"Alright… so in short, you just want the AI deleted, yeah?"
Rain scratched her hair, flipping her wrench as she turned toward the monitor. After staring for a moment, her fingers suddenly dropped onto the keyboard.
Tap tap tap!
Like a string of emotions being played out, Phaga could almost hear a swarm of wild bees erupting as Rain wiped out all the [Murderer Core Code] in mere moments.
"Oh, right."
Rain suddenly remembered something and tilted her head.
"Hey, should I rewrite a basic AI for you? Sacrifice No. 2's biggest feature is its ability to forcibly merge with metal and Ether constructs. Without AI assistance, you'll have to operate it manually."
Phaga froze but said nothing.
Not that he needed to.
Moments later, Rain's typing suddenly stopped. She cursed under her breath:
"Damn it—lying in wait for me, huh?!"
"What happened?" Phaga stepped up behind her.
Rain inhaled deeply, resisting the urge to curse outright. She pointed at the streaming data on the screen.
"Look here—ugh, no. You can't understand what I'm pointing at anyway."
She slapped her forehead, suddenly remembering that Phaga had come to her precisely because he didn't know hacking. Her face reddened, and she quickly turned away from Phaga's puzzled stare, clearing her throat as if nothing had happened.
A moment later, Rain faced away from Phaga and lectured like a teacher:
"Put simply, even though Sacrifice No. 2's firewall is basically a joke, the whole system is built on generations of inherited garbage code. There's nowhere clean to even step. Only the original Murderer Core Code didn't mind, happily lying on that trash heap."
Huh?
Phaga's mouth twitched, his brow lifting as he fought the urge to comment.
Rain sighed.
"Meaning, this system's compatibility is unbelievably terrible. It's probably some kind of defensive design—it only works with the original AI code. I can't even overlay a new AI of my own."
Rain balanced the wrench in her palm, her fingers lifting its front end. Her fierce little eyes peered over the top, staring at the monitor like she was aiming a sniper rifle straight at the idiot who wrote this system, wishing she could blow his head off through the code itself.
"But it's not hopeless. We can rebuild the system from scratch. It's possible—if you're willing to fund me for five or six years. Then I definitely can."
Phaga rubbed his forehead, slowly backing away until he bumped into the wall with a dull thud.
"Five or six years… that's way too long. What if I pay extra? Can you finish in a week?"
He didn't know how Lycaon and the others had secured Victoria Housekeeping HQ. But unless the Black issue was resolved, the cloud hanging over him would never lift. A week felt like the absolute limit… after that, the sky would collapse with thunder and storms. And Phaga didn't want to be the scapegoat everyone vented on… right?
He shook his head and looked at Rain with hope.
Rain shoved him back, wagging a finger.
"Keep dreaming! Even if you worked me to death, there's no way I finish this in a week, got it?"
She turned back, puffing her cheeks as her fingers clattered across the keyboard.
"I'll give you three options."
"One: I restore the original AI. But you'll have to suppress Sacrifice No. 2's killing instinct at all times. It might turn around and stab you."
"Two: I delete the AI entirely. You'll lose a bunch of functions, but at least it won't be dangerous."
"Three… eh, unlikely… but I'll say it anyway. Find whoever wrote this garbage system, tell him his legacy code is unreadable, stick a knife to his throat, and make him rewrite it."
Uh…
Phaga couldn't help laughing helplessly. Drag Bern out of the vampire clan? He didn't even know which direction their door faced.
"And this system might not even be Bern's work…"
Phaga slapped his own face, lowering his hand slowly as the worry lingered.
"…Forget it. I'll think about it later."
Unable to come up with anything, he waved a hand.
"You must be hungry. Let's eat first. My youngest sister cooked—you'll like it."
"Sigh, fine. Just tell me when you've decided."
Rain hopped off the chair, brushing a hand through her hair as she pulled down her hood. Her mouth kept chewing—she'd forgotten she still had bubble gum in there.
Puff—pop!
The pink gum expanded and burst. Rain approached Phaga's side, rolled the gum back in with her tongue, and tilted her head.
"By the way, I've been wondering since you walked in—why are you carrying an umbrella?"
"Oh, that…"
Phaga reached behind him, swung Kunmutu to the front, and let his fingers glide over the umbrella's handle.
"Vampiric Evil Light. I use it to block the sun… And it's been with me for as long as I can remember. No matter where I go, whether it's useful or not—I'm just used to carrying it."
He tilted his head gently.
"Half the reason I wanted you to crack Sacrifice No. 2 is because of it. I want you to use Sacrifice No. 2 to upgrade it, make it stronger."
But Rain wasn't listening at all. Like a curious kid, she examined it from every angle.
"Hey, there's a hole in the front. Does it fire bullets?"
"This caliber is huge—is it more than just a sniper rifle?"
"Whoa~ the handle looks weird. Like a knife handle… and there's a seam. Did they hide a knife in there?"
"Hey, hey, Phaga—"
Phaga's face twisted. He'd expected a hacker to be more composed, but Rain was just as curious. He laughed bitterly.
"I'm saying, have you ever—ugh!"
Rain jabbed him in the stomach with an elbow.
Phaga cut off mid-sentence, looking down as Rain pointed.
Rain tapped the characters Kunmutu etched on the handle.
"Kunmutu… vampires made it?"
Phaga rolled his eyes and snatched it back.
"Obviously! Who besides vampires would dare use the name Kunmutu…?"
Wait—the umbrella was made by vampires.
A realization struck him. His fingers trembled, his face flushing with excitement.
He whipped his head toward Rain, staring intensely.
Rain had never seen him like this before. She shrank back nervously.
"What are you doing? Corin told me you have a girlfriend. Don't you dare—ah!!!"
The world spun. Under Ellen's shocked gaze, Rain was hoisted up and slammed back into the chair.
When Rain came to, the umbrella had been shoved into her arms. The characters Kunmutu gleamed before her.
She looked up blankly as Phaga said:
"Kunmutu has a basic AI too. See if it's compatible with Sacrifice No. 2."
If his abandonment wasn't an accident…
Phaga's eyes burned, his breath heavy, emotions tangled.
Rain raised a brow, gave him a strange look, then plugged Kunmutu into the computer.
"Don't get your hopes up. Based on what you said, your umbrella's older than you—real antique code. Sacrifice No. 2 uses cutting-edge tech. Building a system just to match modern tech with zombie code? Do vampires have so many dennies they're burning them for fun?"
Ding—data upload complete.
Rain's eyes widened instantly. Her jaw dropped wide enough to swallow the wrench in her hand.
A top hacker's rationality was crushed by sudden zombie code, then trampled again by the sheer wealth of vampires.
"Holy— you really are loaded or your family. Have some mercy on a poor little hacker and slip me a tiny cut, won't you?"