[We've lost contact with Cocolia's side. Something might have happened. Although I really don't want to save that annoying vixen, as a fellow leader of Anti-Entropy, it would be troublesome for us if she were casually captured by Schicksal... Tsk, damn vixen! She better die directly at Schicksal's hands, and definitely not be captured alive!]
From the virtual screen projected by the small terminal, Dr. Tesla, with her red twin ponytails, clicked her tongue in annoyance. She felt a strong resistance and disgust at being forced to clean up Cocolia's mess.
Naturally, Tesla didn't want to save Cocolia.
But as the leader of Anti-Entropy's Reformist faction, if Cocolia were captured by Schicksal and chose to sell out Anti-Entropy's intelligence to Otto, although the organization wouldn't face utter destruction, it would undoubtedly suffer a severe blow to its strength.
To prioritize the bigger picture, Tesla had no choice but to seek help from Siegfried Kaslana, an ally of Anti-Entropy, hoping he, being in Nagazora City, would carry out a rescue mission for Cocolia.
[Faster, faster, faster! Siegfried, can't you go any faster?!]
[I'm sorry to ask this of you at such a time, Mr. Siegfried. After all, you don't look like you're in good condition right now. But the intelligence in Cocolia's head is very important to Anti-Entropy and cannot be leaked.]
Einstein pushed aside Tesla, who was angrily banging on the table and constantly urging Siegfried. Her calm tone carried a hint of apology.
[Speaking of which, it is indeed strange. What's wrong with you, Siegfried? Insomnia? Could it be that your daughter was snatched away by some punk who popped out of nowhere, but you, unable to appear before Kiana, could only watch, and that's why you're like this now?]
Siegfried sped through Nagazora City under the cover of night, the scenery beside him rapidly receding.
After receiving the urging from both Tesla and Einstein, Siegfried's speed involuntarily doubled.
However, just as Einstein had said, Siegfried's current state was clearly not good. The stubble on his chin was denser and more unkempt, and dark circles like a panda's had appeared around his eyes, giving him the look of someone who had overdone it with "cultivation" [staying up all night].
The only thing Tesla could think of that could affect Siegfried's current state of mind and keep him from sleeping was his daughter, Kiana.
"How is that possible! Although my Kiana found someone she likes at Chiba Academy, it's a girl she found! Where would some punk come from to abduct my Kiana!"
Hearing Tesla's teasing, Siegfried couldn't help but refute her.
"You might not believe this, but I feel great right now! I could even say I haven't felt this comfortable in years. My body feels so light, it's like I'm young again!"
Siegfried shook his neck. Although he had thick dark circles under his eyes, he was in a state of extreme excitement mentally, with no trace of fatigue in his voice.
"I feel like I've finally overcome the side effects of the ICOR Factor. Even if I use the Kaslana bloodline power, I won't go berserk again... When we get back to the Anti-Entropy base, help me check my physical condition!"
Siegfried clenched his remaining arm, feeling the abundant and docile power within his body. His tone was filled with eagerness, wishing he could activate the Kaslana bloodline power right now and enter a state of artificial Honkai Eruption.
However, under rational control, he didn't act on this impulse. Instead, he planned to have his physical condition tested with the assistance of the two Anti-Entropy doctors when he returned to the base.
[How is that possible?! Even the medicine I and Einstein developed for you can only slow down the erosion of your bloodline! And you're developing stronger drug resistance now. How could you suddenly feel like you've overcome the side effects of the ICOR Factor? Did something happen that we don't know about?!]
Upon hearing Siegfried's reply, Tesla immediately cast Cocolia's safety to the back of her mind. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she hurriedly pressed Siegfried for more information.
"...You might not believe this, but I've been having nightmares these past few days. Every time I close my eyes, a kid in black clothes and a white mask jumps out and starts beating me up."
Siegfried hesitated for a moment, his expression conflicted as he told the two Anti-Entropy doctors on the other end of the small terminal about his recent peculiar experiences.
"Before, it was always the same dream playing on a loop. Each time, neither I nor that masked kid could do anything to the other, and that's how it ended. Until today, the dream suddenly changed. The masked kid brought out two more accomplices and beat me black and blue. Even when I activated the ICOR Factor in the dream, I couldn't beat him."
What was particularly outrageous was that Siegfried even dreamed that the girl Kiana was pursuing, Raiden Ryoma's daughter Raiden Mei, had also been pulled into the masked kid's camp by him. She looked very intimate with him and fought with great effort during the battle, nearly electrocuting Siegfried.
"But after being defeated by that masked kid, when I woke up from the dream, I felt an unprecedented sense of clarity and smoothness. I haven't been tormented by the erosion and ravings of the ICOR Factor's side effects since then!"
Siegfried, while secretly suspecting if he was having such an absurd dream because he didn't want his daughter to have a girlfriend—dreaming of Raiden Mei helping the masked kid beat him, her father-in-law—finished narrating his recent situation to the two Anti-Entropy doctors.
With Siegfried's strength, it was very simple to maintain his speed while talking.
During his conversation with the two Anti-Entropy doctors, Cocolia's temporary base was already close at hand.
In the area surrounding the temporary base, one wrecked Titan mech after another lay strewn on the ground. The building serving as Cocolia's temporary base was riddled with holes, its walls bearing massive cavities from the impact of battle.
[Siegfried, that masked kid you mentioned... Is he perhaps wearing a black trench coat with a hem like bird wings, a white bird-shaped mask on his face, and a pair of red gloves on his hands?]
Just as Siegfried was examining the wreckage of the Titan mechs on the ground and heading towards the interior of the temporary base, Tesla suddenly spoke to him in a somewhat strange tone.
"Ah, yes, yes, yes! As expected of Dr. Tesla! But how did you know, Tesla? Could it be that you had the same dream as me?!"
Hearing Tesla accurately describe the specific features of the masked kid, which he hadn't detailed, Siegfried's eyes lit up. He eagerly questioned Tesla on the other end of the virtual screen.
[Siegfried, you big idiot! You were clearly attacked in your dream! Stop just looking at the ground, take a look at what's visible in the hole in the building to your front left!!]
Seeing Siegfried's oblivious demeanor, Tesla's brow twitched. She slammed her fist on the table, pointed towards the hole in the base in front of Siegfried, and shouted at him, her patience worn thin.
"The hole in the building to the front left... Huh?! That guy, is that the masked kid I fought in my dream?!"
After looking in the direction Tesla indicated, Siegfried, who had given up thinking for himself due to having two trustworthy external brains, saw his previously lax gaze instantly sharpen. He quickly switched to a combat stance.
Then, in the next instant...
"Huh? That masked kid stabbed Cocolia with a sword? Is my rescue mission over?"
Witnessing the scene of Ren Amamiya plunging the Jizo Mitama tachi into Cocolia's body, Siegfried raised an eyebrow slightly and asked Tesla on the other end of the virtual screen.
The mission Siegfried had accepted was to rescue a living Cocolia. But if Cocolia was already dead, then the rescue mission could naturally be considered complete.
A dead Cocolia couldn't reveal Anti-Entropy's confidential information to Schicksal.
[...I feel like Cocolia can still be saved. And right now, the most important thing isn't Cocolia anymore, but that masked youth who invaded your dreams. Since he appeared in Cocolia's temporary base, he should be connected to Schicksal.]
Einstein rubbed her forehead, speaking to Siegfried with a hint of helplessness.
[To be able to invade your dreams for an extended period to launch harassing attacks, and to even defeat you in your dreams, without ever being discovered by you in the real world before this... This masked youth is likely Otto's secret trump card. Regardless of the reason, you should go and probe him now.]
"...You're right, Einstein. Even for Kiana's sake, I have to go in and meet that masked kid!"
Recalling the sight of Raiden Mei acting completely subservient to Ren Amamiya in the dream, Siegfried's expression couldn't help but change.
Although matters of emotion couldn't be forced, Siegfried, as an open-minded old father, still didn't want Kiana to be heartbroken from being cucked in a breakup.
Even if he couldn't change anything, Siegfried at least wanted to teach a lesson to the guy who might have cucked Kiana.
The grudge from being beaten up in the dream, the grudge from potentially cucking Kiana—new and old hatreds combined, let's settle them all here!
Having made up his mind, Siegfried strode towards the interior of the temporary base. He didn't choose the main entrance but directly smashed through everything in his path, forcibly carving out a direct passage to the battlefield.
[Huh? For Kiana? What's going on? Don't tell me your daughter really got snatched away by that punk? I mean, in the dream.]
Hearing Siegfried's low mutter, Tesla raised an eyebrow in surprise, beginning to suspect that besides being beaten up in his dreams for several days, Siegfried had also witnessed the hellish scene of his daughter being taken away.
"I didn't expect Cocolia to actually not have a Palace. That's really outrageous. Her heart is clearly twisted enough."
Inside the temporary base, Ren Amamiya held the hilt of the Jizo Mitama sword, which was embedded in Cocolia's chest.
While forcibly changing Cocolia's heart by pouring corrosive power into her body, his left hand held up his phone, displaying the MetaNav app interface. His thumb gently tapped the "No" option on the confirmation prompt that popped up.
The MetaNav app seemed to have secretly upgraded itself without him noticing.
Although, like last time, it couldn't find the Palace within Cocolia's heart, it did detect the location of Cocolia's Shadow in Mementos and prompted Ren Amamiya whether to navigate there, instead of forcibly teleporting him without question as before.
The updates to the MetaNav app undoubtedly made it much more user-friendly and intelligent.
And these thoughtful changes clearly hinted at the attitude of the evil god, the developer behind the software.
The reason Ren Amamiya hadn't wanted to use Jizo Mitama for a forced change of heart earlier was to collect the Will Seed and Treasure from Cocolia's Palace.
However, Cocolia didn't even have a Palace, preventing Ren Amamiya from obtaining a new Will Seed of a deadly sin. In that case, there was no need for him to go to Mementos to find Cocolia's Shadow and make her repent.
According to Higokumaru, while making Cocolia repent through her Shadow in Mementos was a sufficiently covert method, it had a certain delay. It would take some time for the Cocolia in the real world to repent along with her Shadow.
But if Jizo Mitama's power was used directly on Cocolia in the real world, the change of heart would be immediate. Cocolia could instantly complete her repentance and turn over a new leaf from then on.
After losing the allure of the Will Seed, Ren Amamiya naturally chose the fastest method.
"Why... Mama Cocolia, when exactly did you install a control chip in my brain?"
Standing behind Ren Amamiya, Bronya clutched her still faintly aching forehead with one hand. Her face was extremely pale, and her gaze towards Cocolia revealed utter disappointment.
During Cocolia's last desperate struggle against Ren Amamiya, she had secretly activated the control chip implanted in Bronya's brain. In an instant, she had seized control of Bronya's body, attempting to order Bronya to launch a sneak attack on Ren Amamiya, who had his back to her.
However, besides the brain control chip installed by Cocolia, Bronya's body also contained the corrosive power forcibly injected by Ren Amamiya.
Cocolia had just activated the chip in Bronya's brain. Bronya's consciousness had only blanked for a moment, not even falling into a daze, before the corrosive power stored in her body spontaneously controlled and deactivated the rampaging chip in her brain.
Under Cocolia's utterly astonished gaze, Bronya's body merely swayed. The carefully prepared contingency chip hadn't affected Bronya's thoughts in the slightest!!