Chapter 169: Miss Raven Wants to Resign
World Serpent indeed has a traitor.
But it's neither Hare, who has a close relationship with Bronya's mother, nor Gray Serpent, who can be controlled by the power of Jizo Mitama's erosion, but the little Raven, completely unaware of being a double agent!
This is one of the reasons Silver Wing can confidently take Kiana and Mei to the Realm to wreak havoc.
No matter what movements or plans World Serpent has internally, whether they're secretly plotting to stab them in the back, she can know in advance through Raven.
Moreover, assuming Hare won't interfere, World Serpent's main enforcer is Raven, and if there's any backstabbing mission, Raven will be the one to carry it out.
At that point, slacking off in a fight would be minor; if necessary, she could totally perform a true backstab~!
"That damn Gray Serpent!"
Two hours later, Miss Raven grumbled as she left the bar, got into the driver's seat, fastened her seatbelt, and the wine-red sports car sped off like an unbridled wild horse.
The scenery outside the car window rapidly receded. Raven couldn't help but sigh, as if to vent the vexation in her heart.
"I don't want to go to work, I don't want to work!"
Just like a miserable wage slave who, after work, lies on a massage chair, sips wine, and enjoys life, only to be called in for overtime by the boss.
[…Do you want to leave this organization?]
Sensing the emotions Raven transmitted through their psychic link, Midnight Absinthe felt peculiar and asked with a subtle tone.
Oh no, it seems she's led Raven astray?
"Yes, of course I do!"
Every wage slave, after encountering similar situations, would curse their boss furiously internally, scowling, "Damn it, I'm quitting tomorrow!"
At this moment, Raven's heart was surging with the thought of ditching World Serpent.
Although mercenaries are much better than corporate drones, and World Serpent offers considerable commissions for completing missions, they are still, at the end of the day, working for others and suffering from having to please people.
Under the guidance of her "other self," Raven had completely seen the light!
With the ability to traverse parallel worlds, she could totally start a company and make money!
Copying the vast and endless entertainment works from other dimensions, or following Absinthe's suggestion, creating several super beautiful idol girls as cash cows, and having several super idols in each country, since there are classic works that fit every country's cultural background.
Once she develops, even importing advanced technology from inter-galactic civilizations would be an efficient and quick way to make money, a highly profitable business.
Once she develops into a capital magnate, she'll make money faster than World Serpent does from robberies!
[Then, for island villas, you can buy one, and blow one up!]
Honestly, hearing the vision Absinthe painted, a truly feasible plan, a future seemingly within reach, Raven was deeply moved!
Yes, how fast would it be to make money by starting a company!
Why work yourself to death, risking your life for dangerous missions?
"But wishing is useless!" Miss Raven seemed to wear a mask of pain, on the verge of tears.
Just like most wage slaves who only think about resigning after being scolded, but then their bodies honestly get up early for work the next day, Raven could only fantasize about quitting and running away.
World Serpent is no ordinary company, nor is it an organization of benevolent individuals.
Resign?
There's no such thing as resigning from World Serpent. As a high-ranking cadre with many secrets in her head, does she think she can just walk away? Don't even think about it!
Once she proposes it, it would be an act of defection, and she would be considered a traitor by World Serpent.
Gray Serpent would immediately turn into Gin and purge the organization.
[Hmm, this world is not peaceful, so remaining in World Serpent is still very necessary.]
It seemed she had oversold it, so Midnight Absinthe promptly pulled the reins back.
What if Raven really made up her mind, discarded the fantasy apocalyptic script, and picked up a modern urban novel protagonist script? Then her World Serpent double agent would be gone.
"Indeed," Raven nodded in agreement.
As a mercenary, Raven understood one principle deeply: to get by in this world, you need influence, you need backing~!
What good is money for an ordinary capitalist magnate?
Facing Schicksal and World Serpent, they could be crushed with a flick of a finger. Schicksal at least still heeded some rules of the surface world, but World Serpent was truly unrestrained.
Facing the threat of Honkai, one still needs connections in the underworld to live peacefully, otherwise Raven truly feared that her city would be annihilated one day.
She was well aware of the mental state and ruthlessness of her colleagues.
Raven pressed the accelerator, and the red sports car sped towards the Raiden Residence.
Before Gray Serpent assigned the mission to Raven, he had already informed "Bronya" of the Lord's decision.
Inside the Raiden Residence villa.
The other consciousness chatted with Raven. In fact, after Raven received the communication, Silver Wing had already told Kiana and Mei to pack their bags.
"Elysian Realm?"
"What kind of place is that?"
Mei and Kiana exchanged glances, puzzled by the term.
While "Realm" sounded good, the concept was often used for the world of the deceased, especially with the clear prefix indicating "past."
"It must be a relic of the Previous Era."
A qualified Pathstrider of Elation would inevitably be an excellent riddler. The pile of "this land" riddles left the two impressed but confused, filling them with curiosity about the Elysian Realm, a relic of the Previous Era.
However, there was no substantial information.
The surprise lies in letting them discover it themselves!
Miss Raven's pick-up process went smoothly, though there was an unexpected twist: the silver-haired girl, whom she had originally found difficult to face, inexplicably gave her a faint sense of familiarity.
It only amplified Raven's inner tension.
She couldn't actually be developing some form of Stockholm Syndrome, could she?
…
Greenland, located at the junction of North America and Europe, is one of Denmark's autonomous territories, the world's largest island, with an area of two million square kilometers.
"So cold."
Following the silver-haired girl off World Serpent's transport ship, Mei still couldn't help but shiver, despite having changed into thick clothes beforehand.
But upon stepping onto this land, gazing at the endless, magnificent snowfields and glaciers, Mei's initial emotion quickly turned into awe at the snowy scenery.
"It's so beautiful!"
"Mei-jie, have you never traveled to a similar place?"
The silver-haired girl tilted her head, looking at Mei, whose eyes were wide and sparkling.
As the young lady of the Raiden family, shouldn't she be flying all over the world, enjoying global scenery?
"No," Mei shook her head, somewhat dejectedly playing with a lock of hair at her temple.
When she was little, she went out with her father to attend a banquet, but ended up being kidnapped. This left a significant psychological shadow on her as a child, and ever since, she rarely traveled abroad alone.
"Also, Bronya, could you—could you please stop calling me that?"
A blush colored Mei's pretty face amidst the pristine white snow.
It was fine before, but after entering the Stigmata Space and seeing Silver Wing's true form, being called "older sister" by her made Mei feel a bit ashamed.
An elegant, sophisticated mature "older sister," whose aura was almost on par with Mei's own, should be calling Silver Wing "older sister" herself...
"Then, my honey~!"
The silver-haired girl's eyes curved, her smile a little mischievous.
Shy!
The blush deepened, making her look even more alluring.
"Silv… Bronya, I want a nickname too~!"
Unimpressed by the snowy scenery, having even traversed the snows of Siberia during her solo wanderings, the white-haired girl bounced over to the silver-haired girl's side and linked arms with her.
Because there were outsiders present, Kiana and Mei didn't use the name 'Silver Wing'.
"Alrighty~… Kiana."
A subtle pause, then the words abruptly shifted from cheerful to devoid of emotion, first causing Kiana's expression to stiffen, but then quickly darken.
"What did you say?! You stinky Bronya!"
"Given foolish Kiana's intelligence, which is far below that of a normal person, the best nickname is Kiana."
"Bronya! You—you scoundrel, are you looking for a fight?!"
Kiana instantly bristled, glaring at the expressionless girl through gritted teeth, her expression fiercely angry!
With her stoic face, she tried hard to make an expression of disdain, then a helpless smile lifted the corner of her lips. The lively expression signaled the exchange of body control.
"Ahhh… Pffft!"
Kiana stomped her foot, wanting to vent her frustration, but understood that Silver Wing was in control now, so she could only hold her breath, her cheeks instantly puffing up, adorably spitting out air little by little.
Bronya thoroughly enjoyed provoking the white-haired girl, then handing over body control to Silver Wing after the other bristled, watching Kiana's lightning-fast kowtow and frustrated inability to vent her anger.
Don't ask, because if you do, the answer is "learned from 'myself'!"
"Alright, alright."
The silver-haired girl smiled and stroked Kiana's head, her doting tone like that of a husky bullied by other dogs but unable to retaliate.
Trailing behind the three, Raven watched the scene with a strange expression.
She silently observed the silver-haired girl and Raiden Mei, then looked at Kiana, her gaze shifting between Bronya and Kiana, as a strange and twisted composition emerged in her mind.
After observing them throughout the journey, she figured it out.
Bronya Zaychik possessed a dual personality, with very distinct differences between the two. One was stoic and cold, the other mischievous and playful. She had faced the second personality before.
That was the one to be wary of.
"Is this where that… Elysian Realm is located? Where are the ruins? I don't see them?"
"If it's ruins, it should be very well hidden, right?"
Mei indicated that she understood this too!
Giving the silver-haired girl a deep look, and asking her "parallel self" to pay more attention to Bronya's second personality, Raven temporarily fulfilled her "tour guide" duties, offering the most basic explanation:
"That's right, the place we're going is the Zero Shelter left behind by the Previous Era. The Elysian Realm is inside the Zero Shelter."
Led by Raven, and amidst Mei's excited gaze, the group entered the World Serpent base hidden within the ice, first descending by elevator.
They then walked down flight after flight of stairs, through deep, carved tunnels bearing marks of artificial design. After an unknown duration, as they neared the tunnel exit…
The silver-haired girl suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Raven turned back to look.
"Nothing, just, before we enter, Raven, could you please remove your hood?"
The silver-haired girl smiled as she made a request that made question marks pop up over Raven's forehead.
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