Jackal was currently very excited, or rather, her life seemed to have reached a certain peak at this moment. She was directing the mechanical guards reassigned from Heliopolis Life Sciences to place Honkai energy storage devices in various corners of the bustling downtown area, and was just about to activate all these containers at the climax of the festival, releasing the Honkai energy.
"Raven? Help me keep an eye on the Valkyries' movements—I have a brilliant plan..."
Jackal dialed a number, starting to dispatch her companion as free labor. As for the free labor on the other end of the line...
"You finally have a plan? Let's hear it."
Having been so bored they'd resorted to rooftop barbecues for days, the group finally perked up at the voice on the comms. One by one, they began rubbing their hands together, eager to give Jackal a hard time.
"I had the security robots store high-concentration Honkai energy containers in various corners of the downtown area. I'll send you the locations in a bit. Raven, you'd better find a way to lure all the Valkyries and their ilk away."
"Ha? Lure away those Valkyries and their squad? I think you want me to get killed by Schicksal's S-rank Valkyries. Don't forget, they haven't left yet, and they're probably participating in this festival too."
Raven dramatically performed for the other end of the comms while forwarding the locations Jackal had shared to Rita, Kiana, and Bella beside her.
"Isn't it obvious? Weren't you chased all over half the city a few days ago for being accused of using child labor and forcing children to work overtime?"
"Just go out and act out again. Schicksal's S-rank Valkyries won't bother arresting a human trafficker-like figure like you. Only those B-rank Valkyries will come after you, and you can take them down in an instant. By the time those two S-rank Valkyries react, the situation will already be decided."
Jackal, having thought of something, started suggesting some terrible ideas.
"Can't you come up with a normal idea? You specialize in these rotten plans that screw over your own people, don't you???"
-
Beside them, Cioara continued to bicker with Jackal to stall for time, while the others who had received the locations began to assign tasks...
"Good grief, how many... containers did that shameful centaur place?"
Looking at the markers Jackal had sent, the faces of the group couldn't help but twitch. The small map was densely packed with markers, momentarily reminding everyone present of the horror of being dominated by a Ubisoft open-world game: all question marks, with no map visible underneath.
"It's not entirely incomprehensible..."
Miss Captain, who had originally intended to just watch the fun, offered her opinion as she stared at the dense cluster of "collectibles" on the map.
"Dispersing them like this makes it less likely to trigger surveillance alarms. And even if an unrelated person accidentally stumbles upon one, they'd likely ignore it due to the container's small size..."
"This Jackal person is quite thorough in her planning, though her brain might not work so well in other areas..."
"Alright, let's start assigning tasks."
Kiana tapped the tablet and began dividing the work.
"The East District has the densest distribution and the highest foot traffic. I'll take this area. With the Herrscher of the Void's abilities and my Herrscher traits, even if I can't deal with all these Honkai energy containers, I can absorb them all directly when they're released."
The girl pointed to the most densely marked area on the map, indicating she would handle the most troublesome part herself.
"Then the Queen and I will go south... The Queen's body has been through a lot these past few days, and her normal Honkai energy absorption can't keep up with her consumption. This is a good chance to recharge."
Bella held up the somewhat listless Sirin Doll and shook it, claiming another of the remaining areas.
"Hmm... Miss Irene and I will take the West and North Districts... Those are also the areas where Valkyries are responsible for security, so we can use their strength."
"After all, Miss Irene should be very good at acting, right?"
Rita looked at the witch beside her, who was her spitting image.
"Leave it to me... It's just that Miss Rita will probably have to explain to the local Valkyries later why she can appear in two places at once..."
Miss Witch nodded slightly, indicating that impersonating Rita would be a piece of cake.
"For this kind of thing, we can just pin the blame on the Lord Overseer."
Rita offered a polite smile, already scheming up an excuse to pin the blame on Schicksal's Overseer, Mr. Otto.
"That makes sense... After all, if there's a problem, just go find Otto."
"Looks like you've all finished dividing the tasks?"
Miss Captain looked at the group, then thought for a moment...
"In that case... I'll leave that crazy scientist with a hole in her head to another of my crew members... She's been bored out of her mind lately, always muttering about wanting to fight..."
"I'll let her out for a bit to blow off some steam before she dismantles my Hyperion..."
The Captain sighed helplessly.
"I originally wanted to handle it myself... After all, according to Imhotep, Jackal got her ass kicked by Otto's people back in the day... Tsk tsk, using this face would make for great drama."
The mischievous Miss Captain opened her contacts and dialed someone's number.
"Hey, Delta?"
-
Having just had another verbal clash with Raven, Jackal walked down the street, her face under the mask clearly unhappy. She muttered complaints under her breath, like, "This child Gray Serpent brought has grown up and entered her rebellious phase, actually daring to disobey now..."
Just as Jackal's anger grew, a string of colorful balloons floated past her. With pent-up frustration and nowhere to vent it, her eyes lit up. Swiftly, she extended her claws and pop, pop, pop—burst all the balloons, leaving a cute little girl with purple hair and golden eyes staring helplessly at the now-limp balloon strings, their lift gone.
-
"Whoa, calm the fuck down...!!!"
Breaking out in a cold sweat, Imhotep desperately held back a certain purple-haired Valkyrie who was about to rush out of the teahouse to beat Jackal to a pulp, all while a piece of sweet cake dangled from her mouth. She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.
"Hello, Captain? Didn't I tell you to get rid of this damn husky? Why is she still here?!?!"
"And she had nothing better to do than pop Little Sirin's balloons, making the kid cry!"
"Huh?! That fucking happened?! Don't worry, the backup I called is almost here!"
"""""Sea of Quanta Police responding"""""
"Hey, lady... bullying a little girl, popping a kid's balloons... and not even apologizing?"
"That's pretty messed up, don't you think?"
A woman with a pink side ponytail, dressed like a delinquent girl—a MANTIS from another world, Miss Delta—clapped a hand on Jackal's shoulder from behind...