LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 125: Kindred Spirits
"A sneaky coward, just like Gray Serpent. Truly disgusting."
Hearing Cocolia's mocking words, not only wasn't Moth of Ink offended, he even revealed a somewhat fanatical expression.
"Thank you for your praise. To be like Mr. Gray Serpent is what I aspire to. Only with such pure resolve can one dedicate everything to the Serpent."
Cocolia was speechless, suddenly not knowing what to say. This person definitely had something wrong with him. Thinking this, she couldn't help but feel a little worried, and quickly asked, "I've completed my part of the agreement. When are you bringing Seele back?"
"Soon. Once the Sea of Quanta's eye has been opened, and the path between reality and the Sea of Quanta has been established, the immense energy radiating from the Gem of Desire will create a clear coordinate for our Lord. At that time, the Serpent will naturally return Ms. Seele to your side, safe and sound."
After saying that, Moth of Ink glanced at Gray Serpent beside him. Gray Serpent nodded, and said, "Then I'll go make preparations to welcome our Lord. I'll leave this to you."
Gray Serpent left alone, and Moth of Ink slightly bowed, his right hand on his chest in a gesture of humility.
"Hmph, you better keep your promise, otherwise…" Cocolia grunted, revealing the control device in her hand. The Sea of Quanta was her home turf. As long as she pressed that button, countless guardian mechas would lock down the entire base. Even World Serpent wouldn't be able to escape.
Facing her threat, Ren simply smiled, not saying anything more. Although mechas had a strong deterrent effect in normal battles, against true top-tier combatants, they were nothing more than toys.
The puppet strings that had been lingering around had begun to move. Ren didn't linger, and retreated back into the darkness.
The one who had just arrived should have been Einstein. As Anti-Entropy's top scientist, her intelligence and observation skills were exceptional. If Ren stayed any longer, she might have noticed Cocolia's rebellious intent beforehand.
Ren didn't like Cocolia, but the Sea of Quanta's eye still hadn't been opened yet. It was better to be safe.
Having said that, he had already turned his attention to Rozaliya and the others, using the seashell as an anchor point to infiltrate the Sea of Quanta.
After the trio had returned to the living quarters, Bronya had already finished recording the incident, but Ren's movements had been too discreet. He hadn't left behind any traces.
Theresa's armour had been upgraded, and the restrictions on Blood Knight had been lifted, greatly improving its upper limits. Once the Vishnu factor in her had reached S-rank, she would formally be promoted to Twilight Paladin. After a short combat practice session in the training room, Theresa, who had left, happened to run into Bronya.
To deal with the situation at the Sea of Quanta, Einstein had also prepared a new set of armor for Bronya—Drive Kometa—but Einstein was currently looking for Cocolia, and so the two had no choice but to investigate the strange incident from earlier.
After they had left, the twins, who had been left behind, could only boredly play by themselves. Then, Liliya, because of the aftereffects from the modifications to her Honkai genes, had fallen asleep again, leaving Rozaliya all alone.
The usually lively and cheerful, pink-haired girl was exceptionally quiet when alone. She looked out the window at the empty city, before subconsciously recalling the time she had spent with everyone at the orphanage.
"Everyone's left…"
Four months ago, during the Great Honkai Disaster, the orphanage had been attacked by Honkai beasts. Many of her friends had died in that attack. If Cocolia hadn't experimented on the twins, they might have also died during the Honkai outbreak.
But even so, they could never go back to their former lives. Sin was still alone in Siberia, taking care of the remaining children. That clumsy and annoying girl taking care of others… truly hard to imagine.
Thinking about that, Rozaliya sat next to Liliya, and lightly stroked her tail before comparing it to her own. Even though they were still young, she clearly understood that she and her sister would never be able to live normal lives.
If ordinary people were to see their huge tails, they would definitely yell "Monster!", and throw rotten eggs at Liliya's face.
After suddenly thinking about the image of her sister being hit by eggs, Rozaliya felt a little angry. If that really happened, then she would use her tail to give everyone a beating.
"Ah, no, the Vodka Girls haven't debuted yet! It would be a disaster to beat up our audience."
Lying down on the bed, Rozaliya reached out, wanting to playfully pinch Liliya's nose, but seeing her sleeping, her eyes dimmed.
"If only… things could go back to how they used to be, when we could all play together happily." She turned over before she suddenly felt like something was poking her.
"It's that seashell from before." The seashell was translucent, and when held up against the light, it seemed to be glowing faintly, as if it was some kind of special jade.
And as she was observing it, the alternating black and white insignia faintly appeared.
「I can help you make your dreams come true, but I'm afraid you won't be able to accept the price.」
"Who's there?!" The startled Rozaliya subconsciously threw the seashell away, but the thrown seashell suddenly stopped mid-air, as if it had been caught by an invisible person.
"Ah! A ghost! Liliya, wake up!" Even though she usually had an outgoing personality, and she wasn't even afraid of Honkai beasts, she had been scared by the threads controlled by Ren, and was now trying to hide behind Liliya.
Unfortunately, her sister was in a deep sleep. Rozaliya gulped, and opened her arms, blocking Liliya with her body. "I'm not afraid of you! Quickly leave, or else Bronya Onee-chan and Mama Cocolia will give you a beating!"
「Don't be nervous, I'm human as well, just like you. I simply have some special abilities.」
A faint figure appeared in the air. Numerous puppet strings intertwined, ultimately forming a boy. This wasn't a puppet, but a projection that Ren had created using his threads.
"It's you! The person who disappeared before! You really were a ghost, hiding in that seashell!" Rozaliya's mind worked very quickly. She had immediately deduced the truth, not even giving Ren a chance, she directly swung her large tail at him.
Fortunately, Ren was just a projection. Not only did her large tail not harm him when it had hit the threads, it was even entangled by them.
"Let go of me!" She yelled loudly. But Ren was now pulling at her tail, and he had blocked the entire room. No matter how loud she yelled, it was useless.
「Quiet! If you keep making noise, then I'll make your sister never wake up again.」
The room instantly fell silent. Rozaliya pouted, but didn't dare to say anything more.
The image that Ren had created was of the original Kosma, with several horns on his head, which made him look a little similar to the twins.
「I am the same as you. I was also modified to become like this. I've simply come to talk, since I've found some kindred spirits.」