"Beep— beep—"
"Jackal? You're not dead?!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?!"
Above the waters near Oceania, an escape pod floated silently on the sea.
"I just crashed, I didn't die!"
A series of furious roars came through the communicator, all about bad luck—running into Wendy, how the accompanying members were useless, but how she was lucky, and so on.
While this might fool ordinary members of World Serpent, it definitely wouldn't fool the Gray Serpents who had access to the Gray Serpent network.
So, Gray Serpent quietly held the communicator away from his ear, patiently waiting for Jackal to finish venting.
After a good while, once Jackal's voice had died down, Gray Serpent brought the receiver close again and said, "Oh, I deeply regret your misfortune. So, what do we need to do now…"
"Come rescue me, of course! Did you think I'd just float out here on the ocean?!"
Jackal glanced at the endless expanse of sea around her, and all those records of maritime drift she'd read in the past involuntarily flooded her mind.
"Unfortunately, Madam Jackal."
Gray Serpent on the other end fell silent for a moment.
"After your signal was lost, we all unanimously believed you had perished. Therefore, we did not initiate any search and rescue for you."
"Instead, we planned to use the enemy's focus on intercepting you as an opportunity to launch an all-out attack and capture the Herrscher of Wind in one move."
"What are you implying?"
"It means… we are temporarily short-handed."
Gray Serpent spread his hands. "My team has fully activated all the Honkai Beasts under our control and successfully drawn away the majority of the Valkyries from the Oceania headquarters. The squad responsible for the main assault on the Oceania branch to capture Wendy is already poised to strike."
"Simply put… Madam Jackal, you wouldn't want the plan to capture Wendy to fail because we diverted resources to rescue you, would you?"
"Seriously?"
Jackal was so angry she nearly twisted her nose off. "Is the great World Serpent really so short-handed that you can't spare a single person to save me?"
"For operational secrecy, this entire mission is being conducted under radio silence. Aside from your backup communicator, all contact is solely through the Gray Serpent network. You are aware of this."
Gray Serpent replied calmly and firmly. "Of course, Hare hasn't actually reached the Oceania branch yet. If you're willing…"
"Get lost! Have Hare rescue me? I'd like to live a little longer!"
Jackal angrily ended the communication. "Then hurry up and come get me after you've captured Wendy."
"At your service." Gray Serpent smiled and hung up.
Although the Gray Serpents could be emotionless for the grand plans of World Serpent, when it came to someone like Jackal, who managed to annoy both allies and enemies alike, they didn't mind returning the favor in less critical situations.
As for whether this counted as a less critical situation… While Jackal's crash was somewhat unexpected, even if Wendy turned the world upside down, she was still just one person. And the team assigned to capture her, aside from Hare, had at least two other specifically tailored trump cards.
So, Gray Serpent had never even considered the possibility of failure.
Until… a signal from another Gray Serpent came through the network.
"Hey, stop slacking off on your end!"
Another Gray Serpent from the same team as the one who had just spoken with Jackal complained over the channel.
"Nearly half the Honkai Beasts under my command are already destroyed. Can't you hurry up and drive the hordes on your side forward?"
"?"
Gray Serpent slowly typed a question mark.
"Haven't I been ahead of you this whole time?"
"?"
Now it was the other Gray Serpent's turn to type a question mark.
"Then how many Honkai Beasts of Chariot-class or above do you have left right now?"
"…"
Both fell silent simultaneously.
"Damn it!"
"These casualty numbers don't make sense! What's going on? Did Wendy join the fight against the Honkai Beasts? She just shot down Jackal; she shouldn't have gotten here this fast."
"Wake up. It can't be Wendy."
Watching the number of Honkai Beasts under his command rapidly decrease, Gray Serpent's mouth twitched.
"Wendy uses a sniper rifle. She couldn't possibly take out large Honkai Beasts with one shot each. At this rate of depletion, if it really is her, then what she's holding isn't a sniper rifle—it might as well be a Gatling gun."
"Wait, I'm going to the scene myself to see what's happening."
The Gray Serpent network fell silent.
--+--
"Phew, another one…"
Wendy gasped for breath, rubbing her sore shoulders.
She'd only ever heard the Valkyrie sisters with… considerable chest burdens complain about shoulder pain every day.
She herself lacked the prerequisite for such 'happy troubles', but now, even though her body still hadn't developed to that extent, she was getting a taste of the same shoulder soreness.
Just from the sniper rifle's recoil.
"One after another. Do these Honkai Beasts really think this is their nest?"
"Uh…"
Thinking about her own status as a Herrscher, and then the identity of the girl in the wheelchair before her, Lynelle decided it was better not to comment.
"Hey, Lynelle, I think I took out a Gray Serpent earlier too!"
Rubbing her sore shoulders, Wendy immediately perked up, nudging the softness above her head.
"Another Gray Serpent? Just how many did World Serpent send this time…"
Lynelle muttered.
"What about that military unit near us?"
"They're a bit slow. Seems like they're still waiting for orders from the other side."
"True. The time between Jackal's crash and the mass deaths of Honkai Beasts on the other side wasn't long at all. They probably can't pinpoint your exact location, which is why they're hesitating."
Lynelle chuckled lightly. "But they won't have the luxury of hesitating much longer. Next, they'll probably take a gamble and come to the Oceania branch."
"After all, if they don't gamble now, not only will the Honkai Beasts on the frontlines be wiped out, but I'm afraid even Hare will lose contact~"
--+--
At that very moment, not far from Lynelle and the others…
"They want me to go to the Oceania branch now…"
Hare's brow furrowed slightly. Ever since she accepted this mission, her assigned tasks had changed again and again. By now, she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing anymore.
"Whatever, I'll just go take a look first…"
"That won't do~"
A voice almost identical to Hare's echoed in the dim space.
"Lynelle told me that your body involuntarily leaks large amounts of Honkai energy radiation. The Oceania branch now only has clerical staff left. If you go there, you'd cause heavy casualties among them."
"So…"
Cecilia stepped out from the shadows, smiling faintly.
"How about you keep me company for a chat instead?"
--+--
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.