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

"Here." Yae no Miko handed him two small cardboard bags.

"What is this?" Shen Liang prepared to open it and take a look.

"I didn't know which medicine you needed for pregnancy support and contraception, so I had Hotaru go to the pharmacy and get some of both. Oh dear, you have no idea, when I heard that Narukami Shrine needed these medicines, the way the pharmacy owners looked at us shrine maidens... tsk tsk tsk—you'd better hurry up and put them away."

Shen Liang threw away both doses of medicine with a dark expression.

"It's so convenient not having a body—why throw it away? Even if you don't need it now, it would be nice to give it to that little shrine maiden on Umijima Island." Yae no Miko put down her book and teased him.

"Do you know Xin Hai?"

"Wow? It seems the rumors are true. They're even using 'Heart Sea' directly. The shrine maidens of Coral Palace are indeed bolder and more unrestrained than our Narukami Shrine maidens," Yae no Miko laughed. "How could I not recognize them? These days, every shrine maiden is cuter than the last. Now that the war is over, that little mermaid will have to come to Narukami Shrine to pay her respects to me sooner or later. I'll have to force her to call me 'Shin-nee' (shrine maiden older sister) then."

"You're almost a thousand years old, and you're still calling yourselves 'sisters'? Aren't you ashamed?" Shen Liang said sarcastically.

"Hmm? I'm almost a thousand years old, and you're still staring at my thighs?" Yae no Miko laughed.

Shen Liang's face flushed instantly. He hadn't actually been staring specifically at Yae no Miko's thighs, but since she was kneeling, he found himself unconsciously turning his head to speak to her. Beneath the pink fox-like shrine maiden's dress, a pair of shapely, snow-white legs were completely exposed; who could resist the glimpses of fair skin peeking through the gaps in the red and white shrine maiden's dress?

"It's human nature to be attracted to beautiful women. In fact, most men would be too embarrassed to look me in the eye, but you, little wolf, have such a carefree look in your eyes. Hmph, I don't dislike you at all." Yae no Miko reached out and caught a magpie that flew down from the eaves.

"Age is merely an incurable ailment for mortals, but for foxes—no, for us—it's all just meaningless passing of time. Your little mermaid, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will live for several hundred years. The ghost who was infatuated with you just now will easily surpass a thousand years in lifespan with his cultivation. Is it too much to call us sisters?"

"The theory of lifespan is such a trivial matter that it's pointless to discuss and only makes people feel uncomfortable," Shen Liang snorted.

"When you pass away, that little mermaid will still look the same as she does now. Next to your tombstone made of coral and reefs, she will build a conch shell house far away from the world, keeping company with the sea breeze and seagulls every day, silently passing her days and nights. When she finally opens her mouth, she won't even remember how to speak." Yae no Miko chuckled. "Immortality is the path to the ambitious, and the curse of the affectionate. It's just meaningless to you, because when you die, everything is empty."

Yae no Miko and Kosai-no-miya said the same thing, which made Shen Liang even more gloomy. He didn't quite understand what these two foxes were up to by talking to him about lifespan again and again.

But he didn't want to care about that.

He didn't care about anyone in Teyvat, whether they were affectionate or ambitious. He only cared about his sisters on Earth. Lifespan was meaningless to Earthlings; he only needed to live his life well with Bronya, Seele, and the Arlene sisters!

He's an Earthling!

But the reality depicted by Yae no Miko inevitably made him think about such things, imagining the little shrine maiden who liked to sulk and hated eating fish, eventually withering away silently.

"Shen Liang, Shen Liang, the only person you need to protect is your sister. You're just a passerby in this world, a heartless scumbag. Everyone knows that, even Xin Hai knows. Don't overthink it, or you'll end up losing sight of the bigger picture." Shen Liang warned himself inwardly.

Then he immediately pulled back the light screen and, under the strange gaze of Yae no Miko, hurriedly ran back to Earth.

The pink-furred fox chuckled softly, gazing at the tall cherry blossom tree.

"They won't listen. Yes, the world doesn't allow short-lived humans to understand the value of longevity, just as it doesn't allow the resurrection of a life whose soul has been scattered. But... an exception has appeared."

Chapter 134 Bronya Begins to Break the Stalemate

Tallinn, the capital of El Salvador, in the eastern part of the city.

The fierce fighting continued all night long, and by daybreak, the eastern part of the city had completely fallen, and even the city hall had been bombed. Now it was the territory of the Reform Party—or rather, the rebels.

But everyone here knows perfectly well that the victory in the battle for the capital had nothing to do with the Reform Party; their victory was entirely due to mercenaries.

Although small in number, the mercenaries, whose combat power far exceeded that of the Aisha government forces, stormed into Tallinn with almost overwhelming force. The Tallinn garrison numbered only two thousand at most, half of whom were firefighters.

Faced with mercenaries whose equipment was even better than that of the government forces, most of the garrison in Tallinn was overwhelmed and scattered. Moreover, because many of the Reform Party rebels were their own comrades, they lacked even the will to fight.

The mercenaries easily took over the headquarters, and cabinet members had fled in panic before the war even started. President Ankoa was escorted away by the army overnight and can now only protest on television.

In reality, the previous Aissa government no longer exists, and a mercenary force of about three hundred men accomplished a war to overthrow the regime. The Reform Party can then completely take over Tallinn, pay some fines to the UN, and regain its UN seat.

Yes, it's that simple. For a small country like El Salvador, which can't even make a ripple in the international community, the international community doesn't even bother with the idea of ​​sanctions. This is purely internal strife, and internal strife won't affect the future strategies of the five most powerful countries in the UN. Why bother with it?

Do you think the peacekeeping forces will contribute?

Forget it, you might have been somewhat effective while we were fighting, but what are you doing here now that we're almost done? Collecting protection money?

Isaac has never been a strategically vital location, nor would it be the kind of country that would offend the United States by using too much oil in its cooking. The peacekeeping force so far is just the British; it seems they'll leave after the fighting is over. At worst, the Reform Party can just give the UN a little more money to save face.

At this very moment, inside the El Salvador National Gallery, which is guarded by mercenaries, a group of civilians seeking refuge were thinking just this.

They used some clothes or luggage to make makeshift beds in the art gallery's exhibition hall, and then used plates to receive the breakfast prepared for them by the mercenaries: a bowl of bread porridge and a baked potato, sprinkled with mashed soybeans. Everyone looked weathered and exhausted.

There were about four or five hundred civilians in the art museum at that time. They were all people who had not had time to evacuate and had been brought to the art museum for unified management. It was April, and it was unusually cold. The art museum, which was without power, did not even have thick blankets prepared. People gathered in twos and threes, or huddled together against the corners of the walls, or some picked up some scraps of building materials to start a bonfire.

Their faces were filled with fear and numbness. At this point in the war, they only hoped the rebels would win quickly. Otherwise, trapped in rebel-controlled territory, they had no idea what their future held.

On the southwest side of the exhibition hall, under a pillar, two petite girls wrapped tightly in their clothes, leaning against the pillar, sipping their porridge.

They wore men's stiff trench coats with hoods; though old, the oversized garments provided ample warmth. Their clothes were dusty from their long journey, the hem of the coats covering them completely. The school uniforms they wore underneath were also dirty from not being changed for a long time, and their slender legs, clad in over-the-knee socks, were covered with sweatpants salvaged from the rubble.

They deliberately dressed themselves up in a disheveled manner because it was very unsafe for two young and beautiful female students to be in this situation.

However, the dirty faces under the hood were still pretty and cute. One girl had long, light gray curly hair that reached past her waist, which was a bit frizzy from not taking care of it for a long time. The other girl had short, black hair that reached her shoulders with reddish tinges. Both of them were hidden under the hood.

"Tsk, this is awful! If you weren't slowing me down, I would have killed them all already!" The black-haired girl, somewhere between a loli and a young girl, took a big bite of potato and said with great dissatisfaction, "They made me eat this bland stuff and made me sleep in the same room with so many people!"

“Bronya thinks it tastes alright. When her brother first took over as chef, his roasted potatoes tasted just like this.” The girl with light gray hair looked even smaller than the girl with black hair, and could definitely be called a loli. She said calmly, “There was no salt and pepper, no chopped onions, and it tasted burnt.”

"If Brother Liang knew that these people were feeding Xier this kind of thing every day, and even holding a gun to Xier's head to force her to do translation for them," the black-haired girl sneered, crushing the potato, "he would be so heartbroken he'd be wishing he could start killing right now."

The two were Shen Liang's long-lost younger sister; the gray-haired loli was Bronya Zaychek, and the black-haired one was Seele. However, unlike the one Shen Liang remembered, Seele's personality wasn't that of a gentle, timid, and cute younger sister; instead, she seemed like a wicked and rebellious delinquent.

The two disguised themselves to conceal their identities, since two children would indeed be hard to attract the attention of mercenaries. They had even managed to infiltrate the refugee camp closest to the rebel core.

During this time, Seele was recruited by the mercenaries to be used as a translator because she was fluent in Aesir and English. When she was taken away, Seele and Bronya thought they had been exposed and were about to fight, but then they realized that the mercenaries could not distinguish them from just anyone. Their reputation was mainly spread among the agents or some Valkyries.

Those who know them may not have realized they are mixed in with the refugees, and may still think they have escaped Aisha.

During their days of translation work, Bronya and Seele's discoveries made them reluctant to leave. They uncovered the behind-the-scenes power struggles of the war, finally explaining the seemingly illogical events.

From the moment they encountered the Valkyries, they sensed something was amiss; this war shouldn't be orchestrated by Schicksal behind the scenes. While Schicksal is powerful, it never interferes in such matters. As a world government on the supernatural side, the interests they seek are usually beyond what ordinary people can provide.

Like the Shaniat family, established financial groups would never lack money even through legitimate channels; their strength doesn't require them to resort to crooked means. Even if the family declines, with their extraordinary abilities, they would never be ignored.

Composed of extraordinary individuals, Destiny is even less likely to be the mastermind behind any war. To put it bluntly, even the regime of Aisha is not worthy of Destiny's attention.

What was destiny after all?

As Bronya delved deeper into the mercenary group, she gradually came to understand the operations of Aisha's rebels.

“The Aisha Reform Party’s rebellion has a legal basis; in essence, it’s an internal affair. So interfering in this matter is neither meaningful nor beneficial to the United Nations, which is why the five permanent members are indifferent and don’t want to get involved,” Bronya said slowly. “Therefore, if Great Britain intervenes too decisively, it will arouse the curiosity of the other five permanent members.”

Black Seele, Bronya's alter ego, kept watch for her as she pondered, knowing that her sister Bronya was analyzing something. During their time in the orphanage, Bronya and Shen Liang were tied for first place in intelligence, their logical thinking abilities being roughly equal.

"Therefore, mercenaries emerged, and the emergence of mercenaries during internal strife provided Britain with a legal basis to deploy peacekeeping forces. At the same time, the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council believed that since Britain had deployed troops, they had even less need to intervene."

"Thus, the British peacekeeping force arrived in Aisha in a perfectly legitimate manner."

"Because the headquarters of Destiny... is in Britain, and the relationship between Destiny and the British government is closer than you can imagine. So this peacekeeping force became Destiny's Valkyrie Force, and they infiltrated Aisha without anyone noticing, under the guise of a 'peacekeeping force'."

"But I think that since this force has been here for more than five days and hasn't been able to deal with the mercenaries in five days, there's only one possibility. That is, this mercenary force is actually assisting the British in supporting the Aisha Reform Party, just to provide cover for the Valkyries of Destiny. As long as the mercenaries are still rampant, the peacekeeping force cannot withdraw, which gives Destiny time."

"The only question is, why did Destiny infiltrate Aisha in such a roundabout way, even going so far as to manipulate the government?"

"What is it that makes them desperately avoid the sight of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, even at the cost of obtaining it?"

Chapter 135 Is there a problem with my girlfriend being monogamous?

but.

Bronya and Seele are still here precisely because of this question.

In fact, she found Seele not long after arriving in Aisha. With Bronya's abilities, it wouldn't have been difficult for her to quickly leave with Seele and return to the peaceful world.

Although they had lost contact with Cocolia, both girls were essentially super agents, capable of surviving in difficult situations without support. But the only thing that made them choose to stay in Aisha was Seele's unusual stubbornness at the time.

“Seele can’t leave Elsa, Bronya… After the war broke out, something here… something here is calling to Seele. Actually, I’ve had this feeling for a long time, which is why I wanted to go back to Elsa to study… but now this feeling is even stronger.”

At that time, Seele was not yet the person with the wicked personality she is now, but the usually gentle and timid Seele actually refused Bronya's request, insisting on staying even though she knew it was dangerous to stay there.

Seele is rarely willful; most of the time she listens to Bronya very well, and there are few things that can make her stick to her own opinions.

"Seele, are you trying to say that there's something here that's attracting you?"

“Since Valkyries have their eyes on this place, what they’re eyeing… is probably what Seele needs. Seele doesn’t know what it is, but… but Bronya, it must be something very important, so important that… even the other Seele is getting restless.”

Bronya couldn't force Seele to leave. She knew Seele too well; Seele's stubbornness couldn't be without reason.

Although Bronya had no idea what it was about Aisha that attracted Seele, the Valkyrie of Schicksal, going so far as to deceive the world to infiltrate Aisha's territory, even instigating a war to conceal her true purpose, and expending so much manpower and resources, even facing potential questioning from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council after being exposed... must have a reason.

Elsa must be hiding some great benefit or secret, and this benefit and secret are coveted by both Destiny and Great Britain, and also make Seele unable to move.

Then I won't leave.

Bronya would do everything she could to get what Seele wanted, or at least... try to get it.

Great Britain? Destiny?

What kind of henchmen of old capitalist empires?

Bronya and Seele are girls trained by the KGB's elite forces, who strike fear into the hearts of all Western countries. Whatever the West wants, I want too! It's only natural!

They're now very close to their goal. It's said that the mercenaries, after capturing Tallinn, have been stationed in the Old Town around St. Olaf's Church, less than three blocks from the National Gallery. Currently, many construction vehicles are parked in front of St. Olaf's Church. Ignoring the objections of the Old Town residents, the mercenaries blew up the church and are now even excavating the underground cemetery for thousands.

Bronya and Seele waited quietly for the excavation to be completed, waiting for the day when the thing that Destiny wanted would be unearthed.

The Valkyries of Destiny are now closely monitoring every street in Tallinn, but little do they know that Siberian agents have already infiltrated the refugee camp closest to their target!

“Speaking of Liang-gege, it’s been a very, very long time since I’ve seen him.” Hei Xi leaned against the pillar, deciding to find some topics to alleviate the boredom of waiting. “It’s been almost three years since I last saw him.”

“To be precise, it was two years and nine months,” Bronya said. “The last time Bronya and Seele saw their brother was when he graduated from the orphanage, and we took him to the airport in Moscow. We spent two days in Moscow while waiting for our flight, which were also the last two days we spent with our brother.”

"I remember Rosalia crying her eyes out at the orphanage because she couldn't go to Moscow to see her brother Liang off."