Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

Thinking of this, Claire, who was leaning against the wall and biting a lollipop, smiled slightly.

Despite their strained relationship, Brunhilde never showed any pity for her, precisely because of her aversion and anger towards her. Unlike her gentle and affectionate treatment of other girls, the little ragdoll cat acted like an arrogant and cold-blooded young lion in this hotel, determined to make the lioness cry and kneel in submission, even if it hurt her.

But Claire didn't care either.

It wasn't that the Valkyrie's constitution was so strong that she was immune to injury; rather, Claire felt incredibly happy. This attitude, which even Cecilia couldn't comprehend—an attitude uniquely hers beyond the cool gentleness of that white-furred, red-eyed ragdoll cat—was so blissful.

The hotel janitor, a young man, deliberately slowed down his movements. By doing so, he could have more time to observe the elegant woman leaning against the window, enjoying the night view while munching on a lollipop. This was the first time he had seen such a beautiful married woman since he started working, and he only dared to steal glances at Claire's fair jawline while he worked.

As the waiter tidied up, he secretly envied her, wondering who this beautiful woman's previous roommate was, to have earned such a favor and affection. He hadn't met Brunhilde, but he had collected a lot of men's clothing while cleaning the room. As he carried the clothes, he thought to himself, "That man doesn't seem like much. Wearing this size, he looks average and short. Wouldn't he look like he couldn't handle a woman like that?"

Moreover, judging from the extent of damage to some of the clothes and the card under the bed indicating how many times the sheets had been changed, the waiter could easily deduce just how chaotic the nights had been in this room.

Damn it, weren't you supposed to be here to take the exam? Is this what taking the exam is like?!

But work must eventually come to an end. The waiter reluctantly finished packing the last of the clothes, put them into a vacuum bag, and then turned to Claire and bowed respectfully. "Your luggage has been packed and will be sent back to your address later. Thank you and your husband for staying at our hotel. 'Encountering Blush' looks forward to your next visit."

"My husband?"

The waiter looked up and saw the elegant and beautiful woman crunching the lollipop in her mouth, revealing a charming smile that almost made him lose himself. "You really know how to talk."

She casually tossed a few of the largest denomination ruble banknotes to the waiter, then walked out of the room with a smile.

The waiter was somewhat taken aback. He picked up the tip—five five-thousand-ruble bills. He was shocked; in Moscow these days, that was almost a hotel waiter's annual income!

He forgot all about the beautiful women, the wealthy ladies, and the constant gunfire; clutching the money, he started mopping the floor in a daze.

After the entire bedroom was cleaned, the staff turned off all the lights, checked out, went to the front desk to hand over the room, and retrieved the room key.

He glanced at it casually, then paused, stunned.

“Claire von Kaslana, Brunhilde von Kaslana… their registered relationship is…”

"what?!"

I apologize again! It was in Marseille!

It's being typed in progress, please wait a moment. You'll need to refresh the page to see the latest update!

Okay, time to report today's itinerary.

It's being typed in progress, please wait a moment. You'll need to refresh the page to see the latest update!

There are quite a lot of delicious things.

It's being typed in progress, please wait a moment. You'll need to refresh the page to see the latest update!

Chapter 86 The Tower of Babel Incident

Through the emerald green tempered glass and the equally emerald green nutrient solution, Claire and the servile female researcher peered at the boy floating in the life support tank, his knees drawn up to his chest.

"When we found K413, his condition had basically stabilized. Of course, by stable, I mean he stopped attacking the glass wall of the life support pod… In fact, the worst-case scenario didn't happen. K413's sudden onset was more like a normal genetic collapse in a clone. You know, clones' genes are very fragile and prone to causing extreme pain. So this was merely a bodily instinct, not a resurgence of consciousness." The researcher looked at the child floating with his eyes closed in the nutrient solution, then added after a moment's thought, "However, we later examined K413's genetic makeup and discovered that the gene chains had unexpectedly repaired themselves after the collapse."

"Genetic collapse?" Claire frowned, clearly unfamiliar with this topic. "In any case, this child's sudden awakening isn't due to the emergence of a personality within him, right?"

"Yes, personalities don't appear so easily. Besides, even if they do appear, without implanting memories, it's just an infant's personality... It can't cause any real trouble."

Claire continued to frown: "I don't need clones with independent consciousness. All I need is for you to extract the part I want from the cloning technology. To be honest, I don't even know why you keep these experimental subjects. Male experimental subjects are inherently of lower quality than female experimental subjects, and Honkai generally doesn't favor men."

"It's precisely because Honkai doesn't favor men that experimental subjects like K413, who possess Honkai energy adaptability, are all the more precious. Ms. Claire, you also hope that your child, Miss Brunhilde... young master, will possess a power strong enough to protect herself, right?" the researcher said, pandering to her desires.

Claire clearly had no interest in her subordinates' obsequious attitude. "But speaking of which, I don't even know much about K413. As far as I remember, the best experimental subject in the Tower of Babel was actually the K423 control group, right?"

“Yes, K413 is the first sequence, and the second sequence of experiments begins with K42. K423 is the best among them. Both girls showed Honkai energy adaptability no less than that of the members of the Shaniat family, and it could even be said that they also possessed the resistance of the Kaslana family members. After all, they were taken from your granddaughter, Kiana…” The researcher suddenly realized that he had said the words that Claire hated to hear the most, and immediately lowered his head.

Claire pressed on, "Go on."

"K423 was created using Kiana Kaslana's genes as a template, combined with the perfect physique resulting from the purification of the bloodlines of the two major families. While possessing the genetic advantages of both families, it was also the experimental subject with the lowest genetic breakdown index. In fact, it can be said that the two children in the K423 control group did not have the possibility of genetic breakdown like other clones."

What is the superpower of the K423 control group?

"The K423 control group attempted to deceive the laboratory by appearing as someone without abilities. However, after hypnosis verification, No. 1 has shown preliminary spatial abilities, while No. 2 has not yet demonstrated any abilities."

"cheat?"

"The k423 control group seems to believe that as long as they do not exhibit outliers, they can avoid attention."

"Don't want attention? How interesting. He's clearly a child who doesn't understand anything... Is this the instinctive self-preservation of intelligent life? Instinctively, pursuing mediocrity, pursuing safety." Claire looked at the boy again. "So this is a defective product? Although he is a valuable experimental sample as a male, with such unstable genes, it's best to get rid of him as soon as possible."

The researcher glanced at the child in the life support tank and sighed softly, "Yes."

The footsteps faded away, but K413 in the life support tank gradually opened his eyes. The boy's eyes were blank, a true sign of being completely unconscious and devoid of any intelligence, but his gaze was fixed on the ground beneath him.

Strictly speaking, it's not beneath the body, but underground.

Deep underground, the "older sister" and "younger sister" also opened their eyes.

Pale golden light streamed from the older sister's lowered eyes. She remained silent, already knowing that time was running out.

----------

At 3 a.m., over the Barents Sea.

Following Soviet-era practice, this airspace has always been patrolled by fighter jets. The Cold War ended not long ago, and in some ways, it hasn't even ended.

Two Su-27s, one in front and one behind, conducted their routine patrol.

This sea area was once the site of the famous "surgical strike" incident. A Su-27 fighter jet, formerly belonging to the Soviet Air Defense Forces, intercepted a P-3B anti-submarine patrol aircraft belonging to the Norwegian Air Force. After repeated warnings to the P-3B went unheeded, and because it was forbidden to attack other aircraft, the Soviet pilot, in a fit of rage, suddenly accelerated and roared past the right side of the Norwegian aircraft like an enraged beast. Its left vertical stabilizer cut a gash under the rightmost engine nacelle of the P-3B like an upright dagger.

This dramatic collision demonstrated the Soviet pilots' superb skills and the Su-27's outstanding performance.

This is a classic example of aerial combat. When you can't force enemy aircraft to retreat, using such a dangerous maneuver to demonstrate your fighting spirit is more effective than simply engaging in killing. This art of flight has been recorded in history and is still talked about by all pilots in Siberia, even now, whenever pilots fly over this sea.

"Black Dog reports, we're about to pass Novaya Zemlya. The one with the lights on over there is the Tower of Babel, which the Federal Security Council has been repeatedly emphasizing."

"White Lion reports: What are the British thinking, building such structures in the Arctic? Rather, it's already incomprehensible that the higher-ups would allow the British to do this in our heartland."

"Black Dog reports, if the British suddenly launch something, whether it's a helicopter or a hot air balloon, that's great. I'd like to earn some merit too. I'll give them a precise scalpel and easily get a second-class merit."

The daily patrols by this squadron are actually quite costly, but the route is no longer that important... Compared to Norway and Iceland, the bigwigs in Moscow seem to care more about this "Tower of Babel". Some even issued instructions through extremely secret documents that if anything happens to the Tower of Babel, this squadron of two Su-27s can drop bunker buster bombs to carry out a sweep.

It was a more powerful offensive weapon than nuclear weapons, and the pilots were actually quite puzzled as to why this building existed.

As today's routine patrol was drawing to a close, the pilots on the "Black Dog" were preparing to make a wide turn when a loud noise came over the radio.

"The white lion is calling, the white lion is calling! What is that... what monster has emerged!"

Chapter 87 Darling, Shall we go to hell together?

Two Su-27s, sharp as swords, pierced the clouds. The pilots of the White Lion and Black Dog stared wide-eyed at the dust billowing into the sky from the ground, heading towards the port where the Tower of Babel was located. The dust rose into the sky like a nuclear explosion, and from within the huge dust cloud, something flapped its wings and emerged.

"Black Dog, I received it. I saw it."

"Is this the secret the British and we've been hiding here?"

All the black dog driver could see was a snowfield in ruins, the entire land where the Tower of Babel was located began to shake, and the eastern ridges of the Ural Mountains were experiencing avalanches from top to bottom triggered by the violent earthquake! Fortunately, this was not a tourist attraction, so no one would ski in temperatures of minus thirty degrees Celsius.

But none of that really matters. What the driver couldn't believe was the thing that shot up from the collapsed area!

The thing was over a hundred meters tall and emitted a roar that seemed to shatter the radio waves—or rather, a howl, because it burst forth from the ground and shot into the sky! Once inside the clouds, the pilots could see its entirety with their naked eyes: a huge white animal with wings, its body covered in scales that looked like crystals or snowflakes, and it was quite beautiful!

But the black dog driver knew very well what this thing was called in general, in books, and most people's first reaction upon seeing it was—a giant dragon!

A white dragon!

“What a huge secret! We’ve known for a long time that back then, to deal with the Germans, we had many secret laboratories with the British, French, Americans, and even China. And this is the result? A dragon?” The pilot whispered over the White Lion’s radio. “But this is obviously the ‘out-of-control incident’ that the Security Committee mentioned, right? In any case, this kind of monster should never appear in human society. I don’t even need to think to know that.”

"Black Dog is calling. Should we notify Moscow?"

"White Lion received, notify Moscow... but it's probably too late." The White Lion pilot sighed, glancing at his central control screen, which was now spinning erratically. The mechanically driven instrument panel still displayed accurately, but the avionics and flight navigation systems installed on fighter jets since the 1990s were starting to malfunction.

This means that electromagnetic pulse interference has occurred in this airspace.

"No radio communication! The radar is also reporting errors, it's a very large-scale EMP missile... or maybe that dragon has built-in EMP jamming? Anyway, we can't contact Moscow!"

“Then there’s no need to wait for instructions,” the White Lion pilot said helplessly. “Let’s execute ‘Chapter Eleven’ according to the Safety Committee’s instructions and contingency plan.”

In Genesis chapter 11 of the Bible, after the great flood, the people of the world feared that another great flood like the one in Noah's time would drown them, so they built the Tower of Babel to prevent them from dying and being scattered across the earth. This act alarmed God, who worried that if mankind could build the Tower of Babel to the heavens, what else could they not do? So God punished mankind by making the Tower of Babel fall into disrepair.

Chapter Eleven was the destruction order issued by the Safety Committee to this flight squadron. If any possibility of the Tower of Babel spiraling out of control was deemed possible, the squadron had the authority to destroy the building without prior approval. No details about the Tower of Babel could be leaked, and no survivors were permitted. This was the agreement between the Soviet Union and Britain; even if the flight squadron didn't understand the Tower of Babel's secrets, duty was duty.

What's more, what did they see? A dragon! Just from that, they knew that some things had to be buried in this frozen land! Now that the Cold War is over and the era of peace has arrived, whatever the research here may be, once it is made public, it will inevitably cause new turmoil in the world.

The weapon rack under the fuselage of the Su-27 slowly protruded. Both aircraft were mentally prepared for this every time they took off. The modified fighter jet could not only carry rockets and simple ground missiles, but also carried heavy firepower at the level of thermobaric weapons.

Under a thermobaric bomb, not only the Tower of Babel, but also several kilometers around it would be burned to ashes.

"Shouldn't we shoot down that dragon first?" the plane on the left asked.

“No need. Once the thermobaric bomb is deployed, that dragon won’t be able to escape,” the man in the white lion said in a low voice. “It’s just a bit of a pity that we can’t notify the people of Babel to take refuge now… or rather, given what’s happened, they probably don’t need to take refuge anymore—they are the most powerful scientists in the Soviet Union.”

The words contained immeasurable regret and ruthlessness, and Black Dog understood the captain's meaning. It meant there was no need for mercy; since the Tower of Babel was out of control, everyone should die. No one here could divulge any information; all secrets and experiments had to be sealed away in the Siberian permafrost, and no one should know.

The two Su-27s performed a precise hovering maneuver, maintaining balance and a constant speed as they dove in one direction while dropping bombs.

"Blazing—"

A series of explosions! The deafening roar seemed to tear the air apart, and the pilot's head tingled! But this was just the beginning, because more than eight thermobaric bombs disintegrated in mid-air, drawing large amounts of oxygen from the surrounding air and creating a near-vacuum environment. A fraction of a second later, the blast dust from several bombs filled the vast airspace, mixing perfectly with the high-pressure air.