[TWD x Resident Evil] — Chapter 278 - Little Yi: The Witch Is Truly a Divine Being!

How was it that everyone, everywhere, turned out to be one of theirs? Just how many hidden subordinates did the Witch have?

Ava and Sitwell exchanged a glance. Each saw the same deep shock and sympathy reflected back from the other.

They shook their heads at the same time, silently observing a three-second moment of silence in their hearts for a certain self-righteous artificial intelligence that was probably still completely in the dark.

Poor Ultron.

How could your network power possibly rival the Witch's web of people?

Hermione watched the parade of expressions crossing their faces and gave a satisfied nod. Only then did she explain, unhurried:

"Within the Witch Cult, aside from myself as the Supreme Witch, there are seven Archbishops of Sin, whose rank falls only below mine. The one standing before you, Agatha Harkness, is my Archbishop of Greed."

The moment Sitwell heard that, his eyes went perfectly round. His expression shifted faster than a quick-change artist: the shock of a second ago vanished entirely, replaced by something that looked almost like devout reverence.

He crossed to Agatha in one swift stride and bowed deeply, his tone cranked up to maximum theatrics.

"Well! So it's Lady Greed herself! I've heard so much about you! This humble subordinate's admiration for you truly flows like the endless torrent of a great river, surging on and on without cease..."

Agatha blinked, momentarily thrown by the sudden enthusiasm. Then the corner of her mouth curved into an amused smile, and she picked up the thread:

"...and like the Mississippi River in flood season — once it starts, there's absolutely no stopping it?"

"Yes! Exactly that!" Sitwell nodded rapidly, his face lighting up. "It seems Lady Agatha and I are perfectly in sync — kindred spirits from the very first meeting!"

A vein ticked at Hermione's temple. She had genuinely seen enough of this. She rolled her eyes and cut in.

"Alright, Doron. If you two want to do the whole sworn-siblings ritual, you can nurture that bond after I leave. First things first — did Ultron come to you?"

Sitwell dropped the grin immediately. He turned to face Hermione, his manner shifting into something much more respectful.

"The Witch perceives all things, however small. Even if we racked our brains, we could never hope to reach such heights."

He cleared his throat, then gave Hermione a full account: Ultron's sudden appearance, its stated desire for cooperation, and its need to manufacture a new body.

Hermione listened without expression. When Sitwell finished, she gave a single nod. "I know what it's planning."

"Huh?" Sitwell and Ava both startled, asking in unison: "What exactly is Ultron trying to do?"

The corner of Hermione's mouth lifted. "The materials list it gave you, it includes a large quantity of vibranium, correct? And human tissue samples?"

Sitwell and Ava exchanged a look of surprise, then both nodded quickly.

"That confirms it." Hermione said. "It wants to create a body that perfectly merges the biological and mechanical, a vessel capable of housing the power of the Mind Stone. So its primary targets should be the vibranium smuggler Ulysses Klaue and the geneticist Helen Cho. Klaue has vibranium. Cho has the Cradle, the technology to create a perfect organic body."

Sitwell stared at her, jaw hanging open. Then his face broke into a fresh wave of adoration.

"The Witch is truly divinely calculating! Foreseeing everything before it happens! Your subordinate is in absolute awe, prostrate with admiration! Even if we thought until our heads split, we couldn't come close to one ten-thousandth of the Witch's wisdom!"

Hermione hadn't heard flattery this good in quite a while. She narrowed her eyes with quiet satisfaction, clearly enjoying every word of it.

Ah. It really has to be Little Yi. Nobody else comes close.

Beside them, Agatha and Ava were both watching Sitwell with deeply strange expressions.

They finally understood how this man had managed to thrive the way he did.

This level of flattery, even knowing full well that the recipient was someone as unfathomable as Hermione, if either of them had to say it, they genuinely couldn't have gotten the words out. Yet this bald agent delivered it smoothly, naturally, as if he meant every single syllable from the bottom of his heart. The skill had been refined to a genuine art form. An ordinary person simply could not pull it off.

And judging by Hermione's expression...

So the legendary Supreme Witch, cold, ruthless, feared across the world, also had a weakness for being praised?

That was a somewhat unsettling discovery.

Sitwell wrapped up his performance and then asked with great care: "Witch, how should we handle Ultron going forward? Do your subordinates need to find a way to..."

He drew a finger across his throat.

Hermione shook her head. What she said next nearly made all three of them drop everything they were holding.

"No. Cooperate with it. Let it go ahead and build that new body."

"What?"

It wasn't just Sitwell this time. Ava and Agatha both went still, their faces full of the same confusion.

Ava couldn't help herself. "Witch, we know Ultron wants to use the Mind Stone and a new body to become more powerful, possibly powerful enough to come after you. Why aren't we stopping it? Why are we helping it?"

Hermione smiled faintly. "Because this is what I want too."

The three of them still looked lost. She continued.

"Ultron's core program is distributed across the global network. It's everywhere at once. Even if we set an ambush, drew it out, and destroyed the body it's using right now, so what? It just loses one expendable shell. It finds a new host and comes right back. Worse, we'd expose your connection to me. It would go completely dark, and who knows what kind of trouble it would cook up next time."

"Rather than playing it that way, isn't it better to let it operate right under your noses? We track its movements at all times. We guide its behavior. We stay ahead of it."

Sitwell's face cleared all at once. Then, of course, came another torrent.

"I see it now! The Witch's vision is truly without equal, seeing miles beyond what ordinary minds can grasp! Your foolish subordinate could only see what was right in front of him, while the Witch had already accounted for everything! Unmatched in power, peerless in beauty, and a strategic mind that this world has never seen!"

"..."

Hermione's mouth twitched. She was fairly certain she'd start getting goosebumps if this went on much longer.

She held up a hand. "Alright, alright. Do as I said, keep cooperating with Ultron's operation."

She paused, then added:

"But don't let Ultron kill Dr. Helen Cho. And you can tell Ultron this: through the Klaue connection, you've discovered that Wakanda is sitting on an enormous vibranium reserve. Enough to build an entire army. I think it'll find that very interesting."

➤ Next: Sunshine Rainbow Little White Horse, Wakanda Wakanda