Although it wasn't 'Kiana' being used, but 'Seele', undoubtedly, using the 'little sister offensive' on Durandal was still surprisingly effective. Moreover, [Seele] wasn't necessarily much less effective than [Kiana]—after all, looking back at the original story, Durandal's first impression of Seele was very positive.
She even proactively wanted to gift the white flower part of Abyss Flower to her. [Jiang-Seele]'s 'charm' could only be greater.
However, this time Durandal didn't have much chance for 'gift-giving', or rather, she didn't really have any suitable gifts. After all, Durandal was currently on a mission and hadn't brought anything symbolic... Mementos for traversing the Sea of Quanta might work, but those clearly weren't suitable for Jiang Qiao.
And Abyss Flower was even less needed by him. For [Seele], currently wielding the Authority of Death and Life, while Abyss Flower could offer some amplification, it was limited. Even back in his original body, Jiang Qiao had plenty of methods superior to Abyss Flower.
Amidst Durandal's reluctant gaze, the two parted ways. [Seele] boarded the SELENE and returned to the Salt Lake Base along with Kiana and Bronya.
"Herrscher of Dominance?! Well, that's certainly..." After hearing about the events in Australia, both Einstein and Tesla couldn't help but show expressions of surprise and shock. Tesla, in particular, cursed angrily, "No wonder things have been so chaotic lately, so someone was pulling strings behind the scenes!"
"Dr. Tesla has been dealing with a lot of flak from those council members recently, so... you understand," Einstein explained proactively. North America, well, everyone knows how it is... Although Anti-Entropy had been operating there, unlike Schicksal which was deeply rooted in Europe for ages, their control over North America wasn't as strong as one might imagine... Besides, Anti-Entropy wasn't that kind of organization anyway; they existed solely to fight the Honkai and resist that old bastard at Schicksal.
Of course—a more significant reason might be... Anti-Entropy's management skills were somewhat lacking. Neither Einstein nor Tesla were business gurus like Edison, and Welt even less so... They had gotten this far entirely thanks to that frustrating Executor system.
And the environment in North America was hard to comment on; one could only say the Herrscher of Dominance must have felt right at home there: Is this Heaven?
"Anyway, thank you for your hard work."
"Also, since you're here... regarding Bronya and Kiana's training, we hope you can pay more attention." After a moment's hesitation, Einstein had to say this to Jiang Qiao—after all... even though his description had already softened the reality, to their experienced eyes, Kiana was doing okay.
Anti-Entropy didn't have excessive expectations for Siegfried's daughter, and her performance was decent enough. As long as she didn't cause trouble later, it was fine.
But Bronya... As the successor to the Herrscher of Reason, they couldn't possibly ignore her. After all, the Herrscher of Reason was Anti-Entropy's foundation.
Following the principle of starting education early, they had practically raised Welt themselves. As for Bronya, her performance was somewhat below expectations.
Yet, they couldn't really say much—because Welt's previous evaluation of Bronya's training was, 'She's doing fine, much better than I was back then.'
As for being playful... she was still a child, no need to be so harsh, right? And liking games wasn't really a problem, after all... he liked them too! In this aspect, Welt, who had future plans—no, was actually already planning to start a game company—found common ground with his successor and would often discuss 'game development experience' with her.
Balancing work and rest leads to greater efficiency! Welt even had his own theory—who says playing games is just playing games? Improving understanding and development of Herrscher Authority through gaming is also a form of training! After all, both fundamentally involve creating something.
But undoubtedly, after reviewing this battle report, Einstein and Tesla decisively labeled Welt an [Incompetent Teacher]. Like teacher, like student; Bronya's lax attitude was likely influenced by Welt, her slacking senior!
To prevent him from further misleading his pupil, the science duo unanimously agreed it was necessary to 'optimize' Welt out of the teaching role.
But when it came to teaching Bronya, they neither had the time nor really knew how. Thus, they could only place their hopes on Jiang Qiao, currently wearing the [Seele] 'vest'.
While having 'Jiang-Duck' temporarily online was an option—and arguably more efficient... if she were available, the science duo felt Anti-Entropy's long-planned project to face the Final Herrscher would finally have a solid foundation. —Just like in the canon storyline, regarding the Finality, the three major organizations had their own 'answers'.
World Serpent's 'Project Stigma', Schicksal's 'Holy Blood', and Anti-Entropy's proposal based on the 'Herrscher of Reason'. But what troubled Tesla and Einstein was that Welt consistently fell short of expectations, unable to meet the plan's requirements.
Fortunately, the emergence of 'Jiang-Duck' showed them the limits the Herrscher of Reason could reach. The power of 'Truth' perfectly met the plan's requirements. The only problem was... 'she' was temporary. Given Einstein's personality, unless absolutely necessary, she couldn't possibly say—Why don't you just use that body permanently? After all, such a request would implicitly state dissatisfaction with Bronya.
Since they couldn't make the limited-time banner character permanent, they could only hope that Jiang Qiao, the 'main account', could carry Bronya, the 'alt account'.
"Mm, I understand." Jiang Qiao, having no objections, nodded. After leaving the command center, he saw 'Jiang Qiao'—that is, Seele—waiting outside. Since he had immediately discussed the Australia battle with Einstein and Tesla upon returning, he hadn't sought out Seele right away.
"...Brother Jiang Qiao!" Seele, having heard [Seele] was back, had naturally come to wait immediately. Seeing her own body, she looked happy, then relieved. Regarding Jiang Qiao's swap technique, although she knew about it before, she never thought it would happen to her... Mm, Seele also hadn't really thought about what it would be like if they actually swapped!
After the actual swap, given Blue Wendy's timid nature, she was naturally both surprised and... shy. It wasn't that she wanted to do anything; Seele was very reserved. But biological needs can't exactly be ignored... and as a result, she saw... So that's what a boy's... parts look like down there...
Thinking about what she forced herself to see in the bathroom, Seele's face couldn't help but turn red—of course, expressing such shyness using the [Jiang Qiao] body looked somewhat peculiar, but thankfully, the base model was good enough to handle it, albeit strangely... Mm, from Jiang Qiao's own perspective, it was definitely quite odd.
"Are you alright?" [Seele] asked.
"Mm, things went relatively smoothly." The girl nodded, then proactively made a gesture and asked, "Do you... need to swap back?" Although Jiang Qiao was well-versed in using other 'bodies', since the original owner was present, it was clearly necessary to ask for her opinion and feelings.
"Swap back... Ah!" Seele paused, then looked at 'herself' before her, thought of something, and blushed even harder. She whispered, "N-No... not yet... let's just wait for it to happen naturally..." Although Seele's personality naturally made her want her own body back immediately—after all, using Jiang Qiao's body, while not insecure, felt... a bit awkward.
But she also knew the method Jiang Qiao used for the 'swap'. Kissing... Although she had 'stolen a bite' back at the dessert shop, that was like a 'greedy little kitten', assuming 'he definitely didn't notice'. Just eating something he had bitten... wasn't so hard to accept. Like back at the orphanage when food was scarce, she often shared food with Sister Bronya.
But taking it further? For someone with Seele's soft, yielding personality, it was still a bit too bold. While she worried slightly about what might happen to her body in Jiang Qiao's hands, Seele clung to the hopeful thought that Brother Jiang Qiao probably wouldn't do anything too inappropriate, right? Mm... she should probably stick close for now.
"Ah, right... Brother Jiang Qiao, did you see the other me?" Seele remembered something, her expression turning anxious. She naturally cared deeply about Veliona; after all, Veliona had accompanied her for so long, always protecting her, like family. Not seeing her after swapping over, Miss Blue Wendy couldn't possibly not care.
"Of course~" The girl paused, then smiled and nodded, seemingly speaking to someone else, "Alright, aren't you going to come out and see Seele?"
"Mm, this should be more convenient, right." Saying this, he snapped his fingers lightly, and the black-and-red-haired girl—Veliona—appeared beside them.
Veliona looked blank at first, then confused, "What did you do?"
"Just a little trick~ Now you can appear outside like this. Of course, if you want, I can also create a real, separate body just for you."
"A real body... No, that's alright. I'm fine like this." Looking at the smiling [Seele] gazing at her, and the real Seele beside her, Veliona quickly shook her head decisively after understanding.
She wasn't actually interested in liberation or anything; as a die-hard Seele supporter, Veliona preferred maintaining this intimate 'being with Seele' relationship. If they separated, wouldn't they lose the closeness of 'sharing the same body'? That was even closer than being sisters.
However, Veliona did indeed resent lacking autonomy and being unable to fight Seele for control of the body. Being able to appear outside independently like this was quite nice.
"...I somehow feel Seele's body has become a bit unfamiliar in Brother Jiang Qiao's hands... but, it seems really strong," Seele observed.
"Hmph, it's just okay..." Veliona pursed her lips. Although she had favorable feelings towards [Seele] and didn't dislike Jiang Qiao, given her personality, getting her to admit anything directly... even Seele couldn't manage that.
Besides, the real Seele was right here... Hmph, just like before, a substitute... yes, that's it, a substitute. This substitute '[Seele]' no longer attracted her... probably.
Gazing into [Seele]'s gentle eyes looking back at her, Veliona, trying to convince herself and reaffirm her stance as a Seele supporter, suddenly felt her resolve waver again. No... how can I be like this! I'm devoted to Seele, this is just a substitute...
Veliona subconsciously looked towards Seele wearing the [Jiang Qiao] skin, trying to strengthen her faith, but looking at her, fell into brief confusion.
"This is the first time I've held your hand like this." While Veliona was torn between 'Seele' filled with Jiang Qiao or 'Jiang Qiao' filled with Seele, the real Seele happily grasped the former's hand, saying this. Physical form, the feeling of each other's warmth, was reassuring.
At this point, the scales in Miss Veliona's heart tipped. Holding hands with the latter, 'Veliona' solidified her faith in Seele—while distractedly gazing at [Seele], the image of the 'Herrscher of Death and Life' floated in her mind.
—I am devoted to Seele, heart and soul!