"Daniel Davis…" Seeing him and the others enter, Xier's face flushed slightly, apparently embarrassed at having been caught doing something. By contrast, Kiana didn't mind at all, but Mei felt differently.
"The chip in your brain is an unstable factor—it can be remotely controlled at any time. Would you like to have it removed?"
Daniel Davis nodded in greeting to Xier, then turned to address Bronie in the hospital bed.
As for Cocolia, the adoptive mother of Bronie and Xier, Daniel Davis truly didn't know what to say. It wasn't that she didn't care about Bronie or Xier—Cocolia was indeed very attached to the orphans she raised; many of the things she did were, at first, for those orphans' sake. Yet at the same time, she had used them without restraint. Xier's fall into the Quantum Sea and the injury to Bronie's brain both resulted from her experiments. In the end, Xier was only spared because she possessed a complete natural Stigma and apparently some connection to the core of the Herrscher of Death. Otherwise, who knows what might have happened.
Bronie was in a similar situation.
In her youth, Cocolia had indeed held a sense of justice. She originally served in the military, discovered that someone in the army was illegally selling off supplies, and filed a report. The result? She was locked up, because those involved were high-ranking officers.
If not for the outbreak of the Second Honkai Eruption, Cocolia's final fate would likely have been grim: if she refused to join them, she might have died in some "accident," like "suicide by dozens of gunshots."
Still, one couldn't deny her extraordinary luck. Look at the orphans she took in: one was heir to the Ruler of Reason, one possessed a fully natural Stigma, and there were even two perfect fusion warriors.
You had to understand, fusion warriors were a relic of the previous civilization; all thirteen heroes of the Flame Chasers had been fusion warriors. Even in that previous civilization, the success rate of creating fusion warriors had been extremely low—yet look at the Rosalia sisters, both turning into fusion warriors in a flash.
Once they reached their potential, even the weakest among them would be at least an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. Granted, that referred to a "normal" S-rank Valkyrie—Youlandel was an exception.
With such a lineup, one could say that Cocolia's covert forces far exceeded those of Anti-Entropy. Look at Anti-Entropy, such a large organization—its only real fighter was a Ruler of Reason.
"Mother Cocolia…"
At the mention of the chip in her brain, Bronie fell silent, murmuring Cocolia's name under her breath. Then, as though coming to a decision, she spoke up: "Remove it. Bronie doesn't want to harm her companions ever again."
Bronie certainly knew about her being controlled. Cocolia had used her to attack Mei—without attacking Kiana, presumably because Mei was the Herrscher of Thunder. One couldn't help but think Cocolia was being reckless—was she not worried about provoking the genuine Herrscher of Thunder and ending up getting Bronie killed?
"By the way, shall we fix your leg injuries while we're at it?"
During that experiment, Bronie didn't just lose part of her emotional center; her legs were damaged as well. Right now, she depended on exoskeletal assistance to walk. In combat, she relied on Heavy Weapon Bunny to hover.
"Daniel Davis… can Bronie's injuries really be healed?"
Hearing the possibility of treating Bronie's legs, Xier excitedly dashed over to him. When the two of them were alone earlier, Bronie had told Xier what happened after she disappeared—upon learning of Bronie's leg injury, Xier had wept bitterly.
"Of course. For me, it's quite simple. All it takes is a small operation."
Daniel Davis spoke as he reached out with his right hand and gently patted Xier on the head—this was the living Xier, after all.
"I'll arrange for an operating room," Theresa said, promptly getting ready to alert the relevant hospital staff.
"There's no need. It's just a small procedure. Room—Scan."
Daniel Davis stopped Theresa, then waved his left hand to activate the power of the Surgical Fruit. In an instant, he confirmed the position of the chip in Bronie's brain. With another wave of his right hand, Bronie's entire head was separated from her neck, floating into the air.
"Bronie!"
Seeing Bronie's head suddenly fly off, everyone in the ward froze. Immediately, Xier let out a blood-curdling scream, her eyes turning blood-red as white light shone from her chest. All at once, a massive black-and-red scythe exuding an eerie aura appeared in her hands.
"What did you do?"
Theresa, too, snapped to her senses and instinctively reached for her weapon—only then remembering she didn't bring the Oath of Judah with her.
"Bronie!"
Kiana and Mei cried out as well.
"Xier, calm down!"
Noticing Xier's drastic reaction, Daniel Davis realized he might have taken things too far. He had only been planning a little joke—yet as she teetered on the verge of unleashing her fury, her single blow might have destroyed the entire hospital. Before she could attack, he immediately subdued the scythe in her hands.
"Xier!"
Just as Xier was about to let loose an even stronger burst of Honkai energy, Bronie's voice echoed from midair. Xier's pupils instantly reverted to their original ocean-blue color, while the black-and-red scythe disappeared without a trace.
"Bronie… you're alright?"
Xier stared anxiously at Bronie's head floating in the air. In that moment, Theresa, Kiana, and Mei all saw that Bronie was still alive.
"I think I'm okay."
Having one's head float off was an unprecedented experience for Bronie; for a moment, she wasn't sure how to describe it.
"Sorry—I just wanted to play a little joke, but it clearly went too far."
Now that everyone had calmed down, Daniel Davis quickly apologized.
"This is amazing… so cool!"
Kiana leapt up and grabbed Bronie's head out of midair, examining it closely while muttering to herself—like the "Spirit King," she seemed to be messing with Bronie. After all, this was a rare opportunity to tease her.
"Don't fool around with such scary jokes."
Theresa and Mei both let out a sigh of relief, seeing no trace of blood anywhere. Their expressions relaxed.
"I, for one, think it's really interesting," Kiana said, still cheerfully. If anyone peeked into the room from outside right now, they'd find it horrifying: a young girl hugging someone's head with a goofy smile.
"That's enough, Kiana. Let Bronie go," Mei chided. She couldn't bear to watch Kiana's mischievousness with Bronie's head any longer.
"Alright, give me her head. I need to operate."
With a wave of his hand, Daniel Davis pulled Bronie's head away from Kiana. Then he cut it open, retrieved the chip inside, and reattached her head to her body.
"Bronie, how are you?"
When they saw her head reconnected to her body, Xier asked worriedly.
"Bronie, what do you feel?"
Theresa and Mei's concern was evident.
"Nothing seems amiss."
Bronie casually rotated her head a bit, finding no problems at all.
"Don't worry—I wouldn't attempt something so risky if I weren't confident. Now for your legs."
At that moment, Daniel Davis noted that using the Surgical Fruit to scare people could be quite entertaining.
"Daniel Davis… you're not planning the same thing again, are you?"
Xier asked.
"That won't be necessary. This is simpler."
Daniel Davis grasped both of Bronie's legs and began channeling his Double Operating Hands to heal them.
A young girl's legs in a man's hands—even though she knew it was for medical treatment, a slight blush appeared on Bronie's face. Daniel Davis didn't notice her reaction, fully focused on repairing the nerves in her legs.
Truth be told, even without his help, Bronie's legs would have healed once she awakened as the Ruler of Reason. The ability to construct anything—reclaiming her legs would have been easy, let alone an entire body; note how Walter Young had been doing "crunches" for ages.
"All done. Now you can walk on your own."
"Bronie, that's wonderful! Thank you, Daniel Davis!"
Seeing Bronie able to stand without an exoskeleton, Xier wept with joy. Kiana, Mei, and Theresa were also delighted—Mei even announced that they should celebrate properly that night, and welcome Daniel Davis and the other Bronie at the same time.
"Bronie thinks Kiana should get a taste of what I just went through."
After reassuring Xier, Bronie set her gaze on Kiana, clearly unhappy with how she'd been messing with her severed head.
"Mei, I'm hungry…"
Kiana, though intrigued by the idea of a floating head, decided not to risk it in front of Bronie. So she changed the subject.
"Alright, I'll go prepare dinner right now."
Hearing Kiana say she was hungry, Mei immediately said she'd get started on the evening meal.
"Oh, right—please don't talk about my ability just now."
As Kiana and Mei were about to leave, Daniel Davis reminded them. He wasn't particularly worried about anyone learning of his Surgical Fruit powers—otherwise, he wouldn't have shown them so openly—but he thought it best to make sure they stayed quiet anyway.
"Got it. Mei and I will keep it secret."
At the mention of food, Kiana couldn't hold back her eagerness.
"Bronie, please take Xier and the other Bronie around campus, and show them the dorm. They can stay with you for now."
With Bronie fully recovered, Theresa was more convinced than ever of Daniel Davis's medical prowess—especially having witnessed his Surgical Fruit in action. He was, to be sure, a "miracle doctor." After assigning Bronie her next tasks, she took Daniel Davis herself to arrange living quarters for him at St. Freya.
"This is Mr. Yang, who teaches history. He lives here too, so you'll be neighbors."
"And this gentleman here is the newly hired doctor."
St. Freya Academy was a training institution for Valkyries, and its students were all girls. While not all the instructors were female, there weren't many men either. Before Daniel Davis arrived, there had only been one male history teacher.
"Mr. Yang, hello."
Seeing a man wearing thick, black-framed glasses, exuding an academic air, Daniel Davis couldn't help smiling inwardly. He was at a loss for Theresa's obliviousness—she had fought alongside him in the Second Honkai War, yet somehow had not recognized that the person before them was Walter Young, the First Herrscher. Unless Walter was using some serious disguise, which apparently he wasn't. The only "disguise" seemed to be those hefty black-rimmed glasses.
"Is that the 'Superman's glasses' trick?"
Daniel Davis silently quipped.
"Hello."
Walter greeted Daniel Davis with a polite smile, then turned to Theresa. "Headmistress, if he's a doctor, why is he moving in here?"
This was the teachers' dormitory.
"It's just temporary. Some formalities haven't been taken care of yet…"
Theresa admitted awkwardly. She was about to continue when her communicator suddenly beeped.
"Himeko's back. Um, Mr. Yang, I'll leave the rest to you."
Glancing at the message, Theresa dashed away in a rush.
"The environment here is quite good. I'll take you to the logistics office in a moment to get your personal supplies."
Walter Young watched Theresa's hurried departure with some helplessness, then led Daniel Davis into the dormitory.
In terms of living conditions, St. Freya Academy spared no expense. Even the students got private dorm rooms, let alone the teachers. Theresa had started St. Freya Academy to fulfill Cecilia's dream, aiming to provide Valkyries training on the front lines with a joyful, liberated environment so they could still savor life. Naturally, she wouldn't skimp on amenities.
"Himeko, are you alright?"
In the headmistress's office, Theresa found Himeko seated on the couch.
"What could be wrong with me? I'm perfectly fine—the situation's basically under control now. Fuhua is taking over. Both you and Fuhua worry too much."
"Fuhua, huh… that's good."
Hearing it was in Fuhua's hands, Theresa relaxed and nodded. She trusted Fuhua wholeheartedly. Though technically a student at St. Freya, Fuhua was also an A-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal, stronger than Himeko in sheer power.
"I'm not going to argue with you. Anyway, you should get a thorough check-up at the hospital tomorrow."
"Theresa, that's unnecessary. I know my own condition."
As Himeko spoke, she grabbed a can of beer from the nearby fridge.
"If you really knew your situation, you'd quietly stay at the Academy and teach."
Himeko was in charge of practical training at St. Freya, something Theresa hadn't assigned her. She'd insisted on it herself—and personally led squads into actual combat. Under her command, St. Freya's casualties were the lowest among all the Schicksal branches.
"This time is different; maybe you can be cured."
Theresa explained what she'd learned about Daniel Davis.
"Well, it seems my luck might be quite good."
"Have these two gotten closer now? Is this some new mutual interest of theirs?"
That evening, in the dorm shared by Mei and the others, Daniel Davis arrived to find Bronie and the other Bronie gaming together at a computer. The pair seemed like twin masters of the digital realm—together, they were unbeatable, taking no damage at all.
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