“You might not really know that girl yet,” Gu Xin said, voice low like dusk slipping over water, as she eased in beside Li Muyan.

“Coco, she…” Li Muyan looked up, her gaze like a cloud holding rain.

“Don’t be fooled by her calm face,” Gu Xin said, earnest as a lantern in a night alley. “Her heart tracks the ones she cares about like a shadow, and she gives quietly from behind.”

“…” Silence fell, heavy as mist in a bamboo grove, while Li Muyan’s thoughts drifted like leaves.

“And I can tell Coco cares a lot about you,” Gu Xin added, a smile soft as spring sunlight. “So… trust yourself, right?”

“Mm…” Li Muyan lowered her head, her voice thin as a thread, her mind a lake with ripples.

That night, Ye Yiyi and the girls finally returned home. After lunch, Zhou Yi dragged them around the con all afternoon, a river of color and chatter, and while Ye Yiyi and Tang Coco weren’t into it, little Marilyn played like a sparrow in blossom, so it had meaning. In the end, Zhou Yi exchanged contacts with them, then they headed back to the villa.

“I’m gonna hit the shower,” Ye Yiyi said, her tone light as steam rising.

“Mm, go,” Tang Coco laughed, easy as wind through bamboo. “Marilyn and I’ll play downstairs a bit.”

“Okay~” Ye Yiyi went upstairs, her steps pattering like rain.

“Lulu, I’ve got a question,” Tang Coco said, sinking into the sofa like a cat finding sun.

“Mm.” Marilyn nodded, eyes clear as morning dew, and sat beside her.

“I’ve wanted to ask this for a long time,” Tang Coco said, gaze steady as a blade left in tea.

“What is it?” Marilyn tilted her head, curiosity bright as a firefly.

“I want to ask… who are you, really?”

“Huh? I’m me, right? Marilyn,” she said, baffled like a bird who finds the sky closer than expected.

“Then… who is Marilyn?” Tang Coco watched her, calm as a stone by a stream, and pressed on.

“Uh…” Marilyn’s eyes flickered like minnows under shade, and Tang Coco kept going, voice gentle as reed-flute.

“Why are you supposed to be a system, yet you still make mistakes, and even have your own name?” Tang Coco asked, her doubt coiling like smoke.

“I… that name was just something I made up,” Marilyn said, a bit panicked, her words scattering like leaves.

“Really? Then… why are you in my mind, and why does my Anomaly Power have an assist system?” Tang Coco asked, her question old as a mountain path. Others wield their powers alone, but she had a helper.

“…” Marilyn fell silent, her lips tight as winter buds. Words failed like a broken kite.

“I don’t mean anything bad,” Tang Coco said, voice warm as a hand around tea. “I’m just curious. As a super system, you messed up like that today… sometimes, you’re really like a child.”

“…” Marilyn lowered her head, tangled like vines around a stone.

“Can you tell me?” Tang Coco coaxed, tender as moonlight on rice paper. “I just want to understand you, so we can grow together.”

“…” Silence stretched, thin as silk in rain.

“Actually… I was human,” Marilyn said at last, her whisper a reed touching water.

“Mm?” Tang Coco leaned in, her surprise like a bell’s ring.

“My original name was Marilyn. I was the first bearer of your I Energy,” she said, memory drifting like incense.

“The first!?” Tang Coco’s shock flared, bright as lightning behind clouds.

“Yeah. The red-haired girl in your mind… she’s the sixth generation, and you’re the seventh,” Marilyn said, looking at Tang Coco, calm as a temple bell.

“So… you’re not from this world either!” Tang Coco said, the thought crashing like surf.

“Of course not,” Marilyn said. “Where I’m from, everyone was an Abnormal, and I was just one among countless stars.” Her tone was steady as a long road.

“If that’s so… why do you act like a little kid…” Tang Coco voiced the thorn, gentle as rain but sharp as wire.

“I am a little girl!” Marilyn burst out, anger puffing like a sparrow. “My body grew to ten, then I awakened my Anomaly Power, and it never changed after.” Her frustration flared like a match.

“Then… how old are you?” Tang Coco asked, her awe a wide, quiet lake.

“I can’t remember… over a thousand, I think,” Marilyn said, casual as moonlight.

“Uh…” Tang Coco froze, her mind a blown-out lantern—this tiny thing was over a millennium old.

“What, scared now? If you’re scared, stop bullying me, you little brat,” Marilyn said, feigning anger like painted eyebrows.

“…” Silence sat between them like a gray stone.

“When I was killed,” Marilyn said, voice low as a winter wind, “my consciousness didn’t fade. It traveled with my Anomaly Power, moving from world to world.”

“So that’s it…” Tang Coco nodded, comprehension spreading like dawn.

“But the strange thing is, every host who carried my power… looked the same. Only their temper or hair color changed,” Marilyn said, cheeks puffed like buns.

“No way…” Tang Coco blinked, shock thrumming like a drum—so this kid had seen six versions of her?

“That’s how it is~” Marilyn spread her hands, airy as clouds.

“…” A quiet pause, soft as cotton.

“Okay, I get it now,” Tang Coco said, thoughts folding neatly as paper cranes. She stood, stepped to Marilyn, and offered her right hand like a willow branch.

“From now on, let’s take care of each other, Lulu,” she said, smile bright as first snow.

“Mm-mm~” Marilyn clasped her hand, warm as a small stove.

Just like that, Tang Coco and Marilyn opened their hearts, moving against fate together like two boats in the same current.

Ten days slipped by like petals on a stream. In those days, Tang Coco stayed at Ye Yiyi’s, living quietly as a small pond. She kept Marilyn company, then called Li Muyan a little each day, threads of care weaving like silk. Ye Yiyi had started back to school, and Meng Yuting, backed by the Mengs in Yanjing, built her company like scaffolding rising at dawn; opening day was close.

Another Monday came, clean as washed stone. In the morning, Tang Coco cooked a full breakfast, and the three ate like birds at a tray. Ye Yiyi went to school, footfalls light as sparrows, while Tang Coco and Marilyn had other business. Yesterday, Gu Xin had called—Li Muyan’s condition was serious, like ice crawling under skin—so Tang Coco should check on her. After Ye Yiyi left, Tang Coco and Marilyn tidied up like wind clearing leaves and drove toward the seaside villa district.

Half an hour later, they reached Li Muyan’s current place, the sea pale as glass.

“Ding-dong~” The bell chimed, crisp as a chime shell.

“Click.” The door opened with a bite like a thin apple. Gu Xin stood there in loose gray tee and shorts, quiet as shade.

“I’m here~” Tang Coco smiled, warm as tea steam.

“Mm, come in~” Gu Xin smiled too, a crescent in cloud, and let them in.

“Lulu, everything okay lately?” Gu Xin bent slightly, voice soft as a fan’s swish to Marilyn.

“Mm, pretty good,” Marilyn nodded, neat as a bead.

“I’ll go upstairs first,” Tang Coco said, pointing at the stairs like a spear toward a ridge.

“Mm. Go,” Gu Xin answered, her tone heavy as rain-hung branches.

Tang Coco reached the second floor and pushed the door, the hinge whispering like grass. Li Muyan lay in bed, covered, only her neck and face above the quilt like a moon above black water.

“You came…” Li Muyan’s voice was thin as a dying ember.

“Yeah, I’m here.” Tang Coco smiled at her, a lantern lit. She closed the door gently, then stepped to the bedside, voice steady as a pole: “How’s it going? Can you still hold yourself steady?”

“Barely… I asked Sister Gu to restrain me,” Li Muyan said, sadness glinting like rain on stone.

Tang Coco lifted the quilt slowly, movements careful as lifting a scroll, and her brow knit tight like thread. Li Muyan wore a violet, ultra-thin sleep slip, silk light as breath—but that wasn’t what gripped her. From the neck down, Li Muyan’s body had turned inky black, like char under frost. Scarlet veins flashed faintly beneath, ember-lines winding; straps pinned her to the bed like a ship lashed in storm.

“Does it hurt…” Tang Coco asked, brow furrowed like plowed earth. The sight stung her chest like cold iron.

“It doesn’t… honestly, below I can’t feel anything. It’s like it isn’t my body,” Li Muyan said, forcing a smile pale as winter sun.

“…” Tang Coco lowered the quilt back, careful as placing jade. She sat by her, her small fists clenched like stones. Anger rose in her like a storm at sea—this was worse than she’d feared.

“It’s okay, Coco… you said it yourself,” Li Muyan murmured, warmth like a candle reaching Tang Coco’s frost. “If my will is iron, I’ll be fine.”

“But why do you have to suffer like this!” Tang Coco burst out, her voice breaking like ice. She couldn’t accept that the bright, lively girl was now a shadow.

“You’re worried about me? Haha… I’m so happy,” Li Muyan said, her laugh a cracked bell still singing.

“…” Tang Coco saw that strained smile and her heart tightened like a knot. Suddenly, she stood, resolve hard as steel.

“Muyan, I’ll find a way. I swear I’ll get you out of this, fast,” she said, then strode out, steps sharp as blades.

“Coco! Coco!” Li Muyan called after her, voice trailing like smoke, but it didn’t reach.

“Lulu!” Downstairs in the living room, two voices paused mid-chat, and Tang Coco’s anger rolled down the stairs like thunder.

“Huh? What? What’s wrong?” Marilyn blinked, confusion hopping like a sparrow.

“How many days till the fusion ends! Why isn’t it done!” Tang Coco snapped, fury crackling like dry bamboo.

“We’re past ninety-five percent,” Marilyn said, face turning serious as stone. “Two or three more days to finish.”

“No way to end early?” Tang Coco’s words were arrows, fast as sparks.

“At this stage… there is a way,” Marilyn said, careful as someone crossing a narrow bridge. “But… it’s not necessary, it’s almost—”

“Not necessary? Use whatever it takes! End the fusion early!” Tang Coco shouted, her temper a torch.

“Coco! Calm down!” Gu Xin stood, seeing the storm, and tried to steady her like a hand on a reed.

“Sorry… Xin,” Tang Coco said, voice cooling like rain on tile, then stepped to Marilyn.

“We’re going back.”

She grabbed Marilyn’s hand, pulling toward the door like a current drawing a boat.

“Coco!” Gu Xin called after them, her voice reaching like a thrown rope, but Tang Coco didn’t stop. Gu Xin couldn’t leave—someone had to tend Li Muyan.

Tang Coco drove fast, the car a streak like a swallow, and they got back to Ye Yiyi’s villa in twenty minutes.

“End the fusion early,” she said as soon as the door shut, words crisp as cracked ice.

“Coco-jie, please calm down!” Marilyn pleaded, voice flitting like startled birds.

“Enough! I’ve got a plan. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything reckless,” Tang Coco said, her resolve settling like stone.

“You sure?” Marilyn asked, gaze steady as a well.

“Sure,” Tang Coco said, the word ringing like a gong.

“…” Marilyn studied her for a breath, then sat on the sofa, spine straight as bamboo. Numbers welled in her eyes, a code-rain falling like silver threads.

“System online. Administrator recognized—Marilyn. Entering admin panel. Forcing termination of I Energy upgrade… current progress ninety-five percent,” her voice shifted, mechanical as a wind-up bell.

“System running…” The air hummed, faint as bees in spring.

“Current progress one hundred percent. I Energy upgrade complete. Initiating host O Energy recovery protocol. Host, beware side effects,” the system intoned, flat as steel.

Blue-white particles rose around Tang Coco, a familiar snow of starlight drifting like frost under moon.

Thank you, Boss! ⁽⁽ଘ( ˊᵕˋ )ଓ⁾⁾