Honkai: Strijder

Chapter 57

Brolon was on his way back.

Indeed, the person who met with Sigurd wasn’t a doppelganger; it was Brolon himself.

To this day, he believed that Otto was eager to end his life... or he convinced himself to believe so. Consequently, he secluded himself, presenting his doppelgangers to the world, maintaining an extraordinarily cautious approach for over thirty years without changing.

Brolon reclined comfortably on a luxurious golden chair inside a highly secretive aircraft. The room was lavishly decorated, and two wheat-skinned girls adorned only with simple golden ornaments were massaging him, exuding an alluring Ancient Egyptian charm.

Brolon relaxed, half-lying on the chair, facing a large screen that played the final footage transmitted by a dead Valkyrie – an image of a white-haired little girl falling from a cliff.

“Hmph! A bunch of idiots. They even managed to mess up capturing a little brat.”

Brolon sneered.

He believed he hadn’t meant any harm, just wanting to invite the girl as a guest, offering her good food and drinks, ensuring Sigurd could focus on the transaction. Of course, if Sigurd tried anything funny, or if he simply lacked the capability, the issues of malice and treatment would be different matters altogether.

He just hadn’t expected that the highly trained and expensive Valkyrie would be so ineffective.

“Well, even though it cost twice the money, at least I got to see some of the things he’s hiding, and I can be assured about his capabilities.”

Brolon sighed, not feeling particularly disturbed.

Although the girl should have died, he had compensated her generously enough. As long as the recipient wasn’t a complete fool, they would accept his offer with glee.

The next problem was the code, which was indeed tricky.

Brolon claimed to have many old friends within Schicksal, but that was mostly a bluff. As soon as he started opposing Otto, those opportunistic folks disappeared. The information about the Oceania branch’s transfer was obtained through vast sums of money.

The current king of the kingdom, his mediocre younger brother, was now Brolon’s puppet. And after Anti-Entropy had settled into its new direction, its financial needs from him had significantly diminished. So, money had never been an issue for Brolon.

As for the code, it seemed that more money would need to be spent to try...

Whoosh!

Shoo!

Boom, boom, boom!

In the void, a red streak tore through the tail of the spacecraft. The carefully designed propulsion system barely maintained the ship’s balance, but it still trembled violently.

“What’s going on!?”

Brolon angrily shouted, and at the same time, he felt a sharp pain in his arm.

A girl had been startled, leaving a few nail marks on Brolon’s arm. She turned pale with fright.

“Master... Master, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to... I didn’t mean to...”

“Worthless!”

Then, Brolon slapped her to the ground. Her alluring and trembling body lay on the ground, pitiable yet even more provocative.

“Master, the ship is under unknown attack. We must initiate an emergency landing.”

“Could it be... Otto has finally made his move?!”

Brolon shook his head. While he let his imagination run wild, he knew that Otto had no interest in him. Even in serious situations, he could clearly see that. Nevertheless, he gave the order to land.

...

On the ground, near the smoking spacecraft, Brolon stepped out with an armed escort. The two wheat-skinned, alluringly dressed girls followed him closely—not for any other reason, but in dire situations, Brolon could use them as human shields.

“Stay alert! Request support from the nearest Anti-Entropy branch.”

“Master, we can’t establish contact.”

“What do you mean by ‘can’t establish contact’!?”

This time, the hurried breath, the mix of excitement and fear, and even that indomitable sense of superiority were all perfectly mimicked.

“Y-You... calm down! If you kill me, will the leader spare you? The forces behind me will also sever ties with you! Spare me, and I promise to fully support your faction!”

The robot repeated the entire statement from beginning to end.

With the same appearance, the same words, the same demeanor, Brolon, writhing in pain, couldn’t help but shiver.

“What... what do you want to do?”

“What... what do you want to do?”

The first sentence was Brolon’s fearful question. The second was the robot’s indistinguishable imitation.

“You’re fond of doppelgangers, aren’t you? Well, now you’ve become your very own beloved doppelganger.” Said Sigurd, his tone is calm and collected, but if one were to probe deeper, they would notice the cold glint in his eyes.

“No! You can’t do this.”

“No! You can’t do this.”

“Stop! Make this damn thing stop imitating me!”

“Stop! Make this damn thing stop imitating me!”

Every time Brolon spoke a sentence, the identical robot repeated it, like a demonic whisper, causing Brolon’s emotions to start crumbling.

Then, in front of Brolon, Sigurd opened a virtual screen, and dialed Otto’s communication signal.

“Hey there, on this sunny morning, let me see who dares to disturb my morning tea time? Oh, it’s my dearest friend Sigurd. Good morning, do you have time to come over for tea?”

“Otto, I have a question for you.”

Sigurd spoke directly, ignoring Otto’s greeting without any politeness.

And on the screen, Otto responded with a helpless yet indulgent smile, a friendliness that Brolon could never have imagined.

“Feel free, there’s nothing I won’t tell you, and nothing I won’t reveal.”

“I heard you’re planning to move the Gem of Desire? There’s someone preparing to steal it.”

“Haha! Let him come. The gem has already been safely placed in the Oceania branch. The two Valkyrie units arranged behind are just bait to lure some fools... But, would anyone fall for such a simple trick? Is that guy an idiot?”

“That’s right, his name is Brolon Albert. Do you know him?”

Otto stroked his chin, seemingly deep in thought. After a few seconds, he tilted his head, looking puzzled.

“Who’s that? I doesn’t have any memory of such person.”

“Never mind. By the way, I want that gem.”

“Oh, you can have it. We only need one or two Herrscher Cores for research purposes. Gathering too many cores together can lead to unknown dangers. I threw it out for safety. If you want it, you should have said so earlier. I’ll give it to you.”

“Alright then, talk to you later.”

Sigurd ended the communication.

And Brolon was completely shattered.

“Bait... idiot... impossible! I planned it for so long, it can’t be! Who are you?”

“Otto never took you seriously from the start. I wanted to kill you, and Einstein’s reply to me was... leave no trace, that’s the only request. You see, your arrogance doesn’t mean anything, and no one cares about you. Now, even your years of effort will be intercepted by the machine next to me... You can tell me your last words.”

“I... won’t... won’t...”

“Is that all your last words? Well, it doesn’t matter. Nobody will remember it anyway.”

Countless beams of laser swept over, burying Brolon, who had just moments ago been confident and composed, in despair and breakdown.