The foreman crouched by the “corpse,” rolled her over, and froze as Tang Coco’s face came into view—peerless beauty with a faint pink blush, eyes trembling shut like petals in wind.

"Damn! These idiots are wasteful—using a woman like this as a test subject, like tossing jade into a furnace?"

As a man, the foreman pretended to stand up for Tang Coco, a wolf baring its teeth under a sheepskin.

"Hey! Cancel the last experiment core’s procedure," he snapped, voice cracking like a whip.

He barked at the techs, words snapping like dry bamboo.

"R-really? What about Lord No. 9?" The technician’s voice wobbled like reeds in a gust.

The technician wavered, a reed in a crosswind.

"Cut the crap! If you don’t talk, he won’t know! If you blab, I’ll make you die worse than these people," he hissed, threat brewing like a storm.

He snarled, eyes like cold steel.

"O-okay..." The answer fluttered like a moth.

The techs worked the machines; lights blinked like frost-fire. Soon one shouted to the foreman.

"It’s done. Shut down." The words clicked like a switch.

At that, Tang Coco eased off her Armor; beneath the clothes her "full" disguise cinched in, her frame slim as a willow.

"Good." Short as a knife tap.

He saw her clothes fall loose like empty sails, guessed her body had swelled during tests. Facing her now-thin shape, his lust surged like wildfire.

"Alright, dump the rest into the sea. I’ll inspect later!" He waved them off like a storm-churned oar.

He ordered the techs, then slid his arms under Tang Coco and carried her toward his bunk. Relief flickered like a lantern—he hadn’t stripped off her baggy workwear. Inside, Tang Coco bit down her disgust, cold as winter rain. The foreman burned too, her scent like spring jasmine stinging his brain, pushing his steps faster. His usual calm blew away like ash; desire had him hooked like a fish.

Bang! The door kicked wide like a breaking wave.

He booted the door and dropped Tang Coco onto a ragged bed, springs whining like old bones.

"Mm—ah..." A breath slipped out like a startled sparrow.

Tang Coco shifted on the bed, feigning looseness like silk in a breeze.

He shut the door, shed his jacket, and vaulted onto the bed, hands clawing like crows at her clothes. The orange work suit unzipped; a cartoon tee flashed like a flag. His eyes fixed, and restraint snapped like a brittle twig. He reached for her collar, ready to rip.

If he’d been calm, he’d have seen the tell—other test subjects showed the edge of a black implant along the collarbone, a shadow like iron. Tang Coco’s skin there was pure white like new snow.

His hand finally touched her skin, heat like a brand. Tang Coco stopped enduring; her fingers snapped around his wrist like a trap.

"Hm?" A grunt, puzzled like a dull drum.

He blinked, surprised this slim girl held such force, steel under silk. Lust fogged his thoughts. His other hand lunged for her chest; two centimeters short, his body stopped—frozen like a statue.

From the front, the scene snapped clear—Tang Coco’s other hand held a pitch-black dagger, driven deep into the foreman’s heart like a thunderbolt. Unsure if he was augmented, she aimed straight for the heart, cold as moonlight.

"Y-you..." His breath flitted like a dying moth.

With the last scrap of strength, he stared up, shock wide as a tide. White hair spilled from under Tang Coco’s cap like a waterfall.

"Disgusting." Her brows pinched like a knife-edge.

She spoke, then kicked him off the bed, her leg a whip.

Bang—he hit the floor like a sack.

He convulsed twice, then went still, quiet as a drowned light.

Tang Coco sat up and wiped her collarbone with her sleeve, scrubbing like rain on dust. A thin thought curled—she’d grown fastidious.

She slipped off the bed and crouched by the body, drawing the dagger out like a shadow. No blood welled. Through torn cloth she saw a black device at his heart, cracked like old rock.

"Figures..." The word fell like a pebble.

Her thoughts settled like snow. She stood, gauged his build with a glance, then summoned her Armor, masking herself like a cloud. She lifted his radio and stepped out, fingers tweaking the hatch lock as she left—sealed tight as iron, no one coming in.

Tang Coco retraced her path to the deck, feet silent as smoke. The techs worked fast; the corpses were gone, hoses washing blood from the deck like red paint in rain.

A technician came down a side stair, footsteps pattering like drizzle, stopping behind Tang Coco.

"No. 9 wants you. He’s on the bridge." His voice cut like a wire.

The young man spoke, face blank as paper.

"Got it." Tang Coco’s reply was cool as glass.

She answered without turning, her Stealth Armor’s voice mask humming like bees. Then she followed him up the stairs, heading for the bridge like a shadow.

Because of the earlier experiments, crew were few—a hollow hive. Tang Coco reached the bridge with ease. Inside, the suited youth stood with his back to her, bent over some device with another, hands moving like spiders.

Her guide stepped to the suited youth, whispered like wind. The man nodded, a slow tide, and waved him away.

"Thanks for your hard work earlier." His voice was smooth as silk.

The suited youth spoke without turning.

"It was nothing." Tang Coco kept her tone flat as stone.

She answered, the word falling like mist.

"Making you endure among a pile of corpses for so long… truly rough, hm?" His laugh curled like smoke.

"!!!!" The air tightened like drawn bowstrings.

He smiled and turned, mouth hooked like a blade, eyes sliding to Tang Coco.

Pressure spiked—her nerves strung like steel wire. She’d felt it earlier; the scent of wrongness. So she was exposed after all.

"I’ll admit, your disguise is good. Want to know how I saw you?" His tone was calm as a pond.

He spoke evenly. Tang Coco held her tongue, silence folded like paper.

"First, that little foreman was full of himself. He thought scaring my men would keep them quiet? They told me anyway—one experiment core remained. Sorry, I can feel core energy like heat; every core nearby was already cold."

He stayed steady, voice like a metronome.

"…" Tang Coco’s gaze sharpened like a knife.

Her eyes locked on him, cold as frost.

"Second… the man who brought you said you smell… fragrant?" His brow lifted like a gull.

"…" The silence tasted bitter as tea.

Frustration pricked first—why, again because of that? She couldn’t smell a thing on herself, yet others caught it like blossoms in spring.

"That made me curious. Now I’m very interested in your face. Speaking of which, you can drop your mask~" His smile gleamed like polished bone.

He chuckled, sound thin as paper.

"…" Her breath steadied like a held bow.

She stayed silent for a beat, then said:

"Ah, what a nuisance~" The words floated like feathers.

She shook her head and let her own clear voice ring, then shed the Armor. A cartoon tee and gray shorts showed, white hair pouring down like a waterfall. Only the boots ruined the picture—shabby work boots where her little white sneakers had been, tossed like leaves because she couldn’t wear both.

The suited youth stared, shock blooming like a storm.

"So that’s why… no wonder." His smile curved like a sickle.

He spoke lightly, air still as a pond.

"So, little beauty, you dared come alone onto this ship. Huaguo sent you, right?" He tilted his head like a crow.

He guessed, words lazy as smoke.

"No. No one can order me." Her voice was cool as moonlight.

Tang Coco answered, spine straight like bamboo.

"Oh? That so?" His tone hopped like a sparrow.

"Looks like you’ve got a background. Good. You’ve piqued my interest. The rest, we can discuss slowly, in bed." His words slithered like oil.

He leered, smile greasy as smoke.

"Heh~" Tang Coco’s laugh was light as frost.

She dismissed him with a smile, then turned to the window, eyes measuring the sea like a hunter.

"Oh? Looking for rescue? Relax. No ships nearby. Give up." He spread his hands like a dark tide.

He spoke with pride, chest puffed like a rooster.

"Is that so? Even better. Since there’s no one around…" Her lips curved like a blade.

Tang Coco lowered her head, smiling like night.

"Then there’s no one to see~" Her words shimmered like ice.

She spoke, and blue particles burst around her like fireflies. A black Armor wrapped her in a heartbeat, sleek as midnight.

"Th-this is…" His voice faltered like a failing engine.

The surge of power cowed him, a wave smashing a reef, but he recovered fast, breath sharp as knives.

"You’re a Valkyrie?!" The word cracked like thunder.

"Too late to notice." Tang Coco’s tone dropped, cold as winter steel.

Her Mech roared to full power, a storm in iron. She charged with a long blade, momentum like a falling star.

She moved fast—an eye-blink, and she was there. The long mechanical blade fell like a hawk.

"Heh!" He shifted, a grin like a scar.

He raised both hands; two black swords snapped into his grip like shadows, meeting her strike with a clang like lightning.

"This place… feels cramped." His voice scraped like iron.

He shoved her back, force like a battering ram.

"Roar!!" The sound shook like a beast in chains.

He roared, limbs swelling like storm clouds. His height rose past two meters, matching Tang Coco in her Mech. His dual blades lengthened like fangs, his suit tearing into rags.

"This spot’s too tight."

Bang!! Metal screamed like thunder.

He spoke, then smashed through the bridge plating and leapt to the forward deck like a cannonball.

Tang Coco paused, then followed, landing light as a leaf. On the deck, they faced off like tigers.

"Heh~ Didn’t expect to meet a Valkyrie first. Good! Let me, Twin-Blade No. 9, test how strong a Valkyrie is!" His boast rolled like thunder.

He dashed in, twin swords whirling like a storm. Tang Coco matched him, two blades flashing like moon and frost.

At first, they were even—blow for blow, sparks like meteors. Tang Coco was shaking off rust; she hadn’t fought for real in long days and needed a breath to read the rhythm.

"What’s wrong? Is a Valkyrie only this?" He sneered, lips curling like thorns.

He spoke with disdain, voice thin as frost.

"Fine. If you’re that eager to die… as you wish." Her words dropped like a guillotine.

She stepped back. Her Armor unfolded, and mechanical wings spread behind her, blue particles clinging like starlight. She kept the long blade in her right, lifted her left, and blue flared—shaping into another mechanical long blade.

Her back jets spat streams of blue like comet tails. Twin blades in hand, she streaked at him with blistering speed.

"Roar!" He braced, chest booming like a drum.

He didn’t flinch, charging with twin blades as well. But Tang Coco was too fast. At the instant of contact, she veered, slipped behind him like wind, and cut with both swords.

"Roar!" His cry tore like cloth.

He dodged fast, but still took a slice—light as a scratch on stone.

She pressed in, attacks like rain on a river. He fell to pure defense, and soon cuts mapped his body like dark petals, his movements slowing like tar.

"Damn it! Start the device!" His shout cracked like a whip.

The youth barked, eyes wide as lanterns.

Bzzzt—energy sizzled like lightning under glass.

Then Tang Coco felt it—something wrong, a special ripple in the air like unseen currents under the sea.