“What… did you say?”
The ill-fitting clothes on Kaori Onishi, reeking of salt and fish, were still dripping, staining a dark patch on the carpet.
Her trademark large eyes, emerald green, were now wide open as if she had heard some fantasy.
Yayoi Imai sat behind a desk piled high with documents, her face haggard, as if she had aged ten years overnight.
Though, given her age, even ten years older would still be the prime of life.
She had no energy to worry about the carpet’s cleanliness, just repeating the events of the past few days in a nearly numb tone.
“Mr. Saiyonji… was taken away, fate unknown. The wedding venue turned into a slaughterhouse.”
“Mr. Yuki disappeared while investigating the attacker. The only clue is in Shinjuku Underground, but he himself… is nowhere to be found.”
“Dark Crows have reappeared.”
Each piece of news hit Kaori Onishi like a heavy hammer, leaving her dizzy.
She had originally prepared a bellyful of complaints, wanting to rant about the damned smuggler ship owner, the Pacific storms, and show everyone how hard her journey had been.
She had even planned how to throw a tantrum at Yuki Asahi and demand a feast.
But now, all those words were stuck in her throat.
“How could… this happen?” Kaori Onishi murmured to herself, swaying and plopping onto the sofa.
“I’ve only been away a few months… how has the world changed so much?”
Yayoi Imai watched her dejected appearance, a pang of bitterness rising in her heart.
“Kaori-chan, this is the situation now.”
Yayoi Imai vented her grievances: “The People’s Coalition Party is a mess inside, and there’s an unknown terrorist force… I really… don’t want to deal with this…”
At that moment, the office door was lightly knocked.
“Come in.”
Sayaka Shimada pushed the door open. Her expression was slightly more relaxed than before, and she was holding two cups of hot tea.
Seeing Kaori Onishi sitting on the sofa like a drowned rat, Sayaka Shimada froze for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise: “Senior Onishi! You’re finally back!”
“Sayaka-chan… go ahead with your work…” Kaori Onishi waved weakly.
“Party Leader, the hospital sent word. Kazama woke up.”
“Really?”
A spark of light finally lit up in Yayoi Imai’s dim eyes.
“What did the doctor say?”
“His consciousness has returned, though he’s still very weak, and… his emotions are unstable. He kept shouting ‘Miss Dream Child’ or something, but under Kagetani and Hanyu’s soothing, he’s asleep now.”
“That’s good… that’s good.”
Yayoi Imai sat heavily back in her chair and let out a long sigh.
She looked at Kaori Onishi and squeezed out a smile: “Kaori-chan, did you hear? At least there’s one good news.”
“Huh? Who?”
Kaori Onishi, the star, clearly didn’t know the three little ones.
“Sayaka, please take good care of those three kids. Don’t let them run around again.”
“Yes!” Sayaka Shimada nodded firmly.
Kaori Onishi held the hot tea, feeling the warmth in her palms, and stared blankly for a long time.
Only when the steam from the tea made her eyes sore did she suddenly raise her head and slap her cheek hard.
Slap!
The crisp sound startled the other two in the room.
“Hmph, I knew it!”
Kaori Onishi stood up abruptly, hands on her hips, and her trademark smile reappeared on her face.
“This home… no, this team, really can’t do without me! Hahahaha!”
She shook her slightly tangled blonde hair, and even though she was wearing a fisherman’s clothes, she somehow exuded the aura of a queen on an inspection tour.
“As long as I’m back, everything will be fine!”
Yayoi Imai watched her, a hint of helplessness flickering in her eyes, but also felt a long-lost sense of relief.
This was the Kaori Onishi she knew.
Always so energetic, always so… reckless.
“Kaori… about Jiang Jian…” Yayoi Imai hesitated but finally brought up the most sensitive name.
“Senior Jiang?”
Kaori Onishi rubbed her chin, frowned slightly, but spoke with unusual certainty: “She would never hurt Saiyonji!”
“But…” Sayaka Shimada whispered, “She killed so many people…”
“That’s EU propaganda!”
Kaori Onishi waved her hand decisively and said, “I went to Central Africa this time intending to film Vlogs while searching for her trail, and also gather evidence to clear that idiot’s name!”
“I trust my instincts! Murdering innocents is so classless; she wouldn’t bother doing that.”
Kaori Onishi continued analyzing on her own: “I think Senior Jiang took Momo-chan away for some special reason. Maybe it’s to protect him?”
“That must be it!”
Just as Kaori Onishi was immersed in her reasoning, trying to sugarcoat the grim reality,
Hitomi Watanabe rushed in holding a tablet, her tone both delighted and anxious: “Senior Yuki has been found, but… Party Leader, please see for yourself.”
It was a dim white room.
A long-haired man was bound to a metal chair, head hanging low. Though his face was unclear, the familiar silhouette…
“Yuki!”
Kaori Onishi and Yayoi Imai both cried out in surprise.
Below the screen, a line of bright red English subtitles scrolled, accompanied by the voiceover of the blonde man who had appeared in the sewers.
[Pale Gray Witch, we await you at the entrance of hell.]
[If you want your lover back, come to Pacific coordinates XXXN XXXE.]
[This time, let’s settle this.]
……
In the central Pacific, a deserted island forgotten by the world.
This was once the capital of a small island nation.
But as the world grew more chaotic, the people here had long since migrated to North America or Oceania.
It was now under the jurisdiction of the Pacific Treaty, but with no resources or strategic value, the Treaty didn’t even bother to station troops.
But today, the dead island was awakened by the roar of steel.
Several dark gray warships were anchored in a triangular formation on the sea around the island.
Black cannon muzzles pointed at the sky, radar antennas spun frantically, forming an impenetrable net of vigilance on the water, with the roar of aircraft engines occasionally echoing from the sky.
At the center of the island, the original volcanic crater had been artificially leveled into a vast plaza.
Yuki Asahi was still bound to that special metal chair, but he had been moved outdoors, onto a high platform at the center of the plaza.
The sea wind howled, ruffling his slightly messy long hair.
He raised his head slightly, his golden eyes calmly fixed ahead.
Fifty meters in front of him stood a giant.
It was a mecha.
It stood thirty meters tall, pitch black all over.
Its armor surface was engraved with dense golden runes.
Those runes were not decorations but energy circuits flowing with micro-light.
Its head was not a conventional mechanical eye but a giant cross shape.
Six huge wing-like thrusters were mounted on its back, like the folded wings of a fallen angel.
It stood there silently, like a statue forged from iron and steel, exuding a suffocating pressure.
“Magnificent, isn’t it?”
The blonde, blue-eyed leader of the Oath Society now stood beside Yuki Asahi, a glass of red wine in hand, a look of near fanatical obsession on his face.
He pointed at the mecha, as if introducing his proudest masterpiece.
“Top secret of the EU, codenamed ‘Ymir.'”
“Midway through the Euro-African War, to counter that damned witch, the EU gathered all top scientists and esper researchers, spending a fortune to build this ultimate weapon.”
The leader took a sip of wine, his eyes burning: “Its armor can neutralize 99% of the world’s esper attacks.”
“Its reaction time is 0.01 seconds, and its firepower can level a medium-sized city in one minute.”
“It is the highest crystallization of human science and esper powers.”
The leader turned to look at the expressionless Yuki Asahi, hoping to see a hint of fear on this man’s face.
“Too bad it never got a chance to debut until the war ended. That witch escaped by faking her death.”
“But today, it will finally taste blood.”
Yuki Asahi listened quietly to his boasting, his gaze resting for a few seconds on the mecha named “Ymir.”
It was indeed strong… for Yuki Asahi.
“Is that so?” Yuki Asahi finally spoke, his tone flat.
He turned his head, a trace of indifference in his golden eyes, looking at the smug leader.
“Why are you telling me this?”
The leader was momentarily taken aback, clearly not expecting such a reaction from Yuki.
“Nothing, just wanted to let you know.”
The leader leaned closer to Yuki, a strange light flashing in his eyes: “I’m telling you this just to make you understand one thing.”
“You are not just bait.”
“You are also a spectator.”
He pointed at the empty sea, as if already seeing the figure’s arrival.
“I want you sitting in the best seat, watching with your own eyes how that arrogant witch is torn apart piece by piece by human wisdom and fury.”
“I want you to watch her bleed dry, to hear her scream in despair.”
Yuki Asahi looked at his face twisted by hatred and sighed softly.
“Do you really think…”
Yuki Asahi’s voice was soft but clearly reached the leader’s ears.
“that you can kill her with a toy like this?”
The leader sneered: “A toy? When she gets here, you’ll know how terrifying this ‘toy’ is.”
“No.”
Yuki Asahi shook his head, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon.
There, dark clouds were gathering, a storm was brewing.
“I mean, you don’t understand her at all.”
“The more prepared you are, the worse your defeat.”
“Stubborn guy. I hope you can maintain that composure when the time comes.”