Jingguang seemed to have a secret.
As childhood friends of many years, Furuya Rei knew Morofushi Hiromitsu extremely well.
Hiro was a very sensitive and gentle person at heart.
Therefore, the pain he had accumulated during this time in the organization was something ordinary people could not imagine.
Even Furuya Rei, who had always fought side by side with him, gradually could no longer touch certain corners of Morofushi Hiromitsu’s heart. The only time he could probably vent his stress was the moment he looked at the cold, unfamiliar self in the bathroom mirror.
Occasionally, when the two of them were alone in private and he saw the dark look of Scotch flicker across Hiro’s face, Furuya Rei’s heart was filled with unease and helplessness.
It was as if a string had been pulled tight to the limit, ready to snap at any moment.
The moment he learned that Jingguang had been exposed, Furuya Rei’s heart went cold. Because he knew that in such a situation, Hiro would very likely… no, he would definitely lose the desire to survive and resolutely rush toward the far shore he could not reach.
Everything changed starting from Sakurai.
Furuya Rei had never been so grateful to an organization member before.
He began making excuses for Sakurai in his heart: this man had never stained his hands with a life; even when selling health products, he only sold vitamins with no side effects. He even helped Sakurai Saburo clean up the mess, and it really took him a lot of effort to deal with that whole room full of modified firearms.
But what surprised him even more was the change Sakurai Hoshi brought to Jingguang.
Just one night apart, and his friend seemed to have completely shaken off his psychological shadow; all the cold and fierce gunpowder scent had melted off him and turned into warm spring water.
This was especially true when he held that little girl by the hand.
At first, Furuya Rei was happy to see this. But as time went on, Officer Furuya gradually felt a little sour inside.
Hiro was indeed considerate and gentle toward others. But not everyone could get into his heart. Sakurai Hoshi was different, though. The two of them seemed like family who had been separated for many years, suddenly becoming extremely close.
The two of them even often hid from him to whisper to each other…
It felt a little subtle… but this elementary-school-kid-like sense of who was closer to whom also left Officer Furuya silent.
Furuya Rei sat beside the dining table, watching his friend happily go into the kitchen to bring out a loving breakfast, and only felt a headache coming on.
“Mm mm… so sleepy… Hiro, I want strawberry milk…” The little brat, spoiled to the point of taking it for granted, was sprawled across the dining table, giving Morofushi very confused instructions.
Furuya Rei put down the documents in his hands and looked at her boneless posture, getting more irritated the more he looked: “…You should cut it out already. You’re like this every morning. Isn’t that way too much pampering?”
“Mm… zero, are you jealous?” Sakurai Hoshi had still been rubbing her eyes, but the moment she heard him, she was instantly no longer sleepy. She grinned at him triumphantly and provocatively: “Hiro is on my side, you know~”
“You little…”
Furuya Rei looked at the child whose whole face seemed to say, ‘Didn’t see that coming, did you?’ and only felt his fingers itch. Without thinking, he reached out and pinched her soft, white cheek: “Don’t rely on Jingguang spoiling you to… ah.”
Furuya Rei froze.
With the contact of their skin, a feeling of unprecedented relaxation and pleasure suddenly rose in his heart. It was as if all restraints had been dissolved, the cruel blood and tears of the past could suddenly be let go, and both body and mind had been thoroughly purified.
“Hoshi, you…” Looking at Sakurai Hoshi’s clear purple eyes, he suddenly lost the ability to speak.
A “click” sound snapped Furuya Rei back to his senses. He looked up and saw that, for some reason, Jingguang had come to the dining table, placed breakfast on it, and smiled at him. “Let’s talk after breakfast, Zero.”
In that gaze meeting his, there seemed to be a trace of helplessness.
Furuya Rei: “Ah… okay.”
Since the long time they had been surrounding and suppressing the organization, this was the first time Furuya Rei had restarted the disguise techniques of Bourbon. He let go of his fingers as if nothing had happened and picked up the documents again to read, only the speed of turning the pages had slowed down quite a bit.
Sakurai Hoshi: “?”
That’s it? That guy’s counterattack just ended there?
…He’s so weak.
The powerful player curled her lip in disdain, then turned around to leave enough space for the weak to repair their self-esteem.
Today’s Sakurai cult leader vs. Officer Furuya, complete victory!
…
After breakfast time ended, Sakurai Hoshi hid in her room by herself and started learning to dance.
During this long period of time, she had barely walked or carried anything herself, and her constitution, strength, and agility were actually at risk of declining!! Exercise was urgent. Sakurai Hoshi said nothing more and began learning to dance. The reason she hid alone in her room to watch videos instead of hiring a dance teacher was because if her agility was too low, Hoshi would definitely trip over her left foot with her right foot and fall down. The player absolutely would not allow the god’s foolish side to be exposed in front of anyone!!
“…Hiro, do you want to say something to me?”
After the small figure staggered away, Furuya Rei put down the documents he had barely even flipped through and spoke without turning his head.
He did not call out to Jingguang, but both of them knew exactly what he was talking about.
Morofushi Hiromitsu, who was standing with his back to him washing dishes in the kitchen, did not pause his movements, and likewise did not turn his head.
“…Just as you think, Zero. Hoshi is a very special child… She doesn’t want the government to know about this kind of talent. So before she accepted it, I originally didn’t plan to let anyone inside know… even if that person was you.”
Furuya Rei let out a deep sigh in his heart.
He pondered for a very long time, or perhaps only for a few seconds, and still asked this question.
“Hiro, you… are you getting addicted?”
If this kind of ability could eliminate negative emotions without any cost, if it would make people addicted… then the consequences would be terrifying.
With a “clink”, Jingguang finally put down the glass in his hand. He looked at the glass that had held strawberry milk, and something in his blue eyes flickered. After a while, it turned into a warm smile.
“Of course not. I understand what you mean, zero. Hoshi’s effect on people has no negative impact, whether physically or psychologically. After the first contact, I had already recovered, and later contact would not have any other effects.”
Hoshi had always been afraid of being discovered by the police and locked up.
Perhaps this was the price of a gift from heaven. Her body was much frailer than that of an ordinary child, and she could even only eat vegetables. Simple actions like walking and opening a door could injure her.
But.
Even when the police had moved into the house, with the risk of exposure at any moment, and she still had to pack her own bag and walk so many roads herself, Hoshi still did not stop helping the believers.
Perhaps she also knew that she could not completely solve the problem, but she was still doing her best to help miserable people.
Morofushi Hiromitsu picked up that glass again.
“I just… from the bottom of my heart, want to cherish this child.”
“She is my partner of justice.”
…
The star hiding in the room was actually not practicing dancing the whole time.
There was no way the player would let Dad fight alone.
Oh, and the temporary police teammate too.
…Never in my dreams did I think that the evil cult leader and the police would also become teammates…
This at least has to be a golden achievement, right.
She’s so amazing, hehe.
The invincible player opened the computer, casually typed a few strings of code, and the experience bar for her hacking skill shot up rapidly.
When she sent messages to Morofushi Hiromitsu before, she had already raised the skill to lv7. Now raising it to the maximum lv10 was also very simple. She had not even finished a bag of potato chips yet.
To the citizens of the interstellar era, the network in this world was simple enough not to require any thought. The gap between eras was enormous, just like modern people do not need to think about what 1+1 equals, while ancient humans took countless ages to step into the world of mathematics.
Normally she would work hard to avoid going beyond the limits and try not to let overly advanced knowledge cause upheaval for this world. But in this harmless situation, using a little trick to quickly end the boss attack-defense battle was still fine.
That’s right, she had lost patience with the organization hiding and sneaking around.
She looked at the red location marker on the computer, her face showing no expression.
Run.
The injuries Dad suffered, I will return them to you a hundredfold.
…
Gin was hiding in the safe house resting. The television suddenly lit up by itself, and a line of text appeared on the large screen.
[FOUND YOU :)]
That little emoticon was simply full of malice.
Gin decisively gripped his weapon and phone tightly and rose like a leopard. The phone lit up at the same time, and a strange electronic voice repeated without interruption:
[FOUND YOU]
[FOUND YOU]
[FOUND YOU]
…
Gin expressionlessly crushed the phone. The wireless radio communicator immediately sounded with the same electronic voice: [FOUND YOU]
In the end, he abandoned all the electronic products on his body and jumped out of the room.
The next second, in the alley, on the streetlights, all the surveillance cameras that should not have been moving turned their directions to aim at him, moving along with his running. In the distance, the giant advertising screen displayed his savage face, and the telephone booth he passed by started screaming sharply.
He reached out, wanting to casually grab a hostage to threaten with, but the weapon in his hand was shot to pieces.
Not far away, Akai Shuichi was holding a sniper rifle and glanced at the communicator.
“That was a big help… unknown friend.”
Gin raised his head and looked at the countless “eyes” staring at him.
A cruel game of cat and mouse.
Only this time, the mouse had become him.
…
With lv10 hacking skills, the network was like a duck to water. By the time Sakurai Hoshi finished her chips, she had already sent the locations of all the organization’s strongholds, as well as their current evacuation routes, to Morofushi Hiromitsu’s email.
As for how exactly to explain it to the police, let her cute little subordinate worry about that~
The commotion that would make ordinary people think the sky was falling was just a little revenge to the player lady. Sakurai Hoshi hummed a song as she opened a bottle of strawberry milk and raised it toward the frantic subordinates in the void: “Cheers~”
While drinking her milk, she sent an invitation to her cute net friend.
…
Massachusetts, USA.
Sawada Hiroki sat quietly in front of the computer.
In the huge room, only the sound of the boy rapidly typing on the keyboard could be heard.
He silently lifted his head and glanced at the monitor pointed at him above, pressing his lips tightly together.
Hiroki knew that his adoptive father was definitely watching him intently from behind the monitor again. Ever since Hiroki’s DNA tracking system discovered the secret origin of his adoptive father’s identity as a descendant of Jack the Ripper, the threat of death had always hung over his head.
Even when working at the MIT Research Institute, he was still strictly supervised by eyes and cameras everywhere.
After finishing the research on the artificial intelligence Noah’s Ark… his life would come to an end, right.
A string of different code suddenly appeared on the computer. His eyes lit up, and the pessimism he had just felt vanished without a trace. Suppressing his excitement, Hiroki tried his best to make himself look as if he were working as usual, while his hands impatiently clicked open the invitation link.
Outsiders could not understand the complex data flow on his screen. Only Hiroki himself knew that the code on the computer was not boring work at all, but a game prepared for him by his lovely secret friend.
The day after day of monitored work and mental oppression in the past had filled him with disgust toward this room that had only a computer in it. The shadow of death that would descend at any time made him unable to breathe.
But all of that became different because of the arrival of ★.
The lovely star symbol suddenly broke into his Noah’s Ark, looked around in wonder, flew in front of Sawada Hiroki, and began praising his masterpiece with the most beautiful and pleasant code.
The virtual world thus gained warmth.
★ is a girl. After knowing that she was Japanese, her name became [hoshi].
The whimsical ideas that others could not understand, the stars understood. They could crack code jokes together that ordinary people would not understand; in the sea of data that no one else understood, she took him along to roam through it, showing him the virtual universe; they used code as water guns to attack each other, using countless 0s and 1s to laugh at each other’s awkwardness.
The star in the sky fell from the galaxy into his arms and fulfilled his greatest wish: to be able to happily play together with a friend.
From the day he met her, he began to look forward to every tomorrow.
The star was also born in Japan, and was younger than him. She was his little sister.
The star’s body was also very weak, and she had never played with friends in the park, just like him.
They were each other’s first friend.
So happy.
Hiroki could not help revealing a smile.
She was like another version of himself in the world, crossing the long distance of the world and embracing him in the sea of data.
Being with Hoshi was really so happy.
It was really great to have met her before his life ended.
With a sour feeling in his nose, he thought that he would leave Noah’s Ark to Hoshi, his most beloved younger sister and friend, and after his body died, his thoughts would be together with Hoshi forever.
Death could not separate them either.
Thinking this, just as Hiroki was about to press the button to send Noah’s Ark, the tightly shut door suddenly opened: “FBI OPEN THE DOOR!!”
Hiroki: “?”
…
“Mm, okay. I’ll handle the rest of the cleanup.” Akai Shuichi hung up the liaison call with the FBI Massachusetts branch and said to the lit computer, “Your request has been completed, friend.”
On the computer, a ★ symbol stood quietly in the center of a blank screen. Hearing his words, the symbol on the computer flickered twice and turned into a string of text:
[Thank you. Pleasure working with you :)]
This line of text stayed for only two seconds, and the computer screen quickly turned completely black.
Akai Shuichi stared at that 🙂 expression and raised an eyebrow. The darkened laptop screen reflected his interested expression, and then he closed it with one hand.
Even though they were both colon-smile emoticons, the one written to him was just much cuter than Gin’s.
“No need to be polite.” He held a cigarette between his fingers and laughed at the closed laptop: “It’s me who should be thanking you, friend.”
On the other side of the ocean, in Massachusetts, Sawada Hiroki was still blankly accepting the care of the FBI and the Child Protection Association, while on the computer screen behind him, a string of code incomprehensible to ordinary people slowly appeared.
It was the language belonging to the two of them.
[from Hoshi: Hiroki (Hiroki), live freely in the new world. I’ll be waiting for you and NOAZU (Noah’s Ark) in reality!]
Author’s note: The organization is going to be done for next chapter
Hoshi said “I’ll help Dad teach them a good lesson” was not a joke
Finally, congratulations to Hoshi and the smart 10-year-old MIT graduate student on becoming friends w. It’s the friendship of a dragon-tyrant!
Babies, please comment more. Writing desperately alone is lonely qaq
Thanks to the little angels who gave me monthly tickets or nutrient solution during 2022-10-27 13:58:35~2022-10-25 15:33:25~
Thanks to the little angel who gave nutrient solution: I might have a fake nickname 201 bottles; Beyu 1 bottle;
Thank you very much everyone for your support. I will keep working hard!