Long-term salvation

"You can just leave behind Toyokawa Sadaharu's memories. I'll take care of it, don't worry." Saikawa Ayane nodded slightly and stretched. "Shoko, you and Mizuki and the others should head to Research Facility No. 8 now. It's not far from here. This is the latest prototype AS, the M9 'Gernsback', Model S. This is something Ms. Makise Kurisu personally requested from the Atlas Corporation's R&D department. Remember to thank her later."

"understand!"

Xiangzi nodded seriously in response and climbed towards the cockpit, but before entering, the girl looked back at the old man who was still standing in the light. The latter raised his head and gave her a sad look.

Without hesitation, Xiangzi got into the cockpit, closed the hatch and began to change into combat attire.

Listening to the humming of the servo motor behind her, Saikawa Ayane sighed softly in her heart, then jumped off the AS. She slowly walked in front of Toyokawa Sadaharu, a formal smile on her lips:

"While the Global Occult Coalition (GOC) won't interfere in other people's private affairs, Ms. Toyokawa Shoko, as one of our elite AS pilots, must have her rights protected. In other words, we'd like to confirm one thing: the heir to the Toyokawa Group is Toyokawa Shoko, right?"

"……Yes."

"We are merely informing you of this. This decision has nothing to do with you. The GOC, Atlas Corporation, Aperture Technologies, and the Army Without Borders will ensure that this matter proceeds according to our vision. Thank you for your understanding."

"..." Hearing those terrifying names, a trace of fear flashed across Toyokawa Sadaharu's face, but he suppressed all these emotions, "What else do you want to say?"

"Well, now let's talk about something more specific," Saikawa Ayane clasped her hands together and said with a smile amid the sound of a camera recording as the memory erasing device was activated. "For example, Xiangzi's work, for example, how you will keep these secrets - the secrets of the other world."

These things had nothing to do with Xiangzi for the time being. She had already struggled to change into her enhanced guard suit in the cockpit of the M9E, and then looked at the constantly updated intelligence and mission briefings:

At this moment, distortion can be observed in the forest surrounding Research Facility No. 8, but it is unclear whether it is an enemy attack or a containment breach within the facility... The facility lost contact five minutes ago.

What's even worse is that the GOC's forces in Tokyo cannot be fully deployed in the battle to defend the No. 8 Research Facility - the city, the underground base within the city, intelligence collection and organization, etc., a series of tasks require people to do, even combat personnel.

"Headquarters is mobilizing the AS pilots still in training," Xiangzi heard Shiraishi Mizuki say over the comms channel, her voice a touch anxious. "In other words, if the situation gets out of control, they'll decisively fill it with lives and ammunition."

"The right decision... huh? You can already see the enemy?!"

In the video sent back from the front, the entire perimeter of the facility was engulfed in a sea of ​​fire - it was the work of white phosphorus bombs and turret-type flamethrowers. In the dancing flames, dozens of monsters that stood up like brown bears were frantically attacking the guards' firepower network!

"Arriving in three minutes, AS, prepare to jump! Headquarters has confirmed that the best trained AS pilots will be dispatched to the battlefield. Be prepared to cooperate!"

"Oblivionis understands!"

Xiangzi adjusted his breathing, closed his eyes, and ran through his mind the faces of all the people he had seen today - friends, father, grandfather, and finally stopped before darkness - Xiangzi opened his eyes and put his hands deep into the operating device.

Human wisdom shapes steel into its own image.

Now, Steel opened his eyes.

"Oblivionis attacks!"

The high flexibility brought by the high-performance prototype body almost impressed Xiangzi instantly. She moved and tightened her fingers slightly, and the pile driver fixed on her left arm suddenly popped out and retracted. The cable gun on her right hand further enhanced the body's mobility to the extreme!

"Such powerful performance! I feel like I don't even need legs," Xiangzi said with a hint of joy. "If the mecha unit of the Self-Defense Force saw this, they would definitely shout - are all GOC AS monsters?!"

Why do we have to develop a combat bipedal mecha based on Labor... Xiangzi complained in his heart.

In the bright moonlight, the M9S suddenly crashed into the battlefield. The portable 30mm machine gun carried by the mecha made a muffled sound, and almost instantly knocked to the ground those monsters that rushed out of the sea of ​​fire to block it!

Monsters that looked like brown bears but had human faces were crawling while dragging half of their bodies, howling. Their flesh and blood were rapidly reorganizing in pain, their bones were growing wildly and emerging from their skin covered with hard brown hair, and their entire bodies were becoming even larger!

"What a fast regeneration rate!"

Xiangzi was shocked. She glanced at the other screens and saw that the GOC's ground forces had joined the battle. Armored vehicles and tanks were spewing flames. The attack was effective - but only effective - the total number of eighty-seven monsters could regenerate and draw energy from their own pain, making themselves stronger.

The enemy is fighting a war of attrition with us... It seems that they are sure that the GOC cannot use weapons of mass destruction too close to the city. Otherwise, it will not be a mere "gas explosion" that can be explained away.

"At this point, Oblivionis, you coordinate with the other M6S AS to buy time and slow the enemy's advance. We'll locate any possible ritual sites or control cores. Wait for our call. Then you'll need to leverage the high mobility of your prototype AS to deliver the final blow... These guys won't be too far away!"

"Oblivionis understands!"

Seeing this, Xiangzi no longer tried to engage in close combat to avoid causing damage to her body. She kept controlling her body to move around the battlefield, and cooperated with the M6S type with a heavy shield raised to suppress the enemy.

"The energy index of the other world is still rising!"

The communication channel was filled with inexplicable electronic interference noise. Each mecha had to be close enough to communicate normally, and the same was true for the research facilities at the back. Fortunately, the power system was not hit, and various close-in defense weapons and searchlights could still be used to provide assistance to the soldiers fighting outside.

In order to cover up the gunfire and artillery fire in the area, fireworks were set off in the suburbs of Tokyo. The brilliant sparks exploded in the night sky, which was dyed into a kaleidoscope of neon, attracting the attention of most ordinary people.

In the flickering light and shadow, warriors fighting for humanity are fighting a desperate battle with monsters.

Two armed helicopters flew through the night sky, and their rockets covered the monsters that tried to attack the research facility from other directions. The next second, the lifted boulders flew past the helicopter body, frightening the pilot inside!

At this moment, the eighty-seven have condensed into fifteen real nightmares of varying heights. Their appearances are not exactly the same, but they are all twisted and grotesque enough. Their claws are sharp enough to cut through the metal shell of the armored vehicle, severing the internal mechanical structure and human flesh!

"Are you kidding me?!"

Xiangzi refused to accept such an outcome. She controlled the mecha to leap up, kicked over the monster that was almost as tall as the mecha, swung the pile driver down heavily, and blasted out nails!

The spikes, coated in black stone dust, pierced the monster's chest without resistance, inhibiting its flesh and blood from regenerating. But soon, the monster merged with others of its kind, "expelling" the gradually crumbling flesh and blood... The monster's controllers seemed to have realized that the enemy possessed a creation that could effectively restrain them.

Before the monsters surrounded them, Xiangzi gritted his teeth and controlled the AS to retreat. The GOC soldiers tried to push the monsters back into the forest and away from the research facility, but this could only barely maintain the line - the monsters' regeneration speed was getting faster and faster, but there was not much flesh and blood around for them to absorb.

Perhaps in the end, human warriors will only have to fight one monster. However, this is not good news, because this last monster will obviously be too powerful to be suppressed by current firepower!

"Senior Bai Shi and the others haven't found it yet..."

Just as Xiangzi was frowning and asking the mecha to turn over an overturned armored vehicle, he suddenly saw a red light rising in the distant forest. It was the light of a flare!

"Oblivionis!"

"I understand!" Xiangzi shouted loudly in the communication channel. She didn't know how many times she had said "I understand" today, but the girl sincerely hoped that this was the last time - the M9S AS with a maximum jumping height of 40 meters suddenly jumped up, jumping over the heads of all people and monsters, and the mecha jumped over the battlefield and crashed into the forest like a hurricane!

Leaving the battlefield, the two monsters chased after Xiangzi's AS, and three tall bodies began to run in the dark forest.

The strange rustling sound of the mecha tearing through leaves and branches filled Xiangzi's ears, making her subconsciously clench her teeth - the sound of the monsters running was equally loud and noisy, and the girl had to make sure she knew the enemy's position. In the forest, the mecha's sensors would still be affected, not to mention that both sides were moving at high speed.

Run wildly, keep running wildly!

Xiangzi threw away all the weapons she carried, leaving only a dagger and a pile driver on her left arm... She must find the enemy before the armed witches who went out for reconnaissance were surrounded and killed by monsters, and before the cultists who started the ritual escaped!

"Why aren't there any follow-up flare guidance?" Xiangzi's eyes swept across the multiple surveillance screens, but she didn't see any traces, which made her even more anxious. "If anything happens to you, Shiraishi-senpai, I won't be able to explain to Saikawa-senpai!!!"

The next moment, the mecha rushed out of the forest and into the bright moonlight.

A wide clearing in the forest suddenly appeared in front of Xiangzi.

The AS stopped running. Xiangzi subconsciously stopped the machine and stared blankly ahead.

The cultists' ritual site had been destroyed, and a tall AS mecha slowly tightened its metal fingers, breaking the neck of the newly summoned monster.

The two monsters that had not yet been exiled rushed out of the forest, but they were immediately pierced from behind by something. Bright arcs of electricity flashed on the sharp blade, which at this moment overwhelmed the moonlight in the night sky.

Reinforcements? Yes, reinforcements.

It's a new prototype machine like mine, but there are some differences.

"Hey, test, test, is the communication channel connected? This is Yutenji Wakamu, you can call me Meow Mengqin, okay. AS pilot over there, what's your name?"

"Although we have code names, it's still more polite to state our own names at this time. After all, we are stealing someone else's achievements. Ahem, this is Hachiman Kailing, what's your name?"

"Prototype AS pilot ahead," a voice all too familiar to Xiangzi came over the communication channel. "This is the new AS pilot coming for reinforcements, Sanjiao Chuhua. What's your name?"

Closing his eyes, Xiangzi leaned back in the driver's seat and sighed long and hard, as if in a nightmare.

"My name is... Toyokawa Shoko, codename Oblivionis."

Armed Shrine Maiden Toyokawa Shoko (15): Tenderness

Xiangzi didn't know how he got back to Su Shi's house.

After the battle, she fled from the research facility like a frightened deer, avoiding the "new AS pilots" who wanted to find her, and avoiding... Chuhua.

Gently opening the door, Xiangzi slowly walked into the luxurious apartment. She did not turn on the lights - the girl was very familiar with everything here and could find the way even with her eyes closed.

But today, the distracted girl was clearly not as alert as usual. After bumping into the table, causing the porcelain plate on it to make a slight jarring noise, she regained some composure and quickly grabbed the plate before it fell, preventing it from making even more noise.

"Su Shi...is he still sleeping?"

Xiangzi let out a long breath, and she wandered to the sofa like a ghost and lay down, letting the thick and soft cushion support her, bringing a little sense of restraint when being hugged.

At this moment, the lights of the night city were pouring in through the gaps in the curtains, passing before the girl's eyes, transforming into a gently swaying streak of neon light. Gazing at the brilliant light and shadow, a trace of weakness and confusion flowed from her amber eyes.

"Why... Chuhua is also in the GOC," the girl curled up, "Then my efforts to cut off from 'daily life' have gained nothing? And my efforts to protect them from 'non-daily life' have achieved nothing?"

What kind of omnipotent person is this? He is just a useless person! Next time, just put on your underwear and take a useless stick out to hit people on the head.

Complaining to himself a few times in his heart, Xiangzi slowed down his breathing, letting the fatigue surge out of his body, and letting the purest darkness spread from the edge of his vision.

The girl slowly fell asleep.

The girl gradually felt warm.

It felt like someone was hugging me, with something cold, soft and slippery pressed against my face, but the familiar fragrance came faintly, entering my lips, passing through my throat, going down my esophagus, and spreading in my stomach that was filled with hunger and fatigue, bringing a little warmth.

"Mother……"

In a half-asleep, half-awake state, Xiangzi whispered softly. She could feel the embrace tightening slightly.

"!!!"

Xiangzi suddenly woke up, and subconsciously tried to push the person in front of her away, but the latter hugged her tighter. After struggling in vain, the blue-haired girl said in a low voice in embarrassment:

"Nagasaki Suyo!"

"I'm here, Xiaoxiang. I've always been here."

Rubbing her cheek against the blue-haired little octopus in her arms, Su Shi remembered Xiangzi's call just now and whispered:

"Deal, a deal between you and me."

Xiangzi stopped struggling. She lowered her eyes and wanted to look elsewhere, but she found that all the space in front of her was filled with Su Shi.

"Xiangzi, don't you have anything to say to me?" Su Shi reached out and stroked Xiangzi's blue hair. The soft hair made her squint slightly. "Just say it. In this dark confessional, there are only you and me."

"...My mother passed away, my father was kicked out of the family and became a decadent alcoholic, our band disbanded because of my childish self-esteem, and yesterday my grandfather was warned by the GOC, and my... my childhood friend has now become an armed shrine maiden like me. I fought hard, but I couldn't completely isolate you from the darkness. Now I just feel a little frustrated."

As she spoke in a low voice, Xiangzi found that she was finally a little more honest than before, and she immediately felt better.

"Xiao Xiang," Su Shi's eyes flashed with pity, "So, that day, you ran into the rehearsal room soaking wet... because of these things?"

The girl with long light brown hair was suddenly thrown over. Xiangzi placed his hands on her ears and looked down at her, all the hesitation in his eyes gone.

In the dark room, on the soft sofa, the two girls reflected each other's faces in their eyes.

Suddenly, Su Shi felt a little shy. She turned her head and looked away, letting her perky chest rise and fall with her slow, heavy breathing. But the next second, Xiangzi's hand gently stroked her head back, and their amber and light blue eyes once again met.

Subconsciously, Su Shi clamped Xiangzi's feet with her legs.

As they stared at each other, Xiangzi slowly said:

"Su Shi, I'm not telling you this to gain your sympathy, but because I've accepted my own weaknesses. I can face them and make changes."

"I am now an armed priestess of the GOC, a warrior defending human civilization—a warrior defending the world you sing about—if my body perishes in battle, then before I die I hope to hear the song we once sang, no matter who sings or plays it now."

"I want to listen, I will listen, I will die in this music."

Tears streaked down Su Shi's cheeks, making her feel a little itchy, but when the girl reached out to touch them, she found that they were her own tears. So, she slowly raised her arms, hugged Xiangzi's neck, and held him in her arms again:

"I want to get to know you better now before my memory is erased... Xiangzi, you don't resist my touch."

"If this makes you happy, if this can make up for my previous stupidity and harshness," Xiangzi closed his eyes, feeling the warm breath getting closer and closer, "this body is yours to do with."

"You're saying that as if I were some kind of rapist."

Su Shi patted Xiangzi helplessly a few times, watching the latter bury his face in his chest, making a suffocating sound.

After a few seconds of silence, Xiangzi said in a muffled voice:

"What an eyesore."

"That's enough! Don't say that when you're nudging someone's chest!"

Listening to Su Shi's chattering words, Xiangzi felt a little relieved. She closed her eyes and fell asleep again... She had to have a good rest. After all, although she didn't have to face those monsters again tomorrow, she would definitely face Chu Hua and other friends.

Ah, how should I explain this to these people?

After throwing his worries to his future self, Xiangzi fell into a deep sleep.

+++++++

"Ms. Wakaba Mu."

Makise Kurisu flipped through the file of the girl sitting in front of her. Her eyes scanned the lines of text, and then she slowly said:

"I didn't expect you could detect our presence with your own strength—you are unique and dangerous."