Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 67: A Great Negotiator (1)

"UUA has withdrawn the notice," Ayoi said, biting her spoon. "Did they catch the other intruder?"

Five days had passed since the library’s restricted area was burglarized. The school’s security department had recently withdrawn their notice, yet no follow-up announcement was provided. This sparked widespread speculation on the forum about who had the audacity to do it.

"They must have," Yuka replied, biting into her fried egg. "By the way, do we have Art Appreciation class today?"

Ayoi was about to nod when a new notification popped up on their opticomputers.

"Art appreciation class canceled because Kishi Izumi resigned?!" Ayoi nearly spat out her porridge. "Yuka, did you see? Kishi resigned!"

"Why would she resign, boo hoo," Ayoi said, looking heartbroken. "She was so pretty and kind, and even let us grade ourselves."

Yuka raised an eyebrow and then leaned closer to Ayoi, whispering, "I think I forgot to tell you and Alex that when I went to the restricted area that night, someone had already gotten there first."

Ayoi’s eyes widened. "Who?"

"Kishi," Yuka said.

Ayoi’s spoon dropped from her hand.

"So, so," Ayoi stuttered, "did they catch her? Is that why she resigned?"

"That, I’m not sure," Yuka replied. "I want to go shopping today, what about you?"

"I need to go home for a bit," Ayoi said.

"Okay then." Yuka took out her opticomputer and shared a brief account of what happened in the restricted area that night in their small group chat.

A minute later, Alex sent a string of exclamation marks in the group chat, expressing his shock.

Yuka smiled and asked Ayoi and Alex if they were free to join a team match over the weekend, as it had been a while since they went to the underground arena.

Alex replied, "Sure, I’m free."

Ayoi also said, "I have nothing to do tomorrow, I can make it."

After finalizing the plan, Yuka placed her plate in the hands of the plate-collecting robot, then said goodbye to Ayoi, changed out of her school uniform into a light sportswear, and took a ride to Central Square. She put on her helmet, opened her opticomputer, and contacted Black One.

The butler appeared from the edge of the screen, asking her, "Master, shall we go to the black market?"

"Yep." Yuka responded while messaging Black One.

Yuka, "Come pick me up, I’m at Central Square."

Black One replied, "Miss, what are you looking to buy this time?"

"The items I asked you guys for last time, you still haven’t delivered all of them completely, too slow," Yuka replied. "I do have something new to buy, let’s discuss when we meet."

Yuka waited for about fifteen minutes until a black Lev stopped in front of her. Black One lowered the window, stepped out, and opened the door for her, "Please come in."

Yuka settled into the car, and Black One subtly moved closer to her, asking, "Miss, isn’t it stuffy with the helmet on? Do you need me to help you take it off..."

"Do you get stuffy wearing that black mask?" Yuka glanced at him. "Do you need me to help you take it off?"

Startled by Yuka’s retort, Black One gave an awkward smile, and said, "I apologize, I crossed the line."

The two traveled in silence to the black market building. Yuka expertly went up to the top floor and, showing her top-tier VIP card to the doorman, smoothly entered the boss’s room.

"A regular customer," a raspy female voice emanated from behind a red curtain. "What do you wish to purchase this time?"

Yuka ignored her question and instead said, "Just now, your employee suggested I remove my helmet."

Black One, eavesdropping outside, nearly yelped. ’Why would she tell on me? Gosh, she’s like any other rich people, so moneyed, yet so mean.’

"Black One is a bit out of line," the woman said with a forced smile. "We never pry into our guests’ privacy. Rest assured, even if we accidentally learn who a guest is, we never disclose a shred of their information."

It was as if they had never hacked Yuka’s opticomputer with a virus or tracked her.

"Is that so?" Yuka lifted her hand to remove her helmet, shaking her long, curly hair, and asked with a hint of a smile, "So, Professor Kishi, are you surprised to see me?"

Clang!

Kishi Izumi, startled, rolled off the lounge chair.

Yuka placed her helmet on the table and walked towards the red curtain. Before Kishi could react, Yuka pulled it aside, revealing Kishi’s panicked face.

"No need to come in!" Kishi, recovering, shouted to the outside. "Everyone leave!"

As the footsteps outside dispersed, Yuka, with arms crossed, stared at Kishi, watching her steady herself on the lounge chair and then meet her gaze.

Kishi, with a bitter smile, said, "It’s you."

"Yes," Yuka tilted her head, "I was also the one at the restricted area that night."

Kishi’s bitter smile faded completely.

"What do you want?" Kishi asked.

"Before asking what I want, perhaps you should explain why you went to steal from the restricted area," Yuka turned and walked back to sit at the table. "Surely it wasn’t just for the sake of a customer like me. That was too much of a big risk." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Moreover, Kishi had been employed at UUA for several years. A black market boss taking such risks for a single customer just didn’t make any sense.

"Aren’t you afraid you won’t be able to leave this room safely today?" Kishi also approached the table, her gaze sharp.

Yuka replied nonchalantly, "Try me if you dare."

She leaned back lazily on the couch, lifting her eyes to meet Kishi’s gaze.

Kishi’s expression changed several times before she finally conceded and spoke, "I’m with the space pirates."

"Uh-huh, I know," Yuka replied. "I saw your hidden Pneyon under the fabric last time."

With her bargaining chips dwindling, Kishi reluctantly continued, "That man, the current leader of the space pirates, had me operate the black market to help them resell large quantities of Oniyon and Pneyon. He also instructed me to infiltrate UUA, waiting for the right moment to enter the restricted area and retrieve the items he wanted."

"What he wanted were the unpublished documents from the Alliance Science Academy," Kishi sighed resignedly, "Isn’t it a coincidence? Exactly what you wanted."

Kishi sat down across Yuka, "I said earlier that the black market never probes into our clients’ privacy, and that’s true. But your case was too special, so I had to have Black One discreetly plant a virus in your device to find out who you are."

"Kishi isn’t my real name, but I did want to adopt ’Professor Kishi’ as my external identity. I’ve been wanting to leave the space pirates for a long time. Infecting your device was to connect with you," Kishi continued, "I thought you were just a young girl with a unique status, not belonging to any faction, probably sneaking out from home for some thrill."

With Yuka holding a toy bear and purchasing a doll in the lobby, she appeared to be a curious child out for fun.

"Such children, just a little warning to let them know their information is in someone else’s hands, and they’ll obediently do your bidding," Kishi looked at Yuka with mixed emotions.

Little did she know Yuka was tough as steel; not only did she fail to control Yuka, but she also ended up revealing her own secrets, now forced to lay bare her story.