Chapter 215

Nodding in affirmation, the dark and chilly night swallowed Nana and Saria's figures. Two Tactical Unit silently lifted the two of them in Telekinesis form, looking into the distance... The brightly lit ship was unaware that it would soon have an inexplicable passenger on board.

Not quite used to the high altitude nearing the Starpod, Saria gripped the handrail used for Tactical Unit maintenance, tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear, and continued:

"As your assistant, I need to remind you that although we can confirm from the hotel's advertisements that they used Raythean Industries' commercial system to register personnel, and the list and room numbers can be modified via computer Terminal... it's very difficult to modify the room number list that the crew manually recorded in sequence... and on top of that, we also need to forge Customs records... are you sure your preparations are complete?"

Although the warmth had dissipated, the scent of Joyce Moore's entire Rhine uniform was unmistakable. Nana glanced at Saria with her golden eyes, which were dazzling even in Starlight:

"Without a doubt, the aircraft is fully prepared. Ms. Saria, please prepare to land... Joyce Moore will guide the user to land as quietly as possible at the nearest open space to the target... Please follow the aircraft after the countdown ends. Target— Bluebird Inn Landship."

As the girl began her countdown, Saria, though still somewhat worried, decided to proceed since her captain had so confidently declared they should begin... As they drew closer to the brightly lit Landship, and the white figure silently 'fell' towards it, Saria jumped down without hesitation.

As the wind whistled past her ears, Saria curiously turned around to look at the two Tactical Unit that blended seamlessly into the night.

Even though they were purely mechanical without any AI or even an engine running, they were still unusually hovering high in the air, which Saria still found somewhat incomprehensible... But at least now she didn't think her captain's plan was as unlikely as she had before.

As two blood bags deftly painted the top deck of the Bluebird with a different color, Nana and Saria seemed to adjust their posture and enter the 'other dimension' entrance opened by blood. After sixty seconds of quiet silence, confirming that no magical alarms had been triggered, the two slowly stood up from the highest point of the Landship.

Watching 'Ptilopsis' get up and let the night wind ruffle her blood-stained hair, as drops of blood dripped down as if encountering a hydrophobic layer, Saria, seeing the 'magical medium' on her body also rapidly fading, checked the team chat and then activated her throat microphone:

"All conditions normal. The cockpit is right below us, and the navigation direction is directly ahead. We can see the open deck with the swimming pool and heated bath from here. Should we sneak in from there?"

"No, let's get the ship tickets and passports sorted out first."

Looking in the direction Nana was pointing, although Saria didn't understand the passenger Landship beneath her feet, she knew that what looked like a hatch was actually an escape route that could only be opened from the inside with a special key in an emergency.

Not only is it a safety gate in itself, but its material is as thick and heavy as the armor of Landship, and the lock has no external operating mechanism.

In the early days of Landship, when these vehicles were not as widely used as they are today, the emergency exits on the bridge did indeed have two-way doors...

However, due to rampant wilderness banditry and frequent boarding maneuvers by military vessels targeting the emergency exits of the bridge, that gate has become the heavy, immovable structure it is today.

Nana didn't offer much explanation. In Saria's view, the white-haired girl simply extended her finger in silence... As a dark magical fluctuation swept across the vast Landship, several hatches that should have been inspection panels popped up.

After the girl softly chanted, as if playing music, the knobs and switches started in sequence. Saria was surprised to find that the emergency passage, which was theoretically not supposed to be opened from the outside, wobbled out from the tightly sealed outer layer of armor... But because the hydraulic system was not activated, the mechanical arm locked instantly after it popped up. The protective suits that could withstand the radiation of Active Originium were neatly stacked inside, and various survival supplies filled the small emergency passage.

How did you do that?

"A little experience in overhauling Landship, plus a bit of special sequence for switching hydraulic valves..."

"No, what I mean is, how did you know this type of Landship had this method of opening emergency exits from the outside? This... cannot be explained simply by having the Landship inspected..."

Seeing Saria's furrowed brow, Nana shrugged innocently. She couldn't very well say that because this type of luxury Landship was widely used by the upper-class nobles of Victoria, Columbia had given her training in infiltration and assault techniques specifically targeting this type of Landship.

After all, the ICA's training base even has a real cruise ship of that model, completely disassembled so that its agents could memorize its interior space... Nana knows exactly where to go and what to dismantle on this ship, from top to bottom, left to right, front to back.

Let alone opening an emergency passage on the bridge, the original training exercises required us to infiltrate the ship completely unarmed...

"Hmm?" Scar

The memories were abruptly interrupted the moment Nana led Saria into the emergency passage and closed the gate. Before Saria could ask, Nana revealed the root of her troubles.

It was a ventilation opening fitted with a gate... and the fan inside was whirring loudly.

The ventilation openings here also serve as heat dissipation for the server room, Nana has always liked to enter the server room and captain's cabin directly from here.

But it's locked...⊙

Glancing at the welded fence, Nana and Saria both looked in unison at the closed isolation door, from which they could faintly hear the crew talking. They shook their heads at each other, then Nana pointed to the fence in front of them... Saria immediately understood, nodded, and then, in the dark, found the four fixing bolts. Seven

As the black Silent Node unfurled in the white Liberi's hand, Saria's fingers, coated with a faint white layer, embedded themselves in steel, as easily as pulling out a desired block from a Jenga set. With Nana's help, Saria quickly dismantled the fence and fan that had been giving Nana a headache.

Hmm... Nana doesn't want to comment on Saria's suggestion to forcibly stop the fan by sticking her hand into the blades. (Covering her face)

After analyzing the fan blades, Nana leisurely used magic to weld the fence back on... Of course, Blood Demon Sorcery wouldn't work; Nana directly used the Originium Steam Energy Sword from the Tactical Unit to weld it.

"Unfortunately, restoring the paint is probably unrealistic. But as an emergency measure to conceal our entry method... I guess we've at least done something..."

With this assessment of the rough marks she would never have left in the past, and a silent apology to the worker responsible for welding the equipment in this passageway, Nana continued to maintain her soundproofing spell and took the lead in crawling through the ventilation duct.

"Be careful, even though the sound is blocked, don't move too much... if the vibrations are too obvious, people will notice."

"I see. I'll be as careful as possible."

Compared to the outside ventilation openings that are fenced off, the fans inside the ventilation ducts can be folded up to allow people to pass through for easy maintenance... Taking advantage of this convenience for maintenance personnel, Nana and Saria successfully bypassed the ship's originally heavily guarded security personnel and crew, and successfully entered the location of the main unit that stores the passenger list and is connected to the ticket printer used to issue tickets.

Watching Nana skillfully type on the keyboard with her Ptilopsis gloves, and seeing her confident expression, Saria, observing from the sidelines, felt as if she were seeing Joyce back when she joined Rhine Lab... before participating in the brain-computer interface experiments.

"Raythean Industries' AI is incredibly sophisticated, but the hotel operating this Landship doesn't seem to have any intention of purchasing a fully intelligent AI like PRTS... because they're just using ordinary software, and all we need is this... You see, Rhine Lab... Saria and Joyce Moore, boarded on December 2nd, 1094, departing from Trimounts, Columbia... Destination, Chernobog..."

The flowing keyboard typing suddenly stopped here. Saria cast a questioning glance at her, while Nana frowned and continued:

"None of their passengers will disembark in Chernobog... This ship is resupplying in Chernobog according to its schedule... Damn, did Columbia issue a travel warning? Is that why no one is traveling in Chernobog... They're so well-informed, they only started fighting last December..."

"Nana, have you forgotten that it's already July? It's been half a year since we learned about the start of the Ursus Civil War... Even if the messenger's message might be delayed, the Intercity Network communication between the various Landship is actually quite efficient."

Seeing the girl frowning with a very unpleasant Ptilopsis, Nana finally printed two tickets to Lungmen and even created a fake ticket checkpoint... However, in the main system of the Landship, Saria saw that Nana had completely deleted all the forged information.

"The plan has changed. We'll only forge train tickets and passports for entry, while the Landship won't be disguised... This inn probably won't venture deep into Chernobog; they'll likely only resupply on the outer perimeter before continuing towards Lungmen. The plan to blend in with the others to enter the city is completely unfeasible due to the inn's arrangements..."

"That..."

Nodding to Saria to indicate there was no need to rush and that she had other plans, Nana said as she frantically wrote on their fake passports, forging a Columbia Customs stamp using magic:

"Next, we'll wait for the ship to stop and then sneak off... for the same reason... if possible, we'll go straight through Grand Duke Baikal's checkpoint and make contact with Marquis Boris's men... of course, if all goes well, going directly to see the Sarcophagus might better fit the Ursus people's stereotype of us Columbia tech geeks."

After quickly finalizing the next steps, Saria glanced at Nana, whose forehead was beginning to bead with sweat, then looked at the server group buzzing around, providing Terminal services to the entire Landship, and frowned as she continued to ask:

"So, we're going to stay here until dawn?"

"... Well, this place or the emergency exit is fine... but if possible, I'd like to make it seem more like we're arriving in Chernobog on a cruise ship, rather than like illegal immigrants."

After mentally recalling the locations of the laundry room and several fixed security barracks, Nana thought for a moment and used the equipment in the server room to create a blank staff magnetic card that could open unused guest rooms:

"Let's go find a room to rest... Also, let's pack some luggage, so we don't look like we're empty-handed."

"Then, I'll carry the briefcase containing the Originium Prime and Red Gold..."

"So, you'll be sharing one big suitcase? That works too. It's more like a close relationship where you'd be traveling together on a passenger ship."

Seeing Nana sweating profusely as she adjusted her Ptilopsis uniform dress, Saria followed behind, retorting:

"Joyce and I are not in that kind of relationship."

"No one else cares about this kind of thing except ourselves... and to be able to disguise it well is a matter of professional ethics for us now... I'm a perfectionist."

As she spoke, Nana let go, and the bra strap snapped back into place with a 'snap'... Without a doubt, it was Joyce Moore's original bra.

As for Nana's somewhat flawed perfectionism, Saria hesitated to speak, and could only watch the girl's back, which had given her quite a hallucination, as she continued forward.

After sneaking into the laundry room and taking two well-fitting uniforms from the Landship's service staff, Nana, along with Saria, pushed a trolley equipped with room cleaning tools and swaggered into the passenger cabin area under the watchful eyes of various security guards and passengers.

Finding a secluded corner, and taking advantage of the fact that no one else was paying attention, Nana slipped into an empty guest room. As if she were home, she stuffed her Ptilopsis uniform, which was covered in dust from climbing the ventilation duct, into the guest room washing machine.

Using the magnetic card she made earlier to turn on the power to other electrical appliances in the cabin, Nana opened the refrigerator... Naturally, the crew wouldn't prepare anything for an empty cabin, so the girl could only pout and take the kettle to boil water for a drink.

"Alright, now we can rest... Get plenty of rest and continue our work when it gets light."

Watching the white-haired girl boil water and rush to the cabin balcony, then silently put the Originium Beam Saber had been serving as a welding torch back into the Tactical Unit that had appeared on the balcony, and then the huge shield disappeared again without a sound... Saria suddenly realized that she was no longer surprised by such trivial matters.

The white-haired Vouivre simply nodded, then took off the waitress outfit that was a bit too small for her... Should she have chosen the men's outfit back then?

"Yes, I understand."

PS: Waaaaaaah!

PSS: This is the deadline for this year... and last year's deadline... and countless more deadlines await me QAQ

6th Patriot's Gun: 236 Entry

The night passed quickly. Leaving aside the fact that luxury cruise ships always use those soft mattresses that make you sink into them, which resulted in Nana not getting a wink of sleep all night... the assassin simply took it as a way of getting back on her guard. What was more important was, of course, the progress of the plan.

Just as Nana had exhausted all her 'misfortune' before, after eliminating the subjective element of 'luck' that relied on others, thanks to the assassin's own superb infiltration skills and Saria's disciplined and uncompromising actions, the subsequent infiltration did not encounter any unexpected incidents that would cause blood pressure to spike.

On a temporary Landship pier, possibly arranged with the tacit approval of Chernobog and the Third Army, Nana and Saria patiently waited until the evening of the following day, aided by SHD's advanced Optical Camouflage techniques.

Although this area is actually controlled by the Third Army, it is already behind the defensive line, and the quality of the soldiers is even worse than that of the front-line outposts.

The anticipated tension and excitement were nowhere to be found, because after the garrison finished counting the supplies, only a few sentries remained, and those soldiers were mostly guarding the north, which was being watched by the distant Landship... that was the direction from which the Royalist Faction army was most likely to attack.

As long as she avoided the few checkpoints that Nana considered non-existent, the assassin, accompanied by her medical assistant, left the platform with her luggage as easily and happily as if she were going home.

Nana even methodically went to the Customs office at the pier to forge entry permits for herself and Saria, the reason being... of course, tourism, since this stamp had the most wear and tear.

If there's anything to worry about now that the two, having broken through the Third Army's blockade and standing before the gates of Chernobog as unknown Rhine Lab tourists, are the dawning sky, then that's probably the problem.

Clearly, the blockade was never a problem for Nana. For this assassin lady who would kill your whole family without hesitation and even shake the eggs for you, the thirty-kilometer trek through the wilderness from the platform to Chernobog was probably the most troublesome thing for her, compared to various blockades and defenses.

"... Finally arrived... Perhaps we should 'borrow' a car when we leave the platform..."

Looking at Nana's half-serious, half-feigned exhaustion—more likely a mental strain stemming from worry about VIPs than physical fatigue—the woman who had led Nana on a 30-kilometer run in half the night tilted her head in bewilderment.

"But that would greatly increase the chances of being exposed... Even if the Nobles' Army is of low quality, I don't think it would take them a long time to realize the vehicle is missing... After all, it's a valuable military vehicle."

"Yes, that's right... You're right."

Unlike Liberi's shaking jacket in an attempt to dissipate heat, Nana's jacket, which had previously carried a hint of Miss Joyce's scent, was now likely completely overwhelmed by Nana's own fragrance due to her operation of Tactical Unit with Optical Camouflage... Although Nana felt bad for Ptilopsis, Nana kept telling herself it was necessary for the mission to erase her guilt, then looked at the Mobile City before her:

"So, one last confirmation before entry..."

"(Forged) passport, (forged) Columbia entry and exit permit, (forged) Ursus entry and exit permit, (forged) Third Army confirmation stamp, and... (expired) Rhine Lab work permit..."

Looking at the stack of documents in her hand, none of which had any real legal effect, Saria glanced speechlessly at 'Ptilopsis,' who returned Saria a smile that the real person rarely appeared... or rather, rarely appeared now:

"Then, let's set off."

Just like Nana's manager often says, 'Death won't come for you when you're ready'... Although Nana and Saria's entry into the country attracted attention, the overall procedures went very smoothly.

After all, the entire Customs checkpoint was empty, so it was impossible for the two of them not to attract attention. But even the guards in the Third Army uniforms didn't notice anything amiss. The Customs officials, as a matter of course, simply asked a few simple questions as a matter of discipline before casually stamping the fake documents with permission to enter.

Welcome to Chernobog! Have a pleasant trip!

With this Blessing, which even government employees themselves might find feeble, the two people who entered on tourist visas exchanged a glance with completely different expressions.

Nana still wore her usual work smile, while Saria's brows were furrowed so tightly they looked like they could crush a mosquito that was passing by looking for food because of the summer heat.

"Can you feel it?"

"Don't make such a fuss, partner... It's just a mere sighting. Reacting too strongly will arouse suspicion from the Third Army's sentries."

With that, Nana took Saria's arm and led the slightly stiff man into the entrance of the Mobile City... the giant elevator.

After habitually checking the surveillance camera, which was indispensable in this situation, and resisting the urge to draw her gun and 'shoot' it, Nana turned her back to the camera and smiled as she gestured for Saria to shut up.

Only after the two had passed through the outermost Landship of the city's defense forces and boarded the light rail train bound for the Core City, amidst the deserted intercity traffic, did Nana finally speak:

"... While remaining silent might not lead to any mistakes, upon closer examination, it could become a reason for suspicion... But that's a minor issue; once we're in, it won't be so easy for us to leave..."

"Me... Joyce, what was that look you were giving me just now...?"

"He's one of the mayor's men... Unlike the Old Nobility group, who are always wary of the emperor and the pro-emperor faction, Marquis Boris is probably already desperately seeking a lifeline..."

"Rhine Lab... are we going to use Rhine Lab as bait to lure that nobleman...?"

During this brief moment when Saria was not disturbed from worrying about her former employer's reputation, it felt as if they were really just sightseeing. At Nana's urging, the two even went to experience the aristocratic dining car on the Ursus intercity transportation.

Both Saria and Nana gave a 'so-so' assessment of the lavish vehicle decorations and food.

Clearly, Ursus's long-standing extravagant style did not suit Saria's tastes.

For Nana, who had truly witnessed the extravagant lifestyle of the Victoria aristocracy, the overly opulent style of Ursus seemed like a poor imitation... But considering that this was a luxury carriage for lower-ranking nobles rather than a private car for truly high-ranking nobles, achieving a 'similarity' in appearance was probably enough.

With this carefree and relaxed attitude, as dusk approached, after a train journey of several hours, the two, carrying decorative suitcases, finally arrived at their destination: the Core City of Chernobog.

Unbeknownst to them, many more people boarded the bus along the way, also heading to the nuclear power plant and the city of Kunming.

To the outside world, Ursus is perceived as backward, brutal, and bloodthirsty... but what is the reality?

On the train, the majority of the Ursus, who had bushy bear ears but no fangs or blue faces, and whose clothing was not much different from that of the people of Columbia. In addition to the Ursus people, there were also a large number of Feline and Liberi, two ethnic groups that are widely distributed across the land, who settled here.

Noisy children are always an annoying element of travel, but the Ursus people, who are generally considered reckless and vulgar by outsiders, became the 'grumpy old men' who spoke for them... Coupled with the angry stares from everyone in the carriage, the little devil who wanted to continue shouting immediately quieted down after being glared at by his parents.

Of course... there are annoying people everywhere, but there's no shortage of good kids either.

As Rhine Lab's data administrator, even in disguise, 'Joyce' still possessed a literary air that involuntarily calmed people down... Even though Saria beside her always had a stern face as if the whole world owed her money, it couldn't stop the gazes cast from all directions.

"... Excuse me, are you from... that company? Rhine Lab?"

Hearing the curious gazes from the two girls in school uniforms, who appeared to be high school students, Nana tilted her head slightly in surprise, but readily answered them:

"Yes, may I ask...?"

"Ah, sorry! I just... I only saw that company in a magazine... I heard it's the most cutting-edge research system in the entire country... Um, sorry, I just suddenly saw the legendary logo and impulsively started talking to you..."

Seeing the high school student's ears turn bright red, Nana smiled and comforted him, then chatted with him familiarly... Meanwhile, Saria noticed several other people who had overheard the conversation and turned their gazes toward her.