Invasion of the Keystone Gate!

Honestly, at that moment, Yukina really wanted to pick up the Schneewaltzer and stab this despicable man through and through, but then she remembered what her master had said to her...

She chose to endure it.

He quickly suppressed the shame and indignation in his heart.

"You really will wait for me?" Yukina asked suspiciously.

"Of course, I always keep my word. If you don't believe me, I can go home with you, but who knows when I'll come out after we go in."

He had just finished speaking.

Yukina looked as if she had seen a ghost; her ears turned bright red, and she ran away in a panic.

Having just gone through that experience, she understood all too well the meaning behind Yotsuba Mahiro's words.

So, as she jogged, she muttered things like "bad" and "pervert" under her breath.

"Ha, you little brat, trying to mess with me?"

Watching the girl's receding figure, Mahiro couldn't help but laugh out loud.

But then he remembered another figure and slowly raised his head to look at the gradually darkening sky.

"I guess Koyomi Himgari will soon reach his limit, right?"

Thinking of Koyomi Himgari's appearance that day and his recent reactions, Mahiro's smile became even more sinister.

Stealing another observer's girlfriend, Motoki Yaze, sounds kind of exciting.

However, his schemes didn't end there.

Chapter 365 Invasion, the Keystone Gate! (5.5K)

North Island.

The research institute street in Itogami Island is lined with rows of research institutes belonging to various companies.

In one corner of the futuristic street that best evokes the atmosphere of an artificial island, the former sites of many research institutes remain.

The four-story building is almost rectangular in shape.

Perhaps to protect confidentiality, there are very few windows, so you don't really feel the stuffiness of having the doors and windows tightly closed.

Criminals need a base of operations, and this place is a perfect natural setting.

"What are we doing here? Judging from the company logo, this should have been a research institute that belonged to Lotharingia."

The two stood in front of one of the abandoned buildings. Yukina looked at him and asked warily.

After leaving Yukina's rented apartment, Mahiro led her straight here.

Could the remains of the Fourth Progenitor be hidden here, or is there some other earth-shattering conspiracy at play?

Should we contact the elders now to report the situation?

Yukina's thoughts were racing, because she remembered what the elders had said: the Fourth Progenitor was still walking in the world in his unadorned form.

However, just as she was about to continue her wild thoughts, a gentle chop to the head struck her.

"It hurts."

"Don't let your imagination run wild. Since I brought you here, you'd better keep your mouth shut and don't ask any questions or think anything out of line! Otherwise, I'll tie you up! In the way your Lion King Agency does it!"

Upon hearing this, Yukina, who had initially wanted to express her dissatisfaction, immediately became obedient.

He quickly covered his mouth, afraid of uttering a single word.

She knew very well that this big wolf was a man of his word.

But that didn't stop her from glaring fiercely!

Her blushing face and ears, caused by the thought of rope bondage, made her glare appear somewhat charming, almost like a coquettish gesture.

Mahiro didn't say anything more, but just smiled at Yukina, who was now behaving herself, then took her hand and casually broke the simple illusion on the door, walking straight into the abandoned research institute building in front of her.

Yukina tried to break free from his grasp, but once they entered the research institute, Yukina stopped struggling, stunned by what she saw.

As Yukina mentioned earlier, this place was indeed once the research institute of the Lotharingia National Enterprise.

But the research project at this institute is actually artificial life forms!

Artificial life forms are a general term for life forms created using biochemical technology.

The decisive difference between them and synthetic organisms is that even their genetic units are designed entirely by human intervention, although the technical difficulty is high and the degree of design freedom is relatively large.

The primitive methods of creating artificial life forms are said to have been established as early as the sixteenth century. In order to create cheap labor or make them good companions for humans, this kind of research has continued for many years under the supervision of all sorts of people.

However, as a result, artificial life forms have not become widely adopted by the general public.

There are two main reasons.

One issue is the handling of the matter.

The creation of life is humanity's act of stepping into the realm of God, that is, the Creator, and there has been a deep-rooted backlash against this, primarily within the religious community.

Furthermore, whether or not the human rights of artificially created life forms should be recognized continues to be hotly debated, and no conclusion has been reached to date.

The other factor is simply a matter of manufacturing costs.

Whether used as a workforce or deployed as soldiers on the battlefield, the methods for creating artificial life forms are too delicate and too expensive.

Using real humans through cloning technology is overwhelmingly cheaper and more convenient.

Therefore, it is said that almost no one is currently creating artificial life forms, and the number of scientists researching them has also decreased significantly.

But right now, in this research institute that has been abandoned for who knows how long, the research equipment is not only still in operation, but the rows of culture tanks are also filled with artificial life forms of all sizes!

Floating in the amber-colored solution are Doki creatures, each the size of a small dog.

It looks like a legendary monster, or a beautiful fairy.

In any case, that is not a biological posture that exists in nature.

Yukina had never seen anything like this before, was completely stunned!

"Yotsuba Clan, what exactly is this...?"

Yukina turned her head, instinctively wanting to ask a question, but she noticed that Mahiro seemed to be thinking, or perhaps lost in some kind of memory.

He had seen far too many of these things at the Yotsuba Family's Fourth Laboratory.

Although it wasn't about raising magical beasts or fairies, there were still many failures, resulting in quite a few deformed products.

Very few of them manage to emerge from the incubation tanks of the Fourth Laboratory.

He might be considered one, while Sakurai Minami and Sakurai Honami are among the few successful products in the "Sakura" series, as are the "Koto Player" series and so on.

Thinking about this, Mahiro felt a mix of inexplicable emotions.

He involuntarily raised his hand, facing the cylindrical culture tanks filled with amber-colored nutrient solution, and whispered:

"The Nihility."

A deep blue Psion Light swirled around him for a moment.

The next second, countless tiny bubbles suddenly rose from the culture tanks, as if the nutrient solution inside was being boiled at a high temperature, making it impossible to see what was happening inside.

Immediately afterwards, a faint clicking sound was heard.

Tiny cracks appeared on the glass cover outside the culture tank.

Under the pressure of the gas and the nutrient solution that could not be expelled, the cracks multiplied and spread rapidly.

Ultimately unable to withstand the pressure inside the tanks, many of the culture tanks shattered simultaneously with a crash.

The murky nutrient solution immediately splashed out, covering the ground and filling the air with a very unpleasant and pungent smell.

Mahiro seemed oblivious, and simply spoke softly with a blank expression:

Let's go.

After saying that, he took Yukina and stepped over the nutrient solution, continuing to walk deeper into the research institute.

However, when they arrived at the largest culture vessel deep inside, they looked up and found that the huge culture chamber was completely empty, filled only with nutrient solution!

Yukina wanted to ask if it was originally empty, but then she turned her back to Mahiro, took out the Schneewaltzer from the guitar case behind her, and with a few clicks, the Schneewaltzer, which had been shrinking, was released and transformed into a cross-shaped spear.

Yukina, who had been posing with her gun raised, lowered her center of gravity, her gaze fixed intently on a blind spot in the sink.

"Who goes there? Show yourself!"

With a stern rebuke, a petite figure slowly walked out.

She was a girl with dreamy blue hair and pale blue irises, staring emotionlessly at Yukina who was pointing a spear at her.

Her thin, frail body was draped only in a thin robe resembling a surgical gown.

Water still dripped from her hair, soaking the fabric of her body and clinging to her skin, making her look almost completely naked in a provocative manner.

It's obvious that this was taken out of the culture tank not long ago.

You can even clearly see that she is barefoot, stepping on the cold tile floor.

That was Astarte, the artificial girl who had been following Rudolf.

At that moment, Astarte suddenly spoke quietly:

"... Warning, please leave this place immediately."

"What if we don't leave?"

Yukina's sharp gaze locked onto the artificial girl who suddenly appeared in front of her.

But Astarte merely tilted her head slightly, seemingly surprised by the response, yet she calmly repeated her words, still without any pretense:

"This island will sink soon. Escape before then. As far away as possible..."

"The island... sinks? What does that mean...?!"

A chill ran down her spine, causing Yukina to murmur softly.

She knew perfectly well that as an artificially cultivated tool, it simply did not possess the "ability" to lie, meaning that everything the other party said was true.

So, Yukina raised the gun and pointed it at the artificial girl, just as she was about to continue questioning and launching an attack.

Mahiro, a large hand reached out and gently pressed down on the Schneewaltzer in her hand.

"Yotsuba Clan?"

"Not an enemy."

Mahiro simply replied with one sentence, then looked at Astarte and asked:

Where is your priest?

Astarte did not answer, but instead turned her gaze away from Yukina and looked elsewhere.

Suddenly, a burly figure appeared in the previously empty space; Great Han dressed in solemn robes and reinforced armor.

"That was... a priest from Lotharingia, a member of the Western European Church?"

Yukina muttered to herself, recognizing the other person at a glance.

"Ha, so they're just tools trained by the Lion King Agency."

Rudolf also sized up Yukina, his tone equally impolite.

In the dim light, Rudolf slowly raised the long-handled crescent axe in his hand, and a chilling light emanated from the blade.

For a moment, the air became somewhat heavy.

"Has it been decided, Priest Annihilation?"

Mahiro's sudden words broke the tension between the two, and Rudolf immediately lowered his long-handled crescent axe and smiled:

"Mr. Yotsuba Mahiro, how can you guarantee that you will help me reclaim this place, which is considered an invaluable and immortal treasure?"

"It's very simple."

Yotsuba Mahiro calmly said, "After I help you get it back, I'll give Astarte back to me. It'll be a cash-on-delivery transaction. As for the rest, whether you believe it or not is up to you, unless you think I have any reason to deceive you."

As he spoke, he glanced at the broken culture tanks behind Rudolf.

Rudolf also noted this.

No, or rather, everything was under his surveillance when the two barged in, so he naturally knew exactly what had happened.