Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - The Blood-Colored Photo Album (2)

Standing at the basement door, Valentina took a deep breath, hoping that the air she inhaled would transform into courage, otherwise she felt as if she might be crushed by the strange atmosphere at any moment.

The staircases and passageways, once paved with ivory-white tiles, were completely transformed, covered by steel plates, pipes, warning lights, and a dazzling array of electrical circuits, making it difficult to even step. Small, dimly lit machines flew around overhead, seemingly some kind of security system. What would happen if a stranger sneaked in? Just looking at the gun barrels and saw teeth on the bottom of those machines made it too horrible to contemplate.

Standing in front of the heavy iron gate, she swallowed hard and knocked on the door forcefully.

Are you there, Julia?

"..." Click...

The sound of some massive mechanism operating filled the air, and a blue light, seemingly appearing from nowhere, swept over Valentina from head to toe before the door slowly opened. Although slow, the opening trajectory felt very smooth, without any noise.

Julia?

No one responded.

Valentina hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the basement, feeling as if she had suddenly entered another world. Everywhere there were screens of all sizes glowing, tangled messy wires and cables, and strangely shaped machines piled up all over the floor.

Many of these machines were clearly shaped like human organs. Metal limbs were suspended in the air by countless cables. A heart-shaped machine labeled "Power Furnace" was covered with tubes. Several huge glass cabinets contained metal skeletons floating in an unknown liquid. There were also eye-like cameras that spun around, which gave her the creeps.

"Julia, where are you? You haven't shown up at all regarding the discussions about this concert. It's already the day of the concert, where are you...?"

"This time, you can just exclude me. / Indifferent."

"Ah?"

The sudden, shrill electronic sound startled Valentina. She looked around but couldn't find the source of the sound.

"Don't bother looking anymore, 'I' am everywhere here." / Explanation

As soon as she said that, the eye-shaped cameras simultaneously glowed, staring intently at Valentina; clearly, each of these cameras was Julia's eye.

"All the instruments here are carriers of my thoughts and my systems."

"Then where is your body?"

"I've already said it... I'm everywhere here." /Additional information.

Valentina glanced again at the mechanical organs piled up everywhere with tubes and cables inserted, and decided to stop thinking about it.

Why haven't you shown up lately?

"I need to upgrade. First, I need to fully digest all the valuable achievements left by my father, and then use that as a basis to comprehensively upgrade the system and hardware. I need to divide the system into multiple blocks and improve or even reprogram them separately. I also need to completely disassemble the body into parts and reconstruct it from the blueprint level. At the same time, I need to stockpile troops and manufacture spare organs. / Try to make sure that idiots can understand."

Rewrite? Reconstruct? Comprehensive upgrade?

"Although I don't quite understand... for you, the 'system' is your personality, and the 'hardware' is your body, right? To just arbitrarily modify and overwrite your personality and body like this... aren't you afraid?"

"That's the stupidity of carbon-based life forms... I was me before the upgrade, and I'm still me after the upgrade. Even if the system and hardware are changed, I'm still me. What's there to doubt or despise?"

"Do as you please—oh, I almost forgot the important thing! What exactly happened with the concert attack—"

"I already said to exclude me from your considerations. You all go about your business, and I promise I won't cause you any trouble."

"... Alright, since you put it that way..."

Valentina sensed the rejection in the electronic voice and tactfully walked towards the basement door.

Just before leaving, I couldn't help but ask one more question.

"Which system are you using now? You don't seem like the eccentric, inefficient person you usually are, nor the flamboyant, highly efficient one..."

"Well... hehe..."

The electronic voice emitted a piercing, mocking laugh.

"Guess, you idiot."

What happened?

The producer, lying face down on the ground, had only this question on his mind.

Mingming had just rented a decent-looking car, and opened the door for the demanding young ladies, inviting them to get in and go to the venue.

But what about now?

My head feels so heavy, like my brain has turned into a lump of mush.

Ah... right.

As I waved to them, I suddenly felt weak, my vision went black, and my head spun. The club president, who was standing next to me, collapsed first, and then it was my turn.

Strangely... I didn't feel any pain.

Even though the ground was made of hard stone bricks, it felt as soft as cotton when I poured on it, and it didn't hurt at all.

It was actually quite comfortable.

Creak, creak, roll...

Something is rolling down the ground.

Two large wheels passed in front of the producer; it looked like a wheelchair.

But he couldn't see who was sitting in the wheelchair before he completely lost consciousness.

"I am Mengyin Turing Neumann."

She bowed politely.

"... Let's just say he's a high-ranking member of the organization."

That is what was said.

His face was completely expressionless.

She is such a beautiful young girl.

Long, curly, beige hair.

Dull amber eyes.

Extremely well-proportioned facial features.

Pale, bloodless lips.

Skin as white as porcelain.

Delicate collarbones with beautiful lines.

Her delicate limbs looked as if they would break at the slightest touch.

And her full breasts contrasted sharply with her slender body.

Although she was a very beautiful young woman, the weariness in her eyes and the wheelchair she sat in added a touch of sickness to her beauty, which was further amplified by her weak legs beneath her simple long sleeves. Were her legs disabled?

--But whatever!

She revealed her identity right away.

Senior organizational leadership.

There is indeed such a person in the list of high-ranking officials in Ling Ye's notes, and her appearance is exactly the same as described in the notes!

"This is--"

"--Enemy attack!?"

After a moment of surprise, we both made the right decision at the same time.

If it were the original us, we would definitely have gone up and fought. With me at full strength, able to stand on equal footing with the higher-ups, and Haoyue Sakura Dance, who has obtained the power of the Divine Item, joining forces, it would have been very possible to annihilate the higher-ups here. But now, we can't win; we have no choice but to escape!

And this is so unpredictable! Yu He was supposed to be waiting for us at the end of the level, but then a big boss suddenly appears in the middle of the way? This is ridiculous!

"Please wait, I--"

"Moon Sea!!"

"Gun Array - Breaking the Army!"

With a flick of her sword, Haoyue unleashed a torrent of light that instantly engulfed Neumann! At the same time, dozens of beams of light burst forth from Xiao Wu's gun, their target Neumann's entire body!

"I said wait, oh, it's so bright!"

The other person's voice became panicked. Did it work? Let's seize this opportunity and sprint! I scooped up the Sick Spider, Sin Annihilation picked up Little Ying like a chick. Go go go!

Run, run, run!

Being cautious, we had already scouted the surrounding area beforehand. Not far from here were the canal and the station; if we followed those routes, we might be able to escape!

But...

Run! Keep running! Don't stop!

Why...

Any pause could lead to death; there must be no stopping!

But... why?

Why can't we even get to the front door of the hotel we're staying at?

Looking around, the view was still the same as the garden downstairs from the hotel, and the camphor tree that was very close to me seemed to have remained unchanged.

... I was clearly running like crazy!

But why does it seem like we're stuck in the same place?

I looked at the main gate, which was only about thirty meters away, and no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't get any closer to it.

No... The distance is indeed getting closer, but it's like a traveler riding a Mercedes on a plain looking at distant mountains on the horizon. He knows he's getting closer, but it seems like he's not moving at all, simply because the distance is so far.

I feel the same way now.

The gate seems close at hand, but in reality, it's a world away.

"Um... everyone, can you stop now? I mean no harm, so please don't be impulsive..."

Her wheelchair tumbled along beside us—wait, when did she catch up? And her wheelchair looked to be moving much slower than ours, so how was she managing to keep pace!?

"I'm sorry, I just changed the distance value. The distance from here to the gate is now 1000km for you..."

"What are you talking about?!"

"I really meant no harm! I... I just wanted to see you, Miss Ye —no, Heiress of Blood Sister!"

"... ah?"

I couldn't help but stop and stare at her blankly.

Her sickly pale face was flushed, and her rather impressive chest was heaving. Just the simple act of catching up to me in her wheelchair and speaking loudly made her breathless; it seemed her health was truly poor.

But... why is he expressionless?

Her tone was urgent, but she didn't seem anxious at all. Her face remained expressionless, neither happy nor sad. I used to find emotionless characters in anime cute, but in real life... well, actually, it's a little scary.

"10. Thank you very much for listening to my explanation!"

So, we went back inside after just leaving.

"Thank you for your help, but I..."

So Xiao Wu and Sin Annihilation lifted Neumann, wheelchair and all, up. Neumann remained expressionless throughout, but her face was flushed red. She kept muttering things like, "Thank you so much" and "I'm really sorry to have troubled you all."

Although we remained very wary, we couldn't help but bring her along. Was it because she always gave off a weak and vulnerable vibe, as if she needed help?

We sat around the table in silence on one side, while she stood alone on the other, looking somewhat lost.

The villains' higher-ups were even more nervous than we were.

"... Hey, didn't you need something from me?"

"Ah... yes! I'm sorry, I've always... always..."

"I'm not very good at talking to people I don't know well..." -- Her voice trailed off as she spoke, until it was completely gone.

"Never mind... By the way, where are the producer and the president?" I suddenly noticed this question.

"I slightly altered their blood flow to make them faint, but don't worry, they'll wake up in an hour without any aftereffects. I also altered the ground's elasticity coefficient."

What on earth is she talking about?

"Anyway... uh... first... oh right, this is... a small token of my appreciation, please accept it!"

As if by magic, she pulled a small paper bag from under her somewhat old-fashioned pale yellow cardigan and hurriedly tried to place it on the table—but being confined to her wheelchair, she had to lean forward to make this movement. She laboriously bent forward, and just as the small paper bag was about to land on the table...

"The temperature is set, so it's still hot. Please use the pancakes I baked—ah!"

Clang!

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Today was absolutely... holy crap, what a crazy day! By the time I finished this chapter, I had a godlike 117,000 Fire Coins! Z-kun's love for me is simply off the charts! Why don't you join the group?

Extra chapter! It would be a shame not to! I'll post the second chapter after I get back from evening self-study, and then I'll promptly start filling in the plot holes for the side stories! I also need to get started on the Blood Sister side story that everyone in the group voted to see.

Also, I'm now entering the midterm review phase, with four courses: Electromagnetism and Waves, Complex Functions, Solid State Physics, and Digital Electronics. Wish me luck on my midterms!