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

"Hurry up, follow me." Vector whispered, pulling up the person she had knocked down and walking ahead. Ivy quickly pulled up the other person and followed Vector. After walking about ten steps, they followed her into a storage room next to the toilet.

“Hurry up, there’s only half an hour until the next inspection, we have to get out of here before then.” Vector said as she put on the Amherst Corporation uniform over her own outer garment. It looked a little bulky, but it just fit her and her combat outer garment perfectly. “On the bright side, we don’t need to do the awkward thing of two people stacked together to pretend to be one. The clothes are a little loose... just bear with it for now.”

"Something feels off..." Aiweixin muttered to herself. She saw Vector had already left the storage room, so she quickly followed her, noting down everything she saw and sending it to Mo Yulan. "Maybe Dad will know something..."

238. Mysterious Player Information

"Thank you for your hospitality. And... thank you so much for saving me, you were so cool back then."

Shino bowed slightly, stood up from her seat, and looked earnestly at the boy in front of her. Her tone seemed to carry a different kind of emotion in addition to gratitude.

"I can always protect you. Um... I'll pick you up from school after school." Shinkawa smiled a little shyly after hearing Shino's words, and then extended his invitation.

Shino stared at Shinkawa for a moment, then the ethereal yet gentle voice echoed in her mind once more: "Don't be afraid, I'm here." — It wasn't an illusion, nor a remnant of some self-protective mechanism.

"No, no need, it's alright. I also need to learn to be independent and self-reliant."

She shook her head again, smiled faintly at Shinkawa who seemed quite expectant, then waved to him and turned to leave the coffee shop. Shinkawa watched Shino leave, his eyes narrowing as if he had seen something dazzling, while simultaneously pressing a button on the Bluetooth headset in his left ear.

"I can't wait any longer, is Death Gun finally going to make an appearance again, brother?" His tone was full of morbid anticipation, but the reply on the other end completely dampened his enthusiasm.

“Go home now, drink that bottle of medicine, and if anyone asks, just say you had a date with a girl in your class—don’t try to hide it, I know what you’re doing.”

"Alright, alright, brother, I understand. What a downer..." Shinkawa muttered discontentedly as he slowly walked towards his home. Meanwhile, his older brother was actually going through something far more serious.

He stood in the office, wearing a white lab coat, coldly observing the two silver-haired girls in ill-fitting uniforms before him.

“Relax…we have no hostile intentions, and so far there have been no casualties on your company.” Vector said, pointing at Shinkawa Shoichi with his Vector, his eyes slightly scrutinizing. “Release the alarm button next to you, put your hands behind your head and squat on the ground. Ivy, go check his PC, there must be something else on it.”

In fact, the two had already left the server room by this time. However, the outer server didn't provide any relevant clues, only normal experimental data and other accounting records. So they planned to investigate an executive's office, which led them directly to Shinkawa Shoichi.

However, Shinkawa Shoichi is currently only in this office as a research assistant; at least ostensibly, he is not the person in charge. Although he may know a lot, there isn't much that Ivy and Vector, with their limited information, can glean from him.

Ivy bypassed the defensive Shinkawa Shoichi and remotely connected to the PC, searching through all its stored contents. After automatically filtering out all information related to Amherst Corporation's business, only one folder remained that puzzled Ivy. This folder contained a large amount of data on the real-world addresses of The Division 3 players.

“What’s going on with these documents?” Ivy waved at Vector, pointing to the files displayed on the screen, her tone full of doubt. “I just feel like these things… don’t seem like something they could have obtained.”

“It doesn’t matter. The useful intelligence for us isn’t this, but rather that they possess this. Just understand that.” Vector explained briefly, only to find that Shinkawa Shoichi had somehow moved from the floor to the table and pressed the alarm button. “Damn it… Ivy Shin, prepare to evacuate!”

"Received." Ivy frowned as she looked at the sudden red light effect around her. She casually shot Shinkawa Shoichi unconscious, then removed the magazine and loaded a few tranquilizer darts. "The planned route is over here. Ivy has already sent it to your terminal."

"So you expect a humanoid with such poor performance like me to clear the way for an elite like you? This isn't the time to slack off, my lady..." Vector shrugged helplessly, but still stood in front without hesitation. "This way! Follow me, your route planning is flawed!"

“Objection. Ivy’s route planning is the most scientific.” Ivy replied expressionlessly, then precisely shot down two security personnel who rushed over after hearing the alarm. “There won’t be a more scientific route.”

“Remember this: scientific infiltration only applies to entry. When it’s time to leave, you don’t need to worry about so many details.” Vector took down three people with three consecutive shots, and a rare, eerie smile appeared on his usually icy face. “When you’re evacuating, you need a metaphysical route… You’ll understand after you’ve tried it a lot. You’re still too young.”

"You talk like you're some old man, Vivi," Ivy retorted somewhat defiantly. However, after running for a while, she did find that this route was much better than the one she had originally planned. Although it was a bit longer, there were far fewer people blocking their way.

“You can’t compare to me. My first mission was fifty years ago on the Middle East battlefield, with that guy Chu Ziyu.” Vector led the way, still having some time to explain the history of this small team of only two to Ivy. “Compared to us, Rainbow Team is a very young team.”

“So you guys are really that capable, Vivi…” Ivy thought to herself, then checked the map again. “Wait, it seems we’re heading towards an outer glass curtain wall… Was this part of your plan?”

“Take out your heat-explosive bomb, then switch to live ammunition. We need a special method to assist in the breakthrough.” Vector said, pulling a smoke grenade from under her four-dimensional skirt and weighing it in her hand. “Generally speaking, this kind of pure glass curtain wall is very strong, but it is not resistant to high temperatures. By the way, let me ask you in advance, you should be able to carry one more person, right?”

Aiweixin nodded, and then, taking advantage of the opportunity to pass through an empty corridor, she threw off the security guard uniform that was in the way of her, while preparing the exothermic explosives in her backpack in advance.

"It seems a bit difficult, but I'll try my best."

239. The Mastermind Behind the Scenes?

"Ignore those two intruders and just start the plan. Let them do what they want!"

Even long after confirming that the two girls who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere had left, Shinkawa Shoichi, still drenched in cold sweat, leaned against the wall, though he seemed to have calmed down. After issuing the order, he made another phone call.

“Since you’re willing to call me, Sasa, the work I assigned you… you should at least have completed one-tenth of it by now.”

The voice on the other end of the phone was that of a man speaking fluent Spanish, with a unique charm. If Mo Yulan were here, he would definitely recognize the voice. That was his nemesis, the man he had tried to kill several times but failed—PoH, the Prince of Hell.

“It’s almost done, but two intruders just broke in here. I suspect my plan has been exposed, but they didn’t notice your presence, Boss PoH.” Shinkawa Shoichi tried his best to keep his voice calm, but he still seemed quite flustered while talking to the man. “I plan to start tomorrow, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”

"Look on the bright side, even if something goes wrong, you won't die, after all, this is Japan." PoH's voice was full of sarcasm and arrogance, yet strangely convincing. "But don't worry, I can still guess the identities of those two intruders. They're just from that place in the world that's most meddlesome."

"Alright, since you put it that way, I'll try my best."

------

Ivy's electronic angel module does allow her to fly continuously, but during the activation period, her mecha quickly overheats due to the massive energy consumption. Moreover, the module's power is limited; if Ivy were to carry another person, her original flight would only be able to become a brief period of hovering.

“Thermite installation complete, move a little further away.” Ivy’s voice rang in Vector’s ears. She nodded subconsciously, casually threw a smoke grenade, and then followed Ivy to move a little further away from the explosives.

“Speaking of which, do you think we actually found out anything useful this time? I feel like Chu Ziyu tricked me…” Vector’s voice sounded slightly frustrated. Although she never questioned Chu Ziyu’s decisions in the past, that didn’t mean she didn’t think about these issues, even though she never figured them out. “We came in and messed around for ages to get a bunch of medical lists, and then we found out that the computer had some player data on it… Was that really useful?”

"As for whether it's useful or not... Ivy think it's more appropriate to take these things back and let those who are good at using their brains think about whether it's useful or not. Although Ivy can analyze some of it, it requires an external host, and with the current processing power of Ivy's machine, it's quite difficult to figure these things out."

Ivy spoke rapidly, firing several shots that took down a few security guards who had followed her, her eyes fixed on the burning Thermite beside her. A few seconds later, the Thermite finally finished burning on the outside, then exploded, blasting a neat rectangular section through the thick glass curtain wall.

"Vivi, hold on tight to Ivy, we're jumping." Ivy whispered a reminder, then without another word, she swept Vector up in her arms, strode to the rectangular section, and leaped off the building. "MOD: Electronic-Angel, active!"

"So you're essentially that guardian angel, the one who can sweep three enemies by flipping the Undying upon entering the field."

Vector held Ivy's neck tightly with both hands, and suddenly had the feeling that "it wouldn't be so bad to be held by a little angel like this for the rest of my life," and then quickly shook his head to drive the feeling out of his mind.

“No, Ivy is just an AI. And personally, Ivy has a very bad impression of the Shadow of Innisfree storyline. To put it bluntly—Wizard of the Coast’s writers were really out of their minds.” Ivy gets inexplicably annoyed every time she mentions this, but she knows now is obviously not the time to worry about such things. She feels her internal electronic components and cooling system rapidly overloading, and her temperature is rising higher and higher—it’s time to find a place to crash-land, she thinks.

"We are about to make an emergency landing at a height of ten meters. Prepare for impact... It's Dad!"

“So, is it really appropriate for a girl like you, who’s about my size, to call him ‘Dad’…” Vector wanted to complain about this more than once. She did see the vehicle speeding towards them, but it was still quite far away. Vector’s conclusion, based on her visual estimation, was that it was virtually impossible for them to make a direct emergency landing on the roof of the vehicle by gliding.

That's true. Aiweixin hadn't intended to land on the roof, but getting closer to Mo Yulan was still possible. When she was about ten meters above the ground, she deactivated the electronic angel module, relaxed her arms as much as possible while still being able to hold Vector, and finally found a patch of greenery and plunged into it.

“Your left arm is injured, and what about you?” Vector struggled to his feet and looked at Ivy with concern. “Are you alright…”

"Vivi's body is undamaged, but 72% of its internal area is overheated and needs cooling... Don't be afraid, Vivi, they didn't chase after us."

Ivy calmly stood up and looked back towards the Amherst Corporation building. Contrary to their expectations, not many people had chased after them. They didn't seem like the kind of company with a special background, but that was just an appearance; Ivy still harbored suspicions about this place.

She looked up and saw the AE86 stop in front of them. She was about to pounce on the silver-haired young man in the driver's seat when she remembered her overheated state and forcibly stopped herself, standing there stiffly.

"Don't just stand there, hurry up! Yuna, open the refrigerator in the trunk! Oh my god, it's so hot..."

Mo Yulan got out of the driver's seat, glanced at Ai Weixin who was flushed and steaming, and disregarded her excessive heat, picked her up and put her in the refrigerator in the trunk. Vector watched Mo Yulan's busy work with obvious envy in his eyes, but the next moment he reverted to his previous indifferent self, and sat in the back seat of the AE86 without saying a word.

"Hurry up, the Metropolitan Police Department is still at odds with us. If they arrest us and put us in jail, no one will be able to get us out."

240. Secret Reasoning

There's always a small refrigerator in the trunk of this AE86. Sometimes it holds drinks or bottled vodka, but most of the time it's used to cool Ivy Xin down temporarily. The size is just right so that Ivy Xin can fit inside when she's squatting down with her arms wrapped around her legs.

"There's no use in being envious. I don't have any high-end features that can overheat, but it looks really cool."

Vector suddenly murmured this to herself. And strangely enough, she suddenly felt a different kind of affection for the little angel she had only met twice, though she wasn't quite sure what it was.

If I had to describe it, it would probably be something like "I wouldn't dislike her." After all, Vector's personality isn't exactly the best type, so for her not to dislike him... her affection level would have to be well over 80.

"I don't really understand what you girls who like to crawl into refrigerators are thinking. Actually, Ivy doesn't really like that refrigerator, and I bet she'll start knocking on it in a little while." Mo Yulan explained to Vector while driving, and also instructed, "Generally, she'll only stay in there until it cools down before she wants to come out, because it's boring in there. If you hear knocking on the back door after a while, let me know, and I'll stop the car and get Ivy out."

“…I understand, Mr. Mo.” Vector said earnestly, leaning back in her chair to listen carefully. Sure enough, after a short while, she heard a faint but exceptionally clear tapping sound.

“Mr. Mo, Ivy Xin…she seems to have figured it out.”

"I understand. Just a moment."

Mo Yulan turned the steering wheel and parked the car on the side of the road. Then she opened the trunk and took Aiweixin, who was shivering and had frost on her bangs, out of the refrigerator. Aiweixin was initially drowsy and confused, but when Mo Yulan placed her next to Vector in the back seat, she suddenly became much more alert.

The first thing Ivy did after getting in the car was to pounce on Vector, then rub against her combat suit a couple of times. Ignoring Vector's lifeless expression, she found the most comfortable position to lie on her side in the back seat, and even hugged Vector in her arms. Then she used the ends of her hair to rub against Vector's cheek intermittently.

"Hey, Vivi, isn't Ivy Shin amazing?"

"Yes, yes, Ivy is the best... Your hair is still frosty, can you stay away from me?"

Vector's tone was full of disdain, yet she didn't actively break free from Ivy's embrace. Or perhaps she enjoyed being hugged, but just wouldn't admit it.

“No, Vivi is very comfortable to hug.” Ivy shook her head, continuing to hold Vector in that position, gently rubbing her hair against his cheek. Mo Yulan and You Na could see the interaction between the girls in the back seat through the rearview mirror, but they both just smiled with satisfaction and didn’t say anything more.

"Could I interpret this as my daughter growing up..." he murmured, then began to ponder the information Aivisin had sent him earlier. "But Yuna, what do you think they can do with the players' connection addresses?"

He had only asked the question tentatively, but after hearing it, Yuna seemed quite confident.

"You might not know this yet, Arashi, but some apartment buildings in Tokyo use outdated electronic locks, and these locks can be opened using some thieves' tricks."

"Is that so...? Then I think I understand." Mo Yulan slowed down the car a little, then thought for a while before slowly stating her reasoning, "If we assume... no, we don't need to assume, Death Gun is definitely not a single person. In order to achieve the performance effect that can be called a terrorist event, Death Gun must have multiple offline clones."

"An offline clone?" This was Vector's question. She had heard Chu Ziyu explain the general process of this matter before, and of course she was also very curious about how the image of Death Gun was achieved.

"That's right, there's only one truth. The character of Death Gun requires at least three people: one person controls the game character of Death Gun online, and the other two or more people have to use their methods to lurk in the rooms of the victims and assassinate them when Death Gun fires at them. This achieves the performance effect of 'shooting in the game causing people to die in real life.'"

“However, I still think there’s a bug. At least I don’t think that company would have the ability to hack into and steal Ubisoft’s database.” Vector thought for a moment, shook his head, and asked with a hint of skepticism, “And if it were one or a few individuals who did this, I could understand; but to bring it up to a large, publicly traded biopharmaceutical company… I don’t think they would have any reason to do something like this.”

“You’re right, so this matter has nothing to do with Amherst Corporation in the end. If your boss asked you to investigate them, it means it’s probably for some other reason than a simple dead gun incident… It seems my little angel likes you quite a bit.”

Mo Yulan paused deliberately when he said this, because he saw in the rearview mirror that Aiweixin seemed to have fallen asleep at some point. As a result, Vector was now in a rather awkward and immobile position, only able to adjust his posture within a limited range.

“Now I’ll continue. The only useful intelligence you obtained this time might be the PC you checked last. And considering that you got this intelligence from the PC rather than from the company’s branch server, we can make a bold guess: the culprit is just an employee or researcher at Amherst Corporation, and of course, he might not even be a full-time employee—do you think they would use someone who’s not even as old as me as a researcher or sit in an office coordinating things?”

"That is to say..."

"To sum it up, that company definitely has problems because your boss ordered the investigation, but the Death Gun incident has nothing to do with them... I might need to notify others later, so let's get out of the car and wake up Ivy Xin."

241. The Mysterious Psychologist

After saying goodbye to Kyoji Shinkawa, Shino didn't linger outside for long before returning to her small apartment. She took some time to remove her heavy, more defensive than decorative attire, changed into a light nightgown, and then lay back on her bed, beginning to review her planned schedule.

She is the kind of person who plans her life very meticulously. For her, what she will do on a certain day may have been decided a week in advance.

"I'm going to meet with the psychologist I've booked tomorrow morning... Rebecca Vertanen? Never heard of her before. Then I have classes in the afternoon, followed by the live stream of the BoB finals in the evening. I should still have some free time."

Every night, Shino would go over her tasks for the next day like this, which was usually her last daily activity before washing up and going to sleep. She gently placed her phone on a small table and went into the bathroom to take a shower. But just as she turned on the tap, her phone, which she had just placed on the table, suddenly started vibrating continuously.

It wasn't a text message or a phone call; the unique vibration was a setting she had configured on the King Kong TV app on her phone to receive relevant messages and notifications as soon as possible… though most of the time it was for settling her livestream earnings. She stepped out of the bathroom, picked up her phone, and discovered that the message wasn't the paycheck or event notification she expected, but a private message from a familiar ID.

[SorinMarkov: If you're participating in the BoB finals tomorrow, try not to connect from your own room. There are internet cafes or similar establishments outside where you can connect.]