Serpent: The Most Professionally Specialized Episode / Xia Ling: The Senate Seems to Be Getting a Little Too Urbanized

In short, after realizing that Sirin was not a bad person at all, Sirin was quickly accepted by the group.

"So, is that your reason for going out as three people and coming back as five?"

Theresa looked at Xia Ling, who was grinning, with an indescribable expression. "I'm starting to wonder... what you'll bring back from your next mission."

"Uh... I'm afraid it's not something good, is it?"

Thinking about the upcoming storyline involving Thousand-Man Herrscher, Xia Ling shook her head with a chill.

Chapter 63 Serpent: The Episode Where Everyone Has Their Specialization

With Fu Hua, Kiana, and others returning to the Salt Lake Base, Anti-Entropy suddenly had a sufficient number of high-level combat personnel.

Although Anti-Entropy's combat power has more than doubled compared to the original work due to the presence of Bella, Yae Sakura, Xia Ling, and others, Xia Ling doesn't feel any ease considering the current version's power spike.

After all, it's already late May, and in the original work, the Thousand-Man Herrscher started causing trouble for the main characters in early June. In other words, the crucial plot point involving the Thousand-Man Herrscher is imminent.

Moreover, the fact that it's not June yet doesn't mean that the Thousand-Man Herrscher won't start causing trouble ahead of time. In fact, the Thousand-Man Herrscher began to subtly show their presence after the Celestial Meteor event ended.

Meanwhile, Kal'tsit, one of Xia Ling's alter egos, found conclusive evidence.

Xia Ling had no choice but to take this seriously and began making advance arrangements to target the potential threats posed by the Thousand-Man Herrscher.

"Doctor. Ain, what brings you here all of a sudden?"

"Xia Ling, the main reason I called you here today is to tell you some things that are not convenient to disclose to others."

Einstein sighed and slowly took out a few sheets of paper.

Judging from the handwriting on the paper, this should be Ain's own work.

"You should remember the database attack that happened when we came back from Changkong City just now."

"Of course, and the people involved in this matter are also closely related to me."

Xia Ling nodded. This was an operation planned by her clones themselves, and she was quite startled at the time.

"Yes, the conclusion of our discussion at the time was that the other party took these materials not only for their own use, but also to remind us of some things in this way."

"Then, around the time you went to Mount Tai Xu, I began investigating this list."

Ain paused for a moment, then the topic abruptly shifted to another aspect.

"Xia Ling, have you noticed any changes in the international environment recently?"

"Huh? Why are you suddenly asking about this..." Xia Ling paused for a moment, then replied, "Doctor. Ain, you know me, I never pay attention to these things..."

"Hmm... then let me try a different approach." Ain thought for a moment, "Have you noticed that the news on your phone has been updating a bit too frequently lately?"

"Often, before one hot news story has even faded away, another hot news story immediately follows. From some perspectives, this can be considered a waste."

"If that's the case... it does seem to be true."

"At first, I simply dispatched members of Anti-Entropy stationed in Schicksal to conduct a simple screening of this list, and then I discovered something interesting."

"Among these members, one is involved in a recent major event."

"Of course, this has nothing to do with you. It's probably just a change in some leadership in Changkong City. But coincidentally, our investigators detected a certain amount of Honkai Energy reaction in this matter."

"Following this lead, we quickly discovered another similar incident."

"Note that the similarity here does not refer to the similarity of the participants or the methods of committing the crimes, but rather... the similarity of the consequences of the crimes."

"These kinds of events invariably trigger widespread social impact, and may even lead to regime change, popular riots, and so on. Simply put, someone is trying to reduce the level of social stability."

"Doctor. Ain, you mean..." Xia Ling pretended to suddenly realize, "These events that reduce social stability are not limited to Changkong City, but are occurring widely throughout the world?"

"That's right. For those of us who are half from the Otherworld, fighting the Honkai is often our main focus. If it weren't for a coincidence, it's hard to imagine how long it would have taken us to discover something like this."

Ain sounded somewhat weary.

"If the Doctor confirms that this matter is related to the Honkai... then without a doubt, it can only be..."

"The Thousand-Man Herrscher, or rather, the Herrscher of Domination."

"Only such a group of Herrscher can create this kind of impact on a global scale at the same time."

Ain stated definitively, "Furthermore, these Herrscher are extremely adept at concealment, and I suspect that's why Miss Theresia insisted on reminding us in this way."

"After all, it's hard to guarantee that there aren't people who have been controlled and infected inside the Anti-Entropy."

"Doctor, do I look like Thousand-Man Herrscher?"

Xia Ling blinked.

"For example, I've noticed that many of Herrscher who come out of St. Freya have some potential to become Herrschers. You might become Herrscher too."

Ain, with her great sense of humor, picked up on the joke.

"In short, due to the special nature of this matter, I cannot make arrangements publicly. I can only inform a certain number of people I can absolutely trust first."

"After that, I might assign you some missions that need to be kept secret. Just understand the nature of these missions."

"Don't worry, Doctor, I'm very tight-lipped. No one can pry my mouth open."

Xia Ling was full of confidence.

"Mmm..."

"Elysia, I can't breathe..."

"Hmm~ I can't help it, Little Xia Ling is just too cute!"

"So, why did Xia Ling skip training today and come to the Elysian Realm instead?"

"Elysia asked with a smile."

"Wait, Elysia, you don't know?"

Xia Ling blinked in confusion.

"I don't know~ I just saw Xia Ling come into the Elysian Realm, so I came over to enjoy it. It's like seeing a cute little kitten on the roadside and not being able to resist petting it."

"Hey? Xia Ling, why do you look like you've been wronged?"

"I... I thought Elysia knew what I was planning to do, so she came specifically to 'punish' me..."

Xia Ling shrank her neck.

"Oh? Then..." Elysia's eyes narrowed. "Why don't you let me hear what dangerous plans Little Xia Ling has up her sleeve this time?"

"Can, can I not say it...? Wait, wait, Elysia, please stop... um..."

After a period of time.

"Sigh... Little mouse, if you're in heat, remember to take care of it before you come back to me next time." Serpent rested his chin on his hand boredly, "Instead of wasting my time while doing some weird things with that pink guy."

"Um... I'm sorry, Doctor Mobius... but I can assure you that I haven't kept you waiting for nothing. I'd like to ask you for a favor this time, and I think you'll be happy to oblige."

"Oh?" Mobius's eyes lit up with interest. "Go on."

"Doctor, do you know?"

"The Herrscher of Domination of this era has arrived."

"And I have a plan, a plan that requires a kind of technology."

"Doctor, I think you must have done research in this area, right?"

Chapter One: Xia Ling: The Senate Seems to Have Become Somewhat Urbanized

"Rita, what happened?"

Durandal was awakened from her meditation.

"There's a strange report, Durandal. Take a look at this."

Rita sent a report to Durandal's terminal. Durandal opened the terminal, looked at it, and then her expression became somewhat strange.

"This is..."

"Yes, it's what connected these unrelated events: the London Underground incident, the Belgrade murders, the Frankfurt financial crisis... a total of five cases,"

"Behind these seemingly unrelated social events, there are clues to the Honkai."

"Coincidentally, apart from the revenge killing incident where the local police contacted us, the other four cases were discovered by chance because people from Schicksal were involved."

"What's even more disturbing is that, according to Director Changguang... since we've already discovered five such coincidences—"

"Based on probability calculations, there may have been five hundred or five thousand similar incidents around the world."

"If we don't respond in time..."

"... That is indeed a terrifying guess."

Durandal was silent for a moment, then sighed, "Ah, if only we could contact Bishop Otto right now."

"But the Lord Bishop is now missing, and under the guise of his previous death, he has handed over the responsibility of acting as the temporary bishop to Durandal."

"That's right, so at this point we can only rely on ourselves."

After a moment's thought, Durandal said, "We are not professional researchers, so in this situation, we should definitely support Doctor. Changguang's suggestion. Rita, I'll leave the task of contacting the various branches to you."

"Furthermore, let's share our intelligence with Anti-Entropy and the World Serpent. An event of this scale cannot be resolved by Schicksal alone."

"The World Serpent is still an ally of us, so there's no problem with that. However, what about Anti-Entropy..."

"If it were Bishop Otto, he certainly wouldn't have done this, but I am not him." Durandal's gaze was intense.

"I understand, Durandal."

Rita smiled slightly and left the office.

Then, in a short while, she returned.

"Hmm? Rita, is there anything else?"

"Durandal, I'm afraid our intelligence is still a step behind."

Rita smiled wryly, "After I contacted Lord Theresa, she shared a report with us and instructed that it could only be viewed by the two of us."

"Considering the title of this report—'Analysis of the Incident of the Suspected Herrscher of Domination' —I think... we may be facing a big problem right after taking office."

"Huh? It sounds really noisy in Doctor. Ain's office..."

Seele stood at the office door, hesitating whether to go in.

At that moment, the door opened on its own.

"Seele, good morning. Come in first. If you don't mind, you can listen to Dr. Tesla's rant first. Afterwards, I have something I'd like to ask you for help with."

Ain spoke to Seele outside the door. Although her expression remained as calm as ever, Seele could clearly sense her helplessness.

"Those federal senators are a bunch of stubborn old fogies, completely impossible to communicate with!"

"Those bastards just keep repeating the same old things, always trying to squeeze more money out of Kiana. I've explained to them countless times that Kiana's condition is stable, but these damn idiots still insist that this is irresponsible towards the safety of the Federation's people!"

"My assessment is that I suggest putting a wheel in the Senate lobby," Xia Ling calmly uttered a suggestion brimming with dark humor. "Remember to lay the wheel flat."

"Well, it's not that bad..." Tesla suddenly realized that Xia Ling seemed even more extreme than her.

"Dr. Tesla, you need to wake up," Xia Ling coaxed patiently. "How can you fight off the Honkai while you're with these insects?"

"The Fire Moth of the Previous Civilization suffered a tragedy because they were held back by such people for too long in the early stages, wasting a lot of precious development time. We must not repeat their mistakes."

"Ahem, although the methods were a bit radical, Xia Ling is not wrong."

Ain sighed, and under Tesla's shocked gaze, she actually started to support Xia Ling.

"Right now, the Thousand-Man Herrscher is hiding in the shadows of society. If there were a group of such guys causing trouble in the open, our situation would be too passive."

"Wait, wait a minute, so I was the conservative one?" Tesla stared at himself in disbelief.

"No, Doctor, you're still a radical, we're the conservatives." Xia Ling laughed, "We just think the radicals are too conservative."

"There's no need to be so extreme. Bella has been relatively free lately, and they generally know that Benares is an Anti-Entropy. Let Bella fly out at night to scare them, and they'll behave."

"If they have any objections, just say it's a drill."