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"Phew—finally finished!"
Inside a dimly lit bedroom, a blonde-haired girl suddenly leaned back from her computer with an exhausted yet satisfied sigh. Her fingers had danced at lightning speed over her keyboard for almost half an hour straight.
Twenty minutes—well, precisely nineteen minutes and forty-seven seconds—to completely decode the entire ancient tablet from the photo sent to her email. She hadn't used any AI assistance at all, no Mogwai shortcuts, just her own skills from start to finish.
Pure manual decoding—100% authentic genius, zero shortcuts.
But then, for Asagi Aiba—the renowned Cyber Empress, elite hired specialist at the core of Itogami Island's artificial intelligence managent system—this wasn't unusual. When she got serious, she could easily bypass even the most secure firewalls on the island in re monts.
If she actually activated Mogwai to help, Asagi could accomplish in just a few days what might take entire teams of expert programrs months to finish.
And now, soone challenged her with a simple archaeological translation? Really, did they even realize who she was?
With a triumphant smirk, Asagi hit Enter, officially completing the task. She stretched out lazily, leaning far back into her computer chair and letting out a long breath.
Yet, instead of basking in her usual sense of satisfaction, sothing about the content of the ancient tablet lingered uneasily in her mind.
From the photograph, it was obviously so recently excavated artifact. The writing style confird it was genuinely ancient, sothing from a lost civilization.
Of course, that alone was nothing special. Asagi had translated plenty of old texts before—ancient histories, obscure legends, mysterious records forgotten by modern historians.
Though she wasn't an expert historian herself, her imnse digital skill allowed her to quickly access virtually any database worldwide to decipher texts swiftly and accurately.
Most artifacts she handled were historical records, sotis dubious folklore.
But the tablet she'd just translated felt different. It wasn't just historical docuntation. Instead, it almost felt like… an instruction manual?
Could you actually dig up instruction manuals from ancient ruins?
Asagi leaned back further, eyes closed, absently pondering the oddity. Suddenly, the familiar golden flash briefly illuminated the room, signaling a new arrival.
A warm presence settled behind her. Gentle hands rested lightly on her shoulders, massaging her skillfully. She didn't need to open her eyes to recognize that touch.
"What are you doing here, sitting around zoning out like this? Finished your work?" Bokue's familiar voice gently teased her from behind.
"Nah…" Asagi replied, smiling warmly despite herself, her eyes still shut. "Just so weird email from an unknown sender. They sent an ancient inscription photo, challenging to translate it. I an, it's not exactly historical—more like so weird instruction manual fragnt. Probably incomplete too."
Bokue blinked. "An instruction manual written in ancient text?"
Still, a faint sense of caution flared within him. He lightly scolded her, voice half-serious. "You should really be more careful, Asagi. Don't just casually interact with emails from unknown senders. Could be scams, identity theft, hackers draining your bank account—"
"Oh, please! It's just an email reply," Asagi interrupted playfully, opening her eyes to pout cutely up at him. "You sound exactly like my mom when you talk like that."
She reached up insistently with both arms toward him, eyes sparkling affectionately. "Anyway, enough about that. You sure took your sweet ti getting here tonight—so hurry up and hug already!"
Bokue smiled, raising an amused eyebrow. "Have you showered yet?"
"What? Are you saying you mind?" she teased, pretending offense.
"Not at all," Bokue answered easily. "If you have, I'll just quickly shower first and then co back."
"And if I haven't?" Asagi's eyes glead playfully.
"Then we can shower together. Saves ti," Bokue replied without hesitation.
Seconds later, the room echoed with a delighted squeal as a thoroughly undressed blonde-haired girl found herself swept off her feet and carried effortlessly out of the room.
❁❁❁❁
At that very sa mont—far across town, inside a brightly lit Special Security Force office:
Harsh, pale overhead lights illuminated a neatly organized desk, covered with open files and docunts. Sitting behind the desk was a petite girl dressed in her usual black gothic Lolita outfit—Natsuki Minamiya herself.
Beside her stood a blue-haired girl in a classic maid uniform, Astarte, her loyal attendant.
Despite the late hour, past eight o'clock in the evening, Natsuki still sat diligently at her desk, sipping black coffee, awaiting an overdue report—one she'd expected all day.
"Still not finished yet…?" she grumbled impatiently, glancing irritably at Astarte. "Go check with the Forensics Departnt again. It's been a full day since we captured that man yesterday, and I still don't have his analysis file."
"[Acknowledged]," Astarte replied expressionlessly. "[Proceeding to Forensics to verify report status.]"
But just as Astarte turned toward the office door, hurried footsteps echoed outside. Suddenly, the door swung open abruptly without a knock. A frazzled forensics officer rushed in, clutching a thick stack of docunts, breathing heavily.
"Chief Minamiya—we've finally finished translating the data we extracted from the Garnet Alloy Industries Developnt Departnt!"
"Translation?" Natsuki frowned slightly, confused. "What do you an 'translation'?"
"Exactly that!" The forensics officer explained hastily, wiping sweat from his brow. "The captured data strongly suggests the Black Death Emperor Faction has acquired so sort of ancient artifact, along with a manual written in an extrely ancient language. It took us considerable effort to decipher, but we've finally broken through and completed the translation."
"Let see," Natsuki ordered sharply, eyes narrowing intently.
Without hesitation, Astarte gracefully took the docunts, placed them neatly onto her serving tray, and carried them to Natsuki's desk, carefully laying them down.
Natsuki flipped quickly through the pages, eyes darting across lines of text. Suddenly, her expression darkened dramatically.
"What?! Nalakuvera?! How could they possibly have gotten hold of this?"
"Na… Nalakuvera?" the forensics officer repeated blankly. "Uh, sorry, Chief, but… what exactly is a Nalakuvera?"
Natsuki raised her coffee cup, taking a careful sip to steady herself. Her voice was grim when she spoke again.
"Nalakuvera is a weapon once wielded by the gods themselves—a tool powerful enough to destroy entire civilizations. But explaining it to you now would be pointless. Suffice it to say… the situation just got incredibly dangerous."
She set down the coffee cup decisively, voice steeling with quiet resolve.
"Looks like tomorrow, I have no choice but to consult that troubleso kid again… At least I can also see if he can help recharge Astarte's power reserves in the process."
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