Raven stood on the side of the road, the scene before her looking like it had been bombed.
The road had collapsed, a huge truck lay overturned on the side, and the air was still filled with the lingering smell of gunpowder.
But Raven's gaze was fixed on the overturned truck.
The front of the truck was almost completely gone, making it impossible for the driver to have survived.
Only the cargo container was largely intact, but there was a large hole in it.
The container, which had been reinforced with special alloys, had been cut open by something sharp, revealing the empty space inside.
The children who should have been inside were now gone.
Raven could easily identify the source of these marks. As an officer of World Serpent, she was all too familiar with these things.
The smell of gunpowder came from riot control mechs, and the cuts on the ground and the container were from Death Weavers.
Thus, it was crystal clear in Raven's mind who had taken the children.
"Jackal!" Raven gritted her teeth, her crimson eyes looking as if they were about to bleed.
But while feeling angry, she was also puzzled by the situation.
Puzzled as to how Jackal had found out.
Before deciding to send the children out of ARK City, Raven had already considered the consequences of this action being exposed.
So, before taking action, she had already set up several backup plans.
And the person in charge of transporting the children was also carefully selected by her, quite reliable, with almost no possibility of betrayal.
Coupled with her assistance as a high-ranking officer of World Serpent, knowing the layout of the guards in various areas, and having the corresponding access qualifications, failure was a low-probability event.
But the fact now was that her meticulously planned operation had completely failed.
And it meant that her current situation might be very dangerous.
World Serpent's discipline was extremely strict, and the punishment for members who broke the organization's rules was also very severe.
And if it was judged as a betrayal, then her whole person would be in great danger.
And all this was based on the premise that her name might be leaked to Jackal by those children.
Thinking of the organization's cruel punishments for traitors, even Raven, who was used to life and death, couldn't help but feel a chill.
Thinking rationally, with the children now captured by Jackal, the best solution was to cut ties with them as soon as possible.
Then find a way to silence the children to prevent them from revealing what she had done.
But, did she really have to do that?
Raven looked up and saw the gray sky.
The sky had turned gloomy at some point, the thick clouds like a curtain covering the heavens and the earth.
Raven thought of the afternoon she had parted with her brother. The sky seemed just as dark then.
Although she repeatedly told herself not to dwell on the past, reality always seemed to strengthen the gravity of the past, pulling her thoughts back.
She still remembered that afternoon.
The sky seemed just as gloomy, and on that day, the Great Honkai Eruption destroyed everything she had.
And her loved one's last blessing was the hope that she could live well in this world.
To live.
To live well.
This had been her goal in her years of running.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, she was a legendary mercenary in the underworld, the president of Shicksal Pharmaceuticals, a mysterious high-ranking agent of World Serpent.
But only she knew that from beginning to end, she was still that child who was full of anxiety about the world, and all she sought in her life was to find a place where she could feel at ease and live the rest of her life in peace.
So she wanted to make money, enough money to build a real home for herself in a place far from the center of the world.
At that time, the fate of humanity, the grand ambition of World Serpent, all of it would have nothing to do with her.
If the sun rose as usual, then she would live a good life.
If the world was destroyed in the next moment, then she would calmly step into death.
Her life plan should have been like this, if not for the inexplicable kindness she had shown to those children.
Raven felt a chill on her face.
It was raining.
Closing her eyes, the memories sealed deep in her mind began to emerge.
She had fantasized more than once about what would have happened if a hero had appeared before her on that day.
But the fact was, no one saved her.
She could only watch her loved ones die with their blessings for her.
And she herself could do nothing.
But when she saw the eyes of those children, she seemed to see countless past versions of herself.
The figures of these children seemed to overlap with her past self, and she herself seemed to be standing in front of her helpless past self.
As if as long as she reached out her hand, the tragedy would not happen.
At that moment, the memories of the past were like a flood that had broken the riverbank. Her heart, which should have been cold, suddenly burst with a strong impulse.
She wanted to save them.
Those children were lucky.
Because this time, in the same situation, someone chose to open their wings for them.
Perhaps it was the mystery of fate... or a mockery. She had not been able to wait for the hero who would save her, but she herself had become someone else's hero.
Was it all worth it?
Raven wasn't sure.
Did she regret her impulse at that time?
Of course she regretted it!
After all, once discovered by the organization, what awaited her would be terrifying punishment.
But if she could do it all over again, she would probably...
Raven turned around, pulled down her hood, her eyes filled with only a piece of tranquility.
If she could do it all over again, she would probably still choose to act.
Because at that moment, it was the only time in all these years that she felt at ease.
---||---
Inside the Shicksal Pharmaceuticals building, in a certain hall.
Rows of life support pods were placed in this bright hall by guards in uniform, holding weapons, and wearing breathing masks.
This was Jackal's material room, or rather, a cage for her lab rats.
Each of these life support pods held a child. Because the pods had not yet been fully installed, the children were all awake, fear and unease lingering on their faces.
And among them, the most active was a boy.
He was not panicked by his situation, and even had the energy to make faces at the guards.
But the guards showed no emotion from beginning to end, like emotionless robots.
Finally, the boy named Lyle quieted down.
He carefully examined the connection of the pod's opening, but after finding that it was so tight that he could barely feel a gap, a look of helplessness appeared on his face.
It seemed that their last escape had made these people upgrade their means of confinement.
This temporarily cut off his idea of trying to pry open the culture tank.
Then, a faint sorrow began to emerge in his heart.
He wasn't very concerned about his own safety. Although he was still a little scared of the unknown that lay ahead, that was all.
Compared to his own life, he was more concerned about the safety of his Teacher.
Born with a talent for observing his surroundings, he had long been aware of the relationship between his Teacher and this organization, and saving them was likely against the orders of this unknown organization.
But if it exposed the Teacher's existence, they would probably bring danger to her.
Lyle looked at the surrounding children. Almost all of them were dejected, and many had red faces, clearly having just cried.
Although he didn't know when these people would come to interrogate them...
But looking at his friends now, Lyle didn't believe they had the ability to hide the Teacher's existence.
This made Lyle a little annoyed, and he couldn't help but look around.
But his body was fixed, and his range of motion in the life support pod was limited, so he could only see the situation opposite him and on some of his flanks by rolling his eyes.
His front and right were empty.
But on his left, there seemed to be a blue-haired man lying in a life support pod, without any movement.
Lyle sighed.
"This feeling of not being able to control my own destiny is really uncomfortable."
He couldn't think of what to do for the time being, so he could only entrust his life and the Teacher's safety to the illusory fate.
Soon, the children were all settled.
Just as they were about to activate the life support pods, another life support pod was pushed in.
And following behind was a man in a white lab coat with gold-rimmed glasses.
As he passed by, Lyle keenly saw the work badge hanging on his chest.
"Level 2 Assistant Researcher: Luo Xin"
And behind him, behind the life support pod, were several guards with equipment far more advanced than the previous guards.
Lyle guessed that these people were probably combat personnel.
And as the life support pod passed in front of him, he finally saw the figure inside.
A white-haired girl about his age.
It was 'Ghost'.
She attracted Lyle's attention.
Because Lyle found that her face showed no panic at all, and she was even looking around with great interest.
"Threat level A. If she's released, she could probably kill me in an instant!" The man with nearsighted glasses observed Ghost in the life support pod, a certain sense of superiority in his eyes. "But unfortunately, once she enters Lord Jackal's laboratory, she's just a lab rat."
Then he gave an order to the people around him.
"Be sure to increase the dosage of the Honkai energy inhibitor. If she recovers even a little of her strength, we'll all die."
"Don't activate the hibernation function for now. I still have questions for these lovely children."
He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and asked the children in a slightly pretentious voice.
"Children, tell me who took you away."
Lyle's heart was in his throat.
But to his surprise, his friends didn't speak.
And the man with the gold-rimmed glasses didn't seem to expect this. In his mind, these children had just experienced such a huge upheaval, and their psychological defenses should be at their weakest.
If he asked now, it would be almost impossible for them to hide anything.
But these children seemed a little stubborn.
"Sigh, you're not good children." His voice turned cold. "Looks like I'll have to let you experience the care of an adult."
Then he found a life support pod and prepared to activate the suppression function to let these children see the cruelty of the adult world.
But at this moment, an angry voice came.
"Damn bitch, how dare you humiliate me so!"
Everyone in the hall was attracted by this voice, including the man with the gold-rimmed glasses.
Beside Lyle, the blue-haired man who had been quiet had opened his eyes at some point, like a mad lion.
All the life support pods in the hall seemed to tremble.
And after seeing the surrounding environment, he immediately realized what had happened to him.
"Damn scum, disrespectful bastards!"
"How dare you humiliate the great Sovereign of Anti-Entropy! I will crush you!"
Sovereign of Anti-Entropy?
Hearing his words, even the quiet 'Ghost' was attracted.
But she soon realized that this was a fake.
No one knew the power of the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy better than the people of Schicksal. As the First Herrscher, his power was the cornerstone of Anti-Entropy's ability to compete with Schicksal.
If a single life support pod could suppress him, then Anti-Entropy would have long since become Schicksal's North American branch again.
Sure enough, soon 'Ghost' heard the panic in the voice of the man who claimed to be the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy.
"My power?"
"Damn it, what did you do? My Herrscher power, where did my Herrscher power go?!"
And after being startled by his initial actions, the highest-ranking man with the gold-rimmed glasses soon showed a look of watching a clown.
He came to the clone of the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy and looked down at the clone in the life support pod, which was like a dead dog.
"Sovereign of Anti-Entropy? Just a fake. Stop shouting, or you'll be sorry."
And his words clearly touched the clone's reverse scale.
The eyes of this clone of the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy were filled with a soul-stirring black, like a pair of black holes that could swallow everything.
An invisible gravitational force erupted, making all the life support pods in this space tremble. The people standing outside were as if pushed by an invisible hand, losing their balance and falling.
This scene made the man with the gold-rimmed glasses who was closest to him extremely horrified.
After falling with a thud, he scrambled to crawl outside, shouting in terror.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me!"
But as the clone erupted with gravitational force, the pre-set suppression module of the life support pod also activated.
A high concentration of Honkai energy inhibitor was instantly injected, a force field generator suppressed his gravity, and then a strong electric current ran through his body.
"Zzzzzzzzzzz!!!"
A painful roar came.
"Scum! Don't let me have a chance to get out, or I'll definitely tear you apart!!!"
The painful roar was accompanied by an electric light that lit up the entire room. The clone finally quieted down in unwillingness.
The man with the gold-rimmed glasses was panting heavily on the ground.
Soon, perhaps to cover up his ugly state in front of his subordinates...
He quickly got up and roared at the children in the life support pods.
"Hurry up and tell me, who took you away!"
"Your life support pods also have suppression devices. If you don't talk, I'll let you taste the feeling of being burned by electricity!"
The scene of the clone being suppressed just now was too impactful, which made his words even more intimidating.
Many of the children present began to waver.
And the man with the gold-rimmed glasses showed a smug smile. Finally, there was something whose progress he could control.
He thought he was strong enough, but he still couldn't handle a crazy boss.
And when this boss was someone who completely disregarded life, had an unpredictable temper, and held the power of life and death, his every day was filled with nothing but fear.
Jackal had a very bad temper. Even as her assistant, they were in danger of becoming her material.
This feeling of having one's life in someone else's hands made his personality more and more twisted.
Only when he faced these test subjects could he feel that he had regained control of his life.
Only when he saw the fear in the eyes of these helpless test subjects could his heart be slightly filled.
In fact, he actually hoped these children would be a little stronger, so that he would have a reason to vent the fear from Jackal on them.
But, just then, another voice interrupted his interest.
"I say, bullying children is not something to be proud of, is it?"
"Or, can you only show your dog-like dignity by pointing your knife at the weaker?"
After hearing this sentence, the man with the gold-rimmed glasses' eyes instantly became bloodshot, and he stared fiercely at the source of the voice.
It was the life support pod holding 'Ghost'.
The white-haired girl smiled at him, her expression gentle, but he could only feel the undisguised mockery and contempt in her eyes.
He felt the anger in his heart constantly rising.
The truth is a sharp knife that can pierce all falsehood.
His anger was because he knew she wasn't lying.
"Shut up, you lowly rat."
The girl smiled.
"If my words hurt you, then I apologize."
"After all, to highlight your worthlessness, comparing you to a stray dog is a bit of a disservice to dogs."
"After all, a dog at least has loyalty, and in your eyes, I only see hatred and fear. You have no loyalty to Jackal at all."
He was angry. He was completely angry.
"Damn rat, bug, single-celled organism, don't you understand your situation!"
The man with the gold-rimmed glasses rushed to 'Ghost's' side like a mad dog, the fire in his eyes about to erupt.
"Little rat, you will pay the price for your words, I swear! I swear!!!"
But at the man with the gold-rimmed glasses' shrill appearance, 'Ghost' showed no fear, and even wanted to laugh a little.
"I am indeed Jackal's little lab rat right now."
"But I remember when I just came in, Jackal seemed to have given me a special research value."
Hearing 'Ghost's' words, a chill suddenly rose in his heart.
A special-grade test subject, which meant that Jackal attached great importance to it.
And for a test subject of this level, if there was even the slightest mistake, Jackal would cut him into pieces with a scalpel.
"Looking at your reaction, I seem to be really important!"
'Ghost' looked at him with a smile.
"So, do you dare to do it? To teach me, a rat in your mouth, a lesson?"
Rage, hatred, distortion... all kinds of expressions gathered on his face, finally turning into a deep fear of Jackal.
A sense of powerlessness washed over him. He couldn't even do anything to retaliate.
Then, 'Ghost' slowly said a sentence that completely shattered his self-esteem.
"So you haven't realized?"
"In Jackal's eyes, your value is not even as good as a rat's."
"You're really... a waste that's not even as good as a rat!"
After several rounds of this, his sanity had already reached the limit of breaking down.
At this moment, his psychological defense was pierced, and the last string that bound his sanity in his mind completely broke.
The anger of the man with the gold-rimmed glasses finally temporarily suppressed his fear of Jackal.
"Damn bitch, bastard, I'm going to kill you!"
He rushed to the life support pod, his expression crazy.
"I'm going to let you taste the power of the annihilation mode!!!"
But he didn't notice that after seeing his mad dog-like appearance, 'Ghost' smiled.
"I've done so much, and Jackal still hasn't interfered."
"She really doesn't care about me at all!"
Then, she followed a strange connection and said softly, "Kiana, do it!"
And after her voice fell, a rift opened from her body.
Then, a heavy iron box slammed into the man with the gold-rimmed glasses, sending him flying.
He trembled on the ground for a few times, then his breath stopped with a pair of red eyes.
And the moment the man with the gold-rimmed glasses flew out, the guards had not yet reacted.
A white-haired figure drilled out from her chest and passed through the guards in an instant, like a butterfly flying among flowers.
It was Kiana.
Silently, these guards who were only slightly stronger than ordinary people were all knocked down.
After doing all this, Kiana turned her head and nodded at 'Ghost'.
"Easier than I thought."
"Kiana, please neutralize the Honkai energy inhibitor first."
Kiana came to the life support pod, and after fumbling with it for a while, a cerulean liquid was injected, and the suppressed Honkai energy returned.
Then, the pod opened.
As the white mist dispersed, Ghost's figure disappeared, and in her place was Luo Li.
Yes, Luo Li and Ghost had swapped identities before the operation began.
Let Ghost, who had the power of transformation, face Jackal's spatial power suppression, while Luo Li turned into Ghost to avoid the spatial suppression.
And obviously, in Jackal's mind, Ghost, who only had the ability to transform, was not worth wasting a spatial anchor on.
Using the information gap that Jackal didn't know Luo Li also had the ability to transform, Luo Li successfully dodged her spatial suppression.
And they had also thought that Jackal would suppress both of their Honkai energy after catching them.
Although Luo Li couldn't drive his spatial ability after his Honkai energy was suppressed, Kiana was not affected.
After all, in this operation, Luo Li's positioning was to be a coordinate to guide Kiana.
As long as he could get in, then with the spatial connection between the two, Kiana could open a spatial door on him and then send the Collapse Bomb in.
In this way, they wouldn't have to break through World Serpent's large number of troops on the periphery of Shicksal Pharmaceuticals, and could directly detonate from the inside.
Of course, all this was based on the premise that Jackal didn't deploy a large number of troops around 'Ghost' to catch them in a jar.
This was also the reason why Luo Li had just provoked the man with the gold-rimmed glasses.
He doubted Jackal's ability, but he wouldn't doubt a mad scientist's focus on an important test subject.
Obviously, Jackal was very interested in Ghost's ability, so she naturally wouldn't allow her to die before she was on her operating table.
If Jackal had made arrangements in advance, then she would never have watched her subordinate go crazy.
And when Luo Li confirmed that Jackal really hadn't made any extra arrangements, then everything became simple.
"What about these people?" Kiana pointed at the guards lying on the ground and asked Luo Li, "Should we kill them?"
After saying these words, Kiana herself was a little surprised.
When... did she become so extreme?
But for these organizations that were keen on human experimentation and trampled on life, she was indeed full of malice.
"We can't scare the children."
The change of events had completely exceeded the children's imagination. They were still waiting for their fate to arrive.
"Killing them directly is too bloody. It's not good to leave a psychological shadow on the children."
"But leaving them will bring danger to these children."
"Give me a hand."
As he spoke, Luo Li pulled Kiana and piled these guards and the man with the gold-rimmed glasses together.
"What do you want to do?" Kiana was a little curious.
Luo Li smiled without saying a word and snapped his fingers lightly.
Snap!
A spatial rift appeared out of nowhere and swallowed these people.
"It's done."
"Where did you send them?"
Luo Li stomped his foot lightly on the ground.
"A place they'll never be able to return from."
Kiana was a little surprised. She didn't expect Luo Li to be able to kill so many people without hesitation.
Luo Li naturally knew what Kiana was thinking.
He put his hands on Kiana's shoulders and pushed her towards the life support pod he had just been lying in.
"I'm not some kind of saint. Leaving these trash alive is irresponsible to these children."
"Alright, lie down, Miss Kiana."
Kiana didn't resist and lay down as Luo Li instructed, but she was a little curious.
"What is this for?"
Luo Li smiled, and a white mist once again rose from his body, soon enveloping him.
When the mist dissipated, in his place was a man with gold-rimmed glasses, the very same level-2 research assistant from the laboratory, Luo Xin.
Luo Li picked up the other party's work badge from the ground.
He looked at the metal box lying quietly on the ground and said to Kiana, "Of course, I'm going to send some warmth to Miss Jackal."
Then, he made a shushing gesture to the surrounding children.
"Be good, take a nap, and you can go home."
---||---
Meanwhile, in Jackal's laboratory.
'Luo Li', or rather, Ghost, looked at the fanatical Jackal before her and couldn't help but shiver.
The woman's eyes were fanatical, her breathing was rapid, and her face was flushed with an unnatural color.
"Be good, little cutie, let me see your Herrscher core!"
Looking at the cold gleam of the scalpel in her hand, Ghost twisted her body frantically.
"Don't think about escaping. I've placed a spatial anchor here. Your spatial ability is useless."
But unfortunately, her power was sealed, her limbs were fixed, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't stop Jackal from approaching.
Finally, a look like crying appeared on her face.
"Phew, can we make peace?"
But Jackal didn't say a word, just grinned狞, the knife in her hand aimed straight at her chest.
Luo Li, Kiana, how much longer are you going to be!
If you don't come soon, you'll have to collect my body.
Save me!!!