If the organization truly possessed a way to revive the dead, it would have ruled the world long ago.
After three seconds of silence, Gray Serpent finally continued, "Everything comes at a price."
Couldn't you just say it couldn't be done?
Rolling his eyes inwardly, Shi Hen said gloomily, "Mr. Gray Serpent, have you heard of the Moon's Eye Project?"
"Moon's Eye? What is that?"
Gray Serpent asked in confusion.
Although World Serpent's plan was also related to the moon, it had absolutely nothing to do with eyes.
"Nothing. I was just asking."
Shi Hen shook his head in disappointment.
Though Gray Serpent was likewise an old schemer who had lived through countless years, he was clearly nowhere near as candid as that little black guy from Naruto. He would not even mention the Stigmata Project.
"Then I agree to join Serpent."
Without pursuing the matter, Shi Hen nodded after a brief moment of thought.
"I guarantee you, Mr. Shi Hen, that you will never regret this choice."
Having received the youth's answer, Gray Serpent could not help but laugh softly.
If not for maintaining the organization's mystique, he would have personally invited Shi Hen to join World Serpent long ago. There would have been no need to wait until now.
"Wait, isn't anyone going to ask what I think?" While the two reached an agreement, Raven on the other side was displeased. "No matter what, Shi Hen's assessment was assigned to me, wasn't it?"
Besides, she was one of World Serpent's executives. She should at least have the right to voice an opinion, shouldn't she?
"Oh? Do you have a different opinion?"
Gray Serpent said coldly.
He had originally expected Raven to guide Shi Hen into joining World Serpent, but she seemed to have completely ignored that. Her words even vaguely suggested she was trying to push the youth away.
As an executive of World Serpent, was that really what she should be doing?
If not for Raven's many years of diligent service to World Serpent, he would have wondered whether she was planning to jump ship.
Of course I oppose Shi Hen joining World Serpent... Though she dearly wanted to say that, Raven swallowed the words when she saw the cold gaze in Gray Serpent's eyes on the screen.
Raven did not want a youth like Shi Hen to sink into World Serpent's darkness, but she could not think of any other solution for the moment.
Once someone entered Serpent's sights, no one could escape unscathed!
As for the only two organizations in the world capable of opposing World Serpent—Schicksal and Anti-Entropy—they were not much cleaner either.
There had never been a truly bright place in this world!
"What the organization needs are true elites. I want to test Shi Hen's abilities."
After pondering for a long time, Raven spoke calmly.
If Shi Hen joining World Serpent was unavoidable, then she at least needed the authority to keep the situation under control.
"Fine." Before Gray Serpent could say anything else, Shi Hen agreed first, a sunny smile appearing on his face. "I definitely won't disappoint Sister Natasha."
Although he did not know why Raven was so resistant to him joining World Serpent, Shi Hen would not fear any challenge.
Meeting the youth's confident gaze, Raven instinctively looked away. She pulled a storage device from beneath the counter and tossed it in front of Shi Hen. "This is your target for this time. Come back to Raven's Nest in three days, and I'll take you there myself."
"I understand." Shi Hen nodded lightly. "Then I'll see you in three days, Sister Natasha, Mr. Gray Serpent."
As he spoke, the youth drained the remaining half of his milk in one gulp. Only then did he rise and head outside, pushing open the bar's door as his figure melted into the night.
The Arrogance Sin of Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge
After the youth left and Raven was the only one remaining in the bar, Gray Serpent's red electronic eye flickered faintly on the screen. "Raven, I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation."
Although he had once assigned Raven the task of assessing Shi Hen, the moment he personally appeared here, it meant Raven's task had already failed.
This World Serpent executive, once richly decorated and one of the organization's finest warriors, had clearly not taken the organization's mission to heart. She had even tried to reject the talent he favored.
Moreover, in a sense, the moment he appeared before Shi Hen, the youth had already earned the qualifications to join World Serpent, just as Gray Serpent had personally taken Raven away from Siberia back then.
Otherwise, as the actual person in charge of World Serpent, did she really think he was so idle that he would care about one member's little game of opening a shop?
As for the other assessment procedures, they were merely formalities meant to enhance the organization's mystique.
"He isn't suited for Serpent." Raven stared at Gray Serpent on the screen without yielding in the slightest. "There is no darkness in his heart. He isn't the same kind of person as us."
She did not want someone like Shi Hen to fall into World Serpent's darkness as well.
"He will adapt." Gray Serpent's voice was cold. "Before the threat of the Honkai, humanity in this world has no such thing as light."
Having survived from the era of Moth to Fire fifty thousand years ago until now, Gray Serpent understood better than any human just how fragile so-called light and order truly were.
When the Honkai descended in full, all order would be nothing more than bubbles beneath the sunlight.
And amid that endless darkness and despair, only World Serpent was humanity's sole path to salvation.
Hearing Gray Serpent's words, Raven fell silent as well. Only after a long while did she slowly say, "For the first three months after Shi Hen joins the organization, he must serve under me."
Unable to stop this, she at least had to teach the youth how to survive in a dark world.
Since she could not give him a sunlit world, she would light a small lamp and illuminate this tiny patch of land.
"Fine." Gray Serpent nodded without refusing. "But I hope you do not forget that he ultimately belongs to Serpent."
As long as they ultimately gained a powerful combatant, Gray Serpent did not mind granting Shi Hen a little more leniency.
Or rather, that had been his intention from the very beginning when he let Raven handle Shi Hen's assessment.
From the first time he met the youth, he had decided that Shi Hen and Raven would get along very well. The facts had not exceeded his expectations.
In fact, they got along a little too well, so much so that Raven had developed thoughts she should not have had.
But that was fine. Those with a weakness were easier to control.
After ending the communication with Gray Serpent, Raven stared blankly at the bloodstained fruit knife on the bar counter.
A newcomer, male, with remarkable Honkai Energy control... He really was a little monster.
In this world where the Honkai existed, women generally had higher Honkai Energy adaptability than men.
And clearly, Shi Hen had broken that universal rule.
If nothing unexpected happened, the youth must possess a priceless treasure that would drive countless people mad—Natural Stigmata.
If Honkai Energy adaptability was viewed as a talent, then perhaps fewer than one in a thousand possessed it. Most people would turn into mindless monsters—zombies—after coming into contact with even a small amount of Honkai Energy.
Among those already few people, most had only average Honkai Energy adaptability, the sort who possessed a little ability, but not much.
After filtering through layer after layer, one would eventually find an exceptional case that might not appear even once in a million people—a Natural Stigmata Awakener.
Terrifyingly high Honkai Energy adaptability and all kinds of frightening, irrational abilities... Natural Stigmata Awakeners were practically born synonymous with strength.
For example, Count Dracula, who left behind countless legends in medieval Europe; King Arthur, who was nearly comparable to a mythological figure in England; Jilin, who drove all Honkai from Shenzhou five thousand years ago through her own strength... Even after countless years, the brilliance of Natural Stigmata Awakeners had never faded.
Judging by Shi Hen's many displays that defied common sense, he undoubtedly possessed Natural Stigmata as well, and its development was not low.
Although Raven had not seen any visible Stigmata pattern on the youth's body, the essence of a Stigmata was actually a special genetic sequence. As long as she sent the blood on the fruit knife for testing, there would be nowhere left for his secrets to hide.
This little guy was still too young in the end.
Sighing inwardly, Raven turned on the tap and washed the fruit knife clean, letting the precious blood that could have served as evidence flow down the drain.
She had no interest in probing other people's secrets.
Besides, compared to secretly peeking, she preferred having them voluntarily explain everything.
Three days later, at the edge of an industrial park in a certain Nordic city.
On the rooftop of a thirty-three-story building, the cold night wind howled, whipping the hems of two figures' clothes.
"You see it, right? That's your target today."
Pointing at the brightly lit industrial park ahead, Raven looked at the youth and spoke.
"A Mafia Organization, Blood Axe."
Shi Hen narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked toward the industrial park.
Although it looked like an ordinary industrial park on the surface, a closer look revealed that the guards' patrol routes were extremely tight. Faint glimmers also occasionally flashed from the shadows—hidden sentries.
After all, it was a Mafia Organization that World Serpent regarded as prey. It had some skills, even if not many.
"Confident?"
Raven asked.
"You should be asking whether they can take a beating."
Shi Hen grinned.
Seeing the youth's confidence, Raven raised an eyebrow but did not question him.
Honestly, pitting a conventional Mafia Organization against a Natural Stigmata Awakener was rather like bullying.
A fully developed Stigmata Awakener could contend with an army tens of thousands strong alone, and an elite army from a first-rate major power at that.
Even if the youth had not fully developed his own Stigmata, he was not someone a Mafia Organization could hope to challenge.
It was probably like a max-level veteran massacring a beginner village.
"Remember the target of this mission. Don't let the prey escape."
After thinking for a moment, Raven reminded him.
She was not worried about the youth's safety, but the target was not stupid enough to confront an enemy it could not defeat head-on.
"I know."
Faced with the earnest instruction of a senior, Shi Hen naturally would not argue.
As a newbie about to join World Serpent, he should act a little more obediently.
His gaze repeatedly swept across the industrial park as Shi Hen mapped out several different infiltration routes in his mind.
Although he could not observe much from this position due to the distance and angle, combined with the information Raven had given him, it was already enough to formulate a complete plan of action.
Watching the youth think so seriously, Raven remained quiet and did not disturb him. Only after he withdrew his gaze did she finally speak. "Here. Try this."
As she spoke, Raven lifted a long silver case and opened it, revealing a strangely shaped black Sniper Rifle within.
Unlike the famous Barrett, which exuded industrial aesthetics, this Sniper Rifle had many structures resembling those of a living creature. Its narrow barrel resembled the maw of some alien beast, giving off an eerie and dangerous feeling.
"What is this? I don't know how to use a Sniper Rifle."
Though he was intimately familiar with the weapon's capabilities, Shi Hen still showed the perfectly appropriate hint of confusion on his face.
As a little newbie who had only recently stepped into the Honkai field, he should not know such things.
"Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge. Consider it one of the organization's secret weapons." Raven explained simply. "It is said to have seven forms, and the Sniper Rifle is only one of them. You can familiarize yourself with it first."
"Hm?"
This time, Shi Hen was genuinely surprised.
Although Raven looked relaxed, as if this Sniper Rifle were merely an ordinary piece of high-grade equipment.
In reality, Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge was already one of World Serpent's most powerful weapons.
Just as Black Abyss White Flower was to Schicksal and Star of Eden was to Anti-Entropy, Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge was one of World Serpent's most precious foundations.
A godslayer weapon forged from a Herrscher Core was an unparalleled treasure in any organization.
After all, apart from the Herrscher of Finality, which symbolized destruction and the end, only twelve Herrschers could be born in an entire civilization era. The Tenth Herrscher, who could split into a thousand individuals, should count as one entity in a sense.
Under normal circumstances, Shi Hen should first pass the tests and join World Serpent. After three years upon three years, after earning countless merits for the organization and rising to become an executive, he might have gained the right to use this weapon.
Yet now, Raven was going to directly hand Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge over for him to use?
Had his hidden potential been discovered?
Though secretly astonished, Shi Hen did not hesitate much when he saw that Raven had no intention of explaining further. He reached out and picked up Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge.
With newcomer benefits delivered right in front of him, how could he possibly refuse them?
"Focus and convey your thoughts to it." Seeing this, a faint smile curled Raven's lips. "Seven Thunders of Sin's Purge's body is made of Soul Steel, a special alloy that can sense its user's will and change accordingly."
Before you continue