章節 64: Ms. Jackal
One day ago, the industrial district of Heliopolis Life Sciences Pharmaceutical.
"The serpent has approved your codenames. You're now officially members of World Serpent." Raven brought good news to Ren and Chen Tianwu. Chen Tianwu had been discovered by Raven, so she would lead him. Ren, on the other hand, was introduced by Gray Serpent.
However, because Gray Serpent was too busy, he was now also assigned to Raven, and she would be in charge of his onboarding procedures.
Hearing the news, Chen Tianwu didn't have any special reaction. Having lost his sister, and his body being eroded by the Honkai, forcing him to get modified, he would have chosen to end his own life a long time ago if not for the thought of seeing Anna again.
Whether he was passing his days in the Thousand Fists Gang before or in World Serpent now, it didn't make much of a difference to him.
On the other hand, Ren seemed a bit surprised. He appeared to be in disbelief that he had so easily obtained a codename. "I thought there would be more screening methods, like investigating family backgrounds and such."
"That's just a restriction for the incompetent. For those who are valuable, World Serpent has never been demanding. Even if they want to leave in the future, it's perfectly fine." Raven, who had resigned before, deeply understood this. She had originally been a mercenary who licked blood from the edge of a blade.
Even in World Serpent, she was mostly there because the treatment was more stable and generous. As long as she could complete her missions, she basically had no restrictions. It was, however, more difficult to find work after leaving World Serpent.
"Uh, is World Serpent short of people?" Keenly noticing the hidden information that Raven revealed, Ren asked softly.
But Raven didn't think it was a big deal. "There's nothing to hide. There are only a few cadres with codenames right now: Gray Serpent, Raven, Jackal, Feather Rabbit, and then you, Moth of Ink, and Night Owl…"
"Sounds like a zoo." Ren mumbled quietly, immediately attracting Raven's attention.
But before she could say anything, a woman's voice sounded from the speaker in the corridor.
"Listen up, you newcomers. The serpent is supreme, and won't tolerate you smearing their name. When the Lord descends, you will all pay the price for your words." The woman's tone was filled with disdain and arrogance. It was obvious that she considered herself and World Serpent as part of the same camp.
Facing Ren and Night Owl's puzzled looks, Raven spread her hands. "That's Jackal, who specializes in research. How can I put it... aside from conducting experiments, she isn't very good at using her brain…"
"Shut up, you only know how to fight, you idiot." Along with a buzzing sound, Jackal's voice sounded again, mixed with some exasperated curses. But Raven didn't continue to bother with her, and led the two of them to the underground laboratory in the industrial area.
"This is the main research facility where we conduct our research. I believe that with your abilities, you should be aware of the content of the research."
Ren nodded, not bothering to hide it. Thanks to that man's power, World Serpent was never worried about anyone spying. People like Ren, who had unknown sources of information, wouldn't be questioned further.
In fact, the more he knew, the more of a position he could get in World Serpent.
"The destruction of Honkai is a global issue. If humanity wants to claim victory, sacrifices must be made. The Lord's decision was not wrong." Ren loyally played the part of a sycophant, completely aligning his stance with World Serpent.
The voice on the speaker sounded again, and Ren's words made Jackal very satisfied. "That's right. We are shouldering the heavy responsibility of saving the world. Compared to Schicksal who directly creates Valkyries with artificial Stigmata, and then discard them after they're used, the Lord's goal is far more benevolent. Even if more are sacrificed at the beginning, one day, when everyone possesses a Stigmata, they will no longer have to worry about the Honkai's erosion. And they will accept the serpent's guidance, taking on the important task of continuing human civilization."
"I never expected that even though you just joined World Serpent, you have a deep understanding of the Lord's intentions. You truly are a moth born from chaos, chasing the flame."
"Thank you for your praise, Ms. Jackal." Ren nodded in gratitude. Jackal's personality was arrogant and conceited, but from another angle, she was also quite straightforward. As long as you agreed with her point of view, and supported her choices, she would put aside her prejudice.
This type of person needed others to flatter and acknowledge them the most, and what Ren needed to do now was to be a good supporting role, so that he could more easily integrate into the core members of World Serpent. Maybe, he could even collude with Jackal and form a standard villainous henchman duo.
"Since that's the case, are you interested in joining my faction? The cadres right now are all self-serving individuals. There isn't even one who is completely loyal to the serpent…"
"…" Good grief. He was just saying that Jackal was easy to fool, and now he was putting himself on the chopping block.
The cadre who had invited him to join was Gray Serpent. The person helping him with his evaluation was Raven. If Ren were to join Jackal's faction, those two would probably eat him alive.
"Ahem, Ms. Jackal, I think that since we are all fighting for the Lord's goals, we shouldn't focus on factions and camps. Cooperating with each other is the best option for everyone," Ren said. He glanced at Raven beside him, and saw that she was looking at him with an amused gaze.
If he had just agreed to Jackal's invitation, it would probably make his future in World Serpent very bleak.
"Tch, if you don't want to, fine. I knew that all of you had your own objectives. But since you voluntarily offered to help, my test subjects just happened to have run out. If you can help me find test subjects that have a high adaptation to Honkai energy, it won't be a problem for me to give a newcomer like you some benefits."
Seeing that she couldn't recruit him, Jackal simply changed the situation to a transaction. It wasn't that she really wanted to recruit others. She was the only cadre in World Serpent who was completely invested in research. The others were mainly responsible for dealing with Schicksal and Honkai, or developing World Serpent's economy.
They were all part of different circles, and they wouldn't join so easily. She may as well use this opportunity to have the newcomer find her some test subjects and speed up her research.
"Then, I thank Ms. Jackal for her recognition. I'll bring you the test subjects as soon as possible."
…
Time returned to the present. After gaining a general understanding of World Serpent's setup in ARC City, Ren couldn't help but marvel at their madness.
Using the hypervariable factor as an activator, forcefully stimulating the Stigmata that was hidden in human genes, and achieving the expression of natural Stigmata.
Although Raven didn't go into detail, Ren was very clear that this was the Stigmata Project created by Dr. MEI from the Previous Era. The other plans, the EMBER Project, the ARK Project, the VALUKA Plan... the S.A.V.E Plan, and so on had all basically lost their hope.
Therefore, as the great Honkai disaster that MEI had predicted was about to arrive, Kevin would proceed with the experiments regardless of the cost. He even included the entire ARC City in the scope of the experiment, using the lives of millions of people to activate the Stigmata.
He truly was the strongest warrior that had witnessed the destruction of civilization. He didn't even blink when sacrificing millions of lives. If this were Ren, he could probably gather half of the Herrschers of Thousands.
Ren didn't care about the lives or deaths of those in ARC City. What he wanted wasn't a great Honkai disaster, or a massacre. If he let World Serpent and Schicksal keep messing around like this, humanity would at least be reduced by half, without a Herrscher even lifting a finger.
What he needed to do now, was to send a suitable test subject to Ms. Jackal.
A girl with a streak of light blue in her short red hair followed behind him timidly. She looked at the surrounding buildings with fear and curiosity. As they ventured deeper into the lab, she could faintly hear the operating noises of the lab equipment.
"Ms. Jackal, I've brought the test subject you wanted."
The girl's gaze finally focused on the woman wearing a white coat, and her face was filled with terror.
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