"Who are you?!"

Avril frowned, the voice pressing on her like a storm cloud heavy with rain.

"Heh~"

The other didn’t answer. The laugh skimmed cold, like frost sliding over steel.

Whoosh!

From the rooftop between Avril and Gu Xin, two scarlet lances shot up. They rose two meters like spears, then crossed. A two-square-meter section of roof caved in like brittle ice.

"Did something happen to Coco…?"

In the hotel room, Ye Yiyi’s voice trembled, worry pooling like dusk in her chest.

"If that woman hurts Sister Coco, I won’t let her walk away!"

Meng Xiaoxiao snapped, anger sparking like flint against stone.

"Let’s go check… I’ve got a bad feeling."

Ye Yiyi turned to Xu Yinuo, her face dim with fear, like a lantern guttering in wind.

"Alright… we’ll search."

Xu Yinuo’s heart tightened like a drawn bow. Avril was their biggest shareholder, but she’d never dealt with Avril before and didn’t know what the woman would do.

They stepped out of the room, nerves taut as strings.

On the rooftop, as the dust fell like ash, Avril, Gu Xin, and Meng Yuting stared wide-eyed.

At the broken opening, a red figure hovered. A girl in crimson mechanical Armor. Four thrusters on her back sprayed red particles that spread into four crimson light-wings, like blades of dawn. Her red hair drifted with those particles, ember-bright in the night. In her hand, a red mechanical longblade. Her scarlet eyes watched Avril with a playful glint, like a cat toying with a moth.

"This… this is…"

Gu Xin stared, shock rippling through her like cold water. The blue particles she knew by heart. These red ones felt alien, like a stranger’s breath.

"Is she… Tang Coco?"

Gu Xin asked Meng Yuting, disbelief cracking like thin glass.

"Maybe… this is her Anomaly Power?"

Meng Yuting frowned, gaze fixed on the red-haired girl like a hawk on prey.

"Then… is she Tang Ke?"

Gu Xin’s voice wavered. The red particles felt unfamiliar, like a path lost in fog.

"I don’t know."

Meng Yuting shook her head slowly, a leaf in a hesitant breeze.

"Are you Tang Coco?"

Under the red gaze, Avril’s body tensed despite herself. She asked with a knit brow, voice steady as a drawn blade.

"Heh~"

The red-haired girl gave a mocking curl of a smile, a thorn under silk. She didn’t answer.

Avril, used to standing above others, felt her patience snap like dry twig. She stopped asking. She swung both hands; four flower sprites bloomed at her side with a shower of golden petals. They surged at the red-haired girl like a bright tide.

"I Field…"

The girl’s voice was faint, like a bell behind fog. A red energy sheath unfolded, cupping her like a glass heart. Every attack that touched it was shredded by red particles, torn like paper in flame.

Suddenly, the red-haired girl moved. She flashed forward, speed sharp as lightning. Avril flinched away, but the girl seemed to read her step like writing on sand. She appeared at Avril’s side and swept a leg with brutal grace.

Bang!

Avril slammed into the rooftop storage room wall, stone moaning.

"Cough… cough…"

She coughed hard, blood threading from her lip like a red ribbon. She lifted her head and met that teasing scarlet gaze. A chill ran through her—she feared that kick hadn’t even been full strength.

The red-haired girl lifted her longblade and walked toward the seated Avril, steps steady as falling snow. Avril’s brow tightened. She hadn’t expected her to be this strong, like a river swollen after rain.

"Coco! Sister Gu! Where are you?"

Footsteps and Ye Yiyi’s voice rang from the stairwell, quivering like a startled sparrow. The hotel’s top floor and rooftop were closed to guests, so their fight had gone unseen. Xu Yinuo had used her authority as general manager to open the way. Ye Yiyi, searching the top floor, heard noise above and headed for the roof.

Ye Yiyi’s call froze Tang Coco’s steps. She stood still, calm as a statue in red light.

"Not good. Yiyi can’t see this."

Gu Xin’s voice was tight, a wire humming.

"I’ll go."

Meng Yuting said. Their Anomaly Power had recovered. She blinked with instant movement to the stair, smoothed her clothes like water over silk, then headed down.

"Ahh~ SS-class Abnormal, huh. I miscalculated. Then—see you next time~"

Seeing the red-haired girl pause, Avril rose and spoke with a brittle smile. From her feet, countless red petals spiraled up, wrapping her body like a whirling cloak. They burst apart in a soft storm. The petals faded. Avril was gone, like a scent blown off by wind.

Gu Xin didn’t chase Avril. Her eyes stayed on the red-haired girl, anchored like a ship in storm.

"You… are you Coco… or… Tang…"

"This body is named Tang Coco. Don’t ask me boring questions."

Gu Xin’s words died, cut by Tang Coco’s cold voice like ice across silk. Gu Xin clenched her fists. Her feelings tangled like vines around a stone.

"Ah! Yuting, you’re here. Did you find Coco?"

Ye Yiyi reached the roof stair and saw Meng Yuting coming down. She hurried over, hope flickering like a candle.

"Mm… found her."

Meng Yuting answered, voice knotted like a tie she couldn’t loosen.

"Where is she? Take me to her, now!"

Ye Yiyi cried, urgency surging like a broken wave.

"Yiyi, don’t rush. Coco’s dealing with something… she’ll be back in a bit."

Meng Yuting tried to soothe her, gentle as rain on bamboo.

"No! She’s up there, isn’t she? I’m going to see her."

Ye Yiyi shouted, darting past Meng Yuting toward the rooftop, heart pounding like drums. Meng Yuting didn’t stop her. Seeing the panic in Ye Yiyi’s face, she couldn’t bear another lie, like a mouth refusing bitter tea.