Same time. Near the apartment.
Kiana, who had just heard the roar of an engine, felt that this area was a bit strange.
Aside from those few punks who delivered the motorcycle, she found that the nearby streets were eerily quiet.
While it wasn't too outlandish for everyone to be home late at night, not seeing a soul after riding for half a day...
When did Nagazora City at night become so silent?
Hm, wait, could it be that the post this young lady made finally had some effect?
At the thought that her efforts might have actually paid off, Kiana found—the feeling was quite satisfying.
Mhm, then for what's next, I'll just proceed with the plan.
Sigh, I forgot to leave a note on Mei's door just now... Forget it, anyway, as long as she gets home, she can contact me after her phone is charged. These things aren't a big deal.
I was worried about running into some late-night patrol officers and having to stop and explain, but now it seems this young lady was overthinking it.
Storm the TV station, and after that...
Kiana, who had been charging forward on pure momentum, suddenly remembered a problem.
According to her original plan, she was going to rush to the TV station and use their communication equipment to spread the news that something might happen in Nagazora City.
But now that she had calmed down, Kiana realized an awkward fact...
It seemed like storming the TV station building and sneaking in wouldn't be a problem.
After all, it was the middle of the night. Besides a few security guards on patrol, she wouldn't encounter anyone.
As for skills like lockpicking, she had become self-taught in the past four years.
But, Miss Kiana Kaslana, who was forced to be proficient in various survival skills, now suddenly realized that she had no idea how to use the various machines at the TV station.
There's no other way.
Once I get there and sneak in, I'll have to use a search engine to figure it out.
Every second counts right now—this is really too much.
Thinking about the increasingly eerie atmosphere in Nagazora City, Kiana almost couldn't stop herself from wanting to curse out loud again.
Those people from Schicksal, are they really just freeloaders?
Honestly, this kind of thing, in their eyes...
—Is it just not worth their time?
.
"Good night, see you tomorrow."
Hearing Raiden Mei's words, Leo didn't reply, just gave her a deep look before choosing to leave.
No matter how he currently viewed Raiden Mei's actions, he felt—these things really weren't important.
After all, he was a person with a system.
And this system, aside from its daily spouting of flirty, bullshit, and easily misunderstood nonsense, was reliable most of the time.
Just before meeting Raiden Mei, Leo had received two rewards from the system.
And according to the system's prompt—both of these rewards were the kind that the system would only send out when [facing a survival crisis].
Simply put, the appearance of these two rewards meant the system was telling Leo—you're about to die, hurry up and save yourself.
It had to be said, in terms of directly giving enhancements when it detected the host might be in danger, Leo really felt that the system was reliable at times like these.
As for what the two survival crises were, based on Leo's speculation, they were still related to those two girls.
One survival crisis was most likely related to Raiden Mei's awakening. After she awakens as the Herrscher of Thunder, the entire Nagazora City would explode.
With the skills and items he had on hand, facing the Herrscher of Thunder... it looked like a one-way ticket to death no matter how you sliced it.
And the other survival crisis, according to Leo's speculation, was probably Otto discovering that he hadn't kept a close eye on K423, leading to the thought 'is this kid not doing his job seriously,' and developing a killing intent towards him.
Otto wouldn't just kill a useful employee.
But for an employee who was useless, and even dropped the ball at a critical moment, Leo didn't think Otto would be so merciful.
At a critical moment, Otto could shoot his old friend Fu Hua in the head and feed his granddaughter Theresa as nourishment of 'love' to the Herrscher of the Void to help her awaken.
If he could do such things to those close to him, if Leo dared to drop the ball in Nagazora City, he'd probably be found with eighteen bullet wounds a few days after returning to Schicksal, and it would be ruled a suicide.
So, after confirming that Raiden Mei was temporarily okay, he immediately chose to do something else—find Kiana.
But then again, Mei won't awaken as a Herrscher for now.
System, where's my reward for overcoming the crisis?
[When did you get the illusion that you've already overcome the survival crisis?]
Eh, wait a minute?
The system panel isn't wrong, is it?
[It's not wrong. 'Temporarily won't awaken'—isn't that clear enough?]
...Fucking hell.
So you mean Nagazora City is still going to blow, and you're forcing me to run between two places.
[Figure it out yourself. This system has done all it can.]
To be fair, that's true.
I talk about others being independent, but here I am, thinking about relying on the system to solve everything. How shameless.
Sigh, in the original story, weren't these two silly kids always sticking together?
Why have things turned out like this?
As Leo sped forward, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.
"...An unknown number?"
After answering the call, before Leo could speak, a voice came through the earpiece.
"Leo, how's the situation over there? Has anyone given you trouble?"
Rita?
"Not for now."
After a pause, Leo added a word.
"Sis."
"Then you need to be careful."
"Someone is unhappy with the actions of Anti-Entropy's executive, Cocolia, and plans to intervene in this matter. But that man is not our ally, so if you encounter a white-haired, one-armed man—run immediately!"
"White-haired... one-armed?"
Those two descriptions, no, wait.
Was Siegfried in Nagazora City at this time in the original story?
"Yes, the former head of the Kaslana family, Siegfried Kaslana, has already appeared in Nagazora City with a Divine Key."
"Oh, right, our surveillance systems show that you and K423 are some distance apart. Why is she a few kilometers ahead of you?"
"Why did you two split up?"
"Is she upset with you?"
K423 is just a few kilometers ahead of me?!
Nice!
Just as Leo was about to accelerate, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis.
This sense of crisis was so strong that Leo, without even realizing it, subconsciously entered the [Mind Like Still Water] state.
This feeling...!
In the next instant, Leo leaped directly from the motorcycle, using the bike as a springboard to jump onto the nearby ground.
And just as he completed this action...
"BOOM!"
His motorcycle, as if struck by something, exploded right before his eyes.
....