“Because I trust you.”

Ouyang Lingxue said it, her eyes steady as a still lake, fixed on Tang Coco.

Tang Coco met that gaze; silence pooled between them until even the air held its breath.

“Alright, alright. I get it. I’ll help you.”

She shook her head, helpless as wind-blown grass.

“Mm.”

Ouyang Lingxue nodded, calm as a marble statue.

Boom—

A distant thunderclap rolled like a drum across the sky; in Ninghai, clear days flip like coins to rain.

“Rain’s coming. I’ll see you home.”

She glanced at the window, at clouds inked like bruises.

“No need. I still have to find someone.”

Tang Coco waved it off like mist; Yiyi’s matter was still unresolved.

System, drop the stealth armor. Find a high perch for long-range observation.

Understood. But the target is near the back hill’s summit. After landing, your view may be blocked.

Mm? Why did Yiyi go that high? It’s about to storm.

The doubt flickered in her chest like a moth at a lantern.

Right then, Ye Yiyi was already following the park path toward the back hill’s top; she remembered a pavilion there that could catch the rain.

With her mood sinking like a stone, she didn’t consider that storms don’t forgive heights.

Hide near Yiyi. Bleed some energy and shift the summit’s magnetic field. Don’t let lightning strike there.

Understood.

“Why do you zone out sometimes?”

Ouyang Lingxue’s question came soft as snow across from her.

“Me? It’s been a lot lately… I might be losing focus.”

Tang Coco scratched her head, awkward as a stray cat.

“I see.”

Whoosh—whoosh—

The showers fell the moment they were named; thin cloud spilled heavy rain like overturned basins.

“Not good. Weather’s too nasty.”

Watching the downpour thicken like gray curtains, Tang Coco decided she’d bring Ye Yiyi home.

“I remember what you asked. I need to find my friend.”

She stood, urgency pricking like nettles.

“Really don’t need me to send you?”

Ouyang Lingxue’s voice stayed warm as tea.

“No. Thanks.”

“Alright then. See you tomorrow.”

“Mm. Bye.”

She waved and slipped out; at the café door, the squall hit like tossed gravel, cold raindrops dotting her bare skin.

“Ugh…”

Tang Coco jogged a few steps, ducked into a narrow alley, turned twice, and checked the world was empty.

Close-combat armor, engage. Optical camo, engage.

Black armor blossomed over her like midnight steel; then her whole outline went glass-clear, melting into the street.

She’d had the stealth armor drop for a reason; optical camo fares poorly in rain, especially if you hover, where even a blind man might spot you.

If you fly fast, it’s better; speed blurs more than eyes can track.

Tang Coco arrowed for the park’s back hill, a falcon riding the storm.

At the hill, the rain struck like silver nails as Ye Yiyi dashed into the summit pavilion; her skirt stayed dry by a hair.

She sat on a cool wooden bench; damp air flowed harder up here, a river of chill around her.

She hugged her arms for warmth, small as a sparrow; with no phone to call help, she could only wait for the sky to clear.

Loneliness pressed like fog, helplessness like a weight; she wished someone would sit beside her and share the rain.

It was near evening now; clouds made the dusk feel like night, and the wind thrashed grass and leaves into a hiss like whispered mockery.

Ye Yiyi pulled her legs up onto the bench, curled in a corner like a fawn, clutching her knees.

By this time, the fast-flying Tang Coco should’ve reached the back hill, but trouble rose like a black flag.

She sped through the air, but downtown’s high-rises crowded like cliffs; weaving between them would draw eyes, so she climbed for open sky.

As she crossed the tallest tower, a figure on the rooftop hooked her attention—more precisely, he wanted it hooked—and beside him lounged an unknown creature.

On the roof stood a man in a black suit, a scar biting across his left cheek; he let the rain soak him like a baptism.

By his side lay a beast that looked like a white tiger, but its bulk was wrong: over five meters long, the size of the utility shack nearby.

“This is…”

Tang Coco hovered, watching as the man gave her a casual wave, a fisherman’s flick of wrist.

She thought a beat, then drifted in and set down soft as a feather.

Warning. S-class Anomalous Energy reading detected. Initiate combat mode?

S-class…

The word glinted cold in her mind as she studied the smiling youth.

Enter alert mode.

Understood.

“Who are you?”

Tang Coco asked, voice taut as a drawn bowstring.

“Me? I suppose I’m your enemy.”

His reply rasped like gravel, dry and amused.

“Oh? Enemy. So you want to fight me?”

“No, no… We will fight, but not today.”

He wagged a finger, rain dripping off it like mercury.

“How’re you so sure I’ll let you walk away?”

Tang Coco said, and drew her long blade with a sleek whisper, a silver tooth in a storm.

“Because this isn’t a battlefield. You Huaguo Abnormals still care about keeping your faces hidden.”

He didn’t flinch; his calm was a stone under water.

“So you’re not from Huaguo.”

“Sort of. Born in Huaguo, raised in the States, because… Huaguo couldn’t keep me.”

He shrugged, easy as smoke.

“In cities packed like hives, when I let my children out, they get excited. I’m afraid… they’ll overeat.”

“Rrr… rrr…”

The “tiger” let out a low breath like a bellows; its wide eyes fixed on Tang Coco, but it stayed prone, a glacier waiting.

Tang Coco fell quiet, her intent a blade held still.

“Today I just bumped into the person at the center, so I said hi. Nothing else.”

He smiled, light as a cat.

“Your name.”

Her voice was winter steel.

“In our line, names don’t fit. My codename is—Veterinarian.”

“Veterinarian…”

Tang Coco had never heard that codename—not in Huaguo, not in her mercenary days.

“I’ll remember. Next time we meet, be ready to say goodbye to your ‘child’…”

She said it cold, then felt urgency bite; she needed to reach Ye Yiyi—something had gone wrong.

“Heh…”

The man’s chuckle was a ripple in the rain.

Tang Coco turned; the boosters on her back spun up, a furnace sighing.

“Can you tell me your codename?”

He called out as she lifted.

“Asura.”

She didn’t look back; then she speared off toward the back hill, a streak under thunder.

“Asura, huh… interesting.”

His mouth curled; beside him, the white tiger shrank like melting wax, finally small enough to sit in a palm.

He caught it and walked off into the rain, a shadow leaving no splash.

At that moment, trouble found Ye Yiyi. Three young men appeared on the mountain path, sprinting for the pavilion like dogs for shelter.

“This is your fault! You had to run to the toilet with the runs. Now we’ve got no umbrella and we’re still climbing!”

The crew-cut guy barked, breath steaming like a kettle.

“Hey, my stomach betrayed me. I didn’t plan it.”

The one holding his belly grimaced, hunched like a shrimp.

“Cut it. Run. Or we’ll get struck for real.”

The third pushed, eyes flicking to the crackling sky.

“Hey? Someone’s up there.”

The belly-clutcher pointed, finger shaking like a leaf.

“Mm? Yeah, someone.”

They saw her, and the three rushed in, rain trailing off them like strings.

Ye Yiyi noticed them; three youths, clothes plastered to skin, faces lit with a kind of hungry curiosity.

Fear rose in her like cold water; no phone, no people nearby—bad, bad place.

They saw her alone, the pale skin below her skirt bright as porcelain; she was curled in the corner, small and fragile.

For a heartbeat, all three stared, dazed as moths at a lamp.

“Whoa, it’s soaked. We’re drenched.”

One muttered, then peeled off his tee, rain slicking his chest.

The other two got the hint and stripped theirs, then sat on opposite sides like closing gates.

Ye Yiyi ended up between them; pillars stood between, but unease slithered closer like a snake.

She lowered her legs and faced the rain; the downpour thickened, and she debated bolting into the storm.

“Heh heh…”

They kept staring and giggling, little sounds like gnats; goosebumps prickled her skin.

“Cold, huh? Little beauty, you cold? Want big bro’s arms to warm you up?”

One sidled closer, grin greasy as oil.

“Get lost.”

Ye Yiyi snapped, her voice sharp as ice; it didn’t slow him, and the other two began to flank her like wolves.

“You… you guys…”

She slipped out of the pavilion, rain slapping her like needles, and backed away step by step.

“We think you’re cold. It’s raining out there. Come back in—let us warm you up.”

Another crooned, words crawling like slugs.

Elsewhere.

System! Have the stealth unit release I-particles, set the vector, and draw the lightning over to scare them!

Understood!

Hidden in the nearby grass, the stealth armor vented a faint stream of blue particles from its back.

They stitched a thin thread through the air and speared into the cloud deck like a wire.

Boom! Crack!

A lightning bolt slammed down three meters from the pavilion, white fire biting the earth.

“Ah!!!!”

Ye Yiyi shrieked, dropped, and hugged her head, small as a pebble in a flood.

“Holy—! Scared the hell outta me!”

The three flinched hard; before breath returned, another bolt fell like a guillotine.

Boom! Crack!

This time it hit the pavilion where they’d just been sitting; the air filled with the acrid sting of char.

“Sh—! Too damn dangerous!!!”

One yelled, and bolted downhill, feet splashing like ducks.

“Hey, wait—ah!!!”

Another turned, and a bolt struck the spot he’d just vacated, white scars crawling across wood.

“Sh—!!! Run!!!”

Boom! Crack! Crack!

A few more bolts chased them down in strobing flashes; the scene, despite the fear, edged on darkly comedic.

But Ye Yiyi didn’t see it at all, her world a rain-blurred lantern with tears fogging the glass.

“No... no... no...”

She crouched on the soaked ground, clutching her head, trembling like a wind-tossed leaf, her voice already breaking into a sob.

Vrooom—

Suddenly an engine rolled overhead like low thunder, circling closer through the rain toward Ye Yiyi.

She lifted her head, as if pried up by a thread; an ink-black humanoid Mech drifted down before her, a familiar figure on it, white hair ruffled like wet frost.

“Co... Coco...”

She stammered, tears swelling like a brimming tide she couldn’t hold back.

“Coco!!!”

She screamed the name and burst forward like an arrow; Tang Coco shed her Armor like a shell and caught her in a storm-warm embrace.

“Coco! I... I-I’m so scared! Waaaah!”

Ye Yiyi clung to Tang Coco and sobbed, grief pouring like a dam giving way.

“Yiyi... I’m sorry...”

Tang Coco said it with guilt heavy as a stone sinking in deep water.

“Waaah!!!!”

Ye Yiyi still held on, a drowning soul gripping driftwood in a black sea.