After school, for once, Mei wasn't eagerly rallying everyone to the club. Compared to club activities, it was clearly more important to go on an expedition, no, to investigate the truth of the world and test everyone's abilities.
As for danger... Mei glanced at Shiraha, then at Kiana, and finally gave the wooden sword on her back a little shake.
Definitely no danger!
Shiraha stood on tiptoe, peering into the distance at the residential area: "Fu Hua, how many disappearance cases have there been in your neighborhood?"
He looked at Fu Hua, his voice crystal clear.
Elysia also stood on tiptoe, her starry eyes narrowing slightly as her gaze swept across the apartment buildings.
Nagazora did have slightly more Honkai incidents than other cities, after all, there was a ME Corp research institute here.
But precisely because of that institute, the number of people harmed by Honkai in Nagazora was actually far lower than in other cities. ME Corp's security systems were fairly reliable on the defense side.
Fu Hua blinked, then pulled out her phone again: "Wait, I have records."
This time, Shiraha didn't let Mei see first and Mei didn't mind him taking the lead. The little ones crowded around Shiraha to look at the files on the screen.
"Out-of-towner Zhang San, out-of-towner Li Si..."
Shiraha read aloud, then looked up at Fu Hua. Fu Hua's expression was taut, she held it together!
Who knew why Otto had left such an obvious flaw.
Elysia was the first to laugh, her voice clear, though not many could hear it.
"Such sloppy names."
Mei muttered, frowning slightly.
Even Yae Sakura fell silent, names in her era were just as casual, but they weren't that smooth and random at a glance.
Fu Hua's expression remained strained: "Sloppy as they are, they're real. And all the missing people had only been in town for a day."
It was all part of the plan or maybe just Otto's idea of fun.
Shiraha pressed: "One day?"
Fu Hua was silent for a long moment, then nodded.
"...What an arrogant bastard, are they afraid no one will notice?"
Kiana clenched her fists.
She was carrying a backpack this time. She didn't like swords or blades, after wandering through Siberia for so long, she preferred something more direct.
So Siegfried had given her a handgun, though Kiana had never used it... It looked like Nagazora's peace would have to be maintained by her own efforts.
Shiraha's lips curled slightly: "Looks like even the ordinary city of Nagazora has dangerous elements lurking beneath the surface!"
Fu Hua kept her eyes and ears open, everyone's reactions here would go into her mission report.
Shiraha handed the phone back to Fu Hua.
Mei reached out, she was always the center of attention, always the first to know what to do.
Shiraha was about to place his hand on top when he remembered his Nee-chan. He waited—waited for Yuna to place her hand over Mei's, waited for everyone to be ready, and only then did he press his palm over the top, leaving just enough space for his Nee-chan to touch fully.
"Hokushin Ittō-ryū Youth Training Camp." Mei took a deep breath, her voice ringing out: "Move out!"
She brought their hands down together with force.
The neighborhood Fu Hua lived in wasn't run-down, after all, it was a new academy city. None of the buildings here were over fifty years old, and since the area was at the heart of development, most had been renovated.
Yae Sakura had fully integrated into the group of kids. She walked at the back, gently tugging Shiraha's sleeve and whispering: "Something's off."
Fu Hua was off. This whole incident was off. Even all the names that appeared in the incident felt off to her.
But precisely because everything was off, it actually added a layer of authenticity, Yae Sakura didn't openly object.
Shiraha slowed his steps, didn't reply, just shook his phone, the screen showing a brief exchange with the delinquent senpai.
Yae Sakura understood immediately, then it was fine. Natasha would find a way to notify ME Corp's higher-ups.
"What's off?"
Yuna, who was also at the back because she was scared, whispered.
She still felt that this kind of dangerous thing should be reported to the police.
"Rin-nee's here. If Yuna's scared, just hide behind her, Rin-nee's a hero!"
Shiraha took Yuno's small hand.
Yuna was still a little nervous, but holding Shiraha's hand put her at ease.
No matter how scary others might be, could they be scarier than Shiraha's ghost sister?
The sky was nearing dusk. Elysia glanced at Shiraha's right hand and stated simply: "Is there a chance this is a probe from World Serpent?"
After all, World Serpent was connected to the Previous Era, and this incident had been brought up by Fu Hua.
That made Elysia narrow her eyes, she still didn't trust Gray Serpent.
Shiraha's gaze was clear as he shook his head slightly.
Elysia let out a long breath: "Well, whether it's World Serpent or some other organization, it probably hasn't actually claimed any lives..."
That made her a little happy, no matter what the world would become in the future, at least for now, it wasn't willing to directly sacrifice lives for its goals.
Shiraha was quiet a moment longer, saying nothing.
That wasn't necessarily true. The head of Schicksal didn't care. Anti-Entropy's future hawks wouldn't care. And World Serpent, from top to bottom, didn't seem to care either.
"We're here." Fu Hua suddenly spoke: "The scene in the video happened right here."
Kiana said in a low voice: "The Honkai concentration is strong."
The Honkai energy here wasn't concealed at all, it was practically pointing them in one direction.
Shiraha's thoughts stalled for a moment: Such a blatant lead, who set this up?
His first suspicion was Fu Hua. Though Otto often got outplayed and could only be saved by plot armor, and his schemes were a mess, surely he wouldn't make it this obvious, right?
"Someone's been researching Honkai here."
Kiana's tone turned serious, she knew Honkai. She'd seen it in Siberia.
Many people in Siberia had some understanding of Honkai, after all, the Second Eruption had devastated the region.
Mei held her breath: "Using ordinary people's lives."
Kiana unzipped her backpack and pulled out, a Glock 17.
Fu Hua's eyelid twitched. Who gave K423 that thing?
And from the look of it, she'd been carrying it to school and work too, what if it went off?
Kiana didn't care about anyone's stares. She loaded it smoothly, clicked off the safety, all in one fluid motion.
Mei's eyes sharpened too. She looked at the wooden sword on her back, still unsharpened, then at the thing in Kiana's hands, at a loss for words.
Mei's voice was clear and obedient: "You bring this to school too?"
Kiana gave a very matter-of-fact "Mm."
She explained: "Dad was worried I'd run into danger. He also taught me gun-fighting techniques."
She was too young, afraid of school bullying.
Mei repeated: "Gun-fighting techniques?"
If you have a gun, do you even need fighting techniques?
She looked back at the heavy sword case she'd lugged here, and a wave of defeat washed over her.
"Let's go. I can sense the flow of Honkai energy around here, I can roughly tell which direction they went."
Kiana naturally took command.
Everyone around murmured in agreement, except for Yae Sakura, who looked completely lost.
Kiana muttered: "Lucky, if we'd come a few days later, the Honkai energy here would've probably dissipated on its own."
Honkai energy did naturally dissipate, for instance, three years after the Third Eruption, the Honkai concentration in the air had already dropped significantly.
Kiana's remark struck another blow to the always-proud Mei. As the young lady of the Raiden family, a child of destiny, she realized she hadn't even understood what Kiana was talking about.
She sniffed the air, but couldn't smell Honkai energy at all, she had no idea what it smelled like.
"Shiraha..."
Mei, usually so confident, looked helplessly at Shiraha, only to see that he was already holding Yuna's hand, with his other hand apparently holding his ghost friend's.
Shiraha explained: "Manipulating Honkai energy is dangerous. Uncle Ryoma probably just wants to protect you."
In truth, because Shiraha's performance had been so outstanding, Ryoma Raiden had no intention of turning Mei into a warrior.
He'd rather she study hard and become a highly educated talent, like Dr. Tesla or Dr. Einstein.
"Am I afraid of danger?"
Mei lifted her little head, still looking proud.
Shiraha paused: "I think caring and trusting aren't mutually exclusive."
Mei either didn't understand or did, but was too deflated at that moment to feel comforted.
Yuna spoke up quietly: "It's okay, Mei. I can't even understand what you guys are talking about."
She, always shy, had only just recovered from the shock of Kiana pulling out a gun.
Public security in the Far East was decent, gun incidents were rare. Yuna's head was still buzzing.
Mei's expression drooped even lower: I've fallen to Yuna's level now?
I can't do anything... tragic.
Kiana led the way, her small hand hidden inside her loose jacket.
"Shh—I think we're here."
She stopped them, her sky-blue eyes alert. A warehouse.
In Siberia, abandoned warehouses were everywhere, most were in ruins with nothing of value inside.
"Shouldn't we call the police?"
Fu Hua whispered, her eyes hidden behind her bangs, looking timid.
Kiana glanced at Mei expressionlessly, then back at the distant warehouse: "No need. But we can't go in through the front, there's definitely surveillance."
Shiraha spoke up: "I know a path nearby, we can circle around to the back."
Fu Hua was stunned, you stole my line.
Elysia calculated: "I stood on the roof earlier and saw a clear path, it leads directly to the side of the warehouse. From there, you could climb the wall and get in through a window."
"There are a lot of bodies inside, but they're not modern. They're soaking in formaldehyde."
"Looks like someone invested a lot of resources. Too bad I can't touch anything inside, I can't tell what those running machines would do when activated."
She was Intel Elysia.
She sighed: "I still think this is World Serpent's doing. You haven't contacted them in so long, and Gray Serpent doesn't look like a good person."
When Little Shiraha ran into something like this, the first thing he did was contact that bad Natasha, and there's no way she'd report it to ME Corp.
Maybe World Serpent just wanted to test Shiraha's current strength. He hadn't given them any feedback, no emotional feedback, no data feedback, for a whole year.
As they detoured onto the smaller path, Fu Hua couldn't hold back: "How did you know there was a path here?"
Shiraha said simply: "My Nee-chan can fly and observe the area from above."
Elysia could fly, floating as lightly as a true ghost but she rarely did.
She preferred to act like a smiling girl rather than the Herrscher Elysia.
Fu Hua looked dazed.
She adjusted her glasses, but during this time Otto hadn't given any instructions. She pressed her communicator again...
Huh, it seemed the communicator had no signal.
Academy City had many small alleys, it was a newly built city, and the roads were complex. Sometimes due to poor planning, a trash-filled path would be left between two buildings.
But this path was noticeably cleaner, as if someone had cleared it.
After a few turns and about a hundred steps, the view opened up.
"It stinks."
Fu Hua played the role of an ordinary person, taking over Yuna's ecological niche.
The smell was pungent and sour. Yuna grabbed Kiana, who was at the front: "This smell... like a hospital's..."
That was what a real ordinary kid sounded like.
Kiana thought, she'd never been to a proper hospital. And Mei... had a private doctor, she'd never been to one either.
Shiraha stepped past them, observed for a moment, and saw no visible surveillance. He walked openly to the edge of the warehouse, using telekinesis to clear the way, but there were no traps.
Then he stepped onto the wall, grabbed the edge with one hand, and swiftly pulled himself up. Standing on tiptoe, he peered through the window.
No people, just scattered papers, humming machines, and bodies preserved in jars. The bodies had various markings on them, some purple, some red, all signs of Honkai erosion.
They were unclothed, ugly, their skin wrinkled.
"Can you open the window?"
Fu Hua asked helpfully.
Shiraha then realized the window wasn't locked.
Shiraha: ....
He was quiet for a moment.
"Maybe it's so remote here that they forgot to lock the window."
Shiraha's smile was pleasantly surprised.
Just then, Fu Hua also stepped onto the wall, grabbed the edge with one hand, and pulled herself up.
This made Yae Sakura narrow her eyes even more.
This Fu Hua... truly extraordinary!
She turned her head slightly, looking at Shiraha.
Shiraha was crouched on the wall, reaching a hand down.
"Mei-nee, give me your hand."
Mei looked up at the outstretched hand, paused for a second.
Then she reached out and placed her hand in his.
Shiraha gripped it, pulled hard, his telekinesis giving a silent boost from below, and Mei landed lightly beside him.
Then came Yuna, Shiraha practically lifted her up entirely.