Metal plates sheared cleanly at aquamarine joints, then orbited the main frame like petals breaking from a steel flower.

The special fiber that had covered the front seat unfurled and wrapped Ms Feng. Heavy, layered plates clicked onto that fiber skin, hugging her torso like cold bark.

Her limbs were swallowed by metal. Only the joints stayed bare. Twin wings mounted onto the back of her sleek breastplate, and the leftover materials fused into a pentagonal shield with a sunken center. An oval canopy sat in its face. An Arcane Firearm rested in the recess like a seed in a pod.

Scraps and the control console mashed together into a helmet—ugly, drafty, and useless against grit. That, Ms Feng truly despised.

In full armor, her height rose from over one seventy to about two and a half meters. The weight dragged her down like a falling anvil. Only the wings’ thrust let her drift to a careful landing.

Walking felt off at first. She popped the helmet off and steadied herself with her tentacles, like roots finding soil.

Because their ray craft were two units coupled, Night Frost also found an identical suit clamped to her body.

“So this is the Alpha Armor?!”

Nine parts awe flooded Night Frost. It lasted a breath. Then the metal’s weight hit like a mountain on her back, pinning her spine into a bow.

She strained, but nothing moved. Inch by inch, the armor drove her toward the ground like a piling hammer.

Ms Feng, in the same suit, walked up with ease, eyes thoughtful, calm as a winter lake.

“This thing needs real strength. Your mana’s sealed. Even if you burned it all, you still couldn’t move.”

“Then turn it back for me. It’s… kinda heavy…”

She didn’t finish. She toppled. The crash boomed like thunder. Birds burst skyward. Small beasts scattered.

Turning rays into human form meant little. Ms Feng simply wanted to test flexibility and combat grit. At a glance, ordinary people and those at First Symphony couldn’t handle it at all.

Cantata Two didn’t need this suit. It would only shackle her. If this is the ceiling, its users are few and obvious—cyborgs, and the fully converted kind.

Anyone else would be cocooned and helpless. Useless.

They said the suit mimicked a Magic Maiden’s outfit. Tests claimed that leather and fiber matched the Magic Layer of a strong Magic Maiden. Who knew if that was true.

Ms Feng told Night Frost to just say “Outfit Release.” It worked like regular Magic Armor. But to stand shoulder to shoulder with a Magic Maiden’s garb, the road was long, and the Gene Cult would be on the rise meanwhile.

“Whew… it’s killing me. And it’s so stuffy.”

Night Frost lay on the ray’s wing, sweat beading. The air’s cool bite woke her like a splash of spring water. She’d wanted to taste that so‑called man’s romance, but she didn’t have the strength to drive it.

She glanced at the ray on the ground, then at the Obsidian Stone bracelet etched with Array Patterns on her wrist, eyes full of longing.

She was still picturing a male version of herself swaggering in armor when a clear female voice, tangled with messy footsteps, cut through her daydream.

“Hello, Doctor. And miss.”

The black‑clad men donned Alpha Armor and vanished into an underground passage, leaving a black‑haired woman standing before them, gentle smile like porcelain glaze.

“The negotiations went smoothly. My master has been waiting.”

Ms Feng didn’t bother with a pleasant face. Soft on the surface, this one was ice underneath. In her hands, few met good ends.

Rouge Rabbit’s boss had sent her to watch Ms Feng and the Night Frost she brought back. She shouldn’t have appeared here otherwise. The boss had likely known Ms Feng’s arrival time and planted her at the door.

“I know. I’m going now.”

“Then I’ll escort this young lady to the lab level? I presume—”

Ms Feng flicked her hand and cut her off.

“I’ll take her to my dorm. Don’t trouble yourself. Do your job. We don’t interfere.”

She hauled Night Frost up, shouldered past the woman, and stepped into the elevator.

Like the one in the Modification Center of District Twenty One, this lift ran deep. Two, three minutes sank by before it reached bottom.

Night Frost expected a copy of District Twenty One inside. But what spilled through the opening doors stunned her.

Low buildings stretched out in rows, each window bright as a lantern, turning the black underworld into day. Not an organization underground. An underground city.

The street ran without an end. People flowed along crisscrossing lanes like rivers of lanterns. At the mouth of the street, Night Frost rubbed her eyes. For a moment she couldn’t tell if she’d come to a syndicate or a bustling night market buried beneath rock.

“This… is really an underground organization?”

Ms Feng nodded. She’d been floored too when she first came. Broad. Thriving. Nothing like a snake‑pit in the dark that everyone cursed. More like a surface city cast underground.

Faces on the street lit up when they saw Ms Feng and Night Frost. Some hurried over, ready to give Night Frost a warm welcome.

“Hey, hey, hey—”

Night Frost spun, dizzy under all the attention. She didn’t understand a thing yet. Their sudden warmth crashed over her like a wave.

“They’re residents. Some were thrown away by other districts. Some are retired, wounded mercs. The Twelfth District’s border should have places like this too. Rouge Rabbit shelters them. They live here free. They probably think you’re the new one.”

Ms Feng paused, eyes cutting to the black‑haired shadow that wouldn’t let go. She pushed Night Frost forward and tossed her the Key to her room.

“Honestly, that was my plan anyway.”

She scanned the backs of the crowd and spotted a girl in an ill‑fitting white T‑shirt. She walked over, slipped a candy drop into the girl’s palm, and smiled.

“In a while, take this big sister to the blue house by the market, okay? The same place as before.”

The girl nodded. Ms Feng ruffled her hair, then turned, face sinking like dusk, and strode to the black‑haired woman.

Others noticed her too. Cheers died in a blink. The crowd scattered like dry leaves in wind. Only the little girl stayed, gripping Night Frost’s sleeve and hiding behind her.

“Let’s go, Doctor.”

“Let me change first.”

Ms Feng kept her chill, followed the black‑haired woman, and took the elevator again.

Night Frost saw it all. She was new and lost, but anyone could tell the black‑haired woman wasn’t kind. Her power ran deep enough to steer this place with a glance.

Night Frost looked at her wrist. She couldn’t crack this Obsidian Stone Array Pattern limiter her nominal master had carved. She’d be here a while. With that woman around, it wouldn’t be peaceful.

“Alright, let’s go. Don’t be scared… big sister’s here.”

Night Frost took the girl’s small hand and soothed her in a low voice.

The girl relaxed. A smile bloomed again. She was lively. She tugged Night Frost and ran, brownish ponytail swaying like a bell rope. She seemed tireless.

Night Frost, by contrast, ran out of breath in a dozen steps. Typical college student.

She surrendered and claimed a chair by the street. The girl kept chattering, pointing out everything with pride. Each spot seemed etched in her mind. She guarded this place like treasure.

She said she’d been here since birth. She’d never gone out. This was home.

“Right, what’s your name?”

“I’m Yin Chen Yue. My mom picked it. She said I should grow like everything in spring, happy and bright! Though I’ve never seen spring.”

Yin Chen Yue twirled in front of Night Frost. Her eyes were full of innocence, bright as the moon. Yet beneath the glow, a thin seam of sorrow hid.

“If I get to leave, I’ll take you to see spring. How about it?”

Hope chased the sorrow from her eyes. She waved her arms, stammering with excitement.

“R-really?!”

Watching lively Yin Chen Yue, Night Frost drifted back to her own childhood. Chen Xiaoyin had been just as lively. Wilder, really. Not girlish at all… tomboy fit better.

Who would’ve thought she’d grow into the opposite—nagging like an aunt. It’d been a while since Night Frost heard her nag. She almost missed it.

Night Frost stroked the Obsidian Stone bracelet on her wrist. She probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon. She hoped Chen Xiaoyin and Qianchun could take care of themselves.