Chapter 47: Late Night Visit
“Well, well, Shura.”
“…Ming Jia.” Even through the electronic filter, Lin Feng’s voice from within the Shura armor seethed with barely contained rage and deep wariness.
Zero struggled to lift her head, her blood-blurred vision catching the imposing purple-gold figure standing protectively before her, like an unyielding bulwark. The menacing metal claws on his arms glinted coldly in the night.
“Heh.” Ming Jia let out an ambiguous chuckle. “Your armor’s been fixed up nicely.” He appraised Lin Feng slowly, as if admiring a piece of art. “The Hermit’s craftsmanship won’t die out, it seems.”
“Be… careful…” Zero’s consciousness was slipping fast. Squeezing out her last strength, she whispered brokenly to Shura, “His power… might be time… cough!”
A wrenching cough cut her off, hot blood spilling from her pale lips.
“Oh, the little lady’s fading fast,” Ming Jia said, tilting his head with mock regret. “Fine. For the Hermit’s sake, I’ll let you in on my power, so she can die knowing.”
“My [Time Demon] devours a dozen seconds of the world’s time. In that erased span, only I can act—everyone else feels nothing of it.”
Zero could no longer make out his words. Her world darkened, sounds and shapes warping into a distant blur. Ming Jia’s voice reached her in fragments, incoherent.
“Tch, she won’t last my explanation. Pity.” Ming Jia shook his head at her dimming eyes, his tone as detached as if discussing the weather.
“Shura, for the sake of your grandfather’s brief camaraderie with me…” He bent down, gently lifting the unconscious, gravely injured Reida, his tenderness jarring against his earlier cruelty. “This girl, Zero, I’ll leave to you. Live or die, your call.”
Cradling Reida, he tilted his head, the Noh mask gleaming pale under the moonlight, his voice laced with eerie delight. “And a parting gift: the desperate cries of a dying bird… they’re quite melodious.”
In the final moment before Zero’s consciousness sank into darkness, she saw the masked man vanish like ink in water, holding the golden knight. Then, the familiar Shura armor lunged toward her, tinged with frantic urgency—
[Status Check…]
[Individual Physiological Parameters… Critically Unstable]
[Warning: Individual Physiological Parameters Extremely Low]
[Assessment: Activate Medical Module, Greatly Enhance Self-Repair… Preparing Execution]
[Admin System Detected, Operation Paused, Control Transferred]
[Admin System No Response…]
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” Beneath Shura’s faceplate, Lin Feng’s face was ashen. Staring at the blood-soaked, barely breathing Zero in his arms, his usually playful chestnut eyes brimmed with raw panic and guilt for the first time.
His trembling hands pulled every emergency supply from the armor’s medical bay, frantically injecting adrenaline, life-stabilizing fluids, and nano-repair agents into her icy body.
Why didn’t he stock more medical supplies? He had clearance to request them! Why waste time at that cursed meeting? Why not monitor A-Cheng’s vitals closer?
His teeth nearly shattered, a mix of murderous rage and crushing regret threatening to drown his reason. He could feel her life slipping away, his efforts only slowing the inevitable. He was on the edge of madness.
No, I can’t lose it now! He forced down the consuming fury. Chasing that monster wasn’t the priority—saving Zero, saving A-Cheng, was. He needed a doctor, now!
Ouroboros’s medical wing? No, their doctors served the Queen and the organization. Taking A-Cheng there was like feeding her to wolves—if her identity was exposed, she’d face a fate worse than death as a breeding vessel!
Public hospitals or private clinics? Useless. Ming Jia’s magic and Reida’s “Justice” wounds couldn’t be treated with mundane means—transfusions and drugs might hasten her death. Only magic could heal her!
His mind raced through options, landing on one faint hope.
Even if it was a long shot, he had to try!
Lin Feng tore off the dark-gold cloak from Shura’s back, gently wrapping Zero’s frail, barely pulsing body to shield her bloodied form.
[Flight Core, Activate]
Twin streams of blazing energy erupted from the armor’s back. He shot into the sky as a purple-gold meteor, racing toward the one place that might hold a sliver of hope!
2:19 AM, Duhuang City, East Port District, Baisheng Garden Complex.
Lin Yao Yao closed her workbook, exhaling. The crushing weight of senior-year studies felt like a boulder on her shoulders, compounded by after-school shifts at a convenience store to support her family. Sleep was a luxury she could barely afford.
She’d considered asking for help. Her teammates were kind; they’d jump to assist if she showed the slightest struggle. The Association offered aid for members’ hardships too.
But Lin Yao Yao’s pride—or rather, her stubborn refusal to show weakness—rejected shortcuts. People knew her warmth and kindness, but few saw the iron resolve beneath. She’d rely on herself—her hands, her work, her studies, her battles—to hold up her broken family. She’d prove to the lofty woman who abandoned her and her siblings that she could thrive without her, better than that woman ever imagined.
Just a bit more effort, and her sacrifices would bear fruit.
She stood, quietly entering the small bedroom where her younger siblings slept soundly on a shared bed. She tucked the blanket over her mischievous brother, a rare, heartfelt smile softening her tired face.
As she turned to her cramped room, she froze.
A cold, ominous purple-gold armor loomed before her, filling her vision.
Her pupils shrank. Before she could process how it got in, her body reacted, reaching for the transformation crystal in her pajama pocket.
But a massive hand, unyielding, grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
“What… what do you want?! If you touch my family—” Lin Yao Yao’s hushed voice trembled with fear, her free hand shielding her sleeping siblings.
“Save someone,” the hoarse, urgent voice from the armor cut through, laced with barely restrained panic.
“Save her!”