Upon hearing Bronya's statement, before Seele could open her mouth to respond, Dark Seele let out a sneer inside Seele's mind.
[Look, even Elder Sister has realized that woman Cocolia doesn't see you as a daughter.]
"That's not right, the other me."
Although Seele's heart was very complicated at this moment, she wasn't flustered enough to not even hear Bronya's words clearly.
"Big Sister Bronya nodded after I said Mother Cocolia did some bad things to save me, didn't she?"
"This shows that Mother Cocolia still cares about me..."
[Heh, you idiot.]
[If you just looked at Elder Sister's eyes right now, you'd discover she's actually just going along with the viewpoint you've decided on and doesn't want to refute you.]
[Elder Sister is too gentle. She knows you'd be heartbroken if she told the truth, so she didn't say the whole truth.]
[But Seele, don't forget how Cocolia treated us when we went to find Elder Sister just before entering the Sea of Quanta.]
[She blasted us with Titans—is this something a mother would do to her daughter?]
"...The other me, we looked very wrong at the time. That was the reason Mother Cocolia chose to attack us, right?"
[Ah, ah, indeed. But, Seele, think about it carefully. Did your dear Mother Cocolia try to communicate with you then?]
[No. She didn't try to communicate with us at all. She just dispatched the mechs and never communicated through the mechs fighting us at the scene to confirm our thoughts, to confirm if we had really become her enemies.]
[If she was really worried about you, her adopted daughter, she wouldn't have attacked with lethal force without saying a word.]
"This..."
[As for later, heh, let me guess. Elder Sister participated in the experiment out of guilt but was pushed back to reality by you. That's something we both know.]
[But what about after that? Elder Sister must have been bamboozled by your dear Mother Cocolia using the reason of 'saving Seele' to do some not-so-good things.]
[This is also why I can hear a trace of remorse in her tone.]
[Also, don't forget, Elder Sister's emotional circuits were mostly damaged because of the X-10 Experiment. In other words, if she gives off a sense of guilt in this situation, it means the things Cocolia made her do were actually very excessive.]
[Get a grip on the situation. That woman taking you in as adopted daughters was just an opportunistic move. She doesn't mind showing a little affection as long as it doesn't affect her plans. But... her plans don't seem like good plans, do they?]
"The other me, your prejudice against Mother is too severe..."
[Ah, for a woman who can send her own 'beloved' adopted daughter to be human experiment material, do you think she'd be any less ruthless to others?]
"Seele?"
Seeing the expression on Seele's face constantly changing, Bronya regretted it a little.
Sure enough, should I not have told Seele this matter...
"Big Sister Bronya, I... I'm fine."
Just as Seele intended to say something more, Bronya's communicator suddenly rang.
"This is... a message from Big Sister Kiana? Telling us to gather at Master's office?"
"Strange, what important matter could Big Sister Kiana have at a time like this to gather us together and notify us?"
.................
Oceania Branch. Branch Director's Office
Inside the Branch Director's office, Kiana, having settled the Key of the Void, looked at Aaron snoring on the desk and felt this scene was incredibly... bizarre.
Aaron sleeping in broad daylight... this was simply too rare.
Previously, except when he passed out from massive blood loss, Aaron would usually make breakfast for her in broad daylight and then stroll around the Empire.
Later, after returning to this world, Aaron almost never had the habit of lazing in bed.
According to Aaron himself, his past life was impoverished, so he wasn't qualified to slack off.
Later, once this habit was formed, he was too lazy to change it.
But now...
Just now, Kiana had received a communication from Yuno, learning that someone on the Anti-Entropy side might be causing trouble, and prepared to go check on Anti-Entropy.
But when she came over to notify Aaron, she saw this incredibly bizarre scene.
Mei, who was silent beside Aaron, gently shook the phone in her hand after seeing Kiana enter.
Obviously, she had also received the communication from Yuno.
Originally, Kiana wanted to ask what Aaron planned to do, but now, better let him rest.
Aaron rarely slacked off, and when he really needed to slack off, it basically meant he was truly exhausted.
At a time like this... wait for Bronya and Seele to arrive, and the four of them could talk outside.
After waiting for a few minutes, Seele and Bronya also arrived at the office as agreed.
When the electronic door made some noise, Kiana glanced at Aaron's face.
Mn, still sleeping like a dead pig.
Rare, too rare.
And too bizarre.
What exactly did he do to those branch members after sending us away to drain himself so much?
Signaling the three companions with her eyes to leave the room, Kiana spoke to the three in the corridor.
"The communication from Yuno has already given us the coordinates of the Anti-Entropy HQ. She stated that for someone to be able to invade Anti-Entropy HQ this time, there must be a mole inside Anti-Entropy."
"Considering that there are actually only a few people who know the specific coordinates of the Ark Chamber, and the two Executor Doctors who are founding members have no reason to sell out the organization they created single-handedly, she suspects..."
Glancing at Bronya and Seele, Kiana hesitated whether to continue.
But Bronya and Seele weren't fools either, especially since they were discussing this topic just earlier.
Although Kiana didn't say a word, that look in her eyes already told the two who the suspect was this time.
"Mother Cocolia... Bronya cannot understand why she would sell out Anti-Entropy's coordinates to other hostile organizations."
Sighing helplessly, Bronya lowered her head dejectedly.
"Although she is the head of the reformist faction and doesn't get along with the conservative faction's Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla, this is still Anti-Entropy's internal affair no matter what."
As for Seele, although she guessed who Kiana wanted to talk about, her brain still hadn't caught up with everyone's circuits.
As the pure victim among the four who knew the least about the specific situation, Seele simply didn't understand how the topic jumped to Mother Cocolia becoming a mole.
"Who knows about that. Maybe it's a misunderstanding, or maybe Cocolia feels that for the sake of grasping power, sacrificing other executors in her own organization isn't a problem."
Seeing the sad expressions on the faces of Cocolia's two adopted daughters, Kiana's expression also became a few degrees more serious.
"Yuno knows we got the Key of the Void, so after giving us the coordinates, we can go over anytime."
"I'm definitely going to Anti-Entropy HQ this time. After all—that stinky old dad of mine has a high probability of being there too."
"For me... I'd better stay here."
Glancing at the office door, Mei said helplessly.
"Aaron's current defenseless state really makes it impossible to leave with peace of mind. However, Kiana, if you go to Anti-Entropy HQ and see my father, Ryoma Raiden, please tell him I'm doing very well now."
"Mei, you..."
As a girl who had deep feelings for her father, Kiana actually knew very well that Mei also wanted to go to Anti-Entropy.
Anti-Entropy HQ was invaded this time. If Mei's father was also at Anti-Entropy HQ, she would inevitably be worried about her father too.
But now, knowing that Kiana had been searching for her father's traces, and unable to leave Aaron alone in this unfamiliar place, she chose to give this opportunity to Kiana.
Of course, leaving Bronya and Seele behind... was definitely not a good choice either.
Bronya and Seele's combat power—one wasn't strong, the other was practically non-existent. Expecting them to protect Aaron was a bit demanding.
And now, these two girls inevitably hoped to meet Cocolia directly.
No matter how treacherous or evil Cocolia was, she was the adoptive mother who had shown them kindness.
With the chance to meet Cocolia now appearing before their eyes, the two definitely wouldn't want to miss it.
"Don't take it to heart. Dad has some skill no matter what, and considering Mr. Siegfried and Yuno are both at Anti-Entropy HQ, Yuno notifying us to go over this time might just be an excuse for you to meet Mr. Siegfried."
"Kiana, seize the opportunity. Since the chance has finally appeared before your eyes, you can't let it fly away just like that."
"Mei, thank you. Well then..."
Grabbing Seele and Bronya by the shoulders with both hands, Kiana used the authority of the Key of the Void and vanished directly from Mei's eyes.
After Kiana left, a touch of helplessness finally surfaced in Mei's eyes.
Just as Kiana thought, Mei indeed worried about her father, Ryoma Raiden.
But Kiana had been separated from her father for four or five years. Compared to herself, who could still practice swordplay and eat with her father a year ago, Kiana needed this opportunity more.
"And Aaron's current state... With a magnetic field master's perception of the surroundings, he should have reacted when Kiana opened the door to enter... no, even when I opened the door to enter."
"And a magnetic field master's recovery ability is extremely strong. What exactly happened that could drain him so much and put him into such a deep sleep state?"
.......................
Anti-Entropy HQ. Ark Chamber
After confirming that Aaron had arrived in Oceania and headed to the Oceania Branch, Gray Serpent, Jackal, and Raven immediately seized this opportunity and launched a raid directly on Anti-Entropy HQ.
The members of this raid, apart from Raven holding the Divine Key and multiple Gray Serpents who could transform at any time, the remaining members were basically extremely...
Mn, those modified monsters named Death Weavers—don't expect them to have any good looks.
Of course, setting aside their looks, the combat power of these monsters modified from humans was indeed not bad.
Plus this cat named Stan following by their side, heard to have the strength of an Emperor-class Honkai Beast...
Mn, it should be no big problem.
According to Cocolia's intelligence, the Sovereign of Anti-Entropy was still whereabouts unknown.
In other words, the strongest combat force that could appear at Anti-Entropy HQ now should be Siegfried Kaslana, who was closely related to Anti-Entropy.
But after losing an arm and being heavily injured in the Second Eruption, that guy obviously didn't have the powerful strength of the past anymore.
Perhaps compared to Siegfried, Siegfried's daughter was actually a greater threat to them, World Serpent, right now—after all, that one could really fight.
To avoid complications, Raven, who arrived at the Ark Chamber, immediately began advancing toward the area where the two doctors, Einstein and Tesla, were located.
Only, the further she advanced, the more she felt something was wrong.
[Gray Serpent, something's wrong.]
[Ah, I feel it too. Too few people.]
[Even if the Ark Chamber is a place only core cadres can come to, it shouldn't be this quiet all the way.]
[Did Cocolia sell us out?]
[Heh, that woman has no reason to do so. We can give her new technology, while Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla are only hindrances in her eyes.]
[As long as her brain didn't cramp up at the critical moment, she has absolutely no reason to sell us out.]
[True enough... Looking at it this way, not a big problem. Are we worrying too much?]
[No, being a bit careful isn't a bad thing. Complete the mission as soon as possible. After inviting those two doctors back, we'll go have a good chat with Cocolia.]
Just as the two finished communicating, three figures suddenly appeared before the World Serpent assault unit.
In Raven's eyes...
'Siegfried's daughter,' whom she had just mentioned in her heart, actually appeared before them right now with a devious smile, bringing along two little girls.
.......................