Sixth Underground Floor

(Miluno)

The needle-like spearhead almost grazed my throat.

Even though I wasn't directly injured, I could still feel that sharp energy on my skin, and even though I escaped unharmed, it sent a chill down my spine.

Ouch, that's terrifying.

How can she possess such an overwhelming aura despite being merely Artificial Magical Girl?

Fortunately, I reacted quickly enough to abandon my center of gravity and lean back before the spear could take its initial momentum. But Sun Ji's attack didn't stop there. He swept the spear halfway and then thrust it forward again.

However, having dodged the first shot, her heavy lance had no chance of hitting me.

I tiptoed to the door, and the little one immediately launched into a barrage of questions.

"Are you alright? What happened? Can she see you?"

No, she couldn't possibly see me...

She confirmed my presence through the fine powder floating in the air; touching up her makeup at the entrance of the conference hall was merely a deliberate act of disguise, her real intention being to leave a marker in the air.

"Wow? So despicable?"

She was quick-witted and knew about Aunt Yuehan's magic, so figuring out a way to break it wouldn't be difficult.

However, the particle size of foundation is much smaller than that of PM2.5 dust, so it's amazing that she could detect it with the naked eye.

The councilors who followed Sun Ji were a little nervous. Seeing their chief advisor suddenly perform a routine against "air," they couldn't help but suspect a trick. However, after looking around, she put away her lance, bowed in apology, and finally turned and entered the meeting hall.

The little thing finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked again:

Are you still planning to go in and eavesdrop?

We probably can't eavesdrop on this meeting.

Do you think my cheap father-in-law will just let this go?

This was her open scheme. If I dared to go in, I would be trapped like a turtle in a jar once the doors of the conference hall closed.

After all, she has too many ways to make me visible.

"So what do we do now?"

What can we do? Let's go downstairs first.

Let's get down to business.

There was no guard on the staircase leading from the fifth to the sixth floor.

The descending staircase is made of Crystal slabs, and the metal decorations on both sides can be described as luxurious and grand, but it is still several levels below the World Center in my dream.

This colossal structure, originally made of a single piece of Crystal and the world's Ark of Last Hope, has now been used as a parliament building by the "Supreme Council," thus losing some of its solemn and sacred aura.

"This floor is completely empty?"

The sixth basement level is larger and has a higher ceiling than the fifth basement level.

The lighting on this floor was dim, but fortunately, the Ghost Combat Suit's helmet had an automatically activated night vision function, so it wasn't completely dark.

The entire floor was divided into several warehouses, and the grid-like passageways were spacious, but there wasn't a single person in sight.

It's Armory, who would wander around in a place like that for no reason? Besides, those Monster believe more in their own abilities than weapons, so this godforsaken place probably won't see anyone for ten days or half a month.

"Watch out, there's a patrol ahead."

Did they have to slap us in the face so quickly?

I pressed myself against the wall and saw a group of five armed soldiers pass by me. Their helmets had auxiliary lights, but they couldn't illuminate me.

The little creature asked, "So now, how do we find the Annihilation Bomb?"

These six floors are quite large, and each warehouse has its own lock, making it difficult to enter. Not to mention, there are guards patrolling along designated routes. Although they can't see me when I'm invisible, they will still see me when I enter a warehouse.

I don't take these soldiers seriously, but if they trigger the alarm, this infiltration plan will be ruined.

Now is not the time to create unnecessary trouble.

It's not too late to be arrogant after we find the storage room for the Annihilation Bomb.

I circled the warehouses several times, but couldn't find a way in. However, there was something that looked like an alien computer next to each warehouse door; perhaps I could use that to identify what was stored inside...

But there's a problem: I don't know how to operate it.

"I can't either!"

If you don't know, don't be so self-righteous.

It seems the only option here is to release Betelgeuse.

Releasing her here is actually very dangerous, since she can't turn invisible. Whether she did it intentionally or unintentionally, if the alarm is triggered, I'll have to abandon this operation.

But dragging this out isn't a solution; we need to find what we want.

As soon as I released Betelgeuse from the Star Crystal, she was about to fall straight down. Luckily, I caught her in time, otherwise the noise this "Iron Lady" made when she hit the ground would have been heard throughout the entire sixth basement level.

Betelgeuse remained motionless.

After I put her into the Star Crystal, she seemed to lose her connection with the cabin chair in the prison. Without the control of Betelgeuse's consciousness, this clone was just a heavy lump of iron.

Just as I was at a loss, the machine clone emitted a soft beeping sound, and its eyepiece flickered.

It's alive.

Phew, the connection is finally restored.

A well symbolizing anger popped out from the eyepiece.

She was quite unhappy about me putting her into the Crystal without explanation.

But now is not the time to talk about this. I supported her back with one hand and held down her fist that was about to strike with the other, and quietly explained the plan and the situation to her.

Eyepiece:[...]

Eyepiece: [√]

Okay, that concludes the communication.

Mono, you're in charge of keeping an eye on the patrolling guards. Report to me as soon as they get close.

Leave it to me.

The little guy was in charge of keeping watch, Betelgeuse was in charge of tinkering with the computer.

As for me...

My responsibility is to reassemble Betelgeuse into the Star Crystal when all other options are exhausted.

Computers in places like Armory obviously require identification cards, passwords, or keys to use, but Betelgeuse showed off her skills. She pulled out an extremely thin data cable from her wrist and plugged it directly into the gap on the side of the computer. As a result, the computer monitor didn't light up, but her glasses began to scan the data stream rapidly.

It must be said, this was a smart move.

If those guards approached, I could Betelgeuse, but I couldn't make the computer screen shut down instantly. Her approach avoided any potential problems.

The query speed is slower than I expected.

The little thing is a restless soul, and Betelgeuse takes time, so she started talking to me in my head.

"Hey Miluno, what does Annihilation Bomb look like?"

Good question, but I don't know.

Although the missile is large, the Annihilation Bomb is only the filling material in the warhead.

That thing could be big or small, maybe as big as the small thing. As for its shape, we can't guess. We'll only know when we get the results from Betelgeuse.

"Ah! If it's really as big as a bottle of water, wouldn't it be easy to take it with me?"

Hey, she's still thinking about stealing!

Betelgeuse tugged at my sleeve, then used the eyepieces of its eyes as a monitor to unfold a map for me.

Looking at this neat grid-shaped passageway, I could immediately tell that this was a floor plan for the sixth basement level.

Then, in the upper left corner of this picture, there is a warehouse marked in red.

If I understand correctly, that was the storage room for Annihilation Bomb.

She really found it.