6. Raven: So, Which One of Us Is the World Serpent?

Xia Ling raised her gun and fired, but because the distance was too close, the bullets could only graze the shell of Benares, creating sparks.

Mei was completely helpless against it. Not to mention that Benares looked like it had a high lightning resistance, the fact that it was flying in the air made her extremely uncomfortable.

After all, this isn't a game. Benares is determined to land and let you hit him. Benares, which is already very intelligent, has no intention of landing at all. He just keeps spitting out lightning balls downwards from the sky.

Occasionally, it switches to a diving posture and launches a surprise attack on Mei from the sky.

However, for Mei, this attack was her only chance.

Seeing Benares preparing to dive again, Mei had been dodging for a long time, had a glint in her eyes and instantly drew her Dawnbreaker.

Benares's armor is extremely thick, requiring a significant amount of Honkai Energy to inflict effective damage. Furthermore, Mei's Strike Armor is powered by her remaining Herrscher energy, further complicating the challenge of dealing damage to Mei.

"There's a chance!"

Mei lightly touched the wall with her toes, then her body instantly transformed into a blur, appearing above Benares.

Lightning gathered on the blade, coating the weapon in his hand with a layer of purple lightning.

Mei's entire body's Honkai Energy was fully mobilized by this attack, and at least so far, Mei's performance can be said to prove that her recent efforts have not been in vain.

But...

Because Mei's preparation time, that is, the pre-cast animation of her skill, was too long, when she slashed down from the sky with overwhelming lightning, Benares had already nimbly turned around, kicking up a cloud of dust, and then soared back into the sky with a perfect spin.

"No, sis?"

Xia Ling's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "This 'Dragon Ascension' can't be made empty?"

"Well..."

Mei felt a little embarrassed for having given Xia Ling such a big dumpling, so she quickly slashed upwards with several bolts of lightning, forcing Benares, who was preparing to dive again, back away.

Having learned from the previous mistake of missing her ultimate attack, Mei became extremely cautious with her tactics. Because of the fact that Xia Ling was just coasting along, Benares didn't dare to land directly and engage in a head-on fight.

Just then, the support team arrived.

Arrows bearing black and red markings shot out from afar, grazed Mei's side, and struck Benares's wing directly.

The corrosive arrows sizzled against Benares's shell, and at the same time, a cloud of red mist condensed out of thin air, from which the Raven slowly emerged.

Raven glanced at Mei Raiden beside her Raven said coldly, "You guys go to a safe place first. I'll handle things here."

Before he could utter a second word, the Raven suddenly rolled forward, dodging Benares's breath attack. At the same time, it drew its bow and fired five arrows, each trailing a red streak of light, towards Benares.

"Let's go, Mei. With her strength and abilities, dealing with Benares will be quite easy for her."

Xia Ling had already quietly brought Xiao Little Kong to Mei's side and whispered.

Soon, the two found a safe platform. Less than five minutes later, a shadow swept past, and the woman in the black cloak landed silently on the ground.

"Teacher, you're back! Did you defeat that flying Great Honkai Beast?"

Little Kong immediately waved to the Raven, his face beaming with joy.

Judging from Little Kong's state, they probably didn't say much to Little Kong... Well, according to Reed, they were all "good people".

A thoughtful look flashed in the Raven's eyes.

"Sorry, that guy got away, but I injured one of its wings. It shouldn't be a threat for a while."

Raven smiled apologetically, then patted Little Kong's soft hair and said gently.

"Little Kong, you should go home first. My two older sisters and I still have things to talk about, okay?"

Seemingly realizing something, the girl hurriedly nodded and disappeared from their sight.

After watching Little Kong leave completely, Raven turned to the two people beside her.

"You must still have many questions, but I still want to express my gratitude to you first."

"Is it to thank us for saving Little Kong, or something else?"

Xia Ling gently tugged at Mei's clothes, stepped forward a few paces, and asked in a low voice.

Upon seeing Xia Ling's "mount," a hint of undisguised surprise and fear flashed in Raven's eyes.

"Yes, I saw Mark II charging at the orphanage, so I immediately realized something."

"That child is a survivor I rescued from Changkong City a few years ago, and I don't want her to get involved in these things."

"So, thank you for not bringing the grudges of the World Serpent onto the children."

After expressing his gratitude, Raven steered the conversation back on track.

"You came to Changkong City to find that Herrscher girl, right?"

Xia Ling and Mei exchanged a glance and said:

"That's right. Little Kong provided us with some clues that are like urban legends, but judging from Benares' appearance, these clues are obviously not unfounded."

"However, I think we've found a shortcut now."

"Shortcut?"

"Yes, I'm talking to a shortcut right now."

Xia Ling nodded expressionlessly.

"So the shortcut was me all along..."

Raven was somewhat speechless; the girl's overly familiar manner reminded her of when she first met Reed.

"However, you guessed correctly. The World Serpent did have some methods to locate Kiana before you did."

Raven didn't deny it. After all, judging from the attitudes of both Gray Serpent and Kevin, it was clear that Xia Ling probably had a close relationship with the World Serpent. She was just a working-class girl, and there was no need to make such a big deal out of it.

"But..." Raven emphasized, "You're probably going to be disappointed."

"After all, my purpose in coming here is to kill the Herrscher of the Void."

After making his threats, Raven silently observed the expressions of the two men.

However, just as she had expected, Mei's face showed surprise and anger.

But why is Xia Ling laughing?

The Raven was a little confused.

Chapter Six: Raven: Are you the World Serpent or am I?

"Ah, right, right, you're here to kill the Herrscher of the Void."

Xia Ling nodded perfunctorily, completely ignoring Raven's words.

"Let's not even talk about how many days Kiana has been in Changkong City, or how many opportunities you have to make a move."

"To put it simply, Miss Raven, could you please explain to me what the punishment is for disobeying the Honored Master's orders in your World Serpent?"

"Disobeying orders? What is this? My orders are to kill the Herrscher of the Void."

The Raven tried to argue its point.

"Le, it's fine if you lie to me, I can just laugh it off, just don't lie to yourself."

Xia Ling patted Raven on the shoulder. The biggest advantage of having a mount was that she didn't have to reach her hand so high when patting a shoulder or touching a head.

"If Kevin really said something like that, I'll eat the Seven Thunders of Retribution in your hand right now."

Why are you so difficult to deal with...?

The Raven was filled with doubt.

Could this guy be some hidden mastermind behind the World Serpent? Not only does he have close ties with the Herrschers, but he also seems to know so much about the World Serpent's inner workings and its Honored Master...?

"... Okay, I admit that what I just said had nothing to do with the organization; it was just my personal opinion."

Raven gave a French military salute with a sigh, "However, I don't think there's anything wrong with my judgment."

"As a way of thanking you for helping the children, let me tell you something."

"During the escape from the Vimur Base in North Africa, the shackles that had been binding the girl and helping her maintain core stability have disappeared."

"If a single Herrscher Core can cause a disaster like the one in Changkong City, then the fact that the girl has three sealed inside her body is even more alarming."

"Rising sea levels, hordes of monsters, and even the summoning of Judgment-class Honkai Beast... all these anomalies in Changkong City point to the same fact—"

"That girl has probably lost the ability to maintain basic human boundaries, like a flood before a dam breaks..."

"Perhaps she had such a premonition, which is why she hid in this sparsely populated place, quietly waiting for her death."

"I know, but that's none of your business."

Xia Ling interrupted Raven directly, "No matter what happens to Kiana, Anti-Entropy will find a way to treat her."

"I don't think Anti-Entropy can save her. If it could, the Honkai four months ago wouldn't have happened."

"Even earlier, my family was broken during the Second Honkai Outbreak, and I will not allow that to happen again."

Raven paused for a moment, then slowly said, "The organization's orders were indeed to continue observing, and the girl isn't going to die immediately, which is why I haven't taken action yet."

"But that doesn't mean I won't lay a hand on her."

"If she really can't control herself, I won't watch things fall apart."

"Yes, you're right, but you can stand by and watch the Jackal experiment on the entire Sky City while you're in Changkong City."

"And less than half a month later, you're going to eliminate the Herrscher of the Void, who has a successful precedent of seizing power, for the sake of a settlement of less than a few thousand people in Changkong City?"

Xia Ling remained unmoved. "I know you have some personal grudges with the Herrscher of the Void, but I think your professional ethics would not allow you to bring them into the mission."

"If I'm not mistaken, one of the tasks World Serpent gave you should be that you must not stop Anti-Entropy from rescuing Kiana, right?"

"You have two choices now. One is to take us to find Kiana, which will save everyone some trouble and give us a greater chance of rescuing Kiana and preventing a disaster."

"Secondly, you don't have to tell us Kiana's location, but it doesn't matter. The clues we have now are enough to roughly pinpoint her location. It just takes a day or two more."

"Of course, you can also choose to start a war with us immediately, then return to the organization to accept punishment. As for whether you can kill us..."

Xia Ling glanced at the Seven Thunders of Retribution in Raven's hand.

"You can try it and see if this thing works on me when I'm on guard."

"You... you're really not a member of the World Serpent's leadership?"

Raven sighed, "If I weren't familiar with the power structure within the World Serpent, I would almost suspect that you, Gray Serpent, were deliberately disguising yourself to give me a warning..."

"Let's go. I can take you to the Herrscher of the Void, but I won't take back what I just said."

"Don't worry, I have full confidence in Kiana's condition."

Xia Ling put away her weapon and gently tugged at Mei.

Mei suddenly realized that Xia Ling seemed to have placed something on her.

Mei sensed it without making a sound, and her ability reacted to the thing Xia Ling had stuck to the inside of her skirt. It looked like a small positioning device.

Why did Sister Xia Ling put a GPS tracker on me? Does she want to act alone later?

A hint of doubt flashed through Mei's mind, but she didn't show it.

Silently following behind the Raven, the three of them set off towards the West District.

Halfway there, the Raven suddenly stopped.

In the distance, an ordinary Chariot-class Honkai Beast was wandering aimlessly.

With a flash of black shadow, Raven suddenly appeared above the Honkai Beast, and then a sharp red claw materialized in her hand.

The claws pierced deep into the body of the Chariot-class- class Honkai Beast from behind. The poor Chariot-class Honkai Beast let out a series of mournful cries, but it dared not resist due to the aura of the high-ranking Honkai Beast emanating from the Raven.

Gradually, the Honkai Beast's voice weakened and its body stopped struggling. Raven, having obtained sufficient information, reappeared beside the two of them.

What were you doing just now?

Seeing Raven return empty-handed, Mei asked with some confusion.

"I had some friendly interactions with them."

The claws in the Raven's hand gradually disappeared, turning back into slender, jade-like fingers.

"Lower-level Honkai Beast have no intelligence and are controlled by a certain Honkai Energy signal that is imperceptible to humans, similar to pheromones emitted by animals."

"By interfering with this signal, we can induce and change the behavior of Honkai Beast, and even control them to give instructions to their companions."

"Similarly, I can also receive their perception feedback about the world, and among these is the fragrance of the Herrscher from afar."