Of course, Vill-V didn't know the Phoenix's ultimate technique—Spirit of Cinder. The flaming giant chicken was nothing more than fireworks Hua had released from below after receiving the signal: "Phoenix, appear!"
The fireworks themselves had been hastily assembled by Expert using leftover gunpowder from the cabin. The design reference was Fu Hua's Phoenix form.
What Hua couldn't understand was why they even needed a release command for the fireworks. If it was voice-activated, couldn't it simply be set to trigger at "Phoenix, appear!" Why did Vill-V insist on shouting an extra line beforehand: "Use the Flame Fist on them!"
In truth, if it hadn't been for Hua's safety, Vill-V would have insisted on letting Hua personally unleash a "White Robe Crossing the River" to intimidate the enemy.
As for why she didn't use "Crow Sits on Airplane!" as the slogan, the main reason was simple... it was too lame. The Magician refused to shout something that tacky. It would ruin her beautiful-girl aura.
And since she was currently wearing the image of the Phoenix, she couldn't very well embarrass that immortal figure either. After all, the Immortal Phoenix was watching from behind.
The United Nations soldiers, of course, knew none of this. From the girl's confident and threatening tone, they assumed it was some kind of devastating weapon and immediately threw themselves to the ground or scattered for cover.
The flaming giant chicken flapped down to the runway. Only after the heat wave dissipated did the soldiers dare raise their heads. Black Tiger Fuka was still standing atop the aircraft, chin lifted and palm extended in a bow stance, motionless beneath the spotlight.
Such imposing presence made the commanding officer realize she was a serious threat.
"Shoot her down!" he ordered at once.
At his command, the soldiers opened fire in a barrage. Gunshots rang out, smoke filled the air, flashes erupted. Bullets tore straight through Black Tiger Fuka.
Yet she remained standing on the aircraft, swaying slightly, as if trembling.
Finally, she lost her balance and fell to the ground—but instead of a body hitting the earth, there came a soft pop, like a balloon bursting.
It wasn't a person at all.
It was a human-shaped balloon.
The burst was followed by thick white smoke rapidly spreading outward. The acrid smell immediately alerted several United Nations soldiers—it was MOTH gas smoke. Some soldiers instantly ceased firing to avoid triggering an explosion.
Most, however, didn't realize what it was. Very few of them had ever directly dealt with MOTH equipment. They continued shooting, and the sparks quickly ignited the gas, turning the surrounding area into a sea of flames.
"The transport plane's going to explode! Run!"
Someone shouted from within the smoke. The desperate scream drowned out the commander's orders. Hearing it, soldiers scattered in panic, scrambling toward the nearest safe zones.
Chaos reigned. Shouts overlapped, flames spread, and the surroundings gradually turned a blazing red.
"Get back here! Surround the transport plane! That's an order!"
"As soldiers, even if it explodes, you should use your bodies to block it! Don't let a single escapee get away!"
The United Nations commander barked into his communicator in frustration, trying to regroup the troops and restore order.
But he was an officer air-dropped in from the United Nations—known more for eating, drinking, gambling, and indulging himself at the base than for leadership. No one genuinely respected him.
Compared to obeying such an infuriating superior, the soldiers preferred to ensure their own survival.
And before order could be restored, the transport plane truly exploded.
It erupted like a fervent firework display, flames bursting outward, the blast thunderous and deafening.
Moments later, the roaring inferno surged outward like a tidal wave of heat, devouring everything nearby. Smoke billowed. Firelight danced.
It was like a spectacular demolition performance—leaving nothing intact.
Shrapnel struck the commander squarely, gravely injuring him and knocking him to the ground. With their commander down, the troops became even more disorganized, retreating to safe areas and waiting for the chaos to subside.
When the soldiers had first dived for cover, Vill-V and Hua had already begun leading the others in an orderly evacuation from the aircraft. By the time the smoke spread, they were prepared to bolt at any moment.
The pilot's shout of "The transport plane's going to explode!" had been the starting gun for their escape.
Fortunately, by the time they had fled far from the airport, the commander still hadn't managed to reorganize the troops. For some reason, he hadn't even ordered helicopters to track them.
They soon slipped beyond military surveillance altogether.
Airports were generally open areas with few people. Even the handful of surveillance cameras nearby had been remotely manipulated by Vill-V through her quantum computer. For networked public devices like those, the quantum computer was unstoppable.
Vill-V successfully led several hundred people to vanish right under the United Nations' noses.
...
Inside the Mad Hatter Party's base, Hua—fresh from a shower—watched Vill-V still removing her makeup and sighed sincerely.
"That was truly a brilliant escape show, Magician."
Hua admitted to herself that she would have had no way to lead the survivors out from the United Nations' encirclement.
Yet Vill-V had accomplished it single-handedly. Hua had never witnessed such intellect and methods firsthand before. Scenarios like that usually existed only in television dramas.
Conductor Vill-V, however, didn't agree.
"If you ask Magician, a performance that the audience can see through afterward—without surprise or reversal—doesn't count as magic at all. It was merely Conductor's strategy to break the situation."
Hua blinked. "So the one who appeared on stage back then wasn't your Magician persona?"
Conductor Vill-V shook her head.
"To ensure the plan started smoothly, I did let Magician take the stage briefly. But the entire escape process was arranged by me. Magician only opened the show, just in case something unexpected happened."
"If Magician had been in charge of planning... I can imagine how lively the scene would have been."
"For example, some random hot-air balloon might have carried everyone away. Or a helicopter might have transformed into a giant robot and started slaughtering people. Either scenario would have given me a headache I couldn't accept. Of course, those are just metaphors. As for what kind of surprise Magician would actually give the audience, no one knows."
"In any case, it wouldn't be something easy to clean up afterward—for me or for Expert."
After hearing Conductor's explanation, Hua's imagination began to wander.
"Magician is such a noisy persona. I thought she'd be more like Carole—a lively, energetic girl."
"She is energetic," Conductor replied. "It's just that energetic girls come in different types. Hers... would probably count as the startling variety."
"Ah... wait. Which Vill-V are you right now? My head's getting confused." Hua pressed a hand to her temple, genuinely perplexed.
Earlier, with the situation so tense, Hua had selectively ignored Vill-V's shifts in personality. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't tell them apart at all. Up until now, she had mostly spoken with Id alone.
What was it like having a friend who could switch personalities at will? Hua had experienced it firsthand.
It wasn't frightening, exactly. Hua could sense that no matter which persona surfaced, each Vill-V bore her goodwill.
What troubled Hua was how she was supposed to build relationships with each persona. If she couldn't even identify who was who, how could she form any kind of bond? Even though each Vill-V had taken the initiative to connect with her, the relationships felt hopelessly tangled.
She needed to sort them out.
"I'm Conductor. Technically, this is our first time... no, wait..."
Because Id was currently awake, Conductor could easily access everything Vill-V had done with this body, sparing her the trouble of reading through each persona's written [Body Usage Logs].
So Conductor was well aware that Id had used her identity as a convenient alias.
That left Conductor with a headache.
Back then, Id had directly introduced herself while wearing Conductor's skin. She couldn't very well expose Id now, could she? Id would definitely burst into tears—and possibly disconnect entirely.
So how exactly was she supposed to introduce herself?
"Mm... Should I say... long time no see?... Or... nice to meet you?"