I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

You must know that the mysterious guy in Changkong City is still lingering. If the Venerable Lord is forced to come to the rescue again, Raven doesn't even dare to think about what will happen.

After leaving the nest, the Raven ran wildly, searching for traces of the owl. However, the owl's cautious nature became an obstacle for the Raven, and she could hardly find any trace of the owl. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.

Could it be that he's gone to see that man again? Hopefully, Chen Tianwu won't slip up again and be forced to reveal all the information; he was recommended by Raven to join the World Serpent...

However, when she returned to the previous location, she found neither the masked man nor the night owl, and even the Anti-Entropy transport plane was gone.

Oh no, where did Night Owl go?!

"Ping-pong—"

The heavy slapping sound echoed on his body, producing a metallic clang. Night Owl's newly replaced prosthetic body was smashed in another corner. He supported himself with one hand, the discomfort inside his body making it impossible for him to even grit his teeth and concentrate. Meanwhile, the maid who had knocked him down with two scythes was already walking over with elegant cat-like steps.

"So you're the one who stole my transport ship?" Rita's tone was noticeably cold and impatient, a stark contrast to her usual elegant and gentle demeanor.

Given that the World Serpent possesses an intelligence network and advanced hacking skills similar to the Gray Serpent, easily controlling Sky City, stealing the OT shouldn't be difficult for her.

Night Owl didn't know anything about transport ships, but he needed leverage at the moment, at least leverage to negotiate with Rita. So he gritted his teeth, lowered his gaze, and said, "Yes, give me back my necklace, and I'll take you to your transport ship."

"You seem to have misunderstood something. This is an interrogation, not a negotiation."

"Bass!"

A flash of cold light, and a tuft of Night Owl's hair was shaved off, falling to the ground. The blade pressed against his chin reflected the maid's sinister smile.

"Next, I'll start with your left hand, then your right hand, both legs, ears, eyes, nose, face... I'll make the cuts with the precision of a surgeon, ensuring you don't die. After all, I don't want to break the agreement between Schicksal and the World Serpent. As long as you tell me the whereabouts of my transport ship, I guarantee I won't harm you."

... Why does this sound so familiar?

Rita knew that someone like Night Owl, who was cunning and had multiple burrows, would never tell the truth at first. Therefore, equal negotiations were not suitable when the two sides were vastly different in strength. As for giving him the necklace... Rita did not admit that the necklace was in her possession.

"... Are you so confident you've got me figured out?"

Night Owl's gaze darkened, and his hand, hidden beneath his cloak, pulled the trigger, concealing the muzzle flash. The bullet pierced through the cloak and shot towards Rita!

However, Rita had seen all sorts of tricks before, and had witnessed Night Owl's little schemes before, so she was already on guard. She dodged the bullet with a sidestep, and Night Owl took the opportunity to get up and retreat.

Rita immediately took a step to catch up, but Night Owl turned around and threw several tear gas canisters, forcing her to stop and put on a gas mask.

While the two were fighting, they did not notice a silent figure that had come to watch the battle from a short distance away.

How did these two start fighting? Weren't World Serpent and Schicksal cooperating?

Lin stroked his chin thoughtfully, and then he thought of a possibility.

Rita mistook Night Owl for him, thinking that Night Owl had stolen the transport ship.

Why didn't the Night Owl explain?

The owl lost its necklace... Could it be on Rita?

"Bass!"

The clash and friction between the blades was particularly jarring. Lin indifferently lowered his hand, glanced at it, and turned to leave.

It's none of his business. The more friction there is between World Serpent and Schicksal, the better. Weakening both sides will give Lin and Kiana more opportunities.

"Bass!"

But Lin stopped halfway there, his sharp gaze fixed on the figure rushing towards him in the distance.

"..."

If Raven joins the battle, Rita will face a two-on-one situation. Moreover, Lin knows that Raven's combat strength is no less than Rita's and is much stronger than Night Owl's. Rita is very likely to be put in a passive position.

Lin didn't have much of an opinion about Rita from the Intrinsic World. He didn't intend to consider the long-haired Rita on the Hyperion to be the same person as this Rita. However, Lin thought of how, although Rita eventually contacted Schicksal in Sky City, leading to Kiana's abduction, she still chose to protect the people of Sky City between Kiana and World Serpent's plans.

... Consider it compensation for stealing her transport ship.

Raven spotted the two fighting from a distance. Her expression was gloomy. Rita had caused her a lot of trouble in Sky City, and the two were incompatible in personality. She could say she really hated this maid.

Now that they've formed an alliance, her job should be to stop the two from fighting, but she suddenly has the idea of teaching this arrogant maid a lesson.

Just as she approached the two men and was considering whether to make a move, the ground suddenly began to shake violently.

"Boom..."

The entire building and the water surface were shaking violently, causing the three of them to stop moving and look around in surprise and uncertainty.

What happened? Was there an earthquake?

No, this tremor is...

To the astonishment of the three, an indescribable Honkai Beast surged from two directions! As if possessing intelligence, they charged towards the three in an orderly fashion!

"Is this Honkai Beast Tide? How could it break out here?" Night Owl immediately retreated to Raven's side. He gritted his teeth and looked at the maid in the distance, who had already put away her scythe and was smiling at them. He squeezed out the words through gritted teeth, "Give me back my necklace!"

"Oh dear, I've never found any necklace, sir. If you lose something, remember to go to the police, not me. And as for the transport ship, please give me an explanation later."

Rita took a step back and fell off the edge of the rooftop, making it impossible for Night Owl to catch up. Raven glared at him with a gloomy expression, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"Let's go quickly. It seems that the Honkai Beast tide is caused by the increased concentration of Honkai Energy. Let's go back to the nest first."

After the three of them had all left, one person staggered to his feet, pondered for a moment, and then chased after the maid...

The "Rebirth" of the Sky: Chapter Eleven - The Subtle Choice of Lingerie

Fate is not a gift, but rather turning the page of the book and revealing the period to people.

"How could Honkai Beast tide suddenly appear, and at such a perfect time..."

Rita hid in a lower-lying house and looked out through a window without glass, lost in thought.

After arriving in Changkong City, she encountered a series of inexplicable events, such as her transport ship being stolen, being attacked by Night Owls, and Honkai Beast tide...

She was now certain that Night Owl hadn't stolen her transport ship. If it really had, he wouldn't have chosen to ambush her and be beaten down before admitting he stole the ship; he would have directly negotiated with her.

This is why Rita didn't pester him. So, the next question is... who stole it?

Could it be Kiana? No, even if Kiana has the ability to directly enter the transport ship, she can't possibly hack into its systems...

"However, this necklace... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before." Rita took out a necklace from the storage space of her armor. She stared at the necklace, which wasn't made of particularly expensive materials, and pondered, "Could it be that I've seen it somewhere else, or on someone else?"

Returning the necklace wasn't a big deal for her, but when she got it, she had a feeling that she had seen it somewhere before. However, after finishing up the aftermath in Sky City, she rushed to Changkong City and didn't have time to investigate the necklace.

Finding something familiar on a member of the World Serpent was already enough to make Rita interested. After resolving the matter in Changkong City, she would begin investigating the necklace...

"Bang!"

Gunshots?

After the ringing in her ears, Rita felt a burning sensation on her face, followed by something cool that slid down and then turned into a hot soup. She realized that a bullet had grazed her face.

"Squeak..."

But before she could even look in the direction the bullets were coming from, the wall behind her creaked under the strain.

"Splash!"

The entire wall collapsed towards Rita, her pupils contracted, and she gripped the scythe in her backhand and swung it behind her, shattering the wall!

But the problem wasn't the collapsed buildings, but the attackers' surprise attack after causing the buildings to collapse.

"Whoosh! Soldiers—"

The weapon from the darkness was blocked by Rita's scythe, which she held behind her back. A bead of cold sweat trickled down her forehead, because the tip of the blade was almost touching her skin, just a centimeter away from piercing her flesh. What Night Owl had failed to do in two rounds of fighting, this person who suddenly appeared had done with ease.

"You are indeed... a new face."

Rita reluctantly turned her head and, amidst the stalemate of the weapons, saw a hood that covered most of her face and a small part of a mask.

"May I ask what brings you here?"

"... I can give you the coordinates of your transport plane, but give me the necklace."

"It's you?"

The other person's deliberately low, hoarse voice seemed unremarkable, but what they said made Rita's expression turn serious. She kicked the middle of the scythe, and the scythe head stabbed at the other person.

The masked man didn't persist in controlling Rita; he sheathed his knife and took a few steps back to a safe distance.

"I wonder what you mean by being so secretive and not revealing your identity?" Rita was very observant of people's postures. She was certain she had never seen this person before, and she couldn't find any identifying marks on him. With a dangerous, snake-like smile, she asked, "And what's the meaning of stealing my transport ship?"

You don't need to know my identity, but I know you very well.

"You know me very well... Are you a member of World Serpent or Anti-Entropy?"

"None of those are true. In fact, I know you much better than they do. For example, you only sleep four hours a day, you have mild OCD, your research on cooking is not about the finer details of 'taste,' but about calculating the proportions of ingredients, and... you prefer dark colors for your underwear."

"... You really know a little maid like me all too well."

As the masked man uttered his last word, Rita's eyes were filled with murderous intent, but she still managed to force a smile that was about to crumble.

"Then please explain why you stole my transport ship and why you want the necklace." Rita twirled her scythe, creating a flourish, and pointed it at the masked man. "If you can't answer, please don't blame me for being harsh."

"I took your transport ship because I wanted to restrict your movements, but after observing, I found that there was no problem whether I restricted it or not, so I decided to return the transport ship to you. As for the necklace... it was just a personal request."

"For that man?"

Rita narrowed her eyes. The masked man didn't answer, which seemed to be his tacit agreement.

Lin stared at Rita, observing Rita reaction just as Rita. After Rita took out the necklace, he decided to exchange it with Rita using a transport ship. On one hand, as he said, since Rita didn't intend to attack Kiana, restricting her actions was pointless. He also considered Rita's performance in Sky City. On the other hand, he wanted to use the necklace in Rita's possession to do something.

Based on Lin's observations of the World Serpent... Night Owl and Raven may not be entirely loyal to the World Serpent. Putting Raven, Lin noticed that Night Owl seemed to be just doing his job. He prioritized his personal matters far more than the World Serpent's mission, otherwise he wouldn't have ambushed Lin and Rita.

The value of a World Serpent cadre is extraordinary.

Just as someone once told Lin, if he only wanted to be a soldier who fired a gun, he wouldn't change anything. He also needed to have his own plans and direction.

"This seems like a good deal, but how can I be sure that the coordinates you provided are accurate?"

"I will take you there."

"..."

Frankly, Rita is faced with only two paths: believe the masked man or not believe him. And if she doesn't believe him, things probably won't go their separate ways. Since the masked man has already taken the initiative to demonstrate his strength, it means he doesn't mind using force to take the necklace.

As for trusting him, that's also a risky choice...

"Alright, but before that, can I fulfill a promise? After all, I'll be leaving Changkong City after retrieving the transport ship. It's really dangerous here, so I have to leave ahead of time."

After a moment of deep thought, Rita smiled at Lin and then put away the scythe in her hand.

"...Can."

Lin retreated into the darkness, leaving behind only one sentence.

"Let's meet here after it's done."

The "Rebirth" of Chang Kong: Chapter Twelve - The Cunning Maid

An unknown individual, who claims not to be one of the three major organizations, possesses the ability to infiltrate Schicksal's transport ships and hijack their systems.

Rita wouldn't believe a word this person said, including his claim that he could trade a transport ship for the necklace. If he really wasn't a member of the World Serpent, why would he care about this necklace?

Sure enough, both the necklace and the masked man were problematic.

Rita kept checking to see if the masked man was following her. She had only just arrived in Changkong City and was already facing this situation, which left even the usually calm Rita somewhat at a loss. Moreover, she was not wearing the Shadow Iron Armor this time, which rendered many of the functions for dealing with this kind of predicament and the Shadow Iron Hounds unusable, including the emergency contact system with the Schicksal Headquarters.

Lately, everything has been going wrong.

Rita didn't really want to follow the other person's train of thought, but she didn't have a better option at the moment. At least she could still communicate with the masked man, instead of starting a fight as soon as they met, like with Night Owl.

"Should we have Mei team up with me... um..."

Using the Gray Serpent's prosthetic eye as leverage might be a way to hire Mei to fight the masked man, but for now, it seems unnecessary, and Mei might not necessarily agree to it.

It's a pity we can't investigate what this necklace actually is.

Lin stood at the edge of the breach, looking down at the surging river in the city. He picked up the Jizo Mitama and tried to call out to it, but received no response.

He actually wanted to find out something.

He spent so long in Sky City with a high concentration of Honkai Energy, and although there were no problems on the surface of his body, he was unable to control the Honkai Energy. What exactly happened?

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Just as Lin was pondering whether to have a thorough physical examination, a gentle yet dangerous female voice sounded behind him. He took a deep breath and Jizo Mitama into his waistband.

Jizo Mitama is a Divine Key no one knows about, that has never existed before and has never been recorded. It can be said to be Lin's trump card. He will not use its true power unless necessary, nor will he reveal its true identity to others.

Rita glanced suspiciously at the sword at Lin's waist. To her, it wasn't a high-tech weapon, but her intuition told her that the jet-black blade was something special.