"...Schicksal has them too?" Bai recalled something extremely important.
"They're used by informants. To prevent reverse tracking, they're actually clean—though mainly because Miss Rita is kind-hearted. Otherwise, they'd probably have a feature for destroying the evidence along with the body."
"You people are really something..."
"So, did you give it to anyone else?"
"No. I kept it on except when sleeping. It couldn't be that someone snuck up beside me while I was asleep, specifically rummaged through my wristband, and then left, right?"
That would be way too ridiculous.
"Is that so..." Gray Serpent nodded.
"Say, can't you give us some reliable communication devices?"
Liu Bai was speechless. Gray Serpent was far too calm about this.
"The most reliable option is World Serpent's internal network—but we cannot let you use it, and it would not be practical for you anyway."
That was something entirely different from the internet. Anyone outside who wanted to hack it could only do so through physical access, and there were countless restrictions. World Serpent basically only activated it when coordinating special operations.
"I shall replace your wristbands with new ones. Remember not to click on strange links or advertisements... If they get hacked, you two will be the only ones suffering."
Gray Serpent warned them once, then took their wristbands into the room. After a while, he returned with two new ones.
"Take them. Oh, by the way, do you know the names of the people who attacked you today?"
"Himeko and Seele."
"One is an Anti-Entropy professor, and the other is a combatant. You two need not concern yourselves too much. Leave this matter to me. You may return and rest."
Guinaifen was utterly confused, while Liu Bai looked thoughtful.
Gray Serpent had already stopped paying attention to them, so the two could only leave Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.
"Boss Liu, what are you thinking about?"
"Yelan."
"? You like that type?" Guinaifen tilted her head.
"No. It's just that she has both the means and the suspicion... but her motive is unclear for now."
From the perspective of the original story, the Far East Branch and Anti-Entropy being in cahoots did not seem like much of a problem.
And there had also been Yelan's inexplicable warning earlier... To be honest, it was hard for Liu Bai not to suspect Yelan.
Even by the simplest process of elimination, Yelan ended up being the most likely suspect.
The only people Liu Bai had interacted with or had in his contacts were a few World Serpent members, then Rita, Eden, and finally Kiana. But he had only met Kiana twice, and she was not even in his contacts.
Coincidences were possible, but he should not optimistically leave everything to coincidence.
"Forget it. Let's go back and rest first... Today was a little too exhausting."
"After just a few exchanges, we ended up fleeing in such a sorry state."
Himeko and Seele, who had also escaped some distance away, stopped to rest.
"We really aren't suited to being villains, are we?"
"M-maybe?" Seele hugged her scythe, looking somewhat absent-minded.
She found it difficult to imagine what kind of resolve that woman who had blocked her possessed to fight her.
What am I even doing...?
Seele was now filled with guilt.
"Don't overthink it. Everyone thinks differently. Besides, you should thank that young man."
"Hm?"
"He let me through. Otherwise, did you think I could have gotten out while surrounded by several Dormant Spirit Deathless? I'm a frail scientist with no strength to even truss a chicken, okay?"
Himeko sat on the ground and complained.
The Dormant Spirit Deathless had no long-range capabilities, but their threads were a fairly standard mid-range ability. In narrow terrain like a corridor, it was even easier to trap someone to death.
If Liu Bai had not let her go, Seele would have been finished. Himeko herself would most likely have been captured as well.
Seriously...
Remembering the battle from moments ago, Himeko still could not help feeling afraid afterward.
She had not even noticed Seele's situation at the time.
"No, after making such a mess of things, we won't be able to make a move next time at all." Himeko scratched her head. This time, she and Seele owed them a huge favor.
Even though the other side had not done it for their sake at all.
"This shouldn't have been done in the first place, right...?"
Seele asked from the perspective of her simple moral values.
"Can't we sit down and talk things through properly?"
"There's no way around it. Under normal circumstances, we have no way to satisfy the appetites of those five Serpent's Masters. A Herrscher... Anti-Entropy absolutely cannot hand one over."
Besides mech technology, the thing Anti-Entropy was most famous for was its Herrscher leader.
But that obviously could not be used as a bargaining chip... Besides, they were not acting for their own organization in the first place.
Inazuma... For now, it was being kept secret. But if they did not find a solution soon, in a month or two it might become a case of concealing a death instead.
They could not offer anything over there either. According to the intelligence they had, that Serpent's Master was only interested in Honkai-related existences such as Honkai Beasts, Deathless, and Herrschers.
Oh, and Honkai Disease patients with especially strange symptoms.
The guild's assistance was only being provided out of consideration for the friendship between their legendary first president and the leader of the Inazuma Group. It had absolutely nothing to do with Anti-Entropy.
The guild would only open this back door once.
And Yelan had also reminded them that the target was currently being watched by Schicksal.
What a headache.
Schicksal, the Schicksal Far East Branch, World Serpent, and then Anti-Entropy.
Fine, fine, so this was how they wanted to play it.
Were they trying to recreate the entire world situation inside a single Sky Dome Zone?
"After a while, we'll go recover the Titans. Recover as many as we can. No matter what, we have to keep going. We... are racing against time."
So what if it was as rotten as the world situation? Who was afraid of whom?
It was not as if everyone had not always lived like this!
"Whew, this place is much more comfortable than outside... Boss Liu, what are you writing?"
Inside the Serenitea Pot, Guinaifen tossed her dust-covered clothes from rolling around into a washing machine whose principles were known only to heaven. After taking a bath in the rather luxurious hot spring, she changed into pajamas and entered the hall, where she saw Liu Bai writing something at the table.
Firefly sat obediently beside him as well, watching Liu Bai write.
"I organized the current situation."
Liu Bai showed Guinaifen what he had written.
World Serpent's current goal: research me, human evolution? Schicksal's target: me, but its purpose is unknown Liyue Merchant Guild, Yelan: attitude completely unclear. Their actions are chaotic. She seems to have a hand in World Serpent, Schicksal, and Anti-Entropy matters. Kiana... What is she doing here? Anti-Entropy: kidnapping me should merely be a means to achieve some goal. The target is me, but the purpose should have nothing to do with me
"I'm not very good at making mind maps, but it's still barely understandable, right?"
"Mm... I can understand it, but precisely because I understand it, it feels like a complete mess."
Guinaifen scratched her head.
Looking at it this way, her boss really was a hot commodity.
"The main problem is the guild, right?" Firefly, still maintaining her obedient sitting posture, reached out and pointed at the section about the Liyue Merchant Guild on Liu Bai's paper.
"Why not cut through the mess with a sharp blade...?" she said. "A force whose intentions and actions cannot be predicted at all should be eliminated... Uh, I mean, we should ask them properly in person."
Liu Bai and Guinaifen: Did you mean eliminate?
"Huh? W-why are you both looking at me? I... Did I say something wrong?" Firefly looked slightly flustered.
"Well... Miss Firefly isn't wrong if she puts it that way."
Guinaifen decided to treat her own guess as something she had misheard.
How could such a delicate young lady possibly say something as frightening as eliminate?
"I also feel like the guild has had a hand in a lot of recent matters. That big sister Yelan is all mysterious too. Boss Liu, what should we do?"
"We'll ask her in person tomorrow. I don't dare communicate with Yelan through devices anymore."
Once bitten, twice shy. No matter how much they said online, it was useless. Meeting in person was what truly counted as real!
"Um... How about I accompany you, Mr. Liu Bai?"
Firefly somewhat regretted that her injuries had healed so slowly before.
"O-of course, I'm not very skilled at fighting either, but I should still be able to help..."
"No, no, protecting one boss is exhausting enough. Miss Firefly, don't join in on the fun."
Guinaifen patted Firefly on the shoulder.
Liu Bai immediately saw the smile on Firefly's face become a little stiff.
...Was she going to throw her over her shoulder?
Liu Bai had already automatically imagined Firefly grabbing Guinaifen's wrist with a backhand and slamming her onto the table.
"...Y-yes, that's true." Firefly's smile remained stiff.
"Huh... Your shoulders are so hard. Miss Firefly, have you been working too much these past few days?" Guinaifen started massaging Firefly's shoulders.
"...I'm fine."
The stiff smile disappeared, and a faint disappointment appeared on Firefly's face.
"Then Mr. Liu Bai, you must be careful."
Watching this scene, Liu Bai inexplicably felt as though Guinaifen had just escaped death.
"Come to think of it... Why did Gray Serpent bring up Natasha out of nowhere? Could it be that Natasha came to rescue me and ended up missing us?"
Clang—!
"Rita, do you have to get in the way?"
Natasha glared irritably at the maid blocking her path.
"That is what I should be saying."
Rita looked at her own teammates fighting the Deathless.
"Although our objectives are the same... I truly cannot turn a blind eye to your team."
If Natasha had not brought Deathless with her, Rita could have simply looked the other way. Watching Anti-Entropy and World Serpent tear at each other was not a bad thing.
But the people Natasha had brought were Deathless, and they did not seem to be ordinary Deathless either.
No matter what, Anti-Entropy was still human. Rita even appreciated some of its ideals.
But Natasha had directly brought Deathless!
If Rita did not take action, she would be letting down her responsibility as a Valkyrie.
However, Rita had never imagined that Natasha's mission this time was to rescue soldier Liu Bai.
Clang—!
Before you continue