Meanwhile, deep beneath the Newborn World Serpent Headquarters…
BOOM!
The doors to the Helix Workshop were blasted open from the outside.
MEI and Aponia were the first to enter, followed immediately by a swarm of Girl Dolls.
Within seconds, the six…
No.
Seven Vill-Vs were completely surrounded.
Yet under MEI and Aponia's wary gazes, none of them showed the slightest intention of resisting. Instead, they calmly raised their hands in surrender, looking for all the world as though they were performing a French military salute.
Faced with such an attitude…
"Vill-V."
MEI's expression was grim.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
Her voice was low and heavy.
Far away in South America, a certain "Big Pardo" had just asked almost the exact same question.
There was good reason for it.
MEI had explicitly assigned Vill-V to monitor fluctuations in global Honkai Energy. And because she had never completely trusted Vill-V to begin with, Prometheus Prime had also been tasked with independently monitoring the same data.
Yet not only had Vill-V failed to report the Herrscher of Thunder's movements…
She had actively interfered with Prometheus Prime's surveillance.
In other words, she had been helping the enemy conceal their activities.
Then…
"Aha… whatever could you mean?"
One of the Vill-Vs smiled faintly.
Judging by her tone, this was the Great Magician.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand."
The sarcasm in her voice was unmistakable.
MEI's gaze turned cold.
"I don't know why you chose to betray us."
"But it seems talking is no longer an efficient way to resolve this."
The rotating mechanism on the chest of the Key of Blankness shifted.
MEI switched Authorities.
The Herrscher of Death's power came online.
She raised one hand toward the seven Vill-Vs.
"Do not resist."
"Otherwise…"
"I will kill you, Vill-V."
There was no hesitation in her voice.
Six of the seven Vill-Vs remained completely indifferent.
A moment later, the specialized earrings fitted over their left ears, devices specifically designed to prevent their brainwaves from leaking outward, were pulled free by an invisible force.
MEI had developed that ability after stepping onto the Path of Erudition.
Then she turned toward the nun beside her.
"Aponia."
"I'll leave the rest to you."
"Understood."
Aponia nodded.
MEI's intention was obvious.
If Vill-V refused to explain herself, then Aponia, the strongest psychic MANTIS among them, would simply read the answer directly from her mind.
They needed to uncover the traitor's plan as quickly as possible.
A few moments later…
"Hm?"
Aponia's brow twitched.
MEI immediately noticed.
"What is it?"
Aponia remained silent for a moment, apparently searching for the right words.
Then she looked at MEI.
"I can't see the most important memories."
Her expression became complicated.
"It's as though they were completely deleted."
Hearing that…
"Alright, alright, stop guessing already!"
Six voices answered at once.
Only the quietest Vill-V, the Id, remained silent.
The other six smiled.
"Did you really think I'd leave behind such an obvious weakness?" ×6
The Conductor raised her chin.
"The memories you're searching for have already been excised."
The Expert smiled faintly.
"My Sim gave me a rather wonderful idea."
"Aha…"
The Great Magician leaned back slightly, looking unbearably pleased with herself.
"By sacrificing one of my own personas, I managed to slip past the restrictions imposed by the Discipline."
The Occultist shrugged.
"Rather like a gecko abandoning its tail."
"Though personally, I've never cared much for geckos."
The Chef spoke next, perfectly calm.
"Even we no longer remember why we did any of this."
"Nor do we know exactly what arrangements come afterward."
"But that hardly matters."
The Lecturer smiled with complete confidence.
"We always leave behind contingencies."
"Contingencies that only we ourselves would know how to interpret."
Then, excluding the silent Id, all six Vill-Vs spoke together once more.
"So you won't get anything useful out of me." ×6
"Oh, MEI, with that insufferable need of yours to control everything…" ×6
Their smiles became strangely ambiguous.
"Are you satisfied with my little 'surprise'?" ×6
"…"
MEI's hands clenched into fists.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she drew in a slow breath and forced herself to calm down.
"Take them away."
"Separate cells."
The Girl Dolls moved immediately.
MEI turned and walked out of the Helix Workshop without another word.
Now was not the time to deal with Vill-V.
Just as those personalities had said, Vill-V always left behind contingencies that only she herself could understand.
And more importantly…
The Herrscher of Thunder had already been active for far too long.
Their forces needed to redeploy immediately.
Every additional minute of delay meant more damage.
They had to contain the situation and make up for lost time as quickly as possible.
"Sigh…"
MEI let out a weary breath and opened a communication channel to Kevin.
Behind her, the Girl Dolls began escorting the seven Vill-Vs away one by one, each destined for a separate containment cell somewhere within the base.
During all of this…
"…"
Aponia remained silent.
She watched the Vill-Vs disappear down the corridor, her expression unusually strange.
Because the truth was…
She had seen something.
Vill-V had not actually relied on "cutting away" part of her consciousness to hide every trace of her intentions.
There was a plan.
And the memories containing that plan had most likely been left there deliberately.
For her.
Or perhaps for any other psychic MANTIS capable of reading minds who might have come in her place.
Aponia had seen enough to understand one thing.
What Vill-V was doing had a purpose.
A meaningful one.
Unfortunately, for that plan to work as intended…
Too many people could not be allowed to know what it was.
And after learning its contents, Aponia herself did not approve.
Not at all.
Yet this situation was painfully familiar.
Just like the previous clash between MEI and Dr. Einstein, Vill-V had already set everything in motion without waiting for anyone else's agreement.
The plan had progressed too far.
The price had already been paid.
And now…
Aponia had no choice but to cooperate.
To help carry out that "unspeakable plan."
Because if she, or whichever mind-reading MANTIS happened to discover the truth today, chose not to cooperate…
There would be no undoing what Vill-V had already sacrificed to make this possible.
To put it bluntly…
Vill-V had forced the deal through before anyone else could refuse it.
"I know you're wrong."
Aponia walked slowly away from the now-empty Helix Workshop.
"And you know it too, Vill-V."
"But now that we've come this far…"
"We can only continue being wrong."
Her expression remained calm, but her thoughts were anything but.
I can only hope that this "mistake," when the decisive moment finally arrives…
Will truly prove useful.
Just as you intended.