Collapse, women's clothing strategy Qiyana, then

Continue walking inside, following the operating instruments.

The traces of human activity are becoming increasingly apparent.

For example, it was placed on the ground and only half of the coconut juice was consumed.

Step, step, step...

With each cautious step, the hard soles of the shoes caused more frost to condense on the ground.

The girl carried a long spear, her gentle face revealing a cold glint.

Any intruder will be annihilated.

however.

When the owner of the footsteps appeared, he froze the moment he saw Bai Yan.

"Bai Yan?"

"Anna?"

Bai Yan withdrew the invisible sword energy from his hand and relaxed.

Even if a fight broke out, Anna wouldn't be a match for him.

Anna put away her spear and ran happily to Bai Yan, looking him over with a sigh: "It's been so long since I've seen you—but what are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I was originally staying at headquarters when I was suddenly teleported to a certain place in the Sea of ​​Quanta. Then I tried to find a way to enter a certain world bubble and got guidance from the scientists there. Then I used my abilities to leave there and return to my original world."

"I see... I'm the unluckiest one. Ever since Dr. Möbius sent me here, I've been either staring at the equipment or training every day. I'm so bored!"

Bai Yan smiled with relief: "It seems that Mebius treats you quite well."

"Huh? Bai Yan, are you serious? Are you even thinking straight?!"

"You've known her for so long, don't you know that she always exploits her subordinates to the extreme?"

"No, it's just a little boring," Anna said, puzzled.

"Did you change your personality...? Never mind, let's not talk about that. How are things going on your end?"

"Uh……"

Anna suddenly started stammering, feeling a little guilty.

"If there's a problem with the language system, I can manually pry it open for you."

"No, no, no, I'll tell you... Um, do you know about the Stigmata Project?"

"know."

"I'm now in charge of monitoring things related to this."

What exactly are you monitoring?

"...like everyone's state of consciousness, the vital signs of the human bodies on Earth...and so on."

Anna became increasingly guilty as she spoke, until her voice was almost inaudible.

Bai Yan patted her on the shoulder to indicate that it was okay.

"Phew, I thought you were going to arrest me." Anna patted her heaving chest, still feeling shaken.

"Why are we arresting you? You haven't done anything wrong."

"Hmm... You don't want to play the prisoner game either?"

Bai Yan looked over and saw Anna with a funny smile on her face, as if she was deliberately trying to tease him.

Unfortunately, I am not the same person I used to be.

We are not afraid of this at all.

"It's not impossible."

"..."

Anna paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something, and her expression turned wistful.

"I never expected that in just a few years you would be fighting alongside Lady Durandal. And look at me, I'm just a mere lowly Herrscher..."

"Will we enter the Pure Land of Past Lives?"

“Yes.”

"Have you seen Alicia?"

"Yes, I've met her. She gives me a very mysterious feeling, and she's always overly enthusiastic. Although she's a senior from a previous civilization, she's similar to a former teammate."

"She sacrificed herself in the previous civilization, activating her powers so that the Herrschers of the present civilization could have the opportunity to regain their humanity and become like you and me, no different from normal people..."

"..."

Anna was stunned for a long time after hearing the truth.

After a while, she looked at Bai Yan with a complicated expression and asked, "Am I really that useless? I couldn't even find out about something like this from her?"

"It's alright, actually. After all, Raiden Mei and the others didn't get the truth on their own either."

"I see." Anna breathed a sigh of relief.

When was this facility built?

"The doctor said it's from a pre-existing civilization, specifically designed to monitor everything—wait a minute, why were you able to get in like this, Bai Yan? You clearly need to verify your fingerprint to enter here!!"

Volume 1: Chapter 242: Anna Also Wants to Stand Up For Her

Why could it pass the fingerprint detection? Bai Yan was also puzzled.

How could I, a newly promoted top player in Destiny, pass the World Serpent's fingerprint detection?

Only when Anna asked him did he realize what was happening.

It was Fu Yan, not Bai Yan, who passed the test.

"..."

No, you need to come up with a reason right away!

However, at that moment, Anna leaned closer and met his gaze without hesitation.

"Bai Yanliu | I Art 2 Ba Si Si, your eyes are a bit unfocused, are you feeling guilty?"

"I didn't do anything wrong, why would I feel guilty? You've mistaken me!"

"Hmm..." Anna stood with her arms crossed, staring at him suspiciously.

Bai Yan's mind raced.

He claims he forced Mebius to provide his fingerprints.

Even Kiana wouldn't believe that.

Anna immediately said, "I'll go check the records to see what happened. We can't afford a system malfunction; what if someone just easily hacked into it?"

Saying that, he walked out.

Bai Yan was immediately filled with murderous intent, and a long sword made of flames appeared in his hand.

You like stirring up trouble, don't you?

"Just a mere Herrscher of Ice? I'll beat you senseless!"

"Ok?"

Feeling the intense heat rising from behind, Anna's hair stood on end. She turned around abruptly to see Bai Yan with a terrifying smile slowly walking towards her.

"Bai Yan, what are you doing?!"

However, her only response was a sudden, deafening sword strike.

boom!

In an instant, Anna also reacted and activated her Ice Power to forcefully resist.

As ice and fire intertwine, steam rises skyward, violently evaporating.

In order not to damage the facilities here, Bai Yan acted with great restraint; otherwise, Anna would not have been able to block that attack.

Anna took several steps back, staring at Bai Yan in disbelief, her eyes even containing a hint of distress.

“Why do you do this?!”

"Have you forgotten our current positions?"

"..."

Anna suddenly realized.

She now works for the World Serpent and even indirectly carries out the Stigmata Project, which is completely opposite to Schicksal's current stance.

Having spent a long time on the moon and rarely involved in human conflicts, he only regarded Bai Yanzhen as a rare friend.

Buddy.

However, Bai Yan's sudden attack, even if not a sneak attack, caught her completely off guard in that instant.

The most terrifying thing in this world is not the Honkai Beasts or the Herrschers, but humans whose personalities have drastically changed!

She looked at Bai Yan.

The latter is no longer the small child it once was; it has grown considerably taller, and although it is still slightly thin, it looks much stronger than before.

Her bangs were combed back into a neat and flowing style; her hair was still tied in a short ponytail at the back of her head, which would sway slightly as she walked.

The faces were still familiar, but now they were mortal enemies.

"It seems you don't want this place to be destroyed either. How about this, we go find a place outside and have a one-on-one duel. The loser gets to do what the other says. What do you think?"

It wasn't that Bai Yanzhen thought that way, but Anna's current gaze made him feel guilty.

All the talk of opposition, the world serpent, and destiny is just an excuse.

Let's take a step back a little; anyway, this argument is reasonable.

Anna stared at Bai Yan with resentment, but the grievance in her heart grew stronger with each word she uttered.

“You weren’t like this before,” she said softly.

"Times have changed, and how old was I back then?"

"No, you've always understood me very well, even better than I understand what I'm thinking."

"..."

"They encouraged me to face my weaknesses, helped me adjust my mindset, and turned my fear into an indicator of my chances of survival..."

As Bai Yan listened, he sensed that something was off.

After leaving the French orphanage, he stopped contacting Durandal but quickly got to know Anna.

When I'm with Anna, we often talk about things related to Honkai, especially battles.

Anna, as a Valkyrie with great potential, can serve as a lower-level replacement for Durandal, preventing Bai Yan from completely losing his practical combat experience.

Bai Yan was quite understanding, and he would often chat with Anna until late at night.

I also secretly gave Anna a heads-up, and it was effective in the end, otherwise she wouldn't have really found herself again.

But the way she brought this up now gave Bai Yan the illusion that she was playing the emotional card.

Or it might not be an illusion.

"So you've decided to surrender directly?" Bai Yan asked.

He didn't care about any of that. He just wanted to stop the other party from checking, and then he would delete the record himself, and that would be the end of it.

"No, we'll fight right here, and remember what happens to the loser!"

Bai Yan frowned.

Isn't she worried about this place being destroyed?

I can only control my strength when I fight.

The moment her mind shifted, Anna sprang into action, charging forward with her spear and seizing the initiative.