A child's voice sounded low and frightened.
Whenever artillery roared outside, the power here would always go out.
"Mom… I'm scared."
Another child cried softly.
His mother had been struck by a stray bullet not long ago and died because there was no medicine available.
In the darkness, a faint glow suddenly appeared.
It wasn't bright, but it was enough to push back the deep shadows for a moment.
A gentle female voice followed.
"Don't be afraid, everyone. Look over here~"
The glow came from a small candle.
Its tiny flame cast moving shadows across the wall.
Robin placed the candle on a table by the wall.
Using her hands, she formed shapes in the light.
On the wall—
A little bird spreading its wings appeared.
"Ah! It's a bird!"
The children exclaimed in amazement.
"Teacher, you're here!"
One of the kids shouted happily.
"Teacher! I want to hear Sister Robin's story again! Can you tell it one more time?"
These children were orphans Robin had taken in during these past days.
In truth, she had come tonight to say goodbye.
But before leaving, she needed to make sure the children were properly settled.
"Alright~"
"But first, let me tell everyone a little secret."
Robin bent slightly, placing a finger near her lips as she spoke softly.
Unknowingly, she had already used Harmony tuning to calm the children's anxious hearts.
But suddenly—
The feathers near her ears fluttered violently.
A distant whistling sound seemed to approach from the sky.
Her heart tightened instantly.
Please don't tell me that's a shell…
The whistling sound rapidly grew louder.
Robin closed her eyes.
Her wings spread instinctively behind her.
She wrapped her arms around the children in front of her.
"Move! Move! Aaaah—!"
But the thing falling from the sky wasn't a weapon.
It was a human-shaped figure flailing wildly while shouting.
Yes.
That person was Dongfang Qiqing.
With the help of the Omniscient Lens—
Or more precisely the Laplace Demon system connected to it—
She had located a girl living in a ruined house in the slums at the edge of this warzone.
The girl had feathers behind her ears.
And a clean, graceful appearance.
Combine that with several facts:
Robin was a Halovian
Robin had come to this star sector
Within the entire search range, only one person had ear feathers
In a war-torn place like this, such a beautiful and refined girl looked completely out of place
Even if she hadn't seen the iconic halo yet—
There was a 90% chance it was the right person.
So Dongfang Qiqing decided to fly over and confirm.
But this was her first time using the transformation device to fly.
She could take off—
But she had absolutely no idea how to land.
Earlier she had gotten too excited.
In order to speed things up, she accelerated into a high-speed dive from far away.
But halfway through the descent—
When the house was already visible—
Dongfang Qiqing suddenly realized something was terribly wrong.
Oh no.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO LAND!!!
"Move! Move! Aaaah—!"
Dongfang Qiqing nearly cried.
She wasn't worried about herself.
She had already accidentally verified the armor's extremely high defense earlier.
Even if she smashed into the ground—
At this height she wouldn't even get a scratch.
At worst the armor would get a little dirty.
What she was afraid of was something else.
What if I land on Robin?!
What if she accidentally injured her?
Then wouldn't this entire trip be pointless?
And even if she didn't hit her—
This kind of entrance would be way too embarrassing.
What if Robin got frightened by this bizarre appearance and refused to cooperate?
What if she refused to come help Mr. Lin Yi's mission?
This was the first task Lin Yi had entrusted to her.
If she messed it up—
She would die of embarrassment.
Dongfang Qiqing desperately tried to shift her direction mid-air.
But the more anxious she became, the more chaotic her movements got.
She had zero experience after all.
A first-time bride entering the bridal sedan.
Then—
BOOM!!!
With a deafening crash, Dongfang Qiqing smashed straight through the already fragile roof.
She plunged downward.
Straight into the ground.
Headfirst.
Only her two legs remained sticking out, waving in the air.
The massive impact kicked up dust and wind that blasted outward.
The already fragile house lost its roof—
And then its four walls collapsed as well.
Yes.
All four walls.
The children fell onto their bottoms.
But thanks to Robin's protective wings, none of them were seriously hurt.
Robin's wings, however, were now covered with dust.
Tiny cuts from flying debris marked the feathers.
"Waaah! The house—our house collapsed!"
"Teacher, are you okay? You're bleeding so much!"
"Teacher, why do you have wings? Are they like Sister Robin's wings?"
Meanwhile—
Dongfang Qiqing was still stuck upside down in the ground.
Listening to the children crying around her—
She wished she could dig a hole and crawl inside from sheer embarrassment.
Well…
Actually she couldn't.
Her feet weren't touching the ground.
They were still waving in the air.
After struggling wildly and cracking the ground even further, she finally pulled herself free.
Robin immediately pulled the children behind her.
Her eyes were sharp and wary.
"Who are you?"
"State your intentions."
"Misunderstanding! I mean no harm!"
Dongfang Qiqing waved her hands repeatedly.
But she quickly realized—
Her current appearance was not very convincing.
She raised her hand.
The armor around her body dissolved into flowing light.
The streams of light gathered in her palm—
Transforming back into the small transformation device.
Too bad it didn't come with sound effects.
"Um… excuse me…"
"Are you Miss Robin?"
"Repeat your purpose."
Robin did not answer the question.
Instead, she repeated her demand.
Her fists tightened unconsciously.
Cold sweat slid down her back.
"Long story short—"
"Miss Robin, please come with me."
"Who are you?"
"What exactly do you want?"
Seeing Dongfang Qiqing leave the intimidating armor form and reveal her true appearance, Robin's guard lowered slightly.
At least it meant the other party didn't seem hostile.
Dongfang Qiqing spoke quickly:
"Genius Society #85—Lin Yi."
"He needs your help."
"Miss Robin… please come with me."