"Sure, but I can only control one at a time." Liu Bai had also sensed what Rita was thinking.
"Then what if I had you possess the command center?"
After discovering Liu Bai's abilities, Rita could not help coming up with many ideas that could be called "dangerous."
"This... I think it's worth trying."
Liu Bai suddenly felt that his dog body was no longer so appealing.
He wanted to pilot a Gundam! He wanted to pilot titan daddy! He wanted to pilot Heav—well, forget it. That Heavenly Father whose construction progress had been stuck at ninety percent was probably a lost cause.
"Worth trying, is it..." Rita wore a meaningful expression. "Would you like to try possessing me?"
"You?" Liu Bai froze slightly before understanding what Rita meant. "You mean the Valkyrie Armor?"
Valkyrie Armor was, put plainly, a single-soldier exoskeleton mech—though some of them really did not look much like exoskeleton mechs.
Clearly, this thing definitely counted as an inanimate object.
"I'll give it a try?"
"Please." Rita chuckled. "But you are not allowed to casually peek at a lady's body."
After receiving Rita's permission, Liu Bai immediately left the dog's body and attempted to enter Valkyrie Armor: Shadow Iron.
But he passed right through it.
"What happened?"
Rita felt a chill down her back, but the Valkyrie Armor she wore showed no reaction at all.
Possession failed! Valkyrie Armor: Shadow Iron (Rita Rossweisse) Possession Requirement: Rita compatibility above 20%
The system gave him a failure notification.
There were possession requirements too?
Liu Bai stared hard at Rita. The system seemed to understand what he was thinking, and another prompt appeared.
Rita Rossweisse: Highly intelligent lifeform, cannot be possessed
Liu Bai glanced again at the dog lying back down on the ground.
Autonomous Weapon: Carbon-Based Hunter, Possession Requirement: None
"It failed." Liu Bai informed Rita of the result. "Probably because our intimacy level isn't high enough."
Rita: "..."
"What a shameless Ghostly Gentleman you are." Rita chuckled, clearly not taking Liu Bai's joke to heart.
Meanwhile, Liu Bai stared thoughtfully at the system's designation, Valkyrie Armor: Shadow Iron (Rita Rossweisse).
Could the system be treating the Valkyrie Armor and the Valkyrie as one entity?
Then if Rita took off her clothes...
The research abilities he had inherited from Mobius made Liu Bai certain that if Rita removed this armor, he would definitely be able to possess it successfully.
But he could not say that directly.
If he really said something like, "Miss Rita, please take off your clothes and let me try possessing you"—
Then his compatibility with Rita would definitely drop straight to zero.
Or perhaps... he should be more tactful in asking Rita to take off her clothes so he could try?
"...I suddenly feel that Ghostly Gentleman, you are thinking some very improper thoughts about a lady."
Rita's feminine intuition was unexpectedly accurate.
"Not at all."
Liu Bai said calmly, "Let's go. I'll scout ahead for you."
Liu Bai reentered the Carbon-Based Hunter's body.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Ghostly Gentleman." Rita nodded slightly. "The Carbon-Based Hunter has information-gathering functions. It can record anything it sees."
"Understood."
The Carbon-Based Hunter set off on its two legs, heading into the dim street.
"..." Even someone as composed as Rita could not stop her eye from twitching as she watched the Carbon-Based Hunter run upright on two legs.
What an eyesore...
She would never wear this Valkyrie Armor again. A bipedal Carbon-Based Hunter... better not.
"Ah."
Rita felt that she had completely lost all reverence for ghosts.
"Is something troubling you?"
Liu Bai's voice suddenly sounded beside Rita's ear.
"...Speaking beside a lady's ear without warning is hardly polite." Rita sighed again. "So, Ghostly Gentleman, what about your scouting mission?"
"I handed it to that dog." At the mention of this, Liu Bai's tone was full of frustration. "After I ran past fifty meters, I got dragged back."
Liu Bai had nearly forgotten that he could not get more than fifty meters away from his host.
"What a useless Ghostly Gentleman."
Just as Rita was about to say something, her expression suddenly changed.
The Carbon-Based Hunter had entered combat.
"...Sky Dome City does not seem to be as peaceful as it looks. It is time to do a little cleaning."
Following the Carbon-Based Hunter's signal, Rita found the site of the battle in only half a minute.
"Puppets?"
In a corner, Rita lowered her head to inspect the remains torn apart by the Carbon-Based Hunter.
"Come out, little girl."
A masked figure dressed in black and holding a black umbrella stood in the alley, looking toward the corner where Rita was hiding.
On the other side, the Carbon-Based Hunter tore apart another puppet that had followed after it.
"Good evening, Mr. Gray Serpent. Were you waiting for someone?"
Rita calmly nodded at the masked man before her. As though the puppet remains around her had nothing to do with her, she even swept her gaze around the area in feigned confusion.
"My bodyguards were all taken care of by you alone?"
Gray Serpent looked over the wreckage covering the ground. Clearly, he did not need Rita's answer; the result was already before his eyes.
"Just a little habit of mine. It makes the negotiating venue cleaner and tidier."
Rita's casual tone made it sound as though she had truly just finished cleaning up.
"Ah, it seems I did something unnecessary..."
There was not the slightest hint of regret in his helpless voice.
"To compensate for your losses, I can offer you a business deal with generous returns."
"It seems I have no choice but to accept, don't I?"
Faced with Rita's unveiled threat, there was little emotion in Gray Serpent's hoarse voice.
Come to think of it... if Liu Bai remembered correctly, Gray Serpent had been created by Mobius herself.
Network Ghost Liu Bai
"Two weeks ago, you uploaded a surveillance photo. It captured a girl. You know very well who she is, and you understand her value. Otherwise, you would never have exposed her existence."
Rita looked at Gray Serpent before her, a dangerous smile appearing on her face.
"Tell me where she is."
"...And what benefit would I receive?"
Whether it was an illusion or not, Liu Bai sensed a hint of amusement in Gray Serpent's voice.
"You will gain a powerful ally, and... leave here safely."
Rita casually spun the scythe in her hand, while the smile on her face remained unchanged.
"An ally? Though I already have a powerful ally, who would ever complain about having more friends?" Gray Serpent shrugged. "Still, threatening someone's life right from the start to force compliance makes me doubt the sincerity of this alliance. And besides... in Schicksal's eyes, can there truly be allies who stand on equal footing and benefit each other?"
"I'm telling you, shouldn't Schicksal reflect on its methods?" Liu Bai strongly agreed with Gray Serpent's words.
"...You know my identity? Then you have even less reason to refuse." Rita ignored Liu Bai, the gentle smile still on her face.
But the atmosphere gradually grew tense.
No, it had probably never relaxed to begin with.
After a brief exchange of barbed words, Rita realized that the other party had far more nerve... than she had expected.
"Of course I know, and I have every reason to refuse." Gray Serpent paid no heed to the tense atmosphere or the killing intent radiating beneath Rita's smiling face. "Trading my own intelligence for my own life? That goes against the spirit of business, doesn't it?"
"It seems you do not understand the preciousness of life." Rita sighed, looking very regretful.
"Please do not insult my intelligence. Hand over the information and I get to live? This is not my first day doing business."
This time, Gray Serpent's voice carried unmistakable mockery.
"This guy isn't the kind of information broker you can just knead and crush at will."
Liu Bai spoke from the side. "He belongs to World Serpent. The waters behind him run far deeper than Schicksal's."
Deeper than Schicksal's?
Rita's gaze shifted slightly.
Were this ghost's words... true or false?
"Though life itself is a transaction, for someone like me... death is merely the beginning of the next transaction. Snakes are creatures that do not yield to death. Do you understand?"
Gray Serpent spoke indifferently, staring coldly at the Valkyrie before him.
Rita frowned slightly upon hearing those words.
"...Compared to an information broker, you seem more like a poet. I almost cannot bear to make a move."
What should she do?
Rita's fingers had already tightened. If she wished, she could send this information broker on his way with a single slash at any moment.
Should she trust her "guardian spirit"... or not?
Besides, this Gray Serpent's mouth was far too tight for an information broker... though Schicksal's way of doing things was also part of the reason.
Rita thought one thing Gray Serpent had said made perfect sense. That was right—he would not be allowed to live even if he handed over the information.
She had just cleaned out a pack of maggots from the gutter. Would she really mind clearing away a rat while she was at it?
Shing—!
"...You made a mistake." The grievous wound made it difficult for Gray Serpent to speak. "Now... you are within the serpent's sight as well..."
Bang!
The information merchant known as Gray Serpent collapsed to the ground.
"Serpent?"
The elegant maid pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from her blade. Then she turned around and examined Gray Serpent lying in the pool of blood.
"...Is this how all of you at Schicksal negotiate?" Liu Bai's eyelid twitched. "Actually, if you had let me try, maybe we would not have needed to use a blade."
"..."
Rita looked speechlessly toward Liu Bai.
"...Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I already warned you this guy wasn't simple, but who could have expected you to swing that blade so decisively?"
Rita's scythe strike had been so fast that Liu Bai had not even seen the afterimage. In one blow, Gray Serpent was down.
Before you continue