Chapter 520: NO．103：Ascending, falling, neither up nor down

NO．103：Ascending, falling, neither up nor down

pm9:21, Chaldea.

"Finally~ it's over, can we rest now?"

"Or should we go get another meal?"

"Huh? You haven't eaten enough at the banquet, I really can't help you, senior~ Want to go get a late-night snack together?"

"No, I have to go to the control room to hand in a report; you go ahead."

"Then should I greet them?"

"Or maybe not, let everyone rest a bit."

"It's mainly because you want to rest, right?"

"Tomorrow, could you trouble yourself to show me around?"

"Okay~ okay~"

As the core of a group, one is always especially busy, and when that group rises to the scope of the entire organization, this busyness inevitably multiplies.

When Fujimaru Ritsuka returned to the real world, after finally breaking away from the comrades-in-arms team she had previously commanded in battle, she saw a man in a black suit in the distance waving at her.

That ill‑intentioned smile clearly came from having watched a joke for a while.

"You should have pulled me out earlier, Justice big brother."

Even if the acquaintance is brief, as long as they have fought together on the battlefield, the label 'comrade' can easily bridge two different worlds and people whose ages are far apart.

They formed a simple yet stable bond.

"You really can say such an embarrassing nickname out loud, Fujimaru."

"Huh? Is it embarrassing? The doctor isn't also called Roman?"

"Roman and 'Justice' aren't the same, are they? There are lots of people called Roman, but few called Justice."

"But wasn't that 'Justice big brother' name chosen by him himself?"

"……Jie Si Ti Si, fine!" After a moment of silence, the man who had first let his guard down continued to shout.

But unfortunately, the problem you care so much about is often not important in others' eyes.

"Whatever, didn't you steer the topic off‑course? You could have pulled me out just now!"

"If I did that, I'd be stared at by those girls for a long time, and I might even get kicked out of Chaldea for some random reason today."

"How could that happen? Nobody would let that happen."

"You mean it won't happen because it'll be stopped? Sometimes you still let a bit of malice slip out, Fujimaru."

"That's just your illusion, Justice big brother," said Fujimaru Ritsuka, showing an utterly sincere smile to lend credibility to her words, and then noticed the stack of papers the man was holding in his hand, "Big brother, do you also have to go file a report?"

"Ah," the man who was asked also lowered his eyes to look at the paper in his hand; although he was a super agent who could roam freely in the data world, he still honestly wrote out a page of paper, "Even though I'm only a temporary member here, I suppose it's better to follow the rules."

"But hardly anyone bothers to follow the rule of writing action reports."

"... Is that really the case?"

"Exactly, look at those bb's earlier—they just disbanded and went to rest."

"... Anyway, since it's already written, Fujimaru, you also have to file a report, right?"

"I definitely have to file a report—I'm the commander!" Fujimaru sounded resigned, or rather, the servants don't need to write those reports because the Master takes care of them altogether.

"Normally you also can't expect those proud and arrogant kings to honestly sit down and write a memorial."

"Never mind! In any case, we'll receive it!"

The tough‑mouthed super agent said this and started walking, while the Master, who had considerable experience dealing with such people, merely smiled and kept pace, saying: "Yes, we'll receive it, and paper copies are handy for preserving important reports,"

"Important……"

Jie Si Ti Si seemed lost in thought, which in turn made Fujimaru Ritsuka a little surprised.

"I heard you were summoned by Aomo big brother to go to the New World to rescue that informant—isn't investigating the New World's structure important?"

"The New World's structure is indeed important; that world has become a singularity centered on a single person, but at the same time it's Mr. Lindon alone who is responsible for the exploration and search."

"He did it all on his own? I thought that was just a rumor spreading by word of mouth."

"It's not a rumor; he really did it alone, in a way I don't quite understand…" Jie Si Ti Si recalled, saying, "But that informant was originally developed by him as well—probably there's some cipher only they know."

Especially at the end……

"By the way, Fujimaru, do you know what special significance the basement has?"

"...?"

Even though the Master is a veteran of Singularities and Lostbelts, hearing this also left them a bit puzzled, unable to give an answer right away—yet the sensor door of the control room had already swung open.

The operators at the row of control consoles were quite competent, not turning their heads, while the projection in the center showing the Chaldea director, Olga Marie, immediately noticed the opened door.

"Jie Si Ti Si, you came at just the right time! Have you written the report?"

"Huh?"

The man and Fujimaru Ritsuka standing beside him exchanged a glance, both seeing the doubt in each other's eyes.

After that brief exchange, the super agent didn't expect his report to receive any attention, merely thinking of it as accompanying Lixiang for a stretch.

And Lixiang was used to being called out by the director as soon as she entered, but this time the target suddenly changed—to the man looking at her, who then turned back and pointed at himself, saying, "Me?"

"It's not you, who else!" Even the smart projection kept its usual red‑orange outfit, showing that she indeed liked that Olga Marie attire, and her pointing gesture remained as forceful as ever: "You weren't running synchronous detection in that Singularity, were you?"

"Hmm, yes." Upon hearing that, Jie Si Ti Si turned his gaze to the distant rotating Earth model projection.

Chaldea Atlas Institute, although it has become the main server of the data‑side world, can also serve as a carrier for data simulation.

In previous operations, it likewise served as Fujimaru Ritsuka's intelligence channel during Chaldea's combat.

Likewise, upon hearing that he and Aomo were heading together to the New World to seek the informant, Vlad III and Lixiang successively offered this technical assistance.

Originally intended to prevent accidents, but since no accident occurred, it didn't matter.

Jie Si Ti Si didn't really care about that either.

Of course, to be honest, nobody paid attention at that time.

Although the detection of the new world and the battlefield detection of the urban base were both on the same screen in the Chaldea Control Room…… the staff of the Control Room were obviously also paying attention to the movements on one side of the battlefield, even though the fighting there had already reached its end.

Otherwise, Aomo Lindun might still have had luck contacting via Thus character: "Jie Si Ti Si"'s communication, feeling the chatter in the Chaldea chat room.

But now it seems the chatter hasn't disappeared; it's merely been upgraded to a blunt rebuke:

"Why haven't we heard even a hint of news about new life?!"

"New life?"

The two at the door again showed question marks, but fortunately the short and chubby youth beside the projection turned his head and explained: "Just now we were reviewing the operation, and we discovered that in the new world explored by Mr. Thus character: "Jie Si Ti Si", there is actually a fourth life signal."

"A fourth signal?" Thus character: "Jie Si Ti Si" immediately furrowed his brow.

I, Mr. Lindun, and Mr. Tewei'er as the master of the world, besides that, the fourth……

It's hard to believe, but I recalled the words Mr. Lindun once asked him:

"Does anyone else still exist in this world?"

"Yes, the fourth signal, the fourth signal whose identity cannot be identified," the short and chubby youth continued to explain, "At 7 minutes 41 seconds into Mr. Lindun's operation, it had been following him all along, and even the spatial jump phenomenon afterward was transferred together, but at 10 minutes 20 seconds, that is, when you left, it was left there."

"That fluctuation is obviously a creature with a soul strength similar to that of a human!" The Director obviously wanted to slam the table, but since she was only a projection, her hand merely passed through the console,"We suspect that's a person!!"

"……"

"Regardless of whether it's a person, being left in that world means only a dead end for him, yet you act as if you know nothing."

"Director, calm down," Tengwan tried to soothe, "It's still just suspicion, and Brother Thus character: "Jie Si Ti Si" should indeed not know; the actual operation was handled by Brother Aomo."

"Besides, Director, I should also blame myself for not reminding in time…"

The short and chubby youth was also doing the usual post-operation pot allocation, but strictly speaking, everyone in the Control Room hadn't noticed the other side, including the commander who applied for observation permission for Thus character: "Jie Si Ti Si" and a certain soldier (who was still on the battlefield at that time).

"No… that kind of world couldn't possibly have life," the super agent felt his common sense being challenged,"Creating inorganic matter and creating organic matter are two concepts; that kind of data could even less generate an electronic soul."

"Are you saying Shiba's observation is wrong?" The Director, who had indeed calmed down, couldn't bear to hear that.

The near-future observation lens Shiba, taken from the name of a certain servant of Chaldea, made specially for observing the Chaldea Atlas Institute, can truly be called a satellite camera simulating Earth.

Although the details cannot be seen, it can still sense many environmental variables including the magic power index, and can likewise confirm the existence of spiritual entities.

"Let's review once more, Director," Tengwan Lixiang said, turning to glance at the still-thinking super agent,"Looking at Brother Thus character: "Jie Si Ti Si"'s reaction, it's obvious Brother Aomo also didn't notice that fourth life form."

"……" Upon hearing that, the man's brow suddenly furrowed.

Mr. Lindun, did he really not notice?

He recalled the last words of the other party and Mr. Tewei'er, which sounded to him like comfort.

He also recalled the other party's strange question at the beginning, as well as the seemingly superfluous probe claw in front of the rooftop gate.

For the first time, Thus character: "Jie Si Ti Si".

Or rather, Wa'er Pulan.

Felt a slight chill.

Able to transform into a fighter jet, able to shuttle through data, always a super agent of technological product ttk.

Experienced a slight supernatural shock.

Although that actually has nothing to do with the supernatural.

——

"Goal… 'Ascension', 'Understanding'; for this, seek 'Reference'."

""Observer", confirm the matter, then make contact once more with the "Observer"."

"sphere, inso, orbital index, failure, singularity, excess."

"Failed to grasp, star."

"Retrieve individual, obtain, new energy integration."

(End of chapter)