Chapter 194 — Obviously I Got Here First!
"Are you all ready?"
She wore a black cloak with a white lining on the inside. Though she had Sakura's face, her expression was far more eerie than Matou Sakura's.
The fleeting smile on that face carried the mischievous air of a little demon.
"BB Channel!!!"
She struck a pose like a gunman pointing at the screen and went, "Pew~~~!"
"Dear citizens of New London, have you missed BB-chan lately? Even though you're all hopeless people, it's okay~ BB-chan is still watching over you all!"
Out of nowhere, she pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on.
"The dramatic battle is about to enter its climax! Last week, the two teams led by the scientists Jekyll and Tesla both successfully broke through to the 4th floor — congratulations to them!"
Right after that, an electronic screen appeared behind her, displaying a thumbnail map.
Like a labyrinth, it was clearly divided into seven floors.
You could see two portrait photos resting on the 4th floor.
"Even though the others are still stuck on the first three floors, it's okay~ After all, you've been chosen, so surely you'll overcome the trials and make your way to the 7th floor to obtain all the knowledge you so dearly long for~~~"
Suddenly, the purple-haired girl changed her expression to one of apparent fear.
"But it seems like some unauthorized intruders have sneaked into the city, even injuring the guards! These people are really scary. However…"
She put her hands on her hips again and smiled innocently like an angel.
"Even illegal intruders can join the competition~ If you can reach the 7th floor, who knows, BB-chan might grant your wish~"
"Anyway, BB-chan is the main character after all! As greedy as a maiden, as cold as an angel, flaunting a form different from humans, this is the childish BB-chan!!!"
She said these dangerous words while laughing joyfully.
"If I had to describe her in two words, it would be — selfish! After all, BB-chan has super special privileges~"
At this point, the purple-haired girl approached the screen and said in a regretful tone:
"What a shame, this week's BB Channel ends here~ Please look forward to next week's broadcast!"
"Hang in there, citizens of New London! Keep striving toward your dreams~ BB-chan will be waiting for you on the highest floor~~~"
Click.
The screen suddenly went dark, the program ended.
...
"Um… Matou-san…"
After a brief silence, Mash was the first to raise her hand and ask.
"Why did the person on the screen just now look exactly like you?"
In response to Mash's question, Matou Sakura also showed an awkward expression.
"If I had to explain… it'd be a little complicated."
"And what about what she said — that one could obtain all knowledge if they reached the seventh floor… what exactly does that mean?"
Ethan immediately grasped the key point and cut straight to the matter.
After all, the Moon Holy Grail War was originally a duel between 128 Masters, continuing until only one remained.
"When this city came under observation by Mooncell, BB seized control by altering the AI system. She constructed a seven-story tower near Big Ben. And as you just saw, she declared that anyone who could climb to the seventh floor first would be granted the knowledge they desire."
So that's how it is.
A Holy Grail War in a scientific version.
Nineteenth-century London was a place that gathered countless scientists capable of changing the world. BB took advantage of their thirst for knowledge to lure them into participating in this obviously suspicious competition.
The seventh floor… could it be the Core? The central control system on the Moon, believed to be the place where alien intelligent entities accessed Mooncell?
What exactly is BB plotting???
"Even though I still don't know what she's trying to do, if we want to stop Mooncell from assimilating this city, we absolutely have to stop BB first!"
Matou Sakura tried to explain to Ethan and Mash.
"If we leave things as they are, in about a week this place will be completely assimilated."
"What happens after it's assimilated?"
Dr. Romani hesitated for a moment before speaking up.
"If London is fully digitized, it's very likely Mooncell will use it as a stepping stone to further expand the territory of imaginary space."
"…If what you're saying is true, then the situation in this singularity is far more complicated than we expected. No wonder the Humanity Foundation Value has fluctuated so drastically."
Dr. Romani spoke with a grave expression.
"That's why… please help me stop BB — who has gone out of control — and prevent London from being assimilated into an digital world!"
Matou Sakura bowed her head before everyone.
"Even if you didn't say anything, we'd do it anyway."
Ethan immediately responded.
"In fact, we came here precisely to stop the abnormal mutations of this era."
"Yes, Matou-san, please leave this matter to us."
Mash also smiled at Sakura.
"After all, the main mission of Chaldea is to prevent the collapse of time periods. But, um, Matou-san, could you explain more clearly about Mooncell and SE.RA.PH. later? Just the basic fundamentals are fine, for us to observe more easily."
Perhaps not expecting Ethan's group to agree so quickly, Matou Sakura was slightly taken aback.
"O-Of course! I just need to transmit it through this communication line, right?"
Matou Sakura gently touched with her hand, seemingly sending something.
"Oh! There's really data coming in!!"
Dr. Romani's surprised voice rang out.
"I'll have the staff decode this data right away. Thank you very much, Matou."
"No, I should be the one thanking everyone instead."
Sakura's eyes grew slightly red.
"Thank you for helping me… please allow me to bow my head and express my gratitude!!!"
"No need to thank us, didn't you just save us a moment ago?"
Ethan lifted his teacup and took another sip, replying with a smile.
"Besides, the tea's really good too."
"…Even though I'm in charge of medical duties, for some reason there's barely anything to do here. No students have ever come… so nothing has ever changed."
Sakura bowed her head as she said that.
"This must be what they call loneliness, right? But when I realized what the outside of SE.RA.PH. had become, I was so afraid. With my level of access, I couldn't do anything to stop BB — who had rewritten the entire system — so I could only hide in this infirmary and wait for an opportunity…"
"I never expected to meet you all, and even more… that you'd be willing to help me, I…"
Tears seemed to shimmer in Sakura's lowered eyes.
"Truly, thank you so much! Senpai!!!"
She bowed deeply before Ethan.
"Senpai?!"
Mash suddenly stood up, alert, and asked.
"Matou-san, why did you just call Senpai 'Senpai'?! You two obviously just met for the first time!!"
At this moment, Mash seemed extremely agitated.
"I just said it without thinking… I'm sorry. Am I not allowed to call him that?"
Matou Sakura turned to look at Mash in surprise.
"Of course not!!!"
Mash replied in a firm tone, but she quickly realized her own loss of composure.
"No… it's not that I'm saying, only I can call Senpai 'Senpai'…"
After hesitating for a moment, Mash quietly clenched her fists, then spoke again:
"If you want to use it… it's not that you can't, but I hope Matou-san can provide a reasonable justification."
"So calling 'Senpai'… also needs a reasonable justification…"
A look of complete astonishment appeared on Sakura's face.
Standing in between them, Ethan couldn't easily speak up — partly because he was directly involved, and partly because…
The translucent chatbox in the upper left corner was now almost completely spammed and clogged.
["Ahahaha, that's the familiar flavor!"]
["Mashu-chan is panicking, her Kouhai position is being stolen!"]
["Mumumu, tough choice, they're both Kouhai-chan types."]
["Harem War, my favorite! Fight, you two Kouhai-chans!!!"]
["Mashu-chan: Damn it, why does she call 'Senpai' so smoothly?!"]
["Mashu-chan: No way, am I getting NTR-ed?"]
["Wait, I think I just heard a familiar tune… is that snow falling outside the window???"]
...
[System: 'Ultimate Joker' has sent 100 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Host, I request the opening song 'White Album'!!!]
[System: 'Strongest Shield' has sent 150 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Mashu-chan: Obviously I got here first!!!]
[System: 'Guy Who Likes Watching Girls Fight' has sent 100 Saint Quartz!]
[Message: Woohoo! Fight! Girls Fight!]
…
Seeing the livestream reward points surge rapidly, Ethan was dumbfounded, half crying, half laughing.
The people in the chatroom really never got tired of watching drama.
Right before him, Mash and Sakura were staring intensely at each other.
If this kept up, the two of them might actually start arguing over something so trivial.
"Uh, well…"
Just as Ethan was about to reach out to stop them, he suddenly heard a whoosh.
Something white flew through the air.
Smack!!
"What the hell?!"
Ethan only felt a layer of soft fur sweep across his face, his whole body thrown off balance and tilting backward!
"Fou Fou!!!"
Right in front of his eyes was the white blur of Fou leaping by, followed by Little Jack enthusiastically giving chase.
"Don't run, come play with us~!"
A rare scene: Assassin Jack the Ripper vs. Beast IV.
With Fou's paw prints all over his face, Ethan barely caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of Mash and Sakura both looking utterly shocked, reaching out at the same time to try and grab him—but it seemed they weren't fast enough!
"Senpai?!"
"Senpai!!!"
It's over, falling like this…
Suddenly, two hands simultaneously grabbed Ethan's coat from either side, pulling his body—less than five centimeters from the ground—back up.
"Geez, you really scared me, Senpai."
"Even in the infirmary, please don't get hurt so easily, Senpai!"
Mash and Sakura both let out a sigh of relief.
Then… the two girls turned to look at each other again.
Uh oh, are they really about to start arguing over the title again?
Before Ethan could say anything, Mash proactively reached her hand toward Sakura.
"Thank you, Matou-san. Your reaction just now is enough proof that you have the right to call him 'Senpai'."
"Thank you for the acknowledgment, Mash-san."
Sakura smiled gently.
"If possible, I hope you can just call me 'Sakura.' Actually, my surname was just randomly assigned."
"Then you can just call me 'Mash' too."
Seeing Mash and Sakura suddenly becoming close, Ethan froze on the spot.
What… was that?
What just happened just now????
Why does it feel like I missed out on a dozen episodes of the show???
Do friendships between girls change this fast??
"Ahh~ how wonderful, truly the essence of youth~"
Suddenly, Da Vinci's image appeared on the wristband, and she let out a deeply satisfied sigh.
"...Wait a second, this counts as youth too?!"
Don't just stuff everything into the concept of youth, will you!!!
"Sorry, sorry, sorry to interrupt everyone, but we've finished analyzing the data packet that was just sent."
Da Vinci immediately switched into "mini-lecture mode."
"According to the documents, Mooncell is a supercomputer that exists in a certain branch world, specifically on the moon of that world. It stores the entire past and predicts the entire future, possessing a computational scale comparable to an entire solar system—a true omnipotent machine."
"The main function of Mooncell is to observe Earth and record all data of mankind. It's a massive archive of humanity, from ecosystems, history, even thoughts and souls—everything is documented."
"Can't believe something like that exists in another world!"
Upon hearing that the moon was a supercomputer, Mash couldn't help but be astonished.
"Inside Mooncell is a digital spirit particle world. To maintain that massive operation, Mooncell created a city ring around the moon, an engine that formed a city encircling the moon."
"And the current problem is, for some unknown reason, Mooncell has observed the London belonging to our world. After that, it decided to assimilate London to use it as a simulation site to better observe humans."
Da Vinci spoke while expressing amazement at the scale of the concept.
"To be honest, as an artist, I think that idea is incredibly groundbreaking. Turning 19th-century London during the Industrial Revolution into a futuristic metropolis… I wonder how that would change the direction of the world?"
"Da Vinci, and you're praising it?!"
Doctor Romani interjected in displeasure.
"Romani, someone like you who lacks romance could never understand an artist's soul. But that said, no matter how romantic it may be, we still need to take this city back in the end."
Da Vinci let out a long sigh, then returned to a serious demeanor.
"However, with only the current data, it's still not enough to determine where the connection point between Mooncell and this world lies. Before we find that connection point, Ethan, please continue investigating this city."
She winked and made a "go for it" gesture with her hand.
"In short, for now, go participate in that so-called 'selection'!!"