Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

Page 234

Compared to the relaxed and nonchalant girl, Xiangzi's face was tense.

The shadow of the building cast a dark spot on Xiangzi's face.

"who are you?"

Xiangzi asked the girl.

The girl glanced at Xiangzi and smiled gently.

"Are you asking me what I looked like originally?"

The girl touched the skin of her face.

Wherever it touches, large blocks of color begin to flash.

"!"

The skin on the girl's face was actually covered with a cyber-customized [camouflage layer]!

The girl put her hands on her lower face and slowly raised them up.

The color blocks move with the girl's hands.

[Camouflage layer] is being removed.

The blocks of color are fading.

The jawbone is pulled upward and the cheekbones are pulled inward.

The bone structure, mouth shape, nose, eyebrows - the girl's appearance gradually changed -

When the girl pulled her hand away from her forehead, the camouflage layer on her entire face was peeled off.

The girl revealed her real face.

"—"

A face that Xiangzi recognized and that had often appeared on the big screen, especially on the big screens in agricultural and industrial areas.

The person in front of me with silver-gray hair and blue eyes...

Not some small-time thug.

Not an ordinary person at all.

She is no one else.

She is one of the five leaders of Afterglow, a strategist known as [GO MY WAY] who does things her own way.

Aoba Mocha!

"—"

As early as when they fought, Xiangzi knew that this man was no ordinary person.

But it’s so big...

It was also slightly beyond Xiangzi's expectations.

“(I originally thought he was just another strong contender for [Reclamation New Land Phase 2]. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be a [big shot] from [Seven Bands]…)”

Xiangzi was a little surprised.

But she didn't show it directly on her face.

"I apologize for the lack of etiquette."

Xiangzi nodded slightly and simply bowed.

"If you were polite during the fight, I would be scared~"

Moka said with a smile.

"..."

Xiangzi couldn't guess her intention.

Xiangzi had also come into contact with "big shots" whose intentions were difficult to guess.

For example, the Egret Thousand Saints from Pastel*Palettes and the String Heart from Hello, Happy World!

But the Aoba Moka in front of them was a little different from the two of them.

If Qiansheng is 100% calculated and Xin is 100% spontaneous, then Mocha is like taking half of each of these two styles and then laying the spontaneous part on top of the calculated part.

"(Another tough guy.)"

Xiangzi thought.

But on the surface, she certainly wouldn't say it like that.

"..."

Xiangzi just stared at Mocha.

"Your gaze is even more passionate than before~"

Moka laughed.

"Please forgive my intrusion." Xiangzi put his hand on his chest and said, "I'm just really curious. Why would the "big shot" of Afterglow come to fight in an underground boxing match?"

"Hmm~" Mocha touched her cheek with her hand and said, "[Phase 2 of Reclamation New Land] is open. Isn't it very interesting? So, I came to take a look~"

interesting?

Is it just because of this reason?

Xiangzi didn't say anything for a while.

And Moka continued.

"I've been around here for a few days," she said. "I heard that someone is monopolizing gasoline in this area, which makes me a little worried. So I came here to take a look."

"..."

"(Afterglow also thinks that the Toyokawa family is the one who wants to monopolize gasoline?)"

Xiangzi thought to himself.

Xiangzi was not surprised that the [Seven Bands] wanted to know the situation of [Phase 2 of Reclamation New Land].

Rather, if they hadn't been trying to grasp the situation here, Xiangzi would have been surprised.

"(I noticed something similar to the Toyokawa family, so I came to take a look...)"

Very understandable way of thinking.

"But~"

Moka spoke again.

"It seems like there's not much need to worry about the gasoline monopoly~"

She crossed her arms over her chest and said.

"(Because they found out it wasn't made by the Toyokawa family.)"

Xiangzi thought.

While Xiangzi was thinking, Mocha always looked at Xiangzi with a faint smile.

"It's something you don't need to worry about. I even came all the way here. It's so troublesome."

Moka said slowly.

She blinked.

"But~" she said, "It can't be considered a complete waste of time~"

Not a complete waste of time?

What does it mean?

Xiangzi looked at Mocha.

Moka smiled and said, "After all, I found someone I've been looking for for a long time~ It's a pleasant surprise, right~?"

……what?

Xiangzi's heart skipped a beat.

Mocha pointed at Xiangzi.

"You are Oblivionis, right~?"

Moka asked.

"..."

Xiangzi did not respond at first.

But Mocha kept staring at Xiangzi.

So Xiangzi nodded slowly.

"You're pretty famous lately, huh?"

Moka said with a smile.

“Everyone is talking about you guys~”

Xiangzi didn't really want to think about the "everyone" that Mocha referred to. Was he referring to the "everyone" of Afterglow, the "everyone" of the [seven bands], the "everyone" of all the forces in the City of Music including the Toyokawa family, or the "everyone" of the entire City of Music?

Moka looked at Xiangzi with her blue eyes.

"What are you going to do now?"

she asked suddenly.

"..."

Xiangzi was silent.

"Do you want to keep fighting here? Compare your speed in finding opportunities with the speed at which opportunities disappear over time?"

Moka asked again.

"..."

Xiangzi remained silent.

Mocha's words pointed out Xiangzi's situation incisively.

Xiangzi couldn't answer this question.

But in front of the silent Xiangzi...