Inaba Tsukiyo plunged into the energy mass, but it felt like she was falling into water. For a moment, she couldn't even breathe, and the sensation of suffocation grew more and more severe.
This suffocating feeling was very unpleasant, unlike ordinary drowning. No matter how Inaba Tsukiyo reached out, she couldn't pull herself up.
After realizing she couldn't pull herself up at all, Inaba Tsukiyo gave up struggling, let go of her body's defenses, and tried to accept everything.
As Inaba Tsukiyo acted, the liquid energy flowed into Inaba Tsukiyo's body. This feeling was like being overstuffed; her body was filled, and her consciousness gradually drifted away.
Then, many memories she had never experienced before appeared in Inaba Tsukiyo's mind. The protagonist of those memories wasn't her, but a cute Little Loli with azure blue hair.
Although they were just fragments of memory, she indeed saw many memories about the other person, including the opponents she had faced and the disasters she had endured.
"What... is this? Why do I have these memories?"
Inaba Tsukiyo couldn't understand. In her memory, Nero also appeared, standing with a beautiful young girl with fox ears wearing a kimono and a dark-skinned woman.
This memory didn't belong to her, but she felt as if she had personally experienced it, until the appearance of a ferocious three-headed dragon from the past awakened her from her dazed state.
This energy had entered Inaba Tsukiyo's body while she was in a daze. After the two energies made contact, Inaba Tsukiyo's eyes suddenly widened, and their seductive red color changed to a pure blue.
[Boom!!]
A massive explosion occurred, and the Randall Company building was destroyed by this huge blast. This abnormal explosion attracted the attention of a helicopter patrolling Megurigaoka City.
"It's there! Tsukiyo-chan must be there! Hurry up, all of you!"
Wakasa Yuri anxiously pointed at the Randall Company building, which was billowing with thick smoke, urging the pilot.
"Got it, got it. Don't rush, don't rush! Seriously, we're here to take you to a safe place, so why are we bringing you back now?"
The female soldier looked helplessly at the group behind her. They had taken them to a safe place just a few hours ago, but after refueling the helicopter, they immediately flew back. Why was she so unlucky?
She glanced at Tendo Ri-se, who was sitting next to Kurumi. If it weren't for the superiors' request to rescue her, she probably would never have agreed to this return mission.
I really don't understand what's wrong with high school girls these days, to point a gun at their own head so easily. Even if it's just a model gun, it can still kill someone.
"Besides finding Tsukiyo-chan, haven't I already told you the purpose of this operation? Randall Company's name appeared in the 'Emergency Evacuation Handbook for Employees,' so this disaster must be related to Randall Company. Besides the vaccine we brought back, it's possible Randall Company has already developed a more advanced vaccine. If we find the vaccine, it would be a great help for your research on an antidote, wouldn't it?"
"...Tch! High school girls these days are really not cute. Even if she really is at Randall Company, what of it? Do you think she caused the explosion just now? If she really caused it, do you think she could have survived?"
Even soldiers in bomb suits would have little chance of survival in an explosion of that magnitude, let alone a delicate Little fellow like Inaba Tsukiyo.
It's not that I look down on Inaba Tsukiyo, but from a scientific perspective, if Inaba Tsukiyo was in that explosion, she definitely wouldn't have survived.
Amidst everyone's silence, the helicopter landed in an open space near Randall Company, leaving a few soldiers to protect the helicopter while the others entered the building.
Starting from the First floor, they saw a large number of zombie remains. Without even looking closely, they knew there had been a battle here not long ago, and it was a one-sided battle.
Even well-trained soldiers couldn't help but feel nervous seeing such a scene.
As they went up the floors, they saw more and more zombies. When they saw the corpses of four-legged zombies, everyone was stunned.
Except for Tendo Ri-se, no one else had seen such special zombies, but these four-legged zombies were very tricky to deal with. They wondered how Inaba Tsukiyo managed to face a dozen of them at once and still win.
They didn't see any zombies on the next few floors, but as they were about to reach the top, the floor couldn't be entered immediately due to the explosion.
There was no choice but to wait for the smoke to clear. Before that, the members split up to collect useful clues throughout the building.
Wakasa Yuri and the others waited anxiously in place. Unlike the soldiers, their only concern was Inaba Tsukiyo's situation.
After reading Inaba Tsukiyo's letter, they decided to return and search for Inaba Tsukiyo, but this suggestion was rejected.
After finally escaping such a dangerous place, they were supposed to turn back to find Inaba Tsukiyo? They would absolutely not allow such reckless behavior.
For this matter, a fierce argument even broke out. Finally, in a stalemate, Tendo Ri-se pointed a model gun at her own head, which made the female soldiers agree.
Tendo Ri-se's father was a soldier, and because of her, her father also got involved in the Megurigaoka City incident.
So Tendo Ri-se's threat was the most effective. After the helicopter was refueled, leaving behind some people with little combat ability, Wakasa Yuri and the others returned to Megurigaoka City.
"Tsukiyo-chan, that idiot, sure enough... she had planned this long ago. Why didn't I realize it sooner?"
From the first time she said she wanted to leave the school alone, Wakasa Yuri should have realized that Inaba Tsukiyo would one day do dangerous things behind their backs.
"It's not your fault, Sister Ri. I should have noticed, but I was too happy when I knew I was rescued. After my mood completely relaxed, I didn't notice that Tsukiyo-chan hadn't come up."
This is not Kurumi's fault either. After finally being able to leave this cursed place, Megurigaoka, most people would rush to leave, but Inaba Tsukiyo completely went against common sense and wanted to stay here.
After waiting for the smoke to finally clear, Wakasa Yuri and the others rushed in impatiently, finding that the top floor had been almost completely destroyed by the explosion, leaving only a large amount of bricks. Besides that, there was also a black suit jacket, but they didn't know whose it was.
"No... there are no traces of Tsukiyo-chan here. Could it be... could it be that Tsukiyo-chan isn't here? But... that's impossible."
According to the handbook, this should have been the most likely place for Inaba Tsukiyo to come, but why couldn't they find Inaba Tsukiyo?
Could it be... that the place Inaba Tsukiyo had to go wasn't here? But besides this place, what other place did she need to go?
"Of course she still has places to go, after all, she is the woman who is going to save the world."
"Who is it!?"
Kurumi vigilantly turned around, picked up the shovel in her hand, and stood beside Wakasa Yuri. Tendo Ri-se also pointed her model gun at the source of the sound.
Upon closer inspection, in a corner of the ruins, a black-haired girl was sitting there, smiling at them, completely unconcerned by their actions.
Wakasa Yuri noticed that this girl was somewhat similar to Inaba Tsukiyo; both carried weapons. However, the girl's weapon was very special, looking very cool from its appearance.
"What? Do you think I'm your enemy? Relax, I just sensed an anomaly here, so I came to take a look. I'm very busy, I have so many things to do every day, how could I have time to come and cause trouble?"
With her arms spread, the strange girl walked towards Wakasa Yuri and the others with a harmless smile.
Suddenly, the girl disappeared from her spot, and in the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of Kurumi and Tendo Ri-se, startling them.
"Did you see? If I really wanted to do something to you, what difference would it make if you were prepared? Do you really think these weapons would be effective against me?"
It wasn't arrogance, but she truly had the ability to say such things. From her speed just now, it was clear that if she really intended to kill them, they would probably already be decapitated.
Judging from the pattern, this person was very likely an Iaido Slash swordsman like Inaba Tsukiyo. Thinking of this, Kurumi and Tendo Ri-se very wisely put down their weapons.
"That's right, just like that. We're all girls, there's no need to make the situation so tense. And you're all cute girls, why be so serious? You should smile more, girls who smile a lot don't have too bad luck."
Saying that, she kept pulling Kurumi's cheeks, making various funny expressions, causing Kurumi to look at her with a string of pound signs. If she didn't know she couldn't beat the other party, she would have hit her with a shovel.
"Um... excuse me, do you have any news about Tsukiyo-chan? Also, what did you mean when you said she was the one who saves the world?"
Wakasa Yuri hesitated for a moment, asking this girl who might know the truth.
Appearing alone in this place where an explosion had just occurred, no matter how you thought about it, it was very suspicious. Moreover, her dress had no dust on it, indicating that she hadn't been on the rooftop the whole time.
"Oh? Don't you know? The reason this place exploded is because she stopped a terrible power that could destroy the world. You know, right? Like the atomic bomb developed by humans, once it explodes, the whole world will 'whoosh' and turn to ashes."
"Of course, you can take my words as a joke. Anyway, it's not the first time I've been called crazy. I can understand if you don't believe such words."
Wakasa Yuri and the others looked at each other. Regarding this suspicious girl, they really didn't know whether to believe her words, but without finding Inaba Tsukiyo, it seemed they could only choose to believe her.
"Then... how can we see Tsukiyo-chan? Where is she... now?"
"In a place you can't find, a place you'll never find no matter how hard you look."
The girl fumbled in her pocket for a few photos. These photos were given to her by alaya, and it was also to complete the task alaya gave her.
"Unless she comes to find you, you definitely won't be able to see her. So, you should live your lives well first, and when the time comes, you will naturally meet."
Saying that, the girl turned to leave. Her mission was complete, and she had to go back to work, otherwise those two Little fellows would be unhappy again.
"Wait a minute! Excuse me, who are you? Why do you know about Tsukiyo-chan!?"
"Nangong Lina... you can just call me Lina. Goodbye, lovely ladies."
After saying that, Nangong Lina winked at Wakasa Yuri and the others, then jumped downstairs.
This scene made Wakasa Yuri and the others nervously run over to look down, but they couldn't see any trace of Nangong Lina.
"What in the world is going on?"
All of them had confused looks on their faces, completely bewildered as to why things had turned out this way.
However, picking up the photo of Inaba Tsukiyo that the other party left behind, she pursed her lips.
"We will wait for you to come back, Tsukiyo-chan."
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