Chapter 235

Seeing the other person hang up the phone calmly, Jessica's emotions also calmed down. Receiving her junior's admiring gaze, Nana smiled and made a V-sign.

"... In short, you're just here to reserve positions, we understand. So, advance preparation is beneficial for the actual operation, right? The minister said I should cooperate with you two... Could you tell me what exactly I need to do?"

"Simply put, it involves confirming the building's condition, setting up the external suspended scaffold frame to facilitate subsequent operations, and finally identifying the type of dirt on the building's exterior... to perform some pre-treatment. That's roughly it."

"Wow, I didn't know there were so many intricacies to building cleaning... I've always seen people just go straight into the suspended platform, grab a high-pressure water gun and a brush, and get right there..."

As the Ursus security guard led the two into the building, he chatted casually with Nana. Listening to his remarks, Nana actually wanted to say that his guess was correct; proper building cleaning did indeed involve simply setting up a suspended platform on-site and starting work immediately, only the duration was uncertain... But since she couldn't just give a straight answer, Nana earnestly told a lie:

"After all, most of the preparations are unseen, and ordinary people are only interested in the workers hanging in the air when the actual work begins..."

"Haha, don't say that... Although I'm also a little curious, it must feel thrilling to be suspended in a gondola high up in a building, right?"

"... That depends on the individual's adaptability to working at heights."

As they walked through the magnificent lobby, remembering the nameplates from the first to the thirtieth floor, the security guard led the two directly to the twenty-fifth floor via elevator. Beyond that, the elevator could not reach the floors directly.

Nana and her companion's targets—the power company's central control room and, as alternatives, the sales clerk's workspace—were on the 28th floor and the 3rd floor, respectively.

The latter was chosen as an alternative because Nana knew that the sales staff's computers had a password system that required logging into the operating system, and apart from that, as a means of supervising the sales staff, their operation records were basically impossible to delete.

Therefore, Nana's primary goal is naturally the central computer room.

The reason for choosing a cleaning company as a disguise, besides the fact that work clothes are less conspicuous, is that one could try to enter the machine room from the outside by opening the curtain wall glass after installing a crane... Of course, the latter is much more difficult.

But the representative of the modern era, the modern buildings with various glass exteriors, is the 'Steel Forest of Columbia'. For Nana, who sees the modern city as a hunting Number Seventy-Seven, invading such buildings is like coming home.

While the Ursus security guards were awkwardly walking up the steel staircase with the two Feline, uttering exclamations and gasps, Nana pretended to be writing down the preparations needed for cleaning the building in her notepad.

"Is the water supply to the top-floor Fire Department connected? What about the nearest electrical wiring? These might be needed later, so please have your logistics Logistics Department check the status if possible..."

"That means we need to connect the Fire Department hose and extension cord from below to the steel frame! Ughhhhh!"

As they spoke, Nana unlocked the top-floor glass window, and a sudden gust of wind caused the accompanying security guard to howl in pain... Perhaps compared to Ursus, Feline was more accustomed to heights, and Nana secured the gondola to Jessica while Nana, seemingly out of kindness, suggested:

"As I said before, adaptability to working at heights is very important... Otherwise, why don't you go down and wait? We'll check the operation of the suspended platform, collect some dirt samples, and then we can go down."

"Ah... okay, okay, I'll wait for you at the main gate... Hey? Why did you come down here too?"

Seeing the security guard questioning Jessica like that, Nana also climbed down and said:

"Some things weren't all taken. After all, it's a high-rise building, and we need to be more careful with the security... Let her go get them, and you and I can take a break?"

As Nana waved the cigarette pack she'd taken from the car, the security guard's eyes lit up as he accepted the 'bribe,' and then he and Nana began puffing away in the hallway.

In general, if it were a solo operation, Nana would probably give the cigarette to the other person and then get it herself... But it would feel strange for two people to be inseparable. On the other hand, Nana ultimately created an environment for Jessica to carry out the mission independently.

Yes, Nana wasn't exaggerating when she said Jessica should lead the mission, although Nana's use of SHD agent equipment for support was essentially no different from working together.

But for Jessica, being separated from Nana and acting alone was a first for Feline girl from Blacksteel, something she had never experienced before.

... The girl is moving... Qi

Chernobog, 2:30 PM local time, parking lot.

"The suspended platform cables, fasteners, and safety ropes... the Cleaners staff work very hard too..."

Although Jessica had suspected something was amiss when she first pushed the gondola components into the elevator, she never imagined that her so-called special agent job would actually involve helping the Ursus people clean up a building... and incidentally hacking into computers.

Although her seniors had demonstrated their ability to design Orundum chips on the spot to her and all the team members before they set off, Jessica, feeling the virus injection disk that Nana had hastily concocted in her pocket over the afternoon, sighed and began waiting for the elevator.

"... Do I feel... that your mission would be easier without me?"

Despite saying that, Jessica still tried very hard to get into character once the operation began.

The SHD spell Terminal hidden beneath her work clothes became their means of communication. Since Jessica couldn't simultaneously conceal her Halo and activate team communication, they used the SHD agent team channel for communication.

This technology, which uses magical fluctuations to input text and projects it onto the retinas of team members in real time, is extremely sophisticated and incredibly secretive. Nana could even chat with the security guards while using text to guide Jessica to find the room where the server room was located.

Although this technology based on small spell units also has drawbacks such as weak anti-interference capabilities and short communication range in complex environments, concealment is indeed the primary requirement for agents in mission environments such as being in the same building.

Instead of climbing to the 33rd floor, which houses ventilation systems and a glass spire with a metal frame, Jessica took the elevator to the 25th floor. On the 28th floor, carrying a rope and a component box, she began searching for the machine room as if she were lost.

[As an important internal facility, although it is marked on the floor and by the relevant department, it is normal that there are no prominent directional signs once you go beyond the public service areas... You need to consider the room layout and the space of the building itself to figure out where the target might be located...]

Despite giving Jessica such detailed instruction, Nana couldn't help but reflect on whether she was putting too much pressure on the girl, sensing her junior's dizziness and the Empathy her feel like she might faint at any moment.

So, Nana slightly reduced her chatter in the team chat and continued to enjoy the view from above with the security guard, cigarette dangling from her lips... After all, there's always something to talk about, and calculating how quickly her cigarettes would burn, Nana put a countdown timer on Jessica's screen... She had to be back before that time.

Just as Jessica was looking at the meager ten minutes remaining and reluctantly began to quicken her pace, a high-ranking Ursus security officer in a bulletproof vest called out to Jessica:

"Hey, I've never seen you before. Where are you from? What are you doing wandering around on the 28th floor?"

From Nana's perspective, Jessica, who was trembling like she was having some kind of medical episode, was suspiciously obvious. Feline, it seemed normal for locals to express fear towards Ursus, and Jessica even stammered out the cleaning company's excuse.

"That's not right... This is the 28th floor. If you want to get to the rooftop glass curtain wall, you have to keep going up... The stairs are over there..."

"Yes... yes! Thank you..."

Seeing Jessica's location as reported by the SHD spell unit, and knowing that the silly cat was really going to come up the stairs, Nana quickly sent a message:

[Why are you running? Didn't that person just leave in the elevator? He didn't even look at you, there's no one else in the corridor, turn around right now! The server room is right where he came out!]

PS: Waaaaaaah!

PS:... I'm so sorry... I had diarrhea and wrote for ages before I realized I hadn't uploaded it... Please refresh the page... As an apology, I'll write another chapter to finish this little task.

7th Chernobog's Blood Money: 261 Return at Sunset

This revelation of a target that Jessica would normally have had to find herself prompted Nana to silently make a decision in her heart... If there's a chance in the future, she must send Jessica to the ICA's training facility.

This mission attempt clearly demonstrated that even with professional spy equipment, an amateur is still an amateur. Jessica still needs more experience and more specialized training to be able to handle things independently.

While she was thinking, the girl with the Feline had already rushed into the computer room with bags and packages... The moment she entered, Jessica saw two figures playing video games on the Terminal with the volume turned up really loud, not even noticing the door opening.

[It's okay, they didn't notice you. Keep going, the door behind you is your target.]

Despite saying that, Nana still saw something very ominous through the shared vision of the spell Terminal... Although its appearance was different from Columbia's, the external surveillance and the array box with five hard drives plugged in were undoubtedly hard drive arrays for surveillance recording.

Jessica, after all, didn't have the same ability to sense 'line of sight' as I did, so letting her enter an area with surveillance cameras was ultimately my decision... and cleaning up the traces of my lovely junior was naturally my job as well.

He tossed away his cigarette butt and watched as the security guard beside him began to impatiently check his watch; clearly, the Ursus people had less patience than he had anticipated... So, how could he get Jessica out of this predicament?

First and foremost, I still need to get rid of this troublesome guy next to me.

Braided thread, baton... or just give him an elbow strike? Although she would consider aggressive action in this situation when she was alone, she still had Jessica with her. After thinking for a moment, Nana decided to take a gentler approach... such as using some Bloodfiend Arts to make his stomach roll around a little.

The security guard, who had initially looked impatient, instantly lost all color in his face, and his stomach began to rumble like an engine... Seeing him clench his buttocks, Nana kindly reminded him with a helpless sigh:

"Well, you don't need to stay with us the whole time... Once my apprentice returns, we'll go straight up into the suspended platform. We'll then inspect the building's condition from there. If you'd like to watch the inspection, you can wait for us outside..."

"Oh... okay... oh, well, you go ahead with your work, sir... I'm going to... the restroom..."

Watching the other person leave, almost pigeon-toed, Nana shook her head speechlessly. Of course, she understood that this person just wanted to stay with her and slack off.

"Sorry, I have to start 'work' here..."

Lower the basket and use reverse Optical Camouflage to project Jessica's image next to you.

Although it's obvious up close that it's not a living person, from a distance... like from the ground, it undoubtedly looks like a 'Cleaners working hard'.

[Nanananananananana...]

Just as her own problem was resolved, Jessica sent another rather disturbing message. Turning her attention back to Jessica, Nana noticed... loud, rhythmic footsteps coming from the security room connected to the server room.

Yes, without a doubt it's the person who stopped Jessica earlier and then left briefly... Judging from their attire, they're clearly a combat operative specifically responsible for company security.

Although Nana didn't think that Jessica, who was armed to the teeth, would lose to that kind of opponent, this was, after all, part of a mission, and engaging in unplanned conflicts was clearly not Nana's style.

So, she calmly lowered the basket to the 28th floor, Nana immediately saw Jessica, who had plugged in a portable hard drive to the server and started automatically injecting information, while also carrying Cleaners tools in her hands and on her shoulders.

In the team chat, she reminded the other person to look out the window. Then, the black-haired cat rushed over as if it had seen a savior. Nana quickly covered her face and told it not to touch the glass wall with a thin layer of ash.

Jessica is very perceptive, but sometimes she's a bit eccentric... Watching her gesture as if she could hear what she was saying through the double-glazed glass, Nana pointed to her cat ears again, and the two of them then put on the same clip-on in-ear Feline headphones that were a bit inappropriate for Cleaners but just right for secret agents.

[Senior...!]

Reaching out to stop Jessica's expression, a mixture of excitement and frustration that seemed ready to burst into tears, Nana, at this moment resembling a heartless and emotionless missionary, spoke calmly and detachedly:

"How is the situation?"

[Mission accomplished! The program injection went smoothly, and we should have indeed activated the power supply for the target industrial zone... But... but I can't get out...]

Hearing Jessica's sobbing voice, Nana glanced at the door behind Jessica... Through the reflection of the sound waves and the conversation outside the door, "Did you hear anything?", Nana knew that Jessica didn't have much time left.

"Don't panic... This kind of Raythean Industries should have a glass curtain wall with considerable heat dissipation equipment... It's usually connected to the outside via a large ventilation duct... Have you seen anything like an exhaust fan?"

Seeing Jessica shaking her head frantically, and the door behind her seemingly discussing the surveillance footage, Nana blinked, and as if time itself slowed down, Nana began her rapid explanation:

"Data centers, especially those with Mobile City- related functions, inevitably generate a lot of heat... It's impossible to operate without a cooling system, and the optimal location for a more advanced independent cooling system would undoubtedly be the top tower of the work area... But when we walked past there, there was nothing inside except for the empty scaffolding, which means there must be another cooling system in the data center. Based on my experience, its airflow should be sufficient for us to pass through... Look carefully."

As they spoke, the reprimand from outside the door, "Can't you fucking see a dark figure sneaking in?" had already traveled through the glass wall via sonic magic to Nana's ears, making them swollen. And since Nana could hear it, it undoubtedly meant that Jessica could hear it too.

Nana even saw Jessica touch the concealed holster on her lower back:

[No... there's no such thing! The server racks in the server room are all directly connected to small fans that exhaust air outwards... I didn't see any independent ventilation ducts...]

As the door lock began to click as the key was inserted, Nana looked around again from the outside... There was no large ventilation, no small vents either. This server room couldn't possibly be a stuffy, sealed container, could it?

Just as Nana unconsciously reached for her gun handle, preparing to fire a shot at the person opening the door, Jessica excitedly pointed to the baseboard on the glass wall/floor that Nana couldn't see:

[Locking bolts! This glass curtain wall isn't a wall... there's a row of locking bolts on the ground!]

"Okay, you step back..."

It was no longer time to consider concealment. Quickly determining the most suitable lightning spell for the moment, Nana's few exposed black hairs floated upwards and flashed with several orange-yellow electric currents.

Under Nana's precise manipulation of magnetic magic, Jessica watched in astonishment as the latches, which seemed to require a key to open, disintegrated into individual components in mid-air.

In an instant, the glass curtain wall in front of her opened outwards, and Jessica decisively jumped into the gondola with her belongings.

Under the weight of a bunch of heavy reinforcement components, ropes, and Jessica's own weight and the weight of the equipment, the lightweight gondola, which was originally just for Cleaners, suddenly sank a short distance... Almost simultaneously, the security door of the machine room opened, and three security guards rushed in aggressively, but the outward-opening glass curtain wall had already been closed, and Nana and Jessica even began to operate the gondola to continue descending.

'Hey--! Wait a minute!'

As if afraid that Nana and the other woman wouldn't hear him, the security guard, who hadn't even noticed the bolt and had secretly reinstalled it, banged on the glass. After finishing, Nana looked up, her clear eyes filled with only a few questions.

"Look up, or these people will keep bothering you."

Reminding Jessica, who was rubbing her ankle as if she had bumped it, Nana shrugged at Jessica's obviously questioning lips, raised the basket slightly, and after Jessica poked her head out with teary eyes, Nana took out her phone and started writing...

Well, although high-end smartphones are still a rarity in this land, because Nana put a thick wilderness-use phone case on the high-end item that this Continental Hotel bought, its identity wasn't immediately obvious... Unless you open the settings page and look closely, who would know that this is a high-end personal Terminal that costs tens of thousands of Lungmen Dollar?

Is there anything I can help you with?

Faced with Nana's matter-of-fact question, the lead security guard stared at Jessica for a while before having his men check the server room... Several minutes passed without finding anything unusual, and the system showed no errors... As Nana pointed to her watch and lit up her phone again, the lead security guard, though clearly still suspicious, reluctantly waved, indicating that Nana and Jessica could leave.

After casually wiping away some 'stains' with a test strip and returning to the ground, Nana tossed the useless things Jessica had brought out into the blood the Warp created by the blood pack and then collected the blood. She then greeted the security guard, whose constipation she had forcibly treated... and whose complexion seemed much better.

"You're back. Is the preparation complete?"

"Hmm, the stains aren't particularly stubborn, and we didn't see the 'Pollution' we saw on the Sarcophagus before... so it'll probably just be a routine cleaning... However, aside from the Fire Department on the top floor seem to be dry, we noticed something while installing the suspended platform... your building has a slight electrical leak."

"Ah?"

Faced with Nana's obviously fabricated setup, the security guard also voiced his doubts:

"Wait... wait, is there an electrical leak?"

"Yeah, it's probably around the 29th, 28th, or 27th floor... Look at my hair, and then look at my apprentice... She was totally shocked, and her eyes are still watering..."

"Oh... oh... Is that so?"

Seeing the security guard's confused expression, Nana shrugged.

"In short, although for cleaning staff it's something that can be solved by simply wearing double insulated work gloves... I still need to tell you... After all, live metal components in a building are no small matter. Although I'm not an electrician, I know that this is not far from a power outage..."

As she spoke, Nana helped Jessica, whose legs were still weak, into the car:

"Anyway, here's what happened. Just see how your own electrician handles it... There might not have been any problems at first, but our suspended platform is directly attached to the metal structure... It's possible the platform made a connection to something... After all, we ourselves got electrocuted."

"I will inform the minister and the electrician as soon as possible..."

Watching the security guard hurriedly leave, Nana put the nearly empty cigarette pack back on the dashboard, then started the car and drove away as if nothing had happened.

As they got further and further away from their target, Jessica seemed to snap out of her daze and clenched her little fists, saying:

"Is it... done?"

"Not yet... there's one last step..."

Nana took her phone out of her pocket and opened a rather rudimentary map app. Jessica looked at the routes and markings Nana was using and felt a sense of familiarity... after all, the two of them had just left from there.

"But... Nana, what is this software of yours...?"

"Injecting a backdoor into the power company's main server allows for much more than just stealing electricity from the Sarcophagus."