Starting from the Collapse World, I became the behind-the-scenes boss

Fortunately, they were not fighting alone; the World Serpent's research department was with them.

Upon opening his personal terminal, Shihen could clearly see the three-dimensional layout of the entire castle, with even the damaged areas clearly marked. He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Sister Natasha truly lives up to her reputation as a senior member of the organization."

This level of action demonstrates that Raven's legendary mercenary status is truly not something to be taken lightly; Shihen still has a long way to go to catch up with him.

"Hmph! Now you know how good your older sister is?" Raven sneered and walked into the castle. "Hurry up. Even if we install these devices, who knows how long it will take to get results?"

Collecting and comparing various information is not something that can be done in a short time, even if they are using equipment specially provided by World Serpent.

If they can't resolve the matter before the night ends, they'll have to wait another month.

"Oh."

Nodding silently, Shihen walked in a different direction from Raven.

The castle is very large; it's more efficient to split up and act separately.

Walking through the long-abandoned castle, the air was filled with the smell of decay and antiquity, and a chill seeped into the skin, making one shiver.

Even the most experienced tomb raiders would likely feel fear and want to turn and run away as soon as possible in this situation.

But for Shihen, who had already become a Herrscher, he was simply enjoying this rare adventure, and even had the mind to help the skeleton lying by the roadside to pose in a nicer way.

Swish!

A whooshing sound rang out, and three sharp claws suddenly emerged from the darkness, slicing out a faint light as they clawed at the unsuspecting boy.

He slightly shifted his foot to avoid the claw, and then immediately raised his foot to kick the attacking figure hard.

Bang!

It flew back at an even faster speed than it had come, and its figure became deeply embedded in one of the walls, where it remained motionless.

"A suicide soldier? Are they wanderers who came here to take refuge during the full moon?" Shihen leaned closer to examine the person and deduced their identity from their clothing. "But they are really ugly."

Without the 12+ filter, the assassins in Honkai Impact 3rd actually look quite creepy.

With pale, grayish skin and terrifying, savage eyes, some of them even let out horrifying roars when they attack.

Moreover, they don't wear tattered uniforms and become older sisters.

Overall, the appearance of a zombie doesn't change much after becoming a suicide soldier; it's more like a zombie that doesn't decompose.

This is precisely why becoming a suicide warrior is an extremely unpleasant end for a Valkyrie. Many will entrust their friends with the task of killing them as soon as they show signs of becoming a suicide warrior, in order to preserve their final dignity.

After all, in a sense, suicide soldiers are actually living beings, while the dead cannot become suicide soldiers.

In a Honkai energy environment, the presence of external wounds accelerates the process of becoming a zombie, which is probably why this wanderer became a zombie.

Otherwise, given the concentration of Honkai energy within the castle, humans could survive for a long time without being affected, even during a full moon.

Raymond would seal that relic here; he wouldn't betray his own descendants by doing so.

With a slight shake of his head, Shihen punched the wall, smashing down countless bricks and stones to bury the assassins. He then turned and walked towards the next location.

It took nearly an hour before Shihen finally returned to the hall to meet Raven around 2 PM.

Chapter Eleven: A Stroll Under the Moon

"Now, all we need to do is wait here."

Raven found a spot where the moonlight could shine in and sat down, his expression quite relaxed.

She was quite confident in the technical capabilities of World Snake.

"Approximately how long will it take?"

He moved a stone over, and with a flick of his finger, he cut a smooth, flat surface into it. Only then did Shihen sit down next to the raven with satisfaction.

Watching the boy's series of actions, and then glancing at the stone below that he had only simply wiped, Raven suddenly felt that he was already out of touch with the times.

"It'll probably take several hours."

Raven took out a tablet-sized terminal, glanced at the constantly changing data on it, and speculated.

"Oh."

Shihen nodded.

He had never used this type of equipment before and didn't know whether the time was considered fast or slow.

But since it's a cutting-edge technology device from World Serpent, it must be at a world-leading level.

"How have you been in Sicily these past few days?"

Asking a question, the raven, now free, decided to inquire about the boy's life.

She had already come to regard Shihen as a younger brother who needed her care.

"It's alright." Looking at the desolate scenery outside through the large hole in the wall, Shihen replied casually, "The food in Sicily is delicious, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are quite nice."

As it turns out, in this modern society, as long as you have money, you usually won't live too badly.

With ten million given to him by the World Serpent, Shihen was living a very carefree life.

After all, he had no intention of saving money and not using it, nor did he plan to buy any island villa.

"Is it because of that white-haired girl?"

The raven chuckled mischievously, clearly having only heard the last sentence.

Shi Hen: “…”

You can't get over this hurdle, can you?

“Actually…” Staring directly into the mercenary’s wine-red eyes, Shi Hen’s gaze softened, “I prefer someone more mature than a little girl.”

……

The raven's pupils dilated suddenly.

The two sat side by side, so close that she could hear the boy's strong heartbeat and feel the heat of his breath on her face.

"W-What are you saying?"

Raven couldn't help but look away, her cheeks burning.

Even though the boy was indeed very handsome, like an adorable little puppy, she only saw him as a younger brother... How could this guy have such thoughts?

"just kidding."

Shihen said with a smile.

He's not the type to not fight back.

A mercenary: "..."

It's hard, the fist is hard.

Taking a deep breath, the raven's eyes gradually turned cold.

It's time to teach this brat a lesson about the hierarchy within the organization.

"However, I still really like Natasha."

Shihen added.

In this world, ravens are among the few people who show him kindness.

Having spent more than half a year in the shadow world, Shihen had witnessed countless betrayals and deceptions, and had even personally killed several of his teammates.

After all, Shihen only looks like a fifteen-year-old boy, and there are always those who think he is easy to bully just because he is young.

Without exception, all of these people returned to God's embrace ahead of time.

In the underworld where profit reigns supreme, betrayal and scheming are the norm, and kindness is a rare luxury.

Even the raven's kindness was only directed at a select few.

Charon's first place on the list was built entirely from piles of corpses.

"What?! You little brat..."

The raven shook its head, somewhat helpless, after being rendered speechless by the boy's words.

"Does Sister Natasha dislike me?"

Shihen blinked and looked at the mercenary.

"Of course not."

As he retorted, Raven subconsciously looked away, somewhat unable to meet the other person's eyes.

"Phew, that's good..."

Shihen seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

But under the moonlight, a faint smile appeared on the corner of the boy's mouth.

Today is another day of practicing tea ceremony.

The book says that high-level hunters often appear in the form of prey.

Of course, the reason why Raven was able to be manipulated so quickly was because Time Mark itself did not have any malicious intent.

Having risen to become the number one assassin, what methods hasn't Raven seen?

She was manipulated simply because she was willing to be manipulated.

Never daring to mention the white-haired little girl again, Raven took out snacks from her bag and shared them with the boy, while chatting about interesting things that happened during past missions to pass the time.

Listening to the story of the raven, chewing on the beef jerky in his mouth, and occasionally taking a sip of milk tea from his thermos, Shihen inexplicably felt like he was having a picnic in a park.

All I can say is that the raven is incredibly resourceful, managing to turn a perilous search mission into a wild outing.

Of course, the technical capabilities of World Snake are also an important factor.

Technology has changed life.

If there were internet access here, Shihen could even play a few rounds of online games.

The infrastructure in China is definitely more impressive.

Shihen couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Time passed quickly, and soon the raven's terminal displayed the detection results.

As his gaze swept across the lines of text and charts on the screen, the mercenary's brows furrowed slowly.

Seeing the change in Raven's expression, even Shihen, who didn't understand these devices, knew that something had gone wrong.

As expected, the protagonist's path is never smooth sailing.

Shihen deeply felt the guilt he had committed.

"What happened?"

Shihen asked a question very consciously, which propelled the plot forward.

“Target location not found.” Raven said, her voice somewhat deep, as she rapidly operated the terminal. “There is unexplained interference. We can only confirm that the spatial coefficient of the castle area is different from the normal value.”

Let me find the reason...

After operating the terminal for a full quarter of an hour, Raven finally put it down and said, "That thing Raymond left behind was actually moving!"

In another space beyond their sight, the relics left behind by Raymond were functioning in ways they could not comprehend, causing ripples to spread across the real world.

Due to the limitations of their equipment, they could not directly lock onto the relic; they could only see the shadow it left behind in the real world.

Is it a living creature?

Shihen also truly felt the difficulty of the problem.

If they can't decipher the artifacts' activity patterns, they probably won't be able to catch them.

"I don't know."

The raven shrugged, looking helpless.

Being able to detect the movement of artifacts is already a testament to World Serpent's impressive technology; who knows if that thing is even alive?

"Can you eliminate the interference?"

Shihen continued to ask.

"...There's not enough time."