Chapter 118: You also have to cover for people, right?

Have you ever thought that your so-called 'friend' has only grudgingly acknowledged you for years, simply because Suzi's everyday performance is really unreliable?

"……"

Think again—if you put me and her side by side, don't I seem more like someone who can solve problems?

Is this… the reason the 'friend' specifically named you?

I can see she's also a major reason; I believe you know better than I do the fact she doesn't want people to see in her daily life.

Hmm… I understand.

Understanding is enough.

Aomo from Hunan lay back again, thinking this sort of thing didn't need to be asked—any normal person could figure it out. Manchester Tea Seat and Zhouri Ningjing are indeed like sisters, both sharing the same 'dark under the lamp'.

One who has known Suzi for too long, seeing her slight improvement up to now, probably has a memory filter.

One who clearly moves around as a spiritual body with a consistent species identity feels no issue; although there's no stronger evidence, Aomo thinks eighty percent of the trouble with his title stems from that Horse Girl identity.

This isn't a matter of intuition or not; simply… you can't treat the opposite side as an idiot, can you?

Aomo felt that encountering a stupid old zongzi was already a once-in-a-thousand-years occurrence; seeing another oddball would merit burning high incense.

Then, not considering the possibility that the other side is an idiot, this move has somewhat alerted the enemy.

One could even consider that his swift reaction is because his 'potential teammate' alerted the enemy earlier.

After all, according to Zhouri Ningjing's account, there are still some Horse Girls investigating this matter, and they're doing so from reality—this sounds like it would easily raise alarm.

Even if she puts on an 'not expecting', 'not hoping' dismissive attitude, that doesn't mean Yuger Company won't pay attention, does it?

You're playing internal contempt here, but to the other side we're all in the same gang!

Even if we don't ally, we should at least confirm each other's movements so we don't drag each other down.

Now, even not directly dragging someone down just adds difficulty—could it be that Zhouri Ningjing isn't just looking down, but that she wouldn't even initiate contact with the other side?

After all, the traits she currently shows really don't seem like the sunny type.

Aomo, the more he thought, the more troubled he became, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead, looking as if he had a fever.

Then the earnest girl approached: 'Your body… feeling unwell? Trainer…'

"No, just a bit worried," Aomo, belatedly lowering his hand, turned to look at Chazuo—it was rare that he had to look up to her—'Chazuo classmate, since you've cleared up the confusion, aren't you going to look for Suzi?'

"No need," Chazuo shook her head, 'Suzi went to the library… that means she's busy, and besides, Trainer, you can tell me your worries—it won't… be related to Suzi, right?'

"Not exactly—it's a real-world problem, and it's not convenient to discuss with students. You having this concern is enough, and actually I need rest more right now."

This is pretty obvious—Chazuo could see the clear bloodshot in the other's eyes, and that face showed a belated sense of guilt:

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize; think about it—this worry can't be rushed. I'll just try to keep resting. Good night for now."

"…" She glanced at the curtain faintly letting light through, Manchester Tea Seat turned her head back and gave an obedient nod.

"Good night, Trainer."

After many twists, Aomo's speed of falling asleep was on par with Daxiong's.

He even had the leisure of no dreams disturbing him thanks to deep sleep.

Insomnia hardly needs a visit to the infirmary for medicine; the meditation method, already widespread as a basic part of Origin Energy Cultivation courses, can resolve most mental unrest, and the remainder belongs to qi deviation.

Aomo naturally wouldn't suffer qi deviation, but the other side, Zhouri Ningjing, using the convenience of her spiritual body to swiftly traverse, could encounter qi‑deviated ones in the secondary network realm where information travels fastest.

This is also the norm in the secondary network realm.

This place is essentially the unlawful spot nearest the third‑level bottom layer.

From the data world's bottom layer rise virus‑type digital beasts; one side evades net police while still being dishonest cyber criminals, convenience‑seekers, time‑pressed channel borrowers; also occasionally coming here to try to scoop up performance are net police, researchers testing new antivirus tech, and cyber hackers looking to spar.

Beneath the data world lies a transport hub, with no fixed security checks, so naturally all kinds of people gather.

Zhouri Ningjing is naturally a convenience‑seeker, time‑pressed channel borrower; after all, though Aomo has muttered about her broken mask, she still lacks the convenient shift of resonance transfer.

But frankly, resonance transfer isn't necessarily faster than the network express.

Precisely because such a convenient direct channel exists, the high‑speed transfer equipment installed in most major cities hasn't specially considered the stability of soul passengers.

We already have direct high‑speed rail—what do we need bicycles for? Go to the electronic network!

However, the electronic network has many routes, and generally it's not advised to use the secondary network.

Just like the digital 'bandit' Zhouri Ningjing is handling right now—this place sees thousands of traffic accidents daily, but because the 'passenger volume' is so huge, the accident rate isn't noticeable.

Here, the cause of the vast majority of traffic accidents is simple: there's always some overconfident criminal trying to collect tolls.

Among them, the proportion involving digital beasts is quite high.

After all, the middle‑lower stratum of this group contains large numbers of aggressive simpletons.

And those digital beasts that can rise from the bottom‑layer shit‑mountain code to the secondary network are either strong‑leaning or weak‑leaning.

The strong‑leaning ones can break through the protective net; the weak‑leaning ones slip through it; both can briefly leave the digital world to gain experience in the secondary network.

Full of enthusiasm for racing the electronic realm, but more so due to a habitual habit of harming others without benefiting themselves, they've grown accustomed to actively attacking others.

And then… mostly there's no afterwards.

Just like the digital beast that Zhouri Ningjing kicked apart into data, merging into the electronic realm, it inevitably meets its doom.

Three cyber hackers skilled in electronic‑world combat, four mature‑stage virus‑type digital beasts—this is a fairly luxurious blocking combo, yet it still can't stop Zhouri Ningjing.

Spirits that flee into the electronic network are also turned into data; that data is the whole soul's information, and the stronger the soul, the more solid and powerful its data becomes.

A dying digital beast's last words are often a cry for 'Ultimate Form,' but that utterance can't help its comrades.

Zhouri Ningjing made a fist with her hand and raised her leg to contend.

She wasn't holding a weapon, and she didn't need one.

Her punch shattered the data‑condensed defense, and her leg broke the weapon the hacker held.

These are all data.

In the clash of data versus data, the black‑haired horse girl held absolute advantage; even if the opponent tried to flee, they couldn't escape a horse girl.

In the end, all were killings without exception; even if the opponent begged for mercy, it was useless.

The black-haired horse girl's aura was as dark as her trench coat, Hei'an; her golden eyes overflowed with an inhuman coldness that inspired awe, just like her sister's state when sensing spirit particles.

They were indeed sisters, and the Detective observing this scene clearly understood that.

She then leapt down from the upper layer of that relatively high-speed data stream, landing exactly on the fragment where she had momentarily paused, gazing at Zhouri Ningjing, who had turned her head.

"You look upset; perhaps you could come to my office for a coffee."

Upon hearing this, Zhouri Ningjing's captivating golden light in her eyes retracted, but her disgust was plainly written across her face: "Are you here to worsen my mood? Muhai Xingzi."

"What a sad reaction; I'm sincerely inviting you." The blonde sexy woman stepped closer.

Unlike her revealing outfit that showed off her figure, her tone was neither frivolous nor casual, but rather carried an air of seriousness.

"How have you been lately?"

"Just seeing you makes my mood worse." Zhouri Ningjing said, then turned and plunged into an even faster data stream.

But this didn't shake her off, after all, in data manipulation the opponent was far more of an expert than she was—so familiar it was like coming home.

"Don't rush off; I still need your help with the investigation."

Muhai Xingzi followed at the same speed without being shaken off, and the force she unleashed by raising her hand further solidified a movable space where they could talk.

"Finally, no more nonsense?"

"It's not small talk; I was trying to be polite like ordinary people, as my two assistants both advised me, and they've really been…" She paused, then said, "Ah, sorry, I've gone off topic again."

"Opening remarks are just empty, pretentious nonsense literature; of course, your habitual digressions are also," Zhouri Ningjing's gaze was calm and sharp, as if she wanted to see through the opponent's false humanoid shell and perceive the form of some hidden thing,"Is it Ura who sent you?"

"That's unfortunate, no." Muhai Xingzi shook her head, "The President merely asked me early on to look after you; the one who truly wants me to find you is a certain junior of yours with considerable detective talent."

"Follow the Patron?"

Zhouri Ningjing frowned slightly and immediately spoke the rather special horse girl's name.

A junior from the same Anmei District as her, who should have been running at the racetrack at that age, but instead overly focused on information gathering, thus early on came into contact with many topics students shouldn't.

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The only junior with Detective talent is this one.

Te Leisen's Kongzhong Shengong, Pipa Chen Guang, and Rongjin Shanyao—although each had their own talents, to her they weren't familiar enough to be considered juniors.

As for that follower of the Patron…

She knew they admired her, but mere admiration couldn't bring them here; she had trained her own intelligence staff and didn't want to get involved with students still in school.

But given the current result, her rejection seemed to have had no effect.

"That's right, she wants me to pass along a message," Muhai Xingzi directly admitted those words, "The Heavenly Wolf Star symbolizes that gang being hindered by monsters; the other side should be fully on guard, so don't act rashly."

Zhouri Ningjing heard this, turned her head to look at the fluctuating data sea, remained silent for a few seconds, sighed, and then looked at her again.

"Alright, I'll go to the other realm and bring them back."