After receiving the memories, Lynelle opened her eyes in her dorm room.
'Thank goodness, it's still morning... Looks like I won't have to go right back to sleep after just waking up.'
Noticing the sunlight streaming across her face, Lynelle felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
After all, she'd genuinely experienced situations before where she'd crossed over to this side at 3 AM, only to find it was also 3 AM here.
'There's a message from Einstein on the terminal... Probably about that Cocolia situation. Let me check the log... Perfect, no classes today.'
Confirming her schedule hadn't shifted much from what she remembered, Lynelle dialed Einstein's communication line.
"Einstein, what's happened?"
"We've obtained reliable intelligence," Einstein's voice came through, unusually grave. "Tonight, Cocolia will attack St. Freya Academy to seize the Herrscher of Thunder core from Raiden Mei."
"The situation is urgent. Also, we want to seize this opportunity to take some action ourselves. So, please come quickly."
A few minutes later, at the temporary base Anti-Entropy had established near St. Freya.
"I actually have a question," Lynelle began, accepting a cup of... milk tea... offered by Bella, who was dressed in a maid outfit.
She raised her hand first. "Why aren't we holding this meeting inside St. Freya itself, like we used to? The chance of Theresa noticing is probably lower than the chance of her not sneaking a look at manga in her office all day."
"Good question. That's actually the first thing we need to discuss with you," Tesla sighed. "We don't really need to worry about Theresa, but we do need to worry about Otto."
"You might find this hard to believe, but recently, our operatives here in the Far East spotted a... well, how to put it... a very familiar-looking little blond boy near St. Freya."
"Alright, you can stop there. I get it," Lynelle immediately facepalmed. "Let me guess, Theresa completely failed to recognize who the kid was?"
"Heh, seems you know Theresa pretty well, Lynelle," Tesla shrugged. "So, for minor stuff it's fine, but for confidential discussions like this one, we feel much safer holding them in our own base."
"Alright, alright. Since Lynelle's questions are settled, let's get down to business," Einstein interjected with a sigh.
"Last night, Cocolia used a clone of the Sovereign to forge orders and spread the news about today's attack on St. Freya."
"While Cocolia is aware we have some level of cooperation with St. Freya, and even with Schicksal, she's counting on us not daring to make it public. That's why she's carrying out her plan so brazenly—to achieve her goal while also throwing a wrench in the works for us conservatives."
"But why can't we make it public?" Lynelle asked.
"Given the current state of Anti-Entropy, we can't guarantee there aren't so-called moles within the radical faction itself," Welt took over the explanation. "This is... somewhat of a side effect of Anti-Entropy's unique management structure."
"In the early days of Anti-Entropy, to rapidly expand our influence and build strength to oppose Schicksal, we established this organizational system known as the Executors."
"The advantage of this system was its complete resilience against Schicksal's infiltration and sabotage. Any damage to Anti-Entropy would stop at the node of a single Executor."
"Above the Executors, only the Sovereign himself remained, connected through one-way channels. Furthermore, Executors were forbidden from contacting each other unless directly ordered by the Sovereign."
"Early on, when I hadn't yet retired to recuperate, this mechanism worked very effectively. Several attacks by Schicksal only symbolically destroyed the assets of a few Executors, without causing any critical damage to Anti-Entropy."
"They often didn't even know if what they destroyed belonged to an Executor, since the Executors had no contact and couldn't verify each other's status."
"However, after the Second Honkai War, I was severely injured and went into seclusion. Anti-Entropy began splitting into the conservative and radical factions, and this system became ineffective…"
"At that time, Einstein and Tesla were focused mostly on reviving me and treating my injuries, so they paid less attention to managing Anti-Entropy's affairs, leading to the current situation."
"So, you're saying the radical faction has now completely slipped from Anti-Entropy's control?" Lynelle's eyes began to gleam with a hint of excitement.
"Not exactly," Einstein shook her head slightly.
"As mentioned before, due to the Executor system, even with the current factional split, the Executors of Anti-Entropy aren't overly familiar with each other. Within the radical faction, there are still some members who are genuinely just... ideologically radical."
"But conversely, there are also Executors who use radicalism as a pretext to pursue their own desires."
"In the past, we could have dealt with these individuals through direct, targeted measures. But now, with the Sovereign's power diminished and him officially being 'missing,' and with Cocolia mediating, such individuals are indeed difficult to handle."
"After all, though it pains me to admit it, a significant portion of Anti-Entropy's mecha forces are currently under the radical faction's control. It's a situation where a single move could affect the whole board. We must prevent the possibility of Anti-Entropy splitting apart."
"I think I understand the gist," Lynelle nodded.
"Right now, because Mr. Welt hasn't regained his full strength, and because the radical and conservative factions are mismatched in power, you're somewhat stuck dealing with Cocolia's overt scheme."
"So, you're planning to use a defensive counterattack strategy? Let Cocolia make her move first, then plan your next step based on that, correct?"
"Exactly. According to Einstein's plan, during Cocolia's invasion, we can ensure St. Freya Academy remains unharmed and formally establish cooperation with Theresa. It could be a blessing in disguise."
Welt adjusted his glasses. "After all, Cocolia doesn't know that Anti-Entropy's missing Sovereign is currently working as a history teacher at St. Freya."
"Then..." Lynelle gently tapped the table. "What if Mr. Welt had his full power back? Or, if I could temporarily simulate Welt at his peak? Would you dare to take action against Cocolia then?"
"But... how would we avoid causing a split in Anti-Entropy?"
Einstein pondered for a moment, not outright rejecting the idea, but questioning the feasibility.
"Note, I said Cocolia, not the entire radical faction," Lynelle smiled faintly. "After her invasion of St. Freya concludes, we can have the Sovereign personally intervene."
"Using that as justification, we target only Cocolia and those few morally corrupt Executors you mentioned within the radical faction for 'disciplinary action.' We're dealing with the specific incident, not targeting the entire faction."
"After this disciplinary action is complete, I'll use the Power of Corruption to take control of Cocolia, forcing her to admit her mistakes and submit to the Sovereign. In my opinion, the internal obedience within Anti-Entropy is still quite high, provided the Sovereign is truly Welt at his full power."
"To the other members, this handling would look like a simple 'warning'—the newly awakened Sovereign giving a slap on the wrist to Cocolia, who acted out the most during his absence."
"Sounds reasonable, right? After all, the Sovereign didn't even imprison or exile her, just made her reflect and apologize the next day."
"As for how to restore Welt to his full power..." A card materialized at Lynelle's fingertip, bearing a silhouette all too familiar to everyone present.
"It's simple. I'll just become Welt, won't I?"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.