After glancing at the target photo on the file, Takatsuki Izumi looked at the information that followed:
"Asagi Aiba, 16 years old, graduated from the University of Sydney in Australia. Oh, a genius who graduated early?"
Skipping over the background details, Takatsuki Izumi looked at the target's current situation:
"Chief Cybersecurity Officer at Chaos Industrial Group in America?"
"Came to Japan 7 days ago, responsible for building the cybersecurity department for Chaos Industrial Group's Japan branch..."
"What's the deal with this Chaos Industrial Group?"
At this point, Tatara, who was driving, said expressionlessly:
"According to Kirishima's investigation, it seems to be an American company specialising in medical equipment, only recently starting to develop international business."
"An American company..."
Takatsuki Izumi scratched her head, then contacted the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System to request a list of American companies. After scanning it and finding no Chaos Industrial Group, she relaxed:
"It seems it's a small company, no need to be too wary."
"But, speaking of which, how did you guys come across this girl?"
At this, Tatara still explained expressionlessly:
"Kirishima accidentally ran into her at the café where he works part-time."
"At the time, she was operating a computer and managed to infiltrate several official Japanese government websites within three minutes, creating cross-referenced identities for certain individuals."
"Oh? A hacker?"
Takatsuki Izumi's eyes lit up, her tone turning playful:
"Speaking of which, wasn't that yakuza boss who recently became blood kin constantly complaining about the undocumented Chinese immigrants who couldn't get credit cards? Could this girl solve that problem?"
As a former man-eating species, Takatsuki Izumi held no particular objections to Japanese organised crime.
As for why a Japanese yakuza boss was Chinese, she cared even less.
After all, her only concern was the transportation industry the yakuza boss was involved in, hoping to use their channels to ship some contraband when necessary. Helping them resolve their subordinates' identity issues would both convenience herself and test Asagi Aiba's capabilities.
If the girl could truly manage this, she wouldn't mind recommending her to the SDS's cybersecurity department.
"I wouldn't know." Tatara replied quite honestly: "After all, I don't understand computers."
Hearing this, Takatsuki Izumi didn't comment, but instead turned and handed the photo to Shizuka Hio:
"Well? What do you think of this girl? Any urge to bite her neck?"
Upon hearing this, Shizuka Hio cast a cold glance at Takatsuki Izumi, her tone icy:
"Creating blood kin only requires them to drink my blood, not for me to drink theirs."
"Moreover, the research department has developed special blood coagulants for me. I don't need to drink human blood."
Having met with rejection from Shizuka Hio, Takatsuki Izumi didn't mind, instead saying cheerfully:
"Just joking. If we successfully recruit her, this girl would essentially become your kin. Isn't it better to find her agreeable rather than disagreeable?"
Faced with Takatsuki Izumi's words, Shizuka Hio merely stated indifferently:
"Boring."
At this, Takatsuki Izumi shrugged, turning back to lean against the car sofa:
"Fine then, Tatara, take us to where the target is now. Your people should be monitoring her, right?"
To this, Tatara simply nodded: "She should be at her rented apartment now. Kirishima is watching her."
"Excellent, let's head straight there!"
With Takatsuki Izumi's sweeping gesture, the car immediately started and slowly pulled out of the side street.
...
Meanwhile.
Inside a van.
Yomi Isayama wore oversized headphones covering half her head as she sat on her sofa, slowly cleaning her beloved sword.
Beside her sat Noriyuki Izuna in a black suit, his expression as lifeless as a corpse.
Across from Yomi Isayama, a man and a woman similarly sat on sofas.
The two were special agents directly under the Countermeasures Office for Abnormal Creatures - the man named Oshima Hiroshi, the woman Asakura Rei, both originating from imperial shrine Onmyoji backgrounds, serving as Yomi Isayama's partners for this mission.
However, unlike the Isayama family, these two were genuine shrine system graduates - 7th term graduates of the Onmyou Agency, rumoured to be Divine General candidates.
Perhaps due to the status difference, Yomi Isayama hadn't communicated with the pair beyond exchanging names throughout the journey.
But this was inconsequential to Yomi Isayama.
After all, all she needed to do was complete this mission and hand over the corresponding intelligence to the regularly visiting SDS intelligence personnel.
The thoughts of the two people opposite her were completely irrelevant to her.
Just as Yomi Isayama was silently wiping her blade, the headset she wore transmitted the voice of a logistics staff member:
[Target's whereabouts confirmed. Currently monitoring via surveillance systems. Relevant personnel, please proceed to the vicinity of Mihuamachi Library and await further instructions.]
Hearing this, Yomi Isayama couldn't help but open her eyes, her gaze calm and cool.
'Time to get to work.'
...
In an apartment near Mihuamachi Library.
Inside unit 505.
In the living room piled with cardboard boxes.
Asagi Aiba, who had been dragged into overtime by her boss right after finishing work, was slumped over her computer, complaining with full resentment:
"So... why am I currently stuck with this broken computer trying to hack into a massive server protected by an intelligent AI?"
"Don't you think this request of yours is completely unreasonable?"
"This is like asking me to rob a bank with nothing but a piece of wire - even an idiot would know that's impossible, right?"
With that, Asagi Aiba slammed her hand on the computer, turned around, and shouted furiously toward the dining table in the living room:
"And yet, while I'm busy working, you're all eating the hotpot I bought?!"
"Have you no shame?!"
"Even if you say that..."
Giada Kukulcan, the ruler of the Chaos Zone and Third Primogenitor, swallowed a fish ball and muttered:
"But the fish balls are really delicious!!"
"I actually think this Kobe beef is quite good... very rich and oily."
Miss Evangeline, holder of the Thirteen Apostles certification issued by the Five Great Powers and known as the Gospel of Immortality, was calmly holding a plastic bowl while waiting for the perfect moment to cook the beef.
Krul, also one of the Thirteen Apostles, rested her chin on one hand while holding chopsticks:
"The flavour is indeed acceptable, but why are we eating hotpot in this place?"
Giada swallowed another fish ball at this point, then blew on it with a huff:
"Because we need to demonstrate our capabilities in the upcoming negotiations~"
Speaking up to here, Giada said with a cheerful laugh:
"So, I've asked my chief electronics expert, Asagi, to infiltrate the Hidden Management Department's servers and try to locate Luo Shu's computer~"
"Just imagine, if Luo Shu is working and his computer suddenly starts typing by itself, what expression would he make then?"
"That scene should be quite amusing, don't you think?"
Hearing this, Krul finally couldn't resist commenting:
"That scene would indeed be interesting, but... this seems to demonstrate Asagi Aiba's capabilities, doesn't it? What does it have to do with us?"
"It has nothing to do with you, but it has everything to do with me!" Giada declared righteously, puffing out her chest: "Asagi is my subordinate!!"
Krul: "..."
Evangeline: "..."
'For some reason, I really feel like punching her!' x2