At midnight, Shi Hen got into Raven's car and sped toward the outskirts of Raymond. The city's bustle and lights were left far behind them.
"The moon is really full tonight."
Sitting in the passenger seat, Shi Hen could not help but sigh.
By the lunar calendar, it was already the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a festival in Shenzhou for remembering friends and family.
But he had always been alone in this world, with no one to miss.
"Yeah." Raven glanced up at the sky and nodded as she gripped the steering wheel. "Come to think of it, we owe the moon for the progress on this mission."
"Hm?"
Shi Hen appropriately showed his confusion.
"You've been here for so long. You must have heard the legend of Raymond, right?"
Raven prompted.
"That knight from a thousand years ago?"
Shi Hen asked.
This city was named Raymond, supposedly after a knight who had lived a thousand years ago.
Although that knight's family had long since disappeared, plenty of stories about her still circulated. The most famous of them...
"A thousand years ago, a terrifying tsunami struck Sicily. Black waves rose all the way to the heavens, leaving the entire island battered by wind and rain."
Raven slowly recounted the tale.
"The great Raymond walked across the sea and swept away every wave and gale with a single slash, restoring clear skies." Shi Hen followed up, his expression turning surprised. "So that really happened?"
The story was recorded in Raymond's history books, but history was history... everyone knew how that went.
Often, a recorder's subjective speculation became part of history as well.
Perhaps Raymond had merely saved a few people during an ordinary storm.
The sands of time had blown on for ages. Only heaven knew what had truly happened in the past.
But since Raven was investigating this matter, it meant Raymond's story was not entirely fabricated. There had to be hidden information within it.
"Based on my research, this Raymond was most likely a Natural Stigmata Awakener."
As she spoke, Raven discreetly glanced at the boy beside her.
"So we're looking for the Stigmata Raymond left behind?"
Ignoring Raven's gaze, Shi Hen frowned slightly as he pondered in silence.
If the story was true, then Raymond's power had been absurdly strong.
Against a massive disaster capable of wiping out all of Sicily, he himself might not have been affected much, but to calm the storm with a single slash... he would probably need the power of a Herrscher Core.
The power of Natural Stigmata had limits.
At the very least, Shi Hen could not quell a natural disaster through Stigmata power alone.
"Maybe." Raven curled her lips, neither confirming nor denying it. "There's also intelligence suggesting Raymond may have possessed a powerful relic from the Previous Civilization Era.
"It was with the power of that relic that she saved Sicily."
Raymond's full name was Olivia Raymond. This knight, who had been active a thousand years ago, was a woman.
"A relic, huh... This treasure hunt is getting interesting."
A hint of anticipation appeared in Shi Hen's eyes.
Generally speaking, any surviving creation from the Previous Civilization Era could be called a relic, with the Divine Key series being the most famous.
But relics other than Divine Keys were not necessarily inferior, because no one could know just how far those lunatics from Moth to Fire had warped the technology tree.
Take that undying holy sword capable of cutting through space—Durandal.
If anyone dared claim Durandal was inferior to a Divine Key, the strongest Valkyrie would immediately jump out and punch them twice.
"Don't get your hopes up too high. Until the end, no one knows what we'll find." Raven advised in the tone of someone with experience.
She had encountered false advertising plenty of times.
Maybe the intelligence claimed there was a holy sword, only for you to arrive and find nothing but a Sword of Glorious Courage stuck there, with a Shield of Radiant Will thrown in as a bonus.
Shi Hen nodded, indicating that he had taken it to heart.
Looking at the moonlit plains in the distance, Shi Hen turned to Raven, dressed like a mercenary, and asked, "By the way, what does Raymond's legacy have to do with the moon?"
The story just now had not mentioned the moon.
"One record states that at the end of her life, Raymond ascended to the heavens and went to the divine kingdom above the moon." Raven spoke softly, looking at the moon hanging in the sky and spilling endless silver light. "And that day happened to be a full moon."
Shi Hen: ...
First she cleaved the sea apart with one sword, then she ascended on the moon. What kind of ultimate patchwork monster was this?
Raymond's holy sword had not been pulled from a stone too, had it?
Still, a full moon...
Looking at the flawless white jade disk on the horizon, Shi Hen inexplicably thought of the Honkai Beast he had encountered in the sea that day.
He did not know what a full moon meant, but since it had been specially recorded, the moon must have held extraordinary significance.
This was really getting more and more exciting.
Under the moonlight, a crooked smile curled across the youth's lips.
Moonlit Treasure Hunt
After driving for a while, Shi Hen and Raven finally stopped at the foot of a mountain.
"We can't drive any farther. We'll have to walk the rest of the way."
Raven got out with a black leather bag in hand and used a powerful flashlight to point at a narrow path winding upward beside the road.
"What's up there?"
With a leather bag identical to one used by legendary mercenaries slung over his back, Shi Hen also took out a flashlight.
He had no idea where Raven had driven them. Streetlights were separated by great distances here, and the trail itself was pitch-black, untouched even by moonlight.
Shi Hen could see in the dark, but since Raven, the organization's top woman, was holding a light, he naturally had to restrain himself a little.
"You'll know when we get there."
Raven merely gave a mysterious smile.
The two followed the path upward, neither of them moving slowly.
With Honkai Energy in their bodies, Raven and Shi Hen possessed physical abilities far beyond ordinary people. The twisting, dim forest trail was no different from a broad, level road to them.
Before long, they reached the end of the path.
After turning a corner, an imposing building appeared before them.
Like the castles often found in knightly tales, the structure was built entirely of brick and stone. Thick walls encircled the mountain, their uneven surface leaving openings for shooting, while several tall watchtowers stood at the corners.
Within the walls stood the main building in Gothic style, grand and magnificent.
Without a doubt, it was a castle.
But unlike the solemn majesty of storybook castles, this one had neither inhabitants nor lights. It had clearly been abandoned for many years, and several sections of its walls had even collapsed.
Under the moonlight, the castle resembled a battered corpse, lonely as it waited for visitors to mourn it.
"This is the castle passed down through the Raymond family for generations."
Raven introduced it.
"Is Raymond's treasure really inside?"
Shi Hen frowned, deeply skeptical.
A thousand years was an incredibly long time. Even nations and dynasties could have changed several times over.
Expecting this castle to still contain much treasure was less believable than Qin Shi Huang climbing out of his grave and making you send him fifty yuan so he could promote you to general.
"According to our investigations, unusual Honkai Energy fluctuations appear here during every full moon." Raven took out a palm-sized device and pointed at the rippling circles on its screen. "There's definitely something hidden here. Ordinary people just can't see it."
Seeing Raven's serious expression, Shi Hen could only nod and accept the conclusion.
Though it did not sound particularly scientific, it was actually perfectly consistent with scientific principles.
Simple optical camouflage could create an invisibility-like effect, not to mention that the Previous Civilization possessed black technology capable of interfering with space.
If Raymond had truly possessed a relic a thousand years ago, then anything she did that defied common sense was possible.
Honkai Energy combined with Previous Civilization technology was equivalent to gods walking the earth in ancient times, when civilization's technology was still underdeveloped. Their methods and power were far beyond anything ordinary people could imagine.
In fact, upon careful examination, one would find that many myths and legends from this era were related to relics of the Previous Civilization.
They stepped over the collapsed gate and entered the castle, where an even bleaker scene unfolded before them.
Wild grass had overtaken every patch of soil where it could grow. Bricks, stones, and rotten wood lay scattered everywhere, and from time to time, they could even see skeletons that had long since turned white.
"I heard this place was still in use until before World War II."
Raven surveyed the desolation before her, her tone carrying a trace of surprise.
"Destroying historical architecture. Too bad we can't fine those people anymore."
Shi Hen swept his gaze over the area and did spot traces that might have been left by explosives, though the years had made it impossible for him to be certain.
"This castle was rebuilt once over a hundred years ago. Not a single brick is original anymore."
Raven curled her lips, her boots making soft sounds as they stepped across grass and debris.
"Even so, Raymond's treasure still hasn't been found?"
Shi Hen could not help but admire how thoroughly she had mastered the art of hiding.
Presumably, this knight would have had much in common with The Doctor, who had spent fifty thousand years holed up inside Thousand Worlds.
"Yeah." Raven could not help sighing as well. "The records indicate that Raymond's relic was likely related to space."
Space had always been one of the most troublesome abilities.
Once something involved it, matters often became exceedingly complicated.
"Schicksal never found it?"
Shi Hen could not help asking.
That Bishop had always been interested in spatial abilities.
And Sicily was not far from Schicksal HQ.
"World Serpent's technology isn't exactly the same as Schicksal's." Raven raised the palm-sized device in her hand, pride on her face. "This is the organization's newest Honkai Energy detector."
If they had not made a breakthrough in this field, World Serpent probably would not have noticed what Raymond had hidden.
"I see."
Shi Hen understood.
Although the three giants were often mentioned together, each organization's technological focus was entirely different.
For example, in biotechnology, Schicksal's Artificial Stigmata generally improved Valkyries' adaptability to Honkai Energy, while World Serpent simply abandoned human identity altogether and dedicated itself to turning humans into Honkai Beasts.
So it was perfectly normal for World Serpent's technology to surpass Schicksal's in certain areas.
"But..." Reining in his overly wandering thoughts, Shi Hen stepped over the fallen doors and entered the castle's main hall, hesitation appearing on his face. "Where do we even start looking?"
Even in its ruined state, the castle was still far too vast for them.
Standing at the entrance to the great hall, the two were like children who had wandered into a giant's home.
Faced with such an enormous castle, even a large archaeological team would need a long time to explore it fully, let alone the two of them.
"There's no need to search every corner. We can use modern methods." As she spoke, Raven pulled a disk-shaped object from her bag. "Install these around the castle. The locations and instructions have already been sent to your terminal."
After a thousand years, even if this had once been a noble castle, explorers with all kinds of motives would have turned over every corner countless times.
Trying to find Raymond's treasure through ordinary methods would be nothing but a fool's dream.
Before you continue