flstandardbreds Chapter 181 Jackals
Chapter 181 Jackals
"Captain, are you serious about making us join World Serpent?"
Looking at the captain who had just finished explaining to the upstairs residents and was now returning with his hand on his neck, Fu Hua asked in confusion.
"Ah, actually I thought about it. Joining World Serpent wouldn't really have any impact, since World Serpent is, as I said, a loose organization, and the purpose of its members has always been the Stigmata Project."
"But this also means that if any of the cadres want to secretly target us, it will be difficult for us to get help from other cadres."
"Don't let Gray Serpent's weak strength fool you. Before Kevin returned, he was actually the head of World Serpent. After all, World Serpent was created by Kevin and expanded by Gray Serpent. Many of its members were recruited by him personally, so his words carried a lot of weight within World Serpent," the captain explained. "Since Gray Serpent has assured us of our safety, we might as well try to trust him."
"What if his words don't work either?" Fu Hua expressed her concern.
"Don't worry, his main purpose in inviting us to join the World Serpent is to use the Heavenly Fire Judgment in my possession as an anchor point for Kevin to go to the mortal world. As long as Kevin returns, no matter how much ulterior motives his subordinates may have, they will have to consider Kevin's importance before they act."
"But Captain, how can you guarantee that Kevin will definitely help us?" Kiana couldn't help but ask curiously. "After all, he's the final villain."
"According to the information you've obtained, Kiana may indeed be so, but Kevin is not actually opposed to Herrschers with human consciousness like you. Otherwise, why would he personally invite Mei to join World Serpent?"
"That makes sense, but why is that?"
"I don't know, unfortunately."
Fu Hua shook her head and said that the Herrscher of Knowledge, who possessed all of Fu Hua's memories, also said that she did not know what was going on.
"It's Alicia." In the end, the captain gave the answer. "Back then, Alicia told Kevin at that banquet that she hoped he could bring a Herrscher with human consciousness to see her. In order to fulfill this promise, Kevin went to find you and Mei, Herrschers with human consciousness."
"I never expected something like this to happen at that banquet. How did you know, Captain?"
The Herrscher of Knowledge also looked at the captain with curiosity and said, "Yeah, yeah, I'm a little curious too. Captain, why don't you tell me?"
"Um...this..."
The captain stammered, unsure where to begin, since he couldn't very well say that he only knew this from watching the plot in his previous life.
Hey! I've got it! How about we put it this way!
The captain carefully organized his thoughts and said, "Actually, in the world that Xiaoshi and I lived in, I once went to the Paradise of Past Lives. It was Alicia's memory there that told me about this."
"really?"
The Herrscher of Knowledge looked at the Captain with suspicion and asked, after all, he had never mentioned to anyone that the Captain had been to the Paradise of the Past, not even Mei, who had returned from World Serpent.
"That's a bit suspicious, Captain."
The Lawbringer of Insight didn't believe in himself, and the captain broke out in a cold sweat.
In fact, when the captain secretly went to Paradise without telling anyone, he did meet Alicia, but the captain did not have any contact with Alicia.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that before they even made contact, Mebius caught him and almost cost him his manhood.
"Really, really! If you don't believe me, Xiao Shi, you can check my memories. You can use your powers to see if I'm lying."
The Herald of Knowledge stared at the captain for a long time before finally turning his gaze elsewhere and sighing.
"Fine, I'm not interested in the captain's memories, let's just leave it at that!"
Actually, the Herrscher of Knowledge had promised Fu Hua that she wouldn't use her abilities at will, and out of trust for the captain, the Herrscher of Knowledge refrained from using her abilities to examine the captain's memories.
Otherwise, as soon as the law-abiding person investigates, everything will be exposed.
Seeing that the Herrscher of Knowledge had given up using her abilities on him, the captain secretly breathed a sigh of relief, which also temporarily dispelled Fu Hua's concerns.
“I know Kevin’s character. If it’s for Alicia’s sake, he will definitely stand on our side. If we can bring Kevin back quickly after joining, joining World Serpent is not out of the question.”
"Since the squad leader has said so, the rest is up to you, Captain!"
Seeing that Kiana trusted him so much, the captain felt a warmth in his heart and immediately made a decision.
"Don't worry, Kiana, I will definitely protect you!"
"Eh?!"
Kiana blushed instantly upon hearing the captain's words, then turned away shyly, unable to meet his gaze any longer.
The captain watched Kiana turn away, bewildered. He had countless questions he wanted to ask, but seeing Kiana's current state, it seemed he couldn't get any answers, so he simply gave up asking.
"In short, we can try to join the World Serpent. If all else fails, we can just defect in the end. Anyway, Theresa will always be there to back us up, so what's there to be afraid of?"
"If Auntie heard you say that, she'd probably be really angry..." Kiana said speechlessly.
Meanwhile, on the Hyperion, Theresa suddenly sneezed.
"What's wrong, Headmaster? Are you feeling unwell?" Mei stepped forward and asked with concern.
"It's nothing," Theresa waved her hand to indicate that she was fine. "I just suddenly felt like someone was talking bad about me behind my back, so I couldn't help but sneeze."
"So that's how it is. I wonder how Kiana is doing now..."
Mei lowered her head in disappointment, saying that no matter how hard the people on the Hyperion searched for the past few months, they could not find Kiana. This inevitably made people worry that Kiana might not have escaped from the Imaginary Space at all.
Just a few months ago, the Great Honkai Impact triggered by the Herrscher of the Void ended with the Captain's brilliant performance.
But no matter how hard Mei and the others searched for Kiana afterwards, they couldn't find her anywhere she might have landed.
Of course, besides the people on the Hyperion, Anti-Entropy is also searching for Kiana's whereabouts. Regardless of their motives, under the guidance of Einstein and Tesla, who have now cooperated with Theresa, they are unlikely to harm Kiana. However, the captain who claims to be from the Hyperion is another matter.
Not to mention the Anti-Entropy people, even Theresa has become interested in the captain.
However, it hasn't all been bad news lately. Just now, Tesla sent a message saying that they found traces of activity that resemble Kiana's in Sky City.
The reason it's considered a "suspect" is because Einstein recently found a suspicious identity document at the Sky City Information Management Center. The image on the document is unmistakably Kiana's, but the name and background have absolutely nothing to do with Kiana.
It's hard to imagine that there could be two people in the world who look exactly alike but have completely different experiences.
Moreover, Kiana's situation is too special. In any case, everyone agrees that it is necessary to find out the truth. Furthermore, since they were able to find it, there is no reason why Schicksal could not find it.
And so the Hyperion set off in a grand procession toward Sky City, while the captain had already found Grey Serpent and agreed to Grey Serpent's proposal.
Of course, the Judgment of Heavenly Fire could not be handed over. If the other party did not agree to this, the captain would certainly not agree to join. In the end, the two sides reached an agreement that the captain would take the effort to seize the Judgment of Heavenly Fire from Siegfried.
Although I feel terrible for my future father-in-law, there's nothing I can do about it. Bringing Kiana into World Serpent was already a major plot twist, and if both sides in this world were to simultaneously possess a Judgment of Heavenly Fire, I can't even imagine where the story would veer off course.
Well, actually it's because without the Judgment of Heavenly Fire, the captain's strength would drop significantly, and the captain wouldn't be able to guarantee that he could protect Kiana's safety.
Moreover, to be honest, the captain doesn't think World Serpent can help Kiana solve her problems. After all, Kiana's consciousness is a derivative of Sirin's consciousness. The reason why Honkai energy erosion occurred is mainly because she subconsciously rejected the Herrscher core in her body. In addition, the Herrscher of the Void, which is also a derivative of Sirin's consciousness, is interfering, which has led to the current situation.
It's obvious that World Serpent doesn't have the ability to directly solve this fundamental problem. The reason the captain still chose to join World Serpent is simply to take this opportunity to give Kiana the opportunity to obtain the imprint or meet the heroes.
Leaving aside those with questionable attitudes, Su, Alicia, and Aponia alone can help resolve Kiana's problem. Not to mention, Kevin is there to fall back on even in the worst-case scenario, where the Herrscher of the Void's consciousness manifests independently, ensuring the safety of the Paradise of the Past.
To reach the paradise of the immortals, one needs a guide. While Kevin isn't strictly required to be that person, if Alicia is to have factors other than being a beautiful girl appear from the beginning, it's highly likely that Kevin will be needed as a guide.
However, there was still something to be resolved before that. So, after agreeing to join World Serpent, the captain followed Gray Serpent to the interior of Divine City Pharmaceuticals, where Gray Serpent was needed to stop the experiment in Sky City.
"why?"
The question came from a brown-haired woman wearing a white lab coat and a jackal mask; she was a World Serpent executive codenamed Jackal.
His real name is Cleo. He is a renowned doctor in the medical field and also a director of Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.
"It's very simple, because I made a deal by giving up this experiment, a deal whose value is enough to make up for the loss of this experiment."
"Is the deal you're talking about bringing this man to me? Or is this man your deal partner?"
"It's obviously the latter. With this captain joining, not only will the Lord return soon, but even the Herrscher of the Void, Kiana Kaslana, whom you've been searching for, will join World Serpent."
"Okay, I'm actually a little tempted. So when will that Herrscher's vessel be placed on my operating table?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't," Gray Snake replied affirmatively.
"Then you still dare to come here and order me to stop this experiment?"
From that unfriendly tone, one could sense that the expression beneath the jackal mask had clearly worsened, but none of this had anything to do with Gray Snake.
“Why not? Don’t forget who gave you your current status and funding, Cleo? If it weren’t for the snake’s help, you would probably still be struggling at the bottom of the medical field.”
"..."
Even though the jackal was so angry he was about to grind his back teeth to pieces, he was helpless against the man in front of him. Just as Gray Snake said, her current status was given to her by the organization, and for World Snake, taking it back would be as easy as turning his head.
"Never mind," Jackal said after taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Anyway, I have other experiments to do, so missing this one won't make a difference. But you should think about how to explain this to her!"
After saying that, Jackal left without looking back. Just as she said, there were countless experiments waiting for her to do elsewhere, and giving up the experiments here would only slightly postpone the execution of the Stigmata Project.
Since he doesn't care about Gray Serpent, who is most enthusiastic about carrying out the Stigmata Project, what else can he say? Moreover, even that Herrscher vessel has been included. Even if he can't dissect and experiment on it now, it doesn't mean he can't in the future. He still has a lot of patience for this kind of experimental subject.
Moreover, just as she said, there was another officer here besides her, and that officer wasn't as easy to talk to as she was when dealing with the vessel of the Herrscher of the Void.
Let Gray Serpent worry about this himself; I have to receive the people from Destiny, and I don't have that much time to waste here with Gray Serpent.
Of course, this does not mean that Jackal betrayed World Serpent. After all, Shencheng Pharmaceuticals is a world-renowned pharmaceutical company and would naturally have business dealings with Destiny.
This is also the main source of funding for World Serpent, since the main purpose of World Serpent funding the establishment of Divine City Medicine was to have a legitimate source of funding in the open.
After the company has grown bigger and stronger, it will inevitably come into contact with Schicksal. After all, no matter how big Schicksal is, it can't stop sending out so many Valkyries every year to solve Honkai incidents.
The production capacity of the headquarters alone is insufficient to sustain the medical supplies of all branches of Destiny worldwide, so it is natural to choose to cooperate with well-known pharmaceutical companies.
Companies like Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, which are aware of the existence of Honkai, are able to achieve deeper cooperation with Schicksal. Today, Schicksal headquarters sent people to inspect the Honkai energy neutralizer produced by Shencheng Pharmaceuticals.
Of course, it's also possible that they're here to investigate Kiana and the captain's whereabouts. After all, Sky City is World Serpent's territory, and they would naturally know everything that happens here.
Not to mention that the man who called himself the captain a while ago gave Kiana a fake identity. Such blatant behavior would naturally attract the attention of Schicksal, and it's possible that not only Schicksal, but even Anti-Entropy would be drawn to it.
Sky City would inevitably become a battleground for the two major organizations, making it difficult to continue the Saint Mark Project experiments. Therefore, Jackal readily agreed; after all, it wouldn't cost him anything, would it?