— — — — — —
Once Gwen gave her approval for the new name, the organization that would inherit parts of the Red Room's legacy was officially born.
This new group, Web, would take over the Red Room's global intelligence network and be responsible for tracking down unusual "incidents" around the world.
The first priority for Web was clear: continue with the cleanup plan.
That meant eliminating Madam B's diehard followers outside the Red Room headquarters, as well as other irredeemable criminals, all while trying to preserve as much of the original intelligence system as possible.
Of course, that was Gwen's problem now—as the leader—along with her top aides, Natasha and Yelena.
As for the rest of the group chat members? They had accepted honorary "Weaver" roles within Web—a title with no responsibilities.
The title let them tap into Web's intel, no questions asked.
They mostly took the title just to make it easier to access Web's resources whenever they ran missions in that world.
Anyway, by now, all of them had already returned to their own worlds.
— — —
At Eientei
"Five thousand points…?"
Veyron raised an eyebrow as he looked at the reward points that had been deposited into his account after the mission.
『Snake Empress』: Quick question—how many points did you all get?
『Hellish Blizzard』: 1,000 points.
『Catwoman』: 1,000 points here.
『Lady Avalon』: Same, 1,000… Hancock, what about you?
『Snake Empress』: Also 1,000.
『Catwoman』: So this is like a base reward just for showing up?
『Earth's Cancer』: Nah, probably not.
『Lady Avalon』: Chika, did you figure something out?
『Earth's Cancer』: I didn't even go with you guys to that world, how would I know what you did over there?
『Earth's Cancer』: But I'm guessing Veyron already noticed something?
『Ordinary Human』: Yeah, here's my mission result screen.
『Ordinary Human』: (screenshot.jpg)
『Catwoman』: 5,000 points?
『Catwoman』: Wait, if the four of us each got 1,000, that's 4,000 total. Add Veyron's 5,000, that's 9,000… so where's the missing 1,000?
『Catwoman』: Don't tell me Chika, who didn't even participate, got a share?
『Earth's Cancer』: Bingo.
『Earth's Cancer』: (screenshot.jpg)
『Earth's Cancer』: I really did get 1,000 points.
『Ordinary Human』: I think I get it now.
『Ordinary Human』: Your 1,000 points probably came from the "Weaver" seat in Web.
『Ordinary Human』: Even though Chika didn't join this mission, Gwen still counted her as one of the Weavers. And since she, like the rest of us, accepted that long-term mission two days ago, she still got a share.
『Earth's Cancer』: ???
『Earth's Cancer』: Okay wait—can someone back up and explain? What's this Weaver stuff? What even is Web?
『Lady Avalon』: I got you.
From a half-outsider's perspective, Merlin gave a quick rundown of how they took down the Red Room, and how Gwen decided to take over its intelligence network to hunt down more "incidents."
The new organization was named Web—a name that came from Veyron's suggestion.
『Earth's Cancer』: Oh, I see…
『Earth's Cancer』: Kinda feels like I accidentally missed a historic moment… (regret.jpg)
『Lady Avalon』: Or you can look at it like this—
『Lady Avalon』: When Web was founded, five of the six Weavers were there in person. You're the only one who wasn't even present. Isn't that mysterious and cool in its own way?
『Earth's Cancer』: …That actually kinda makes sense?
They didn't chat for too long after that.
Once Chika understood why she randomly got 1,000 points, she quietly logged off and went back to her usual spiritual training.
---
Half an hour later...
『Earth's Cancer』: ...I can't focus on anything, and now I'm getting pinged… Feels like no world wants me to get a superpower.
The pink-haired girl sighed in the group chat. Her peaceful training session had been totally derailed.
『Ordinary Human』: Since we're all here, let's take a look at the new mission details.
Veyron called everyone over.
Just moments ago, while they were still joking around, the chat system suddenly pinged them with a new mission announcement.
---
[Client: ██ World Will]
[Location: Northwest Selnus Continent – Eos Plains]
[Mission Description: After detecting a new potential path in the void, the ██ World Will opened a temporary portal through the world barrier, allowing a "Great Being" to project a portion of its power into the world to help it ascend.]
[Mission Description: Unexpectedly, that so-called "Great Being" turned out to be a disguised evil god.]
[Mission Objective: Until the corruption of the evil god is fully purged, protect as many survivors of the Seven Shields Alliance as possible across the seven fortresses of the Eos Plains.]
[Reward: 90,000 group points]
[Restrictions: None]
[Client's Note: Casualties are acceptable to a degree, but Celestine Lucullus, Kaguya, and Olga Discordia must be kept alive.]
[System Note 1: Some information has been hidden at the client's request.]
[System Note 2: The evil god projected into the void has the Authority of "Lust."]
[System Note 3: if Celestine, Kaguya, or Olga are killed or corrupted, 10,000 / 30,000 / 50,000 points will be deducted respectively. If all three fall, the final reward becomes zero.]
---
『Catwoman』: Ugh, not this again—another World Will mission... and it's that void stuff again!
Selina grumbled in the chat, throwing out a comment that worked on two levels.
『Catwoman』: Why do I feel like this is both unexpected and yet completely on brand…? Even counting Gwen's world, this is only our third formal mission in the system.
『Earth's Cancer』: World Will (❌) — Apocalypse Will (✔️)
『Earth's Cancer』: [random insult ID.jpg]
『Lady Avalon』: So Chika, are you joining this one?
『Earth's Cancer』: Absolutely—
『Earth's Cancer』: NOT.
『Earth's Cancer』: I'm still training with Veyron-sensei. And even if I wasn't, anything involving evil gods sounds way above my pay grade. (scared.jpg)
『Catwoman』: Same here. With how tough these "Shield Warriors" sound, I doubt I'd survive five minutes.
『Hellish Blizzard』: Not going either.
If she had power on the level of her sister… heck, even half or a third of it, Fubuki might have considered taking the risk.
Sure, training with Hancock had boosted her physical strength a ton.
She'd even awakened Armament and Observation Haki, and still had that Stand from her starter reward—Star Platinum. But even then, she wasn't confident in facing even one known Dragon-level threat.
That loli? She could crush Dragon-level threats with her mind, like squashing bugs.
『Ghost Spider』: Not going unless I can drag Doctor Strange over and let him deal with the evil god.
『Snake Empress』: A warrior doesn't fear strong enemies...
『Snake Empress』: But that doesn't mean we throw ourselves into battles we can't win. I'll focus on improving my Haki and Fruit powers first.
『Lady Avalon』: So no one's going… Veyron, what about you? 90,000 points is huge. With your luck, you could pull something amazing from the gacha.
『Ordinary Human』: ...You going?
『Lady Avalon』: That depends on you. If you go, I'll tag along.
『Ordinary Human』: Hmm… give me a second.
Veyron needed a moment—not just to think, but to talk to Yagokoro Eirin and Houraisan Kaguya. Maybe they'd see something in the mission details he hadn't noticed.
Besides… Olga Discordia? Celestine Lucullus?
He swore he'd seen something about this world before.
.
.
.