The torture-like infection process passed quickly.
Kuroto Dan was also experienced with this kind of thing, so he had no psychological burden at all. If he had the God Maximum X in his hand, the process would have been even faster.
Thinking of this, Kuroto Dan couldn't help but reach out and touch his chest.
It's still there.
But he can't take it out.
"Tsk. Then let's do data management."
The tied gang leader screamed miserably under the erosion of the virus, especially when Kuroto Dan pulled out the muzzle of the gun and didn't block her mouth. Her screamed even louder.
"It seems that the Bugster Virus can still affect their Halo," Kuroto Dan commented, twisting his chin as he looked at the gang leader in front of him with interest.
Just moments ago, the gang leader who was infected with a massive amount of Bugster Virus reached the end of the infection. This was the moment when she was about to be overtaken by the Bugster Virus and his body would completely perish.
At this critical moment, Kuroto Dan stepped forward quickly and inserted his palm which was infused with God Maximum X's powers into the body of the digitized gang leader.
"Shaping the body... code tampering... state solidification... completed!"
Kuroto Dan relied on his powerful computing power to effortlessly solidify the gang leader's original appearance, turning it into the form she assumed when she transformed into a Bugster. Through the code he left in her body, Kuroto Dan could also control all her actions 100%.
While planting the backdoor, Kuroto Dan completed what he needed to do. He extracted all the memories the gang leader had of the people of Abydos and the Kaiser Corporation, then played them in front of Shiroko like a videotape.
"This way... we can know, right?"
Although the means and process were somewhat cruel, Shiroko didn't care as long as they could find the whereabouts of Serika and Hoshino. She couldn't wait to look up, and Shiroko became excited. "We can know where Serika and the others are!"
The images from the memory began to appear. Because they were from someone's memory, most of the perspectives were presented in the first person.
At the beginning, you could see the streets near Abydos, where Serika often worked. The gang leader, whose perspective it was, sat in a van, surrounded by several gangsters in gray sailor suits.
"Listen, when the car stops, you rush out and tie up the black-haired girl!"
The person providing the perspective issued orders, assigning tasks to the gangsters around him. After a short, bumpy journey, the side door of the van opened, and Serika appeared, handing out flyers on the roadside, looking confused because of the car's sudden stop.
"Who are you—Wooooo!"
Serika was dragged into the car without explanation. Shiroko couldn't help but clench his fists when she saw the first-person perspective before her. "Helmet Gang—!"
"We'll recall these memories later." Kuroto Dan stretched out his hand, adjusting the progress bar to quickly play the extracted memories. "Let's fast-forward to the answer."
Under the fast-moving progress bar, images of what the Helmet Gang had done to Serika flashed quickly, and Shiroko's last bit of sympathy for the thugs disappeared.
After being stuffed into a sack and beaten severely, Serika, bruised and swollen, was taken in a daze to the Kaiser PMC base in the Abydos Desert.
From the thugs' perspective, the chairman of the Kaiser Corporation appeared.
"Chairman Kaiser, we caught Kuromi Serika."
This was the Helmet Gang thug's report to the robot fat man in a suit and leather shoes, with Serika lying in the sack beneath his feet, the best response.
"Well, you did a good job. Abydos will lose another manpower." Holding a cigar in his hand—though it was unclear how the robot's head smoked it—Chairman Kaiser walked up and looked at the barely conscious Serika, shedding a few crocodile tears. "Oh my~ Isn't this Serika from Abydos? Long time no see. How did you become like this?"
"... Humph, despicable adult..."
She struggled to open her eyes, trying to see the person in front of her clearly.
But even without opening her eyes, Serika knew who the fat robot before her was.
"... You encouraged everyone to sell the school's land, then used the army to seize it. You... did so many bad things. Aren't you afraid... of retribution?"
Hearing Serika's words, Chairman Kaiser laughed: "So, Serika, who is suffering retribution now?"
"..."
Serika didn't respond. She was in intense pain, tied up tightly, not knowing where she was. She could only stare at Chairman Kaiser with the last of her strength. "Everyone in the Foreclosure Taskforce will not let you go..."
Seeing this, Shiroko recalled the time when this happened: "At that time, Hoshino-senpai and Nonomi-san had not left yet, and Ayane-san was also in good health..."
As these memories came flooding back, Shiroko whispered to Kuroto Dan beside her. "... After Serika-san disappeared, Hoshino-senpai left a letter and disappeared. After this blow and the difficult battle, Nonomi-san's family finally took her away, and Ayane-san also fell ill after this time..."
The more Shiroko spoke, the lower her voice became.
Recalling these events brought back his sad memories. Kuroto Dan did not speak to comfort Shiroko as a gentle Asian male protagonist might. For him, remaining silent and not ruining the atmosphere or mocking the moment was already a significant improvement from his usual uncaring form.
Kuroto Dan started sorting out the clues from the memory of this Helmet Gang, but a minute later, his excellent computing ability, aided by his data life form, helped him reverse-engineer the location of the base where the Helmet Gang thugs had handed over Kuromi Serika to the Kaiser Corporation from the images in the memory video.
"Fortunately, this guy has also been to that base. According to the memory images over the next few days, let's use the coordinate axis to plan the map, factoring in vehicle speed as the line segment... Well, it's a little further out in the desert from Abydos?"
A light curtain flashed beside Kuroto Dan, showing a map near Abydos.
Based on the information from the memory, Kuroto Dan drew a highly detailed map with routes and distances.
"This is the route to the Kaiser base." Kuroto Dan put his hands on his hips and laughed cheerfully. "Hahahaha~ Nothing is impossible in front of my divine talent!"
"Found it?"
Shiroko, shocked, exclaimed, "This... is even better than Ayane's computer skills! You can draw this map just from the pictures?"
"There's nothing I can't do!" Kuroto Dan patted her shoulder. "So, are you ready to attack the Kaiser Corporation's outpost?"
"...Wait a minute."
Shiroko suddenly spoke.
"That... although it's not on your next bounty contract, but..."
Shiroko hesitated. She was unsure if the adult in front of her who was only here for the contract would help. "Ayane's condition... do you... have any solution?"
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