MGSFV?! Chapter 408. Say It First—"I Surrender"? Fa-Lang?; World Serpent's Officers Are All Kinda Strange
Kalpas and Kosma's fossilized corpses?!
Let's not even entertain that.
Hokuto felt even he wouldn't go so far as to insert knife-twisting details like that into the map.
But still...
If you really think about it, among those who fought in the Moon Battle—
Hardly anyone left behind a corpse.
Kalpas didn't leave a body.
Kosma did, but Kevin likely recovered it.
Vill-V got blasted into space.
As for Pardofelis...
Finding a gold coin is probably more likely than finding her corpse.
So, from a rational point of view—
these strange rocks the trio found probably aren't what the players are guessing.
But maybe...
Could they be related to the enemy instead?
That possibility remained unspoken—
As with limited information, Seele and the others couldn't make that leap yet.
But as they say—
Coincidence makes a story.
Right as the trio puzzled over the rocks,
a certain World Serpent officer—or rather, former officer—appeared before them...
Bringing an unexpected clue.
"If you can decode the hidden data on these [sacred remains], perhaps you'll uncover the essence of the [Stigmata Plan].
Good luck. I'm rooting for you."
[Wait—is that Jackal?! Why isn't she wearing her signature mask?!]
[Hold on—Jackal has a full model now? Is she going to be playable??]
[If Jackal can board the ship, Tesla and Einstein should've done so years ago.]
[Is this an expansion of the Second Eruption manga content?]
[Bad guy alert. I say we tie her up before talking.]
Obviously—
Even with her mask off—showing off surprisingly exotic charm—
Even if she looks like someone who's good at playing cards (kidding),
Players still didn't trust her one bit.
Unlike the cautious players,
Li Sushang greeted her with a respectful martial bow.
"Didn't expect to find a fellow explorer... what a pleasure.
Were you also suddenly teleported to the Moon?"
She looked totally unguarded—ready to team up.
Hmm...
Maybe her martial artist instincts told her the other side was a weakling?
Even if this stranger had bad intentions,
she was confident she could take her down in one strike?
Such is the confidence of the Taixuan Sword Saint.
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But Sushang, having just awakened in the modern world, probably didn't realize—
Times have changed.
The most dangerous people today are all these... mad scientists.
You never know what crazy contraption they might suddenly pull out.
Fortunately, Durandal was here.
Recognizing the other as a World Serpent executive,
she gripped her weapon cautiously.
"Jackal. Dr. Kallio Cypatia—what are you playing at here?"
Jackal's response, however—was unexpectedly direct.
She... surrendered.
Raising both hands high:
"I surrender!"
With a tone so upright and serious—
you'd think she was greeting Durandal.
Her manner was so entertaining,
the livestream chat erupted:
[French salute!!!]
["La Française Jackal"]
[Instant kneel and slide.]
[Fa-Lang???]
[Fa-Lang is gold, LOL—chat wins today.]
[Daily France Roast (1/1)]
The word "Fa-Lang" was just... inexplicably funny.
Durandal, taken aback by Jackal's quick compliance, paused.
She hesitated. Didn't attack immediately.
Meanwhile, Jackal rambled on...
She'd been kicked out of World Serpent,
forced into "retirement" with no pension...
Not that she was hurting for money, no—
but hey, a person still needs dreams to live, right?
Still—
As one of the architects of the Stigmata Plan,
she had competed with Hare.
And now that she was forcibly retired...
She'd clearly lost to Hare.
"I once called myself World Serpent's Chief Scientist...
But really, maybe the only purpose my research served was to attract your attention—
To make you underestimate World Serpent..."
"Haha... hahahahaha..."
Her tone turned bitterly self-deprecating.
Honestly, ever since her destructive showdown with the Herrscher of Reason,
players had a decent grasp of Jackal's personality.
Knowing her research was essentially useless—
That hit her far harder than she let on.
To any scientist who truly loves science—
that kind of revelation is devastating.
And maybe—
Seele's line "Your tech's 50,000 years behind mine"
was still ricocheting around in her head.
But what could she do?
World Serpent inherited the technology of the Previous Era.
And those scientists... were monsters.
Mobius—speaking fluently at birth.
Vill-V—splitting her consciousness into eight parts, each still genius-level.
A version of genius eight times over.
Then there was Mei—who discovered five parallel "truths."
The Previous Era was beyond overpowered.
Though Jackal looked pitiful, Durandal wouldn't pity an enemy.
Instead, she pressed on seriously:
"So—what exactly can the Stigmata Plan accomplish?"
Jackal paused.
Then, perhaps out of concern for her life—or from total burnout after being "fired"—
she didn't hold back:
"Those chosen are transported to [New Atra].
Those not chosen... are converted into stigmata.
They sink into the Imaginary Space,
becoming the foundation for building a new world."
...
"Come to think of it—whether it's Jackal, or Raven... or even Gray Serpent..."
"All of World Serpent's officers seem to be defined by one thing:
If they can do it, great. If they can't, they retreat.
They're all really good at... staying alive."
Elysia half-joked, watching Jackal spill info so easily.
"True... it does feel like that,"
Hokuto admitted after giving it some serious thought.
Compared to—
Schicksal (Durandal, Sushang)
Anti-Entropy (Tesla)
World Serpent might really be the most socially savvy of the three major factions.
And yet...
Ironically, this earthiest of organizations had a leader who was anything but worldly.
Thinking of Kevin...
"If it can be done, it must be done.
If it can't be done—still must be done."
Still that same, old refrain.
Just as the Flame-Chasers' endings in Elysium Mirror mirrored their real-world counterparts—
Kevin would be no exception.
He'd always choose to load his own life into the chamber.
"Though, not all of World Serpent's members are like that..."
Hokuto still added this line—to avoid giving people the wrong idea.
But still...
Whether it's Hare (who liked to "care" for her boss),
or Prometheus No. 17 (who "slapped first" to start a rebellion)—
They're all... well...
If players ever did get to know all the World Serpent executives,
they might start seeing the organization as one big circus.
Cough. Kevin, hang in there.
"Hmm..."
Elysia, unlike Hokuto—who had drifted off in thought—focused on his earlier words.
"So, Mr. Otto, are you saying more World Serpent officers are going to show up in the story?"
Then immediately realized:
"Oh—of course. Hare's been mentioned so many times...
She has to appear eventually."
Plus... there was one thing Elysia was especially curious about.
"Hare's voiced by Cecilia...
So who is she really...?"
"Keep watching. You'll find out."
Hokuto cut in before she could finish.
"..."
"True enough."
Elysia nodded lightly—
And tapped the screen to continue.
After that minor detour—
The story resumed.
Even with Jackal's honest breakdown of the current Stigmata Plan,
many uncertainties remained.
For example—
"How exactly does a [human] become a [stigmata]?"
Jackal paused again.
For the first time, the smug expression on her face disappeared—
Replaced by visible gloom.
"I don't know."
["Excellent answer."]
[She talked like she knew everything, and now it's just... "I don't know"??]
[?????]
Just like the players,
Seele's trio stared at her in speechless disbelief.
Jackal quickly changed the subject—
And dropped a bombshell:
"The current realization of the Stigmata Plan—
still relies on technologies preserved from the Previous Era by the Lord."
"Those results created [Hare]—
created that dual-existence that dreams for Serpent."
"From the very beginning... she was both a stigmata and a human."
[Stigmata and human??]
[Don't tell me Hare is a stigmata-based manifestation of Cecilia?]
[Is Hare the Stigmata version of Elysia?]
[She's becoming more and more mysterious...]
"..."
"Anyway—after the [transfer], I wasn't taken further into the plan with the Lord.
I just appeared at New Atra's camp."
"Maybe... that means even my last shred of usefulness has been exhausted.
Time for me to be officially retired."
[Love that line from Kevin: "She was very useful." (lol)]
[Kevin: "That was then. This is now."]
[She used to be great at drawing aggro—now that Kevin's here, she's out.]
Durandal, however, picked up on a key point:
"[Further plans]...?
Where is Kevin now?"
"Naturally—in a place unreachable and undisturbed."
Jackal shook her head.
"As for where exactly...
How could we possibly guess the Lord's thoughts?"
[Kevin is still clashing with the world's strongest Valkyrie—Theresa (not real)]
[Translation: "I don't know either."]
[Honestly, I have no idea what Kevin is thinking anymore.]
[Maybe Kevin's motives are simple—like when he found Elysia a Herrscher vessel.
We're probably overthinking it.]
People were divided.
Some felt confused.
Some thought it wasn't that deep.
Either way—it all depended on how the story developed.
But Jackal did propose a theory—
Maybe the reason the main cast was left behind...
Was to stress-test the Stigmata Plan.
If the plan could be shaken by such resistance—
how could it be expected to carry humanity safely through the end?
Hmm...
Sounded... quite plausible, honestly.
"So you're saying we're just tools...
To test your plan's stability?"
Jackal didn't give a direct answer.
Instead, she left a cryptic parting line:
"Do you know...?"
"Years ago, before the Lord's birth,
a certain Gray Serpent once told me something strange."
'We are not snakes.
We are just moths born in the wrong era, destined to fly into the flame and die.'"
That line clearly wasn't just for the characters.
It was for every player familiar with Honkai Impact 3rd's lore.
Because only players would know that World Serpent was once...
Fire Moth.
"—Now, thinking back to it today,
I suddenly feel like... there's more meaning to those words."
And with that—
Jackal turned her back on them and started walking down the mountain.
But two steps later—
she raised a hand and gestured in a circular motion behind her.
A second later—
Several Honkai Beasts appeared out of nowhere—
attacking Durandal's group.
"What's going on?! Is she messing with us?"
"No—it seems to be a natural phenomenon of this place.
She was just stalling, waiting for the monsters to spawn so she could slip away."
In game terms—
This zone has timed enemy spawns.
Jackal knew the schedule,
so she kept chatting until it triggered—
then dipped.
What did we say earlier...?
Times have changed.
Never underestimate any "harmless-looking" scientist.
Mobius, Vill-V, and Mei—liked this.
Also...
World Serpent officers really do prioritize one thing: survival.
Hmm...
Or maybe—
those who couldn't adapt... are already dead?
Considering the structure of the original Stigmata Plan—
World Serpent may very well follow "survival of the fittest."
As for the truth?
Hard to say...
For now.
Let's keep moving forward—
A major moment is just ahead.
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