Uchiha Sasuke’s Collapse Chapter 044

[Private Chat]: “I’m so tired, the developers of ‘Honkai Impact’ are not human, refreshing seven dungeon cooldowns at once.”

[Private Chat]: “Some of your reactions were a bit slow, dying to the same mechanic. Remember to memorize the patterns.”

Without looking at the blinking avatar on the game screen, Sasuke glanced out the window.

The bright moonlight spilled onto the window lattice, gentle and serene.

It wasn’t that Sasuke’s reactions had slowed, but rather that the boss’s skill cycle wasn’t fixed when calculating both the timeline and health axis simultaneously. And for those zero-frame startup skills, Sasuke only had one hand to operate; even if he reacted, his keyboard didn’t.

[Private Chat]: “Right, I have something important.”

[Private Chat]: “Are you there? Are you there? Are you there? Are you there?”

Seeing that Sasuke hadn’t replied for a long time, Bronya quickly asked, the urgency seemingly overflowing from the screen.

A moment later, Sasuke typed a reply.

[Private Chat]: “What is it?”

[Private Chat]: “Regarding the matter you asked me to report earlier, headquarters has replied and dispatched a Valkyrie squad. The leader is an S-rank Valkyrie, guaranteed to sweep away the Anti-Entropy here.”

[Private Chat]: “Okay.”

“?”

That’s it?

After all that trouble running to the internet cafe and finally finding news related to Schicksal, that’s all?

To prevent Sasuke from suspecting anything, Bronya had even prepared to fake the “Immortal Blades” squad moving into Nagazora City. Yet, you just replied with an “Okay”?

Then who am I going to use all my prepared persuasion lines on?

No, Bronya had just gotten permission from Mother Cocolia and transferred over a third of her Titans to her command. If Sasuke didn’t show up now, wouldn’t that prove she was being played like a fiddle?

[Private Chat]: “The leading Valkyrie needs to meet you in person to confirm the authenticity of your information.”

On the other end of the screen, Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Having undergone long-term ninja training, he instantly realized something was off.

However, he didn’t care if it was a trap.

[Private Chat]: “Okay.”

Bronya was slightly startled.

She had been prepared to argue with Sasuke, but she didn’t expect him to agree so readily.

All the persuasive tactics she had prepared, guaranteed to fool a certain single-celled organism into disorientation, were they now useless?

Doesn’t he know how to be suspicious?

Bronya instinctively felt something was wrong, but on another monitor beside her, connected to the internet cafe’s camera, Sasuke sat in front of the glowing screen, unchanged.

He fell for it so easily?

Forget it, there’s no need for such unnecessary surprise. He’s just a fast swordsman. All she needs to do is prepare a trap-filled area to prevent him from scurrying around like a flea, then stay hidden herself and use mass-produced Titan tactical mechs to encircle and annihilate him.

[Private Chat]: “The time will be tomorrow night at midnight, 0:00. The location is Nagazora City, Izumi District, Izumi-cho, 3-chome, 5-banchi, 7-go.”

Bronya typed this out, feeling a bit uneasy, and quickly added more.

[Private Chat]: “Mainly, we don’t want to cause panic among the citizens, so we chose a secluded place. If you know about Schicksal, you must know about Valkyries, right? We always have to carry some equipment that’s not suitable to display in front of citizens.”

[Private Chat]: “Mm.”

Still a reply that was brief to the extreme, as if saying one more word would exhaust him to death.

Bronya always felt something was off. Could it be that the other party was going to stand her up?

Forget it, there’s no point in being overly cautious. If he doesn’t dare to come, it means he has seen through her identity. In that case, she’ll just apply to Mother Cocolia for a higher level of warning and pursuit.

[Private Chat]: “I’m going offline.”

Inside the internet cafe, Sasuke noted down the address sent by “Metal Gear Bronya,” then closed the computer, leaped out the window, and landed on top of a nearby commercial building.

He didn’t care if “Metal Gear Bronya” had set a trap for him.

Compared to tomorrow’s offline meeting.

He felt it was more important to figure out how to get Mei and the other personality within her to communicate.

There was no sealing space in this world, so he couldn’t invade Mei’s body with Yin-Yang Release, unless he forcibly controlled Mei’s consciousness with his Sharingan.

But that didn’t fit Sasuke’s temperament.

Although they were chance acquaintances, they were still considered ordinary friends. Since they were friends, they had independent personalities in Sasuke’s eyes, with personal privacy, and should be given basic respect.

He didn’t like using the Sharingan to see everything about a girl without restraint.

As for whether it was out of respect for an ordinary friend’s personal privacy…

Sasuke himself certainly thought so. He would never admit that he was trying to prevent himself from getting too deeply involved with the people of this world, which could lead to misjudgment.

Perhaps he should try a different approach?

Sasuke began to recall carefully the futures he had seen with “Divine Art: Ten Directions.” The premise for Raiden Mei transforming into a Herrscher seemed to be extreme emotional pressure, leading her to experience sufficient despair and pain…

Why did that feel familiar?

Isn’t that the Mangekyo Sharingan?

Awakening due to sufficiently strong mental stimulation, it was essentially a self-protection mechanism, of course, also related to talent. Some ordinary clan members never awakened it in their entire lives.

Perhaps he could use Mei’s own safety as a condition to force the Herrscher personality within her to appear, but before that, he must take safety precautions to prevent her from losing control.

However, all of this would have to wait until after he met “Metal Gear Bronya.”

No matter which faction this unknown netizen belonged to, since she knew so much about what was happening in Nagazora City, she must also know something about Herrschers.

Time quietly passed. Sasuke spent another day playing games at the internet cafe, but this time, “Metal Gear Bronya’s” avatar didn’t light up.

As night fell, 25 kilometers from the center of Nagazora City, in the Jinze District hills, rusted barbed wire lay like snake bones among the waist-high miscanthus.

On the charred concrete wall, the “No Entry” warning sign had long been torn to shreds by vines. An iron plaque with the factory name, erected in the Showa era, hung askew on the gatepost, riddled with honeycomb-like holes by the sea breeze.

The six-story tall cooling tower had faded to a grayish-white, its body covered in cracked climbing vines. The broken glass dome was like a hollow eye socket, reflecting the circling crows beneath the lead-gray sky. Outside the collapsed wall on the east side of the factory, a faded Inari Shrine torii stood askew amidst the overgrown weeds, the paper strips on the shimenawa fluttering in the wind.

This was the place.

P.S.: I have to go out to eat, so the update is finished. The second chapter will be a bit late, sorry QAQ