As long as the Venerable Lord returns, everything will be fine! (cont.)

However, as the current head of the World Serpent, Gray Serpent directly stopped Jackal's reckless actions.

Theresa's accident and the near-disaster of Shenzhou were enough to provoke Otto.

He hasn't dismantled Kamiya Pharmaceuticals directly because Kamiya Pharmaceuticals is genuinely useful in certain aspects.

If Otto is provoked further, the World Serpent's strategy will only become more chaotic due to the Jackal's reckless actions.

Of course, at this point, Gray Serpent no longer expects World Serpent to continue hiding.

Otto has dispatched the S-rank Valkyrie Rita Roseweisse to begin an investigation into their organization and the Second Divine Key.

It has been four or five days since Raven was captured by the Far East Branch.

Even if she were extremely weak, with the world's most advanced medical system, Schicksal, she would be able to wake Raven from her coma.

As for Raven's loyalty to the organization, frankly speaking, it wasn't that great.

Gray Serpent was quite certain that if Schicksal offered her sufficient conditions or posed a sufficient threat to her, she would immediately follow her heart and choose to sell World Serpent in order to save her life.

Putting aside personal opinions, Gray Serpent certainly understands that Raven may not have made this choice yet, but will definitely make it in the future.

If Schicksal wins and she betrays the World Serpent, at worst she will die in the future.

However, if she doesn't properly disclose the information she possesses, she will likely be killed by Schicksal.

Even though the Gray Serpent were a group of cybernetic cyborgs, he knew which side a person obsessed with survival would ultimately choose.

Of course, Raven won't release the information so quickly.

She had to hand over the intelligence bit by bit in order to demonstrate her value while protecting her life, which was as fragile as a candle in the wind.

Right now, the most important thing for World Serpent is how to preserve the most core secrets in this short period of time, and then leave some scraps to feed Schicksal, so that they will have the illusion that 'this organization is nothing special'.

After abandoning some of its branch bases, World Serpent will inevitably face a shortage of funds due to these losses.

If it weren't for Gray Serpent's exceptional intelligence and connections, he would now only feel that his non-existent stomach would be emitting even more terrifying phantom pain.

"Gray Serpent, what should we do now?"

As a scientist whose brains are not as sharp as Gray Serpent's, Jackal is very angry, but she really doesn't dare to continue acting recklessly.

To be honest, even someone as cautious as Gray Serpent suffered repeated setbacks in his plans because of Lin Yu's appearance. With her current mediocre skills, she's still messing things up. The World Serpent organization will only become weaker.

"What to do... Ha, what else can we do?"

At this moment, Gray Serpent was on the sofa, flipping through the intelligence he had recently gathered, when he spoke to the Jackal beside him.

"Kamiya Pharmaceuticals is completely finished now, but you still need to make a name for yourself outside."

"I know this is dangerous, but the more you show an attitude of 'daring to be angry but not daring to speak out,' the easier it will be for us to lull the Schicksal into a false sense of security."

"If we abandon Kamiya Pharmaceuticals without a second thought, then Schicksal will surely think that 'this organization has unfathomable depths and we absolutely cannot be careless.'"

"I understand, but—will this help?"

After removing the mask from his face, the Jackal revealed a weary expression and rubbed his temples in exhaustion.

"That woman Raven will definitely betray us. At that point, what's the point of putting on an act outside?"

"Every second counts."

After turning off the intelligence screen, Gray Serpent leaned back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.

"Jackal, don't despair, it's not time to despair yet."

"We have obtained the Herrscher of Herrscher of Reason genes that Cocolia possessed."

"The first batch of Herrscher Clone will be completed in about a week. Of course, because it is a mass-produced version, it has defects in both strength and intelligence."

"For us, this is actually a failure."

"But it doesn't matter—we've already found buyers for them."

"Buyer???"

Upon hearing this word, the Jackal was completely unable to understand what the Gray Serpent meant.

"What's the meaning?"

"Jackal, as you know, the secular forces in this world can be broadly divided into three types."

"Those who help Schicksal, those who help Anti-Entropy, and those who remain neutral and stand on the sidelines."

"I won't go into the first two, as those forces in the die-hard camp have nothing to do with us right now."

"But some forces that choose neutrality, have sufficient funds, but feel insecure will need these 'failures'."

"... I think I understand what you mean."

Upon hearing Gray Serpent's words, Jackal revealed a mocking smile.

"Some fools are getting restless, wanting to seize this opportunity to build up a strong enough 'force' to gain greater international standing and influence, right?"

"Yes, a powerful entity with both money and ideas... Ah, isn't that exactly the kind of partner we need?"

After saying those words, the Gray Serpent felt less mentally exhausted.

Singapore ranks 34th in the world economy this year.

"They have sufficient economic strength and normal strength, but because they are neutral, they are very passive in fighting the Honkai."

"Invest in us, and we hand over these stable, failed versions to them. It's a win-win situation."

"Well, I have a question."

At this moment, the Jackal remembered Gray Serpent's previous plan and asked Gray Serpent a question full of doubt.

"Wasn't our original plan to create a large number of Herrscher Clone, infiltrate the Oceania Branch, and kidnap that Valkyrie named Wendy?"

"The plan has changed, Jackal. Our true target has never been that little girl, but the core of the genuine Herrscher of this era."

"In the past few days, through my comrades within Schicksal, I contacted Dr. Mags Otto values highly but with Otto has a long-standing feud."

"Originally Cocolia sent someone to contact Dr. Mags, hoping that he would join Anti-Entropy after stealing the Tranquility Gem, but because of her stupid actions, people thought she was brain-dead and reported her people on the spot."

"But now, after our people contacted him, they told him our plan directly."

"Unlike Cocolia, we just don't want the Tranquility Gem to be in Otto's hands, we don't want to cause a large-scale Honkai."

"After Dr. Mags joined us, he was able to retain research access to the Tranquility Gem, and could even keep the gem under his watchful eye."

"As long as he brings the Tranquility Gem to Singapore, the army of replicants will directly protect his safety."

"As for what happens to the gems after he arrives... well, that's not up to him."

Listening to Gray Serpent's plan, Jackal felt...

—Am I, as a senior figure, being a bit too presumptuous?

"Hey, Gray Serpent, don't you think this plan is too simplistic?"

"He's already reported Cocolia's people, are you sure he'd come out with the jewels and join us?"

Of course.

After giving a positive answer, Gray Serpent relaxed and explained his reasoning.

"I have information about him in my intelligence network. His granddaughter, Lynn Maki, was tricked by Otto into participating in the artificial Herrscher experiment, and that's how she died in front of him."

"If Cocolia hadn't acted so stupidly before, Dr. Mags might have already chosen to cooperate with Cocolia."

"He harbored so much resentment towards Otto that many things became insignificant in the face of that resentment, and that is our opportunity."

"Let Dr. Mags escape secretly with the doctor, we'll send someone to meet him, and then let him bring the gem to Singapore."

"Then, Cocolia, as long as she can get the coordinates of Haiyuan City, we can forget about letting Anti-Entropy fight amongst itself. We can just lead all our forces to Haiyuan City and throw the gems in there— the Venerable Lord will respond to us."

At this moment, Gray Serpent, being a cyborg, was unable to show any expression on his face.

But the Jackal could sense that the Gray Serpent's tone had become incredibly fanatical.

"So what if we compromise with worldly forces now? So what if we're crushed by Otto and have to run away with our tails between our legs? So what if Lin Yu sabotages our plans time and time again? So what if we're left half-dead by Cocolia?"

"As long as the Venerable Lord returns..."

"Everything will be alright!"

St. Freya Academy Medical Room

Inside the medical room, Lin Yu, who had just been summoned there, gazed at the woman on the hospital bed and spoke to Himeko beside him.

"Major Himeko, this woman hasn't woken up since she was captured by the Class President and Bronya?"

"Ah, back then, to guard against a possible enemy attack, I imprisoned her in a secret cell..."

At this point, Himeko's expression suddenly became much more serious.

"It was supposed to be a secret cell, but the enemy still found it very easily."

"Considering that a male colleague of mine suddenly disappeared and I haven't been able to contact him since... Ha, it seems that there are far more moles in our Far East Branch than I thought."

"In short, we didn't treat her at the time so that the enemy wouldn't take her away."

"Now that the enemy has suffered so many losses, it is impossible for them to launch a strong attack for the time being, so I dared to let her come to the outside world for treatment."

At this point, Himeko looked at Lin Yu in front of her and suddenly let out a helpless sigh.

"Theresa and I discussed it and came to a conclusion."

"It's better to guide than to block. We can't stop you from climbing the ladder, so we might as well start training you in advance."

"But Lin Yu, fighting against the Honkai doesn't only happen on the battlefield."

Hearing Himeko's advice, Lin Yu immediately looked puzzled.

Seeing the confusion on Lin Yu's face, Himeko could only smile wryly and continue to explain.

"You're a special agent, so you should have received training in communication skills. So if this woman wakes up, I hope you can use your communication skills to persuade her to obediently provide us with information."

"If this woman is willing to cooperate with us, then we, the Schicksal, can save a lot of effort in uncovering this organization."

"Ultimately, that organization is still a human organization. If only we, Schicksal, could save some of our energy in the internal struggles with other human organizations..."

"We can naturally devote that energy to fighting the Honkai."

"Therefore, even persuading the enemy to surrender is a means of fighting against the Honkai."

"Instead of rushing out to kill every day, if you're willing to use your brain more, you can actually achieve your long-cherished wish just as well."

[Ha, a sales pitch? Using your brain?]

Listening to this burly girl's words, you don't want to say anything, you just want to laugh.

What's so funny? I think Major Murata's words are quite correct.

[Just stating the obvious—you use rhetoric, do you really need her to train you?]

Do you even realize the power and influence of the rhetoric used by agents of Schicksal?

I think you're really underestimating me.

Himeko said those things because of my persona, and she was taking the opportunity to warn me not to do anything reckless.

But she is a highly intelligent genius, and in fact, she was not only saying these words to me, but also to this woman.

Although this woman was pretending to be asleep, I could tell that she had been awake for a long time. How could Himeko, a veteran warrior who had been through countless battles, not be able to tell?

She was just using the opportunity of admonishing me to give Raven a warning.

You actually think that just because I used some persuasive tactics to fool a few vulnerable young girls, I'll start to feel complacent?

No, actually you're already really good at this...

Forget it.

The King of Mercenaries and the Far East Minds are not some inexperienced young girls.

If someone treats them like easily fooled idiots, then that kind of person...

—That's the real idiot.

[Ah, brilliant analysis.]

[This system is genuinely curious. When you first arrived in this world, you weren't exactly a blank slate, but at least you weren't like this now, acting, using rhetoric, and breathing with such ease.]

[Host, what exactly changed you?]