Arga kept spouting complaints, his expression shifting between speechlessness and bitterness. He looked just like an overworked employee standing helplessly in the office, muttering curses at his damn boss.
He thinks I'm a B-Rank Valkyrie...?
Li Wu thought to himself.
To make the crises sufficiently impactful, he had established a specific power scale in the manga. A B-Rank Valkyrie, relying solely on Honkai energy to enhance her body, could withstand light firearms like rifles. With the addition of a Schicksal battlesuit, taking down a tank or a fighter jet single-handedly was a walk in the park.
That was why Arga was so terrified of him.
"But you still came. Whether or not you subjectively want to kill Raiden Mei, as long as you show up, I have to assume you intend to make a move. Unless you can give me a valid reason." Li Wu maintained his poker face, staring blankly at the other man. He stood perfectly still, looking like a living target, his entire body full of openings.
Arga hastily raised his hands to explain. "No, no, no! You're from Shenzhou, right? Doesn't Shenzhou have an old saying: 'A gentleman uses his mouth, not his fists'?"
"There is. But there's another saying: 'Since you're here, you might as well get comfortable.'"
"Right, right, right! I know that one too! It means since you've already arrived, you should settle down and make yourself at home."
"The first half is right. The second half is wrong."
"Then... what's the second half?" Arga asked cautiously.
"Since you're already here, you might as well be buried here." As he spoke, Li Wu took a step forward. Arga instinctively backed away, even though his sensors showed Li Wu's physical stats were pitifully low.
But the annihilation of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group overnight was no fake news. Before that wipeout, everyone had thought the mission would be a piece of cake.
The results had exceeded all expectations—far exceeded them. Data didn't lie, yet when it came to Li Wu, the AI's predictive models were about as reliable as a children's toy. They were completely inaccurate.
"Wait! I can tell you a secret!" Arga said in a panic.
Li Wu originally wanted to just agree and play along, but who knew if the secret was real? He took another step forward. "When a man is about to die, his words are kind. Once you're on the verge of death, whatever you say will naturally be exactly what I want to hear."
"No, wait, wait! You'll definitely be interested in this secret! I can tell you exactly who has been guiding the nobles of Nagazora City to kill Raiden Mei!"
Upon hearing this, Li Wu stopped.
The mastermind behind the scenes had never been explicitly revealed in the manga. The story had simply presented a continuous stream of crises, leading straight into the Third Honkai Eruption, and then transitioning to Act Two at St. Freya Academy.
Li Wu wanted to know too. Even as the "Creator God" of this world, he hadn't filled in those blanks. What was the truth?
Just how much did this mastermind hate Raiden Mei to ruthlessly and relentlessly manipulate the entire nobility of Nagazora City into trying to kill her?!
"Let's hear it," Li Wu said, keeping his voice low.
"It's Raiden Ryoma!"
As the words fell, dust swirled in the air. An incredibly familiar name—one that absolutely shouldn't be involved—came out of Arga's mouth.
Raiden... Ryoma?
Mei's biological father!
"Heh. You're pretty good at sowing discord. Who in Nagazora City doesn't know that Raiden Ryoma, the President of ME Corp and Raiden Mei's father, is the ultimate doting parent? If you had said it was another Anti-Entropy Enforcer—like Cocolia from the radical faction, or Einstein and Tesla from the conservative faction—I might have considered it."
"Raiden Mei is Raiden Ryoma's most beloved daughter. For her sake, he willingly went to prison just to transplant the Gem of Conquest into her body, using the Herrscher's authority to neutralize the side effects of her natural stigmata."
"A man who threw away his career, his fame, and all his wealth just to save his daughter. What reason would he have for such a sudden change of heart? This isn't some cheap novel plot where someone gets possessed!"
Li Wu thought the Arga in front of him must be crazy to concoct such a clumsy lie.
But suddenly, a weapon that had only existed in his memories appeared, shattering his preconceived notions.
A cold, spectral blue light tore through the gloom of the abandoned building without warning.
There was no sound of tearing air, no hum of energy. As Arga drew the blade, the ground within a half-meter radius instantly froze over, and bone-chilling cold continuously radiated from the steel.
Li Wu's pupils contracted sharply.
"Plasma Kagehide."
The name of the weapon automatically surfaced in his mind. In the game's lore, Raiden Ryoma forged this blade with the original intent of freezing Raiden Mei if she ever lost control.
The manga had carried over this setting. The key item that helped the protagonist defeat the Herrscher of Thunder was this very blade—the Plasma Kagehide, a weapon designed specifically to counter her.
It possessed total suppressive power over the early-stage Herrscher of Thunder. As long as it pierced her body, it would instantly activate the "backdoor" Raiden Ryoma had left in the Gem of Conquest, causing the Herrscher's authority to temporarily crash.
Seeing Li Wu's contracted pupils, Arga quickly explained: "You know quite a bit. Anti-Entropy Enforcers, Plasma Kagehide, natural stigmata... none of this is information an ordinary person would know. You really do have the strength of a B-Rank Valkyrie or higher! Then I don't need to explain further. Only Raiden Ryoma knew where this blade was hidden. What does it mean now that it's in my hands? With your intelligence-gathering skills, I shouldn't need to spell it out."
Li Wu's throat went dry as he finished Arga's thought. "It means... Raiden Ryoma personally handed this blade to you, instructing you to execute... the mission of killing Raiden Mei."
How is that possible?
How is that possible?
How is that possible?!
Li Wu's pupils trembled. He stared in disbelief at the Plasma Kagehide in Arga's hands. It was the genuine article. From the fine details to the visual effects upon unsheathing, it was exactly as depicted in the manga.
Raiden Ryoma actually... truly wanted to kill his own daughter.
Why?
At this moment, Li Wu fell into a deep conflict. Over the past few days, aside from protecting Raiden Mei and planning for the Crisis Events, he had constantly been thinking of ways to clear Raiden Ryoma's name and get him out of prison early.
He wanted to help Ryoma temporarily gain the upper hand in the factional struggles.
By doing so, with Raiden Ryoma acting as his shield as an Anti-Entropy Enforcer, Li Wu could easily utilize his resources to handle future crises. He had already roughed out the plan and was just waiting for the right time.
But now he was being told...
His ideal helper was actually the mastermind behind all the crises?!
Are you kidding me?!
Li Wu clenched his fists tightly, wishing he could smash them against the nearby pillar.
But he couldn't. Arga was only sparing Raiden Mei and sharing this information because he believed Li Wu was incredibly strong.
He absolutely could not expose the fact that he was just an ordinary person in front of Arga.
Hold it in... hold it in...
Fuck!
"Why."
Li Wu suppressed his mounting frustration and spoke in a low, heavy voice.
Arga noticed his reaction. It seems Raiden Mei hasn't told Li Wu about this.