Speedrunning the World Starting with Firefly, Part 38

But what she said also confirmed for him that she truly knew about him—knew that he was searching for his mother.

"How much do you want?"

Though he was somewhat speechless, Ukiyo Ace still agreed.

"Just give me whatever you think it's worth. Or rather, how much do you think your mother is worth to you?"

Firefly answered casually.

At the moment, Ukiyo Ace had nothing on him that she particularly wanted. Asking for money was only because she did not feel like giving away this information for free; it was not her main purpose.

"..."

Ukiyo Ace fell silent for a few seconds, realizing that he truly could not quite figure out the girl before him.

Still, he agreed. Without the slightest hesitation, he transferred all the cash he had control over to Firefly. To Ukiyo Ace, money was truly just something external. If he wanted it, he could quickly earn enough again.

His mother was what mattered most to him.

"If this isn't enough, I can sell the real estate under my name after some time and make up the difference."

As he waited for the transaction to complete, Ukiyo Ace added this again, worried that she would not be satisfied.

"It's enough."

"Then, happy trading."

After glancing at the payment notification, Firefly readily handed the USB drive to Ukiyo Ace.

She had not expected him to hand over all his money.

A few million would have been enough, though of course she did not mind getting more.

As for real estate, forget it. Too much trouble.

Creation Temple!

"You'd better not be lying to me. Otherwise..."

Having obtained the USB drive, Ukiyo Ace still felt tense and uneasy. He looked forward to what was inside, yet feared it would only get his hopes up for nothing.

As he looked at the girl before him, there was a trace of threat in his tone.

Money was a minor matter, but he could not allow anyone to deceive him by using his mother.

That was something he could never forgive.

"I guarantee that what's inside definitely 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 transaction is over, so this is goodbye."

"I look forward to seeing you next time!"

Having achieved her little objective, Firefly did not linger any longer. After speaking to Ukiyo Ace, she turned and left.

Ukiyo Ace had just been about to stop her. He had yet to confirm the contents of the USB drive; what if it was different from what she claimed? Wouldn't that mean he had been deceived?

But he was not even given the chance to speak. The girl before him had already vanished without a trace, as though she had never appeared at all.

If not for the USB drive still in his hand and the fact that his money had disappeared, it would have truly seemed like an illusion.

Ukiyo Ace could not figure out who this girl was, but she was definitely connected to the Desire Grand Prix. However, compared to that, what mattered more now was the USB drive in his hand.

Looking at it, he did not linger and immediately hurried home.

Though his money was gone, his house remained.

It did not have much of an impact.

Once he returned home, he quickly went to his bedroom and turned on his computer. The moment it booted up, he hurriedly plugged in the USB drive!

Ukiyo Ace's heart was pounding wildly. It had been many years since he had felt such urgency.

Though he had reincarnated many times, his only obsession was his first mother.

Mitsume!

Finally, once the USB drive had finished loading, a video appeared on the computer screen. It was a record of the Desire Grand Prix from two thousand years ago, before his birth.

His first mother, Mitsume, had gradually become the Statue of the Goddess of Creation under the control of Desire Grand Prix Operations.

Bang!!

Seeing what had happened to his mother, Ukiyo Ace slammed his palm onto the desk in fury, shattering it into pieces.

"Desire Grand Prix Operations..."

Ukiyo Ace's eyes had turned slightly red.

The thought that his mother was most likely still in the hands of Desire Grand Prix Operations, controlled by those people and used by them to run the Grand Prix—

It made Ukiyo Ace feel incomparably miserable.

His mother was suffering every moment. He had to save her.

Just...

Ukiyo Ace picked up the Desire Driver, looking at the item in his hand with some confusion.

To deal with Desire Grand Prix Operations and save his mother, his current strength alone was not enough. It would be great if he could become even stronger.

If he possessed the power of that Stellaron Hunter, Sam, then he would not need to worry about the Operations.

But at the mention of Stellaron Hunter Sam, Ukiyo Ace suddenly had an idea.

From what he could see so far, that Stellaron Hunter was also targeting the Desire Grand Prix. He could be considered Ace's natural ally. If they could cooperate, the chances of saving his mother would increase tremendously.

Although he had been beaten badly by the Stellaron Hunters before, compared to his goal, that was nothing.

And there was that girl from today. Why had she given him such important information?

For money?

Ukiyo Ace naturally could not believe that was the reason.

It seemed she really was connected to Desire Grand Prix Operations. Otherwise, how could she have obtained such important information?

As for why she had given it to him, she definitely had her own purpose. Perhaps it was an internal struggle within Desire Grand Prix Operations, 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 a vortex was forming in the shadows.

At this time, Herta had successfully completed what Firefly wanted.

Another version of the Providence Card.

A data card for a dedicated Driver suited to 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.

"Of... of course."

Though that was how she answered, the Herta puppet did not seem very certain. Her little eyes were darting all over the place.

"Alright, I believe you."

Firefly decided to trust the Herta puppet, then continued asking her, "Are you going back to the system space next, or staying here?"

As a product of the system's card draws, and since she was a puppet/robot, she could be placed directly into the system's built-in space.

She only needed to enter sleep mode.

When Kurama Neon had been here before, Firefly had usually put her into sleep mode. It was convenient.

She could also remain outside like the puppets at Herta Space Station.

Just a decoration.

"I want to stay here."

The Herta puppet answered directly.

Though she possessed basic artificial intelligence, she could not be considered particularly advanced. Especially compared to those other powerful AIs, she was just a robot.

But if possible, she did not want to enter sleep mode either.

"That works!"

Firefly did not refuse.

At first, she had not been familiar with Kurama Neon, so it had not been convenient for the Herta puppet to appear before her.

Now, it did not matter.

Even if Kurama Neon returned and saw the Herta puppet, it should be fine as long as Firefly explained it.

After leaving the bedroom, Firefly fastened the Vision Driver around her waist, unlocked it with her fingerprint, then took out the Providence Card modified by Herta and swiped it through the Driver's scanner.

[GlareN, Log In!(...?)×N Install! I HAVE FULL CONTROL OVER, GLAREN!]

(Install! Master System! Glare!)

Accompanied by sound effects and music that were clearly far more stylish, amid incredibly cool special effects, the girl instantly transformed into a Kamen Rider GlareN similar to Kamen Rider Glare.

Because the data within the modified Providence Card was more suited to Firefly, the transformation data was somewhat different as well.

Of course, Firefly was only playing around with this Driver. She would not use it as her primary combat tool.

Though in many ways, it was actually quite convenient.