As though they knew Himeko and the others would come, the heavy, old-fashioned doors slowly opened.
The aged president stood leaning on a cane, waiting for them straight ahead.
"So, so, are we fighting the boss now?"
Himechi Cat was raring to go. She could hardly wait to smash this building apart with the super-invincible giant robot!
"At last, you've come."
Yamada's old and familiar voice rang out, and Himeko walked forward without hesitation.
The office was nothing like Himechi Cat had imagined, steeped in extravagance and decadent luxury, with gold pouring out whenever someone turned on a faucet. Quite the opposite, its furnishings were very simple.
An ordinary Japanese-style interior, like walking into a perfectly ordinary dojo. That was all.
The little hand-cranked box Himeko had made was still sitting on a table to one side.
"Yamada, the company's president. You've lived for over a hundred and thirty years, and the assets under your control amount to an astronomical sum. With all that power, just what are you planning?"
Himeko and Yamada stood facing each other. Yamada showed not the slightest aggression, so naturally, Himeko had no intention of attacking him outright.
Negotiation was also an important diplomatic tool. Especially negotiation after acquiring the Starblazer.
"I've planned many things throughout my life. Developing cybernetic implants and brain-computer interfaces, iterating chips, single-handedly founding the company and building a business empire. In my youth, I was full of ambition."
Leaning on his cane, Yamada slowly paced, recounting his past to Himeko and the others, piece by piece.
Over a century ago, when he was young, he had announced the successful development of the first armed prosthetic arm. Now, everyone treated body parts as hot-swappable.
Installing too many cybernetic implants required a central hub to coordinate them all, and so the brain-computer