"Whoa~ They really were lax..."
Looking at the enormous corpse, just as described in the mission briefing—simply cordoned off, with no one stationed to guard it—Raven, who had just marveled at the sheer scale of destruction Ganesha had caused, let out a whistle. A smile curled across her lips.
"It seemed that their long, peaceful lives had made these little girls underestimate the world far too much...
Did they really think the Honkai contamination carried by an Emperor-class Honkai Beast was enough?"
Feeling quite relaxed, Raven tugged at the hood over her head. The crimson raven eyes on it reflected an eerie gleam beneath the moonlight.
However, though she spoke lightly, Raven remained sufficiently cautious all the way there, successfully avoiding many inconspicuous traps and alarms.
With the help of her specially made combat suit and excellent stealth skills, Raven smoothly arrived before Ganesha's massive corpse. She had not been caught by surveillance, nor had she alerted the alarms Rita had arranged.
"Sure enough, that guy Jackal still underestimated Schicksal. The defenses looked lax, but traps were everywhere...
Looks like she just glanced at the satellite images before writing that report... Was that idiot seriously underestimating Schicksal this much?
Or had the information World Serpent possessed gone to her head?"
Realizing that this place was nowhere near as unguarded as Jackal had claimed, Raven muttered inwardly. Looking up at the mountain-like body before her, her lips could not help feeling dry.
As the saying went, a tiger's majesty remained even after death. Though it was already dead, seeing such a massive Honkai Beast with her own eyes for the first time still left Raven somewhat shaken.
Then Raven shook her head, casting all emotions unrelated to the mission from her mind, and began her task: extracting samples from Ganesha.
Though it could easily level three city districts while alive, the dead Ganesha could now only let Raven take what she wanted.
"Mm, this should be enough."
After collecting sufficient specimens according to the mission requirements, Raven carefully put away the sample case. She clapped her hands and prepared to leave, unable to stop a smile from appearing on her lips—
She had earned two hundred thousand dollars just by taking a little outing like this. It was an incredible deal.
But before that smile could spread across her face, Raven's expression froze—
Raven could clearly feel that what she was standing on was definitely not the hard ground compacted by Ganesha's body, but... a human hand.
Having stepped on human hands during missions before, Raven immediately identified what was beneath her foot. Without a second thought, she shifted sideways three feet, then retreated several more steps, cautiously watching the spot where she had just stood.
Under Raven's gaze, a tall figure covered in the color of Mother Earth, wearing what could barely be made out as an elegant tailcoat, rapidly crawled out from underground. The emerald eyes beneath his mask met Raven's gaze.
Raven: I'm Fighting Otto?
?
Looking at the underground dweller whose white tailcoat and white mask had both been dyed dirt-yellow, with one foot still buried in the ground, Raven was rather confused.
What was going on?
She had only come to collect some samples. Why had someone crawled out of the ground?
Question after question flooded her mind, making Raven's brain race. In the end, she arrived at one conclusion—
He was probably here to steal samples, just like her.
After all, Emperor-class Honkai Beasts might be difficult to deal with, but they were equally rare.
As for what organization he belonged to...
Unknown cults, affiliates of Anti-Entropy—any of these insignificant people who knew more or less about Honkai had the motive to do such a thing.
As for why he wore something so flashy while infiltrating in such an embarrassing manner...
Who cared!
Raven, whose mood was simple thanks to the easy two hundred thousand dollars, had no interest in worrying about such questions.
Still, Raven, being in a good mood, kindly offered a reminder—
"There's no one guarding this place right now. You can take whatever you want, provided you're sure you can keep your life.
Also, I suggest returning the way you came. The defenses outside look loose, but there are actually plenty of hidden traps."
After kindly reminding this fellow professional, Raven flicked her cloak and slipped into the shadows, preparing to leave.
Faced with Raven's kind reminder, Otto, who had never expected this little thief to say something like that, was also momentarily stunned. Then he recovered, narrowed his eyes slightly, and quietly drew a Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment.
It was not because Otto planned to kill her to keep her quiet after she saw him in such an embarrassing state—
The embarrassing one was Clown Alpha. What did that have to do with Otto, Schicksal's Overseer?
Otto had simply realized that the other party's concealment methods were unexpectedly sophisticated. Judging from her movements, her basic physical abilities had nearly reached A-rank Valkyrie standards. The implications of that were considerable.
Thus, Otto intended to keep this kind young lady and have her answer some of his questions.
As for whether she would become another survivor here who died from Honkai Beast infection due to curiosity, or whether he would take her in as a dog... and give Schicksal another talented asset, that would depend on her performance.
Raising the Mimic Heavenly Fire, Otto aimed at the direction locked onto by the Mimic Feather of Dust and pulled the trigger.
!
Raven, who had been happily sneaking away, suddenly felt a deadly sense of danger. Every hair on her body stood on end. Unable to worry about avoiding traps or concealing herself, she instinctively twisted her body and kicked a half-exposed metal plate from the ground behind her.
Boom!
A burst of flame exploded, illuminating the metal plate... No, it was half of a broken sword.
But whether it was a metal plate or a broken sword, it had saved Raven from disaster.
However, that blinding flash and deafening sound were immediately caught by the surveillance cameras.
And while dodging, Raven also triggered one of the traps Rita had left behind.
In an instant, a piercing alarm sounded in the distance—the alarm from the Valkyrie camp.
"Since you're here, why not exchange a little experience?
After all, it's difficult for people in our line of work to encounter a fellow professional."
Otto placed the wrinkled hat, still carrying the earthy smell of dirt, back on his head. His voice remained calm and unhurried, carrying a warm smile.
Having been suddenly ambushed, Raven's good mood instantly vanished. If she was not burning with rage, then her killing intent was certainly thick.
But when she saw the Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment in Otto's hand, Raven's expression changed—
As a child raised by Gray Serpent, Raven had not yet become a World Serpent executive and could not access those top-secret files. However, she knew the appearance and basic functions of the Divine Keys, so she recognized the Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment in Otto's hand at a glance.
And according to World Serpent's intelligence, Void Archives was in the hands of Otto, Schicksal's Overseer.
So...
Damn it, shouldn't a Schicksal Overseer be staying at headquarters? Why were you squatting under an Emperor-class Honkai Beast's corpse?
Did you have secretaries to handle work for you and too much free time yourself?
However, despite cursing wildly in her heart, Raven maintained basic composure and said coldly, "When you say exchange, do you mean pointing a gun at my head?"
"No, no, no..."
Otto gently shook his head, his voice still warm.
"I was aiming at your waist."
"..."
Raven felt a vein bulge on her forehead, but faced with the Mimic Heavenly Fire pointed at her, she could only swallow the curse on her lips.
Otto merely chuckled and prepared to continue asking questions.
But just then, a bullet suddenly shot in from afar. It arrived in an instant and struck Otto's arm.
Even Otto's Soul Steel body swayed after being struck by that specially made bullet.
Raven, who had been about to raise her hands and play along with Otto, instantly brightened. Honkai Energy erupted from her body, and she turned into an afterimage nearly invisible to the naked eye as she fled into the distance.
Having been shot, Otto also realized that the other party had accomplices.
However, when Otto raised his gun to aim at Raven once more, another bullet came flying from afar.
This time, Otto was prepared and successfully dodged it. Yet because he had to evade, his gun barrel shifted slightly, and he failed to hit the spot he had aimed at.
When Otto looked up again, Raven was nowhere to be seen.
"Heh... What a cunning little rat..."
Putting away the Mimic Heavenly Fire, Otto sneered. He glanced at the Valkyries rushing toward him from afar, and his own figure slipped into the shadows.
Clown Alpha was merely an identity for doing dirty work. It was unsuitable for exposure, and even more unsuitable for it to be connected to Otto, Schicksal's Overseer.
Thus, Otto decisively chose to retreat.
When the Valkyries arrived, they found only traps that had been triggered but failed to take effect, a broken sword bearing signs of melting, and a pit beside Ganesha.
"Captain Rita, no trace of the enemy has been found nearby."
"The device for locating the trap markers also failed to find the target."
"Report: Damage was discovered on Ganesha's body. It is suspected that someone extracted its biological tissue."
The reports quickly gathered in Rita's hands, leaving her expression rather unpleasant—
She had merely cast a line to see whether any fish existed at all, yet not only had the fish bitten, it had smashed her entire fishing spot with one slap of its tail?
She fiercely marked down the culprit in her heart. After hearing her subordinates' reports, Rita nodded gently and spoke beneath their somewhat worried gazes.
"The responsibility for this failure lies with me. I will write a report and self-criticism when we return.
As for Ganesha... the members of Team Two will have to work a little harder tonight. Finish guarding the second half of the night, and your team can rest tomorrow."
For many people, tonight was destined to be sleepless—for Rita, for the Team Two Valkyries on night watch, and for Raven...
"What did this to you?"
Because he had been in such a hurry to rescue Raven, Gray Serpent had not clearly seen what weapon the enemy had been holding.
Now, aboard the aircraft, Gray Serpent finally realized that the injuries on Raven's body were no simple matter.
Raven: Does This Count as a Work Injury?
Although, as the backbone of World Serpent, an organization lurking in the shadows, Gray Serpent should not have had the energy to concern himself with a newcomer's mission.
However, Raven was a rare and exceptional Honkai Energy adapter, and she was also the top candidate on World Serpent's prepared Flame-Chaser list. Naturally, she deserved a little more attention.
That was why Gray Serpent had sent a clone to assist her, preventing this little bird from falling to her death before she could even take flight.
And the facts proved that when a fledgling encountered an accident, it still needed the snake in the shadows to save its life.
If not for Gray Serpent's two shots just now, Raven would probably have become a bird trapped in Schicksal's cage.
"It should have been... a Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment... cough, cough..."
Lying weakly in her seat, Raven spoke in an abnormally feeble voice, unable to stop herself from coughing twice.
She had clearly only been shot in the waist, yet Raven felt as if she had only one breath left.
It had been fine while she was desperately fleeing. Helped by the massive amount of adrenaline her body had produced, she had still been able to sprint all the way here, even faster than usual.
But now that she had reached safety, the breath she had been holding in her chest dispersed, and she felt as though half her body no longer belonged to her.
"A Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment?
How could that be?"
Upon hearing Raven's answer, Gray Serpent's movements paused as he voiced his doubts.
As an old antique preserved from the Previous Civilization, even though this clone possessed only partial browsing authority over the records, he knew that the Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment represented Void Archives—and Void Archives was currently in the hands of Otto Apocalypse, Schicksal's Overseer.
"Could it be that the experiments that idiot Jackal had been conducting have already alerted Schicksal to World Serpent, to the point that Overseer Otto personally came to lie in wait?"
Within Gray Serpent's network, a Gray Serpent specialized in schemes and conspiracies immediately proposed this possibility.
Before you continue