Both Perpetrator and Victim

"Manfred, tell me more." Schrödinger's tone became serious.

"Okay, okay." Manfred nodded. "After we got ashore, we had already discussed it and decided to come to the library to look up information about airplanes. Jimmy and I came in through the lobby corridor without stopping and went straight to the Postmodern Science Archives."

"There is a lot of knowledge there that we haven't fully grasped yet," Thales explained, then continued listening to Manfred's story.

"Yes, that's it. Jimmy and I split up to look for the information. About ten minutes later, I found the relevant information. When I went back to find Jimmy, I couldn't find it at all. What's worse, I found the smell of a drug in one spot—if I weren't a professional soldier, I probably would have been affected too."

Manfred patted his chest, still feeling a bit shaken.

"..."

The group exchanged glances, all sharing a bad feeling.

This is clearly kidnapping!

"Go! Take us to the location where there's still **—no, that's not right! Make an announcement looking for people! Immediately seal off the gates and conduct a thorough search! Anyone else who knows anything about the potion, go with Manfred to investigate!"

Bianka demonstrated remarkable decisiveness at this moment without needing any prompting from anyone.

"Eh... this?" Thales was a little frightened by the murderous aura emanating from Bianka.

—Bianka must have killed quite a few Honkai Beast to be able to advance to A-rank Valkyrie; otherwise, even with her special status, she wouldn't have advanced so quickly.

"Didn't you say this city is rife with human trafficking?! They even used date rape drugs, can you really say he got lost on his own?! This is clearly an extremely heinous abduction! It's kidnapping!"

"... I admit that the 'worst-case scenario' you mentioned is not impossible."

Thales nodded, acknowledging Bianka's statement.

"Making a call to someone doesn't require any procedures, but the latter two measures... are both acts that seriously disrupt the order within the museum and require the director's personal approval before they can be implemented."

"Then let's go find the curator! Rita! Seal the main gate! First mate and Miss Leila, seal off the other exits—if there are any!"

"I remember this library had a back door."

Schrödinger nodded.

"Then I'll go to the rooftop," Leila said, accepting the task.

However, this meant that no one could identify the potion with Manfred —even though none of the people present knew much about potions.

"Then I'll continue the search... Although I'm not a special agent, I still have some basic skills."

After the tasks were assigned, Bianka immediately went to find the curator.

"Calm down!" Thales shouted. "I understand how you feel, but you're acting like you're here to cause trouble! Calm down, our curator is a very easy-going person! Skipping the necessary steps will only get you into trouble!"

"Looking for trouble?" Leila, who was about to go upstairs, smiled. "Strictly speaking, we are pirates—do we need the Caledonia to raise the pirate flag?"

Leila, who spent the most time with Jimmy, was actually the angrier of all.

"..."

Thales fell silent.

The military strength of this commercial city... while not weak, is not overwhelmingly powerful, much less invincible. The merchants who govern the city believe that as long as the pirates are willing to pay protection money, then everyone can sit down and talk.

For a long time, the city was under the rule of pirates. However, later, the common people... or rather, the "pirate commoners" overthrew the "pirate nobles," and had nothing to do with the original commoners. It was only after a series of evolutions that it became what it is today.

Therefore, although the city is quite powerful, it lacks martial spirit.

Therefore, Thales, who was familiar with the history of the city, chose to remain silent after hearing Leila's half-threatening words.

Chapter Ninety-Five: Perpetrator and Victim

Knock knock

"Please come in."

As the female voice sounded from behind the door, Thales and Bianka pushed the door open and entered. Then, Thales took a deep breath. "Director, we just posted a missing person notice—you've probably heard it. We've searched almost every possible location, but to no avail."

"Hmm... Thales, you mean someone has disappeared from our library—and without leaving a single trace?"

The silver-haired female artist frowned.

"Yes, I checked the surveillance footage at the entrances and exits using a quick search program on the way, and found nothing suspicious." Thales nodded. "Perhaps we should install some surveillance cameras indoors as well... In any case, I think it's necessary to lock down the entire building and conduct a search."

"Hmm? Is it really necessary to go this far?"

The silver-haired curator looked bewildered.

Thales gave a helpless wry smile upon hearing this, "... because this lady's companions have already effectively sealed off the library, and if this matter is not handled properly, it may cause a long-awaited conflict between the city and the pirates."

"Pirates... well, after all, it was a missing person who did appear within our premises, and a conflict with pirates is not something we want—there's no need to turn a missing person case into a large-scale violent conflict, is there?"

Thales easily persuaded the curator.

"The library will be temporarily closed for two hours from now on—all entry and exit require..."

"My examination," Bianka replied.

"... Alright, everything needs to be checked by this lady. During this time, all the staff and robots in the building will assist you in finding the missing person—what is this lady's name?"

"My name is Bianka, Bianka Atagina, A-rank Valkyrie."

The other party's handling of the situation softened the cold expression on Bianka's face considerably.

"Librarian, Caterina Michelangelo Buonarroti—just call me Michelangelo."

Bianka looked surprised—she then realized that the curator's office was actually an art studio.

Michelangelo turned to Thales: "Bring that detective consultant here too. This case can't be delayed any longer; we must solve it."

With the assistance of the librarians and a large number of robots, Bianka and her group were much less stressed. At the same time, their search efficiency was greatly improved, to the point that Bianka even had time to chat with the librarian.

No, it wasn't just casual conversation; at least Bianka was observing the curator in front of her.

After all, no one can say for sure whether the curator will do anything underhanded.

Besides Michelangelo, the curator, there is another person here.

"... Is it really okay to leave that guy standing there in a daze?"

"She's not spacing out, she's just thinking." Michelangelo looked at the woman sitting beside him with a hint of helplessness.

A woman with black hair, who was not Egyptian but unexpectedly had an Egyptian flair, sat in a chair, deep in thought with a Sherlock Holmes-like posture.

"... So, who is this guy?"

"I had Thales bring in the detective," Michelangelo said matter-of-factly.

"I am an archaeologist who also works part-time as a detective," the woman sitting to the side, deep in thought, said slowly. "My name is Jeanne François Champollion."

"French historian, linguist, Egyptologist."

Liu Bai gave a brief introduction: This person is considered a very obscure figure in the eyes of non-professionals.

However, Liu Bai felt that if the Jackal took off his mask, he might look very much like this historian.

After all, the Egyptian style they both exuded was quite similar.

"Let me state the conclusion first." Champollion stood up. "Your companion has been transported out—if you want to hear the reasons, I can explain them to you slowly."

"...No, time is of the essence, please make your point clearer." Although Bianka was confused, she did not immediately refute. "We sealed off the library a long time ago, so it was impossible for us to put him in a suitcase or something and transport him out. Besides, we didn't find anyone with similar suspicion in the surveillance footage."

"Who said we had to use suitcases—aren't those robots the best means of transporting people? I remember that most of the components inside these robots are responsible for 'automatic' functions, right?"

"...This." Thales fell into thought. "If we remove those components and switch to remote control mode...it could indeed fit a person."

"I remember that all the robots have a 'heart' that constantly reports their location to the city center—that's obviously a major obstacle to crime," Champollion said calmly. "So, we just need to compare that with the number of robots in the city center and those entering and leaving the library..."

"Champollion! The results are in! Three more robots left the library than recorded!"

Coincidentally, a staff member brought the results at that very moment.

"Hmm... In that case, although it's still like finding a needle in a haystack, it's obviously much simpler."

With Champollion's help, you successfully discovered a clue.

With the help of Champollion's assistant, whose nose was as sensitive as a dog's, you began to gradually approach the enemy's stronghold.

However, your luck is really not good—your destination seems to be under this sulfur lake, but you haven't prepared equipment such as gas masks and oxygen tanks, so you have no choice but to ask Champollion's assistant to go back and get them.

Meanwhile, Schrödinger and Shakespeare took Rita to a meeting of artists in the city.

Schrödinger, holding Durandal, discussed the Philosopher's Stone with the city's guild master and told him the story of the holy Durandal.

[ —Schrödinger revealed the truth about this commercial capital city filled with advanced robots]

[As it turns out, your initial feeling wasn't wrong. This city's actual technological level is only at the 'internal combustion engine' level. From any perspective, robots shouldn't be in this city.]

In other words, the power source of the city's robots is "Crystals of Reason," one of the powers of the Holy Sword.

Led by President Shelley, you toured their server room—which, in your opinion, had absolutely terrible security, lacking even a proper firewall. If you wanted, you could even directly control the city's robots.

However, it seems you no longer need to control it.

—The robots in this city have rioted.

[You remember, Bianka once asked Schrödinger, what if the robot suddenly went out of control?]

As Schrödinger predicted—the city was instantly paralyzed.

Look, the musket that appeared in the first act has successfully been fired in the third act—although this isn't exactly good news.

Fortunately, this isn't some kind of machine crisis—it's just a very primitive, rudimentary information war.

You and Schrödinger forcibly put all the robots in this city into hibernation.

[Then, President Shelley chose to take you to the location where the Gem of Reason is stored—a rocket launch site.]

Meanwhile, equipment and support have been delivered to Bianka, and Bianka is about to begin her infiltration of enemy territory.

[With your equipment, you successfully entered the underground base at Sulfur Lake. Near the base entrance, you discovered five dead bodies from poisoning—thankfully, Jimmy wasn't among them.]

[Furthermore, they died from hydrogen sulfide—although it smells like rotten eggs, at lethal concentrations, it's undetectable to humans—the olfactory nerves are anesthetized in an instant.]

However, you're lucky; as a ghost, you can still smell the strong odor of rotten eggs.

"..."

You call this good luck?

"These are..."

Bianka located a place that resembled a server room—thanks to Liu Bai's abilities, Bianka easily opened the door.

"... Bianka, my advice is not to look. There is no one else here, and it's not a good place either."

Upon noticing the internal structure of these machines, Liu Bai lowered his voice—this Bianka somewhat uneasy.

Although they hadn't known each other for long, she knew Liu Bai was a very good-tempered ghost, judging from his tone now...

Can you tell me what's inside?

"I cannot possess a body," Liu Bai said, both cryptically and directly.

Over the past few days, Bianka and Rita naturally knew what the conditions were for Liu Bai to possess them.

"... A living being?"

Bianka didn't believe that these computer cases possessed intelligence.

"More precisely, the brain, the human brain, which is still alive in nature—believe me, you definitely don't want to see that gel-like stuff."

Liu Bai's words made Bianka's face turn pale.

There are at least a hundred computer cases here.

"Honestly, it's really disgusting to cram these overly dark things into a classic RPG where it doesn't really matter."

"... I understand, I won't go see him, Liu Bai. Do you know where Jimmy is?"

This place is too evil; Bianka even wanted to destroy it with her dual pistols.

But those brains...

"Or rather, where is the master brain that sustains these brains?"

"... Upstairs, whether it's Jimmy or the mastermind."

"I've already turned the tables and hacked into all the programs in the base, "Liu Bai said calmly.

"Tsk, I thought he was kidnapped, but it turns out he was one of them?"