"All we need to do now is wait."
Finding a spot bathed in moonlight, Raven sat down with a relaxed expression.
She had plenty of confidence in World Serpent's technological prowess.
"How long will it take?"
Shin dragged over a stone, then smoothed its surface with a quick swipe of his finger before sitting beside her, satisfied with his work.
Watching the boy's little display and then glancing at the rock she had simply dusted off, Raven suddenly felt like she was falling behind the times.
"Probably a few hours," she estimated, pulling out a tablet-sized terminal and glancing at the ever-shifting data on the screen.
"I see."
Shin nodded.
He'd never really used this kind of equipment before, so he couldn't say whether that was fast or slow.
But since it was World Serpent's black-tech gear, it had to be top of the line.
"So, how have your days in Sicily been?"
With a rare moment of free time, Raven decided to ask about his stay.
In her heart, she already saw Shin as a younger brother to look after.
"Not bad." Gazing through a hole in the wall at the barren landscape outside, Shin replied casually, "Good food, beautiful scenery, friendly people."
As it turned out, in modern society, life was rarely bad as long as you had money.
With ten million from World Serpent in his pocket, Shin was living pretty comfortably.
After all, he had no intention of hoarding money or buying some private island villa.
"Because of that white-haired girl, huh?"
Raven teased with a sly grin, clearly having only heard the last part.
Shin: "…"
So this was a hurdle he just couldn't get past?
"Well…" Staring into Raven's wine-red eyes, Shin's gaze softened. "Compared to little girls like that, I prefer someone more mature."
…
Raven's pupils dilated.
The two sat close, so close she could hear the strong rhythm of the boy's heartbeat and feel his warm breath on her face.
"W-what are you saying?"
Raven instinctively looked away, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Sure, the boy was good-looking, like an adorable little puppy, but she'd always seen him as a kid… How could he even think that way?
"Just joking."
Shin smiled.
He wasn't the kind to just sit back and take a hit.
Raven: "…"
Her fists tightened.
Taking a deep breath, her eyes turned cold.
It was time to remind this little punk about the chain of command in their organization.
"But still, I really do like you, Natasha."
Shin added lightly.
In this world, Raven was one of the rare few who showed him genuine kindness.
After half a year in the shadows, Shin had seen his fair share of betrayal and deceit—he'd even personally taken out a few of his own teammates.
Looking like a fifteen-year-old made plenty of people think he was easy to push around.
Without exception, they all ended up paying the price.
In the ruthless underworld, betrayal and trickery were the norm, and kindness was a rare luxury.
Even Raven only showed her kindness to a select few.
After all, she had earned her place at the top of the Charon List through a mountain of corpses.
"What are you even saying, you little brat…"
Unable to stay angry after that, Raven shook her head, a little helpless.
"Does that mean Natasha doesn't like me?"
Shin blinked up at her innocently.
"O-of course not."
She turned away again, unable to meet his gaze.
"Phew, that's a relief."
Shin let out a breath of apparent relief.
But under the moonlight, a subtle smile curled at the corner of his lips.
Another day of practicing the art of tea.
As the saying goes, the most skilled hunter always appears as the prey.
Of course, Raven had let herself get handled so easily only because Shin held no real ill intent.
For someone like Raven, the top assassin in the game, there was nothing she hadn't seen.
If she was being played, it was only because she allowed it.
No longer daring to bring up that white-haired girl, Raven pulled some snacks from her bag and shared them with Shin. They passed the time swapping stories about past missions.
Listening to her tales, chewing on dried beef, and sipping milk tea from his thermos, Shin felt like he was on a picnic in the park.
Raven's energy was truly something else. She had somehow turned this foggy, high-stakes relic search into a casual outdoor outing.
Of course, World Serpent's tech played a big part.
Technology really did change lives.
If there were Wi-Fi here, he might've even squeezed in a few online matches.
Infrastructure in Shenzhou really was top-tier.
Shin couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Time flew by, and before long, results began displaying on Raven's terminal.
As her eyes swept over the strings of data and graphs, her brow gradually furrowed.
Seeing the shift in her expression, even someone as clueless about the equipment as Shin knew—something had gone wrong, just as expected.
The protagonist's path is never smooth.
Shin felt the weight of his own narrative.
"What's wrong?"
He asked helpfully, nudging the plot forward.
"Can't locate the target." Raven typed quickly on the terminal, her tone heavy. "There's some kind of interference. All I can tell is that the spatial coefficient in the castle is different from normal.
Let me try to find the cause…"
After fiddling with the device for a solid fifteen minutes, she finally set it down.
"The thing Raymonlet left behind… it's moving!"
Somewhere in a space they couldn't see, the relic Olivia Raymonlet left behind was drifting according to some unknowable pattern, causing ripples in the real world.
But due to limitations in their equipment's precision, they couldn't lock on to it—only track the shadows it left behind.
"Is it alive?"
Shin could sense the growing complexity of the problem.
If they couldn't figure out the relic's movement pattern, catching it might be out of the question.
"No idea."
Raven shrugged, a helpless look on her face.
Detecting its motion was already pushing World Serpent's technology to the limit. Who could say whether the thing was alive?
"Can we eliminate the interference?"
Shin pressed on.
"…There's not enough time."
Raven looked toward the sky, now tinged with the first signs of dawn, and shook her head slowly.
If they missed tonight, they'd have to wait another month.
Hearing her answer, and seeing the silver-white moon hanging low in the sky, an idea suddenly sparked in Shin's mind.
"I think… I know where it is."
His lips curled into a confident smile.
"Hm?"
Raven looked at him in surprise.
"Natasha, do you remember how Raymonlet's story ends?"
Stepping out through a crack in the wall, Shin let the moonlight wash over him.
"Of course. In her final days…" Raven murmured, realization dawning in her eyes. "You think she hid it on the."
Her gaze lifted to the silent moon overhead.
So that was it. That's why the relic only released Honkai energy on full moons.
But even if they knew where it was, they still had no way of retrieving it.
She hadn't brought any flying equipment.
"To find Raymonlet's relic, we just have to do what she did—go to the moon."
Ignoring Raven's rising despair, Shin spoke calmly and slowly lifted his right foot.
Tap.
A crisp sound echoed, snapping Raven out of her daze.
Footsteps? From where?
As confusion gripped her, she saw Shin's figure rising steadily into the air, each step ringing out clearly.
Tap, tap, tap…
With each step he took, a faint white light flared beneath his feet, as if he were walking on invisible stairs.
It was Honkai energy!
This guy had actually condensed Honkai energy into solid form!
Watching the impossible unfold before her eyes, Raven was utterly stunned.
Condensing Honkai energy to a touchable state was something she could do too.
But what Shin was doing now defied logic, like lifting yourself into the sky by stepping on your own feet.
For a moment, everything Raven knew about Honkai crumbled.
Geniuses don't play by the rules. They are the rules.
As the black-haired boy walked upward through the moonlight, Raven could no longer deny it, he was a true genius who shattered common sense.
With each step, Shin's silhouette grew taller, casting a long shadow over the entire castle.
No, it wasn't that his body was growing, it was the light ahead of him that was beginning to shine.
The moment that light appeared, the wind howled wildly. Even the moonlight began to flicker and sway.
With steady footsteps echoing through the air, the boy marched forward, winds roaring his name and the moon crowning him its heir.
Before him, a pitch-black portal gradually took shape in the center of the light.
*********
Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 200, 400 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!