Honkai, But I Have Too Many Mods Chapter 3

"Eh? Here!"

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

"...Eh?"

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

"..."

Rita's scythe narrowly missed Raven's forehead.

...Not skilled at close-quarters combat.

Facing a long weapon like a scythe, it was difficult for her to get close.

Moreover, Rita wasn't some pushover.

What?

You say the alleyway restricts the scythe—but couldn't she just cut through the walls along with it?

Rita's scythe didn't aim for offense; it maintained a safe distance, wearing her down.

"Twenty minutes."

Rita wore a smile that annoyed Raven.

"In twenty minutes, Schicksal's reinforcements will arrive. By then... I'll offer you some special treatment in prison, Miss Raven."

That annoying smile instantly became somewhat disgusting.

Raven immediately jumped back, escaping Rita's attack range.

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

"...Regardless, the Outer-World Traveler is nowhere to be found. You're lucky this time. I hope this luck stays with you your whole life."

"I admire your unyielding spirit, Miss Raven—like how you're still defiant even after being cremated?"

Raven retreated, and Rita didn't pursue. She entered the trash-talking phase with a smile.

For Rita, all she needed to do was scare Raven away and snatch that peculiar teapot.

"Hmph!"

Raven clearly wasn't in the mood for idle chatter while at a disadvantage. With a cold expression, she swung her raven-feather-like cloak. She leaped high like a true raven, disappearing from Rita's sight after a few bounds.

"Haa... The World Serpent, what a nuisance."

Rita sighed, looking into the distance.

The World City had always been the stage for Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. She didn't know when this organization called the World Serpent had appeared.

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

The calm before the storm.

Rita sighed as she used her scythe to pick up a brick from the corner of the alley... or rather, the alley's ruins.

"..."?

Seeing the empty ground beneath the brick, Rita's wine-red pupils constricted.

"Where's my teapot!?"

Chapter Four: Since It's Come to This, Let's Draw Some Cards First.

"Such a big teapot was right there, I'm not blind."

Back at the World Serpent's base, Raven played with the earthy-yellow teapot in her hand.

The teapot had a very delicate feel. Judging by its craftsmanship, it seemed like a product from the Liyue Merchant Guild.

But if she had to point out anything unique... Raven couldn't really find anything.

She'd snatched it simply because it seemed out of place in the alley.

In her hand, it felt no different from a hundred-yuan teapot from the Liyue Merchant Guild.

Raven even opened the lid to check; it was completely empty inside.

[Natasha Cioara is requesting entry to your Serenitea Pot]

"?"

Liu Bai, who was feeding grass to Firefly, was stunned by this notification.

What the heck? How did my Serenitea Pot get involved with Natasha?

Reject!

The situation was unclear. How could he let a "stranger" in?

Raven held the teapot, her eyes practically glued to it, finally confirming—this thing was just a regular teapot.

It's over.

Could someone really be so messed up as to throw this brand-new teapot in an alley like that?

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

Tap... tap...

"Ah, good afternoon, Gray Serpent."

Despite a million frustrations churning inside, Raven still managed to put on a calm, indifferent facade as she looked at the approaching figure.

The intelligence chief of the World Serpent, Gray Serpent.

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

"As you can see, it failed," Raven spread her hands, showing no intention of hiding anything. "But Schicksal didn't succeed either. The target is gone. The only gain is this teapot."

Upon hearing this, Gray Serpent pondered for a moment, then looked at the teapot in Raven's hand, his mechanical eye rotating and contracting. "After all, the target is an extraterrestrial. It's understandable to miss. I will continue to follow up on this intelligence... As for this pot, it looks like a handicraft from the Liyue Merchant Guild."

"A handicraft? Is it valuable?"

A hint of interest finally flickered in Raven's tone.

"...The craftsmanship is very advanced. It shouldn't be a problem to be worth several thousand," Gray Serpent had no desire to dwell on this with Raven. "Take this pot with you. Serpent's Master wishes to question you."

"...I really don't want to see Serpent's Master."

Upon hearing the name Serpent's Master, Raven's mouth visibly twitched.

Even though she worked for the World Serpent, Raven found it hard to say she and that Serpent's Master could get along.

Saying goodbye to Gray Serpent, Raven walked down the corridor with mixed feelings.

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

Knock knock

With a sense of unease, Raven knocked on Serpent's Master's door.

Serpent's Master.

As the name suggested, the ruler of the World Serpent.

Gray Serpent's creator, the woman who indirectly brought the World Serpent into existence.

"The door isn't locked, come in."

Her name—Mobius.

The tall, black-dressed woman with hair like a waterfall, while fiddling with a test tube containing an unknown liquid, watched Raven enter the room with her serpentine eyes.

Ah... the pressure...

Her hood obscured her face, and when she met those serpentine eyes, Raven always felt the guilty conscience of an employee slacking off and being caught by their boss.

"How did the mission go?"

Mobius, seated in the main position, revealed an inscrutable smile on her stunning face.

"I am very sorry, Serpent's Master, the mission failed."

Raven knelt on one knee and repeated what she had told Gray Serpent earlier.

After listening to Raven's account, Mobius withdrew her smile and nodded faintly. "It's alright, you've done very well with this matter."

—Although this Serpent's Master always put Raven under pressure, when it came to business, as long as no fundamental mistakes were made, this lady was always very lenient with her own people.

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

Mobius had no interest in an ordinary teapot.

"Yes."

Raven respectfully lowered her head.

Decision made! I'm selling this thing!

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

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

After eating over a pound of roasted grass continuously, Firefly couldn't help but raise her hand in surrender.

Her expression was on the verge of tears.

Seeing Firefly's expression, Liu Bai silently put down a new plate of roasted grass he had just prepared.

Yeah, who would feed a beautiful girl grass non-stop like him?

Liu Bai checked Firefly's status again.

[Firefly]

[Current Health Condition: Entropy Loss Syndrome (Mild), Minor Internal Bleeding]

[No immediate danger to life]

Recovering to this extent means I really don't need to eat anymore.

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

Liu Bai gently pushed Firefly back onto the bed.

What they needed most right now was a water source.

Getting water from outside?

But Raven's join request had just popped up!

This meant Raven had found the Serenitea Pot.

As expected, someone was following them.

The most dangerous aspect of starting as an "Outsider" was that "you have no way of knowing any faction's attitude towards you."

As aliens, anyone could consider himself and Firefly as enemies.

Of course, he wasn't entirely without advantages. His innate max-level charm gave him the capital to sit down and negotiate.

Moreover, with their current water shortage, food would also become scarce in the future.

Water could turn the Serenitea Pot map into Verdant Peak, allowing them to fetch some mountain spring water, but what about food?

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

They couldn't possibly rely on roasted weeds and weed soup to feed two people, could they?

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

An opportunity to join an organization and start anew, to change his identity.

He was going to gamble!