EBE Chapter 416 How could sweet pepper curry be...?
Chapter 416 How could sweet pepper curry be...?
North America, New Mexico, a prison under the Anti-Entropy Base.
When Lei Dian Longma, dressed in a suit and tie, entered the reception room, the woman was already sitting on the other side of the glass window.
If there were a ranking of hatred for Cocolia, Raiden Ryoma believed he would be near the top.
Ryoma originally thought that his conflict with Cocolia was at most a clash between the anti-entropy ideologies of reformers and conservatives. However, this woman not only used underhanded tactics to get herself imprisoned, but also caused her daughter to become a Herrscher and destroy Changkong City. Even the fruits of his hard work, ME Corporation, the largest mechanical manufacturing company in the Far East, were destroyed in the Third Honkai Impact...
But today, in order to reverse entropy, he had to hold his nose and go see that crazy woman who had killed millions of people.
Longma sat in the chair with a gloomy expression. Sometimes he really felt that the leader of the alliance had been too lenient in dealing with this woman and the reformist faction she represented in order to maintain unity and stability. Even putting aside personal grudges, she had millions of people in Changkong City whose lives were in debt, and the final punishment was actually to be locked up and imprisoned for life, working on a sewing machine for the rest of her life.
The door opened.
"A rare guest indeed, Thunder Dragon Horse."
Raiden Ryoma raised his eyes and saw Cocolia's repulsive blonde hair through the glass.
Like all prisoners, this inhumane terrorist convict wore an orange prison uniform... Although it wasn't meticulously groomed, even he had to admit that the woman seemed to be in pretty good spirits.
That's normal. Having spent some time in prison, he knows that prisons are places with regular schedules and are relatively quiet. Following the rules and using a sewing machine means you won't have to work overtime, and the quiet environment allows you to contemplate life... Also, we have to talk about their leader. The leader and that kid went down to the Quantum Sea and rescued Cocolia's daughter, whom she was frantically searching for! Knowing that her daughter is back, this woman's spirit is satisfied. It would be a problem if her mental state wasn't good, right?
"Thunder Dragon Horse?"
While Raiden Ryoma was pondering, Cocolia asked again.
Cocolia's voice came through the poor-quality speaker, sounding somewhat distorted, but it still made Raiden Ryoma's teeth itch.
"By the way, what brings you to my place? I've already confessed to all my crimes, haven't I?"
Although she didn't expect anyone to bring her two boxes of milk (maybe her daughters would come to visit her sometime later when they missed her?), Cocolia never expected that Raiden Ryoma would come.
Are you here to press for details? But you've already confessed everything: the X-10 experiment with your daughter went wrong, and to fix that, you set your sights on Raiden Mei, who also possesses a Stigmata. Later, you accidentally discovered the existence of the Herrscher Gem and changed your plan to turn Raiden Mei into a Herrscher before capturing her. You even obtained some technology from outside to compete for the Herrscher and Stigmata, combined with her research to create a clone of the Herrscher of Reason. You even attempted to use the clone to impersonate the leader of the alliance, leveraging the prestige of the missing leader to overwhelm the conservatives led by Einstein and Dr. Tesla, seize power in Anti-Entropy, and steal the Herrscher and your daughter from the Far East branch…
In short, although the crimes were numerous and the charges were lengthy, Cocolia believed that she had confessed to most of the crimes related to Raiden Ryoma before serving her sentence. And having confessed, she had handed over all the resources to the true leader... Although the conservatives hadn't gone further to kill her after their resounding victory, they probably wouldn't even want to look at her now, leaving her to rot in some corner of this prison specifically for serious offenders, right?
As for giving her a chance to repent and atone for her crimes and be released from prison? Haha, even Cocolia herself doesn't believe that.
Raiden Ryoma didn't respond immediately. He slowly reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, a movement that made Cocolia on the other side of the glass squint slightly—despite knowing there was bulletproof glass, her military instincts still made her instinctively more vigilant.
But Ryoma didn't pull out an American-style iaido tool; instead, he took out a flat, black and gold metal box. Inside was a piece of paper covered in writing.
Cocolia raised an eyebrow; she couldn't see it, and Raiden Ryoma showed it to her without any intention of letting her see it.
"Raiden Ryoma, you're not really just here to visit your 'old friend,' are you?"
"Old friend?"
Thunder Dragon Horse sneered.
“Cocolia, it disgusts me to hear that word come out of your mouth. I’m here today to ask you a few questions.”
On the other side of the glass, a hint of doubt flashed in Cocolia's eyes, which had once been filled with ambition and calculation.
"question?"
"How much do you know about the World Serpent?"
Cocolia fell silent. The pale light of the prison's visiting room cast a faint shadow on her golden hair. A few seconds later, she suddenly chuckled softly, the sound carrying a mocking tone through the cheap speakers.
"How ironic, Raiden Ryoma. You, someone who almost had your family destroyed and your reputation ruined by me, are now going to collude with that absolutely unclean 'snake' just like me? And you even come to ask me, locked up in a cage, about it? When did you conservatives cross the line of morality?"
Don't misunderstand.
Ryoma's voice was as cold as winter.
"I have absolutely no interest in the dirty deal you and the Alliance Leader are talking about with the World Serpent! I'm here because the Alliance Leader and Dr. Einstein need someone to question them!"
"I see. You're here representing the alliance leader?"
Cocolia's lips curled into a playful smile.
"As for World Serpent, I don't know much about the others. I've only been in contact with an information broker called Gray Serpent. They approached me because I'm one of the few people who understands the inner workings of Anti-Entropy and personally 'created' and attempted to capture a Herrscher. Although my plan failed, my experience and data, along with the Titan blueprints we developed, are still valuable to them..."
Cocolia paused, seemingly organizing her thoughts, or perhaps observing Ryoma's reaction—Ryoma didn't speak, but simply stared intently at her.
These were hardly pieces of intelligence to him. Cocolia had already confessed to selling the limited Herrscher data and Titan blueprints—which was why they had overlooked "Snake," one of the many trading partners, when they were sorting things out before.
"Grey Serpent... to be honest, I've never truly had contact with him. No, perhaps I should say 'them.' To be frank, they are extremely mysterious, their whereabouts elusive. I first became aware of their existence after the X-10 experiment accident, when I was frantically searching for Seele. They began to provide me with cutting-edge, even forbidden, technical information through certain channels, such as... some of the technology used to clone the Herrscher of Reason, and the mecha designs that the Innovators were still working on—"
"You mean, they're behind all those crazy plans of yours?"
Ryoma's voice grew even colder.
"A helping hand? Perhaps."
Cocolia remained noncommittal; in any case, she couldn't get out.
"Incidentally, they never made any explicit demands or deals. Heh, now that I think about it, my failed plan might just have been an experimental observation for them?"
Cocolia looked at the piece of paper in Ryoma's hand.
"Shouldn't I have explained everything to you all by now? What, you're interested in this organization—"
Before Cocolia could finish speaking, a piercing alarm suddenly shattered the tranquility of the base!
hum - hum - hum -
The red light began to rotate and flash, the lights in the meeting room went out instantly, and then switched back to dark red emergency lighting. Outside in the corridor came the sounds of running, clanging metal, and short, urgent commands.
Ignoring the bewildered Cocolia, Raiden Ryoma stood up and gestured for the guards to take her away, his hand resting on the miniature communicator by his ear.
"I am Raiden Ryoma! What happened?!"
"Mr. Ryoma!"
The urgent voice of a staff member from the base's security department came through the communicator.
"Unidentified armed forces launch a surprise attack! Their firepower is formidable; initial assessment suggests they are Valkyries from Schicksal! We... Ah—!"
After a short scream, the communication was cut off.
Thunder Dragon Horse decisively rushed out of the reception room. The corridor was already in chaos, with Anti-Entropy's combat personnel and mechs rapidly assembling and rushing towards the direction from which the explosion had come. He grabbed a staff member who was hurrying past.
"Where's the nearest monitoring room? Take me there quickly!"
When Longma rushed into the nearest monitoring room, he saw several anti-entropy technicians operating the control panel nervously. On the huge monitoring screen, dozens of split-screen images were switching rapidly, some of which had turned into static.
"How is the situation?"
A young engineer who looked like the person in charge turned around, his face covered in cold sweat.
"Mr. Ryoma! The attack started from the newly repaired entrance, but the enemy moved extremely quickly and has already broken through the outer defenses! They seem to be very familiar with the base's structure!"
Seeing the combat uniforms of the newcomers on the screen, Ryoma realized why they looked familiar: the leader was Rita Losweiser!
The scythe in the hands of the Undying Blade vice-captain easily pierced through the Titan mech's armor.
"Destiny, the Undying Blade?! They've come again?"
Clearly, the repaired base defense system still couldn't withstand the Undying Blade's attack. Last time they came to me, it was in Abyss City; this time…
Thunder Dragon Horse was furious. If the last time the Undying Blade stormed the base was a slap in the face to Anti-Entropy, then the last time those kids quickly passed through the Destiny Floating Island and retrieved Tesla was like stomping Otto's face on the ground, evening things out.
Is Otto so petty that he can't stand this little loss? Does he really want to start a full-scale war between Destiny and Anti-Entropy?
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If World Serpent did anything "good," it was giving Sora a reason to indefinitely postpone starting work on the Hyperion—even if Himeko was utterly inhuman and possessed by a capitalist spirit, she couldn't force a child who had just exhausted her body to save the academy to do her work…
Although afterwards Qiong felt that as long as she activated her Holy Mark, she could basically recover her full health.
After a full day of rest, Qiong's spirits completely recovered.
"Kiana, Uncle Siegfried, I'm going out!"
Having no need to stay in bed any longer, he perfunctorily drank some bitter melon porridge, then picked up his baseball bat and strolled out—whether to find Mei, find Xiaoxing, or just go out and play by himself.
After all, the first idle morning after saving the academy deserves a little carefree relaxation.
"Xiao Qiong, Uncle wants to go with you! I just wanted to—"
Just as Siegfried shoved his feet into his shoes, Kiana swept to the doorway like a silver whirlwind.
"You old rascal! Your wound isn't fully healed yet! Go back to bed!"
Siegfried chuckled and tried to squeeze past his daughter.
"Kiana, go out and play too. What kind of injuries haven't I gotten? It's just that my prosthetic leg broke and I got a little frostbite. Besides, I'm not going far, just to the supermarket to buy some beer..."
"Don't even think about it!"
Kiana pushed Siegfried back into the house.
"My aunt said you need to rest for at least two weeks and abstain from alcohol completely!"
"That's nonsense from Theresa! She's just trying to find a way to stop me from drinking!"
Siegfried tried to struggle, but Kiana had already blocked the door with her body.
"Go back now!"
Kiana's eyes shone with an undeniable light.
"Even a dead gray hair can take a day off, Dad, can't you take two weeks off?"
Siegfried remained silent. Putting aside the difference between a day and two weeks, he didn't have two hands to play games while lying in bed…
Okay, I'll contact Walter later and ask for the complete collection of his "Allahato" works from these years. He'll probably have to rely on that to pass the next two weeks.
"Dad, was that... Ancestor really not another clone of me?"
Seeing Siegfried obediently sit down, Kiana handed him another spoonful of bitter melon porridge—the more you eat, the faster you recover! (Coincidentally, she didn't really want to eat it yet.)
Siegfried choked on the porridge, staring wide-eyed, before finally managing to swallow it.
"Ahem... Ancestor, it really is. Kevin Kaslana, Welt's statement makes perfect sense, and I think back then... Anyway, he should be our family's ancestor. Alright, that's enough, Kiana, stop feeding me, I'm full."
Kiana bit her lip, her face full of disbelief.
"Dad, you only took one bite... Is it because you can't eat the bitter melon porridge Auntie made?"
Siegfried immediately shook his head. Of course not! He couldn't taste it anyway. He just didn't want to be fed by his daughter who thought he was hungry and that it was inconvenient for her to eat without one hand.
Kiana frowned as she stuffed a spoonful of bitter melon porridge into her mouth, muttering to herself as she chewed.
"It tastes awful..."
To take care of the "patient," she turned around and opened the refrigerator, looking for something else—like the sweet pepper curry that Mei had asked her to bring back earlier; heating it up would be better than Theresa's bitter melon porridge.
"Dad, let me heat up some curry for you. It's made by Mei, it's absolutely delicious!"
Kiana excitedly brought out the lunchbox, only to see Siegfried absentmindedly fiddling with a spoon in his left hand, his gaze drifting towards the sky outside the window. Walter's words from last night were still echoing in his mind—Kevin Kaslana, that old woman, had suddenly become an enemy, a mountain weighing on his shoulders.
The microwave beeped, releasing the aroma of curry, a subtle sweetness and warmth unique to bell peppers. Kiana carefully took it out, scooped up a large spoonful, the thick, golden curry sauce coating chunks of meat and vegetables, and brought it to Siegfried's lips.
"Here, have a taste! Mei's cooking may not be fresh, but it's definitely a hundred times better than Auntie's porridge!"
Siegfried obediently opened his mouth and swallowed. He chewed and swallowed, but his face remained expressionless; he simply moved his mouth mechanically—it was all the same anyway, only the texture was slightly different.
Kiana looked at him expectantly.
"How is it? It tastes good, right? Isn't it much better than the bitter melon porridge my period makes?"
Siegfried nodded and took another bite. He still didn't say anything.
"Dad, what's your opinion? Mei would love to hear your praise..."
"Mmm, it's delicious, the texture is great."
That's it?
A strange feeling crept into Kiana's heart. She stared at Siegfried's face, watching him calmly finish his third and fourth bites...
This is a delicious dish made by Mei!
"Dad, won't you say a few more words? Can't you..."
A terrifying thought flashed through Kiana's mind.
"Don't you find the concentrated curry sauce too salty after heating? Would you like some water?"
"No need, no need."
Kiana stopped feeding him and looked at Siegfried. Her father was chewing slowly, as if completing a task, his face showing no relaxation or pleasure that should be present when enjoying food.
She took a bite herself: It was intensely sweet, incredibly sweet! Mei made a sweet pepper curry with honey, so how could it be salty?
"Dad, do you mean Mei's curry is salty just right?"
Kiana's voice trembled.
"Mmm, the curry is just the right amount of salty!"
"You bullshit!"
Siegfried looked up blankly.
"Huh? How can you talk nonsense..."
He stopped abruptly before he could finish speaking.
Kiana's hands trembled, and the spoon clinked against the edge of the lunchbox. Her eyes were wide open, his face reflected in her blue pupils.
"Dad, this is bell pepper curry! Is your tongue...?"
Siegfried wanted to force his usual nonchalant smile, but seeing the tears welling up in his daughter's eyes, all the lies stuck in his throat.
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The bell pepper curry here is still a bit spicy—not on purpose, but mainly because spiciness is essentially a sensation of pain rather than taste…