Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 331 Zhe: Oh no, the electricity bill is going to be overdue.

“Actually, we’ve been online for a while now,” Ling said with a smile.

"You've been online for a while... which means... you heard our conversation just now?" Nicole asked, still worried.

"Yes, thanks to this incident, we've learned that Nicole isn't an ungrateful person."

"Gulp!" Nicole blushed and waved her hand haphazardly to interrupt Zhe. "I... let's talk about work-related matters properly. We can talk about these things later, later!"

"Haha, you don't need to tell us, we've already located the safe. Follow me."

Along the way, Tetsuya began to explain the real reason for their loss of contact, while also assuring everyone that the follow-up investigation had been completed and that Bronya's backup plan, which she had left in H.D.D., had been activated.

In fact, when Bronya upgraded H·D·D's performance, she also installed a firewall to prevent hacking. However, because the firewall would increase H·D·D's power consumption significantly, the electricity bill a month later made Zhe ponder deeply. He couldn't understand how a firewall could consume so much performance, causing H·D·D's power consumption to increase so much.

Zhe didn't know what Bronya had installed on their computers. Was it really just a firewall? But the most important thing right now was whether or not to turn off the firewall. After all, the firewall was indeed effective when it was on. They had previously hired a very skilled hacker to try to attack H.D.D., but the hacker tried everything he could for several days and still couldn't get through.

Even after Zhe and his team specifically downloaded the hacker's trojan software as instructed, the other party replied that they couldn't get any information out of it. It's fair to say that this firewall is extremely powerful, but the cost is that it consumes a huge amount of HDD's performance resources and causes a sharp increase in its power consumption. However, even so, Zhe could still clearly feel a performance upgrade while using HDD, which shows how much performance enhancement Bronya made to HDD.

After much deliberation, Zhe finally decided to turn off the firewall. After all, he didn't really need such a powerful firewall. The hacking skills that he and Ling had learned from Bronya were enough to deal with ordinary hackers.

Unexpectedly, things went wrong today. To prevent further accidents, Zhe had no choice but to reactivate the firewall. This, of course, caused Nicole to complain incessantly, as she had initially thought it was just a simple double-cross commission, but it had turned into such a troublesome one.

Finally, led by Tetsuya, the three from the Rabbit House found the lost safe. However, before they could happily retrieve the safe, Ambiya's intuition warned her that there was danger.

Anbi instinctively drew her sword to block behind her, and then blocked an attack from a skeleton.

This skeleton was completely different from the skeletons we usually saw. Its slender and tall body stood in front of everyone, and its hands had been completely transformed into a scimitar and a large shield made of ethereal matter.

Durham—this is the identifying name of the creature before us, and also the creature that Ambi and the others reported as the white man who had transformed into a creature.

Although she understood that this Durah was simply looking for and attacking living people, Nicole felt a nameless rage rising in her heart at the thought of this creature, who had recently become human.

The battle began amidst Nicole's furious roar. Although Duraham, as a high-level Aether, was indeed a force to be reckoned with, he was still no match for the coordinated efforts of the three members of the Rabbit House and was ultimately defeated, turning into Aether energy and disappearing.

"Haha—! Finally, finally! I've found you!"

Nicole ran happily toward the safe behind Billy and Ambition, but before she could hug the safe, Zhe manipulated Ies's body to stand on the safe.

“It’s too early to celebrate victory, Nicole. We have a serious problem…” Zhe ruthlessly interrupted the three who were savoring the joy of victory. “The data used to plan the escape route has been deleted, and the original Taoluo path is no longer valid.”

"You're saying we can't get out?!" Nicole lay dejectedly in Ambby's arms. "Haha... After going through so much trouble to finally get back to where we started... I didn't expect it to be the end."

"Damn it, I haven't had dinner with Monica yet. I'm so disappointed. But... it's still a pretty good life, isn't it?"

Billy is still as unreliable as ever. By the way, Monica is the name of Billy's favorite female celebrity.

At this moment, only Anbi remained calm: "Calm down, let's think of other ways."

"It's too early to say your closing remarks now. I have another idea, but I need your permission, Nicole."

Nicole immediately agreed as soon as she finished speaking.

Zhe sighed helplessly and said, "...Let me finish. The mysterious person who hacked into my system said that the contents of the safe have a similar value to Rosetta's data, and that with it, one can freely enter and exit the Void. If that's true, we should be able to use it to get out of the Void, as long as you agree to let me open it..."

“I agree! I just said that!” Nicole repeated.

"Isn't this what your client wanted? Couldn't you at least have hesitated for a moment?"

"We're at a life-or-death situation! If I don't get out, who will bring him the safe? Just open it! But you should already know the combination, right?"

After receiving Nicole's authorization, Zhe began to enter the password. Back when Bronya had repaired the data disk, Zhe had already copied down the password from the database just in case.

Shortly after answering Nicole's question, the safe was opened, and Zhe took out a data chip from it. Before using the card, Zhe wanted to confirm it again.

"However, I must warn you, this is ultimately a gamble. I'm still unsure what the consequences of forcibly accessing the data will be..."

“Wait a minute, there’s something I don’t understand,” Amby asked. “Your main body is outside the void. You could have just left, so why did you risk coming back to help us? Do you have some other scheme in mind?”

“Ambi!” Nicole whispered, trying to stop her.

"What are you talking about? I am your rope craftsman. I promised to take you out, and I will. Of course, I have a backup plan. If things fail here, the H.D.D system will immediately issue a rescue request on the rope network. At that time, I..."

Nicole promised, "Don't worry, if we can get out of here, no matter what happens, we'll go to the store to rescue you!"

"Hehe, if only the settlement of commission fees could be this straightforward."

As he spoke, Zhe inserted the data chip into Ies's interface and began reading data. As soon as the data chip was connected, a powerful data stream burst forth from Ies.

The next second, Zhe lost consciousness in this massive torrent of data.

Strangely, H·D·D did not stop working. Instead, it automatically began to execute Qi Zhe's instructions, listing and calculating the data inside the voids and finally sending it to Ies.

After receiving this information, Ies began to guide the three people from the Rabbit House away, although they wondered why Ies's voice sounded strange and full of electronic sounds.

But considering what had just happened, they figured it was just a matter of Ies's connection to the outside world being disrupted, so they didn't pay much attention. What they didn't know was that a flash of pink appeared in a corner not far from them.

In an open space, a fox spirit with long pink hair, dressed in a shrine maiden outfit, was communicating with the outside world through a signal tower. This person was Yae Sakura, who was sent by the Sixth Anti-Air Division to deal with this Void Crisis.

"Yae Sakura calling the captain, Yae Sakura calling the captain."

"Please say."

"The target has already used the contents of the safe. Should I retrieve them?"

"No need, after all, that thing was originally meant for them. Now that we've confirmed they used the contents of the safe, let's quickly deal with this hole."

"clear."

After cutting off the connection, Yae Sakura sighed deeply: "I guess I'm still not used to this modern technology."

"But compared to when she first started, my eldest sister has improved a lot!"

The one speaking was a tiny figure floating beside Yae Sakura. She had pink fox ears similar to Yae Sakura's, wore the same shrine maiden attire, and had nine tails peeking out from behind her.

"Himeko-maru, please stop praising me."

Yae Sakura smiled and patted Himeko's head. Yes, she was Himeko, one of the consciousness incarnations of the Herrscher of the former civilization.

Since Yae Sakura defeated the consciousness that symbolized the malice of the Herrscher of Corruption within the Stigmata Space, Himeko's benevolent consciousness was preserved, and at the same time, the Key of Corruption, which had been incomplete until then, was finally completed.

Yae Sakura could have returned to the real world through the Key of Corruption, but she chose to refuse to live with Kallen's phantom in the Stigmata Space until Kiana resurrected Kallen.

At Kallen's urging within the Stigmata Space, Yae Sakura returned to the real world and accepted His invitation to come to this world. However, now that Kallen is focused on accompanying Otto to atone for his sins, Yae Sakura naturally doesn't care about these things.

As long as I can stay by Karen's side, that's enough.

With this in mind, Yae Sakura also joined this journey of redemption. Although Otto had a lot of opinions about this, he had no choice but to watch helplessly as Yae Sakura barged into his and Kallen's world because he didn't want to hurt Kallen's feelings.

However, when it comes to atonement, Kallen honestly doesn't know where to begin. After all, the sins Otto atoned for were all within their own world, which wasn't their original world.

However, this world is also in a critical moment of survival. Since we don't know where to begin atonement, let's start by saving this world.

Since saving the world happened to be somewhat related to Kiana and the others' mission, Otto simply went along with Kallen's wishes. As long as Kallen was by his side, that was fine. Of course, it would be even better if this vixen wasn't around.

Getting back to the main point, after interacting with Himeko for a while, Yae Sakura switched to serious mode, drew her demon sword from her waist, and rushed into another group of skeletons.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Tetsuya, who had been unconscious, finally woke up. Seeing that Tetsuya was awake, Suzu rushed over to comfort him and warm him up.

"Ah! You're finally awake, brother! How are you feeling? Is anything bothering you? Don't worry, you're alright now, you're safe at home!"

"Where's the data chip? Where are Nicole and the others? And how did I get back?"

"Calm down, calm down. You just replied, don't get too excited. I'll explain the situation to you slowly. First, tell me what happened after the chip was read?"

Zhe recounted his painful and bizarre experience with synesthesia, as well as the fact that he seemed to have signed some kind of agreement...

"It sounds like sleep talking, or chat logs from the psychiatric intensive care unit..." Ling complained. "Anyway, I roughly know what happened to you, now it's my turn to tell you."

After taking a deep breath, Ling began to speak slowly.

"After you read the data chip, our Bomb went out of control, seemingly entering some kind of overload state, flashing and crackling like a disco ball in the dance floor of 404live. Later, according to Nicole and the others, Ies calmed down and guided them out of the void with your voice. They only found out about your accident when they returned to return the Bomb."

Then Rin recounted how they had called their secret doctor, who had put in a great deal of effort to pull Tetsu out of H.D.D. The good news was that Nico kept her promise and paid the previous debts and the commission fee for this case, but the bad news was that most of the money was used to pay for Tetsu's medical expenses and the repair costs for Bonbu.

After all, after helping Nicole and the others escape the cave, Eis fainted. It was only after being examined that they discovered that many parts were damaged due to overload.

In the end, Ling told Zhe to prepare himself mentally before going to H·D·D, because H·D·D had undergone earth-shattering changes.

To be precise, something strange appeared in H·D·D's computer. As the bell called out, all the electronic devices in the room began to malfunction to varying degrees. Finally, a woman's voice came from H·D·D's main display screen.

"System startup complete. I am a three-type integrated general-purpose artificial intelligence, development codename: Fairy. Hello, master."

"How was it? Were you scared?" Ling asked cautiously. "After you fell unconscious, the H·D·D system rebooted once, and that's when she came into being."

"You mean she bypassed the firewall that Bronya helped set up?"

"Yes, but if I'm not mistaken, she is the one inside that data chip. You read the chip directly through EAS, so it's not surprising that she was able to bypass the firewall."

"I see. But one thing I'm certain of is that she was the one who spoke in my head while I was unconscious."

“Definitely,” said the AI ​​that called itself Fairy. “I am a type-three integrated general-purpose AI, you can call me Fairy. I am happy to serve you. According to the user agreement you signed, I will assist you in all aspects and help you complete your work, waiting for the right time.”

Ling asked, "Wait a minute, what do you mean by 'agreement'? And what do you mean by 'waiting for the right time'?"

"According to the user agreement, I am not authorized to answer this question. The owner will find out the answer at an appropriate time and place."

"She's a tough girl, but only a tightly guarded heart is worth conquering!" Ling exclaimed excitedly.

"Rin, why are you still enjoying yourself?"

“Master, I have noticed that your data was recently destroyed and transferred by a third party. This will hinder the development of your illegal Hollow Food Investigation Association’s private vision, commonly known as the Rope Makers. I can help you make up for the losses and rebuild the Rope Makers’ business.”

"Wait, can you recover the deleted data?"

"No, I cannot rescind the destruction order. But I can help you rebuild the database. I have unrestricted access to more than 80% of the smart devices in the city, and with the artificial intelligence you designed in your computer, it can achieve 100% accuracy. At that time, the cumulative acquisition of void data will no longer be necessary, and real-time analysis of the evacuation path of the void will become possible."

"This...this can't be right?!" Ling exclaimed in surprise.

"No, that is my core function. To prove it, I can assist you with some void investigation activities. I have already selected suitable commissions for you in your current state from the private intelligence gathering station for void investigations, the anonymous forum commonly known as the Rope Net. Please choose the timing of execution according to your schedule and personal preferences. It would be a pleasure to cooperate with you, Master."

After Ling confirmed that the AI ​​had indeed filtered out quite a few commissions on the rope net, Zhe was more concerned about the content of Fairy's words than these.

"Fairy, what about the artificial intelligence you mentioned that we developed ourselves? Although we did develop an AI to help us calculate empty data, it doesn't have the unlimited access you have."

"So, Master, the AI ​​in the firewall that the other person designed for you wasn't designed by you?" Then, changing the subject, "But was that trash AI designed by you? As expected, Master's AI can only be me. Please order the other one to be eliminated as well."

"Bronya has this inside her firewall? We've never heard her mention it before!"

Although he felt somewhat sorry for Bronya, Zhe, who was exhausted from today's overwhelming amount of information, decided to give up thinking.

"Can Fairy help with the expulsion?"

"Understood, Master. I will do my best to help you eliminate it."

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

Just then, another voice came from H·D·D, also a female voice. However, it was more human and more lively than Fairy's. Then, an image of a green-haired girl with a bun hairstyle appeared next to Fairy's eye icon.

"Nice to meet you both. I am Ai Hyperion, the auxiliary AI for the firewall developed by Bronya. Please take good care of me!"