"Are protective measures necessary? Sorry, I thought this was enough. Besides, Hare said as long as I'm careful not to directly break them, there shouldn't be any problems."
Seeing Raven's extreme reaction, as if struck by lightning, upon seeing the contents of the black backpack, Ren instantly felt reassured. This deal is definitely going through. Raven's reaction clearly indicated the materials he picked up from Mementos were indeed valuable—not just ordinarily valuable, but enough to shock a professional weapons dealer.
These purple crystal fragments were things Ren had picked up along the way in Mementos.
They were as common as stray dogs on the roadside there. Ren initially assumed such abundant materials wouldn't be very precious, but Hare suggested collecting them for sale. So, Ren had deliberately set aside some effort to gather a backpack full of them.
The texture of these purple crystal fragments bore a slight resemblance to the Will Seeds Ren collected in Yae Sakura's Palace. Perhaps, like the ubiquitous flowers and materials in Mementos, they were special items born from the collective human consciousness.
Unlike the flowers and materials he couldn't use directly, Ren discovered he could directly utilize these purple crystal fragments collected from Mementos. By holding a fragment, Ren could choose whether to absorb it into his body, converting it into his own SP—a highly efficient method of SP recovery.
However, because these purple fragments were literally everywhere in Mementos, Ren didn't feel the need to keep them all for personal use. He chose to sell them first to obtain some cash usable in the real world.
Simply storing Honkai energy crystal fragments together did indeed carry the risk of triggering a Honkai Eruption if subjected to strong impact.
But Ren, as a perfect Stigmata awakener, possessed extremely high Honkai energy adaptability and resistance, comparable even to a Herrscher. Therefore, he could naturally achieve things only Herrschers could.
Hare had considered the worst-case scenario of the entire backpack full of Honkai crystal fragments being accidentally destroyed. However, with Ren himself carrying the backpack, even if all the fragments shattered and leaked energy, Ren could act as a human vacuum cleaner, forcibly absorbing all the surrounding Honkai energy into his own body, preventing any negative impact on others in the real world.
Only after informing Ren of the necessary precautions did Hare send Raven's meeting location to him.
"These fragments contain repetitive thought patterns of destruction and brutality... Where on earth did you collect such bizarre fragments...? Wait, and these black-gold biological tissue fragments... Don't tell me you entered the Imaginary Space? Are these materials collected from the Imaginary Space?!"
Knowing what was inside the black backpack, Raven's attitude became markedly cautious. She carefully extended her fair, slender hand into Ren's backpack, her movements extremely small and steady as she meticulously felt around and examined the contents.
Using the power granted by World Serpent, Raven possessed the ability to read and, to some extent, interfere with the minds of Honkai Beasts. This power remained effective even when dealing with Honkai crystal fragments that retained only the simple, instinctual consciousness of the Honkai Beasts themselves.
Feeling the Honkai energy emotions fed back through her synchronous intervention with these crystal fragments, Raven couldn't help but click her tongue in astonishment. Her purpose in using her ability on these fragments was to gather as much information about Ren as possible. And after exploring the black backpack, Raven had clearly obtained the intel she sought.
From some of the more intact Honkai energy crystal fragments, Raven "saw" images of Honkai Beasts fighting and killing each other. Some fragments were formed from the bodies of those fallen beasts. The battlefield where these beasts fought was clearly not anywhere in the real world but in a dimension entirely different from reality!
Combined with the interspersed black-gold biological tissue remnants unique to Imaginary life forms found in the backpack, and recalling the honest Hare's self-introduction last night, Raven easily deduced that Ren was the person Hare wanted to hide from Gray Serpent.
Perhaps, like Hare, the Stigma Crystal, this seemingly ordinary... okay, quite handsome upon closer inspection... Chiba Academy male high school student also possessed the ability to enter and explore the Imaginary Space.
The Imaginary Space and the Sea of Quanta were mysterious, unknown territories that even the pinnacles of current civilization's technology, Schicksal and Anti-Entropy, rarely managed to venture into.
Only World Serpent, relying on the lingering knowledge inherited from the Previous Era, possessed unique analysis and understanding of Imaginary and Quantum powers. But that crucial knowledge was firmly held by Gray Serpent, not fully accessible to everyone.
Even World Serpent's own scientist operative, Jackal, needed to rely on her contributions to obtain partial data from Gray Serpent.
"As expected of a high-ranking operative of the Serpent cult. You identified the origin of these materials at a glance."
Ren looked at Raven behind the counter with slight surprise, acknowledging her sharp appraisal skills.
Hare had told Ren early on what the Serpent cult's higher-ups called Mementos, so Ren didn't react to Raven mentioning the "Imaginary Space." More surprising than Raven knowing the term was her ability to sense the emotions contained within the purple crystal fragments.
Just like Jose could taste the flavors of flowers born from the collective human consciousness in Mementos, could this female weapons dealer, a Serpent operative, do something similar? Destruction and brutality... Did she happen to touch the fragments collected near the Yae Village Palace area?
Ren pondered this internally but maintained a calm facade, strengthening his bargaining position.
"So, Miss Operative, will you buy this merchandise?"
Faced with Ren's nonchalant question, Raven, clad in her bartender uniform behind the counter, fell into thoughtful silence.
Cocolia had always wanted to artificially trigger the Second Great Eruption within Nagazora City, inducing Raiden Mei to awaken as the Herrscher of Thunder. But she was still in the planning stages; the equipment needed to generate a Honkai wave covering the entire city wasn't ready yet.
These high-purity Honkai energy crystal fragments could definitely be resold to the desperate Cocolia for a hefty profit. As for the Imaginary biological tissue fragments... Jackal seemed perpetually interested in the Imaginary Space and Imaginary life. Selling them to Jackal's lab would also fetch a considerable sum.
"...Alright. I'll take all of it!"
Having reached this conclusion, Raven made up her mind, immediately informing Ren of her decision.