"First, we need to deal with the Herrscher of the Void, who's been running rampant all over Arc City."
Jackal, having returned from her meeting with the "Little Ancestor," tapped the blank screen with her cane, highlighting the key point for Raven and Owl below.
The pair below exchanged a helpless glance, shrugged, and continued watching Jackal's performance on the stage.
"We will once again create a small-scale Stigmata Project experiment, just like our usual ones, to lure out the Second Herrscher."
"Then, you two will take my recently developed little gift, the Honkai energy neutralizing aerosol, and go ambush that Second Herrscher."
"Since it's a capture mission, the operation site doesn't need to be a crowded place... It would be difficult for you to operate there, and the Arc City Patrol Squad would react too quickly."
"This time, the plan is set for the refugee settlement in Arc City's West District."
"Yes, let's set it in Underground Street 114. It seems there were some secondary Honkai disasters there before, so there will be fewer civilians in the area; most have already been relocated."
"That should make it quite convenient for you guys to operate... Hey, can you two show some reaction?!"
"Am I just talking to myself here?"
After outlining the mission and local conditions, Jackal glared at the utterly indifferent Raven and Owl, her anger flaring...
"Can't you show even a shred of respect for the funding, salary, and living expenses you get from World Serpent!"
"We're discussing serious business! What's with those 'I'm just here to slack off' expressions!"
"Oh, does the person who pops kids' balloons have any right to lecture us?"
Owl put on a flippant expression and exchanged a glance with Raven. Both their faces were tense, as if they were struggling to keep from bursting into laughter.
"You two...! Are you never going to let this go?!"
Slamming her hand on the table, Jackal glared furiously at the loot-farming duo below.
"If you've got nothing better to do, you can go pop kids' balloons instead of bothering us."
"Hey, I'm serious! The Little Sovereign has already approved this!"
[Of course she approved. Why wouldn't she, if it means screwing you over?]
"...Fine, fine, we get it. West District Slums, Underground Street 114, right?"
"Might as well get it over with. If you get everything ready quickly, we can head out tomorrow and bring that Herrscher back to you, gift-wrapped."
Seeing Jackal so worked up that she had to invoke Imhotep's name, the duo shrugged, as if to say, "You're right about everything, Jackal. Please, continue your performance."
"...It can be arranged for tomorrow. Just make sure you're prepared. A mere Herrscher... In the end, she'll still have to bow before World Serpent."
Jackal gazed at the mission plan on the blackboard with smug satisfaction, her face screaming, "The advantage is all mine."
"Alright then. So, should we bring back some kids' balloons for you to pop when we return?"
After Owl finished teasing Jackal, it was Raven's turn to use the balloon joke to mock her...
"Fck you, you son of a btch! No! Get lost! Are you people really obsessed with balloons?!"
-
Ms. Cleo stormed off, flinging her hands in anger. On her way out, she casually popped several balloons that Imhotep had brought back this morning, originally intended to cheer up Little Sirin...
"That woman is truly hopeless... We should hurry and call our attending physician, Doctor Kiana..."
Raven and Owl exchanged glances, reaching a silent consensus.
"Speaking of which, how would she even treat her...?"
"Electrotherapy, of course. During the Schicksal Uprising, the Second Herrscher reclaimed the Gem of Conquest. Now, our reliable Comrade Kiana can even moonlight as Professor Welt..."
"Pyro plus Electro... She can trigger Overload all by herself, huh..."
-
"West City District, former refugee settlement, Underground Street 114... This is the place."
Although she had followed Kiana here once before, for a certain well-known reason, Raven hadn't managed to memorize the route.
Finding this location again had cost Raven, the team leader, a considerable amount of time on the road.
Their target was already leaning against a wall in one of the alleys, impatiently tapping her foot and chewing on a pick.
"Is everything taken care of?"
Raven surveyed the remains of Zombies and Honkai Beasts scattered across the surrounding streets and confirmed with the Knight Miss.
"Of course. That Jackal woman... her traps were so obviously baited. How could a bunch of Honkai Beasts and Zombies suddenly appear in a nearly deserted area like this...?"
Miss Kiana, the Herrscher, offered her professional opinion, harshly critiquing Jackal's plan:
"I can understand the Honkai Beasts. Besides those mutated from animals, some can indeed form naturally from coalesced Honkai energy. But what's with this huge horde of Zombies???"
"Zombies are creatures that only appear when humans are corrupted by Honkai to a certain extent... Everyone here has already been evacuated. Even if some unlucky soul did get corrupted by Honkai energy, then was lucky enough not to be spotted by patrol drones and eliminated by Arc City's defense forces, and then also happened to wander into this godforsaken area..."
"That's way too many coincidences, isn't it???"
Kiana pointed at the pile of carbonized Zombie corpses behind her, her mouth twitching.
"Ah, well..."
Raven and Owl glanced at the massive pile of Zombies behind the girl, whistled softly, and silently looked away.
...The Honkai Beasts and Zombies here were all rounded up by Jackal to pad the numbers... To slack off, they couldn't be bothered to capture the heavy-looking Honkai Beasts, so they just grabbed one of each type of lone Zombie wandering outside Arc City's urban area and dragged them back, then threw in a few small Honkai Beasts to call it a day.
"Forget about that... Anyway, that Doctor Jackal guy is destined to be a joke character. So, what's it gonna be? Should we go through the motions or just give up and slack off?"
Kiana put her hands on her hips, looking at the World Serpent slacker duo in front of her, waiting for their reply.
"What procedure...? We're just gonna slack off. Here's a sack, just get in it yourself—"
The duo, determined to take their slacking to the extreme, tossed out a sack, telling her to get in it herself...
"Uh... Are you guys really going this far?"
"Miss Kiana—have you ever risked your life for your boss?"
Raven gave her a look that screamed, A Herrscher like you wouldn't understand.
"Hmm... I don't think the salary Jackal pays us is worth fighting a full-fledged Herrscher."
Owl was even more direct, basically saying, Jackal, you didn't pay us enough for this—
"Our 'Little Ancestor' prepaid us an eight-figure sum, plus special asylum from Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. If we don't want to work anymore, we can just run off to either of them."
"And all Jackal gave us was 'Don't disappoint the Sire'—"
She just gave us too much.jpg