Blacksteel International has indeed been having a miserable time lately.
With the high incidence of Oripathy, and the intensification of turmoil, Blacksteel, originally serving as a security company and Oripathy treatment specialist, should have seen its influence grow alongside Columbia's, entering a peak period for its business. No matter how you looked at it, the future seemed incomparably perfect.
Columbia's various industries were flourishing incomparably, and the infections brought by Originium Arts also required professionals for counteraction and treatment. Those upper-class individuals who had acquired wealth also needed better protection and some extra sense of security. These should all have been good news for Blacksteel International. At least on the surface, three months ago, no one would have believed that Blacksteel International would be reduced to just a nominal headquarters, forced to run to Lungmen, this new economic core, just to barely survive.
Before the appearance of the Lazarus File, everything was so beautiful.
But with the appearance of the Lazarus File, everything changed.
New variants of Originium infectious diseases that were almost impossible to legally protect against, the horror of corpses reanimating after death, coupled with the madness from the upper echelons and their mutual preservation and frantic targeting regarding various confidential files—Blacksteel International experienced the distance from heaven to hell in just a short hundred days.
Past experience completely lost its effectiveness in the face of technology that changed almost daily. The damn Lazarus File not only recorded the direction for resurrection of the dead but also the possibility of mechanized bodies. Flesh and blood mixed with machinery, interconnected through Originium, soldiers who had already lost their self-awareness secretly attacked each other in Columbia. On the surface, Columbia was peaceful, with only occasional sudden incidents, because Columbia's big shots still needed to eat maintain appearances.
What if someone really got pushed too far, and a few madmen emerged?
Who knew how much of the strange tools and weapons brought by the Lazarus File each side possessed?
Blacksteel International was a security company, yes, but aren't security company personnel human? Humans have limits to their mental endurance. You report an enemy attack, but you didn't say the opponent could fly, tunnel underground, was mechanized, and had everything else? Who could withstand that?
Rhine Lab Santiago and other tech companies were all supported entities, already having similar plans internally; the Lazarus File came along and even provided the data, now things really took off. Dozens of projects were launched one after another, finding new ways to cause trouble. I go to your lab for live combat exercises, you come to my building for preliminary campaigns, and when real conflict breaks out, the unlucky one is still Blacksteel International, the security company caught in the middle.
In just over a month, Blacksteel International truly couldn't bear the casualty rate anymore. Compensation funds were one aspect; more importantly, the mental state of the operators simply couldn't sustain such high-intensity, non-stop battlefields of flesh and blood, and the financial reports that were even more terrifying than the battlefields. The high-level executives, looking at the brain-hemorrhage-inducing financial reports, made a decisive decision: directly shift core business to other cities, leaving only an empty shell consulting office in Columbia. The main body fled as far as possible, preferably to a place Columbia couldn't reach. Then start from the grassroots level.
Anyway, the Lazarus File was causing trouble everywhere now, no fear of lacking work. 'If I'm not wanted here, I'll find somewhere else where I am wanted.'
Of course, the higher-ups' thoughts were quite optimistic, but the grassroots personnel weren't quite buying into this kind of transient life. Blacksteel International Security Company, once considered a top-tier, first-class entity, now, apart from retaining a first-class framework in name, probably didn't even qualify as a quasi-first-class security company in terms of actual manpower.
If not for a large batch of core operators choosing not to leave due to contracts and loyalty, Blacksteel International might have even considered dissolving on the spot. Of course, the main reason it didn't dissolve was that a certain unnamed cat-eared young lady , seeing the company was about to go bankrupt, gritted her teeth, shed tears, sent over her snack money, repurchased a large amount of company stock, allowing it to be revived. And said young lady also personally subsidized a considerable portion of the expenses out of her own pocket. Truly touching Blacksteel.
However, this also meant that a group of elites who couldn't be disbanded had to go to new places to do jobs previously considered rather low-end.
For example, idol bodyguards, idol bodyguards, and also idol bodyguards, and the like.
'Liskarm, don't you think it's really too stuffy for us two to be standing outside? At least taking off the helmet would be better, right?'
The black-armored door god on the left shifted slightly, speaking in a low voice to the other door god beside her:
'Although I originated from this outfit, I still find it hard to get used to, no matter how many times~ At least for such a simple mission, we should be able to get some air, right? Just an idol, who would attack an idol? Didn't even the management company tell us just to put on a show? Besides, if I take off the helmet, my outer armor response would actually be better and faster, don't you think?'
'I don't think so. And please maintain Blacksteel regulations during the escort process, Francka.'
'Eh? Still so rigid even at this point? Truly the eternal top student . What a pity~'
'…'
Facing her companion's harassment, the other black-armored door god stood firmly, a large shield held defensively in front. Although slightly lacking in height, she looked very sturdy and secure.
If someone familiar with Blacksteel International's personnel configuration were present, it wouldn't be hard to see that the two guarding the door here were undoubtedly elite Blacksteel operators. Not the very ordinary, easily replaceable kind. As the backbone of Blacksteel International, they each held relevant departments and responsibilities in Columbia.
However, following the dissolution and reorganization of the Columbia headquarters, the two were positioned as a pair by the higher-ups due to their complementary personalities. Specializing in providing high-end close protection measures. But clearly, although Lungmen was also showing signs of chaos, it hadn't reached the point of tearing off all pretenses yet, and no one needed the protection of powerful outsiders like Blacksteel International. After much deliberation, only Sora, being an idol, could make Blacksteel International reluctantly accept .
After all, she's a super popular idol; getting some screen time during protection, just treat it as advertising, it's not a loss, right?
'Ah~ How I miss the days in the biochemical unit~ It's a pity I didn't even get to participate in the last mission.'
'After that mission was disrupted, Originium radiation was detected at the scene. If you had gone then, you would have contracted Oripathy, and then died alone somewhere unknown.'
'That's really a mean way to put it, top student. Do you wish for my death that much?'
'Objectively speaking, there are no records of anyone surviving Oripathy normally.'
'Eh? So does that mean I might be the first one?'
'…'
The operator holding the large shield fell silent, clearly not wanting to engage with her companion anymore.
And the person beside her, facing this silence, gently poked her waist with a finger, then asked in a low voice.
'Liskarm?'
'…'
'Miss Liskarm~?'
'…'
'Liskarm, your protective suit zipper is open, you know?'
'…'
'I'm really going to unzip it, okay? Look what's in my hand~'
'Francka!'
'Yo, you're angry?'
'You—'
A spark of crackling electricity flashed in the air.
Just as a full-blown fight was about to erupt, a cough suddenly came from behind them. A male voice, slightly amiable and very infectious, sounded from behind the two.
"Ahem, you two from Blacksteel International? If you don't mind, come inside and sit down too."
"..." 2
What's with this person?
When did he walk over here?
Looking at the man who had approached them unnoticed and greeted them, the two Blacksteel International operators exchanged a glance, suspicion rising in their hearts.