Tokyo: Magical Girl Shatters My Dream of Going Public

Chapter 90 It seems you really can't do it (4/5)

Meanwhile, deep within the sewers beneath the old shopping mall.

This is the main pipe of an old-style combined sewer system, a giant concrete pipe with a diameter of over five meters and mottled inner walls.

It was covered with a layer of slippery, dark green algae and an unidentified mucus.

The murky sewage flowed slowly at the bottom of the channel, emitting a pungent stench mixed with the smell of chemicals.

Dim emergency lights were embedded at intervals at the top of the pipe, casting a bluish-white halo that was far from enough to dispel the darkness.

A six-person team was helping each other as they stumbled and ran through knee-deep sewage.

Footsteps, panting. And the muffled thuds of equipment hitting the pipe walls, amplified and distorted into eerie echoes in the enclosed space.

Some people had makeshift tourniquets wrapped around their legs, and dark red bloodstains were constantly seeping into the sewage.

Some people had their arms bent unnaturally, and their faces were covered in cold sweat.

"Quickly—turn right ahead, and you'll find the maintenance elevator leading to safety zone B3!"

The captain's voice was hoarse, but he was still trying to remain calm.

But behind—

Splash, splash.

The sound of countless plastic bags being dragged and rubbed was approaching from deep within the pipes behind.

Through the swaying beam of the flashlight, dozens of bulky, distorted shadows could be vaguely seen, slowly but steadily approaching.

Those are secondary clones of E-121.

It is about the height of a person, also made of glued waste, moves slowly, but is incredibly persistent.

"They—we can't get rid of them—" a young team member's voice was choked with sobs.

Despair, like cold, dirty water, slowly seeped into everyone's chest.

Just then.

Click, click, footsteps came from the corner of the pipe ahead.

Everyone's body tensed up suddenly.

Is it blocked?

The captain suddenly raised his flashlight.

Amidst the flickering light and shadow, several slender, stiff figures emerged from around the corner.

That's not a monster made of waste.

It's a puppet.

About ten humanoid combat puppets were lined up in two neat rows, moving straight forward in the sewage.

They have a smooth synthetic material shell and a precise wooden structure at the joints.

The face has no facial features, only a smooth curved surface reflecting the cold light of the flashlight.

Each machine has SG's dark blue shield logo printed on its shoulder.

"It's—the company's puppet—" The captain paused for two seconds, then shouted excitedly, "Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived—!"

The puppets are the company's automated combat units.

It has a certain degree of autonomous intelligence and can also be remotely taken over by a rear operator.

With the cutting-edge technology these companies have just developed, what are our enemies compared to us!

"Please evacuate to Zone B3 immediately."

The speaker was the operator who used the signal amplification system in the command vehicle; his voice came through a speaker in the puppet's chest cavity.

The puppet procession walked past the small group.

Stepping into the sewage, he charged toward the secondary clone surging forward.

Click, clang!

Their arm tips deformed and reorganized, transforming into high-speed rotating metal drill bits.

The battle was almost one-sided; a drill easily tore apart those bodies glued together by waste, with black mud and fragments flying everywhere.

The secondary clones were slow-moving and had limited attacks, quickly collapsing under the puppet's precise and efficient offensive.

"We're saved!" one of the team members murmured.

The only terrifying thing about these weak clones is their sheer number.

With the help of the puppet team, we can definitely solve this problem.

?

Before these people could even be happy, an unexpected situation arose.

Labels have started to appear.

It started as a small, stain-like sticker on the puppet's shoulder armor.

As they shattered more and more of their clones, the labels spread like mold, covering joints, drill bit interfaces, and vision sensors—

The movements began to become sluggish.

"These labels—just like what's written above!" The captain's face turned pale.

At this moment, the higher-ups are already engaged in a fierce battle, with large-scale operations, and new intelligence will naturally be transmitted out quickly.

"Damn it, they sent out puppets before they found a solution?!"

However, the situation is still getting worse.

Deeper into the pipe, the sticky dragging sound continued to approach.

More clones are arriving.

Just then—

Click, click—

A strange squeezing sound came from the concrete pipes overhead.

Everyone instinctively looked up.

A secondary clone was forcibly squeezed out from the gap in the upper maintenance opening. Its body, made of waste, was twisted and deformed, and black slime dripped down like raindrops.

"save-!"

The shouting stopped abruptly.

brush!!!

The secondary clone in front of them exploded without warning.

The black mud splashed out, but strangely outlined a transparent human figure in mid-air.

Shoulders, arms, waist, legs —

Sludge adheres to unseen surfaces, like a distorted shell covering the air.

The outline appeared for only a moment.

The next second, the mud slid off, and the figure disappeared back into the darkness.

All that remained was a mess and a group of team members who were completely frozen in place.

"—The Invisible Man?"

Someone said in a trembling voice.

That moment just now was not an illusion.

Something—is right beside them!

The squad leader, not daring to linger, shouted, "Retreat immediately!"

The team fled again. The puppet behind them was lifeless; if it was destroyed, so be it—it was company property anyway.

On the contrary, they only have one life, and they can't afford to lose it!

Haunted by the sewer pipe wall, his invisible figure silently swept past the group of terrified team members.

Her gaze swept into the depths of the pipe.

The number of secondary clones is increasing, while the company's puppet-like movements are becoming noticeably sluggish, with labels proliferating around the joints.

She observed for about ten minutes.

But she still didn't understand—what exactly were the rules?

An operator's frustrated voice came from inside the doll's chest cavity: "Too much resistance—the cleaning process can't keep up with the attachment speed!"

A puppet, completely wrapped in a "garbage bag" label, was torn to pieces by its two clones.

Parts mixed with black mud splashed into the sewage.

The brain is working at lightning speed.

She didn't want her custom-designed doll to end up like that.

Until the small teams behind him disappeared around the corner.

Xun then dispelled her invisibility.

A dark blue combat suit in the style of a kimono emerged from the dimly lit sewers.

She was not as talented as her sister, and it took her more than half a month to get used to this F-class combat suit, and she could barely push the release rate to 90%.

She will only be allowed to change into a combat suit when she is able to unlock 100% of the F-level combat suit.

At that moment, her brain was rapidly piecing together the fragments.

My puppet attacked the clone but was not affected in any way.

But the more these puppets attack, the more labels they accumulate.

Is the rule that you can't attack multiple targets?!

The president mentioned it.

They are secondary manifestations of the [E-121 Accumulated Desire].

It is a vengeful spirit born from the anxiety caused by excessive desires in modern consumer society.

The rules governing the birth of vengeful spirits must be related to the reason for their birth.

So what exactly are the rules?

Consumption? Desire? Anxiety?

Or—choose?

Ok?

choose?

Suddenly, Xun's mind flashed to the image of the newlywed couple in the furniture store.

Faced with two mugs, I hesitated and finally decided to "think about it some more".

An abundance of choices brings not satisfaction, but anxiety.

The accumulated desires are the vengeful spirits born from the anxiety caused by excessive desires.

Xun's eyes sharpened.

Could it be that...?

A thought suddenly occurred to her.

Not far away, her personal doll was deactivated.

It was a combat doll dressed in a geisha costume, holding a 20-centimeter-long metal hairpin in both hands.

Equipped with the [Ultra-High Speed], [Invisibility], and [Attribute Super Amplification] modules, it pursues the ultimate speed.

The puppet moved.

The hairpin shot out like lightning, precisely shattering the core of one of the clones.

Energy ripples swept across.

There were no labels on the doll.

She tried again, and this time she attacked two in a row.

Unexpectedly, the rules were triggered, and two tiny pieces of trash labels appeared on her personal doll!

Her breathing became slightly rapid.

She seems to have found it! But she needs more confirmation!

She once again manipulated the puppet to quickly kill the two clones. Although she dealt with them simultaneously in a very short time, no labels appeared on the puppets!

Her breathing faltered.

She's found the rules!

She needs more help!

With that in mind, she walked toward the nearest wobbly puppet.

"Excuse me, could you please borrow your puppet?"

"Who—!?" The operator's voice blasted from the speaker.

But Xun's hand was already on the interface on the back of the puppet.

Click.

Link to forced takeover.

Inside the command vehicle, the screen in front of the operator went black instantly.

Xun's vision suddenly split!

The sensor images from a dozen puppets flooded into my consciousness like a multifaceted mirror.

She didn't panic.

He then slapped the [Puppet Control Plugin] and [Tentacle Regeneration Plugin] into his magic battery.

Om-!

Four emerald green energy tentacles simultaneously pierced from behind all the puppets, writhing in the water like living snakes.

The trait [Multiple Controls] is active!

When manipulating multiple targets, the resource consumption is greatly reduced, and the performance is increased by an additional 4!

The tentacles did not attack multiple clones simultaneously.

Instead, it's like a precise whip, striking repeatedly at high speed!

Each time, focus on one target, destroy it, and then move on to the next.

Clean.

neat.

Without labels, it breeds.

Xun stood in the sewage, her eyes calm as ice.

His eyes gleamed slightly.

The rules are actually quite simple.

It's not that it can't be attacked.

You can't try to do too much at once.

They are just like the people of this era.

When faced with a vast array of choices, the more you try to grasp them all, the more you get swallowed up by the mire of anxiety.

Xun simultaneously controlled her own personal puppet and wooden puppet, charging towards the clone in front of her!

Once the rules are found, these monsters have absolutely no strength.

At the same time, she spared a bit of attention to press the communication button on her headset.

"President, I've discovered the enemy's rules!"

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