READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 22: The Gathering Storm
The next day, before the sunlight had even touched the ground of Schicksal Headquarters, the incredibly vast war machine was, like its master, already prepared for the fight against the Honkai.
A pure white lace hair ornament, finely cut light brown short hair, a well-tailored black and white maid outfit, all abruptly entered the futuristic Schicksal center along with a pair of long legs wrapped in black silk stockings. If outsiders were to see this, they probably wouldn't think that this was the heavily guarded Schicksal building, but rather a maid café full of sensual temptations.
However, all the staff passing by didn't dare to have a single thought of romance. Because the huge scythe behind the woman was too recognizable, and too intimidating. Everyone knew that the only person who could freely enter and exit Schicksal and use a scythe as a weapon was Schicksal's top combat maid, the S-rank Valkyrie – Rita Rossweisse.
"Overseer, do you have any instructions?" Rita's voice was clear and efficient, forming a sharp contrast to her charming and seductive appearance.
Along with the beeping sound of the communication device, an elegant male voice came from the communication device, it was Schicksal's Overseer, Otto.
"Three days ago, ARC City detected two Honkai energy fluctuations in very short intervals. Although the source of the Honkai energy eruption was not found, some people speculate that this may be a sign of the Herrscher of the Void appearing. Then, yesterday at midnight, someone uploaded a photo, possibly discovering the trail of the Herrscher of the Void."
"Your mission is to find her whereabouts."
The photo was immediately transmitted to Rita's device. She examined it for a few seconds, and confirmed that the figure in the picture had a very high possibility of being K423, who had been missing for almost three months. She immediately responded, "Understood, Overseer..."
"However, the shooting angle of this photo is a bit peculiar. It is likely that someone deliberately took it."
Otto nodded, acknowledging her thoughts, "The uploader of the photo calls himself the Gray Serpent. After investigation, it was found that he is a well-known information broker in ARC City."
"He has a technique that allows him to monitor almost all information exchanges in ARC City. Although the photo may not have been taken by him personally, the fact that he was able to find the source of the photo in such a short time shows that the information about the Herrscher of the Void being in ARC City is very likely to be true."
"In addition, it seems that someone has observed signs of activity from the traitor of the Far East Branch. To make Theresa lose her composure and risk exposure to go and investigate, the information is very likely to be credible."
Rita nodded immediately, "Understood, I will definitely find the source of the information before Theresa arrives."
Beep—
The communication was cut off. Rita took a deep breath and quickly headed to Schicksal's combat center, where she would board a personal jet to get to ARC City.
…
ARC City, Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical (World Serpent Branch).
The hall was empty, with only the Ouroboros symbol imprinted in the hidden corners. The face of the tall man standing in the darkness was completely covered by a mask, and a strange emotion was revealed in his scarlet prosthetic eye.
"Interesting, someone actually dared to impersonate the Serpent. Then let me see if you still have this much courage when you're devoured by the Serpent."
…
Anti-Entropy.
"Ms. Theresa, the armed helicopter is ready." The door to the combat room was opened, and Dr. Einstein, with her deep blue curly hair, walked in. Currently in the room were the students of St. Freya Academy, who were also the traitors of Schicksal's Far East Branch: Theresa, Mei, and Bronya.
"Is the source of this information reliable?" Although she was already impatient, Theresa, as the academy's head, still had to ensure the reliability of the information.
Faced with Theresa's question, Einstein's expression was calm. She brought up her information panel. "Based on the various investigations conducted by Anti-Entropy, there have been multiple Honkai beast attacks in ARC City in the past month. During this period, rumors that a white-haired girl had saved them have occasionally been spread by survivors. Although the rumors are not reliable, with the addition of the photo this time, it's basically confirmed that Kiana is in ARC City."
She continued, "This is the information broker you will be dealing with, the Gray Serpent. He has sold confidential information more than once, and is trusted by various organizations. There is a high probability that he has information on Kiana."
Theresa nodded, and looked at the two students beside her, "You've both examined the photo, right?"
"Yes, there are no signs of modifications." As a top-tier hacker, Bronya was naturally able to distinguish the authenticity of the photo, and it was because of this that they agreed to this deal.
However, Mei, who had been staring at the photo, frowned tightly, "I won't mistake Kiana's appearance. But who is this boy beside her?"
"Prepare for action, Schicksal will probably make a move as well. Bring Kiana back before them." With Theresa's order, everyone boarded the armed helicopter heading to ARC City.
…
Ranch, when Ren woke up, he was the only one left in the room.
There was no surprise. Kiana's departure had always been part of his plan. He had controlled the puppet to secretly take the photo, and then uploaded it. Based on Kiana's personality, she would definitely not be willing to drag down the people around her, so her leaving would only be a matter of course.
He unwrapped the bandage around his arm. The wound on it had already healed more than half. He beckoned, and Taxue, who had been missing for a long time, ran in with a bottle of disinfectant. Then came the familiar cleaning, applying medicine, and bandaging.
When everything was done, he got up from his makeshift bed.
The bed that Kiana had slept on had been neatly folded. It seemed that she had made sure to tidy up before she left.
Ren's phone was placed next to the pillow at the head of the bed. She had still decided not to take it after all.
And next to the phone was a star-shaped hair accessory, Kiana's favorite one, and the one that she always kept with her.
There was a message on the phone. Ren's finger lingered over the play button. But in the end he decided not to look, he didn't dare to.
Because he was afraid that if he looked, he would no longer have the heart to deceive that poor girl.
He placed the hair accessory into his inner pocket.
He threw the phone into the Theater of Dominance.
He pushed the door open. With a light snap of his fingers, the hundreds of animals that had been controlled all night, and the owner of the ranch, finally regained their consciousness.
In an instant, the originally quiet ranch became noisy, without the insects, without the evening breeze, without the whispers of a boy and a girl.
One photo, one bait.
Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, the World Serpent, and everyone from St. Freya, start hunting Kiana now.
The boy pressed his hand to his chest, where his heart was slowly beating.
"I'm sorry."