Ningxin’s private jet glided down like a silver hawk onto a runway at Ninghai International Airport. At the far end, police cars, ambulances, and military trucks lined up like a steel wall.

She stood by an ambulance, eyes fixed on the slowing jet, a storm knotted tight in her chest. The word had come: Tang Coco was badly hurt.

The plane rolled into the safe zone. The door hissed open. Li Shoujing stepped out under a ring of soldiers, their boots a drumbeat on concrete.

“You alright?” Ningxin stepped forward, voice steady but cooled by worry.

“I’ll live. Thanks to your rescue.” His tone held frost; a few men had fallen like spent torches.

“This is what I should do. Rest. You’re safe here.”

“Alright. We’ll talk later.” He sank into a military vehicle, the doors clanging shut like a shield.

Next, several soldiers carried a stretcher down the stairs. Tang Coco lay on it, pale as winter ash. Gu Xin, Meng Yuting, and Li Muyan followed close, their steps heavy as rain.

“Coco!” Ningxin called, breaking into a run, breath burning like fire in linen.

“How did it become like this…” She reached the stretcher. The sight hit her like cold surf—wounds everywhere, hair turned white as frost.

“Not now,” someone urged, anxious breath chopping the air. “She needs emergency treatment.”

“Right. Get her into that ambulance,” Ningxin pointed, voice like a snapped bowstring. “I’ve got the gear.”

“Okay!” They lifted. The ambulance roared off like an arrow, heading for the Imperial Walk Club.

“Muyan, are you okay…” Ningxin’s gaze skimmed the cuts on Li Muyan’s arms, each one a red script.

“I—I’m fine… but… Coco…” Li Muyan’s eyes were lost, like a boat in fog. She hadn’t dreamed things would break this far.

“Trust me. Coco will pull through.” Ningxin read the emptiness in her expression, her brow tightening like a drawn net.

“Let’s go. I’ll treat your wounds first. Yi Yi knows nothing yet. We can’t tell her.”

Ningxin slipped an arm around her, warm as a quilt in winter. Li Muyan nodded, small and quiet.

They climbed into Ningxin’s sports car. The city lights slid past like scattered stars on water.

“Muyan, what are you holding?” Ningxin asked as she drove, eyes cutting to the passenger seat. Li Muyan cradled a white “giant egg,” smooth as moonstone.

“I don’t know. After Coco fainted, strange particles swarmed and fused into this.” Li Muyan stared at the sphere, as if it breathed.

“Huh? That’s weird…” Doubt pricked Ningxin like thorns.

“It fell. I thought it must be tied to Coco, so I brought it.” Her grip tightened, protective as a nest.

“Maybe it is. Keep it safe.” Ningxin’s tone settled like earth after rain.

“Mm.” Li Muyan dipped her head, chin brushing the shell.

“Ningxin…” Li Muyan’s voice trembled like a string.

“What’s wrong?” The steering wheel felt rough under Ningxin’s fingers.

“Coco… how did she become like that…” The question cracked open like a dry seed.

Silence gathered, heavy as dusk. Ningxin sighed, the sound thin as wind through reeds.

“Alright… I’ll tell you what happened these days.” Her words fell like pebbles into deep water.

Ningxin began to explain Tang Coco’s story, her voice a lantern in a long corridor.

Twenty minutes later, the city’s skin gave way to the Imperial Walk Club’s glow. The drive slid to an end like ink settling.

“So that’s how it is…” Li Muyan lowered her head, thoughts pooling like rain in a basin. She hadn’t imagined so much could crowd this short span.

“Muyan… things will get complicated,” Ningxin said, brows knotted like twisted ropes. “Not just Coco. You and Yi Yi, too.”

“What happened to Yi Yi?” Her heart kicked like a trapped sparrow.

“She knows Abnormals exist. And she’s accepted that Coco is an Abnormal.” The words were soft, but they cut clean.

“What!?” Disbelief flared, bright as lightning.

“What did she say?” Li Muyan steadied herself, breath slow as tide.

“She was shocked, sure. But Yi Yi’s calmer than we thought.” Ningxin’s tone warmed, like tea lifting the chill.

“I see…” The moment thinned, a veil just beginning to lift.

“I think it’s time,” Ningxin said, eyes deep as wells. “Your grandfather asked you to guard Yi Yi for a reason… Maybe it’s time the puzzle opened.”

“Mm…” Li Muyan sank into thought, the road noise a far river.

“I’ll find time to ask Grandpa these days.” She felt the truth rising, a seed pushing through soil. The ambulance and their car slipped into the Imperial Walk Club together.

“Quick! Carry her to the treatment room!” Ningxin’s voice cracked like a bell. They rushed Tang Coco into the underground base’s clinic, lights flaring like dawn.

A squad of healer-type Abnormals arrived under Ningxin’s orders. They began treatment, palms glowing, Anomalous Energy lifting Coco like green mist.

“You two should rest,” Ningxin told Gu Xin and Meng Yuting, her tone a soft cloak. “I’ll watch her.”

“Alright… we’ve got other matters to handle,” Meng Yuting said, fatigue hanging on her like wet clothes.

“Then I’ll leave this to you,” Gu Xin added, words steady as a chain.

“Don’t worry.” Ningxin nodded, gaze firm as stone. They turned to go, shadows stretching like ribbons.

“Muyan, come next door. I’ll find you clothes and treat those cuts.” Ningxin glanced at the torn fabric, each rip a mouth.

“Okay…” Li Muyan looked down at her shredded outfit, shame pricking like needles. She nodded.

Outside, Gu Xin and Meng Yuting stepped into the night, their footsteps thin as chalk lines.

“Xin’er, what now?” Meng Yuting held Gu Xin’s hand, fingers cold as glass.

“I’ll call Hong Wei. He should know.” Gu Xin’s brow pressed tight, a crease like a scar. The day had hit them hard; the lynx had bared teeth they never expected.

“Mm…” Meng Yuting thought, quiet as snow. “Tell him, then.”

In the treatment room, four healer-type Abnormals worked over Tang Coco. She hovered, ringed in green Anomalous Energy, like dew holding a leaf.

But Tang Coco’s mind drifted into a secret space, silent as a sealed temple.

Her hair was black again, night-rich. She hung in midair above a high-tech planet, a city spread beneath like a lattice of light. Towers speared the sky. Mechs and hovercars wove between megastructures like swallows.

“What is this…” Her voice brushed the air, thin as silk.

“This is my homeland.” A cool voice, laced with sorrow, rose behind her like smoke. She turned—and saw herself, with red hair burning like a comet.

“You’re the other soul living in me?” Tang Coco asked, heart tight as a fist.

“Yes. Because of the Fate Clock, you and I share a body.” Red-haired Tang Coco drifted closer, words calm as winter water.

“Fate Clock?” Tang Coco frowned, mind flashing to the watch her father left, a small sun on her wrist.

“That watch is one form of it,” the red-haired self said. “But the real Fate Clock… even I don’t know what it is.” Mystery circled them like fog.

“This is your hometown?” Tang Coco looked down at the city, lights pulsing like a heartbeat.

“Yes.” The red-haired Coco nodded. “You see the wealth of tech. People live carefree, like sparrows in spring.”

“But…” Her voice stopped, a cut in the song.

“Mm?” Tang Coco’s brow lifted, a feather disturbed.

Boom! A tower below erupted, flowered fire chewing through steel. In an instant, the building fell like a felled tree. Nearby hovercraft and Mechs were caught in the blast, spun like leaves in a storm.

In the city’s dark seams, black Mechs flickered into view, armor swallowing light. Their weapons spat black particles—Dark Energy—raking streets and towers, cold as sleet.

“Terrorists?” Tang Coco asked, breath clipped.

“No.” The answer fell like iron. “They just want slaughter.”

“Why?” The question dragged like an anchor.

“You saw those black particles. They’re close to our I Energy, but twisted. We call it Dark Energy.” Her gaze hardened, like ice under sun. “It has a fatal flaw. It shortens the user’s life.”

“The user’s life? The user… you mean?” The thought hit Tang Coco like a hammer.

“Yes. People here were ordinary, once.” Red-haired Coco’s tone dipped, a shadow crossing water. “A secret lab developed I Energy. They found it powers Mechs and machines. And with gene edits, humans could control I Energy to strengthen themselves.”

“But it’s risky. If you match I Energy, you become a national asset, a life free of fear. If you fail, dying in the procedure is mercy. Worse is mutation—when I Energy warps into Dark Energy.”

“Then why attack ordinary people?” Tang Coco’s voice shook, a leaf under wind.

“Because the government held a nationwide vote,” Red-haired Coco said, voice chilling like frost. “The result was… if someone fails the I Energy conversion, the state may take his life, to prevent harm.”

“How could they…” Tang Coco felt her faith crack, dry earth splitting.

“So,” the red-haired Coco continued, words like blades. “Hidden groups started abducting researchers, trying to craft I Energy themselves. Most failed. With Dark Energy in their veins, they fled government hunts, living in the city’s cracks. Over time, their numbers swelled. Their courage did, too. They began to fight openly, targeting I Energy users. They believe those votes damned them to a life of running.”

Tang Coco watched the city torn open, smoke coiling like black dragons. In the distance, a wing of Mechs surged in, formation tight as a woven net. They hit the Dark Energy users, teamwork snapping in place like gears.

“That one!” Tang Coco pointed, startled. The lead pilot was the red-haired Tang Coco—her own face, fierce as a blade.

The red-haired self spoke on, voice low, steady as a tide. “After the I Energy data leaked, Dark Energy users multiplied. But I Energy success stayed rare. The government fell into a bind.”

“Over twenty years ago, a couple took the first conversion together. Both succeeded. The state brought them into the army. They married. They had a beautiful daughter.” Her eyes softened, a lantern flickering. “Then they found the girl was born with I Energy. They hid it.”

By the time the girl turned twenty, the Dark Energy’s host was slipping its chains like a flood-swollen river. Her father had risen to Commander-in-Chief, his rank like an iron banner snapping in the wind. With duty tightening like a noose, he did the only thing left—he sent her into the army. He needed the one power only she carried, a lamp in his night: she could let ordinary people run I Energy Mechs without any mods.

So she joined, the blade of her path flashing free of its sheath, and she took command of a special-ops squad. Every fighter moved with her I Energy on their backs like borrowed wings. Their strength spiked; battles fell like wheat, and people gave her a name—the Valkyrie.

"She is..." Disbelief rippled through Tang Coco like wind over water. She looked at the red-haired girl beside her.

"That's right," she said, her voice a banked flame. "She’s me," the words falling like a blade.