Title card pops up right away, and this chapter is called Valentine Cyber Wars.
We then pick up from last time as Hisaki sputters and asks the mafia mobs what they mean by 'greatest enemy.' You ask if they're connected to Flamier herself or to her father, and Purple answers by saying he wishes he could say it's got nothing to do with you guys. He does extend sympathy to the extent that he agrees it'd suck to die without knowing what the hell you were getting yourself into, and he feels some obligation to having Hisaki's 'cooperation' with their plan. Hisaki denies there being any sort of cooperation between them, and Huckle sympathizes but asks him to hold it in long enough for the villains to explain. The mafia mob nods, and Purple continues on by saying that they were once the team that led the Archimedes Group's engineering department. Flamier is surprised at this and says she suspected that they were the people from the gossip she heard about before.
Purple starts expositing about how back then, Archimedes wasn't only in the asteroid belt mining business, but they were planning on entering the market of mining in the Earth region. Purple's team was set to plan that out while being kept top secret, and it was a big enough project that it controlled the fate of the business. The team was given a huge budget and payroll, and they pushed themselves desperately to finish the tasks they were given and to develop Archimedes. This included things like transporting resources to collection points, building high speed infrastructure for exclusive use, and mining system maintenance on Earth. There were casualties involved with the investigations and development of transport machinery, but they looked forward and pressed on. Unfortunately, a secret deal had thrown all their efforts to waste.
Purple guesses that Archimedes, or at least the CEO wasn't as serious about this development as they thought he was. While Purple's team worked their asses off on these developments, the CEO was in talks with Raidark about forming a cooperative industry. Raidark had control of development on Earth, and with a deal signed, the independent resource mining projects came to a close. It seems that once Raidark found out about Archimedes' solo mining operation plans on Earth, a lot of trouble arose. All the department's technology was taken away, and everyone involved was given hush money to stay silent about it. The entire department was dissolved, and all that remained of its assets is the investigation ship you guys are on.
Despair crushed the workers, and Archimedes already had measures in place to prevent a leak to the mass media so there would be no way to expose the truth. All their work and all those deaths, all a waste now. So the department became a mafia group and swore revenge on Archimedes, Raidark, and the society filled with secret rules. They planned to use the technology they created to dismantle the world ruled by those wicked corporations, and they continued building their funds and continuing their research.
Flamier is saddened by what Purple has said, and Purple continues by saying what really got their plans into motion was finding out about Hisaki's system. By expanding that system and combining it with the communication technology they've developed, they believed it'd be possible to cause societal collapse by destroying the concept of secrets. The villains all look towards Hisaki, and Purple says it was fortunate for them that Hisaki knew less about IT security than they did. Thanks to that, they stole the system and moved their plans forward to its last stages. Hisaki reacts by grinding his teeth at the news.
You ask the mobs about the rocket, so Purple answers that there's a satellite on board that can send electrical signals throughout all of Earth. With it, they can hack all cell phone towers to broadcast the thought reading system and spread what happened in Orient City to everywhere else. Ryekie asks if their goal was planetary scale terrorism after all, so Purple declares that they'll show the world how foolish secrets are and destroy them. Hisaki refuses to let them have their way, saying he didn't develop his system just to be made responsible for this incident. Shouen says he understands why the mafia would hate the idea of secrets, but it's wrong to use methods to drag the world into their vengeance.
Purple snorts and says you guys don't understand them after all, having lived in a city controlled by Raidark. But oh well, that ought to be enough stalling for time. Akashi is surprised by this comment, and the system announcement declares that it'll be five minutes until launch. You are alarmed at this and say you guys have to stop it, and Hisaki tells everyone he's sent everyone a container for his program. His voice comes out of your phones at the same time he's speaking, and Hisaki explains that the program can hack into the system network to destroy it. All he needs is for anyone to get into the computer's control room and hook up the cable so that he can hack in. Ryekie says he understands the main plan, and Akashi gets ready now that there's a game plan.
Purple says he won't let anyone stop their plans, but since it's come to this he figures he may as well launch you guys into space too. He orders all the mobs on his side to defend the satellite's operation system and warns them not to hit the machinery with their gunshots. The mobs take up arms and get ready to fire, and Huckle says you guys need to be careful to not hit the rocket either. In the worst case, it'll explode and take everyone with it. He tells you to be careful and take down the enemy mobs, then steal control of the system. You nod and say it's do or die now. Hisaki says there's no going back and is counting on everyone, so everyone calls back in response. Flamier is still sad and wonders why her father did what he did, which Kyoichi notices. He says he understands why she feels what she's feeling, and Flamier says she knows she needs to focus on stopping this incident as the episode battle begins. The story continues after that.
After the battle, the PA system's countdown has ticked down to two minutes and counting until blastoff. Ryekie charges with his Justice Tackle despite still not being in hero mode, and the mobs he takes down are baffled at this fact as they go down. Huckle is surprised and asks Ryekie about the camera he's supposed to be holding, then sees it on the floor and notes it's at least pointed towards the action. Ryekie says it's an emergency, so he couldn't hold back from taking action instead of hanging back and watching. Huckle sighs that Ryekie is the worst person to be assigned to camera duty and tries to remind him he's here as support for now.
A random mob fingers Huckle as an Observer and attempts to attack him, but Huckle manages to counter and take him out instead. Ryekie laughs and points out that Huckle is supposed to be in the support role too, and Huckle acknowledges the point despite not wanting to take that from him. You either express amazement at Huckle, Ryekie, or try to remind them yourself that they're here to play support.
Akashi fires off his finishing move and clears out a bunch of mobs. He attempts to inform the rest of the party the way is clear, but he's surprised to see that he's the closest to getting to the rocket. Hisaki tells him that he and you are there too, so you guys should try to get to the control room now. You agree with Hisaki, and Kyoichi calls to the three of you to get going while he covers for you guys. Purple is mad as he says he won't let anyone get to the rocket, but Shouen jumps in to block the way and attacks. Flamier also prompts you guys to go since the countdown has passed the 100 seconds remaining mark, so Akashi says okay and goes with you guys.
Once the three of you hit the control room, the countdown is at 70 seconds and counting. Akashi is panting hard as he says it's rough to have to handle all those guys pursuing you all, but Hisaki says you guys have made it before he starts trying to find a way to connect in. He searches the control panel and looks behind the odds and ends looking for a port, and you and Akashi follow suit soon after. You panic a little as you've had no luck so far, and Akashi suggests just smashing everything. Hisaki says that with how careful the villains are, they must have a backup that would make that plan pointless. As he talks about needing to wipe it through the network, he accidentally shocks himself or something. Akashi is surprised by this and asks if he's okay. Hisaki seems fine, but he complains about it not being covered right until he notices something and tells you to open up the covering he found.
You go over to where Hisaki was and ask if he's talking about the plate cover buried in the wall you find. You try to open it up yourself, but the screws in it prevent that. You say you can't do it and ask if there's a screwdriver around, but Akashi gets annoyed at this development and opts to take over. He struggles to open it on his own and complains wishing Mokdai was here to help, but in the end he manages to brute force the plate off along with the screws to Hisaki's amazement.
With a port opened up, you thank Akashi and/or comment on his brute strength. Akashi complains about his fingers hurting from all that force, though he was able to open it like that since the villains were using plastic screws to keep the cover in. Hisaki finds the port and tells you to put the cable into the left hand side, saying your charge cable will be okay to handle the data upload. You plug your cable in and hope it works, and soon after your phone displays a connection sign. You then click on the data Hisaki sent you earlier to upload, then okay the process.
Once the upload is complete, you pull the cable out, and the PA system starts bugging out and announces the countdown will be suspended. Alarms start blaring while a screen goes red, flashing ERROR for a bit before getting replaced with a black screen that says No Data instead. Hisaki cheers about stopping the system, and you ask if it's over now before cheering too. Akashi says that the villains outside are all in a panic and asks if it's over now. Hisaki says that with the countdown stopped, you guys just need to take your time dismantling the satellite.
Unfortunately for you guys, a backup system engages and restarts the timer at the half minute mark. Ryekie is shocked by this, and Kyoichi notices that the announcement is coming from the rocket instead of the PA system. You and Akashi are dismayed by this and wonder how this could be happening, and Hisaki quickly realizes that the rocket has its own back up launch system. It booted itself up when Hisaki cut it off from the main launch system. Akashi asks if you guys just fell for a dummy system, but Hisaki says it's just insurance on the villains' part which he didn't expect.
You ask if anything can be done about the rocket, so Hisaki says the only possible plan is to get into the rocket itself if you can't figure out how to stop it from the control room. Akashi protests that you guys would never make it in time even if you guys left now, and the countdown is down to ten seconds. Hisaki attempts to think of something, but the countdown hits zero before he can come up with anything. Shouen and Flamier brace themselves against the blast of wind coming from the rocket's launch sequence, and by the time the smoke and heat clears up the rocket is shooting up.
The mafia mobs start cheering about how they've won, and Akashi says he can't reach the rocket with his fireballs at the range it's at now. Shouen and Kyoichi ask if anything can be done now, and Hisaki watches the rocket silently before balling his fists. He turns to you and shouts, asking you to open up your camera frame as wide as it can go so that he can keep his transformation going as long as possible. He also asks you to keep it focused on him as he'll be going. You either agree in some confusion or ask what he's doing, and if you go with A there's an extra line where Akashi is the one to ask for an explanation instead.
Either way, Hisaki says he plans to use his equipment to fly himself up to the rocket. He's got a booster on him that will fly and accelerate him as fast as he wants to go while ignoring air resistance. Once he catches up to the rocket he can hack into the satellite and shut it down. Flamier is surprised at the idea, and Huckle agrees that may be the only option available now but he still has reservations against it. You argue that it's too dangerous and that he could die if this doesn't work out.
Hisaki says he'll be fine because he's a tough boy. Even if it is dangerous, he feels he needs to stop this himself since he doesn't want to see his product hurting people anymore. Akashi is sympathetic but doesn't argue one way or the other. The lead mafia mob orders the others to stop Hisaki, but Kyoichi and Shouen stand up to block them. Kyoichi tells Hisaki to go if he's confident he won't die from this, and Shouen apologizes for being unable to help any more than this and says he will be counting on him. Hisaki acknowledges this, then activates the booster to jet into the air.
Purple orders the mobs to shoot Hisaki down, and Hisaki can only dodge in his current state. Shouen intervenes by casting Wall on him, causing the wall kanji to float in front of him and block the bullets like a shield. Ryekie declares he won't allow anyone to get in Hisaki's pursuit of justice and throws himself at the villains, punching and kicking them into submission. Huckle sighs about how Ryekie has always been a hot blooded sort of guy, but he turns to you and says he'll take over operating for the heroes on the ground and asks you to focus on supporting Hisaki. You agree and wish him luck.
One of the mobs attempts to attack you guys as the Operators, which catches you off guard. Akashi and Flamier defend you guys with their finishing moves (Flamier's is Induced Explosion "Happy Flower Time"), and the combined effects cause a smokescreen to cloak you. Akashi snorts and says he won't let anyone lay a finger on you. Flamier says she won't let anyone turn Hisaki's decision into a waste. They stand next to you and take up fighting stances, and they ask you to focus on your thing while they protect you. You thank them, and the villains attempt to attack again.
Over where Hisaki is, the rocket is continuing to shoot off into the air. He's doing his best to catch up, though he comments on how big the rocket is and how it's been tough just getting that far. The winds are strong enough to threaten to blow him off course, but Hisaki manages to get to the rocket itself and clamber over to where the satellite is stored.
Hisaki says that from looking at the structure, he really has to plug into it directly. He also has to dismantle as much of it as possible since he doesn't want the debris to fall on Orient City. He materializes a shining orb in one of his hands, which he pressed against the rocket and causes flashes of light to run across the rocket's whole surface area like plant roots. His goggles then pop up a display of what's on the onboard computer.
Hisaki declares that he's linked in, then starts typing away on a keyboard that pops up over his gloves. He apologizes for deleting his system after trying so hard to create it, and the computer gives a final confirmation window asking if he wants to erase the program. Hisaki hits the enter key, and the light array on the rocket's surface blinks and flashes for a bit before disappearing. Once he's sure that it's offline, Hisaki kicks off of the rocket. He starts to say the satellite is junk now, but he's surprised when it starts glowing ominously and realizes the satellite will explode.
A bright flash momentarily lights up in the sky above Orient City, followed by an explosion and shock wave that reaches the rest of the party. Ryekie asks what's going on, and you call out to Hisaki. Scene then shifts over to Parallel Flight's office where Crowne is watching your guys' live. She notes that the feed cut out part way through and wonders if you guys are okay. She closes her phone and looks outside, where the flash lights up for a moment. The window rattles seconds later like some explosion was set off, and the episode ends as Crowne expresses concern for Hisaki.
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