The several figures landed heavily on the platform, still looking bewildered and terrified as they gazed at the surroundings that defied the laws of physics.
Jiang Jian Yue was expressionless. She slowly raised her right hand, clad in a white glove.
She flicked her index finger.
Ding——
A crisp sound, like a droplet piercing stone.
Visible golden ripples spread from her fingertip and precisely struck the foreheads of those figures.
The moment the ripples touched their foreheads, a spark of light exploded in their previously dull, stagnant eyes.
Memories returned, reason was reshaped, and false comfort was torn apart.
The figure standing at the front, whose back was slightly hunched, instantly straightened up, then naturally bent down again.
He was a young man in a tailcoat, his name… Koji Hattori.
He blinked, saw the young girl sitting high on the grand armchair, and the confusion in his eyes instantly turned into complex emotions.
“Missy…”
Koji Hattori knelt on one knee, his right hand over his chest, and bowed his head deeply. “No… Head of the family.”
Behind him, the other two men and one woman also regained consciousness.
They were members of the Dark Crow Unit belonging to Jiang Jian Yue herself.
In a previous operation, their bodies had perished, and Jiang Jian Yue had recovered their consciousness here.
“We pay respects to the Head!”
The three knelt in unison, their foreheads pressed against the cold wooden floor, their bodies trembling slightly from excitement and awe.
Jiang Jian Yue looked down at them from above, her gaze cold.
“Awake?”
“Yes. Thank you, Head, for granting us clarity.” Koji Hattori’s voice was steady and strong.
“Since you’re awake, you know what that means.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, producing a rhythmic clicking sound that felt particularly oppressive in the silent space.
Work.
“Now, there’s a mission that only you can handle.”
She waved her hand, and a holographic-like map materialized in the air before her.
It was Afghanistan in the Middle East, with a red marker blinking near Kandahar.
“The Shadow Girl is currently active in this area, responsible for the excavation security of the Crimson Plan ruins.”
At the mention of the name “Shadow Girl,” Koji Hattori’s brow twitched slightly.
“That… woman who manipulates liquid metal?”
Jiang Jian Yue leaned forward slightly. “I want you to bring her back. Alive.”
“Whether through reminiscing, coercion, or bribery, no matter what means you use, I want to see her standing before me.”
Koji Hattori took a deep breath, his eyes sharpening once more.
He knew this was the Head’s trust in him, and also his chance to rebuild his worth in this new world.
“I understand.”
“Good.”
As her words fell, the surrounding space began to warp violently. The magnificent Mirage Tower dissolved into countless specks of light in that instant.
Real world, Seoul villa.
Jiang Jian Yue pushed open that “door” and returned to reality.
She walked to the empty space in the center of the living room and slowly raised her hands.
Hum——
Countless golden specks of light surged from within her body—pure Light Bug energy to the extreme.
Then, the floor began to writhe.
It wasn’t the actual floor moving, but the surrounding matter—all of it was being decomposed under the intervention of some rule.
Those substances interwove and merged in the air, rapidly outlining the skeletal structures of human bodies.
Then came the weaving of muscle fibers, the laying of blood vessels, the generation of internal organs.
It was a miraculous “human creation” process.
After just three minutes, four perfect bodies stood naked in the living room.
Their faces were exactly the same as those seen in the Vision World just moments ago, but now their chests began to rise and fall, their hearts started beating.
Bow.
Four light clusters shot out from Jiang Jian Yue’s brow and sank into these four bodies.
Those were their consciousnesses.
“Haa——”
Koji Hattori snapped his eyes open and greedily took deep breaths of the cold air.
He looked down at his hands, feeling the solid touch.
It was the feeling of power.
Power greater than when he was alive.
“Put them on.”
Jiang Jian Yue’s voice sounded from ahead.
She waved casually, and four sets of combat suits, already prepared, landed before them.
Koji Hattori quickly dressed neatly, adjusted his collar, and bowed deeply to Jiang Jian Yue.
“Thank you, Head.”
The other three also finished dressing, their movements uniform and exuding a murderous aura.
“Hattori.”
In the center of Jiang Jian Yue’s palm floated a chaotic white energy sphere.
With a light wave of her hand, three streams of light merged into Koji Hattori’s body.
“Your ability, returned to you.”
Koji Hattori was slightly startled, feeling the ability to manipulate blood back under his control, along with two other abilities.
The three behind him each received two streams of light.
“Remember, by all means, bring her back alive.”
“Yes!”
After doing all this, Jiang Jian Yue returned to the bedroom.
Instead of sitting back at the desk, she removed her combat suit and lay naked on the bed.
She took out her phone from her storage space—it was an old phone she had used for a long time.
Jiang Jian Yue looked at the photo on the phone screen.
She put her middle and ring fingers into her mouth, moistened them with saliva, then reached under the covers.
“Yuki… I’m sorry… oh…”
Now, she couldn’t leave Seoul for the time being; there were more important things to do.
“I… I can’t see you yet.”
“I can’t even let anyone realize that ‘I’ am still alive…”
“In a little while… we’ll meet soon.”
“In… a perfect world without Heart Worms.”
Ever since Hattori Yumeko’s consciousness took residence inside Kazama Yin’s body, the daily life of the trio had gained a lot of “color.”
Or rather, it was Kazama Yin’s one-sided breakdown.
“Hey, Kazama!”
During lunch break, Tsubaki Kagegaya pinched her nose and waved her arms dramatically.
Her crimson eyes stared disdainfully at the silver-haired boy sprawled on the sofa.
“What’s with that smell on you! It’s like… like a pair of sneakers left in the rainy season for a month! Stay away from me!”
Kazama Yin’s originally lazy expression froze instantly, his face rapidly turning red. “Shut up, shut up! It’s not that bad!”
“It’s true, Kazama-kun.”
Hanyu Suoluo, who was quietly reading beside them, didn’t lift his eyes from the book, but his flat tone delivered a fatal blow.
“In recent days, your personal hygiene has indeed been worrying.”
“Ugh…”
Kazama Yin let out a wail, crouched down, and buried his face in his knees.
He knew he might smell a bit, but being called out like this in public…
Especially by Tsubaki Kagegaya, it was like a public execution.
“It’s not my fault!”
He suddenly raised his head, his light blue eyes full of grievance and an indescribable shame and anger, his voice tinged with tears.
“I, I—Miss Dream Child… she’s inside my body!”
The air suddenly went silent. Tsubaki Kagegaya and Hanyu Suoluo were stunned.
They both instinctively looked at Kazama Yin, as if confirming whether he was joking.
“So what?”
Tsubaki Kagegaya tilted her head, her ponytail swaying, with a look that said, “What kind of excuse is that.”
“What does that have to do with you taking a bath?”
“Of course it does! It has everything to do with it!”
Kazama Yin stood up excitedly, gesturing wildly, his face even redder.
“Bathing! That means… that means being completely naked! Miss Dream Child can see! She can even feel the water flowing over the skin! How am I supposed to bathe? In front of her… uh, in her perception… strip down and then… Aaaah!”
He grew more agitated, rambling, and finally crouched down again, covering his head with a desperate shout: “I haven’t properly bathed in almost a week!”
Tsubaki Kagegaya and Hanyu Suoluo exchanged a glance and finally understood the root of his breakdown.
The disdain on Tsubaki Kagegaya’s face turned into a subtle mix of sympathy and a twisted expression of wanting to laugh but holding back.
Hanyu Suoluo silently closed his book, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, eventually letting out a barely audible sigh.
“Um…”
From inside Kazama Yin, came Hattori Yumeko’s voice, clearly confused and slightly innocent.
“Kazama-kun, actually… you don’t need to worry about me. I’m just a fragment of consciousness, and I have… uh, no interest in the body structure of adolescent boys at all.”
“Please do keep clean, or it will be bad for your health and affect your combat performance…”
“Aaaah—Miss Dream Child! Please stop talking!!”