Zero (Part 2)

Hum!

Every computer in the monitoring room suddenly lit up. Strings of dense, complex code began to flash frantically across their electronic screens. The massive computational burden caused the towers below to emit a mournful groan of overload, their internal fans spinning at maximum capacity in a desperate attempt to cool the severely overheating hardware.

Correspondingly, if one were to look at the abandoned bar in the dead of night from the outside, they would notice bursts of faint light flickering within.

All the surveillance cameras overhead swiveled in unison, pointing their lenses toward the center of the bar's main hall.

Under the encroachment of the hacking program, Corrupt Calamity had completed its modification of them by flowing through the circuitry. Now, the internal components of these cameras were not only operational again but had been granted a new capability.

Projection.

Beams of fluorescent blue light shot out from the lenses positioned at every angle of the bar.

The surveillance lenses, constantly rotating and adjusting their angles, were like needles, while the beams shooting from within them were like threads.

It was these that caused light and shadow to interweave within the bar at this moment. Between each stitch, the fluorescent blue beams moving with the lenses seemed to be weaving something.

First the feet, then the legs, and finally, the "weaving" work of the entire body was completed.

The entire process lasted about ten seconds.

This was already the limit.

After all, with the old and low-grade firmware equipment in Haisha Bar, any longer and it would likely have caught fire.

Haisha Bar went dark once more, and every surveillance lens seemed to have completely burned out, losing its glow.

But in contrast.

As the final result of the projection and weaving, a virtual woman composed entirely of fluorescent blue light and shadow appeared in the very center of the bar hall.

She had no physical body, and because of this, one could see the dust particles illuminated by her in the air passing through her body without obstruction.

Her hairstyle consisted of twin tails spiraling like DNA, hanging on either side of her cheeks.

The woman's features could not be seen clearly, as the upper half of her face was covered by a visor-like instrument, revealing only the lower half: a delicate, flawless nose tip and thin, dainty lips.

From a distance, her limbs appeared no different from a human's, but if one looked closer, they would realize they were not real limbs at all, but bionic prosthetics with streamlined circuitry running across them. Furthermore, the woman hovered slightly in the air, her toes not touching the ground.

Although her entire being gave off a serious, technological vibe and she was merely a virtual projection, this did not hinder her beauty.

This beauty was different from ordinary "prettiness"; it was more like an aesthetic. If one had to describe it, perhaps it was like the feeling a man gets when seeing an ultimate top-tier sports car—even if it is not a human of the opposite sex, the body still secretes large amounts of dopamine, producing stimulation and pleasure.

After all, for Zero.

As for the physical beauty of human aesthetics, as long as Master Ash desired it, she could satisfy any of Master Ash's needs and preferences for a female body at any time by replacing parts like her chest, legs, hands, or feet.

Unfortunately.

From the moment she was bought by Master Ash until her subsequent cultivation by him, the various human reproductive techniques she had learned through data imagery—that [Reproduction Module]—had never once been activated by Master Ash.

Ceasing to recall the past from her database, as her time was limited, Zero cut off her emotional circuits. She raised her crystalline virtual arm and emitted a mechanical, cold voice.

"Changdian data reconstruction."

Instantly, a powerful aura of Corrupt Calamity radiated from the center of Zero's virtual projection. From the outside, the entire Haisha Bar looked the same as always, but if one were to look from an internal perspective at this moment—

The overturned tables and chairs on the floor rose up on their own and drifted toward their original positions. The shattered bottles and jars on the liquor shelves pieced themselves back together, and even the spilled alcohol that had evaporated returned to its corresponding bottles.

Time within Haisha Bar seemed to have been rewound; the state of things inside was constantly flowing backward.

The changes finally stopped.

At this moment, inside Haisha Bar, besides Zero, there were many other people—or more accurately, many other virtual projections just like Zero.

They were, respectively:

A portion of the gangster corpses lying on the ground, and a portion of the gangster members about to pull their triggers to unleash gunfire.

A young girl exposed within the gangsters' range, about to be riddled with bullets.

The bar owner, Brian, and his staff of employees.

And.

A young man standing in the back, electricity flickering at his fingertips, as if about to unleash some powerful ability.

This was the live combat situation from that afternoon, the very moment Liao Ji used the [Ezi Pulse].

It looked as if time had been reversed.

But in reality, this was Zero using her ability to digitize the entire Haisha Bar, perform a scene simulation, and ultimately reproduce and restore everything to this exact moment.

And the benefit of doing this was.

The floating Zero approached the young man's virtual projection. Because it was merely a simulated sculpture, the young man did not react to Zero, remaining in that pose about to release the [Ezi Pulse].

Zero reached out her hand, attempting to touch the young man's fingertips where the electricity danced, but whenever she was about to make contact, she pulled back as if afraid.

Although no expression could be seen on Zero's face and her body was very steady, the light and shadow of her virtual form betrayed her. The constantly blurring and vibrating projection likely expressed an emotion called "excitement."

Finally, the projection stabilized, and a piece of clothing appeared on Zero—a gothic-style maid outfit.

After loading the "maid" attire, Zero no longer hovered but touched her toes to the ground. Following this, she positioned herself directly facing the young man's projection sculpture, crossed her legs, bent her knees slightly, placed her hands on either side of the gothic maid skirt, lifted the hem slightly, and bowed her head toward the young man.

She continued to emit her mechanical voice, but this time, it was no longer cold.

"Welcome home, Master."

After finishing all of this, Zero stood up. Five hundred years ago, as the mechanical maid by Ash's side, she had another duty besides taking care of Ash's daily life.

To protect Ash's safety.

And, to eradicate all enemies for her master.

Zero turned her body around.

Then, the woman set her gaze upon the targets of the Ezi Pulse that Liao Ji had just unleashed—those gangsters from Kalleva, standing opposite the youth's projected sculpture.

The soft, fluorescent blue glow of Zero's virtual projection turned rapidly red in an instant. On the visor covering her eyes, striking red exclamation mark alerts, like those triggered during an emergency, began to flash.

Her hands transformed into gun barrels, and mechanical wings of light unfolded from her back. Around her, one floating cannon after another was constructed, their terrifying, black-hole-like muzzles aimed directly at the projections of the Kalleva gangsters.

Lines of text appeared on the electronic display of Zero's visor.

[Enemy information retrieved. Purchase records found within the Mechanical Alliance. Accessing organization registration data.]

[Organization Name: Kalleva.]

[Headquarters Coordinates: Holy Kingdom, Michelle, Black Cave Settlement.]

[Combat Power Assessment: D. Influence Assessment: E. Defensive Capability Assessment: E.]

[Extermination plan calculating.]

[Calculation complete. Five optional plans generated.]

[Determining "preferred" plan.]

[Plan details.]

[Weapon: TS-283 Medium Tactical Nuclear Missile.]

[Strike Method: Long-range precision guidance.]

[Target Destination: .]

[Black Cave Settlement.]

There will be another chapter tonight.