Even if you secretly hold a developer conference, there shouldn't be much of a problem, right? (cont.)

Upon hearing this shout, Yuno immediately sensed that the transport plane she was on was beginning to lose its balance in the air.

"Damn it, the operating system on the console is malfunctioning, I can't control the plane anymore."

"This must be the enemy's doing. Be careful when you go down!"

Even though the driver's chances of survival after falling from such a height were practically zero, Yuno to find that the driver showed absolutely no fear in his words.

Even as his life was about to end, he was still trying to complete his mission when faced with the threat of death.

Ugh, that's enough.

I actually started to worry because of some inexplicable feelings.

Compared to my predecessors who were Schicksal, my understanding is indeed far behind.

At this moment, Yuno did not jump directly from the sky using the armor and the buffs provided by her Herrscher body, as the pilot had instructed.

After mobilizing the Herrscher Core within her body, Yuno directly created countless layers of soft plants to wrap around her and her opponent's bodies, and then began to desperately squeeze out the power within her body.

As Yuno acted recklessly, a colossal tree suddenly began to grow wildly on the ground nearly 500 meters above the sky.

Before the plane crashed to the ground, the tree, through Yuno's power, altered its structure and used its newly formed wooden structure to forcibly catch the transport plane that was supposed to crash.

However, even so, Yuno still felt some discomfort in her body.

Even her body, which Simulated Herrscher, almost had problems. What about the pilot still inside the transport plane...?!

"Although I don't know what you did, I think I survived."

Protected by those soft plants, the driver, still clinging to life, calmly spoke to Yuno.

"Take me down there, then find a place for me to rest. I will then contact headquarters for a rescue."

"... I see."

Upon Yuno immediately caused the plants around her to disappear. Then, holding the frail woman in one arm, she gently jumped down from the tree branch.

Using the branches of a large tree as footholds, Yuno, after several jumps, brought the female driver to the ground.

But just as she took out her communicator, she realized...

—The communication system also malfunctioned??

At that moment, Yuno recalled the past that she had mentioned when chatting with everyone.

When Lin Yu was operating in Changkong City, he was unable to contact the Schicksal Headquarters for a period of time due to the interference from the power of the Herrscher of Thunder and the electronic warfare of Anti-Entropy, and temporarily lost the support from the headquarters in various aspects.

And now, Yuno's communicator is experiencing the same problem.

Damn it, they're interfering with the transport plane's operating system, hindering my communication with headquarters...

—Cocolia, is it this guy causing trouble again?!

Seeing the girl's conflicted and reluctant expression, the driver maintained a calm demeanor, but an uncontrollable joy welled up inside him.

Very good, this will keep this Simulated Herrscher occupied.

Lord Gray Serpent, I'm afraid I'm not going to make it.

But for the glory of the World Serpent, I—will die without regret!

Almost at the same time, on the outskirts of Singapore

At this moment, Dr. Mags, who had defected from Schicksal, stared at the man in black who had appeared before her, and cautiously clutched the storage container containing the Tranquility Gem in her hand.

"You... are you the Gray Serpent?"

"Exactly."

The Gray Serpent that appeared before Dr. Mags respectfully and then spoke politely to Dr. Mags.

"I am Gray Serpent, a cadre of the World Serpent."

"Dr. Mags, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

"However, I have a small question that I need your help with."

"Why didn't you follow the route we agreed on?"

Tsk, as expected, this guy became suspicious because of this?

Looking at the man in black using a voice changer, Dr. Mags felt a very uncomfortable sensation.

Initially, Dr. Mags did indeed intend to proceed according to the escape route provided by the other party.

But halfway there, Dr. Mags suddenly realized that something was wrong.

It's not that anything went wrong along the way.

On the contrary—his journey has been far too smooth.

He stole the Tranquility Gem with ease, and the pursuers sent by Otto really couldn't catch up with him.

Although Dr. Mags dislikes Otto, she would never consider Otto a pushover.

So much time has passed since the Tranquility Gem was stolen, and the pursuers sent by Otto still haven't caught up... No, the fact that I took the Tranquility Gem so easily was a huge mistake for Otto in itself.

Instead of hoping Otto suddenly loses his mind, I'd rather consider another approach.

He did it on purpose—he absolutely did it on purpose!

After Lin died, Otto never found another Valkyrie wavelength matched the Tranquility Gem by more than 25%.

For this reason, the Tranquility Gem Fusion Project has been temporarily suspended.

I initially thought this project would be put on hold due to the lack of a suitable host body, but now it seems...

Damn Cocolia, did her crazy actions give Otto enough inspiration?

Send the gem to an area with millions of people, and then let the gem choose the right people for itself.

While this approach is inhumane, it is far more efficient Otto's method of screening individuals one by one.

As for Otto... he had no humanity whatsoever.

He and I are both demons who disregard the lives of others. Such people would never have any psychological burden when doing such things.

Moreover, if something really goes wrong, Schicksal will be the victim in this matter, and Otto will definitely send the Valkyrie forces to suppress the Herrscher of Death as soon as possible.

The gem was taken by me, the traitor Maki. If the Herrscher is really created, Schicksal will be the victim who succeeded in suppressing the Herrscher, not the perpetrator who created the Honkai.

Realizing this, Dr. Mags immediately changed her escape route.

Now, he would rather die in the wilderness, clutching the jewel, than take it with him and have millions perish with him.

His sins are already grave enough; it would be a disaster if others were implicated at this point...

Damn it, I didn't bring the Tranquility Gem out for something like that.

Faced with Gray Serpent's polite question, Dr. Mags pondered for a moment before revealing his Gray Serpent card, which he had been too lazy to hold back.

"To be honest, I don't really trust your World Serpent."

"Oh, that's normal."

Gray Serpent nodded in understanding as Dr. Mags began his speech.

"It takes an opportunity for both sides to build mutual trust. Dr. Mags, your reaction is normal. It actually shows that you genuinely want to cooperate with us, which is why you are telling the truth."

Seeing that the Gray Serpent was so easy to talk to, Maki breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, with a complicated expression, he continued speaking to the Gray Serpent.

"However, although I do not trust you World Serpent, I trust Otto even less... no, I should say I trust Otto completely."

"I firmly believe that Otto is no good person, just like me, so the fact that I was able to bring the Tranquility Gem out this time might be a result of Otto's inaction."

Hearing these words, Gray Serpent didn't say much, but simply gestured for Dr. Mags to continue.

"He wants me to go to Singapore and then use the millions of people in Singapore as sacrifices to directly trigger the next massive Honkai."

"Given the recent series of minor Honkai in various regions, the date of the next Honkai is approaching. And when I bring the Tranquility Gem to Singapore, this gem may very well turn this country into hell."

"Ah, Dr. Mags is truly a man of great wisdom."

After giving Dr. Mags a perfunctory clapping, Gray Serpent smiled with satisfaction.

"Moreover, contrary to the rumors, your IQ outside of scientific research seems to be quite good as well."

"Actually, Dr. Mags, we've thought of all of these things. But please believe us, the World Serpent, are not an incompetent organization."

After taking out a dark-colored box, Gray Serpent spoke to Dr. Mags.

"This box is a storage box forged from soul steel. Presumably, this box should be able to suppress the fluctuations of the Tranquility Gem more stably than the special glass container in your hand."

"We just need to put the gem into the Soul Steel storage box, and all your problems will be solved."

Looking at the box in front of him, Dr. Mags, who had seen the weapons of the Divine Throne before, showed a look of surprise.

Although he knew that the fact that the World Serpent organization dared to challenge Otto meant that the organization was indeed capable, he was still somewhat surprised that they had made such preparations.

"But moving this gem... isn't an easy task either."

"Oh, that's easy."

Quite naturally, after Dr. Mags snatched the glass container, Gray Serpent punched it directly, breaking the glass with his modified mechanical prosthetic arm and seizing the Tranquility Gem.

"Hello!"

Dr. Mags shouted as he watched Gray Serpent's fingers be instantly corroded by the black mist of death.

"Let go! Are you out of your mind?! You actually touched the Herrscher Core with your bare hand!"

"If possible, I hope you won't be too nervous, Doctor."

After pinching the Tranquility Gem between his thumb and forefinger, Gray Serpent placed it into the storage box and handed it to Dr. Mags.

"This is..."

After looking at Gray Serpent's fingers with suspicion, Dr. Mags suddenly understood why Gray Serpent dared to pinch the Tranquility Gem with its fingers.

"You also used Soul Steel on your right thumb and forefinger???"

"Ah, I made some minor modifications. I'll need to get the Soul Steel back when I get back."

Seeing Dr. Mags's shocked expression, Gray Serpent feigned helplessness and said...

"After all, Soul Steel is a precious treasure to us, and we won't waste it on things we don't need."

"As for the Tranquility Gem, it is something you brought with you, Doctor, so it should naturally continue to be kept by you."

"Dr. Mags, please believe in our determination to cooperate with you, and this is our initial sincerity."

Seeing that the old man's suspicion had dissipated considerably, Gray Serpent knew that his performance had temporarily intimidated him.

In this short exchange, Gray Serpent successfully manipulated Dr. Magee by first doubting him, then demonstrating the organization's strength, and finally expressing his trust in him. This contrast made Dr. Mags believe that Gray Serpent was genuinely willing to cooperate with him.

However, in reality, while Gray Serpent himself wanted to obtain the HSN Serum production formula held by Dr. Mags himself... was not that important.

Dr. Mags, who betrayed Otto because of her granddaughter's death, is undoubtedly seen as an emotional person by Gray Serpent.

For World Serpent, which is trying to complete the Stigmata Plan, someone like Maki, who acts on emotion and has a shred of moral compass despite doing bad things, is not suitable to be recruited as a core member.

Because of Otto, World Serpent's actions will only become more and more aggressive.

As long as Maki sticks to those ridiculous principles, it's only a matter of time before he and World Serpent part ways.

Rather than giving Dr. Mags the chance to stab the World Serpent in the back in the future, the ruthless Gray Serpent would definitely choose to first squeeze out all of the other party's usefulness before finding an opportunity to kill them.

Ultimately, if the Quantum Teleportation System in Singapore hadn't suddenly failed, Gray Serpent would have simply stolen the gem and run away, instead of wasting time talking to Dr. Mags.

The Gray Serpent, who is now leading Dr. Mags on a retreat to Singapore, is actually just as gloomy as before.

Aside from the fact that the Quantum Teleportation System is unusable, Schicksal's forces have actually begun moving toward Singapore.

In other words, the Gray Serpent's side is now completely surrounded.

Although Jackal stated that she could identify the problem and repair the Quantum Teleportation System, this would take time.

The Gray Serpent's current predicament is this: if they run away recklessly, they'll be surrounded and killed; if they don't run away, and the Jackal can't fix the problem with the Quantum Teleportation System, they'll be sitting and waiting to die.

What if all the troops they just built up are wiped out in one fell swoop... Well, that's a minor issue.