"Is this your idea or did the Serum tell you?"

"..."

The Yucca Rope clearly didn't want to answer that question.

Gino also cast a scrutinizing glance.

John took a deep breath, reminding himself deep down — that fool in the back is a friend of Gino, they owe me nothing, can't use a mercenary's hot temper to handle this.

The sirens were distant and long.

This was the edge of Sakura Cross Street.

Beneath the cross-district bridge was a beach piled with abandoned containers and construction waste.

John pulled over, adjusted his tone.

"Hey, buddy, I don't know what's bothering you, but this shit concerns life and death, at least confirm it with the Serum before you reply to me, okay?"

John knew the Yucca Rope was worried about bringing the Internet Surveillance onto them.

He couldn't prove anything, could only complain.

"I never wanted to get involved with some mysterious hacker, she messed up my life, the transport order at Tiebang Logistics was signed with the name Serum! My job, my body, stepping into the mercenary life, it's all because of her!"

"..."

The Yucca Rope didn't know the specifics.

But he could feel John's suppressed emotions — if released, he'd tear him apart.

This introverted professional hacker crossed his arms, almost sliding off the back seat, trying to cover his eyes and most of his cheeks with his ski cap to escape.

"I need to talk to Gino alone, um, between members of the Wanderer Alliance."

"Get out."

The side door of Silver Rider 577 lifted up.

The Yucca Rope and Gino got out of the car.

They climbed over the guardrail, walked into the dark rugged beach depths, using old containers to block the view, avoiding their lip movements being recognized by language software.

When Gino returned to the passenger seat, she was full of shock.

"F*ck."

She murmured, as if forgetting about John's existence.

The Yucca Rope sat in the back with a sigh of relief, seeming to finally have someone to confide in.

John speculated they had discovered Serum's secret — a secret inconvenient for him to know, one that needs constant vigilance against Internet Surveillance.

"Since you guys are avoiding, I won't bother asking, if things don't work out, we'll end this here, and get you both home safely."

"Hoo~ Sorry, this news hit me hard."

Gino seemed to snap back to reality, frowned and furrowed her brows.

"She, she's not quite as I imagined, the Wanderer Alliance is our home in cyberspace, the leader looked after each and every one of us…"

Gino rambled on.

Most of it was talking to herself, as if affirming some kind of confidence, finally turning to look at the Yucca Rope.

"But we can't make decisions for the leader, let her know about John's situation, you can contact her, right?"

"...Alright."

The Yucca Rope seemed to compromise.

He pulled out a familiar satchel, laid it across his lap.

Not long ago, this little gadget paralyzed half a train station, frightening John into speaking up in warning.

"Hey, wait a minute, are you gonna blow up my car?"

"Relax, releasing the Black Ice Program is just one of its functions, uh, just a special program commonly used by hackers."

The Yucca Rope spoke, not stopping his operations.

He didn't delve deeper into explaining the Black Ice Program with John, but raised his head thoughtfully and spoke to Gino.

"I've been researching in the related field recently, this is just a semi-finished product, you'll have to help me with hardware debugging later, you're the best at this in our group."

He pulled out a black lump with signal lights, drew out the data cable from his wrist to connect, and then inserted a microchip from the base of an earbud.

It seemed a sort of invisible radio wave rippled through the compartment.

The light of two prosthetic eyes of the Yucca Rope emitted a soft glow, extremely prominent in the dim cabin, while he himself fell into a non-communicable state.

John watched for a while, then turned away waiting.

He wasn't deeply interested in the Wanderer Alliance, seeking Serum was driven by survival pressure and a thirst for truth.

John stared blankly out the window at the graffiti-covered wind turbines.

Motorcycle robbers whooped as they sped past the sports car, in the quiet air, rhythmic music came from the direction of dance halls and apartment buildings, and passing Eastern People were thin and short...

Drugs, gangs, motorcycles, cheap prosthetics, Ukiyo-e tattoos.

This was John's deepest impression of Sakura Cross Street.

Suddenly.

The vehicle system suddenly received strange access information.

[Detected intrusion/default rejection.]

John slowly looked up and noticed the bridge across the beach:

The signal lights on the concrete bridge piers went out, one after another in succession, followed by the vending machines on the roadside going silent, the colorful screen lights turning a deep green.

Zzz, zzzzz, zzz, zzzzz.

The nearest streetlights flickered rhythmically.

Huge currents repeatedly flowed through, the noise seemingly a hint of some kind.

John had Black Light authorize vehicle access.

[Vehicle access detected/approved]

[Voice channel invitation [User: Serum]]

The windshield of Silver Rider 577 suddenly dimmed, blue water ripples spreading, the entire glass turned into an embedded projection display.

Blue data streams transformed into a 3D holographic projection.

The mosaic faded away, color blocks reassembled into a middle-aged blonde woman.

She had a mechanical arm of undistinguished model, cheap glossy hoodie covering her network access port and signal amplifier.

This was the founder of the Wanderer Alliance, a fugitive wanted by Internet Surveillance.

Serum [Pacific Connor].

John took a deep breath, frowning at the electronic shimmer.

"It's not easy to see you, f*ck, I have a bunch of questions for you, the Tiebang Logistics transport incident was orchestrated by the Vacuum Tube [VT], who are these guys, why are they messing with me?"

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