The piercing electrical static from the Emergency Broadcast in the server room ceiling abruptly stopped.
A second later, a flat, synthesized voice flooded in from every direction.
"Testing concluded."
"All testers, remain in place and await disposal."
It wasn't just the server room.
Across the Financial Center, across the entire Basha Islands, every loudspeaker still connected to the hive network began repeating that icy announcement. Even the civilians standing motionless in the corridors opened their mouths, speaking at the same frequency, in the same tone.
The sound was like mercury, seeping into every crevice, pouring in through the ground, the tunnels, and the gaps between buildings until the server room walls hummed with it.
Camilla instinctively covered her ears, but the voice seemed to sound directly inside her head. There was no blocking it.
Bai Zhu stared at the bright red countdown on the screen, rapidly weighing his options.
Ten minutes.
Barely enough to escape back to the edge of the Port District.
Charging into the furnace core and taking on that invulnerable tin can and a whole mob of enemies head-on sounds like a pain. Bankai should handle them easily, but it'll leave me drained for ages afterward. Who knows what might go wrong?
In a corner of his vision, the Main Quest Achievement concerning D-04 sat quietly on the system panel, as though urging him on in silence.
"Fuck."
Bai Zhu swore under his breath, tugged at his collar, and turned toward the furnace core.
"Milluki, I'm leaving this to you. Keep feeding them garbage."
"Count on me!" Milluki didn't even look up, his fingers flying across the keyboard.
Bai Zhu zipped his backpack shut as he went. The Pope's head inside was unusually quiet this time, not daring to utter another word.
The corridor outside the