Looking at the rising mushroom cloud, everyone was stunned.
Saria was also dazed; she hadn't expected it to be this powerful.
But she quickly snapped out of it and shouted to Mayer, "Start shooting, there are still survivors!"
Jolted by Saria's shout, Mayer regained her senses and aimed her gun through the car window at the thick smoke behind them.
"Thermal imaging activated."
Just as Mayer was worrying about how to aim at the enemies in the thick fog, a synthesized metallic voice suddenly rang from the gun. Then, blue light lines pulsed across the weapon, forming a holographic screen in front of Mayer's eyes.
The screen displayed various red figures; some had fallen to the ground, while others were stuck in the vehicles in strange poses. Beside each red figure was a line of text.
Dying, injured, and so on.
Mayer didn't understand what technology this was, but that didn't stop her from understanding the screen's purpose.
She aimed the muzzle at a figure on the screen labeled as being in a dying state and pulled the trigger.
A blue energy bullet, possessing a dreamlike beauty, fired silently from the muzzle.
This feeling was very strange; although she saw the beautiful bullet fire from the muzzle in her line of sight, Mayer didn't have the actual sensation that she had fired a gun.
There was no recoil and no gunshot. For someone accustomed to the noise made by the loud firearms of the Terra Continent, the weapon in her hand seemed like a phantom, yet its power could not be questioned.
The dying figure on the screen vanished; he was completely dead.
Boom!
The silver-white cannon in Saria's hands bloomed with another mushroom cloud. Relying on the energy conversion device mounted inside the barrel, Saria didn't need to load shells; she only needed to wait three seconds for the energy conversion device to automatically generate an energy shell.
Saria was starting to fall in love with the weapon in her hand. If a trial product was this powerful, could a finished product achieve a rate of one shell per second?
If so, Saria could imagine that if Umbrella were to sell such weapons, the entire landscape of the Terra World would undergo a massive change, and there would be a high probability of war breaking out across the entire Terra World.
But that wasn't something she should be thinking about now; the priority was reaching Umbrella.
She looked at Mayer with an inquiring gaze.
"All KIA," Mayer replied. There were no more red figures on the gun's screen.
Saria sighed and pulled herself back into the car. She looked at A2, who had maintained a calm expression throughout, and said softly, "Thank you for these weapons."
"Don't mention it," A2 replied. "If Miss Saria likes them, you can just keep them. They are only trial products and are not valuable. Moreover, with Miss Saria's clearance after joining Umbrella, you can get a set of finished products directly from the R&D Department, so don't worry about it."
"Then, thank you." Saria didn't refuse. She truly liked these weapons; they were aesthetically pleasing and incredibly powerful. Saria loved them to bits.
Although she sometimes preferred using her fists, weapons could be much more convenient than fists in certain situations.
Placing the cannon back into the box made of D32 Metal, Saria couldn't help but marvel at Umbrella's wealth. She had just received a box made entirely of D32 Metal and a pile of high-tech weapons. While she knew such a box wasn't valuable within Umbrella—one could say they were as common as hair on an ox, piled up in warehouses—that was only for Umbrella. If such a box were placed outside, it would be a treasure enough to drive people mad with greed or grief.
Saria also took back the gun from Mayer, ignoring Mayer's pitiful gaze. A weapon that could sense the enemy's presence was of great use on the battlefield, so Saria naturally wouldn't leave it with Mayer. Anyway, A2 had said they could use their clearance to get a finished set from the R&D Department later.
Her clearance was enough, and she wasn't worried about Mayer's or Ptilopsis's either. After all, Fujino was always very generous toward cute and beautiful young girls. However, this generosity being restricted only to females was also one of the reasons why Silence insisted on not going to Umbrella.
After all, that fellow Silence is very protective of Ifrit.
Inside Umbrella, Fujino received news that Rhine Lab had sent mercenaries to intercept Saria and the others. She didn't take it to heart; the trial weapons on the vehicle could easily eliminate those attacking mercenaries.
"But for Rhine Lab to actually target my designated employees, this debt cannot be settled so easily." A terrifying light flashed in Fujino's eyes.
"Kurumi." Fujino softly called Kurumi's name. A black, person-sized hole suddenly appeared on the wall in front of her, and Little Kurumi, wearing adorable pajamas, walked out of the hole with sleepy eyes.
"Does Big Sister Fujino have something for me?" Shaking her head vigorously, Little Kurumi regained some clarity. "What time is it now?"
"It's almost ten o'clock. You were playing games with your mother until late last night again, weren't you?" Fujino said helplessly. She walked over to Little Kurumi and reached out to comb her somewhat messy hair.
Little Kurumi leaned against Fujino, closing her eyes with an enjoying smile as she nestled in Fujino's embrace, letting Fujino comb her hair.
A few minutes later, a refreshed Little Kurumi appeared before Fujino. Looking at the charming Little Kurumi, Fujino nodded in satisfaction. This was her Kurumi!
"By the way, Sister Fujino, why did you call for me?" Little Kurumi looked up and asked.
Fujino's mind recalled the future Kurumi again. Ever since that day, they had come to the Arknights world. In this chaotic world, they had all achieved spiritual growth under Fujino's arrangements. Fujino didn't want them to have great power but only be decorative, so this was all necessary.
However, over these three years, Fujino had noticed something regarding Little Kurumi. Fujino felt as if Kurumi had sensed something, or perhaps knew something.
Could it be that when the future Kurumi left Little Kurumi's body, she had also imprinted her memories into Little Kurumi's mind?
Counting the intentional or unintentional flirtations and the shyness in Little Kurumi's eyes over the years, Fujino felt this was very likely. But she hadn't confirmed it because she herself hadn't decided when to tell Kurumi about it.
She would take it one step at a time.
"Kurumi, the organization has a task for you to complete."
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