Chain Reaction

Many things in the world, for strange reasons, act like catalysts shattering equilibrium, triggering unexpected chain reactions.

And at this moment, Fu Hua wasn't the only one who'd lost track of Lin Wei…

On the other side of the world, in a World Serpent base…

"What did you say? He's gone missing?"

Jackal was still reveling in the recent milestone achieved in her "experiment."

Humming a cheerful tune, she filled a newly added cat food bowl, her mind preoccupied with planning her next move.

Then, like a bucket of cold water abruptly poured over her head, she froze. After a long moment, she finally snapped back, demanding in shock and anger,

"Gray Serpent, what are you playing at?"

As a veteran member of World Serpent, the usually arrogant Jackal was never polite to Gray Serpent.

After all, for many years, their division of labor had been exceptionally clear – Jackal spent most of her time and energy immersed in the lab, while Gray Serpent handled external affairs and provided necessary support for her research projects.

It was a perfect example of playing to each other's strengths. And because of this, Jackal now expressed her disappointment without holding back,

"Aren't you always so proud of your intelligence network? Even that Feather thing was caught in your web, willingly serving our Lord… What now? Are you telling me your intelligence network suddenly malfunctioned when it comes to Lin Wei?"

Jackal was furious. Are you kidding me?

"Now, now, calm down, Ms. Jackal."

Gray Serpent's voice was unhurried, his tone gentle and refined, if one ignored the slightly odd timbre and intonation.

"After all, whether it's the intelligence we gather, the establishment of human society and civilization, or even the stable operation of this world itself, they're all essentially superficial structures built upon the acquisition and exchange of information. This is even more so in this relatively efficient and fast-paced era dominated by network information."

Jackal frowned, impatient, but still politely refrained from interrupting Gray Serpent's "long-winded speech." After all, his speaking habits had always been like this – droning on and on about irrelevant things before finally getting to the point.

"But unfortunately, all of this is so fragile in the face of the 'power of Erosion,' just as 'Gray Serpent' is as vulnerable as summer snow under its scorching heat."

Gray Serpent expressed his helplessness in a calm and friendly tone.

"Furthermore, it's not as conspicuous and easily traceable as a Herrscher. As a Divine Key, its host is just an ordinary human. Blending into the sea of people, under mutual concealment, it's practically impossible to track."

"…Hmph, quite the eloquent excuse."

Jackal remained noncommittal, but wasn't about to let him off the hook so easily. She abruptly turned, her eyes fixed on Gray Serpent's crimson prosthetic eye hidden behind the mask, posing a reasonable question without holding back,

"How could it be such a coincidence that he suddenly disappears at this time? Tell me, Gray Serpent, what did you do?"

"Meow."

Just then, a small figure slowly approached from another corner of the lab. It was a small cat with purplish-red eyes, and similar markings on its tail, forehead, and inside its ears. A slender collar encircled its neck.

It meowed once, announcing its arrival, then ignored the two currently in dispute, padding silently to the cat food bowl. It sniffed, then swatted it aside with a paw, scattering cat food across the floor.

Then, it turned away with a disgusted look, letting out another disgruntled meow.

Eating the same thing every day, it had had enough.

Jackal looked down at this little interlude, completely baffled. Having never kept a pet before, she wondered,

"What's wrong? Is it in heat?"

Considering it was a male cat, Jackal felt her guess was reasonable.

"Perhaps you could prepare a few different flavors of food for your little one?"

Gray Serpent, who had also witnessed this scene, chuckled, adding,

"And if you have time, give it a name."

Different Gray Serpent individuals had their own unique hobbies. Coincidentally, this particular Gray Serpent enjoyed keeping small animals, relishing the special bond between owner and pet.

"…Hmph, fine."

Jackal reluctantly accepted the suggestion.

Cats held a special status in ancient Egypt. As a passionate enthusiast of ancient Egyptian civilization, Jackal naturally accepted this sentiment, quickly taking a liking to this small cat that stood out among the other test subjects, adopting it as a pet.

Of course, various rigorous training and experiments wouldn't be lacking.

And the little cat itself understood its position here, cooperating with everything.

"…Back to the topic. Gray Serpent, just tell me what's going on."

This little interlude had eased the slightly awkward atmosphere between the two. Jackal's initial emotional outburst had mostly subsided, and she asked Gray Serpent seriously,

"I don't believe you're unaware of the reason."

She believed Gray Serpent wouldn't tip off Lin Wei, letting him hide.

But she suspected Gray Serpent might have "accidentally" let slip a word or two to Raven, who then, through their personal connection, warned Lin Wei, leading to his escape…

The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. Jackal felt like she was grinding her teeth. Her golden eyes became increasingly dangerous. She wanted an explanation.

"Otherwise, I'll have to question whether you're deliberately dividing the organization. If that's the case, when our Lord returns, I think I'll need to report this to him."

The current state of Anti-Entropy's division amused her greatly. As a fervent supporter of Serpent, Jackal wouldn't allow the organization she belonged to to show similar signs.

"I'm glad you have such high loyalty to Serpent, Ms. Jackal."

Gray Serpent's tone remained calm, unfazed by Jackal's threat.

"I think we should reach a consensus. This is a temporally delicate accident, an unexpected coincidence."

"Consensus?"

Jackal suppressed her rising blood pressure, sneering,

"The consensus is that you've repeatedly tried to obstruct my intentions towards Lin Wei!"

Jackal was extremely dissatisfied with this matter.

"Precisely because our Lord has expectations for him, I won't interfere with this process – after all, 'expectation,' in the end, is just an 'imagination' limited by the past and future."

Gray Serpent said softly, not feeling he was "criticizing" his Lord in any way.

"And in reality, unrealized potential is meaningless – I think Ms. Jackal understands this better than I do."

Jackal frowned. She felt Gray Serpent was being a bit presumptuous.

But he was right.

As an expert in the field of biology, and as a mad scientist with countless lives on her hands, she understood better than most just how much potential living beings possessed.

Likewise, she also understood better than most just how difficult it was to unlock this infinite potential.

"Hmph!"

Jackal snorted, somewhat displeased. She leaned back in her spacious office chair, lessening her aggressive posture, before impatiently asking,

"What exactly happened?"

"It's related to Schicksal's movements. Heh, Ms. Jackal, I'm guessing your global underground network has been greatly affected recently?"

"…Hmph, you know that!"

For two years, Schicksal's increasingly aggressive investigation into the Second Divine Key had made World Serpent feel quite uncomfortable.

It wasn't just because of the Divine Key being targeted – over the past five hundred years, countless relics of previous civilizations had been stolen by Schicksal, including more than one Divine Key, and Serpent had always turned a blind eye. But Schicksal's actions in the past year or two had become increasingly intolerable for World Serpent.

On the one hand, the Second Divine Key was different from other Divine Keys. It held great significance and was of extraordinary importance.

On the other hand, the person in charge of this investigation – Schicksal's S-Rank Valkyrie, Rita Rossweisse – was truly exceptional.

Although she hadn't located the Divine Key, her relentless pursuit had caused considerable damage to World Serpent.

Jackal had suffered the most. Wherever Rita went, the local underground sales and transportation networks suffered heavy blows.

Some were collateral damage from the pursuit of the Divine Key, unavoidable sacrifices. Others were "unclean" things Rita uncovered during her investigations, which she then, using her S-Rank Valkyrie authority, mobilized resources to clean up.

And then came the costly, long, and slow rebuilding process after her departure.

The severity of these losses made Jackal increasingly eager to eliminate this troublesome Valkyrie – although Rita herself wasn't aware of this, or rather, she didn't realize that all of this had a single mastermind.

After all, World Serpent always managed to conceal its tracks perfectly. And this made Lin Wei, who had somehow managed to uncover Serpent's existence, even more of an eyesore in Jackal's eyes.

And then, there was Southeast Asia…

"Recently, the Valkyrie units stationed across Southeast Asia have been incredibly active, investigating and sweeping underground organizations like crazy. Hmph, even police dogs aren't as zealous!"

The more Jackal thought about it, the angrier she became. At this rate, her experiments would be completely impossible to conduct.

What happened to the agreed-upon neutral zone? Where did all these Schicksal Valkyries come from?

"If it weren't for that Lin Wei's interference, how could a mere Valkyrie, oblivious to her impending doom, cause me such significant losses?!"

Jackal, who had been trembling with rage, suddenly calmed down, looking at Gray Serpent with a strange expression. She recalled that Lin Wei was also based in Southeast Asia.

"What, you're saying… he was captured by Schicksal?"

If that were true, it would be utterly ridiculous.

"Unfortunately, no. If he had fallen into Schicksal's hands, it would be easier to track him."

Gray Serpent was noncommittal. Based on his observations, if that guy were captured by Schicksal, he wouldn't believe it unless they turned the place upside down.

"Perhaps Schicksal's recent heightened activity in Southeast Asia made him wary, or perhaps it's the following intel that made him even more cautious."

Gray Serpent handed over a datapad. Jackal took it with suspicion and looked it over.

"A C-Rank Valkyrie? What's so… huh?"

A C-Rank Valkyrie temporarily dispatched to Manila, followed by the Valkyrie's detailed resume: Nagazora City survivor, rescued by A-Rank Valkyrie Fu Hua of the Far East Branch; transferred to HQ for containment due to a special constitution, awakened and became a trainee Valkyrie; temporarily dispatched to the Snow Lotus Squad, reason: visiting a friend.

That's… quite absurd, isn't it?

However, it had to be said that Gray Serpent's intel was quite detailed, as if pulled directly from Schicksal's database.

"Fu Hua? A Valkyrie? Hmph!"

Seeing that incredibly familiar name, Jackal just sneered and dismissed it.

"You're saying she's connected to Lin Wei? Well, timing-wise, it's certainly possible… Schicksal is truly incompetent. After all this time, they haven't even noticed a single person's whereabouts? Hmph… such an incompetent organization, and they dare to covet the legacy of previous civilizations?"

"At least chronologically, this Valkyrie's departure coincides with Lin Wei's disappearance. As for more details… heh, gathering intel takes time and resources."

Gray Serpent largely ignored her rambling mockery, continuing unhurriedly,

"As for now, this intel still has some value. It can remind you that perhaps you don't need to waste your efforts in Singapore. I suggest waiting and seeing for a while. I'll inform you of any further developments."

With that, Gray Serpent gave a slight nod, and with Jackal's permission, turned and left, his gait as elegant as a nobleman.

"…Wait and see? Hmph, no need."

Jackal looked at Yuno's intel again, specifically a line that had caught her attention – special constitution, suspected Honkai beast parasitism, later transitioned to a symbiotic relationship; currently, individual's consciousness remains clear, long-term consequences unknown, long-term observation recommended.

"A fusion warrior? No, it seems different…"

Jackal pondered. This seemed to be another unique test subject, tempting her greatly. Moreover, various signs indicated a connection to Lin Wei, making her even more restless.

"Heh, I'll see what tricks you're playing."

Without Lin Wei's knowledge, the arrow originally aimed at him in the dark had shifted from Singapore…

…to Manila, where he was currently located.