Yes, I divided the chapters. Sorry, not sorry. New chapter is coming soon, I promise.


Let's take the sewer. Seems like the least dangerous option."

"Very well. Follow me. I'll lead us there posthaste." Cave paused before she turned over her shoulder. "Oh, and happy birthday. I know it's late but I could not make it due to this matter with Chika."

"Thank for the sentiment, and Lyrica already told me."

"Thank you. For being understanding."

Nepgear followed the red-haired girl until they reached the shore. There they found the rusty metal grill that was blocking the way inside. Cave inspected it before she grabbed the bar and gave it a firm shake. "It seems like the grill is blocking our entrance."

"Hmm... I can try melting the metal with my blade by infusing it with fire element." Nepgear suggested.

"Very well." Cave took a step back. The CPU took out her blade and channeled the magic into it. Moments later, the blade began glowing red with flames bursting out of it. She began cutting through the edges of the metal bars like butter. After she was done, she gave the grill a gentle push, causing it to fall over and produce a loud clunking noise that echoed through the hole entrance.

"Here, Fetch." Cave was currently wearing a gas mask, which caused her voice to be a bit muffled. "Fortunately, I had foreseen this and came prepared. The mask is equipped with night vision. It is one of many SMD highly futuristic military equipments."

Nepgear caught the gas mask before putting it on as well. "Nice work, Cave."

They were able to navigate the dark tunnels with ease. Their breathing was heavy due to maks and their vision was green. Suddenly, they felt strong vibration as the ground shook, followed by a sound of an explosion in the distance that came from above them.

"What was that?" Nepgear asked.

"It seems like the resistance group launched another assault. It would have been bad for us if we had decided to go through the city at the moment."

"Should we go and help?"

"Fret not. The SDM squads are more capable of fending them off. Our object is to recuse Chika and ensure her safety."

"That is if she's alive, that is."

They two continued walking in silence for a while.

"So..." Nepgear commenced. "I know this is sudden but... could you tell me what happened when Chika disappeared ten years ago?"

"There is nothing more to say." Cave didn't bother giving her a glance as she kept walking. "Chika was refusing to go out of Lady Vert's room. She had locked herself inside for a very long time. The staff attempted to talk her to get out, but it yielded nothing. Leanbox lacked an oracle and there was no suitable candidate to fill her role for a while. Eventually, the room got quieter and no one heard from her. They had sent me to investigative and with no other choice left, I had to force my way in. Unfortunately, I was greeted with an empty room."

"The LSMD immediately sent a search squad. We searched every continent, including the sea but after some time, we had no choice but to call the search off. After seven years had passed, she was officially declared dead." Cave paused. "That is until now."

"Let's not get our hopes up yet. It could be a trap for all we know." Nepgear interjected. "It's not the first time that they used a trick where someone from ASIC pretended to be Chika."

"I am fully aware of the fact. But we can not also rule out the possibility that they might be holding Chika hostage like last time as well."

"You got a point there."

Cave let out a sigh. "Still... I cannot help but think it is solely my fault. I had thought that giving Chika some space was the best option. I was not known to be an expert at comforting people." Her hand formed into a fist. "How foolish I was. Had I reached out to her sooner, I might have prevented all of this. She would have been alive. Such shame I brought to our friendship."

"Hey... don't beat yourself, okay?" She placed her hand on her shoulder as she spoke in a soft tone. "You couldn't have known this would happen. I was the reason why Chika turned out she was in the first place when... when..." Nepgear voice trailed off. She let out a sigh, not quite ready to resurface that painful memory.

"I see... Thank you for your comforting words." Cave then remained silent for a while as she appeared to be pondering. The only sounds are their footsteps, which produce a splash noise due to the pool of puddles.

"Would you mind indulging a question of mine, Nepgear?"

"Hm? Yes, of course."

"Do you believe that... that there is a chance that Chika is not dead?"

"I don't know... I want to believe that she's alive. Part of me thinks that she could have faked her death and lived somewhere else far away or simply wanted to join with Vert but that's only speculation. We'll find out soon enough if that's the case or not."

Cave hummed. "I suppose we will. Thank you for indulging me."

They continued their walk for a while. The sound of dripping water from a leaking pipe and their wet footsteps killed the silence. There were loud echoes of rats squeaking. Cave suddenly stopped in her tracks and motioned with her hand to stop.

"Halt... do you hear that?" Both of them tried to listen and find the source of the sound.

"It sounds like it came from... above?" Nepgear slowly turned her hand towards the ceiling and found a pair of eyes staring at her.

"Bow-wooze!"

Before she could react, the thing leapt at her face. She yelled in panic, but all that came was a muffled scream as it began face-hugging her mask. All she could see was the face of the smiling dogoo staring directly at her. "Get it off of me!"

"Remain still." Cave tried instructed before delivering a swift attack, knocking the dogoo off her. The dog slime quickly hopped away into the darkness. Before a bunch of eyes began appearing right in front of the two.

"Bow-wooze?"

"It seems we have company." Cave quickly brought her scissors.

"Great, just what we needed." Nepgear took out her beam blade and prepared herself as more and more dogoos began appearing.

"Bow-wooze!"

"Bow-woo-zee!"

"Doogo! Ow, I mean Bow-wooze!"

Talk about Deja-vu...

The dogoos soon began swarming the two. Both Cave and Nepgear stood their ground and began slicing through the slime creatures as they exploded in blue goo puddles. More and more kept coming and soon they were overwhelmed by their numbers. Some dogoos managed to stick themselves on the two but they managed to shake them off.

"Fall back. There are too many of them." Cave gritted her teeth as she kept slicing the dogoo in half as they leapt at them. Nepgear nodded and the two ran in hopes of losing them in the tunnels. After a while, the two eventually stopped and checked if they were still being pursued by the goo monsters.

"I think we managed to lose them... for now." Cave let out a relief sigh.

"Stupid Dogoos, what are they even doing here of all places?" Nepgear began wiping some goo off that was sticking to her mask.

"It's not uncommon for dogoos to wind up in such places due to their liquid-like state. We're fortunate to only encounter them and not other fierce monsters.

"Well, let's hope we don't run into more of them." The two continued walking.

"Agreed."

More walking followed suit.

Man, those tunnels seem to have no end.

"Just how much further, Cave?"

"If my calculations are to be correct, we should be close to reaching the other side of the city."

"Good. I don't want to spend another minute in these infested tunnels."

Suddenly, the two stopped in their tracks as they saw another source of light and noise that belonged to two people that came from the other side. The two took cover behind a wall.

Ugh... I've seen enough damn dogoos for one day.

ASIC... of course.

Nepgear mentally groaned. The two kept their distance while the two ASIC Remnants members continued chatting with one another, unaware of their presence.

Did you hear? A few days ago, the CPU and a special agent raided one of our bases. A few were arrested and the rest were slaughtered.

Yup... bad business, alright.

Aren't you worried that the same could happen to us?

Not really. I think we're the only dumb people in these sewers.

Hey, what's the deal with that new creepy person that appeared in our cult?

For the last time, it's not a cult. And I don't know but she's helping with our cause and that's all that matters.

She gives the creeps.

Yeah, come on. Let's go and finish this. Gotta make sure our passage isn't blocked by those slimy creatures.

There's a split here. I'll go right and you go left.

Nepgear and Cave both waited for the two to pass them.

"I will take one on the left. You keep the other alive. He might be of use to us." Cave whispered as she signaled with her head.

Nepgear nodded before she watched her friend take the left path while she headed to the opposite path. The red-haired girl creeped on the guy from behind before she made him trip by kicking his leg. She then grabbed his head and dove it into the water waste while pinning his arm on his back. The guy thrashed his body and swung his other arm, trying to break free but her grip was firm as iron. The guy's screams were muffled underwater, with many bubbles forming underneath. His struggles were slowly becoming weaker with each passing moment until eventually his body went completely limp.

Meanwhile, the other guy was walking while his eyes scanned around before he stopped in his tracks. The man turned his head to his shoulder and pressed a device. "All clear here. Over."

After not receiving a response for a few moments, the guy tried again. "Hello? Ralph? Can you hear me? What's your status?"

"He's not going to answer you."

The man suddenly froze up as he felt something sharp poking his back.

"Don't make sudden moves and don't turn around." Nepgear instructed him as she held her blade. "Drop your weapon on the ground. Slowly."

The man complied and tossed his gun on the floor before raising his hand while giving his back to her.

"Okay, just don't kill me."

"It depends whether you are going to be useful to us or not." Cave called out before she joined her. "Tell us where you're keeping Chika."

"I don't know who you're talking about—"

Nepgear pushed the blade against him. "Don't test us."

"I swear on my life I don't know. I'm a new recruit. I was assigned to clean the passage to the base and guard it with the other guy."

"Which way leads to your base?" Her friend questioned him.

"I-I don't think I can—" She poked him harder. "Okay, okay. It's from the way we came, straight ahead then left. There's a ladder that leads outside the factory."

"Very well. Nepgear, end him off so we can continue on our way."

"Are you sure? Can we just knock him out instead? I mean, he did tell us where their base is. Seems a bit unnecessary, don't you think?"

"Negative. We simply cannot afford loose ends."

"Yeah but—"

"U-Um, ladies?" The man interrupted. "I don't think this is—"

"We do not recall ever requiring your opinion." Cave cut him off with hard glare before Nepgear chimed in. "Yeah, no one told you you could speak."

"I know, but um, you might wanna look over there." The man pointed ahead with his finger. The purple-haired girl glanced over the man's shoulder and saw two big eyes staring at them. There lay a huge grand dogoo that was hopping in their direction. "Oh wonderful..."

Cave quickly switched to her sniper and began shooting at the grand dogoo but it did little to no damage as the monster continued to advance towards them.

"It seems like fortunate is on your side. You will be the distraction." Cave forcefully pushed him towards the monster before she turned to her friend. "Nepgear, let us go before anymore shows up."

"Ah, wait! Don't leave me here with—"

"Sorry your on your own." His pleads fell on deaf ears as the two girls quickly left him to his fate with the giant goo monster.

The two began running towards the exit. Some little dogoos showed up and began chasing the two. Cave began shooting with her sniper rifle after switching it to automatic at the hopping, smiling slime creatures while they were running but more and more kept appearing and replacing the dead ones.

"There, I see the exit." Nepgear pointed at the ladder ahead.

two took turns climbing out of a ladder outside the sewerage via a sanitary manhole. Nepgear and Cave both waited for a bit before they went to use the same exit. Nepgear began climbing the ladder while Cave began holding them out by firing at them."

"Come on." Nepgear called her out once she was out. She extended her hand and quickly helped Cave out before the two sealed off the manhole.

"That was too close." The CPU let out a sigh of relief.

nepgear began taking the gas mask from her face before she deeply inhaled and let the air reach her lungs once it was fully off. "Finally, phew, it was getting kinda stuffy."

"I see the building up ahead." Cave pointed out, having already taken her mask off. "Come on, we should not waste more time."

"Yeah, okay."

The two walked until they reached what seemed to be an abandoned manufacturing factory for game consoles. The building was lifeless and gave off a sense of uneasiness.

"We are here."

"So that's the place?" Nepgear asked as she took in her surroundings. The room was dim but she could make out that they were in a room full of many crates that have a '360' labeled on them and old machinery. The place was filled with a smell of damp walls and rusty metal. There were no power sources powering the place.

"It should be, if that guy's information is to be trusted."

"Well... it seems like a good place to convert to a base for illegal operations." The two girls began searching the place from top to bottom but had no luck finding anything.

After a while, the duo entered an empty room and looked around for a bit. "It seems we searched everywhere. Chika is not here." Nepgear shook her head and turned to her friend.

"It seems we were misled."

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

Suddenly, the door behind them loudly closes without a warning, startling both girls.

"What the goodness?!"

"We're trapped." Cave gritted her teeth as she tried to force the door open. Suddenly the room was filled with strange gas from the vents.

"Sleeping gas." Cave tried to cover her nose. "This is not good. We must find a way out quick."

Unfortunately, it was too late, as the gas had already taken effect on the two girls. Both Nepgear and Cave tried to cover their faces with their clothes, but it proved futile as they felt their movement getting more sluggish.

Must... stay... awake...

Soon, the two girls bodies flopped on the floor like ragdolls, their consciousness fading away.