We Will Meet Again

"You're not going to kill me?"

Ning Yu glanced at the giant sword hovering near her neck, observing the fractal patterns on its surface glowing with light.

"Do you have a death wish? Perhaps..."

"Haven't you heard that villains die from talking too much? Get on with it."

Ning Yu interrupted the blue-haired girl's verbal assault, leaving her momentarily stunned.

"Interesting."

She leaned down to look at the silver-haired little girl sitting on the ground, showing a genuine smile for the first time - a human-like expression. Before revealing her golden left eye, she had appeared completely robotic.

From the beautiful face now close to her, Ning Yu could finally see the patterns in her eyes clearly. They matched the fractal patterns on her crack-covered giant sword perfectly.

"Aren't you afraid that I might actually..."

Before she could finish saying "actually," Ning Yu had already produced a dagger - the same one from the supermarket. She thrust it violently toward the girl's eyes.

However, just as it got close, an invisible rippling barrier blocked it. Without the enhancement from the Crimson Battle Blade, Ning Yu's strength couldn't even make the barrier bend.

Seeing her sneak attack fail, Ning Yu simply tossed the dagger aside and gave up. She hadn't really expected that attack to work anyway.

"Hahahahaha..."

The blue-haired girl laughed melodiously, the mechanical device behind her ear flashing with signals:

"You're so entertaining, I suddenly don't want to break you just yet."

She emphasized the words "break you."

"Why do you have so many chuunibyou lines? If you wanted to kill me, you would have done it earlier."

Ning Yu continued her merciless verbal counterattack.

The girl didn't respond to Ning Yu's mockery this time. Instead, she stood up and raised her delicate hand, palm open, pointing toward the butcher's corpse.

The butcher's body, already ravaged by the Crimson Battle Blade, suddenly began to tremble. Then, as if being decomposed, it scattered into countless ashes, forming a perfect and elegant Bezier curve that flew toward the blue-haired girl's palm.

In her hand, all the ashes transformed into a gray orb of light before vanishing completely.

Watching this strange sight, Ning Yu spoke:

"The T-virus, was that your doing?"

Her question contained two probing elements:

First, seeing the girl collect the butcher's remains this way made her strongly suspect a connection to the T-virus.

Second, using "your" in plural form to test if there was an organization behind her.

The blue-haired girl completely ignored Ning Yu's probing, simply saying to herself:

"It's not time yet..."

Her gaze suddenly became profound, particularly as the golden color in her left eye began to fade. Her entire demeanor was slowly returning to the cold state from when they first met.

Just as the golden color in her eyes was about to disappear completely, Ning Yu felt a violent gust of wind. It nearly forced her eyes shut, making her hair dance wildly.

But she distinctly felt the blue-haired girl whisper in her ear:

"We shall meet again."

Then came a strange distorting sound, and when Ning Yu opened her eyes, the blue-haired girl had vanished.

A lingering sigh remained in the air:

"Flesh is weak..."

Ning Yu heard this melancholic sigh crystal clear.

She fell into deep thought.

Why did the blue-haired girl attack her but spare her life?

Why did she collect the butcher's remains?

What was her connection to the T-virus that caused this disaster?

What did she mean by "meet again," and what was the significance of "flesh is weak"?

The silver-haired little girl furrowed her pretty brows:

Could these riddlers please get out of City A?

She wasn't afraid of death, having already died once before.

But this series of mysterious questions swirled in Ning Yu's mind, giving her a headache.

Better not to think about it. Right now, there was a more pressing problem:

She had lost her blade.

Looking at the Crimson Battle Blade broken in two on the ground, Ning Yu walked over.

She picked up the hilt, planning to temporarily store it in her system space.

She really wanted to ask the system:

Even if there's no refund, would they accept scrap?

[Ding! Hidden Weapon Quest Activated: Day of the Reforged Blade]

[Quest Content: Nourish the broken Crimson Battle Blade with your own blood]

[Quest Reward: Weapon repair with bonus modifications]

[Current Progress: 0%]

Just as she picked up the other half of the blade from the ground, the system's notification rang in Ning Yu's mind.

This could actually trigger a hidden quest?

Not only could it be repaired, but it would get mysterious modifications too? Could such good fortune exist?

Why wasn't this mentioned earlier? Could she have broken it herself if she'd known?

Though that might have been a bit disrespectful to the weapon...

The quest required nourishing it with her own blood, and Ning Yu wanted to try it right away.

She bit her thumb with her cute little fangs, letting several drops of blood fall onto the broken Crimson Battle Blade.

It immediately emitted a faint crimson glow, similar to when she was fighting earlier.

However, the red light only flickered a few times before dying out like a unplugged lamp.

It seemed to be complaining that the blood offering was too meager.

[Quest: Day of the Reforged Blade Progress Updated: 0.05%]

Ning Yu's mouth twitched slightly - was this thing planning to drain her dry?

Though it wasn't much blood, a mere 0.05% progress was really too little.

It seemed impossible to repair this sword in one go.

Trying to do so would probably result in Ning Yu dying from blood loss first.

It would likely take many days of continuous feeding to complete.

The downpour finally seemed to have found its stop button, with raindrops becoming smaller and sparse.

The clouds gradually dispersed, and moonlight spilled onto the cafeteria rooftop marked with battle scars.

Only Ning Yu remained here now.

The little girl combed through her wet, messy silver hair, revealing her beautiful eyes that had been hidden behind her bangs.

A post-rain breeze carried the fresh scent of earth, pleasantly filling her nostrils.

She looked up at the moon.

The rain had stopped.

...

It was already midnight, and Shen Yiyue was still waiting for Ning Yu in the gymnasium.

She twirled her black hair tips with her fair fingers, her beautiful eyes full of worry, looking utterly adorable.

She wondered why Ning Yu had been gone so long - even if she was dealing with Fatty Zhao, it should have been over by now.

Suddenly, the silver-haired little girl, completely soaked, pushed open the door. Shen Yiyue rushed over:

"Little Yu, why are you back so late? Are you okay?"

Ning Yu looked up at her, shook her head and said:

"I'm fine. That fatty has been fed to the fish."

Fed to the fish? Fishing?

Does Tianshen Elementary School even have a pond?

Unknown, but it definitely meant he was dead.

Ning Yu glanced at Sun Jiao sitting in the corner, now wrapped in bandages and resting, who gave her a grateful look.

She had wanted to ask why Sun Jiao protected Bai Xuan, but after hesitating, decided against it - too lazy to ask.

"You should rest here for now."

The silver-haired little girl said coldly to Sun Jiao.

Sun Jiao was seriously injured, so it was better for her to rest here in Fatty Zhao's room for now.

Then she turned to Shen Yiyue and said:

"Let's carry Bai Xuan to our room, but you come back later - I need to change clothes first."

Little Yu needs to change clothes?!

Seeing Ning Yu completely soaked, Shen Yiyue suddenly broke into a mischievous grin.

As if remembering a certain little story.

"Little Yu... let big sister help you change clothes~"

Hearing this, Ning Yu rolled her eyes, turned her head to the side, showing an exasperated expression:

"Get lost."

"I'll chop you up if you dare peek."

Shen Yiyue's cute little mouth pouted, and she could only protest in mumbles:

"How stingy, it's not like I haven't helped you change before...."