World Serpent Base
Inside the World Serpent base, Jackal, who was just preparing to get busy, suddenly saw Gray Serpent stop his movements.
Then, as if he had learned some critical intelligence, Gray Serpent immediately sat down and began processing the matters before him.
"What is it, Gray Serpent?"
Unlike her attitude toward Raven, that newcomer with no shares in the company, Jackal's attitude toward Gray Serpent wasn't so casual.
After all, although the Liege of World Serpent was Kevin, the true founder was Gray Serpent. Jackal felt she still had to give him this shred of respect.
"Big problem."
"Jackal, the Key of Blankness is crucial to saving the Liege, and the Key of Blankness is located in London."
"Isn't that obvious? And?"
"We mentioned last time, that man named Aaron. He is one of the masterminds behind recent events. And now..."
Even though Gray Serpent was merely a mechanical cyborg, Jackal actually heard a faint trace of... trembling in his tone?
"He has actually appeared in London???"
???
In an instant, Jackal understood why the usually incredibly calm Gray Serpent was giving her a vibe of 'I'm kind of panicking'.
Damn it, knowing this intel, it wasn't just Gray Serpent—even she was starting to panic, okay?
Wait, Jackal, calm down.
"This is just a coincidence, right? London is a world-famous city after all. His appearance there doesn't mean he's targeting the Key of Blankness, right?"
"Jackal, I thought that too at first."
After saying this, Gray Serpent pointed at his head and spoke helplessly.
"But after processing the intelligence here, I discovered that something is very wrong with this situation."
"Aaron went to Nagazora City, and then the Herrscher of Thunder was taken away by him. Now the Herrscher of Thunder has also appeared in London alongside Aaron."
"Then Aaron went to Singapore, and the Gem of Serenity there was also suspected to be taken by him."
"I don't know where this man gets this news, but judging by the results of the previous two events, every time he arrives at a location, he precisely seizes the [Treasure] of that place."
"The first was the Herrscher of Thunder, the second was the Core of Death, and the third—can anyone guarantee he hasn't set his sights on the Key of Blankness?!"
"...That makes sense."
Completely persuaded by Gray Serpent, cold sweat began to form on Jackal's face beneath her mask.
"So what do we do now?"
"The Key of Blankness has a stealth system, and the armed puppet made using the Liege as a sample can withstand the attacks of most people in this world. Logically speaking, we shouldn't be panicking."
"But since that man can make a Herrscher submit, then to be safe, it's better to assume he is a powerhouse with [power at least above the Herrscher of Thunder]."
"Although the clues collected by my intelligence network tell me he is currently staying at an amusement park, once he discovers the specific location of the Key of Blankness, if he and the Herrscher of Thunder join forces, no one can guarantee that the Liege's armed puppet can withstand the combined assault of two Herrscher-level warriors."
"Uh oh, we're screwed."
At this moment, seeing a new message, Gray Serpent froze on the spot for two seconds.
"...There's a new problem?"
"No, the problem is still centered on London. But now the problem has become massive."
"Schicksal has had their eyes on Aaron for a while now. Much of our data actually comes from the nails World Serpent buried inside Schicksal."
"So the moment Aaron appeared in London, Schicksal launched an operation."
"Right now, Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie, Durandal, happens to be vacationing in London. And Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie, Rita, has also arrived in London for 'unknown reasons'."
"Otto isn't a fool; he has obviously discovered Aaron's special nature. That man... if the Key of Blankness falls into that man's hands, the problem will be even greater."
"Aaron's stance is currently unclear; we might still be able to find a way to win him over. But Otto... that bastard has been targeting our World Serpent, intentionally or not, more than once in the shadows."
"If he seizes the Key of Blankness, what will we use to rescue the Liege then? If we can't rescue the Liege... this world is finished."
"Jackal, continue preparing the relevant drugs for Project Stigma. I must personally go to London to handle this matter."
"I understand."
Before using the Quantum Teleportation System to move to London, Gray Serpent contacted Raven, who was originally active in another region.
[Raven, new mission. Use the Quantum Teleportation System to go to London. Come immediately.]
After dropping this message, Gray Serpent activated the Quantum Teleportation System he had swiped from Cocolia, moving his body to London.
.......................
After handling some matters related to Heliopolis Life Sciences in Shenzhou, Raven, sitting in her office, exhaled a long breath of turbid air.
As a partner enterprise of Schicksal, many things for Heliopolis Life Sciences were given the green light because of Schicksal's assistance.
But now that Rita had arrived, problems were popping up.
The higher-ups of other companies cooperating with Schicksal were certainly not idiots.
They gave Heliopolis Life Sciences the green light before because they saw Heliopolis's value skyrocket after partnering with Schicksal, so selling Heliopolis some favors wasn't a bad thing.
But now, Rita appearing at Heliopolis Life Sciences for an inspection was a signal in the eyes of these people.
Schicksal had begun to grow dissatisfied with Heliopolis Life Sciences.
Heliopolis had made so much money over the years; other companies had long been jealous of its treatment.
Now that Heliopolis might be in trouble, these companies...
Expecting them to offer help in a snowstorm was obviously impossible.
Look, a bunch of them immediately seized the opportunity to perform a perfect 'kicking someone when they're down'.
After all, following Heliopolis just meant drinking soup, but if they seized the chance to kill Heliopolis, they would have the opportunity to eat meat.
Now that the chance was here, who would let it slip?
"Huh? What's going on?"
After finishing her work, Raven saw an emergency contact from Gray Serpent appear on her communicator.