After getting a better sense of what the Super-Dimensional Channel could do, Asuna Yuuki finally understood its capabilities.
It was not just a channel that let people from different worlds chat. With a single "Cross-World Invitation," you could actually travel to someone else's world.
And the so-called livestream function could earn Energy Coins—also known as cooldown accelerators for the "Cross-World Invitation" skill.
Right now, only one person had successfully obtained those Energy Coins, then actively opened a "Cross-World Invitation" and traveled to another dimensional net-friend's world: the user with the ID "Busujima Kendo Style."
They had even brought over technology capable of treating the virus in that other world.
Which meant the person most likely able to help Asuna right now was that "gray-rice" net-friend with the ID "Mr. Golden Toilet."
From what she could tell, his world had already reached interstellar travel.
If he came to her world, cracking the virtual tech on her side should not be a problem. And if he could do that, he could pull her out—saving tens of thousands of lives.
Also, he already knew information about her world. Clearly, in his world, there were works related to her situation—probably the very series Sword Art Online that Black Cat had mentioned.
According to Black Cat, he might know even more than Black Cat did. In other words, Sword Art Online had more volumes released where "Mr. Golden Toilet" was.
Unfortunately, the moment he heard about Little Shizuka's problem, he logged off.
Now there was no way to ask him anything.
"Livestream…?"
He had deliberately waited for Cross-World Invitation to come off cooldown, and it had cost ten Energy Coins. She could not just shamelessly ask him to spend another ten coming to her world to help.
Putting aside what ten Energy Coins were actually worth—why would he help her in the first place?
And from some of what Black Cat had said, his current situation might be the most dangerous of anyone's. That meant he definitely could not waste Energy Coins casually.
Even if—again, according to Black Cat—he had cooled down Cross-World Invitation partly to avoid danger in his own world, that did not mean he had to come to hers.
Unless she had something worth his time.
But what could she possibly offer?
It seemed like there was only one thing.
Energy Coins.
So… she would livestream.
Anyway, aside from him being the only male, the rest of the "cooking tools" were all female.
…
Mochizuki General Hospital.
It was even larger than the biggest general hospital in Tokonosu City, and it was famous nationwide.
Because they had prepared in advance, the hospital had not fallen.
From the looks of it, things here were stable, and there was actual security. These were not Black Label people—Black Label did not have this many bodies, and as an illegal organization, they could not operate so openly.
The security force here was the city's regular police.
The mayor had a relationship with the hospital's director—personally, or at least close enough to be considered a half-member of their circle—so the police had been told to prepare immediately.
The vehicle carrying Kain did not enter through any of the normal hospital entrances. Instead, it drove in through an underground access point on the perimeter, heading straight into the subterranean base.
He was here to assess the environment, and to acquire D99.
There was no small talk. Someone led him straight inside, and they eventually reached an elevator that continued downward.
When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, a woman was waiting with an elderly man seated in a wheelchair.
Kain walked up to them.
"This is D99. I hope you'll use it properly," the old man, Masamune Mochizuki, said in a strict voice that still carried a hint of weary resignation, handing over the briefcase he held.
Then he produced several blood-collection tubes. Inside them was the Earth Elixir.
"Do you have a computer I can use? Preferably one that can connect to your hospital's equipment, pharmaceuticals, and system functions."
Up on the surface, most hospital devices with electronic components had probably been destroyed by the EMP strike, but the underground base should still be intact.
After all, once you got inside this base, the power systems and infrastructure looked largely functional—clearly they had EMP shielding.
Also, the EMP intensity this city took was far weaker than what Tokonosu City had suffered.
So overall, this place could practically be considered fully operational.
And the hospital's records and database systems should have server backups down here.
"I know! I'll show you the way!"
Oriha Nashida volunteered like an excited grade-schooler, shooting her hand up. Her eyes kept drifting to the device in Kain's hand that looked like a tablet.
That device had been removed from the armored rig, and the rig itself had transformed into a drone that was now patrolling overhead.
In short order, they arrived at a dark, sealed room in the base's server area.
After the computer powered on, Kain first pressed a small block—about five or six centimeters wide—against the machine. The block lit up faintly.
At the same time, his tablet screen changed, and the computer's desktop appeared on it.
A shared screen?
Did that little block contain a wireless module?
"Saya," Kain said, "try having the Earth Elixir System interface with this place. Scan it. Pull their medical resources. Then generate Earth Elixir formulas—everything from the most rational, highest-efficiency use of supplies, to the most wasteful but fastest-production formulas. I want a full range."
Normally, the world's network infrastructure had already collapsed. And to link Saya's computer to this system, it was not a matter of hacking Black Label's satellite.
That transmission speed would be far too slow.
What made this possible was the equipment A2 had sent over—specifically, the transforming drone-armor. It had flown high into the sky, acting as a temporary communications satellite and building out a network platform.
And because Saya's computer had the "Hard Drive" augmentation, it could detect and connect to that broadcast signal. The bandwidth was absurdly fast.
But no matter how fast the network was, this server room sat behind heavy shielding layers.
The signal could not effectively penetrate thick earth down to this depth—especially not through EMP-hardened construction.
Kain had anticipated that. When entering the base, he had deployed several repeaters, extending the signal inward from the underground entrance.
Either way, it saved him from having to bring people down here and risk unnecessary trouble.
"...OK."
It went smoothly. The connection was live.
Masamune was a top authority in medicine, and with his assistance, they could identify the most suitable formulas more quickly.
With nothing else to do, Kain let his attention drift to a short-haired blonde woman nearby.
She was the hospital's dean.
He found the structure here a little confusing. The elderly man was the chairman of the hospital's board, yet this woman was the dean.
Her body looked slender, almost frail—yet she possessed a vitality that was hard to believe.
Kain could clearly sense it: her "life-force aura" was far stronger than anyone else's, so strong it was practically glaring.
This "life-force aura" was not some mystical feeling. It was judgment through the five senses—breathing, heartbeat, temperature, micro-movements, posture, and countless other physical signals—used to estimate someone's vitality.
Now that he had quieted himself and sharpened his perception, it was even more obvious.
If an ordinary person's vitality were like a 100- to 150-watt lightbulb, then someone trained—like Yuko—might be several times brighter.
But this dean was like a bulb well over 500 watts.
Once the crowd around them thinned out, it became unmistakable.
Right—back at the Syringe base, there had been some interesting scanned materials.
That organization suspected Black Label had a hidden successful special case—someone they were keeping concealed.
And "successful" meant successfully achieving ageless immortality through D99.
If the flesh truly could become ageless and undying… then that kind of vitality would indeed be beyond imagination.
(End of Chapter)
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