"Well? Did you find anything?"
Back in the familiar hospital room, now knowing that Gina's problem was rooted in her soul, Luca had decisively recalled Si Bei, who had been busy consolidating Hydra.
Recently, Hydra had been effectively headless.
Even though the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. were currently focused on stabilizing the civil unrest within the United States, plenty of Hydra operatives that Si Bei had cut loose were exposed and subsequently crushed by the Avengers in passing.
However, compared to preserving Hydra assets, Luca's own safety was obviously the priority.
If Mephisto really had him in his sights, having more Hydra goons around would just be feeding the demon more snacks.
Unfortunately, it seemed even Si Bei was somewhat helpless regarding Gina's current condition.
"Sir, the essence of the Impure World Reincarnation (Edo Tensei) relies on the link between the physical body and the soul to communicate with the Pure Land, and then seal the retrieved soul into a sacrificial vessel."
"But in this world, I don't seem to be able to connect to the Pure Land through ninjutsu, let alone pull a soul back through the connection of flesh and blood."
"Furthermore, Lady Gina's original soul is still present within her body. Even if I were to try and pull..."
Si Bei paused here, seemingly struggling with how to explain it to Luca.
"I get it. You can't use Impure World Reincarnation on a living person, right?"
Luca wasn't too disappointed by Si Bei's answer. Instead, he approached it from a different angle.
"So, can you confirm that the soul inside Gina's body is indeed her own original soul?"
This was the main reason Luca had hurriedly summoned Si Bei back.
Although the people from the Naruto world were called ninjas, they weren't much different from mages, except they used chakra for combat.
This was especially true for Orochimaru, the ninja world's premier scientist. Aside from his research into ninjutsu and biological sciences, he had attained incredible proficiency in the study of ethereal concepts like the soul.
As Orochimaru's creation and lab assistant, Luca hoped Si Bei could provide a different perspective than Wong.
Originally, Luca had planned to have Si Bei try to channel "Gina's soul" using the Impure World Reincarnation just to verify if the infant-like soul currently inside her actually belonged to her.
Now it seemed that while the direct method wouldn't work, Si Bei had another way of looking at it.
Hearing Luca's question, Si Bei nodded decisively.
"Yes, I can confirm it."
"Actually, Lady Gina's current situation is very similar to Lord Orochimaru's soul after undergoing multiple transfer rituals. However, Lord Orochimaru's soul was partially worn down due to the friction of multiple transfers. Lady Gina... it's more like a portion of her soul was deliberately extracted from the original foundation."
Luca frowned slightly.
"Her soul is damaged?"
This contradicted Wong's diagnosis.
"Not damaged."
Seeing that Luca didn't quite catch his drift, Si Bei chose his words carefully before explaining in detail.
According to him, soul damage would be like when Orochimaru's arms had their souls severed by the Reaper, rendering the hands completely useless.
"Wear and tear," on the other hand, was more like a comprehensive deficiency. For example, Orochimaru, after using the Living Corpse Reincarnation multiple times, didn't suffer from functional loss or amnesia. Instead, his spiritual power weakened, his resistance to genjutsu (illusions) dropped, and his humanity became colder.
Gina's current state was somewhat similar to that. Every aspect of her soul was structurally complete, yet it lacked desire.
"It's as if someone tried their best to keep her soul intact while surgically removing the 'evil' part of human nature... It's somewhat similar to an artificial..."
Si Bei wanted to say "artificial human soul" or "mechanical soul," but felt those weren't quite accurate.
However, hearing this, Luca instantly recalled how Wong had described Gina: a soul so pure it was like a blank sheet of paper.
"An Artificial Holy Spirit?!"
For some reason, that thought flashed through Luca's mind instantly.
He quickly suppressed the conjecture, as there was no theoretical basis for it yet.
However, the situation was getting more confusing by the minute. Since he couldn't find any more clues from Gina, Luca had to temporarily shelve the investigation.
I guess I'll have to wait and see if Wong finds any new leads, or wait for that old geezer Ancient One to get back to Earth.
"Si Bei, send a clone to handle things at Hydra. For the time being, you stay here at the tower and protect Gina around the clock."
"Understood!"
Si Bei bowed respectfully, made a hand seal, and vanished into the shadows.
Luca shook his head helplessly.
He didn't have a choice. Si Bei was the only subordinate he had who qualified as being on the "mystic side."
It seemed Mephisto's target wasn't Luca himself. By keeping Si Bei near Gina, they might notice something later.
Of course, Luca—now on high alert—had no intention of just sitting around waiting to die.
His gaze swept over the mechanical arm on his right side.
Looks like I can't keep this thing anymore.
Luca, who had been swamped with work, had originally planned to build a replacement arm modeled after the [Overture] before blowing this one up.
He wanted to avoid a situation where he destroyed his current arm to enter the instance, only to find materials scarce in the new world, leaving him "handed-capped."
But now, entering the Devil May Cry world seemed urgent.
Even though he hadn't played the game in his past life, everything—from hearsay to the System interface description—pointed to one thing: the story of that world was all about fighting demons.
Yeah, judging by the style of the mechanical arm, it's likely a world where technology fights demons. If that's the case, I might be able to bring back a lot of useful knowledge.
Sigh, I just hope it's a world with a high power ceiling and a systematic approach to tech.
Since his last experience confirmed that he traveled to "dream-like" worlds, Luca wasn't too worried about physical danger or dying permanently.
His only fear was that the world's power level would be too low to learn anything useful.
After all, Mephisto was no ordinary demon.
Composing himself, Luca walked slowly toward the laboratory.
Even though he planned to "explode" the arm to clear the Devil May Cry 5/5 requirements, he still needed to rig up a temporary mechanical arm to use in the meantime.
Perfect. Three-Haro's severed mechanical arm is still here. If I swap the casing and make some minor adjustments, I should be able to make do with it for a couple of days.
Thinking this, Luca arrived at the lab door and reached out to push it open.
But right at that moment.
He suddenly felt a searing heat at his waist.
He looked down. The amulets Wong had stuffed into his hands were all glowing simultaneously.
"F!"