After understanding each other's emotional knots, the warm sun seemed to return to this world. Su Jue still remained silent, and Kiana still pushed his wheelchair.
The two walked along the garden path, choosing the same route. They passed through the shadows of the trees, crossed the rocks blocking the way, and finally reached the end, returning to the hospital.
Two days later, at another funeral for the disaster victims, the girl pushed Su Jue, whose legs were still unable to walk, to this public cemetery.
Rows of tombstones stood in the cemetery, and countless mourners bid farewell to their friends and family. Su Jue had been here once before; the last time, he had been controlling Jian Yun, but this time, someone else was accompanying him.
The dark night continued, but the sparks had already begun to ignite.
Chapter 88: Arrival of the Eos, Transition
Having confirmed that Kiana had ignited her own conviction, Su Jue shifted his gaze elsewhere.
Following Rita's defeat, Otto decisively arranged a mission for her to investigate the details of World Serpent hidden in Sky City. Originally, he had intended to leave them alone for the time being, but successive setbacks had forced him to take this organization seriously.
Now, the whereabouts of the Herrscher of Void were unknown, and there was a high probability it was related to World Serpent. Moreover, the successive Honkai incidents had also caught Otto's attention, making him realize that World Serpent was likely conducting some dangerous research.
In the evening, a huge transport ship had somehow parked beneath the thick clouds, below which lay a barren suburb, reminding Rita of some rather unpleasant memories.
"Alvit, you will lead the members of the Blade of Immortality to investigate recent clues about the Honkai first. I will go and coordinate with the people from Shencheng Pharmaceuticals. If you discover anything unusual, report to me immediately—especially if you find members of World Serpent." Issuing the task to her most trusted subordinate, Rita took a deep breath and jumped directly from the high altitude.
The Moonless armor on her body rapidly jetted cold particle streams, helping her ease the speed of her descent, and finally she landed steadily, maintaining her inherent elegance.
This visit happened to coincide with the medical supplies applied for by Shencheng Pharmaceuticals. Records showed that Shencheng Pharmaceuticals had always been committed to providing free medical treatment to ordinary people affected by disasters worldwide. Therefore, as the main force against the Honkai, Schicksal naturally provided massive support, delivering a batch of inhibitor-type drugs every once in a while.
It was just that the recent drug shortage had inexplicably grown larger and larger, yet the Honkai infection showed no sign of abating. In her previous investigations, Rita had already found that the traces of destruction at Shencheng Pharmaceuticals were extremely strange, and coupled with being tricked by World Serpent people, it forced her to suspect the relationship between Shencheng Pharmaceuticals and World Serpent.
According to the original plan, the Eos was supposed to dock at the transport airport in Sky City and accompany her in. But right now, Rita just wanted to drag out these rats who hid their heads and showed their tails, deliberately choosing to act in secret.
Returning to Shencheng Pharmaceuticals once more, the industrial zone destroyed a period ago seemed to have been repaired quite a bit now, with a large number of engineering robots dealing with the parts ruined in the disaster. The corpses of the dead-servants had all been disposed of, but many traces left by the Honkai still remained, along with some used syringes.
"This is?" Seeing the style of the syringes, Rita's brows furrowed tightly. If she remembered correctly, this should be the standard model produced by Schicksal. Originally, it should have been used for the treatment of the corroded, but how could it appear where a Honkai outbreak occurred?
Besides these used syringes, she also saw quite a few experimental supplies. Although most of them had been cleaned up, she still spotted numerous apparatuses that definitely should not be associated with a pharmaceutical company.
"What on earth are they researching?" Harboring such doubts, Rita began trying to infiltrate Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, but before her operation even started, people from Shencheng Pharmaceuticals found her.
"Is this the attitude of Schicksal Valkyries? Preparing to trespass without anyone's permission?" A large number of mechs quickly surrounded her. Rita didn't act rashly; her identity right now was a liaison dispatched by Schicksal, and as long as she didn't make the first move, the people of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals would never dare touch her.
She turned her head and saw a woman wearing a dog-headed mask. She had brown skin and thick brown hair, making her ethnicity easy to distinguish. At this moment, she was standing at the entrance of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, leaning on a cane carved with a dog head, her dark golden eyes locking directly with Rita's.
"This subordinate is merely heartbroken over Shencheng Pharmaceuticals suffering from the Honkai. Perhaps Schicksal can provide some post-disaster reconstruction resources." Rita's expression remained normal. From warrior back to maid, her temperament returned once more to that of a gentle female. "May I ask who Your Excellency is?"
Jackal looked at Rita, whose expression changed in a second, and snorted. Originally, this handover mission should have been handled by Raven, but due to Raven's unauthorized departure, she had clashed with the Schicksal Valkyrie in advance, leaving no choice but to temporarily change it to Jackal. Jackal was still in an injured state, and even walking required a cane, but for World Serpent's plan, she had to enter the field despite her illness.
"I am Cleo, the chief researcher of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, responsible for this Schicksal handover."
"Cleo? If I remember correctly, the person previously registered to be in charge of reception should be Ms. Xiola, the consulting advisor of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals."
"Yes, but because of the recent Honkai disaster, Ms. Xiola has had to participate in relief work and cannot get away for the time being. This time, I will replace her. Miss Rita, please don't worry; I will shoulder the responsibility of guidance." Jackal took off her dog-headed mask and made a gesture to the surrounding guards, and the robots that originally surrounded Rita all dispersed.
Rita didn't say much. With no evidence right now, even if she wanted to fall out, she would have to wait until she found proof. Therefore, after a brief consideration, she decided to handle things according to Jackal's arrangements first.
The working members of the handover quickly began transferring supplies, while the Blade of Immortality squad on standby aboard the Eos quietly sneaked into the city under the cover of night.
After a while, through the mutual cooperation of staff members and robots, 30,000 doses of Honkai inhibitors were all sent into the industrial zone of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals. Rita's gaze flickered, and she quickly set her sights on the underground architecture of the industrial zone.
"I wonder if Miss Cleo would allow this subordinate to take a tour of the industrial zone? After all, Honkai energy inhibitors are no small matter, and Schicksal needs to accurately grasp their whereabouts."
"Of course. However, the industrial zone suffered a certain degree of damage in the previous disaster, and I also sustained not-light injuries, making movement truly inconvenient. If you don't mind, I will accompany you on a tour through a guiding robot." Jackal leaned on her cane; her shattered shinbone had begun to heal after treatment, but the injury was real, leaving even Rita with little to say.
Following the guiding robot, Rita finally successfully entered the underground of the industrial zone. However, there was nothing particularly worthy of special attention; all the working areas were arranged quite perfectly, and dedicated lounges were even specially set up. It was just that because the Honkai had only just ended, many people had yet to return to work, making the entire basement appear empty.
"Nowadays, Honkai incidents have occurred all over the world, and Shencheng Technology has established branch offices everywhere to provide medical assistance to those in need."
"To transport drugs nearby, we built similar industrial zones on the spot."
"Oh? Just to transport drugs?"
"Of course. If you don't believe it, you can tour freely."
Chapter 89: Infiltrating Underground, Transition
Cleo could say this with unconcerned confidence. The industrial zone was not just a single building; almost the entire underground had been hollowed out. Without the guidance of professional personnel, it was simply impossible to find the hidden laboratory. Unless it was like the failed experimental subject accidentally created last time, forcibly punching through passages on various levels, otherwise even letting Rita wander for a whole day would make reaching the deep layers impossible.
Watching Rita in the surveillance footage start searching aimlessly, Jackal revealed a sneer and cast a mocking glance at Raven beside her. "How about it? I said Schicksal's Valkyries are all arrogant fellows. Just give them a little bait, and they'll obediently crawl into the trap."
"Hmph, let's hope your plan doesn't run into any accidents." Raven snorted softly, grabbing her bow and arrow in her hand. "That woman is not as simple as you think."
With that, she pushed open the door and left. Their goal this time was to prepare to keep all the Valkyries here. The bottles and jars at her waist collided with each other; those were the gas-type HSN agents researched by Jackal.
After breaking away from the surveillance range, Rita didn't waste time searching. She wasn't stupid; knowing the opponent's disguise was well done, she wouldn't blindly search. She directly chose to call for reinforcements, dialing Alvit's communication.
"Vice-captain, we have initially analyzed the treatment data provided by Shencheng Pharmaceuticals. Aside from the consumption quantity of drugs exceeding the standard, no obvious loopholes were found."
"Alvit, what I want to ask is not this. Can you check the surveillance footage around Shencheng Pharmaceuticals recently? I suspect this company has major problems, but I can't find evidence for the time being."
"Surveillance? In the previous Honkai, all surveillance data seemed to have been destroyed, and information can only be obtained through the oral accounts of survivors. However, we also found some very strange information. In the Honkai incident of the past two days, rumor has it that a person who could fly wiped out all the Honkai Beasts, but most people couldn't accurately describe her appearance. On the contrary, some children seemed to mention something like a magical girl."
"Magical girl?"
Rita's questioning tone seemed to make Alvit somewhat misunderstood, and she hurriedly explained, "Although I occasionally watch those mangas, a magical girl is really not something I made up, but rather what those survivor children said."
"Moreover, during the investigation of those victims, I inadvertently saw some dead-servants with some glowing patterns remaining behind their backs. Thinking back now, why does it feel a bit like Stigmata?"
"Stigmata? Do you know what you are saying?" Today's Stigmata technology was completely mastered by Schicksal. It was precisely because artificial Stigmata existed that so many Valkyries could be trained. Now that they appeared on dead-servants, the problem became huge.
"I definitely won't misremember. Those patterns really look like Stigmata, even though most of them are incomplete. But the more I think about it, the more I feel the two are extremely similar." As Alvit spoke, she even deliberately sent the photo taken at the time to Rita's communicator.
This was Schicksal's core technology. Once Stigmata technology leaked, it meant that large-scale leakage events had occurred inside the entire Schicksal. Of course, another possibility was that some unknown organization also mastered Stigmata technology, which would similarly impact Schicksal's current status.
Originally, Rita would certainly have leaned toward the first guess, but after fighting Raven a couple of days ago, World Serpent's status had risen sharply in her heart. It was not entirely impossible for such a secretive organization to master Stigmata technology.
"If this is really the case, then Shencheng Pharmaceuticals' suspicion is simply too great. Alvit, immediately perform a geographical penetration of the Shencheng industrial zone for me, and at least simulate the architectural structure of the three underground levels for me. The others continue investigating. According to your description, that so-called magical girl is very likely the Herrscher of Void. Do not confront her when you encounter her; upload all video data to the Eos."
Quickly analyzing the current situation, a few minutes later, a rough perspective map was transmitted to Rita's communicator. Looking at the complex subterranean structure in the image, Rita wore a sneer. "A cunning rabbit has three burrows, but you lot are probably a bit too arrogant."
Following the markings on the map, Rita successfully entered the underground. Only upon arriving underground did she truly witness the sheer scale of this building, filled everywhere with huge mechanical structures and densely packed scouting robots patrolling constantly. In order not to alert Cleo, Rita spent some time bypassing the patrols one by one, finally locating the experimental zone half an hour later.
However, the moment she stepped into the laboratory, she was shocked by the densely packed nutrition vats here, with every culture vat storing the corpse of a human or a dead-servant. Through the transparent glass vats, Rita could clearly see fine, interwoven patterns on the backs of some dead-servants, ultimately forming a glowing imprint—an imprint identical to the Stigmata Rita was familiar with.
Even more numerous were wantonly cleaved limbs; some had their key parts removed, while others were implanted with mechanical structures. Viewed from afar, this place resembled a bizarre human museum, displaying to visitors just to what extent humans could be modified.
She finally realized that she had arrived at the root of all secrets.
The heartbeat and blood pressure on the portable vital signs monitor kept rising; even Rita, who had experienced countless battles, could not help but let anger erupt in her heart upon seeing such inhumane scenes.
Yet anger could solve nothing now. After slightly calming her emotions, Rita immediately began cracking the laboratory's programs. Soon, she also acquired the data Kiana had once seen. That data had originally been stolen out of this laboratory by Su Jue, and the copies here were naturally even more complete.
And most shocking of all was, of course, the plan to use the entire city's population as experimental material.
"They must be insane..."
Yet just as she prepared to collect all the data and upload it to the Eos, the largest screen inside the laboratory suddenly lit up.
"To be honest, I think so too."
Grey hair, red eyes—when that iconic face appeared, Rita's hands began to tremble with anger.
"It really is you." The person in the image was naturally Raven, but at this moment, the background behind her was not inside a room, but on a chilling street.
In an instant, the culture vat containers throughout the laboratory quietly activated, and the dead-servants and modified humanoid weapons stored within them were all released. That was the ultimate weapon created by Jackal through the combination of Stigmata awakening and mechanical modification—the Death Weaver.
Clearly looking like mere ordinary dead-servants, Rita nevertheless felt a strong threat from them. "I'm surrounded. Blade of Immortality, prepare to rendezvous."
She immediately called out on her communicator, yet Alvit's response was long in coming.
Chapter 90: HSN Gas
"Are you looking for them?" Raven's voice came through the screen, and as her perspective shifted, the figures lying on the ground instantly entered Rita's field of vision. Without a doubt, these were her own team members.
"You!" Finally realizing she had been completely calculated by others, Rita immediately launched a counterattack. However, the number of dead-servants was far too large, and their combat effectiveness was formidable; breaking away was not simple.
"Since Miss Rita loves investigating, then thoroughly commit this place to memory. Let the price be exchanged with your life and the lives of your teammates."
Swish—
Icy frost spread out, and the surrounding dead-servants were instantly frozen. With a sweep of Rita's scythe, the dead-servants fell apart as half-cut corpses.
"If you think Schicksal's Valkyries amount to only this much, you're severely underestimating me. I'm looking forward to whether you can still talk like this when you fall into my hands."
"Whether I can or not isn't something for you to decide. Now, let my colleague negotiate with you. She seems to have prepared a gift for you; I hope you'll still be alive after I finish hunting down your teammates."
Accompanied by the familiar dog-headed mask appearing on the screen, a burst of pale green gas began to spread through the laboratory. Rita immediately judged that this was poison gas, fortunately having brought a gas mask with her.
"That gadget is useless. After my formulation, the moment this gas touches your skin, it will enter your body." As expected of Jackal, the moment she showed her face, she couldn't wait to explain her invention. "I didn't expect Raven that fellow to guess right; Schicksal's rats really are skilled at tunneling."
Promptly putting on her gas mask, Rita wasn't about to trust the enemy blindly, but she still instinctively tried her best to avoid the gas, starting to slaughter the dead-servants at maximum output. However, as time passed and the gas in the laboratory grew denser, Rita rapidly sensed the drain of power within her body.
The scythe in her hand seemed to no longer be sharp, her armor felt extremely heavy, and the power belonging to a Valkyrie was vanishing.
Seeing the drug take effect, Jackal couldn't help laughing out loud.
"Did you feel it? This is your Schicksal's proud creation, HSN-b46 serum. I modified it into gas form. As long as any part of your body touches it, you'll be invaded, disrupting the Honkai energy operational cycle in your body. In just half a minute, you'll turn into an ordinary person without any resistance."
"How is it? Are you satisfied with this gift?"
Rita ignored her, instead desperately killing the surrounding dead-servants. But as the Honkai energy vanished, the God-Slaying Armor not only failed to provide her with buffs, it instead turned into a burden.
"Hah, hah~" Rita breathed heavily. By now, her Honkai energy power was completely gone, and she could only rely on her own pure physical fitness to battle. "World Serpent, sooner or later, I will make you pay the price."
"The price? You..."
Abruptly, before Jackal could finish speaking, the signal suddenly cut off. Rita, deep underground, suddenly felt a faint tremor, as if a massive explosion had occurred on the surface.
Half an hour ago, at the Sky City Municipal Hospital, Su Jue was sitting on the bed looking out the window, while Kiana sat by the bedside, handing him an apple pared full of pits and hollows.
At this moment, Su Jue's body had recovered quite a bit. Aside from his legs still being unable to move, his other parts could already move normally.
The neon lights of Sky City flickered like stars all over the sky.
"I'll help you investigate the truth of the matter. Cheer up, Su Jue." Noticing Su Jue's gaze, Kiana immediately understood he was thinking of what happened before. Although under her persuasion, he had let go of the thought of self-abandonment, an emotional knot remained after all.
Shencheng Pharmaceuticals—amidst the calm of these past two days, this name had once again entered Kiana's field of vision. Having read those research materials, she was very clear that what Shencheng Pharmaceuticals provided was by no means free medical care, but rather cruel human experimentation.
Had it not been for taking care of Su Jue, whose condition was unstable, Kiana would have already taken the Spears of the Void and marched over. Now that his condition had improved somewhat, her own actions should also be put on the agenda.
Right at that moment, she saw a flash of light in the distant sky. Through the outline of the lights, she quickly realized it was an aircraft. With Honkai accidents occurring frequently in Sky City today, the ones able to arrive were undoubtedly none other than the Schicksal organization.
Toppling Shencheng Technology relying on herself alone was unrealistic, but adding Schicksal made it different. Although Kiana was also hostile to Schicksal, it was undeniable that their determination to fight the Honkai was real. Moreover, the Stigmata project researched by Shencheng Pharmaceuticals would inevitably cause a conflict of interests with Schicksal, so utilizing Schicksal to fight Shencheng Technology was not entirely impossible.
The news of the Herrscher of Void had been exposed, and Schicksal's objective was most likely herself. Kiana decided to reveal herself proactively, using violent means to expose the conspiracy of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.
"I... I'm going out for a bit." Kiana grabbed Su Jue's hand, helping him lean comfortably against the bed, then closed and locked the window to prevent him from doing something rash like jumping off the building.
"..." Why did he feel like this setting of his legs being unable to move was going a bit too far? This was treating Su Jue completely like a puppet to be manipulated.
"Right, do you need to go to the bathroom?"
"No, I'm not that weak yet."
"Then do you want—" Before Kiana could finish speaking, the apple she had just handed to Su Jue was stuffed straight into her mouth by him, blocking her words.
"Go handle your own business; I can live normally." Pushing Kiana away from her side with a dark face, Su Jue naturally knew full well what she was going to do. At this moment, his puppet had already been keeping an eye on Shencheng Technology, and any more dawdling would mean missing the good show.
"Mm-mm-mm." Biting down on the apple in her mouth, Kiana made an incomprehensible sound. After leaving the ward, she quickly pulled on her hood and hurried toward Shencheng Technology.
When she arrived, she quickly spotted the members of the Blade of Immortality squad fighting against the dead-servants. However, the previously well-trained Valkyrie troop was now little different from ordinary people, and was even retreating steadily amidst the siege of a massive number of dead-servants. In other locations, quite a few Valkyries had already fallen.
Looking at those teammates who could still hold on for a bit, Kiana didn't join the battle immediately, instead rescuing the wounded first. Although time was pressing to investigate Shencheng Technology, she didn't want a repeat of Griseo's experience. Furthermore, saving these teammates would allow her to learn the reason for such weakness from their own mouths and avoid falling into traps.
Chapter 91: Alvit
Most members of the Blade of Immortality had fallen unconscious. Kiana propped them against the wall and laid them flat to prevent secondary trauma. At that moment, the short grey-haired Valkyrie seemed to wake up due to Kiana's movements, and upon seeing her appearance, she suddenly began scrambling backward in terror as if seeing a ghost.
Alvit: "Herrscher of Void!! Don't come over..."
Looking at the terrified Valkyrie, Kiana felt no ripples in her heart. Having experienced so many things, she no longer repelled the title of Herrscher of Void the way she used to. "Your injuries are not serious. What on earth happened here?"
Yet Alvit, who had long heard tales of the Herrscher of Void's terrifying reputation within Schicksal, still maintained a very strong sense of guarded caution. She shook her head and said, "I won't tell you. You are, you are the enemy."
Seeing Alvit's reaction, Kiana felt somewhat helpless. It seemed Su Jue was right: blind peacefulness only made things troublesome, and these fellows really couldn't listen to polite words. She pointed toward the other side where the Blade of Immortality was still fighting. "If you don't talk, your teammates are all going to die over there."
Only then did Alvit notice the condition of her teammates. Although still afraid of the Herrscher of Void, she cared more about her companions. "They were too despicable. They used a special tear gas; as long as you touch it, you lose your strength."
"Who are they?" Kiana quickly reacted. It seemed Schicksal's people had already begun their investigation and appeared to have suffered a heavy blow.
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