Each person has their own misfortunes—
Who has never faced an impossible dilemma in their life?
It’s just a matter of sooner or later.
Everything before you is temporary; as long as you don’t stop, the path ahead will keep stretching out.
‘Even filling my heart with these comforting thoughts, I still feel like I’ve hit the jackpot of bad luck.’
Whether she could hold up during a potentially fierce battle, or whether that teacher—
Who might not have any protection—
Could survive in the war-torn black market until rescue arrived, both were problems.
But both were tightly tied to Hua Ye’s future.
The former related to her performance in front of the president, yet depended entirely on her unrecovered memories;
The latter directly impacted her career, but she could only hope that an ordinary person could survive alone in the chaos of battle.
Leaving the Holy Tower, distant yet piercing sounds of artillery and collapsing buildings echoed from afar.
Hua Ye closed her eyes, exhaled deeply, and the president’s two tasks flashed through her mind.
When she opened her eyes again, the jade-green orbs of her young goat-like eyes showed confusion and struggle.
‘Do I really have to go to the battlefield? Me, a former corporate drone who never dared to argue with anyone? What a joke…’
But the president’s order meant Hua Ye had to go herself…
Now she could only pray nervously that her halo could stop bullets and explosions…
But before she went into battle, there were other important things to do.
Hua Ye silently pulled out her phone and started swiping through possible contacts—
She needed to mobilize the police force of the Valkyrie Police Station.
Despite feeling uneasy and distressed about sending a bunch of children to the battlefield, even knowing from Qishen Lin and others that students’ halos could protect them from injury…
‘But what if? What if the halos have limited durability and casualties still happen? What if a child dies before my eyes—can I keep my sanity from collapsing?’
Sending children to war gave her an instinctive sense of guilt.
But all she could do was suppress that painful and irritating worry and follow the president’s orders to firmly crush those damned corporate dogs.
Although she didn’t know how the original Buzhihuo Hua Ye contacted her subordinates, and aside from basic functions and Momotalk, almost every other app on this phone was locked with passwords—
Even the contact list had only numbers without names, and the call logs had been inexplicably deleted.
But there was one method that would work:
Call the police.
Because the police station’s number was probably designed to be as simple and memorable as possible for easy dialing.
So Hua Ye had to gamble—
Famble that Kivotos was the same.
After some searching, she dialed the simplest number on the list.
…beep…beep…beep…
Each beep seemed to tug at Hua Ye’s nerves.
“beep…beep…beep… Hello, you have reached the Valkyrie Police Station automated service hotline. To report a helmet gang, press 1. To turn yourself in, press 2. For dessert and curriculum disputes, press 3. For a human operator, say ‘operator’…”
‘I guessed right…’
The synthesized voice rang out.
As she heard those so-called service options, Hua Ye barely suppressed the urge to condemn whoever designed this automated hotline and spoke as clearly and steadily as possible.
“Operator.”
On the horizon, dull, distant explosions and faint machine-gun fire continuously echoed, stirring anxiety.
‘That’s probably just my imagination from being too anxious—from the Holy Tower, that area is at the edge of the White Bird District, meaning the combat zone is dozens of kilometers away. Apart from the huge sounds of missile and artillery bombardments, gunfire shouldn’t carry this far.’
Hua Ye thought this, but her palms kept sweating.
The phone’s voice paused for a moment, then mechanically replied.
“Understood. Connecting you to a human operator.”
Another round of irritating beeps.
Hua Ye couldn’t help frowning.
…beep…beep…beep…
After a long, tense wait, a somewhat lazy young girl’s voice finally answered.
“Hello, this is the Valkyrie Police Station. How may I help you?”
Hua Ye exhaled.
A connection—
Slow, but a connection nonetheless.
She deliberately used a cold, firm tone.
“Let me speak to your chief.”
When dealing with lower-level staff, in peaceful times she might care about her image.
But in an urgent situation, instead of being polite and getting tangled up, it was better to cut straight to the chase with a forceful tone so the other party quickly understood her demand.
The girl on the other end seemed startled by Hua Ye’s sudden demand.
After a dazed moment, she asked uncertainly.
“Uh… hello? Could you repeat your request? This is the Kivotos Valkyrie Police Station. How can we help you?”
Thinking that there might be someone hiding among the ruins in the black market, trembling and waiting for rescue, a frustrated Buzhihuo Hua Ye couldn’t help letting her tone turn cold.
“I said, classmate, put your chief on the phone.”
The girl on the other end seemed to understand something and became cautious.
“Um… our chief is busy right now… she can’t take the call… may I ask who you are?”
Buzhihuo Hua Ye looked at the sky.
Another round of artillery shells seemed to fall at the edge of the district, leaving pale white trails in the air.
Another plume of dust slowly rose there, drawing attention.
She spoke slowly.
“I’ll say it again, dear classmate. If you still care about your job, go find your chief and put her on the phone.”
This time, the unfamiliar girl on the other end seemed to realize her situation.
After a commotion of frantic activity, her anxious and uneasy muttering became particularly jarring.
“Who is this… calling so rudely…”
But she clearly chose to obey Hua Ye’s advice and went to report to her superior—
Kids are kids.
Once pressured, they tend to avoid and pass the problem to others.
After waiting thirty seconds, the voice on the other end changed to someone sounding tired and resigned, slightly more mature than the previous girl.
“Hello, this is Ogata Hazuki, Chief of the Valkyrie Police Station. Who is this, and what do you want?”
Buzhihuo Hua Ye heard the somewhat familiar voice.
The halo above her head stopped flickering and began to rotate slowly.
She let out a soft laugh, squinting at the conspicuous dust cloud on the horizon, and replied with a tone that could be either a smile or a sneer.
“Buzhihuo Hua Ye, Head of the Federal Student Council Security Office. Miss Hazuki, you seem quite at ease. Did you forget your duties because you’re off today? Haven’t you noticed what’s happening in the White Bird District?”
The voice on the other end was silent for a long moment.
The noon sun was blinding.
The area around the Holy Tower was empty and quiet—
The peace of Kivotos seemed to gather here.
Only Buzhihuo Hua Ye stood there, squinting in the warm sunlight, as if completely unconcerned with the other party’s reaction as she continued.
“A riot in the black market, suspected to be instigated by multiple companies. Immediately mobilize all available officers to the black market. Suppress all delinquent students and involved robots causing the riot.”
“Contact the Correctional Bureau. Have them prepare rooms and reorganize the labor practices for students under correction. Make sure the newcomers get a proper feel for correction.”
“If we don’t have enough personnel for suppression, mobilize from the Valkyrie Academy.”
The other end was silent, seemed to be processing the flood of information Hua Ye had casually dropped.
After about ten seconds, a tired, helpless sigh came through.
“Director Hua Ye… next time… please contact me via Momotalk…”
Though a faint smile lingered on her face, her horizontal pupils fixed on the spreading dust cloud were cold.
The riot was especially conspicuous—
Almost everywhere in the White Bird District could see that abnormal cloud and the trails left by missiles crossing the clouds.
Buzhihuo Hua Ye retorted.
“Is that an excuse for the police force to be so negligent they didn’t notice the black market riot?”
The other side fell silent again.
After a moment, a weary response came.
“Yes, Director Hua Ye… We’ll be in position immediately.”
‘Everything’s going smoothly.’
‘Now, how do I get there?’
‘Isn’t there a ready-made tool right here?’
Hua Ye smiled slightly.
“One more thing, Chief Hazuki. Remember to send someone to pick me up at the Holy Tower.”
On the other end, the girl called Ogata Hazuki seemed a bit reluctant.
“What kind of transport? Police car, or…”
Hua Ye thought for a moment, then spoke calmly, as if joking.
“However you can get here fastest. My time is precious, and I have the president’s tasks to handle.”
No response from the other side.
She was probably troubled by Hua Ye’s sudden additional request.
Feeling she had bothered the other person, Hua Ye casually hung up and continued squinting at the situation on the horizon.
“Teacher… no, my new advisor… I hope you live long enough… hold on until I find you…”
‘Even though he’s a future political opponent, I still hope he doesn’t get hurt. Politics is politics, life is life. I don’t want anyone to lose their precious future because of me. And I’m curious—what exactly did the president mean by “outside Kivotos”?’
“An advisor… tsk. Why did the president drag someone who can’t fight normally into a department that needs combat the most? What a pain…”
Her goat-like eyes carried a trace of worry as she gazed at the top of the pure white Holy Tower and the magnificent blue halo in the sky.
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