Chapter 463: 461
Waves lapped against the beach as the cries of seagulls echoed overhead.
Kain had just finished setting up the beach volleyball net when he glanced toward a nearby beach house. A figure stepped outside.
The first was the tallest of the group, a curvaceous blonde woman with a mature, feminine air.
Her usual qipao-like uniform was gone, replaced by a dangerously high-cut, plunging V-neck swimsuit. The mature beauty had also added an unusual touch to her beach attire: a pair of purple thigh-high stockings that matched her swimsuit.
The second woman to emerge was also blonde. She was an energetic girl with twin tails, dressed in a frilly pink three-piece swimsuit and black thigh-highs.
The next two wore similar three-piece swimsuits, though theirs lacked frills and appeared to use even less fabric.
In reality, the amount of material was probably about the same as the blonde girl's. The difference was simply that these two were considerably more developed in certain areas, making the fabric look as though it had somehow shrunk.
Both women had silver hair, one short and the other long. Their builds and faces were so similar that they could easily have been mistaken for sisters.
Although their swimsuits were identical in design, the short-haired woman wore white while the long-haired one wore black. Both had also paired their swimsuits with thigh-high stockings.
The final two girls wore skirted one-piece swimsuits similar to school swimwear.
The silver-haired girl wore an almost-black shade of navy blue with black stockings. The blonde girl wore white with matching white stockings.
"We'll divide into two teams of three and play beach volleyball. The winning team will earn one hour alone with the Commander in a completely private room, completely isolated from the outside world."
The blonde girl with twin tails proudly announced the prize.
Everyone had already been told about the beach volleyball match while they were changing, but no one had mentioned that winning would earn them a special reward.
Kain had no objections. He was content to let events unfold naturally.
"Well? No one has a problem with the prize, right?"
No one objected.
Asseylum remained silent, however. She lowered her head slightly and looked at her legs, which were wrapped in white stockings.
As far as she understood, people normally wore shoes with this sort of outfit when they went to the beach.
This felt strange.
Still, 60 had claimed that the Commander, meaning Kain, would love it. That was why all six women had dressed this way.
After a little hesitation, Asseylum had ultimately decided to follow the others' example.
"Now I'll explain the specific rules," 60 continued. "Each round will be best two out of three games. As long as the ball crosses the net and lands inside the opposing team's court, you score a point. You don't have to use your hands, either. Elbows, feet, or any other part of your body are all allowed."
Asseylum stared at her, once again finding the rules rather difficult to comprehend.
"Each game ends once one team scores two points. If each side scores once, then on the third serve, the Commander will toss the ball directly above the net. Both teams will compete for it and try to knock it into the other side's court."
In other words, each team received one serve per game. That seemed reasonably fair.
"Finally, the members of the winning team can decide among themselves who gets to spend an hour alone with the Commander. Those are all the rules. We begin in ten minutes."
After making her announcement, 60 joined 2B and Commander White.
Asseylum was placed on a team with Tessa and A2.
Their team was clearly at a disadvantage.
There was no way Asseylum and Tessa's physical abilities could compare to androids. A2 might have been individually stronger than anyone on the opposing team, but victory would still be impossible with two teammates holding her back.
To compensate, Asseylum and Tessa would each remotely control an android body made to look exactly like them. They would wear goggle-like devices and link their consciousnesses to the two artificial bodies.
That effectively gave them bodies comparable to those of their opponents.
They had already spent half an hour familiarizing themselves with the controls.
Asseylum and Tessa sat down at opposite sides of the court beside Kain, who would serve as the referee.
Once they put on the devices, their consciousnesses connected to the two android bodies. The artificial duplicates stepped out wearing exactly the same swimsuits as their controllers.
"Asseylum, once the match begins, the two of us will act as shields," Tessa instructed. "Don't be afraid to throw yourself directly in front of the ball. Just try to knock it into the air and give A2 a chance to return it."
Even with android bodies, Tessa knew their team remained at a considerable disadvantage. Their control over the artificial bodies could never compare to that of the genuine androids on the opposing team.
For one thing, they were controlling the bodies through a remote connection. No matter how fast the connection was, there would always be a slight delay.
For another, the real androids were undoubtedly far stronger than the artificial bodies they had been given.
Tessa therefore believed that she and Asseylum could only serve as support and do their best not to hold A2 back.
"Understood."
The ten minutes quickly passed.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
"White Team wins the first game of Round One," Kain announced from his position as referee.
White Team, A2's side, had served first. A2 personally launched the ball and immediately scored with her opening serve.
Red Team gained the next serve. 2B sent the ball flying toward Asseylum's side of the court, and A2 failed to intercept it in time.
On the third exchange, the two teams fought for the ball above the net. A2 secured the point.
In the blink of an eye, the second game had ended as well.
"White Team wins the second game of Round One. White Team has won two games and therefore takes the round. Round One is over."
The result was identical to the first game.
At this rate, Red Team seemed to have no chance against A2's devastating serves and her dominance whenever they fought for the ball above the net.
But that would only last for a while.
Kain could tell A2 was forcing herself to go all-out from the very beginning.
At that intensity, she would probably win the first few rounds, but her body wouldn't be able to withstand six full rounds of such fierce competition.
"Did we underestimate A2?" 60 asked, cold sweat forming on her face.
The last ball had flown so close to her face that it almost seemed as though A2 had deliberately aimed at her.
60 knew A2 held something of a grudge against her, but that grudge appeared considerably deeper than she had expected.
An ordinary human would have been killed instantly by a hit like that.
"It's fine," White replied calmly. "Her body won't endure all six rounds if she keeps pushing herself this hard."
Since A2's team had won the first round, she was chosen as the first person to accompany the Commander into a private room.
It wasn't because A2 had demanded to go first. Asseylum and Tessa had voluntarily given her the opportunity since the two of them had spent the entire match standing around without accomplishing much.
There were six private rooms in total, all prepared by 60. Each room featured a different interior design.
A2 and the Commander would now choose one and enter together.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the room's door opened automatically.
A2's expression seemed as calm as ever when she emerged, but White could still sense that something about her had changed.
It appeared A2 had experienced that sort of thing as well and received the promised material reward.
Before long, it was time to open the sixth and final private room.
This time, Asseylum was the one entering with Kain. She looked somewhat nervous.
She also noticed Tessa watching her with a complicated expression. The silver-haired girl sighed before glaring at Kain, seemingly warning him not to try anything inappropriate.
Asseylum then glanced at A2 and the others.
Of them all, 60 wore the strangest expression. She looked as if the final room contained some kind of grand prize, with an especially unusual interior waiting inside.
Once Asseylum and Kain entered, the door closed behind them, plunging everything into complete darkness.
Creak. Creak.
Another partition stood ahead of them and was slowly opening.
As the door slid aside, the interior came into view. Asseylum froze.
Several display stands had been arranged throughout the room. A strange object rested atop each pillar-shaped platform.
Beside every stand was a screen that appeared intended to display information about the product.
"Kain-san, what are these?"
Faced with the Martian princess's question, Kain remained silent.
Her confusion made it obvious just how sheltered she truly was. She genuinely had no idea what any of these items were.
A second later, he noticed her expression stiffen. She had apparently recognized at least one of them.
It was an imitation, one that 60 had undoubtedly reproduced at full scale using the real thing as a reference.
The original was capable of producing the material reward the women wanted.
The substance previously hidden inside Tessa's high heels had also come from the original.
As for all the other bizarre objects, they were clearly toys intended for intimate activities.
At that moment, the screens on each display stand lit up and began introducing the various items.
To make everything easier to understand, they even played instructional animations demonstrating how the products were used.
There could be no mistake. 60 had definitely downloaded these special animations from Asuna.
(End of Chapter)
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