The Purifier's eyes widened as she turned toward the source of the voice, which was surrounded by a group of shipgirls acting as escorts.
There was a tremble of disbelief in the voice of this high-ranking Siren, to the point where even her pitch had risen.
Seeing that the Purifier had already noticed him, Lin Lan simply stepped out from behind Hipper with a smile and teased,
"Well, well, if it isn't Purifier. Long time no see. Are you Sirens planning another interdimensional crossover event to bring new friends to our port?"
"What kind of outrageous truth are you spouting now? Wait, wait, wait... it's actually you?! The Arbiter Project's... Pfft—hahaha! Hahahahahaha!"
Lin Lan originally thought the Purifier would exchange a few playful words with him. But to his surprise, she took a half-step backward in midair.
"No wonder you lot suddenly managed to break through the Natural Computation System's simulations again!"
"I knew it! That last experimental world's trial wasn't a failure! Our research institute didn't fail! Hahahahahaha!"
The Purifier covered her face and burst into an excited fit of laughter while standing atop her hammerhead shark rigging.
Not only did this leave Lin Lan dumbfounded, but even his shipgirls looked at each other with confusion.
Had she lost her mind?
Before Lin Lan could say anything, the Purifier suddenly reined in her emotions and snapped her fingers with a crisp "pop."
Lin Lan suddenly noticed that the bodies and mechs of the Battleaxe Military Industry pilots around him were beginning to blur and turn translucent.
It was as if they were becoming mere projections—on the verge of disappearing entirely.
He immediately reached out, trying to grab Huo Dai beside him.
But his hand passed right through her now-blurred body, grasping nothing but air.
"Purifier! What did you do to them?!"
The one who spoke was Ägir. She glared furiously at the Purifier, her dragon-like rigging's main guns already locked onto the Siren.
At Lin Lan's command, they would immediately open fire on the mastermind behind this Mirror Sea.
"Relax, relax~ I just sent these unrelated people back to where they belong. No need to be so wary of me~"
As the Purifier spoke smugly, the Battleaxe Military Industry personnel and their mechs completely vanished from the fire-ravaged city of Huaiwu.
"Now that there are no outsiders, we should get down to the real discussion."
Having done all this, the Purifier turned to Lin Lan, her tone growing serious.
Lin Lan's heart tightened.
He still wanted to ask the Purifier how he had ended up in this world and what the power of the Hero was all about.
But unexpectedly, she was the one to initiate the conversation.
Moreover, what she had just said intrigued him greatly.
The Arbiter Project? The Natural Computation System?
He had some knowledge of the Arbiter Project from the game's storyline, but not much.
All he knew was that it was a plan devised by humanity in the Origin World to resist a mysterious enemy that had destroyed both the Sirens and the shipgirls' homeland.
Ultimately, the plan failed, and the Origin World was completely annihilated by this still-unknown entity.
The shipgirls who had fallen into despair and corruption within that world became the Ashes Faction, led by META Enterprise.
The META shipgirls of the Ashes believed that the Siren mainframes had betrayed them during the final battle against the mysterious enemy.
Thus, they traveled across various Siren experimental worlds, causing destruction.
As for the Natural Computation System, Lin Lan was much more familiar with it.
It was a predictive mechanism used by the Sirens—essentially an advanced simulation that could forecast the trajectory of all events.
"I can break the Natural Computation System? Is it because of my identity as a Commander, or is it due to the Hero's power?"
"No... If the Hero's power was granted by the Sirens, then it likely wouldn't interfere with their system. It must have something to do with my identity as a Commander."
Lin Lan's mind raced through possibilities in mere seconds.
Unaware of his rapid internal analysis, the Purifier continued speaking,
"I don't know where you've been before, but since you've returned to the port, I'll just be straightforward. I—huh? What is that?"
Lin Lan had been eagerly anticipating more information, but the Purifier suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
She turned her head toward the raging inferno behind them—the direction where Huaiwu City's central plaza had once stood.
Then, she abruptly pivoted her hammerhead shark rigging as if preparing to leave.
Seeing that the truth was right before him, Lin Lan had no intention of letting her go.
If he didn't extract more intel from her now, who knew when he'd get another chance?
"Wait, Purifier! Keep talking! Don't start acting like one of those cryptic Sirens! I'm still waiting!"
As he spoke, Lin Lan made a hand gesture.
Noticing it, Prinz Eugen and Teacher Nimi immediately signaled their companions to cautiously maneuver their riggings toward the Purifier.
"Why would a META beacon appear in a Mirror Sea? We went through so much effort to seal those guys away from this experimental world… No, could it be the Compiler?"
The Purifier muttered to herself before suddenly raising her voice and speaking in an obviously scripted tone,
"Aaah~ Purifier has something very important to do! I definitely don't know that the key node of this experimental site is to your right."
As soon as she finished speaking, her hammerhead shark rigging twisted abruptly, dodging an ambush from Roon and Prinz Eugen's dragon-rigging, before accelerating toward the fire.
Seeing that she was about to escape, Lin Lan panicked. He rushed past Hipper and Ägir's rigging, shouting as he chased after her,
"Purifier! Explain yourself! How did I even come to this worl—"
But he forcibly swallowed his words mid-sentence.
His shipgirls were still beside him. How could he openly ask about being transported into a game world?
Moreover, he had countless questions that couldn't be answered in just a few words.
"Fire! Take down her rigging! Don't let her get away!"
Even with his Hero's power enhancing his speed and issuing the order to attack, the Purifier still managed to evade the Iron Blood shipgirls' main cannon barrage, accelerating into the flames and disappearing from sight.
From within the inferno, her teasing voice echoed,
"Don't worry, don't worry. We'll have plenty of chances to meet again. Just you wait and see…"
Now that the Purifier had completely vanished, Lin Lan stopped in his tracks, clenching his fists in frustration.
Just what were the Sirens scheming? Why had the Purifier been so shocked to see him?
What had she been about to say, going so far as to remove outsiders before speaking?
Even though he had finally encountered a high-ranking Siren, Lin Lan was now left with even more questions.
"Commander, should we keep chasing her?"
Hipper and the others had caught up, waiting for his decision.
Gazing at the vast sea of fire ahead, Lin Lan took a deep breath and sorted through the information he had gathered.
"Forget the Purifier for now. We're heading to the key node she mentioned in the Mirror Sea. There's no way she'd be that generous. Whether it's a trap or a real lead, it's better than blindly stumbling around."
After issuing his command, Lin Lan glanced at his shipgirls—only to suddenly realize that a certain green-haired little merchant was missing.
"Wait... Where's Akashi?"
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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