Gale, Submit to Me / Wendy Wants to Know the Truth

That group left.

Raiden Mei thanked him, but even so, her expression remained blank.

Just as she was about to leave, Chen Ran spoke leisurely. "Leaving just like that?"

"What do you want?" Her tone remained cold. Clearly, she regarded Chen Ran as an enemy.

At a time like this, it was difficult for her to accept anyone's kindness.

"There are many suspicious points in your father's financial case. Of course, its primary target was not your father, but you."

He said, "Of course, it's fine if you don't believe me. But things can't get any worse than they already are, can they?"

Raiden Mei's gaze narrowed slightly.

She believed in her father's character. Raiden Ryoma had never lived extravagantly, and with the Raiden family's wealth, there was no need for financial crimes.

She looked at Chen Ran. "Can you help me?"

"Of course. And I have to help you." Chen Ran spoke helplessly. "Otherwise, all of Changkong City will be finished."

PS. There would probably be another five chapters tonight. At midnight, I'd try for a mass update. I could still struggle a little longer.

The Gale, Submit to Me

There were only two ways to quickly clear this simulation scenario: prevent the birth of a Herrscher, or eliminate the source of the Honkai.

Chen Ran wanted both.

The formation of Herrscher consciousness stemmed from desire. A typical Raiden Mei only developed Herrscher consciousness when she had the will to die, but she did not become a Herrscher. It was only when Kiana was injured and on the verge of death while trying to save her that she gained the Authority of Conquest.

If Chen Ran wanted to eradicate the Herrscher consciousness at its source, he first had to dispel Raiden Mei's negative emotions.

That meant giving Raiden Mei a firm goal: rescue Raiden Ryoma and clear his name.

Of course, whether that goal could be achieved was not important. What mattered was getting Raiden Mei to act on it. That way, she would not be entangled by negative emotions, and the Herrscher consciousness would have no chance to tempt her.

But that was not the most important thing.

The most important person was Cocolia.

Since Raiden Ryoma had been transferred out of Changkong City before the Honkai outbreak, it meant that either he or the people supporting him were not completely in the dark about what would happen in Changkong City.

The radicals and conservatives must have fought each other. Perhaps the outcome was already in sight by then, ending with the radicals' temporary victory, which was why Raiden Ryoma, the conservatives' representative, had been imprisoned.

Chen Ran did not understand power struggles, but he could call in outside help.

After all, he was now part of Schicksal.

He smiled slightly at Raiden Mei. "I'm a teacher at Chiyou Academy, but I'm also a Honkai investigator. Of course, you may not know what Honkai is, but your father is deeply caught in its vortex."

Many of ME Company's weapons were designed to fight the Honkai, and their biggest buyers were not Schicksal or Anti-Entropy, but countries around the world.

The Honkai could not be hidden from everyone. At most, it could only be hidden from ordinary people.

To say nothing else, after the Second Honkai War, there were still over a hundred thousand survivors in Siberia. Logically, news of the Honkai should have spread, yet public opinion had been controlled.

Schicksal alone naturally could not accomplish that, but with the cooperation of governments around the world, it could be done.

Not every country had Schicksal or Anti-Entropy bases, nor was it possible to wait for Schicksal or Anti-Entropy aid whenever a Honkai incident occurred.

That was why ME Company's business was so prosperous, with a trade network spread across the globe.

Raiden Mei knew none of this.

"You may not know what Honkai is, so I'll just show you."

The two arrived somewhere deserted.

The corner of Chen Ran's mouth curled upward. "Gale, submit to me!"

Before Raiden Mei's eyes, a massive storm formed out of thin air, sweeping up sand and rubble from the ground. Chen Ran, who controlled the storm, seemed like a god.

After a long while, the storm gradually subsided.

"You saw it too. This is the Honkai."

He said, "It gives people power beyond understanding. Of course, power comes with an equally severe price. Your father and you are both part of that price now."

Raiden Mei fell silent.

Wind appearing out of nowhere truly exceeded her understanding.

This was not a magic trick. It was practically magic.

Chen Ran said, "Your father dealt in arms. Of course, the most important energy source involved was also Honkai."

"The financial crimes were merely an excuse to conceal the truth. You understand now, don't you? The adult world is always this cruel."

Raiden Mei subconsciously let out a breath of relief.

That was great. Her father had no problems with his character or morality.

After realizing that, Raiden Mei felt much more at ease.

The reason she had become a Herrscher was that she had started out lost and helpless. That also explained why Kiana occupied such an important place in her heart.

She had placed her fragile emotions on Kiana.

But things were different now.

Since her father was innocent, that trace of fragility in her heart had transformed into the resolve to accomplish a certain goal, and naturally disappeared.

However, there was still one important question.

"Then what about you? Are you my father's enemy, or his friend?"

Because of Raiden Ryoma, Raiden Mei had been kidnapped as a child.

Afterward, her father had required her to study kendo so that she would have the ability to protect herself.

Although Raiden Ryoma had never told Mei how dangerous the outside world was, with Mei's intelligence, she surely knew her father had quite a few enemies.

Especially when it came to matters beyond the ordinary, her first reaction was to ask whether Chen Ran was a friend or an enemy.

Chen Ran blinked. "If I have to give it a name, then I can only say we're collaborators."

"I found you for reasons unrelated to either you or your father. It's only because of Changkong City."

"You can find someone to verify it. Of course, I won't stand around waiting for you."

To him, whether Raiden Mei joined his actions was not important.

As long as Raiden Mei was not entangled by negative thoughts and thus gave birth to Herrscher consciousness, that was enough.

His truly useful identity was being a member of Schicksal. Mei before him could not become qualified support.

However, to Chen Ran's surprise, Raiden Mei said, "I don't believe you, but I'll follow you for now."

"Should I say it's a pleasure working with you?"

"Whatever."

Raiden Mei said flatly, "Whatever you want to do, I'll cooperate as much as I can."

Meanwhile, within Changkong City.

Cocolia arrived at ME Company.

As the victor of the struggle, she now had the right to enjoy the fruits of victory.

ME Company had always been Anti-Entropy's moneybag. A considerable portion of the funding for Titan production came from it. Now that Einstein had failed to hold onto it, it had naturally become Cocolia's possession.

But that was not the most important thing.

"The plan can begin," she said. "Next, find people to slowly isolate that little girl. When the time is right, act directly. Don't hesitate."

Anti-Entropy also had a Divine Right Plan, and it had begun even earlier than Schicksal's.

However, unlike the "love" Otto envisioned, Cocolia's plan was to provoke the Herrscher host's inner obsession and hatred. Only then could the power of the Stigmata within Raiden Mei be unleashed to the greatest extent.

In that sense, her experiment was actually a follow-up supplementary experiment after the failure of the X-10 experiment.

If Stigmata could truly offset the influence of Herrscher consciousness, then that meant the X-10 experiment had been correct in its overall direction.

And all of Changkong City would be the sacrifice for this experiment.

The true Stigmata Plan had not actually begun in Arc City.

It had begun in Changkong City.

Wendy Wants to Know the Truth

"Tsk. An organization that fights the Honkai actually took in a Herrscher. How unusual."

Inside Shencheng Pharmaceuticals in Arc City.

Jackal, whom Raven had described as wearing a dog-head mask, finally appeared. Based solely on instinctive intuition, Wendy confirmed that she truly did not like her.

That was normal. Jackal did not like Wendy either.

No one liked Herrschers, especially those from World Serpent, who had come from that era.

However, although Jackal disliked her, she did not dare entertain any other thoughts toward the person before her.

World Serpent's cadres were absolutely loyal to their lord, and even Jackal was no exception. She could only speak in a snide tone. "Natasha, you've already explained the situation, right?"

"Don't worry. I'm not as unreliable as you."

Even within World Serpent, the relationships among its cadres were equally delicate.

Raven could not stand Jackal's reckless behavior, while Jackal likewise disliked Raven's refusal to follow orders. Yet the two were assigned joint missions more often than anyone else.

There was no helping it. There were too few cadres.

"Then let's begin. This is my first time using this device too."

Jackal looked at Wendy and said provocatively, "Herrscher, don't get scared next."

Shencheng Pharmaceuticals had risen to prominence in Europe. After the Second Honkai War, it had proactively sold anti-Honkai drugs to governments across Europe. In truth, those drugs were researched by Jackal herself, and they could stimulate Stigmata with a certain probability.

At the time, she had attempted to advance the Stigmata Plan this way, but she encountered a particularly troublesome problem.

Schicksal intervened.

That was understandable. Even Schicksal had not invented drugs capable of fighting the Honkai, so when had it become a pharmaceutical company's turn?

The impact of the Second Honkai War had been too great, and Otto had personally come to Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.

Then, all of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals's anti-Honkai drugs were bought by Schicksal, making it Schicksal's exclusive supplier.

If a company had a stable customer, then its growth and success were only a matter of time.

But Jackal was unwilling.

Those drugs had originally been preparatory medicine for the Stigmata Plan. She had intended to use them to activate Stigmata genes in human bodies, then create a major Honkai outbreak... but Schicksal had stolen the opportunity from her, so naturally she was dissatisfied.

Thus, under her planning, Jackal had Shencheng Pharmaceuticals relocate to a densely populated region beyond Schicksal's reach.

Shenzhou.

Through Jackal's efforts, Shencheng Pharmaceuticals finally established effective connections with Shenzhou, then secretly relocated there.

Otto naturally could not have failed to notice, but it did not matter. As long as they reached an area Schicksal could not influence, the plan could proceed as scheduled.

However, just as Shencheng Pharmaceuticals had moved to Arc City and Jackal was about to sell the drugs to ordinary people and begin preparing the Stigmata Plan,

World Serpent's lord issued an order, requiring World Serpent's people to search for someone living in this era.

The lord left behind only a photograph. Gray Serpent used technology to copy and reproduce it. It was the photograph Raven held.

According to the lord, this was the lover or younger sister of his deceased friend.