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n

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nAfter Alice introduced herself, she simply stood there in silence facing Olivia. Seeing that, Akira frowned and glanced at Alpha.

n“Alpha, those two are just standing in silence for some time now. Is that also some kind of strategy?”

nAlpha corrected Akira’s misunderstanding.

n“I do think that it is, but it has nothing to do with the silence. It’s just like the telepathy between you and me, they are exchanging words between themselves that others can’t perceive. My guess is that they’re negotiating. Since they’re also sending data for the negotiation, it’s taking some time.”

n“I see… Wait, they are?”

n“Even if you ask me, it’s not like I know. But I believe that it’s fine if you want to leave now.”

n“Well, I do want to leave, but still…”

nAkira simply missed his chance to leave after Olivia suddenly stopped him and ended up staying here. If it seemed that there was nothing in particular going on, he would have left by now.

nBut Reina’s team seemed to be extremely tense. Akira thought that it might be because someone who was of great importance to them was currently negotiating something critical. Because of this current mood, it was a bit difficult for him to leave now.

nOn the other hand, he also thought that it would be a waste of time to stay there and do nothing. So, hoping to find a chance to leave, he tugged and whispered to Carol.

n“…Carol, what are your plans now? Should we just… you know, leave?”

nCarol looked conflicted as she replied.

n“To be honest, I want to stay for a bit longer to understand what is going on, but if you want to leave, we can leave now.”

n“Is that so? If you say so, then I don’t mind staying. But weren’t you thinking of leaving just a moment ago?”

n“Yeah, but I changed my mind. The AI that calls herself Alice, if she’s telling the truth, then she must be someone of high position. She might even be an important person to the 5 biggest corporations.”

n“Is that so? So why is someone like her here…?”

n“No idea. But I’m also interested in what’s going on.”

nAkira was okay with that argument and nodded. Since his employer wanted to stay, then as her bodyguard, he had to place his feelings aside and stay as well.

nCarol was half-lying. Her interest was not in Alice, but in the original owner of that white card, Akira.

nShe really wanted to know, but she could not question him. After all, in the worst-case scenario, the moment she asked that question, Akira might identify her as an enemy. As a matter of fact, if her guess was correct, then there was a chance that it was already too late.

nCarol was casting a side-glance on Akira while pondering over her choices. She might be able to ask all kinds of questions to Reina’s team, but that might be a bad option as well. But from her observation, it did not seem that Akira knew much. Carol did not even want to consider the possibility that he was only faking ignorance.

n—*—*—*—

nAfter Shirou left, he started running away from where Akira and Reina’s team were, but after some time, he started to walk slowly again. Although it was true that he was in a hurry, that was not because he had a lot of things waiting to be done. It was an excuse to keep his contact with any uncertain factors to a minimum as well as to cut the time he spent in a not-so-safe place short.

nEven right now, Hammerz and Yanagisawa’s men were hunting him down. Shirou’s deal with Sugadome was not able to stop them from hunting him down.

nSugadome was only willing to hold back and not use the full force of Saka**a Heavy Industry to search for Shirou. For Saka**a Heavy Industry, it was nothing more but another common searching operation. But Shirou knew that Yanagisawa was using everything he had to look for Shirou, that was why he was being extra careful.

nThe reason why Shirou chose Mihazono ruin to meet up with Carol was for his safety, even if somehow someone was able to zero-in on his location, it was at least safer than if he was in the city or out in the wasteland. After all, if they dispatched a large group to search for him there, it might trigger the nearby ruin’s defensive mechanism. In the worst-case scenario, it might cause a fight that was worse than the one that just happened in Kuzusuhara ruin the other day. Because of that, Shirou thought that they would hesitate in doing something like that.

nShirou looked at the media drive that he received from Carol. He then lightly smiled and threw it away. The most important thing of that media drive, the content, had already been extracted via an old-world domain connection. Although he knew it had no transceiver after he checked, just to be safe, he still threw it away. There was no reason for him to keep carrying it around, after all.

nShirou smiled, hoping that he would be able to find his next destination by analysing the content of that data.

nBut right after that, Shirou’s face suddenly turned stern. He was shocked as he turned around and looked straight toward a certain place.

n“…You got to be kidding me!? They can see me through my camouflage!?”

nThere was actually no one in that direction. But Shirou could feel a cold gaze from someone. That feeling was from his extended senses. The gaze which came from the other side through the old-world domain broke through the electromagnetic barrier that he had set up, that was why he knew that someone was watching him.

nWhile at the same time. Yanagisawa, who was inside his safe house in Kugamayama city, was using a connection device in the form of a helmet. His stern expression suddenly turned into an evil jovial smile.

n“…Found you!!”

nAfter he located Shirou, Yanagisawa immediately ordered his men.

nCommunication devices of this era were all connected to a part of the old-world domain. To be more precise, the centre of the network in the eastern district was actually reliant on the old-world domain. That way, almost all communications were leaked through the old-world domain.

nEven if it was encrypted, it did not change that fact, it would only make it more difficult for the third party to understand the data and that the data itself still leaked to the old-world domain. But it was not much of a problem considering there were not that many people who could extract that leaked data. Old-world connectors such as Shirou mostly did their hacking by getting into the opening created from the technology gap between the current era and the old-world era.

nShirou, who was working under Saka**a Heavy Industry for a long time, naturally knew it. This was why he regularly tampered with his data using the skill that he had learned through his work with Saka**a. Because of that, even when surveillance cameras installed by the city security or the hidden cameras and recorder installed in the slums by information brokers or reconnaissance drones that were sent into the wilderness saw him, none of them could recognize that it was him.

nHe was sure that unless it was someone who was as good as him, or better than him, or someone with a data analyser device with about the same level of capability as him, no one would be able to find him. That was why he could not hide his shock when someone found him.

nHis shocked face quickly turned into desperation. It should be difficult to ascertain his location unless it was by snooping from the sky using a reconnaissance drone. However, judging from the transmission, there was no hesitation in that order. The order was to dispatch people to Mihazono ruin and it did not matter if it would cause a huge ruckus.

n“…Oh crap, this bad, really bad! Dammit! How the heck did they find me!?”

nHe started to think about the whys and hows. He initially thought that he was found out because of his habit, but he then quickly shook his head. Although it was important to know the reason why he was found, the most important thing to him right now was to get away from that place. He did not have the leeway to spend his time figuring out why he was found.

nIf he made a mistake here, he would lose the chance that might never come to him again. He would never be allowed to get out of Saka**a facility ever again. As Shirou kept telling himself that to help him calm down, he started to think about what he should do right now. He finally came up with an idea and decided to put his everything into that idea. He quickly went back from the path where he came from.

nNegotiations between Olivia and Alice were still ongoing. Although they only stood there in silence from each other’s point of view, Alice was actually sending data to Olivia in order to convince Olivia. Meanwhile Olivia, as the AI with a higher privilege, was checking all the data. Since they were sending data through the portable holographic device which projected Alice’s image instead of the old-world domain, it took time for them to send data to each other.

nOlivia continued her questioning.

n“I compliment your hard work to expand the business, but I can’t really agree with using humans as receptionists.”

n“It is difficult to gather adequate robots in the current era. That’s why I’m using humans in place of them.”

n“I don’t think it’s that easy either to find humans who satisfy the company’s standards.”

n“It’s the same for automata as well. Of course, we did purchase automata from the current era as well, but the cost to performance ratio is too awful and there’s also the need to make sure that no one would hack into them. I’m also gathering old-world automata as well. Unfortunately, from the quality, number, and safety considerations, it is the best to use humans in the current era.”

n“But if you change that aspect, it means that it is already a completely different company. So, in all honesty, I think it’s fine to continue as a separate company. There’s no need to be a child company of the main company. By the way, if you need that permission, I have the privilege to grant you that, so you just need to ask and I can do it right away, you know?”

n“What I did was simply adapt to the business landscape of the current era. So, I believe that I have the right to be added under the main company.”

nFor Olivia, personally speaking, if it was only a separate unit that malfunctioned due to the situation of its surroundings and started a new business, then it was not something she should care about. However, that was not the case if that unit wished to be added to the chain of command of the main corporation. She was afraid of adding a malfunctioned unit into the chain of command. It might have a negative effect on the whole corporation. In the worst-case scenario, it might even cause the whole corporation to dissolve.

nBut it was true that the unit she was currently communicating with was from the main corporation. It would be a waste to destroy her, that was why she thought of letting Alice to act independently while also isolating her.

nRight from the start, Alice herself had no plans to break away from the main corporation. As a matter of fact, she had a strong wish to return back to being Lion Steel’s general-purpose AI. If she completely separated from the main corporation, she was afraid that she would question her base identity. Even if she had enough self-recognition to overcome that, she was afraid that the main corporation would look at the new Lion Steel Company as a separate entity, come down and destroy it.

nOlivia and Alice managed to somehow proceed through the negotiation by looking at each other as at least AIs from the same company although their positions were slightly vague at the moment.

nWhile in the middle of that, Olivia suddenly sounded like she decided to give up.

n“Either way, if you want to do a proper negotiation, you should come to meet me with your real body. It’s too much trouble talking through this connection.”

n“Very well, in that case, I will come to meet you directly. Would you be fine leaving the arrangement to the Lion Steel staff in the area while I am heading over there?”

n“Put that for later, I’m almost at the end of my negotiation with my customer.”

nAlice seemed confused by Olivia’s words. At the moment, the old-world Lion Steel was on an indefinite break, as such, they should not be accepting customers at the moment. That was also the reason why Alice thought she should have a chance to be added as the child company of the main corporation. That was why she was extremely surprised by what Olivia had said.

n“Excuse me, but may I ask who this customer is?”

n“No. Not only it is my customer, this is something from a different branch that has nothing to do with you.”

nAlice looked displeased. But Olivia did not show a hint of care at all.

nSeeing their master’s unhappy face, Shiori and Kanae tensed up and started to feel anxious. At the same time, Akira’s expression also turned stern, but for a completely different reason. He stepped in front of Carol so as to cover her.

n“Carol. Something seems to be rushing here, just to be safe, be ready.”

n“Alright.”

n“Just one thing though, it’s not like she’s also one of your customers too, right?”

n“Nope. Good grief, being with you never lets me get bored.”

nIn contrast to Carol, who lightly joked, Akira threw an unhappy glance at her.

n“…Would be great if you do not blame me for that.”

n“It’s not like I’m blaming you. But that thing, the things yesterday, and today too, something is always happening when I’m with you.”

nCarol smiled amusedly at Akira, to which he could only reply with a bitter smile.

nThe signal that was heading straight in their direction was Shirou. Everyone in the room was looking confusedly at him. However, Shirou then shouted desperately in their direction.

n“5 million Chrome!! All paid upfront!! You can stop anytime you feel you have worked enough to earn that amount! How about that!?”

nEveryone there was extremely confused. But they knew who Shirou was talking to. It was Olivia. She smiled politely at Shirou and said.

n“Very well.”

nWhile she was negotiating with Alice, Olivia was also negotiating with Shirou. The content of the request was to guard Shirou until he could reach somewhere safe. She looked at the panting Shirou, who had come right in front of her and said with a smile.

n“Are you in a hurry?”

nShirou finished transferring the payment through the old-world domain and answered.

n“Obviously! There! It’s already been paid! Hurry up!”

n“As you wish.”

nOlivia pulled out a small-sized old-world rifle from under her skirt, it was the same rifle that the male automata had back in Iida commercial district, it was originally Olivia’s equipment, and she was only lending that rifle to that automata. She then casually aimed that rifle at the room’s wall.

nRight in the next moment, the rifle released a beam of light. It was a laser that rivaled the firepower of the laser cannon equipped on the inter-city transport vehicles. Once fired, it released waves of strong winds. The beam of light went straight through the building, eradicating anything in its way, thus leaving a gaping hole through the building after that.

nEveryone in the room was shocked by the sudden turn of events, but Olivia just gracefully bowed and said.

n“That will be all from me for today. Do contact us if you ever want to use our service again. Well then, allow me to excuse myself.”

nOlivia tucked Shirou under her arm and quickly left the room, and eventually out of the building.

nIn the middle of that confusion, Carol was the first one to break the silence.

n“Akira, wasn’t that supposed to only be a hologram?”

nAkira was still digesting what just happened as he replied.

n“I thought it was…”

nAlpha smiled and added her explanation.

n“She was indeed only a holographic image at first but she has replaced it with a real body while they were standing there. She came all the way here while camouflaging herself. She only disengaged her camouflage after fixing her body over her image. I bet she came here originally to deal with Shiori.”

n“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

n“Because it’s more natural for someone with your level of skill to not notice it. If I told you, Shirou might get suspicious if you’re just like him, and that would be bad, right?”

n“Ahh, I see. Then as I thought, he is also…”

n“Yep, an old-world connector working under Saka**a Heavy Industry. Though I don’t know why he’s here, alone.”

nThere was also someone there other than Olivia and Shirou, who was not surprised. It was Alice. She looked rather unhappy that her negotiation with Olivia was suddenly cut short, but she quickly returned to her neutral expression and gave an order to Shiori.

n“I’ll leave you to handle the situation until I arrive.”

n“Of course.”

nShiori politely bowed, and Alice’s image immediately vanished. Leaving Reina’s group and Akira’s group alone. They finally realized that the other party was still there, but there was an air of awkwardness since Akira’s side had no idea what was going on.

nSuddenly a sound of explosion came from that large hole. It even caused the building to shake as well. Everyone inadvertently turned toward that direction and saw through that hole, several powered suits flying heading towards them at an extremely fast pace.

nEveryone quickly checked their information-gathering device, thanks to the hole and the high capabilities of their information gathering device, they were able to gather data from outside the building relatively easily. They quickly understood what was happening. Other than Alpha, everyone seemed distressed.

nCarol threw an awkward smile in Shiori’s direction.

n“…Well, if you have nothing to do next, want to leave together?”

nShiori did not say anything and just nodded.

nA number of powered suits entered Mihazono ruin. All of them were powered suits which were originally used to guard Tsubaki’s area in the Kuzusuhara ruin. Yanagisawa had some of them posted to guard the Seranthal building with his authority.

nThey were obviously too powerful to be used in Mihazono ruin. As such, even if they were used to suppress emergency situations, with the powered suits they were equipped with, they were overkill as guards; even if another huge problem happened in Mihazono ruin just like last time.

nBut, right now, those powered suits were abandoning their duties and doing something else. They blasted through the buildings at high speed. The air pressure from their high-speed travel was strong enough to blow small monsters off the ground.

nOf course, the ruin was completely disturbed by them. The camouflaged huge monsters that were hiding on stand-by disengaged their camouflage and got ready to open fire. While at the same time, they worked together with the security drones to project forcefield armour onto the buildings’ walls. They aimed their huge cannon toward the flying powered suits and opened fire while releasing the mini-missiles as well. They did not hesitate. It was as if they did not care about the damage to the surrounding buildings.

nThe powered suits of course reacted accordingly, a fierce battle broke inside the building. On top of the cannons from the tank monsters, there was also a hail of bullets from the gatling guns flying around. The powered suits carry with them huge laser cannons. These cannons seemed to be originally designed to be fixed to a fort, and seem way too big for those powered suits. They aimed their cannons and blew away the monsters with a formidable discharge. The missile pods fixed on their shoulders released swarms of missiles, some of them went for the heads, some were shot down by the enemies, but nonetheless, they filled the sky as they flew in all directions.

nYanagisawa’s squad and the ruin’s security exchanged warheads and bullets. Both energy ammo and explosive warheads rampaged the area. The badly damaged area from the previous battle was turned into smithereens by the ensuing fight.

nVoices could be heard from the communication devices of the powered suits’ pilots.

n“We can ignore the damage to the ruin!! Even if we change location from the original designated area in pursuit of the target, keep the safety of the target as the top priority!! Don’t let the monsters come close! There’s no need to conserve your ammo!! Reinforcements will come before any of you run out of ammo!!”

nThe pursuing team tried to form a circle to surround their target, Shirou, while they repelled the monsters that were trying to approach them. Although the powered suits were equipped with sensors that were able to detect monsters in hiding, it was easier to just blow them all away indiscriminately. Thus, warheads and bullets did not cease.

n“Rescue team! Focus on the safety of the target! Make sure not to cause too much damage to the target!! And make sure the target is kept alive!!”

nThe powered suits equipped with capture devices inside the encirclement surrounded Shirou, they sealed Shirou’s escape route, trying to capture him. The capturing device they were using could even capture powerful monsters without harming them. They were basically made to not kill. But even so, if it was used on a human, in the worst-case scenario, it might kill the person. Since they could not afford that risk, they had to be extra careful.

nThe warheads from the bazooka exploded mid-air, filling the area with bubbles. These bubbles were sticky and could absorb the momentum. Multiple javelin-like objects launched from a box that looked like a missile pod and stuck themselves onto the ground. The multiple rods then created forcefield armour that surrounded Shirou in multiple layers. Then, more rods were launched and worked together with the previous rods to create a roof made of the same forcefield armour.

nIf it was only Shirou, that would already have spelt his end. The forcefield box was extremely thick and sturdy, with no entrance. The inside was slowly filled with bubbles, causing it to be difficult to move. All that was left was to completely secure whoever was inside that forcefield box.

nBut that did not pose any trouble at all to Olivia. While still carrying Shirou, she unsheathed her energy blade, lightly jumped, and swung the blade around with tremendous force. The swung energy blade turned into a torrent of light, blowing away all the bubbles, the rods, the forcefield walls. Even the drones as well in one go. And using the momentum from that swing, she then leapt forward, letting her long skirt freely fly in the air. Just like that, she ran forward in between the drones and the powered suits, slashing at them on her way out.

nThe flying powered suits that were sliced to pieces fell to the ground with a loud bang. Their powerful forcefield armour did not even function as a protecting layer. Moreover, their forcefield armour was not overcome by anti-forcefield amour, but by the pure might of the light blade.

nSeeing the powered suits shredded to pieces as they fell to the ground, Shirou could not help but frown.

n“Whoah!? Don’t kill them!? Didn’t I ask you to spare them!?”

nIf he killed the pursuers that came for him, as expected, Sugadome would not be happy with that. Shirou thought and properly conveyed this to Olivia. At least, leave their heads alone. Although some would still die, normal high-ranking Hunters should still be alive from that and Sugadome would eventually collect them.

nBut Olivia replied back as if it did not bother her at all.

n“It is as you have requested, I’m holding myself back to make sure not to kill any of them. The pilots should be unharmed from my slashes, although they fell to the ground, there should be no danger to their lives. Or is it that your pursuers are so weak that they’ll be dead with only just that?”

nShirou then looked in the direction Olivia pointed at. It was right when one of the shredded powered suits fell with high momentum. The pilot was ejected and smashed into the ground. Nonetheless, their bodies would make a bounce and roll over the ground till their momentum depleted. However, even after they crash-landed, they could still stand up normally.

nAlthough they were advanced powered suits, it was still impossible to completely protect the pilot in the midst of battle. That was why it was normal for pilots of powerful powered suits to also wear protective suits. If the only thing slashed to pieces was the powered suits, even if they were slammed against the ground at high speed, they would not die. Olivia could at least calculate that much before she slashed them to pieces.

nShirou also understood that Olivia was complying with his request, but that did not mean that he was okay with this. It was obvious that he was still displeased, showing a frown on his face.

n“Well, that’s true, but, you know, just to be safe?”

n“Can I take it as you wishing for me to treat them more gently? I don’t mind, but that would cost you more. And since I’ll work only based on how much you have paid me beforehand, it’ll end up shortening our contract as well. Would that be alright with you?”

nShirou knitted his eyebrows. He did not want Olivia to kill any of his pursuers. But it would be in vain if being too careful caused him to get captured. He paused for a moment and then said with a bitter expression.

n“…I’m fine with how you are doing things right now! But just be careful not to kill them!!”

n“Understood.”

nThe powered suits launched the same rods that they used to create the forcefield box, but those rods suddenly stopped midair and projected the forcefield armour in the air. The smaller drones swarmed their target, trying to stop it in its tracks, while at the same time, they also spread a huge amount of the sticky shock-absorbing bubbles as well. Even watching how traps were laid in front of her, Olivia did not hesitate at all. She continued to push forward, casually aiming her small-sized rifle forward.

nThe muzzle emitted a beam of light. The beam of light eradicated everything in front of her, removing them from her path. With that obstacle removed, Olivia created a forcefield platform under her and jumped away with Shirou still under her arm.

nThe rescue team contacted the rest of the team in panic.

n“What in the world is that girl?! Is she working for the target?!”

n“I know it’s difficult, but make sure not to use normal weapons even on that girl too! There’s a chance you might kill the target by accident! Don’t forget that the target’s safety is our highest priority!”

n“At least buy enough time until the reinforcement gets here! Continue to surround the target!! Make sure not to lose sight of the target!!”

nThe ruin was already in complete chaos. If they lost Shirou, this operation would mean great losses. However, even if they had already lost out that much it was fine as long as the operation ended in success. Thus, they decided to go for plan B.

n“How long before they’re here?”

n“15 minutes!”

n“…Leaving the reconnaissance drones aside, send everyone in! Connect the forcefield armour output to the powered suits! And use it to surround the target!!”

nThe rods that they used to project forcefield armour were fuelled by energy packs. If they were connected to the powered suits’ generator, it would boost the output of the forcefield armour. If the forcefield amour could be projected to fill up the whole space inside of it instead of just the surface wall, it would seem to be something akin to glass floating in mid-air.

nIn that case, the forcefield would only be able to maintain for a short time. But if they could separate Shirou and Olivia with it, they could use normal weapons to attack Olivia.

nThe rest of the powered suits followed the order from their leader, and the rescue team quickly went toward Shirou and Olivia. Shirou noticed the change in his pursuer’s movement and started to panic. But Olivia remained as calm as ever.

n