Collapse, women's clothing strategy Qiyana, then

"Hey."

【Huh? Who are you?】

"..."

The woman's voice amplified Durandal's resentment to a new level.

"A truly remarkable ability, admirable indeed, Bai Yan."

[…依〤龄艺祁事污』泗鸠?…]

Bai Yan was silent for a moment, then switched back to a male voice and said, "Thank you for the compliment. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Volume 1: Chapter 20: The Language of Rosemary

Behind the cold tone lay an indescribable weariness.

The moment Durandal heard that male voice, all the surging resentment in her heart seemed to be frozen in place, instantly stopping.

"Is your mission this time to go to the Far East branch?"

The bishop's overall plans are always shrouded in mystery; I was merely following orders.

"St. Freya Academy... how is it now?"

Bai Yan paused for a moment on the communicator, not expecting that the strongest of the Destiny, Durandal, would suddenly change the subject and talk to him about such things.

The downsides, as you can see, involve dealing with task-related requirements; the upsides, as you probably also know, are that there's little training pressure.

"...Is it still intelligence and logistics?"

[It's still intelligence and logistics; after all, I'm just a clerical worker and don't have that kind of exaggerated power.]

Durandal remained silent as an unforgettable experience surfaced from the depths of her memory to the surface of her consciousness.

At that time, she was just Bianca Atagina, who had only recently become a Valkyrie.

The location was Egypt, and she was once again assigned to the Valkyrie squad to block one of the Honkai Beasts' escape routes...

"Bianca, you should retreat first. You're the only one among us who has a chance of survival. It's better for one of us to live than for us all to die!"

"I wrote my will before I came. Bianca, could you please take it to me? The address is on it..."

"Bianca, could you take care of little Katie for me when you get back? She's only two months old, a black cat, and only her paws are white..."

"Run, while the shield can still hold for a while..."

"Yes, any later and it might be too late!"

Bianca held the communicator, looked at her already battered and bruised comrade, gritted her teeth, and continued to call for backup.

Through the communicator, friendly forces lost contact, while the command post was in a state of suspected brain death.

【Oh no, what do I do?! What's going on at headquarters?!】

The reason is simple: the staff on duty at the Destiny Headquarters are stretched thin, and the dispatchers who are liaising with the various teams are even more panicked than the frontline commanders.

The frontline commander had no choice but to have Bianca's squad hold their ground.

The numerous pyramids in the mission objective area were teeming with Honkai Beasts, whose strength and numbers far exceeded the pre-battle assessments. The Valkyries began to suffer a severe rout shortly after entering the battlefield.

The dispatcher, lacking experience, had no solution for such emergencies.

"Does headquarters not have any squads available to send out right now?" Bianca asked anxiously.

[I don't know. The dispatcher is trying to contact them, but there has been no response.]

Bianca clenched her fist upon hearing this: "Keep making contact, and let me know when you have a result!"

The girl put down the communicator, picked up her lance, and walked step by step toward the outside of the protective shield.

"Bianca!"

"Come back quickly, you'll die alone!"

"Just wait a little longer..."

Just as she was about to ignore everyone's advice and resolutely go out to fight her way out, her communicator suddenly beeped with a loud notification sound.

"Headquarters has responded, answer it quickly, Bianca!" A slightly older Valkyrie grabbed her.

The elderly Valkyrie was relatively unharmed, having lost only an arm, but was still able to maintain a clear mind and move around freely.

Bianca hesitated for a moment, then picked up the communicator again.

This is headquarters. Please report the current situation.

A familiar male voice.

The girl froze for a moment, then rallied her spirits and asked, "Bai Yan?"

It's me.

Bianca immediately gave a brief explanation of the situation.

Bai Yan responded immediately from the other end.

[The situation is urgent. You take a few fully-equipped Valkyries to draw the Honkai Beasts' attention away. The remaining Valkyries should form another squad and take turns providing cover during the retreat.]

All of you retreat to the coordinates I'm about to send; that's the pre-arranged flank for another squad. Once you arrive, lead your men to rendezvous with them. Support and supplies are already on their way; hold on!

“…Is that possible?”

Yes, but only if you play the entire game and coordinate with your teammates' retreat rhythm.

"Okay, I'll listen to you!"

Once the strongest fighter had decided whose orders to follow, the other Valkyries did not raise any objections.

The boy with a single ponytail put down the communicator and looked at the dispatcher who was dumbfounded.

"Help me pick up Captain Ragnar of the Stormtroopers—please hurry."

"Oh? Oh! I'll answer it right away!"

The dispatcher, around twenty years old, blushed and quickly tapped the electronic device in front of him after a brief moment of stunned silence.

Soon, the communication was connected.

“Professor Ragnar, it’s me.”

【Wait, why is it a command and control line?】

"Can the stormtroopers be mobilized now?"

[They're training, all their equipment is out, what's wrong?]

"Bianca is in danger. Calling other teams is either too late or they're not strong enough, so we can only turn to you."

Okay, send me the coordinates, we'll head over right away!

"Let's come to headquarters to pick up some supplies before we leave. I estimate that they need to transport seriously wounded people over there."

Okay, coming right away.

After explaining everything, Bai Yan had the dispatcher make a call to another team.

This time, however, it was Bai Yan who provided the strategy suggestions, while the dispatcher acted as a repeater.

During the exchange, another squad unexpectedly received a communication from the Valkyrie Assault Team, and thus efficiently began the retreat according to Bai Yan's plan.

After hanging up the call, Bai Yan immediately grabbed a stack of forms and quickly filled them out while turning to urge the dispatcher on.

"Could you please help me complete the transfer paperwork for the assault team? I'll sign and put my fingerprints on it—this is considered a violation of regulations, but it's okay, I'll take the blame if anything goes wrong."

"Oh oh oh..."

The dispatcher appeared dazed, merely nodding and responding, acting like a puppet being manipulated.

After receiving the documents, Bai Yan composed himself, recalled the personality and preferences of the person in charge of logistics, and then hurriedly rushed back.

"Since I happened to be passing by and saw you, let me try to see if I can save you..."

Returning our focus to North Africa, Bianca and the others quickly received Ragnar's message and immediately rallied their morale to begin a coordinated retreat.

Following Bai Yan's instructions, Bianca went off alone to distract the Honkai Beasts.

The other Valkyries initially objected, but their voices gradually fell silent when they saw the youngest member of the group begin to kill indiscriminately.

What do you mean by "the strongest talent"? We're lucky if we don't hold the team back!

As they gradually came to understand themselves, many Valkyries began to actively cooperate with Bianca's actions.

After a considerable amount of time, the two Valkyrie forces finally met up, only to find that there was a bridge at the coordinates. Due to the need for a quick retreat, all heavy equipment was abandoned. With the number of Valkyries, crossing the bridge quickly was no problem.

Bianca single-handedly held off the enemy, completing the final rearguard action single-handedly, making the subsequent task of holding the position much easier.

By deliberately luring Honkai Beasts across the bridge instead of wading through the water, the team's damage output was maximized, with long-range piercing weapons shining brightly.

After a considerable period of holding out, Ragnar and his Valkyrie stormtroopers descended from the sky and quickly rescued the besieged Valkyries.

"Bianca, well done!"

"Um……"

After the battle, Ragnar patted the girl on the shoulder to encourage her, only to find her staring blankly at the communicator.

Having figured out certain points, Ragnar smiled, a smile that was somewhat subtle.

The distant memories of Kuroki Ichier came to an end, and the young girl, Durandal, came back to her senses.

A familiar male voice came through the communicator.

Therefore, I entrust this matter to Lady Durandal to keep secret.

"I know—I'm hanging up now, nothing else!"

She abruptly pressed the button to hang up, her face now filled with deep resentment.

Rita and Ragnar exchanged a glance, both understanding each other's thoughts.

—It may be difficult to resolve this amicably.

As expected, Durandal immediately asked Rita, "Where is the bishop now?"

Book 1: Chapter 21: Otto: Great idea!

Boom boom boom!

The knocking was quite impolite, catching Otto, who was deep in thought, off guard.

People who dare to knock on doors like that are generally not destined for greatness.

He sat upright in his steel body, cleared his throat, and said, "Please come in."

Let's see who is harboring such deep resentment.

Durandal strode in and slammed the door shut behind her.

"Uh... Bianca, what's wrong with you?" Otto asked, somewhat bewildered.

Durandal stared at him: "What mission did Bai Yan go to St. Freya on? Why did he go on a mission in that capacity?"

Otto's mind raced for a second, and he immediately understood the situation.

He smiled and said, "I never expected that you, Bianca, would be able to see through this level of disguise on your own."

"It was just a coincidence."

Durandal wouldn't want to put Rita and the others in a difficult position, so she didn't ask them for any details and went directly to Otto.

The latter showed no embarrassment, only a hint of surprise and a strange sense of relief.

“The Far East Branch has some secrets that I care about, but this information is not suitable for direct investigation. Therefore, I sent a very suitable candidate in all aspects. I must say, I am very satisfied with Ragnar’s recommendation. Bai Yan has extremely outstanding talent in this area.”

Otto made a serious remark, then seemed to suddenly remember something.

“I remember you two, Bianca, seemed to have lived in the same orphanage. You were actually quite close?”

“…Bishop Er, you can stop playing dumb now.”

"Oh dear, my memory is terrible... Oh right, he was Rita's chosen assistant, and he also received training from Ragnar along with you. So you could be considered childhood friends, right?"

If Durandal hadn't known the person's personality beforehand, she would never have tolerated his behavior.