northernbook Chapter 329 Bronya: Is it my turn to step in?
Chapter 329 Bronya: Is it my turn to step in?
Inside this newly discovered area, officially named the Cretan Hollow, somewhere from the old metro hub, Ies brought Billy and Ambi here for a temporary rest.
"That's great! I feel like the hydraulic rods in my feet are about to break!"
Seeing that Yi Hai was finally out of sight, Billy plopped down on the ground, and Anbi also relaxed her posture appropriately.
"I suggest we take a break now, is that alright, Rope Maker?"
“It just so happens that Ies also needs to rest, so let him take a break first.” Zhe agreed to Anbi’s request.
"Oh dear, that was a close call! I never imagined that the Red Fang Gang uncle would be transformed into such a powerful monster. Thank goodness you, shopkeeper, saved us in time and led us away. You truly live up to your reputation as Phaethon! As always, you're trustworthy!"
"If Billy says a few more compliments, I'll definitely give you a discount on the commission."
“Really?” Amby asked.
“Ambi, I think the rope craftsman is just being polite to us.”
"Speaking of the commission fee, I thought that with Phaethon's high price, Nicole would make us fend for ourselves to save money, but I didn't expect her to actually ask you to come. If it weren't for Rope Craftsman, we probably wouldn't have been able to escape that territory of the skeletons. Thank you for your support."
Then another round of joking and banter broke out at that moment, and with no other option, everyone had to abandon their plans to rest and continue their escape.
"By the way, where is the target of your mission this time?"
On the way, Zhe began to inquire about the request from the Rabbit House. Upon hearing this, Billy exaggeratedly covered his head with both hands.
"This isn't the time for the store manager to talk about this!"
Immediately afterwards, Billy shot Iais in the head, destroying the corpse in front of Iais, while Ambi also defeated all the corpses in front of him with a single slash.
"Is the rope craftsman bringing this up now because of some unexpected situation?"
"The news just reported that Section Six of the Anti-Air Force has dispatched Ms. Yae Sakura to suppress this void. With her strength, it shouldn't be long before it dissipates. If she discovers your target then, you should know the consequences, right?"
“Hmm.” Ambi replied calmly, “According to the rules of the Void Operations, all important items found in the Void must be handed over to one of the following three places: the Security Bureau, the Void Investigation Association, or the Sixth Section of the Anti-Void. Only after the investigation is completed and it is confirmed that there is no ether contamination can the items be returned to their owners.”
"What, what should we do?" Billy shouted. "I'm running low on bullets. We can go back and grab the safe and run, but then we'll be completely out of ammo! Boss Nicole is going to kill me!"
"Let's take you out and meet up with Nicole first," Zhe said after a moment's thought. "You're in terrible shape right now, and we need to check on the etheric erosion first."
“That makes sense,” Amby agreed. “So, where should we go next?”
"It's very simple, just keep going forward!"
"But, but, there's a wall in front of us, it's a dead end, are you sure you're okay, manager?" Billy asked.
"Billy, have you forgotten that the space inside the void is disordered and chaotic? Trust me, just keep going forward. By the way, Nicole is already waiting for you outside. I'm getting off now."
After saying that, Zhe cut off the connection with Ies. The next second, Ies turned back into ordinary Bangbu, who had never been able to speak normally.
Seeing that Zhe had logged off, Billy gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and charged towards the wall in front of him. The next moment, an indescribable sense of liberation filled Billy's body. Then, his eyes lit up and Ambi and Billy returned to the real world, where Nicole had been sitting on the hood of a car for some time.
Before long, Nicole and the others appeared in the garage behind the video store that Tetsuya and his friends ran. Tetsuya and Rin had been waiting there for a long time.
"Nicole, you guys came back way too fast! Did you run a red light again?" Ling complained as the car sped into the garage.
"No, we just went through a regular green light and a green light with an R value of 255! Oh, by the way, I checked along the way and there were no tails following us."
Meanwhile, Billy stroked his chin thoughtfully and asked Ambly, "Ambly, what does green with an R value of 255 look like?"
“Same as your jacket,” Amby replied.
"Nicole, we've rescued the person you wanted. Shouldn't we pay back the debt now?" Zhe asked.
"Wait a minute! This isn't over yet, is it? My request included bringing out my people and everything I needed. We've only completed the first half!"
"Don't worry, Nicole, we remember. We were just joking with you."
"I knew it! Fahrenheit is the most reliable and trustworthy person!" Nicole said happily.
"Based on eyewitness accounts prior to the evacuation, the target safe was within the activity range of a high-threat Skeleton," Ambi began the report. "The Skeleton registration name in the Whista Society is: Durahn. He is a superior Skeleton individual."
“That’s right, that’s the one! The leader of the Crimson Flame Gang was unlucky; he was corrupted by the potent etheric substance and transformed into this highly threatening Ether.” Billy added, “Ambly and I tried to steal the safe, but that guy was exceptionally strong, and we couldn’t get it back before we left.”
“Billy, you didn’t say that before you left,” Bell teased.
"This, this is to save bullets, you know how strong I am, Ginger." Billy said with a fawning smile, wiggling his butt, which made Ling take a step back with a look of disgust.
"But then again," Billy's tone turned serious after he'd had his fill of browsing the treasure chests, "Nicole, what exactly is in that box? Is it worth risking our lives for it?"
"Heh heh, you'll find out soon enough. Take a look at this."
Nicole then took out a tooth-shaped pendant, but the pendant wasn't the main point. The main point was that when it was opened, it revealed a USB port inside.
"Is this a data disk that can be made into jewelry?"
"That's right, it belongs to the white guy. I found it in the building before I sneaked out of 14th Street! I investigated before, and that stinky old man always wore this data disk on his body, which means there must be important information on it! I believe it must be related to the safe's combination!"
“However, it seems to have suffered some damage,” Ambi said after inspecting it.
“Fahrenheit, can you think of a way? To use that complicated computer in the store?” Nicole asked.
"H·D·D's performance is mostly used to process void data, but if it's just about exporting the contents of the disk... Brother, I can try to repair it using the computing power of the rope net."
“Won’t this be too late? After all, there are still people from the Anti-Air Section 6 there responsible for clearing and suppressing the Void,” Nicole said worriedly. “Before I met up with Ambi and Billy, I saw Yae Sakura enter the Void with the radish.”
“That is a problem,” Zhe said thoughtfully, then looked at Nicole and asked, “Nicole, you don’t mind if one more person knows about this, do you?”
"What do you mean?"
"Oh! I see, brother, you want to ask her to come and help?" Ling suddenly realized.
"Her? Who is she?" Nicole was even more confused. "Can you two please explain yourselves more clearly?!"
"Of course we'll ask Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang for help!"
"Wait! Did I hear that right? Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang?" Nicole exclaimed in surprise. "That legendary rope craftswoman who's been famous for so long? You actually know her? No, no! Didn't she retire from rope netting a long time ago? Are you sure you can get her to come out of retirement? And, and her commission fee is very expensive, isn't it? I don't have that much money!"
"Nicole's too noisy!" Bell said, rubbing her forehead with a headache and covering Nicole's mouth. "Although she has indeed retired from rope netting, she's not done rope making anymore. Rather, she only takes commissions from acquaintances now. It just so happens that we know her. But data repair is something she can handle in no time. Don't worry, the commission fee won't be too expensive. We can just pay for it later."
"You said it, you can't go back on your word!"
"Mmm, I won't go back on my word."
"That's good." Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. "In the meantime, I'll see if I can find out the location of the safe in the hole. Once you've sorted things out here, meet up with Billy and the others on 14th Street."
After saying that, Nicole left. Due to the urgency, Ling immediately contacted Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang. Under the expectant gazes of the others, the legendary Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang opened the door of the video store, and a woman with long silver-gray hair in a uniform entered.
"Manager, are you sure she's the legendary Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang?" Billy secretly came up to Zhe and poked Zhe's arm with his finger.
“Of course,” Zhe replied. “And please stop poking me, it hurts.”
"Feel sorry."
After Bell and Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang finished explaining the situation, the other party decided to accept the commission.
"I see, so you want me to help repair this data disk, right? No problem, one million dinis will do it right away."
"So expensive!" Rin exclaimed softly. "Bronya~ couldn't you make it a little cheaper~"
"A lower price is fine, but Ling should at least show some sincerity, right?"
"How about I give you a discount coupon from our store?"
"This kind of thing is no big deal to you, is it? Not enough, not enough." Bronya shook her head and said, clearly indicating that the conditions offered by Bell had not moved them.
"Then can I buy that Alahato game you released?"
"I remember when Alahato was released, we gave you a family coupon, right? That coupon was for a discount on three Alahatos. Are you saying you didn't buy any back then?"
Bronya narrowed her eyes and stared at Rin's face. Rin felt a little guilty under Bronya's oppressive gaze.
"Really? I don't remember."
"Do you need me to retrieve the chat history from back then?"
"I'm so sorry, I did buy it, but because the game was too difficult, I got a refund before the time was up!"
After saying that, Rin immediately apologized to Bronya with a deep bow.
"There's no need to make it so formal, okay? Okay, okay, I know, I'll help you, alright?"
"real?!"
Bell suddenly looked up at Bronya.
"Really, but you know the price to pay."
"Okay, I'll buy Alahato again."
As she spoke, Ling, with tears streaming down her face, took out her phone and bought a copy of Alahato for her abeam account, and also bought one for Zhe's account.
Seeing this, Bronya was in a great mood: "By the way, Alahato 2 has also opened for pre-orders. Why don't you just buy Alahato 2 now?"
"it is good."
With tears in her eyes, Ling bought two more copies of Alahato 2. Seeing this, Bronya could no longer suppress her smile.
"Alright! Next, we'll fix this data disk. Zhe and Ling, do you mind if I use your H.D.D for a bit?"
"Please."
Zhe gestured for her to touch it, and Billy, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, finally asked, "Manager, is it really okay for her to touch your H.D.D computer like that? Isn't that computer one of your most important props?"
"It's okay. Although H·D·D was indeed made by Rin and me at the beginning, its performance was damaged due to an accident. Rin and I couldn't repair it, so we posted a request on the rope net with a secondary account to see if anyone could help repair it."
Of course, we also rigorously screened the people we entrusted with the task. It was around that time that we met Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang, also known as Miss Bronya. With her help, not only were the H.D.D. problems quickly fixed, but we also completed a performance iteration along the way.
"Oh, no wonder the store manager seemed to process vague information faster during that collaboration once! So that's why!" Billy exclaimed in realization. "But what is this Allahato that Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang was talking about?"
"That was a game Bronya started developing after leaving the rope net. It became a hit even before its release due to its beautiful graphics and excellent action. However, its sales plummeted because of its excessive difficulty after release, and the game's reviews were filled with a large number of negative comments..."
“I know about that too,” Anbi said. “After receiving a lot of negative reviews from players, it’s said that the producer personally confronted those players who gave bad reviews, saying they were just too bad. In the end, amidst a chorus of ‘If you’re so good, then you do it yourself,’ the producer had to go live online and personally complete Alahato as a way to end it all, and he did it in one life. However, there were rumors afterward that the person who confronted the players wasn’t the producer himself, but a relative of the producer. As for the truth, there are many different opinions online.”
"Oh, so that's what it was about. I've heard about it too. But since the shop manager knows Miss Alloy Cloth Wolf Fang, he must know some inside information, right?"
As he spoke, Billy approached Zhe with a fawning expression, his gossipy look clearly visible.
"If you want to know the truth, you can just ask me directly. There's no need to ask Zhe. Just call me Bronya. I'm still not used to being called by my online name in real life."
Bronya's voice came from behind them, and Zhe turned around to look at Bronya.
"Done?"
“Of course, who do you think I am?” Bronya replied while tossing the jewelry. “I’ve already repaired and copied the data here. I won’t ask you any questions about your specific requests; how to use it is up to you.”
After placing the ornament in Zhe's hand, Bronya turned and left.