"Anna!" Chen Tianwu felt his fingers tremble as he looked at the girl's photo in the file. He should have died in that Honkai eruption two years ago. It was his obsession with Anna that had kept him alive until now.
But no matter how much he investigated, he couldn't find her. After all, the data of Schicksal Valkyries was strictly confidential. Chen Tianwu, just an ordinary person, had only learned of Anna's identity as a Valkyrie by chance during that disaster. Even if he wanted to search, he had no way to do so.
Anna's profile was very detailed, even including her Valkyrie squad number. But Chen Tianwu quickly calmed down.
He had never told anyone about his connection to Anna. Even after joining World Serpent, he had only secretly searched for her. No one should know his true intentions.
Yet, this file seemed to be prepared specifically for him. It not only detailed Anna's personal history, but also provided updates about her Schicksal squad's movements.
"Strange, the latest modification to the data was just half a month ago." Chen Tianwu imported the electronic data into his computer and quickly cracked the modification records. But according to Raven, this data was all left behind by Moth, and Moth should have died in ARC City more than half a month ago.
Instead of feeling joy at finding Anna's whereabouts, Chen Tianwu's brow furrowed even deeper.
Moth's actions within World Serpent had always been extremely secretive, and his presence within the organization was low-key. However, with his mysterious sources of intel, he had been trending towards becoming a core member of World Serpent.
He was like a fog, like a true black moth, always able to precisely find the information the serpent needed. It was a strange feeling. As fellow intelligence operatives, Chen Tianwu had more contact with Moth, but the more he interacted, the more he felt the strangeness of this man.
He was clearly a slick middle-aged man, but he always showed a certain fanatical demeanor. When he was alone, he would often seem to space out. Sometimes Chen Tianwu even wondered if he was even human, almost like a wind-up doll with a set program.
Moth's betrayal had taken everyone by surprise, but the data he left behind was valuable and was completely sealed off by Gray Serpent within half an hour. However, with Moth gone, the entire intelligence network was like it had lost a key gear, and even some confirmed partnerships were forcibly terminated.
Chen Tianwu had every reason to believe that this data had been investigated hundreds of times by Gray Serpent before it was handed over to him. But this was information about a Schicksal A-rank Valkyrie. Even if World Serpent were completely brain-dead, they wouldn't have overlooked something like this.
"Is Raven planning to betray us too?" Unable to figure it out, Chen Tianwu could only assume that for now. He continued to flip through the other documents, finding that they were all just ordinary data, except for the one about Anna.
The doubts in his heart grew stronger. If this was a trap for him... no, if this was a trap for Anna.
Chen Tianwu suddenly tensed up. He didn't care about his own life. His only hope of living was to see Anna again and ask her why she had left. If someone was plotting against Anna, he would absolutely not allow it.
Quickly finishing the unimportant tasks, Chen Tianwu continuously reverse-compiled the file. After dozens of attempts, a strange symbol appeared on the screen.
A pattern of black and white intertwining lines, like some kind of mark.
[The Obsidian Concord]
"This is...?" It was a completely unfamiliar symbol, but Chen Tianwu felt like he had seen it before. Luckily, he had a great memory. After recalling events from a few months ago, he finally remembered where he had seen it.
"Chris." That young man, when he went mad and massacred the entire city, Chen Tianwu had briefly fought him. He vaguely remembered that Chris had a similar mark on his neck.
In an instant, Chen Tianwu felt a chill run through him, as if he was being watched by some unknown entity.
"Is this some kind of curse? First it was Chris, and now it's my turn?"
His mechanical prosthetics made overloaded sounds, and his artificial heart pounded rapidly. Chen Tianwu clutched Anna's file in his hand, his breathing becoming rapid. But he quickly calmed down, looking at the girl's picture, his eyes softening.
"Whether it's a curse or a prank, this life is something I owe you anyway, Anna."
With his mind focused solely on Anna, Chen Tianwu stopped thinking about it. He carefully put the extra copy of the file into the shredder and destroyed it. He then burned the remains with a lighter and flushed the ashes down the drain, mixing them with water.
However, as he was about to destroy the electronic data, the Obsidian Concord mark on the screen seemed to change. Noticing this, Chen Tianwu moved his mouse and dragged the mark. He discovered that it was actually forming a link to a new website.
Hesitating for a moment, Chen Tianwu typed the address into his browser. A page titled "[The Obsidian Concord Forum]" came into view. Even more strangely, within seconds of him accessing the page, a new post popped up in the forum with the title "[Chen Tianwu]".
Chen Tianwu was now certain that someone was monitoring him, but if they had more detailed information about Anna…
He was about to try to crack the forum when his communicator suddenly rang, startling him. Chen Tianwu quickly closed the forum and answered the call.
"Night Owl, five minutes ago, World Serpent detected a strong Herrscher reaction from Coral Island. Prepare yourself, this time we must recover the Herrscher core before Schicksal."
"A Herrscher? Raven, are you joking?" Even Chen Tianwu, who had just been shocked by the Obsidian Concord mark, suspected that World Serpent had lost its mind. How could a cadre like himself handle a Herrscher?
Raven on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then said helplessly, "There's no choice. World Serpent is too short on staff right now. The only ones who can fight are me and you. Don't worry, the Staff of the Underworld provided by Jackal will also be deployed. This thing can block the connection between the Herrscher and the Imaginary Space. You just need to support me."
"Sounds like covering your ears and hoping the nuke won't kill you," Chen Tianwu said sarcastically. He wasn't afraid, but he had finally gotten some information about Anna, and he absolutely couldn't die before seeing her.
"…" Another moment of silence, Raven's voice filled with weariness. "This mission isn't mandatory. It's fine if you don't participate, I will contact others for assistance."
Her confidence severely shaken, Raven was no longer her usual self. She still worked for World Serpent, not out of loyalty, but because she had nowhere else to go.
Night Owl, whom she had personally brought up, was one of the few teammates she could trust. However, she could also tell that Night Owl had his own agenda for joining World Serpent. Since Night Owl wasn't going to participate, she would have to fight alone.
"Wait, are you saying that Schicksal will also be involved?"
"Yes, Schicksal hasn't detected the signal yet, but a Valkyrie squad stationed on Coral Island should be encountering the Herrscher soon."
"Do you know this squad's codename?"
"The Snow Lotus Squad."
The information he had just read quickly emerged in his mind, and Chen Tianwu's breathing stagnated. If he remembered correctly, the captain of the Snow Lotus Team should be Anna.