27. The Xia Ling Capture Plan

Before Raven could say anything, a gunshot rang out and the screen shattered.

"Miss Rita, do you not even have the strength to smash the screen anymore?"

Kiana fired several shots, and Rita, in perfect unison, suddenly sprang into action, accurately eliminating all the Honkai zombie surrounding the two.

"It seems you have made your choice, Miss Rita."

"It's just a temporary option," Rita added.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. So, we still have the strength to break through, right?"

"Don't worry, that's enough. Head upstairs. Once we reach the top floor, I can call Eos."

"Actually, I could also..." Reimu x; yi Erling-Lingqi Shi (8)... Never mind, whatever you say."

Kiana was about to say that she could also open a portal, but then she thought that as long as she could leave, it wouldn't make much difference.

"I still have a lot of pursuers behind me. If I want to leave, I should do it now."

"Carbon-based Hunter, lead the way."

Without wasting words, Rita immediately perked up and followed.

The two quickly reached the top floor of the industrial area. Rita watched the signal gradually recover and quickly reconnected the Eos.

However, on the other end of the communication, Rita only heard chaotic gunshots and the roars of Honkai Beast.

"Oh no..."

Rita's face darkened as she looked at the remaining squad whose communication interface had been completely disconnected, and at a message she had just received.

"Hey, to prevent you from doing anything rash, let me clarify first: I saved all the people you brought."

Kiana, seeing Rita's expression, quickly comforted her.

"Thank you, Miss Kiana."

"Are you worried about that child? Don't worry, she's quite capable and should be safe and sound."

"I'm not worried about Little Xi, I'm just a little angry that she made such a big mistake this time."

Rita sighed.

"Now that things have come to this, it seems there's little hope of getting your Eos."

Two Spear of Subspace appeared around Kiana, sweeping around her several times and clearing out all the surrounding Honkai zombie. At the same time, a yellow portal opened from her hand.

"So, you should just make it my portal...?"

Kiana turned her head to look, and then her eyes suddenly widened.

She saw a smug, mischievous grin spread across Rita's face as she spoke into the communicator.

"Eos, automatic navigation function activated."

"The action orders were 'deployed' and 'cleaned up'."

"Target: Current coordinates."

To Kiana's shock, a transport ship, trailing a brilliant plume of flame, hurtled straight toward the two of them from the horizon.

"Eh? Eh? Eh? Eh?"

"Even I would be angry to be schemed against like this."

Rita chuckled as she watched Kiana's surprised expression, then caught a small box flying towards her from the air and pulled Kiana into the portal.

Just recently, Rita was still fighting in the underground area.

Near Eos.

Xi suddenly opened her eyes.

"What's wrong, Little Xi? Did I wake you up?"

"Sister Alvit, I'm not asleep..."

Xi rubbed her eyes, her dazed look making her words seem unconvincing.

However, Alvit, who was still admiring Yu's cute appearance, was startled by what she said next.

"Sister Alvit, tell the other sisters outside to come back inside."

"We are about to face a fierce battle."

"Eh?"

Before Alvit could figure out what was going on, Xi had already started operating the Eos on her own, while simultaneously preparing a message in advance.

"Hmm? Sister Alvit, hurry up and inform the others."

"Don't forget, Rita said before she left that you'd be under her command here, okay?"

"Okay, but Little Xi, why all of a sudden..."

Alvit quickly mobilized the nearby team members, and soon, more than a dozen team members began to establish a defensive line using the Eos.

Sure enough, not long after, a large number of Stigmata Honkai zombie and Death Weaver began to emerge from the bottom of the building and headed toward the top floor where the Eos was located.

Gunshots soon rang out on the not-so-great helipad. The autonomous machines carried by the Immortal Blade had all been released by Alvit, and together with his teammates, they formed a defensive line.

Xi did not make a move immediately. The rooftop was an easy position to defend and difficult to attack. In a short time, the Immortal Blade would not be unable to deal with it.

She sat in the Eos, observing the situation outside with several Fowlbeast.

"This quantity should have been precisely calculated, but I don't know if it carries serum... no, it probably does."

"If they had the serum, no wonder the Immortal Blade were wiped out here in the original work..."

"So, should I take action to deal with these things...?"

"I guess I'll just stick to the original story." After a moment's thought, Xi quickly made a decision. "Judging from the number of Honkai Beast, World Serpent has no idea about my abilities."

"In that case, let's keep it hidden for now. It might come in very useful later."

After thinking it over, Xi picked up the communicator and spoke to Alvit.

"Sister Alvit, tell all the team members to enter my painting."

"Huh? Little Xi, should we retreat into the Eos for defense? But that would greatly weaken our firepower advantage..."

"No, we're not going to guard it anymore. We don't want the Eos either. Rita and I have other plans."

Xi opened a landscape painting and simultaneously sent the message she had just edited to the group.

Xi's orders were quickly relayed to each squad, and this time, the Immortal Blade's retreat was remarkably swift.

She casually released two Great Freedom to hold back the Honkai Beast and Honkai zombie that wanted to get close, and then quickly walked to the Eos's drop-off port. She then took out a specially made small supply box that she had prepared in advance and stuffed the painting into it.

Then, she jumped into the painting herself and reached out a hand to close the box.

If Rita receives this message, then when she is in the industrial zone building of Kamisato Pharmaceuticals, which is cosplaying as the Twin Towers, the supply box she is in will be launched and taken away by Rita in advance.

If you don't receive it... that's okay, this box is both shockproof and explosion-proof.

Even if it were confiscated, World Serpent might not be able to figure out the purpose of the painting.

Then, they can even perform a magic trick for the World Serpent, making people appear out of thin air.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Xia Ling's Capture Plan

As night fell, the Raven slowly climbed to the top of the spire in the industrial area.

The industrial area was now a scene of utter devastation: the corpses of Honkai zombie and Honkai Beast, the wreckage of mechs, the cratered ground... and a spaceship that had fallen from the sky, its hull severely damaged.

"Raven, how's the situation?"

The communicator in the Raven's pocket suddenly made a sound.

"The scene was a complete mess. The woman directly steered the spaceship into the building, causing a huge commotion."

"Don't tell me you'll be fooled by this kind of trick."

"Of course, since no bodies were found, it's almost certain they escaped."

The Raven sighed.

"Heh, Reed Xia Ling's side. It's hard not to suspect that the two of you are working together to slack off."

"Raven, let me remind you, that woman's successful escape means that Schicksal will immediately take notice of our situation. Durandal will arrive in Changkong City in as little as ten hours."

"If we can't complete the preliminary verification of the Stigmata Project before then, hah..."

The Jackal sneered and didn't continue speaking.

"I'll take care of my own problems. Instead of worrying about me, you should think about your own issues."

Spending time with the Flame Willow, the Raven gradually learned to no longer tolerate the Jackal's aggressive behavior.

"Indeed, if your serum gas hadn't been so ineffective, would Rita have been able to hold out until Kiana arrived?"

"If you can't make something yourself, that's fine. But if you can't even improve on what Otto made, then don't blame others."

Flame Willow's voice suddenly interrupted the communication, and she retorted without any politeness.

"You..." The Jackal was about to curse, but then he held back. After all, unlike the Raven who had been raised by the World Serpent since childhood, this newly joined Reed was not so easy to mess with.

Last time at Kamisato Pharmaceuticals, I just wanted to get some of her blood for research, but they almost burned down the lab. And for some reason, Gray Serpent didn't stand on my side either.

"Hmph, forget it, I won't bother with you brutes who only think about fighting."

Jackal finally chose to follow his heart. "I will naturally handle the Honkai Energy issue. Do you see the Eos below you? Its Honkai Energy engine can be used as a medium to spread Honkai throughout the city."

"With just a few modifications, I can complete the preliminary preparations for the plan in less than two hours. And you, you'd better also be able to deal with the people from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy."

After saying that, Jackal hung up the call.

"When dealing with someone who's not quite right in the head, you have to teach her a lesson." Flame Willow clenched her fist. "If you keep going along with her, she might just send you to assassinate Durandal next time."

"How could that be... Even if it were true, I definitely wouldn't go..." Raven sighed. "However, our lead has now gone cold. What's next..."

"I just checked, and the data room in the industrial area only showed signs of one intrusion."

Flame Willow thought for a moment and said, "Kiana saved so many people, she definitely didn't have time to carefully search the industrial zone's information."

"So they will probably come back and try to get some more clues."

"I just don't know whether they will choose to return to the industrial zone or go directly to the headquarters of Kamisato Pharmaceuticals, which is closer to the city center."

"They were just tricked by the serum gas, so this time they might try a different approach and search headquarters instead."

Raven analyzed, "We just need to guard the headquarters. The experimental subjects and data in the industrial area will be moved to the headquarters. We can leave the antidote for the serum here as bait."

"If they go straight to headquarters, they will be walking into a trap. If they come to the industrial area, they can waste a lot of their time."

"Yes, Rita is not in good condition, and Kiana has consumed a lot of Honkai Energy. This time, Xia Ling is the most likely to come."

Flame Willow sold her original body without hesitation.

"She is also a user of spatial abilities, and much more cautious than Kiana, so she will definitely be on guard against the serum that just severely injured Rita."

"At this time..."

"At this point, we need something she has never seen before."

Raven took out a fancy-looking sniper rifle.

"The Seven Thunders of Retribution, something that could easily take away Otto's life, will surely kill her if it hits."

"Wait, wait a minute?" Flame Willow hurriedly interrupted, "She's definitely going to die... so there's no need for that. Once she's really dead, we'll be locked in a life-or-death struggle with Anti-Entropy."

"Uh, I didn't say I absolutely had to kill her, don't be in such a hurry..."

Raven looked at Flame Willow with a puzzled expression. "The Seven Thunders of Retribution have many functions, one of which I call the Capture Mode."

"In this mode, in addition to the power of the bullet itself, the Divine Key Honkai Energy attached to the bullet by the Divine Key will be used to disintegrate the opponent's Honkai Energy."

"It's just that this method is rather violent. The feeling of being instantly drained like that would probably knock the other person unconscious. She can't be so fragile that she can't even withstand a bullet, can she?"