Magical Girl MAYA stared, stunned, at the spiral-twisted maw yawning beneath the tiny plane, like a whirlpool drilled into stone.
The tunnel-boring machine’s roar died after a brief tantrum. Silence settled, thick as dust.
Lu Yao nudged the stick. The plane rose slow, like a kite feeling for wind.
MAYA crawled up beside her, voice small. “Are we… just leaving like this? Aren’t they your teammates? If they’re in danger—”
“I’m not their teammate.”
Lu Yao kept her face cold. “I have other business.”
“What business?”
“To wipe out the Twin Towers’ remnants.”
“But she told us to protect civilians…”
Lu Yao ignored her.
Bored, MAYA flopped onto her back, limbs spread like a starfish. The phone in her arms chimed.
She picked up, pressed it to her ear.
“Kiddo, you doin’ alright in the city? The rice’s ready to harvest at home. You coming back to help?”
…
“Qin?”
“…Mm.”
At that voice, the calm she’d pieced together unraveled. Her lips worked, her breath snagging. She squeezed out three heavy words:
“Coming home.”
She hung up and covered her face with her arm.
Lu Yao spoke first, rare for her. “Not a hero anymore?”
MAYA shook her head gently.
“No more Magical Girl MAYA. From now on, Zhou Jianqin’s Spiral Force exists only to shield her family.”
Not bad either… If Yekase were here, she’d say that. For no clear reason, Lu Yao thought so.
It might be worth probing her instructor when we get back.
“But I’ll see this graduation through to the end.”
The little plane carried them out of the administrative gates and back into the residential sector.
No clash of weapons here, no tongues of fire; but the rampaging fighters had turned everything into something perilously close to ruin.
They’ll evacuate staff and families soon anyway. No one’s staying here… Zhou Jianqin thought.
“You’re heading to the upper levels to finish the last fights, right?”
Lu Yao nodded.
“I’ll hop off here. Sweep the residential blocks, see if any stragglers slipped the net.”
Lu Yao nodded.
“Tell those two for me. Say this hero dream— I loved it.”
“I’m not close with—”
Zhou Jianqin vanished into the sea of shipping containers.
“…”
Lu Yao climbed alone.
Near the ground-level floors at last, the world got noisy again—fighters tangling, shouting, steel biting air.
She stood on the little plane, surveying the field, when the deck lurched under her boots. Instinct snapped; she drew and wheeled—only to see a massive figure drop onto the wing.
“…Captain.”
Heavy, golden armor rounded like a sphere, limbs and helm jutting out. Pudgy, almost comical.
His record was anything but.
One of the Seven Iron Heroes—“Captain.”
“Little Silver! You made it back alive!”
His voice was bigger than his armor. Lu Yao’s face pinned an unmistakable look of annoyance; she cupped her ears.
“Heard you hit the boss! If you’re here, that means it worked, yeah?”
“…As good as done.”
“Hah! Hahaha! Youth worth fearing!”
The Captain’s steel palm thumped her shoulder; she nearly toppled.
“Ah! Overshot the force—my bad!”
“…”
“We can’t fall behind either! Away game’s rough, but we’re holding. Thanks to the staff families!”
“They helped you…?”
“They know every shortcut! With them guiding the nuns through the flank, our front line could breathe and hold!”
Lu Yao looked to the rear where he pointed. Beyond “Lily” and “Bull,” she saw clusters of figures in work uniforms.
“Enough talk. I’ll go rack a few more! Enjoy the fight, PeaceWarrior!”
He laughed three times and leaped from the plane.
A codename like “PeaceWarrior,” yet enjoy the fight—doesn’t that clash…? One by one, like they weren’t afraid of death…
Lu Yao felt it again—her life being tugged forward, dragged by people too warm, too loud.
It began with the Beast King Squadron—after losing them, her days got snared, shackled by vengeance—
Then another pack seized her by the wrist and folded her into their ranks.
How did it end up like this?
It felt like she hadn’t taken a single step by her own will.
Something nameless rose from the deep of her chest, a weather front she couldn’t map. Faces of five from Beast King Squadron flickered—one face, impishly scribbled out—her sternum felt stuck with grit.
She dispersed Part 3 and dropped to the ground, slipping into the busy crowd.
“—Well, if it isn’t Yao-Yao?”
At that voice, Lu Yao flinched sideways on reflex, but those arms caught her anyway, pulling her into a hug.
“…Wait—”
“Long time no see. Did you grow? Hmm? Still scowling. Keep it up and your face muscles’ll atrophy.”
Lu Yao endured in silence as two warm weights squished against her cheeks.
This big, bigger-than-big powerhouse was called “Bixiu One” in her gladiator days. An 86% win rate, crowned Battle God.
Codename—“Bull.”
…Why “Bull”? The Seven Iron Heroes all asked it.
Because “Cow” sounds weird. Imagine someone shouting that on a battlefield—what would it turn into?
Picture this: cracked ruins, only Bixiu One and an enemy officer facing off, both bleeding.
“Cow! I’ll kill you today!”
A pink bubble filter slaps over the scene. No—absolutely not.
“I heard you made a new friend! She’s the famous Flashblade Red? You really have a fate with squads. How does that saying go? A chance meeting’s a bond from a past life!”
“Not a friend…”
Bull flicked Lu Yao’s nose. “Still sulking. You fought side by side; what else is that if not friendship? Listen, Yao-Yao, I know you can’t let go of your old team. But if they knew you found new friends, they’d be happy for you.”
“…”
“Any injuries? You must be hungry after fighting this long?”
“No—”
Something stiff jammed into her mouth.
“—Mmph?!”
“Have some beef jerky. Get your strength up. Look how skinny you are.”
Lu Yao’s eyes lost their shine. She surrendered.
She’s a veteran, a decorated elder… If she treats you like a kid, you put up with it…
Good thing those two aren’t here to see this.
…
…
…Ling Yi woke to a stab of pain.
What… happened…
Her mind crawled out of the fog, but sight stayed black, like a cave where your own hand disappears.
Right—she and Yekase were deep underground, inside the tunnel-boring machine, dueling the Emerald Pool boss turned slime—
Psssh—
A far-off hiss, like air letting go. Two status lines: Eden Type-0—Luciferin detected pilot waking; opening cockpit. Ling Yi felt herself drop, then thud to the floor.
“Ugh…”
Pain everywhere. Even Mind Energy’s recovery lagged?
No—Ling Yi wore a mech on the outside, armor layered over, Mind Energy humming inside. With all that protection, and it still hurts this bad—what about the Doctor, who took it with raw Flash Energy?!
“Doctor! Doctor—”
Too dark. Ling Yi sparked what Mind Energy she had left, pushing a weak light outward.
Barely enough to recognize the room they’d wrecked.
The slime once called the Chaoliang Swarm clung to the wall like snot baked onto a barbecue grate—twisted, fixed in a grotesque pose, every molecule dried hard. No movement at all.
Polaris Staff still stuck in its body.
…
But no Doctor in sight.
Right before the blast, the Doctor should’ve been right in front of Eden Type-0’s chest—that’s why Ling Yi had grabbed for her, on instinct. She blacked out the next second, so she didn’t know if she succeeded. But with the mech shielding them, she shouldn’t have flown far.
“Doctor—? Doctor, where are you—?”
Ling Yi circled the room once. Nothing.
Then start up the mech. Expand the search. Please don’t let the first step collapse the ceiling…
She clambered back into the cockpit, set hands and feet into their cradles. The cover sealed; vision went black, then cut to a top-down feed.
And she saw it:
In Eden Type-0’s half-curled left palm, something lay cradled against its chest.
A… red egg.
“…?”
Smooth, glossy surface. The material… looked exactly like the Doctor’s new dress?
Uh?
No way.
“Doctor? Doctor, did you turn into an egg?!”
Silence from the egg, then two little tremors.
A point bulged at the top.
A fist punched through the shell.
“…Doctor?”
Maybe it was the mech’s scaling, but that hand looked smaller than she remembered.
Another hand tore the hole wider—wide enough for a whole body to climb out.
Yekase popped upright with a wet slap.
Her expression clearly hadn’t caught up with wakefulness. Dead-fish eyes duller than usual. Hair soaked in some strange liquid, plastered to brow and cheeks.
“Mmnh aaah… wah-ow—”
She yawned in a language no one speaks, full of secret rites.
Then she blinked.
Her body… felt light.
Especially the chest— the pair of headlights she’d only recently gotten used to… seemed gone.
How could that be?
Her brain ground forward like rusted gears without oil, but it moved.
Her body seemed…
“…D-Doctor?”
“I’m here.”
Yekase spoke around a crooked pout.
“Looks like this is page three of my evolution.”
