KOF: Rise of the King of Fighters

“Anger solves nothing. In your current state, rushing into NESTS would just make you another piece of a dismantled machine.”

Maxima's body stiffened abruptly, his clenched fist loosened slightly, and the creaking sound at his joints gradually subsided.

Yes.

What's the point of anger?

NESTS has bases all over the world, and Acrom is never short of elite mechanical soldiers and cyborgs.

Yan Yue continued, "Now that Acrom has obtained all your experimental data from Makijima, I think only Makijima might know it."

"Then tell me... what should I do?" Maxima's voice was terribly hoarse, the mechanical strain of his vocal cords carrying a hint of bewilderment he himself didn't even realize. "Right now, all I want is revenge..."

Yan Yue turned around and looked at the rising sun in the east. The sunlight shone on his profile, outlining a cold and hard profile.

"I need to go back to NESTS..."

"You're going back?" K, who had been leaning against the bulkhead, finally spoke, suppressing the burgeoning flames of Kusanagi, and looked at Engetsu curiously. "What are you thinking?"

Yan Yue turned her head and answered, "The person who saved me..."

“You mean them…” K suddenly remembered that he had briefly fought with the Nameless when he challenged Noah alone before.

After calming down, Maxima thought, "But going back now is simply not realistic..."

"Therefore, we still need your cooperation..."

"cooperate?"

“First, repair K’s mechanical glove.” Yan Yue’s gaze fell on K’s right arm. “We now have three objectives that must be accomplished. I’ve currently controlled the flames on your arm, but they’re very unstable. If they get out of control again, it will put us all in danger…”

K's brows furrowed sharply, and he instinctively clenched his right arm, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes.

Yan Yue's gaze lingered on his tense profile for a moment, and her tone deepened.

"Currently, the only ones in NESTS who might have the technology to completely repair this glove are Dr. Makijima and Acrom."

These words made K's fingertips tremble violently. He looked up at Yan Yue, a sharp glint flashing in his cold eyes: "What is your purpose this time?"

"This time, I simply wanted to save people..."

“Moreover, the technology that Makijima possesses can repair more than just your gloves.” Engetsu turned to Maxima, who was silent to the side.

"When Acrom first retrieved Loki, it seemed he had developed an even more terrifying weapon based on the Jaeger, and it appears he had premeditated this with Zero..."

Yan Yue recounted the encounter with the Zero Cannon during her pursuit of Loki.

Maxima's mechanical eyes suddenly lit up, a crimson light instantly replacing the gray: "A large-scale offensive weapon jointly developed by Zero and Acrom...??"

"I don't have evidence at the moment, but it was indeed created by Acrom when he was developing Loki..."

I think, Maxima, you'd better go back and investigate..."

After Yan Yue finished speaking, her gaze turned worried. "On my own side, regarding my subordinates—Nameless and Isolde."

Those were my companions from NESTS. If NESTS declares me a defector, they will certainly be executed by the organization's higher-ups... or have their bodies recycled for even more cruel experiments..."

Yan Yue continued, "Nameless... is a clone created by mixing the genes of Kyo Kusanagi and K in the NESTS universe..."

Isolde, she was also one of those sacrificed in Project Z. I was the only one who saved her because I was there...

If her identity is exposed now, she will be the first person to be eliminated…

"I know you don't trust me."

This time, Yan Yue's voice was filled with unprecedented sincerity, "But I really... have no other way... I hope you can help me go back."

K raised an eyebrow and kicked the bulkhead: "What do I care if they live or die?"

"It's related!" Yan Yue suddenly looked up. "Because the person I'm trying to save is inextricably linked to you and Zero's conspiracy!"

K remained silent, feeling somewhat hesitant.

He stared into Yan Yue's eyes for a full half minute, trying to find a trace of a lie. But Yan Yue's gaze was honest and firm, without the slightest evasion.

“I can help you…” K finally relented. Although somewhat doubtful, he lowered his stance. After all, Yan Yue had helped K before.

“However, I want to change my condition. After rescuing Isolde and the Nameless One, you must take me to see Whip immediately… I need to ascertain the truth…”

“No problem.” Yan Yue agreed without hesitation, her Nen energy gently surging in her palm. “As long as we can get out of Antarctica alive.”

His gaze shifted to Maxima, and he asked calmly, "And you, Maxima? Are you willing to cooperate with us?"

Maxima's mechanical eyes gleamed, and in his mind flashed Tom's smile and the images of his Alpha Squad brothers.

Go to Antarctica, rescue people, find the research data for the Zero Cannon, and then... return to NESTS and confront Dr. Makijima and Acrom face to face.

Once this thought arose, it spread like wildfire, instantly engulfing his entire consciousness.

He slowly raised his head, and the light in his mechanical eyes shed all confusion and anger, leaving only a cold resolve. He looked at Yan Yue, then at K, his voice hoarse but incredibly firm: "I join."

Yan Yue looked at the resolute look in his eyes, and a slow smile crept onto her lips. He stretched out his hand, palm up.

"make a deal."

K looked at Yan Yue's palm, then at Maxima, remained silent for a moment, and finally raised his hand and placed it on the back of Yan Yue's hand.

Maxima took a deep breath, and his cold mechanical hand slowly rose and placed on their hands.

……

Antarctica.

Demos Sterile Laboratory.

The cold, white lights in the control room were blinding, illuminating the iron bars holding the experimental subjects and two slender figures.

Wuming leaned against the alloy railing, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the metal armor on his arm.

Isolde sat on the floor opposite him, her knees tucked into her chest.

Her fingertips trembled slightly as she stared at the monitor screen on the wall, which was playing an emergency announcement on a loop.

Noah has defected, his identity has been exposed, his codename is invalidated, and he is now listed as a top-level wanted criminal by NESTS.

"Lord Noah has really defected?" Isolde's voice was filled with barely suppressed worry. She suddenly looked up at the nameless man.

Wuming's eyelashes fluttered. He looked at the report on the monitor, his gaze falling on the word "Noah," then slowly moving down to the small print that was marked—his real name, Yan Yue.

Fiery month.

So Lord Noah's real name is Yan Yue.

Wuming's heart clenched suddenly, and countless images from the past flashed through his mind.

It turns out that the instigator who disrupted the entire NESTS and ruined Project K was none other than their Lord Noah.

"Isolde, don't panic." The nameless voice was soft as he walked to Isolde's side, knelt down, and gently patted her shoulder. "It seems Noah... Lord Flamemoon is out of danger..."

“But that’s what the report says!” Isolde felt no fear, only resignation to her fate. “NESTS says he’s a traitor, that he disrupted the organization’s plans…”

“He was never a member of NESTS. He stayed there only to destroy those damn experiments and to save more people like us.”

“He must have run into some trouble.” Wuming’s gaze fell on Yan Yue’s wanted poster on the monitor screen.

Seeing Yan Yue's golden eyes, a familiar resolve arose in his heart, "We cannot cause trouble for Lady Yan Yue..."

“But…” Isolde bit her lip, her voice still tinged with unease, “We’re trapped here now, and the NESTS people could attack us at any moment…”

“I know…” Wuming shook his head, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

Wuming looked at Isolde's arms and lowered his voice, "We haven't used the things Lord Yanyue left us yet. Since he was able to rescue us from the laboratory, he must have a way to take us out of here again."