"Lissandra, how many people are left?"
Roland looked through the window at the apocalyptic scene inside, narrowing his eyes as he asked.
A familiar voice soon sounded in his ear.
"Twenty-three remain, Mr. Roland."
"Who's first on the kill leaderboard?"
"A man named Mibs. His luck and strength are both decent, but compared to his actual ability, I'd say luck plays the bigger role."
"Is that so?"
Roland couldn't help but chuckle.
"That's fine. Luck is a form of strength too. If his luck really does far exceed the norm, then even without much ability, I could recruit him and keep him around as a mascot."
As for whether only twenty-three people remaining exceeded Roland's expectations—
Not really.
The original number of trainees hadn't been large to begin with, and Roland had deliberately put them through a brutal round. He'd instructed Lissandra to place everyone in dangerous situations. If they couldn't quickly grasp what was happening and ended up dead, that could only be called bad luck.
Roland was already more or less familiar with how they'd died.
Some were taken out by gang members.
Some had their kidneys harvested.
Others were eliminated by rival competitors.
And there were also those whose mentality simply couldn't handle it—people who had done well in school, but whose performance here was nothing short of disappointing.
Roland had Lissandra eliminate those people directly.
"By the way, how's V doing?"
"Miss Valerie is currently leading a security squad through the slums. She appears to be searching for Gene Power, as well as information she may have left behind there."
"Mm. She chose the right direction. Seems I didn't misjudge her," Roland said calmly.
"As for how far she can go, that depends on her."
"Oh, and Miss Valerie has been reported by a colleague for possible consciousness replacement."
"That's her own problem," Roland replied with a smile.
"There's no need to report that to me."
He waved it off, signaling that the matter didn't warrant further attention.
"I understand."
"One more thing—Mr. Mudor would like to meet with you."
"…I'll go see him after I finish up here. Tell him to wait a little longer."
"Understood."
With that, Roland ended the communication with Lissandra and walked over to Lucy.
"Let's go. It's time to start the special training."
"Mm."
...
Bang!
The violent sound of the door being kicked open instantly put Mibs on high alert. He raised his weapon and aimed it straight at the entrance.
Whoosh—
"Ahhh!!!"
An orange-yellow energy round suddenly fired, slamming into Mibs's arm and snapping it cleanly.
Cold sweat poured down his body as he dropped to his knees, clutching the ruined arm in agony. Gritting his teeth, he looked up in terror toward the doorway.
Two robots bearing the PROJECT insignia stepped inside, their energy weapons raised.
One of them stopped in front of him and spoke in a cold electronic voice,
"Target identity confirmed. Proceeding with next directive. Subject will be retrieved."
"W-wait! At least tell me why!"
Mibs scrambled backward in panic, desperate for an explanation. The robots showed no interest in humoring him. They stepped forward, grabbed him, and dragged him straight out.
At the same time, V was searching the area with the remaining three robots. Before long, she spotted a chip on the ground and walked over to pick it up.
There were no special markings on it—it looked completely ordinary.
But her instincts told her this was exactly what she'd been looking for.
"Hey! Why are the corporation's dogs here too?!"
"Yeah! PROJECT's lapdogs—get the hell out of here!"
Just as V picked up the chip and was about to take it back to examine its contents, two defiant voices suddenly rang out behind her.
V frowned and turned around, only to see more than a dozen people slowly emerging from both ends of the alley, completely blocking her way out.
Every one of them bore signs of cybernetic modification, and the weapons in their hands were clearly energy-based.
Seeing this, the three PROJECT security robots raised their weapons and issued a warning.
"Warning. You have interfered with PROJECT Corporation's counter-intelligence operation. You have ten seconds to retreat and disarm. After that time limit, we are authorized to eliminate you."
The lead black humanoid robot delivered the warning with utter indifference as faint light spread across its body, activating combat mode.
The previously lax gang members immediately raised their weapons, staring at the robots with intense vigilance.
Just as V was weighing her options, a sudden disturbance rippled through the crowd. Two robots dragged Mibs—limp like a dead dog—out from among them and brought him directly in front of V.
They tossed him onto the ground, then joined the standoff, positioning themselves to protect V in the center.
"Do not initiate fire until I give the order," V said calmly.
"If they attack first, counterattack is authorized."
"Received."
After issuing the command, V slowly walked up to Mibs.
The surrounding gang members hesitated, not daring to make any sudden moves.
To be honest, they'd only come here like they always did—to shake down an ordinary employee. They'd never intended to confront PROJECT forces head-on. Now they were just stuck, unable to back down without losing face.
Especially after seeing Mibs in such a miserable state. They all knew who he was, which made them even more cautious. None of them wanted PROJECT settling scores afterward.
Extorting a little was one thing.
Actually fighting? That would bring them nothing but trouble.
Mibs, meanwhile, immediately recognized the person standing in front of him—the very competitor he'd been tailing before.
"It's you?!"
"You know me?"
V looked at him in surprise.
Mibs's face twisted as if he were constipated. In the end, he could only sigh at his terrible luck.
"Just kill me."
Seeing that he showed no fear of death at all, V couldn't help but think a bit more highly of him—completely unaware that his situation wasn't so different from her own.
"Take him back for interrogation."
Mibs's expression froze. Then he realized something—she hadn't recognized his identity.
The moment that sank in, his face changed drastically. He tried to speak, to tell V that they came from the same place—
But a robot beside him immediately dislocated his jaw and restrained him.
Stripped of both resistance and the ability to speak, the light drained from Mibs's eyes.
It was over.
...
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