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“Even beasts use their heads when hunting, but these guys…!”

“Gyak, gyak.” Asif, who was cautiously surveying the atmosphere of the hallway, dissuaded Rosalyn, who was busy chewing out the outlaw gang with a fierce glint in her eyes and all her might.

“Conversely, there’s an easy way, and no one’s turning back. But… I don’t know if their equipment is good, or if there are exceptional modified humans. If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn’t have chosen an old train to save on operating costs. …Eek!”

He quickly ducked his head back in after seeing a bunch of guys passing by, firing a bullet or two menacingly at the ceiling.

It was a brief observation, but he fully grasped the mood of the group.

Despite having a smooth, even perfect start for a robbery, they were moving towards their destination as if being chased by something, without any余裕.

Even though they had an overwhelming advantage, their voices were wary, as if they were afraid of any resistance.

Petty robberies for livelihood are common, but when they get bigger, there are rules to follow.

…It’s unlikely, but there’s something I need to check just in case.

“Rosalyn, is there a city or business branch that can be reached by communication from here?”

“Yes? Communication… still extends to the edge of the Harvest Planet’s external base station, and the railway corporation branch also appears to be properly connected to the network… Ah.”

She made a dumbfounded expression as she found something strange in her words.

Asif, who had asked the question just in case, also frowned.

They have the nerve and guts to rob corporate property in such a remote place, yet they chose a quick resolution instead of basic signal blocking, which is a reckless idea that only a desperate thief would come up with, he thought with a sigh.

“Even mayflies are more careful than this! Even people from the era without super-wide-area computer networks wouldn’t be this uncivilized…!”

“They were either that desperate, or they couldn’t control their greed. Well, either way, it’s a disaster.”

Highway robbers and wanted criminals, wasteland petty criminals and resistance special forces members.

In a way, two members of the Five Eyes, who could be said to be their senior colleagues, gave their incompetent and ill-mannered juniors a failing grade.

If there was a difference, Rosalyn thought that the reinforcements that would be called in soon would crush them, so she didn’t have to worry too much. Asif, on the other hand, sensed the mess that would happen in the ‘process.’

“…Can you check the vehicle structure? Where are the loading bays on this old train? And a rough passenger list too.”

“?”

She tilted her head, but her head and hands faithfully brought up the passenger list and a schematic diagram (a three-dimensional representation of an object or structure) of the Astra Express train model as requested.

The commotion and screams that began to be heard from here and there disturbed his peace, but he focused on checking the blueprint that Rosalyn was showing him.

Large cargo compartments, one each at the front and rear. And the general compartments that must be passed through to reach them.

The front is okay. There weren’t many passengers, and the guys wouldn’t like being held back, so they would refrain from unnecessary fights on their own.

Besides… the moment they go further, ‘that young lady’ and the goblin who ate his arm will pop out, so they might self-destruct without having to worry about it.

…On the other hand, the rear compartment?

Among people from cities where individualism is rampant, no one would be dissatisfied if a gang quietly stole corporate goods. They might even secretly cheer them on.

But what if there were conditions that would make both passengers and the gang uncomfortable?

The cargo compartment is adjacent to a standing-room-only passenger car full of people.

If the robbers want to steal the goods, they will inevitably have to occupy the place and keep going back and forth, and the standing passengers will have to watch their luggage being stolen while mixed among the product boxes.

The very loud screams echoing inside the train right now guaranteed that a very difficult confrontation would soon turn into a head-on collision.

Bang!!

“You deaf morons…! Anyone with a gun, throw it on the floor! Anyone without one, put your hands up and stick to the wall, got it?!”

“Then, you son of a bitch, are we supposed to say ‘yay’ and follow you so you can shoot us easily??? Did your mom go out to buy men with the pocket money she was supposed to use to get you an Implant when you were little?!”

“…I’ll rip your heads off while you’re still alive…!!”

Loud laughter and curses followed.

The air vibrated with the noise made by nearly a hundred unspecified people.

……Somehow, the ordinary citizens who were furious from being crammed together with other passengers in a cramped space seemed angrier, but anyway.

Asif, who judged that a lot of innocent people would bleed if he just watched, rummaged through his bag and began to equip the remaining weapons.

“Haa… Doing corporate work is a bit meh….”

“…You can rest if you don’t feel like it. I’ll harass them moderately and retreat on my own when the time comes.”

“……”

Rosalyn belatedly realized that Asif, the leader, was also the type to have a lot of affection, which was why she felt a sense of déjà vu when she saw the kind Anastasia.

Still, her 고민 was short.

There was nothing else to do even if she stayed put in her seat with this gloomy mood. If so, it didn’t seem bad to help people while helping Asif. …And also, to recover her slightly fallen self-esteem.

“…I’ll keep sending camera video data and battlefield schematics to Cyberware for updates, so don’t break the CCTV out of habit!”

“That’s appreciated…!”

Kwaduk!!

Rosalyn’s fight also began when he rushed out with fierce momentum and split the head of a thief who was showing his back, stupidly only paying attention to the cargo compartment.

“Rear 60 degrees! I saw a guy loading a 20mm grenade launcher!”

“Time is… it’s been 11 minutes now, so if there’s anything else hidden, it’s about time….”

“No, more than that, leader!! If you don’t have enough hands to respond, don’t go in too deep!!”

Rear operators are often ignored because they don’t know the battlefield, but that’s just the whining of a rookie who has never received proper backup.

Asif was now fighting with his eyes almost closed.

Doesn’t it mean that people who are good at something still see it even when they close their eyes?

The phase data, which was constantly provided with almost no time lag, played a role similar to having eyes on the ceiling, so in this kind of chaotic situation, it was more efficient to trust the processed data that Rosalyn gave him than his limited vision.

“Which gang do you belong to!! If it’s a fight over territory, move the goods first and then…!”

“Either put down your guns and just steal the goods, or give up everything and retreat if you don’t want to.”

“What the hell are you talking about!!”

Tang!!

“Good job! Our leader!!”

Screams and gunshots erupted together from the boss who received a bizarre proposal from the current resistance fighter.

Of course, even if he did, the person in question had no intention of treating him more kindly, so the negotiations did not continue.

The enemies who were presumed to have unusual power during the initial attack had already been sunk.

They had been eliminated early on by Asif, who had no intention of allowing variables.

In the end, he was perfectly controlling the situation just by Rosalyn flexibly adjusting the terrain connected to the control system and calculating and sending the enemies’ equipment or expected bullet paths.

There were still guys who were occasionally checking the entrance that the standing passengers were desperately defending, perhaps because they still had regrets. But soon, they would concentrate their firepower on Asif, who had blocked their retreat.

Making money is good, but none of them would want to have an interview with the pissed-off border guards or corporate elites.

“Catch him, you bastards! Call the guys who went to the front and have them attack him!!”

“…What the hell do you mean you haven’t been able to contact them since earlier?!”

“Heu-heung♪”

Compared to the chaos erupting from the laptop, a pleasant humming sound flowed out from her pert nose.

It might be more accurate to say that it leaked out since she wasn’t even aware of it herself, but anyway.

It was just that one mission had been twisted due to an unimaginable opponent – Anastasia – but her stuffy and frustrating insides were relieved a little.

Although it wasn’t a fair fight at all because there wasn’t even a hacker on the other side to respond… still, anyone would be proud if they thought that they had reversed the disadvantage of having more than ten times the number of people with their help.

Now, the panicked enemies will try to escape, and Asif will retreat safely accordingly, and it will be over.

It was well finished for something that was impromptu. The moment she thought so and relaxed, an unexpected visitor rolled into the room that Rosalyn was guarding alone.

Thump…!

“…Eh?”

The door closed again at the same time as he entered, and the eyes of the sweaty man and Rosalyn, who was just stretching, met.

Where the hell did he come from? Didn’t the leader take them down as soon as he saw them?

Of course, there was only a sliding door without a lock separating the hallway and the room, so it was certainly not a safe location… but why did he come right here?

She glanced at the bag containing her self-defense items with a desperate look… but it wasn’t even within reach, and the man’s response was one step faster.

“Shibal…!”

“Eubeub?!”

The strong hand that flew in blocked her mouth.

It was a mistake to shrink her body while covering her vitals with the laptop she was holding, thinking that he would shoot her.

If she had at least continued to observe his actions with her eyes, she could have tried at least minimal resistance.

‘Dirty…! Get away!!’

The stench of sweat and bad odor that seemed like he had never washed tormented Rosalyn’s nose.

She tried to scratch him with her sharply raised fingernails, but she didn’t get much out of it because he had tightly covered his skin like a criminal who was active in the desert.

Rather, she only irritated him clumsily.

Bang!!

“Geut?!”

Rosalyn’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear due to the punch to her abdomen, and her reflexively opened jaw trembled.

She wanted to scream, but only the sound of air leaking out little by little like air leaking from a balloon came out, and she sank without even forming a word, let alone a sentence.

Don’t they usually start by slapping the face – the cheek – with the palm of their hand?

He was thoroughly preventing her from making noise, and he kept glancing at the hallway… it seemed like he was being careful because he was afraid that Asif, who had noticed the abnormality, would come running.

“…”

Let’s cooperate for now. If I stall for time while pretending to do it roughly, it will be resolved.

Ignoring the pain in her abdomen and lower jaw that felt like they were tearing due to her dead sense of smell and inconsiderate hand gestures, she tapped his outstretched arm to get his attention. It was meant to convey that she wanted to resolve it through conversation if he didn’t intend to kill her.

“…Tsk.”

The cold judgment itself was not wrong.

But, alas, this man hadn’t come to Rosalyn with any particular purpose in mind. He was merely fleeing from a walking embodiment of mechanophobia that had descended into reality, and had stumbled upon her by chance.

And… having taken refuge from his fear, he found himself in a room with a rather attractive, captivating beauty.

He swallowed hard. The man’s eyes, already bloodshot from the excessive adrenaline, gained even more red veins.

‘Crazy…!!’

As if her survival instincts had been replaced by another instinct, like a monkey, her entire body shuddered as she intuitively grasped the rising lust.

Her hairs stood on end, and any desire for a conversation vanished. It was obvious that the other party wanted a conversation with her body, and she had no intention of cooperating.

However, she couldn’t just blindly resist… Her body, already exposed to ruthless violence once, stiffened. If there was no way out, enduring was the right thing to do. But…

Rustle… rustle….

“!! ……!”

A silent scream. The right choice wasn’t always the most agreeable path.

As the man’s hand burrowed under her clothes, Rosalyn’s mind and stomach churned simultaneously.

It wasn’t that she had no experience with crisis situations, but those were at least against rival organizations or corporate hounds with clear objectives, not contact with such a filthy and vulgar beast.

The glove—she had already erased the thought of it being a hand—that had been caressing her smooth thigh moved upwards, lifting her top and searching for the high ground.

Along with it, a face approached, sniffing as if craving the scent of a woman he hadn’t smelled in a long time.

‘Absolutely not!!’

With her mouth still covered, she barely managed to turn her head to the other side.

How much time was left on the enemies’ operation? How long until reinforcements arrived? 10 minutes…? 20 minutes…?

Did that mean she had to endure this humiliation for that long? But… if there was so much time left, it was obvious that the act would escalate, so perhaps….

“Huu… huuuk…?!”

‘Please stop…!’

The man, flaring his nostrils as if inhaling drugs, and Rosalyn, who gave up on her sense of smell for fear of her lips touching the unclean glove, both of their olfactory cells, and the room, received a new guest.

Knock knock.

A small knock. Confidently, without waiting for permission, but slowly, so that the man wouldn’t be startled and harm the hostage.

“…Hey there, buddy? Sorry, but as a temporary guardian, I really can’t condone non-consensual quasi-sexual acts, you know?”

A black angel, holding up empty hands to the left and right, had come to visit.

Her face, covered in sweat, blood, and dust from the rough journey here, might have looked dirty, but it didn’t detract from her beauty in the slightest.

Moreover, the man’s sweat, which acted as an amplifier of stench, only emphasized her alluring scent, making her captivating to anyone who smelled it.

Truly a potent drug. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it an aphrodisiac or stimulant.

“If you quietly disappear right now… I’ll really give you ten thousand concessions and not hurt you. How about it…?”

Her confident yet somewhat innocent tone, her slightly flushed complexion, and her subtly trembling voice.

Each and every one was like a seasoning that stimulated the man’s instincts.

“…….”

As if possessed by a ghost, the man stood up blankly.

The condition of ‘not hurting him’ didn’t even reach his central nervous system. After all, weren’t the unarmed hands spread out defenselessly a sign of obedience?

So… this was her offering her body, instead of the fiercely resisting red-haired woman, for him to devour. It had to be.

Thud.

“……What the.”

Just as Anastasia, thinking he was going to obediently disappear as requested, stepped back from the doorway, the man’s face was buried in her chest.

In a state of mental freeze. She asked Rosalyn with her eyes if there was any room for such a misunderstanding in her request, but she shook her head.

“…This bastard?”

No further explanation was needed.

The vulgar hands groping her back and waist meant that a guilty verdict, no, a guilty verdict of special assault, had just been handed down.

The two hands that had been expressing her lack of will to fight gently wrapped around the man’s head.

There was no time to enjoy the warmth. A bolt from the blue. As if a punishment from God was burning his rotten mind and soul, a micro-electromagnetic storm that appeared out of thin air fried his wretched head.

Pajijijijik—!!

“!!”

“…Serves you right!”

Rosalyn, who didn’t know the principle or even the method, stuck out her tongue, confirming that the man was screaming like she had been earlier, unable to form words.

How many seconds did it last in a discharging state?

Just as the man’s greasy, standing hair twisted and his eyes rolled back white as he lost consciousness, Anastasia, whose battery—energy—had run out, declared surrender.

“…Aish. Even if I eat three square meals a day, this is too much.”

After roughly shaking off the tingling Suit sleeves, she pushed the man’s limp body towards the hallway.

“Drag him somewhere out of sight and clean him up.”

“…….”

The steel arm that suddenly appeared grabbed the pervert by the scruff of his neck and quickly removed him from their sight.

Rosalyn, sensing that she would probably never see the guy again if that Droid cleaned him up, let alone Anastasia, did her best to regain her composure.

She had clearly been saved just now.

Even though there was no need or reason to do so. Anastasia Valentine had shown pure kindness and saved Rosalyn Serino.

Making her agonize, making her confused. The meticulously prepared operation had been ruined, yet when she herself was in danger, she appeared without hesitation and helped.

“Hey… Rosalyn? Are you okay…?”

She raised her head and met her eyes at the hesitant question.

Skill, will, and even appearance from a personal perspective. She flaunted that she was far above her in every aspect, and now she was even taking care of her.

Rosalyn, unable to contain the rising injustice, who had barely put up a meager struggle against the man who had beaten her, snapped at her benefactor.

“What are you, really…! You keep making me misunderstand, saying you’re neither friend nor foe!”

“…….”

Was she more bothered by her hovering around than the mental shock of the attempted rape?

Anastasia, who was inwardly organizing the shock she had received and noting ‘Caution: Prickly’ on Rosalyn’s profile, came up with a sophistry after much deliberation.

“…Don’t you know the saying, ‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer’? Then shouldn’t you be even closer to someone who could be both a friend and an enemy…?”

Whether this was a way to persuade her… or a way to explain her secret relationship with Aaron—the corporation—to someone affiliated with the Five Eyes, no one would know.

But this much was certain.

“…Pfft.”

Rosalyn Serino, after hearing that awkward nonsense, finally surrendered from the bottom of her heart.

The way she spoke aloofly, and the way she kept looking down on her as if she was impressed, no longer bothered her now that she had acknowledged her competitor as someone worthy.

And more than anything… she also had the trivial thought that it wouldn’t be so bad to have at least one mysterious senior in the world who cared about her this much.

She rubbed her eyes with her arm to wipe away the embarrassing moisture and expressed her gratitude with the utmost politeness.

“…Thank you for helping me, Anastasia.”

“Sigh, yeah….”

Rosalyn, remembering the past when she had hurled all sorts of bizarre insults during the DDoS attack and in the chat channel, and had been horrified, calling her a demon, awkwardly touched the ends of her hair.

A brief silence passed.

Anastasia, having reconfirmed that she had nothing more to say, poured out the questions she had been holding back.

“So!! Where did Asif go, and what’s with the crazy gunshots in the back! Are you trying to prepare trouble everywhere I go and make me sick with stress?!”

“…….”

The red-haired girl had learned one thing.

Ah, even the most enigmatic person in the world, who times things more accurately than anyone else. Doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.