"Cocolia-sama..."
Cocolia's subordinates looked at her grim face, then at the corpse of Commander Andrei beside her, hesitating to speak.
"Remnants of Raiden Ryoma's faction broke in just now and launched a sneak attack on me," she said expressionlessly. "Andrei... he died in the line of duty to protect me."
Hearing this, the subordinates showed no intention of looking deeper into the matter, all keeping their heads bowed.
But Cocolia knew they were already suspicious in their hearts.
After all, some things simply didn't add up, such as the gunshot wounds on Andrei... no matter how one looked at it, they were...
"Take him back and give him a proper burial," Cocolia said with downcast eyes. "Everyone has worked hard these past few days. I'm giving you all a vacation; go back to Siberia and rest for a while."
"The matters here... are about to wrap up. Once I'm done with the Titan Legion, I'll head to the North American Headquarters. Their programming still has some minor issues, and I need to find Dr. Tesla to resolve them."
It must be said that Cocolia's prestige remained; her subordinates did not dare to disobey her orders and began to evacuate hastily.
Continuing like this would certainly leave hidden risks, but Cocolia could no longer worry about so much. She knew that the people in North America would definitely try to plant spies within her ranks. If she dealt with this group directly, an excessive reaction would instead draw more attention.
However, if she simply sent them back, those in North America would likely only assume she was trying to pull some minor stunt, and wouldn't go so far as to launch a large-scale investigation. What she needed was this window of time.
As her subordinates evacuated, her Unmanned Titans also began to activate. Crates of precious Honkai Crystals were piled up before the ME Corp Honkai Reactor.
Cocolia knew she didn't have much time left. The plan was not perfect after all; that unknown force that had contacted Bronya had disrupted her various deployments, forcing her to launch prematurely.
And who could it be that possessed such ability and also knew of her plan?
Cocolia couldn't understand. Despite her actions having significant support from the Serpent—from intelligence to Supplies—why did the Serpent betray her at the critical moment?
The Great Honkai Impact occurring in Nagazora... wasn't that what they wanted to see?
And Gray Serpent was equally perplexed.
Ever since he stepped onto the soil of Nagazora, various hidden channels had begun to operate. As a member of the Serpent, his intelligence sources were far more numerous than Cocolia's.
For instance, Cocolia didn't know Siegfried had come to Nagazora until he actively exposed himself, but Gray Serpent had known of his arrival the moment Siegfried set foot on this land.
After all, orchestrating a Great Eruption was meant to gather data for Project Stigma. Naturally, he had to handle the underground work in Nagazora properly. If there weren't enough personnel and nodes when the time came, what would he use to collect data?
Could he rely on what Cocolia shared?
Forget it; both of them knew in their hearts that their relationship was one of mutual exploitation.
After reviewing the intelligence command of Nagazora, Gray Serpent easily picked out a key figure.
The woman who appeared beside Raiden Mei, who bore a mysterious resemblance to her.
Everything had changed after she appeared.
Compared to the short-sighted Cocolia, Gray Serpent naturally knew that the intelligence certainly hadn't leaked from his side, and Cocolia couldn't have leaked it either, as she wouldn't do something as self-destructive as digging her own grave.
Therefore, this greatest variable was the most suspicious person.
Only she had contacted both Raiden Mei and Bronya at the same time.
As for Kiana? Gray Serpent did not yet know her identity, so she was categorized among the other personnel.
And now, this person was wandering all over Nagazora.
Gray Serpent intended to meet her. Although they were a secret organization, since the other party already knew of their existence, there was no need to hide.
Finding out the other party's origins was important, but even more crucial was figuring out how they knew information about the Sovereign.
Was there a mole, or did the other party truly... possess a channel to communicate with or even contact the Sea of Quanta? This was the primary reason he had rushed to Nagazora.
So now, he stood before that person.
"Step aside," Xia Yu said with a cold expression, looking up at Gray Serpent, who was holding an umbrella in broad daylight, wrapped tightly from head to toe, revealing only a mask printed with two crossed daggers and blood-red eyes beneath. "I want to pass."
"You recognize me," Gray Serpent said, searching her eyes. "The moment you saw this appearance, you recognized me."
"So?" Xia Yu tilted her head upon hearing this.
"May I ask for your name?" Gray Serpent continued to ask.
"Acheron," Xia Yu glanced at his umbrella, wondering if she should also get one.
"Ms. Acheron," Gray Serpent's tone remained steady. "May I ask how you came into contact with the Serpent? We are not active in this era."
He had already prepared to make a move. He hadn't detected any Honkai Energy on the person opposite him; the tiny bit that was there didn't seem to belong to her, but rather seemed like something picked up from long-term contact with someone who possessed it.
This gave Gray Serpent enough confidence. What a joke—a powerless woman without Honkai Energy could be easily handled!
After discovering that Kaslana and Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie were near her, he had a suspicion that this might be a method used by Schicksal to test the Serpent.
After all, it was the world's greatest power. He wasn't surprised they could gather intelligence on the Serpent. Void Archives was also in Otto's hands, and Gray Serpent felt it was normal for them to have information on the Sea of Quanta.
So, in his view, the woman before him was merely a tentacle extended by a massive organization to test the Serpent's reaction.
And Gray Serpent, naturally, would not continue to endure.
He had the confidence that as long as Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie did not appear, he could subdue the opponent all by himself!
When he took her back to the Serpent's stronghold, he would have plenty of ways to make her talk. It must be said that this person was far too careless, actually leaving the S-Rank Valkyrie who protected her.
Initially, Gray Serpent had wondered if this was a trap, but after observing for a long time, the other party really hadn't brought anyone along; that S-Rank Valkyrie was staying at home and wasn't going out at all.
Regarding this, he had some other guesses in his heart, which was why he hadn't moved immediately.
Perhaps this person before him was also unwilling to be controlled by Schicksal? After all, looking at her appearance, she was inseparable from Raiden Mei—clearly Otto's handiwork.
Perhaps her wandering these past few days was merely an attempt to contact other forces?
And as Xia Yu looked at his self-assured manner, her heart was filled with confusion.
What does this mean?
Seeing you so confident... do you not know that Rita was taken down by me?
Gray Serpent called Cocolia short-sighted, yet how was he any different? Just because the opponent lacked Honkai Energy, he was so confident, and he preemptively assumed she was one of Schicksal's people, believing that Rita wasn't her prisoner but was there to protect her.
If Gray Serpent and Cocolia could sit down and calmly compare notes, they would find something was wrong, but as things stood... Cocolia trusted the Serpent less and less. During their few calls, she hadn't given him any good face, believing he was trying to drive a wedge between her and her daughter.
Gray Serpent was eager to explore information regarding the Sea of Quanta, but Cocolia had none to give, so she was even less inclined to waste breath on him.
Thus, this fatal information gap led to his confident action. Of course, he had his own fallback; Gray Serpent had so many bodies that even if he fell into a trap, losing one wouldn't be a big deal.
Being able to find out who was making a move against World Serpent before dying would be a profitable trade.
Gray Serpent had always been an arrogant person; this was an evaluation Raiden Mei had personally given in Elysian Realm.
"Do you know?" Xia Yu glanced at him and said, "Even Kevin wouldn't dare speak loudly to me."
Actually, he surely would. Ancestor Kevin never feared a greater power, but since Kevin was currently imprisoned in the Sea of Quanta, he couldn't exactly object.
"You know the Sovereign's name," a red light flashed in Gray Serpent's eyes. "Then you should also know the Sovereign's past. As a person of Schicksal, you have no right to speak such arrogant words about the Sovereign!"
This was still a probe, testing whether she merely knew a name or something more.
"You think I'm from Schicksal?" Xia Yu raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you think?"
"Mobius once praised the startling evolution you produced in a desperate situation, marveling that you actually developed a sense of... hmm, let me think how she put it..."
Xia Yu made a thoughtful expression before speaking again: "He is so ugly, yet so beautiful. She had never seen such a creature; the will to survive erupting from those hideous eyes, that light of wanting to live... it was something Mobius had never seen in any human eye..."
At this point, she looked Gray Serpent up and down a few times.
"Well, you do look quite ugly, and your IQ isn't up to much either. I suppose only your will is worth praising."
Hearing this, Gray Serpent's entire being began to tremble. Even though his mechanized body, specifically modified for combat, shouldn't have been capable of such an action, it was something emanating from his soul...
"Lady Mobius..." Gray Serpent's voice began to shake. "You truly do know a lot!"
To even know of such things... Gray Serpent began to hesitate. Regarding Lady Mobius's attitude toward him... Void Archives would record many things, but it would never record such intelligence.
He began to waver on whether to directly seize the person before him.
But Xia Yu's methods were more direct.
She stepped forward, and just as Gray Serpent tried to dodge, she moved in a state that seemed extremely slow to him but one his body simply refused to evade, reaching out and twisting off Gray Serpent's head.
"Then let me see," Xia Yu looked into his crimson eyes and said, "Just how far that will Mobius praised can actually go."
Then, the Power of IX completely annihilated Gray Serpent's body.
Following that, Xia Yu looked back toward the streets and alleys of Nagazora.
Key of Corruption... no, Yae Sakura, just which corner have you hidden yourself in?