BA-G 156-175 (Patreon)

Next drop will be later, its not gonna be tomorrow.

156. A time more familiar than one's birthday

“Domo, Kuroto-san. It's Himari~desu.”

Dan Kuroto immediately raised one hand in a gesture of respect, but then immediately lowered it. He held the phone to his ear and spoke to Himari, the self-proclaimed genius, sickly beauty.

"Speak if you have something to say; otherwise, leave.”

Himari cleared her throat and spoke in a melodramatic tone. “Yes, we have a child…”

Dan Kuroto’s expression remained impassive. “Miss Himari, if you keep acting crazy, I’m hanging up.”

“Alright, since that’s the case, let’s get straight to the point.”

Himari put away the manga in her hand. This manga, which she didn’t know where it came from, was quite good. After all, it was a “gift” from that child, so it was normal for Himari to accept it.

“Mr. Dan Kuroto, we’re contacting you this time to discuss a deeper collaboration,” the voice came from the other end of the phone. “To be precise, it’s the Paranormal Affairs Department. We hope to collaborate with you.”

“Collaborate? What kind of collaboration?”

Dan Kuroto wasn’t quite sure, because in his memory, he and Himari had only clashed a few times—a computer hacker who had even given him a bit of a run for his money.

“We don’t seem to have any particular need for collaboration.”

Their interactions were limited to a few online conflicts and a brief conversation with Rio during the incident at Millennium Academy. Dan Kuroto himself had practically no deep contact with Himari, so why was he being approached by Himari?

“This matter is very important; it concerns the fate of the remaining campuses of Abydos. Dan Kuroto, you don't want Abydos, which you've worked so hard to protect, to be completely buried by sand in a few breaths, do you?”

Himari's words carried no threat, which Dan Kuroto could sense, but her meaning was clear.

“What? Is Abydos going to suffer another disaster?”

Dan Kuroto raised an eyebrow. “And I remember, Miss Himari, you're from Millennium Science School, aren't you? What brings you to Abydos?”

“It’s just that what we’re investigating happened to match Abydos. Don’t overthink it.” Himari chuckled, then regained her composure. “Speaking of which, although I always introduce my club, I’ve never explained to you what our ‘Paranormal Affairs Department’ actually does. So, let me briefly explain.”

A club led by Himari and Eimi, or rather, composed solely of these two, it’s a club under the Millennium Seminar, established to track and research scientifically incomprehensible phenomena.

“As for contacting you, the initial reason was that you, like Aris, come from the ‘Ruins,’ but compared to ordinary ruins, you and Aris are significantly different. Equally incomprehensible, equally shrouded in mystery, but one thing is understandable: you and Aris are both willing to interact with us students, and it’s mostly out of goodwill.”

Himari paused here, but quickly continued.

“However, compared to Aris, you obviously have more mysteries surrounding you. But that's not what I want to talk about today.”

“In the desert of the Abydos school district, Eimi and I detected a large-scale, unusual energy fluctuation,” Himari said worriedly. “In fact, such unusual energy fluctuations occurred once before, but that time was a little earlier. Mr. Dan Kuroto, do you recall?”

“Hmm… can you provide a specific time?” Dan Kuroto cracked his neck. “I’ve done too many big things; without a specific time, I can’t even remember what I did.”

Himari thought for a moment. “June 15th, 4:04 PM?”

“…Then you should go find a pair of brothers who know how to chop down trees, not come to me.”

Dan Kuroto rolled his eyes, but didn’t notice where Himari got this 'knowledge' from.

“Seriously?”

“Roughly—around this time.”

Himari’s words made Dan Kuroto blink, as if recalling what he had produced at that time.

"It seems to be when I created the Level X Alchemy Player Gashat…”

When that Alchemy Player Gashat was created, a transcendental energy gathered, then returned to calm, seemingly caused by the creation of a Gashat capable of challenging the rules of Kivotos—a self-rejection from the 'world'.

The eruption of this special energy caused a series of subsequent troubles—in reality, it was a harbinger of the 'world' rejecting, even attempting to destroy, the Alchemy Player Gashat, much like in cultivation novels where heavenly lightning strikes to destroy cultivators undergoing tribulation.

Because once these cultivators survive the tribulation, they become beings beyond the control of the Heavenly Dao. The birth of Alchemy Player meant that someone had created a product outside the laws of the world, and at that time, Dan Kuroto, wielding the Alchemy Player Gashat, unknowingly used his divine power to overcome the force attempting to destroy it—and this is the truth behind that earth-shattering energy beam that day.

Of course, Himari didn't know all this, nor did Dan Kuroto, but this didn't stop Dan Kuroto from recalling his only creation that day, the Alchemy Player Gashat. Himari couldn't comprehend the essence of that energy either, but that didn't prevent her from recording the unique wavelength and reading, and today, detecting a similar wavelength energy reading in the direction of Abydos.

"This energy fluctuation reading is almost identical to the energy fluctuation emitted when you created the Gashat in Alchemy Player at the last point in time."

Dan Kuroto narrowed his eyes. "So, you think I did it?"

"Not quite; we have that kind of discernment," Himari smiled sweetly. "However, this energy reaction is exactly like yours. I think something related to you must have appeared in that direction. Therefore, our 'Paranormal Affairs Department' naturally wants to work with you to handle this issue."

“Energy fluctuations similar to mine…” Dan Kuroto closed his eyes and pondered the connection.

“Since the energy fluctuations are similar to mine, it’s not impossible that this thing might have originated from me.”

“But there’s more than one reason why someone can emit energy similar to mine. Without more evidence, any further deductions are just wild guesses.” Dan Kuroto held his phone, his gaze directed in Abydos’s direction.

“We’ll have to see for ourselves to know what happened.”

----

157. Teaching with the Gashat is still teaching!

“Mr. Dan Kuroto, these are the materials that President Nagisa entrusted us to deliver.”

When Dan Kuroto returned to the Supplementary Lessons Department, two Trinity students were delivering a set of educational BDs and tactical notes to the classroom. Seeing Dan Kuroto enter, the two students bowed respectfully to him.

“The materials have been delivered. We won’t disturb you any longer.”

“Quite efficient.” Dan Kuroto raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect them to arrive this early.”

“Following President Nagisa’s orders is our duty as tea party guards.”

The two Trinity students didn’t say much, simply delivering all the materials Dan Kuroto requested before politely saying goodbye and leaving. Dan Kuroto was left staring at the mountain of textbooks on the table, while the four members of the Supplementary Lessons Department below exchanged wide, bewildered glances.

Hifumi glanced at the textbooks on the table, including the gold and purple ones they only used in their third year. “Um, Mr. Dan Kuroto, if it's just for our Supplementary Lessons Department, we don't really need textbooks this advanced…”

“Ah, ah, you don't need to worry about that. These are materials I got.”

Dan Kuroto waved his hand, dispelling the students' doubts. “Actually, I don't think you can pass the make-up exam no matter how long you study, no matter how much longer you study. Whatever you want to do, if you fail the exam, you'll probably be expelled and leave Trinity General School.”

“So bluntly…” Hifumi's expression darkened slightly. “Ahaha, I understand our grades are a bit bad, but it shouldn't be to the point where we can't pass the exam, right…”

“…” Hanako, who usually chimed in with a few off-color jokes, maintained her composed expression but remained silent.

“How could this be! I will definitely pass the Supplementary Lessons Department exam!”

With a bang, Koharu slammed her hand on the table and jumped up excitedly.

"Hasumi-senpai and the others are waiting for me to come back! I want to go back to the Justice Enforcement Committee, become a qualified member, and maintain order with Hasumi-senpai and everyone else! How can I be expelled from a place like this because of failing grades!”

“Don't panic; panicking won't help. If panicking could solve the problem, we wouldn't need to be here in the Supplementary Lessons Department.”

As before, Azusa's expression remained very calm, so calm that everyone wondered if she hadn't taken the cram school exam seriously, or if she wasn't worried about being expelled.

No, in the drawer unseen by everyone, Azusa's fists were clenched tightly, even trembling slightly. Azusa also had her reasons for not wanting to drop out; she absolutely couldn't let one exam ruin everything.

Hifumi stood up, her hands gripping the desk, and looked directly into Dan Kuroto's eyes.

"So! Even if Kuroto-san think we can't pass, we'll study hard and pass the Supplementary Lessons Department exam! Our school life can't end here!”

“Ha… when did I say I was going to give up on you guys?”

Dan Kuroto looked at Hifumi with the eyes of someone who cared for a child. This girl had probably been imagining things, and then suddenly got all worked up.

But Dan Kuroto hadn't said anything about giving up on them, the Supplementary Lessons Department students, had he?

"Wasn't that at the beginning just to state the situation?”

“Okay, I guess so…” Hifumi smiled brightly, then realized rather awkwardly that she had indeed overthought things.

“Besides, why are you so excited?” Dan Kuroto, hands on his hips, declared confidently to the four students present, “As long as I'm here, even if we're truly at our wits' end, I can find a way to get you through it! Taking the exam is a piece of cake! Even if you're all idiots with zero IQ, I'll still find a way to make you pass!”

Koharu blushed, probably because she was always being called an idiot. Like a certain ice fairy, she instinctively retorted upon hearing the word “idiot,”

"I-I'm not an idiot!!”

Hifumi nodded in agreement. “Exactly, exactly! Even if we're stupid, our IQs can't be zero, right?!”

“Alright, now you hear my guarantee; don't doubt my abilities!”

Dan Kuroto glared at the group, annoyed. “Anyway, these materials are useful. Next, I'll be developing a Game Gashat that allows you to easily complete all of Trinity's courses within the game area. While my Game Gashat is being developed, you can continue studying at your own pace.”

Hifumi asked doubtfully, “For studying…”

Hanako's beautiful eyes flickered. “Game Gashat?”

“I've looked at your course schedule. There will be a practical exam after three mock exams. The time seems ample, but it's also quite tight.”

Dan Kuroto picked up one of the purple tactical notebooks, glanced through it casually, and frowned. Because Kivotos's knowledge system differed from Dan Kuroto's original one, even he would need to put in some effort to re-analyze the knowledge recorded in these advanced technical notebooks. The knowledge recorded in the gray and blue ordinary notebooks, however, was a piece of cake.

“Developing this kind of thing takes time, so it definitely won't be ready in a day or two. However, I'll try my best to get the Gashat out before the third mock exam.”

In other words, this so-called educational Gashat is essentially Dan Kuroto breaking down and digesting the knowledge himself, thoroughly understanding it, and then feeding it to the students within a Game Gashat—sounds disgusting, but that's how it works.

Wow! Who said Dan Kuroto can't teach students!

This is how!

Finishing her thoughts, Hanako looked up and finally spoke to Dan Kuroto, “Mr. Dan Kuroto, I think you know that this isn't the only problem troubling the Supplementary Lessons Department.”

“Yes, so what?”

He packed up all the textbooks on the table and stuffed them into his Game Area. “Since you're students, just think about things within the scope of student life. All this nonsense is just overthinking.”

Dan Kuroto's words, though blunt, clearly pointed out why Hifumi and the other kids were experiencing this series of chaotic events—simply because they were overthinking.

Dan Kuroto shook his head. “Even if you had Halo in your head, I don't think it would make much difference.”

“Gatling! Gatling! Gatling! Gatling!”

Dan Kuroto's phone rang again, and at the same time, the wall clock struck dismissal time. He glanced up at the alarm clock, and the sound of the dismissal bell echoed throughout Trinity—a very loud, resounding brass bell.

Clang—clang—clang—

“Get out of class, everyone.”

Dan Kuroto walked out of the classroom on his own, leaving Hifumi and the others looking at each other in bewilderment. Their first class with Dan Kuroto had passed in such an anticlimactic way.

The phone call Dan Kuroto received wasn't from Himari, but from the game development department—Momoi.

“Dan Kuroto! Our game is ready!” Momoi's energetic voice came through the phone.

“Bring the blank Gashat back quickly! We're all ready!”

---

158. You just focus on studying, and let the kappa figure out the solutions.

"Dan Kuroto! Our game is finished!"

Momoi's energetic voice came through the phone, instantly lifting Dan Kuroto's spirits.

Based on how long they'd known each other, Momoi and Midori was practically an old acquaintance of Dan Kuroto's. Coupled with their shared background as game developers and the fact that she was already a prospective employee, the game development department held a significant place in Dan Kuroto's heart.

"Momoi, the game you said you'd make for Midori, is it finished now?"

Calculating the time, Dan Kuroto nodded with satisfaction. "Regardless of the quality, the speed is impressive. Looks like you've gotten used to working with a clear schedule. Well done!"

"Hmph, well, that depends on who it is!"

Momoi's smug expression was quite reminiscent of Dan Kuroto; perhaps spending time with him made anyone's mood more cheerful.

However, the game development department was currently in a very good position, probably because of their close relationship with Dan Kuroto?

"The game software is already complete inside the Genesis mk1. We're just waiting for Dan Kuroto to bring back the blank Gashat!"

Momoi was in a good mood. This was naturally due to achieving their predetermined work goal. The previously tedious game development process had been completely replaced by this super game creation platform built by Dan Kuroto.

Furthermore, the game development department's benefits had inexplicably improved significantly, finally putting Momoi and the others' worries about the department being disbanded at ease, allowing them to begin their enjoyable game creation journey.

"Okay, I just got out of class at Trinity. I'll wait for you to come back!"

Dan Kuroto hung up the phone and was about to take a step when his gaze fell on Hifumi, who seemed about to say something.

After Dan Kuroto hung up, Hifumi finally had a chance to speak. Looking curiously at Dan Kuroto's phone, she asked.

"Mr. Dan Kuroto, were you just talking to students from the neighboring school?"

"Yes, students from Millennium next door," Dan Kuroto nodded. "They mentioned a new game they were developing, and it's finally finished, but they're still missing one final step. So they called me, their club advisor. This is a project they developed entirely independently from start to finish. I'm very curious about the final outcome!"

Hearing this, an envious look appeared on Hifumi's face. "Is it a student from Millennium... That's so nice; are your usual club activities just making games? Life at school must be very happy, isn't it?"

"Happy? Perhaps—but before that, Yuzu and the others had their own problems to solve."

As the troubleshooter of the game development department and the chief contributor to keeping the department from disbanding, Dan Kuroto naturally knew about the crises Momoi and the others had faced.

"Millennium is a school that values results. To be honest, I don’t even know how the Game Development Club managed to survive before this Millennium Prize. But considering that other Millennium clubs all have some practical significance, the Game Development Club is probably one of the lowest-ranking clubs in Millennium Academy, or rather, purely a small circle of Yuzu, the club's president."

Dan Kuroto stroked his chin, pondering what he had seen of the Game Development Club these past few days. "They don’t have any grand ideals. At most, they’re just enthusiasts who gathered together because of the idea of making games. In the beginning, the Game Development Club was just a small hut that Yuzu used to escape from bad game reviews."

"And the second and third members of the game club were simply friends who gathered around Yuzu because they admired her talent."

Hifumi hummed in agreement, then thought for a moment before cautiously asking, "I heard that clubs at Millennium Academy that don’t achieve results are disbanded. According to you, Mr. Dan Kuroto, the game development club that Ms. Yuzu created must have produced some results, right?"

"Indeed." Dan Kuroto nodded. "When this rule was announced, they tried many ways to ensure their place wouldn’t disappear. The game development club was initially the place where these three built their bond, which is probably why they’re so determined to protect it."

"However, as I said before," Dan Kuroto recalled what had happened not long ago, "the game development club itself was a safe haven that Yuzu built as an escape from reality because she received a lot of negative reviews for her games."

"Even though Momoi and the others worked hard to protect their place, talent and ability are insurmountable hurdles on the path of game creation."

Games are called the ninth art, and while opinions on this topic remain divided, one thing is certain: if making good games were simply a matter of hard work, then good games would be everywhere by now.

"However, their willingness to fight tooth and nail to prevent their club from disbanding in that critical moment, searching for a miracle, is itself an opportunity for their success." Dan Kuroto suddenly straightened his back. "It was because Momoi and the others never gave up that they found me during their exploration of the ruins! In the end, my Game Gashat saved the day! That's right, I am—the embodiment of miracles! Hahahaha!!"

"Seriously, I thought Mr. Dan Kuroto was going to give some profound lecture. Turns out, he's just talking about himself!"

Hifumi paused, then realized that all Dan Kuroto had said was ultimately about how the game development department hadn't disbanded because of him.

"So what was the point of all that?!"

"Hahaha... it means—"

Dan Kuroto stretched out his large hand and placed it on Hifumi's head. "Sometimes, your efforts have their limits. When you feel you can't hold on any longer, having someone give you a push can make all the difference."

Not very gently, even a little roughly, Dan Kuroto messed up Hifumi's hair, and looking at the slightly reproachful Hifumi, he spoke arrogantly.

"Just a bunch of little brats, each one of them thinking they can handle anything. Hmph, they don't have my talent, yet they want to be in charge of everything. Is that all? They'll crash and burn sooner or later."

"Eh, what are you saying?" Hifumi covered her head, confused. "What do you mean by 'in charge of everything'? What do you mean by 'crash and burn'?"

"Nothing, that's not something you should worry about." Dan Kuroto withdrew his hand and walked towards the nearest network port.

"Just focus on learning to the best of your ability. Passing the exam is up to Kami."

Yeah, they're just a few immature students, always deep in thought about this and that, ending up getting themselves all tangled up.

Do you think Dan Kuroto wouldn't see through their little schemes?

----

159. Color Splash

Regarding how Nagisa became suspicious of these four at the tea party, in a sense, all four members of the Supplementary Lessons Department were carefully selected and placed in this department solely for the purpose of eliminating students.

"Based on Seia's precognitive dream, I conducted extensive intelligence gathering and screening among the students of Trinity. Ultimately, I identified four suspects."

Among these four, Hifumi was somewhat unique. In terms of relationships, this ordinary girl, Hifumi, had a very close friendship with Nagisa, the tea party host, and Nagisa actually liked Hifumi quite a bit.

However, recently, seemingly due to her excessive obsession with Perolo, her grades had plummeted. She even skipped school exams to collect Perolo, resulting in failing grades.

However, if Hifumi were to temporarily set aside her fervent obsession with Perolo and instead focus on her studies for a while, given her existing foundation, graduating smoothly from the Supplementary Lessons Department would be entirely possible.

"While I personally like Hifumi very much, considering that getting close to me could be a scheme, this girl who's always in contact with me becomes suspicious."

Having realized during their previous meetings, he had already fully grasped the meaning behind her words, even deducing the very purpose of the Supplementary Lessons Department, Nagisa no longer concealed anything. She also revealed in detail the reasons why she had chosen these four individuals—the reasons Dan Kuroto wanted to know.

"Rumor has it that Hifumi has had contact with an unknown force and seems to have obtained something from them, though we can’t verify that at the moment. Also, recently, Hifumi visited that amusement park ruin."

Nagisa put down her teacup and said seriously to Dan Kuroto, "And we recently confirmed that the amusement park ruin does indeed have a connection to that unknown force. Given that this force could have a very serious impact on Trinity, and even Kivotos, we must treat this matter with utmost care."

"As for Shirasu Azusa… she was recommended to enroll by Mika." Nagisa shook her head. "Logically and emotionally, I don’t really want to suspect that a child recommended by Mika would have any problems, but the many inconsistencies found in Shirasu Azusa’s file are indeed unavoidable points of suspicion. Just to be on the safe side, I also sent her to tutoring."

"And Koharu Shimoe is a hostage to the Justice Task Force—this might sound despicable, but the Justice Task Force controls a considerable number of armed forces within Trinity, especially its leader, Hasumi, who is extremely hostile towards Gehenna—a ticking time bomb. Even if it’s just for a brief period of restraint during the signing of the Eden Treaty, I have to send her to the Supplementary Lessons Department."

Nagisa looked at the documents in her hand. "Furthermore, Koharu Shimoe’s grades are quite poor, which is an undeniable reason."

"Hanako was originally a top-tier elite. Now, she deliberately chose to fail a course; I have absolutely no idea what her intentions are."

"Just because you can’t see through her, should we exclude all of them?" Dan Kuroto’s opinion of Nagisa dropped a notch, and he scoffed. "Human hearts are hard to fathom. I’ve seen misunderstandings arise from mere speculation many times. In other words—aren’t you afraid you’re wrong?"

Indeed, there were a few instances where Dan Kuroto himself might have been responsible. He was quite experienced in manipulating people’s hearts using partial results.

"Even if I'm wrong, it doesn't matter; we're all just ‘others’ to each other. Even if you, Mr. Dan Kuroto, were sitting right in front of me, I couldn't see into your heart." Nagisa shook her head. "So I had no choice but to fire them all. For… the smooth signing of the Treaty of Eden."

"Heh."

Dan Kuroto suddenly laughed, causing Nagisa to ask in confusion, "Is there something funny about what I said?"

"No, nothing." Dan Kuroto waved his hand with a smile. "I'm looking forward to seeing how this ends. To be honest, after hearing this, I'm already certain that I've proven my judgment."

Nagisa asked in confusion, "What judgment?"

"Don't ask me. People usually only realize their mistakes when they're too late to regret them."

Dan Kuroto left his seat, taking the Supplementary Lessons Department documents from the table with him. "Alright, I'll take this on. Let's both do our best."

The recollection of discussing the Supplementary Lessons Department with Nagisa ended there. Dan Kuroto was certain without a doubt that Nagisa had fallen into a state of paranoia, doubting everything around her, even having especially convinced by the student named "Seia," whom Dan Kuroto had never met. The precognitive dreams Seia had given Nagisa seemed to be crucial information in her belief in everything.

"Seia… I wish I could meet this student."

Dan Kuroto transformed into a bugster virus, disappearing into the network port. Although he was also very curious about this student with precognitive abilities, it was time for his appointment. Momoi and the others were waiting for him to send the blank Gashat over, and he couldn't wait to see just how skilled they were at creating a game.

When Veritas detected Dan Kuroto traversing cyberspace, its network defenses automatically opened a path for him. Dan Kuroto's identity data had been added to Millennium Academy's network whitelist after his battle with Kei. He emerged unimpeded from the game development club's network and saw the club members gathered around the machines.

"Mr. Dan Kuroto, it’s been a while…"

Yuzu was still the same as always, still preferring to sleep in the closet and wearing slippers. Seeing Dan Kuroto approach, she waved happily.

"Momoi told me you’re now an advisor at Trinity?"

"Something interesting happened, and Arona suggested I make more contact with other schools," Dan Kuroto nodded. Midori remained reserved, while Momoi, without hesitation, pounced on him, clinging to Dan Kuroto’s arms on either side, so he could lift them both up.

"Oh ho Dan Kuroto, you look so busy!" Momoi, draped over Dan Kuroto's arm, pursed her lips. "You haven’t been to the activity room lately either. Aris said she wanted to go to your company to see you, but Midori said that might bother you"

"Just give me a call; what’s the big deal about bothering me?" Dan Kuroto casually swung the two little ones around on his arm. Aris was having a blast, while Kei dutifully whispered from the side,

"Your Highness, this is beneath your dignity, this is beneath your dignity…"

"Alright, where's your game?" Dan Kuroto pulled out a blank Gashat he'd prepared beforehand. "I can tell from your faces how confident you are in this project?"

"Well, it's a game designed for Midori, after all" Momoi let go of his grip and jumped down, arms crossed, trigger-stand. "Hmph It perfectly matches Midori's love of drawing, a game born from combining drawing and gaming—"

"Its name is Color Splash!"

"This is a game where you spray paint to create artwork, letting players freely enjoy the joy of splashing color—thanks to the superior performance of the Genesis mk1 and Game Area, many of the game's concepts were made possible," Momoi said, giving Dan Kuroto a big smile.

"Thank you, Dan Kuroto!"

"So, it still comes down to my talent!" Dan Kuroto said proudly. "Using the machine I created to develop a game I approve of, it's practically my game too!"

Connecting to the game development space through the machine, Dan Kuroto found himself in a town brimming with artistic flair. Every player here becomes a 'paint splatterer,' using various spray weapons and carriers to create all sorts of whimsical artworks.

Besides this, seemingly influenced by Kivotos, even Color Splash, with its core focus on art creation, includes a unique game mechanic of battling with paint guns.

Dan Kuroto understands this—after all, real-world conditions can influence one's imagination!

----

160. Momoi... might be very talented!

"So? How is our amazing ingenuity? Not a bad game, right?"

Dan Kuroto, having only scratched the surface of the game development space, was met with Momoi's expectant gaze.

Looking around, Yuzu and the others were also looking at Dan Kuroto with the same expressions, awaiting his evaluation.

"A decent game, above average," Dan Kuroto nodded with satisfaction. "But I think the mini-games are actually more interesting than the main gameplay you conceived—which was your idea for that splash battle mode?"

"Aris's!" Aris raised her hand high, her face beaming with excitement. "Aris thought of this gameplay when she saw the game's beta test! Spraying each other with paint and getting everyone covered in it would be so much fun!"

Yuzu smiled gently. "And since it's a game, we don't even have to worry about taking a bath."

"Hmm~ Didn't the main game's levels move you?" Momoi puffed out her cheeks. "Midori and I worked really hard to design a lot of fun, creative levels!"

"It's perfectly reasonable for creators to express their values; it means you do have your own subjective thoughts." Dan Kuroto patted Momoi and Midori's heads.

Was it just his imagination? It felt like the tails sewn onto the sisters' clothes were starting to wag.

"However, you've inserted viewpoints that you can't control. You can't guarantee that all players will agree with them, so that's a point deduction."

Dan Kuroto squeezed Momoi and Midori's heads a little harder, finding the feel strangely pleasant.

"Feeling threatened after seeing Tales Saga 2? Starting to cram in your own themes now? Hmm?"

"Uh... Dan Kuroto, you really saw right through me." Momoi chuckled awkwardly, while Midori said sheepishly, "Is it... really that good?"

"Using games to preach is stupid. Until you can come up with mature, profound principles, just focus on making the game fun."

"Well, you're right..." Midori lowered her head almost imperceptibly, somewhat dejected. "Then, what about all these completed levels? We can't just delete them all, can we?"

"Who told you to delete them?" Dan Kuroto raised an eyebrow. "Didn't I just say? I think the mini-games here are pretty good. Why not extract that as the main gameplay, and then add the other levels as secondary gameplay?"

"Huh? This... this is possible?" Midori was stunned. "What I originally just wanted to design as a mood-changing online multiplayer mode has become the main gameplay?"

Dan Kuroto nodded, arms crossed. "Inspiration often comes unexpectedly. Don't mind, don't mind~"

"Alright, let's get started!"

Immediately, Dan Kuroto plopped down in his swivel chair, clapping his hands to get Yuzu and the others moving.

"Don't waste time calling me here! With the help of the Genesis MK1, you guys have to get the finished product out today! Get moving, get moving!!"

So, following Dan Kuroto's directions, the game development department worked overtime to make urgent modifications.

Thanks to the powerful assistance of this invincible development platform in game production, the modified product was finally completed in three hours. After all the modifications were completed, Dan Kuroto, as promised, placed the blank Gashat onto the machine's output terminal.

"I wonder what level this Gashat it will be."

While waiting for the Game Gashat to finish loading, Yuzu anxiously stared at the blank Gashat that was gradually changing color. The game development team already knew that Game Gashats had different levels after Dan Kuroto created several.

Although playability wasn't the only factor in the rating system, and a Game Gashat's level didn't necessarily indicate whether a game was fun, the thought that it was a quantifiable rating made Yuzu instinctively hope for a higher score on this Gashat.

"After all, Tales Saga Chronicle 2 is already at level five, so it's understandable that Yuuyu would have such concerns." Momoi nodded in agreement. "If you don't create a Gashat that surpasses level five, it feels like you've let down all the growth you've achieved these past few days, right?"

"Not entirely." Dan Kuroto raised his head. "If you could create a Level 10 Gashat right now, that would be a pleasant surprise. After all, you've only just received my training—"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Accompanied by the notification sound of receiving the item, the Game Gashat was fully loaded with game data.

As the data was loaded, the Game Gashat's white color turned into a vibrant emerald green, matching Midori's style, and it flew straight up from the game cartridge socket—

The flying Gashat was then caught in Momoi's hand and held high above her head.

"Color Splash Gashat, get☆daze!"

After a flash of light, the cover art for the Game Gashat automatically printed onto the Gashat controller. It depicted two cartoonish, chibi-style cats, one peach and one green, wielding paint-spraying weapons and battling each other.

"Color Splash! This is—a Level 2 Gashat!"

Momoi, holding it above her head, paused. "Wait a minute? Level 2?"

"Impossible! How did the level go down?"

Midori hurriedly took the Gashat from Momoi, examining it closely. On the Gashat's handle, printed in bold black lettering, were the words "Color Splash LV.2."

This dampened Midori's initial excitement about completing the Gashat considerably.

"How could it... only be Level 2..."

"Let me see?" Dan Kuroto took the Gashat from Midori, examined it for a moment, and then gave his answer: "Don't be discouraged. Although this Gashat is only Level 2, it's actually a Gashat made for a Main Rider. In a sense, this Gashat truly represents your own 'attributes,' a genuine work created through your collaboration."

"Attributes...?" Yuzu asked doubtfully from the side. "Um, could you explain?"

"That to us?"

Dan Kuroto took out the Gashat "Neko King" that Momoi had made earlier from his pocket and placed it in front of everyone.

"This is the first Game Gashat Momoi made, and it's also at LV.2. To be honest, there were no procedures or plans at the time, just like starting a novel without even writing an outline. It was just Momoi trying it out, and she still managed to complete it. In a sense, it does prove that Momoi has a talent for game development."

----

161. Team mission, start!

"Hehehe Dan Kuroto praised me so much, I'll get proud" Momoi scratched her head shyly, a cute blush rising on her face. "But, it's rare to hear you praise someone, Dan Kuroto, so I'll just accept it without hesitation~"

Midori asked doubtfully, "Could it be that the Gashat we worked so hard to create is on the same level as the Gashat that my sister created out of her wild imagination..."

"Silly, that's just the 'attribute' compatibility."

Dan Kuroto placed Color Splash side by side on the table, along with a Level 5 Gashat, Tales Saga 2, which he had gotten from Kei. These three were Game Gashats belonging to the Game Development Department, closely related to the four members of the department.

Finally, Dan Kuroto took out a Gamer Driver and placed it next to the three Gashats.

"The Game Gashat is a special item I developed, and naturally, it possesses unique abilities that ordinary people cannot comprehend."

Dan Kuroto separated the two Level 2 Gashats. "These Rider Game Gashats, which can be used in the Gamer Driver's main slot and symbolize the player character, possess the ability to transform independently. You can think of them as 'characters'."

The Level 5 Tales Saga 2 was categorized separately by Dan Kuroto.

"The other type, the Game Gashat, can't be used alone and must be used with the former. It's a 'gear' item inserted into the secondary slot. It's an enhancement-type item."

"Enhancement-type Gashats don't need to consider style; after all, it's just equipment, and any player can wield it."

Dan Kuroto traced a line on the table with his finger, explaining the Rider Gashat setup to the group. Ñ

"But Rider Gashats used in the main slot are usually deeply bound to their user. In fact, these Gashats are 100% a perfect fit, another manifestation of the user—like the Halo above your heads, right?"

"Halo?" Midori and Momoi exchanged a glance. "So... this Color Splash isn't as bad as we thought, right?"

"Of course, it's more accurate to say that this Gashat is a Game Gashat perfectly suited to Midori's own 'attributes'," Dan Kuroto nodded. "In comparison, the level isn't such an important thing."

Just as the Neko King Gashat was created primarily in Momoi's style, the Color Splash Gashat is Midori's signature. As Momoi previously requested, "I hope my friends can also get their own Gashat," this is Midori's own unique Gashat.

"Phew That makes me feel so much more relaxed" Momoi patted her chest cutely and let out a long sigh of relief. "I was thinking this might be a level 10 Gashat~"

"It's Midori's own Gashat... That's a good result too." Yuzu also felt relieved, her earlier worry about the Gashat not turning out well dissipating. "But I thought Tales Saga 2 would be Aris and Kei's Gashat."

"Hmm... their situation is rather special." Dan Kuroto glanced at Kei, who had just retrieved her core Gashat. "This Gashat was originally supposed to be a regular Level 5 Game Gashat, but for some reason, it became her core Gashat. It wasn't an innately evolved Bugster; it became a Bugster first and then acquired its core Gashat—like the chicken-or-egg philosophical question."

"And now, Kei and Aris are two separate individuals. Even so, Tales Saga 2 belongs to Kei, not Aris."

"So, it's Aris's turn next time!" Aris waved her arms excitedly. "Aris wants her own Gashat too!"

"Haha, that depends on when we have inspiration," Momoi said, scratching her head. "After all, inspiration doesn't come all the time."

With the completion of the Color Splash Gashat, the atmosphere in the game development department gradually calmed down. Besides the Rider Gashat itself being handed over to Midori, Dan Kuroto also returned Neko King, which he had dominated for so long, to Momoi.

"I've used it for so long, it's time to return it to its rightful owner." Dan Kuroto handed the pink Gashat to Momoi. "It's truly helped me a lot and saved me a lot of trouble—this Gashat is undoubtedly the biggest unsung hero."

"I'm glad it helped Kuroto-san!"

Momoi was also happy that her Gashat could be of help to someone, especially this person who turned the tide in a crisis and even made the game development department win the Millennium Prize. Being able to help Dan Kuroto was the best thing ever.

"That being said, is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Hmm... Come to think of it, there really is one." Dan Kuroto murmured, as if remembering something. "Where's the maid who's supposed to be on duty with Aris today?"

"Ah, about that..." Yuzu chimed in. "The one on-duty today was Asuna-senpai, but before you arrived, she muttered something about having a 'good feeling' and left, saying she didn't care about Aris's side today. I wonder where she went..."

"Quite carefree," Dan Kuroto chuckled. "That does fit my first impression of that student."

"Alright, speaking of which, now that you two sisters have your Rider Gashats, how about coming to Abydos with me?"

Dan Kuroto asked casually, "You can arrange your own study plans here, right? How about joining me for some community service? I'll include the stamp."

"We don't have any community service stamps to collect here," Momoi retorted instinctively. "But, it's possible."

"Cross-district?" Midori's eyes widened slightly. "And I remember, Abydos, isn't that the district mentioned in that commission you took on before, Mr. Dan Kuroto, the one with the huge debt to the student council..."

"That's right, it's exactly there."

Dan Kuroto hadn't forgotten the 'bonds' required to unlock his God Maximum Mighty X Gashat; actively drawing students into incidents related to himself should also have shaped the 'bonds' between them, right?

"It seems the matter we resolved there before has some lingering issues, and we need to go back to see what caused the problem. Perfect timing, since you two sisters have both received your own Gashats. Would you like to try out what it's like to be a 'player'?"

----

162. Your little helper will keep you on track!

Kivotos maintains very relaxed rules for its students; in fact, they spend most of their time engaged in "self-study," and going out is simply a matter of informing someone. However, as the personal who handles this information, Yuuka is still quite worried.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Momoi and Midori, you two hardly ever leave the Millennium. You’re going on a long trip today? Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

Yuuka asked worriedly as she helped Momoi and Midori fill out the forms.

"Momoi, you two are usually so careless and impulsive. Will you be able to take care of yourselves in another school district? Should we pack lunches?”

“Well, actually, Kuroto-san is coming with us…” Momoi gestured awkwardly to Dan Kuroto beside her. "We won’t be gone for long, just a few days. Dan Kuroto said he won’t let us touch anything particularly dangerous…”

“Yuuka… she seems like a Mom…” Hearing Yuuka’s words, Midori felt a sudden sense of déjà vu.

“Mom…!”

"Who's the mom! Don't make me sound so old!" Yuuka blushed. "I was just reminding you to take care of yourselves when you're out and about. Isn't that just normal interaction between classmates? How did it become 'mom'?"

Yuuka sighed and instructed Dan Kuroto beside her, "Momooi and Midori are students of Millennium Science School, after all. Mr. Dan Kuroto, even though you're the president of Schale, you must ensure their safety when you take our students out."

After signing the inter-district travel permit, Momoi and Midori, armed with their weapons, followed Dan Kuroto out of the school gate. Since he was taking two students out, Dan Kuroto couldn't just cross the network cable to Abydos by himself.

"From here to the Abydos school district... how do I normally get there?"

Dan Kuroto looked up at the sky. It wasn't that he'd forgotten, but he was so used to the convenient cyberspace network crawling that recalling how to physically get from Millennium to Abydos along the road required a real search.

"Quite EXCITE EXCITE Takaneru EXCITE EXCITE Kokoro ga~"

Dan Kuroto's phone suddenly rang with his newly changed ringtone. He took out his phone, and the smartphone unlocked automatically. Although Dan Kuroto, with his Shittim Chest, could use Arona as a communication relay station and leverage Shittim Chest's powerful capabilities to bring communications into his view, it still didn't feel as good as using his own phone.

"Stop it, stop it This is Millennium's genius beauty, Himari desu"

Himari's voice came through the phone. Dan Kuroto glanced at the two sisters who had just stepped out of the school gate, drawn by the nearby snack shop, and started buying sausages. He then returned his attention to the call.

"Himari, have you been watching me since just now?"

"If that were the case, you would have noticed by now, wouldn't you?"

Having exchanged blows with Dan Kuroto a few times, and with her reputation for omniscience, Himari was naturally wary of Dan Kuroto's excessively powerful anti-camera tracking abilities.

In response, Himari had naturally developed other methods to counter this tactic.

At least now, she didn't have to worry about being startled by Dan Kuroto's sudden, direct approach—he really could crawl inside the network cable!

“I’ve discovered that as long as it’s not direct spying, it’s still possible to indirectly obtain your information,” Himari chuckled. “So, I’ve already installed location tracking and information gathering software on Momoi and Midori’s phones.”

Since she already knew Dan Kuroto was going to travel with Momoi and Midori, and couldn’t directly track him, Himari devised a new method to locate Dan Kuroto indirectly by using the Saiha sisters, who wouldn’t stray too far from him.

“Hmm… using this method to avoid my gaze, huh?”

Even knowing that Himari was watching him this way, Dan Kuroto wasn't too bothered. There were basically no malicious students among these students. After experiencing this for a while, Dan Kuroto was gradually getting used to life in this student city.

"Watch if you want, just don't stream it 24/7."

Dan Kuroto watched as Momoi Midori rushed back excitedly after buying sausages, handing him one and taking a bite herself. "Do you usually use a webcam to gather information?"

“Mostly yes,” Himari readily admitted. “My ‘Paranormal Affairs Department’ is located in a secret, undetectable location. Even the network it accesses has been moved several times. Mr. Dan Kuroto, you should have already experienced what it was like to infiltrate my location once, right?”

“The one when you bombarded me with cannons?” Dan Kuroto’s face darkened. “That’s fine now, but next time I catch you, I’ll bombard you with towed grenade launchers!”

“Hey Be a little more polite to a genius beauty like me” Himari teased. “After all, I’ve helped you a lot, like right now?”

"Now?"

"Let this genius beauty be your map guide~"

Himari created a lifelike mini Himari on Dan Kuroto's phone, casually opening the downloaded map app.

"Genius Map is here to guide you~ Just accept it gratefully; there aren't many opportunities for a beautiful girl like Himari to be your guide."

Using herself as the navigation arrow, Himari pointed to their destination on the map in the most intuitive way and even drew the route to Abydos, but...

"This route isn't the shortest path, is it?"

Dan Kuroto glanced at the road on his phone that passed through a bustling commercial district. It was clearly a longer route, but actually, it only added about ten minutes to the journey—a right turn would have taken them across the bridge, but Himari pointed out a left turn, through a busy area, and then across another bridge.

"Hmm~ I didn't say it was the shortest path!"

Himari chuckled. "It's rare to come out with lovely students; just heading straight to the destination would be so unromantic."

Momoi held up her phone, sharing her recent adventures with Yuzu Aris in the chat group. Midori took a bite of her sausage, then glanced up at Dan Kuroto, seemingly curious about who Dan Kuroto was talking to.

He looked at Momoi and Midori beside him, their faces beaming with excitement, before looking away after a moment.

"Let's just assume you're right."

-----

163. A chance encounter, yet another chance encounter.

“Ugh—I can’t walk anymore…”

Momoi stuck out her tongue, looking utterly exhausted. Midori was wiping the sweat from her brow when she turned to Dan Kuroto.

“Mr. Dan Kuroto, don’t you need to rest?”

“I actually…” Dan Kuroto wanted to say he was a bugster and didn’t need rest, but looking at Momoi and Midori, and considering the two children had walked for almost two hours—almost like a march—he softened his tone.

"The commercial area is just ahead, right? Let’s walk there and rest.”

"Hooray..."

Momoi weakly raised her arm. This wasn't entirely Momoi's fault; it was just that Midori, who spent all her time playing games, hardly ever exercised. She relied on delivery services for everything, ate at the cafeteria or takeout, and bought games from a game store just three blocks from campus—but now, with the convenient 'Creator MK1' machine, she spent her days stuffing it with her 'immature ideas'.

Being able to make her own games was fantastic! If someone was willing to prepare all the materials for her, without her having to do the dishes or anything, she'd probably be happy to try cooking, right?

That's roughly it.

Aside from Aris, who was always clamoring for 'adventures' and running around the school every few days, the other three members of the game development club were basically lacking in exercise. —But then again, Aris was an android and Kei was a Bugster, so exercising would be like doing a horse stance while piloting a mech—what's the point!

"Here you go, extra milk tea for the same price."

"Slurp—"

The students were treated to the ever-popular milk tea. Taking their iced milk tea and sitting under the parasol, Momoi and Midori took a big gulp, their faces showing relaxed and refreshed expressions.

"Ah! We're alive again!"

"No wonder you two are sisters; your expressions are exactly the same." Dan Kuroto smiled, watching the two sisters' simultaneous exclamations. "You two, you've never walked this far before, have you?"

"If we're talking about walking this far, then no." Midori shook her head, while Momoi, beside her, also perked up a bit: "But in terms of relative distance, definitely!"

"When?" Dan Kuroto asked with interest.

"Of course, it's when Jelly Game Center launches its points accumulation program!" Momoi said, her face lighting up. "During the entire event day, you have to walk around the huge mall's three buildings (A, B, and C), across seven floors, to participate in the activities and collect all the points to redeem the final prize!"

"Ah, I remember now." Midori seemed to recall something, covering her mouth and laughing. "My sister really unleashed an energy she never usually has for the final prize—the cat-shaped pillow and the game set! She dragged me and Yuzu all over the mall."

"By the end, my legs were practically numb, because after reaching each checkpoint we had to participate in their little activities." Momoi seemed to remember something, her eyes turning somewhat helpless. "Honestly, I don't know what the person who designed that event was thinking—collecting thirty activity points in one day, and by the end my phone counted tens of thousands of steps. Afterwards, I thought I'd gone hiking!"

"Pfft, hahaha..." Dan Kuroto laughed. "So, the final prize is a cat-themed plush toy and a game set? What kind of set is it that made you push yourself so hard?"

"After all, it's a limited-edition prize that's worth the money... and it's only available to the first 100 people." Momoi took another sip of her milk tea. "Kivotos' most advanced home game console, the PS6 (PLAY Sister 6), ten game discs of your choice, and four high-end brand-made cat-themed plush toy pillows. When I received them, they were practically two huge cardboard boxes. Even after a long day, it felt like it was all worth it."

“After all, back then, our game development department's activity budget simply couldn't afford a PS6,” Midori agreed. “The game console Mr. Dan Kuroto is seeing in the activity room now is the prize my sister won back then.”

“She only unleashes her full potential when it comes to games…” Dan Kuroto admired Midori's passion for games even more: “In that case, creating Gashat on the first use of the creation machine wasn't a miraculous coincidence, but rather inevitable.”

"Mr. Dan Kuroto, speaking of Abydos, have their problems been resolved?" Midori asked curiously, sipping her milk tea and feeling her body gradually recovering. "After all, you said your destination this time was the desert or something..."

"The debt issue you saw last time hasn't been resolved yet, since the debt is still held by Kaiser Corporation," Dan Kuroto shrugged. "But as I said, you don't really have to pay back these kinds of high-interest loans. As for the other issues, they've been mostly resolved, so there's no need to worry."

The seriously ill child was cured, the child with shattered Halo was brought back to life, the child who almost reversed her fate was stopped, the child whose Dao heart was almost shattered was spared, the forced-away companion returned, Abydos gained some infrastructure, some defensive weaponry, and a group of students who were reforming. In any case, things were moving in a positive direction.

“(Chewing) Dan Kuroto, you’ve really done a lot.”

With a straw in her mouth, Momoi sipped the last of the coconut jelly and agar jelly from her cup. “It sounds like Abydos has very few students…”

“After all, when I first went there, I could only see two, one of whom was lying in a hospital bed.” Dan Kuroto put down his cup. “Even now, with many more rescued and new recruits, there are only about forty or fifty people in total.”

“Forty or fifty people, just the number of a class…” Midori opened her mouth, a sense of indescribable sorrow in her voice. “Such a big school district, and now there are only a few dozen students… This is too…”

"Pitiful?" Dan Kuroto chuckled. "Don't worry about that. As long as I support them, Abydos will never disappear."

"What's lost, what's buried, will all return at the right time." Dan Kuroto looked towards the end of the shopping street.

In the distance, he could see a bridge, and beyond it, the remaining buildings of the Abydos school district would begin to emerge.

"Oh? This is... the president?"

A familiar voice rang out beside him. Dan Kuroto turned around to see a student with black and white hair and a fierce expression staring at him in surprise.

"Kayoko, when did you get here?"

Dan Kuroto was quite surprised.

"What are you doing here?"

"This is a shopping street pretty close to the DU district, so I took advantage of the weekend to browse around..." Kayoko's surprised expression returned to normal.

At Genm Corps' Gehenna branch, Aru was doing very well, so she didn't need to keep an eye on things every day. Besides, they had already arranged various robot employees and security equipment, and the initial busy days were over. Everyone at Handyman 68 had returned to their usual routine.

Now, Kayoko had heard there was a nice cat café here and wanted to find a place to soothe her mind and body, but instead, she discovered her company president seemingly on a date with two cat girls?

“But what are you doing here? And with two Millennium students…” Kayoko’s mind seemed to have wandered into something inappropriate, and her face flushed slightly, but she quickly stopped herself from indulging in such thoughts.

“President, what are you doing now?”

“I was on my way to the Abydos school district, and I got tired and stopped here to rest.”

Dan Kuroto showed his empty milk tea cup. “As you can see, I’ve been sitting here for a while.”

"Going to Abydos…”

To be honest, Kayoko felt a pang of guilt when Abydos was mentioned. Although they were a mercenary organization operating under the ideology of 'evil,' attacking the already exhausted Abydos still left Kayoko with a lingering sense of unease. It was only because Aru thought they were cool, coupled with Mutsuki's encouragement and the uncontrollable Haruka, that they went ahead with the operation.

And now, the result, naturally, is what it is now: the entire Handyman team wiped out and reduced to wage laborers.

But hearing that Abydos is doing well now, and that Dan Kuroto is going there anyway, Kayoko thought for a moment and spoke.

"Can you take me with you?"

-----

164. "Field Missions"

Bringing one more person along wasn't difficult, but Kayoko's initiative was unexpected for Dan Kuroto.

"You're going to Abydos too? Sure, bringing one more person won't hurt."

Dan Kuroto had no reason to stop Kayoko; since the girl wanted to come, he'd let her.

"But what are you going to Abydos for?"

Kayoko looked away slightly, a little awkwardly. "Just going to relax... is that not allowed?"

This was a lie.

Kayoko was quite an outlier in the Handyman 68, even unique in Gehenna. While other students were thinking about how to cause even more trouble, Kayoko was always being dragged into big things. But aside from that, Kayoko usually only wanted a peaceful life—surprisingly, people from Gehenna, especially those from Pandemonium, hadn't picked up a troublemaker's tendencies.

Kayoko wanted to go to Abydos with them simply to see firsthand how the school, which had been so dilapidated back then, was doing now.

After all, she was from Gehenna; it was normal for her not to express such concern before they were familiar with each other, right?

"Alright, go ahead and relax," Dan Kuroto said, not wanting to expose Kayoko's little scheme. She thought she was hiding her true feelings well, but someone as shrewd as Dan Kuroto could easily see through her. Perhaps only someone as clueless as Aru wouldn't notice.

"Since it's a coincidence, Mr. President, there's something I need to report to you about the Gehenna branch..."

Sitting down in the chair next to Dan Kuroto, Kayoko thought for a moment and found something to start a conversation. She used to be the head of the clerical department at Handyman 68, so this kind of thing was a piece of cake for her.

If she hadn't met Dan Kuroto today, Kayoko would have found time later to report to him on the recent marketing progress of Gehenna's Genm branch. Kayoko is very serious about her work.

In fact, aside from her time at Pandemonium, where Aru's impulsive and unpredictable personality, coupled with her various baffling actions, made her reluctant to continue, Kayoko is generally very responsible and dedicated to her work.

"President, the branch's situation is like this… revenue… inventory…"

"Hmm, that sounds good. It's indeed operating well, but we need to pay attention to this part… and related matters are like this… if we encounter situations that can't be handled this way, then…"

The black-and-white-haired girl, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, started talking to Dan Kuroto. Their conversation escalated in a direction that Momoi and Midori couldn't possibly keep up with. The sisters, trying to understand what they were saying, could only glean that they were discussing the Genm Game branch of Gehenna Academy; the rest of the conversation sounded like something out of a lecture they were about to doze off over.

“Sister, I feel like I can’t understand a word they’re saying anymore.” Midori felt like her eyes were turning into whirlpools. “Was I… was I in an online class just now?”

“I understand every single word, but when they’re put together, it becomes completely incomprehensible…” Momoi was also dizzy, clutching her forehead in frustration. “Ugh! How can girls our age be discussing such complex topics? This is cheating!”

While Momoi and Midori were lamenting how impossible it was to join Dan Kuroto and Kayoko’s conversation, the two of them were exchanging information at an incredibly efficient pace. Intelligent people communicate much more concisely, and no matter what Kayoko mentioned, he could quickly grasp the meaning and verbally respond—this was the almost cheating memory ability of a data lifeform.

Memories still in one's mind are like files stored on a computer hard drive, readily accessible. Human memories inevitably wear down and fade, but Bugsters are immune to this.

So, in the end, Dan Kuroto's side remained the same as at the beginning, while Kayoko had pulled out her notebook. She was writing down things she hadn't had time to remember—this notebook was originally used to deal with Aru, that unreliable girl who always did whatever came to mind. If she didn't write it down, even Aru herself might forget what she had said.

"Phew~ That's it. Is there anything else?"

Dan Kuroto's verbal approval was remarkably efficient, so much so that Kayoko was completely convinced. Closing her notebook, Kayoko shook her head with satisfaction.

"No, I've covered everything I wanted to report."

Whether it was expanding the branch, allocating inventory, or future sales plans, Dan Kuroto answered every question Kayoko raised, providing consistently high-level decisions. Kayoko's opinion of her company president had risen significantly.

“This report to you has confirmed that you, Mr. President, are indeed a truly remarkable person.” Kayoko rarely praises people, so this was a genuine compliment.

“Hahaha~ You think my genius is fake?” Dan Kuroto couldn’t help but laugh. “If you want to be as good as me, you’re still two hundred years away!”

“Isn’t two hundred years a bit too long?” Kayoko gave him a strange look, then realized she seemed to have taken up his personal time.

“Have I been taking up too much of your time?”

Reporting on work wasn’t Kayoko’s intention; she just wanted to find a topic to chat about, but this just happened to come to mind. And Dan Kuroto had actually been talking about this boring topic for so long. Raising her wrist again, Kayoko saw the hands on her watch had moved two notches, and felt a little apologetic.

“It’s alright, there’s no rush,” Dan Kuroto nodded. “But now is a good time to leave anyway; Momoi and Midori look like they’re about to fall asleep.”

Having been forced to listen to the document presentation for so long, Momoi and Midori were starting to feel sleepy. It felt like, in class, the math Sensei suddenly started explaining a very difficult math problem, with the top students in the front row listening intently, nodding in agreement, while they, sitting in the back, were completely bewildered. And with the math teacher's rhythmic and varied tone, an irresistible drowsiness was overwhelming their brains—that’s probably the feeling.

“Huh…? Ah, Dan Kuroto and Kayoko-san, you’re done talking?”

Rubbing her suddenly sleepy eyes, Momoi tried to wake herself up. She had been sitting there for so long, and the fatigue from walking for so long had subsided; it was a good time to continue on her way!

"Hey hey~ It's time for this genius beauty to make her reappearance!"

Himari's voice came from Dan Kuroto's phone. He raised his phone, and there was the mini Himari still hanging on his screen, waving and signaling.

"You're still here?" Dan Kuroto looked at the uninvited little guest on his phone, reaching out to poke the character like he would Arona.

However, unlike Shittim Chest's powerful features, Dan Kuroto's phone only supported touch functionality. Therefore, this little Himari didn't have any additional functions.

"A genius beauty, a pure and aloof flower, has condescended to grace your phone; Mr. Dan Kuroto should feel incredibly honored."

It was that familiar feeling again, the same level of narcissism she was displaying. Dan Kuroto had finally met his match.

“Get to the point, otherwise let’s move on.”

“Wait, wait~ Don’t rush off, listen to me.”

With his cheerful demeanor completely different from his conversation with Kayoko, Kuroto coldly commanded Himari on the other end of the phone. At this moment, Himari finally revealed the real reason she wanted him to take the detour through this shopping street.

“Actually… I wanted that limited-edition red velvet cake that’s only available at the cake shop on this street. It would have been easy for my drones to handle, but unfortunately, all my drones are out on assignment today.”

Himari’s frustrated voice came from the other end of the phone. The mini Himari on the screen naturally made a corresponding expression.

“Eimi won’t help me again, even though running errands to buy me cake is just a small favor. And every time I see those two watermelons on Eimi’s chest, I can’t help but feel resentful~”

As Himari said this on the other end of the computer, her eyes naturally drifted down to her chest. She could see her toes just by looking down—that was Himari’s current level. And the thought of Eimi sometimes complaining of shoulder pain from the heavy load made Himari’s eyes darken.

“Honestly, if I added this extra bit of structure, my pure and innocent body would be perfect. Are even the heavens jealous of my perfect genius?”

“…Why did the topic naturally veer towards breasts?”

Dan Kuroto was puzzled, Dan Kuroto pondered, Dan Kuroto gave up trying to understand girls’ thoughts.

"Do you still want the cake?"

"Yes!"

Responding to Dan Kuroto's question, Himari didn't forget the question he had just posed. After pondering it for a moment, Himari suddenly understood.

"Compared to a flawless flower, one with slightly imperfect petals is obviously more eye-catching. Ah, so I am that slightly imperfect, pitiful flower Oh Hohoho~"

"Kid, have you taken the wrong medicine?"

Dan Kuroto looked at the mini Himari on his phone. He had already begun pointing him in the direction of the nearest cake shop. But Himari's self-talking voice also came from the phone, making Dan Kuroto deeply suspect that the smarter the Kivotos students are, the more serious their mental illness becomes.

"Minister, please don't say strange things while working."

Inside the Paranormal Affairs Department's activity room, a screen suddenly lit up. It was a communication from Eimi, who was on a field mission.

"Not just Minister, I also have monitoring access to the activity room. I heard everything you were saying to yourself just now."

"Hmm~ If you hadn't refused to bring it for me, Eimi, why would I have bothered Mr. Dan Kuroto? And why would I have started thinking about this? So, it's all Eimi's fault for not buying me a cake."

Himari's remarks elicited a chuckle from Eimi. Knowing her minister's personality well, she responded with a completely emotionless "chuckle": "The place I'm on a field mission to is on the opposite side of that shopping street, almost a whole school district away. I don't want to travel hundreds of extra kilometers just for your cravings, Minister."

Eimi and Himari's daily bickering continued, but this time they properly cut off communication, leaving only the mini Himari on the phone specifically to guide Dan Kuroto.

Following the navigation to the cake shop, Dan Kuroto, for some reason, recalled the incident where the Trinity dessert club members fought over a limited-edition cake.

"This time—hopefully no students will come in tanks to steal the cake."

Dan Kuroto looked around, not out of fear. Rather, tanks posed no threat to him; he just wanted to see if Kivotos was always this fierce.

“Hm… of course not, right?”

Momoi chimed in, “Even a rare, limited-edition cake wouldn’t warrant driving a tank to steal it, would it? It’s not like it’s a limited-edition grain product.”

“Driving a tank…” Kayoko, standing nearby, seemed to have thought of something. “Speaking of which, I received some intelligence before that the head of the Gourmet Research Society drove out a Tiger tank from Pandemonium, resulting in a significant deduction of funding because it was scrapped…”

Thinking of this, Kayoko’s expression turned strange. She looked at Dan Kuroto beside her, seeking confirmation: “…It’s not exactly what you’re saying, Mr. President, is it?”

“…Pfft.”

Seeing Dan Kuroto’s barely suppressed laughter, that pfft was enough for the astute Kayoko to understand the whole story.

"Sigh... Fine then." Kayoko sighed helplessly, realizing she couldn't change this public opinion. "Come to think of it, only the Gourmet Research Society would do something like driving a tank to steal a cake."

"Everyone, since you're already here, just pick whatever you like as a snack on the way."

Dan Kuroto, having entered the shop, waved his hand, signaling his three students to choose the cakes they wanted. Kayoko and Midori seemed a little hesitant.

However, Momoi was already quite familiar with Dan Kuroto. She cheered and ran off to pick out her desired dessert without hesitation.

"Sister... really, you're always like a little kid at times like this."

Midori sighed helplessly. "With a personality like that, I'm afraid you'll never grow up."

"Isn't that a good thing? This kind of personality ensures unparalleled imagination when designing games."

Dan Kuroto actually thought highly of Momoi and was happy to see her so energetic.

Just as Dan Kuroto was discussing with his mini Himari on his phone which limited-edition red velvet cake it was, a familiar girl's voice came from the side.

"Oh? It's Mr. Dan Kuroto, what a coincidence."

Turning around and recognizing the speaker, Dan Kuroto raised an eyebrow: "What day is it today? Why do I keep running into acquaintances?"

“Haha, I guess this is fate?” Nonomi reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Shouldn't Mr. Dan Kuroto's company be in the D.U.? This is almost to the Abydos school district, you know?”

“I happened to be going to Abydos, so it was on my way.”

Dan Kuroto wasn’t quite used to dealing with girls like Nonomi, even if she was a student younger than him. He turned his head awkwardly, staring at the cakes in the display case.

"Hmm! But Nonomi, what are you doing here?”

“I’m buying snacks for the Countermeasures Committee.” Nonomi showed him the plate in her hand, which contained several cakes she had chosen. “I heard they have some really good cakes here, and it’s close to Abydos, so I came by myself.”

As if showing off, Nonomi leaned closer, displaying the cake she'd chosen: "Mr. Dan Kuroto, look, there's even a cake shaped like a whale! Hoshino-kun will definitely love it~"

"Hmm, that's... that's great..."

Dan Kuroto was busy dealing with Nonomi's verbal and physical onslaught, oblivious to the 'mini Himari' still active on his phone even with the screen off.

At that moment, using the phone as a medium, a large amount of information was being sent to a server, handed over to its entity.

"I mean... are you sure it's okay? That's Dan Kuroto, you know?"

Eimi, currently on a 'field mission,' found herself in a completely unfamiliar building. Before her was a familiar server—the same one that had previously appeared in the Paranormal Affairs Department.

Hundreds of drones circled the building, moving in an orderly fashion along peculiar trajectories, forming a specialized network defense system that carefully faded the building completely from the 'network.'

'Even the Minister has to be extremely cautious when dealing with him. The reason he hasn't breached the defenses so far is because of his excellent 'distance' control…'

Eimi looked at the running server before her, a hint of worry in her eyes: "If we're discovered, knowing Mr. Dan Kuroto's personality, he'll probably be very angry, right?"

"It's alright, it's alright, as long as he doesn't find out, right? Thank you so much for bringing me here, Eimi~"

"It's not hard work..." Eimi hesitated. "Are you really sure you can handle this? Is it really necessary to do something so dangerous?"

A clear, melodious voice, neither man nor woman, neither old nor young, as if it hadn't yet fully defined its own existence, uttered a cheerful cry.

"The so-called 'probability,' it's just such a simple yet mysterious thing~"

“Using a large number of irrelevant programs to interfere with the main program's operation, and then utilizing ‘probability’ calculations to control the transmission of each piece of information to the point of being ‘discovered’… Hmm, that’s quite similar to the entanglement relationship in ‘quantum mechanics,’ doesn’t it, Eimi?”

A cheerful voice, accompanied by the whirring of fans, the soft hum of machines, and the surging of coolant, echoed through the empty ruins.

“Besides, can’t I at least see what kind of person my ‘dad’ really is?”

Faced with this question, Eimi could only laugh awkwardly, revealing an embarrassed smile.

"Ahaha… whatever you want, whatever you want…”

This entity before them, lacking a true form—or rather, embodied in the very existence of this server—was using a precarious, tightrope-walking method to steal information from Dan Kuroto, a figure renowned throughout Millennium and whom no one dared to provoke.

Even so, it was cautiously approaching its never-before-seen "father" in a peculiar way.

"Ha... let's finish this quickly."

Looking up at the ceiling, Eimi, who dared not connect to the internet for safety reasons, sat bored on the floor.

"Where did you get this fearless attitude from?"

---

165. Nonomi is the woman who can be my mother!

"Oh dear~ Are you all here to visit Abydos?"

Nonomi's gaze swept over the four people before her. Momoi and Midori's Millennium Science School uniforms were instantly recognizable. Nonomi naturally greeted the two adorable children with a smile. As for Kayoko, who was standing nearby, Nonomi had heard about the attack from Shiroko. Although Nonomi hadn't witnessed the Handyman 68's raid on Abydos, she wisely refrained from bringing it up now.

What's that saying again? Students don't hold grudges overnight. Even the fiercest fights are just simple arguments for Kivotos students—and Abydos's situation was truly an exceptional case.

"Well then~ my car's parked outside. If you're going the same way, why don't you all hitch a ride?"

Nonomi, who styled herself the 'Snack Leader of the Abydos School Forclosure Task Force,' was out buying snacks for the Abydos members. Of course, before, she wouldn't have needed to drive; her electric scooter would have been enough.

But now, Abydos's numbers had increased tenfold, even ninefold. She couldn't just buy snacks for the original members and then neglect the new students, could she?

"Besides buying some for the countermeasures committee, the rest are for the students who have returned to Abydos."

Nonomi was as gentle as ever. "After all, Hanemi and the others contributed a lot to the school's reconstruction. Although I know what they did in the past, considering they are now trying to atone, they deserve a share of the snacks."

These former Abydos students, who harmed their school and are now trying to redeem themselves—these delinquent students should probably be called probationary students now—need some encouragement to build their confidence.

"They probably still think Abydos won't truly accept them. I thought about it, and the most direct way to show goodwill is probably to give them snacks, right?"

Nonomi loaded a large bag of various snacks into the trunk of the SUV. These were selected from the pile of weapons Dan Kuroto had stolen from Kaiser PMC—thanks to those armored vehicles, plus the tons of supplies scavenged from the desert and left at the outpost after being driven out, Abydos's firepower shouldn't be lacking for a while.

Opening a bag of chocolates, taking out a few, and handing them to Dan Kuroto, Nonomi smiled.

"With these snacks, everyone has an excuse to relax and sit down together."

"Wow… so dazzling…" Momoi covered her eyes. "What's going on! That powerful aura of gentleness! That dazzling light!"

Midori nodded in agreement. "Nonomiya-san is someone who can be a mother to everyone!"

"Hmm, someone like that… she's practically a saint."

Kayoko also sensed the girl's power—a power of all-encompassing compassion that could melt everything, and a broad and magnanimous heart!

Putting everything else aside, Nonomi's 'heart' is indeed very magnanimous.

After loading the snacks onto the SUV, everyone hopped into the excessively spacious vehicle. Originally a military-grade bulletproof SUV, the interior was made exceptionally large for various reasons and potential scenarios; with just a few people inside, the back seats were so open that everyone was practically touching.

Nonomi naturally took the driver's seat, Dan Kuroto sat in the passenger seat, and Kayoko and the Saiyu sisters got into the back.

"Mr. Dan Kuroto, this trip to Abydos isn't just a return visit, is it?"

Nonomi asked Dan Kuroto with a smile, stepping on the gas. The SUV roared with engine oil. Nonomi knew Dan Kuroto wouldn't come without a reason. She was still figuring out an excuse to get him out, and now he'd come himself.

"Yes, I need to go to the Abydos desert."

Dan Kuroto said, looking out the window at the bridge spanning the river. School districts are independent, and their development is bound to differ.

"Partly it's at someone's request, and partly it's my own curiosity."

How did his energy readings end up in the Abydos desert? And what a coincidence, that energy is probably, perhaps, possibly related to him.

After all, his Alchemy Player Gashat was created around that time; perhaps a portion of its power leaked back then?

Dan Kuroto wasn't entirely sure either, but that didn't stop him from sighing to himself and feigning seriousness.

"Sigh that's Kami's problem even a speck of dust falling between his fingers can cause such a huge impact, truly worthy of Kami~"

"Mr. Dan Kuroto, everyone at Abydos has been eager to see you these past few days."

While skillfully driving, Nonomi told Dan Kuroto about Abydos these days.

"After forty or fifty people suddenly arrived, the school has become much more lively. Although Serika always says things like 'Hmph, let all these people go sweep the sand,' everyone can tell she's actually very happy. After all, that girl has always been looking forward to a joyful school life."

Serika hasn't yet discovered that she's been resurrected in the state of a Bugster.

After all, Bugster life is just that kind of life that defies common sense; eating, drinking, and basic needs are no different from an ordinary person's, yet when necessary, they can exist as digital life without eating or drinking—changing entirely according to the individual's subjective will, and they won't even be toyed with by a camera!

They are truly an ultimate life form, even more perfect than the Absolutes!

"Really? That's good."

Dan Kuroto reached out and closed the car window. After crossing the bridge, some dust began to rise in the air. This is a characteristic of the Abydos school district; due to the widespread environmental changes, the amount of sand in this area near the outskirts is already considered quite good in terms of greenery.

"Shiroko's in a good mood lately, but she spends all her time staring at the weapons and equipment around the school, thinking about how to rob a bank. She even drags Hanemi and a few new classmates along to discuss tactics—"

Nonomi chuckled. "But thankfully, Hoshino always stops them from actually carrying out their plans, so each bank robbery remains just on paper. However, this kind of tactical thinking has become part of Shiroko's after-school entertainment. After all, there are a lot more big guys now."

----

166. The technique of shedding one's skin like a cicada's is masterful.

Now, Shiroko's practical drills have become the biggest entertainment activity at school. According to her, this is called "prevention is better than cure," and they absolutely must be practiced, practiced intensely!

"After all, you never know when you might need to use them, so it's necessary to practice emergency plans beforehand!" These are Shiroko's exact words.

"—Where are those emergency plans even used, Shiroko-chan?!" This is Hoshino stopping Shiroko.

"Haha, looks like your lives are getting back on track," Dan Kuroto chuckled. "Hasn't Kaiser Corporation made any big moves these past few days, has it?"

"Only twice, using debt as leverage to demand the return of confiscated weapons and equipment." Nonomi's smile faded slightly at this point. "Kaiser Credit plans to raise interest rates on the debt and demand that Abydos bear the corresponding 'unexpected losses'—basically, making all our previous payments worthless."

"Hmm… you probably didn't agree to that, did you?" Dan Kuroto stretched his neck.

These past few days, Dan Kuroto's Gemn Corp had made a considerable amount of money. Although it was still far behind the Kaiser Corporation, a conglomerate spread throughout Kivotos, it had managed to establish a foothold in the market.

However, it was still a bit lacking compared to Kaiser in terms of business acumen.

"Of course not."

The evidence gathered from Kaiser Credit was handed over to the General Student Council, and Rin of the General Student Council, quite boldly, sent the finance department, led by a Valkyrie squad, to Abydos's Kaiser Credit to launch a full-scale attack—resulting in Kaiser Corporation's decisive action of cutting ties with the branch manager. All the blame was shifted onto the branch manager, and all of Kaiser Credit's operations were taken over by another loan company with a different name, but also under the Kaiser Corporation umbrella.

Nonomi gripped the steering wheel, turned the corner, and casually greeted the Shiba Inu vendor selling ramen by the roadside.

"Although the General Student Council has declared most of the illegal loan programs invalid, Kaiser Corporation has retained a portion—the initial loan agreement with Abydos's student council president is legal, so the principal, plus the legal interest rates over the years, means Abydos still owes Kaiser 300 million credits. Of course, that sounds much less than before, doesn't it?"

Dan Kuroto hummed in agreement. "So Kaiser Corporation plans to use this debt to roll over again?"

"Under the supervision of the General Student Council, this has become a loan calculated at a legal interest rate. However, because it happened so long ago, all the details are under Kaiser Corporation's control, and even the General Student Council can't make them return it," Nonomi said helplessly. "The money we've already repaid far exceeds this principal, but if Kaiser Corporation calculates it based on paying interest first and then principal, then all the money we've already invested is invalid."

Dan Kuroto's previous use of illegitimate means to obtain various criminal evidence from Kaiser Credit did indeed dampen Kaiser Corporation's arrogance in Abydos to some extent, even forcing Kaiser Credit to temporarily lose the ability to pressure Shiroko and the others.

But Kaiser's abrupt escape was quite convincingly staged.

"Weapons? Of course, we can't return them to Kaiser," Nonomi said seriously. "We were forced to such a state by Kaiser before because we were too weak and powerless, so we were bullied to that extent. Now these weapons are the foundation for our self-protection, so of course we won't hand them over."

"You're finally getting a little smarter," Dan Kuroto nodded with satisfaction. "But you still don't have a way to deal with Kaiser Corporation."

"That's true for now…"

Nonomi was a little embarrassed. Dan Kuroto had solved so many problems for them, but in the end, the situation had only improved slightly.

"With our current weaponry and the two buildings you left behind, as long as Kaiser doesn't completely break ties with Kivotos and launch a full-scale war against Abydos, they can't do anything to us in a military conflict."

"But regarding the debt, we obviously don't want to keep pouring money into this bottomless pit, but…" Nonomi sighed. "As long as this thorn hasn't been removed, Kaiser will always have moral pressure on Abydos."

If they don't repay the debt, Kaiser has plenty of ways to suppress Abydos from various angles, while repaying the debt is a bottomless pit. The previous lightning-fast cut had already allowed Kaiser Corporation to distance itself from this relationship—it was just a regional branch, and the wealthy Kaiser didn't care about that!

"In short, just stall," Dan Kuroto snapped his fingers. "After all this trouble I caused, Kaiser Corporation's control over the Abydos region has diminished considerably. Plus, the land here is all desert now, so there's basically no output—"

Dan Kuroto glanced furtively at Nonomi beside him. Perhaps because Dan Kuroto was telling the truth, Nonomi didn't show much disappointment.

"That's true. After all, that's Abydos's disadvantage."

The reason for their school district's barren land was now blatantly obvious: the sand had buried everything beneath it. Abydos Academy used to be a veritable treasure trove, with drone factories everywhere; now, all those things were buried under the desert.

Of course, besides these factories, there's also the 'Abydos legacy' that Kaiser Corporation covets. These things are buried even deeper than the factories, and all this current commotion is clearly a result of vying for control of this legacy beneath the sands.

"Kaiser definitely won't give up the money they've poured into this region. That excavation site is going to be theirs," Dan Kuroto snorted, a knowing smile on his face. "By interfering with everything they're doing, we can regain control of the Abydos region. I'd like to see who gets really upset."

The formation of Gemn Corp was Dan Kuroto's own obsession, but it was partly motivated by the provocation from Kaiser Corporation, especially by that Director Kaiser who dared to openly threaten Dan Kuroto—though the director was shot in the head the next second.

However, for Dan Kuroto, killing that robot director wasn't the end of the matter.

"You dare to talk tough to my face today? I don't even want to think about what you'll do tomorrow!"

Charge at it head-on!

This is why Gemn Corp is growing at such a rapid pace. While the General Student Council certainly played a part, giving it the green light where it was due and ignoring what shouldn't be ignored, Dan Kuroto's phenomenal leadership was also a decisive factor.

Slowly but steadily devouring all types of businesses in the market, with a comprehensive market coverage strategy mirroring its rival Kaiser Corporation, Gemn Corp is aiming to rival Kaiser Corporation.

167. The smell is strong and powerful!

"We seem to have talked a lot... Oh dear, sorry, I neglected you guys."

Nonomi suddenly felt like she'd been chatting with Dan Kuroto the whole time, completely ignoring the three students from another school behind her.

Looking in the rearview mirror, she saw that Momoi Midori had given up trying to understand what the two were saying half an hour ago and instead pulled out her Game Girl game console; the two sisters had started battling it out in the game world.

Kayoko, however, wore a serious expression. She seemed to have understood and had even analyzed a lot from Nonomi and Dan Kuroto's conversation, now deeply engrossed in her own thoughts. Seeing this, Nonomi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, everyone has their own things to do on this bus."

"We're here! Let's get out!"

Dan Kuroto stretched and casually opened the car door. Nonomi had already driven to the Abydos Academy's playground.

A section of open space had been converted into a garage with corrugated iron sheds. A large portion of the loot from the last raid was stored in these newly built garages.

As the most valuable piece of firepower, the armed helicopters had received special attention, with a new hangar built specifically for them—the entire Kivotos community had worked for three days to manually clear a section of land next to the school. This was probably the first time in a long time that Abydos had proactively expanded its territory.

“Wow—it really is all sand!”

Momoi exclaimed in surprise, opening her mouth wide before swallowing a few grains. “Ptooey…is there a bit too much sand here?”

“Well, this is Abydos, after all. Everyone’s used to it.” Nonomi walked over, smiling broadly. “Welcome to Abydos Academy!”

The sun in Abydos is different from elsewhere. It’s much more intense. If you find a spot on the roof of the school building to look out, you can see golden sunlight shining on golden sand, reflecting a magnificent, golden landscape—despite it being a landscape created by disaster.

“That’s…” Kayoko looked at the two buildings that stood out starkly on the playground. She recognized one of them immediately—the dungeon where she had been imprisoned for so long.

After being defeated by Dan Kuroto, Mutsuki had jokingly called it a new kind of imprisonment game by a perverted old man, giving the honest Aru quite a fright.

Because her departure was so hasty, Kayoko hadn't had a chance to properly see the other of the two buildings—the glass greenhouse that stood out somewhat from its surroundings, resembling something from the Millennium style.

"The greenhouse, isn't it beautiful?" Nonomi walked up to Kayoko. "The greenhouse left by Mr. Dan Kuroto is a magical building. A group of cute and quirky cats help manage it, and the vegetables we eat now are all produced in this greenhouse."

“Production…” Kayoko froze. “This greenhouse? Is it enough to feed over fifty people?”

The greenhouse in front of her didn’t look like a huge building; at most, it was a standard greenhouse, eight meters wide and three meters high—only the all-glass exterior looked high-tech.

But was the output from just this one greenhouse enough?

“Haha~ There are a lot of amazing principles inside that we don’t understand.” Nonomi exclaimed, “Hoshino-san and Ayane-san studied it for a long time and still couldn’t figure it out. So far, all we know is that this is a building that can be ‘upgraded’.”

“Upgraded…?” Kayoko blinked, feeling like she might not have understood.

"Give the cat employees the supplies they requested, and wait a while, and the building's appearance will change."

Nonomi adorably put her hands behind her back, a gesture that unexpectedly highlighted her magnanimous heart. "Then, the 'upgraded' greenhouse will have increased daily production, and the crops you can choose to grow will also increase. Just tell the cat employees what you want to eat, and new crops will grow the next day!"

"?"

Kayoko didn't understand, but she was deeply shocked.

"What about the growth cycle? What about seasonality?" Kayoko was utterly astonished. "You ate them?"

"Haha—this is a creation only Kami could create!"

Dan Kuroto suddenly appeared, hands on his hips, leaning back smugly: "Game buildings created using Game Gashats have these characteristics; you don't need to know too much about them!"

Tap, tap, tap.

"Shiroko got first place in today's shooting competition too."

"Hmm... after all, she used to dominate all of us, so this result is normal, right?"

"What should we do next? There aren't any arcades near Abydos..."

"How about we try making some snacks with the vegetables we have? Nonomiya-san has prepared a classroom for our home economics class..."

A group of girls emerged from behind the school building, wearing Abydos uniforms. They appeared to be the same group of delinquents Dan Kuroto had previously captured. Having decided to return to school life, Hoshino suggested, "Perhaps we should prepare some uniforms for them?"

This suggestion was unanimously approved. Even though they weren't officially enrolled yet, the Abydos vice-president's promise was a huge boost for these former delinquents, now undecided students.

The girls chatted happily as they walked through the school corridors and into the school building. The school was quite small; the school buildings were next to the main buildings, the warehouses were behind, and the playground was in front—not much to do. The surrounding commercial area was also deserted; after all, with the sandstorms, most of the residents had moved away long ago, leaving only a few elderly people who refused to leave. Naturally, there weren't any trendy shops left.

"Looks like the recreational facilities are a bit lacking," Dan Kuroto nodded. "After all, they're students; an overly austere lifestyle isn't what they like."

"—Mr. Dan Kuroto?"

Stepping out from behind the group of students was Shiroko, wearing a tight-fitting tracksuit and wiping sweat from her brow with a towel. She seemed to have just engaged in some intense exercise; glistening sweat dripped from her hair, her entire body radiating heat, and her scent was strong and potent!

Upon noticing Dan Kuroto, Shiroko, who hadn't been paying attention at first, suddenly froze.

She looked at herself—dust, sand, sweat, and strands of hair plastered to her forehead—it was quite an unseemly sight, and her face flushed crimson.

"My apologies! I'll be right back!"

Shiroko immediately turned and rushed into the school building, leaving Dan Kuroto puzzled.

"Why is she running away?"

"Oh dear~ Shiroko's probably just shy," Nonomi said with a smile. "Girls always care a little about their appearance, right?"

----

168. Abydos, currently under development!

Watching Shiroko rush into the school building in a panic, Nonomi smiled and spoke to Dan Kuroto, "It looks like Shiroko won't be here for a while. Why don't you come to the guest room first?"

"Guest room" was really just an empty classroom next to the Foreclosure Task Force meeting room in the abandoned school. Even with forty or fifty more students, empty classrooms were still plentiful in this building. The sealed-off Abydos courseware and educational Blu-rays were now proving useful—they were stored before the school was completely transformed, and now they were being used as courseware for these students.

"Mr. Dan Kuroto, is black tea alright?"

Waiting for the water to boil, Nonomi opened a storage cabinet and took out a box of tea. Dan Kuroto wasn't picky, so Nonomi's gaze then fell on the three people standing nearby.

"Is there anything you'd like to drink? We have drinks too."

"I don't need anything; the same thing is fine." Kayoko sat quietly in her chair, while Midori pulled Momoi to sit near Dan Kuroto. "Um, the same thing is fine with us too."

"Is there a class upstairs?" Dan Kuroto heard the sounds coming from upstairs, seemingly from a lecture slideshow. This was, after all, an old school building, and the soundproofing was terrible. For the old Abydos, it was just an annex, so the school naturally wouldn't bother repairing it. But who could have imagined that now, this would be the only building left in Abydos?

“Yeah, it’s finally a bit more lively in class now. Serika always seemed so lonely before.”

The sound of the door opening came from behind. Dan Kuroto turned around, and Hoshino walked in lazily. She wasn’t actually sleepy; it was just a habit she’d developed for talking like this: “Dan Kuroto Long time no see! Ojisan missed you”

Casually finding a seat near Dan Kuroto, Hoshino naturally raised her hand and asked. “Nonomi-kun, I’d like a cup of black tea too~”

“Hoshino-chan, you seem much more energetic these days.” Nonomi smiled and placed a paper cup in front of Hoshino. Hoshino gave a lazy, nasal hum, “Because there are enough people, I can finally sleep at night.”

Every night before, Hoshino would get up after her juniors had fallen asleep to patrol the school area.

This was because delinquents hired by Kaiser PMC would often try to cause trouble then, and sometimes it was even Kaiser's own people causing trouble. If anything happened to the remaining residents because of these misdeeds, the school district would be completely deserted.

Whether it was to protect her juniors or to protect Abydos, Hoshino, as the only third-year student, voluntarily took on this responsibility—which is why she always seemed lazy during the day, always finding time to catch up on sleep.

But now the situation is completely different. Not only has the school's population increased, but Kaiser Corporation's operations have also been curbed due to Dan Kuroto's previous disturbance, and the number of petty criminals has decreased as Kaiser Corporation's activities have been reduced.

With all these factors combined, Hoshino can finally lie in bed peacefully at night.

“Speaking of which, I have to thank you for this.” Hoshino looked up, staring into Dan Kuroto’s eyes. Even sitting, this man was a head taller than her; he truly lived up to his adult status. “I won’t say anything more. Please don’t hesitate to ask if you need any help.”

“Hoshino-senpai, you came so fast!”

Not long after Hoshino sat down, the rest of the Foreclosure Task Force arrived one after another. When Ayane and Serika arrived, they could still see Shiroko, her hair only lightly dried, the ends still damp. She had changed out of her cycling leotard into a clean school uniform, and Ayane, who was closer, could smell the scent of shower gel.

—Shiroko, did you just take a shower?

Ayane blinked, then realized that Shiroko had been in shooting class. If we calculate based on this time, Shiroko must have encountered Dan Kuroto first, and then immediately ran to take a shower?

"Shiroko-kun, that's fast!" Thinking this, Ayane couldn't help but chuckle. "Shiroko-kun, who usually doesn't care about these things, is actually concerned about the smell of sweat?"

"Hmm...because even I would care."

A faint blush appeared on Shiroko's face. Being concerned about someone's gaze, even paying attention to things she usually doesn't care about, and feeling 'shy'—that's probably the innocent feeling of a teenage girl going through puberty, right?

"Looks like you're recovering well."

Dan Kuroto looked at the students pouring in. His impression of the Abydos students was still from that night when they had just sorted out all the trouble. After that incident, the students seemed to have matured a lot. Although their faces now bore the resolute look of someone who had experienced a major event, they still retained the optimism and vitality of young girls. Shiroko, in particular, left a deep impression on Dan Kuroto.

"Shiroko, your expression is much better now."

Dan Kuroto's expression wasn't particularly smiling, but it wasn't expressionless either. It was always that mysterious expression—a half-smile, a hint of disdain, and a dash of indifference—perhaps resonating with a certain world-famous painting featuring a mysterious smile.

"Hmm~ School life is pretty good, isn't it?"

"Thanks to you." Shiroko's lips curved into a beautiful smile.

How could she forget? It was Dan Kuroto who had seemingly possessed her, resolving all the problems that had been troubling Shiroko and her friends, leading to this wonderful situation.

While pondering how to repay Dan Kuroto, Shiroko blurted out without hesitation, "Mr. Dan Kuroto, speaking of which, I have a great idea for robbing a bank..."

"Wait, wait, stop, stop!"

Ayane quickly interrupted Shiroko, saying, "That's just something to think about! Why does Shiroko always talk about robbing banks?"

"But isn't all the money in the bank hard-earned money to pay off loans?" Shiroko looked dejected. "But the money we worked so hard to pay off has become Kaiser's funding to buy weapons, purchase land in Abydos, and hire thugs to attack us. How can they treat people like that?"

Shiroko twitched her cat ears: "So I was thinking, the money we just deposited to pay off the loan, the next second we'd steal it, that way we'd pay off the loan without Kaiser using the money for evil..."

"Ah, is that how you think..."

Ayane said awkwardly: "But that's problematic too. If the money we deposited is stolen the next second, anyone would know whose money it is, right?"

“Hmm… Ayane, you mean the timing of the heist needs to be adjusted? I understand.” Shiroko nodded.

That's not what I meant!

----

169. With such power, what can possibly stop it!

Dan Kuroto burst into laughter. “Shiroko, you really enjoy robbing banks? That gives me an idea! I’ll develop a game where everyone can break the law. With so many thugs in Kivotos, there’ll be no shortage of buyers!”

“Huh?” Serika was taken aback. “Uncle, won’t developing a game like that cause problems? What if everyone follows the game’s scenarios to rob banks? No, or rather, we shouldn’t develop such a game at all!”

“It’s alright, it’s alright. I’ll just develop another game specifically for that.” Dan Kuroto waved his hand dismissively, his mind already rapidly forming game ideas. “One is a game about breaking the law and committing all sorts of evil, and the other is a game about fighting crime and maintaining order. Wouldn’t that balance things out?”

“Balance my foot!”

Serika fully utilized her serious nature as a “tsukkomi” character, providing a retort for every single sentence of Dan Kuroto’s speech. Seeing a “fellow member of the same tribe” like Serika being so energetic, Dan Kuroto also felt an indescribable sense of joy.

Well… a large and prosperous family is something to celebrate anywhere, right?

“So, want to rob a bank together? I’ve already prepared the balaclavas.” Shiroko pulled out various colored balaclavas from behind her back, numbered from one to five. “I even prepared one for Dan Kuroto.”

“Don’t be so energetic in a place like this, Shiroko-senpai.” Serika’s eyes were practically cat-like pupils. “It’s not funny after you’ve already said all the jokes. Why are you including the old man too?”

“Putting facts aside, Shiroko, that hood doesn’t even cover your face, does it?” Dan Kuroto pointed at himself. “You guys are one thing, but my genius face shines even when it’s covered. I’ll definitely be recognized.”

“Hmm… Mr. Dan Kuroto, that’s true. After all, there’s only one ‘adult’ in the entire Kivotos. His figure can’t be hidden at all.” Hoshino finished her black tea and lazily beckoned to Nonomi beside her. “Nonomi, another cup~”

While refilling Hoshino’s tea, Nonomi asked curiously, “Mr. Dan Kuroto, you mentioned earlier that you came to Abydos to search for something in the desert, right? Is there anything we can do to help?”

They had been chatting all the way to Abydos in Nonomi’s car, so this wasn’t a secret, and Dan Kuroto naturally mentioned it briefly. After all, he is very busy, and he doesn't come to Abydos without a reason. Coming all the way to Abydos certainly wasn’t for something as trivial as finding white stockings and tiny feet—

Hmm, a certain Sensei felt quite annoyed.

“Deep in the desert, someone detected the same energy fluctuations as mine.”

Dan Kuroto briefly explained the situation to the people in the room. “Since it’s my energy fluctuation, and I wasn’t there, I had to come and check what happened. After all, my genius power, no matter how it’s used, is beyond the capacity of ordinary people to withstand.”

“Well~ there’s no way around it. After all, I am—Kami!”

Dan Kuroto narcissistically spread his palms.

“That’s right—to prevent the world from being destroyed, to maintain the peace of the universe, to uphold love and truth in evil, the cute and charming villain! That’s me, Dan Kuroto~”

Serika, standing nearby, habitually retorted, “Is this long self-introduction only related to ‘villains’? It all seems like you’re the one who caused this.”

“After all, you’re Kami.” Nonomi nodded with a smile. “Anything related to you, no matter how outrageous, I’ll believe.”

“Uh…” Those gentle words and unwavering gaze made Dan Kuroto involuntarily turn her head away.

"Hmm… well… yes, yes! You all watch carefully and learn from this!”

Shiroko eagerly raised her hand. “Me! I believe too!”

Following Shiroko, Ayane also chimed in, “Mr. Dan Kuroto’s words truly mean that even the most outrageous things are acceptable.”

Of course, Ayane had experienced it firsthand, and Hoshino, standing to the side, smiled without saying a word. There was no need to say anything more.

Momoi Midori also eagerly raised her hand. “We believe it too!”

Kayoko sighed. “I’ve seen enough of the president’s abilities.”

Seeing everyone so eager to express their belief, Serika was stunned. She looked around, then froze. “What’s going on? This atmosphere of ‘only I can’t do it’?”

“Alright, alright, quiet down.” Hoshino clapped her hands, reassuring Serika, then turned to Dan Kuroto beside her. “Tell me, is there anything we can do to help?”

“In principle, I should be able to handle this by myself,” Dan Kuroto said, and he wasn’t exaggerating.

"But I’ll give you a chance to repay this favor!”

Dan Kuroto waved his hand, unleashing the power of a Game Area, which transformed into a 3D sandbox map on the table before him—a recreation of the Abydos desert using his memories.

However, precisely because it was a recreation based on his memories, only the areas he had “mapped” before were visible; the areas not visited during that battle remained unexplored in gray.

“I need your help to find that energy fluctuation in the desert. Because there’s no information, that so-called ‘energy fluctuation’ could be anything, something I can’t predict.”

Dan Kuroto placed his phone on the table. “Hey, do you have any way to help?”

The phone was on the table, the screen lit up, and Dan Kuroto reached out, his arm transforming into “tweezers” for Bugster data. He extracted the “mini Himari” program implanted in his phone and placed it in the Game Area.

“Huh? Is that even possible?”

Mini Himari sensed her body. In this realm of specialized data manifested to reality, it was like a manifestation of cyberspace. Even though she was just data, she now had a physical form within the Game Area.

Dan Kuroto proudly crossed his arms. “Hmph, before my divine talent, nothing is impossible!”

“Truly remarkable ‘omnipotence,’” Himari chuckled. But the real Himari, far away in the Paranormal Affairs Department, was inwardly astonished… uh, a thousandth? Probably a hundredth. After all, Himari herself was a super genius; how could she be that astonished?

“But this is surprisingly a great activity.” Himari stretched the Mini Himari's body, feeling like a summoned beast from the popular anime Baka and Test. The chibi-style Nendoroid proportions were a completely new experience.

"It’s like having an extra clone…”

Now, this small activity room was filled with the Saiyu sisters from the game development department, Kayoko, the strategist from Handyman 68, the “omniscient” Himari from Millennium, and the entire Abydos Foreclosure Task Force.

So powerful, so formidable—what could possibly stop them!

----

170. Taking my mother’s surname!

“Hmm… the search area is quite large, isn’t it, Shiroko? We still have quite a few drones left, right?”

“We still have plenty left from last time; they’re all stored in the warehouse.”

“This is where I’ll implant the detection program I developed a while ago. Hmm~ as expected of me, flawless planning!”

The students, gathered in a circle, held a tactical meeting regarding the request brought by Dan Kuroto. Himari, who had accompanied Dan Kuroto earlier, provided everyone with a time-saving and labor-saving program. She implanted an app capable of detecting energy readings into the drones stored in Abydos—thankfully, these drones were all new models, and the cameras themselves were compatible with the program.

“Is the firepower sufficient? Hmm, this should be enough, right?”

“Uncle, I’m in great spirits right now. Taking on a hundred or two hundred wouldn’t be a problem.”

Meanwhile, the students were discussing the firepower they would bring. In Kivotos, where the strange custom of students going out without guns is tantamount to being completely naked, the idea that going on a long trip means carrying more bullets and weapons was deeply ingrained. However, among these people, only Himari had a vague sense of this.

Not only information gathering, but intuition as well is one of the traits a genius, sickly, beautiful girl should possess. There were reports of sightings of the Decagrammaton’s Prophets a long time ago in the Abydos Desert. That was exactly when the Izayoi family’s construction company was developing the railway route cutting through the Abydos Desert—it is certainly evident from this that the Izayoi family is indeed a massive and wealthy household, and throwing money around like water is surely a piece of cake for Nonomi.

This time, even though the energy readings did indeed resemble the energy displayed by Dan Kuroto, the fact that this energy reaction occurred in the Abydos desert, a place where Decagrammaton’s name, Prophet, had been witnessed before, coupled with…

In the activity room, Himari thought of Eimi, who was currently on a “field mission,” and the “server” Eimi had brought. This deepened her anxiety.

A hint of worry crept into her usually serene and insightful expression.

“Bugsters… this power from beyond the world, if it receives the 'Mystery’ boost, what level of disaster would it become…”

“Furthermore, Bugster’s exceptional compatibility with electronic systems is a major problem—”

Himari’s fingers tapped across the virtual keyboard, continuing to scan the information from various terminals. “Kivotos relies on electronic devices and robots for full automation. They are 90% vulnerable to the Bugster virus.”

Sighing, Himari shook her head. “No matter how powerful the electronic defenses are, they’re just the difference between folding a piece of paper in half. To have the power to fight Bugsters, you must have the corresponding capabilities…?”

As Himari began to delve deeper into this thought, a communication notification lit up on the terminal in front of her. Interrupted from her thoughts, Himari instinctively pressed the communication request, and then a clear voice came from the other end.

“Himari-mama! I can already picture what I look like. Girls are definitely better, right?”

“Eh? Hmm… that’s normal. After all, we’re all girls.” Himari’s voice carried a hint of helplessness. “But can you not call me ‘Mommy’? Seriously, Himari is still a pure flower. You’re making me sound old.”

“Haha But isn’t Himari my mama?” The voice on the other end of the communicator laughed cheerfully. “I’ve already looked at Daddy’s information, but the data we can get from the secondary channel is limited so we can only get the general outline~”

“Looks like we haven’t been discovered.” Hearing the cheerful voice on the other end, Himari’s worries subsided.

“That’s right, you’re all Bugsters. There’s still an information gap between members of the same kind, so you shouldn’t have been discovered so quickly.”

“I’m amazing, right? A genius, right? The power of ‘probability’ is truly wondrous~”

The inhuman voice that Eimi initially perceived as a convergence of all worldly tones had gradually stabilized. The carrier within the server had found its own voice, transforming into a clear, delicate girl’s voice, like that of a young girl. This was fitting, considering how young the child had been.

The growth of digital lifeforms differs from that of carbon-based lifeforms in its computational methods, even in the way cognition is formed and the criteria for determining adulthood. Determining whether a virtual life form has reached “mature” boils down to the three classic philosophical questions:

“Who am I?”

“Where did I come from?”

“Where am I going?”

Among these, the question “Who am I?” is the definition of the ethereal digital lifeform itself. Whether in appearance or voice, it must present an image to the world. A week after Himari and Eimi nurtured the Bugster fragment, this entity, copied from the remnants of Dan Kuroto's Bugster virus powers, developed its own consciousness.

Two weeks later, this individual developed its own voice and consciousness, absorbing knowledge like a sponge, growing, and becoming a native Bugster of “Kivotos”—a Bugster born, raised, and educated in Kivotos, closer to Kivotos’s “concept” than other individuals “enlightened” by Dan Kuroto.

“Using probabilistic abilities, I can gather a large number of interfering entities around Daddy and hide my existence through disruptive quantum fluctuations~”

The cheerful voice proudly praised herself.

"Impressive, right? I'm a genius, right? I'm great, right?”

Eimi’s helpless voice interjected. “Is this narcissism inherited from you, or from that Dan Kuroto? Or both? In short, it’s practically a carbon copy of you two. Now there are three narcissistic monsters; just thinking about it gives me a headache…”

Himari smiled; she suddenly realized that thinking about countermeasures didn’t seem so necessary.

She was almost blinded by anxiety, even forgetting her own “love and peace”—that wouldn’t do.

“So, have you decided on your name? It’s so hard to call you without one.” Himari relaxed, leaning back in her chair. “Or is it that choosing a name is too much trouble for you? Would you like me to help you think of one?”

“No need to trouble Himari-mama, I’ll just call myself ‘Lyra’!”

----

171. We're one short; let's team up quickly!

The voice finally calmed down, and as she uttered her name, she had already completed her self-definition.

“Your name is ‘Lyra’? Hmm… a name that matches my surname.” Himari smiled faintly. “Is it because I’ve seen knowledge of the universe? ‘Lyra’ is the most brilliant constellation in the northern Milky Way, and my surname is a bright star. Are you implying that my appearance is more dazzling than the Milky Way? What an amazing name!”

“Himari-mama, I haven’t mentioned the surname yet, so maybe it could even be ‘Dan Lyra’?”

Himari blushed, arguing, “Th-that kind of name doesn’t sound good! It has to be my surname, right! Eimi, you be the judge!”

“Don’t drag me into your family matters.” Eimi was already packing up her things to leave. “What’s the point of having a surname?”

“Or else, should I just call myself ‘Izumimoto Lyra’?”

“Why is it Eimi’s surname!”

Lyra's voice rang out cheerfully, laughing at Himari on the other end of the screen, who seemed inexplicably flustered. "Just kidding~ I'll call myself 'Akeboshi Lyra,' okay? Himari-mama?"

"Hmph, how dare you tease me!" Himari tried to calm her slightly flushed face; she'd just gotten a little carried away. "I'm going to give you a good talking to when we get back!"

"Haha We'll talk about it when we get back"

The communication ended, and Himari's expression finally calmed down. Her body, weakened by a lack of exercise, had become a little breathless after just a few stimuli. But had she always been this easily agitated?

Once Himari reconnected to 'Mini Himari,' Dan Kuroto and the students had completed their setup, releasing the programmed drones. According to Ayane and Himari's programming, these drones would quickly scan the designated area, eliminating unnecessary searches and minimizing the areas requiring careful investigation.

Once potential energy fluctuations were detected, surrounding drones would simultaneously lock onto them, and Dan Kuroto and the others would deploy, thus minimizing the area requiring detailed exploration.

Kayoko laid out the plan on the sand table, casually placing her command stick aside. "A straightforward battle plan. Let's begin."

Kayoko didn't know much about electronic programming, but she was extremely skilled at combat deployment and command. It was thanks to Kayoko's intellect that Handyman 68 would likely have disbanded long ago, given Aru's intelligence, Mutsuki's instigation, and Haruka's obsession.

Releasing over a hundred drones equipped with detection programs in one go, watching them fly out of Abydos in a grand procession, Kayoko nodded in satisfaction.

"Next, we just need to wait for these drones to transmit signals."

"Eh? I thought we were going to have to deploy something too?" Serika pointed to herself. "Like, hovering in the air in a helicopter or something, isn't that part of the process?"

"Helicopter reconnaissance is unnecessary, isn't it?" Kayoko frowned. "With so many drones already sent out to explore, there's no need to add another helicopter to rely on human observation."

"Eh... Is that so? Okay then." Serika looked somewhat disappointed, but didn't seem inclined to say anything more.

However, Hoshino, standing nearby, seemed to understand her junior's thoughts. She probably thought flying along the ground in a helicopter for reconnaissance looked really cool.

After a knowing smile, Hoshino, who was leaning on the table, suddenly muttered.

"Ojisan suddenly want to ride in a helicopter too! Little Ayane~ could you arrange one for me?"

"Huh? Is that necessary…" Kayoko paused, surprised. From her conversation with Hoshino, Kayoko felt that Takanashi Hoshino was a girl with a strong sense of tactics. In fact, the name 'Takanashi Hoshino' was quite famous in Gehenna, especially among the disciplinary committee chairperson, Hina, who seemed to have a particular opinion of Hoshino.

Logically speaking, Kayoko believed her plan and arrangements were flawless…

“Hoshino-senpai, you think so too?”

Serika’s eyes lit up. If only she had said she wanted to ride in a helicopter, it would probably have been considered childish whining, but if even Hoshino said so, it was a different story!

‘Ah, looks like I’ve found the reason.’

Looking at Hoshino’s doting gaze towards her junior, Kayoko couldn’t help but recall her own feelings when taking care of the other three members of Handyman, and a subtle smile appeared on her lips.

“…It’s just a helicopter, so whatever.”

Kayoko thought for a moment. Abydos actually didn’t lack armored vehicles these days. She hadn’t witnessed Dan Kuroto’s clash with Kaiser PMC’s armed forces in the desert, but she had heard about it. The armored vehicles scattered throughout the school were enough to demonstrate the extent of Dan Kuroto’s success in that battle.

There were seven armed helicopters alone in the makeshift metal hangar, so Dan Kuroto must have destroyed at least that many during his battle. Thinking of such combat power within her own team, Kayoko felt a sense of security.

"Alright, Hoshino-senpai. I just can't do anything with you guys."

Ayane, seeing through their act but not saying anything, smiled and arranged a helicopter for the two of them, then called two students to form the crew.

Watching Serika, who was practically skipping with joy, pulling Hoshino to board the helicopter, everyone in Abydos smiled.

"Alright, everyone, since we still have some time to rest, how about we relax a bit?"

Momoi held up her younger sister's Gashat. "This is our newly designed Game Gashat, Color Splash! The multiplayer mode even supports online play for everyone here! Anyone want to try it?"

"A 4v4 multiplayer mode?" Dan Kuroto nodded knowingly. He had personally reviewed and developed the game, and it would be released simultaneously on major app stores. Of course, he knew what Momoi was talking about. The one Midori was holding now could easily be considered a preview version.

Dan Kuroto squinted and counted the number of people present. "Nonomi, go and call Hanemi over. Adding her to the group will make it perfect, won't it?"

Hanemi, the unlucky girl—or in a sense, the lucky one—who was turned into a Bugster by Dan Kuroto's human experiments, was naturally given some management responsibilities now that she had decided to join Abydos and return to school life, because she was the former leader of this group of delinquent girls before they reformed.

But in a sense, Hanemi had become a bridge between these undecided students and the Abydos Foreclosure Task Force. When these undecided students needed to coordinate something, they would consult Hanemi, their former leader.

After all, Hanemi was their former leader; there was a lot of sentiment involved, wasn't there?

If the Foreclosure Task Force needs anyone to do something, they will naturally choose Hanemi, whom they know best, to lead the way. Over time, the relationship between the two sides gradually became smoother and closer through Hanemi, a bond formed by chance.

When Nonomi called Hanemi over, she was busy inventorying and tallying the school's supplies. This explained why Hanemi hadn't appeared immediately when Dan Kuroto arrived—she was sweating profusely as she inventoried supplies in the warehouse behind the school building.

"I'm here. What's up—"

Whoosh.

The orange Bugster virus emerged from a nearby gateway, turning into Hanemi.

Hanemi's gaze fell on the only adult present: "Mr. Dan Kuroto? What's the occasion?"

Dan Kuroto raised his hand. "Nothing special. We're one short for a game, wanna join?"

-----

172. Good job! Have you finished typing the table of contents?

"Hmm... So, you're just asking me to play games to kill time while we're waiting for the drone to send back information?"

Hanemi paused for a moment after hearing Nonomi's reason for bringing her over, before finally catching up with everyone's jumpy train of thought.

"So, are you in or not? We're just one person away from starting," Dan Kuroto said, looking at her. "If you're not interested, we can bring someone else over to play."

"I was just a little caught off guard by being suddenly called over, but I understand now." Hanemi put down her notebook, which was recording the supplies. "Since everyone wants to play, wouldn't it be too antisocial of me to be the only one refusing?"

Hanemi smiled and found a chair to sit down. "Perfect timing. The supplies tallying work just finished. I was planning to bring it over to report anyway, but it just happened to be here."

"Yosh! Now we have enough people!"

Momoi happily raised her Gashat. During the testing phase of the game's development, because there was no one else to help, the four members of the game development team could only try two-on-two battles. While AI-generated opponents could fill the team, it still lacked something.

"Now is a momentous occasion—the first real-player battle since this game was designed!" Momoi excitedly pressed the button on the Gashat.

"Game, start!"

The Game Area shone brightly from the Gashat, quickly and intelligently selecting the surrounding players and enveloping them within its confines.

Under the construction of pixelated light, the girls arrived at a picturesque town.

"This is 'Painting Star City,' a modern metropolis in another world! It's an art capital that everyone yearns for!"

Everyone entering the game was astonished by the completely different world around them. It was designed under Momoi's extraordinary imagination, Midori's expressive power, and Dan Kuroto's dedicated guidance, a style distinct from the rest of Kivotos—it's said that the design sketches received high praise from Kotori, who visited the game development department, but after being analyzed by Utahara and Hibiki, the result was that it was impossible to build with current materials and technology.

Well, that makes sense, after all, it's architecture designed for a game.

"Whoa... Look, there's a building in the distance that looks like two pyramids colliding head-on—how did the upper part even stand up?"

"It's just a game; anything is possible, right?"

Serika looked at the strange building in the distance and whispered her comments about the odd structures around them with Nonomi beside her. Momoi, on the other hand, waved.

"Everyone, come over here! You need to go to the dedicated competitive map to play the versus mode~"

Walking through streets lined with various student NPCs—all created by Momoi and her friends to liven up the streets—it's clear that with such a large map, it would be better to just have a menu for teleporting players alone.

“There are students from so many different schools…” Kayoko looked at the girls with Halo-like hair ornaments, and even saw students with wings on their backs and horns on their heads sitting together, chatting intimately. “But none of them seem to be wearing school uniforms?”

“After all, this is the capital of art; it would be too formal if everyone wore school uniforms,” Midori, who was leading the way, explained. “These NPC students benefit from the powerful performance of ‘Genesis mk1,’ and they’ve all been implanted with a certain level of dialogue AI. Theoretically, they can all engage in basic, fluent conversations. We referenced the students from various universities for their appearance, and the clothing was provided by Mr. Dan Kuroto.”

“It’s all saved data; it’s quick to access.”

Dan Kuroto, this genius game developer, after becoming a Bugster, has an immeasurable amount of material stored in his mind at all times.

Wherever he goes, he has an endless source of inspiration. He can simply take a few clothing data items, package them up, and stuff them into the game to make every NPC student unique.

“That student’s clothes… I want them too.” Shiroko seemed to have spotted a favorite outfit on an NPC student, her eyes involuntarily following it, her legs practically rooted to the spot.

“Where can I buy that outfit in Kivotos? Maybe I should just buy it from that student…”

“Wait, wait! This is the game world, the game world!” Momoi quickly stopped Shiroko’s astonishing behavior. “The clothes the students wear here are data; you can’t take them out!”

“Oh, I see…” Shiroko lowered her head dejectedly. “What a pity.”

Walking through this impressive street, they entered a hall specifically set up for competitions. Here, everything was simplified to the point where you could start a match using your nickname by pressing a few buttons.

“The rules are simple: use your own paint to cover as much area as possible, and spraying it on your opponent will also defeat them!”

Momoi briefly explained the basic gameplay, and it truly was so simple that it could be summarized in a single sentence.

Isn’t that what games are all about—creating maximum fun with the simplest rules?

Midori brought up the weapon selection screen for everyone.

"Please come here to select your weapon! These are all in-game exclusive weapons, and all bullets will turn into spray paint. Since this is a demo version, all the weapons here are unlocked for a limited time."

“Every weapon has a corresponding design here.” Kayoko picked up a machine gun that could spray paint bullets. This machine gun, which looked like a water gun, could spray large amounts of paint to cover the area after charging and spinning, just like firing bullets.

“A game of taking over territory by spraying paint? Is it really fun…?”

Ten minutes later.

“Don’t even think about running! Look at my giant stamp—”

“How did I get sniped? Ugh…”

“Paint the ground! Why aren’t you painting the ground?!”

“Wouldn’t shooting them all back be the same as painting the ground?”

Looking at the paint splattered everywhere, Nonomi banging around with her giant stamp, Shiroko wreaking havoc on the ground on her paint shark, Midori rolling and shooting wildly with dual pistols, Momoi constantly getting taken down by Hanemi’s sniper shots, and Ayane scattering her tracking robots everywhere, the entire map was in complete chaos!

Kayoko held up her pistol-shaped weapon and couldn't help but chuckle. "...Hehe~ It would be really fun if Aru and the others played this game too, wouldn't it?"

---

173. Kivotos Sprinter!"Fun, isn't it?"Dan Kuroto climbed onto a nearby platform, holding a long, chainsaw-like water-absorbing blade. It was unclear how this weapon had been designed. Kayoko looked at Dan Kuroto, who had also been knocked down twice."Great game, it made my Halo spin—did Momoi and the others come up with this game themselves?""Yeah, but with my guidance too. This game was originally just an Easter egg they designed—but I convinced them to make it the main gameplay of this Gashat, which is now the finished 'Color Splash' Gashat."Dan Kuroto smoothed his slightly disheveled hair, restoring his head to its previous neat state."Tell me, isn't it fun?""It's great. Two-minute matches are fast-paced, and aside from the intense battles being a bit too mentally taxing, there shouldn't be any downsides." Kayoko smiled. "A game with online multiplayer must have high commercial value.""Exactly! I can already foresee this game being a bestseller!" Dan Kuroto crossed his arms with satisfaction."As expected of the prospective employees I've been eyeing! They only worked on perfecting Tales Saga Chronicle 2 under my guidance, and now they're already proposing a high-quality project like Color Splash. The game development department is truly a group of gems!""Dan Kuroto! Kayoko! What are you two doing AFK?! 2 vs 4 is impossible!""Come quick! We're getting crushed!"Midori Momoi's cries for help came from afar. Looking in that direction, Abydos's blue had spread across the entire arena, forcibly pushing the Momoi and Midori sisters back to their own high ground. Momoi, who had just emerged from the respawn point, angrily shouting."Please, I'm dead! It's all your fault, Dan Kuroto! We're getting fountain-camped!""What are you talking about! Isn't it just that you're bad?" Dan Kuroto chuckled. "A true master can single-handedly crush four people!""If you're so good, you do it!"Dan Kuroto, who was wielding his water-absorbing blade, was sent back to the respawn point in just two seconds by tons of paint, receiving merciless mockery from Momoi."Hahaha! You're no different!""Nonsense! I haven't even used my real skills yet!"Just as Dan Kuroto rolled up his sleeves, ready for another round, the timer above his head ended the match, resulting in a decisive victory for the Abydos duo.As Momoi prepared for another match, Ayane's phone rang.“Ayane Ojisan has spotted that energy fluctuation! I'll send you the location now. Serika and I will be circling around here for a bit”Hanging up the phone, Ayane adjusted her glasses and addressed the group, “Everyone, Hoshino-senpai and Serika-kun in the desert have sent back a message saying they've detected a peculiar energy fluctuation.”Midori raised her Gashat and pressed the game-closing button. The surrounding environment gradually returned to normal as the Game Area dissipated. However, unlike before, because this was a battle game with a fairly large map, when the Game Area dissipated, Shiroko and Nonomi, who were standing further away, ran to the next room, while Hanemi ran outside the classroom.“Even so, I still can’t explain the workings of the Game Area.” Kayoko pondered for a moment, then decided to ignore this incomprehensible matter. “Let’s check the message Hoshino and the others sent.”“Actually, it wasn’t the helicopter we were in that detected the energy, but rather an energy fluctuation detected by a search drone. We just happened to bring a notebook with the results on board, which is why we received the information in advance.”Hoshino continued to observe the ground where energy fluctuations were detected in the cockpit, while Serika reported more detailed information to Abydos via her phone. Himari, on the other end of the line, looked serious, as did the miniature Himari she controlled—though the three-headed wheelchair-bound figure's expression was anything but serious."Have you observed anything unusual?""Hmm…the ground seems to be shaking…"Serika squinted, looking down at the desert below."A lot of sand is being kicked up, and the air in this area is very murky, seemingly due to the desert shaking; there's dust everywhere because of the vibrations…""The special energy source is moving, and the signal is weakening!"Holding her laptop, Hoshino looked serious. The drones scattered around were rapidly moving toward the location where Hoshino and her team's helicopter was hovering, trying to scan for more data, but unfortunately, even at their fastest speeds, the drones couldn't move to a location a kilometer away in just a few seconds.“An entity moving underground…” Himari pondered for a moment, then tapped the keyboard twice, retrieving a document from the database."Have you seen any images of the entity?”“I can’t see anything, just sand and dust!” Serika shouted. “That thing didn’t come out of the ground!”“Hmm… we only have energy readings here, nothing more detailed.” Hoshino looked at the notebook in her hand, then glanced out the porthole. The trembling desert surface was gradually calming down, and the signal from the special energy readings was weakening, meaning the entity beneath the desert was moving away from the range that the drone's detection program could scan.“The signal continues to weaken; the target is leaving the detection range—can't this program scan deeper?”“Even if the software allows it, the hardware doesn't.” Himari shook her head regretfully."Kivotos's drones don't have deep scanning capabilities right now. Only those guys who like hot springs would need that feature. It's normal that it doesn't have it.”“So, are we just going to leave it like this?”Serika was somewhat disappointed. Their helicopter had circled the detected location for several minutes, but unfortunately, they couldn't do anything about what was beneath the desert. The missiles and machine guns from the armed helicopter couldn't penetrate the desert; it would be pointless to bomb it.But seeing that they had found what they were looking for, only to watch it escape, was undeniably disheartening."Serika, your safety is the priority!" Ayane shouted. "Be careful in this situation—wait, where's Mr. Dan Kuroto?""Um…it was quite sudden."Serika on the other end of the phone paused, her tone awkward."Well, Mr. Dan Kuroto, how did you get here?""I flew over!"Dan Kuroto, who had crawled inside the internet cable, slipped out of Hoshino's arms.After all, Hoshino had been holding a laptop, and when Dan Kuroto flew over through the cable, he landed right in Hoshino's lap.Standing up straight, Dan Kuroto put his hands on his hips and said smugly, "Just tell me if I'm here or not! I'm the Kivotos sprinter!"----174. Lure fishing“Even though I was mentally prepared, teleporting here so suddenly is pretty scary.”Hoshino touched her ear, her expression gradually returning to calm.Being startled is only temporary; after all, having a living person suddenly appear on top of you is bound to frighten you, right?“Waaaah! Mister? How did you run over here?”Hoshino was somewhat prepared, but Serika beside her wasn't so composed. She watched as Dan Kuroto ran out of the enclosed helicopter cabin, nearly jumping out of her skin from the Bugster's strange behavior—even the student piloting the helicopter was the same; the entire helicopter shook violently, almost tipping over.“Ooh…that was close…”Thankfully, the student piloting the helicopter realized that continuing like this would leave the helicopter stranded in the desert, and quickly focused her attention back on piloting, pulling on the control stick to correct the helicopter's attitude.“Phew…don’t scare me like that! You could easily scare me to death!” Serika breathed a sigh of relief, then stomped her foot in frustration, venting the anger she had been too frightened to direct at Dan Kuroto onto the helicopter.“Hmm…but, did you come alone?”Hoshino was very curious about how Dan Kuroto had gotten here, but she knew this wasn’t the time to dwell on it."But even if he did catch up, it seems like he wouldn’t be able to find this thing hiding underground, would he?”Hoshino brandished her laptop: “The energy reading is dropping, which means it’s probably gone deeper underground. Once that thing hides deep underground, our drones won’t be able to find it at all.”“Machine guns and missiles won’t work either.” Serika had regained her composure, though she still wore a pouty expression. “The ground is the best cover, unless we have bunker-buster missiles—most school districts don’t have those, let alone us…”“Don’t worry, I’ve thought this through!” Dan Kuroto grinned smugly. “Although I don’t know why this thing appeared, it’s like fishing. As long as there’s bait that makes it feel it has to take the hit, you don’t have to worry about it getting away!”“Baiting?” Serika’s mind immediately conjured up images of real fishing. “So what are you going to use to bait it?”“Nothing too complicated, just this—”A surge of electricity coursed through Dan Kuroto's hand, and a heavy, purple Gashat phantom appeared.As the Gashat materialized, Hoshino's expression turned serious; her brow furrowed slightly as she looked at the Gashat in Dan Kuroto's hand.Dan Kuroto, however, merely toyed with the already tangible Gashat, a knowing smile playing on his lips."The culmination of my divine talent, the God Maximum X Gashat. If that thing truly possesses an energy fluctuation similar to mine, it's impossible to ignore it."Compared with the initial form that was completely different from what could be summoned, the current God Maximum X Gashat can now be held by Dan Kuroto.However, if we were to use layers as an analogy, it's like a layer that was originally only 10% transparent has now become 60% transparent.Although it has become much more solid, it's still possible to see things behind the Gashat through its solid form. Perhaps the bonds he's built with his students these past few days haven't been in vain; Dan Kuroto has gradually integrated into Kivotos and has become accustomed to his identity in this world, and his own analysis of this world is progressing in parallel—As Kivotos's rejection of Dan Kuroto gradually decreases, this Gashat, imbued with divine power, will probably be completely unsealed soon.“But it’s unusable now, what a shame.” Dan Kuroto sighed dramatically, then his tone rose again."But it’s alright! Even without using my godly talent, I can easily annihilate everything—!”“Alright, alright, so do you have a battle plan?” Serika glanced at him sideways: “What’s the use of this thing?”“Currently, it only has one use.” Dan Kuroto opened the helicopter door and held the God Maximum X Gashat out of the cabin."Let’s use it for lure fishing!”The scent of Power of God Maximum emanated from the vessel in Dan Kuroto’s hand. The Power of God Maximum, which had previously only circulated within him, now had a chance to be released—the reappearance of the God Gashat, regardless of whether it could be used, wouldn’t diminish its power in the slightest.“Although it’s only a little, it should be enough.”Several seconds had passed since Dan Kuroto extended the Gashat outside the cabin, but there was still no movement below; in fact, the energy readings were steadily declining. Serika glanced worriedly at the desert outside."Is everything alright? It doesn't seem to be working.""Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Dan Kuroto said with full confidence: "Unless it has nothing to do with me at all! Otherwise, there is no way it would just sit by and ignore this aura!""But there's not a sound at all..." Serika hadn't finished speaking when Hoshino suddenly exclaimed, "The energy reaction has intensified!""What?"Serika's eyes widened as she looked out the porthole. The ground was shaking even more violently than before, dust billowing up with the tremors, the yellow sand churning restlessly like waves. The desert beneath their feet seemed like a sea, surging with the turmoil of something!"It's getting closer!—Whatever it is, it's getting closer!"Dan Kuroto's words were hurried, but his voice betrayed a hint of surprise. "Haha! I knew my intuition wouldn't be wrong!""So all that action just now was your intuition!" Serika's ears perked up like a real cat's. "Don't rely on intuition for things like this!""Relax, relax Kami's intuition is very accurate"Dan Kuroto looked at the ground. Beneath the churning yellow sand like boiling water, something enormous was breaking through the surface—if it weren't something massive enough, mere movement wouldn't create such a huge commotion. While it wouldn't cause the entire desert to tremble, the tremors were clearly felt within a radius of dozens of miles.On the streets of the Abydos school district, the Shiba Inu owner of "Shiba Seki Ramen Shop," pipe in his mouth, squinted at the gradually changing clouds on the horizon, his expression turning grave."Is the wrath of the yellow sand about to descend once more...? The lives of the girls in Abydos have only just begun to improve, how could they encounter something like this again?"----175. Got it!Inside Abydos Academy, students who felt the tremors rushed out of their classrooms. Among them were former Abydos students who had experienced the sandstorm, and suddenly, forgotten memories flooded back. Looking at the wall of sand rising into the sky, painful memories were recalled once more."This...this is a sandstorm?!""Why does this have to happen again?!"Some students, unable to bear the pain of the memories, collapsed to the ground, their legs giving way. Some screamed, others ran. Before the might of nature, Halo was nothing more than a fragile safety net. Trembling and panicked, they thought of Abydos's current administrators.So they rushed to the Foreclosure Task Force's meeting room, only to find everyone already prepared. A holographic tactical map lay on the table; some readings and wavelengths were understandable, others not. Besides their familiar leader, Hanemi, and more than half of the Foreclosure Task Force members present, there were also a few students from other schools whom they had only met once."B-B-B-Something terrible has happened! A sandstorm!!"The students, rushing in clumsily, were panicked, managing only a hurried "sandstorm" after a long pause—but that was enough to illustrate the gravity of the situation.To awaken the fear in the hearts of the people of Abydos, all it would take is a sandstorm identical to the one that struck years ago.Because of sandstorms, Abydos had become what it is today: a population reduced by ninety percent, schools utterly ruined—a pain deeply etched in the hearts of the people of Abydos, and no exaggeration.But at this moment, the people standing in the meeting room showed no panic, only resolute eyes and a sense of preparedness.“Although there's been a slight deviation from the plan, the target should be Mr. President… I'll refer to him as President from now on.”Kayoko coughed lightly, her expression serious. “The target was successfully lured away using the President's special methods, and everyone heard the news from the front lines. The helicopter carrying Hoshino and Serika will guide the target to an area suitable for stable combat—that is, the Kaiser Corporation's excavation site.”“The excavation site has been abandoned since the President's battle with Kaiser Corporation. While the surrounding terrain contains some loose sand, it has been reinforced by Kaiser Corporation's construction team, and the underground cavities are mostly rock, so there's no need to worry about getting stuck in the sand during combat.”“Furthermore, the excavation site is quite a distance from Abydos's main campus, so we have backup plans should the battle fall through.”Kayoko methodically and quickly reviewed her previous discussion. Meanwhile, Himari no longer concealed the information in her hands.At this point, the being lured by Dan Kuroto and possessing similar energy fluctuations was most likely this one!"Everyone, this will be a tough battle."As everyone began to move, Himari's voice came through the team channel."Although we haven't seen the target's appearance yet, there's a 90% chance it's the third Prophet of Decagrammaton, 'Binah,' who has been sighted in the Abydos Desert."“This name… I’ve seen it in Abydos’s database before.”Hoshino’s voice came through the channel. “However, I only saw it by chance while checking other information; I don’t remember the specifics.”“This Prophet ‘Binah’ had extensive sighting records in the Abydos desert, during the time when the local Abydos company ‘Saint Nepthys’ was building a railway through the Abydos desert.”Himari's voice came through: "Yes, it's Izayoi Nonomi's family business, Nonomi-san. So, your family has quite a history with this Prophet.""Ah... I heard my father mention it..." Nonomi jumped into the helicopter, settled in, and pressed her earpiece."Back when we were building the desert railway, a huge white snake kept emerging from the ground and attacking the construction workers... So this 'Binah' has existed for so long?""No wonder Nonomi is so rich, her ancestors were wealthy!" Dan Kuroto's voice came through the earpiece."I knew a young lady who could casually pull out ten million credits couldn't be an ordinary young lady—now I completely understand! Miss Nonomi, how about supporting Gemn Corp's development?""Hehe I've always had high hopes for your Genm"Hearing the voice coming through the headset, Nonomi's initially flustered heart gradually calmed down. Dan Kuroto had brought Nonomi a miracle, turning the tide and saving the day.What need was there to doubt such a great person?As long as she followed behind him, she no longer needed to worry about any enemy she faced."Nonomi-san, you seem very confident."Kayoko boarded the helicopter as the tactical commander, while Ayane remained at the school to oversee the rear, also directing students to guide civilians away from the battlefield—this was indeed a sudden conflict, or rather, a conflict that, like the god of poverty, had preemptively induced and resolved a potential future crisis.Now, Kayoko looked at Nonomi sitting opposite her and noticed that, for some reason, a confident smile played on her lips."Aren't you afraid?""With him here, I'm very confident~" Nonomi laughed."...Well, it's good to have confidence." Kayoko gripped her pistol, giving it a final check. The helicopter carried all the participating students except Ayane—some of the Abydos students, who weren't afraid and had even mustered their courage, volunteered to fight, but Kayoko and Ayane dissuaded them."Everyone, please guide the civilians to evacuate first, then deploy armored units based on the situation!"Abydos' armored units—just the name sounds impressive!Besides attending classes, the integrated students were diligently familiarizing themselves with these captured tanks and attack helicopters. A vehicle without a driver is just a pile of scrap metal; only with a driver can it be called an armored unit!An attack helicopter roared low overhead, stirring up the dust, rapidly approaching the epicenter. Himari's voice quickly shared crucial information with everyone:"The third-ranked Prophet in Decagrammaton, 'Binah,' is an AI construct combining giant snakes and whales. Due to data loss, we cannot determine its weapons and abilities. Please proceed with caution!""Hmph… Himari, is this what you're talking about?"Dan Kuroto's voice came through the headset. The next second, accompanied by Serika's scream, the helicopter he was in suddenly pulled up, the desert below gushing up like a fountain.With a thunderous roar, a huge white snake head opened its maw from the ground and shot into the air.----