"I hope you're not lying to me. Otherwise..."
Having obtained the USB drive, Ace Ukiyo still felt rather nervous and uneasy. He looked forward to its contents, yet feared it would only raise his hopes for nothing.
Looking at the girl before him, his tone carried a hint of threat.
Money was a trivial matter, but he could not allow anyone to deceive him by using matters concerning his mother.
That was something he could never forgive.
"I guarantee the contents won't disappoint you, Mr. Geats!"
Firefly did not care about his threat in the slightest, nor did she get angry.
It was not worth it.
"The deal is over. Let's part ways here."
"I look forward to seeing you again!"
Having achieved her little objective, Firefly did not linger any longer. After speaking to Ace Ukiyo, she turned and left.
Ace Ukiyo was just about to stop her. He had not yet confirmed the USB drive's contents—what if they differed from what she had said? Wouldn't he have been cheated?
Yet before he even had the chance to speak, the girl vanished without a trace right before his eyes, as though she had never appeared at all.
If not for the USB drive still in his hand and his money having disappeared, it truly would have seemed like an illusion.
Ace Ukiyo could not figure out who this girl was, but she was definitely connected to the DGP. Still, compared to that, the USB drive in his hand was more important right now.
Looking at the item in his hand, he did not linger and immediately hurried home.
Although the money was gone, the house remained.
It was not much of an impact.
After returning home, he quickly went to his bedroom, turned on his computer, and hurriedly inserted the USB drive once it had booted up!
Ace Ukiyo's heart pounded wildly. It had been many years since he had felt this desperate sense of urgency.
Though he had reincarnated many times, his only obsession had always been his first mother.
Mitsume!
Finally, once the USB drive finished loading, a video appeared on the computer screen. It was a record of the DGP Grand Prix from two thousand years ago, before his birth.
Under the control of the DGP's operators, his first mother, Mitsume, had gradually become the Creation Goddess statue.
Bang!!
Watching what had happened to his mother, Ace Ukiyo furiously slammed his palm onto the table, shattering it into pieces.
"The DGP operators..."
Ace Ukiyo's eyes had turned somewhat red.
At the thought that his mother was most likely still in the hands of the DGP operators, controlled by those people and used for the Grand Prix—
Ace Ukiyo felt unbearable anguish.
His mother was suffering every moment. He had to save her.
But...
Ace Ukiyo picked up the Desire Driver and looked at it blankly.
To deal with the DGP operators and save his mother, his current strength was not enough. If only he could become stronger.
If he possessed the power of Stellaron Hunter Sam, he would not need to care about the operators at all.
But at the mention of Stellaron Hunter Sam, Ace Ukiyo suddenly had an idea.
From what he had seen so far, that Stellaron Hunter was also targeting the DGP. He could be considered Ace Ukiyo's natural ally. If they could cooperate, the chances of rescuing his mother would rise tremendously.
Although he had been beaten badly by the Stellaron Hunter before, that was nothing compared to his goal.
And there was the girl from today. Why had she given him such important information?
For money?
Ace Ukiyo naturally could not believe that was the reason.
It seemed she really was connected to the DGP operators. Otherwise, how could she have obtained such vital intelligence?
As for why she had given it to him, she definitely had her own purpose. Perhaps it was internal conflict among the DGP operators, or perhaps some other reason.
No matter what, it was indeed beneficial to him.
Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Everything was calm and peaceful, at least on the surface.
Without the Desire Grand Prix games reappearing, the world had become much more stable. Yet this quiet life was like the calm before a storm, as an undercurrent began to form in the shadows.
By then, Herta had successfully completed what Firefly wanted.
Another version of the Fate Card.
A dedicated Driver data card suited specifically for Firefly!
"Are you sure there's really nothing wrong with it?"
Holding the brand-new card, Firefly once again asked the Herta Puppet before her for confirmation.
"O-Of course."
Although she answered that way, the Herta Puppet did not seem particularly certain. Her little eyes kept darting around.
"Alright, I trust you."
Firefly decided to trust the Herta Puppet, then continued asking, "Will you return to the system space next, or stay here?"
As a product of the system's card draws—and since she was a doll/robot—she could be directly placed into the system's built-in space.
She only needed to enter sleep mode.
When Nene Arakawa had been here previously, Firefly usually had the Herta Puppet enter sleep mode. It was convenient.
She could also stay outside like the dolls at Herta Space Station.
Just a decoration.
"I want to stay here."
The Herta Puppet answered directly.
Although she possessed basic artificial intelligence, she was not particularly impressive. Compared to those powerful AIs, she was just a robot.
But if possible, she did not want to enter sleep mode either.
"Fine!"
Firefly did not refuse.
At first, she had not been familiar with Nene Arakawa, so it had been inconvenient for the Herta Puppet to appear before her.
But now, it did not matter.
Even if Nene Arakawa returned and saw the Herta Puppet, it should be fine as long as Firefly explained.
Leaving the bedroom, Firefly fastened the Vision Driver around her waist, unlocked it with her fingerprint, then took out the Fate Card modified by Herta and swiped it through the Driver's scanner.
GlareN, Log In!(...?)×N Install!I HAVE FULL CONTROL OVER, GLAREN! (Install! System Domination! Glare!)
Accompanied by sound effects and music that were clearly far more stylish, amid incredibly cool visual effects, the girl instantly transformed into Kamen Rider GlareN, similar to Kamen Rider Glare.
Because the data within the modified Fate Card was more compatible with Firefly, the transformation data was somewhat different as well.
Of course, Firefly was merely playing around with this Driver. She would not use it as her primary combat tool.
Though it was actually very convenient in many ways.
For example, it allowed partial use of Creation Power and a direct connection to the Creation Goddess.
Thinking of the Creation Goddess statue, Firefly decided to go see the Creation Goddess herself!
Previously, she had not known how to get there, but now that she had the Vision Driver, she could directly teleport to many locations related to the DGP.
Even the location of the Creation Goddess statue was no exception.
Having made up her mind, Firefly decisively headed for the place where the Creation Goddess statue—and Ace Ukiyo's mother—was located.
The Creation Shrine!
Reform and Control! Glare!
For the DGP operators—or at least for the current DGP Grand Prix—the most crucial thing was the Creation Goddess statue that could grant any wish.
Though it was not as though absolutely every wish could be fulfilled.
And the price was enormous.
In essence, it sacrificed the happiness of others to obtain one's own happiness.
A wish should be a person's desire.
That was why the final winner of the DGP Grand Prix was called the Desire God!
Using the temptation of wish fulfillment, they had made Kamen Riders participate in game after game where they disregarded everything to seize the final victory. Naturally, the Creation Goddess statue that could grant wishes had become the DGP operators' most essential asset.
Under normal circumstances, no one was permitted to enter this place.
Only official DGP operators could do so.
At the same time, the firewall system here was the strictest. Yet many times, having one was little more than a joke.
Using the Vision Driver, Firefly, transformed as Kamen Rider GlareN, arrived smoothly at the DGP operators' most important core area—the Creation Shrine.
The surroundings of this platform-like space were pitch-black, like nothingness.
But none of that was important. What mattered was the object at its center, the thing that immediately drew Firefly's gaze upon entering.
It was a goddess statue that looked exceedingly sacred—or perhaps it resembled an angel statue more, because she possessed wings like an angel's.
Yet this statue did not look particularly wonderful.
She had been imprisoned. Numerous chains wrapped around her body, and the angelic woman now looked like a bound prisoner.
Even from a slightly closer distance, one could see cracks appearing across the goddess statue's body!
The Creation Goddess statue that could grant wishes had actually become a stone statue covered in cracks. This did not surprise Firefly in the slightest.
She had existed for two thousand years, and during that time, who knew how many DGP Grand Prix had been held and how many Desire Gods had emerged.
Fulfilling other people's wishes time after time, even by using the misfortune of some people in this world to compensate for it, was still not enough.
Perhaps after another four or five wishes, the Creation Goddess statue before her would be completely destroyed.
"Mitsume..."
Firefly walked forward step by step, wanting to get closer and sense the Creation Power she possessed!
Unlike Ace Ukiyo and Tsumuri, who had yet to awaken, the Creation Goddess before her had long since awakened.
Although Creation Power in the Geats world was rather weak and performed quite poorly, there was no denying that it was interesting in many ways.
Especially the sheer breadth of Creation Power's applications.
When she had watched the show before, Geats, after awakening his Creation Power, could instantly restore places that had been destroyed. That was something Firefly could not do.
She only knew how to destroy...
Perhaps Pathstriders of a Path like Abundance could do it, but she could not.
Just as Firefly was about to approach the statue, an invisible force suddenly blocked her path and prevented her from drawing closer.
Before Firefly could do anything, a figure appeared some distance away within the Creation Shrine.
Before you continue