Jiuyou. Inside Chiyou's Corpse
Inside Chiyou's corpse, Bronya and Fu Hua were searching for the 'Divine Key wielder' that Leo Ash had mentioned.
And for this search-and-capture mission, the Far East Branch had only dispatched these two.
Although Mei and Yuno were still in relatively good condition, Chiyou's unusual activity was, in the end, too abnormal.
After Siegfried, Theresa, and Leo Ash had finally quelled the chaos, Himeko felt it was best for them not to stir up any more trouble.
Besides, Bronya knew very well that Himeko had sent her here for other reasons.
Although she had joined Schicksal's Far East Branch, at the end of the day, during the Third Eruption a month ago, she was still the adopted daughter of the mastermind behind the incident, Cocolia.
The kind-hearted Theresa might have already completely trusted her, but Murata Himeko was different from Theresa in this regard.
If Theresa was the heart of the Far East Branch, then Murata Himeko was its brain.
As a Valkyrie who had earned a doctorate at a young age, Himeko certainly hadn't lost her intelligence after joining an assault squad.
In fact, in this branch where the commander couldn't be bothered with management, Himeko handled much of the complicated paperwork.
Such a highly intelligent person would naturally not completely believe that Bronya had severed all ties with Cocolia just because of Theresa's recommendation.
Moreover, Himeko could see that the anxious Bronya, just like Leo Ash, was desperate for merits.
Whether it was out of precaution or to help her gain more merits and speed up her promotion, Himeko felt that Bronya should not remain on the Hyperion.
Additionally, Bronya herself could use the chip in her brain to search for and locate heat sources in the vicinity.
At least within the Far East Branch, she was currently the most suitable Valkyrie for a search-and-capture mission.
"Bronya, any updates?"
"Class Rep, the Bronya has confirmed the target's position."
Looking at a platform directly in front of her, Bronya leaped down from the high ground, falling straight towards it.
As the girl made this move, the quantum mech known as Project Bunny materialized in mid-air and caught her small body.
Seeing Bronya land steadily, Fu Hua also leaped down lightly, landing calmly on the ground.
After landing on the platform, the two of them indeed saw a woman in a black robe, lying pale-faced on the stone platform.
"It seems Leo Ash's guess was correct."
Pushing up her red-framed glasses, Fu Hua approached the woman before her with utter indifference.
"Bronya, don't let your guard down."
"Yes, Class Rep."
Bronya, aiming her cannon directly at the woman, had already begun to compare the woman's face using the chip in her brain.
"Hmm..."
After squatting down for a brief inspection, Fu Hua confirmed that the other party had indeed lost her ability to fight.
But it made sense. The objects outside had a great deal of energy absorbed by Chiyou's special properties, let alone this woman who was inside Chiyou previously.
If she didn't have a Divine Key to protect her, she probably would have been drained dry long ago.
"Bronya, can you find out this woman's identity?"
"Yes, but the Bronya can only find out her superficial identity."
After running a comparison with online data, Bronya stated to Fu Hua with certainty.
"Natasha Cioara. This woman's public identity is one of the consultants for Shincheng Pharmaceutical."
"For more information, the Bronya will need to spend some time investigating outside."
"No, this is enough."
Upon hearing this identity, Fu Hua's brow furrowed tightly as she began to think.
Shincheng Pharmaceutical. This name was actually not unfamiliar to Fu Hua.
After the end of the Second Eruption, with the global economic turmoil caused by Sirin's slaughter, many companies went bankrupt.
But at the same time, many companies seized the opportunity to become leaders in their industry, and Shincheng Pharmaceutical from Europe was one of them.
Moreover, Shincheng Pharmaceutical was different from ordinary large corporations.
For most civilians, they were unaware of the truth about 'Honkai'.
But what set Shincheng Pharmaceutical apart from other companies was that not only did they know and understand Honkai, but they also developed numerous drugs to combat Honkai Energy infection, benefiting countless patients.
Of course, compared to the HSN serum recently developed by Dr. Magi, these drugs were certainly nothing special in terms of effect.
But the problem was, these drugs—their research and manufacturing costs were cheap.
What ordinary people needed was not an anti-Honkai serum that could suppress a Herrscher.
For most ordinary people whose bodies were eroded by Honkai Energy, what they needed was a medicine that could treat... no, even just alleviate their pain.
Faced with an organization with such formidable drug development capabilities, Otto naturally chose to cooperate with them.
And it was precisely because of its solid research capabilities that Shincheng Pharmaceutical developed rapidly over the next decade, becoming a renowned pharmaceutical company.
Moreover, after the Second Eruption, Shincheng Pharmaceutical had been running a medical aid project called [Ankh], providing free medical assistance to people affected by the Honkai in 21 countries around the world.
Because of this, Shincheng Pharmaceutical's reputation abroad was ridiculously good right now.
However, after learning that this woman was from Shincheng Pharmaceutical, the more Fu Hua thought about it, the more something felt wrong.
Shincheng Pharmaceutical's own 'track record' was outstanding, but when combined with this woman's actions, their mysterious background became quite terrifying.
What was even more terrifying was that after the end of the Third Eruption in Nagazora City last month, Shincheng Pharmaceutical directly contacted Schicksal and Shenzhou, stating that in order to alleviate the harm brought to Asia by the Herrscher of Thunder, they decided to establish a large pharmaceutical industrial zone on the northern outskirts of Tianqiong City as their Shenzhou branch.
As the true guardian of Shenzhou, Fu Hua had initially assumed that Shincheng Pharmaceutical was eyeing Shenzhou's huge population and wanted to find an excuse to further expand its market here.
But now—your consultant is planning to release a Judgment-class beast here in Shenzhou to cause destruction. Is there any more to be said about what Shincheng Pharmaceutical wants to do?
If she weren't trying to hide her true identity right now, Fu Hua would really want to question Otto immediately and ask if he knew about this.
Fu Hua had previously discovered that all the elements of Otto's initial plan were gathered here.
And now, she discovered that Shenzhou had almost been blown up and was still in danger.
"Class Rep, you..."
Bronya, who was still searching for information, saw the obvious anger on Fu Hua's face and spoke softly to her.
"Are you worried about the Shenzhou branch that Shincheng Pharmaceutical is setting up in Tianqiong City?"
"Ah? Ah, yes, that's right."
Realizing her loss of composure, Fu Hua unhappily picked Raven up from the ground and said to Bronya with a hint of apology.
"I apologize, Bronya. You saw me in a disgraceful state."
Facing Fu Hua, Bronya gently shook her head.
"No, this is quite normal. For an upright person like you, Class Rep, it's perfectly normal to be angry after discovering that someone might be endangering your homeland."
*An upright person... how ironic.*
*Right now, I'm deceiving everyone.*
After saying this, Bronya didn't continue looking at Fu Hua but turned her gaze directly to Raven's hands.
"No signs of Honkai Energy erosion..."
"Is this woman's compatibility with the Divine Key that high?"
*Although Leo was already in a state of extreme physical exhaustion before he passed out, just holding the Third Divine Key had caused it to erode his arm.*
*But this woman, after using the Third Divine Key, not only wasn't her body overly eroded, but there weren't even Honkai Energy patterns on her palms.*
Shincheng Pharmaceutical, the Third Divine Key, a powerful Honkai Energy warrior who can use a Divine Key...
If you connect all these, doesn't it mean that besides Schicksal and Anti-Entropy...
—There exists another massive organization lurking in the shadows?
.....
Europe. Schicksal Transport Plane
After being forced to undergo treatment, Leo Ash and Durandal did not remain on the Hyperion.
After all, Leo Ash's achievements this time were truly too impressive, so much so that even other members back at HQ were completely shocked when they heard about them.
And because the merits Leo Ash had gained in these two operations were so great, Otto, upon learning that Leo Ash had shattered Chiyou's core, issued a direct order for him to return to Schicksal HQ for treatment and debriefing.
To be honest, even though he was mentally prepared, Leo Ash still didn't want to go to Schicksal HQ.
From a rational standpoint, Otto's suspicion of him should have decreased significantly.
But that bastard was full of schemes and incredibly smart. Leo Ash truly felt that a single careless moment in front of him could expose everything.
As for Durandal, who was beside Leo Ash, she looked at him resting with his eyes closed and said nothing more.
She certainly didn't believe his claim that 'Leo Ash is afraid of death'.
In his previous speech, Leo Ash had described his serious injuries as a 'trivial matter', which was clear proof that he didn't care about his own life.
But the problem was, she knew she wasn't eloquent. Repeating the same few phrases over and over—it was useless.
Since Leo Ash had deceived her and Rita before to secretly participate in such a dangerous mission, anything she said now would just be brushed off by him.
If she really wanted to stop Leo Ash, she had to think of a more direct and effective method.
But the problem was—argh, so annoying, I've never been good at thinking about these kinds of difficult problems.
*Why won't this guy, Leo Ash, just listen to reason?*
[Feeling the resentment emanating from your side, you think—perhaps it's okay to be a little more aggressive sometimes.]
*Ah, I don't want to deal with you popping up right now.*
*I don't know what you're trying to imply, but I'm annoyed at the moment.*
[Actually, what this System is saying isn't important. What's important is to make an appearance.]
[Otherwise, you would have almost forgotten about that ten-pull—are you really not going to do it before you see Otto?]
*You're right.*
*Sigh, so many things have popped up that I even forgot to use the reward I got.*
*I'm so tired, I don't want to act anymore.*
*When I see Otto later...*
*Damn it, I really want to just hit him with a Sea Tiger Destructive Punch and end it all.*
After his usual grumbling, Leo Ash gave up on wasting any more time and directly opened his mailbox, claiming the reward for defeating Chiyou.
[Ding! The reward claimed by the Host this time is (Special Item - Advanced Ten-Pull Lottery Ticket).]
*Ah, why is it advanced this time? The guaranteed pulls dropped from three to two.*
[Well, Siegfried and Theresa already helped you beat Chiyou half to death, Ji Lin couldn't bear to strike you down, and your strength has improved so much. So, under this System's underlying logic, this is all I can give you.]
*That's true.*
*If it weren't for Siegfried and Theresa this time, I would have died in there.*
*Look on the bright side, look on the bright side. As long as I'm alive, I haven't lost.*
[Ding! (Special Item - Advanced Ten-Pull Lottery Ticket) has been used. Beginning to draw items.]
Upon hearing this sound, Leo Ash saw eight white items flash before his eyes.
*I'm begging you, can you please not just throw 'dirty tablecloths', 'broken construction bricks', and 'game point cards with no balance' directly into my storage space?*
[That won't do. The person who created this System once instructed it not to litter.]
[If you don't want these things, find some time to throw them in the trash yourself.]
*Surprisingly hygienic—so that's your reason for stuffing this junk my way?*
*Speak!*
*If you have the guts to give me trash, then speak up!*
Finding that the System had chosen to remain silent, Leo Ash looked at the next two items with annoyance.
And then...
—Deep red!
Two of them???!!!
*System, I misjudged you.*
*You really do care about me after all!*