In the empty street, only the evening wind, tinged with the smell of blood, blew through. No one noticed the murder, except for a surveillance device hidden in a corner, which flickered faintly.
"…" On the other end of the surveillance network, a little girl who had just witnessed a murder stared wide-eyed, unspeakable terror filling her heart. But before she could cry out, she clamped her hand over her mouth. Biting her teeth hard, she didn't dare look at Gray Serpent's corpse again. She knew that if she was exposed, the snake would tear her to pieces.
For that very reason, she also failed to see the gold that flashed in the eyes of the otaku who had died at the start, and the barely perceptible twitch of a finger from Gray Serpent's supposedly lifeless body.
Gray Serpent's body had already undergone extensive modifications. Aside from the essential internal organs and flesh, almost everything else had been replaced with mechanical constructs. This was also why Rita had chosen to act directly. Intelligence data couldn't be stored in brain memory; it was undoubtedly kept in those chip structures. As long as she took the prosthetic body's chips, she would eventually find the information she needed.
Moreover, according to the information provided by Overseer Otto, the group of Theresa and the others who were truly supposed to be trading with Gray Serpent would probably arrive here soon.
"Maybe I can find a few unexpected gains…" Twirling Gray Serpent's red prosthetic eye, Rita let out an inscrutable smile.
About ten minutes later, as the dust settled, a group of young girls, who looked like they were of high school age, were hurrying to the scene. To an outsider, they could have been mistaken for a group of high school girls going out for a shopping trip.
"Headmistress, are we really going to trade with that shady information broker?" As they walked through the silent city, Mei felt a sense of unease.
Even the seasoned Theresa felt a bit unsure about this city that was too prosperous for its own good. But she shook her head, comforting her students, "Although information brokers are two-faced and unreliable, dealing with them carries a lot of risks. But after leaving headquarters, we've completely lost our sources of information. This is the only lead we've found to locate Kiana..."
"No matter how much risk we need to take, we have to try."
In fact, if it weren't for the help of Anti-Entropy, the members of St. Freya would be no different than stray dogs. Apart from the Hyperion, they would essentially be wanted by Schicksal wherever they went. Even to avoid exposure, the Hyperion had to stay in international waters, and they had to reach the city by helicopter.
"Something's not right. It's too quiet here. Everyone, be cautious," Before they even arrived at the designated meeting point, Theresa had already sensed an anomaly. When they reached the agreed-upon street, all they saw was a pile of corpses.
The graphic and bloody scene made them feel deeply uncomfortable. But since they were Valkyries who had fought against Honkai beasts, they quickly calmed down and began searching for clues.
"They were all cut open by sharp weapons. The wounds are clean and precise, and the attacker doesn't seem to be an ordinary person," Theresa made an initial judgment. "On the other hand, the victims were all equipped with firearms. To fight against so many firearms with cold weapons, that's at least the level of a qualified Valkyrie."
"Headmistress, it seems this person is Gray Serpent, the one who was supposed to trade with us," While everyone was observing the scene, Bronya had already identified Gray Serpent through her Project Bunny.
"The culprit killed him with a single blow, but unlike the others, who were attacked directly, it seemed like the two of them had exchanged words before his death." After confirming Gray Serpent's cause of death, Theresa became confused.
"There's hardly any sign of resistance. It's as if Gray Serpent knew he couldn't escape. The only possibility is that he knew the person who killed him, and that person was someone he couldn't fight."
"Either way, our trading partner is now gone, and we can't find Kiana's whereabouts either. Now, we should withdraw to the Hyperion first…" The risk of coming to ARC City was too high. Schicksal had been watching them for a long time, and acting rashly would be unwise.
Of course, Ren wouldn't let them leave so easily. After subtly manipulating the threads, a faint signal emanated from the only remaining chip on Gray Serpent's corpse. Bronya, who was standing nearby, paused, and quickly used Project Bunny to check the source of the signal.
"Wait, Headmistress, something's fishy with Gray Serpent," After another detailed scan, Bronya quickly discovered the extensive modifications on Gray Serpent's body.
"This is a prosthetic body modification. Gray Serpent must have had many bionic devices implanted in him before he died. But it seems that the neural chips and bionic eyes that he should have had are all gone. On the other hand, any valuables were not taken… the culprit is likely after the information on him."
"Are you saying the other party might also be after Kiana?" Mei asked nervously, as she was most worried that someone would find Kiana before she did.
"Not necessarily. They might be after other information. The culprit took Gray Serpent's prosthetic eyes, which would probably be the authentication keys for his entire information network… if we could retrieve them."
Theresa agreed with Bronya's idea. "Then we can find Kiana's trail again."
"And, perhaps even the culprit hasn't noticed it, Gray Serpent still has one last biological chip for authentication left on him," Bronya said, a smile forming on her face, as she removed the final clue from the inside of Gray Serpent's wrist. "With this authentication chip, I'll be able to enter Gray Serpent's territory and find his backup information."
"Even the wisest can make a slip-up!"
…
Indeed! For sure!
Gray Serpent, Rita, and Ren, all nodded in agreement.
Of course, apart from Ren, the other two were unaware of the current situation. ARC City had become a huge hunting ground, where the three factions had long been prepared, laying out their traps and patiently waiting for their prey to take the bait. Their goals were different, but their target was the same—the members of the Hyperion.
After confirming that Theresa and the others had taken the biological chip that all three factions had tampered with, Ren immediately headed to the next area. Schicksal and World Serpent were organizations that had been planning for years.
If he wanted a piece of the pie, he had to take some risks. And there was also an unstable factor he needed to deal with.