The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku

"Those who receive a prize voucher this morning can choose any item they like!"

The Master Chief, lounging comfortably in his deck chair, lazily announced a preferential policy. Immediately, several people rushed forward and generously tossed out stacks of Japanese yen.

"Excuse me, may I touch my sister's ears and tail?"

A little girl dressed in Gothic Lolita fashion, with bright, sparkling eyes, holds up a parasol and asks an expectant question.

"Girls are welcome, but boys get out of the way!"

"Furthermore, if anyone dares to lay a hand on me, I'll smash their head in!"

The sound emanating from the Tactical Exoskeleton seemed to explode in everyone's ears and hearts, creating a strange sense of shock and intimidation, as if they couldn't muster the courage to disobey.

"What are you staring at...?"

"Head up, chest out, butt out!"

"Looking all sickly, do you think you're a house cat? All that seductive, wildness? Don't you know anything about that?"

Upon seeing the archer catgirl bowing her head and chest, the Master Chief immediately shouted through the Tactical Exoskeleton.

Moreover, this armored man, who had become interested, actually pulled away the timid catgirl and took the initiative to strike a pose that best embodied feminine elegance.

However, the Junior High School Student next to him, who had a few freckles, looked disgusted.

There's no way around it; a bunch of obviously futuristic metal shells standing there in a flamboyant pose next to you is enough to give you the creeps.

The little girl in gothic attire who asked the first question giggled happily.

"What are you standing there for? This kitten isn't the only option. I have over a dozen professional cosplay models. See which one you like and pick one..."

Immediately afterward, the commander, having had his fill of fun, sprawled out on a recliner like a salted fish, leaving a host of cosplayers, including those from Devil May Cry, Halo, and Assassin's Creed, to volunteer their roles.

With new options, the somewhat reserved catgirl gradually felt liberated.

"I want to take a picture with my older brother and sister!"

When it was the little girl's turn, she skipped forward with her mother by her side, happily took out her prize ticket, and took away a Hatsune Miku body pillow.

After Kevin's demonstration, Shino Asada relaxed a little and, with the little girl's tugging, accepted the invitation.

However, this greedy little girl not only tugged at Shino Asada's tail, but also, with Kevin's help, picked her up and encouraged her to touch those cute cat ears.

Shino Asada, whose face was flushed from the tickling, was unable to escape the combined assault of the two, one big and one small.

"So fluffy and soft, my sister is so nice!"

Girls are clearly powerless against such adorable creatures as cats, and their faces are filled with happiness as they pet them.

"Unlike my brother, he's so cold..."

Kevin was hurt by the little girl's disdain, so he leaned close to her ear and whispered something.

"I'll tell you a little secret, but you're not allowed to talk bad about me!"

As the commander furtively pointed at Shino Asada and gave her a few instructions with winks, the little girl looked delighted.

However, just as the little girl was about to cry out in surprise, Kevin blinked and raised his right index finger, signaling her to be quiet.

"This is a secret. Good children should learn to keep secrets so as not to cause trouble for their older sister..."

The little girl hurriedly covered her mouth and waved her hands.

"I'm a good boy!"

Immediately at Kevin's prompting, the little girl threw herself into Shino Asada's arms and planted a big kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you, sister!"

That solemn and serious expression of gratitude left Shino Asada completely bewildered.

The two women, who had spent quite some time with the little girl, waved goodbye to her mother amidst her grateful gaze.

After a long while, Shino Asada, who had been frowning and deep in thought, suddenly looked enlightened.

She seemed to recall something important, and looked at the mother and daughter merging into the crowd with a complicated expression.

"They are all lucky ones who were rescued because of you. It's quite an unexpected reunion, isn't it..."

When she was young, Shino Asada went to the bank with her mother to withdraw money, but unfortunately encountered armed robbers.

When the robber threatened Shino's mother, he accidentally dropped his gun. Young Shino Asada instinctively grabbed the weapon and killed him in self-defense.

From then on, she not only developed a fear of guns, but was also bullied by her neighbors and classmates because she had killed someone.

"Were you wondering why my poses were so seductive?"

Kevin didn't delve into it, changed the subject, and put his arm around Shino Asada's shoulder, gently pulling her head down so they could whisper a few words.

Shino Asada nodded subconsciously. The commander had revealed the two most difficult keywords to say, and the girl was indeed unable to suppress her curiosity.

"When you've personally killed many people and have escaped death many times, you'll know..."

"Life is very precious in some people's eyes..."

"But in the eyes of others, it's worthless, so cheap that it makes them want to vomit after seeing it so often!"

"So, before this worthless life dies, I'm going to have as much fun as possible and make it go up in price..."

"Things I've always wanted to do but didn't dare, or lacked the time, money, or ability to do—I want to try them all..."

"As for you, you only shot and killed a robber. There's no need to feel inferior, and certainly no need to see yourself as an outsider..."

The commander's Oldest One somber words startled Shino Asada, but his subsequent casual narration revealed a calmness born from years of experience, which inexplicably brought her peace of mind.

"By your standards, none of those animals in the team are any good..."

"But as you know, we've saved many more people more than once..."

"Therefore, the logic of taking away lives simply because one cherishes them is not contradictory..."

"Although your hands are stained with blood, it was you who protected those people at the bank..."

"This is not a disgrace, but the glory of saving lives!"

The little girl's "thank you" seemed to somewhat melt away the knot in Shino Asada's heart.

After Leon packed up a Hatsune Miku Nendoroid and handed it to a customer, he nudged Rain next to him with his elbow and gave her a teasing smile.

"Do you believe the captain's nonsense?"

Rain rolled her eyes, scoffing at the idea.

"Come on, it's not like this is the first time he's tried to fool people with motivational platitudes..."

"Tsk tsk... catgirl? What kind of advice are you giving me!"

"It's obvious he's bored and looking for trouble since the instructor and the Earl aren't around, so he's trying to harass the young girl in various ways..."

The female soldier, with the look of someone who'd been there all along, hit the nail on the head.

Achoo!

Amidst a violent sneeze, Kevin felt a chill run down his spine, and the helmet's built-in headset simultaneously activated.

"This is Alice, the Ruins of Toko City. The virus level is low, and there are no abnormalities. However, it seems there are ships coming and going from the Ōshima Laboratory..."

"Lara... is here... the business collaboration with the Yuuki Family is basically finalized, and we're currently trying to contact game developer Sugou Nobuyuki."

"Also, I specially borrowed the young lady from the Yuuki Family. She can accompany you to the Hatsune Miku concert tomorrow, how about it?"

"BSAA Headquarters! Tsugumi has infiltrated the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Toko City survivor resettlement documents. A hidden section within them repeatedly mentions a key word..."

"... Void Songstress Project!"

Kevin took a deep breath in the face of the barrage of news.

"Everything is normal at the venue..."

"From now on, prepare to breach MIKU's (Hatsune Miku's ) database firewall. I need to obtain all her information!"

P. S.: I'm still too lazy. I really need to save up some drafts.

Chapter 158, Section 168: The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku

Ōshima Laboratory.

Several enormous supercomputers were connected to screens, and densely packed computational data scrolled down the screens like a torrential waterfall.

Meanwhile, at the control panel, a team of cybersecurity professionals were working up a sweat, frantically building firewalls and tracking the attackers' IP addresses.

"The enemy's offensive was fierce, they used too many jump pads, and they targeted several fake IPs in succession—all of them were traps. Team 1's machines are basically all destroyed!"

"Continue! This is the final stage of Void Songstress's core algorithm construction; we must keep the threat out!"

"Bang!" As a computer detected a signal, a black cat rolled and jumped into the screen, accompanied by a low meow. The computer screen then went black.

"Are there any other spare machines? Send someone up as a substitute!"

"They're definitely a team. If we hold on for another half hour, we'll win this round!"

"Once this self-aware Artificial Intelligence is born, it will rapidly transition into learning and self-defense!"

The summoned cybersecurity experts nodded in agreement, their morale high.

Meanwhile, at the Crawford Manor, in a secret room.

Dozens of thrushes, each wearing cat-ear hair ornaments and with electrodes attached to their bodies, controlled two or three screens. Their fingers, dancing on the virtual keyboard, were gradually leaving afterimages.

Having undergone that great evolution in Toko City, Tsugumi not only surpasses ordinary people in physical abilities (though still not as good as the freaks in Group A).

Moreover, this genius hacker has developed a gameplay mechanic that allows him to replicate himself using Void Weapon and simultaneously manipulate multiple commands.

Today, when applied to real-world combat, its power is considerable; a single individual can throw the entire opposing cybersecurity team into disarray.

However, those experienced and shrewd cybersecurity experts are not to be underestimated; while their offensive capabilities may be lacking, their defensive capabilities are more than sufficient.

At this point, the thrush not only has to focus on manipulating the botnets and hiding their IP addresses, but also has to find ways to break through layers of firewalls. Outnumbered, it naturally cannot break through for a long time.

"Do you need me to transfer Kaplan to you? I only have him on hand to fill the gap..."

Kevin, who had sneaked into the bathroom to keep an eye on the little girl, pulled Kaplan aside and asked her with a headache.

Dong shook his head disdainfully, his expression one of extreme distrust.

"Your baby isn't even good enough to play against bots..."

"After all, I heard that he couldn't even handle the restricted [Red Queen] network, let alone deal with these old foxes!"

"Having more people actually increases the risk of exposure..."

"Also, you're a clueless typist who can only type with two fingers, so shut up and don't bother me!"

With the communicator forcibly shut down, the two useless adults could only stare blankly at the dense stream of data on the screen.

After being rebuked by this arrogant young woman from the computer field, they glanced at each other and awkwardly touched their noses.

Although it's hurtful, it seems to be an undeniable fact...

"A bunch of old turtles! They're driving me crazy! Full power!"

Even if I can't win, I won't let you get away with this!

Tsuru picked up a cup of strong coffee, gulped it down, then roughly wiped her mouth and cursed angrily. Her hands, which were rapidly typing on the keyboard, were almost blurred into a cloud of mist.

On the other side of the island, by this point in the battle, two-thirds of the cybersecurity experts had been forced off the control panel, while the rest were still struggling to hold on.

"Haha! The Void Songstress's core calculus formula is complete! We won!"

When the beeping sound came from the supercomputer, and the progress bar for the new Artificial Intelligence was fully completed, the team that had successfully thwarted the foreign hacker group embraced and cheered.

This will be their glory, and part of their conversation.

At this moment, the crowd that had gathered in front of the screen stared excitedly at the giant green egg, composed of countless data chains and showing faint cracks.

"Laugh!"

With a slight rustling sound, a slender, fair hand emerged from the broken eggshell, followed by the familiar turquoise ponytail and a large scallion swinging in the other hand.

"Everyone, oh ha yo!"

"The World's Number One Princess — Miku-chan —reports for duty!"