"Good night."
There was no response in the silent cabin.
"You're saying Otto suddenly fell from the sky, punched you, and snatched away Judgement of Shamash?"
Deep within the World Serpent base, Jackal, one of the organization's executives, felt as if she were listening to an Arabian Nights tale.
"Are you the kind of woman who mistakes Iron Man for a blond bastard?"
Jackal frowned at Raven before her. She simply could not believe what Raven was saying.
"That's what happened. You don't believe me?"
Losing Judgement of Shamash was no small matter. The moment Raven escaped, she immediately returned to World Serpent for a physical examination to make sure Otto had not brainwashed her.
Only after confirming that Otto had not left any backdoors in her mind did she go see Jackal and report what had happened.
She even told her about Otto inviting her to join Schicksal.
Telling World Serpent now was far better than letting them find out themselves.
Yet even so, Jackal still looked at Raven with distrust in her eyes.
Jackal sat in her chair, deep in thought. Though she could not believe some of the details, there was one thing she could be certain of.
World Serpent had been exposed.
But to what extent?
Had Kamijou Pharmaceuticals been exposed too?
Without Kamijou Pharmaceuticals, most of World Serpent's human experiments would run into trouble. That gave Jackal a slight headache.
So she smiled at Raven.
"How could I not believe you? But go report to Gray Serpent first. He hasn't been at the base lately. It seems he's been watching that Cocolia he thinks so highly of."
"Heh. If Cocolia can truly obtain a complete Third Herrscher Core, then letting her join World Serpent would be acceptable."
"Her experiment site seems to be in Changkong City. Gray Serpent has high hopes for her. I'd like to see just what that woman can accomplish."
She had deliberately told Raven that.
It was intelligence Raven had not known before.
And intelligence Schicksal did not know either.
"I need to think about how to reclaim Judgement of Shamash. Go find Gray Serpent first."
"Yes."
Raven nodded, neither servile nor overbearing.
They were both World Serpent executives. Although Jackal ranked slightly above her, Raven had no reason to grovel before her.
After Raven left, the smile vanished from Jackal's face. She picked up her communication terminal and spoke.
"Investigate everything that has happened around Raven recently, especially whom she has met and what she has done. Keep her under surveillance at all times."
Verbal trust was never worth trusting.
Kiana.JPG
Duck Has Arrived!
"Bronya."
"Remain on standby in Changkong City for now. Once the Third Herrscher is born, I'll send someone to assist you in recovering her."
In a convenience store, a young girl with a somewhat childish appearance heard the calm voice of a mature woman through her earpiece and answered.
"Yes."
The girl had lovely light-gray curls and eyes. She looked adorable and petite, with a Homu plushie in her arms.
Unfortunately, she was sitting in a wheelchair.
This girl was Bronya Zaychik, a member of Anti-Entropy.
The woman on the other end of the earpiece fell silent for a moment after hearing Bronya's flat, unchanging voice.
"Bronya, after this experiment is over, I'll find a way to use the Herrscher Core to open the gate to the Sea of Quanta."
"When we find Seele, you and Seele can go home together."
The woman speaking with Bronya was her adoptive mother, Cocolia.
Though Cocolia was her adoptive mother, Bronya had parted ways with her after Seele became trapped in the Sea of Quanta because of Cocolia's X-10 experiment.
The two were now more like familiar strangers.
Bronya remained silent.
Even after Cocolia cut off the call, she did not say a word.
Bronya removed her Bluetooth earpiece and looked at the magazine rack before her, but Seele's smiling face surfaced in her mind.
I really want to see you, Seele.
Duck and Seele.JPG
At that moment, the convenience store door opened. Bronya looked toward the entrance and saw a man and a woman walk in side by side.
Are they a couple?
The girl with beautiful long white hair immediately scampered toward the snack aisle as soon as she entered.
The blond man following behind her said helplessly,
"Be careful, or you'll turn into a pig if you eat that much."
"Hmph, this young lady doesn't gain weight!"
Foreign tourists?
Without paying them much attention, Bronya withdrew her gaze.
Coming to Changkong City at a time like this was truly bad luck.
Once the Herrscher of Thunder was born, who knew how many people in Changkong City would survive the Great Honkai.
Thinking of that, Bronya felt no emotional stir. She had been an assassin before.
She had long since become indifferent to life and death.
She was not that noble. She only wanted to protect the people she wished to protect.
Bronya hugged the Homu plushie tighter, reached for the latest issue of the Homu comic, and guided her wheelchair toward the checkout counter.
Several people were already lined up at the register, so Bronya could only wait slowly at the back of the queue.
However, out of habits formed during her time as an assassin, Bronya observed her surroundings from the corner of her eye while waiting.
Everything and everyone was ordinary. Some people even looked at Bronya in her wheelchair with pity.
After all, it was a shame for such a cute young girl to be confined to a wheelchair at such a young age.
Her gaze gradually shifted toward the snack aisle. The cute white-haired girl had both hands on her knees, her knees slightly bent, her perky butt sticking out as she swayed from side to side, staring at the dazzling array of snacks with a conflicted expression.
"Otto, what should I buy? Everything looks delicious."
"If you want them, you can buy them all."
The blond man idly twirled a pen in his hand.
Then he said indulgently. He looked like a man who spoiled his wife, but Bronya noticed that his eyes had remained fixed on the girl's raised butt.
So he's a pervert too.
Bronya mentally slapped that label onto the blond man.
Still, with his looks, that girl would probably willingly let him do whatever he wanted.
Bronya withdrew her gaze. No matter how handsome he was, her heart remained utterly unmoved.
After losing Seele, perhaps she would never feel joy or sorrow again in this life.
But then she heard something.
"Otto, who is that girl named Raiden Mei you're looking for?"
The white-haired girl asked, and the blond man smiled.
"Mm, someone who cooks for us?"
Dissatisfied by his perfunctory answer, the white-haired girl patted his shoulder. Yet the gesture was unusually gentle, and she barely used any strength, as though afraid of hurting him.
The pair seemed to be flirting.
But to Bronya, their words were like a bolt from the blue.
Why are they looking for Raiden Mei?
Bronya narrowed her eyes. She knew Cocolia intended to use Raiden Mei to create the Third Herrscher. Her current assignment was to wait in Changkong City and recover Raiden Mei after she awakened.
Cocolia had told her that with a complete Herrscher Core, there would be a high chance of opening the gate to the Sea of Quanta.
But why were these foreigners looking for Mei?
Bronya instinctively sensed that something was wrong and clenched her small fists.
"Next."
The cashier called out. It was Bronya's turn.
After paying, Bronya guided her wheelchair out of the convenience store and went to the coffee stand across the street.
Sitting by the window, Bronya opened the Homu comic in her hands, but kept watching the convenience store entrance through the glass.
After observing for a while, Bronya saw the man and woman leave the convenience store carrying several bags of snacks.
Following them quietly, Bronya trailed them all the way to an upscale hotel with many black luxury sedans parked outside.
She hid in a dark corner, pulled a small computer from her arms, and connected to the hotel network. In just two minutes, she breached the hotel's database.
Her hacking skills were even more frightening than her assassination abilities.
Her eyes narrowed as Bronya searched for where the couple was staying.
She found the answer quickly, because a young man and woman were easy to filter out from the data.
The man had registered under the name Olga Itsuka, while the girl had registered under the name Kiana Kaslana.
Both were names she had never heard before.
They had just booked the two rooms on the hotel's top floor, and the bill was being paid through an account from Europe.
Europeans?
Bronya frowned. Cocolia had already arranged everything concerning Raiden Mei and told Bronya that all she needed to do was wait for the results. Yet now, two people had suddenly appeared looking for Raiden Mei.
This was an unexpected variable.
"Seele..."
Remembering Seele, who was still trapped in the Sea of Quanta, Bronya's eyes became resolute.
Although she disliked Cocolia's plan, she had to ensure its success now, because only by relying on Cocolia could she bring Seele back.
So...
She had to help Cocolia eliminate this variable.
At the very least, she had to uncover why they were looking for Raiden Mei.
And the time was tonight!
Duck Wants to Knock Out Soul Steel!
Night fell. Otto lay on a sun lounger on the balcony, swirling a glass of red wine in his hand.
He gazed at the night sky, where the stars glittered. It was hard to imagine that stars could be seen from within the city.
Before you continue