Jiang Jian Yue straightened her slightly messy collar and took a deep breath, trying to banish the blushing, romantic atmosphere from her mind.
The heat on her cheeks hadn’t fully faded yet, so she had to raise her hand and press the cool back of it against her burning skin.
“Honestly… that idiot,” she muttered. There was no real anger in her tone; instead, it carried a lightness she hadn’t even noticed herself.
Pushing open the storage room door, the corridor was still empty.
Thunderous cheers echoed from the direction of the stage. The opening ceremony’s performances were clearly drawing to a close, and the main event—the exhibition match—was about to begin.
Jiang Jian Yue stepped out in her high heels, resuming her queen-like, arrogant gait as she headed toward the VIP passage.
Just as she turned the corner, she saw Morita Aoya, who had been waiting there for quite some time.
The loyal butler remained as meticulous as ever, though a hint of inquiry flashed in his eyes when he saw Jiang Jian Yue.
“Miss,” Morita Aoya said with a slight bow. “You’ve returned.”
“Yes.” Jiang Jian Yue walked past him without looking back. “Those people… haven’t left yet?”
“Most of the dignitaries have already moved to the banquet hall for the upcoming cocktail party, but…” Morita Aoya paused, following half a step behind her.
“A few are very interested in the exhibition match and have stayed in the box.”
The two of them returned to the VIP box on the top floor of the stadium.
In front of the massive one-way floor-to-ceiling glass, several influential figures in suits held wine glasses, watching the rapidly transforming field below with great interest.
The original stage lift had been lowered, replaced by a football field covered in special turf.
However, this field was one size smaller than the standard, and a semi-transparent reinforced barrier had been erected around it.
“Oh, Chairman Jiang has returned.”
A business tycoon with a receding hairline turned around, his face wreathed in smiles. “The opening ceremony just now was truly shocking, especially that last ‘Light Dragon.’ It was simply a miracle!”
“You’re too kind,” Jiang Jian Yue replied coolly, walking to her seat at the head of the table.
A waiter immediately brought over a glass of juice.
Jiang Jian Yue picked up the glass and turned her gaze downward.
“I heard the upcoming exhibition match is a very special… friendly football match?” a stern-looking official asked. “Is it a competition?”
“No,” Jiang Jian Yue said. “It’s a test match.”
“A test?”
“Testing the durability of a… new material.”
After the match began, the group watched with interest for a while until someone noticed something was wrong.
“That ball… seems to be moving?” The business tycoon set down his wine glass and rubbed his eyes in confusion.
“That is the material’s Memory Rebound Property,” Morita Aoya explained solemnly.
Jiang Jian Yue watched the pitiful sphere below being kicked back and forth by two groups of Ability Users, deforming under the impact of their immense strength. The coldness in her eyes deepened.
For some people, death was far too cheap.
The audience watched with great interest. Although they didn’t know the teams at all, they still cheered for every goal—after all, this was Superpower Football.
Tackles trailing fire, passing with clones, and powerful shots that shattered the goalkeeper’s physical “steel wall” were all incredibly cool. It felt like a fantasy sports anime had come to life.
“That’s enough.”
Jiang Jian Yue stood up and straightened her skirt. “I’m tired. Please excuse me.”
As she walked out of the box, she stopped and gave a low-voiced instruction.
“If… that ball… breaks, dispose of it. If… it isn’t broken yet… then keep it. Use it again during the next… team building event.”
“Yes, Miss,” Morita Aoya’s voice remained calm and steady.
……
Late at night, the clamor of the opening ceremony finally faded.
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t go straight home. Instead, she changed back into casual clothes and went to the rooftop of the New National Stadium.
The night wind was biting, messing up her long hair.
She held a can of hot coffee she had just bought from a vending machine, gazing at the distant lights of Tokyo Tower.
‘Who are you waiting for?’ Meiguan asked in her mind.
‘No one,’ Jiang Jian Yue replied, taking a sip of coffee. ‘I just feel like… it’s too quiet.’
The Changshi God was dead, the Saints’ base had been uprooted, and the opening ceremony had ended successfully.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly—so smoothly it was unsettling.
Where was that “Pluto,” the guy who had made the Changshi God wet his pants?
At the same time, beneath the stadium.
A ghost-like figure was sliding silently along the ventilation ducts on the ceiling.
Catherine had already shed her disguise, replacing it with a set of all-black tight-fitting clothes.
For some reason, people infiltrating in movies always had to wear black bodysuits.
A hood covered her face, and high-tech tactical goggles were pressed against her eyes, making every infrared and laser security network clearly visible in her field of vision.
For some reason, in movies, every infiltration inevitably involved a scene of dodging laser alarms.
Catherine had watched many movies and knew a lot of that stuff was nonsense, but against DRG, she had to be this cautious.
“Hoo…”
Catherine let out a soft breath, adjusting her breathing rhythm.
The EU Intelligence Agency had always maintained a high level of suspicion regarding DRG’s “Backtrack System.”
There had to be some kind of conspiracy.
Like… collecting genetic data from the world’s top Ability Users? Or perhaps mental maps?
Catherine’s task was to infiltrate the server room and plant a backdoor program to find out what this machine was actually doing.
Catherine herself didn’t know if these backdoor programs written by ordinary people would be useful against superpower machinery.
But since it was an assignment from her superiors, she just needed to complete it. If it didn’t work, it would be the technical department’s fault; it had nothing to do with her.
However, when she cautiously descended to the basement, she found that there weren’t even any surveillance cameras.
The door to the server room mentioned in the intelligence report only had an A4 sheet of paper taped to it, with “No Unauthorized Entry” written in Japanese. The door was even left ajar.
In reality, this place was originally a warehouse used by the New National Stadium to store things.
Although DRG was wealthy and powerful, they weren’t idiots; there was no need to renovate every single corner of the New National Stadium.
Catherine gently pushed the door open.
The space inside the server room was even larger than she had imagined.
A massive transparent cylindrical container stood in the center, filled with a pale blue liquid.
Countless optical fibers were connected to the bottom of the container like blood vessels.
‘Is this… the core of the equipment?’
Catherine walked quickly to the control console and pulled out her specialized USB drive. After searching for a long time, she couldn’t find an external USB port.
There was only something that looked like a floppy disk or optical drive…
Catherine’s head started to throb. She had heard that Japanese people liked being retro, but there was no need to be this retro, right?
She had no choice but to start operating the control console.
However, the moment her finger pressed a key on the keyboard—the lights in the entire server room suddenly turned a piercing red.
“I’ve been discovered?!” Catherine was startled. She turned around, intending to retreat.
However, her way back had already been blocked.
“Conan… Shadow Man?” Jiang Jian Yue was leaning against the doorframe, her eyelid twitching slightly.
Catherine didn’t hesitate just because the intruder was Jiang Jian Yue.
Her body instantly lunged forward with extreme speed, her dagger thrusting directly at Jiang Jian Yue’s throat.
However, Jiang Jian Yue, who appeared to have no defenses, had an astonishingly fast reaction speed.
She simply tilted her body slightly to avoid the lethal strike while simultaneously throwing a punch.
Boom!
The punch didn’t actually hit Catherine, but the shockwave from the force of it sent her flying backward!
Catherine flipped in mid-air and landed, stumbling back several steps before steadying herself. Her eyes were filled with horror.
‘What kind of power is this?!’
Catherine felt a sense of foreboding. She looked at the expressionless girl in front of her, cold sweat pouring down.
The girl’s expression hadn’t even changed… it was as if she had just completed some trivial task as natural as breathing!
What a terrifying girl!
Earlier in the break room, she had been so soft and sweet in front of Yuki Asahi…
Jiang Jian Yue didn’t have as many internal thoughts as her.
She had come down to replenish the Light Bug energy for the machine. After the final few tests this afternoon, a top-off was needed.
This well-proportioned Shadow Man was clearly here to back up the Backtrack System.
What the Shadow Man certainly didn’t know was that the control console actually had nothing to do with backing up the Backtrack System.
It… just happened to be placed in the same room as the backup system.
After a few short seconds of silence, three soldiers in combat suits had already reached the door.
‘I have to go.’
Catherine thought to herself as she fumbled in her tactical pouch for a small silver ball.
Just as Jiang Jian Yue was about to speak and ask for the intruder’s identity—a flash of white light erupted, and Catherine vanished from the spot.
……
Inside the Round Table Knights Team’s suite at the Athletes’ Village, the curtains were drawn tight.
Catherine sat slumped on the bathroom floor, gasping for air.
She stripped off her sweat-soaked stealth suit, revealing her stunning figure.
Looking at herself in the mirror, her eyes were filled with terror and lingering fear.
“Terrifying…”
“DRG… Jiang Jian Yue…” Catherine clenched her fists.
That girl, who would even blush from a kiss, actually possessed such horrifying power.
“Captain? Are you in there?” Arthur’s voice came from outside the door.
Catherine took a deep breath, quickly composed herself, and grabbed a bath towel from the nearby rack to wrap around her body.
“I’m in the shower. What is it?” Her voice had returned to its usual calm and authoritative tone.
“Oh, it’s nothing. There seemed to be some commotion over at security just now, so I wanted to ask if you were all right.”
“I’m fine. Get some rest early; we have a match tomorrow.”
“Understood, Captain.” The footsteps faded away.
Catherine let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the cold tiles.
She touched the USB drive hidden under her towel, a complicated glint in her eyes.
The mission was a failure, but that girl… she felt very dangerous.
She had to report this to headquarters. In any future wars, they would have to be wary of this girl!
The clamor of the opening ceremony finally subsided as the night deepened, but for some, this was merely the prelude to a storm.
Jiang Jian Yue sat in the back seat of the Maybach, tiredly rubbing her temples.
The car radio was broadcasting a heated discussion about the GSAC opening ceremony. The news anchor’s excited voice echoed in the small space.
“…There is no doubt that this is an event that will go down in history! DRG has shown the world their strength, as well as Japan’s leading position in the era of superpowers—”
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