Late night, in the waters off the coast of Oceania.
"Gray Serpent, how's things on your end?"
Jackal leaned against the aircraft, watching the Gray Serpent beside her with a look of utter leisure.
"Your formula has already been used by the local Serpent branch to catalyze the process. Once the time comes, we can unleash the Honkai beast tide."
Through the Gray Serpent network, the Gray Serpent next to Jackal could quickly establish an information-sharing channel with the local Gray Serpents in Oceania.
In fact, to ensure the success of this Wendy capture operation, at least five Gray Serpents had been mobilized, not counting those working covertly in coordination.
One was here with Jackal, two were local to Oceania, and another two had already successfully positioned themselves on the outskirts of the Oceania branch's urban area, standing by ready for action.
"Good."
Jackal gave a nod.
"According to the original plan, your side needs to catalyze the Honkai beasts and start the tide first, to wear down the Valkyries' effective strength."
"Then, I'll lead the rapid response force from the branch perimeter in a direct assault on the Oceania branch. We'll deal with Wendy and extract her."
"Hare's unit is the reserve team; if Schicksal sends reinforcements to Oceania, she'll need to intercept them."
"…"
Gray Serpent was silent for a moment. "I thought you said you wanted Hare to engage the Herrscher?"
"I brought the Rod of the Underworld. The rapid response force has one too. That's enough to deal with a genuine Herrscher, let alone a waste of space who hasn't managed to master her Herrscher powers in two whole years."
Jackal snorted lightly. "As for Hare… Lynelle is with Schicksal right now. It'd be perfectly logical for her to be mixed in with Schicksal's reinforcements, wouldn't it?"
"And if we don't run into her… we can just pin the blame on Raven."
"Don't underestimate Wendy."
Gray Serpent said seriously, "If our intelligence is correct, her sniping capability is far beyond the standard of a simple B-Rank Valkyrie…"
"Ah, Gray Serpent."
Jackal let out an exasperated sigh, looking at him like he was an idiot.
"The most powerful sniper rifle in the world is currently in our possession, with World Serpent. However strong that Wendy might be, how powerful could she possibly be?"
"The hull of this aircraft has been specially reinforced. Even an A-Rank Valkyrie would have a hard time tearing it apart. You can't possibly be suggesting she could make me crash?"
--+--
"Lynelle, they've entered Oceania's airspace."
"So the day has finally come…"
Lynelle stood on the rooftop of the dormitory building, her hands clasped behind her back, putting on a show of profound gravity.
"Go now, and deploy the countermeas— Ow!"
Before she could finish reciting her line, Lynelle's performance was cut short by a sharp chop to the head from Wendy.
"Stop fooling around, you idiot! Hurry up and pipe the positional data over to me!"
Wendy jerked the bolt of her rifle back sharply, the Deadzone emitting a crisp, metallic sound.
"I've already got a lock on their aircraft. Gotta say, in the middle of the night, that thing stands out like a firefly in the dark."
"Also, who exactly am I supposed to be shooting?"
"Hold on, let me see…"
The abstract airflow detection image transmitted from Wendy was instantly transformed into a vivid 'surveillance feed' by the Herrscher of Corruption's immense processing power.
Immediately, the scene inside the aircraft unfolded before their eyes.
"Well now, we've caught ourselves a big fish!"
Lynelle's spirits instantly lifted. "That's Jackal's personal ride!"
"Jackal? Who's that?" Wendy asked, curious.
"Someone who'd stitch a little girl's upper body to the lower half of a Honkai beast, then expect the poor thing to call her 'big sister'."
"Yeesh—"
Wendy sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes filled with revulsion. "I'll just take her out then."
"Not so fast, let's keep her alive for now." Lynelle pressed down on Wendy's hand, shaking her head gently.
"There's some information I'd like to get from her first. So, let her live. I'll finish digging through her memories before we kill her."
"You take out that Gray Serpent in the grey cloak first. Then, aim for the aircraft's pilots. Take them out one by one. Let's make her crash-land right here in these waters."
"Huh? Is it really that simple?"
"She's still pretty far from Oceania right now. There aren't many people on that aircraft. You can just take them all out. Only leave Jackal alive. Let her drift at sea for a while. We'll deal with her after we've handled the trouble here in Oceania."
"Oh, and remember to place an airflow marker on her. Pipe the real-time data to me so we don't lose track of her."
"It'd be far too merciful if she accidentally ended up as fish food."
"Alright."
Wendy nodded, then habitually nestled her head back against Lynelle, using the other girl's ample, soft warmth as a cushion for the back of her head.
Don't get the wrong idea. This was purely to get a bit closer and maintain a stable signal connection. It absolutely wasn't because Wendy wanted a pillow.
"Alright then…"
The Deadzone in Wendy's hands began to glow.
BANG!
Followed by a sound… oh, wait, no. There was no gunshot at all.
The Gray Serpent beside Jackal abruptly exploded into a pile of components.
"?"
Jackal jolted in shock. "What's going on!"
"Doctor Jackal, we're under attack!" Panicked voices immediately flooded Jackal's comms from the World Serpent crew.
"If our detection equipment isn't malfunctioning, it appears to be a sniper round!"
"Hah?"
Jackal was utterly dumbfounded.
"A sniper round? Were your radar systems playing Minesweeper instead of working?! How did the Herrscher of Wind get this close to us without being detected?!"
"Doctor Jackal, there's no one on the radar!"
The crewmember responsible for detection was on the verge of tears.
"The only reason we can even detect the projectiles is because the shooter is blatantly showing off! No, this isn't even a normal bullet since when can bullets decelerate, zigzag erratically, and then suddenly accelerate again?!"
"Oh no, it might be…"
Jackal's face paled drastically. As a researcher with a decent level of knowledge, she immediately understood how the attacker was achieving this.
"Everyone, prepare for an emergency landing! The target may have already partially mastered the Herrscher of Wind's authority! We're sitting ducks out here!"
"Initiate descent n—"
Before she could finish, Jackal was thrown forward violently. She stared out the window in horror, realizing their aircraft was now in a steep, rapid dive.
"What's happening? Report! Status!"
The comms channel was dead silent.
Bracing herself against the wall, Jackal managed to access her terminal. It was only then she discovered, according to the aircraft's life-sign monitoring system, she was the only living person left onboard.
Instantly, a profound, overwhelming dread gripped Jackal's heart.
--+--
"All done, Lynelle. Took care of them all." Wendy leaned her head back, feeling the softness against her hair, and spoke.
"Jackal got into an escape pod… Position is marked. Lynelle, what's next?"
"If my senses aren't mistaken, Jackal left a rapid response force stationed near our location."
Lynelle pondered for a moment. "But… that force isn't much of a problem for us."
"Wendy, didn't Captain Ragna just issue an assembly order?"
"Yeah, Teacher said a Honkai beast tide appeared near the town, so she's gathering the Valkyrie forces to clear it out."
Wendy nodded. "Because my effective range is so large, I'm usually assigned to guard the base in situations like this."
"Good, then let's focus on supporting them for now."
Lynelle began transmitting data directly into Wendy's mind.
"Eh? But what about our situation here…"
"Don't worry, you don't need to bother with that force."
A mysterious smile played on Lynelle's lips.
"Because that squad attacking us… it's mostly composed of mechanical units."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 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.