Zhao Heyan looked at her father in front of her, knowing full well that her question would displease him.
But she could no longer stand by and watch her brother, Zhao Hesheng, continue down the wrong path.
As the daughter of the Tianxing Consortium, she was different from her reckless and frivolous brother—she was also a student at the Maple Leaf Naval Academy.
At the academy, where she concealed her true identity, she witnessed her classmates, who were determined to defeat the Sirens, being persecuted by her brother through various means—some even losing their lives to orchestrated accidents.
And after secretly investigating, she discovered everything her brother had done… was actually ordered by their father.
Zhao Heyan couldn't understand.
The Sirens were clearly Orlan's greatest enemy, so why, after seizing control of Orlan's government, had her father neither established a powerful navy nor supported the naval forces?
Instead, he had actively suppressed the Navy Department.
Her classmates should have been the foundation for Orlan's future naval revival, yet in these past few years, even surviving had become a struggle for them.
For a country that once rose to power through its navy, was what her father doing really the right path?
"Heyan."
To Zhao Heyan's surprise, her father did not scold her but instead gently called her name. He walked slowly toward her, gazing at her with an indifferent expression.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but looking at her father, Zhao Tianyi, she couldn't shake a sense of unfamiliarity.
Ever since the Siren disaster broke out, it felt like her father had become a completely different person.
The man who once, despite being only a minor shareholder of the Tianxing Consortium, had always been kind and caring toward his family had now turned into someone who seemed to disregard everything.
His voice and appearance remained the same, yet something felt deeply off.
"Heyan, you're still young. Things aren't as simple as you think. Don't worry about Hesheng—just focus on learning naval strategies at the academy."
Just as Zhao Heyan was momentarily lost in thought, Zhao Tianyi spoke in the same gentle tone she remembered from her childhood.
"But this is too much. My classmates are innocent. Even if the Navy Department might pose a threat to you in the future, you can't just eliminate students who haven't even graduated yet..."
Hearing her father speak in that familiar tone, Zhao Heyan felt her resolve waver.
She had prepared herself for a fierce argument with Zhao Tianyi.
If they couldn't reach an agreement, she was even ready to take matters into her own hands—stopping her brother and protecting her classmates.
After all, she had witnessed firsthand how her senior, who had traveled to the Western Continent, was nearly killed by her brother just for protecting her.
"Hmm, Heyan, you've grown up. You're finally considering things from my perspective—I'm pleased."
Zhao Tianyi reached out, gently patting his daughter's head. A faint smile appeared on his usually cold face.
"Since my dear daughter is so concerned, I'll tell Hesheng to be more restrained. Go home and rest early. I still have work to do tonight, so I'll be staying at the office."
"You're not coming home again tonight..."
"Mm, you know how it is—it's the end of the year, and there's a lot of work that needs my direct attention. But I'll be home for your birthday in two days."
Zhao Tianyi smiled as he spoke, just as his phone rang in his pocket.
Even at two in the morning, as a board member of the Tianxing Consortium and the leader of the Zhu Hai Business Association, he was still busy.
"Father, it's a promise—don't let Brother keep doing these things. Mom... she wouldn't want him to turn into this either."
Seeing that Zhao Tianyi was preoccupied and had already agreed to her request, Zhao Heyan bid her father farewell and left the Zhu Hai Tower.
Inside the elevator, Zhao Heyan recalled her father's smile just moments ago and felt a wave of confusion.
How many years had it been since she last saw him smile like that?
It seemed like ever since Huanyang City was attacked by the Sirens—since her father was pulled from the rubble and learned of her mother's death—he had never smiled again.
"Sigh… the Sirens..."
Zhao Heyan let out a deep sigh. The thought of her father advocating for the abolition of the Navy Department and pursuing isolationism filled her with an unbearable sense of suffocation.
As a student of the Maple Leaf Naval Academy, she understood better than anyone that, for Orlan, the Sirens were a ticking time bomb.
So far, Orlan had only managed to defend its borders thanks to the shipgirls of the Navy Department.
If the Navy Department were truly dismantled and the country relied solely on coastal artillery and mechs to cower in isolation, such a future would be far too tragic.
…
After watching his daughter leave, Zhao Tianyi took the elevator to his private office on the top floor.
Stepping into the elevator, he pulled out his phone and answered the call.
"Hello? Father, I've arrived in Huanyang City. Just tonight alone, our assassins have already executed four top students from the Naval Academy—hahaha!"
A young, boisterous voice came through the phone.
There was no need to guess—it was none other than his son and Lin Lan's mortal enemy, Zhao Hesheng.
At that moment, Zhao Hesheng, his hair dyed golden, was sitting smugly in a VIP booth of a luxurious bar.
He grinned maniacally as he examined the bloody photos his assassins had placed before him.
"Hesheng, excellent work. That's my proud son."
Receiving his father's praise, Zhao Hesheng's grin widened even further.
"But you can still do better—there's room to improve your efficiency. Don't worry about the Navy Department coming after you—I'll take care of everything. Just do as you please."
Hearing his father's words, Zhao Hesheng shot an irritated glance at the assassins in front of him before quickly responding:
"Understood, Father. I'll keep pushing forward. And about two days from now—"
"I know. Your sister already told me. I'll be there for your birthday."
Hearing this, Zhao Hesheng's previously annoyed expression brightened into an ecstatic smile.
"Fantastic! Then I want to eat the food you personally cook!"
"No problem. I just don't know if, after all these years without cooking, I can still recreate the same flavors."
After hanging up the call with his son, Zhao Tianyi, expressionless, had already arrived at the top floor and stepped out of the elevator.
The décor on this floor was clearly different from the lower-level conference hall area. Not only was there no staff to greet visitors, but everything was also extremely minimalist.
No luxurious carpets, no expensive decorations. The gleaming silver walls and floors made this place look less like an office area—
And more like a research laboratory.
Zhao Tianyi slowly walked to the end of the corridor. The high-tech automatic metal door scanned his iris and opened smoothly.
The moment he stepped into the plain, almost empty private office, Zhao Tianyi casually tossed the notebook in his hand onto the desk.
Then, the leader of the Zhu Hai Business Association did something completely unexpected—like a child, he spread his arms wide and flopped directly onto the soft folding sofa, hugging the plush pillow resting on it.
"Staying on land for too long is exhausting. And to think I even have to take care of 'family'… What a meaningless, unnecessary workload."
"Now I finally understand why the Compiler hates it when I assign her tasks. It really is a hassle."
At this moment, Zhao Tianyi seemed like a completely different person, curling up like a little girl, hugging the pillow and complaining non-stop.
"I should check if there are any new reports from the other experimental sites. The main system has been pushing harder and harder lately."
As Zhao Tianyi muttered to himself, his body suddenly blurred, as if it were being enveloped by a gray mosaic.
In the next instant, the mosaic faded away, and his body had…
Transformed into a petite little girl with thick, wavy white hair and golden eyes!
Her flawless white skin was barely covered by a thin black lace-trimmed crop top and a matching black pair of panties, exposing large areas of delicate skin.
Atop her head was a pair of black accessories resembling fox ears. But upon closer inspection, they were actually made of metal.
After adjusting the black lace choker and golden ribbon around her neck, the petite little girl smiled sweetly, released the plush pillow, and, sitting in a "duck sit" posture on the sofa, casually swiped her hand through the air.
A futuristic, blue, transparent screen instantly materialized before her.
If Lin Lan were to see this little girl at this very moment, he would undoubtedly gasp in shock.
Because the true identity of this petite and adorable little girl was none other than a high-ranking Siren—Observer!
The second highest authority in the experimental organization, right below the Siren main system!
Observer was the most mysterious of the high-ranking Sirens, never appearing in battles within the game, only in the storyline.
Even Lin Lan only knew that Observer possessed an incredibly powerful disguise ability—so much so that she could even transform into a shipgirl and infiltrate his port without being detected.
At this moment, Observer was humming a little tune while skillfully manipulating the screen in front of her.
"I wonder how Purifier is doing with the new experimental site."
"The signal around this suppressed Singularity hasn't improved at all, even after all this time. It's supposed to be a bustling metropolis, yet it's performing worse than the LD region… huh?! What's going on?!"
As data finally appeared on the screen, a flood of red information filled the Observer's golden eyes.
"Experimental Site AL02… destroyed?"
"Experimental Site AL06… attacked and forcibly shut down just one day after activation?!"
"Tester… forced into self-destruction by Arbiter Stresken?!!"
"Compiler… left her post without authorization and failed to report to Experimental Site AL04 as scheduled?!!!"
Even the usually scheming and composed Observer couldn't help but shout in shock.
In just a single month, among the six experimental sites she had set up in the Orlan Federation, including AL05, which had been destroyed due to an accident, half of them were already gone!
Aside from the two sites she personally oversaw, there had only been four in total!
Now, only one remained!
And most critically, Tester, for some reason, had actually picked a fight with the Arbiters.
Staring at the warning message sent by the Arbiter System through the main system, Observer nearly coughed up blood.
"Useless Purifier was one thing, but now even Tester and Compiler are acting recklessly?"
Looking at the nearly nonexistent experimental data reports—aside from the Arbiter's warnings—
Observer even started to wonder if those idiots had all turned traitor and were conspiring to get her removed.
While the experimental organization's core mission was to observe and seek out unexpected phenomena, the data obtained from these destroyed experimental sites was nowhere near worth the resources lost.
"This won't do. I need to take some time to figure out what those fools are up to. If this continues and catches the main system's attention, we're all doomed."
Observer sighed, shut off the screen, and flopped back onto the sofa.
A hint of exhaustion crossed the face of the adorable Siren little girl.
Staring at the silver walls of the office, a figure in a white uniform flashed through her mind.
"As expected, the previous experimental world was more interesting… It was also the closest we've ever gotten to our final objective. If only that Commander hadn't disappeared…"
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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