"It's my fault. Yesterday's attack happened too quickly. By the time I arrived on the scene, the incident had already concluded."
Welt pushed up his glasses, his tone laced with apology as he spoke to Ren Amamiya.
"You don't need to apologize. After all, this was Rita's premeditated scheme. If she wanted to kidnap Kiana, she would definitely choose a moment when no one was paying attention."
Ren Amamiya took a sip of the hot tea Raiden Mei had brought him, responding to Welt with an unconcerned air.
Welt was usually busy handling the aftermath and reorganization of the Anti-Entropy forces in Nagazora City, making it difficult for him to get away. Moreover, Rita had planned her move carefully, specifically targeting a time when Kiana was alone.
To even prevent Ren and the others from inadvertently meeting up with Kiana, Rita had deliberately made Fu Hua call Ren, causing him to leave and ensuring Raiden Mei and Bronya's normal route diverged from Kiana's.
Unfortunately for Rita, the more cunning her schemes, the more likely she was to suffer setbacks in unexpected places.
Kiana's good luck led to her successful rendezvous with Raiden Mei, which in turn summoned the already suspicious Ren Amamiya, completely foiling Rita's plot and resulting in both Rita and Fu Hua becoming prisoners of the Phantom Thieves.
Thinking of this, Rita subtly touched the thorny blood collar around her snow-white neck and let out an almost imperceptible sigh.
The power of the Schariac Holy Blood suppressed the function of the Honkai energy in her body. If she tried to use it forcefully, the power of the blood collar would likely erupt before her Honkai energy could, and the thorny blood spikes would completely pierce her slender, fragile neck and head.
At this point, she could only obediently be Ren Amamiya's captive.
"In any case, you saved Kiana's life again. If Kiana had really been captured by Otto, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
Welt intertwined his fingers and rested his chin on them. His tone was somewhat heavy, yet firm and powerful.
"Kiana's existence is related to our Anti-Entropy's most important plan. By saving Kiana, you have essentially helped our entire Anti-Entropy organization. I must express my gratitude to you."
"Whoa, Welt! That's our Anti-Entropy's highest-level secret! Are you really going to tell him so easily? And in front of two Schicksal spies?!"
Not expecting what Welt was about to say to Ren Amamiya, Dr. Tesla, who had been sitting with her legs crossed and looking at her personal terminal, suddenly looked up. Her eyes widened in astonishment, her tone filled with disbelief as she questioned Welt. Her gaze lingered for a long time on Rita and Fu Hua, who were standing at attention behind Ren Amamiya.
"Mr. Ren Amamiya is trustworthy. As for Rita and Miss Fu Hua..."
Welt Yang's expression remained calm and composed.
Although his contact with Ren Amamiya had been brief, Welt only needed to look into his eyes to determine that Ren was a fellow traveler on the same path as Anti-Entropy's conservative faction—both were wanderers who yearned to save the world as gently and peacefully as possible.
Not to mention, besides sharing the same beliefs, Ren Amamiya had also made numerous outstanding contributions to Anti-Entropy's conservative faction in a tangible way. Even if he had no subjective intention of acting for Anti-Entropy, this was an undeniable fact.
"Even though we have done our best to keep this key secret hidden, I'm afraid Otto has long since sensed what we want to do, or at least has roughly determined the direction of our plan. Therefore, it doesn't matter if I reveal some information now."
Welt raised his hand to placate Dr. Tesla, who was on the verge of exploding, then his eyes met Ren Amamiya's with a serious look.
"What do you want to say?"
From Welt's attitude, Ren felt that he was about to tell him something important.
"It's about the Herrscher of the Void. Like Otto, our Anti-Entropy's ultimate plan also revolves around the individual, Kiana Kaslana. Only a fully realized Kiana, as the Herrscher of Void, capable of accommodating multiple divine authorities, can wield the ultimate weapon developed by Anti-Entropy and completely overcome the trial known as Finality... Of course, that was all part of the old plan."
The SELENE system, a legacy inherited from the Previous Era, possessed the powerful effect of forcibly converting Honkai energy into pure energy, such as light and heat.
Even in the final battle against the Herrscher of Finality, the SELENE developed by the Previous Era had made a rather outstanding contribution, consuming a total of thirty percent of the Herrscher of Finality's Honkai energy.
If the Previous Era had been able to mass-produce the SELENE, it wouldn't have been entirely impossible to wear down the Herrscher of Finality's trial through sheer bombardment.
Unfortunately, the SELENE system was a weapon developed late in the Honkai trials. Being able to produce one SELENE was already the result of the Previous Era's Fire Moths exhausting all their resources and manpower; there was simply no time for mass production.
Although Anti-Entropy, which inherited the design data for the SELENE, had ample time, its resources were far inferior to those of the Previous Era's Fire Moths.
Moreover, fearing that overly advanced technological weapons would lead to more severe evolution and backlash from the Honkai, Anti-Entropy had always been extremely cautious and prudent in the development of the SELENE system.
Besides creating prototypes to test the performance of the SELENE system, Anti-Entropy had been quietly working on something big: preparing to build a powerful floating warship equipped with the SELENE weapon engine, for which they had already prepared the name, SELENE.
The name SELENE was not only derived from the ultimate weapon, the SELENE engine, but was also a blessing for Kiana Kaslana... Kiana was the name of the goddess of the moon, and this warship was the vessel upon which Anti-Entropy hoped she would ascend to her throne and save the world.
And now, Welt felt that the yet-to-be-completed SELENE could be considered for a name change, and perhaps a red paint job.
"To drive Anti-Entropy's ultimate weapon, a massive amount of energy is needed—the more, the better. Normal power methods simply cannot unleash the weapon's full potential. In our original vision, the only one who could wield that weapon was a fully grown Kiana... But now, things are different."
Welt Yang's gaze towards Ren Amamiya was incredibly fervent. Even through his glasses, Ren felt a bit uncomfortable with the zealous look from this elder who had previously maintained a steady and calm demeanor.
"Mr. Ren, the energy level within your body is extremely high, not at all inferior to those fully-realized Herrschers, and even several times stronger! In addition, you can easily wield multiple Divine Keys simultaneously, weapons that theoretically only one person can handle at a time. Compared to the current Kiana, Mr. Ren, you are a more suitable wielder for Anti-Entropy's ultimate weapon!"
The reason Kiana was suitable to wield the SELENE system was that the SELENE engine required a massive energy supply, and there was nothing in the world more suitable for that than the power of Herrschers' Honkai energy.
As long as Kiana could become humanity's Herrscher of the Void, successfully reclaim the other lost gems of Sirin, and even accept the Herrscher of Reason core gifted by him, Welt was confident that the SELENE's beam cannon, driven by a six-core Herrscher, could inflict heavy damage even on the Herrscher of Finality.
But the current Ren Amamiya had already approached the fully-realized form of Kiana that Welt had envisioned, and was visibly growing stronger. He was clearly a more suitable candidate than Kiana.
The Herrscher of the Void core and the Gem of Conquest were both in Ren Amamiya's hands.
Add to that the three Divine Keys—Jizo Mitama, Seven Thunders of Retribution, and Void Archives—and Ren's own power, in terms of the maximum power that could be unleashed in a single instance, Ren Amamiya could now make the SELENE system exert a force far beyond Welt's original expectations.
The only disadvantage would be in the energy regeneration after a charged blast, when compared to a true Herrscher.
"...Anti-Entropy's ultimate weapon? What is that?"
Welt's expression was excited, but his words were too vague.
Ren Amamiya glanced at Hare beside him. Hare nodded in understanding. Fu Hua's and Rita's pupils instantly dilated into a void-like state, their faces expressionless as they stared ahead like unconscious dolls, oblivious to any treatment.
"You can speak freely. The five senses of these two have been sealed by Hare. It's absolutely impossible for them to hear our conversation."
Fu Hua's sensory abilities should have been superior to Hare's, but unfortunately, she was currently imprisoned by the Schariac Holy Blood and couldn't use her Persona's abilities at all, so she could only obediently fall into a state of sensory deprivation.
Watching the incredible rapport between Ren Amamiya and Hare, how a single glance could convey information perfectly, Raiden Mei's slender hand, holding a teacup, couldn't help but tighten.
"The name of that ultimate weapon is [SELENE]. It can fire a powerful beam that forcibly converts the enemy's Honkai energy into harmless light and heat energy. It judges based on the amount of Honkai energy within the enemy; the higher the Honkai energy, the greater the damage."
Welt cautiously observed Fu Hua's and Rita's eyes. After confirming that they had fallen into a state of sensory seal, he finally revealed the existence of the SELENE system to Ren Amamiya.
"SELENE..."
After listening to Welt's explanation, Ren Amamiya's eyes couldn't help but curve into a smile.
Although it wasn't mana drain, being able to directly attack an enemy unit's MP bar and deal damage proportional to their mana value, Welt's SELENE sounded like a special weapon that could use powerful Almighty-attribute skills.
It had to be said, Ren Amamiya was indeed interested in this so-called [SELENE].
Ren Amamiya and Bronya had stolen the Herrscher of Reason's core fragments, yet Welt had initially chosen not to hold it against them. Instead, he had taken Bronya as a disciple, preparing to teach her how to use the Herrscher of Reason's authority. Because of this, Ren already felt a little indebted to Welt.
To repay this favor, Ren had already intended to try out the ultimate weapon Welt spoke of.
And after hearing the detailed explanation, not only did Ren want to repay the favor, but his own desire to try this power had grown even stronger.
[SELENE system... If you can obtain the finished product of the SELENE system, I can perform some upgrades and maintenance for you based on the strength of the weapon and materials.]
As if hearing a familiar keyword, Vill-V, residing in Ren Amamiya's Sea of Souls, suddenly spoke up, making a proposal to him.
Although Vill-V's consciousness submerged again after saying this, no matter how Ren called out to her, she didn't come out to explain further. But the fact that the usually silent Vill-V had proactively chimed in when the topic of the SELENE was mentioned was enough to prove the value of the SELENE system.
"Even compared to Schariac Holy Blood, the SELENE is no less effective. And if one possesses both Schariac Holy Blood and the SELENE, two extremely targeted trump cards, the Phantom Thieves would have the power to easily defeat even the entire Schicksal organization."
Both Schariac Holy Blood and the SELENE system were miracles that were difficult to replicate. But in terms of mass production, it was naturally a technological product like the SELENE that had a higher possibility of being mass-produced.
"The ultimate weapon that is truly equipped with the SELENE engine has not yet been completed. However, if Mr. Ren agrees to accept it, Anti-Entropy is willing to give you the firearm weapon used for testing the SELENE system for your advance use."
As Welt spoke, he picked up the suitcase resting by his feet. He opened it in front of Ren Amamiya, revealing a silver handgun, as clear and dazzling as moonlight, lying quietly in the center of the suitcase.
"Although its power is ordinary in the hands of a normal person, if the wielder is changed to the Phantom Thief Joker, I believe this [SELENE] handgun will surely unleash a power beyond ordinary imagination."
Welt smiled faintly and pushed up his glasses, then pushed the rather perfunctorily named silver handgun towards Ren Amamiya.
The power of the SELENE weapon was generally directly proportional to its size. Only in the form of a cannon could the Honkai energy-disintegrating effect of the SELENE be fully utilized.
The SELENE system mounted on a handgun, due to the limitations of the carrier, had a severely insufficient power supply. Under normal circumstances, it could only be used as a testing tool in a laboratory. If it were to be put into practical application on a battlefield, it would only have the comical effect of a water gun.
But Ren Amamiya's own massive reserves of Honkai energy, and the multiple Herrscher cores he possessed, were a match made in heaven for the SELENE handgun—the perfect combination!