My Ninja Girl 4 by Gideon Caldwell (latest novels to read .TXT) 📕

standing at attention was going to stretch much longer than he was comfortable with, giving him plenty of time to go over a rudimentary strategy for how he planned to launch into action once all this started up, as well as an equal amount of time to fret over how they were going to pull it off.

And for that matter, if it was even possible to begin with.

While Saru’s entourage had been cordial enough, the seven standing around him were completely quiet, including the one who must have belonged to Saru, Micah not able to really distinguish between them. Sure, their information appeared when he looked at them, but he didn’t know them by name, nor did he know much about any of their lives. They also wouldn’t know anything about him considering his information had been thoroughly hacked. While Choro was good at what he did, Bobi was better, and he had made sure that they had deep aliases that morning, including combat and other semi-verifiable actions, to back it up.

After a few minutes of silence, Micah found something else to focus on. He was able to gauge each of their industria levels, and in doing so he noticed that three of the seven around him were highly powered, the others at more of a mid-range level, which could still technically beat him, but at least it gave him some hope.

Weirdly, in that wait for the action to start, an inkling of a strategy came to him, one that would allow Micah to engage all of them in a matter of seconds. After all, he only had one goal, really, aside from staying alive—don’t let any of them get into the inner chamber, and this would be his focus.

Four stood across from him, two monks and two nuns, and next to Micah were three additional monks. Unfortunately, he was the furthest from the door, which he realized was his fault for not claiming the first space available.

Amateur moves, he thought as he cycled through his plan again.

Micah knew that Yuri and Bunni would be able to get to their opponents faster than him or Liza, so if he could just keep the monks and nuns around him at bay long enough to get some assistance, then his entry to the inner chamber would be secured.

Using the newest power he had learned—if it worked—would allow him to fling some of his opponents into the walls. If anyone struck Micah, he could absorb their attack, but he still wasn’t very good at that even with the training he’d had, and there was always the chance that he would be brought down in such a manner.

There was no point in doubting himself. He just had to keep reminding himself that this was about to be a pinnacle moment in his life, even with Youseg’s prophecy weighing down on his shoulders. You’ve got this, he told himself, and as if he were telepathically linked to Micah, Choro’s voice appeared in his bucket.

“Julia’s forces are all officially in position, some within a hundred yards of the compound and disguised as repairmen working on one of the sewer lines. So don’t worry about the outside, and if you are worried about the inside—don’t. You’ve got this. There are seven of them, one of you, but they don’t know what’s about to happen, and you have the element of surprise. Don’t forget that. I wish I could be more useful, but just focus on the monks and nuns around you and… You’ll be fine.”

“I’m here too,” Bobi said, “so expect to have some aim assists courtesy of me. Also, I just have to say how exciting this is! I’ve been dormant in these woods for well over a thousand years just coming up with a name for myself and minding my own business. Well, I suppose I befriended a few woodland creatures, at least the ones that were brave enough to come to my cave. And there are the songs and other data that I have on my system, societal treasures that have been thoroughly forgotten. You know, once all the stuff settles down, you should take a look at some of the stuff. I’m sure it would be helpful to historians…”

Micah wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. Instead, he listened to Bobi rattle on for another minute or so. He remained at attention, as silent and as deadly-looking as the elite nuns and monks around him. This did get him wondering though. Were any of them distracted at the moment? Was he the only one with people talking to him in his bucket?

One of the nuns made a noise with her throat. She stepped aside and quickly removed the bottom of her helmet to sneeze.

“Sorry,” she said as she placed helmet on and got back into her line.

“Are you allergic to your bucket?” the man next to her asked. “You aren’t supposed to remove it to sneeze. You’re so dumb.”

“No, I’m allergic to your foul deodorant, and for some reason, the filter in my bucket isn’t preventing me from smelling you, you piece of shit.”

The monk next to her laughed. “I think you’ve been spending too much time in Thunderhama.”

“Have I?” she asked, and even though her voice was metallic, Micah could tell that they were teasing each other. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“That place reeks, and you’ve probably just gotten used to smelling terrible things mostly on your clothing once you take off your helmet. Am I right?”

“My clothing always smells worse when I’m down there,” one of the monks in Micah’s line said. “Almost as bad as the Golden Trash District. I don’t know how people live like that. Animals, if you ask me. As soon as I could, I got a place in Neojuku. You guys should see it. I got a view of Woodsaka, and it’s absolutely