“Oh, speak of the devil—here comes Mei.”
Hearing this, Kiana immediately tensed up:
“What do you mean…”
“Anti-Entropy found out you’re in Tiankong City, so they decided to come looking for you. But…”
“But what?”
“But it’s just Mei and Dr. Tesla—don’t you think that’s a bit uneven in terms of firepower? As for Schicksal, they’ve sent their entire Immortal Blades squad to Tiankong City just to find you.”
In a corner of Tiankong City, Rita, dressed in her Shadow Iron battlesuit, stood atop a tall building.
“Lord Overseer, I’ve arrived in Tiankong City. Please give me your next orders.”
“Two days ago, there was a Honkai energy leak incident in Tiankong City. After reviewing the surveillance footage, we spotted K423. You and the rest of Immortal Blades have two missions—one of them is to find her and bring her back.”
“Understood. But… is the source reliable? Could it be… a smoke screen from Anti-Entropy?”
“The person who uploaded the photo is an intelligence dealer going by ‘Grey Serpent.’ He has access to a technology that can monitor this city’s network traffic.”
“Grey Serpent released that photo to show potential buyers that he holds the information on K423’s whereabouts.”
After listening to Otto’s explanation, Rita fell into thought:
“A technology for monitoring network traffic… Grey… Serpent… Could Grey Serpent be backed by World Serpent, which only recently emerged?”
“Rita, your reasoning is spot on. According to Schicksal’s preliminary investigations, Grey Serpent is indeed an agent World Serpent has placed in Tiankong City.”
“I understand.”
No sooner had Rita finished her communication with Otto than a new call came in—from Alvitr.
“Alvitr, what is it? Yes, I’ve arrived at the designated location… I see. Keep monitoring, and report back to me in an hour… Good, that’s all.”
“The other members of Immortal Blades just spotted a traitor from the Far East Branch in Tiankong City… For Lady Theresa to lose her composure and risk exposing her location just to find leads… It seems this piece of intelligence is going to be more valuable than I imagined.”
“Anti-Entropy must have provided considerable support for them to make it this far. Perhaps if I keep close tabs on them, I’ll get a significant payoff.”
With that thought, Rita leaped off the rooftop and sped at full velocity toward the location Alvitr had provided.
Some time later, Rita arrived at another tall, pitch-black building in Tiankong City. Looking down from here, the city lights shimmered in vibrant colors, and even late at night, crowds still filled the streets below. This sight stirred a quiet reflection deep within Rita:
“Even though the outside world has been ravaged by Honkai, this city… at least on the surface, still looks so prosperous and safe, as if disaster never struck. And yet, the people here probably never imagine that the very culprit behind the Great Eruption is hiding right under their noses…”
“Hm?”
Skilled in tracking, infiltration, and assassination, Rita detected a faint sound coming from the darkness behind her.
[Intruder detected. Eliminate immediately!]
The mechanical voice had barely sounded when its body was cleaved apart by Rita’s scythe. Though she couldn’t see it with her eyes, judging by the contact time and the force she used, it must have been a small robot.
“No—there’s more than one.”
These machines used invisible infrared scanning, so in theory, they could see others while remaining unseen themselves. Unfortunately for them, their opponent was Rita—a professional in every sense of the word. Using abilities beyond sight, she managed to destroy all of them before they could even fire a single shot.
“Clap, clap, clap…”
Crisp applause echoed from the darkness, followed by a dim light flickering on ahead. A figure that appeared to be an adult male stepped slowly into view.
“Not bad, little lady. You took out all my bodyguards in no time.”
Rita gave a graceful bow toward the shadowy figure:
“Good evening, Mr. Grey Serpent. Were you waiting for someone? Please don’t misunderstand—this is just a little habit of mine. I like to clear away unnecessary clutter before negotiations. It keeps the venue cleaner and more orderly.”
“Ah, it seems I may have done something unnecessary… To compensate for your loss, I can offer you a deal—with generous returns.”
“It appears this is a deal I’ll have to take whether I want to or not…”
“Two days ago, you uploaded a surveillance photo online that showed a girl.”
“I think you know exactly who she is, and you’re fully aware of her value—otherwise, you wouldn’t have chosen to expose her existence at all.”
“My request is simple: tell me where she is.”
Grey Serpent’s gaze settled on Rita’s face:
“…And since this is business, what do I get out of it?”
“You’ll gain a powerful ally—and safe passage out of here.”
“An ally? World Serpent already has a formidable and reliable ally, but who would say no to more friends?”
“However… threatening someone’s life right from the start makes me question the sincerity of this alliance.”
“She could cripple all of World Serpent at any moment, yet she chooses cooperation. Meanwhile, Schicksal—despite having witnessed our Lord’s divine might—still thinks it can force the Serpent to submit with laughable little tricks.”
“What a stark contrast… Are all Schicksal Valkyries this overconfident?”
Rita’s expression remained unchanged, as if she hadn’t heard the first half of his words:
“It seems you know who I am, so there’s even less reason to refuse.”
“I knew who you were from the very start, and I certainly have reasons to refuse. Trading my intelligence for my life? That hardly seems in line with the spirit of commerce.”
Rita shook her head with regret:
“Mr. Grey Serpent, it seems you don’t understand how precious life truly is.”
Grey Serpent seemed almost amused by her words:
“Hand over the info and I get to live? Please, don’t insult my intelligence. I haven’t been in this business for just a day. Though life itself is a transaction, for someone like me… death is merely the beginning of the next deal. The Serpent is not a creature that yields to death—do you understand?”
“Sigh. You sound more like a poet than an intelligence broker. I almost hate to do this… but I’m sorry—it’s my mission.”
Seeing that Grey Serpent had no intention of handing over the information, Rita felt there was no point in further negotiation.
“At this distance, there’s no way I’ll miss.”
After confirming no one else was nearby, Rita struck at Grey Serpent’s neck with lightning speed.
“Clang!”
Before the scythe could reach his neck, it was blocked by something hard. Sensing something was off, Rita tried to reposition quickly, only to find her scythe locked in place, unable to retract.
Rita’s heart jolted—because until that moment, she hadn’t sensed anyone else there at all.
“If I can’t have it, no one else will either, right? Such a pity. I already dropped enough hints, but you ignored every bit of my advice and focused solely on me from start to finish…”
In the next instant, the entire room lit up, and the scene before Rita became clear.
“It’s you?!”
At that moment, Enoxia was gripping the tip of Rita’s scythe with her right hand, a smile on her face:
“I thought Miss Rita could remain elegant no matter the situation. To see such a flustered expression—I must have hit the jackpot.”
“I know what you want to ask. From the moment you stepped into this room, I’ve been here—the entire time.”
