The new combat suit was internally codenamed [Terminator] by DRG—but Jiang Jian Yue found the name tacky, and it had absolutely nothing to do with Skynet robots.
Under normal circumstances, the suits were simply referred to as “DRG Combat Suits.”
Most of the functions from the original prototype had been stripped away, leaving only the anti-gravity system and physical enhancement.
Rumor had it that the initial requirement was for special operations in rugged terrain, but the research department had stuffed every bit of black technology they had into the prototype.
The result was a suit that caused extreme physical harm to the user, and one would be lucky if its combat mode lasted more than a few minutes.
The current official version of the combat suit had instead returned to its original intended state.
Although the overall form had not changed much, the way it was worn had shifted significantly.
It was no longer the old “armor” style of equipment.
Instead, a cloth-like material resembling a waist cincher was applied to the abdomen, which would then expand via arm rings or necklaces.
The only downside was that since the cincher had to be worn as the innermost layer, using it would shred the wearer’s clothes.
There was even a chance it would rip out hair from certain parts of the body, which was quite painful.
If it wasn’t worn as the base layer, the anti-gravity system would suffer random malfunctions because the suit wouldn’t fit tightly enough against the body.
According to her friends in the research department, the current situation was actually considered good.
In the early stages of the official version, there had been cases where operational errors led to catastrophic groin injuries.
Jiang Jian Yue could only pray that the medical skills in Central Africa were up to world standards, just in case something needed to be reattached.
“This is… the combat suit?”
In a secret room at the DRG Headquarters, a naked Jiang Jian Yue pressed the arm ring.
The cincher fabric expanded instantly, like a living organism with a mind of its own, covering her entire body in a mere 0.1 seconds.
Jiang Jian Yue felt her skin flooded with a gentle, wrapping sensation.
Her bare feet, which had been flat against the floor, felt as if they were being squeezed into slime, causing her arches to reflexively curve.
The black bodysuit covering her entire body began to undergo a rapid transformation, looking like a 3D model transitioning from a white base to a fully rendered state, outlining the combat suit’s true appearance.
During this stage, the generation of the long boots caused Jiang Jian Yue’s height to surge by several centimeters, finally reaching 1.6 meters.
Pshhh—
After the faint, strange sound of hydraulic venting, the combat suit was completely formed.
[Self-check complete.]
The female voice of the AI assistant came from inside the collar.
Jiang Jian Yue raised her hand, examining the white, long-barreled gloves made of a material mimicking thin cloth, and gave her fingers a hard squeeze.
‘Mm, I’ve got strength.’
The girl in the mirror was clad in a black-themed battle dress, accented with white decorative components like the gloves.
A high collar concealed half of her face, and the slightly flamboyant short shoulder cape behind her stirred without any wind, fluttering lightly.
The arm guards were of a unique design and could be unfolded at any moment to create space for Jiang Jian Yue to deploy her Insect Blades.
Jiang Jian Yue’s eyelids twitched a few times.
On one hand, she thought it looked quite cool, but on the other…
“I look even more like a villain now.”
Meiguan chimed in with a complaint, ‘You look like the first-stage form of a villain boss who spends all day plotting to create a major incident.’
Whir—
Jiang Jian Yue ignored Meiguan’s commentary and directly activated the anti-gravity system.
Her body suddenly lost its weight, hovering lightly in mid-air.
The air beneath her boots seemed to solidify.
After some initial slight wobbling, she stood steadily in the air.
The battle dress and cape behind her naturally spread and billowed, causing her presence to soar from 1.5 meters to 2.5 meters—both figuratively and literally.
‘Good… now let’s try walking…’
Boom—
Akimoto Miki, who was on standby in the corridor, was startled and glanced at the concrete wall that had just been punched through.
She then looked at the Missy floating in the air, covering her face with her hands.
Akimoto naturally lowered her gaze, choosing not to witness her superior’s embarrassing moment.
***
After trying on the combat suit, Jiang Jian Yue did not immediately change back.
Instead, she headed straight for the holding room where the captured Saints party was being kept.
The temporary detention area of the headquarters—the building had not been designed with rooms intended for imprisoning people; after all, DRG was a legitimate company.
The ventilation system hummed lowly.
With half of her face obscured by the high collar, only a pair of cold Blood Pupils were visible as Jiang Jian Yue looked down at the man sitting in the restraint chair.
He was one of the members of the Saints party.
The others had fallen into temporary comas, and only this man remained conscious for the time being.
Jiang Jian Yue felt that the interrogation personnel were being inefficient.
The man’s face was pale, marked with prominent scars.
Even in the face of the interrogators’ questions, his lips maintained a faint, mocking smile.
He continued to mumble some sort of indistinct proverb under his breath.
Jiang Jian Yue’s patience was gradually wearing thin.
Right now, she only wanted to know two things.
First, where exactly was that damn Dead Fat Otaku, the Changshi God, hiding in Tokyo?
Second, what did “sacrifice” actually refer to, and how was it to be achieved?
“Should we borrow someone from the Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu? To see if they have any Superpower Users in their inventory suitable for interrogation?”
Koji Hattori, who was accompanying her, raised his hand and leaned in, asking in a low voice.
Jiang Jian Yue noticed two rings on his fingers.
One was for activating his combat suit, and the other, worn on his middle finger… was a ring that clearly held commemorative significance.
‘Is he in a relationship? This kid…’
“No.”
Jiang Jian Yue temporarily suppressed her gossiping thoughts.
“They… don’t have… a chance anymore.”
Her trust in the Tokushu Jishou Taiou Honbu had already dropped to the freezing point.
She didn’t even trust Kawada Hou.
What if Kawada Hou was a double agent sent by the Curtain Cluster?
Losing her patience, Jiang Jian Yue intended to handle the “interrogation” herself.
She signaled for the interrogators to stop, then stepped forward toward the man.
She reached out toward his neck, intending to lift him up.
Crack—
The mocking smile on the man’s face instantly froze.
His pupils dilated abruptly, losing all spark.
Jiang Jian Yue froze for a moment, looking at the man’s neck which she had already crushed.
Because she wasn’t used to the enhancement from the combat suit, she hadn’t controlled her strength properly.
Fortunately, the gloves acted as a barrier, preventing her from acquiring an ability through touch, which would have triggered a massive explosion of side effects.
Jiang Jian Yue wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.
Suddenly, her eyes widened as her Blood Pupils fixed onto the blood on her glove.
A numbing sensation of pleasure spread from the spot on her forehead she had just wiped.
[Ding! New ability acquired!]
Meiguan announced, pretending to be a system assistant.
An information stream regarding the new ability’s description flowed into her mind.
[Addiction Infusion (Provisional): You can select a specific medium and imbue it with intense addictiveness. The addicted will develop both a physiological and psychological dependence on the medium.]
[The user can exert varying levels of control based on the degree of addiction. The deeper the addiction, the stronger the control, potentially leading to complete behavioral manipulation.]
“Incense… Medium… Addicts… Sacrifice… Offerings!”
Jiang Jian Yue’s thoughts were fragmented under the impact of the information flood, but this key information illuminated the Saints’ conspiracy like a bolt of lightning!
So the so-called “sacrifice” meant using these addicted people they controlled as offerings!
But at the same time, a more surging and frigid wave of violent emotion instantly masked the trace of joy in her heart.
“Damn it!”
Hattori’s expression changed drastically.
He knew the side effects Jiang Jian Yue suffered after acquiring someone else’s ability all too well.
His previous hand fracture had been caused by the Missy’s outburst.
“Withdraw! Immediately! Seal this area!”
Facing the somewhat bewildered interrogation staff, Hattori practically roared the command.
At that moment, Jiang Jian Yue was completely submerged by violent emotions.
She snapped her head up, her blood-red pupils locking onto Hattori, who was still making noise.
“Heh…”
Swish—
The sharp Swift Sword instantly sprang from the gap in her arm guard, flickering with a lethal cold light as it slashed fiercely toward Hattori!
“Missy! Wake up!”
Hattori dodged the sweeping Swift Sword by a hair’s breadth and pressed his ring without hesitation.
A faint light flashed, and his suit instantly disintegrated and tore apart as the expanding combat suit rapidly finished deploying.
The only response he received was a boot kicking through the air—Boom!
In the corridor, Hattori was embedded into the concrete wall, his arms crossed in front of him and trembling slightly.
If not for the combat suit, he would likely be… dead.
Clatter…
Concrete fragments tumbled down around him.
Hattori steadied himself and looked at the girl slowly walking out of the interrogation room.
‘Damn it… I can’t let her get out, and I certainly can’t let her come into contact with other Ability Users!’
If she came into contact with more corpses of Ability Users, wouldn’t it just snowball!
Hattori clenched his fists tightly.
A gap opened at the wrist of his tactical glove, and blood sprayed out in a sudden, umbrella-like burst.
Hattori’s combat suit was also a special custom-made model.
In fact, this batch of suits delivered for Ability Users was customized according to their respective abilities; only the ones for ordinary people were mass-produced.
The blood quickly transformed into a crimson Long Blade, hurriedly blocking Jiang Jian Yue, who was charging toward him like a floating phantom.
‘Where are my teammates? Help me!’
***
Morita Aoya’s black sedan had just come to a halt in front of the DRG Headquarters, the “Moon” building, when a piercing alarm began to ring.
He pushed the door open and stepped out, frowning as he asked Akimoto Miki, who was running toward him, “What’s going on?”
“Mr. Morita!”
Akimoto Miki’s expression was grim.
“The Missy is in the detention area. Her side effects have broken out. Hattori is trying to stop her, but the situation is very bad!”
The two of them hurried into the building.
Rumble!
A deafening explosion echoed from inside the building.
The expensive reinforced glass dome of the headquarters’ first-floor lobby shattered completely.
Countless sharp glass shards, mixed with twisted metal framing, poured down like torrential rain.
Amidst the falling lethal shards and the shrill screams of the alarms, a dark shadow carrying terrifying kinetic energy slammed violently onto the marble floor of the first floor!
Dust and rubble instantly filled the air.
Morita Aoya and Akimoto Miki had instinctively retreated a step before the glass rain fell, avoiding the direct impact zone, but the flying rubble and shockwaves still made their clothes flap loudly.
As the dust settled slightly, the lobby was a mess.
In a deep crater, Hattori Koji was struggling with difficulty.
He had clearly taken a hit of unimaginable force; even the protection of his combat suit had been breached, and his consciousness seemed blurred.
And a long boot was currently pressed firmly against Hattori’s chest, pinning him to the ground.
The pitch-black battle dress and shoulder cape danced wildly in the chaotic airflow.
The girl lowered her head slightly, her collar concealing most of her face, revealing only those blood-red eyes flashing with violence under the red light of the alarms.
Only Meiguan let out a long sigh.
‘Sigh… When the Heavenly Father kills the Heavenly Brother, the kingdom can never be won.’