After dealing with the matter involving Mizuki Hoshi, Jiang Jian Yue did not return home until very late.
Not a single sliver of light escaped from the gap beneath the second bedroom’s door.
Feeling inexplicably disappointed, Jiang Jian Yue turned and opened the door to the main bedroom, taking one last look at her two computers.
‘Hmm… The games are all downloaded, and then…’
‘Wait?’
Jiang Jian Yue had originally been leaning over the computer desk, but when she saw the screen of the extra-dimensional computer light up, she quickly pulled out her chair and sat down.
It updated! After more than one month!
Jiang Jian Yue excitedly tossed the keyboard connected to the new computer aside and pulled the keyboard tucked under the monitor stand toward her.
She grabbed her headphones, about to put them on, but then it occurred to her that such a wonderful moment should be savored properly.
She dashed to the kitchen like a gust of wind and retrieved a large bottle of chilled Coke from the refrigerator.
Perfect!
“Is that really necessary?”
Meiguan whispered snidely.
“The way you’re acting, you look like an old virgin rushing to his wedding night.”
Jiang Jian Yue ignored Meiguan.
Instead, with an excited heart, she first checked her management account.
She had over 300,000 followers, and the activity level was terrifyingly high.
The comments under her pinned post were nearing 100,000+, which gave Jiang Jian Yue a fright. ‘Am I being cyberbullied?’
Upon closer inspection, she realized that one group of fans was using her post as a forum for casual chatting, while another group was spamming requests for a live broadcast.
She wondered how the people chatting could stand the constant spamming.
The opening scene of the anime featured Kaori Onishi waking up in bed, then putting on her uniform to leave the house.
Judging by the calendar on her wall and other small details, it was the period when school resumed after the new year.
[Oh no, Christmas and New Year’s were skipped entirely.]
[Can we move the camera away from the blonde extra?]
[Don’t like what you’re seeing?]
[Why is there suddenly fan service?]
[Wasn’t the naked fighting earlier also fan service?]
Kaori Onishi arrived at the school gate and happened to run into an utterly exhausted Jiang Jian Yue and Yuki Asahi.
[Cold violence.]
[Look at the little couple.]
[I shouldn’t be here.]
[I should be under the car.]
[Emi is so mean, she didn’t even acknowledge him lol.]
[Isn’t she always like this?]
‘Man, I was so tired from work back then that I’d entered energy-saving mode.’
The first segment ended with Kaori Onishi’s stunned expression, transitioning into the OP.
It was still the silhouette phase.
Unsurprisingly, Makino Yuzuha appeared among the silhouettes… but what shocked Jiang Jian Yue was that Mizuki Hoshi was also among them.
With this, every member of the Supernatural Club had appeared in the silhouettes — except for the Osaka Police and Mizuki Hoshi, who weren’t members.
‘Mizuki Hoshi? Her?’
‘The girl whose ability is literally just transformation with zero combat power?’
‘No!’
‘There’s another possibility: a Dual-core Cicada Molt Body.’
If Mizuki Hoshi were lucky enough to retain the parasite’s abilities in the future, she could indeed possess combat strength.
However, Jiang Jian Yue had only ever seen two Dual-core Cicada Molt Bodies.
One was Saori Saiyonji, and the other was the tentacle man who had been shot dead by Morita Aoya in front of the station.
Could Mizuki Hoshi really be that lucky?
While Jiang Jian Yue was thinking, she forgot to skip her own “unflattering” shot.
After seeing the “Jiang Jian Yue” with the distorted, demonic expression, a thought rose in her mind.
“Meiguan, that couldn’t be you, could it?”
“Puhuhu~”
Meiguan didn’t give a straight answer, instead whispering, “Is it… or isn’t it?”
“Speaking of which, you can actually see the content of the anime.”
Jiang Jian Yue narrowed her eyes and paused the video.
Previously, when Jiang Jian Yue played games or browsed things unrelated to the Chantui, the natives of this world could observe them.
However, as long as the content was related to the Chantui, they couldn’t see anything.
Meiguan suddenly fell silent, refusing to reveal a single piece of information no matter how much Jiang Jian Yue called out.
“How disappointing.”
Jiang Jian Yue couldn’t kick this riddler out of her body for the time being, so she shook her head helplessly and continued watching.
***
After the OP ended, the screen gradually brightened, and a man’s voice became clear: “GSAC, full name ‘Global Superpower Arena Challenge,’ hosted by Dawn Resources Group Japan.”
The footage began playing something Jiang Jian Yue found very familiar — wasn’t this the promotional video for the GSAC Team Free-for-All?
It was a montage of espers fighting in various fantasy settings.
This promo was actually produced by the Central Africa Headquarters; the DRG here in Japan didn’t have that many superpower users yet.
Furthermore, the prerequisite for the Team Free-for-All — a superpower user capable of dragging people into various spaces — was still in Central Africa and hadn’t arrived in Japan yet.
Since it would still be some time before the GSAC was held, there was no need to arrive so early.
It was said that the Research Department had a great need for that specific superpower user.
[This is just an effects reel, right?]
[Maybe it’s virtual reality.]
[They literally have superpowers, why do you care so much about that?]
As it turned out, regardless of which world the audience was from, they all assumed the promotional video was just a concept trailer or something similar.
Their reactions were largely the same.
The promotional segment in the footage transitioned into an idol LIVE performance, prompting a flurry of question marks in the comments.
“The Southern Cross Magic Girls, as the first step of DRG Japan’s foray into the entertainment industry, will also perform at the opening ceremony.”
The image gradually turned gray, taking on the texture of a slideshow screen.
The camera slowly zoomed out, revealing several people with solemn expressions in a conference room.
Standing before the screen, Shiying sighed.
“You didn’t expect this either, did you?”
“That the Dawn Resources Group would place so much importance on the ‘Qualification Recognition Tournament’ — no, it should be called the GSAC now.”
“I also didn’t expect them to make it this big… This is getting a bit problematic.”
The members of the Curtain Cluster were currently in an awkward position, stuck in a sort of “silver rank” where they could neither advance nor retreat.
Jiang Jian Yue had heard from Morita Aoya that the Curtain Cluster had some infiltration operations targeting the Japanese government, but their speed couldn’t compare to the DRG.
In terms of financial power, the Curtain Cluster, having been suppressed by the GPRI for so long and living a timid, meager existence, certainly couldn’t compete with the DRG, which made money openly.
“The Saint organization is currently biding its time, waiting for the GSAC… to pull off a major incident. If we don’t guard against it, the consequences will be unimaginable.”
“However!”
The youth named Kokoro, still maintaining his casual, lazy attitude, directly interrupted Shiying.
“We must be wary of the Saints, but we must prevent the DRG even more!”
The several people on both sides of the conference table nodded; this was clearly already the consensus within the Curtain Cluster.
“You’re already aware of the recent internal changes in DRG Japan, right? They don’t care about hiding their ambitions at all!”
A cold sneer appeared on Kokoro’s face.
“An Enterprise Nation? What a joke. If a corporation like the DRG stands above the government, that’s when things will truly be finished.”
[Cyberpunk?]
[Hello, Night City.]
[Is it Arasaka? That’s hopeless then.]
[Does the DRG have aircraft carriers too?]
‘Sorry, they really don’t. Currently, the DRG’s navy is their weakest link.’
[Is the DRG completely unafraid of America? You have to look at the master before beating the dog.]
[Did you not watch the previous part? The US military is already withdrawing.]
[It seems like China and America don’t have much of a role in this world.]
[Don’t be a hater. It was mentioned before that the ones from Cyris seem to have a pretty large influence.]
Among the organizations that had appeared so far, it seemed only the Curtain Cluster had a fundamental disagreement in goals.
The Curtain Cluster wanted to control the country and had chosen Japan, but the DRG’s Homecoming Faction had also chosen Japan.
Setting aside the Light Extinguishers, who only consisted of the Long Yin and Beiye duo in Japan, even the Saints, who were currently acting as the mid-term antagonists, clearly didn’t have any deep-seated hatred… or did they?
“But… the government’s current connection with the DRG is very deep. Only those far-right factions are clearly opposed to the DRG. I think we still need to slow down. Didn’t our previous attacks also fail to be effective?”
Shiying argued, his expression looking none too pleasant.
‘Attacks? When did they attack?’
Jiang Jian Yue was somewhat confused. If it was information that even Morita Aoya hadn’t reported to her… then clearly, he had handled it himself.
There was no need for her to make a decision; they were all trivial matters.
‘Hah, the Curtain Cluster really are just a bunch of nobodies…’
However, Kokoro’s next sentence jolted Jiang Jian Yue awake, and she snapped upright in her seat.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ve already linked up with the Self-Defense Force.”
Kokoro placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair, his tone leisurely.
“When the necessary moment arrives… both the current government and the DRG will be targets for our cleanup.”
Shiying’s reaction was even bigger than Jiang Jian Yue’s and the audience’s. His face darkened.
“You acted on your own? Did you report this to me, your supervisor?”
[Lone Wolf X2.]
[Is the February 26 Incident going to repeat?]
[The waters of the Miluo River surge, the clouds and rain of Mount Wu fly in chaos.]
[What slogan will they use this time?]
“Headquarters has already approved it,” said the thin, brown-haired man sitting across from Kokoro, lowering his face slightly.
“Muteng… you too…”
Shiying gritted his teeth, then slumped his shoulders like a deflated balloon.
“I will follow the headquarters’ arrangements…”
“Good!”
Kokoro smiled with narrowed eyes and clapped.
He then continued, “As for the DRG’s current influence, we must also weaken it as much as possible.”
Kokoro’s gaze swept across the frozen image of the Southern Cross Magic Girls on the screen.
He pointed and said, “We’ll start with her.”
The camera zoomed in on the screen again, showing a group photo of the five members of Southern Cross.
Jiang Jian Yue narrowed her eyes.
‘Could it be… that the business with Mizuki Hoshi was their doing?’
[Looks like this Curtain Cluster isn’t a good bunch either.]
[What’s so bad about them? The DRG is trying to go full cyberpunk. Anyone would fight back. Besides, the current government in the anime isn’t exactly great, is it?]
[Don’t mess with the pretty girls.]
[When gods fight, it’s the mortals who suffer.]
From the audience’s perspective, they didn’t know about the Curtain Cluster’s goal of controlling the country — very few people in Japan knew that piece of information.
That guy Kanrou had access to more data than ordinary GPRI members.
In Jiang Jian Yue’s view, it was “2077 vs 1984,” while in the audience’s view, it was “Police with silver-tongued skills” vs “The antagonist force designated by the animation team.”
As the first GPRI opposition faction to cooperate with the government, the Curtain Cluster appeared relatively positive to the viewers.
“Oh my, this is bad, very bad. The Curtain Cluster is actually cooperating with the Self-Defense Force. Whatever shall we do, Lady Jiang~?”
Meiguan’s incredibly obnoxious voice rang out in her mind.
“You were silent for so long, I thought you’d died. I was happy for nothing,” Jiang Jian Yue replied dryly.
She picked up her phone and sent a message to Morita Aoya to investigate the matter.
Currently, the DRG’s infiltration of the Japanese government was mainly reflected in matters related to the GSAC.
The Self-Defense Force was an entity they had consistently overlooked.
After all, she subconsciously felt that the Self-Defense Force was feeble… but that was a conclusion drawn from comparing them to other countries.
The DRG currently only had light infantry prepared in Japan, and their numbers weren’t large.
They were clearly incapable of facing the Self-Defense Force.
Moreover, their grassroots support couldn’t compare to the Self-Defense Force either… probably.