Across countless worlds: Yearning to become a giant of light.

Chapter 64 'A Narrow Escape' - Daigo's Team
"Yo, you guys are back! We've got some information on the space monster! Hey, what's going on with you guys? Daigo, Shinjo, and... Rena?"

When Horii saw the three people returning from their vacation in the conference room, he originally wanted to go up and share the good news, but as soon as he got close, he noticed that the atmosphere between the three of them was very heavy.

This made him unconsciously speak in a very cautious tone.

"Did you not have fun yesterday?"

"How could that be? 'Someone' had a lot of fun."

Lina crossed her arms and sat down in the conference room, speaking in a somewhat harsh tone.

"..."

Although Daigo behind her didn't say a word, judging from his restless appearance, he was clearly the 'someone' that Rena was talking about.

As for the new town?

He still seems to have some existential doubts.

"What's wrong with everyone? Is there really a problem with just one day off?"

Even Megumi and Munakata couldn't help but look over, while Nozue, sitting behind the computer, secretly peeked out to observe.

Among them, Megumi, who had been through similar experiences, keenly noticed Lina's emotions; it was obvious that she was jealous.

It's this strong flavor...

Lina, you're making no attempt to hide it at all.

However, now is not the time for her to step in and offer guidance as a 'big sister'; she has to wait until Lina's emotions have calmed down.

"Hey, Shinjo, tell me... what exactly happened?"

Horii quickly pulled Shinjo aside to ask him questions.

"what happened……"

When Horii said that, Shinjo recalled the scene last night where Daigo was pinned against the wall by a certain white-haired beauty, and he couldn't help but feel sad.

"Horie, look at me. I'm a handsome guy, right? Why doesn't a single beautiful woman with a great figure throw herself at me?"

What are you dreaming about?

Horii instinctively made a sarcastic remark about Shinjo.

But then he realized what he had done and turned to look at Daigo, who seemed to have done something wrong.

Xincheng wouldn't say something like that for no reason.

So the only possibility is that Daigo was embraced by a girl yesterday, and Rena and Shinjo happened to witness it.

Thinking about this, Horii was quite envious.

I also want girls to throw themselves at me...

However, there is one thing he has to admit.

"Daigo is indeed very popular..."

Lina: ...?! (Death stare)

"Um... well, it's just average."

Startled by Lina's glare, Horii quickly changed his tune.

But it seems to have the opposite effect.

Lina: ... (Dissatisfied)

"I... Oops!"

Horii was truly on the verge of tears.

Praising me is wrong, not praising me is wrong, what do you want?
Alas! A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.

"I remember you guys went to New York, right? It's a cosmopolitan city like that, so the atmosphere is a bit more open, and the chances of encountering something like this are not nonexistent."

Zongfang quickly came out to cover for Daigu.

However, Daigo found the reason given by Munakata somewhat unacceptable. He didn't want to equate Camilla with America's party girl, so he spoke up to explain.

"No, that person is a friend of mine..."

However, before he could finish speaking, Daigo regretted it. "Eh~ so you're friends."

Lina raised an eyebrow.

Intermediary Megumi and Munakata could only sigh helplessly.

Daigo, why did you suddenly self-destruct?
"If we're just friends, isn't such close physical contact a bit strange?"

Daigo started sweating profusely.

"And since she's a friend, why won't Daigo tell us her name?"

How to answer this?

He didn't even ask Camilla's other name (human name), how could he possibly answer that!

Moreover, I only recently named the Female Titan [Camilla], and now a female friend named Camilla has already thrown herself at me. If people start making wild connections and drawing all sorts of conclusions, things will get really bad!

Thinking about this, Daigo felt like his brain was about to explode, and his lips trembled as he didn't know how to speak.

"Ahem! I think you might be overthinking it, Lina."

Seeing the atmosphere turn to freezing, Horii, after a moment's thought, spoke up to defend Daigo.

"You've known Daigo for so long, you know him well. Unless it's a very special situation, he wouldn't be so silent."

"So that woman must really just be a friend that Daigo hasn't seen in a long time, to the point that Daigo has even forgotten her name. This sudden reunion... it's quite normal for him to hug her."

At that moment, Horii's figure became incredibly majestic in Daigo's eyes!

"Yes, yes, that's right!"

Daigo nodded in agreement.

hug?
That's called a "wall slam" (壁咚), okay?

Daigo, if you were forced, just say so, and I can forgive you.

However, Lina did not continue to lash out (yawning), as she could not get any information about the 'enemy' from them for the time being.

Therefore, she plans to retreat in order to advance.

"Hmph, that makes some sense..."

"Horie, I owe you a favor!"

Daigo looked at Horii with great gratitude, unaware that Rena behind him was secretly glaring at him, as if to say that this matter was not over yet.

"Ahem! Since there's nothing else here, I should talk about that space monster. According to the Space Development Agency's analysis of the 'skin' that detached from the monster's shell, they discovered that it contained components from the shell of the Jeep III."

Horii, finally able to get straight to the point, quickly corrected his tone.

"What?! There's been progress on Jeep No. 3?!"

Xincheng, who was initially feeling a bit down, immediately perked up when he heard this topic.

Lina quickly adjusted her posture and straightened up.

Daigo, who was sitting down next to her, deliberately kept a little distance from Rena.

Megumi Kijima: "Team member Nozue, put the information you found on Dr. Ezaki's computer on the big screen."

"Ok."

After a few simple steps, Ye Rui displayed the image on the large screen in the conference room.

Fortunately, because Daigo and Shinjo had a day off and everyone didn't get together for a meeting, Norizuki wasn't in the meeting room when he was investigating Dr. Ezaki's computer backend.

Therefore, there are no awkward situations like in the TV show where one moment everyone is saying, "Is there really no hope for the members of Jeep Three?" and the next moment Nori suddenly shouts, "Great!"

However, the information left by Dr. Ezaki was not good news. Their bodies, along with Jeep III, were fused into monsters by a light sphere life form that suddenly appeared in space.

Worst of all, TPC had no idea about the condition of the Jeep 3 members inside the monster, let alone how to rescue them.

And not long after, the super Ligatron, which had escaped into outer space, landed on Earth again, its target still being humanity's high-purity energy storage base. This time, it brought with it a group of buffet... ah, no, a group of Spheres.

TPC also issued a formal order to eliminate the monster.

(End of this chapter)