Anime, but the Phantom Thieves of Heart

"That's right, and that's exactly why I hope to find you!"

This is a lie!

At first, Lucy just wanted to "kill with a borrowed knife", or at least it was a "two tigers competing for food" strategy, but when she really saw Lan Ke and Shirou Emiya, she realized that she was wrong.

'Baijiu Pharmaceutical' may be a vicious tiger, but the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts' is simply a dragon crossing the river.

If she wanted to drive... no, even just lead them in the direction she wanted, she would have to pay a greater price.

For example... your own secrets.

Even, your own life and future!

However, she lives for revenge. As long as she can achieve her goal, what does it matter if she sacrifices herself?

So when she said this, it was truly heartfelt, after all, this was indeed what she was thinking at the moment.

As for Lan Ke, he leaned back slightly.

Most of the answers were finally revealed, and the "abnormality" of Lucy's body also meant that a huge secret was about to be revealed, which might even be related to Lan Ke and the others' next goal.

After all, although Lucy was very confident when she mentioned the special features of her body, the hatred in her eyes could not be concealed at all.

In addition, if this technology is really mature, it would have spread all over the world long ago.

So is there any need to guess what the answer is?

However, Lan Ke still hoped to hear the other party tell it all in person.

Lucy did not disappoint Lan Ke. After seeing Lan Ke lean back and stretch out his right hand to signal her that she could start, she began to tell Lan Ke everything that had happened to her.

"Lucy is my name, and also my code name. I'm an orphan. I don't know who my parents are. I grew up in an orphanage until I was 'adopted' a few years ago. But later I found out that the person who 'adopted' me was actually just a 'white glove'..."

Lucy narrated her experience in a very calm voice, but Shirou Emiya instinctively clenched his fists.

It was obvious that he was thinking of his sister.

If it weren't for Lan Ke's intervention, even if he killed 'Lian Ren', 'Z' hiding behind the scenes would still manipulate the couple to adopt Miyu. Even if he killed both guys, 'Z' would definitely have a backup plan. As for him, he would probably have to separate from his sisters and flee to the ends of the earth.

But Lucy just looked at Shirou Emiya with a strange look, as if she didn't quite understand why he reacted like that. After all, her 'story' had just begun.

"When I first learned I was adopted, I was very happy. After all, the older you get, the smaller your chances of being adopted become, and when you reach a certain age, you have to leave the orphanage. But it turned out to be just the beginning of a nightmare."

"Not long after being taken home, I was sent to a research institute. There, I met many people like me. They had undergone 'transformation' and training, and eventually became the 'nutrients' of the mighty tree of 'Arasaka Technology'."

"nourishment?"

Lan Ke was obviously a little surprised by the other party's metaphor, but Lucy did not answer directly after glancing at Lan Ke. Instead, she took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Yes, it's 'nutrients'."

"Arasaka Tech is best known for its Arasaka Medical unit. As the world's largest manufacturer of prosthetic limbs and medical exoskeletons, how do they accomplish neural connection surgeries that far surpass those of other companies?"

Shirou Emiya was confused, but Lan Ke, who was also a surgeon, gave the answer in a somewhat low voice.

"A lot of surgery."

Surgery is a standard experiential discipline. Even though Lan Ke was called a "surgical genius" by his mentor and benefactor, he had constantly used "bananas", "mangoes", "fish skins", "pig skins" and other things for "suturing practice" during his school days in his previous life. Before his first surgery, he participated in a large number of operations as an assistant and accumulated countless experiences.

The same is true for neurosurgery.

And Lucy's voice seemed to become much higher-pitched.

"That's right, a lot of surgeries! And we're the best 'consumables'. Many people I know have died from rejection reactions, and their bodies have become 'consumables' for other doctors to practice on."

"So you escaped?"

"How can it be that simple? Although I successfully overcame the 'rejection reaction' and other side effects, there are many people like me. I... am not special."

At this point, Lucy's voice became noticeably deeper, as if she was missing those who were in the same situation as herself, but she quickly composed herself. After all, she had already learned to control her emotions during these years of escape.

"The success rate of 'human body modification' is not high, so any surviving children are invaluable 'property'. Arasaka Tech will naturally not let such high-quality assets go unused. We are responsible for Arasaka Tech's network security and participate in some special experiments..."

"But Arasaka Tech isn't stupid. During this process, a 'collar' was implanted in our heads. If we tried to resist or escape, it would activate, rendering us unable to resist. The person in charge could even 'detonate' it directly, burning our brains into a pulp."

"I thought I would be a 'consumable' like everyone else, constantly operating until I was completely 'broken' and then 'abandoned', until..."

Lucy's description of herself didn't sound like she was describing a human being, but rather a 'robot'. However, her expression fluctuated noticeably at the end.

"Two years ago, a man attacked the Arasaka Research Institute, where he destroyed the collars in our heads. Although some chose to remain in the prison, the vast majority chose to resist and escape..."

"But there has never been any news about this, not even... rumors."

The person who said this was naturally Shirou Emiya. After all, Lan Ke had only been in this world for less than a month, so he naturally didn't know the news from two years ago.

Lucy didn't say anything about this but just nodded.

"Of course, because I was the only survivor of the rebellion. Both my former companions and the man who attacked the 'Institute' died in the end. Naturally, this matter will not be known to others."

After saying that, she stared at Lan Ke.

"That's why I came looking for you. I imagine the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, who target criminals, won't let such scum go, right?"

In fact, Lucy hid the most important detail, or 'clue', here.

After she escaped, she ran in the direction of that man. Thanks to him, she escaped the pursuit of "Arasaka Technology". Although the other companions escaped from the "Research Institute", no one survived except her.

At the same time, the man left her a "legacy" before his death, and she inherited the man's "will".

She would never forget the invitation that the gray-haired man extended to her lying in the ruins in the snowy garbage dump while taking off his glasses.

"Let's burn Arasaka to ashes together."

However, she did not intend to tell Lan Ke about this matter. After all, this matter did not affect what Arasaka did.

She just quietly waited for Lan Ke's "verdict".

However, Lan Ke did not seem to be lost in thought for too long. Instead, he put his hands behind his back, and then, in Lucy's incredible gaze, he took out a special laptop and handed it to Shirou Emiya.

That's right!

It was the special laptop that Emiya Kiritsugu had passed on to Emiya Shirou.

Because only Lan Ke has the ability to use special abilities in the 'material world', including his 'backpack', so this kind of thing is usually left with Lan Ke.

As for Lan Ke, he took out a special "work phone", obviously intending to search for who the president of "Arasaka" was.

After all, even if the 'hall' cannot be locked for the time being, as long as the 'extra-dimensional navigation' can be activated, it is enough to show that the other party has a sufficiently huge and twisted desire.

But at this moment, an embarrassing scene happened.

Lucy's cell phone on the coffee table suddenly lit up, and Lan Ke generously gestured to her to feel free.

Lucy opened her phone nervously, but after just one glance, she looked in Emiya Shirou's direction with a very strange expression.

Emiya Shirou, who was also stunned for a moment, seemed to have guessed the answer.

The scene fell into dead silence until Lucy took the initiative to speak.

"Are you the 'bounty seeker'?"

It was not until then that Lan Ke finally realized that the information about 'Ren Ren' and 'Witch Cult' that Shirou Emiya had spent a lot of money to buy was actually provided by the woman in front of him named 'Lucy'.

But unexpectedly, Lucy's eyes suddenly lit up, and then she showed a confident smile.

"I see!!"

Shirou Emiya's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"What do you know?"

"Your true identity!!"

Emiya Shirou's expression under the helmet gradually became more and more serious, while his mind kept going over what Emiya Kiritsugu said.

"Isn't there a dedicated firewall? Even if someone breaks in, there will be a warning. What's going on here?"

Although he was extremely nervous, Shirou Emiya still controlled his emotions and stared at Lucy until she made a statement that surprised him greatly.

"No wonder the 'Phantom Thieves of Hearts' hid so well. If it's that 'legendary mercenary', then nothing would be surprising!!"

"That's right! You're the 'Legendary Mercenary' who mysteriously disappeared ten years ago!!"

Lucy's voice was incredibly confident, but in the room, you could hear a pin drop...

Chapter 22: The Phantom Thieves of Hearts Act Only Out of Desire

Although Lucy looked confident at this moment, the expressions of Lan Ke and Emiya Shirou under their "masks" were extremely subtle.

If things had developed normally, Shirou would indeed have had a chance to become a 'legendary mercenary'. After all, after killing 'Renjin', 'Z' would most likely not give up, and Shirou Emiya would definitely fight his way up, and in the end he would definitely have to leave his hometown. At that time, he would most likely go to that land like Shirou in other lines to fight against the invaders and become a 'legendary mercenary'.

But the question is, he disappeared 10 years ago?

Was Shirou only 6 or 7 at that time?

It was obvious that Shirou Emiya was thinking the same thing, and his expression was even weirder.

Ten years ago, he hadn't even been adopted by Kiritsugu yet, and at that time he seemed to have picked up passersby... In short, the other party must have guessed wrong!

"how you said that?"

Although Emiya Shirou felt that the other party had 100% recognized the wrong person, he was still quite curious about where the other party had gone astray.

Looking at the unmoved 'Skull Will-O'-Ghost Man', Lucy sighed inwardly, "As expected of a legendary mercenary," and began to explain.

Slimming: ba yi si jiu ling san qi jiu ba

"Because I was planning to contact the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, I rechecked the information I had previously searched. I discovered that the two targets this 'gentleman' had previously commissioned me to investigate eventually became targets of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. So, I suspect that the client is a member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts..."

Hearing this, Lan Ke and Emiya Shirou nodded unconsciously.

After all, there was nothing wrong with the other party's reasoning, but it was precisely because of this that they became even more confused.

Since there was no problem with the initial reasoning, why did it go astray afterwards?

So the two of them didn't say anything, just listened silently.

"So I tried to track that account, but the 'black market's' own network protection and the protection capabilities of 'this gentleman's' device caused my pursuit to end in failure. I was worried that the people from the 'black market' would also come after me, so I gave up this plan..."

At this point, Lan Ke and Emiya Shirou's expressions became a little strange.

The woman in front of me looks pretty, but why does she look like the Train King, pulling monsters around everywhere?

It was understandable that he initially provoked Arasaka Technology, since they were the first to strike. But then, out of curiosity, he provoked Shiraha Pharmaceutical. If he then provoked the people from the Black Market...

While Lan Ke and the others were sighing, Lucy continued her analysis.

"Although I later turned my attention to building the 'support website,' I didn't give up investigating 'this gentleman.' Coincidentally, I found contact records with 'this gentleman's' account from the man who saved me that year. So... 'assassin,' are you still going to deny it?"

It was obvious that she said this not to find fault with Lan Ke and the others. After all, to find fault with them, one must do so under her own safety. If she did so in front of others, wouldn't that be forcing them to silence themselves?

She did this more to prove her own worth!

The stronger she is, the higher the chance that the Phantom Thieves of Hearts will agree to her request!

But what she didn't know was that when she said the code name 'assassin', Shirou Emiya's pupils suddenly shrank. After all, this code name was indeed the code name her father had used.

The other party... no, the man who saved the other party actually knew Kiritsugu?

But he didn't expect that both he and Kiritsugu had passed away, and that he and he would meet again in such a delicate situation.

But while sighing, Emiya Shirou fell into deep thought.

Do you want to deny it?

The answer is undoubtedly no. After all, he doesn't need to prove his identity. Using the fake identity Kiritsugu once used can instead be used to create a new smokescreen for their current true identities.

Thinking of this, Emiya Shirou turned to look at Lan Ke.

"Leader?"

Although no words were said, Lan Ke still guessed what Shirou Emiya was thinking based on the tacit understanding between them. After all, they were both quite cautious people.

Lan Ke doesn't want anyone to disturb his "peaceful life", and Shirou Emiya doesn't want anyone to disturb his life with his sisters.

Lan Ke nodded in answer to his question, and then began to conceal it completely.

"It has been confirmed that there is indeed something wrong with the Arasaka Group."

As expected, Lucy was stunned when she heard Lan Ke's words. She no longer cared about anything else and showed an ecstatic expression.

"Have the Phantom Thieves of Hearts decided to accept my commission?!"

"Crack~!"

With a crisp sound, Lan Ke stood up with the cane that appeared in his palm at some point.