Disclaimer: See Chapter 2
The reason why the curly-haired woman gave Raiden Ryoma advice to quickly find the child was not simply because she hoped to resolve the misunderstanding between the two parties.
When they arrive at the final scene of Mei's kidnapping incident, they found the remaining of the officer who has a hand in the kidnap. They venture deeper and found there is a vessel of Gray Seprent with a knife sticking firmly in the head.
However, due to the special nature of Gray Serpent, the image data they extracted through the prosthetic eyes was only what happened in the last few minutes.
After all, the Gray Serpent who kidnapped Mei in the first place had already been chopped into two pieces by Emiya Shirou, and the two upper and lower bodies composed of mechanical prostheses were also transformed into two individual Honkai Beast.
What appeared after that was simply another Gray Serpent individual.
The Gray Serpent entity that appeared later seemed to have been quietly hiding around the transport ship from the beginning. Then, at the moment when the boy suddenly appeared in the field of vision and took away Raiden Meiyi, he took advantage of the boy's relaxation of vigilance, sneak attack on his back.
Fortunately, even though the boy was hit by the shot in the shoulder, he didn't seem to have completely lost his ability to fight.
Within a tenth of a second of being hit, a sword appeared out of thin air in his hand, and with super high speed that Gray Serpent's prosthetic eyes could not catch, he easily killed Gray Serpent who had launched a sneak attack.
From the man in police uniform running towards the transport ship, to the boy falling from the sky with a vigorous posture, and finally killing the Gray Serpent after going through a series of things, the whole process probably took less than five minutes.
Although after extracting the image left by the Gray Seprent's prosthetic eye, neither Ryoma nor the curly-haired woman would think that the boy was a member of the group who kidnapped Mei, but what happened in those mere five minutes, all of that also made Ryoma and the curly-haired woman decisively recognize the fact that the boy who looked to be the same age as Mei definitely not a human being.
Is it a special case where appearance and age are far different? Or is it simply that the boy himself is a member of Shicksal? No matter which side he was on, Ryoma didn't think he could simply leave that person alone in Nagazora City.
If that boy is a self-awakened person with special abilities, then it would be best to contact him as early as possible before Shicksal is aware of his existence.
After all, when the Second Collapse ravaged Siberia, whether it was all the current Shicksal A-class Valkyries that was sacrificed, or the Anti-Entropy that put even the leader of the alliance in a dangerous situation of physical destruction, they were in a state of extreme shortage of talent.
When you meet a talent with special potential, it is natural to want to include him in your organization.
At this time, a notification pop-up window popped up on the virtual screen floating in mid-air. As early as when he moved the Mei's bedside, Ryoma had already sent the blood contaminated on his daughter's body to the testing room, and asked the people in the testing room to extract the DNA from the blood, and communicated with the residents in the Nagazora City Government files.
Two hours later, the DNA comparison results were out, and the corresponding resident files were sent to the Anti-Entropy database.
Ryoma opened the pop-up window, read through the information, and was suddenly stunned.
In just two hours, all the background information of Emiya Shirou was discovered. He was born on April 15, 1997, the same age as Mei, and his birthday was only two days later. His life history is not ordinary, but it is clean enough. All the records from his birth to the present clearly show that this boy has never had any contact with Honkai or Shicksal.
-No.
...It can't be said that it has nothing to do with Honkai.
The true identity of the man in police uniform who died on the way back to ME Corp had also been discovered.
He is the direct subordinate of Emiya Kiritsugu, the boy's father. He has also been one of the main culprits in the illegal kidnapping of indoor residents kid, street kids, and their newest victim; his daughter.
...Yes, if you want to talk about the connection with Honkai, it is undoubtedly this man.
At the scene near where Mei was found, the tactical mecha discovered a cutting-edge transport ship powered by Honkai energy. That transport ship did not match any model known to Anti-Entropy.
Judging from the information fed back by Siegfried, Shicksal's Far East Branch has not made any moves at all in the past two days, so Shicksal's suspicion can be initially ruled out.
Could it be that behind the intelligence dealer who calls himself Gray Serpent, there is an organization that does not belong to Shicksal or Anti-Entropy?
Although Shicksal and Anti-Entropy are not the only organizations in this world that are aware of Honkai, Raiden Ryoma still paid a little attention to the words Gray Snake and the one who behind them.
Compared with the mysterious guy like Gray Serpent, the boy named Emiya Shirou is much easier to analyze.
Although they don't yet know what Shirou Emiya's ability is or the source of his ability, by analyzing the boy's information and action trajectory, they can easily deduce how he will appear in front of the Gray Serpent, both motives and reasons.
He had just appeared in front of a teacher at a private elementary school near Qianyu Academy at 8 o'clock this morning, but after that, he suddenly asked for leave for some reason, and then left the school – but the school's surveillances did not have any record of him leaving the school gate.
In order to verify his conjecture, Ryoma temporarily minimized Emiya Shirou's information, then entered the Anti-Entropy satellite monitoring system, and retrieved the Nagazora City satellite records at eight o'clock in the morning.
Soon, the figure of the boy leaping from the side of the teaching building appeared in the eyes of Raiden Ryoma. In the indiscriminate surveillance video of the satellite aerial photography, Emiya Shirou's movement trajectory on the roof of the building was clearly exposed under the observation of Ryoma and other Anti-Entropy members.
In a sense, surveillance video is the greatest invention in the world. As long as it doesn't break inexplicably for some special reason, it can completely prevent any misunderstandings as it reflects the real situation.
Through satellite surveillance, Raiden Ryoma saw the reason why the boy suddenly rushed out of the school - because the police car suddenly passed the school gate; he also naturally witnessed the scene of Mei being robbed out of Senba Academy.
In the picture, after entering Senba Academy, a Gray Serpent suddenly appeared from the trees.
Through the car glass, he shot and killed the driver of the Roll Royce, got into the back seat of the car, and probably took some time to control Mei. Then, the dark Roll Royce turned the front of the car, then left as if nothing has happened.
Seeing the scene of the Roll Royce and the police car driving out of the city one after another, Raiden Ryoma's expression was gloomy, and uncontrollable anger emerged in his pupils.
If the boy hadn't happened to see the police car passing by the campus, maybe Gray Serpent and the man's kidnapping plan would have been successful.
Although he dotes on his daughter, he is also a very strict parent in terms of education.
Whether it was out of righteous indignation or a personal grudge that his father was killed by the other party, it was also true that the boy saved Mei from the hands of the kidnappers.
However, the other party's goodwill was trampled on by his panicked daughter.
When he thought of this, Ryoma suddenly felt a heavy responsibility weighing on his head.
...Sigh
He let out a long sigh, closed the information window on the virtual screen, then glanced at Mei, still out of it, and scratched his hair in distress.
It's understandable that Mei would panic when something terrible like that happens suddenly.
Therefore, if they want to apologize, he should do it.
As for Mei's misunderstanding, it would be better to wait until she wakes up and let him explain it properly.
After making a decision, Ryoma called the director of the medical department and asked him to contact Mei as soon as she woke up. After that, he left to meet the boy himself.
Ultimate Eastern Time, March 17, 2004, 2 pm.
Carrying a bag of door-to-door gifts, Ryoma arrived at the door of Emiya's house and pressed the doorbell.
Out of both goodwill and apology, Ryoma did not bring any of his subordinates with him. Under the spring sunshine, the clear ringing of the doorbell echoed faintly in the entrance hall of Emiya's house.
After about half a minute, the entrance to the entrance was silent, and no one came to greet him.
Didn't the people in the house hear the bell? Ryoma pressed the doorbell again, but after waiting for a few minutes, there was still no sound of anyone's footsteps.
"..."
A somewhat ominous premonition suddenly appeared in his chest.
Before arriving at Emiya's house, he had already confirmed through satellite images that Shirou Emiya had returned to the house well, so if there were no accidents, it would be impossible for the house to be empty.
"..."
He didn't make a sound, and he didn't follow the etiquette of the people in the East to be the first to tell him that he was rude.
Ryoma reach out his hand and gently twisted the doorknob.
The door was not locked.
The door to Emiya's house was easily opened by Ryoma.
But the moment he opened the door, his pupils couldn't help but shrink slightly.
Most people don't know that the famous president of ME Corp in the Far East is also a very capable swordsman.
Although it is incomparable to the top combat power, if it can compete with a B-level or above Valkyrie, it will not be at a disadvantage in a short period of time.
The moment he opened the door, Ryoma smelled an extremely strong smell of blood from the house.
Without hesitation, Ryoma dropped the gift in his hand and rushed into the house without saying a word.
...What came into view was the living room full of devastation, the torn walls, the crumbling ceiling lamp, the TV that fell to the ground, and - a black figure nailed to the wall by a pair of black and white swords.
The moment he saw the black shadow, Ryoma realized his mistake.
As soon as the boy's identity was confirmed, he should have come immediately.
The other party interfered with Gray Serpents kidnapping, so as a member of the underground intelligence organization, given the nature of Gray Serpent and their organization, it was simply foreseeable behavior to want to take revenge on the boy.
The silver-white mask under the hood was full of cracks.
The unknown liquid in the prosthetic body splashed everywhere on the wall.
Without even looking at the Gray Serpent entity that had completely lost its life, Ryoma began to rummage around the living room and rooms of Emiya's house.
However, the boy was nowhere to be seen in the entire room.
Killed - probably not.
Judging from the posture of Gray Serpent being nailed to the wall, the boy's fighting ability should not have been completely even after being shot.
Even with such handicap, the boy still not lose to Gray Serpent.
But if the Gray Serpent was defeated so cleanly... there should be no reason for the living room in this house to be destroyed like this.
"Did you leave by yourself?"
After rummaging around the room, Ryoma returned to the living room and whispered to himself, his face looking a little ugly.
"No... if he were to leave, the child would never have returned to this home from the beginning."
Judging from what Gray Serpent did in Nagazora City...
Although this conclusion made Ryoma feel a little angry and a little frustration, there is a high possibility that the boy who returned home, after defeating the Gray Snake, had a series of battles with the Gray Snake's companions—possibly even another Gray Snake individual.
After a fierce battle, the boys who were attacked one after another were finally defeated by the opponent. As Mei's replacement, he was forcibly taken away by the organization behind Gray Serpent that had been kidnapping others.
At this moment, his cellphone suddenly rang.
He glanced at the caller ID and answered the call:
"Hello? Is Mei awake?"
"...Dad."
The girl's weak and childish call came from the receiver of the phone.
"Mei." Raiden Ryoma first called his daughter's name, and then immediately asked in a worried tone, "How are you feeling now? Is there anything uncomfortable in your body?"
"No... I didn't feel uncomfortable at all. ..." The girl on the phone said softly, with a slight cry in her voice, "But... it's so scary... Dad... can you come and stay with me?"
"..."
Raiden Ryoma, after a moment of silence, he glanced into the messy house.
Then, briefly closing his eyelids, he moved his phone away from his face and sighed softly in a tired voice.
After doing all this, he put the phone back to his ear, speaking in a soft and kind voice, as if all the emotions before this moment had been completely stripped away from his mind.
"Okay, okay, you lie on the hospital bed obediently and listen to the doctor's words. Dad will be back by your side soon."
"Okay, I'll be a good girl." The girl on the phone said, "Dad, you must come back soon."
After saying that, the other party hung up the phone.
After the call ended, Raiden Ryoma's mood was not relieved at all.
He took one last look at the messy living room, whispered an apology, closed the door, and left the Emiya house, which had returned to silence.