Cocolia failed to extract an answer from Raiden Ryoma.
The man even persisted in the belief that she had Photoshopped a picture to insult his intelligence... it appeared the Raiden Family truly had no such person.
However, without a doubt, this individual had appeared.
Furthermore, Bronya had gone to her side... Cocolia had reason to suspect her true identity.
She sat back in her office chair and gently rubbed her temples.
Bad news arrived one after another.
For some reason, Gray Serpent insisted on coming to Nagazora City; perhaps that so-called Sovereign truly was incredibly important to the Serpent.
The Mobile Cities hidden outside the city had detected a small Schicksal vessel secretly infiltrating Nagazora City, with a suspected high-ranking Valkyrie entering the city.
Her act of sending Raiden Ryoma back to the North American Headquarters had not put Dr. Einstein at ease. While nominally leaving all matters of Nagazora City and ME Corp to her, Einstein had secretly dispatched Siegfried. It seemed they had also become suspicious of her (in reality, Siegfried was there to see Kiana, but Cocolia didn't know that).
The plan to activate the Gem of Conquest could not be delayed any longer... for some reason, it was as if the whole world had simultaneously focused its attention on this city. Combined with the burst of unknown energy a few days ago, the variables were increasing.
"Is the Honkai Reactor at ME Corp ready?" She looked at a subordinate nearby.
"The excess Honkai Crystal required for the plan hasn't been fully collected yet," the subordinate's answer made her frown. "One-fifth is still in transit."
"Too slow, speed it up!" Cocolia ordered.
"Yes, Lady Cocolia!"
The Honkai Reactor of ME Corp was, after all, an Anti-Entropy product; at least the necessary safety equipment was complete. To prevent accidents where Honkai Energy leaks caused a disaster, these were essential.
But the current Cocolia didn't need these safety devices. On the contrary, she felt the yield wasn't high enough. She had long since stuffed the ME Corp Honkai Reactor with Honkai Crystal. In her plan, she would disguise this scheme as an accidental leak.
The insidious Raiden Ryoma had not only embezzled nearly ten billion dollars from Anti-Entropy but had also secretly arranged an excessive amount of Honkai Crystal at the ME Corp headquarters without any warning. By the time she, Cocolia, noticed, it would be too late.
The Honkai Reactor would be eroded by the excessive Honkai Crystal and eventually leak, causing the Great Honkai to descend. This would indirectly force Raiden Ryoma's daughter to become the Third律者. There was a trail to follow: those nearly ten billion dollars were all spent by Raiden Ryoma on his daughter in a vain attempt to replicate the Sovereign's miracle and create an Artificial Herrscher.
In the end, he messed up, and finally, it would be she, Cocolia, acting as the Savior, who would contain the Third律者, thwart the Great Honkai, and turn the tide!
This was her original plan: pin all the blame on the Raiden Ryoma family while simultaneously striking at the prestige of the Sovereign's faction, since Raiden Ryoma was one of their people.
The idea was beautiful, but reality...
Without Xia Yu's intervention, how could Cocolia have fought the Herrscher of Thunder in the original plot? By relying on her Titan Legion and Mobile Cities?
She likely would have been taken down in a single encounter... If the Titan Legion and Mobile Cities were effective against a Herrscher, Welt wouldn't have struggled so much against Sirin.
If Kiana hadn't turned the tide, Cocolia would have completely failed, and the fruits of the final plan would never have reached her hands; they would have been snatched up by the completely unaware St. Freya Academy.
It would have been a case of losing the bait and the fish.
Perhaps she felt that an Artificial Herrscher was simply not as powerful as a natural one? That Raiden Mei only possessed one of the six gems of the former Second Herrscher? That she was only at one-sixth strength?
But even a one-sixth Sirin... was not someone she could touch.
Perhaps World Serpent had promised her some kind of trump card?
In any case, only Cocolia knew.
Regardless, she currently looked full of confidence.
On the other side, Bronya looked at the two girls sitting obediently in the Raiden Family villa and could hardly hold it together.
"Mafia?" She looked at Kiana, then at Mei. "Yamaguchi-gumi?"
No, since when did Schicksal and Anti-Entropy become so low-class?
Bronya had countless complaints to voice, but her damaged emotional circuits limited her performance. In the end, she could only look at Xia Yu with a flat face.
Sister, how exactly did you teach them common sense?
"Actually, I feel there isn't much difference," Xia Yu said calmly, wearing Acheron's face that was the definition of invincible.
Indeed, in the eyes of an existence like Acheron, who was a powerhouse even among Emanators, Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and the Mafia really weren't that different.
"There's a huge difference, okay..." Bronya was simply speechless.
Seeing the two of them like this, the two young girls opposite them also knew that their perception probably had some issues.
"It's not the Mafia?" Mei quietly tilted her head to look at Kiana.
"Maybe... probably... perhaps..." Kiana scratched her cheek sheepishly. "My understanding was flawed..."
"Are you a Paramecium?" Bronya complained bluntly. "Schicksal and Anti-Entropy... you can understand them as the Mafia?"
"Hey, you little brat, why are you being so mean!" Kiana bared her fangs and claws, wanting to pinch Bronya's cheeks. "I just mis—mm!"
Unfortunately, halfway through her pounce, the Project Bunny behind Bronya instantly appeared and pinned her to the sofa.
"What is this?!" Raiden Mei was stunned. Look at that overbearing appearance, those smooth lines, and it can hover in thin air?
When did technology on Earth become so high-end?
"Mmmph, mmmph!" Kiana, pinned to the sofa, struggled continuously.
Seeing this, Bronya released her and turned to Raiden Mei. "This is Bronya's Project Bunny. It is my important partner!"
"So it's not the Mafia, but a Mystery organization active on the underside of the world?" Raiden Mei's eyes instantly lit up. "Like the Men in Black? With advanced technology? Secretly maintaining world peace?"
"...Yeah, pretty much," Bronya thought about it carefully; there wasn't much wrong with that description.
"So my father is..."
"An Executive of Anti-Entropy, a high-ranking member of the organization," Bronya explained patiently.
"So it turns out you're all from that Anti-Entropy thing," Kiana couldn't help herself. "Is this Young Lady the only outsider?"
"This monstrous strength, and the appearance..." Bronya examined her closely. "Is your surname Kaslana?"
"This Young Lady does not change her name or surname; I am Kiana Kaslana!" Kiana looked curiously at the Project Bunny behind her, rubbing her hands together, eager to try it out.
"Bronya does not understand," the latter looked toward Xia Yu. "Miss Acheron, why would you accept someone from the Kaslana Family? If Schicksal finds out about the matters in Nagazora City..."
"Because she is very useful," Xia Yu reached out and rubbed Kiana's head. "In the upcoming actions, she will be more useful than you imagine."
"Hey, why does that sound like a bad thing, Sister Acheron?" Kiana shook her head to escape Xia Yu's hand, dissatisfied. "What do you mean by 'very useful'!"
"It's better than her saying you're a useless Paramecium," Xia Yu shrugged.
"That seems to make sense, but something still feels off," Kiana fell into deep thought.
Sure enough, Kiana's intelligence... once she has reliable partners around her, it drops rapidly.
For instance, she still hadn't realized that her so-called background had been exposed long ago.
"But is it really okay for us to skip class like this?" Raiden Mei suddenly sighed, speaking with mixed feelings. "I've never skipped school in my life..."
"Hah, what's wrong with that?" Kiana waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, the school probably doesn't welcome the two of us right now. Why go back and look for trouble?"
"Stupid Kiana!" Bronya glanced at her. "Mei-senpai, her meaning isn't that she wants to go back to class."
Rather, she wanted to go back and act like a hidden Dragon Lord.
After all, Mei... was still quite chunibyo at this time.
"Aaaaah! You little brat, I've tolerated you for a long time!" Hearing her be called stupid, Kiana immediately forgot her previous encounter and pounced again with bared claws.
Then she was once again subdued by a single hand from Project Bunny!
"I am fourteen years old this year! I'm not much younger than you!"
"You? Fourteen?" Kiana stubbornly poked her head out from under Project Bunny's hand, looking at the roughly 1.4-meter-tall Bronya with eyes full of doubt.
"I don't believe it!"
"Bronya doesn't care if you believe it or not!" Bronya said with a flat face.
"Alright, alright. Bronya, let Kiana go," Xia Yu mediated. "Don't worry, you will definitely grow up in the future."
She reached out and stroked Bronya's hair. "Yes, you will definitely grow into a very striking beauty. Don't worry."
"Bronya doesn't care about that," the latter reluctantly released Kiana.
"As for today's arrangements, they are actually quite simple," Xia Yu looked at the three youngsters and pulled out a stack of gold. "Find a place to eat and drink, and have a good relax. You don't need to go to School. Mei, I haven't told you yet, have I?"
"Just last night, Bronya and I already looked for those people who bullied you. Since I'm your guardian, I can't bully the small, so I didn't act against your classmates."
"I just had Bronya break the limbs of their parents."
"So forget about School," she patted Mei's shoulder. "You've worked hard these days. Go and relax with Kiana and the others."
"Aunt..." Tears filled Mei's eyes as she hugged Xia Yu.
"Yes, I'll listen to you. I won't go to School."
"So, K423's itinerary for today..."
Having hurriedly descended from the transport plane, our great S-Rank Valkyrie, Ms. Rita, began her work.
"The aquarium, the park, then the famous Shenzhou Restaurant, followed by the amusement park..." Rita's expression became increasingly confused. "But isn't she supposed to be a wanderer?"
"According to intelligence, she has hooked up with the local financial group, the Raiden Family," the Schicksal intelligence officer replied respectfully. "During today's itinerary, two members of the Raiden Family have been accompanying her."
"But this Raiden Family..." Rita frowned and pulled out another report. "They are Anti-Entropy people? Recently, the head of the family, Raiden Ryoma, was found guilty of embezzlement? He's already in prison?!"
"Doesn't this look like a family in decline? Yet they are in the mood to go out and play? Wait, why is there no data on this person?"
"She indeed has no public information; we aren't even clear on her name," the intelligence officer said solemnly. "We suspect she is a hidden hand of the Raiden Family."
"It's obvious. Raiden Ryoma lost power in the political struggles of Anti-Entropy, and even the ME Corp under his command was taken over by the Siberia Enforcer of Anti-Entropy, Cocolia. So she had to appear to stabilize the situation."
"Raiden Ryoma, Cocolia... Anti-Entropy," Rita sighed and complained. "If I recall correctly, isn't the Far East our Schicksal territory? Senior Theresa's St. Freya Academy is in the Far East. Why is Anti-Entropy's influence so complex here?"
"This..." The intelligence officer gave an awkward yet polite smile. "Academy Principal Theresa has always ignored such matters."
And as the biological granddaughter of the Overseer, who would dare snitch on her?
"And this intelligence... wait, the Honkai Energy concentration at ME Corp has actually risen abnormally?" Rita flipped through another report. "Anti-Entropy is clearly up to something. Why wasn't this reported to headquarters?"
This is, after all, a city with millions of people. We can't watch Anti-Entropy act recklessly! It was hard enough to catch Anti-Entropy's tail; we have to pull it hard and expose it for criticism!
"Miss Rita, we have already reported it," the intelligence officer's expression was also strange. "But... the response we received was to leave it alone."
"Hmm?" Rita frowned. "To whom did you report it?"
"This was an order issued personally by the Overseer," the intelligence officer sighed, indicating they had no choice.
Rita was stunned.
The Overseer?
She didn't feel at ease; on the contrary, she became even more apprehensive. One must know that under normal circumstances, such matters didn't warrant a personal reply from the Overseer.
So... no wonder she was sent here. It seems Nagazora City truly has significant problems.
"Where do you plan to start your investigation?" the intelligence officer asked. "We will be careful to look out for corresponding intelligence for you."
"The breakthrough point for the matters in Nagazora City is simple," Rita tapped the intelligence in her hand confidently. "The Raiden Family. Considering Raiden Mei is not yet an adult, the answer is already clear."
"I will first contact that mysterious person from the Raiden Family to see if I can get some inside information."
As an S-Rank Valkyrie, she was very confident in her methods.