NOVEL NEXT Chapter 146: Impact
Thirty minutes earlier, near the Far East border, the Hyperion hovered above the ocean.
"Dr. Einstein, we just received a communication from Mei! She's found Kiana!" Theresa, her face alight with excitement, entered Einstein's office. The resolution of the Eye of the Deep incident, followed by this good news, eased the tension she'd been carrying.
"Yes, and Sovereign Welt has returned safely. Anti-Entropy finally has leadership again. I've contacted Tesla; she's dispatched a team to take Cocolia into custody. As soon as we're finished here, we'll go assist Mei and Raiden."
"Kiana's condition is critical. Mei says she absorbed almost all the Honkai energy from that bomb. Those World Serpent madmen, what a reckless plan."
Deep within the ocean, Eye of the Deep had been isolated, cut off from communication. They were unaware of the events in ARC City until they surfaced and received Anti-Entropy's intelligence report.
Although Schicksal had suppressed most of the information, they could deduce the gravity of the situation.
"Now that Serpent has returned, they'll become even more audacious."
"Not just World Serpent. Schicksal's failure to capture Kiana has Otto increasing his activity as well." Einstein handed Theresa a file containing the intelligence Anti-Entropy had gathered in the past few days.
"We've detected numerous Honkai energy surges in South Africa, but oddly, no Honkai eruptions. The surges vanish almost instantly, as if artificially induced. We believe Schicksal has an experimental base there, that Otto is conducting some unknown experiment."
"More experiments…" The thought of Otto's experiments gave Theresa a headache. The Babylon Tower experiment had birthed the Second Herrscher, triggering a chain of disasters. Kiana's current state was also connected to him. "Do you have any theories about this experiment, Doctor?"
"In ARC City, Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie attempted to capture Kiana. Given her strength, there's no way Kiana escaped unharmed. Tesla suspects this experiment is related to the leader of Obsidian Concord."
"Obsidian Concord? What's that?" The information blackout had limited the world's knowledge of Obsidian Concord. They only knew a mysterious organization had dealt Schicksal a heavy blow in ARC City.
"I'm not certain, but according to Mei, it was Obsidian Concord who stopped Schicksal. Their leader even stayed behind as a rearguard, allowing Mei and the others to escape."
"Obsidian Concord…" Theresa frowned. A force capable of stopping Schicksal Valkyries couldn't be weak, yet she'd never heard of them.
As she was about to ask more, an explosion rocked the Hyperion, throwing the ship off course.
Warning! The ship has been attacked by a high-energy weapon.
Enemy warship detected.
Several transport ships had appeared over the vast Pacific, their cannons aimed at the Hyperion.
"Damn it! How did they get so close? Did our radar malfunction?" The officer in charge of the defense systems was bewildered. The ships seemed to have materialized. They hadn't detected anything until the attack.
"Can you identify them?"
"Schicksal." The markings on the ships were unmistakable.
As the Hyperion went on high alert, they didn't know the attacking ships were empty, except for the lead ship, where a Puppet controlled the entire fleet with its threads.
These were the ships Ren had acquired from Schicksal, modified and sent through a portal to the Pacific.
With Welt gone, it was the perfect opportunity for a sneak attack.
"Be careful. The mission's success isn't important. Don't get captured." Ren was still uneasy about entrusting this to Older Kiana.
Light shimmered around the Puppet, revealing long white hair and a feminine silhouette.
"Are you worried about me?" The Kiana Puppet emerged, a playful smirk on her face.
"...I'm worried about you exposing me."
"Fine, I'll take it. Don't worry, those years in the Sea of Quanta weren't just for combat practice." Golden light flickered in her eyes.
Ren had given her the Herrscher of Dominance's power not just because of their shared identity, but because Older Kiana understood his fighting style and his mastery of the power.
Threads danced around her fingers. Moments later, another barrage slammed into the Hyperion. The primary target was Cocolia; the secondary objective, to exacerbate the conflict between Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.
The Hyperion's shields held this time. They were prepared.
But Older Kiana was more daring than Ren. She rammed a transport ship into the Hyperion. Explosions lit up the sky. The Hyperion's shields flickered, their energy draining rapidly.
"What is Schicksal doing? Are they mad? Do they think warships are free?" Theresa, reeling from the impact, was dumbfounded. A transport ship cost a fortune. Using them as missiles was ludicrous.
"Where are Bronya and the others?"
"Still at the beach. I've notified them. They'll be back soon."
The captured ships weren't all intact. Some were barely functional, making them expendable. After sacrificing three ships, a crack appeared in the Hyperion's shield.
Unnoticed in the chaos, a white-haired figure slipped into the Hyperion's hangar.
Meanwhile, Bronya, seeing the explosions, rushed back with the others. But as they reached the shore, their transport was a mangled wreck.
Beside the wreckage, a small girl with short blue hair sat on the sand, drawing in the wet sand with her finger.