"..."
"..."
Cocolia stared at Gray Serpent on the screen.
"Is it my imagination?" She frowned and said, "You seem a bit different from before."
"...It is not an imagination," Gray Serpent on the other side said with a look of gloom. "I am not the Gray Serpent who was previously coordinating with you."
This was something that couldn't be hidden, and he didn't intend to hide it.
"Then what about the previous one?" Cocolia had a faint inkling that Gray Serpent possessed many bodies; since they had established contact years ago, the Gray Serpent responsible for her side had changed before.
"Dead," at this point, a red light flashed in the eyes of the Gray Serpent on the screen. "Just yesterday, he died in Nagazora."
"Nagazora?" Cocolia narrowed her eyes upon hearing this. "Heh, he went there personally?"
"Any information regarding the Sea of Quanta is precious to the Snake," Gray Serpent said without changing his expression. "So this is quite normal."
"But not a single word was said to me, your ally?" Cocolia retorted.
"...I do not know why that is," the Gray Serpent opposite her was also very frustrated. The memories of the deceased Gray Serpent had been completely contaminated by an unknown, terrifying energy, making it impossible to extract the details of the previous transaction with Cocolia.
"Perhaps it is because he knew that you do not trust him," Gray Serpent could only say dryly.
Normally, he would have simply stated that you have no right to question what the Snake does, but the current state of World Serpent was truly dire. The events in Nagazora were of the utmost importance, so he could only find a way to stabilize Cocolia.
Before figuring out what had happened, Gray Serpent did not dare to step foot into that city again; Cocolia was their only stable source of intelligence.
"It seems you know as well," Cocolia sneered. "Then why did you contact my daughter in private?"
"The Snake would not do that," Gray Serpent was also helpless regarding this. "There is absolutely no benefit in it for us!"
He simply didn't understand why Cocolia was so certain that the Snake had contacted her daughter. World Serpent needed the data from a Great Eruption to perfect Project Stigma; why would they trip her up? They would rather she acted sooner.
"Then why does Bronya know about our plan?" Cocolia continued to question. "I am certain it did not leak from my side, so doesn't that leave only you?"
"Perhaps an unexpected force has entered Nagazora," hearing this, Gray Serpent could not argue. After all, Cocolia was telling the truth; only Cocolia and the Snake knew the full plan...
Thus, he could only shift the topic: "The Gray Serpent individual who died yesterday encountered a very terrifying virus that directly contaminated all of his memories. We have no way of knowing what he actually encountered."
"So you came to me?" Hearing this, Cocolia crossed her arms and mocked, "Asking me to wade through the muddy water for you, right?"
"No, it is getting what we both need," hearing this, Gray Serpent gave her a deep look and brought out his bargaining chip. "This is part of the data on Fusion Warriors."
"It cannot achieve your vision of saving everyone afflicted by Honkai Disease, but it can at least give your remaining daughters... a chance to escape their pain."
"..." Hearing this, Cocolia's hands instantly clenched, her fingertips turning white from the pressure.
Lilliya... Rozaliya...
Gray Serpent had indeed grasped her weakness. The remaining children... could no longer afford to wait.
"Not enough," Cocolia squeezed out a few words through her teeth. "Far from enough. I need you to send people to help me capture the Third Herrscher!"
"No. Until you identify the true nature of that threat, the Snake will not set foot in Nagazora!" Gray Serpent refused directly.
In truth, it was possible. It was simply a matter of wanting to manipulate Cocolia; after all, even if Gray Serpent couldn't go, World Serpent wasn't empty of people.
"Aren't you afraid that I was the one who did it?" Cocolia spoke coldly.
"No, that is the one thing I am certain of," Gray Serpent did not back down. "Anti-Entropy does not possess such means. Even if the First Herrscher acted, he could certainly destroy a Gray Serpent, but he would be unable to cause such severe contamination!"
"You are no different from him, your words are prettier than your actions," Cocolia said coldly. "You don't dare face this so-called contamination, so you're sending me instead?"
"We are all Gray Serpent; naturally, there is no difference," Gray Serpent said slowly. "As for your question, this is a transaction, Cocolia."
Then came the tedious bargaining. In the end, Cocolia obtained the Snake's assistance at the cost of assisting in the investigation.
"Raven," inside the World Serpent Base, Gray Serpent looked at the trembling Raven beside him and said, "This mission is assigned to you."
"Huh? Me?" Hearing this, Raven pointed at her own nose, her face full of confusion.
"Yes, you," Gray Serpent glanced at her and said, "But not to assist Cocolia. She can no longer wait; by the time you reach Nagazora, the Great Eruption will likely have already occurred."
"Your mission is to record everything that happens in Nagazora and retrieve the data and records from the local Hidden Agent. Your primary objective is the preservation of yourself and the data."
It couldn't be helped; that terrifying virus made World Serpent afraid to remotely receive data from the intelligence personnel in Nagazora. They could only send someone to retrieve it in the most primitive way and then take it far from Headquarters to conduct censorship and research while cut off from all networks.
The Gray Serpents were truly terrified. If the timing weren't wrong, they would have thought the Herrscher of Corruption had undergone Awakening.
But it might not necessarily be the work of the Herrscher of Corruption.
"Also, pay attention to whether there are traces of any other Herrschers in Nagazora besides the Awakening Third Herrscher."
In Gray Serpent's understanding, the only thing capable of this was likely the Power of Erosion. The Herrscher of Corruption of this era had not yet been born, but because the Divine Key from the previous era was not fully forged, the Herrscher inside still possessed consciousness.
And that unfinished Divine Key ultimately went missing in the land of the Far East, so the Gray Serpents all felt that someone had used the Key of Corruption to strike.
In reality, if they only read those memories, they would know it had nothing to do with the Herrscher of Corruption; it was just that everyone who read them died before they could transmit the intelligence back.
This resulted in them not daring to touch those memories at all, only able to investigate indirectly.
As for the Nagazora side, Cocolia watched as her Unmanned Titans finished setting everything up, her hand constantly rubbing a remote control.
"Bronya, you really..."
She sighed deeply, but in the end, she hardened her heart.
"Go. Invite Raiden Mei over. After preparing for so long, it is finally time to begin."
Following her command, a high-ranking executive of ME Corp walked out tremblingly.
He drove away from the Headquarters, turning a thirty-minute trip into over an hour.
But what was meant to come would eventually arrive.
The executive parked in front of the Raiden Family home. It took him over ten minutes of mental preparation before he stepped forward and rang the doorbell.
It couldn't be helped; those who betrayed the Raiden Family a few days ago had all been punished, and he found it difficult not to cherish his own limbs.
After Raiden Ryoma's incident, everyone thought the Raiden Family was completely finished. Everyone wanted to step on them, and he was one of them. He hadn't had his limbs broken only because his son was already in university and hadn't participated in the Bullying.
But he felt it was only a matter of time. The liquidation of the Raiden Family was not yet complete, and Great One Cocolia was clearly preparing to evacuate; all of her subordinates had boarded a ship back to Siberia this morning.
It was obvious that some deal had been struck with others at the North American Headquarters. Even Raiden Ryoma... might not have truly lost power. After all, Cocolia's subordinates were somewhat panicked when they left, which forced him to think more.
And for people like them... after losing their new backer, what they had to face was the wrath of the Raiden Family.
Takeo Murakami racked his brain but couldn't understand; the Raiden Family clearly only had two people, so where did this hidden force come from?
But it was too late for regrets now.
"You are... Uncle Murakami... no, Mr. Murakami," Raiden Mei quickly opened the door and saw the person in front of her. "May I ask what the matter is?"
Mei remembered very clearly; that day, it was this man she had begged in tears to let her see her father, only to be forcibly kicked out of the office.
Someone who was once so kind had changed his face after her father lost power. Not just him, but also Aunt Reiko, Uncle Ogiu... each and every one of them was so... disgusting.
The Raiden Family was not without loyalists, but they had all been investigated one by one as her father lost power, leaving only these fence-sitters.
Heh.
"Mei," Takeo Murakami forced a few smiles and said in a fawning manner, "Great One Cocolia... invites you to the ME Corp Headquarters tomorrow afternoon. Regarding your father's case... there are still some details that need to be understood."
"Is that so? I understand," Raiden Mei said coldly after hearing this and prepared to close the door.
"Wait, Mei, wait!" Seeing this, Takeo Murakami hurriedly called out to her, rubbing his hands anxiously. "Mei, about that day..."
"Mr. Murakami, please address me by my surname," Mei said coldly. "The Raiden Family is not that familiar with you."
"Well, Mei... no, Miss Raiden," Takeo Murakami bowed fawningly and said, "That day was all a misunderstanding. I... I actually had no choice..."
"Whether it was a misunderstanding, it will naturally be investigated once Father returns," Mei said indifferently. "I am just a high school student; I don't have the ability to judge these things."
"What? Wait for him to return? Raiden Ryoma really..." Hearing this, Takeo Murakami cried out, and then his face went completely stiff.
"That is all. Tell Cocolia that I will attend the appointment tomorrow," Mei slammed the door shut upon saying this.
How could this be? Raiden Ryoma can actually still come back!
Takeo Murakami's expression was extremely ugly.
Inside the house, Raiden Mei looked at the several pairs of eyes in the living room.
"Maternal Aunt, I want to go."
"Then go," Xia Yu nodded upon hearing this and then said, "Oh, right, tell her to talk to you on the Rooftop."