Kaslana is a Big Family

"Mm... That's the only possibility," Bronya Zaychik confirmed. "[Mosquito's Breath] is a high-priority project; Future City has established absolutely no export channels, including smuggling..."

"I heard Future City's central system can even predict individuals with criminal tendencies and notify the police mechs to apprehend them preemptively. Future City's crime rate has remained at zero for 21 consecutive years..." Raiden Mei added.

If that level of control was true, combined with the fact that people like Joyce were in charge... the idea that Future City had no smuggling or black market exports might actually be serious.

But there was one exception...

"Kiana, how did your dad get [Mosquito's Breath]?" Shu asked through the comms channel. "If there are no export channels, how did you guys..."

"Um..." On the other side of the city, Kiana Kaslana tilted her head up, thought hard for a moment, and then said, "I remember an uncle with blue hair used to bring lots of people to our family manor. They came often when I was little..."

Shu: "..."

Mei: "..."

Bronya: "..."

"Ma... nor...?" Shu felt his eye twitch.

I thought Mei being the young lady of a corporate giant was the limit, and now you're telling me Kiana's family has a MANOR?!

"Blue hair... Future City..." Mei also realized who Kiana was talking about. "That must have been... Mr. Welt Joyce..."

"Eh?!" Kiana's reaction, however, was even more shocked than theirs. "So he was the First Herrscher?!"

Shu sighed helplessly. Having known Kiana for a while, he roughly understood how she identified people.

Scent, intuition, and strong first impressions.

Like himself... Good person = Shu = Very important partner.

He wondered if Kiana had even remembered his scent by now, or could recognize him by intuition...

Now the sole exception could truly be considered an exception. The target's [Mosquito's Breath] most likely came directly from Future City.

But someone from Future City... Shu's first thought was of the AI lifeforms.

He had communicated with Ethics and the primary AI sequence, the one called Science, back in ARC City. He knew there were many external AIs like Ethics.

So, it was indeed possible the individual was an AI...

But why would they possess means to resist even Honkai energy level scans? Ethics definitely didn't have that capability; he even needed to get Honkai information from the account Otto made public.

Otto, even with Shu's help, hadn't yet achieved rudimentary control over Honkai energy. Where did this individual get such means?

Knowing their possible origin didn't dispel the fog surrounding the target.

"Do your best. Our priority is ensuring your safety," Shu decided, making his voice firm.

Being unable to deduce the target's true identity meant Shu couldn't guarantee they didn't possess high-spec weaponry.

In the past, Shu might have relied on Kiana's luck and gone to "test the waters." But now, even if you gave him twice the courage, he wouldn't dare to just "try."

Unconsciously, he had shed his hot-blooded impulsiveness and started considering safety nets.

"Okay," Bronya nodded. Everyone understood Shu's concerns.

If the target could block Honkai energy, they might also possess Honkai energy weapons. Shu didn't know the destructive potential of such weapons, so he chose caution.

With Shu's confirmation, Bronya focused, starting to track the target using knowledge gleaned from the [Spider Web].

Although [Mosquito's Breath] hadn't circulated, it wasn't unknown. On the contrary, it was legendary on the [Spider Web] forums, elevated to mythical status with countless "hypothetical" countermeasures discussed.

What to do if you encounter a user of [Mosquito's Breath]?

Tens of thousands of posts worth of suggestions were condensed by the original poster into a few potentially effective methods. Rumor had it that after summarizing these methods, the OP specifically went to Future City to test them.

The moment they stepped into Future City's jurisdiction, before even deciding on a target, they were apprehended by the AI security forces and deported.

Technically, Bronya might be the first person to actually put these methods into practice.

Crowdsourced ideas usually had some merit. Even though the tracking was difficult, Bronya managed to stay on the target's trail, albeit tenuously. However, before long, Bronya realized the target was leading her in circles.

"Shu... I think I've been spotted," Bronya reported her deduction immediately. "Two more streets, and we'll be back where we started."

Spotted...?

Shu pondered, standing far off, watching the unmoving cloaked figure in the shadows intently. He made his decision.

"Withdraw."

Bronya didn't hesitate, turning and leaving immediately. The cloaked figure also noticed Bronya's departure and quickly vanished from the spot at an even faster speed.

Shu tried to continue tracking from afar using his scans, but he lacked the necessary skills and could only watch helplessly as the target abruptly disappeared from his perception.

Calling everyone back to the inn, Shu leaped straight down from the rooftop edge, cake box still in hand, landed softly, and walked towards the inn, lost in thought.

Actually, he had gathered one more piece of information from the target.

There was no malice in their heart... but that was it. No other strong emotions, no discernible viewpoint, no clue what they were thinking, only that they bore him no ill will.

The feeling reminded Shu of ARC City...

---||---

Soon, the group met up in front of the inn. Kiana held a large paper bag filled with several different kinds of bread. Mei's arm cradled a slightly smaller paper bag, also containing various items.

Bronya, however, carried nothing, having been pulled away by Shu before she could even start shopping.

Shu glanced at the cake box in his own hand and figured he wasn't much different.

"What should we do now?" As soon as they were back in the room and Shu had set up an information barrier, Mei asked impatiently.

"The target is in the city and already knows we're here, knows what we look like, and most likely knows where we're staying..." Mei quickly summarized. "Do we need to change locations?"

Shu fell silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, it's not necessary," Shu said. "Someone needs to stand watch for the next two days. Then, the day after tomorrow, during the Spring Festival, I will ascertain the King's identity. If they're friendly, we'll try to cooperate. If not..."

"We leave this place immediately."