Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

In fact, most of the participants in the swordsman tournament were locals, or had arrived early and stayed in the city, so they had all registered very early. The only one still at the registration desk was a bearded man, who inexplicably reminded Sorin of Barbossa when he was still alive.

"We'd like to register for the swordsman tournament. Sir, could you please help us with the registration?"

It was Sorin who stepped forward to speak again. His face seemed to have an innate ability to be friendly to NPCs, and after witnessing this ability many times, Eugeo insisted on having Sorin take the lead in all interactions that might involve communication with others.

The guard raised his eyebrows, glanced at Suolin with surprise, and then solemnly recited from the script:

"To participate in the Swordsman Tournament, one must have the duty of guarding a town or village in the northern region, or be an apprentice guard in Sakaria, or..."

"Hey, that's it. Eugeo, bring up the letter of introduction!"

Sorin deliberately looked back at Eugeo in a rather childish tone and said this. Eugeo looked helplessly at Sorin's sudden act of cuteness, shook his head, and then took the parchment envelope out of his coat.

The guard frowned as he opened the envelope and took out a document. It was a letter of introduction that the village chief had written for Eugeo and Sorin before they left, and it was coming in handy now.

“Let me see… a certificate personally written by the village chief of Lulit. 'This is proof that the two young men carrying this document have fulfilled the calling bestowed upon them in the name of Stysia and are now seeking a new path.' Oh…” He smiled slightly, then looked at the two again, his tone somewhat contemptuous, “So, these two brats from the northernmost village of Lulit, who aren’t even guards, want to take us, the glorious Zakarian guards, as their new calling?”

"I'm not even a guardian, you idiot! Even at my lowest point, I was still a saint. Who are you calling a fishpond?" Solin thought angrily, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he calmly replied.

"That's right, that's exactly it. Please help me register."

The guard nodded silently, opened a notebook covered with cloth on the table, and handed them a copper pen.

"Write your name, origin, and school of swordsmanship here."

"School of swordsmanship?" Eugeo muttered in confusion, then turned to Sorin and asked in a low voice, "Sorin, what school of swordsmanship is ours?"

"The Nine Swords of Dugu," Solin replied seriously. "I didn't tell you about its origins. Actually, it was created by an invincible swordsman on another continent, known as Dugu Qiubai. It is the most outstanding sword technique in the world."

Unfortunately, no one present recognized the joke Sorin was making, and Eugeo even believed it to be true.

"Is there really such a powerful sword technique? And... is it the one I'm practicing right now?" He murmured incredulously, then carefully wrote "Nine Swords of Dugu" in the style column. Suolin wrote the same thing on his registration form, but he was still laughing as he wrote.

"What are you laughing at?" Eugeo asked, puzzled.

“I’m thinking of something happy,” Solin replied casually, then handed the pen back to the guard. The guard put the pen back in the pen holder, then stared at Solin with wide eyes.

"I've been practicing swordsmanship for quite some time now, and this is the first time I've heard of such a powerful sword technique. I hope you're not just exaggerating."

"That's right, I'm just bragging, so what if I hit you?"

Solin delivered his incredibly sarcastic lines with a smile, but the power of his smile seemed to outweigh his sarcastic words. At least for now, the guards didn't get angry and reprimand Solin anymore. Instead, they stared at his face, stunned, and it took them a while to come back to their senses.

"Ahem... Enter the lounge before 11:30, then draw lots to determine your groups. You can borrow the weapons you need there." The guard coughed awkwardly twice before turning to Solin and handing them two numbered bronze medals. "The preliminary rounds will begin at 12:00. The eight people who pass the preliminary rounds in each half will compete in three rounds of single-elimination matches, and the one who emerges victorious will receive the sacred duty of a Zakaria guard. Understand?"

“I thought it was something serious, turns out it’s just a PTQ, whoever gets involved goes.” Sorin nodded knowingly, then walked out with Eugeo. He didn’t want to go to the lounge so early, but judging from the guards’ words, it seemed that not every participant was using a one-handed sword—the swordsmanship tournament was more of a general term, and the weapons used by the participants were not restricted.

The two spent some time finding the reception window near the lounge. Eugeo first went up and traded his bronze medal for a competition iron sword, his best weapon. But when he took a couple of steps and turned back, he saw a scene that was both funny and frustrating.

He saw Suolin arguing with the receptionist. He leaned closer and overheard their argument. Unfortunately, by the time he started listening, they seemed to have reached the end of their argument, or perhaps they had reached a consensus in some way, so their tone no longer had the intense, confrontational feel it had before.

“I’ll repeat myself—I need a one-handed sword, a rapier, a spear, and a sickle sword… Didn’t we just say we could take any weapon we wanted here? Is there a problem with me having one of each?”

“Theoretically, that’s true, little sister. And if you’re practicing dual-wielding swordsmanship, we can also provide two one-handed swords… but honestly, this request is a bit excessive.” The receptionist looked at Solin with a somewhat regretful smile, her tone also carrying a hint of disappointment. “How about this, little sister, let me ask if this is a requirement of your style? I mean… if it’s a necessary request, I can report it to my superiors and see if they can make an exception for you.”

“Miss, first of all, I need to correct something… damn it, I’ve corrected myself so many times along the way, anyway, I am male. Also, I do need this many weapons to support my style, as should be recorded in your books. My calling is Weapon Master. So please make sure you mention this to your superiors when you report this to them. Thank you.”

A new chapter unfolds, bringing together conflict and tension (a long chapter of 4,000 words).

"This story needs to be told from the beginning, Ivy. I guess you're also curious about my origins."

Vector sat on the side of the only bed in the room, while Ivy was curled up under the covers. Ocean Turtle staff had originally assigned each of them a room, but at Ivy's request, they ended up sharing a room.

Vector said it didn't matter, since she also had some confidential matters to discuss with Ivy. After using the electronic scanning system to check the room and ruling out the possibility of a bugging device, she began her conversation with Ivy.

“Hmm… Actually, when Vivi introduces herself, she sometimes mentions names like ‘SMG Tactical Doll’ or ‘Lone Mage Squad,’ which I haven’t heard of before. But I still don’t know what those are specifically.” I poked her head out from under the covers and scooted to the side to make room for Vector. “At the time, I thought Vivi probably had her own secrets, so I didn’t ask any further.”

“However, for me now, there is no need to keep it a secret from you anymore. Whether from the perspective of teammates or from the perspective of…” Vector’s tone was as cold as ever, but when she finished speaking, her face couldn’t help but blush. “Let’s start with the part you might not believe. First of all, I come from the future, to be precise, the 1970s of this century.”

"Hmm. I can vaguely guess something about that."

Ivy popped out a little more, then straightened up and leaned against Vector's back, pretending to listen attentively.

“Then I’ll continue. During my time… it was incredibly chaotic. A sudden catastrophe drastically reduced humanity’s living space, and the Third World War, fought over these remaining spaces and resources, tore the world apart. It was arguably the most dangerous moment for the human race.” Vector spent some time exporting the relevant files from his storage, then looked at Ivy with a serious expression. “And it was at this time that a brilliant scientist—Lecoris—developed artificial intelligence for combat, and corresponding combat troops… It was actually a very complex process, but I’ll keep it simple: this was the first time artificial intelligence was applied to warfare.”

“That person… Lycurth, he must be a very powerful guy.” Ivy blinked, seemingly quite curious about these future events. “Is he your creator?”

"No, and he's dead. The cause of death is still unknown. I'm telling you this just to emphasize one thing: artificial intelligence that can be used in warfare wasn't created until the mid-1950s, and these were the source of a series of conflicts that followed. And the highest priority mission for the Azure Eye Squad right now is to prevent any form of artificial intelligence technology from being used in the military."

“Wait, if this is our mission, then we’re not going to…” Ivy Xin was startled when she heard Vector say this. She grabbed Vector’s shoulder and asked in surprise, “Are you going to destroy this place? Blow it up?”

“It’s not that serious, which is why I was asking you, Little Angel, where you learned such a violent tactical style.” Vector sighed helplessly, then took Ivy’s hands off his shoulders, turned around and looked at the suddenly agitated Little Angel. “Listen carefully, we won’t use that method now. One reason is that Mr. Mo is still receiving treatment here, and another reason is… if this technology is developed and not used for military purposes, it can serve as a means of balancing the various parties. Although I don’t understand it either, it’s what our shameless captain said.”

"Okay, so that means..."

"Ensure the safe completion of this research project, eliminate all intruders attempting to steal it, and if necessary... destroy all data." Vector succinctly stated all the mission objectives, then patted Ivy's head. "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

However, there is one more thing she didn't mention, which is the real reason why humanity only developed artificial intelligence after 2050 in her timeline—this OceanTurtle was completely destroyed before it could complete its research mission, and everyone on the ship perished, and all related research data was not transmitted.

[Ivy & Vector Main Mission: Prevent ALICE from being used for military purposes, and destroy data if necessary]

------

Sinon never expected things to unfold this way. After conducting her initial investigation and following the clues with Endo, she located the person who had kidnapped her friend in a nearby abandoned warehouse. However, when she found the culprit standing before her, she discovered that he was rather strange.

The guy looked like a high school student her age, dressed casually in casual clothes, with a bright red scarf around his neck and a cigarette between his fingers. He smiled at Shino, who was pointing a gun at him, seemingly not taking the deadly threat seriously.

"Whatever your motives for kidnapping them, I think you should surrender now, young man." Shino's previously calm tone suddenly turned fierce. "Don't move! Hands up! Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely!"

“Stop right there, my friend! Where did you learn so many nonsensical lines, Miss Shino... or should I call you Ice?” He waved his hand at Shino, indicating that he had no power to resist, and still had a mysterious smile on his face. “With your abilities, it’s not surprising that you were able to find your way here. Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything too outrageous to them, and that’s enough to let them go, because my target... is only you.”

"Just me? Wait, you know my name and code name?" Sinon asked doubtfully at first, then belatedly asked loudly, "Who exactly are you?"

“Instead of this, you should let them go out first.” He calmly walked to the cage, opened the door, and then called to the girls only after they had all reached the door, “Ladies, look this way…”

Everyone unanimously believed him and turned to look at him, only to see him take out a metallic, silver-white, rod-shaped object from his pocket. The rod-shaped object shimmered with a strange blue light, which then vanished in a flash.

“You’ve only been skipping class and going on field trips these past few days; you haven’t spent those memorable nights in the warehouse. Your parents are very worried, so you need to go back and admit your mistakes to them first.”

His voice was magnetic and irresistible. The girls were already somewhat disoriented when they saw the blue light flashing. After he finished speaking, they all turned around and left.

"Don't tell me you're the man in black, although the things in your hand are quite realistic." Sinon said half-jokingly, but she had no intention of letting her guard down at all, still pointing the gun at the man. "Alright, sir, now squat down, and explain your identity and background. Finally, get ready to go to the Metropolitan Police Department to enjoy dinner tonight."

“Okay… My name is Chu Ziyu, or you can call me Blank, I think you should have heard of that name.” He obediently squatted down, casually picked up a twig and drew circles on the ground, extinguishing his cigarette and tossing it aside. “I’ve made it very clear, the real reason I staged this kidnapping is simply to bring you here and conceal your true superiors. Now you can choose to believe me, or you can choose not to believe me and take me to the Metropolitan Police Department, I have no objection to either. But…”

He abruptly changed the subject, his tone becoming dangerous and menacing.

"Don't try to verify my identity with Gustav or anyone else. If you do, I'll consider killing you on the spot. You're welcome to try and see if I can do it."

"I... alright, Mr. Chu Ziyu, then may I ask what brings you here after all this trouble?" Shino thought for a moment and felt that it wasn't appropriate to argue with the person in front of her, so she kept pointing the gun at Chu Ziyu and decided to listen to his explanation.

"Now you just need to listen and don't try to question me. I know much more than you do. First of all, your task now should be to stand by and wait for the battle plan to begin at any time. Am I right about that?"

Shino nodded silently. Although the shock in her heart had never subsided, now was definitely not the time to be distracted, so she could only continue listening to what the person in front of her had to say.

"Your next operational plan should be issued within a day. The objective is to assist a foreign mercenary team in reaching RATH's overseas research base, Ocean Turtle, to obtain all relevant information and existing results regarding the ALICE project, and then blow up this wretched place. As for the person issuing the mission... it should be someone in the NSA, bypassing Rainbow Six to directly command you, who are actually subordinate to the FBI."

Chu Ziyu watched as Shino's expression gradually changed from confusion to shock, nodded in satisfaction, and added a sentence above.

"And I'll also tell you something else: this so-called ALICE project is actually a research project on artificial intelligence, and the person leading this research is none other than Shigemura Yuuna's father, Shigemura Tetsuhiro, and two other people from the Shigemura Research Institute. And... the young Mr. Mo Yulan, who you think has been missing for a long time, is probably also receiving treatment there."

"What? Who...who are you? How do you know all this?" Shino stared intently at Chu Ziyu. She was now certain that this person meant her no harm, but what he knew...was just too much. "And why are you telling me all this now?"

“To keep you out of this mess, everyone in Rainbow Six knows this, so if they really need someone easy to manipulate to help them, they can only turn to you, the new recruit.” Chu Ziyu didn’t immediately answer Shino’s question, but continued, “I can’t stop you from doing anything, but I can say one thing, which is what Ash once said: You are a counter-terrorism organization, but you can only be a counter-terrorism organization, not a gun in the hands of any government or organization. Rainbow Six was established to prevent any place in the world from being harmed by terrorism, nothing else. I hope you remember that.”

“Alright, Mr. Chu Ziyu. I’ll remember that. But right now… you still can’t stop me from taking you to the Metropolitan Police Department for a chat. Come with me.”

Shino nodded seriously, then pulled out a pair of handcuffs from behind her back, still pointing the gun at Chu Ziyu, and slowly walked towards him. Chu Ziyu simply shook his head at her, then his entire body rapidly dissolved in mid-air, disappearing from Shino's sight in the blink of an eye.

"What's going on?" Shino hurriedly chased after them, reaching out her left hand, but only grasping at thin air. At this moment, Shino was the only one left in the huge factory. She looked around blankly, wondering if she had just hallucinated. But both the open cage and the shoe prints on the ground told her that everything had indeed happened, and that a mysterious guy had indeed said a lot to her.

While she was still standing there, bewildered, her mobile terminal suddenly started vibrating. She picked it up and saw that it was an unfamiliar number.

Hello? Who is this?

"Hello, Agent Ice. We are the NSA, acting in the name of the United States. We have a classified mission for you to complete. This order has been confirmed by your superiors at your current unit—FBI SWAT. You can check with them for the relevant authorization. Here are the mission details."

"I understand, please tell me."

After Chu Ziyu gave Shi Nai a heads-up, she was extremely wary of the voice on the other end of the phone.

"You need to travel to a Japanese ship to seize the technology codenamed ALICE. Because this operation is illegitimate, the main force is a mercenary group found by our agents, and you need to assist them. This technology is related to the balance of power in the Far East theater. Once Japan completes this technology, the military balance of the entire East Asia will completely collapse..."

"I'm just curious why you came to me. Rainbow Team should have someone more suitable for this mission and closer to your operational needs. After all, I'm a sniper who isn't very good at CQB, and... why would I help you with a mission that endangers my country?"

“Because we have no other choice, and you have no other choice either, Ice.” The voice on the other end of the communication suddenly changed, becoming a slightly aged male voice, “If you still want your friend to be able to go to school.”

“Damn it… I think I have the right to protest against this barbarity, sir,” Sinon replied, her face ashen.

"Perhaps. You certainly have that right, but when have we ever cared about that?" The voice now sounded quite arrogant. "Anyway, get ready to go, Ms. Asada. Our people will arrive at your designated area in half an hour, and then... we hope you get along well with your new teammates."

The communication ended there, and Shino didn't react too strongly after hearing the words and orders. She calmly put the terminal back in her pocket and then gave a cold smile.

"If I were to actually do whatever you do, that would be a miracle, shit."

[Sino Main Quest 1: Assist Gabriel's squad in obtaining ALICE's research data and findings (abandoned)]

Main Quest 2: Unknown

------

[Mo Yulan Main Quest: Win the Sword Tournament with Eugeo]

The Sakarya Sword Tournament, August 5th, 378th year of the Human Calendar

After a long silence, the door to the lounge was pushed open once again. The two figures standing at the door surprised the fifty-odd burly men already seated inside.

One of them was a young boy with brown hair, who didn't seem like a particularly strong opponent. The other was a girl with long, silver-white hair reaching her waist, with five different weapons hanging from her waist and a long spear slung over her back. Although it looked strange, the threat they sensed from the girl was far greater than that from the boy beside her.

These two were none other than Sorin and Eugeo, who had just received their weapons. Surrounded by so many burly men, Eugeo couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. He instinctively looked at Sorin beside him, but Sorin had shrunk completely behind him, only peeking out with his head to look at the group of people in the room.

"Are we really going to wait here, Eugeo? These old men here seem kind of scary."

Sorin deliberately spoke in a timid, soft voice, then shrank back behind Eugeo, leaving only a few strands of silver hair fluttering beside him. Although Eugeo didn't know the purpose of Sorin's sudden act of cuteness, he vaguely understood when he saw that most of the fifty-odd burly men had lost interest in the two of them and started checking their weapons.

"If you don't like it here, let's leave."

Eugeo shook his head, then took Sorin's hand, turned around, and left the lounge, walking to the outside. As soon as Sorin closed the lounge door, he immediately pushed Eugeo's hand away and then cautiously looked around.