Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

Upon hearing Lingyi's words, a thought that plunged Chris into an icy abyss appeared in her mind.

"No, no way, you're lying, aren't you, Zero? Are you kidding me?"

Shaking her head, Chris tried to shake the somewhat terrifying idea out of her mind. She still couldn't believe that someone she used to know could have become such a despicable 'villain'.

"You know, everything I've said is true. I can guarantee that I haven't told you a single lie today."

Lingyi said that she thought so too, and Chris didn't see any signs of lying in Lingyi.

"So, you really did kill everyone in the orphanage to obtain the powerful energy of this relic, and then used their lives to activate it... Why would you do such a thing?!"

After receiving confirmation from Lingyi, the white-haired girl was shocked by this sudden fact and subconsciously took a half step back.

The good news is that she seems to have gotten information about Lingyi's experience from her; the bad news is that Lingyi's experience seems to be slightly different from what she originally imagined.

"I don't know, I've never thought about that."

Looking at the text on the screen, ignoring Chris's actions, Zero said this.

"However, does this answer satisfy you? So now can you focus on starting Durandal?"

Then, as the situation escalated, Lingyi began to ask Chris for her thoughts, inquiring whether she could activate the relic as before.

"I just don't understand why you're doing this, Lingyi. Were you pretending all along?"

Chris rubbed her head, feeling that something was wrong and things shouldn't be like this.

"That's not the case. I was me before, and I am me now. It's just that I've changed a little compared to me before."

Moreover, this isn't an unacceptable change, or rather, this is what humanity is like: the naive thoughts of childhood will eventually be replaced by more mature rationality as we grow up.

I just suddenly realized that my previous approach would ultimately yield no results, so when I needed to do it, I simply did it.

She hung the Flashblade she had shown Chris back on her waist, then glanced at the time before standing up, intending to do some work while she still had time.

Her time is quite precious.

"So what exactly have you grown in!?"

Chris moved in front of Zero, who wanted to leave.

At this point in the conversation, Chris was beginning to believe the facts constructed by Zero's words.

However, even though she knew this fact, she didn't know how to face it, so she asked herself this question.

“You’re being a bit noisy, Chris, but alright, if it helps you do your job better, I’ll answer your questions.”

Looking at Chris in front of her, Zero's expression changed slightly, but then returned to calm.

"My growth has simply come to the realization that what others give is never reliable, and only the power that I truly control is the only real thing for me."

"Therefore, in order to gain power, I was able to discard many things that were unnecessary for me."

Lingyi told Chris her true feelings at that moment.

She is interested in anything that can make her stronger, which is why she is dedicated to collecting heretical technologies—undoubtedly the strongest power in the world.

"So, you did that with that kind of thinking in mind? If so, aren't you exactly like those evil adults?"

Chris, sensing Zero's sincerity from her words, finally understood that the other person was completely different from the one she remembered.

"That's none of my business. As long as I get enough, I don't mind getting my hands dirty, even with blood. So, do you understand, Chris? What you remember is outdated. I suggest you discard that stuff and focus on your current work."

Zero simply dismissed Chris's discomfort with this statement.

"Work... Ah, I understand. I'll get Durandal up and running properly, and then work with Finney to achieve our goal. After that, I'll definitely eliminate a vile guy like you first."

Having fully grasped the "truth" and no longer confused, Chris said these words to the blonde girl in front of her.

Although she is currently forced to cooperate with them due to the constraints of collaboration, she has already genuinely come to regard them as enemies.

"Well, if you can do it, Chris, you can give it a try. After resting for a while, let's try to start Durandal again."

Seeing Chris's performance, Lingyi said with a hint of satisfaction, then she walked around Chris, who was blocking her way, and left the room.

[Hmph, if it were me now, I could definitely focus on activating Durandal. Just wait, I'll completely wipe out awful people like you from this world.]

Ignoring Lingyi's departure, Chris is determined to give 1000% effort to help Finnie so that her dream can come true as soon as possible.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Should We Believe?

"Why is that, Chris? I don't understand. What is it that you can't figure out?"

Looking at the instrument, where the readings had not only not increased compared to the morning but had actually decreased, Lingyi looked puzzled.

According to her reasoning, Chris's string gain output decreased because of her own actions, and since she had just told her part of the 'truth,' Chris's output level should have returned to normal after she understood everything.

"So what exactly is the reason for this, Chris? Do you have any other doubts?"

Lingyi looked at Chris, who had just finished the activation and whose expression was not quite natural, and asked her this question.

"It's none of your business. This is my own affair, and it has nothing to do with you."

When Zero asked her a question, Chris just glared at her fiercely and then left Durandal's activation room.

"Ah...that's why I hate these completely uncontrollable emotions."

Looking at the unexpected data on the screen, and thinking of Chris's obviously clueless state, Lingyi unconsciously clenched her hands.

Something's not right, definitely something's wrong.

Chris thought to herself as she left the room.

At first, upon hearing Zero's remarks, Chris was indeed enraged, believing that the other party had become an unforgivable villain.

However, after calming down, Chris began to have doubts about this conclusion.

This wasn't because she found any contradictions or loopholes in Lingyi's words; on the contrary, it was precisely because her own train of thought had flowed so smoothly from beginning to end that she suspected something was amiss.

As for the reason, it was simply because the last time her thinking was so smooth, she was almost happily tricked into becoming an idol.

And because of this sudden doubt in her mind, she once again failed to concentrate on starting Durandal.

We need to think this through carefully; we can't just jump to conclusions like this.

Following her inner doubts, Chris began to think, and then she discovered something.

Wait a minute, have I been being led by the nose by Zero the whole time? Why do I have to believe everything she says?

After reviewing the conversation from the morning, Chris suddenly realized why she had to believe everything Zero said.

Even though Lingyi always says things that sound reasonable and makes decisions that seem very prudent, it doesn't mean that you have to believe everything she says.

Although based on my previous understanding of her, I didn't see any signs of her lying, but like she said, 'people grow,' what if she overcomes and changes her past tendency to lie? Yes, that's right, I don't need to completely believe that girl's words.

After figuring this out, Chris began to consider the rationality of her judgment, but then a new doubt arose in her mind.

But then, how am I supposed to decide whether or not I should believe it?

Indeed, although she was convinced that Lingyi's words were not entirely credible, Chris was still struggling with how to judge the credibility of the other party's statements.

There's nothing we can do about it. No one knows what she's been through, but Lingyi always has that unchanging poker face, making it hard to tell whether her words are true or false from her behavior.

Ugh, this is so annoying! Why do I have to worry about this?

Whether to believe or not has always been a difficult question, especially when dealing with someone like Lingyi who doesn't provide any information. Chris is at a loss for what to do.

What should I believe?

Chris was feeling down.

To be honest, theoretically speaking, the thing that's troubling her right now is a low-probability event, because Lingyi doesn't seem to have any reason to deceive her, and the confidence she shows when talking to her is completely genuine.

Chris's distress stemmed, in a sense, from her unwillingness to simply believe that Zero would become the repulsive person she had described.

"What should I...?"

"So what are you doing now, Chris, performing face-changing art?"

Just as Chris's expression kept changing due to her confused thoughts, a voice that she knew very well suddenly rang in her ears.

"Linglingling... Lingyi, you, how did you get out here? Didn't I tell you I didn't need to worry about me!?"

Startled by the voice beside her, Chris said nervously, a strange sense of shame making her face flush slightly.

“I don’t want to get involved either, but since I promised Finney to find a way to get Durandal running, I have to put some effort into it. Hmm, so what psychological problem have you got this time? Didn’t I tell you about my situation before? Do you have any more questions?”

Lingyi first explained why she was there, and then asked Chris what was wrong with her again in a slightly helpless tone.

"It's the same old story. Don't try to fool me with those seemingly reasonable excuses again. I won't fall for it this time!"

Upon hearing Zero's question, Chris, who had just been immersed in thoughts of belief and disbelief, immediately exhibited a rather strong stress response.

"Huh? What?"

This time, Zero was genuinely confused, having no idea what Chris was up to this time.

She had indeed used some language techniques in the previous conversation, but Chris's behavior was neither that she was aware of them nor that she was unaware, which left her unsure of what to do.

"Stop pretending. I won't accept everything you say until I find a better way to judge."

The white-haired girl in red, like a snarling wildcat, made this threat to Lingyi.

"...Okay, it seems you've developed a distrust of my words for some reason."

Lingyi, who had finally managed to glean some clues from Chris's behavior, felt even more troubled. She had thought that after Finney left, no one would do anything unexpected, but Chris's actions proved that she was overthinking it.

"Fine, since you don't trust me, it doesn't matter."

Finally, Zero seemed to have given up on herself and said this.

"However... it's getting a bit of a problem if you keep worrying like this. In that case, I'll give you a suggestion."

Seeing Chris looking at her warily, Zero thought for a moment and decided to give her some advice.

"Since you have doubts about what I say, then go and investigate the truth yourself, and you won't have to be so suspicious like you are now."

Lingyi said this.

Chapter Twenty-Four: So-called Threat Removal

[I need to investigate the truth myself. Yes, as long as I can get factual evidence, I can determine whether this guy lied to me before or not.]

Upon hearing Lingyi's suggestion, Chris realized that she had fallen into a misconception.

"You don't need to say more, I will use my own methods to judge."

However, although she agreed with Zero in her heart, Chris still showed her disagreement on the surface.

"I'll leave it to you, but more importantly, Chris, since you still can't complete the recovery of the string enhancement output, we can only continue with the plan we discussed before."

Ignoring Chris's words and actions, Zero calmly offered Chris this reminder.

"Wait a minute, wasn't it said that as long as I can recover, we don't need to implement those two plans?"

Chris retorted after hearing Zero's words.

"Yes, that's true, but the problem is, I've given you two chances and tried my best to help you recover, but unfortunately, you haven't reached your previous level either time."

As she spoke, Lingyi took out her tablet and showed Chris the launch data of her two attacks on Durandal that day.

"Please, please give me another chance! I'm sure I can successfully activate Durandal next time!"

Chris tried to fight for another chance for herself.

“I’m sorry, even though I would like to agree to your request, I can’t because of my agreement with Finney. I promised her that I would find a way to activate Durandal as soon as possible, and one of the plans is that she would give up the initiative in the operation in order to get my approval. So, Chris, I’m sorry.”

Zero refused Chris's request without any leniency. Although she personally disliked Finney, a promise was a promise, something that had to be fulfilled even if it was done perfunctorily.

“Starting tomorrow, I will give you some idol training in the morning and you will need to cooperate with some preliminary operations. In the afternoon, we will work on Finney’s plan. You and I will go out and stroll around the streets together. We will do these two things until you can fully launch Durandal.”

Zero, through a rather forceful action, established Chris's daily routine from that moment on.

"Well, I'm fine with shopping and stuff, but idols are unnecessary... Hmm, I understand, I'll do it."

Chris tried to fight back, but was quickly suppressed by Zero's terrifying gaze.

"Very good. There's still some time left today. I'll first perform a threat reduction procedure on you. I hope you can cooperate with my work. Flash Blade Activation - Flash Interchange."

After getting Chris to grant her request in a rather assertive manner, Zero put the tablet down somewhere and then picked up the black and red blade hanging at her waist.

Soon, the red patterns on the blade emitted a strong light, and Zero's original casual clothes were transformed into white outer armor paired with a black bodysuit.

"Wait, Lingyi, what are you doing? It's just a threat to eliminate someone, you don't need to make such a big fuss!"

Seeing the blonde girl suddenly don armor, Chris had a bad feeling. Why did the so-called threat reduction measures have to be changed to a state of combat readiness? And what exactly did the threat reduction measures entail?

"This is just necessary preparation. So, Chris, are you going to undress yourself or should I do it for you?"