Humans are in chaos, despicable outsiders.

"You want to hold the next experiment in a downtown area? Jackal, are you crazy?!"

Siola stared at the jackal in front of her, wondering what kind of expression was hidden behind that mask.

"The previous scattered experiments in quiet, deserted areas have already aroused suspicion from Destiny. Why don't you just put them in the city center this time?"

"Hmph, Gray Serpent should have told you something—the Honkai, a disaster and trial that accompanies the birth of civilization."

“We had fallen into a misconception before; we were conducting the Stigmata Project experiment with a mindset of routine covert operations.”

"This kind of thinking goes against the very nature of Honkai, so it's not surprising that it aroused the attention of the Valkyrie of Destiny—"

"The frequent collapses occur in quiet neighborhoods, not in bustling city centers and downtown areas. This counterintuitive situation is something I made a mistake on my part."

Jackal nodded and continued revising his plan.

"But that's a busy downtown area. If the jackals were to conduct experiments there—"

“If we conduct the experiment there, the number of subjects will be greater, and the planned number of successful samples will also be greater!”

"This will allow Project Stigmata to advance even further!"

The jackal rejected the raven's words without hesitation, leaving no room for negotiation.

"What about the losers?!"

"If you fail, you fail..."

A nonchalant voice came from behind the mask, seemingly not caring at all about the innocent person about to die... or perhaps the latter had long been numb to it.

"you!"

...

"This is the Stigmata Project, Raven—survival of the fittest..."

"Seats on the ship to the new world are ultimately limited; some are destined never to have the chance to witness the world's transformation—"

Seeing his somewhat agitated companion, the ever-proud jackal sighed deeply and began to explain to the raven—

"Many of the pioneers' plans—the Hengsha Project, the Ark Project, the Fire Seed Project... and the Stigmata Project, which crossed the final line."

"The pioneers, bearing the name of Heavenly Wisdom, silently returned to the World Serpent's base with a Valkyrie of Destiny, ultimately gaining nothing; Project Hengsha failed."

"The Fire Seed Project also came to an end with the awakening of the Judgment-class Honkai Beast Chi You a thousand years ago—and the pioneer who carried it out even died in the Sky Isle of Destiny not long ago in order to stop the Second Herrscher."

“Project Ark disappeared after it began decades ago. We had no choice, Natasha Ciola—we had no choice.”

"Project Stigmata is our only answer, humanity's only answer—"

"If humanity needs a demon to stand against the gods high above... then why not us?"

"Anyway—we, the World Serpents, have been going against the ethics and morality of this era for a thousand years..."

The jackal, caught in some kind of paranoia, didn't even call her by her code name as usual, but instead said her real name.

"you....."

Hiola looked at her companion with suspicion and uncertainty, her body tense, seemingly intending to subdue her the moment she went berserk...

"Alright, I'm fine—since the Lord and that young Lord have entrusted me with this plan, I will certainly fulfill my responsibilities to the end..."

The jackal lost his excited demeanor and regained his usual composure.

No, these two gentlemen, one of them, judging from the description, is a comedian in some ways, and the other just wants to trick you, and is also a comedian in some ways...

Wait a minute... I think I'm a comedian too...

"How about we move our headquarters to the bottom of West Lake in China...?"

The raven muttered something under its breath.

"There really is a base belonging to the World Serpent beneath the waters of that lake called West Lake. Why are you bringing that up?"

The raven spoke softly, but the jackal still heard it, and the latter looked puzzled.

"It's nothing... Are you sure you want to do this in a busy downtown area?"

"I'm sure... Raven, don't forget the end of the plan."

"Back then, there was no longer a distinction between bustling city centers and quiet corners—"

"This city will be transformed into a testing ground."

Chapter 220 You Got a Black Car.jpg

"When the day comes for her to speak out... this will be the next Sodom—"

Imotek leaned against the bar counter, sipping the drink Raven offered him, while listening to the gray-haired mercenary report on his conversation with the jackal that morning.

"Only a very few people can be favored and selected by fate and escape from the karmic fire that burns the world."

"And those who are abandoned will turn to ashes in history... However, she is not a god, and has no right to wield heavenly authority... Therefore—"

"Every transgression must come at a price..."

Imotek, swirling his wine glass, looked at Ciora—

"So, Siola, what kind of person do you think Jackal is?"

"—In a sense, she did show you her true self."

"Jackals, huh..."

"If it were the old me, and I were a bad person, then she would probably be a real demon... But now I don't know how to judge her..."

"Hell is empty, all the devils are here... and then we discover that even the devils have a pure side?"

Imotek looked at the raven with a playful smile, his expression complex.

"That's right... but today, all I saw was someone with severe paranoia... 'Good person' and 'bad person' might not even be appropriate to describe her..."

"The world is never black and white... but a dark gray. Even the most glamorous bishops have their darkest side, and the most despicable and shameless villains also have their own shining moments—"

Imotek shook his head, waiting for Siola to continue...

"If you call her a villain... then everything she did was for the continuation of the existence called humanity, and she was merely carrying out the legacy left by Dr. May 50,000 years ago."

"But if I treat her as a good person... then the ghosts of all the victims and vengeful spirits in this city will haunt my bed at night..."

...Siolla fell into deep thought.

"This guy is, in a sense, a paranoid too. Yes, that's right, a paranoid whose true nature is masked by arrogance and self-importance—"

Seemingly having confirmed something, the raven nodded to Imotek and stated its conclusion.

"Ah... paranoia, most leaders and cadres in any organization have this problem to some extent..."

Imotek nodded in agreement with Raven's statement.

"Good analysis, Miss Raven. So now you understand why we had to rip her off so badly..."

"For a stubborn person like this, who considers herself a smart person and is obsessed with being arrogant... simply slapping her twice won't do any good. Only a truly memorable failure can bring about a complete transformation."

"Just follow her instructions for the rest of the experiment—someone will come and disrupt it."

"I understand, but there's one thing I still can't accept..."

"Oh? What is it?"

Imotek gave him an interested look.

"Why can Jackal take the deaths of so many innocent people for granted, without even the slightest hesitation?"

"...That's quite unexpected. As a mercenary who lives on the edge, you would actually ask such a question?"

The girl showed a somewhat surprised expression.

"To lose humanity is to lose a lot."

"To lose one's animalistic instincts is to lose everything..."

"Of course, anyone would have hesitated, would have been confused—but perhaps she had buried all of that under the mask of Abinus, and her heart was now as firm as iron..."

"If even the creator gods never loved humankind, then what harm is there in humans transforming into demons—"

"The jackal you know. Well, or rather Dr. Cleo, the image of the demon scientist in people's traditional perception was born..."

"Compared to Dr. Möbius of the previous era, the former had a flexible moral bottom line... but as for the latter, Dr. Cleo... she probably has no bottom line at all—"

"She is indeed a genius, but the line between genius and madness is often very thin, the difference being whether or not there's a 'rope' attached to it, and as you've seen—"

"Kevin or Gray Snake did put a 'rope' on her, but those two scoundrels, whether intentionally or unintentionally, forgot to tie the other end of the rope to a pillar called morality—"

"And Cleo, the genius lady, without moral constraints, naturally ran rampant like a wild dog, frolicking everywhere in ways completely contrary to ethics and morality—"

He casually tossed the detailed information about the creation, which would be named "Death Weaver," onto a corner of the bar and downed his drink in one gulp.

"And this guy does have some serious brain farts sometimes..."

As if she had thought of something, the corner of the girl's mouth twitched.

"Oh...when?"

Now it was the raven's turn to show interest.

"The idiot who broadcast his battle plan across all channels—you'll find out soon enough."

"In research, this guy might really be called a creative genius—but in other areas, the description of him being bad at research but addicted to it is truly fitting."

"Hmm, is it almost noon? Time to go out for lunch—"

"Aren't you going to eat at the bar? There are quite a few food options here."

"Forget it, I don't think you want to learn how to cook, and I don't want to learn how to cook Chinese food either—Rita and Eileen are preparing a big lunch at your apartment... If you're planning to eat fast food alone at a bar, I'm leaving."

Imotek stood up, stretched, and walked towards the bar entrance.

"I'll be right there after I've packed up."

...

"All packed? Then get in the car—"

Imotek, who was sitting impatiently in the driver's seat of the sports car, waved to Raven, who was rushing out of the bar, signaling her to get in the car quickly and not delay the person who was busy cooking.

"Phew... I just got some new stock, need to sort it out—wow!"