The instant the spider monster was killed by Sirin...
Inside the magnificent building at the center of ARK City, in the labs of Shicksal Pharmaceuticals' headquarters...
At the dissection table, a woman in a white lab coat wearing a jackal mask held a syringe, slowly injecting a deep purple solution into the neck of the figure restrained on the table.
It was a girl It was a girl no older than eleven or twelve, her eyes now empty voids, like a doll that had been played with too roughly.
Suddenly, a message appeared before the woman.
It was about the hunter she had sent out to clean up a Schicksal fish that had slipped through the net—one of her more outstanding creations, even among her many works.
But now, it was dead?
She was slightly surprised.
The result of this brief distraction was a loss of control over the syringe in her hand. In an instant, a highly concentrated dose of Honkai energy reagent was injected into the test subject on the table.
The next moment, a pained scream tore from the girl's throat.
As she writhed in agony, deep purple veins could be seen spreading from her neck, quickly covering her entire body.
She struggled frantically, the restraints straining as if about to snap.
"Dammit!"
The woman in the lab coat couldn't help but curse under her breath at the scene.
There wasn't a trace of panic on her face. She had seen similar situations countless times before; they no longer elicited the slightest emotional response.
Her anger was directed more at the waste of a good test subject.
This one's resistance was quite impressive, having maintained stable vitals through so many experiments.
It could have been turned into a rather fine piece of work. But now, it would have to be repurposed into a Death Weaver to fill the ranks.
With a soft snap of her fingers, the struggling test subject, along with the entire dissection table, was sent down a dark corridor.
Then, the woman in the lab coat put down the syringe, changed her clothes, and walked into a spacious, brightly lit hall.
Only now was her full figure revealed.
She was a mature woman with curly brown hair and golden eyes, wearing a mask styled after the ancient Egyptian god Anubis.
Her body was wrapped in a form-fitting white cloak that accentuated her full figure.
Anyone from the outside world would likely be stunned to see her, for this woman was no nobody.
She was Ms. Cleo, a director at Shicksal Pharmaceuticals, a living legend in ARK City, and a biologist of global renown.
Beyond that, she had an even more deeply hidden identity.
A high-ranking officer of World Serpent—Jackal.
---||---
At the moment, Ms. Cleo was not in a good mood.
The experiment meant to verify a certain hypothesis had been unexpectedly interrupted, making her already foul temper even worse.
What truly filled her with killing intent was that her original plan had been ruined, forcing her to resort to a backup.
"Schicksal, a bunch of damn rats," she muttered angrily.
But then, a look of frustration crossed her face.
To ensure the organization's mission went smoothly, she had sent out her "little darlings" to clean up any potential troublemakers before the experiment involving ARK City's tens of millions of people could begin.
The most troublesome, naturally, were the spies from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.
The cleanup had been going smoothly at first.
On the Anti-Entropy side, thanks to a list provided by their partner in Nagazora, she had eliminated all of their strongholds in ARK City without much effort.
But Schicksal had proven to be a problem.
A leak from an unknown source had allowed some of them to escape the purge.
Even after her best efforts to hunt them down, one troublesome pest had slipped through, ruining her previous plan and forcing her to switch to the backup.
Cleo gritted her teeth in frustration. That rat was slippery and hard to catch.
And now, the Death Weaver sent to clean up another stronghold was also dead.
"Hah!" Cleo sneered. Her mood improved slightly as she looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at the sky, which was blanketed with ads for Shicksal Entertainment.
"Run all you want. It's not like you have much time left anyway."
With that, she opened her communicator.
A moment later, the image of a woman in a black cloak, dressed uncannily like a dodo bird, appeared before her.
An impatient voice came from the screen.
"Jackal, what's the trouble now?"
"Raven, the Death Weaver I sent out is dead. Another rat got away."
"You don't expect me to go find it for you, do you?"
"Why not?" Jackal stared at her. "Your mission is to assist me and eliminate any uncertainties that might affect the plan."
"Of course there's a problem!"
On the screen, Raven looked like she was about to tear her hair out.
"Can you stop being so demanding? I'm a person, not your beast of burden!"
"I have to catch Schicksal Valkyries for you, find your missing test subjects, keep an eye on the theme park, and now you want me to clean up your rats too?"
Raven pointed at her own face and said through gritted teeth:
"Do you think I can split myself into several people to work myself to death for you?"
Cleo scoffed at Raven's complaints.
"That's your problem to figure out."
"Besides, this is an order from the organization. All you have to do is fight. As the person in charge of this operation, I have much more to consider."
"Give me a break," Raven rolled her eyes. "If you hadn't screwed up, we'd be done with this mission already. I'm already working my ass off for the measly salary the organization pays me."
"Last time was just a moment of carelessness that let the enemy slip through. This time, there will be absolutely no oversights."
A flash of embarrassment crossed Jackal's face at Raven's words, but it was quickly replaced by indignation.
"Talk to Gray Serpent about your salary."
"As for now, you just need to follow orders. Eliminating unstable elements that could jeopardize the plan is your job anyway."
"I know, I know." Raven sighed, sounding resigned. "I'll take care of it."
Jackal nodded in satisfaction.
She was quite pleased with her colleague's abilities. Raven's strength was among the top tier in World Serpent; even a Schicksal S-Rank Valkyrie was no match for her.
If she was equipped with a relic from the Previous Era, she might even be able to take down a Herrscher.
Normally, the two of them were of equal rank, and she could never order Raven around.
But now, due to this grand plan, Raven was temporarily under her command, so naturally, she was going to squeeze every last drop of value out of her.
"Very good. With your help, the pioneers' grand ambition will surely be realized."
Raven just chuckled at Jackal's attempt to sell her a dream.
"You do you. Anything else? If not, I'm hanging up."
"Not so fast. There's one more thing."
"You...! Don't push it!" Raven seethed. "I'm on a tight schedule too."
"I'm not sending you to hunt those rats alone. The intel network and my pets will help. You just need to kill them when they show their faces."
"It's not about that!"
"Oh?" Jackal frowned. "What do you need?"
At that question, Raven's face was suddenly consumed by resentment.
The sheer intensity of her gloom made even Cleo frown.
Then she heard Raven say mournfully:
"To sell off all the real estate I own, of course!"
"ARK City is about to be destroyed! If I don't sell off my properties, I'm going to be completely bankrupt!"
Hearing Raven's complaint, Cleo was speechless.
For someone who held a fistful of patents, it was hard for her to imagine Raven's financial struggles.
She mentally scoffed at her.
Pathetic. All you care about is your money. You have no appreciation for World Serpent's grand vision.
Of course, she didn't say it out loud. She still needed Raven to run errands for her, so she couldn't completely burn that bridge just yet.
However, money...
Jackal mulled it over for a moment, then cleared her throat, her tone softening slightly.
"It's like this, Raven. Do you remember our partner in Nagazora?"
"Of course!" Raven's face was still sour, but she replied, "You mean that vixen from Anti-Entropy? I think her name was... Cocolia?"
"That's her."
"Our people embedded with her sent word. She recently acquired something interesting from one of Schicksal's labs."
"So?" Seeing the excited look on Cleo's face, Raven suddenly had a bad feeling.
"That thing is very important to Schicksal. They've deployed a lot of forces to retrieve it, including blocking most of the routes to Nagazora."
"So she's chosen to use our channels, wanting to transport it to Nagazora through Shenzhou."
"This is a good opportunity." Cleo looked at Raven seriously. "Raven, I need you to go and steal it for me."
Raven looked at Jackal as if she were an idiot.
"I seem to recall Gray Serpent just made a deal with her, didn't he?"
"Yes. As part of the deal, she allowed us to recruit some volunteers in Nagazora for our experiments."
"The same test subjects that went missing not long ago."
Speaking of which, Cleo asked casually.
"By the way, any news on those missing lab rats?"
"It's not that fast! Their trail is hard to follow."
Raven seemed a little unnatural when answering the question, but Jackal didn't notice.
"Does Gray Serpent know about this?"
Cleo was displeased by Raven's question.
"Raven, I hope you remember that for this operation, I am the one in charge."
I'd love for you to take all the responsibility, you idiot!
Raven complained internally, but out of a tiny shred of loyalty to the organization, she still asked.
"Backstabbing her right after making a deal? Gray Serpent might still need to use her faction for something..."
Cleo cut Raven off before she could finish.
"She's just a pawn."
"Besides, giving that thing to an idiot like Cocolia is a waste. Only in my hands can it be put to its true use."
"Aren't you afraid the organization will hold you accountable?"
"Tsk!" Cleo scoffed. "We've already cleaned up plenty of Schicksal's spies. We can just pin the blame on them, can't we?"
You idiot. Shifting blame isn't that easy. Do you take everyone for a fool?
Raven once again questioned her superior's intelligence. How could someone so brilliant in scientific research be so childish in her dealings with people?
What was Gray Serpent thinking, entrusting such an important mission to this moron?
But Raven only grumbled internally.
As a salaried worker, she knew the principle of "the more you do, the more you screw up; do nothing, and you can't be wrong."
Given Jackal's personality, pointing out her mistakes wouldn't earn her any gratitude; it would probably just get her on Jackal's bad side.
Besides, if this idiot failed, it had nothing to do with her.
She was just a salaried grunt. Doing her job conscientiously was more than enough to justify the pittance the organization paid her.
So, she flatly refused.
"If you want it, go get it yourself."
"My mission is only to assist you with the experiment. Stealing from our allies is not within my job description."
Seeing Raven pass the buck, Jackal knew she had to throw her a bone, or her colleague wouldn't lift a finger.
Fortunately, she knew one of Raven's glaring weaknesses.
So, Cleo spoke.
"Of course I know this isn't in your job description. That's why this is a private commission."
"Don't you still have your mercenary credentials?"
"I'll pay you a handsome sum. A price you absolutely can't refuse."
"Don't bother. I'm not helping you." Raven rolled her eyes. "I know which money is worth earning and which isn't."
Even if Jackal took the main blame if they were discovered, it could still implicate her.
Was she the kind of person who would risk her life for money?
Don't look down on her!
"What a pity," Cleo sighed. "My patents alone are worth enough to buy an entire archipelago."
You're a great judge of character. Why didn't you just say you'd pay from the start?
"As friends, talking about money hurts our relationship." The resentment on Raven's face vanished instantly, replaced by sheer delight.
She rubbed her hands together, her face full of anticipation.
"So, are you writing a check or doing a direct transfer?"
"Hmph!" Cleo was disgusted by Raven's behavior.
But as long as she could get her to do the job, it didn't matter. Money was just a number to her.
Plenty of organizations would pay to have a combatant on par with an S-Rank Valkyrie.
The thing Cocolia got from the Schicksal lab was far more valuable than this money.
Although she looked down on that fool Cocolia, she had to admit that the gravity-manipulating clones she had created were indeed a bit tricky.
But for Raven, it was just another errand.
"Just keep an eye on your account. Alright, you can get moving." Cleo waved her hand, and the image closed.
The conference room fell silent once more.
Through the massive window, Jackal looked out beyond the Shicksal building.
The sky was filled with ads, all playing one on a loop.
[The revolutionary full-dive virtual game developed by Shicksal Entertainment—'Eden'—is about to begin its public beta!!!]
---||---
"Pervert!"
"Scum!"
"Creeper!"
Luo Li sighed, looking speechlessly at the white-haired girl across from him. Her face was bright red, her arms were crossed over her chest, and her big, azure eyes were glaring daggers at him.
"Alright, that's enough. I told you, I wasn't planning on doing anything weird to you."
"Hmph! As if this Lady would believe you!"
Kiana seemed completely unconvinced by Luo Li's explanation.
It was understandable. When she woke up from the dark room Sirin had trapped her in, she found herself in the arms of a strange man.
Her first reaction would naturally be...
"You were totally trying to do something indecent to this Lady, weren't you!"
For crying out loud!
For once, Luo Li felt a flicker of anger at the white-haired girl's unreasonable accusations.
This was the first time in his entire life that his character had been questioned.
"I'll state this again: I did not do anything out of line. I can explain what happened."
Luo Li had noticed the difference between this white-haired girl and the Herrscher from before. If the last one was a hedgehog, this one was a cat with its fur on end.
After all, aura doesn't lie. It's like how a Shiba Inu could never pass for a husky, even if they're both dogs.
So, he understood the situation in an instant—this white-haired girl had split personalities.
Judging by her personality, this one must be the original Kiana, the human personality, while the other one was the Herrscher personality?
Sirin's display of power just now didn't seem like it came without a cost.
And her last words before falling unconscious, "Protect me," probably meant he was supposed to restrain this Kiana personality.
But Luo Li had no intention of doing what she said. Compared to a Herrscher of unknown depth, the human Kiana was obviously easier to handle.
Of course, there was another important question: would the Herrscher personality reappear, and how soon?
But that was a problem for later. He had more important things to do right now.
Namely, calm Kiana down. He still needed her to draw out other Schicksal personnel.
As Luo Li observed Kiana, he was unaware that Kiana was secretly observing him too.
For Kiana, her consciousness had been locked in a dark room by Sirin, her body's control stolen.
Then, for some unknown reason, in the blink of an eye, she had regained control.
She didn't know why, but it was most likely related to the man in front of her.
She also knew he hadn't done anything to her; she had figured that out the moment she woke up.
But she had to create distance between them, to avoid getting him involved with her as much as possible.
So she had to act unapproachable, to be annoying enough that he would want to stay away from her.
Past experience had taught her a harsh lesson.
Anyone who gets close to me will only become unhappy. A wave of sadness washed over Kiana.
Although she had escaped Sirin's seal and regained control of her body, she knew it was only temporary. She could feel Sirin's consciousness still sleeping in her mind. It was only a matter of time before she woke up.
She was no match for Sirin. When she woke up again, she would only be able to watch helplessly as Sirin used her body to destroy humanity.
Faced with Sirin's overwhelming power, she could do nothing but trade barbs!
She was just a human. No, she wasn't even a normal human. She was just a fake.
A thief like me, who stole her body and name from someone else... even if I just die like this... no one would care, right? A bitter feeling welled up in Kiana's heart. But at least, there's one thing I can still do.
I couldn't choose my birth, but... I can choose my death.
Yes, this was her true plan.
At this point, the only thing she could do was go down with Sirin, to drag her to death with her!
Of course, before that, she had to get rid of the man in front of her. She didn't want to cause trouble for anyone.
And so, Kiana looked at Luo Li, her tone laced with anger.
"Just my luck." She shot Luo Li a look, then turned away. "Goodbye! No, I mean, goodbye forever!"
"Don't let this Lady see you again, or you're dead!"
With that, Kiana started to leave.
This should be fine...
Just let me die alone in peace.
Goodbye, world.
Goodbye, Dad.
Goodbye... huh?
Kiana suddenly felt her body tighten, and then she fell to the ground with a thud.
"Did I say you could leave?"
Kiana's eyes widened as she watched Luo Li walk toward her, watching as wisps of golden ribbons emerged from his hands and bound her tightly.
Luo Li walked over to the tightly bound girl and knelt.
"Since you won't listen to my explanation, I have no choice but to resort to this."
Looking into her azure eyes, Luo Li said solemnly:
"Miss Kiana, you've been kidnapped!"