"Taken care of."
Yomi tossed more than a dozen purple crystal shards from her sleeve, and Raven's expression gradually changed.
"You..."
After an Emperor-class Honkai Beast died, it would reliably leave behind an intact, high-purity core similar to a Honkai crystal. A Honkai Emperor, meanwhile, would leave behind only a small fragment of a damaged core.
These cores could generally be used to forge weapons or supply them with energy.
Looking at the dozen-plus crystals before her, Raven remained silent for a long time.
After laying the crystals out one by one and counting them, Raven looked at the purple-black-haired girl with a complicated expression.
"Well?"
Yomi spread her right hand, her violet-pink eyes calm and unruffled.
"You passed..."
More than a dozen Honkai Emperors in twenty minutes, along with over two hundred Honkai Beasts...
The three Honkai Beast strongholds weren't close to each other. Did that mean she had spent most of those twenty minutes traveling?
Raven felt like she had recruited someone incredible...
World Serpent
Jackal looked at the blonde, violet-eyed woman inside the medical pod and mocked her.
"Cocolia, a mere former Russian captain..."
"World Serpent gave you technology and ensured that you became an Anti-Entropy Executor..."
"Yet you exploited our trust, wasted enormous resources on that idiotic experiment of yours, and nearly ruined our plans."
"You eat from our bowl, then smash our pot..."
"What face do you have left to keep living?"
Faced with Jackal's questioning, Cocolia closed her eyes and said nothing.
"Heh... Not talking? Don't rush. If Grey Serpent hadn't wanted to spare your life, do you think you'd still be alive today?"
Jackal crossed his arms, cunning gleaming in his eyes.
Because World Serpent needed to stay hidden, Jackal had never had an abundance of experimental subjects. This one had come along at just the right time.
Grey Serpent had said to spare Cocolia's life, but it had never said Jackal couldn't use other methods.
The techniques Cocolia played with were all things Jackal had long since mastered.
Keeping her alive was all that mattered. Jackal had plenty of ways to do that.
"Remember, at the very least, make sure she can continue serving us. She can't lose her identity as an Anti-Entropy Executor yet..."
Grey Serpent, who had been watching from the side, shook his head and turned to leave.
Because of Cocolia, World Serpent had nearly been exposed. Raven, one of its executives, had been severely injured, requiring immense resources to heal, and the Sin Mallet Thunder of Seven God Key had been lost.
Cocolia's status as an Anti-Entropy Executor was practically the only reason she was still alive.
After communicating with Raven, Grey Serpent received a biological sample from "Yomi," along with her photograph, a day later.
A lock of purple-black hair roughly two centimeters long.
"Yomi... Is that an alias?"
Grey Serpent searched its database but found no information matching her, so it could only begin with her DNA data.
"She appeared so suddenly, and in Changkong City, no less..."
Grey Serpent considered whether Schicksal or Anti-Entropy had discovered something. But Anti-Entropy was currently doing everything it could to investigate the Sea of Quanta in Sea Abyss City, while Schicksal was competing with World Serpent for the Second Divine Key.
Neither had the time or reason to do this.
World Serpent had hidden itself for many years and had personnel stationed among the upper ranks of various nations. When it came to accessing information, it was even faster than Schicksal.
Before long, the genetic sample identification results came in.
"No fully matching genetic data found?"
Now it was Grey Serpent's turn to be puzzled.
To conceal Honkai energy while also monitoring and identifying people corroded by it, most citizens' genetic data in a country would normally be entered into the system.
Since it could not find a perfect match, Grey Serpent could only settle for locating genetic data related to hers.
"MEI Corporation, the Raiden family..."
Looking at the matching data, Grey Serpent discovered that the person with the highest genetic compatibility was a girl named Raiden Mei, who had only recently turned eighteen.
"Their relationship is... parent and child? Mother and daughter?"
Grey Serpent was a little stunned.
"Raiden Mei is Raiden Ryoma's daughter. Her genetic sample confirms a parent-child relationship..."
"Then is Yomi Raiden Mei's daughter?"
By the time it reached that conclusion, Grey Serpent's mechanical CPU was nearly overheating.
Judging by the degree of genetic differentiation, although both were eighteen years old, Yomi's genes showed a distinctly higher degree of differentiation.
In other words, Yomi had most likely been born before Raiden Mei—unless she had been rapidly cultivated through special means.
However, Grey Serpent did not dwell on that for long. Instead, it became interested in another part of Yomi's genes.
There seemed to be an exceptionally strange power hidden within this portion of her genes. It was mysterious and impossible to analyze.
Grey Serpent had the vague feeling that it had seen a similar genetic report somewhere before.
It should have been something that could not be analyzed or investigated either.
However, perhaps because different Grey Serpents had access to slightly different databases, it could not find the relevant record for the moment.
Two days later
"Yo, Grey Serpent. We're back."
Raven removed her hood and walked in with the purple-black-haired girl behind her.
"This is Yomi, the new executive I'm recommending to join World Serpent."
"Hello."
Yomi looked at the mechanical humanoid with crimson eyes before her and nodded.
"Your name is Yomi?"
Grey Serpent looked at the pink highlights woven through the purple-black-haired girl's hair, as well as her pair of violet-pink eyes.
It stared into her pupils, its crimson mechanical eyes flashing continuously.
Sometimes, even without looking at someone's appearance, a pair of eyes alone could reveal many things.
People always had similarities. That was true enough. But some people's unique qualities could be recognized at a single glance.
Like Yomi's eyes.
Raven only thought Yomi's eyes were beautiful and did not think much of it. But Grey Serpent had existed from fifty thousand years ago to the present. It had seen far too many things Raven did not understand.
"Very well. From now on, you are an executive of World Serpent."
To Raven's surprise, Grey Serpent barely put Yomi through any tests or examinations before directly acknowledging her status.
"Wait, Grey Serpent, where are you going?"
Raven watched Grey Serpent, which had stared at Yomi ever since she appeared and then acknowledged her status without much explanation, and grew increasingly confused.
No, when had World Serpent's trials become this simple?
"Raven, take Yomi to familiarize herself with World Serpent's structure and the other executives. I have an urgent matter to report."
Grey Serpent left without even turning its head.
"An urgent matter to report? Who could you possibly report to?"
Raven was completely baffled.
Within World Serpent, Grey Serpent was practically the most senior executive. Aside from the Sovereign, it handled nearly every matter, large and small.
Yet Grey Serpent had suddenly said it needed to make a report. Who else could be its direct superior now?
Other than the Sovereign, Kevin, there should not have been anyone else, right?
And why did Yomi need to learn about the other executives and World Serpent's structure?
Hadn't Raven recruited Yomi to fight?
Elsewhere, Grey Serpent transmitted Yomi's photograph in digitized form to a small green-haired armed doll.
"Please enter her into Elysium Everlasting... Confirm..."
Grey Serpent remembered why the other half of that genetic sample had felt familiar. That record had once been destroyed, and Grey Serpent had been one of the witnesses to its destruction.
That was why it had thought of it.
But Grey Serpent still could not be completely certain. For now, it was only a guess. Although the Sovereign was still in the Sea of Quanta, there were other ways to confirm it.
Very soon, Grey Serpent received an answer. The moment it saw it, Grey Serpent finally relaxed, even feeling as though fortune had turned after reaching its lowest point.
The answer was simple, only two words.
Origin
Mobius: Regrettably, the Child Doesn't Resemble You
"How should I put it? World Serpent has a long history, but from..."
Raven introduced the organization as she led the purple-black-haired girl through World Serpent's base.
Yomi listened thoughtfully.
Until Raven stopped walking and began introducing World Serpent's executives.
"Um... If possible, I actually wouldn't recommend having too much contact with the other World Serpent executives."
Raven shrugged and leaned against the wall beside the laboratory entrance.
"Although World Serpent is huge, we don't actually have that many executives. And most of them are rather, well..."
"Distinctive."
As she said this, Raven looked at the purple-black-haired girl.
"Since you've joined World Serpent and Grey Serpent has acknowledged you, you should pick a codename for yourself."
"Within World Serpent, executives generally address one another by their codenames."
"Is that so..."
Yomi nodded lightly.
"Then my codename will be Yomi."
Raven froze when she heard that.
"You... Yomi isn't your real name?"
"I have amnesia."
Yomi said it with a perfectly serious expression.
Before you continue