to Theresa's heavy investment regardless of cost in the early stages, St. Freya's artificial stigmata implantation technology was the best in Schicksal.
Valkyries graduating from there not only had Honkai adaptability a cut above other branches, but their physical condition was also sufficient to support them fighting until forty and retiring normally!
Britain's quota in previous years was 100. This quota didn't occupy normal Schicksal Valkyrie training; it was more like training mercenaries for others.
In other words, these Valkyries would return directly to their motherland after graduation to engage in important work such as VIP security and ace troop duties.
"Not 300 more, but 300 total!"
Theresa rolled her eyes at this guy who tried to take a mile when given an inch. "Artificial stigmata implantation is included, but you have to pay the fees yourselves. As for the third-generation Valkyrie armor, if you dare to use it, I dare to supply it!"
Raising the quota by two times in one breath was entirely her private compensation.
"Dare use! Why wouldn't I dare use it!"
Tribios swore solemnly, then whispered, "At worst, I'll ask those hackers from Wandering Dove to help re-flash the system. It's just third-generation armor; the backdoor program won't be too complicated."
St. Freya's formally graduated Valkyries had a guaranteed strength of C-rank. Equipped with Valkyrie armor, they could touch the floor of B-rank.
An elite combat force of three hundred people, with everyone's combat power fluctuating around B-rank, coupled with various Honkai-side weapons and battle formations... even slightly inferior Critical-Grade entities would have to take a detour.
Moreover, there would inevitably be many with A-rank potential among them. Once they finished growing and were paired with suitable equipment, they definitely couldn't deal with Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, but showing off against small and medium-sized factions would be no problem.
Speaking of equipment.
Theresa pondered for a moment and gave up the plan to recommend the cheap and easy-to-use Hyperion to her old friend.
She was still waiting for the little guys to go bankrupt so she could annex the Hyperion; she couldn't open up extra revenue channels for them.
Bad! White-haired, youthful-looking dumpling! Bad!
And bad people should be punished!
"Big sister, big sister! Someone is lost here!"
A tender voice drifted from afar. The two people discussing details in the hot spring looked up and saw the warm-hearted Little Ti running towards them, pulling a cute little boy with short black hair.
Observing his appearance, Theresa turned pale with shock. "Fuli and Raiden Mei had a child so quickly?!"
When they spoke on the phone a few days ago, she did tell Mei to comfort Fuli who had lost Kiana, but she didn't tell her to accidentally use her subjective initiative to comfort him into bed!
Tribios was also startled upon seeing this. Fortunately, she had always paid attention to her deviant brother Argenti, and she knew that the little boy in front of her was Fuli himself.
'By the way, this little guy is Theresa's fiancé, right?'
Already depressed about the loss of the Senator seat, the beauty acted decisively. Under Theresa's stunned gaze, she hugged Little Fuli into her arms:
"Your Excellency must be the Fuli that Argenti spoke of, right? I am his sister, Tribios. Thank you very much for your efforts last night."
As she spoke, the peerless princess with wine-red hair leaned her lips close.
Mwah!
Right in front of Theresa, the fiancée, she first planted a forceful kiss on her fiancé's skin, which was as smooth as could be blown apart by wind, and then buried his head into her shockingly soft and full bosom.
Holy crap! NTR! There's NTR!!!
Theresa was fuming with rage. She could naturally see that Tribios was deliberately using Fuli to take revenge on her.
The thought process on the other side was super simple: No matter what, Theresa was Otto's granddaughter. If she couldn't take revenge on that Overseer, she would take revenge on his family!
"You! Let go of him for this Principal!"
"Why should I let go? I'm just expressing my gratitude to the hero."
Not only did she not let go, but the hug became even tighter.
If Fuli were an adult, Tribios would definitely worry about the implications.
But since he was a child, it didn't matter. Besides, he was actually this cute~
Meanwhile, at the spa center next door—
"Achoo!"
Mei, who was enjoying the floral steam room, rubbed her nose, feeling inexplicably annoyed for some reason.
Beside her, Rita stood up with a whoosh!
The girl asked strangely, "What's wrong with you?"
"Miss Mei, can't you feel it?"
"What?"
"I smell the alluring scent of many, many cute children gathering in the same place!"
Sister Rita clenched her fist, flames burning in her wine-red eyes!
Obeying some baseless intuition, she flashed and disappeared from her spot.
"Hey!"
Mei was helpless and had to abandon her halfway-done steam bath to quickly follow.
...