Meanwhile, just as Lynelle and Seele were resting on Raven's little island, the Hyperion had descended into absolute chaos.
"That 'World Serpent' actually dared to snatch someone right from under our noses, even had the gall to poach right in front of us! I ******!"
A string of incessant angry beeps—like censored Morse code—accompanied Tesla's furious voice, which echoed through the meeting room, prompting Einstein sitting beside her to subtly slide her chair a bit further away.
"Alright, Tesla..." Welt sighed.
After a round of check-ups and treatment, he had fully recovered and successfully completed his metaphorical 'sit-up' yet again.
"I know you really want to take action against World Serpent, but the current situation is that we neither have a way to deal with Kevin, nor can we even pinpoint World Serpent's location."
"Can we borrow some personnel from Schicksal?" Theresa asked.
"For example, temporarily transferring Durandal over... With Cecilia and Kiana on our side, we shouldn't be completely helpless against Kevin, right?"
"Hard to say," Einstein shook her head. "Don't forget, back before the Schicksal incident, Lynelle's strength was enough to fight Durandal to a standstill."
"Even though Lynelle mentioned afterward that neither side went all out, according to the Sovereign, when Kevin faced him and Bronya, he basically subdued them in one move each. With such a disparity in power, it's questionable whether numbers would make much difference."
"Speaking of which, what about Kiana and Wendy... they haven't done anything foolish, have they?"
"Uh..." Theresa averted her gaze.
"Wendy's reaction was quite calm after hearing the news, almost as if she'd expected something... She even asked me if the one who took Lynelle was a man or a woman."
"As for Kiana..."
"Kiana and Sirin—I comforted them for a long time. They're temporarily okay for now~"
Cecilia clasped her hands together, offering a gentle smile.
"But we still need to find Lynelle quickly. Otherwise, I'm afraid they might eventually can't resist sneaking off to World Serpent to look for her."
"At least our side hasn't fallen into disarray first..." Einstein sighed. "Moreover, based on the information I've gathered so far, it seems Lynelle's identity... might not be so simple either."
"Oh? There's more to it?"
Theresa immediately perked up her ears.
"Is it about Lynelle having past connections with two of World Serpent's cadres?" Cecilia asked curiously.
"I know a little about that. Those two cadres are named Hare and Raven; both connected to Lynelle due to the Second Honkai Eruption. So, I'm not too worried about Lynelle suffering over there..."
"Unfortunately, no," Einstein shook her head, then inserted a USB drive into the computer.
"You should know that besides being a material for crafting weapons and tools, Soulium is also a medium for storing information."
"A significant portion of Anti-Entropy's technology comes from archaeological digs on Previous Era ruins and the information extracted from Soulium."
"Recently, we decrypted a certain piece of data, or rather... an image."
As the projector flickered on, a familiar-looking image appeared on the screen.
"This is..." Cecilia hesitated, looking at the pink-haired girl holding a bow on the projection. "Lynelle?"
"Not Lynelle. Her name is Elysia. According to this record, she was known as the second most powerful warrior of the Previous Era." Einstein pulled up another document.
"Aside from looking somewhat more mature than Lynelle, her figure, appearance, and even abilities are almost identical to Lynelle's."
"If it's just this one image and data, it might not mean much, right?" Welt asked, puzzled.
"The universe is full of people who look similar yet are different. Just during my time in the Sea of Quanta, I've witnessed the experiences of countless counterparts of ourselves in bubble worlds... This probably just means Lynelle is the youthful counterpart of this Miss Elysia?"
"Indeed, that's possible. But, we have another rather unbelievable piece of intelligence." Einstein looked at Tesla and nodded.
The latter immediately understood and took over.
"You all know I've been responsible for developing and updating Mei's and Bronya's Valkyrie battlesuits. Just yesterday, while I was repairing Mei's broken suit, she told me this."
"Back in the The Deep, four Gray Serpents were ordered to stop Mei and Lynelle from reaching the Eye of the Deep. And their form of address for Lynelle was... 'Honored Saintess'."
"Don't tell me..." Theresa's eyes widened. "It's that kind of plot?"
"Which kind?" Cecilia asked, confused.
"You know, that kind! The saintess, dissatisfied with the darkness within her organization, resolutely leaves it secretly, meets a bunch of good companions outside, and just as their cause is flourishing, the organization suddenly shows up, forcibly kidnaps the saintess back... Ow!"
Before Theresa could finish, Cecilia, with a displeased expression, gently poked her head.
"Theresa... It seems I really need to control your habit of reading comics during work hours."
"Eh? No, please!"
"Ahem, Miss Cecilia..." Welt's eyebrow twitched.
"Let's not be too quick to scold Theresa. Actually, I think what she said might not be entirely off the mark... Because that possibility really exists..."
"Huh?"
"You probably aren't fully aware of World Serpent's ultimate goal, but during my time in the Sea of Quanta, I did come across some of Kevin's memories and intel..." Welt recalled.
"If I remember correctly, once Project Stigma pursued by World Serpent is implemented, the Honkai indeed would cease to be a problem. But the cost is... only a small number of humans with natural Stigmata would survive in the new world."
"Lynelle has been with us for a long time. You all know her character. She would never agree to a plan that abandons 99% of humanity... So, it's not impossible that she chose to leave World Serpent to seek another way."
"Tsk... I actually guessed right— Ahem! Now you see? This is the wisdom of your Academy Headmistress!"
Theresa instantly puffed up with pride.
"Alright, alright, enough joking..." Einstein stood up, summarizing. "The current situation is clear. Lynelle and Seele likely aren't in immediate mortal danger for now."
"However, we cannot afford to be lax. Gathering intelligence on World Serpent and finding a way to rescue them will be our primary focus in the coming period."
"I've contacted Schicksal. Rita indicated she would utilize Schicksal's intelligence network to assist our investigation. Furthermore, she's identified a short-term target for us—Heliopolis Shenzhou Pharmaceuticals in Arc City. This organization is potentially controlled by World Serpent."
"Theresa, I'm putting you in charge of this location. You can choose your own team members for the mission."
"The objective is to, at the very least, manage to extract some World Serpent intel from there and find a way to contact them."
"Simultaneously, we will operate in teams here, utilizing Wendy's and Kiana's Herrscher authorities to conduct a dragnet search for Lynelle's location globally."
--+--
"Lynelle, this sword is..."
"This is Seven Thunders of Retribution."
"And this sniper rifle..."
"Seven Thunders of Retribution."
"Then this one surely can't be..." Seele looked at the comb in Lynelle's hand, puzzled.
"This is also Seven Thunders of Retribution."
"..."
Seele fell silent for a few seconds, then looked towards Raven nearby.
"Don't look at me, I'm not Seven Thunders of Retribution." Raven quickly raised her hands. "And I genuinely had no idea Seven Thunders had so many... strange forms!"
"Uh... is it a lot?" Lynelle tilted her head in confusion.
"The Oath of Judah next door has over a dozen special modes that I know of, including auto-navigation, auto-buying comics, sleeping bag, heat retention, tucking in blankets, alarm clock... This really isn't that many for Seven Thunders, right?"
"..." Raven's mouth twitched. "If I didn't know these Divine Keys were forged by that great figure, I'd really want to ask which genius thought of adding so many bizarre functions to a Divine Key..."
"So, what exactly is going on?" Seele tilted her head.
"How did you come back with one more—no, several more—Seven Thunders of Retribution after going out?"
"Would you believe me if I said it wasn't my fault?" Lynelle showed a wry smile.
"After all, Seven Thunders absolutely insisted I take her with me. What could I do? As for the other Seven Thunders... those are just replicas I mimicked using my abilities~"
"It's fine, you can take it away," Raven hurriedly said, sensing some hesitation in Lynelle's words.
"This thing can't unleash its full power with me anyway. And who knows what kind of strange, dangerous missions the organization would assign me if I kept it... Sniping Otto once was more than enough. If I had to do that a few more times, I don't have that many lives to spare."
"But I don't use sniper rifles or greatswords either..." Lynelle lightly flicked the blade of Seven Thunders and asked, "Seven Thunders, can you turn into a bow?"
"Bzzz-bzzz-bzzz—"
Seven Thunders immediately emitted a series of eager, cheerful hums.
"What did she say?" Raven asked, curious.
"She said she'd love to transform for me, but her creator only programmed her with a fixed set of forms. If she wants to add more, we'd have to go find her 'mother'."
"And that would be..."
"Exactly. Our great Teacher V, Vill-V." Lynelle nodded. "It seems besides resolving the issue with Seele's split personality, Sister Vill-V might have a bit more work added to her plate."
"Let's go, Seele. It's about time we set off for the next World Serpent base. Oh, and... take these portraits for now."
Seele accepted the portraits somewhat puzzled.
At first glance, they all seemed identical, depicting a cute girl with two-toned fluffy hair and a bust size that could put most people to shame.
"This is..."
"This is Vill-V," Lynelle explained. "And these several portraits are of different Vill-Vs. Before we meet Sister Vill-V, I need you to at least learn how to tell them apart."
"But... there are five portraits here... Does Sister Vill-V have five personalities?" Seele exclaimed. "No wonder Uncle Kevin said she could solve my problem..."
"Actually, there are more than five, but you won't be able to meet the rest." Lynelle spread her hands. "Thought segmentation—pretty amazing, right?"
"But you don't need to be too curious. After all, you'll get to meet them soon enough..."
--+--
A few hours later, at another World Serpent base.
"Uh... Kevin, so soon..."
"Special circumstances call for special measures," Kevin stated flatly.
"After all, the issue with Seele's body can't afford to wait too long. The activity level of the Herrscher of Death core has been steadily increasing every day."
"And..."
"And?"
"Nothing. You may enter on your own." Kevin silently averted his gaze.
Mainly, Kevin was afraid that if he delayed too long, an impatient Mobius might just decide to come out of the Elysian Realm herself to drag Lynelle back.
"Just follow this passage straight ahead. Once you reach the Elysian Realm, you'll naturally sense it."
With that, Kevin stepped aside.
"Alright, let's go."
Lynelle took Seele's hand and walked into the deep, dark passageway. As they proceeded, she offered advice.
"Don't worry, Seele. No need to be too nervous. The Flame-Chasers are all good people, though some are a bit... difficult to get along with. But with your gentle and soft nature, even the most irritable one, Kalpas, probably wouldn't be able to stay angry at you. He actually quite likes children, after all..."
"Seele isn't a child anymore..." Seele said, somewhat embarrassed.
"No, no, no. Until you've grown into a mature, reliable adult capable of handling things independently like me, Seele, you're still very much a child."
Lynelle raised her chin slightly. "I'm very dependable, you know~"
"Lynelle does have the aura of a proper adult. You handle everything with such ease. Seele wants to learn from you..."
Seele quickly nodded.
Heh heh... Lynelle, feeling a bit lightheaded from Seele's soft praise, instantly puffed up with pride.
"Of course! Don't worry, once we're inside the Elysian Realm, I'll show you what connections mean. I guarantee we'll get you to Vill-V in the fastest possible time..."
As she spoke, the two arrived before a massive door made entirely of Soulium. This was the sole point of connection between the Elysian Realm's reception hall and the outside world.
When there were no visitors, Flame-Chasers typically didn't manifest here. But since Kevin had already notified the Elysian Realm... someone should be in the reception hall now.
Thinking this, Lynelle gently knocked on the door.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.