northernbook Chapter 409 Going down the mountain
Chapter 409 Going down the mountain
However, Alice felt that the following actions were not suitable for her, as Timfield, to participate in, so she took her leave.
So the group took the cable car to the vicinity of the mountain road. Before setting off, they even went to casually check the direct elevator next to them to confirm.
It was indeed sealed off under the pretext of still being under maintenance. They even saw Iserde, whom they had met briefly at the dinner party, there. Judging from her conversation with the elevator maintenance staff, she seemed to want to go to the swimming pool as well.
However, this had nothing to do with the group. After confirming that the direct elevator was indeed not accessible, the group took the cable car to the side of the mountain road.
But they clearly forgot that since the other side would block the already repaired direct elevator, Damian would naturally block the mountain road down as well, given his personality.
According to Yu Ye's clandestine reconnaissance, the mountain road leading to Chilongwei was indeed blocked off. However, the good news is that Damian's security measures for blocking the mountain road mostly consisted of the latest model of security robots.
Given the combat capabilities of these security robots, there's no need to worry too much. The real issue is how to prevent them from leaving visual records of the security robots.
However, this happens to be Rin's specialty; whether using Fairy or Ai-chan, she can easily erase data remotely through Ies.
Thanks to Zhe's foresight, after learning that everyone was going to Qilongwei to investigate clues, he had Ling take Yiesi with them, while he himself used Yiesi's body to maintain contact with everyone.
After learning the details, Youye led everyone down the mountain without saying a word, and soon they arrived at the first point guarded by security robots.
However, the group's objective was merely infiltration, not annihilation, so simply disabling these security robots would suffice. Disabling them would at least give the group some time to buy time, while directly destroying them would likely immediately alert them to the attempt to force their way through the checkpoint.
With the main force of Yuecheng Liu and Xingjian Ya, these security robots were quickly brought down.
If Damian hadn't deployed a massive number of security robots at these checkpoints, leaving no blind spots in their surveillance, then even Rin wouldn't have needed to appear; the group could have infiltrated silently.
However, after clearing this checkpoint, the group did not set off immediately. Instead, they followed her to a secluded corner to hide.
"What's wrong, Yuzuha?" Masato asked.
Yuye replied, "Ever since we set off, I've felt like someone is following us."
"It seems you noticed it too."
Hoshimi Masamichi nodded in response.
"Since even the two senior officers from the Sixth Anti-Air Division agree with my statement, it seems that there are indeed people following us."
"Has Ai-chan noticed?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Ling, there are very few video recording devices on this mountain road, and I didn't notice them immediately."
Masato began to speculate: "Who exactly is it...?"
“It’s someone we all know, the kind we just met not long ago,” Hoshimi Masashi said.
"Not long ago?"
"That's right. Including the height of her ears, she is about 163 centimeters tall, female, with golden twin ponytails, heterochromatic eyes, and is a rabbit-like being."
"Isn't that Alice?!" Rin exclaimed. "How does Aya know all this so clearly?!"
Yuzu whispered, "Shh! Don't make a sound, that guy's coming! We'll find out soon enough whether it's Alice or not."
Then, under everyone's gaze, Alice's figure appeared from the road above. Alice first looked around and then began to wonder where everyone had gone.
Just then, Yuzu quietly came to her side and said, "Oh, it really is you. It seems that the young lady of the Hoshimi family was right after all."
Alice was startled by the sudden appearance of the pomelo leaf and began to scream in fear.
Seeing this, Bell quickly came to Alice's side and comforted her, "Alice, don't be afraid, it's us!"
Upon seeing that it was Rin, Alice breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Ah, it's Rin. Whew... you startled me just now."
"You were the one who was sneaking around behind us first, and you're already this scared..." Yuzu asked in surprise. "Then, what are you doing here?"
“Miss Fubo, and everyone else, I also want to help you investigate the Dark Box,” Alice replied. “After I went back just now, I thought about it carefully. If I join the so-called investigation team but can’t do anything, I really can’t forgive myself for that.”
Yu Ye said, "Let me remind you, you were invited by Hui Jing Mei Ke after all. This kind of fence-sitting approach may not end well."
“Especially since you came here because of the Timfield family’s reputation,” Hoshimi Miyabi added.
Alice exclaimed in surprise, "Miss Hoshimi, how did you know?!"
Yuecheng Liu adjusted his glasses: "Miss Alice, it's no secret that your grandfather is seriously ill and unable to attend various events. Moreover, the patent for the purification technology related to the corrosion inhibitor is in your family's hands, yet the cause of this corrosion disease incident is publicly claimed to be the failure of the corrosion inhibitor."
If Huijing Meike wants to shirk responsibility, it only needs to sue your family to absolve itself of at least half of the responsibility in this matter, while also causing substantial damage and loss to your family's reputation and profits.
"And your grandfather's illness requires a lot of money. I'm afraid Huijing Meike is using this to threaten you into joining the supervisory investigation team for this security investigation, isn't that right?"
With each word Yuecheng Liu spoke, Alice's face grew paler. Seeing Alice's reaction, the others realized that what Yuecheng Liu said was true.
Ling asked to confirm, "Alice... what Tsukishiro Ryu said, could it all be true?"
"What Miss Tsukishiro said is all true..."
Yuzuki's attitude towards Alice softened as she asked, "So you still plan to join us? Aren't you afraid of retaliation?"
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” Alice said. “Mr. Blackwood may be tough, but I’ve heard he’ll at least honor the contract—we’re not investigating a security issue, so even if he finds out, I have a way to deal with it. As a descendant of the Timfield family, I will take responsibility for my choices, so please don’t worry.”
“If all else fails, I will involve the Hoshimi family in this matter,” Hoshimi Masashi said.
“Well, since Miss Hoshimi has said so, fine. But you heard what we said before, right? After we go to Swimming Pool to investigate, we will likely have to go to Hollow Cave, which is not a suitable place for the young lady to take a walk,” Yuzuha reminded her.
"You need not worry about this at all. Those who cannot conduct on-site investigations cannot become qualified Void Scholars. Therefore, I have undergone professional swordsmanship training and Void survival training since childhood."
Seeing this, Yuzu stopped trying to stop him, and Masato naturally had no objections.
However, since everyone had been there for a while, the patrolling security robots had arrived, and everyone immediately went into battle mode.