Honkai: Withered White Camellia

"It's been a while, Mr. Joyce."

Bohr gently extended his hand, shaking Welt's. Welt nodded slightly, then casually glanced at Planck. The red-haired devil's hair was being toyed with, as if she were a cat. Welt lowered his voice. "Cardinal Bohr, did the Overseer send you here? Has something happened?"

Bohr sighed softly, a helpless smile crossing his face. "Actually, I requested to come. Landau and Nancy are both researching the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the newly unearthed previous Era ruins in North America are crucial to their studies. Mr. Joyce, you know how Landau and Nancy are—neither of them likes to give way easily. If the scientific research from headquarters and the branch remains so divided, it could negatively impact our progress with the Honkai."

"Though I am Landau's teacher and the founder of the Uncontrolled Theory, this situation is not what I hoped for. Now, internal divisions within Schicksal are intensifying..."

Hearing Bohr's sigh, Welt paused. A trace of worry flashed in his clear eyes.

Indeed, as Bohr said, the conflict between the two factions had become very heated.

The projects submitted by Nancy were often casually crossed out by Landau or Lysenko when sent to the review board—unless the Overseer had given a specific instruction for Welt to personally review them. A few years ago, Heisenberg had acted as the intermediary between the two factions. But after his promotion to head of the Third Division, that role had vanished.

Teacher isn't making a move at all. That doesn't fit her style.

Perhaps Teacher has other plans, but he couldn't see them yet.

He comforted himself with these thoughts, but a trace of doubt lingered in Welt's heart.

What exactly is the Overseer planning? Allowing the two factions to attack each other, even to the point where they have their own opposing forces... It's hard to imagine that the Overseer would allow all of this to happen before her eyes.

Could it be that she is preparing...

"Hey, little bro, you're the new head of the 42nd Lab and the Overseer's apprentice, Welt Joyce, right? Let me introduce myself. I'm Emma Planck, currently... well, let's just say I'm one of the heads of the North American branch."

The mature, green-haired beauty suddenly appeared in front of Welt, her presence accompanied by a pleasant fragrance. A gentle smile and a seemingly overly close distance made Welt blush involuntarily.

As if she noticed his shyness and inexperience with women, Planck extended her slender, jade-like fingers and tapped Welt's nose. Her voice carried a light chuckle. "It seems Mr. Joyce isn't very good at dealing with women. But, with someone as beautiful as the Overseer by your side, Mr. Joyce should be…"

"Ahem—let's get down to business, Emma."

As one of the nine Cardinals, Bohr had long been aware of Welt's secret crush on the Overseer. To spare him from being teased by the green-haired veteran and turning red in the face, Bohr subtly intervened. Planck looked slightly disappointed, but she followed Bohr's cue, gently stepping away from Welt.

"By the way, Emma, where's Nancy? Is she held up by something?"

Bohr and Emma walked a few steps away from the others, talking by the water dispenser. Emma glanced at the electronic display showing flight schedules at the airport and sighed.

"Actually... she hasn't been in a good mood lately. You know, two months ago, Heisenberg and I tried to mediate the conflict between Nancy and Landau with a dinner in Madrid, but... it turned into a heated argument. Nancy and Landau both threw down their forks and stormed out."

"...It seems their conflict is serious. No wonder, though. Nancy has always hated Landau's style, but I didn't expect their relationship to deteriorate this much."

Emma gently pinched the index and middle fingers of her right hand together. "It's not just Landau and Nancy. The relationship between the European headquarters and the North American branch has been deteriorating rapidly lately. Especially after Lysenko's artificial Stigmata technology and Honkai energy adaptation technology matured. The importance of the North American branch to headquarters has significantly decreased."

"I think we can reverse this trend. Maybe this collaboration can be the breakthrough. If we use this research to promote either you or Nancy to the Cardinal Council, perhaps it will make Landau and Lysenko... less hostile to the North American branch."

Looking at the worried expression on the light blonde-haired youth's face, Emma suddenly chuckled.

"You're still the same, Bohr. This clearly has nothing to do with you, but you still... jump into this house of cards game."

Bohr gave a helpless smile. "After all, this is also my responsibility. When I founded the Uncontrolled Theory, I didn't expect that my best student would become one of the factions tearing Schicksal apart."

Just as he was about to say something, the crisp sound of heels clicking on the floor became louder and louder in the hall as it drew closer. Following the sound, Welt's gaze also followed, and what came into view was a beautiful woman with light blue hair, dressed in men's clothing.

Although she was dressed in men's clothing, her beautiful aura and her exquisite figure were hard to conceal. When she saw Bohr, she seemed to show a hint of surprise, but it quickly vanished, making it impossible for Welt to guess her current mood.

Without a word, she walked to Tesla. The somewhat nervous red-haired devil quickly jumped behind Einstein, but Nancy didn't intend to give up so easily. She gently circled around Tesla, and Nancy deliberately made a sniffing sound, smelling the beauty's scent, which made Tesla make a shy, uncharacteristic, somewhat cat-like sound.

"Eep~! What are you doing!?"

"Just smelling if you've changed. It seems you're still the same Tesla as before, which is good."

"You... what nonsense are you talking about! Would I turn into someone else!?"

Tesla, who was made furious by Nancy's words, was about to stomp her feet, but Emma intervened in this daily bickering. "Okay, it's getting late. Let's go to the ruins now. Cardinal Secretary Bohr will also be coming with us to see the ruins. Maybe we can find some rare clues about the technology of the last era."

"...Alright, let's go then. Schrödinger has already arrived there, right? I hope there will be... very useful clues."

When she said this, Nancy's voice emphasized certain words, as if she was implying something.

Welt stood there awkwardly, hesitating whether to go and express his friendliness to Nancy... After all, he had heard Nancy argue with the Overseer several times.

Sigh, I can only hope that this collaboration goes smoothly.

With these thoughts, Welt followed everyone to the prepared car. Welt, who was sitting in the passenger seat, hadn't even had time to organize his thoughts when he heard Einstein insert the car key into the ignition and start the car.

"Don't mind her, Nancy is just... not very good at interacting with others."

Welt gave a friendly smile. "I know, after all, I have witnessed Ms. Nancy arguing with the Overseer."

The car sped towards the road ahead. Einstein turned the steering wheel and drove towards the right side of the fork in the road. "You don't have to worry too much about these things, Welt. Just focus on doing your job."

"That's true... but I always feel like it's part of my responsibility. I am the head of the 42nd Lab, after all. I can't watch you get caught up in the conflict between the Civilization Faction and the Uncontrolled Faction."

Welt looked a bit troubled and turned his gaze to the clear sky outside the window.

The sun in the western wilderness was still so bright, but he didn't know what the scene ahead would be like.

"I don't know what the Overseer is thinking, but I do know that this... isn't how things should be."

"We should be united and working together to fight the Honkai, but now..."

Welt gently placed his hand on the car console. "It's like a house of cards game, isn't it?"

"That's a fitting metaphor. It really is like a house of cards game."

Einstein was silent for a moment, then looked at the volcano that was slowly appearing ahead.

"And... I often wonder, are we or Landau right? Or is no one right? Are we just fighting in two wrongs?"

"I hope... the truth isn't so cold."