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The orange gear-shaped pupils held a hint of astonishment. Hearing the girl's words brimming with trust, Silver Wolf stared at the hand that had let go, taking a long time to snap back to reality.

The hundred thousand layers of firewalls she had set up, due to this meaningless hesitation and daze, were already nearing their end.

Prometheus, the 'team' she created just to keep up appearances, had already sent an alert.

In the remaining half-minute, she couldn't even rebuild a simple firewall.

Yet, at this moment, Silver Wolf felt no panic at all.

"Time is almost up, you know."

Responding to the silver-haired girl's reminder, Silver Wolf smiled nonchalantly, took out the small, twisted bubble gum she always carried—a popular snack among the lower class of Punklorde—popped one into her mouth, and tossed the other to the girl:

"Here, catch~"

Then, she casually started chewing the gum, feeling the sweetness spread in her mouth and the rocket-like gum base gradually expanding. The crisp sound of the bubble popping made her mood quite cheerful.

"Hmph, I am Silver Wolf, after all!"

The coolly dressed Punklorde girl huffed, her words full of pride.

Admittedly, before this, the name Silver Wolf wasn't worth boasting about, merely known in a small circle within this slum as a 'fast-food employee' who was very good at games. But she had immense confidence in herself.

Just like those legendary Punklorde hacker predecessors who made their names known throughout the universe, she would etch her name into the history of Punklorde... no, the entire universe!

Losing before that would be far too embarrassing.

Therefore...

"Aether Editing, activate... Alright folks, let's get to work!"

Calling upon the 'fake friends' and 'team members' she had created, Silver Wolf's expression became incredibly serious.

As her hands fell, light screens instantly overflowed, covering more than half the fast-food restaurant, the surging data streams within dazzling to behold.

And her smile grew increasingly wild.

"Hmph, more than half of Punklorde's hackers, and that's it? Hilarious."

"Looks like the results are good."

"Of course, who am I? Just a bunch of small fries thinking they can handle me. Bunch of trash."

"But this thing you gave me is really useful. What is this stuff? With it, the efficiency of Aether Editing is countless times faster than before. Let me tell you, those noobs on the other side are completely exposed before me."

Silver Wolf was curious, but also excited.

Punklorde existed at the intersection of reality and the virtual, making it the most suitable place for Aether Editing to shine. As long as you had the ability, you could basically do anything.

Of course, despite saying that, Aether Editing wasn't exactly omnipotent.

It still had limitations like efficiency. Even in the hands of highly skilled hackers who could bypass some constraints, there were still limits.

Things like editing an entire planet in an instant were pretty much impossible.

Or rather, even if it were possible, it would require a super-large computing facility for support.

But after using [Firefly]'s power, she felt as if she had connected to a mini-Nous... Of course, Silver Wolf wasn't entirely sure what the concept of Nous entailed, only knowing from Interastral Peace Corporation news that Nous was the most powerful computing device in this universe.

However, that didn't stop her from making such an exaggerated assessment of the feeling of 'omniscience and omnipotence' she experienced while using this power.

"This? This is the power of 'Truth'."

The silver-haired girl smiled, making no attempt to hide it.

Human cognition and analysis of the world formed the so-called 'Truth'.

Although this authority originated merely from a backward place like Earth, a civilization not yet fully interstellar, confined to its surface, with technology far inferior to Punklorde's...

This authority named 'Truth' originated from the Cocoon.

If the Herrscher of Finality were compared to a god, this power was undoubtedly one-thirteenth of that god.

From a certain perspective, Truth even occupied a significant portion of the 'omniscience and omnipotence' possessed by Finality. Therefore, even when placed in the vaster universe of Honkai Star Rail, as long as there was sufficient energy supply, it could still exert power surpassing most beings in this world.

Especially in a unique world like Punklorde.

While not possessing the absolute life-and-death control over the information world like the Herrscher of Corruption, when 'Truth', which understood and deconstructed all things, encountered the Aether Editing technique that edited all things, the amplification it could provide was unimaginable for ordinary people.

To deconstruct is to understand, to understand is to edit, to edit is to deconstruct.

The power of the Herrscher of Truth perfectly compensated for the shortcomings of Aether Editing in the 'analysis' aspect.

Chewing the bubble gum, blowing a pink bubble, Silver Wolf mumbled indistinctly:

"The power of Truth? Hmm, sounds pretty impressive."

With the boost from the Authority of Truth, Miss Silver Wolf achieved remarkable results in her Aether battle against more than half of Punklorde. Specifically, the virtual screens of the hackers currently fighting her all displayed Silver Wolf's logo—incidentally, she had just come up with it.

Every hacker on Punklorde had their own unique logo, and many had the habit of leaving their mark after a victory. Silver Wolf was naturally the same.

However, being just a fast-food employee before, she didn't actually have one. She created it on the fly while beating those noobs just now.

Of course, for the hackers of Punklorde at this moment, their feelings were extremely complex.

After all, this Silver Wolf hacker logo had never been seen before.

Even the elite high-ups in Neon City couldn't figure out where this inexplicable, unknown hacker capable of contending with all of Punklorde had popped out from.

"Alright, things here are pretty much settled."

Slender fingers tapped casually on the keys appearing in the air. The blown bubble popped, smearing her mouth before being licked away by a pink tongue and chewed again. Silver Wolf's gaze shifted to Jiang Qiao, her beautiful eyes full of interest:

"So, let's talk about you, Miss Nameless."

"About my information, didn't you already go looking for it yourself during that time?" The silver-haired girl chuckled, her tone quite certain.

Of course, this wasn't because he had lent her the Authority of Truth and spied on her in the process... well, maybe a little.

But the more accurate reason was, naturally:

The people of Punklorde don't wait for things they want or information they desire to be handed to them; they choose to pursue it, to take it for themselves.

"Mmm... Can't hide anything from you, huh."

Silver Wolf propped herself up on the table, hopping lightly onto the worn but clean surface. Her ivory-white thighs, revealed by the revealing Punklorde-style attire, dangled and swayed gently, an appetizing sight.

"But still, a war machine from the Glamoth Republic, a Glamoth Iron Cavalry soldier who fought against the Swarm Disaster devastating the universe... No wonder those Neon City elites went to such lengths to lure you to Punklorde and put in so much effort trying to capture you... Whoa, this tech, if it were in a game, definitely final boss material!"

She stared intently at [Firefly], her words laced with awe and teasing.

However, the next moment... the silver-haired girl moved closer, the near-zero distance allowing them to feel each other's breath.

This intimate feeling instantly made Silver Wolf's breathing hitch, her cheeks flushing slightly. She turned her head away, complaining somewhat resentfully:

"Why are you getting so close?"

"Hmm? I thought you wanted a closer look at me."

"After all, the expression on your face clearly says 'very interested in the Glamoth Iron Cavalry'. If that's the case, being a little closer shouldn't matter, right?" The girl's gentle words held little deliberate teasing, yet the earnestness of the statement, combined with her face, made the impact even stronger.

"Ah, sorry... maybe I misunderstood." As she spoke, the silver-haired girl showed a hint of apology and slowly pulled back.

This, in turn, made Miss Silver Wolf regret her reaction slightly. Saving face, she said:

"Not really. I do quite like the armor you were wearing before."

For Silver Wolf, who loved games and had a bit of an otaku side, the assault armor of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry was just incredibly cool.

"Do you prefer that appearance more? Armor stays during..."

The silver-haired girl touched her chin, nodded, and then took out the Firefly transformation device. Although Silver Wolf didn't know what it was, she reacted instantly, quickly saying, "Ahem, you don't need to cater to my preferences that much."

"This appearance is fine. Besides, if you stay in your previous form, the boss might misunderstand if she sees you, and it might attract the attention of those patrolling security drones."

"Alright then."

[Firefly] nodded readily and put away the transformation device.

Silver Wolf unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

Ahem... Of course, she liked mecha and stuff.

But things like mecha, as mentioned, were troublesome, right?

And compared to facing a cold, metallic mecha, staying in this silver-haired beautiful girl form wasn't bad at all.

Having played some gal games, Silver Wolf's tastes in this area were quite broad.

"Hey, tell me, how did you end up on Punklorde?"

"I checked the Interastral Peace Corporation's star map. The Glamoth Republic's territory is quite a distance from here, isn't it? Speaking of which, the Glamoth Republic seems to have already... disbanded."

"Ah, don't mind that, I saw it on the IPC's network."

"It doesn't matter."

The girl was remarkably calm—and indeed, Jiang Qiao had absolutely no opinions or thoughts about the Glamoth Republic he had never known. Even Firefly, the original owner of this body, likely held complex feelings towards that nation at best.

After all, the entire belief system the Glamoth Iron Cavalry fought for was fabricated by the Glamoth Republic. Even after the war ended, that nation grew wary of the Iron Cavalry, aside from their technology.

Probably no Glamoth Iron Cavalry soldier, after learning the truth, would want anything more to do with that nation... although, in reality, this [Firefly] was already the very last Glamoth Iron Cavalry soldier left in the world.

"As you can see, I'm just a stray Glamoth Iron Cavalry soldier."

"Stray? You have nowhere to go?" Silver Wolf was surprised, and simultaneously, an idea struck her. Her eyes lit up.

"Hmm..."

Faced with this question, the girl fell into thought—Jiang Qiao was also having a headache over this.

According to the usual procedure, he should have contacted the 'original owner' first and discussed things afterward.

But... unlike the previous bodies, unfortunately, the original owner this time didn't seem to have joined the 'Victim Support Group Chat'.

At least, when Jiang Qiao asked in the chat group...

The result was always...

No newcomers had joined the chat group recently.

An even more awkward fact was that Jiang Qiao knew his own body was currently in the Honkai Impact 3rd's Current Era.

But the chat group's travel function prioritized the physical body, meaning his current self using [Firefly] defaulted to the Honkai Star Rail universe, while [Jiang Qiao]'s default location was the Current Era.

Without an invitation from or the presence of a chat group member from that world, he couldn't cross over.

Losing contact with the original owner made it difficult for Jiang Qiao to even consider returning the 'lost property' or consulting the owner's opinion.

However, adopting a 'go with the flow' mentality, Jiang Qiao wasn't too panicked.

After all, this world was relatively stable, at least for this body.

Besides, as long as he followed what this 'heart' desired, he wouldn't stray from the path.

And right now, what this heart longed for was 'companions'.

The Stellaron Hunters were certainly an option, but their movements were erratic, and spending a lot of effort searching for them would be troublesome.

In that case, it might be simpler to wait for the 'cocoons'—the remnants of this body's original companions—to hatch.

Hmm... Speaking of Stellaron Hunters, wasn't there one right in front of him?

If he was just looking for a companion, Silver Wolf was clearly a very suitable candidate.

Thinking this, the silver-haired girl smiled.

Little did she know, Silver Wolf was thinking along similar lines.

Although Miss Silver Wolf, the fast-food employee, was very adept at killing boredom with simple games...

She actually craved friendship deeply.

But unfortunately, in the impoverished areas of Punklorde, such things were somewhat rare.

Later, when she needed a team to travel with, Silver Wolf couldn't find any friends, forced to put on a brave face and use her Prometheus, a virtual AI, to act as a friend and 'team'.

While that helped alleviate some loneliness, a mechanical AI was ultimately somewhat monotonous.

Therefore, Silver Wolf had always longed for more genuine friends.

And now, she seemed to have found a suitable candidate.

Under this mutual understanding, both spoke simultaneously:

"Why don't you join my team?"

"Would you like to be my companion?"