I Ask, You Answer, OK?

After leaving the bedroom, I could hear the girls chatting in the living room.

Three beautiful girls with distinct styles are a feast for the eyes.

Upon seeing Ren, Yase Kanon immediately stood up, clasped her hands together at her sides, and gave Ren a slight bow. "Good morning, big brother."

Her cheeks were slightly flushed.

She only noticed last night, while changing her clothes, that her underwear was missing.

Recalling the familiar color she had caught a glimpse of in Ren's hand yesterday evening, a wave of shame washed over her.

However, she didn't have a bad impression of Ren.

Perhaps... it was just an accident, or maybe those things were just the older brother's peculiar fetish?

Living under someone else's roof, it's not unacceptable to pay a small price.

"Owner."

Aurora doesn't seem quite used to being called that yet.

"Brother Ren, you're already up? I'm almost done making breakfast, but since Natsuki-chan's fridge doesn't have much food, I can only make some simple fried rice and miso soup. Don't even think about making anything fancy. If you want some, I'm planning to go to the nearby supermarket with Natsune-chan and Aurora- chan later to buy some daily necessities. Do you want to come, Brother Ren?"

"You guys go ahead, I'm not going."

Ren shook his head.

Although they are all exceptionally beautiful women, they are still too young.

He's cute, but now he's taken on the form of High School DxD and isn't very interested in children.

Not to mention the children who are still in junior high school.

"Where's Natsuki?"

He asked.

"They left early this morning without even having breakfast. They said they were going to process our enrollment in a private academy, so we can go to school with Natsumi-chan in a few days."

"I'm talking," said Nagisa Akatsuki, holding a spatula.

Not long after, Nagisa Akatsuki prepared breakfast.

After they finished eating, they went out together.

Just as Ren was wondering whether he should go out again to do some more quests, the room phone suddenly rang.

When the microphone was picked up, Nangong Nayue's somewhat indistinct voice came through.

There's something I might need your help with.

"The security team's surveillance cameras recently captured images of individuals frequently entering and leaving the former site of a pharmaceutical company, as well as transactions involving restricted materials of unknown origin. The situation may be unusual, and I need you to investigate."

[Nangong Nayue has issued you a new task.]

[Task: Investigate the former site of the medical company]

[Objective: Identify suspicious individuals]

[Rewards: Itogami Island Garrison Reputation +10, Nangong Nayue Affection +20, World Anchor Fragment *1, Random Reward *1]

"Since you're a mercenary, let me see what you're capable of."

"Sure, but it's a bit sudden. Let me guess, you actually really want me to rescue you, but you're just too shy to say it directly?"

"Stop nagging! Get to work!"

"I'm willing to do the work, as long as I get paid afterwards."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Nayue wanted to retort, but couldn't help but nod.

"OK."

One million is a gift, ten thousand is also a gift.

Besides, she's saved up quite a bit over the years, so why would she be worried about not being able to pay it?

Without further ado, Ren hung up the phone and followed the mission's instructions to the northern area of the artificial island.

The artificial island covers a fairly large area. The northern area has no facilities related to living or entertainment; only experimental bases for enterprises and universities are located here.

In this inorganic corner of the city, there stands an abandoned building.

This is the former site of a research institute of a large pharmaceutical company funded by Lotaringia of Europe.

The interior of the near-cubic building was designed as a hall reminiscent of Church sanctuary, with cylindrical water tanks lining the walls replacing stained glass windows.

These are adjustment tanks used to create artificial life forms, numbering approximately twenty.

However, due to restrictions imposed by international law on artificial life experiments, the pharmaceutical company had no choice but to withdraw its investment.

However, inside this research institute, which has been abandoned for more than a decade, there is still a culture tank filled with red liquid.

The water pump and filter hummed quietly as a blue-haired artificial life form girl, dressed in a close-fitting leather suit, slept soundly, bobbing up and down within them.

Chapter 278 I ask, you answer, okay?

In front of various sophisticated and complex instruments, a man dressed in tattered clothes with visible weave, disheveled and looking like a shut-in who hadn't left the house for months, was adjusting the data on the instruments.

While pressing various buttons and switches, a greasy smile appeared on his face.

[Sakkari Dojima Andrei, the "Puppeteer"]

"This guy probably hasn't showered in months, right? I can smell him from this far away."

Ren frowned deeply as he looked at it.

I simply can't understand what people who don't shower for months are thinking.

But that's not necessarily true.

After all, life is full of different kinds of people, and some people just crave that fermented, sour smell.

Guided by the mission panel, Ren activated his Breath Concealment EX and successfully located his target without making a sound.

After seeing the scene before him, he realized that this was most likely the plot of the first few episodes of the main anime series.

The blue-haired girl sleeping in the adjustment tank is none other than Astarte, the artificial life form capable of summoning familiars in the original work.

Then there's nothing to investigate further.

Ren removed his aura concealment and swaggered out of the shadows.

The noise of stepping on broken glass is especially jarring in the laboratory.

Noticing the movement behind him, the puppeteer frowned slightly.

"Schwanita, didn't I tell you to keep quiet in the lab?"

However, when he turned around and saw it was Ren, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

Who are you? Why are you here?

The puppeteer was somewhat bewildered.

The building had been abandoned for many years, and the North Zone was a dedicated research institute area, so apart from the commuters, no one would ever go to such a boring place.

He smuggled himself to Itogami Island a few years ago and has been living there for several years.

Furthermore, they continued their research on artificial life forms using the experimental equipment left behind by the research institute, creating them and then reselling them to buyers through smuggling channels, all without incident.

However, after the initial surprise, the puppeteer quickly regained his composure.

As a scholar, I know that the probability of anything is never 100%.

Therefore, it was expected that his hiding place would be discovered.

But the puppeteer wasn't worried at all.

Because from the shadows behind him, a beautiful figure in a silver lace dress, like a bride at a wedding, quietly appeared.

Female, around fifteen years old.

The doll he created also had pure white hair and perfectly symmetrical features on both sides.

Moreover, although it is an artificial life form, its shape and the smoothness of its movements have exceeded the scope of ordinary artificial life forms. It is more like a professional and precise work of art than a man-made organism.

"Schwanita, what's going on? The intruders are already here, why haven't we received any warnings?"

"Reply: This unit detected no trace of the enemy, leading to the conclusion that the target possesses camouflage or concealment abilities or tools."

The girl answered in a completely flat voice.

"Master, should we eliminate it?"

"Don't make a move yet. It's rare to have guests at our door. As the host, we should at least treat them well."

The puppeteer chuckled and told his bodyguard to stop, then looked at Ren with disdain, as if he didn't take him seriously at all.

"So, before you die, is there anything else you want to ask?"

Bushgomen, we've only just met, how can you be so confident?

While it's true that it takes skill to hide on Itogami Island for so long without being found, aren't you even a little bit afraid that I managed to bypass your bodyguards and get behind you all by myself?

Has researching things really damaged your brain?

However, Ren thought about it again and realized that this kind of behavior from villains actually seemed quite normal.

Especially in the world of Strike the Blood.

In legend, the Fourth Progenitor is the strongest in the world.

Putting aside whether this claim of being the strongest is true, even if it isn't, he is still the true progenitor of vampires.

Yes. But then there are always villains who come to provoke us every few days, one after another, like sardines in a can.

Thinking about it this way, Ren suddenly remembered an even more difficult plot point.

In the story of the Artificial Angel, one of Yase Kensei's colleagues is a female vampire who isn't even from the Old Generation. She dares to tell the male protagonist, who possesses the power of the Fourth Progenitor, that she will kill everyone.

It's as if they've been given a halo that makes them less intelligent.

Other races are one thing, but vampires aren't even afraid of their own ancestors, which is the most difficult thing to deal with.

"What are you thinking? If you're just trying to stall for time, forget it. My puppet will dismantle you before your reinforcements arrive."

The puppeteer raised his right hand.

Behind him, an artificial life form named Schwanita walked up to him.

"Prepare to rule out witnesses."

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl's left arm split open, revealing a huge blade.

Meanwhile, in Ren's view, countless transparent threads spread from her right wrist like spider silk throughout the room, entangling it like a spider's nest.

The puppeteer smiled with great satisfaction upon seeing this.

"Schwanita is my greatest masterpiece since I started researching. I selected the best genes from more than two hundred people to cultivate, and I also replaced her skeleton with a special alloy. You could say that her entire body can be used as a weapon. Even if the security team came, they would not be able to escape death."

In the X-Men, he's called Wolverine.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Is it King Kong Girl?

However, it must be said that this puppet in front of us, apart from its healing ability being inferior to Wolverine's, probably surpasses Wolverine in every other aspect.

Without high-ranking demon-hunting officers, the ordinary security force might have actually failed.

"Actually, I don't usually hit women."

Before she could finish speaking, the puppeteer seemed to sense something was wrong and immediately ordered Schwanita to take action.

Schwanita didn't answer, cold as a killing machine, and charged at Ren without a word, slashing down with the blade in her left hand.

But to Ren, her speed was like that of a sloth from Zootopia; she didn't even need Super Acceleration.

Then.

Excuse me.