Editing The Unexplored Summon Blood Sign:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===

“Nn…”

Lu Niang Lan, the modified China dress beauty, breathed a sultry sigh from her scarlet lips.

She quickly realized she had been tossed onto the wooden floor with her arms and legs bound behind her.

“Huh? I’m all wet and see-through.”

She looked down at her chest which was swelling out even more than usual due to the arched back of her pose. The fabric was unpleasantly clinging to her skin somewhat and she could not move her arms or legs.

“I’m tied up!?”

Finally realizing the gravity of the situation, she looked around.

“Wait a second… I was in C Block’s Hai Hong Caiguan, so why am I in a Government apartment now?”

The floor was wet.

However, the government dog named Aika as well as Shiroyama Kyousuke, Isabelle, and even the white liger were looking down at her with exasperated looks.

“K-Kyousuke-chan? Can you explain what’s going on? You haven’t broken our unspoken understanding by selling me off to Government, have you!?”

Still confused, Lu Niang Lan suggested the worst possibility she could think of.

But when Kyousuke and Aika exchanged a glance, their expressions were even graver than that.

“Onii-chan, what should we do about this?”

“When you’re released from Girl’s Backdoor, you apparently lose your memories of being controlled, so I’m not sure there’s anything we can do.”

“Ehh!? You mean she gets off scot-free!? I refuse to accept that! This old hag gave us a whole lot of trouble!!”

“My chest still hurts. Somewhere between medium-sized and large-sized. Throb throb(deadpan).”

“C’mon. She didn’t actually do anything wrong here, so let’s leave it at this.”

“???”

Lu Niang Lan was clearly baffled by their exchange, but they ignored her.

They had something else to focus on.

The tablet produced the sound of an incoming video chat call.

Aika sat on the wet floor and tried to use the white liger as a sofa like usual, but the beast slipped out from under her. The five meter pet rejected Aika and the girl flipped over on the floor. The white liger may not have wanted to lie on the wet floor, but she also seemed to be having trouble relaxing after the Perfect Dragon’s rampage. Animals were fiercest when they were afraid, not when they had the advantage.

“Ahh! Onii-chan, go grab that baby bottle. I’ll win this stubborn liger over with a stomach full of milk!!”

“Don’t. Give her anymore and you’ll make her sick.”

“But that spoiled liger almost always goes right to sleep if you give her some warm milk. That old hag’s sacks of fat must have really scared her…”

“I don’t blame her. Zuuun(deadpan). I think I’ll be having some medium-sized nightmares…”

“Aika. You were controlled too, so don’t forget that attacking her is the same as attacking yourself.”

Aika pouted her lips and grabbed the tablet from the glass table while still lying on the floor.

She answered the call and a woman in a military uniform filled the screen. However, hers was much more subdued than Isabelle’s. It had a dark blue base, she wore pants instead of a tight skirt, and she lacked the black belts that acted as restraints. Instead, she had plenty of decorative medals.

She was a Government coordinator.

Or perhaps she could be called a planner or a troubleshooter.

Regardless, she was sent in to build a new plan when something failed inside their organization. She would also make alternate suggestions to minimize the damage. Overall, she was a bureaucratic specialist.

“We have finished regulating the data and updating our plans,” she said. “Might I get back on topic?”

“Yes.”

“Currently, we have two primary problems. First, all information related to the Anthills has been passed to the enemy summoner. Second, that apartment where Government, Illegal, and Freedom meet was abused to pull it off. …Unfortunately, most of the higher ups are viewing the second problem as the more serious one. Although if they feel they can calmly think about punishment now, I have to wonder if they believe no bullet could reach their heads even on the front line.”

“Just to be clear, that Illegal old hag was being controlled by Girl’s Backdoor, so she had no control over her actions.”

“That is not all that relevant.” The coordinator gave a light sigh. “The problem is that the information would not have been leaked if you not been on such good terms with an Illegal assassin and if that contact point did not exist. I cannot cover for you here. If you have a complaint, bring it to the higher ups.”

“…”

“And while it was Lu Niang Lan who went on a rampage, it was you who leaked the classified information with your mobile phone, Aika. Thanks to that, two additional Anthills have been attacked. The valuable research data and precious lives there have been lost. Do not think this does not apply to you. You played a primary role.”

She made it sound like Girl’s Backdoor did not exist and Lu Niang Lan and Aika had simply conspired to leak the classified information.

Isabelle spoke to Kyousuke as she listened in.

“Nuuun(deadpan). This is small-sized irritating.”

“Oh, what a coincidence. It’s pissing me off a fair bit too.”

“You are part of this too, Alice (with) Rabbit.” The coordinator winked and tapped her temple with her index finger. “With the suspicion on Aika and Lu Niang Lan, they are a step away from disaster. If you wish to remove them from the list of possible executions, you must take on a share of their debt even if there is no suspicion on you directly. This is especially important to silence the higher ups who have never liked that apartment where all three major powers gather.”

“Oh? That’s quite the compromise. Could you not get at me without asking first?”

“This isn’t much different. Freedom Award 903, we will receive your help free of charge. We will send you to our fiercest battlefield at the moment. Refuse and we will add those two to the official list of wanted criminals. The world will bear its fangs against them and they will essentially be sent to the gallows.”

“Get to the specifics.”

“The data Aika leaked could not have been worse. It included the locations of the Anthills, the personnel, the funding routes, the equipment procurement routes, the defense forces, and the emergency evacuation routes. Two bases have already been destroyed using that data. We do not intend to lose any more of the research equipment, personnel, and research results that the higher ups paid large sums of money for. …''Simply put, we are evacuating''.”

When he heard that word, Kyousuke brought a hand to his forehead and looked up at the ceiling.

Isabelle tilted her head next to him.

“Mh? I’m not even small-sized sure why that’s so bad.”

“It’s really bad. By the way, how many Anthills are still functioning?”

“34.”

“And how many people are inside?”

“Assume there are around one hundred in each.”

“You want to evacuate all of them from Toy Dream 35 at once? Using every route available, be it land, air, or sea? ''How are you going to protect them all''? Liar Cat can use all of the information they got using Aika. If they have all your evacuation routes, they can attack you whenever and wherever they want.”

An amateur might think they could quickly create a new route, but that would not work. If it was that easy, they would not bother to create routes in advance. They needed packages, bodyguards, knowledge of possible attack points, a secondary route in case they were attacked, a tertiary route, an idea of where they could find safety, and a second and third shelter in case the first was compromised. Working it all out on paper took a week and not even a month was enough to confirm that it was indeed a valid route. And instead of getting a VIP or two out, this was sending around three thousand personnel in every direction.

And just because they could not do it did not mean they could sit around thinking about it. Even if they tried to barricade themselves where they were, Liar Cat was above Freedom Award 900, so that summoner would mercilessly crush the Anthill Project along with those bases.

Simply put, they were cornered.

“The higher ups have a plan.” The coordinator began grinding her index finger against her temple. “They will prepare a great number of transport groups, including decoys and then have them all simultaneously evacuate Toy Dream 35 in every direction. Even if our enemy has 900 level skill, they are only a single pair. A few of the transport groups might get hit, but Liar Cat will not reach the real one. …What do you think of that?”

“But ''that was part of the information they have now, wasn’t it?'' We aren’t choosing the target; Liar Cat is. It’s all over if they snack on a few of them and then get to the real one before the limit arrives,” said Kyousuke. “Not to mention that Liar Cat will almost certainly maintain their Material’s cost as much as possible by continuing the fight with Chains. If they can build up through the Regulation-class and Divine-class to reach the Unexplored-class, they’ll charge into the enemy forces at their most powerful. …But I doubt they can always reach the next target in the 90 seconds given. What do you think they’ll do then? We’re talking about Liar Cat who gave out Girl’s Backdoors for civilians to use as nothing more than a disturbance tactic.”

“Nuuun(deadpan). So if their Chain isn’t going to last, they’ll attack normal people to keep their super-sized Chain going?”

Kyousuke nodded at Red Hat Isabelle’s question.

“And they’ll be cutting back and forth across the city to pursue the transportation groups scattering in every direction. Toy Dream 35 won’t just be filled with pools of blood; the entire city will collapse.”

“But I doubt the higher ups will change their minds so easily. Or rather, it is hard to stop a giant cannonball once it has started to roll. If you wish to reduce the damage done, your only option is defeating the summoner pair as soon as possible.”

“But if Liar Cat’s possible targets are scattered everywhere, we can’t exactly lie in wait.”

“Meaning?”

“If we narrow down their targets to just one place, we know exactly where Liar Cat will show up. What are the most important personnel and resources among the Anthills? If you keep everything else as-is but try to evacuate them ahead of time, Liar Cat will definitely take the bait. We can beat them down there.”

“Even if they know it is a trap?”

“That type can’t resist the taste of revenge.”

The coordinator sighed.

A slight shadow or waver seemed to enter her previous stiffness.

“But the higher ups will never accept it. They truly believe that they are protecting themselves by refusing to admit to their own mistakes. If they know that such a risky method was suggested by an outsider, I seriously doubt they will change their evacuation plan.”

“''You sound troubled.''”

Kyousuke smiled thinly.

Their plan had already failed and 3000 lives depended on its success. Despite her overbearing behavior, this woman could not have enjoyed having this forced onto her.

“Do you have a suggestion?”

“It sounds like Government’s higher ups don’t understand the danger they’re in. They must truly believe that they can settle this by shoving responsibility onto someone else, that the problem only exists on paper, and that no physical flames are going to rain down on them. So how about I remind them? I’m willing to play the thankless job of the bitter medicine.”

“Very well.”

It was now the coordinator’s turn to look up toward heaven.

She had apparently heard the legends of Alice (with) Rabbit, but her pride may have prevented her from actually speaking the words.

But she shook free of that and verbally raised the white flag.

“''I would appreciate it if you would help us. I mean it.''”