The day to welcome the investigation team quickly arrived.
Bella and a still downcast Kiana arrived at St. Freya's Hyperion docking area.
Although for this escort mission, the investigation team Bella was escorting would arrive on their own battleship.
The escort mission would end once the investigation team reached Siberia.
Considering that she and Kiana would need to stay there for a few days to clear out Honkai Beasts, it would be more convenient to just take the Hyperion.
That way, they could return to the Hyperion to sleep at night instead of camping in the wilderness.
When it came to enjoying life, Bella was a master.
"Sigh." Kiana, beside her, was dispirited.
For some reason, Mei had disappeared early in the morning, and Kiana couldn't find her anywhere.
There was no goodbye, and what's more...
She hadn't recharged her Mei energy! Kiana felt like she was about to collapse.
Although Bella knew Kiana might just be sad about being away from Raiden Mei for a while and would be downcast temporarily, she would probably revert to her lively self soon.
But seeing Kiana's dejected expression, Bella still shook her head helplessly.
She patted Kiana's shoulder and pointed ahead: "Kiana, look up and see who's next to the Hyperion?"
"Huh?" Kiana looked up in confusion, following Bella's finger.
With a samurai sword at her waist, crimson Valkyrie Armor, and a gentle smile on her face beneath her purple hair, who else could it be but Raiden Mei?
"Mei, Mei!"
Kiana instantly recovered, full of energy, and happily went to Raiden Mei's side.
"Mei, why are you here? And you're wearing Valkyrie Armor, could it be..."
Looking at Raiden Mei, Kiana seemed to realize something and looked at Bella.
Seeing this, Raiden Mei nodded, her voice soft.
"Yes, Bella chose me to form a temporary team for this mission, and not just me, Bronya and the squad leader are also here."
"Eh, Bronya and the squad leader are here too! Then why haven't I seen them?"
"They went to the Hyperion first to prepare for takeoff."
Beside them, Bella walked over with her hands clasped behind her head.
That's right, this was Bella's idea.
As an A-rank Valkyrie who accepted the mission, Bella could choose her preferred Valkyries to form a temporary team to execute the mission together.
And to prevent a certain white-haired girl from being too dispirited, she included Raiden Mei and Bronya in her mission team.
As for Fu Hua, who was also an A-rank Valkyrie like herself...
Bella saw that she didn't have any missions currently, so she simply invited her along.
"Bella~!" Kiana, understanding everything, was a little moved.
Bella smiled slightly.
"It's nothing, just complete the mission well, after all, it might concern whether you have to repeat a grade."
"Leave it to me, young lady."
Kiana flexed her arm, striking a pose to show off her muscles, though she had none on her arm.
"Whether it's Honkai Beasts or anything else, watch me kick them all away!"
Bella smiled faintly, watching Kiana return to her usual lively and energetic self.
Indeed, an energetic Kiana was the Kiana she was familiar with.
At this moment, Bronya and Fu Hua, who had finished preparing the Hyperion for takeoff, also came to Bella's side.
Not far away, Bella could already see the investigation team's battleship.
Looking at the people around her, Bella smiled slightly.
With a grand wave of her hand,
"Depart!"
Kiana and the others boarded the Hyperion.
Bella, on the other hand, went to the investigation team's battleship to hand over the mission.
The two battleships started their engines and began flying towards their destination, Siberia.
After boarding the investigation team's battleship, Bella looked around.
This battleship was much smaller than the Hyperion; it seemed to be a small battleship.
Well, it was an investigation team, after all; from the name, you could tell they needed to travel frequently.
This battleship was likely their daily mode of transport for investigations.
She just wondered what this investigation team was going to Siberia to investigate this time.
After all, according to the information Bella had received,
As the site of the Second Honkai Eruption, Siberia had been abandoned by humans due to the high concentration of Honkai energy remaining in its environment.
It was now a wilderness covered in snow year-round, with no traces of human presence.
That's why Kiana and the others were surprised when they met her in Siberia, and also believed she must have strong Honkai energy adaptability.
After all, ordinary people in that Honkai energy-filled environment would most likely either die directly or turn into Apostles.
But these things were none of Bella's concern.
Bella's mission would end once she escorted the investigation team to Siberia.
As for where the investigation team would go next, that was their own business.
At this moment, a girl wearing a golden, glass-screen-like eye patch and a nun's dress with an open skirt appeared in Bella's line of sight.
Behind the girl followed four other girls dressed similarly, but with different colored eye patches—these were black.
"Hello, I am Amber, the captain of the investigation team and an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal."
The girl came before Bella, smiling and extending her hand to Bella.
Seeing this, Bella also smiled and extended her hand, shaking Amber's hand.
"Hello, I am Bella, an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal who accepted this escort mission."
"Oh~, I heard about it at headquarters."
"There's a girl in the Far East Branch who, upon joining Schicksal, was detected to have Honkai energy adaptability reaching S-Rank Valkyrie strength, and became an A-rank Valkyrie in her first evaluation—so it was you."
"People at headquarters say you are currently the most promising person to become Schicksal's fifth S-Rank Valkyrie."
"Ah, haha, really? Am I that famous at headquarters?"
"Actually, I'm not that amazing; it's all just rumors."
After hearing Amber's words, Bella's face showed a hint of an awkward smile.
Hearing this, Amber revealed a meaningful smile.
"Is that so? Since you say so, I'll take it as a rumor."
"I'll leave this escort mission to you. I have other matters, so I won't entertain you. If you need anything, you can speak to my team members."
Watching Amber return to the battleship with the four people behind her, Bella put away the smile on her face and frowned slightly.
She always felt there was something off about this Amber, but she couldn't pinpoint it.
And, for some reason, Bella always felt a little uneasy in her heart.
"I hope there won't be any surprises with this mission."
"And, just in case."
Bella woke Paimon, who was sleeping in the system space.
For some reason, Paimon had become increasingly sleepy since the Valkyrie test a month ago.
But whenever Bella called her, she always woke up immediately, as if she was simply sleeping.
Bella had asked Paimon about it, but Paimon herself didn't understand what was going on.
However, in the past month, the little one hadn't had any other health issues; it just seemed to have grown a bit in size.
Was it growing up?
Seeing that the little one said she was fine, Bella didn't ask any more questions.
She called Paimon out of the system space.
Then Bella whispered a few words into Paimon's ear.