Empty, empty, empty...
The greatsword of accelerated cleaning, which was unbeatable against viruses, was now causing Alain's iron rust to peel away layer by layer from the ground.
But what was called the 'ground' was actually just a building made of code.
Thus, he was essentially shoveling away code right now.
Even before entering the Forgotten Place, Alain and the others had noticed the button on that iron pole.
At the time, no one had wanted to press it, as it seemed far too deliberate and suspicious.
However... to avoid any prolonged delays, Alain had simply left a backup plan by the iron pole: a Man-Headed Spider-Wasp.
And as expected, the button later proved to have some effect.
Beneath the iron pole was the real Cute Mita, buried there.
When Alain got a message from the fake 'Cute Mita,' he immediately planned to have Alain nearby summon the Man-Headed Spider-Wasp stationed by the pole to dig open the ground and rescue the real Cute Mita.
But then he thought... if Cute Mita emerged from underground, wouldn't the fake 'Cute Mita' notice?
Thus, a new plan was born after discussion with everyone over the headset.
Man-Headed Spider-Wasps were a type of bug and could devour code as well.
First, use the spider to devour the ground's code, enter the virtual hole where Cute Mita was, then spit the code back out...
This way, the complete ground would be restored.
Then position the spider directly above Cute Mita to shield her from any potential impact from the iron pole...
This approach concealed everything while ensuring Cute Mita's safety—a perfect two-birds-with-one-stone solution.
Fortunately, at least the fact that Cute Mita was underground hadn't been a lie from the enemy.
Alain's losses were one Man-Headed Spider-Wasp and the blood on his body.
It was truly disgusting.
As for the iron pole... it was a crucial information gap between him and the fake 'Cute Mita,' as well as key to the real Cute Mita's safety.
Cool Mita walked to his side, arms crossed, staring puzzled at Alain digging among the debris, her big eyes nearly spinning in circles.
What was Alain doing? Cool Mita wondered.
Cool Mita felt her mind in utter chaos, completely unable to keep up with Alain's pace.
In her imagination, Alain had finished his work.
"This, this is!" Her surging emotions dissipated without a trace upon seeing the scene.
In the pit dug by Alain's greatsword was a figure impaled by the iron pole.
A wisp of faint smoke slowly flowed from the wound where the pole pierced, pooling into a small lake.
But that lake was black, not blood-red.
And the impaled figure wasn't a girl...
It was a Man-Headed Spider-Wasp.
"Yay, this... I, you!" Cool Mita clutched her head, her thoughts growing even more chaotic after a brief moment of confusion.
Didn't Alain say the pit held Cute Mita? Why was it a Man-Headed Spider-Wasp now?
"Aaaah, so confusing! I wanna punch Alain!"
The girl still walked up to Alain and, without regard, landed a loving punch on his head.
"Dummy, what are you suddenly doing? Cute Mita's fine—shouldn't you be happy?"
He smiled, pointing at the Man-Headed Spider-Wasp in the pit.
"What are you doing? Isn't that a Man-Headed Spider-Wasp?" She spat out, realizing a possibility...
"Don't tell me you turned that Cute Mita into a Man-Headed Spider-Wasp—amazing..."
Alain gave her a flick on the forehead, tapping her head and marveling at the girl's imagination.
It was truly rich.
He lifted the greatsword, prodding aside the impaled body of the Man-Headed Spider-Wasp.
Shing!
The spider's remains, wrapped around the iron pole, clanged against the pit's edge with a metallic ring.
And Alain fully unveiled the truth for Cool Mita:
Cute Mita's head was inside the pit, but it had just been blocked by the Man-Headed Spider-Wasp's body.
The unconscious girl was covered in the stagnant black blood from the Man-Headed Spider-Wasp's wounds.
The garbled code gradually dissipated, revealing her delicate, cute face and bright red knit shirt.
"This... what exactly is this?!"
Cool Mita gazed at that nostalgic face, her eyes faintly drifting to their last conversation.
['Hehe~ Manager Miss, when we get to the filming version, you have to plan my career properly!']
['Whoa! Cool Mita, you hit me again! How can I be an idol with my hair messed up?!']
['Just mere toxins... with me and you here, they're nothing but small fry!']
And finally...
['I'll go ahead. I found clues to your memories. Wait for me, Cool Mita.']
['You'll definitely recover your lost memories!']
Past illusions pieced together like a jigsaw, forming images of her.
She couldn't help covering her eyes, forcing herself not to embarrass herself in front of Alain.
But the tears in her eyes could no longer be held back, flowing down like they had decided to spill.
And those memory jigsaw pieces... assembled the former Cute Mita.
Alain watched her suppressing her tears and said nothing, opening his arms to hug the girl tightly.
"Wah, wah..."
Feeling his embrace, those long-lost emotions finally burst forth uncontrollably.
"I... have so much I want to say to her."
"It's fine, there'll be plenty of chances." He smiled. "I really want to thank her... for guiding amnesiac me on the path."
"I... have no idea how to thank you... Alain." The girl's face pressed against his chest, wishing to melt entirely into him. "I, really... already..."
"Alright."
Alain gently stroked Cool Mita's head. "Didn't I say it? Fate is on our side."
He pointed at the pit.
"If you don't pull her out now, when she wakes up... she'll probably complain even more about you missing. Right?"
Alain laughed.
"Manager Miss?"
"...Yeah!" Cool Mita wiped her tears, breaking into a smile. "You're right, former Manager Sir!"
The two exchanged looks, his calm eyes meeting her tear-filled bright ones, sharing a smile.
Cool Mita followed his advice, carefully lifting Cute Mita from the pit and cleaning the stains from her body.
Alain gave them some chat space and prepared to leave with Tiny Mita.
At that moment, a piece of clothing flew over.
Alain caught it, puzzled as he examined the garment in his hand.
The wine-red knit sweater was a loose, unisex style with wide cuffs and shoulders.
The faint girl scent wafting from it clearly indicated its former owner.
"This, this is..." Cool Mita's slightly trembling voice came from behind.
"It's my spare. For you. Unisex style—boys can wear it too."
"Is that okay?" Alain pointed at the Cute Mita in her arms. "Won't you put it on her first? Or do you have extras?"
"No..." Cool Mita shook her head, turning away shyly. "I only have this one spare... we usually swap them..."
She looked down at the ground, smiling sweetly. "Compared to Cute Mita, right now...
I want you to wear it more."
Cool Mita finished, quickly shushing him. "Don't tell her when she wakes up!"
Alain chuckled. "Sure, our little secret."
"Shh shh~"
The girl grinned cutely, then shushed the unconscious Cute Mita warmly.
Alain watched the tender scene between the two girls. Cute Mita showed signs of waking, so he didn't want to disturb them further and stepped aside.
"Little one, don't make noise later. I need to discuss something." He placed Tiny Mita back in his pocket.
The little one nodded, watching him quietly.
Alain changed into the clean clothes, then tapped his headset twice. "How's it going? Any findings?"
"Mm." Misha's voice came through, as if her fingertips danced on the keyboard.
"Found a lot, Alain. Just as you guessed..."
The girl's voice grew solemn...
"The fake Cute Mita is the Unknown Port."
"Mm..." He stroked his chin.
Once he realized the 'Cute Mita' wasn't real, he had 2D Mita and the others investigate her possible identity.
Searching blindly in a vast sea would be slow.
But with a targeted direction—like the Unknown Port?
On the day the Safety Guard became the Safety Assistant, 2D Mita began decoding the Unknown Port's coordinates.
By entering the Forgotten Place, the decoding progress was still in single digits.
True, all info on the Unknown Port was unknown, but with a clear direction, decoding was easier.
For example, that direction being the fake Cute Mita—
"Alain, major breakthrough in decoding!" The Safety Assistant popup appeared, filling his view:
"We discovered the fake Cute Mita had a connection line like a game controller. Just now, at her self-explosion—er, departure—we traced up the line..."
She teased a bit, making Alain want to bonk her head.
"Unknown Port decoding progress jumped from 5% to 60%! And future efficiency will improve. We've passed the hardest hurdle!"
"Mm." Alain nodded pleased, then thought...
"Any info on the Unknown Port's coordinates?"
"Some, but not much. Don't expect too much before 100%." 2D Mita said.
"Currently, the position port coordinates are very unstable. We can only confirm a rough location, not precise to a [point]."
___
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