There's No Such Move Anymore!

"It's my pleasure to serve you, ma'am." Miss V, who was only a word away from death, nodded without hesitation.

So the soldiers released her.

"You seem to have some personal matters to attend to." Surtr turned and walked towards the floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, the bustling cyber city reflected a dazzling array of lights in her eyes—she waved her hand. "Go ahead, you have five minutes."

Miss Surtr is looking forward to this relaxing trip to the dream world.

The next second, she heard Miss V answer the phone right in front of her.

"Ah Jie, I've been reassigned for work," V said to his friend on the communicator. "I need to take a distinguished lady on a tour of Night City of 2077."

So, I'm sorry—

"I skipped today."

Section 75. This operation is no longer available!

The journey out of the clinic was smooth, without any obstructions, unexpected attempts to strike up a conversation, or anyone blocking the way or pointing fingers—this was only to be expected; it was perfectly normal and natural for a stunningly beautiful woman with a large sword fluttering behind her to walk out of the main clinic treating infected patients, carrying a woven bag. And in this city that had narrowly escaped annihilation by Catastrophe, few people were either idle or foolish enough to take the wrong medicine.

The journey was smooth as she walked down the street carrying her woven bag.

Here, it was still a bit of a distance from Rhodes Island's temporary office, and since she didn't plan to just activate an optical shield and fly back, she felt she might need to talk to Talulah in the bag.

"I have a question," she said, as she walked into a quiet, deserted street.

"Talulah, why do you insist on hiding in the sack?" Surtr didn't really take the question to heart when he spoke. "Isn't it better to come out on your own? Or is there some purpose or plan you can accomplish by hiding in the sack?"

She was just saying it casually; it was essentially just a casual chat, like a casual conversation over tea.

However, Miss Talulah's thoughts might be different from hers.

"This is...deliberate," the Dragon Girl inside the bag said in a muffled voice, her voice sounding strange as it passed through the woven bag. "When you, Surtr, took me down from the control tower, my guards already knew that you had stuffed me into a bag and taken me away. And for the future development of the Infected, they would inevitably spread this information among the remnants of the Integration."

"The Reunion Movement... must disband. The ideas and theories I left behind have become poison. They must let go of these remnants in order to completely shed the shell of Reunion and thus fight for the freedom of the Infected in the right way. And the simplest way to defeat a person's ideology in the eyes of the ignorant is to first destroy that person's image."

"So, letting those who once followed you so devotedly see their former leader being carried away in a sack is your chosen 'image knockout'?" Surtr raised an eyebrow slightly. She had indeed noticed that many infected people were secretly eyeing her near the clinic. And several of them possessed power exceeding that of ordinary sorcerers.

Although that was something Miss Surtr could easily knock down with a single finger.

"Hmm." The Dragon Girl responded softly from inside the bag. "This is actually not the best option. Because some people with ill intentions might use the pretext of rescuing me or avenging me to gather the remnants of the uniting force and then cause trouble. If we could choose a slightly better strategy, the best thing to do would be to stigmatize the concept of 'Talulah' in the public eye."

"...What do you mean?" Miss Surtr tilted her head slightly. "Stigmatization? Is it spreading rumors that 'Talulah' did some terrible things? And betrayed the interests of the Reunion Movement ... or something like that?"

"It doesn't need to be that complicated." The Dragon Girl in the bag shook her head. "People only believe what they can see. Talking about it is useless."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Surtr received a silence that lasted for about ten seconds.

Then, she heard the girl in the bag give a slightly shy reply.

"Break my arms and legs, or seriously injure me elsewhere..." The Dragon Girl's voice was slightly eerie.

"Huh?"— Miss Surtr even wondered if there was something wrong with her hearing.

"Then, tie a rope or chain around my neck. Drag me through the streets in public and take me back to the temporary base on Rhodes Island."

"... You have a problem." The Sarkaz with the flaming hair felt her worldview being shaken—she was now starting to doubt whether Alina had really been tickling this guy for a whole day and night—was this some kind of solution that a normal person could come up with?

"I think your plan is utterly ridiculous. I'd rather believe you forgot you can move freely, so you instinctively crawled into the bag and now you're too lazy to come out..." Surtr rubbed his temples. "...Leaving aside how absurd the idea behind this plan is, don't you think it will only incite the anger of the Infected, causing them to riot indiscriminately under the pretext of 'the leader being humiliated in the street'?"

"I will beg for mercy." Talulah's voice shifted from eerie to calm, even carrying a hint of determination. "I will cry and plead like a spineless worm. I will lick your boots at your feet, begging you to be gentler—that way, all members of Reunion Movement will know that 'Talulah' is nothing but a hypocritical, pathetic, weak liar. And all the ideas and doctrines I once spread will be quickly discarded and forgotten."

—Then next month Chen Hui-jie will bring Chixiao over and chop my head off for bullying her sister! No, it probably won't even be next month, Wei Yanwu Wenyue, who are obsessed with their daughters, will probably arrive next week!

—Damn! Even if I just stood there and let them hack at me, I wouldn't even get a scratch... but I just had nothing better to do than pull off this bizarre maneuver?! What about the GE (Genuine Edge) for everyone?!

Miss Surtr, stop right there.

The way she looked at the woven bag in her hand was as if she were looking at a time bomb with a broken timer, ready to explode at any moment.

She was troubled.

But her troubles weren't just about Talulah's utterly absurd plan—no, Talulah's explanation only accounted for a small part. What truly troubled her was that when Talulah spoke of this utterly unfeasible plan in a tone that even she could vaguely sense a hint of expectation, a tiny flutter of emotion stirred deep within her own heart.

—I'm smitten.

—I...want to see her bleed, want to see her weak, want to see her curled up pitifully at my feet.

—No, it's not just her. It's not just Talulah ... Persephone, Kal'tsit, they... I want to see these exceptionally talented young women crumble, lose their way, and be powerless before me. And this... perhaps cannot be simply explained away by using LSP as a shield.

—Am I... jealous?

—But what am I jealous of? If I'm not jealous... then does that mean I...

—Is he inherently so wicked?

The thought process was fleeting, but the turmoil in her emotions left her frozen in place for more than a moment. This process probably lasted for a full half minute before she was able to suppress the restlessness in her heart with reason once again.

It's a pity that no assassin appeared to disturb her while she was thinking.

Because if that were to actually happen, her body would react instinctively. And her thinking would be forcibly interrupted by her own fighting instincts—she wouldn't be able to think that deep down, and naturally, she wouldn't have so many worries anymore.

—That's enough. I'll handle my own affairs. As long as it doesn't bother anyone else, what I'm thinking is none of their business.

The girl exhaled softly.

"There's definitely something wrong with your head, Talulah," she said calmly. "But I won't abandon you... A highly skilled doctor recently arrived at Rhodes Island. During your full examination, I'll ask her to conduct a special assessment of your brain and cognitive abilities. However..."

Surtr hesitated for a moment. A candidate who was very suitable to take the blame, and who had a considerable criminal record, came to mind.

So she asked, albeit tentatively.

"Talulah, have you... ever met a girl with long purple hair, who's not very tall, about 1.4 meters, but extremely beautiful? If she said anything to you..."

A voice familiar to Surtr rang out from behind the two before any feedback came from inside the bag.

"First, I don't have the habit of wasting time on such trivial details. Second, I can deduce when you met. At that time, I was sleeping in the Sarcophagus in Chernobog. Finally, so you're the type to gossip behind people's backs, Surtr?"

Miss Surtr turned around, and this time, she saw Persephone standing just five meters behind her.

"I haven't been gossiping behind your back," Miss Surtr, a slight pursing of her lips. "Your eyes and ears are everywhere in this city. Any word I utter is practically the same as shouting right in your ear—well, is there something you need me to do for you?"

"There are indeed some things." Persephone nodded, his gaze lingering on the woven bag in Surtr's hand.

She saw that the zipper on the woven bag had silently opened a little bit, and her gaze met that of the Dragon Girl inside the bag.