Two years ago... On Huaguo’s northwest border, a quiet night split open like torn silk, explosions blooming like fireflowers in the dark.

“Confirm target. Lynx, Rebel, and I handle close-quarters. Hawkeye gives long-range cover. Princess Phantom, stay on standby.”

Six Mechs hung in the sky like steel hawks over a burning nest, watching the village churn in chaos below.

“Copy.”

Boom—

Three black Mechs dropped like meteors into the village and began a relentless slaughter, a black tide swallowing alleys and courtyards.

To the eye, it was an ordinary village. In the shadows, it ran Anomalous Energy adaptation tests on civilians. Because it sat on the border, the national anomaly unit couldn’t move openly. So the Shadow Division took the commission.

“Captain, two jeeps on the northeast mountain road. They’ve slipped into a dead angle. Fire tracking rounds?”

Hawkeye’s voice crackled through the comms like cold rain on tin.

“…”

Tang Ke paused, then spoke like a blade set down on stone. “No. I’ll go. Rebel, after you clean up, search carefully. Look for basements or hidden facilities.”

“Understood.”

On the northeast trail, two jeeps tore over rutted earth like frightened deer bolting through scrub.

“Go! Faster! Those Shadow Division lunatics!”

In the lead jeep, a middle-aged man in a headscarf barked. In the back, two armed men sat with a girl in a white coat, a white mask pale as moonlight on her face.

Clang!!

A brutal jolt tossed the jeep like a boat in chop. From the girl’s bag, a small alloy vial fell and clinked against the floor like a bell.

“Hey! Watch it! That’s the pricey stuff!”

The boss leveled a pistol at her, the barrel a black snake.

“S-sorry…”

Her voice was crisp as glass, yet trembling like a leaf in wind.

“Boss! A Mech’s on our tail!”

“What!? Car Two, block him!”

He shouted into the radio, words snapping like sparks.

Swish—

Boom!!!!

A laser lanced through the night; the rear jeep blossomed into a fireball, heat rolling like a desert gust.

Beep—beep—

Tang Ke’s targeting reticle painted the last jeep in a red halo, steady as a hunter’s eye.

“Radioactive material detected in the forward jeep. Breach not advised.”

The system’s voice cut in, cool as frost.

“…”

Tang Ke slid his rifle away, the motion neat as folding a fan.

“Why isn’t he attacking?”

Inside the jeep, doubt swelled like smoke.

Bang!!!!

The jeep slammed into an invisible wall and stopped dead, bodies pitching forward like rag dolls tossed by a wave.

“Cough… cough…”

Five people stumbled out—four middle-aged men and the masked girl clutching her bag like a lifeline.

“Bastard!!!”

Ratatat—

The boss screamed and hosed the Mech with fire. Bullets hammered the pale-blue energy shield like rain on glass, never breaking the ghost-blue sheen.

“…”

Tang Ke watched them with a flat calm, then raised his longsword and surged forward, a sharp tide rushing the shore.

Shhk—shhk—

A fluid combo cut with water’s grace and storm’s ferocity. Two lives fell like severed reeds.

Swish—

Shhk—

Tang Ke drew a dagger from his waist and flicked it backhand. It flew like a hawk’s strike and nailed the man hefting a rocket tube.

“Ah!!!!”

The last man charged like a maddened bull. Veins bulged and burst along his forearms. Blood threads whipped out, weaving a scarlet web that bound Tang Ke’s sword arm.

“Tch.”

Tang Ke’s contempt for mutated Abnormals was ice-cold. He snapped his longsword into the air. His left hand caught it like plucking fruit, and hewed the man diagonally in two. Blood fanned like a red fan in wind.

“…”

Step by step, Tang Ke walked to the girl on the ground, a bag clutched tight against her chest. Fear shook her like winter in her bones, but she didn’t scream.

He crouched beside her and reached out, his hand steady as a quiet moon.

“No!!!!”

Fear burst. She curled into herself like a hedgehog under hail.

Tang Ke’s hand halted midair. He lightly tapped her head, a knuckle like a pebble against bark.

“Hey. Hand over the goods.”

“…”

She froze, then lifted her eyes. The Armor covered him head to toe; all she could see was a faceplate, cold light on metal. She, trembling, passed him the bag. He took it, glanced at her, then stepped back as the thrusters hummed to life like a growing ember.

“W-why…”

Her voice trembled like a thin string.

“Your eyes are beautiful, and pure. You’re not here by choice. Leave. Forget this. That’s how you live.”

Boom—

Tang Ke streaked into the night sky, a shooting star swallowed by cloud.

“…”

The girl stared at the fading light, her gaze trailing it like a river to sea.

“Shadow Division… Asura…”

——————————

Yanjing University. In a luxurious private recovery room, Tang Coco lay on a soft bed like a cloud-bank. Beside her sat Xue Jing, calm as fresh snow.

“Two years have passed. I didn’t expect we’d meet again. What surprises me most is… you look like this.”

Her hand traced Tang Coco’s cheek, a feather touch like frost on glass.

“Mm… mm…”

At last, Tang Coco surfaced from the dark like a swimmer breaking water. Her brows pinched, then her eyes slowly opened, night lamps reflected like stars.

“You…”

“Where is this?”

“The school’s recovery room.”

“Oh…”

Tang Coco let her eyes fall closed, then snapped them open like shutters sliding. She stared at Xue Jing.

“Right! You—who are you!?”

She tried to sit up. Strength slipped away like sand.

“Huh? What’s wrong with me?”

“Don’t worry. That potent sedative has a kick. In about an hour, the wave passes and you’ll get your strength back.”

“Why do this? Who put you up to it?”

Her brows knotted like storm clouds. She figured Xue Jing might be with those people at school.

“Those people? Which people?”

Now Xue Jing looked puzzled, head tilted like a curious bird.

“…”

Tang Coco stared at her, doubt a ripple in her eyes. Could it really not be?

“You really don’t recognize me. Fair. Two years ago I wore a mask. You didn’t see my face.”

“Two years ago…”

“Yes. You said… my eyes were beautiful.”

At that, Xue Jing’s cheeks flushed like peach blossoms.

“…”

Tang Coco dove into memory like sinking into a lake—beautiful eyes, a mask, two years ago…

!!!!

Suddenly it clicked, bright as a struck match—the girl on Huaguo’s northwest border. The girl she spared.

“You’re that girl!”

“Correct!”

“How are you here?”

“No choice. I’m a healing-type Abnormal. I survive under a strong banner.”

Xue Jing shrugged, hands open like empty cups.

“You’re a real beauty. Why use a male voice back then?”

Her eyes sparkled, interest like a cat watching string.

“…”

Tang Coco stayed silent, words locked like a sealed box.

“Alright, don’t say it then. I kinda know. You probably used a male voice to charm big sisters. The way you carry yourself these days is a bit guy-like.”

“…”

Tang Coco hadn’t expected Xue Jing to be this nosy. Still… she didn’t bother arguing, letting the wind pass.

“So what do you want? Revenge?”

“Huh? Why revenge?”

“Back then they dragged me to work for them. You were my lifesaver.”

“Is this how you treat your lifesaver?”

Tang Coco arched a brow, the look sharp as a quill.

“Hehe— I wasn’t sure. I’m a weak girl. If I guessed wrong and you, you know, it’d be bad.”

Xue Jing pulled a pitiful face, eyes big as a doe’s.

“…”

“You must be hungry. I brought food.”

“No. I’m not eating. What if you dosed it again?”

Tang Coco shot her a look, a flick like a whip.

“Aww— not this time.”

“Still not eating.”

“Nope—you can’t resist right now anyway.”

Xue Jing smiled, then raised the bed’s head slowly, like lifting a sunrise. She picked up the meal box, steam curling like a warm fog.

“…”

Tang Coco then lived through her first-ever forced feeding, each spoon a wave she couldn’t dodge.

——————————

Ten minutes later, Tang Coco was full, the calm settling like silt.

“Alright. Do you actually want something?”

“Me? Nope—”

“Seriously? You knocked me out and dragged me here just to tell me you’re that girl?”

“Well… if I have to say I want something…”

Xue Jing tapped her chin, thinking, eyes drifting like kites. Then she spoke.

“I want to follow you!”

“Pfft— cough…”

Tang Coco almost sprayed the food, surprise popping like popcorn.

“What did you say? Are you messing with me?”

“No. I want to follow you. In ten days you return to Ninghai, right? I’m going with you.”

“Why? You’re a grown woman. You can’t just latch onto people like a burr.”

“…”

“Not like that. I can do a lot. I know the school’s curriculum; I can teach. And I’m an S-class healing-type Abnormal. I just hit S-class, but many orgs fight to recruit me.”

“…”

“Also, I can be a nanny. Housework and cooking—I’m good.”

“…”

“Give me a reason I can accept.”

Tang Coco still couldn’t swallow it, the words dry as old bread.

Xue Jing hesitated, then lowered her head, cheeks flushing like sunset. “I like you.”

“…”

Tang Coco’s eyes narrowed, speechless, her face a blank page staring at Xue Jing.

“It’s sincere! I’ve been digging into Shadow Division for two years. Few people know anything. I kept thinking—if I could marry you… it would count as repaying you.”

Her face burned redder, like embers under ash.

“!!!”

Tang Coco was stunned. She didn’t look like she was joking—her voice was a steady drum.

“But I didn’t expect you’re a woman. Still… I don’t mind.”

The more she spoke, the redder she got, color blooming like spring.

“What the hell…”

Tang Coco hadn’t known she had a fangirl like this, a surprise dropping like a stone.

“Um… I…”

Tang Coco started, awkward as tangled threads, but Xue Jing cut in, gentle as a hand smoothing silk.

“I know it’s sudden. You can’t accept it now. It’s fine. Let me follow you. I’ll let you know me, little by little.”

“…”

Tang Coco saw the seriousness in her eyes, clear as river water, and thought in silence. In the end she sighed, helpless as a leaf in current. “I’ll think about it.”

“Mm! I’m looking forward to your reply!”

“Alright. Different topic. I checked your body.”

“Pfft— what!?”

Tang Coco almost spat again. Every sentence from this girl was a curveball.

“Hey— don’t twist it. I used my Anomaly Power to run a diagnostic.”

“Say it clearly!”

“Sigh… Inside you, there are two energies that repel each other. No—calling them Anomalous Energy isn’t quite right. They’re two kinds I’ve never seen.”

“Energies that repel each other?”

“Yes. Right now, they’re in a relative balance, like two tides holding each other. But it’s not stable.”

“Is that so...” Her voice fell like a droplet onto quiet water, leaving a small ring of doubt.

A tight ache pressed in Tang Coco’s chest before she lowered her head. Two currents, coiling like twin dragons—must be the Clock of Power and the Fate Clock. In that dream‑realm, the Fate Clock had said the first Tang Coco of that world was set by the Clock of Power to shatter the balance. Then Fate Clock infused power, ink spilling across her mind, and changed her consciousness. Yet now, that iron taste of the Clock of Power still hummed inside her veins, like a bell trapped under skin.

“What’re you thinking?” The question brushed her ear like a cool breeze through bamboo.

“Nothing.” The word dropped light as a leaf, then sank.

“My strength’s mostly back.” She lifted her hand; fingers trembled like reeds after rain.

“Of course. When would I ever lie to you?” The smile flashed like sun on ice.

“Oh, cut it out. Yesterday you lied about some ‘healing shot.’” She fired the line like a pebble at glass.

She rolled her eyes at Xue Jing, a blade’s quick glint, then let it fall.

“Uh...” His voice broke like a twig underfoot.

“Alright, here—this is for you. I got you a dress. A classmate said they’d come by later. You can’t go out in that torn thing.” Her tone was warm as lamplight behind paper.

Xue Jing handed Tang Coco a white chiffon long dress, floating like first snow over a river.

“...” Silence pooled between them, moon‑still.

Tang Coco took it. The ragged hem on her own dress frayed like a chewed rope; it wasn’t fit for daylight.

“Thanks.” The word was small, like a seed in palm.

“No need to be polite~” Her laugh tinkled like wind chimes.

“Step out. I need to change.” Heat rose to her cheeks like dawn.

“Go ahead—we’re both girls~” She waved it off, carefree as a sparrow.

“Out!!” The shout cracked like a bamboo switch.

“...” The quiet closed like a door of fog.

Tap‑tap‑tap‑tap... Footfalls stitched the hallway like a needle through cloth.

Standing by the door, Xue Jing soon caught the crisp click of high heels, pecking like a woodpecker on old bark. She looked up—it was the girl from yesterday.

“You’re here~” Her smile lifted like steam from tea.

“Hello, Teacher Xue Jing. How’s Coco?” Mo Zitong’s voice bowed smooth, like silk over jade.

“She’s fine~ You can go in~” Relief spread like warm soup on a cold night.

“Okay~ Thanks for taking care of her, Teacher Xue Jing~” Gratitude flowed like clear spring water.

“No problem~” She answered, light as a feather.

Click— The latch spoke, a steel note in the quiet.

Mo Zitong pushed the door and stepped in, the room’s air rippling like a curtain.

“Didn’t I say you can’t come in?!” The words slammed like thunder against a hard wall.

Thump! A pillow flew and smacked Mo Zitong’s face, soft as a cloud, sudden as a stone.