Chapter 13: Cyber Idol Glass

No wonder, after Amirus was kidnapped, he did not dispatch personnel from the Execution Department of the Thoth Spiritual Energy subsidiary, but directly called for media reporters.

It turns out that on Happiness Island, media reporters are actually an organized combat unit...

Of course, it's not the reporters themselves who have the fighting capability, but those highly modified "bodyguards" surrounding them.

Although Amirus said it was to prevent the media's voice from being manipulated and controlled,

the reality might be the opposite.

Whether it's the head office or a subsidiary, even including the Cyber Sect—anyone with power or money could potentially become a "Supporter" of a specific reporter.

At least, only after reaching the airspace above Happiness Island could the network connect.

And it was just in the time it took Russell to fetch clothes that Amirus sent out a message, and immediately dispatched three armed helicopters, which arrived at the scene within three minutes.

Undoubtedly, the "Sponsors" behind these "ordinary bodyguards" are directly related to Amirus, if not him himself. At the very least, this reporter named Glass is to the extent that she can be influenced and controlled by him.

But there's a problem here.

Amirus is the highest manager of the Thoth Spiritual Energy stationed in the Happiness Island subsidiary.

Yet Tianen Daily is an institution directly under the Tianen Group.

A subsidiary from another region, through some means, uses influence to control a reporter from the local head company's direct media...and looking at this setup, she's not just any reporter. Even if she's not the top one, she is definitely on the front line.

And most importantly, this control seems to be semi-public.

—Why does he want to tell me this?

Thanks to his learning experience in Chongguang Island, as well as the hardships of life in the local black market and Lower City District, Russell was very sensitive to malice.

Russell clearly realized that Amirus bore no malice toward him.

But this was definitely not good will—agreeing to be interviewed by a reporter belonging to Amirus would certainly bring trouble for Russell.

And soon, he realized that this was also within Bad Day's expectations.

"—Come and be a Hero, Russell."

Bad Day's voice echoed in Russell's mind.

Russell silently looked out the window, watching the pink helicopter.

After the crowd was dispersed, it finally stopped hovering in the air and began to slowly descend.

Soon, very upbeat music started playing from the pink helicopter.

The sound was very loud, capable of directly penetrating the airship's soundproof layer and clearly reaching the room.

It was then Russell realized that what he had seen mounted on the helicopter, which he hadn't understood before, was actually a...giant speaker?

"Hello everyone, I'm Glass from Tianen Daily—"

A crisp, loud voice full of vitality and vigor echoed through the Sky Dome: "Did you feel happy today—"

The next moment.

A girl wearing an ultra-short skirt with two ribbon-like shoulder drapes and cat ears, nimbly hopped down from the pink helicopter.

She had a rather grand hair color—her long pink ponytail gradually transitioned to light blue and then deep blue, while the ends were like the deep purple of the night sky, even with twinkling stars visible.

What caught Russell's attention even more were her pupils.

They were like crystal-clear, transparent glass color. They looked like the color that reflects off a delicate glass cup of very light green tea.

Without a doubt, this too was a Prosthetic Eye.

Unlike Bad Day's combat Prosthetic Eyes, these were purely for aesthetic reasons.

The flowing hair fading into the colors of the starry sky, might also be a type of prosthetic body.

—She looked more like an idol than a reporter.

This feeling emerged in Russell's mind at first sight.

And moreover, an idol of extremely high purity.

Because as soon as she landed, a burst of cheers erupted from the crowd that had been driven away—people even began to actively show their support by loudly shouting the name "Glass."

Those couldn't have been plants but genuine fans.

With traces of professionalism faint on her face, the cat-eared girl wore a smile that was pure, sunny, and gentle. She raised both of her hands toward the crowd behind her and waved.

That was when Russell noticed that her hands had also been modified with prosthetic bodies.

At the ends of her sleeved arms, on the backs of her hands, was branded the insignia of the Tianen Group—a red and white icon with a cross nestled inside a heart shape.

And that insignia was made up of many metallic spheres.

It seemed like a decoration, but Russell knew it was actually a kind of portable recording prosthetic body, quite a rare item. If his mentor hadn't specialized in prosthetic creation, Russell probably wouldn't have known this fact.

Just one of these small spheres could be disguised as a mole.

When this part of the prosthetic body was exposed at the surface, it could record sound without any noise.

And these numerous prosthetic bodies combined to form a complex pattern, but in reality, they functioned as a custom professional recording array—its fidelity far surpassing that of a single recording prosthetic body.

It could be said that these were prosthetic bodies prepared to "interview anytime, anywhere."

If that's the case, her clear and transparent eyes, just like glass, were probably a kind of custom camera.

Following her descent, there was a whole team accompanying her.

Those handling the lighting, filming, and even a separate recording crew—this team likely existed to prevent revealing the hidden recording and video prosthetic bodies she wore.

Then, her equipment… was it specifically designed for covert filming?

Russell felt a stir in his heart.

He vaguely realized something.

Meanwhile, the joyous and animated voice of Glass continued to reach the crowd outside via the pink helicopter.

Her appearance, also being filmed by the personal camera crew, was simultaneously live-streamed onto the light screen projected by the pink helicopter, allowing the crowd to clearly see her face and hear her voice from a distance.

"Today, today! Glass heard that a serious and urgent issue occurred on the airship from Chongguang Island to Happiness Island!"

Looking into the camera with a worried but composed expression, she spoke swiftly and clearly, "Just recently, the wanted Babel organization attacked the airship and took the captain and the first-class passengers hostage!"

"But fortunately, at that moment, a young Hero stepped forward—"

After she finished saying this to the camera, she turned her gaze and looked far off toward Russell.

Russell, who was observing her, met her gaze head-on.

But neither of them turned away or escaped. Instead, they calmly observed and scrutinized each other.

In the dead angle that the cameras couldn't capture, those clear, glass-like pupils were as calm as a lake. They held a maturity and calmness that completely contradicted her cute and naïve appearance.

Russell sensed that Glass was looking at him with interest—at a time when she supposedly didn't know "who that Hero was," she was already sizing him up and scrutinizing him.

And the moment Glass energetically uttered the word "Hero,"

Russell became acutely aware that the atmosphere around him had changed.

The passengers, who had originally been tense and shocked to hear about the attack, along with those onlookers outside the security line, acting like enthusiastic fans...

All of their expressions changed in the same moment, at the same instant.

It was like a noisy classroom that suddenly went quiet without warning.

The passengers immediately stopped their previous activities and started to access the Tianen Daily official website to watch Glass's live broadcast.

The number of viewers watching in sync began to skyrocket at a visible rate.

And the voice of Glass was simultaneously heard in their minds, as well as outside the cabin.

"As for the specific situation on the scene, we'll have to wait for Glass to interview our distressed captain, the hijacked passengers—and that Great Hero who stepped forward and saved the entire airship!

"Please stay tuned!"

Russell's expression suddenly became a bit complicated.

…Wait a second, was the situation really that big of a deal?