Chapter Eleven: Moonlit Stroll

Fortunately, they were not fighting alone. World Serpent's research department was working alongside them.

When Shi Hen opened his personal terminal, he found a clear three-dimensional layout of the entire castle, with even the damaged areas marked in detail. He could not help but praise, "Natasha really is one of the organization's veteran officers."

With that kind of efficiency, Raven's status as a legendary mercenary clearly was not for show. Shi Hen still had a long way to go before he could catch up to her.

"Hmph! So now you know how good your big sister is?" Raven huffed smugly as she headed into the castle. "Let's hurry. Even after we install all this equipment, who knows how long it'll take to get results."

Gathering all kinds of information and comparing it was not something that could be completed in a short time, even with the equipment specially provided by World Serpent.

If they could not resolve the matter before the night ended, they would have to wait another month.

"Okay."

Shi Hen nodded to himself and headed in a different direction from Raven.

The castle was enormous. Splitting up would be more efficient.

As he walked through the long-abandoned castle, the air around him reeked of decay and age. Threads of chill seeped through his skin and drilled into his body, making him shiver.

Even a seasoned tomb raider would likely feel fear rising in his heart in such a place and want to turn around and flee at once.

But Shi Hen, who had already become a Herrscher, simply enjoyed this rare adventure. He even had the leisure to arrange the bones lying by the roadside into a more presentable pose.

Whoosh!

A sharp whistle tore through the air. Three claws suddenly emerged from the darkness, leaving behind a faint glint as they raked toward the defenseless youth.

Shi Hen shifted his step slightly to evade the strike, then immediately raised his leg and kicked viciously at the attacking figure.

Bang!

The figure flew back even faster than it had come, embedding itself deeply in one wall and falling still.

"A deadwalker? A wanderer who came here to take shelter during the full moon?" Shi Hen stepped closer to inspect it, deducing its identity from its clothing. "Still, it really is ugly."

Without the 12+ filter, deadwalkers in the Honkai World were actually quite horrifying-looking.

Their skin was deathly pale and gray, their eyes full of terrifying brutality, and some even let out horrifying roars when attacking.

And they would not put on Honkai-style uniforms and turn into pretty older girls.

Overall, their appearances did not change much after becoming deadwalkers. They were more like zombies that would not rot.

That was precisely why becoming a deadwalker was such an ugly end for Valkyries. Many would entrust their friends before battle, asking them to kill them the moment they showed signs of turning, preserving their last shred of dignity.

After all, in a sense, deadwalkers were still living creatures, while the dead could not become deadwalkers.

In an environment saturated with Honkai Energy, external wounds accelerated the process of becoming a deadwalker. This wanderer had probably turned because of that.

Otherwise, given the concentration of Honkai Energy inside the castle, humans could survive here for long periods without being affected, even during the full moon.

Raymond would not have sealed that relic here only to screw over his own descendants.

Shi Hen shook his head lightly, punched the wall, and sent countless bricks crashing down to bury the deadwalker. Then he turned and headed toward the next location.

After nearly an hour, Shi Hen finally returned to the main hall and met up with Raven at around two o'clock.

Chapter Eleven: Moonlit Stroll

"Next, we just need to wait here."

Raven found a spot where moonlight shone through and sat down, her expression relaxed.

She had considerable confidence in World Serpent's technical capabilities.

"About how long will it take?"

Shi Hen dragged over a stone and sliced its surface smooth and flat with a swipe of his finger before finally sitting down beside Raven in satisfaction.

Watching the youth's series of actions, then glancing at the stone beneath herself that she had merely wiped clean, Raven suddenly felt as though she had fallen behind the times.

"Probably several hours."

Raven took out a tablet-sized terminal, glanced at the constantly shifting data on it, and made her estimate.

"Okay."

Shi Hen nodded.

He had never dealt with this kind of equipment before and had no idea whether that was considered fast or slow.

But since it was World Serpent's cutting-edge equipment, it should be world-leading.

"So? How have these past few days in Sicily been?"

With nothing to do, Raven decided to ask after the youth's life.

In her heart, she had already come to see Shi Hen as a younger brother who needed looking after.

"Not bad." Shi Hen casually replied as he admired the desolate scenery outside through a large hole in the wall. "The food in Sicily is good, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are pretty nice too."

The facts proved that in this modern society, as long as one had money, life usually would not be too bad.

With the ten million World Serpent had given him, Shi Hen had been living quite comfortably.

After all, he had no intention of saving money without spending it, nor did he plan to buy some private island or villa.

"Is that because of that white-haired girl?"

Raven laughed teasingly, clearly having heard only the last sentence.

Shi Hen: "..."

We're really not letting that go, are we?

"Actually..." Shi Hen stared straight into the mercenary's wine-red eyes, his gaze gradually softening. "Compared to girls like that, I prefer someone more mature."

Raven's pupils suddenly widened.

The two sat side by side, close enough that she could hear the youth's strong heartbeat and feel the heat of his breath on her face.

"W-What are you talking about?"

Raven could not help looking away, her cheeks growing slightly warm.

Even if the youth really was handsome, like an adorable little puppy, she only saw him as a younger brother... How could this guy be having thoughts like that?

"Just kidding."

Shi Hen said with a smile.

He was not the type to take a hit without returning one.

A certain mercenary: "..."

Her fists clenched.

Taking a deep breath, Raven's gaze gradually turned cold.

It was time to let this brat understand the hierarchy within the organization.

"Still, I really like Natasha."

Shi Hen added.

In this world, Raven was one of the few people who showed him goodwill.

After more than half a year in the shadowy world, Shi Hen had seen plenty of betrayal and deception. He had even personally taken out several teammates.

After all, Shi Hen looked like nothing more than a fifteen-year-old youth, so there was never any shortage of people who saw his age and assumed he was easy to bully.

Without exception, all of them had returned to God's embrace ahead of schedule.

In the underground world, where profit came first, betrayal and schemes were the norm. Kindness was merely a rare luxury.

Even Raven's kindness was directed only toward a select few.

The top position on Charon's List had been built from piles of corpses.

"What is with you, brat..."

Unable to stay angry after hearing the youth's words, Raven shook her head helplessly.

"Could it be that Natasha dislikes me?"

Shi Hen blinked at the mercenary.

"O-Of course not."

Raven replied in rebuttal, instinctively looking away, too afraid to meet his eyes.

"Whew, that's good..."

Shi Hen acted as though he had breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet beneath the moonlight, a faint curve lifted at the corner of his lips.

Another day of practicing the art of tea.

As the books said, a high-end hunter often appeared in the form of prey.

Of course, Raven had been won over so quickly because Shi Hen himself harbored no ill intent.

Having risen to the top of the assassin world, what methods had Raven not seen before?

The only reason she had been won over was because she was willing to be won over.

No longer daring to mention that white-haired girl, Raven took snacks from her pack to share with the youth and passed the time by telling amusing stories from past missions.

As Shi Hen listened to Raven's stories, chewed on beef jerky, and occasionally took a swig of milk tea from his thermos, he somehow got the distinct feeling that they were having a picnic in a park.

All he could say was that Raven's adaptability was too strong. She had forcibly turned a search mission shrouded in mystery into an outdoor outing.

Of course, World Serpent's technology was also an important factor.

Technology changed lives.

If there had been internet here, Shi Hen could even have played a few rounds of competitive games.

The infrastructure back in Shenzhou was still much better.

Shi Hen could not help sighing inwardly.

Time passed quickly, and before long, Raven's terminal displayed the scan results.

As her eyes swept over the lines of text and charts on the screen, the mercenary's brows gradually furrowed.

Seeing the change in Raven's expression, even Shi Hen, who knew nothing about the equipment, understood that something had gone wrong.

Sure enough, a protagonist's path could never be smooth sailing.

Shi Hen keenly felt the weight of his sins.

"What happened?"

Shi Hen dutifully asked, advancing the plot.

"We can't find the target location." Raven rapidly operated the terminal as she spoke, her voice heavy. "There's unknown interference. We can only determine that the spatial coefficient in the castle area differs from the normal value.

Let me find the cause..."

Only after working on it for a full quarter of an hour did Raven put down the terminal. "The thing Raymond left behind is actually moving!"

In another space beyond their sight, the relic Raymond had left behind was moving according to patterns they could not comprehend, causing ripples to spread through real space.

Limited by the precision of their equipment, they could not directly lock onto the relic. They could only see the shadow it left in real space.

"Is it a living thing?"

Shi Hen could now truly feel how troublesome the problem was.

If they could not decipher the relic's movement patterns, they probably would not be able to catch it.

"No idea."

Raven spread her hands helplessly.

World Serpent's technology was already impressive enough to detect the relic's movement. Who knew whether that thing was alive?

"Can we eliminate the interference?"

Shi Hen continued asking.

"...There isn't enough time."