Since It's Come to This, Let's Pull Some Gacha

"Eh? Here!"

"Today, let's experience the life of a little sheep."

"...Eh?"

"It seems you aren't very skilled at close-quarters combat, Miss Raven."

"..."

Rita's scythe barely swept past Raven's brow.

What do you mean, not skilled at close-quarters combat?

Against a long weapon like a scythe, it was simply too difficult for her to get close.

Besides, Rita was hardly some insignificant lackey who could be pushed around.

What?

You said the narrow alley would restrict a scythe—then she could just cut through the walls too, couldn't she?

Rita's scythe did not pursue aggressive attacks at all. Instead, she kept it at a safe distance and wore Raven down.

"Twenty minutes."

Rita wore a smile that irritated Raven.

"In another twenty minutes, Schicksal's reinforcements will arrive. By then... I shall offer you a little preferential treatment in prison, Miss Raven."

That irritating smile instantly became somewhat disgusting.

Raven immediately leaped backward, leaving Rita's attack range.

Raven had to admit that if Schicksal's main force arrived, she might really be in trouble.

"...Since the outsider has already vanished without a trace, consider yourself lucky this time. I hope that luck stays with you for the rest of your life."

"I truly admire your unyielding spirit, Miss Raven—such as how your mouth will still be stubborn after cremation?"

Raven retreated, and Rita did not pursue. Smiling sweetly, she began trading insults instead.

For Rita, all she needed was to scare Raven away and retrieve that strange teapot.

"Hmph!"

Raven clearly had no interest in exchanging banter while at a disadvantage. With a cold expression, she swept her raven-feather-like cloak aside. Like a true raven, she leaped high into the air and vanished from Rita's sight after several bounds.

"Whew... World Serpent. What a troublesome organization."

Rita looked into the distance and sighed.

World City had always been the stage of Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. No one knew when this organization called World Serpent had emerged.

Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, World Serpent... and now the outsider whose whereabouts were unknown.

The storm clouds were gathering.

With a sigh, Rita used her scythe to lift a brick from the corner of the alley... or rather, the ruins of the alley.

"...?"

Seeing the bare ground beneath the brick, Rita's wine-red pupils narrowed.

"Where's my teapot?!"

Since It's Come to This, Let's Pull Some Cards First

"There was such a huge teapot sitting there. It's not like I'm blind."

Back at the World Serpent base, Raven played with the earthen-yellow teapot in her hands.

The teapot had a delicate feel to it. Judging by its craftsmanship, it seemed to be a product of the Liyue Merchant Guild.

But as for anything unique about it... Raven really could not find anything.

She had taken it simply because it looked completely out of place in that alley.

Now that it was in her hands, it seemed no different from a hundred-dollar teapot from the Liyue Merchant Guild.

Raven had even deliberately opened the lid to take a look. It was completely empty inside.

Natasha Cioara has requested access to your Serenitea Pot

"?"

Liu Bai, who was feeding grass to Firefly, froze when he saw the prompt.

What the hell? How did my perfectly good Serenitea Pot become connected to Natasha?

Rejected!

With the situation unclear, how could he let a "stranger" in?

Holding up the pot and practically shoving her eyes into it, Raven finally confirmed it—this thing was just an ordinary teapot.

Damn it.

Could someone really be ridiculous enough to toss a brand-new teapot into an alley like that?

Wouldn't that make both her and Rita look like complete idiots?

Tap... tap...

"Ah, good afternoon, Gray Serpent."

Though she was cursing inwardly, Raven still forced herself to appear calm and unconcerned as she looked at the newcomer.

World Serpent's intelligence chief, Gray Serpent.

"How did the mission go, Raven?" Gray Serpent's hoarse, unpleasant voice sounded.

"As you can see, it failed." Raven spread her hands, with no intention of concealing anything. "But Schicksal didn't succeed either. The person vanished, and my only gain was this teapot."

Gray Serpent pondered for a moment upon hearing that. His mechanical eye rotated and contracted as he looked at the teapot in Raven's hand. "Since the target was an outsider, failure is understandable. I will continue following up on related intelligence... As for this pot, it appears to be a Liyue Merchant Guild craftwork."

"A craftwork? Is it valuable?"

A ripple finally appeared in Raven's tone.

"...The craftsmanship is excellent. It should be worth several thousand at least." Gray Serpent had no desire to dwell on such matters with Raven. "Bring that pot with you. The Serpent Lord has something to ask you."

"...I really don't want to see the Serpent Lord."

At the words "Serpent Lord," Raven's mouth visibly twitched.

Though she worked for World Serpent, Raven could hardly say whether she and that Serpent Lord could get along.

After parting with Gray Serpent, Raven walked through the corridor with mixed feelings.

That Serpent Lord... even from Raven's perspective, was far too dangerous.

Knock, knock.

With unease in her heart, Raven knocked on the Serpent Lord's door.

The Serpent Lord.

As her title suggested, the ruler of World Serpent.

Gray Serpent's creator, the woman who had indirectly founded World Serpent.

"The door isn't locked. Come in."

Her name was—Mobius.

The tall woman in a black dress, her green hair cascading like a waterfall, fiddled with a test tube filled with an unknown liquid while watching Raven enter with snake-like eyes.

Ah... the pressure...

With her face concealed beneath her hood, Raven always felt like an employee caught slacking off by her boss whenever she met those snake eyes.

"How did the mission go?"

A faint, inscrutable smile appeared on Mobius's exquisite face as she sat in the main seat.

"My deepest apologies, Serpent Lord. The mission failed."

Raven dropped to one knee and repeated everything she had previously told Gray Serpent.

After hearing Raven's account, Mobius put away her smile and nodded lightly. "It's fine. You've already done quite well with this matter."

—Though the Serpent Lord always put Raven under pressure, she was fair when it came to work. So long as one did not make a mistake involving principles, she had always been extremely tolerant toward her own people.

"As for that teapot, keep it and deal with it yourself."

Mobius had little interest in an ordinary teapot.

"Yes."

Raven respectfully lowered her head.

Decided! I'll sell this thing!

Then I'll take Xiao Kong and the others out for a feast!

"I-I really can't eat anymore, Mr. Liu Bai."

After eating over a pound of roasted weeds in a row, Firefly finally could not take it anymore and raised her hand in surrender.

She looked like she was about to cry.

Seeing Firefly's expression, Liu Bai silently set down the newly roasted plate of weeds in his hands.

Fair enough. Who kept feeding grass to a beautiful girl like he was?

Liu Bai checked Firefly's condition again.

Firefly

Current health condition: Entropy Loss Syndrome (mild), minor internal bleeding

No immediate danger to life

Having recovered to this extent, she really did not need to keep eating.

"Then lie down and rest for a while. I'll go figure out how to get some water."

Liu Bai pressed Firefly down onto the bed.

What they lacked most now was probably a water source.

Go outside to fetch water?

Raven's request to join had just popped up!

That meant Raven had picked up the Serenitea Pot.

So someone really had been following them.

And the most critical problem for an outsider at the start was that "there was no way to know how any faction viewed you."

As aliens, anyone might regard Firefly and him as enemies.

Of course, he was not entirely without advantages. His innate maxed-out charm gave him the leverage to sit down and negotiate.

Besides, they were short on water now, and food would become scarce in the future as well.

Water could be solved by changing the Serenitea Pot's map to Verdant Peak and collecting some mountain spring water, but what about food?

Neither Qingqiong Island nor Verdant Peak had a single fish in their waters.

They could not seriously expect roasted weeds and weed soup to feed two people, could they?

After a brief silence, Liu Bai realized that this was an opportunity.

An opportunity to join an organization and start anew.

I'm betting on it!