Chapter 185: A Hacker? Or…

The call was cut.

Dead silence.

Jiang Jian Yue gripped her mobile phone, staring at the disgusting, secretly filmed footage on the screen.

A few seconds later, her phone vibrated again.

This time, it was Morita Aoya himself.

“Miss.”

Morita Aoya’s voice came through, heavier than ever before.

“The previous call… was intercepted.”

This was no longer something a mere “obsessive fan” could accomplish.

“He called me,” Jiang Jian Yue said, her voice devoid of any emotion.

“Using your number.”

Morita Aoya gasped.

“The members of the Dark Crow Unit went to the tracked location, but they were attacked… I only just received the report…”

***

Over an hour ago, in Adachi Ward.

A scarred Slavic man named Zobayan and Black Mamba, both members of the Dark Crow Unit, stood before a dilapidated apartment door wearing Tokyo Electric Power maintenance uniforms.

“Tokyo Electric Power, checking the lines,”

Zobayan shouted in stiff Japanese while knocking on the door.

There was no answer.

The apartment was silent, without a single flicker of light.

Black Mamba pulled out a small device and scanned near the door lock.

“No electronic lock. It’s an old-fashioned mechanical one. No alarms triggered.”

Zobayan nodded and pulled a set of lock-picking tools from his pocket.

Click.

“Wait.”

Zobayan suddenly stopped.

Frowning, he reached out and gave the door a slight push.

The door creaked open a crack.

“It’s unlocked.”

The two exchanged a look, instantly switching from “maintenance workers” to “soldiers.”

Black Mamba drew his P320, while Zobayan made a tactical hand gesture.

“Dark Crow One calling Command. We have reached the target location. The door is unlocked.”

“We are preparing to enter.”

“Careful,”

Mark’s reply was brief.

Zobayan kicked the door open, and the two slipped inside, muzzles pointed deep into the room.

“Clear!”

“Clear!”

The apartment was pitch black.

The curtains were drawn tight.

Black Mamba pressed the tactical flashlight under the barrel of his P320, and a piercing beam of light swept across the room.

“My god…”

Black Mamba cursed under his breath.

The room was filled with electronic equipment.

The floor, the tables, the bed, and even the kitchen counters were piled high with various computer towers, servers, hard drive arrays, and monitors.

Cables crawled across the entire space like venomous vines.

All the equipment was running, emitting a low, constant hum.

But there was no one in the room.

“Where is he?”

Zobayan maintained his firing stance, alertly searching every corner.

“Look over there.”

Black Mamba shone his light on a wall.

The wall… was covered in photos of Mizuki Hoshi.

Candid shots, performance photos, and some from strange angles… clearly taken in secret.

In the center of the photos, on the largest monitor, a video of Mizuki Hoshi crying was playing on a loop — it was the same clip Jiang Jian Yue had just seen.

“A standard pervert’s nest.”

Zobayan flicked the safety of his P320 but did not holster the gun.

“Target is absent. Clear the equipment.”

Black Mamba approached a server, reaching out to touch it.

Zzt —

Every monitor in the room stopped playing the video at the exact same moment.

The screens went black.

“What’s happening?”

Zobayan raised his gun and aimed at the screens.

“The equipment… seems to be overloaded?”

Black Mamba also felt something was wrong.

Click.

The tactical flashlight went out.

The room plunged into total darkness, save for the faint, flickering red and green indicator lights on the servers.

“Mamba?”

Zobayan’s voice sounded tense.

“My light is dead.”

Zobayan said in a heavy tone,

“Mine too. And my night vision… An EMP?”

Black Mamba didn’t finish his sentence.

Hum —

One monitor lit up.

It wasn’t a video of Mizuki Hoshi, nor was it a desktop.

It was a real-time surveillance feed.

The perspective of the footage came from the body camera on Zobayan’s chest — after the Dragonno Association incident, the Japanese Government required all DRG personnel to record footage for the archives during operations.

‘Is he hacking into our equipment?’

A sense of dread surfaced in Black Mamba’s heart — could a camera be hacked too?

As a soldier, he didn’t understand much about the technical side of things.

Following that, all the monitors in front of them lit up in sequence.

They displayed Black Mamba’s perspective, the apartment corridor’s surveillance, the building’s elevator cameras, and even… the dashcam footage from the car they had driven there.

“Hoshi… are you here to find Hoshi?”

That distorted, pathological male voice rang out simultaneously from cheap speakers all around the room.

“Shit!”

Zobayan spun around and shot the speaker closest to him.

“Hehehe… it’s useless.”

The voice didn’t dim in the slightest.

“Where is he?!”

Black Mamba stood back-to-back with Zobayan, frantically scanning the room.

“Come out, you bastard!”

“Me?”

The voice was mocking.

“I’m… right here.”

The fan in the server case closest to Black Mamba suddenly began to spin backward frantically, emitting a piercing screech.

Bang!

The side panel of the casing suddenly exploded, and the flying parts sprayed across the two of them.

“What the hell!”

Zobayan cursed, glancing at his colleague.

He saw him clutching his throat, making a gurgling sound.

They had to leave immediately.

The opponent wasn’t just some “stalker”!

It was highly likely they were a Superpower User!

He no longer hesitated.

He holstered his P320, grabbed Black Mamba by the shoulder, and charged toward the door with all his might.

***

Meanwhile, inside the Southern Cross idol dormitory.

The air was filled with the faint scent of incense and takeout ramen.

“Hoshi, I’m going to finish off your chashu!”

With a light smile on her face, MASU was trying to steal the last piece of meat from Mizuki Hoshi’s bowl with her chopsticks.

Mizuki Hoshi was slumped listlessly over the heated table, her cheeks slightly flushed from the warmth of the tabletop.

She was dressed in her pajamas, having just finished a full day of high-intensity training.

She was so tired she didn’t even want to move a finger.

“Please… go ahead.”

Compared to her teammates, Mizuki Hoshi, the fake beauty, felt quite inferior and their relationships were average.

Only MASU was relatively warm toward her.

Or rather, MASU was warm toward everyone.

MASU stuffed the chashu into her mouth and said muffledly,

“You missed the beat several times during practice today. Have you not been eating properly again?”

“No…”

Mizuki Hoshi mumbled softly, burying her face in the crook of her arm.

She just felt exhausted.

Besides… how could she tell her teammates about the stalker?

It would only cause everyone unnecessary worry.

Perhaps… she was just being too sensitive.

“Hoshi, what did Lady Jiang Jian say to you today? You’ve seemed distracted ever since you got back.”

Kazuki Hanatsubame put down the magazine in her hand.

Her gentle gaze was fixed on her, carrying a hint of concern.

Even though her relationship with Mizuki Hoshi was average, as the Captain, Kazuki Hanatsubame still had to care for her teammates.

Mizuki Hoshi’s body stiffened, her fingertips unconsciously picking at the rim of her mug.

“It was… nothing special. She just asked about how practice was going…”

She lowered her eyes, avoiding Kazuki’s gaze.

She didn’t dare speak the truth.

She didn’t want this filthy shadow to pollute this temporarily safe harbor, and she was even more afraid of being seen as a troublemaker.

“Eh — really?”

MASU suddenly looked up, her violet twin-tails swaying, her face filled with unhidden curiosity.

“Lady Jiang Jian is so cool! There must be something big if she called you in alone! Tell us, tell us!”

She lunged at Mizuki Hoshi’s side, rubbing her arm against her.

Mizuki Hoshi felt a suffocating pressure.

Her teammates’ gazes were like spotlights on her, leaving her with nowhere to hide.

She took a deep breath and tried to mimic Kazuki’s composed smile, but the corners of her mouth were as stiff as a marionette’s.

“Really… it’s nothing.”

“She just… encouraged me a bit and told me not to be too nervous.”

“Lady Jiang Jian…”

Rena suddenly sighed sadly.

“A person of that stature has nothing to do with us. It’s hard enough just to get a word in…”

‘Eh?’

‘Was she subtly targeting me?’

Mizuki Hoshi was naturally sensitive; even if others didn’t mean it that way, she often felt like she was being disliked.

She picked up her barley tea, preparing to take a sip.

Buzz — Buzz —

The phone at the corner of the table began to vibrate.

It was an unknown number.

Usually, she wouldn’t answer such a number.

It was mostly a wrong number — or that… stalker.

She instinctively wanted to hang up, but then she thought that the stalker should have been dealt with by Lady Jiang Jian.

Possessed by some strange impulse, she walked out to the dormitory balcony and pressed the answer button.

“Hello?”

“Hoshi, it’s me.”

A cold and familiar female voice came through the receiver.

This voice…

“Miss Jiang Jian?”

Mizuki Hoshi asked tentatively.

“Yes, it’s me, Jiang Jian Yue.”

The voice on the other end seemed somewhat rushed.

“I’m sorry to bother you so late. Something urgent has come up, and I need you to come out for a moment.”

“Ehh… come out?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Jian Yue’s voice carried a tone that brooked no argument.

“I’m outside right now. Time is tight. Is it convenient for you… to come out and meet alone? Just at the corner park below your dormitory.”

“Alone?”

Mizuki Hoshi hesitated.

Company rules forbade members from going out alone at night.

“Yes, the situation is somewhat unique. Please be sure to come alone.”

Jiang Jian Yue’s voice paused for a moment, as if trying to persuade her.

“This is very important for you, and for Southern Cross.”

“O-Okay!”

But this was Jiang Jian Yue.

If she went to see her, she certainly wouldn’t be punished.

Mizuki Hoshi no longer hesitated and stood up abruptly.

“I’ll be right down!”

“I’ll be waiting for you on the park bench.”

The call ended.

Under the confused gazes of the other members, Mizuki Hoshi rushed back to her room and changed into a decent set of casual clothes.

She faced the mirror, straightened her hair, and showed a faint smile — yes, looking good!

“Are you going out?”

Kazuki Hanatsubame leaned against the doorframe, watching the girl at the mirror.

“Ah! …That, Lady Jiang Jian… asked me to go out for a bit.”

A faint look of doubt flickered in Kazuki Hanatsubame’s eyes, but she didn’t say anything more.

She simply nodded slightly and turned to leave.

Mizuki Hoshi breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the Captain was good to her and very gentle, she always felt instinctively afraid — she didn’t even know what she was afraid of.

She walked quickly out of the dormitory door.

The elevator happened to be on that floor.

After stepping inside, she pressed the button for the first floor.

The surveillance camera inside the elevator flickered slightly, like a blinking eye.