"Clang!"
The three people with bird-beak masks on their heads had completed their weapon resupply. Since this time they were near home, they wouldn't have to constantly snatch weapons from enemies.
Kazuma carried a keyboard bag, which contained a small sickle, a pistol, a dagger, three miner's hats with high-brightness lights, a bottle of pepper spray, a lighter, a bottle of hairspray, and several high-quality handcuffs and restraint ropes bought from an adult store, along with a highlighter and a voice recorder.
Keli carried a guitar bag, specially filled with bullets and a shotgun, and a specially bought meat cleaver. He also held a steel hook in his hand.
Kirigaya Kazuto carried a longer bass bag, which contained the katana. Since he had practiced kendo, this weapon was given to him at his strong request. At his waist were also two curved blades, specially made by the mermen, which he had brought from Far Moon Resort at that time.
To conceal the items at their waists and avoid getting into trouble with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department before encountering any real danger, all three hid their equipment under black overcoats.
Next door, Fengchuan Xiangzi, who had just told Wakaba Mutsumi not to tell her friends about her situation, arrived at the door and saw this scene.
Her eyes lit up. Before, she had seen Keli going out alone with a guitar bag at dusk. Now, these three masked figures were clearly the three people living next door.
Looking at their attire… could it be… could it be a masked band?!
And with that Victorian-era style clothing and unique flair, they were probably a pure masked band!
Perhaps even a band with its own world view! Getting dressed up and heading out at this hour, they must be going to a Livehouse to perform their own Live!
Fengchuan Xiangzi, who had always yearned for such dark and profound world-view bands, looked over with some envy. Since the other party's eyes were hidden under the bird beaks, Fengchuan Xiangzi didn't know if they had noticed her. She nodded slightly towards them, as if greeting them, then lifted her foot and walked into the house.
She walked through the common area, arrived at the new home she shared with her father, and opened the door.
"Hey! Xiangzi, where have you been? So much furniture still hasn't been arranged. Oh, and when you're done, help me buy some beer. Be careful."
Upon entering, she heard that decadent voice. Fengchuan Xiangzi hooked her lip with her barely visible fangs.
…
Meanwhile, the masked band of three circled around a few times, finding a spot far from the main road and without surveillance cameras.
Kazuma pulled out a flashlight and shined it on the manhole cover on the ground, which was stamped with Pikachu and Gyarados, then looked at Keli.
Keli, in turn, took out an iron hook and gently pulled on the manhole cover. The moss and small weeds growing in the cracks between the manhole cover and the surrounding road surface subtly shifted. The heavy cover, which would require a lot of force for an ordinary person to lift, opened easily with a single hook. Fortunately, the famous incident of a Tokyo council member stealing manhole covers with his son in the middle of the night hadn't happened yet, so Tokyo's manhole covers hadn't been fitted with any anti-theft devices.
In the night, a dark hole appeared on the street in Tokyo. The three bird-headed figures exchanged glances, put on their miner's hats over their masks, turned on their lights, and then shined them down to confirm the ladder's position and that nothing was below. Kazuma began to climb down first.
Then came Kirito, and finally Keli. Keli used the steel hook to pull the manhole cover shut.
The road quickly returned to silence, but about half a minute after the trio had descended, several old women and old men suddenly emerged furtively from beside the manhole cover.
"Wait, I just saw from my window that they came here, and they were dressed terrifyingly."
"But there's no one here?"
Another person responded strangely.
Unaware of what was happening above, the trio had now reached Tokyo's drainage system.
Tokyo is located by the sea, and its internal waterways are numerous, including the Edogawa River, a tributary of the Arakawa, and the famous Kamo River, among others.
Although the roads above ground are laughably narrow due to the concentrated population density, the drainage system is by no means shoddy.
There's even a dedicated Tokyo Metropolitan Sewerage Bureau, which has created an official website, and a Tokyo Metropolitan Sewerage Association, which regularly holds related exhibitions to show how they treat various wastewater and protect the environment.
Although Japan and environmental protection linked together can also easily make one laugh.
The surrounding circular brick walls were covered in moss. Under their feet was a narrow path, and next to it was the centralized drainage waterway. On the other side of the waterway was another path, but that path had many pipes facing the waterway, which must be the centralized drainage area.
If one ignored the dark, oppressive environment and the murky water below, this could perhaps be considered a stroll along a riverbank.
Sato Kazuma pulled out a fluorescent marker from his keyboard bag and drew on the wall, marking that they had come down from here.
After all, the trio had already anticipated the extensive underground water network. They didn't want to go down here and then, the next morning, try to come out only to find themselves humorously in the middle of a road.
"Pick a direction."
Keli twisted his bird-head to look at Kazuma, the bright light from Keli's head nearly sending Kazuma to his joyful demise.
"Turn your head, turn your head!"
After emphasizing it a few times, Kazuma casually pointed in one direction.
The trio began to unholster their melee weapons, placing their firearms at their waists, and walked in that direction.
Some parts of the sewer were lit, while others were not constantly illuminated. Underground, it was pitch black, with only the strong lights on their heads illuminating their surroundings.
Kirito felt a bit nervous. Although he had experienced supernatural events at the resort before.
But in this dark environment, it almost gave him PTSD.
Continuous walls, dim paths, geckos occasionally crawling on the walls that he mistook for monsters, and rats scurrying on the ground, stimulated by the light.
This place directly made him hallucinate Aincrad's labyrinth, reminding him of a girl he couldn't save in the labyrinth because he had hidden his strength.
Kazuma also seemed to be unable to stand this environment, so he spoke to lighten the mood.
"Speaking of which, there's no need to be too nervous. These paths were built for people to walk on. The water patrol officers should need to inspect each sewer outlet along the paths every few days to ensure there are no malfunctions."
"Of course, they might also just lie in their offices, send temporary workers out to take a few photos and bring them back, and then fire the hired workers and bow in apology when something goes wrong."
Keli replied.
Kazuma instantly fell silent.
At this moment, the trio hadn't noticed one thing: to mask the smell, they had put on masks and sprayed perfume, but this perfume might also mask hidden scents.
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