Those who plotted in the shadows were quite dissatisfied with having someone like Jackal in their ranks—arrogant, with only limited research talent and far more ambition than ability. They had long wanted to put her in her place.
Someone immediately raised an objection—
"Probably not. If Destiny had truly discovered the Serpent's existence, we wouldn't be facing Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment. We'd be facing Destiny's fleet and Valkyrie forces."
After uploading the information to the Gray Serpent network, the Gray Serpent beside Raven stopped participating in the discussion and instead tried to give Raven some basic treatment... though only basic treatment was possible.
There was naturally a first-aid kit on the aircraft, and Gray Serpent possessed sufficient pharmacological knowledge.
But the problem was that Raven had not been wounded by an ordinary weapon, but by Mimic Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment. Even if it was merely an imitation, it had been mimicked by Void Archives and possessed the original's characteristics and most of its power.
Heavenly Fire Judgment, known as the "Key of Destruction," had abandoned the convenient and varied abilities of weapons such as Void Archives and Feather of Dust in exchange for unparalleled destructive power. It also had the trait of making wounds difficult to heal.
And for Raven in her current state, that was undoubtedly fatal—
At Raven's side, a horrifying patch of charred wounds had nearly erased half of her slender waist.
The blackened wound kept spreading. Not only had Raven's powerful physique failed to heal it in the slightest, but the injury continued to worsen.
Even Gray Serpent was helpless in such a crude environment.
"What? You can't do anything either?"
Noticing that Gray Serpent had stopped moving, Raven turned her head. Her face was deathly pale as she looked at Gray Serpent, who was essentially the same kind as her adoptive father—or perhaps his other personality—and asked. Though her tone held some nervousness, she was unexpectedly relaxed.
Because of what her brother had said back then, Raven had chosen to live properly, but she had never possessed any firm goal in life.
On top of that, the confusing philosophical remarks Gray Serpent had occasionally spouted ever since she was young had made Raven take life and death less seriously.
"Even a Mimic Heavenly Fire possesses the traits of the Key of Destruction. Your injuries... may be fatal."
Gray Serpent explained concisely, but upon seeing the smile Raven forced onto her pale face, he softened his tone.
"In other words, you may die from this."
"Come on, World Serpent has raised me for so many years. It can't be just so I can die like this, right?"
At Gray Serpent's words, Raven's heart clenched involuntarily, but her voice remained teasing.
"...
Of course not..."
Listening to Raven's seemingly casual words, Gray Serpent's crimson electronic eye flickered as he slowly said,
"The Serpent possesses technology far beyond this era. Saving your life will not be difficult.
However, without Black Abyss White Flower, you... may permanently lose certain things..."
Having examined Raven's injuries, Gray Serpent spoke heavily, like Death asking a human whether she was prepared to meet her end.
"..."
Hearing Gray Serpent's words, Raven's suspended heart finally settled. After a moment of silence, the corner of her lips slowly lifted.
"Then this counts as a workplace injury, right?
World Serpent will cover lifelong maintenance, won't it?"
Having studied knowledge of the Divine Keys, Raven easily understood what Gray Serpent meant. It was just replacing a few parts with machinery, wasn't it?
Intestines, stomach, kidneys, spleen... replace them if necessary. Staying alive was better than dying outright.
Compared to that, Raven was even more concerned about whether she would have to pay for the maintenance of those replacement organs herself.
"..."
Hearing Raven's unexpected answer, Gray Serpent fell silent for a moment before letting out a hearty laugh.
"Of course..."
At the same time, the brief disturbance in the Gray Serpent network had come to an end, and rational discussion resumed.
The Gray Serpent responsible for intelligence provided the latest information and proposed a new possibility—
"According to the description, Otto was wearing the clown outfit he had once used when ambushing the Anti-Entropy Alliance Leader and Siegfried during the Second Honkai War.
Other than that, there were no eyewitness records.
Thus, it can be judged that Otto used this identity when doing things the Destiny Overseer could not do.
The corpse of Ganesha, which was destined to be sent back to Destiny Headquarters, and the little thief who came for it were not worth him using this identity.
Considering that the ruins had originally been an urban district...
We have reason to suspect that Otto arrived alongside that Valkyrie unit and concealed his identity in order to accomplish certain things that were inconvenient to do openly.
For example, deliberately triggering a larger-scale Honkai event to train certain people.
Or protecting certain people...
After all, the human heart is complicated. Directly ordering protection could very likely cause harm from another direction.
Direct protection in the shadows would be far more convenient..."
"It sounds rather unbelievable, but it is not impossible..."
"Then who is this certain person?"
"That You Lan Dai Er?"
"Or Gwen? Does he intend to cultivate an obedient Siegfried?"
"Let's investigate his background first. There are also large gaps in the information on him."
The Gray Serpents' discussion was destined to continue for some time. Only after obtaining more information could the matter be settled.
Meanwhile, at Destiny Headquarters, Gwen, one of the focal points of the Gray Serpents' discussion, returned to his loyal... familiar hospital room after undergoing a series of examinations.
More than a year later, Gwen had returned to this familiar hospital room. He no longer felt the confusion and helplessness of the past, but he still could not relax—
After all, no one could sleep soundly with an unidentified voice—or perhaps soul—inside their mind.
At the very least, Gwen was not that carefree.
I Am Kevin; Caslana Has Long Since Lost All Meaning to Me
"Hello, unknown sir?"
Lying in the familiar yet unfamiliar hospital bed just as he had a year ago, Gwen searched for the feeling of conversing during the day with that unfamiliar, cold male voice that he suspected belonged to Kevin. He attempted a greeting while concentrating and searching for the other's presence.
If the other party were an ordinary ancestor of the Caslana family—even Adam, whom Dr. Mei had created through genetic technology—Gwen was confident he could prevent him from having much impact on him.
But if the other party was Kevin, that lonely savior...
Gwen felt that he might need to have a proper conversation with him.
"What you should be doing now is resting."
The cold voice arrived as expected. Though cold, it was unexpectedly not all that unpleasant to Gwen.
"Though I do not know why your mental strength recovered so quickly, fatigue originating from the soul is best recovered through sleep.
Moreover, the changes those two stones have made to your body may also require sleep for you to adapt."
Clearly, from Gwen's actions in concealing the two Light Shadow Stones, the owner of the voice had noticed that Gwen did not want anyone to discover his secret.
Therefore, in order to make their following conversation smoother, before Gwen could begin probing him, the owner of the voice voluntarily revealed that he knew Gwen's secret.
"..."
Gwen was somewhat surprised by the other party's candor, and it made him relax slightly as well—
No matter what, communicating with someone relatively frank was better than scheming against a devious villain.
"Thank you for the reminder, sir."
However, though the other party's candor had eased Gwen's tense mind somewhat, this concerned his life and many of his secrets, so Gwen still chose to proceed cautiously.
"However, compared to resting, I would rather clarify a few things right now—
To be honest, I'm not at ease with your presence.
Who are you?
And... why are you in my mind?"
Although he knew the other party had most likely appeared because of the Spirit Awakening Scripture's Nourish Soul with Soul, Gwen still chose to hold something back and pretended to be completely ignorant.
"I do not know that either.
Originally, once your mental strength reached a certain level and your body could support it, you would trigger the stigmata upon you and awaken this power hidden within the Caslana bloodline.
Perhaps in that situation, we could have relied on our bloodline connection to undergo quantum entanglement and establish temporary contact.
But because of an unknown power, you bypassed the stigmata and directly contacted me, who is not within this world."
The cold voice did not avoid Gwen's question and spoke frankly.
It really is Kevin?
Though startled inwardly, Gwen did not let his thoughts leak out. After a moment of silence, he slowly asked,
"So... you are also a member of the Caslana family?
But for some reason, you are no longer in this world?"
For Gwen, who cultivated the Spirit Awakening Scripture, concealing his thoughts while holding a mental conversation was not particularly difficult.
At the same time, though he had confirmed that the other party was Kevin, the person most likely to cause trouble, Gwen was no longer as worried as before—
It was not difficult to infer from Kevin's words that he was still in the Sea of Quantum, and had merely formed a connection with Gwen through the Spirit Awakening Scripture, similar to his connection with Siegfried during the Second Honkai War.
"I am Kevin. Caslana has long since lost all meaning to me..."
At Gwen's words, the cold voice finally showed a trace of fluctuation, though to Gwen, it sounded somewhat deliberate.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Gwen pretended to ponder the meaning of Kevin's words before speaking as though he had finally relaxed.
"All right. If you say it has no meaning, then it has no meaning...
Let's change the subject—you said earlier that I bypassed the stigmata and directly contacted you.
Does that mean I already possess the ability to develop the power within the Caslana stigmata?"
"..."
This time, it was Kevin's turn to fall silent. It was unknown whether it was because of Gwen's attitude or because the subject had turned to the Caslana stigmata.
"Based on your peak performance on the battlefield today, you have indeed reached the required standard.
But in your current condition, coming into contact with the power inside the stigmata would be too dangerous...
The Caslana bloodline has been passed down for thousands of years, yet only half a person has successfully mastered this power.
You should understand what that means."
"Of course I understand. No matter what one wishes to obtain, one must face the corresponding risks.
So long as I am not left with no path forward, I will make as many preparations as possible and reduce the risks to the lowest level."
Sensing Kevin's goodwill, Gwen silently adjusted his assessment of Kevin and slowly stated his thoughts.
"A wise choice."
Kevin gave a faint evaluation, but his tone became sharp.
"But the world often will not wait for you to be prepared before a crisis arrives."
"Then I'll do my best."
Gwen's reply was calm, but his plain words carried incomparable confidence.
"..."
Hearing Gwen's answer, Kevin fell silent once more.
Perhaps he had recalled himself at Senba Academy?
Or perhaps the flame in this seemingly cold man's heart had begun to flicker again?
Before you continue