After joining World Serpent, Raiden Mei learned many useful skills from "Raven" that she had never been exposed to before.
Infiltration, espionage, reconnaissance, tracking, and counter-surveillance.
And—
Recently, she discovered something truly unexpected yet useful to her.
That is: Even though she had lost the power and identity of the Herrscher of Thunder... after deviating onto an unknown "path" and obtaining the treacherous "blade"...
She was still able to wield the power of thunder and lightning.
Even stronger than before.
But also harder to control.
Fortunately, combining the results of her past and recent self-cultivation, she was now able to use this new thunder and lightning power more skillfully—after paying a certain price—and rely on it to accomplish many things only top-tier hackers could do.
For example: to facilitate movement, she generated an electronic file of personal information, so that she was no longer a "black household" in this era.
This was precisely the main reason she could now leave Changkong City International Airport in an upright manner.
However, maybe it was due to the crowds of people coming and going, or perhaps something unexpected had occurred.
Such as: invisible interference from a third party.
In short, she—despite her not-weak anti-surveillance ability—did not notice at first that a white-haired youth in the distance was steadily approaching her.
The latter moved faster and faster, starting with a simple jog and gradually transitioning into a near-sprint.
But suddenly—
"Thud!"
As the "white-haired youth" passed by the entrance of a public restroom, without paying any attention to his surroundings—his eyes fixed solely on the purple-haired figure ahead—someone suddenly stabbed him in the back of the neck with a knife.
The man who had approached the white-haired youth unnoticed was wearing a hoodie and a mask, hiding his face completely.
His movements were precise and practiced.
After knocking the youth unconscious with a hand blade, he grabbed hold of him.
Then, as if they were long-lost friends reuniting, the two entered the adjacent public restroom.
"Huh?"
Raiden Mei finally noticed something and looked back.
But at that moment, the two were in her blind spot.
She didn't see anything strange.
So she continued to leave the airport alone.
Inside that public restroom, however—
.
The mysterious hooded man removed the mask from his face.
If you looked carefully, you'd see his face was exactly the same as that of the unconscious white-haired youth.
However, compared to the latter, the former seemed much more mature.
He spoke slowly:
"The first 'Challenger of the Past' besides me... is Raiden Mei."
This mysterious hooded man—
By now, he had brought the white-haired youth into a stall.
The latter lay sprawled over the toilet.
Kevin looked at his past self in that position.
"As soon as Raiden Mei arrived in Changkong City, she nearly came into contact with me... no, it was I who nearly initiated contact with her by accident."
Kevin looked up. "This seemingly coincidental development... Lingke?"
At that moment, his gaze seemed to pierce the ceiling, through the entire building, staring at a pair of invisible eyes.
However, he received no answer.
Kevin immediately looked down again at his former self, who had yet to wake.
Suddenly, his eyes widened.
"No!"
Recalling everything Ling Ke had shown before—
He said, "This is a feint to the west!"
That was his most common tactic.
If today's incident was truly orchestrated by the other side, then—
"Their target was never 'me' to begin with!"
Thinking this, Kevin wasted no more time.
He stepped out of the stall, put the mask back on, and covered his face.
Then quickly exited the airport.
Leaving behind only the younger Kevin of this era, lying dazed on the toilet after being knocked out hard, frowning in pain.
For a while—
"Tsk tsk~ You're so ruthless with yourself, you totally deserve it! Hero of Fire Hunting—Kevin Kaslana, the world-saver."
A spatial gate opened in that stall, connected directly to the Dominator Theater.
A twin-tailed girl wearing wooden clogs appeared instantly.
"Dominator Doll · Hanabi."
At that moment, her eyes—reflecting cherry blossom petals—narrowed slightly.
A sly and wicked smile appeared on her face.
"Kevin, Kevin, rest and gain wisdom. Have you gained any experience in dealing with 'us'?"
"Unfortunately, though I (the main body) enjoy setting up some flanking maneuvers to feint east and strike west..."
"But who says..."
"With the move 'feint east, strike west,' you can't use a Matryoshka doll?"
After saying this, "Dominator Doll · Hanabi" raised her right hand, tapped her slim index finger between young Kevin's brows, and said:
"Time to wake up, sleepy little man."
"What's next... is your 'scene'~"
As soon as she finished speaking, it was like something bounced off Kevin's head...
"?"
Kevin woke up.
The figure of "Dominator Doll · Hanabi" had vanished.
"What happened to me...? Whistle~"
As soon as Kevin opened his eyes, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.
He instinctively raised his hand to massage it—only to feel an icy chill in his palm.
As if he had been struck by a giant block of ice earlier.
"What, what the hell happened? Hail indoors on a sunny day? Just to hit me?"
Kevin gritted his teeth and looked around.
Then he froze in confusion. "Where is this?"
He looked down and saw the toilet under his butt, lid closed.
Then looked up again and saw the open wooden stall door. "Toilet?"
"Why did I come to a place like this?"
He now felt like his brain had been shattered like a broken disk.
He rubbed his head and began trying to remember his last moments before losing consciousness.
However, before he could think further, the smartphone in his pocket rang.
He pulled it out.
Caller ID: Mei.
Meanwhile, on the other end—
"Eh~"
Outside Changkong City International Airport, Mei hurriedly stepped out of a taxi, holding a stack of documents.
On the surface, it appeared to be Su's passport.
At this moment, Mei was making a phone call while briskly walking through the airport, holding the document in one hand and her smartphone to her ear in the other.
Not long ago, she had received a call from Kevin, saying that Su had left his passport in the boys' dormitory at Senba Academy and might miss his flight home, so he had begged her to deliver it quickly.
There was nothing she could do. Hearing Kevin's plea for help at the time, Mei could almost imagine him bowing over the phone... Helpless, she had taken an unprecedented leave from her favorite class.
"Kevin and Su are really something. They should've double-checked their luggage before leaving!"
As she moved, Mei muttered to herself.
Truthfully—
Mei found it a little strange.
Kevin was one thing.
But Su...? Was he really that careless? Wasn't he the nitpicky type?
Also, when this kind of thing happened, why didn't Su—a short-term exchange student returning home with the group—contact Senba Academy instead of asking a student to run so far to deliver a passport?
However, considering the call had come from Kevin...
"Sigh~"
Mei sighed again.
Unexpectedly, she'd now broken her lifelong streak of never "playing support" for a guy.
This time—
"Hello! Mei, you—"
"Kevin, you and Su—"
The phone connected.
Kevin and Mei on both ends began talking at once.
However, the latter only managed to get out the start of her question.
"!!!"
She froze.
At that moment, in Mei's field of vision, a figure very special to her was walking toward her.
All too familiar.
Because that figure was—
Herself.
Right at that moment, as if possessed by a devil—
"Who are you?"
"Mei" looked at the approaching person and murmured to herself.
At the same time, she hung up the phone call with Kevin.