Li Qianqiao ignored Fairy and continued explaining, “See, here she is. She appeared right after you passed out, Sis Belle.” He glanced sideways at Fairy.
“Who knew that nowadays, even computer viruses could become sentient.”
“Negative. I reiterate, I am a Type-3 General-Purpose Super-Integrated…”
“Yeah, yeah, Artificial Idiot, right.” Li Qianqiao interrupted Fairy’s chanting.
“…”
Belle stepped in to smooth things over, “Alright, Little Li, stop bullying her. She’s a girl, too. I’ll just call you Fairy by your Development Codename. Fairy, he’s just joking around, don’t mind him.”
“…Master, while you were unconscious just now, this unknown humanoid creature recorded the entire process of your fainting.”
“Huh? How does that matter?” Belle was a bit confused.
“That’s because while you were unconscious, you were constantly twitching and sleep-talking, and A-Qiao filmed the whole thing.”
Li Qianqiao stared at Fairy and Wise in absolute bewilderment.
Wise, you honest-looking… no, you squinty-eyed schemer!
I can’t believe you’d backstab me!
You were literally just asking me for a copy of the video!
You two-faced bastard!
Wise looked at Li Qianqiao apologetically, thinking to himself: Sorry, A-Qiao.
Your Brother Wise will always remember your sacrifice.
Remember my ass!
Li Qianqiao thought, understanding what Wise was thinking.
“Little Liiii~”
A whisper that sounded like an evil spirit echoed from behind him.
Li Qianqiao broke into a cold sweat.
He turned his head stiffly to see Belle smiling at him.
Normally, Belle’s cute face paired with a smile would be a delightful sight, but right now, Li Qianqiao only saw the Grim Reaper smiling at him.
To this, Li Qianqiao could only beg for mercy.
“Hehe, Sis Belle, go easy… Ah, ow! Not the face! Ahhh… don’t pinch my kidneys! Ouch, ouch, oh~ I was wrong! Ahh…”
A moment later, Belle sat on the sofa with a satisfied look on her face, reaching her hand out toward Li Qianqiao, who was kneeling at her feet.
“Phone. Hand it over.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sporting a brand-new black eye, Li Qianqiao handed over the new phone he had bought just yesterday.
While Belle was checking the phone, Li Qianqiao turned his head and glared fiercely at Wise and Fairy.
Wise laughed awkwardly, pretending not to notice as he went back to inspecting Eous.
Fairy, however, completely ignored Li Qianqiao’s threat.
“Master, just now, a certain unknown…”
“Ahhhh! Fairy! My good Fairy! I shouldn’t have said those things about you earlier!” Facing Fairy’s snitching, Li Qianqiao instantly begged for mercy. This story is hosted at g.com.
“My brain must have short-circuited just now for me to spout such nonsense to the number one AI in New Eridu, the Great Lady Fairy! I’m really not human!”
Although, it seems I’m actually not human right now anyway.
“Alright, Fairy.” Belle stood up and handed the phone back to Li Qianqiao.
“Little Li has apologized, so just forgive him.”
“Understood, Master. Given the earlier interruption by a certain someone, I will re-explain my functions.”
“In accordance with the user agreement you signed, I will assist you in all aspects, helping you complete your work, and await the arrival of the right opportunity.”
Faced with Fairy’s explanation, everyone was puzzled, especially regarding that ‘opportunity’.
Wise asked about it, but Fairy simply refused to answer.
At that moment, Li Qianqiao offered a good idea.
“I have a thought. Since Brother Wise and Sis Belle’s account is gone, could Fairy help us rebuild the Proxy business from scratch?”
“Affirmative. Although I cannot recover the deleted data, I can rebuild the database.”
“I possess unrestricted access to over 80% of the smart devices in this entire city.”
“Could you hack into Billy, then?” Li Qianqiao asked curiously.
Ever since he started playing Zenless Zone Zero, Li Qianqiao had this question.
After all, Billy claimed to be made of lost technology.
If Fairy could successfully hack into him, wouldn’t that mean she knew Billy’s background?!
“Searching for keyword: Billy. Based on the match, there are tens of thousands of individuals with this name in New Eridu. Please be more specific and accurate.”
Belle was a bit worried, “Is this a good idea? What if something goes wrong with Billy?”
“Don’t worry, Sis Belle. We’re not really hacking Billy, just testing Fairy’s abilities.” Li Qianqiao reassured her.
“To be exact: Billy Kid, the official employee of the Cunning Hares.”
“Located Billy Kid of the Cunning Hares. This individual is an employee of the odd-job agency Cunning Hares. Hacking into the individual’s browser history. Contents include: Second-hand Starlight Knight belts for sale, How to properly ask your boss for a bonus, Monica’s Late Night xxx…”
“STOP!!! Get to the point!” Belle’s face flushed red, and she hurriedly stopped Fairy from digging any deeper.
“Negative. I cannot hack into this individual. Although the target falls under the category of smart devices, he does not belong to the technological era of this time. Therefore, he is not within that 80%.”
Wise nodded, having gained a clear understanding of Fairy.
Being able to search for Billy’s information in such a short time was no simple feat.
Although hackers could do it, no ordinary hacker could do it this fast.
“Since we know your capabilities, Fairy, how do you plan to help us?”
“With my assistance, cumulative Hollow data acquisition will no longer be necessary. Real-time analysis of Hollow evacuation routes will become possible.”
“I have filtered commissions suitable for your current status from the Hollow Investigative Association’s private intelligence gathering station, commonly known as the anonymous forum, Inter-Knot.”
“Please choose the execution time according to your schedule and personal preferences. A pleasure cooperating with you, Master.”
With that, Fairy went offline.
Wise spoke up, saying he had just checked and the commissions on Inter-Knot were indeed suitable for their new account’s level, and the rewards were decent.
But there was no rush; letting Belle rest up first was the priority.
Li Qianqiao stepped forward and volunteered:
“Sis Belle, you just rest easy. Leave the commissions to me! Even though you only assigned me video store work, I can help handle commissions. Even if it means going into the Hollow, I’m not afraid!”
Belle was amused by Li Qianqiao’s eager-to-please attitude, so she agreed.
Wise suddenly had a great idea and said to Li Qianqiao, “A-Qiao, why don’t you register an Inter-Knot account too? It would be your own personal account, and the income would be yours. What do you say?”
Li Qianqiao thought about it; it was a great idea.
In the future, they would definitely be facing Fairy’s massive electricity bills.
If he worked hard now, he might even be able to save up some pocket money.
Wise quickly set up the account and asked Li Qianqiao what name he wanted to use.
“Just call it ‘FAIZ’ .”
And so, the Kamen Rider of New Eridu was born.
…
So what happened?
What about the video the hacker posted?
Oh, right, almost forgot about that.
While Belle was unconscious, for some reason, that video was suddenly suppressed.
Now, it couldn’t be found on any other websites, and netizens had stopped discussing it.
If anyone posted a thread asking about it, within an hour, the thread would disappear.
And the person… would disappear too.
The authorities stepped in, claiming it was the spread of false information.
But Li Qianqiao knew that someone had their eyes on it, someone with massive influence.
But Li Qianqiao didn’t care about that right now.
Over the past few days of doing commissions, Fairy gradually revealed her true nature as an ‘Electricity Hog’.
Looking at the exorbitant daily electricity bills, Li Qianqiao felt a headache coming on.
Belle and Wise were also troubled.
Anyone would be annoyed if their expenses suddenly skyrocketed like that.
But there was nothing they could do; they just had to deal with it.
And so, Li Qianqiao began his daily grind as a wage slave.