Honkai, But I Have Too Many Mods

"Uh... you know?"

Liu Bai felt that staying here and encountering Rita would be even more dangerous.

Raven definitely wouldn't do anything to him, but Rita was another story.

"Then why were you running! Are you even dumber than me... cough cough, is there something wrong with your brain?"

"Isn't this me preparing to seek refuge?"

Liu Bai caught a whiff of trouble from Kiana's attitude.

As expected, upon hearing Liu Bai's words, Kiana's next sentence was to draw her weapon: "Then come with me! I'll take you to a safe place."

No, rather than me, shouldn't the receptionist miss be the one who shouldn't be running around... I remember hearing you call Kiana when I entered earlier?

Liu Bai pondered how to persuade Kiana.

"Although I don't understand the situation yet, Kiana, aren't you the target of this operation? If the merchant guild was the target, they wouldn't just attack the entrance."

"Huh? How do you know that too?"

Kiana looked surprised. Why was it that everyone except her seemed to know the enemy's target was herself?

"If I were the attacker, and the target was to destroy the merchant guild, they would definitely bombard the entire guild indiscriminately, and then attack from both front and back. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Kiana pondered for a moment and nodded blankly.

However, things had reached this point, and well, Miss Raven had already messed up...

What should have been a swift and decisive attack with overwhelming force had failed, at least initially, since Kiana had returned to the merchant guild.

Therefore, Raven's next choice was one of two: either stubbornly charge in or admit defeat and retreat.

"Miss Kiana, have you ever played games?"

"Uh... a little?"

"You're like the protagonist in a game who constantly attracts trouble, you know?" Considering Kiana's intelligence, Liu Bai gave a very common example, "If I follow you, there will definitely be a lot of elite monsters and BOSSes appearing on the way."

"Th-that... actually makes some sense?"

"Right? So, right now, the greatest help you can give us is to just take care of yourself, Miss Kiana."

"..."

Kiana looked at the smile on the face of the young man slightly older than her – why did she feel like this guy was tricking her?

But people who look good usually don't lie, right...

"Then, then you take care of yourself?"

Kiana's mind spun three times, and she finally gave up thinking, choosing to be a fangirl.

"Then, goodbye."

"Uh... goodbye?"

He had successfully persuaded Kiana.

"Boss, aren't you really considering doing live streams with me?" Guinaifen glanced back at Kiana, who was still spacing out in the corridor. "With your ability to trick people, you could sell fake elixirs and miracle cures on our Xianzhou and make a fortune."

"And then get sought out by the Cloud Knights the next day, right? Stop joking, that girl just isn't very bright."

Liu Bai quickened his pace.

Since they were still on the first floor, the distance to the back door wasn't very far for the two of them.

"Let's get out of here first. It's probably going to get more chaotic."

"Jackal, retreat. The enemy's reinforcements have arrived."

Raven spoke calmly into the communicator.

That scoundrel Liu Bai had finally managed to get out.

Although Raven also wanted to finish the job in one go, she was never reckless.

Normally, there would be Honkai Beasts ambushing from the back door – after all, the merchant guild didn't have many combatants and couldn't cover both ends – but Raven didn't release them for Liu Bai's sake.

In terms of how much their master valued him, Liu Bai was probably not much less important than Kiana.

Trading Liu Bai for Kiana?

She wasn't stupid.

The priority was to ensure Liu Bai could get out in one piece.

"What a joke! Don't we still have a backup plan?"

Jackal's tone was clearly very unwilling.

"This operation isn't your responsibility. If I say retreat, we retreat."

Raven had no intention of explaining.

In the middle of the chaos, with Liu Bai's frail physique, even if Guinaifen was quite capable, she definitely wouldn't survive.

"The Honkai Beasts are under my control!"

Tsk.

Raven pursed her lips.

This idiotic dog was getting worked up again. How could he, as a Doctor, get more riled up than me, a combatant?

"This time, we'll just play weak to lure the enemy—at least we discovered that the Merchant Guild has already colluded with Schicksal."

Raven explained with a hint of helplessness in her tone.

"Guess where the Unbreakable Blade led by Li Lingta is now? If you like staying here, then continue to stay here. I will inform the Honored Master of your capture."

"Bastard..."

The communication cut off. Feeling a slight sense of danger, Raven didn't linger. After shooting down a drone with cloaking abilities, she turned and left—this kind of drone was a joke in front of the Purifying Thunder of Seven Sins.

However, after firing this shot, the Purifying Thunder of Seven Sins, which was originally a cool sniper rifle, instantly transformed into a small and exquisite purple nail clipper.

...No wonder she felt a sense of crisis.

Even with Raven's indifferent expression, she couldn't help but twitch the corner of her eye upon seeing the nail clipper in her hand.

This "young lady" was throwing a tantrum again.

This was why she didn't often use her exceptionally powerful sniping abilities.

First Liu Bai, and now the Purifying Thunder of Seven Sins.

Her life... was truly walking on thin ice...

Chapter 17: After Being Targeted by the Maid

"The person is gone, a very decisive withdrawal."

Theresa, after leading her people to search the surroundings, finally replied to Rita via communication.

"No traceable traces can be found."

"Is that so..." Rita, standing on the corpse of a Honkai Beast, nodded.

It wasn't unexpected; the surprise attack didn't succeed, so a retreat was natural—although the opponent's decision-making was even more resolute than Rita had imagined.

However, it was truly surprising that the Serpent had also targeted Kiana.

What was Cecilia-sama thinking?

Although Rita was a young lady, she understood the saying that a wise person does not stand under a dangerous wall.

The enemy is in the dark, and we are in the light; all they can do is react to whatever comes their way.

Rita sighed in her heart, then remembered the man and woman she had seen on the way to provide support.

"Ms. Yelan, I saw a man and a woman in the Merchant Guild earlier. Were they your guests?"

"Yes, they were the only two guests this morning."

Leaning against the doorway to recover her strength, Yelan's face couldn't help but show a slight smile when Rita mentioned this.

"They were quite relaxed guests—even I felt they were a bit too relaxed. By the way, wasn't the young man quite good-looking?"

"That gentleman..."

Rita tapped her chin with her finger.

"His appearance is indeed undeniable, but... I have a feeling that gentleman might not be as simple as he appears?"

Although she heard only half a sentence without context, as a member of the Black Gloves, Rita had a certain intuition.

"Oh my, that description is far too classic. But I don't think spies or traitors would obediently pay for things at a time like this."

Yelan denied Rita's statement with a smile.

If it were just about Liu Bai not being simple, Yelan might have agreed. After all, their audacity was something even Yelan, who pursued thrills, admired.

But if they were to be assumed as enemies, Yelan didn't think it was necessary.

As for Rita's so-called feeling, Yelan could understand it—she was the intelligence head of the Merchant Guild, after all.

But in terms of agent experience, Yelan had more than Rita.

This was the difference between a main job and a part-time job.

Those two were really just customers.

"Let's just assume Ms. Yelan is right." Rita pondered for a moment, deciding it wasn't worth arguing with Yelan over this issue.

Yelan spread her hands helplessly.

It was clear that Rita was not compromising; she firmly believed in her intuition.

It couldn't be helped.

"Speaking of which, Ms. Yelan, do you have any leads on this attack?"

Rita finally asked her intended question.

Protecting Kiana was secondary; her ultimate goal was to gather intelligence on the "Serpent."

"Huh? Asking me? Shouldn't you be asking your Miss Kiana? Even I, a mere merchant, can tell who they were after."

Yelan maintained her smile, lightly kicking the ball back to Rita.

(They're not saying... is the relationship between the Merchant Guild and the Serpent also complicated?)

Rita kept smiling, but her mind raced.

"...I can pay."

"Miss Kiana owes our Merchant Guild a total of three billion. Will you be paying by scan or cash? If you wish to settle the debt with goods, you'll need to notify Lady Ningguang." Yelan continued to play dumb.

Your Schicksal's conflict with the Serpent isn't the same as our Liyue Merchant Guild's conflict with the Serpent.

When the World Serpent bullies our allies, our Merchant Guild will naturally go to them for an explanation later. What does that have to do with your Schicksal?

What's more, the clever part of this whole thing is that, from start to finish, it only looks like there was some deliberate interference. It's impossible to directly pin the blame on the World Serpent. In other words, as long as the World Serpent doesn't step forward to take responsibility, this could just be an unfortunate Honkai event, and everyone can save face.

Besides, the Sky Dome Zone is the "Serpent's Nest," after all.

Engaging in a direct confrontation with the World Serpent in this place is about as foolish as robbing the Liyue Merchant Guild's headquarters, the Jade Chamber, in the Liyue Zone.

As for now, both sides are actually... well, the World Serpent's representative is a crazy scientist, so their supposed restraint might just mean they weren't serious.

Ultimately, Yelan herself didn't quite understand why her Lady Ningguang wanted to get involved in something like this.

Taking in Kiana was equivalent to entering the game.

The world is already brewing with unrest, and they're adding this to the mix.

"...I see. I understand now."

Rita listened to Yelan's answer. Although she didn't understand her attitude, she realized that Yelan wouldn't reveal any useful information.

(The relationships between these few free factions seem very complicated too... The lead has gone cold again... No, wait.)