Phoenis was standing outside the door.
Standing on the inside of the entryway, staring at Phoenis on the monitor feed, Amano Rei's mind instantaneously short-circuited.
Why?! Why on earth is Phoenis here?!
Lin Xingyao's thoughts echoed inside his mind: "Junior, I don't recognize this person at all. But wow, she is absolutely gorgeous!"
Well, obviously. When it came to pure aesthetics, Phoenis was undeniably top-tier. Even a supreme silver-haired beauty like Lin Xingyao recognized her stunning appearance at a single glance.
But right now was definitely not the time to be admiring the young lady's looks through a security camera.
Amano Rei: "I know her."
Lin Xingyao: "If she's someone you know, Junior, then why on earth is she hammering on my front door?"
That was exactly the core anomaly racking Amano Rei's brain. Lin Xingyao didn't have a single structural link to Phoenis. If it had been Nangouin Sakuya standing out there, he could loosely deduce a plausible connection. But why on earth was Phoenis hunting down Lin Xingyao?
And she had to coordinate her arrival at the absolute most awkward, compromised juncture imaginable.
His soul was currently locked inside Lin Xingyao's physical frame, and a full hour remained before the system would execute the decoupling process.
Amano Rei: "I have absolutely zero data on how she tracked us here... but I absolutely do not dare to unlatch the door right now."
Lin Xingyao: "Yeah, this configuration is looking remarkably precarious."
Even without knowing Phoenis, Lin Xingyao could clearly detect the absolute gravity of the situation. After all, a completely unresponsive version of Amano Rei was currently 'comatose' across her living room sofa. Letting anyone bear witness to a scene of that caliber would result in an absolute narrative disaster.
However, judging by Phoenis's posture outside the threshold, if they refused to engage the lock, she would undoubtedly maintain her un-interrupted chime sequence indefinitely.
Having endured the chiming for a solid ten minutes, the adjacent neighbors appeared to be reacting to the disturbance. Amano could faintly hear door latches clicking open down the hall as residents peeked out to locate the noise.
If they maintained this complete blackout strategy, it would inevitably attract the apartment complex's active security patrol and building management. The management would immediately attempt to establish contact with Lin Xingyao's archeologist parents. And her parents, panicking over the sudden structural assumption that their sick daughter had collapsed or passed out behind a locked door, would abandon their mandatory overtime shift to sprint back to the apartment at breakneck speed.
When that happened, the resulting environment would devolve into an even more chaotic nightmare.
Lin Xingyao: "We have no choice but to unlatch the door. Bypassing any parameters that would draw my parents back here is our top priority."
The homeowner had officially issued her operational command. To Lin Xingyao, Phoenis was nothing more than a striking stranger; she naturally lacked the contextual data to truly sympathize with the intense panic currently locking up Amano Rei's nerves.
Lin Xingyao: "Wait, Junior, why are you running away? Are we not opening the door anymore?"
Amano Rei: "We are, but give me one second first."
Following that, Phoenis maintained her un-interrupted assault on the doorbell interface for another solid five minutes. Sensing that the patience of the surrounding neighbors and complex management had reached its absolute breaking point, Amano Rei finally directed Lin Xingyao's physical vessel forward, slowly pulling the heavy door open.
The exact millisecond her eyes locked onto Lin Xingyao's dressed-down, pajama-clad appearance, a fleeting trace of data-driven astonishment flashed across Phoenis's silver-grey irises. Even with her signature hair completely disheveled and her attire remarkably casual, there was absolutely no obscuring the objective reality that Lin Xingyao was a supreme tier-one beauty.
"Pardon the intrusion, but is this the residence of Lin Xingyao?"
"Mmh... yes, that information is correct~"
Amano Rei strained his cognitive faculties to perfectly mimic the baseline cadence and tone of Lin Xingyao's voice from his memory. To put it more accurately, he was executing an aggressive defensive protocol to avoid dropping into any of his own structural speech patterns. He could only pray that Phoenis didn't possess the same terrifying, predatory instinct that Wanyuan You wielded.
"I am Lin Xingyao. May I ask... who exactly are you?" Amano Rei asked, feigning complete ignorance.
Phoenis responded plainly, "I am a close companion of Amano Rei."
"H-Hello~"
Lin Xingyao's consciousness chimed in: "Junior, relax your facial features. Your current expression looks exactly like someone harboring a massive, guilty secret."
I can't help it, Senior! I am literally harboring a massive, guilty secret right now!
Phoenis pressed forward: "Conducting an exchange at the threshold is structurally inconvenient. May I step inside, Senior Lin Xingyao?"
Phoenis reached into her bag, pulling out her student identification card to validate her baseline credentials, confirming she wasn't a hazardous or unrecognized entity.
"S-Stepping inside to conduct an exchange feels somewhat inappropriate... cough, cough... I am currently battling an active illness, so it is remarkably inconvenient."
"It's perfectly fine. I possess a high baseline immunity; I am not afraid of contracting a viral infection."
"Even so, it remains highly irregular."
"May I... step... inside?" Phoenis delivered each syllable with an incredibly deliberate, weighted emphasis.
"Y-You may..."
Lin Xingyao: "Amano, why on earth did you clear her entry parameters?! Didn't I explicitly instruct you to deploy a generic brush-off strategy at the threshold?"
I had no choice, Senior! Because I am actively committing a massive moral violation against her, my tactical focus was completely suppressed by Phoenis's raw aura!
Furthermore, analyzing Phoenis's established personality matrix, she possessed an exceptionally obsessive drive; if he refused her entry, she would simply camp outside the threshold and maintain her chime sequence indefinitely.
At the very least, he had strategically utilized those brief minutes prior to unlatching the door to properly manage his own 'corpse'.
Stepping cleanly into the living room space, Phoenis's silver-grey eyes swept across the interior, clearly scanning the environment to isolate a specific target profile. However, upon failing to detect her target within her immediate field of vision, she smoothly retracted her gaze, returning to a composed stance.
"Senior Lin Xingyao, I shall bypass any perfunctory conversational framing and ask you directly. Is Amano Rei currently residing inside this space?"
"Cough, cough... Whatever do you mean by that? I am currently dealing with a severe common cold, forcing me to take a formal leave of absence to rest entirely alone at home."
"Oh? Entirely alone, you say?" Phoenis's gaze dropped, locking squarely onto the grocery bag resting open on the coffee table.
In this precise moment, Amano Rei felt an overwhelming surge of profound gratitude that he had decisively bypassed Lin Xingyao's absurd suggestions and refrained from purchasing any contraceptives. Had those items been sitting inside that bag, he would have suffered an absolute, un-purgeable narrative failure even if he washed himself in the Yellow River.
Following her visual scan, a gentle, warm smile spread across Phoenis's face. "Struggling through an illness entirely isolated at home must be exceptionally grueling for you, Senior. As your academic junior, it is only proper that I step in to tend to your needs for a brief duration."
"T-That is entirely unnecessary, Miss Phoenis. I am perfectly capable of navigating my own recovery parameters. In fact, I had smoothly drifted off to sleep a short while ago, prior to being pulled awake by the disruption of the doorbell interface."
"Is that how the timeline maps out? In that case, I owe you an even deeper apology for the disturbance. Do not be deceived by my outward appearance; I possess an exceptionally high competency rating when it comes to managing caretaking protocols."
A flash of absolute playfulness crossed Phoenis's gaze as she cast a brief, calculated look at the real-time digits displayed on her wrist terminal.
"Furthermore, I shall ensure my presence does not disrupt Senior's environment for an excessive duration. I intend to depart in approximately one hour, provided no further anomalies manifest within the sector."
"..."
The temporal alignment is way too precise! Amano Rei suddenly felt that Phoenis's gentle smile carried a terrifying, calculated edge. Allowing her to camp out inside this room for a full hour meant that when the system executed the abrupt soul-decoupling protocol, the brief, mandatory window of cognitive vertigo would be practically impossible to conceal from the young lady's sharp eyes.
Lin Xingyao: "Amano? Exactly how does she possess real-time data indicating that we require precisely one hour?"
Ah, great. I completely overlooked this side of the equation.
He had exclusively disclosed the operational parameters of his Mind Hack capability to Lin Xingyao, but he had entirely omitted the vital context that he had previously deployed the exact same capability onto other targets. Phoenis's sudden calculated maneuver had effectively landed Amano Rei in a crossfire where he was actively deceiving both parties simultaneously.
Amano Rei: "Senior, let me focus entirely on surviving this immediate tactical checkpoint before I map out a comprehensive explanation for you."
Phoenis casually pulled a chair out from the adjacent dining table, settling into a comfortable seat.
"Senior, remaining completely isolated at home must be remarkably mundane. Would you care to engage in a bit of dialogue to pass the time?"
"No... that is unnecessary. I intend to... resume my sleep parameters."
Operating under the core tactical principle that the more data streams one generates, the more opportunities one creates for a structural slip-up, Amano Rei directed Lin Xingyao's physical vessel back onto the sofa, laying flat across the cushions in a rigid defensive posture.
Phoenis offered a gentle, supportive suggestion: "Are you certain you do not wish to retreat to your personal bedroom to rest, Senior? Sleeping across a sofa cushions feels rather un-optimized and uncomfortable, wouldn't you say?"
"No, the sofa clears my baseline comfort requirements perfectly."
"Could it be that... you have an unverified entity concealed inside your bedroom?"
"Cough, cough, cough... My fever parameters appear to be experiencing a sudden, severe escalation."
"How truly miserable."
Displaying an exceptional level of familiar comfort within the residence, Phoenis shifted her position, seating herself directly onto the edge of the sofa right beside Amano Rei's piloting frame. She extended her slender, pristine fingers, gently brushing the white bangs away from Lin Xingyao's forehead.
"The thermal feedback isn't particularly alarming. Your fever should break smoothly in approximately one hour."
"I... I shall initialize my sleep sequence now!"
The definitive defensive counter-measure Amano Rei devised was to simply execute a comprehensive fake-sleep protocol. As long as he simulated a deep sleep state, the brief window of cognitive vertigo triggered by the soul-decoupling process down the line should pass without exposing any obvious structural anomalies.
However, the exact fraction of a second Amano Rei shut Senior's eyes, he felt her head being gently lifted by a pair of warm hands, before being softly lowered onto an incredibly cool, plush, and yielding surface.
Lin Xingyao's thoughts flared instantly: "Could this loosely qualify as... the legendary lap pillow?!"
Lacking any luxury of focus to appreciate the profound aesthetic merits of a lap pillow, Amano Rei carefully parted her eyelids by a fraction of a millimeter, tracking Phoenis through a microscopic slit.
Currently, Phoenis was gently stroking Lin Xingyao's crown. The soft, serene smile gracing her features radiated a profound, almost maternal aura of absolute warmth.
What kind of bizarre script deviation am I looking at right now? Mother Phoenis? Is the yuri narrative track that powerful? Could Phoenis actually harbor an unverified romantic fixation toward Senior?
Right as Amano Rei was spiraling down a rabbit hole of severe strategic suspicion, Phoenis's lips parted, her voice delivering a quiet, steady stream of words.
"You've been shouldering an immense burden lately, haven't you... continuously fighting through high-stakes Shadow Duels. Even though you aren't currently piloting your native physical vessel, I still hope your consciousness can access a moment of absolute relaxation right here, Amano."
"Phoenis? Your target identification is flawed—"
"My target identification contains zero data errors. You called me Phoenis just a moment ago, and you repeated the exact same designation just now. I have not formally introduced my name since crossing your threshold, meaning your pilot identity is explicitly verified as Amano~"
"T-That is... that is simply because prior to your entry, I executed a visual scan of your student identification card."
"The card I pulled from my bag belonged explicitly to my second older brother, Karl. You didn't execute a real diagnostic scan of the text fields at all, did you~"
Phoenis, you absolute tactician! You completely set me up!
It turned out that from the literal moment he unlatched the door, he had walked right into a calculated trap deployed by Phoenis. True to form, Amano Rei had merely executed a purely perfunctory glance at the student card. To his strategic focus, verifying the exact text fields carried zero weight. At that moment, his visual processing had simply registered a faint image of a red-haired individual printed on the card face.
So that image actually belonged to Karl?! You wouldn't even go to the trouble of utilizing Latiel's card to construct a plausible deception; you straight-up grabbed a man's ID to run a compliance check on me.
"Listen to my explanation, Phoenis." Amano Rei immediately attempted to push her physical vessel back to sit up, only to be firmly pinned right back down across her lap by the young lady's borderline anomalous physical strength.
"There is absolutely zero requirement for an explanation, Amano. I comprehend the structural reality perfectly; I have always been the one who maintains the highest baseline understanding of your circumstances."
"Phoenis, I..."
"Had it not been for the combat sequence you just finalized, the entire infrastructure of the Middle District would currently be locked down in a state of absolute system failure."
"A system failure? So that celestial projection hanging over the heavens... was a real-time rendering of an actual physical crisis?"
"Consequently, your active operational status maps onto a true hero who preserved the lives of countless citizens across the Middle District. You need to bear yourself with the absolute pride befitting a hero."
Laying out the structural context like that makes perfect sense. But currently occupying the physical vessel of an academy goddess while being firmly pinned down onto another goddess's lap pillow, Amano Rei simply lacked the baseline capacity to experience a single shred of heroic pride.
Phoenis asked quietly, "Amano, where exactly did you cross paths with the Puppeteer this time?"
"The designation 'Puppeteer' doesn't map perfectly onto the entity I fought; her operational profile was fundamentally distinct."
Amano Rei delivered a concise summary, mapping out the data regarding the Trickster for Phoenis.
"An entity operating inside the deepest vaults of the network designated as the Trickster, huh. This aligns flawlessly with the active investigation files compiled by the Wayne family. The Puppeteer functions as a component of an exceptionally vast, heavily insulated organization, and the Trickster is undoubtedly an identical asset operating within that exact network."
"But Phoenis, how on earth did your tracking parameters lead you directly to this residential address?"
"I deduced your exact coordinates the moment I finished analyzing that Shadow Duel."That a high-stakes Shadow Duel could feature cards belonging to both Lin Xingyao and Amano Rei, while clearly not operating under standard tag-team parameters, left Phoenis with only one logical deduction: Mind Hack.
Consequently, she had immediately mobilized the Wayne family's elite intelligence network to run a comprehensive file check on Lin Xingyao. That was how she uncovered the real-time data indicating that the senior was currently on a formal leave of absence due to an active illness.
"An established old-money family truly is a terrifying entity."
Initially, Amano Rei had operating under the structural assumption that Phoenis had simply managed to plant a high-tier tracking beacon on his person. But reviewing the data now, the absolute, far-reaching authority of an elite conglomerate was infinitely more terrifying than a standard localized tracker.
"There is absolutely nothing to be terrified of, Amano. As long as I am standing by your side, the Wayne family will permanently function as your absolute bedrock."
Phoenis extended her fingers again, lightly pinching Amano Rei's cheek.
"Though it has to be said... you truly look remarkably adorable in this form, Amano~~"
Staring down at the supreme beauty configuration currently anchoring Amano Rei's soul across her lap, Phoenis continued her gentle stroking, but the motherly warmth in her smile was progressively warping into something entirely distinct.
The moment her cognitive processing locked onto the reality that the gorgeous female vessel before her eyes was being piloted by Amano Rei's soul—synthesized with his frantic, adorable performance trying to execute a fake identity check moments ago—Phoenis felt a highly hidden specialized attribute within her psyche rapidly waking up.
I want to tease this version of Amano Rei so intensely! Teasing him while he's trapped in a soft, completely defenseless state like this will feel exceptionally satisfying!
"Phoenis... this isn't my native physical body. Conducting yourself like this feels rather irregular, wouldn't you say?"
Amano Rei felt a faint, localized pain radiate from where she was pinching his cheek.
More importantly, Senior Xingyao had maintained an exceptionally heavy silence since this exchange initialized.
Amano Rei: "Senior, are your cognitive parameters holding up?"
Lin Xingyao: "Perfectously fine."
Not only is she completely silent, but her internal tone has plummeted to absolute zero.
Lin Xingyao: "Your relationship matrix with Phoenis appears to be exceptionally advanced, Junior."
Amano Rei: "Mmh, Phoenis functions as my premier benefactor. Had it not been for the young lady's profound kindness and intervention, I lacked the baseline resources to escape the lower sectors, let alone clear the enrollment criteria for the Synchro Academy."
Lin Xingyao: "Oh? So that is the nature of the debt. Tell me, Junior... does it remain strictly confined to a debt of gratitude? Are there no other historical files—for instance, the underlying rationale behind her precise awareness of your Mind Hack capability? Is it because you've deployed that exact technique inside her physical vessel as well?"
To be perfectly frank, in this exact fraction of a second, Amano Rei felt a powerful surge of nostalgia for Nangouin Sakuya. Only his stoic class monitor would refrain from deploying a high-tier interrogation matrix. Because his beautifully blockheaded monitor simply lacked the necessary cognitive processing to track variables to this level.
You truly are an elite operative, Amano Rei. Residing inside one woman's physical vessel, resting your head across a secondary woman's lap, while your active mental processing is completely consumed by a third.
Lin Xingyao: "I operated under the baseline data assumption that your close personal links were limited entirely to Nangouin Sakuya."
Had her competition been limited strictly to Nangouin Sakuya, Lin Xingyao calculated that the threat index would remain remarkably low. But the Phoenis standing before her eyes belonged to an entirely different tier of threat. Within a single minute of crossing the threshold, this woman had systematically laid out a calculated trap that completely stripped Amano Rei of his cover.
An exceptionally dangerous adversary.
However, was Phoenis operating under any different assumption?
The undisputed No. 1 powerhouse of the Synchro Academy, a premier goddess-tier figure. As early as the evening of the welcoming banquet, Phoenis and Nangouin Sakuya had arrived at a wordless, flawless consensus to forge a unified tactical alliance. Lin Xingyao stood as the single most dangerous variable on the map. Because if one evaluated pure dueling parameters, Phoenis and Nangouin Sakuya combined would likely suffer a total defeat if they attempted to match blades with a full-power Lin Xingyao.
Consequently, the moment she caught a glimpse of that hybrid Shadow Duel, Phoenis treated the data as an absolute red alert. She had mobilized the Wayne family's premium assets to compile a complete profile on Lin Xingyao at breakneck speed, before immediately establishing a physical presence right in front of Amano Rei.
Unlike Nangouin Sakuya—who was a safe partner to coordinate with due to possessing zero threatening capabilities—Lin Xingyao was an absolute apex predator!
"Achoo——!!"
Simultaneously, having just stepped clear of the school gates after the dismissal of evening self-study, Nangouin Sakuya let out a massive, full-throated sneeze.
Rubbing her nose, she felt a highly sudden, localized sensation—as if three separate entities had simultaneously looked down upon her cognitive capacity for a brief millisecond.
Ugh... I didn't manage to formulate a single correct answer for tonight's homework assignment again. Am I truly that completely useless?
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