Chen Ran had been at the Babylon Tower for a week.
During this week, he had spent most of his time in boring activities like eating, sleeping, and experimenting.
Perhaps due to the improvement in his physical condition, the simulations during this time had not exceeded the limits of consciousness. However, Chen Ran realized one problem: this damn system still hadn't notified him of clearing the level.
He had already reached this point; could it still allow Sirin to become a Herrscher?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Chen Ran believed that the defense line he had built was foolproof!
As long as he had experimental results that satisfied Otto, then Otto would have no reason to remove him from his position.
And the people here weren't useless; they weren't incapable of taking care of a bunch of kids.
The salaries within Schicksal were not low.
He also had his subordinates pay close attention to Sirin's situation; under these circumstances, Sirin couldn't possibly become a Herrscher again.
However, it didn't rule out the possibility that the Second Herrscher could become someone else.
After all, there were too many dark sides to what happened in Siberia, and Chen Ran couldn't manage the entire Siberia.
According to the system's explanation, it would do its utmost to correct history, which likely meant that the Second Honkai Eruption would inevitably occur in Siberia, and the Second Herrscher would also be within Siberia.
As for the potential disasters that could arise, Chen Ran had no effective means to resolve them.
He could only let the people in the Babylon laboratory recruit experimental subjects under the pretense of gathering children.
Even if some of them were unqualified, he would still keep them; after all, they would ultimately be Schicksal's burden.
Chen Ran was not soft-hearted when it came to tricking Otto.
Moreover, this was also to help Schicksal grow stronger; how could it be called tricking?
However, just as he was somewhat comfortably staying in the Babylon Tower, he received a message from his assistant.
"Dr. Chen, according to headquarters, Valkyrie Cecilia is coming for an inspection, and Amber hopes you can conceal the ongoing experiments."
"Cecilia? What does she have to do with this place?"
Chen Ran, who was picking his teeth with a toothpick upon receiving the message, was somewhat puzzled.
He didn't have the plot of Honkai memorized, and some subplots that didn't appear in the main storyline were only vaguely remembered.
So, did Cecilia come to the Babylon Tower before the Second Honkai Eruption?
However, his words were misinterpreted by the assistant as dissatisfaction with the Valkyrie.
The assistant quickly said, "Originally, she had nothing to do with it; after all, those rough Valkyries wouldn't understand the experiments at the Babylon Tower and would just use the experimental results honestly."
"But the matter of Babylon Tower recruiting experimental subjects somehow reached headquarters, so Cecilia came."
After the assistant finished speaking, he looked at Chen Ran with admiration: "Thanks to Dr. Chen's meat, egg, and milk strategy during this time, every child has had sufficient nutrition and is in good spirits. Even if Cecilia sees those children, we can say we are selecting qualified warriors for headquarters, and we can completely bluff our way through."
Chen Ran held the toothpick in his mouth: "You just said they were rough Valkyries; isn't it easy to just brush them off?"
"However, there's one thing I need to remind you of: these meat, egg, and milk strategies are very important. I'm conducting a comparative experiment, and the people below must not make any mistakes."
"By the way, how is Sirin's situation recently?"
The assistant's face turned bitter upon hearing this: "Sirin's physical condition is fine, but her math scores have made the teacher in charge wonder if her brain has been damaged."
Chen Ran nearly couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Is it that bad?"
He was somewhat suspicious that Sirin might have been rationalized due to the difficulty of the math problems.
…
…
"Ah, why does the world have something like math?"
In a makeshift classroom temporarily set up in the Babylon Tower, Sirin was frowning, discussing math problems with Bella.
"How can anyone put water in both an inlet and an outlet at the same time? That's simply unreasonable." Sirin muttered, "Bella, how long do we have to learn this?"
"I don't know," young Bella shook her head and said, "Avrora said math is something unreasonable, so we should study hard. Only by studying hard can we become Valkyries."
Becoming a Valkyrie was an order given by Chen Ran, instilling this goal in the laboratory personnel.
Only by becoming Valkyries could they avoid shivering in the cold winter and live a life where they could eat and wear warmly every day.
Although after becoming Valkyries, they would still have to fight dangerous Honkai Beasts, as long as they earned merits after the battles, they could gain a higher social status and income than ordinary people.
For orphans, this was actually a very good way out.
Sirin frowned, "But our goal isn't to fight Honkai creatures, so why do we have to learn math?"
"That's because if you don't study mathematics, you won't be able to calculate bullet trajectories, effectively estimate the distance to the enemy, calculate how many enemies can be eliminated by the explosive yield, or determine the shortest distance and time for your advance."
A strange voice sounded from behind her.
Sirin and Bella turned to look, only to see a beautiful young Valkyrie with white hair and blue eyes, smiling warmly at them.
"I didn't expect the Babylon Tower to establish a learning environment. Although the conditions are a bit rudimentary, both the teachers and the nutrition provided are top-notch."
"Dr. Chen is quite thoughtful."
Sirin and Bella exchanged glances, then asked her, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Cecilia Schariac, the Valkyrie you speak of." Cecilia smiled slightly, radiating a warmth like a gentle spring breeze.
Bella's eyes immediately sparkled with admiration: "Valkyrie, is it the kind of super powerful Valkyrie?"
"Not particularly powerful, actually just a bit stronger than the average person."
Cecilia didn't boast about her strength; instead, she asked, "Who are you, and how long have you been here?"
"Hello, I'm Bella, and this is my partner, Sirin."
Bella was not shy at all as she introduced them: "We've been here for… Sirin, how many days have we been here?"
"Let me count."
Sirin began to count on her fingers: "One, two, three, four…"
Cecilia chuckled.
She looked at Sirin and Bella, changing the subject: "When I arrived, I saw what you were eating and the courses you were studying. I must say, Dr. Chen has done a great job. Do you know where Dr. Chen is?"
"Who is Dr. Chen?" Bella looked at Sirin in confusion.
Sirin said, "Silly Bella, Dr. Chen should be Principal Chen."
"Sirin's math isn't even as good as mine; clearly, Sirin is the silly one." Bella made a face.
Sirin proudly puffed out her chest: "I'm older than you."
"But I'm taller than you!"
Looking at Bella, who had already grown to 1.6 meters, Sirin, who was only 1.55 meters, was instantly defeated.
The way the two of them bickered without a care for their surroundings made Cecilia unable to help but smile.
Her heart also felt a bit lighter.
…
…
When Cecilia heard that the Babylon Tower was conducting unknown experiments, she had a bad premonition.
Due to some past experiences and the history recorded by Schariac, Cecilia was actually more aware than the average Valkyrie that the Lord Bishop, whom everyone admired, was not as perfect as he appeared.
Bishop Otto, behind the brilliance, also had a cruel side that made people grit their teeth.
But the Schariac family had always followed Otto, and Cecilia was no exception.
She had once suggested to Theresa that she wanted to build a new academy. At that time, besides not wanting Valkyries to become tools, her main thought was to distance herself and her daughter from the headquarters.
The family gave her glory but also bound her freedom.
However, Cecilia had never blamed anyone for this.
It was just that when the news of the Babylon Tower being established and recruiting experimental subjects spread, she could no longer sit still.
She shared her worries with Siegfried, who supported her decision.
At this moment, both Cecilia and Siegfried were Valkyries overflowing with a sense of justice, completely disregarding the consequences, and she hurried over.
However, upon arriving at the Babylon Tower, Cecilia was surprised.
She had expected to see inhumane human experiments, but instead, she was told that these orphans were actually not in good health. Chen Ran had brought them to the Babylon Tower to prevent them from freezing to death in winter, providing them with a way out.
Those with talent would become Valkyries, while those without talent would be trained until the age of sixteen and then find them a job.
As for the experiments, it was merely a facade.
Seeing Sirin and Bella playing around, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Despite Bishop Otto's dark side, Schicksal itself had not yet decayed or fallen.
Cecilia looked at Sirin and gently said, "Would you be willing to take me to meet your Principal Chen?"
"I can try, but Principal Chen usually doesn't see people."
…
…
At this moment, Chen Ran was shaving.
He was carefully removing his facial hair.
The young assistant looked puzzled: "Doctor, what are you doing?"
"Grooming my appearance, can't you tell?"
Chen Ran casually replied, "Cecilia is the chief Valkyrie of Schicksal, giving her a bit of face is also convenient for myself."
"Sorry, I don't quite understand."
"It's fine, just think of it as Shenzhou wisdom."
Chen Ran didn't want to admit that he was just bored and decided to spruce himself up.
Cecilia? What does she have to do with him?
Regarding the Babylon experiment that Otto hoped he would conduct, he basically just needed to follow the example. Although Schicksal's research conditions were somewhat inferior to those of the previous civilization, they were still capable of fully replicating the experiments.
However, he couldn't complete it too quickly; after all, if he did, not only would it be unbeneficial, but Otto might also order him to do more work.
It was necessary to slack off appropriately during work; this was a great wisdom that every worker should not miss.
Only reckless young people would rush to finish all their work and then welcome even more tasks.
This is the Shenzhou wisdom.
The young assistant hesitated, clearly having too many questions.
However, this Dr. Chen was not easy to get along with, so he could only suppress his questions and instead said, "Should we prepare to entertain Cecilia when she arrives?"
"Entertain her? What for?" Chen Ran retorted, "Miss Schariac, the wife of the Kaslana family head, what hasn't she seen before?"
"Even if you bring caviar and a tomahawk steak, she might have already thrown up from eating too much. Other than some experiments that her brain can't comprehend, there's nothing to hide from her at the Babylon Tower."
"Maybe she'll even show some kindness and adopt some orphans, relieving some pressure from the Babylon Tower."
Mentioning this made Chen Ran very angry: "If I find out which idiot reported to Cecilia, I'll make sure to deal with him."
The experimental personnel of Schicksal and the Valkyries were two different systems.
Now that Cecilia was here, she was basically just a nuisance for Chen Ran.
He roughly anticipated that perhaps it was because he was too young, which led to jealousy, or maybe Otto had planted spies in the Babylon Tower who couldn't understand what he was doing…
In any case, under various possibilities, Cecilia had arrived.
"If it were Theresa, I could still manage, but Cecilia… although she really is a naive and sweet Miss, her intuition is very sharp."
He finished grooming his appearance and couldn't help but feel pleased with himself: "So handsome, this broken laboratory is affecting my ability to find a girlfriend; let's wrap this up quickly."
…
…
"Although Principal Chen is the head here, he hardly shows up except on the first day of school."
"The researchers responsible for teaching us various subjects say they are studying some things about Honkai. Teaching is a task pressed down by Principal Chen, and their speaking speed in class is so fast that we can't understand anything."
In the corridor of the Babylon laboratory, Sirin complained to Cecilia about the difficulty of the courses.
Bella added, "The one teaching us combat skills is also a Valkyrie sister, her name is… oh right, it's Sister Lewis. They said we're too thin and need to eat more meat and milk to become strong Valkyries like her!"
Bella raised her slender wrist and said, "One day, my arms will be as muscular as Sister Lewis's. Full of, full of…"
"Sirin, what's that feeling called again?"
Sirin replied, "It's called a sense of power."
"Yes, a sense of power."
Cecilia watched Sirin and Bella, whose eyes sparkled, and couldn't help but envision the two adorable children growing up, flexing their biceps.
For some reason, she instinctively shivered.
"I think some things shouldn't be pursued too deliberately," she expressed gently, "I also have a daughter; as long as she grows up healthy and smoothly, it's fine. She doesn't have to become a Valkyrie."
If Little Kiana were to become like this…
Well, Cecilia thought it would be better if her daughter resembled her more.
The three chatted and walked, soon arriving at Chen Ran's office.
Bella was taller than Sirin and bolder too.
She directly raised her hand to press the doorbell: "Principal Chen, there's a Valkyrie sister looking for you."
The principal's office door opened, and the young assistant nodded at Cecilia as a greeting.
Chen Ran looked at Sirin and Bella, instinctively showing a friendly smile: "Little Sirin, Little Bella, thank you for bringing her over, but it's almost class time now."
Sirin exclaimed in horror: "You're a demon!"
Cecilia seemed to really like the two children, and she instinctively pleaded for them: "Can't you let the children have an easier time? One class shouldn't have much impact, right?"
Chen Ran said lightly, "That won't do. Bella is fine; although she's a bit slow, at least she can keep up, but Sirin… the next class is math, and I suspect Sirin might have murdered several mathematicians in her past life."
Cecilia was puzzled: "Is it really that outrageous?"
"She's not just clueless about math; she's become an insulator to it. Sigh, if she were a princess, that would be fine, but her background doesn't allow her to be ignorant of everything."
Sirin's face turned red as she lowered her head.
She knew Chen Ran was doing this for her own good.
But… not knowing math means not knowing math.
No matter how many times she said it, it wouldn't change.
Chen Ran suddenly looked at Cecilia with a sly grin: "By the way, how long will you be staying at the Babylon Tower?"
"I don't have any tasks recently, Dr. Chen, why do you ask?"
"Then take a good look around the Babylon Tower. Sirin seems to really like you; have you considered being her teacher?"
Cecilia instinctively looked at Sirin, whose golden eyes were filled with anticipation.
In her feeling, Cecilia was a very gentle person.
If that's the case, then she shouldn't be punished for copying formulas, right?
Cecilia instinctively wanted to refuse, but Sirin's gaze made it impossible for her to do so.
She already liked children, and she had heard some things about Sirin and Bella when she arrived.
Now that the Valkyries had become the goals of the two children, and they were working hard for it.
If that's the case, then what's wrong with giving the two girls some preferential treatment?
After Cecilia left with Sirin and Bella, the hesitant young assistant spoke up: "Doctor, but if that's the case, with Cecilia here, many of our tasks will be difficult to carry out."
"No, no, no, young man, you're mistaken."
Chen Ran paused and said, "You remember I mentioned that we need to use the experiments as a reference, right?"
The young assistant nodded.
Before Sirin and Bella arrived at the Babylon Tower, there had already been experimental subjects like them.
It's just that they weren't as lucky as Sirin, who happened to arrive when Chen Ran jumped through time. Before that, these experimental subjects had been subjected to inhumane abuse and mental torment, all to induce negative emotions, thereby exhibiting traits similar to Herrscher, which would stimulate Stigmata.
This was the true experiment being conducted at the Babylon Tower.
In fact, in the real future without Chen Ran's involvement, the Babylon Tower continued to conduct experiments in this manner until Destruction.
But now that Chen Ran forcibly changed the outcome, everything was completely different.
He was rambling: "The previous test subjects all failed, so there must have been a problem with the experimental approach. That's why I used a more robust mental state for the experimental subject in the upcoming tests."
"Don't you think Cecilia is quite suitable for this? Sirin gets along well with Bella and Cecilia."
The young assistant quickly replied, "But if we let Sirin and Bella conduct the experiment, Cecilia will definitely find out in the end."
Chen Ran said, "There's no need to hide it; I have my own methods."
He didn't even have a real plan for the experiment; he was just stalling for time until this scene came to an end.
If Cecilia were here, it would inevitably delay the experiment, which would only benefit him.
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