Obviously, compared to Bronya, who was dressed lightly like a girl next door, Raven looked far more like a warrior.
Even Xiaokong could tell that much. Raven also seemed to bear traces of a recent battle with Honkai Beasts, giving her an aura that was somewhat intimidating.
To a child, that presence was a little frightening.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt you."
Noticing Xiaokong's fear, Raven spoke to her with a gentle smile.
After a pause, she continued:
"You two are lucky you ran into me. Come on, I'll take you somewhere truly safe."
A short while later, inside a high-rise building in the East District.
This was the place Raven called the Nest.
Having used World Serpent's black technology to drive away most of the nearby Honkai Beasts and establish a safe zone, Raven had made this place generally secure and quiet. There was no restless agitation or howling from monsters. It was like a haven apart from the world, completely unlike Changkong City's other chaotic areas.
After Ming Yu and Xiaokong arrived, they saw quite a few children around Xiaokong's age.
Most of them were resting in their rooms from exhaustion. Only a white-haired boy stood watch by the door, seemingly waiting for Raven to return.
He looked no older than six or seven. The moment he saw Raven return, he happily ran up to her.
"Teacher, you're back."
"Mhm, Lyle."
Raven smiled and patted his head, then pointed at Ming Yu and Xiaokong behind her.
"I found some new survivors in the city and brought them back with me."
Lyle...
Wasn't this the sniper from Squad Two in Post-Honkai Odyssey?
As he thought that, Ming Yu carefully examined the boy.
Well, though he was still just a little kid physically, he really did resemble the person Ming Yu remembered.
—He was also one of the children Raven had picked up in Changkong City.
After giving Xiaokong a basic physical examination, Raven had her stay in the room to rest with the other children before heading outside.
Ming Yu stood at the edge of the rooftop platform, gazing in the direction of Chiba Academy as he pondered something.
"Miss Raven, thank you."
Ming Yu thanked her politely once again.
"It was nothing... You look like you still have something you want to say to me."
The gray-haired woman waved her hand casually.
"Yes, I wanted to say..."
After hesitating for a moment, Ming Yu told Raven about Xiaokong's situation.
"You want to leave that child here?"
Hearing Ming Yu's request, the gray-haired woman turned to glance at the room before nodding.
"Of course. This area is very safe. If you need to, you can stay here until the Honkai ends as well. Besides..."
After a brief pause, Raven continued:
"That child can only stay here now. She can't go anywhere else."
Forced by the Honkai disaster to awaken their Stigmata, yet unable to awaken them completely, those children had only gained the ability to survive in an environment saturated with Honkai energy.
In exchange, they had developed a dependence on Honkai energy. Once they left an environment like Changkong City, they would instead become unable to survive.
The only way to save them was to slowly promote the complete awakening of their Stigmata through medication. In that regard, that woman called Jackal really did have some skill.
"What about you, then? What are your plans?"
"I still need to go to the other side of Changkong City. I have another friend there."
Ming Yu answered with the same excuse he had used on Bronya.
"There aren't many living people left in Changkong City. Your friend is..."
Raven was sharp-minded and quickly realized something.
However, she did not continue.
—Because none of that had anything to do with her.
The task World Serpent had assigned her in Changkong City was already complete. She did not care about anything else. Rather than meddling in matters unrelated to herself, she cared more about continuing to search the city for children in distress.
It was better not to pry too deeply into other people's secrets. As a mercenary, the less one knew, the better.
Raven said:
"You're quite brave. Normal people who encounter a disaster like the end of the world wouldn't be thinking about returning to the disaster zone. They'd only be thinking about running as far away as possible."
Even within World Serpent, it was not easy to get new recruits accustomed to fighting on the battlefield and facing danger head-on.
She studied Ming Yu for a while longer, then suddenly said:
"You seem rather talented. If you're interested, I know a good place I can recommend to you."
Is she trying to recruit me into World Serpent...?
As he thought that, Ming Yu asked:
"What kind of talent do you mean...?"
"Most people are scared out of their wits when facing a disaster. Even if they can still move, they can't keep their minds calm enough to think clearly and precisely find an escape route that avoids Honkai Beasts. That proves you already have the mental fortitude to face danger. Mm, I mean the talent to become a warrior."
Raven smiled as she spoke.
Though he still looked like an ordinary person incapable of even fighting a chicken, if he possessed such talent, his future growth would certainly be quite rapid.
I've just gone through it too many times, so I'm used to it...
Ming Yu silently replied in his heart.
After the first few deaths, he had still felt sick all over and wanted to vomit. But now, with a death count already in the double digits, he really had become accustomed to it.
Or rather, numb to it.
After considering it for a while, he did not directly reject Raven's olive branch and instead replied:
"...After I find my friend, if I'm still alive, I'll consider it."
Although Raven had extended an invitation, World Serpent truly was not among his priorities right now.
After all, before Kevin was salvaged from the sea, World Serpent had basically remained hidden. Other than infiltrating Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, it hardly did anything.
And after Kevin returned, the organization's main work was preparing for the Stigmata Project. In the original timeline, aside from the Herrscher of Corruption that Mei brought into Elysium Everlasting, it had only dispatched executives to deal with the Herrscher of Stars and Herrscher of Ice incidents.
It could be said that before the final activation of the Stigmata Project, World Serpent spent most of its time apart from the crises. Perhaps, in World Serpent's eyes, only the crisis of the Herrscher of Finality could be called the one true calamity.
Of the three organizations—Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent—the one he currently wanted to join was St. Freya Academy under Schicksal.
The Three Families were one reason. Another was that, as the protagonist group, they came into contact with the most crises.
As for Anti-Entropy... with its leader, Old Yang, personally undercover at St. Freya Academy while its executor, Cocolia, had taken the opportunity to seize power, it really was not a good choice at present.
"Then I hope you make it back alive. If you decide to pursue that path, you can return here and leave me your contact information. I won't always be here taking care of these children... but I'll still come back every so often."
Raven said with a low chuckle.
She genuinely did want to recruit Ming Yu into World Serpent.
People with excellent Honkai energy resistance were already rare, and men were rarer still. Moreover, most of them had already been snapped up by Schicksal or Anti-Entropy.
World Serpent, which had always lurked underground, was naturally at a disadvantage when it came to recruiting talent. It had pitifully few executives and could usually only recruit people by picking up leftovers like this.
If he could join World Serpent and become an executive, she could even receive a hefty bonus.
All right, for Raven, that latter part was actually the important point.
—Ever since the past, she had been accumulating wealth, planning to wash her hands of it all one day and start a new life.
More than a decade had passed since Grey Serpent picked her up and trained her. Her savings were more or less sufficient by now. Mm, she had already set her sights on a small island near the Mediterranean and planned to build an island villa there.
She had carefully chosen that location. It was near Schicksal's floating island headquarters—Raven believed that the area around Schicksal Headquarters had to be the safest place in the world, the farthest from the Honkai.
As long as she lived nearby, then rounding things off, Schicksal Headquarters' Valkyries would basically be bodyguards for her retirement.
She could stay away from the Honkai and all the troubles of the mortal world, enjoying a brand-new life of freedom.
Originally, she had only wanted to live there alone. But now she had rescued so many children here... Once their conditions were cured, she could have them move there with her as well.
"Since you're going back into Changkong City... want me to give you a ride?"
Raven suggested.
She would not remain at the Nest forever. She still had to return to Changkong City's disaster zone and search for other surviving children.
Taking Ming Yu along would be on the way.
"Mhm, then I'll trouble you."
Naturally, he could not ask for more. With the speed of an ordinary person like him, simply getting to Chiba Academy would take quite a while.
"Then let's go now... Oh, that child seems to have something she wants to say to you."
Raven had been about to set off when she saw Xiaokong gently push open the door behind them and poke her little head out to look in their direction.
"I'll go prepare my equipment first. We'll leave in five minutes."
As Raven walked toward another room at the edge of the rooftop, she waved to Ming Yu.
"Xiaokong, what is it?"
Ming Yu looked at the purple-haired girl who had come to his side.
With her hands clasped before her chest, she asked timidly:
"Brother Ming Yu... are you leaving?"
"Mhm, I still have some matters to handle. You should stay here and live with the other children."
He crouched down and patted Xiaokong's head.
"Then... will I... be able to see you again someday?"
The girl asked timidly.
"Of course."
For a long time, this girl would have to live in Changkong City.
If he successfully infiltrated St. Freya Academy, returning here would not be difficult.
Xiaokong lowered her head and thought for a few seconds. Then she raised it again, gathered her courage, stepped forward, and hugged Ming Yu.
"Thank you..."
If Ming Yu had not rescued her from the collapsed building, she might have already been devoured by those terrifying monsters.
At the same time, Ming Yu felt what seemed to be a warm current flow into his body.
He could clearly feel that his Honkai energy resistance had increased.
Was this the so-called feedback? From Xiaokong?
Reincarnation and salvation... and receiving feedback because of it?
Ming Yu pondered thoughtfully.
Perhaps this was what they meant by good people receiving good rewards.
Near Chiba Academy.
Ming Yu arrived here once again.
Thanks to Raven, it had taken less than twenty minutes to get here from the East District.
Before you continue