From the day they met, Kiana knew that she and Sin Mal wouldn’t get along.

Interestingly enough, Sin Mal felt the same way.

..

Nighttime, outside Sigurd’s room.

Kiana, clutching a pillow, and Sin Mal, also holding a pillow, faced each other, and there was an electric current flowing between their gazes.

“Simbalah, what do you want?”

“I just want to sleep with Sigurd. And also, it’s Sin Mal, you stupid fish-head!”

“You brat, your injuries have already healed. Now, I won’t go easy on you just because you were injured when Sig and I found you!”

“That’s just what I wanted! Come on!”

Sin Mal swiftly pulled out an iron pipe.

Who knows where she hid it while wearing pajamas? Was it hidden in the pillow? Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to sleep on?

With a blunt weapon in her hand, Sin Mal’s mouth curled up into a smile, unconsciously extending upward, forming an incredibly sinister smile, brimming with the aura of a major antagonist.

Kiana had no weapon in hand.

But she wasn’t afraid.

Rip!

Kiana tore apart her pillow, and the feathers scattered in the air, as if showcasing her strength and ferocity.

The two sides faced each other, and the sparks of conflict grew more apparent, ready to erupt.

Suddenly, Kiana’s eyes rolled back, her body trembling, and after a series of strange convulsions and spasms, she collapsed at the doorstep.

Sin Mal was startled.

Although in Sin Mal’s eyes, Kiana appeared as a twisted black flame, she could still sense what was happening to her.

Sin Mal crouched down and cautiously poked at Kiana with the steel pipe, but her hand went numb and the pipe clattered to the ground.

“Is it… electricity?”

Muttering to herself, reflexively retracting her hand, Sin Mal wondered.

Kiana, with her hair standing on end, face blackened, and smoke coming out of her mouth, trembled as she reached out her hand and said,

“It’s… Sig…”

The mahogany door next to them slowly pushed open.

Creak—

Sigurd walked out from the room, his back facing the light inside, and reached out, grabbing a drifting feather.

It was the pillow he personally made for Kiana.

From the choice of feathers and fabric to the polishing of height, fluffiness, and durability, and even the shaping, scent, and stitching patterns on both sides, everything was meticulously designed to provide better sleep quality for someone like Kiana who would turn the world upside down in her sleep, reducing fatigue in the neck and spine.

He still remembered a few days ago when he received the pillow, Kiana was so touched, patting her chest and repeatedly swearing by the Kaslana Family name that she would cherish it.

Sigurd let go of the feathers in his hand, letting them fall to the ground.

He never expected that Kiana would not appreciate it, and instead…

Sigurd slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on Kiana, whose legs were twitching, and said calmly. Although he didn’t say anything, Sin Mal felt a chill.

“Ouch! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

As if the electric shock hadn’t happened, Kiana quickly changed to a prostrate position, trembling on the ground, though she didn’t actually understand why Sigurd was angry.

“I made the pillow with my own hands,” Sigurd stated calmly.

It wasn’t about punishing her without teaching her a lesson. The purpose was for her to absorb the lesson through the punishment, gain understanding, and grow from it.

Kiana, who was still kneeling, immediately shrank her body, and her face underneath made an exaggerated expression of screaming, though no sound came out—’I’m doomed!’

“First, not cherishing the feelings of others is the behavior of scum. Second, making a promise to me and easily breaking it, not keeping one’s word and lying are all terrible qualities. Third, casually destroying personal belongings is wasteful and irrational… That’s enough for now. Get some sleep and remember my words.”

Bang!

A rubber bullet hit the back of her head, and a large bump immediately formed under her hair. Kiana remained in the position with her buttocks raised, unconscious.

Sigurd blew on the gun barrel and lifted his other hand to gently touch Sin Mal’s head.

“Don’t engage in conflicts with your companions easily; it’s not good.”

“…I don’t want to be companions with someone like her.”

“In the foreseeable future, you will learn and grow together, and then fight side by side. You will become companions. Try to adapt, even if it’s difficult, strive for it. Well, go back to your room and get some rest.”

“Okay…”

Sin Mal stared blankly as Sigurd went back into his room and closed the door.

She thought she would also receive some kind of punishment, but nothing happened.

Sigurd didn’t take any punitive measures against her; his attitude remained the same as before, neither cold nor warm, just distant.

Sin Mal held her pillow tightly—it was a high-quality item from the furniture store, very soft and smooth, but it was clearly not in the same league as the pillow Kiana had, which Sigurd had personally made.

Sigurd didn’t get angry with Sin Mal, nor did he lecture her and punish her. But that wasn’t something to be happy about.

This meant that she was different from Kiana.

And this difference made her feel disappointed.

Sin Mal held her pillow tightly, glaring resentfully at the unconscious figure on the ground, and then dejectedly followed Sigurd’s instructions and left.

…

“I apologize for the disturbance outside, Mr. Otto. I hope it didn’t inconvenience you.”

Inside the room, Sigurd returned to his desk and placed the specially made handgun for Kiana on the table, while apologizing to the blond man on the computer screen.

“No problem at all. Taking care of someone so single-minded can indeed be a headache and a challenge. I understand.”

Otto shook his wine glass, reminiscing.

“Your insights on the self-defense system have greatly inspired me. Thank you for your valuable advice.”

“You’re welcome. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”

“For now, I don’t have any further questions. I need some time to put your advice into practice and digest it… By the way, besides discussing scientific research matters late at night, there’s something else I wanted to ask you, and I assume you already know?”

“Vira Klov has passed the critical phase and is currently in a coma. She still needs a few months to purge the remnants of  Honkai energy. Would you like to see her?”

Sigurd shook his head.

“No need. I trust you, Mr. Otto.”

‘Everyone is with you, and apart from expressing trust, what else can I say?’

Sigurd sighed inwardly, but he was somewhat relieved. He believed in Otto’s abilities and believed that, at least for now, Otto wouldn’t deceive him with Vira’s condition. It wouldn’t make any sense.

“The name Vira… and her equally mediocre aptitude, brings back some memories.”

Otto suddenly said these words.

Sigurd’s eyes flickered, and he replied calmly, “Vira? Are you perhaps talking about Vera Apocalypse? the ancient Valkyrie. She’s… your adopted daughter, isn’t she?”

Otto stared at the screen, smiling.

“Indeed, you know far more about me than usual. How did you achieve that? The thoughts about Vera… many things don’t exist in any tangible form or data records. They only exist in my mind. How did you come to know? Some kind of transcendent technology? Or perhaps, you have had some extraordinary experiences, to the extent that not only do you know many things you shouldn’t, but even your abilities and character have undergone a radical transformation within a short period of time?”

In general, when someone knows a lot of information that they shouldn’t, Otto’s first thought would be to eliminate them.

But Sigurd was different. He knew too much, which meant a mysterious unknown—a kind of freshness and curiosity that Otto hadn’t felt in a long time.

Understanding this unknown would undoubtedly bring unexpected rewards.

Furthermore, Sigurd, who possessed this unknown, had the intellectual capacity to engage with Otto on an equal level and, based on that, proposed the possibility of resurrection.

Everything seemed to align perfectly with Otto’s interests, prompting him to want to explore Sigurd’s potential rather than simply dispose of him.

Just as Otto’s interest was growing, Sigurd’s lips curled up slightly, responding with an enigmatic tone, “Perhaps I have once traversed time and space, witnessing your relatively long life experiences and become close with you?”

“I don’t believe it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s simple really, If I met someone like me while traveling through the multiverse, I would only want to stay as far away from him as possible. Ideally, I wouldn’t want to enter his line of sight in any of my lifetime.”

Otto confidently explained his perspective.

This caused Sigurd to raise an eyebrow and reply, “I admire your self-awareness.”

“Not at all. Your courage also impresses me… So, you’re heading to Siberia, let me think, is it Kiana? Do you intend to use her to gain the support of Anti-Entropy? What is your goal?”

“As you can see, in terms of scientific abilities, I am a genius. But even geniuses need sufficient resources for their growth.”

“Why not come to Schicksal then? Compared to Anti-Entropy, what they can offer you is just a drop in the ocean, not even 0,1% of what I can give.”

Otto said playfully, but he actually knew what Sigurd was thinking.

And Sigurd knew that Otto knew what he was thinking.

After a moment of silent confrontation between the two, Sigurd sighed and said, “You seem to have good self-awareness.”

With self-awareness, one should know that without the support of Anti-Entropy, Sigurd wouldn’t even feel safe communicating with Otto through a screen, let alone willingly offer himself.

His admiration is genuine, as is his wariness.

Otto is a cunning strategist, someone that if given the right motivation would surpass Dr.Mei in no time, he’s also an excellent strategist and leader, but he is not a good person.