The next day arrived.
Within the underground laboratory base of ME Corp.
Cocolia, clad in a Russian-style military uniform, with light blonde curly hair and purple eyes, observed the massive screen flashing with data streams in the center of the lab, clearly in a good mood.
"You seem to be in good spirits. Did something good happen, Cocolia?"
Wearing a black hoodie, a white mask revealing only a crimson right eye beneath the hood, and with the cold gleam of cybernetics visible on various parts of his body, Gray Serpent stood silently not far behind Cocolia, persistently holding a black umbrella even indoors. He addressed her in his hoarse voice.
"Of course. Everything is progressing exactly as I wished. How could I not be in a good mood?"
Cocolia spread her hands, proudly recounting her current accomplishments in Nagazora City to her associate.
"Raiden Ryoma is imprisoned, ME Corp is under my control, and his daughter is sinking into the abyss of despair due to the bullying I secretly orchestrated among the students. As Raiden Mei's heart continues to fall and twist, the Third Herrscher will soon successfully descend upon the world!"
There was one thing Cocolia didn't mention to Gray Serpent: Raven, another World Serpent operative, had secretly approached her, offering a sufficient supply of Honkai energy crystals.
Although the price Raven quoted was somewhat steep compared to the normal rate, the thought that completing the transaction would significantly shorten the preparation time for her plan, allowing the Herrscher of Thunder to be born ahead of schedule, made Cocolia grit her teeth and agree to the deal.
She had already received a portion of the high-purity Honkai crystal fragments from Raven as proof.
The purity of the crystals Raven supplied was unexpectedly high. Even Cocolia, an Anti-Entropy Executive, had never seen Honkai energy crystal fragments with such high concentration. She was now filled with strong anticipation for the deal with Raven.
Once the Herrscher of Thunder was artificially induced into existence, and captured during her initial weak state right after awakening, Cocolia was confident she could, through studying the Herrscher, develop the technology to open a path to the Sea of Quanta and retrieve Seele, who had fallen into it, anchoring her back to the real world!!
And why was Cocolia so confident...? Because Gray Serpent had already shown her the possibility of this plan succeeding.
"Since a month ago, Raiden Mei's Herrscher core awakening fluctuations began to become active. The Authority of Conquest and Thunder has been tearing rifts in various corners of Nagazora City, briefly connecting the real world and the Imaginary Space."
"When the Herrscher of Thunder fully awakens, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say a stable passage could be opened in Nagazora City, allowing a large number of Imaginary creatures to invade the real world."
"Once you truly capture the Herrscher of Thunder and master the technique to directionally tear space using the Authority of Conquest, you will naturally be able to open a passage into the Sea of Quanta, just like breaching the barrier between reality and the Imaginary Space."
"But Cocolia, are you truly certain the Herrscher of Thunder's awakening plan is still proceeding smoothly?"
Standing silently in the corner holding his black umbrella, Gray Serpent's voice, like a lurking snake, sent a chill down the spine. His cold words, like pouring cold water on her enthusiasm, instantly made the giddy and triumphant Cocolia frown, looking unhappily at Gray Serpent, who seemed intent on being enigmatic.
"Oh? If Lord Gray Serpent says so, then you must have your own unique insights?"
Faced with Cocolia's somewhat sarcastic tone, Gray Serpent's demeanor remained as impassive as ever. He simply presented his analysis silently.
"The Herrscher of Thunder's awakening fluctuations steadily increased over the past month. But when they reached their peak... that is, starting two days ago, the awakening wavelength began to continuously decrease."
Gray Serpent projected two virtual screens into the air before him, explaining to the frowning Cocolia. Two days ago—a very critical turning point. It was also two days ago that Gray Serpent detected that World Serpent's net, prepared in the Imaginary Space for the future implementation of the Stigma Project, had been triggered. This was an unprecedented reaction.
"Over the past month, the Authority of Conquest tore open a total of one hundred and thirty spatial rifts. After detailed data analysis and calculation, excluding the rifts that occurred in uninhabited corners, the number of human victims lost in the Imaginary Space due to being near a rift has been confirmed as ninety-seven."
"The location of the last spatial rift was an alley within Chiba Academy. What's particularly noteworthy is... this final spatial rift incident resulted in zero missing persons."
Gray Serpent's eerie voice, like a snake slithering in the dark, made Cocolia's heart turn cold as she began to realize the implications.
"That time was after school hours at Chiba Academy. It's impossible that no one happened to pass through that alley. According to the surveillance footage I infiltrated from Chiba Academy, after analyzing routes and times, the person most likely to have been there at that time is this individual—"
As a product of Previous Era technology, Gray Serpent possessed outstanding hacking skills, a network of numerous identical bodies, and an extremely high-performance super quantum computer. If he put his mind to it, the amount of intelligence Gray Serpent could gather was terrifying, and he could piece together the truth he desired from the vast amounts of data.
The virtual screen projected from Gray Serpent's palm displayed the image of a handsome young man with ink-black curly hair, wearing the Chiba Academy uniform, giving off the impression of a feline's alluring beauty.
"...Ren Amamiya? Are you saying that this Ren Amamiya hindered the birth plan of the Herrscher of Thunder?"
Looking at the black-haired youth on the virtual screen, who appeared ordinary apart from being rather handsome, Cocolia quickly read the information Gray Serpent had annotated beside the image, her expression surprised.
"Just an ordinary brat with a clean record, nothing special about him at all. What's there to be concerned about? The Herrscher's awakening is probably just experiencing normal fluctuations... But since you put it that way, Gray Serpent, perhaps it's better to eliminate him just in case."
After pondering for a moment, Cocolia decided her plan should tolerate no variables that could potentially lead to failure. Since Gray Serpent suggested it, and she believed removing this obstacle would be as easy as sweeping dust, there was no need to keep this high school student named Ren Amamiya alive.
Having made her decision, Cocolia began to summon her most capable daughter, assigning this simple task to her.
"Bronya, I have a target elimination mission for you—Go take care of that man named Ren Amamiya!"