Chapter 18: I’m Ducky, I’m Absolutely Fearless!
***
In the underground base beneath the ME Corp building, Anti-Entropy members belonging to Cocolia’s faction came to Cocolia’s side and reported:
“Report, Miss Bronya has been attacked.”
“What?”
Cocolia, who had been focusing on the experimental progress, was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, then frowned and asked:
“What happened?”
The subordinate didn’t waste words and directly displayed the images that could connect to Bronya’s brain chip in front of Cocolia.
The first thing Cocolia saw was a girl with white hair and blue eyes.
“White hair… looks somewhat familiar, from the Kaslana family?”
Looking at Kiana in the footage, Cocolia was somewhat uncertain.
Although white hair wasn’t exclusively a Kaslana trait, upon seeing this characteristic, Cocolia, as an Anti-Entropy executor, would instinctively associate it with Schicksal’s Kaslana family.
Currently, she wasn’t clear about Kiana’s identity and background. In this regard, the Anti-Entropy conservatives and Otto’s side had done quite well with their confidentiality work.
But World Serpent definitely knew about the white-haired fluffball’s identity as a Herrscher of the Void vessel.
That is to say—
World Serpent and Cocolia weren’t truly as close as they appeared.
Indeed, this was the case. She and World Serpent were merely in a mutually beneficial relationship.
“Has Schicksal already noticed?”
Cocolia pressed her forehead, frowning deeply.
She thought she had done well with the blockade and secrecy.
Those two idiots from the conservative faction couldn’t possibly know about the situation here. With the obstacles she and World Serpent had created, those two were now completely overwhelmed dealing with Schicksal’s targeting.
The only thing that made her uneasy was Schicksal’s Overseer. Just as Tesla often called her a mother fox, Cocolia also knew well that Schicksal’s Overseer was an old fox no less cunning than herself.
Although Gray Serpent told her not to worry about that person, Cocolia remained vigilant about Otto’s existence.
Now, with the appearance of Schicksal’s Shield, the Kaslana, did this mean the other party had discovered something and was beginning to intervene in this chess game?
In her worry, information about Kiana was quickly presented before Cocolia.
“Kiana Kaslana, daughter of Schicksal traitor Siegfried.”
“So it’s Siegfried’s daughter, no wonder she looked so familiar.”
Looking at the data, Cocolia instantly felt relieved.
If it was Siegfried’s daughter, then she should have no connection to Otto, since Siegfried was a Schicksal traitor.
“Lady Cocolia, do you need to send reinforcements to assist Miss Bronya?”
The subordinate inquired.
“No need, it’s just a mere Kaslana. Bronya can handle it.”
Knowing it wasn’t someone from Schicksal or the moderate faction, Cocolia instantly lost interest and rejected the reinforcement proposal.
Bronya was her daughter, Cocolia’s daughter. A wild Kaslana was nothing to worry about!
“You don’t need to keep watching Bronya either. She is my daughter, after all.”
Although the chip placed in Bronya’s brain did have surveillance purposes, the current Cocolia trusted Bronya considerably and actively instructed her subordinates to reduce attention on her daughter.
“Yes.”
The subordinate nodded, but internally complained: Weren’t you the one who told us to monitor Miss Bronya in the first place?
Cocolia’s fickleness was something even her subordinates found hard to understand.
When they gave up their attention on Bronya, the battle on scene had already erupted.
“This shorty is so troublesome!”
Kiana, who had been knocked back by a punch, stared at Bronya, who was protected by Project Bunny’s mechanical palm in the distance, muttering while feeling somewhat irritated.
Originally, when she learned she had to deal with such a shorty, she was quite confident and even boasted that she could take her down in just a few moves.
But now she was the one at a disadvantage, which made Kiana feel somewhat embarrassed.
“I told you not to underestimate her, didn’t I? She once held the title of Silver Wolf of the Urals as an assassin.”
Elysia’s voice rang out, also drawing Bronya’s gaze.
The man beside the vessel?
Bronya wasn’t surprised by Elysia’s appearance. After all, when she saw that her attacker was Kiana, who had been with Mei just moments before, she suspected she had been exposed.
But—
The title “Silver Wolf of the Urals” that came from Elysia’s mouth, both strange and familiar to Bronya, made her feel uneasy.
This undoubtedly indicated that—
“You investigated Bronya in advance.”
This thought silently flashed through Bronya’s mind.
But so what?
Bronya’s gaze swept over the ready-to-fight Kiana. In her eyes, the biggest threat was this white-hair who had strength like a bull and was very agile.
As for Elysia…
Suddenly, Bronya felt great danger and quickly turned her head—
“Clang!”
Project Bunny in protective mode reacted swiftly, raising its large hand to block the blade.
It was Raiden Mei!
“Vessel.”
Looking at the sword-wielding girl who had launched a sneak attack, Bronya’s expression changed slightly.
Mei, who had withdrawn her sword and distanced herself, actively warned Elysia and the others:
“This mecha reacts very quickly, you need to be careful.”
The swordsmanship passed down through generations of the Raiden family, she had already reached the level of complete mastery.
Yet even with a concealed surprise attack, she was still blocked by Project Bunny.
This was iaido!
“Bronya is very curious about when exactly.”
Seeing that her enemies had become three, the expressionless Bronya couldn’t help but voice her confusion.
Coming from a mercenary background, she considered her stealth skills to have reached their peak. Although she had neglected them for many years and hadn’t deliberately concealed herself, facing these three who clearly looked like amateurs, Bronya really couldn’t figure out how she had been exposed.
“We guessed.”
Unfortunately.
Bronya had this thought flash through her mind.
She had originally wanted to try to obtain some intelligence through words. Such amateurs would easily expose many things due to loose lips, but Elysia’s caution made her plan fall through.
Needless to say, this was naturally under Jiang Qiao’s instruction.
He had already anticipated such situations beforehand.
Since they were already playing an information advantage, dying due to talking too much would be completely unacceptable.
It could only be said that the three of them weren’t really the type suited for sneak attacks.
If it were Jiang Qiao himself, by the time Bronya reacted, she would probably already be tied up like a white-striped duck.
But now, they could only engage in a righteous three-on-one, trying to gang up and beat down this Ducky.
However—
Three people?
A cooking girl who couldn’t even cook well, an ordinary person, and a reckless idiot?
Bronya looked at the three people positioned at different angles, ready to strike. A trace of mockery and contempt flashed through her expressionless gray eyes.
At the peak of the Honkai, standing proud in the world, wherever there’s me, Ducky, there shall be heaven!
Even fighting one against three, what can you do to me?
I’m Ducky, I’m invincible!