"Gray Serpent, report on the current situation."
"Yes, Dr. Mobius. Thanks to Miss Lynelle's efforts, the Herrscher of Domination's Theater of Domination has been completely destroyed."
"Based on the World Serpent's observations of Imaginary Space, it's unlikely the theater will re-emerge anytime soon."
"However, the number of Herrscher of Domination puppets still lying dormant across the world remains significant. Due to their unique hive network, information sharing among them is extremely fast and leaves little trace in reality..."
Inside a World Serpent base, a petite, green-haired girl sat atop a hovering vehicle, her attention fixed on a screen as she asked her questions.
Standing beside her were two individuals.
One was a stern-faced man with white hair, and the other... was a "Gray Serpent" colored entirely in black and gold.
That's right—the original Gray Serpent, the one overseeing Project Stigma.
In principle, to ensure the project's security, this golden Gray Serpent in charge of Project Stigma and the Gray Serpent network hub wasn't supposed to move around freely... but then again, the very person who set those principles was right here.
So the typically emotionless golden Gray Serpent now stood respectfully to the side, attending to his master.
"Heh... so they know their mobility hinges entirely on the Theater of Domination, and they've gone into hiding?" Mobius let out a cold snort.
"Do Schicksal and Anti-Entropy have any existing investigation results on the Herrscher of Domination's hosts?"
"Yes, Dr. Mobius. However, they haven't shared intelligence with us regarding the Herrscher of Domination."
"Since the only Herrscher within World Serpent, Miss Seele, usually stays within the Elysian Realm, we haven't paid much attention to this particular Herrscher either. Our investigation into its puppets has been limited to a few special individuals..."
"Then we'll just borrow their database directly."
Without further ado, Mobius closed her eyes slightly.
Moments later, alarms blared violently within Schicksal headquarters' data center.
"Wh-what's going on?"
On the other end, Susannah, who was on duty at the data center that day, instantly straightened up in her seat.
She stared at the screens now flooded with red warning boxes and let out a sharp shriek.
"Oh no, Dr. Nagamitsu! Our database is being invaded by the Herrscher of Corr— Wait, isn't the Herrscher of Corruption on Anti-Entropy's side?!"
"Alright, data acquired." Meanwhile, the culprit behind the commotion was already looking at the list of information displayed on her screen.
"Gray Serpent, archive this data. Then sort it out yourselves and prepare to make house calls. Also, identify the one closest to our location. I'll handle that one personally."
"Dr. Mobius, although the Theater of Domination has been destroyed, the combat capability of a single Gray Serpent might still be insufficient to deal with a Herrscher of Domination that has obtained three cores..."
"I never said they should fight the Thousand." Mobius shot a glance at Gray Serpent.
"I meant for them to handle the cleanup. That includes dealing with the hosts of those Herrscher of Domination puppets and mitigating the social impact."
"As for the Herrscher of Domination itself... I'll deal with it."
"Kevin, come with me."
Kevin, standing nearby, nodded silently and followed behind Mobius.
As a warrior, thinking wasn't exactly his forte. Following orders like this somehow reminded him of the old days.
In less than a few minutes, Gray Serpent sent the coordinates of the nearest Herrscher of Domination puppet.
To their surprise, it wasn't far from the base at all. In fact, it was highly likely this puppet had been stationed there to monitor the base.
"Tsk... Gray Serpent, the person in charge of this base needs a reevaluation. They didn't even notice someone sneaking right up to their doorstep. Maybe you should consider changing your name sooner rather than later—don't embarrass the name 'Serpent'."
"My apologies, Dr. Mobius..."
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Kevin. He's the Lord now, don't pin this on me."
Mobius curled her lip. She suddenly felt that letting Lynelle inherit this whole mess might not have been such a great idea after all.
"Let's get back to the matter at hand, Mobius... How do you plan to deal with the Herrscher of Domination?"
"Find it, hack in, deal with it." Mobius stated plainly.
"You handle the fighting when needed. I'll do its job. Simple as that."
"?"
"Don't give me that dumbfounded look. I'm not Mei, I'm not falling for that." Mobius gave a light humph. "Regarding the Herrscher of Domination, Lynelle already found the right way to handle it."
"It's just that her strength wasn't enough, and her companion probably couldn't hold out for that long either, so she had no choice but to self-destruct in the end."
"In short... just follow orders."
As she spoke, Mobius had already deftly located the house marked by Gray Serpent. Placing a finger on the smart lock and giving it a light press, the lock disengaged immediately, revealing the interior.
"Seems empty." Kevin scanned the room. "No, not empty... they've hidden in Imaginary Space."
"Even without the theater, they haven't lost their inherent ability to enter Imaginary Space. Of course, given their level, moving within it is probably beyond them. They're likely just hiding."
Mobius waved a hand impatiently. "Then just locate its position and then—"
Before she could finish, the space in front of Mobius suddenly tore open a rift. A puppet shot out from within and instantly shackled one of Mobius's hands with a conjured ice spike.
"If you spare others, you spare yourself, little girl. Since you're forcing me into a corner, I'll just take your Authority for myself!"
"Hehehehe... come play a game with us!"
"Oh, sure." A mocking smile appeared on Mobius's face. "Go ahead. Play however you like."
"?"
The puppet slowly manifested a question mark.
"Don't just stand there. Time's tight. I suggest you hurry up, because I've already done the math for you." Mobius yawned boredly.
"Since the Corruption virus is merely a man-made Authority, there's no so-called Herrscher core within my body."
"While your Authority can still affect me, you'll face a situation even more time-consuming than dealing with a Herrscher of Reason's distributed cores—you'll need to gradually dominate every single virus within me."
"Even if I just sit here without resisting at all, it would take you 10 minutes and 42 seconds to fully dominate my body. And if I let the Corruption virus inside me reproduce at full capacity, that time would stretch to six times as long."
"So then... you can guess."
Mobius's face broke into a "murderous" grin.
"Will I last longer under your power of Domination, or will you last longer in Kevin's hands?"
Shoom—
Behind Mobius, Kevin rather cooperatively ignited the Judgement of Shamash.
"..."
Now it was the puppet holding Mobius's turn to fall silent.
What, me... fight Kevin?
And hold out for over an hour?
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.