“Your timing’s perfect. A scapegoat like this—wasteful not to use, right? So… are you her son… she…”

A glint of killing intent flashed in Tiantian’s honeyed eyes, cold as a snake’s tongue.

“It was you who killed her. Still you.”

The light walls vanished at once. Su Xinhua’s whole body hung naked to the night, one step from dropping off the eleventh floor.

!!!!

Tang Coco had been watching Su Xinhua nonstop. The instant the light dropped, her pupils blew wide. Fury roared up inside her like a wildfire in dry grass.

“System, start!”

Armor bloomed over her in a black ripple, then she shot for the window like a hawk stooping.

The black Armor shimmered across her body, but it didn’t fully unfold. Chest, limbs, and back locked into plates. Pale blue particles burst from the back like a comet’s tail. Tang Coco surged for the window, eyes fixed on Su Xinhua. The moment the curtain of light fell, she was gone—so fast Su Xinhua hadn’t even left the floor’s line of sight.

Boom!

The thrust blew small knickknacks across the living room. The room turned to a storm-swept deck.

Bang!

A heavy shock thudded from outside. Tang Coco shot through the frame, left hand hooking an exterior notch, right hand lunging to catch Su Xinhua’s wrist.

“Ah!”

Su Xinhua cried out. She looked up at the girl in Armor, and saw bitter resolve set like frost on her face.

Creak, creak—

Tang Coco clung to the sill. The Armor rasped with odd, strained noises, like ice splitting on a river.

“Damn it. That old man lied to me.”

She bit down on the words. Ouyang’s promise had been clear: in an emergency, she could push past the lock and use her Anomaly Power. Yet now she felt her Anomalous Energy running dry. She’d planned to fly straight out and catch Su Xinhua—the Armor could fly—but that short burst, mere meters, had drained most of her I Energy. So she forced a change of plan. She stripped the right-hand gauntlet and grabbed Su Xinhua with bare fingers.

“Mm…”

Pain tightened her face. She had her, but she couldn’t pull her up. Strength seeped away, and a sharp sting bit into her palm, as if something under the skin had woken.

“System, start right-arm thruster.”

She spoke through her teeth.

“This will further consume the remaining I Energy. You may not have enough for combat afterward.”

The system’s cool female voice brushed her ear like frost.

“It’s fine. Do it. I’m losing her.”

Urgency hammered in her chest. Her strength was fading fast. A dizzy sheen crept at the edges of her vision. No time to ask why. Only one thought remained: get Mom up. Now.

“Understood.”

Two hidden nozzles slid open on her right arm. They angled outward. If they pointed straight down, the exhaust would scorch Su Xinhua below.

Whoosh!

Pale blue particles jetted like fireflies turned into flame. Tang Coco hauled, inch by inch. She rose from a prone lean to a crouch, muscles locked like cables. Su Xinhua’s hand was nearly over the sill. The moment hung bright.

Then a voice behind her dripped in, wrong as laughter at a funeral.

“Heh-heh… a mech-type Abnormal, huh? Then… we’re definitely enemies.”

Tang Coco forced her head around. She caught Tiantian’s triumphant smile—and the flutter of paper sheets cutting toward her like knives.

“Asura Armor, acti—”

Her low voice firmed; she reached for the final option. She didn’t finish. Something tugged at her skirt.

She looked back. Su Xinhua’s other hand had somehow slipped up to clutch the hem of her skirt. Tang Coco’s gaze flicked downward, heat in her cheeks. Su Xinhua’s tear-streaked face carried a hint of a smile, faint as a crescent moon behind clouds.

It was Tang Coco’s last clear thought. The “paper” came up in front of her like a white tide—and the world went black.

——————————

Far away in Yanjing, in the Ouyang household, Ouyang Lingtian sat in the second-floor study, glasses on, a book open like a quiet lake. Suddenly he set it down and looked out the window. His brows drew tight like a bowstring.

“Xiao Li.”

He spoke, and the study door opened. A middle-aged man stepped in, air crisp as a blade.

“Master, your orders.”

“Any word from Xiaoxue and Xiaoyu?”

“None so far.”

“I see…”

Ouyang Lingtian rose and walked to the window. He lifted his gaze to the night, black as ink grinding on stone, and fell into thought.

“Forget it. Let the young handle the young’s affairs.”

“Pass it down. Tighten entry checks. Especially for foreign Abnormals.”

“Understood.”

The butler bowed and left the study, steps quiet as falling leaves.

————————————

At the Junlin Tianxia Hotel, the banquet had reached its tail end. The speeches and toasts had run their course, laughter thinning like lanterns at dawn. No one sensed what happened upstairs. Even Li Muyan or Meng Yuting, strong as they were, missed the surge on the eleventh floor. The building had been rebuilt by Su Xinhua; the energy shielding was tight as a drum.

“Why isn’t Coco back yet…”

Meng Yuting sat on a sofa in the corner, murmuring to herself. She’d managed to chat with Ouyang Lingxue earlier. The girl spoke little—very little. Meng asked; she answered. A stream cutting through stone, not flood.

“Hey? Yuting-jie, where’s Coco?”

Li Muyan came over, found Meng alone, and asked, puzzled.

“She went to the restroom.”

“I see…”

Li Muyan said it with a weary smile. She’d been busy fielding the other families’ toasts and congratulations, and hadn’t noticed Coco had been gone for a while.

“You heading out?”

Meng Yuting asked.

“Yeah. We’re basically done here.”

Li Muyan nodded, steady as a metronome.

“Same for us. We should go too. Oh—let Coco stay at our place tonight. Marilyn misses her.”

Meng Yuting smiled, light and easy.

“Alright. I won’t go home then. I’ll stay with Yiyi.”

Li Muyan said, thinking of Ye Yiyi alone in the quiet apartment.

“Got it.”

“I’ll head off then. Bye, Yuting-jie.”

“Mm. Bye.”

After saying goodbye to Li Muyan, Xu Yinuo swung by to wave farewell as well. The crowd thinned, the hall growing spacious as a beach at low tide. The bottle of red wine before Meng Yuting had run almost dry; a rosy flush warmed her cheeks like sunset.

Just then, someone walked in through the lobby. Su Xinhua’s assistant—Tiantian. She stepped into the hall and began directing the staff, movements neat as folded paper.

Meng Yuting set down her glass and walked toward her.

“Hm? Miss Meng.”

Tiantian turned at the rhythm of heels clicking, a music sharp as rain on tile.

“Where’s Coco?”

Meng Yuting kept her smile, calm as spring water.

“Coco? I don’t know.”

Tiantian widened her eyes a touch, the innocence laid on like powder.

“…”

Meng’s smile thinned and slid away.

“Is Coco missing? Maybe she went to the restroom.”

Tiantian kept the act going, voice sugar on porcelain.

“Maybe… I’ll check.”

Meng Yuting knew she wouldn’t get truth here. She turned and left. In the restroom, she took out her phone and dialed a number.

“Yuting, what’s up?”

Gu Xin’s voice came through, cool as night air.

“Coco’s gone.”

“…”

Silence held a beat, taut as a string.

“Yuting, head back first. Coco’s fine. Marilyn just reached her. Marilyn’s sure. The rest… I’ll tell you when you’re back.”

Gu Xin’s voice steadied, firm as a hand on the shoulder.

“…”

“Alright. I’m coming home.”

Meng Yuting paused, then chose to believe. She hung up and left, steps light but quick, like a bird taking flight.

——————————

Ka-cha. Ka-cha. Ka-cha.

“What’s that sound…”

Tang Coco’s awareness floated up from dark water. She couldn’t feel her body. Her eyes wouldn’t open. Only the ticking—like a clock chewing time—reached her.

Ka-cha. Ka-cha. Ka-cha.

The sound continued, steady as a heartbeat. As moments dripped by, her mind cleared. She felt she hadn’t truly woken. It was like those two other times—she’d stepped into that strange space again. She tried to move and felt nothing. She hung in place, a leaf in still air.

“Seriously, do you always have to make it this mysterious… What do you want from me…”

She forced her eyes open. Darkness lay before her like a lake at midnight. A massive dial floated in front of her, pale as a full moon.

“So… what is it this time?”

She stared at the giant dial.

Ka-cha… ka-cha…

No answer came back. Only the teeth of time grinding.

“Fate Clock… So this is my fate? Dad’s vengeance—out of reach… Mom won’t recognize me… some shadow group has me marked… and I still have to fight people from another realm.”

Her voice frayed. The blow of her mother’s refusal had carved deep.

“This… is only the beginning… You… must change it…”

The clock spoke, old as dust, a voice worn like river stones.

The words fell, and the world shifted. The dark split. One half black, one half white, a horizon drawn down the middle. The old dial drifted into the black. In the white, another dial bloomed like a second moon.

“This is…”

Her gaze fixed on the twin clocks. A possibility rose, cold and bright.

“Fate… has crossed paths…”

Both dials spoke at once, the old timbre doubled, echoing like bells across fog.

A needle of pain stabbed through her head. The light blew out. She fell into the dark again.