Giza, Africa.
The underground laboratory World Serpent had built here was, on the surface, covered by an international company founded by Jackal.
Just like Heliopolis Life Sciences in Arc City.
Only that one's reputation in Shenzhou had already gone rotten.
And today...
"You lot really are something. Making a few hundred a month and still risking your lives like this?"
From the first shot until now, only a little over ten minutes had passed.
More than a hundred Billy Puppets of Domination had already taken complete control of the place.
Naturally, not a single survivor had been left behind.
There was no doubt that Ling Ke had sent the Puppets of Domination here not to seize important data, nor to strike at World Serpent's foundations.
He simply wanted to draw certain people out.
So after the assault was over, the hundred-odd Billy Puppets just stayed where they were and rested on the spot.
A few of them had even gathered together to play cards.
All while corpses lay scattered around them.
In the middle of that hellish scene, they laughed and joked as if they did not have a care in the world.
When Raiden Mei and Raven arrived, this was what they saw.
Those humanoid figures in red leather, suspiciously like mechanical lifeforms, had turned Jackal's company into their own carnival ground, like a gang occupying someone else's turf for fun.
The smell of blood hung heavy in the air.
When the two of them came closer...
"Oh. The real target's here."
One of the Puppets of Domination stood up and walked toward them.
The other Billy Puppets nearby turned their heads as well.
In an instant, more than a hundred mechanical heads tilted in perfect sync.
That eerie sight...
"..."
Raven took a step back before she could stop herself.
She was already close to pulling out the Seven Thunders of Retribution.
At that moment...
"You..."
Raiden Mei looked at the approaching mechanical lifeform. According to the information they had, this was one of the transformed bodies of the Herrscher of Domination.
Back in the Previous Era, the Herrschers of Domination had been able to communicate with each other over long distances through a kind of "quantum entanglement," and nothing could block it.
In other words, whatever she said here, Ling Ke would hear it as well.
And yet...
"Long time no see, Mei."
"There's something very important I want to talk to you about. Alone."
For a moment, Raiden Mei felt as if she had gone back to that evening a few years ago.
At the time, her father had not yet gone to prison for financial crimes. She was still the young lady of ME Corp, always surrounded by people trying to flatter her.
Because she had once been kidnapped when she was younger, her family always arranged a car to take her to and from school.
Then one day, after the driver her father had assigned dropped her off at home, a strange black-haired young man suddenly came to her door.
He did not make any improper move.
Even when she, thinking her father had come home, opened the door excitedly and without any guard up at all, he still did nothing out of line.
Instead, he kindly reminded her, smiling, that she should be more careful next time and not casually open the door for strangers.
It was dangerous.
After that...
he introduced himself and told her his name.
Then he explained some things about the Honkai and, more importantly, warned her that a woman named Cocolia was about to make a move against Raiden Ryoma, her father.
He hoped she would pass that information on to him.
Then he left by himself.
Maybe he could tell she was nervous and a little afraid.
He scratched his head and never even stepped inside.
Before leaving, he only said, "Be sure to stay safe."
But later...
"Why did he call me 'Mei' like that? Why did he speak as if we were close?"
After she closed the door, that question bothered her for a long time.
Little by little, the doubt in her heart turned into caution.
In the end, it led her to make what seemed like the normal choice.
In truth, it was a terrible mistake.
She called the police.
For the next few months, her father was busy as always. He did not come home, and she could not reach him.
That was nothing unusual.
Until...
everything he had told her became reality.
At the end of that memory was the face of a young man lit by the evening sun, wearing a bright, open smile.
"Don't look so troubled."
"I hope that the next time we meet, you'll be happier."
And now, back to the present...
"Bzz."
As one of the Billy Puppets approached, a spatial gate opened beside him.
Raven immediately took a fighting stance on reflex.
Raiden Mei's body also tensed.
But in the next moment...
"It's been a long time, Miss Raiden Mei."
On the other side of the spatial gate, a black-haired young man sat alone on a splendid throne with one leg crossed over the other, one hand propping up his cheek, looking at her with a smile.
Only now...
that smile was no longer bright.
That tone was no longer close.
When he addressed her, he used her full name and an honorific.
His eyes had no focus, and the smile on his face looked as if someone had simply dragged the skin of his face into shape.
He could no longer overlap with the "him" in her memory.
At that moment, even though she had grown steadier over this stretch of time, Raiden Mei still felt a chill run down her spine.
"I..."
She parted her lips slightly. "I'm sorry."
"..."
Maybe it was only her imagination.
But when he heard those words, the corner of the black-haired young man's mouth seemed to twitch for an instant on the other side of the gate.
As if he had almost failed to keep his expression in place.
After a while...
"A spoken apology is the least sincere thing in this world, Miss Raiden Mei."
"Of course, as I am now, I neither need nor care for your apology."
Ling Ke kept smiling.
Seeing him like this, Raiden Mei felt a mix of emotions well up in her chest.
But that feeling did not last long.
"Right now, in my eyes, you're nothing more than an experiment."
Ling Ke smiled as he spoke. "Yes, Miss Raiden Mei. Let's conduct an experiment."
"Not the kind that leaves your body endlessly broken, the way mine was."
"Just a simple experiment in social psychology."
As he said this, and without waiting for Raiden Mei to respond, he slowly rose to his feet and elegantly lifted both hands, like a human scale.
"Kiana Kaslana. Or if you prefer, K-423."
Raiden Mei's heart tightened.
And Ling Ke continued.
"You said it yourself once. Compared to this world, she matters more."
"Then…"
He looked at the other side, who had gone stiff with tension, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Relax. I'm not cruel enough to put 'the world' on the other side of the scale."
"As for what should weigh against her… hm. I've got it."
Ling Ke narrowed his eyes. "Your father. How about that?"
"!!!"
Raiden Mei's eyes went wide.
The smile on Ling Ke's face deepened at once.
"See? How fair."
"Each side carries the weight of one person."
"Make your choice, Miss Raiden Mei."
"Choose one of them, and the other… I'll hunt with everything I have. Day and night, without rest, without end."
Ling Ke pushed those empty hands of his forward a little, as though he were really holding a scale. "Who would you rather save?"
"Your father? Or the one you love most?"
Raiden Mei said nothing.
Seeing that…
"Hm? Why are you hesitating?"
Ling Ke deliberately put on a puzzled look. "Didn't you say Kiana mattered more to you than the whole world?"
"Then by that logic, your father is only one tiny part of this world. You should be able to decide at once…"
"That's enough!"
Raven, standing beside Raiden Mei, could not listen anymore.
She cut him off.
But just as she was about to say something…
"You…"
"What is it, Miss Raven?"
Ling Ke turned his head toward her and asked with a cold laugh, "Do you want to play this social psychology game with me too?"
"!!!"
That single sentence alone…
made Raven understand one thing very clearly.
He knew.
He knew where her weakness lay.
That double meaning in his words…
Why did he know the children existed?
At that instant, with her weak point completely in his hands, Raven did not dare say another word.
Right now, all she could think about was whether the children were safe.
As for Raiden Mei…
"I understand."
Standing before the spatial gate, she raised her right hand.
A purple tachi appeared in her palm.
Her expression calm, she brought it to her own throat.
Then she looked straight at Ling Ke.
"If I choose like this, will that do?"