Chapter 206: Every Time I Try to Respect You, You Start Slacking Off

SAD Building, late night.

The office area of the Special Intelligence Analysis Unit 2 was still brightly lit.

The clacking of keyboards and the hum of printers intertwined into an anxious symphony of shachiku.

“Hah…”

A woman with pale purple, shoulder-length hair tiredly rubbed the bridge of her nose and drained the black coffee in her hand.

Her ID badge read: “Intelligence Analyst: Dream Serpent.”

As a GPRI remnant with a support-type Ability, she had been gradually marginalized as the SAD continued to expand.

She already had a poor relationship with those from the Curtain Cluster, and combined with her status as a GPRI holdover, Dream Serpent had not handled any truly important information for a long time.

As the highest-level “eye” planted inside the SAD by the Saint Organization, Dream Serpent had been walking on thin ice lately.

The SAD’s purging operation had been ongoing for over half a year without pause.

“Dream Serpent, please handle this urgent document.”

An Operations Department Supervisor hurried past, slamming a sealed file folder heavily onto her desk.

“What is this?”

Dream Serpent pushed up her glasses and asked calmly.

“Just sent over from the DRG. Top secret.”

The Supervisor lowered his voice, his face flushed with the excitement of someone about to take major action.

“They have concrete evidence.”

“Evidence?”

Dream Serpent’s heart skipped a beat.

“Regarding that Serene Dream Incense.”

“They’ve confirmed that this stuff is directly linked to that ‘Saint’ organization that’s been lurking in the shadows.”

“Oh? Have the Saints finally surfaced?”

Dream Serpent maintained the reaction expected of an SAD employee — happiness and surprise — despite the immense horror in her mind.

‘Is it exposed?’

“The DRG has requested that we immediately organize a joint enforcement action. We must complete the assembly within 1 hour and conduct a raid on the target location.”

The Supervisor checked his watch.

“The higher-ups have already approved it. They are currently mobilizing personnel from the Special Reconnaissance Unit. Your task is to immediately analyze the terrain surrounding the factory and plot an entry route.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

Dream Serpent lowered her head, using the motion of organizing the files to hide the momentary terror in her eyes.

“Move fast! We’re going to wipe out that pack of kooks in one go this time!”

The Supervisor patted her shoulder, then turned and strode away, shouting into his walkie-talkie.

Dream Serpent’s fingers trembled as she tore open the file folder.

Inside was a stack of high-definition satellite photos, detailed internal structural diagrams, and even photos of several key personnel in charge.

‘I must notify the Overseer immediately!’

Dream Serpent forced herself to remain calm.

“Um… Team Leader.”

Dream Serpent stood up, clutching her stomach with a pained expression.

“I… I think I ate something bad. It hurts really badly. Can I go to the infirmary to get some medicine?”

The busy Team Leader didn’t even look up.

“Go, go. Honestly, dropping the ball at a critical moment… Make it quick!”

“Yes!”

Dream Serpent grabbed her bag and stumbled toward the exit.

The moment she left the office area, her back looked weak and pathetic.

However, the instant she turned the corner of the corridor and entered a monitor blind spot, her gaze became sharp and cold.

She didn’t go to the infirmary; instead, she headed straight for the fire escape.

***

10 minutes later, Akihabara.

Inside a booth at an old-fashioned net café with a “24-Hour Business” sign.

Wearing a hood, Dream Serpent pulled an inconspicuous hard drive from a hidden compartment in her bag.

She plugged the drive into the computer.

The screen flickered, and the original interface vanished instantly.

[Barrier established]

[Requesting authentication]

[Cultist — Dark Walker — Damian Thorn authentication complete]

Dream Serpent took a deep breath, her fingertips flying across the keyboard.

“DRG has locked onto Chiba Factory. SAD is assembling, expected raid in 45 minutes. Evidence is concrete, intention is total eradication. Requesting instructions!”

Sent successfully.

***

Meanwhile, in a dim room.

Changshi God scratched at the hair that was nearly all gone, staring coldly at the “screens” floating in the air.

It was a subterranean base far away in Osaka.

On the screens, a group of fully armed, masked soldiers in black were clearing the remains of a battle.

The Osaka Branch was the master of the Adventurer Bulletin Board.

It was the underground organization that had posted bounty missions against the DRG on paper planes and even attempted to interfere with the GSAC.

“A bunch of useless trash.”

Changshi God’s voice carried no emotion, as if he were evaluating a pile of spoiled garbage.

“Greedy, stupid, and thinking they were well-hidden.”

A flicker of disgust flashed through Changshi God’s squinted eyes.

He had originally been considering whether to send people to Osaka to rescue those peripheral members, if only to recover data.

But seeing the merciless methods of the DRG combatants, he gave up.

“Cut all lines to Osaka,”

he commanded softly to a corner of the room.

“Let those fools fend for themselves.”

Just then, the computer in another corner of the room lit up.

Changshi God narrowed his eyes slightly as he scanned the text.

“DRG locked onto Chiba Factory… SAD raid imminent…”

Chiba Factory was their largest production base.

Not only were there massive amounts of raw materials, but there were also hundreds of brain-controlled “worker bees” and several core Cultists who had just completed the Ascension Ritual and hadn’t had time to move yet.

Changshi God closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the thick incense.

‘The DRG again!’

‘You again… Jiang Jian Yue!’

Organize a defense within 45 minutes?

Impossible.

Against the regular army of the DRG and the elites of the SAD, the factory’s meager defensive strength wasn’t even worth mentioning.

Transfer data and personnel?

No time.

There was only one choice left.

“For the greater good, sacrifice is necessary.”

Furthermore, it would be difficult to trace the production side up to Changshi God’s level.

As for the sales side… those Politicians would help him block the DRG and the SAD.

[Command confirmed: Purification]

[Target: All personnel at Chiba Factory]

[Executor: Kin]

***

Inside the net café booth in Akihabara.

Changshi God’s reply popped up on the screen.

It was a single, brief word.

(Abandon)

Dream Serpent knew that the matter no longer concerned her.

She unplugged the drive, carefully placed it back into the hidden compartment of her bag, and checked her disguise once more.

As long as she rushed back now and pretended she had fallen asleep in the infirmary, she should be able to get away with it.

She pushed open the booth door and walked quickly toward the exit of the net café with her head down.

The moment Dream Serpent pushed open the glass door and stepped out, her feet froze.

A fine, cold rain fell on her face.

She realized that the streets of Akihabara, which should have been bustling, were now completely deserted.

‘Something’s wrong!’

A shivering sensation of being watched by a beast instantly crawled over her entire body.

Her subconscious urged her to retreat into the net café.

However, the sound of a lock clicking shut came from behind her.

She whipped her head around and saw the young store clerk with his hands raised in terror.

A man in a black suit was pointing a gun at the clerk’s head, forcing him behind the counter.

“Miss Dream Serpent, it’s so late. Why aren’t you resting in the infirmary instead of coming here to surf the web?”

Dream Serpent stiffly turned her head.

Several people were slowly walking out from across the street.

The leader was none other than the Operations Department Supervisor who had given her the “task.”

Dozens of fully armed SAD operatives had appeared on the rooftops and at the entrances of the alleys.

Dark muzzles glinted coldly in the rainy night, all pointed at her.

“This was a trap?”

“We had no plan to raid in 1 hour,”

the Supervisor said calmly.

“We just needed to confirm exactly who would be so desperate to pass the message along at a time like this. Also, we were very curious about what method you used to contact your ‘God.'”

His gaze fell upon the bag she was protecting tightly.

“That hard drive should be the key, right?”

Dream Serpent’s face turned as white as paper.

She understood.

From the moment the Supervisor slammed those files on her desk, she was already a dead woman.

“Heh… hehe…”

Dream Serpent suddenly started laughing, her laughter shrill and desperate.

“Do you think… catching me will do any good?”

A flash of madness appeared in her eyes.

“In your dreams!”

Before she could finish, she thrust her hand into her bag.

“Stop her!”

the Supervisor roared.

Bang!

It wasn’t the SAD who fired; it was Dream Serpent.

She crushed a miniature incendiary bomb inside her bag.

Boom!

A burst of eerie blue flames instantly engulfed the bag and Dream Serpent along with it.

***

“What do you mean… you didn’t… stop her in time?”

Jiang Jian Yue was somewhat stunned upon learning that the capture of Dream Serpent had failed.

Was this a joke?

She had finally trusted the SAD to clean their own house for once… and they let the person commit suicide?

They could have interrogated her for so much more!

The SAD was still the same SAD.

Even if they expanded a thousand times over, they couldn’t change their nature as a makeshift stage.

“At Chiba Factory, the SAD killed three semi-devourers who wanted to destroy the facility… but they didn’t manage to handle the explosives in time.”

Morita Aoya sighed on the other end of the phone.

“The only good news is that the people were moved out.”

What was good about that?

‘SAD, every time I want to give you some respect, you start falling apart.’

‘What a waste of my and Yuki Asahi’s dinner time!’

Cold rain tapped against the car window.

It had started raining in Tokyo.

Inside the car, Jiang Jian Yue put down her phone and rubbed her brow.

Her nameless anger, fueled by her empty stomach, transformed into a deeper sense of helplessness.

Yuki Asahi looked at the girl’s slightly pale profile and asked softly, “Are you hungry? It’s been a long night.”

Jiang Jian Yue didn’t speak.

She just nodded slightly, her blood-red eyes glancing out the window.

The prosperous neon lights blurred in the rain, looking bizarre and distorted, much like this out-of-control world.

In the early morning hours, Jiang Jian Yue parked the car in the parking lot below their shared apartment building.

The two of them carried heavy thermal bags as they took the elevator home.

Jiang Jian Yue kicked off her bothersome high heels and stepped barefoot onto the soft carpet in front of the sofa, sitting cross-legged on the floor mat.

Yuki Asahi sat opposite her and opened the lid of the udon noodles.

The steam rose, blurring his features.

He handed her a pair of chopsticks.

“Here, udon.”

The two of them ate in silence, the only sounds being the chewing of food and the soft clink of utensils.

Jiang Jian Yue swallowed a mouthful of hot soup and looked at Yuki Asahi, who was also buried in his food.

His dark blue suit jacket was draped casually over the sofa, his tie had long been loosened, and a few strands of black hair were dampened by sweat or rain, clinging to his forehead.

“Yuki.”

“Hmm?”

Yuki Asahi looked up, a bit of mentaiko still stuck to the corner of his mouth.

Jiang Jian Yue didn’t say anything.

She simply reached out across the cluttered takeaway boxes on the coffee table and gently wiped away that bit of bright orange-red from the corner of his mouth.

The touch of her fingertip was warm.

Yuki Asahi froze for a moment.

Then, the tips of his ears turned slightly red.

He lowered his head and continued to dig into the udon in his bowl, mumbling a response.

“…Thanks.”

Outside the window, the rain was still falling.

How many people would this early summer rain freeze to death?