She carried the already sound-asleep little Silver Wolf into her own small room and laid her down.
The room wasn't large. The furniture inside was clearly old, but everything had been kept very clean and neatly arranged.
Whoever had set up this room had done it with care.
'Silver Wolf' felt a bit curious about the shop owner who had taken little Silver Wolf in.
A place like Punklorde wasn't exactly somewhere where random acts of kindness usually worked out well.
Yet this owner not only adopted Silver Wolf—judging from how the shop operated, the customers who came by were fairly well-behaved too.
At the very least, no one tried to set their sights on the little girl.
Well… teasing kids was a different matter.
All in all, 'Silver Wolf' didn't know anything about the owner's past, but from what she could see so far, the woman seemed like a decent person.
The only question was whether the owner was a hacker.
Who knew.
'Silver Wolf' could easily uncover any secret if she wanted to, but sometimes it was more polite—and more interesting—not to.
Unless something urgent came up, she usually avoided acting like some all-knowing being.
Still, whether the owner was a hacker or not didn't really matter.
It didn't stop her from teaching little Silver Wolf how to play with Aether Editing.
Consider it a way to pass the time, and at the same time, she could watch just how far that Cipher girl intended to take things.
Those hackers Cipher had stolen from earlier—based on the data stored in their cartridges—were basically accomplices or associates of the group that had tried to invade Amphoreus.
All she could say was: they had it coming.
But it was obvious Cipher had no intention of stopping there.
And from 'Silver Wolf's' observations, those hackers who had lost their cartridges—humiliated so badly they'd become the biggest laughingstock in Punklorde history—weren't planning to let it go either.
It looked like they intended to expose Cipher's identity.
According to the information circulating on Punklorde's network…
Amphoreus, as the birthplace of Digimon, seemed extremely attractive to the people of Punklorde.
So unless something unexpected happened, once Cipher's identity was revealed, she was bound to be hunted by nearly every hacker on the planet.
After all, what hacker wouldn't want a Digimon?
Something that could freely move between data space and the real world, and even evolve differently depending on what data you fed it.
Only now did 'Silver Wolf' realize just how irresistible Digimon would be to this crowd of data-obsessed hackers.
So irresistible that they'd dared to invade Amphoreus despite the enormous risks. But if these hackers still couldn't recognize reality, then next time it probably wouldn't end with theft.
Next time, the Land of Light's combat squads might be the ones showing up.
Divine Herta's pettiness and her habit of paying back every grudge wasn't something to joke about.
Given Punklorde's situation, the Land of Light—being outsiders—couldn't easily interfere in a civilization's internal affairs, and Aether Editing, something even civilians could access, did help keep this cyber world from becoming too oppressive.
But if someone was foolish enough to provoke the Land of Light's allies…
Well, then the Land of Light would be more than happy to teach them a lesson about the "critique of weapons."
Thinking about all that, 'Silver Wolf' tucked the blanket around little Silver Wolf.
Just as she was about to stand up and leave—
She suddenly realized the child had somehow grabbed hold of her belt.
When she stood, she almost dragged the little girl right off the bed.
Not only that, her already low-waisted shorts were nearly yanked halfway down her hips.
The shop owner happened to pass by the doorway and glanced inside.
Her expression turned… complicated.
That ungrateful little brat. She fed her, gave her a place to live, and never once had the kid been this clingy with her. But this big sister she'd known for less than a day gave her one oversized toy—
And now she wouldn't even let go of it in her sleep?
The owner gave a quiet snort, unsure whether she should feel happy that the kid was finally acting a little more like a child…
Or disappointed that it wasn't directed at her.
Then she simply walked past the door, pretending she hadn't seen anything, which meant 'Silver Wolf' didn't even get the chance to ask for help.
Come to think of it… this owner didn't mind a complete stranger staying in her house?
Even sharing a room with the kid she had adopted?
'Silver Wolf' couldn't help thinking the owner might be a little… simple-minded.
When she looked back, little Silver Wolf had tightened her grip even more.
Her whole body had curled toward where 'Silver Wolf' was sitting.
Pretty cute.
So 'Silver Wolf' casually produced another Light Cone and stored it away, planning to send it to the grown-up Silver Wolf later as embarrassing blackmail material.
Then she reached out and gently poked the girl's forehead.
Using the faint power of Remembrance, she lightly brushed against the child's thoughts within her dreams.
Only then did she realize—the body she was using right now was Silver Wolf's future self.
So to little Silver Wolf, 'Silver Wolf's' presence naturally gave off a familiar, trustworthy feeling.
When she was awake, that instinct wasn't very noticeable, but once she got sleepy, when rational thought faded away…
Instinct took over.
That was why earlier, when she got drowsy, she had instinctively burrowed into 'Silver Wolf's' arms, and even now, asleep, she clung to her and kept inching closer.
Of course, little Silver Wolf couldn't possibly understand the concept of "her future self."
So subconsciously, she was treating her like family.
Whether that family member was supposed to be a sister… or a mother…
'Silver Wolf's' expression turned awkward.
Just how starved for motherly affection was this kid?
Wasn't the shop owner a woman too? After taking care of her for years, the kid still didn't see her as a mom?
"…Whatever."
'Silver Wolf' clicked her tongue.
Thankfully Herta and the others didn't know about this.
Otherwise the whole "becoming a mom without pain" situation would probably be mocked for ages.
The bed in the room wasn't big, but 'Silver Wolf' herself wasn't tall either, so squeezing in beside a child was still fairly comfortable.
After taking off the annoying outer layers of clothing and lying down, she didn't actually go to sleep.
Instead, she closed her eyes and continued studying the Permanence Equation.
As for Aether Editing…
Honestly, she only needed to glance at it twice to understand everything. There was no need to study it.
--+--
The next day.
Little Silver Wolf, who felt like she'd had an incredibly comfortable sleep, woke up at least two system hours later than usual.
When she groggily regained consciousness, she realized she seemed to be resting against a very warm, comfortable embrace.
It felt just like sleeping beside her mother.
So instinctively, she burrowed deeper into it.
Only after her brain cleared a little did she suddenly remember—
She always slept alone.
Where would a mother's arms come from?
Forcing her eyes open, little Silver Wolf lifted her head.
That was when she saw the big sister beside her, eyes closed, seemingly still asleep.
"…"
For a moment, she almost thought she had really met her mother, but she knew better.
This was the sister who had come out of the Originium—she just looked very similar to her.
She wasn't actually family.
Even so…
Silver Wolf pressed her lips together, then buried her head again.
'Silver Wolf' opened her eyes briefly when she felt the movement.
Seeing the girl who had already woken up lying back down again as if she planned to keep staying in bed, she said nothing.
Especially when she noticed the little hand gripping her tank top tightening even more.
So she quietly closed her eyes again.
Then she raised a hand and gently placed it on Silver Wolf's head, softly stroking her hair.
By the time little Silver Wolf finally got up, the fast-food shop downstairs had already reached the lunch rush.
Without even having time to wash up, she had her hair quickly tied into twin drill-tails by 'Silver Wolf', wiped her face, and rushed into the dining area to help out.
As for 'Silver Wolf'—
She took the chance to check the state of the network world again, and sure enough.
Those victims had directly exposed the truth:
Cipher and her accomplices were Digimon from Amphoreus.
The news caused an enormous uproar across Punklorde.
At the same time, ordinary people finally learned why those hackers had been targeted.
Turns out these lunatics had formed a group and invaded Amphoreus.
The ones who went were wiped out or trapped there.
The ones who hadn't made it in time were now being hunted down.
Although the general public condemned the reckless hackers…
Condemning them didn't mean other hackers weren't tempted.
More victims began appearing, and this time it was worse.
Not only were their Aether Cartridges stolen—Cipher had dismantled their entire defense systems with hacking techniques.
The equipment they relied on to survive was completely destroyed.
Even the cybernetic implants inside their bodies had been swapped out for old models incapable of connecting to the network.
The blow—psychological and physical—was devastating.
To the point that calling Punklorde's network world a tangled mess today wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Thanks to Digimon's natural hacking talent, combined with the fact that both Cipher and Bartholos happened to be Pathstriders of Elation…
Aether Editing, which ordinary people found incredibly difficult to learn—was almost trivial in Cipher's eyes.
Even when there were parts she couldn't accomplish normally, she could simply force the result through the power of Elation.
A full-on dimensionality strike.
By the afternoon, work at the fast-food shop temporarily slowed down.
With some free time, Silver Wolf opened her game like usual, but compared to before, she seemed distracted today.
Lost in her thoughts, the little girl would occasionally sneak a glance toward 'Silver Wolf'.
The two adults present naturally noticed the obvious behavior, but by unspoken agreement, neither of them pointed it out.
And right around that moment—
Cipher quietly slipped back into the basement and walked up to 'Silver Wolf', wiping nonexistent sweat from her forehead.
"Whew~ Those hackers are seriously insane. Shaking off their tracking wasn't easy."
"So what exactly are you trying to do?" 'Silver Wolf' asked.
"Don't tell me you're just planning to bully every hacker on the planet?"
"Of course it's not that simple."
"But the final step of my plan… I might need your help, Big Sis."
Cipher blinked at her mischievously, clearly trying to keep the suspense going.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL