Partner Fails Spectacularly: Arasaka Heavy Industries Suffers Defeat at Evil Cult Church, Elite Squad Unilaterally Slaughtered by Mysterious Blue-Haired Girl! Apex Entertainment's President Wu Personally Comments: The Cost of Intelligence Errors is Always Extremely High
Inside Cloudcliff Villa, Wu Nihuang lazily leaned against the sofa, her fingertips swiping across the terminal screen. Browsing this freshly published news, a barely noticeable smile quietly appeared on her face.
Then, she opened her contacts, pulled up a number, and dialed it.
The call connected almost immediately.
"Mr. Mishima," Wu Nihuang's voice carried a hint of laziness, "the expense for the artificial rain wasn't small, right? In the end, not only was the church completely unscathed, but you also threw in an A+ rank expert... what a cost-effective deal."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Mishima's voice came through. Although it sounded calm, listening closely, Wu Nihuang could still feel the wretchedness in his words.
"I slightly underestimated that Imperator." He spoke rather quickly, trying to save face. "To think she actually possessed a summon with such a high degree of control over the water element, this far exceeded my expectations."
"Oh?" Wu Nihuang raised an eyebrow slightly, her smile deepening. "Presumably, that domain of hers, which even a spatial gemstone created by an S rank spatial ability user couldn't break free from, also gave you quite a pleasant surprise, right?"
"..."
Mishima fell silent again, his breathing faintly audible through the terminal.
But Wu Nihuang didn't wait for his response, continuing to press elegantly:
"So, what's next? What do you plan to do? Continue sending people to fill that bottomless pit and add another brick to your resume of failures?"
"...Let her stay there for now." Mishima's voice lowered. "It's just a small church. As long as they don't actively provoke Arasaka again, letting them catch their breath for a few more days is fine."
"Hehe." Wu Nihuang let out a cold laugh, not concealing the sarcasm within. "A military enterprise plans to smooth things over so quickly? Once this news comes out today, Arasaka Heavy Industries' reliable image in the minds of the Hive District's citizens will probably be greatly discounted."
"Wu Nihuang." Mishima's voice suddenly rose a notch. That barely maintained layer of calmness was finally torn apart, revealing a hint of anger. "Put away your glib tongue! I'm not someone like you who built a career on lip service. You know my methods."
"I am certainly clear about your methods. After all, more than half of the lethal weapons of our three major corporations are procured from your side."
Hearing Mishima's somewhat angry voice, a smile of having achieved her goal hooked the corners of Wu Nihuang's lips, and she then began to placate him:
"As an apology, I can give you an eighty percent cut of the profits brought in by this news. What do you think?"
"Hmph, consider yourself sensible."
Seeing this, Mishima said no more.
But soon, he spoke up again:
"That feline demi-human on your end who treated your vault like a buffet, Cifera, how do you plan to deal with her? You should know, the Imperator on my end has currently only been staying in one place, while your Cifera isn't as well-behaved as this Imperator."
"No need for you to worry, I already have a response plan. You'd better just manage your own affairs."
After saying that, the screen went dark as Wu Nihuang hung up the phone.
Immediately after, without the slightest pause, she dialed another number.
"President Wu." A capable female voice connected swiftly.
"How are the arrangements?"
Facing this call, Wu Nihuang's voice instantly recovered its calm tone.
"Reporting, the devices have all been deployed across the nine branch companies in Districts 1 to 10 of the Hive District. As long as Cifera targets any one of them, they can be activated immediately."
"Very good." Wu Nihuang nodded in satisfaction, her fingertips unconsciously tapping the sofa armrest. "Send the notification down. Before the target appears, all company employees are to maintain level one alert. Repeatedly check the equipment and do not slack off for a moment. For the first employee to discover Cifera and report it, I will cancel all of their KPIs for this year."
"Understood, President Wu."
Cutting off the communication, Wu Nihuang sank back into the soft backrest of the sofa, exhaling a long breath.
She closed her eyes, the image of that coin engraved with a one-eyed black cat flashing through her mind.
"Cifera..." she muttered the name in a low voice, her voice appearing exceptionally clear in the empty room. "Causing me hundreds of millions in losses all at once, although it's not a lot, this can can't go on..."
"But this time, the value you've displayed should be enough to compensate me, with interest."
...
"Little Ba, by the way, what have you been up to lately?"
In the Pit Bottom District, inside Lu Zhaoran's home, Cipher was tossing a coin somewhat boredly, asking Bartholos.
"Hm?" Bartholos, who was tinkering with some things, was a bit confused upon hearing Cipher's voice, but he quickly answered her question. "Lately, I've been running around looking for fun. For example, during some gang shootouts, I swapped their guns for bananas, so they couldn't have a firefight."
"Since when did you become so kind-hearted?"
Hearing Bartholos's answer, Cipher sat up somewhat suspiciously and looked at him.
"Or for example, stealing their trade goods during some gang deals, and then making them mistakenly think the other side was trying to double-cross them."
"...So, you're the reason they had those double-cross shootouts?"
Hearing the latter half, Cipher rolled her eyes, and then lay back down.
"...By the way, Boss Cipher, what's wrong with you?" Bartholos finally stopped tinkering, tilting his head to look at the clearly absent-minded Cipher on the bed. "I feel like you're... strangely listless today, Boss? Did something happen?"
Cipher just let out a lazy "Mm." The coin at her fingertips was pressed onto the back of her hand with a smack, stopping its flipping.
She didn't answer immediately, just looking up at the ceiling with a vacant gaze.
Seeing this, Bartholos blinked, leaning closer to Cipher with some curiosity and saying:
"How about you tell me about it, Boss? I'm at least somewhat knowledgeable and experienced, maybe I can help you figure it out!"
Hearing Bartholos's words, Cipher finally turned her head slowly, her gaze landing on him:
"Bartholos, tell me..." she paused, seeming to search for the most appropriate wording. "When a person's entire identity comes from another person, and this person possesses the same appearance, similar abilities, and partial memories as that person, with the only difference being that that person is already dead."
Seeing Cipher start to narrate, Bartholos immediately put away his playful smile and quieted down.
"However, when this person meets that person's most loyal subordinate, the loyalty that should have belonged to the departed person is, because of this face and this residual power, unreservedly... projected onto this person."
"Tell me..." her voice carried a hint of confusion. "Would this person accept this loyalty that shouldn't belong to her with peace of mind?"