"Uh... I know?"
Liu Bai felt that staying here and running into Rita might be even more dangerous.
After all, Raven definitely would not do anything to him, but Rita was another matter.
"Then why are you running?! Are you even dumber than me... cough, cough. Is there something wrong with your brain?"
"Wasn't I just about to take shelter?"
From Kiana's attitude, Liu Bai caught the scent of trouble.
Sure enough, the moment Liu Bai said that, Kiana immediately replied, "Then come with me! I'll take you somewhere safe."
"No, compared to me, shouldn't you, Miss Receptionist, be the one who shouldn't be running around... I remember hearing someone call you Kiana when I came in earlier?"
Liu Bai considered how he could persuade Kiana.
"Although I still don't understand the situation, Kiana, you're the target of this operation, right? If the target were the Merchant Guild, they wouldn't have attacked only the entrance."
"Huh? How do you know too?"
Kiana looked astonished. How come it seemed like everyone except her knew that she herself was the enemy's target?
"Let's assume I'm the attacker. If my goal were to destroy the Merchant Guild, I'd definitely bombard the entire place, then attack from both the front and rear. Doesn't that make sense?"
Kiana thought about it, then nodded blankly.
But now that things had reached this point, well, Miss Raven had already screwed up...
This was supposed to have been a swift, overwhelming assault, but since Kiana had returned to the Merchant Guild, that meant the operation had failed—at least initially.
So Raven had only two choices now: force her way through or admit defeat and retreat.
"Miss Kiana, have you played games before?"
"Uh... a little?"
"You're the kind of protagonist in games who attracts trouble everywhere you go, understand?" Considering Kiana's intelligence, Liu Bai gave a very straightforward example. "If we follow you, the road will definitely keep spawning elite monsters and bosses."
"That... actually makes some sense?"
"Right? So as long as you take care of yourself now, you'll be giving us the greatest help possible."
"..."
Kiana looked at the smile on the face of the young man, who was slightly older than her. Why did she feel like this guy was trying to fool her?
But good-looking people generally did not lie, right...
"Then... then be careful, okay?"
Kiana's mind went around in circles three times before she finally gave up thinking and chose to trust his face.
"See you, then."
"Uh... see you?"
He had successfully persuaded Kiana.
"Boss Liu, are you really not considering becoming a streamer with me?" Guinaifen glanced back at Kiana, who was still standing dazedly in the corridor. "With your ability to talk people into things, wouldn't you make a fortune selling miracle medicine on the Xianzhou?"
"And get visited by the Cloud Knights the next day? Don't be ridiculous. That girl's just not very bright."
Liu Bai quickened his pace.
Since they were still on the first floor, they were not too far from the back door.
"Let's get out first. It's probably only going to get more chaotic here."
"Jackal, retreat. Their reinforcements have arrived."
Raven spoke calmly into the communicator.
That bastard Liu Bai had finally gotten out.
Raven also wanted to finish this in one stroke, but she had never been the type to get carried away.
Normally, there should have been Honkai Beasts ambushing from the back door—after all, the Merchant Guild did not have enough combat power to cover both ends—but for Liu Bai's sake, Raven had not deployed them.
As far as their Highlord's concern went, Liu Bai probably was not much less important than Kiana.
Trade Liu Bai for Kiana?
She was not stupid.
First, she had to make sure Liu Bai got out in one piece.
"What are you talking about?! Don't we still have a backup plan?"
Jackal's tone was clearly very unwilling.
"You're not in charge of this operation. When I say retreat, we retreat."
Raven had no intention of explaining.
In the middle of a chaotic battle, with Liu Bai's weak build, even if Guinaifen could fight fairly well, there was no way they would survive.
"I'm the one controlling the Honkai Beasts!"
Tsk.
Raven curled her lip.
This idiot was getting carried away again. How was a doctor more prone to losing her head than Raven, a combat operative?
"Consider this showing weakness to the enemy—at least we've discovered that the Merchant Guild has already colluded with Schicksal."
Raven explained with slight helplessness.
"Guess where the Immortal Blades led by Rita are right now? If you like staying here so much, then keep staying. I'll notify the Highlord that you've been captured."
"Bastard..."
The communication cut off. Sensing a trace of danger, Raven did not linger any longer. She fired a shot, blowing up an invisible drone, then turned and left—such drones were a joke before the Purifying Thunder of Seven Sins.
But after that shot, the Purifying Thunder of Seven Sins, which had just been a cool sniper rifle, instantly turned into a small, exquisite purple nail clipper.
...No wonder she had sensed danger.
No matter how cold Raven's expression was, she could not stop the corner of her eye from twitching when she saw the nail clipper in her hand.
That "young lady" was throwing another tantrum.
That was why, despite its absurdly powerful sniping capability, she did not use it often.
First Liu Bai, now the Purifying Thunder of Seven Sins.
Her life... truly was like walking on thin ice...
After Being Targeted by a Maid
"They've left. They retreated very decisively."
Theresa led her people in a sweep of the surrounding area, then gave Rita this report over the communicator.
"We couldn't find any trace that can be tracked."
"I see..." Rita nodded as she stood with one foot on a Honkai Beast corpse.
It was not surprising. Since the surprise attack had failed, retreating was only natural—though the enemy's decision had been even more decisive than Rita had imagined.
But it was truly unexpected that the Serpent had set its sights on Kiana as well.
What was Lady Cecilia thinking?
Although Rita was merely a young woman, she understood the saying that a wise person did not stand beneath a crumbling wall.
The enemy was hidden while they were exposed. All they could do was adapt to whatever came.
Rita sighed inwardly, then recalled the man and woman she had seen while heading over as reinforcements.
"Miss Yelan, I saw a man and a woman inside the Merchant Guild earlier. Were they guests you received?"
"Yes, they were the only two guests this morning."
Yelan, who was leaning against the doorway and recovering her strength, could not help smiling slightly when she heard Rita mention them.
"They were two remarkably relaxed guests—though even I thought they were a little too relaxed. By the way, that young man was quite handsome, wasn't he?"
"That gentleman..."
Rita tapped her chin with a finger.
"There's certainly no denying his appearance, but... I feel that gentleman may not be as simple as he looks?"
Though she had only overheard a fragment of a sentence without context, as someone who worked in the shadows, Rita had a certain instinct.
"Oh my, isn't that a rather classic line? But I don't think spies or infiltrators would obediently pay for their purchases at a time like this."
Yelan smiled and dismissed Rita's suggestion.
If Rita merely said that Liu Bai was not simple, Yelan might have agreed. After all, those two had nerves so extraordinary that even Yelan, who enjoyed excitement, admired them.
But if they were assumed to be enemies, Yelan felt there was no need for that.
As for Rita's so-called intuition, Yelan could understand it—after all, she was the Merchant Guild's intelligence chief.
But when it came to espionage experience, Yelan had more of it than Rita.
That was the difference between a main profession and a side job.
Those two really were just customers.
"Let's just say you're right, Miss Yelan." Rita thought for a moment and decided there was no need to argue with Yelan over this issue.
Yelan spread her hands helplessly.
Clearly, Rita was not convinced. She trusted her instincts.
There was nothing Yelan could do about that.
"Putting that aside, Miss Yelan, do you have any clues regarding this attack?"
This was what Rita had really wanted to ask.
Protecting Kiana had merely been incidental. Her ultimate goal was to gather intelligence on the Serpent.
"Huh? You're asking me? Shouldn't you be asking your Miss Kiana? Even a merchant like me can tell who they were coming for."
Yelan still wore a smile as she lightly kicked the ball back to Rita.
So she won't say... Is the relationship between the Merchant Guild and the Serpent complicated as well?
Rita maintained her smile, but her mind was already racing.
"...I can pay."
"Miss Kiana owes our Merchant Guild a total of three billion. Would you like to pay by scan code or cash? If you wish to settle with goods, we'll need to notify Lady Ningguang."
Yelan continued playing dumb.
The conflict between Schicksal and the Serpent was not a conflict between the Liyue Merchant Guild and the Serpent.
If World Serpent came to pick a fight with the Merchant Guild, then the Merchant Guild would naturally come knocking later to demand an explanation. What did that have to do with Schicksal?
Moreover, the clever part was that from beginning to end, they could only say there were signs of human involvement. They could not directly pin this on World Serpent. In other words, as long as World Serpent did not step forward and take responsibility, this could be treated as an unfortunate Honkai incident, allowing everyone to save face.
Besides, the Sky Dome Zone was the "Serpent's Nest."
Starting a direct conflict with World Serpent in this place was as foolish as robbing the Jade Chamber, the Merchant Guild's headquarters, in the Liyue Zone.
For now, the two sides were actually still... well, that person from World Serpent was a mad scientist. Their so-called restraint might simply be because she had not gotten serious yet.
In the end, Yelan herself did not really understand why Lady Ningguang had decided to get involved in this.
Taking Kiana in was equivalent to entering the game.
The world was already on the verge of a storm, yet they had gone and added this to the mess.
"...I see. I understand."
Listening to Yelan's response, Rita did not understand her attitude, but she did understand that Yelan would not reveal any useful information.
The relationships among these independent factions seem quite complicated too... The lead has gone cold again... no, wait.
Before you continue