Inside a certain World Serpent sub-base.
Within the World Serpent sub-base, Gray Serpent stared at the streams of intelligence reports appearing on the light screen, feeling like he hadn't had a good day in a long time.
Fundamentally, "Gray Serpent" is a collective consciousness, a single existence formed by numerous individuals with minor differences.
Under these circumstances, all "Gray Serpents" share the same memories, yet each has its own experiences, personality, and even different hobbies and interests.
However, such complete Gray Serpents were ultimately a minority.
Not all Gray Serpents in the network could form a complete and stable personality upon awakening their consciousness.
Due to the randomness of the generation algorithm, about 30% of Gray Serpents possessed only fragmented minds, constantly absorbing memories through the "Gray Serpent Network" to complete, or rather, repair their incomplete personalities.
Right now, Gray Serpents were operating in different parts of the world.
And the administrator Gray Serpent standing in this base at this moment, looking at the intelligence transmitted by the others, felt as if his non-existent blood pressure was gradually rising.
In the less than twenty-four hours from the start of the Fourth Eruption yesterday to its end, World Serpent's already poor situation had instantly gone from bad to worse.
First, there was Singapore, which had been the most active this time. With the appearance of the Fourth Eruption and the withdrawal of World Serpent's troops, they were now completely left hanging over the fire by Gray Serpent's actions.
To save themselves, the country immediately executed the few high-ranking officials who had cooperated with World Serpent and promptly swore allegiance to Schicksal's Bishop Otto.
Faced with this move from Singapore, Otto was gracious enough not to pursue their past mistakes.
But within those short 24 hours, Otto's Schicksal combat units had gone completely off the leash like mad dogs.
Aside from Schicksal HQ, which still had combat troops as a garrison, and the Oceania Branch, which was still reeling from its recent beating and unable to fight, the combat units of the Far East Branch, the Africa Branch, the Atlantic Branch, and the West Asia Branch had all been deployed, plowing through every World Serpent base within their spheres of influence.
Not only that, but even the martial artists from Shenzhou had charged out with mechanical patrols, suppressing some of World Serpent's subordinate organizations within Shenzhou.
To be honest, it was only a matter of time before these bases and subordinate organizations known to Raven were exposed; Gray Serpent had already prepared for that.
But he truly hadn't expected that after the Oceania Branch was wiped out, Otto, rather than being wary of their Quantum Teleportation System, would instead act as if he were trading life for life, directly initiating a war of attrition.
If Gray Serpent hadn't hidden a considerable amount of intel from Raven, this sudden attack from Schicksal would have been enough to destroy more than half of World Serpent's foundations.
Yet even so, looking at these reports, Gray Serpent still felt...
—Son of a bitch, I'm so pissed!
"...That bastard Otto, he actually went and did it."
After spitting out these murderous words, Gray Serpent looked at the extremely nervous Jackal beside him and asked in a cold voice.
"What are the analysis results for the Gem of Desire? When can we extract the gem from this little girl's body?"
"In the short term... there's no way."
Although Gray Serpent had long guessed this outcome, right now—the once patient administrator Gray Serpent truly felt that he couldn't sit still any longer.
But he still suppressed the anger in his heart and didn't start cursing at Jackal.
After all, to put it bluntly, while Jackal's abilities in scientific research were outstanding, the matter of removing an unstable gem...
Asking her to complete it in one day was already pushing her. Cursing at one of World Serpent's few remaining high-level cadres at a time like this would only serve to vent emotions and would otherwise be counterproductive.
"I know you're anxious, Gray Serpent, but extracting the Gem of Desire now is already a dead end."
As if she had completely given up, Jackal, who had taken off her mask to reveal two dark circles and a face full of exhaustion, spoke to Gray Serpent with utter helplessness.
"Although the Gem of Desire has stabilized inside this girl, stabilization doesn't mean it has fully formed."
"But if we need the Gem of Desire to fully form, we need... her to awaken as a Herrscher."
"However, if she awakens as a Herrscher, it will first trigger the Fifth Eruption. Otto will definitely be able to pinpoint our location and airdrop Leo Ash and Durandal right on top of us."
"Secondly, our forces are insufficient to suppress a genuine Herrscher. So even if her gem forms then, we won't have the chance to extract the Gem of Desire."
Listening to Jackal's analysis, Gray Serpent found that she was absolutely right.
For the gem in Wendy's body to form, they had to force her to become a Herrscher.
But once Wendy became a Herrscher, the enemy would be able to find World Serpent's trail, and World Serpent lacked the power to defeat a Herrscher.
It was just as Jackal had said: a complete dead-end.
Gem forms → Herrscher awakens → World Serpent can't beat Wendy → The gem they almost had flies away → Lord Kevin remains the big boss of the big house, trapped in the Sea of Quanta, unable to get out.
Gem doesn't form → World Serpent lacks combat power → World Serpent will eventually be dug up and annihilated by Schicksal → Lord Kevin remains the big boss of the big house, trapped in the Sea of Quanta, unable to get out.
A deadlock. A complete and utter deadlock.
If one had to say, if they could give the Sky Father mech in Cocolia's hands a Herrscher Core, the Sky Father could indeed display Herrscher-level combat power.
But the problem was, if they actually had a core, they could just throw it into the Eye of the Deep to solve the problem. Why would they need that piece of junk metal!
The more he thought, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the more he thought. The person Gray Serpent hated most right now wasn't actually Otto.
It was Leo Ash, who had repeatedly ruined his plans.
First, in Nagazora City, Leo Ash used the HSN serum to allow Raiden Mei's main personality to regain consciousness.
This incident indirectly led to the Gem of Conquest, which World Serpent had a chance to obtain, being snatched away by Otto instead.
Second, in Shenzhou, Leo Ash defeated Chiyou.
Although subsequent investigations revealed that Leo Ash's so-called defeat of Chiyou was embellished, the main culprit behind the embellishment—was still the main culprit!
This operational failure indirectly led to a series of recent disasters, such as Chiyou's corpse being placed under heavy guard and Raven being captured by Schicksal.
Third, after Gray Serpent and Cocolia dispatched their strongest forces, Leo Ash came straight back from Schicksal HQ and turned the tide, defeating a Pseudo-Herrscher.
Because of Leo Ash, the Raven rescue mission also failed, which led to Raven, unable to escape St. Freya High School, completely defecting to Schicksal's side to save her own skin.
And after Raven sold out World Serpent's intelligence, Schicksal directly relied on this information to cripple a part of World Serpent's foundation.
Fourth was this time in Singapore.
Initially, if Leo Ash and the Herrscher of Death had mutually wounded each other, Gray Serpent wouldn't have said anything.
But in the end, Leo Ash beat up the Herrscher of Death and then killed all the clone soldiers Gray Serpent had dispatched in a single move.
This directly resulted in World Serpent losing not only the Gem of Serenity, which they had barely warmed up, but also the vast majority of the combat power they had just created.
It could be said that, over the past two months, the fundamental reason for the failure of World Serpent's multiple operations was that Leo Ash stood on the opposite side.
How could Gray Serpent possibly remain calm thinking about all this?
The situation was already in a deadlock, and after this battle, Otto wouldn't be pulling any more stunts like 'someone stole the Gem of Haste'.
Raiden Mei was very safe at St. Freya High School.
Yuno, after being knocked out by Leo Ash, wouldn't even leave Schicksal HQ for a short while.
We need manpower. A lot of manpower.
It seems the plan I was going to execute later must now be pushed forward and accelerated.
"Jackal, the check-up I asked you to do last time—"
"Of course, it's already done."
Jackal, exhausted, randomly tapped a few times on the light screen in the air, then collapsed powerlessly onto the sofa, letting out a yawn with her eyes closed.
"Cocolia may be a good-for-nothing who can't be relied on for anything, but her luck is ridiculously good."
"Among those brats she handed over to us as hostages, there was actually a pair of sisters who possessed 'that kind' of quality."
"I know our organization's combat power is insufficient, so after I finish resting today, I will immediately begin preparing for their surgery."
"...That's a lot of hard work for you."
Looking at the nearly asleep Jackal, Gray Serpent could only think that he had far too few people available.
To begin with, World Serpent didn't have many high-level members.
Lord Kevin was still in the big house because of his best friend's betrayal.
That Hare person said the matter at hand wasn't finished and couldn't be bothered with other affairs in the organization—but she couldn't be blamed for that; the matter she was dealing with was indeed very important.
Raven was a useful tool; dirty work could be handed over to her before.
Jackal, though she liked to run her mouth, had unquestionable research abilities in biotechnology and loyalty to the organization.
Plus me... no, us.
At this moment, thinking about how all other affairs of the organization were being propped up by them, the Gray Serpents, Gray Serpent really felt that perhaps he had been a bit too extreme in the past.
In the past, although I was always looking for suitable talent, mentally, I might have still found those people untrustworthy.
There's nothing wrong with that thought, the problem is that because of it, we subconsciously rejected those from the lower ranks who wanted to climb up.
As a result, now that we need people, we don't have enough mid-to-upper-level talent in reserve...
This is really tough.
Even if Jackal creates two MANTISes, it will take time to train their combat awareness.
Before the Lord's return, World Serpent's strength is still too weak.
Wendy, soaking in a nutrient tank, looked at the exhausted Jackal and the gloom-faced Gray Serpent, who, despite his expression being invisible, gave off an aura of gloom, and stuck her tongue out at them, making a face.
She didn't know what had happened, but she hadn't forgotten what Gray Serpent said yesterday.
Gray Serpent had said that World Serpent was worried about Wendy turning into a Herrscher, which was why they didn't want to provoke her.
But as everyone knew, they were after the gem in her body from the start.
'Don't want to provoke Wendy' was a pure lie in her eyes.
These people definitely plan to have me re-condense the gem and then snatch it from my body.
The more the enemy desires something, the more I must prevent it from happening.
One of the conditions for a Herrscher's awakening is despair in one's heart—heh, I'll do the opposite and not despair.
Knight Leo Ash can even kill a Judgment-class Honkai Beast on his own. For him, tearing through World Serpent is a piece of cake.
My legs have doomed me to never leave this place.
But under these circumstances, I must at least keep my spirits up to ensure the gem remains in this unextractable state.
The angrier the enemy gets, the more I'll laugh. The enemy is just a big joke.
Seeing the increasingly cheerful Wendy, Gray Serpent, fuming, inexplicably thought of Leo Ash again.
This stubborn little girl, does she really think Leo Ash can save her?
And that photo...
Thinking of the photo he saw taken inside the bar, Gray Serpent felt the anger he had suppressed flare up again.
What's this 'Schicksal will win, humanity will win'?
Damn it, you think you're fighting against the Honkai, but by constantly obstructing us, World Serpent, you are standing in the way of the Stigmata Project.
Without the Stigmata Project, humanity will sooner or later be completely annihilated by the Honkai, causing this planet to enter the next cycle.
With the saviour title he inexplicably obtained, he gave those idiots in Schicksal false hope.
It's truly nauseating.
A false saviour receives praise amidst cheers.
But the true saviour, after being betrayed by a traitor, wants to save the world but cannot leave his cage.
I originally didn't want to ask that man for help.
But now, the only possibility lies with him for the time being.
He has the power to suppress a Herrscher and knows of the coming of Finality.
If he has abandoned his past pedantic ideas, perhaps he will choose to assist our World Serpent now, to rescue the Lord he once betrayed.
Mr. Su, holder of the name of Heaven's Wisdom, I hope you truly possess, as your title suggests, the wisdom to touch the heavens, and can figure out what you should and should not do at this stage when humanity is on the brink of destruction.
If even you continue to choose to watch from the sidelines...
—Soon, Finality will destroy this world.
....
At the same time, at Schicksal HQ.
Looking at the fruitful battle reports before him, Schicksal's Bishop, Mr. Otto...
—wasn't actually very happy.
There were many reasons why he chose to raid World Serpent at this time.
For instance, Gray Serpent's remaining Herrscher squad was already sufficient to take on a normal branch. They couldn't be stopped anyway, so might as well launch an all-out assault.
For instance, Otto himself didn't care about the lives of his subordinates. The enemy was definitely trying to relocate at this time, so even if it meant sacrificing some subordinates, taking over World Serpent's assets was definitely not a loss.
But the core reason was—the current Otto was very displeased.
He had thought that after Yuno awakened as the Herrscher of Death, if not able to recall souls, she could at least recreate Kallen's body based on the genetic blueprint Otto provided.
If Yuno could do that, Otto would certainly have her stay at Schicksal HQ, diligently training her powers so that she could one day use them to try and touch the souls of others, thereby accomplishing the great feat of completely resurrecting someone.
But after using Fenghuang Down to hypnotize Yuno for a while, Otto regretted it.
He was already prepared for the 'Kallen' generated by Yuno to be a being without consciousness.
But he hadn't expected that Yuno, as the Herrscher of Death, was focused not on the power of Rebirth, which represents life, but on the power of Death, which represents withering.
Her subordinate powers of generating toxins, creating plants, and so on were still there.
But she was truly bad at using the power of Rebirth.
She tried to create Kallen's physical body three times, and the process was smooth each time.
But after shaping the body, Yuno lost control of the power of Rebirth, causing the body to collapse instantly.
Once, due to Yuno's mistake, toxins even appeared on 'Kallen's' body, causing him to see 'Kallen' die before his eyes not from bodily collapse, but from poisoning.
To be honest, even after accepting the fact that he was responsible for Kallen's death, watching Kallen die in front of him again and again for his own reasons—Otto was definitely not pleased.
But now, he couldn't just shoot the Herrscher of Death.
Just because the Herrscher of Death couldn't do it well now didn't mean she couldn't in the future.
And even as a second-best option, the Herrscher of Death was one of the sacrifices for the awakening of the Herrscher of the Void.
Even if he wanted to vent his anger, Otto couldn't just blow her head off after she had completely fused with the Gem of Serenity.
After all, she was still of great use.
So, Otto's swift deployment of troops to beat up World Serpent was really just to vent his frustration.
However, even after venting his inner anger, Otto still felt very unhappy.
Sometimes, Otto truly felt that he was a complete failure.
Despite having become the de facto king of humanity in this world, he couldn't even find a suitable punching bag to vent his inner rage.
If it weren't for the fact that his original plans had been going quite smoothly recently, Otto would only be more depressed right now.
Never mind, never mind.
World Serpent has already been beaten into hiding. Continuing to waste energy and spirit on them is meaningless.
Anyway, the reason those guys took Wendy was, frankly, for the Gem of Desire in her body.
The prerequisite for extracting the Gem of Desire is for it to fully form.
And the prerequisite for the Gem of Desire to fully form is for Wendy to become a Herrscher.
As soon as a Herrscher appears, the alarms here at Schicksal will go off immediately.
At that time, I'll have Bianka and Leo Ash go over together. As long as Leo Ash brings the HSN serum, and the two of them knock Wendy out and give her a shot, the problem will be solved.
In this situation, there's no need to be too anxious about searching for Wendy. After all, her current situation is quite suitable for lying in wait for the prey to walk into the trap.
Yes, the biggest problem is still the Second Divine Key.
The relationship between K423 and Leo Ash is getting closer and closer. If this continues, the only two things I lack will be the Key of the Void and that beacon.
I can't have K423 complete her awakening before I've even gotten my hands on the Key of the Void and the beacon, with those aggressive warriors about to storm my gates.
Heh, I don't mind giving up my life, but...
—the ones worthy of me giving my life for are not you.
Rita's failure this time was not her fault.
She had done her best within her capabilities. When there's a large enough gap in raw power, there's nothing she can do if she can't handle the enemy.
When she awakens, I'll have her continue the investigation mission.
England, the legend of King Arthur, the Key of the Void...
I hope the information I've investigated is correct.
As for the beacon, that's a bit trickier.
But considering the hidden depths of World Serpent that Cioara exposed... heh, perhaps the beacon is in their hands.
They will inevitably make a move because of Wendy, and that will be my time to strike.
As long as I can find the Key of the Void and obtain the beacon, I can launch that plan immediately after analyzing the data.
However, even without considering these issues, the countdown for this plan should be put on the agenda.
Leo Ash's evolution speed is simply too fast. If this continues, when the awakened Sirin faces off against Leo Ash, will Sirin... still be able to easily consume the sacrifice I'm offering her?
This kid is great in every way, but in this aspect, he's just too good.
If only his evolution speed were a little slower...
—he would truly be the most perfect living sacrifice.
...
Last night, after Leo Ash chatted with Wraith in the bar for a while longer, he helped the completely drunk Wraith out.
But after Wraith left the bar, the woman who had been supported by Leo Ash all along suddenly—sobered up after arriving at a private Schicksal lounge.
Well, sober might not be the right word.
In Leo Ash's view, the Wraith before him had probably never been drunk at all.
And after regaining her senses, Wraith even said things to him like, 'Oh my, Ash, you really are a gentleman,' and 'Senior Siegfried was worried you'd fail his daughter, he was clearly overthinking things,' in a half-joking, half-teasing tone.
Big sister, you're my master, can you not make things so intense?
Even though I'm about to burst, considering I can't provoke those girls, how would I dare to mess around at a time like this.
With that thought, Leo Ash awkwardly said his goodbyes to Wraith and immediately retreated to another private lounge.
Sigh, desire...
I'm truly a man of the world; my desires in all aspects are quite healthy.
But to survive, these desires, to a certain extent, cannot be released.
[Don't panic, Host. The System has a few words to say.]
Oh, go ahead.
[First of all, doing certain things isn't actually that scary.]
You're right, but Kiana is still at HQ.
[Come on, if you do it secretly, is she going to catch you in the act instantly?]
Leaving aside the fact that I don't have a girlfriend or a wife, so no one can catch me cheating—are you forgetting the Kaslana intuition?
The time is not right. Don't mention it again.
[Oh, alright. The System was just checking if you were under too much pressure, leading to problems with your physical and mental health.]
[If you yourself think it's not a problem, then the System certainly won't butt in.]
Oh, cut the crap. Your nonsense is clearly up by at least 20% compared to before.
[Well, you know, getting stronger comes at a price.]
So?
[Look, you're countless times stronger than when you first transmigrated. So, the price of listening to 20% more nonsense—don't you think it's a great deal?]
In that moment, Leo Ash actually felt that the System had a point.
But wait, did you get something wrong?
[Ah, what's up?]
It's only been fifteen or sixteen days since Rita's birthday on March 1st.
After glancing at the date on his communicator, Leo Ash said to the System, annoyed.
Today's date is March 16, 2014—it's a Sunday!
What happened to working five days and resting for two, no complaining on weekends!
[Well... that's the idea.]
[But, aren't you working overtime today? The System was led astray by you working overtime.]
You mother—
[Just so you know, the System doesn't have a mother, so your words have no effect on the System.]
Wait, I remember now, you're tricking me again.
You came out to laugh at me today when Fu Hua was lecturing me for three hundred and forty-seven words!
You showed up before I even started working overtime today, you bastard!
[The System doesn't have a bastard either.]
Never mind, never mind.
Swallowing the torrent of insults he was about to unleash on the System, Leo Ash really felt it.
This System was great in every way.
It just had a cyber-mouth it shouldn't have—it was just too damn cheeky.
System, every time I want to show you a little respect, you open your mouth.
[Hehe, thank you for the compliment.]
I wasn't complimenting you!
Ah, that's enough.
Teacher Wraith was right, I should adopt the attitude of 'Schicksal's Strongest.'
If others see the person who defeated a Herrscher lacking confidence, it would be too much of a blow to our colleagues.
Anyway, it's not a difficult thing for me. I'll just act the part.
But whether it's being a workaholic or playing the part of the 'Beacon of Hope'—those are all things for tomorrow!
For now, sleep!
Unleashing my S-attribute—Sleep!
With that thought, Leo Ash fell directly onto the bed and instantly fell into a deep sleep.
Then, in the next second, Leo Ash, who should have been asleep and hadn't activated Phantasmagoria to force himself to work, was stunned to find...
—Holy crap, a runaway truck!
After habitually dodging the runaway truck that was bound to appear upon entering his dreamscape, Leo Ash looked around and frowned slightly.
His training ground in his dreams had always been St. Freya High School.
But now, if I'm not mistaken...
—This is Yae Village, right???
.