"Stay hidden here and don't wander around," Firefly told Little Li and her father. "It should be safe in a few days." She conjured some painkillers and anti-inflammatories, placing them on the cabinet.
This was all she could do for now. After all, she wasn't a doctor and had no idea how to treat fractures.
Besides, Little Li's family was just one among ten million households in this city. Even if Firefly could help them, she couldn't possibly help everyone.
The root of this catastrophe was the sudden appearance of 1.5 million people from the Sakura Nation. Only by resolving this issue could the city's nightmare truly end.
Of course, Firefly wasn't suggesting killing all 1.5 million people. Her goal was to quickly seal the Dimensional Rift, sending these Sakura Nation people back to where they came from.
After explaining the effects and usage of the two bottles of medicine, Firefly turned to leave. Little Li couldn't help but ask, "Big Sister, are there many kind 'weirdos' like you?"
Firefly froze. Had Little Li figured out she was a "weirdo"?
No, it was obvious, wasn't it? Her ability to conjure food, water, and strange medicines out of thin air, coupled with her earlier barrage of odd questions, clearly marked her as an outsider.
Firefly suddenly remembered her first encounter with Little Li. Hadn't she asked, "Aren't you afraid I might be strange too?"
She was wearing modern urban casual autumn clothes, a stark contrast to the attire of this Otherworld. Little Li must have realized she was an outsider from the start. Yet when Firefly had startled her, the child hadn't asked, "Big Sister, are you really strange?" Instead, she'd asked, "Big Sister, are you a bad person?"
In other words, Little Li had likely known all along that Firefly was the "strange person who suddenly appeared three days ago." After hesitating behind the window for a few moments, she had still chosen to help her.
Firefly gently patted Little Li's head and whispered, "Good people are rare, very rare. Don't trust others easily. You must protect yourself."
Though Firefly said this, the question of whether good people were truly scarce was difficult to answer. Among the Sakura Nation people dragged into the Dimensional Rift, were there more good or bad people back on Nawajima?
Firefly remembered the shopkeepers and passersby she'd encountered—many of them had been genuinely kind.
But after being dragged into the Dimensional Rift, these people transformed into Malevolent Ghosts in an instant. The environment, where they mistook everyone for NPCs, the desperate hunger that nearly starved them, and the complete neglect from their leaders (Fujiwara even exploited the chaos to storm the Royal Palace)—all these factors combined to create the current disastrous situation.
Therefore, Firefly truly didn't know how to answer the question of whether there were more good people than bad.
After bidding farewell to Little Li and her father, Firefly was about to find a place to transform when a sudden, hazy sensation washed over her. Her eyes widened in surprise.
Firefly knew this feeling all too well. It was the harbinger of her imminent departure from the Dimensional Rift, signaling her successful completion of the challenge.
She had barely begun preparing to leave when she realized the Four Heavenly Kings were already wiped out?
In truth, this wasn't entirely surprising. After all, Mad Lion, Kong Zhiwang, and the Dragon Nation's Second Mobile Squad had been relentlessly hunting them down.
Just the day before, Kong Zhiwang had been diligently tracking the Four Heavenly Kings when a colossal commotion erupted nearby. The sheer scale of the disturbance made it clear this wasn't the work of ordinary Demonic Beasts, so Kong Zhiwang instinctively rushed toward the source.
He discovered that the disturbance wasn't caused by Demonic Beasts at all, but by Mad Lion.
"Didn't you say you were heading north?" Kong Zhiwang demanded. "What are you doing over here?"
"Huh?" Mad Lion blinked. "I thought I was going straight! Isn't this north?"
Kong Zhiwang stared in disbelief, speechless. Mad Lion had clearly veered off course without realizing it. But the absurdity didn't end there. Mad Lion's ruckus had inadvertently lured one of the Four Heavenly Kings, who mistakenly assumed another member of their group was nearby and charged straight toward the duo.
The outcome was inevitable. The unfortunate Heavenly King, utterly defenseless, stood no chance against their combined assault and was swiftly dispatched. This incident sparked an epiphany in Kong Zhiwang: instead of hunting down the Four Heavenly Kings, they could lure them into a trap!
Using the fallen Heavenly King's corpse as bait, coupled with Mad Lion's conspicuous commotion, they finally drew out the remaining two Heavenly Kings. By today, both had been eliminated.
The fundamental lore of this Otherworld dictated that the last surviving Heavenly King would ascend to become the Demon Lord. However, the Demon Lord's true power stemmed from consuming the corpses of the other Heavenly Kings. Clearly, the "Demon Lord" they now faced was merely a Heavenly King in name only, his actual strength barely changed from before.
The only change was that one of the Four Heavenly Kings, originally a werewolf, now had darker fur and a purple halo effect above its head, resembling a crown. However, this was merely a visual effect.
After a brief moment of disorientation, Firefly opened her eyes and found herself back in the same hotel room.
"We're back already?" Firefly's expression was a mix of bewilderment and disbelief.
The Dimensional Rift experience had been utterly bizarre. She had arrived in this city based on a Tarot card reading, expecting to grind through an Instance and complete the System's objectives through endless combat. Yet, she hadn't even encountered three of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Within the Rift, the majority of her progress towards the "Iron Cavalry" objective had come from her battles against Mad Lion and Director Fujiwara of the Sakura Nation. Notably, the objective had been completed immediately after her fight with Director Fujiwara.
Firefly glanced at the System interface:
The Beautiful Girl Masquerade System is at your service.
Host: Mu Heng
Current Identities: Robin, Firefly
Current Objectives: Songstress (Completed), Iron Cavalry (Completed)
Drawing in progress. Please wait...
Firefly remembered the long wait she'd endured when she first obtained the Firefly identity. This time, she wasn't in a hurry. She looked out the hotel window and saw several fires raging in the distance, thick black smoke billowing skyward.
Three days had passed, yet the Sakura Nation government hadn't dispatched anyone to manage the disaster caused by the city's mass disappearance?
No, that wasn't quite right. Personnel had been deployed—even Prime Minister An San himself had arrived.
Just a short while ago, An San had been giving a live broadcast:
"We are deeply saddened by this unprecedented disaster."
"But I believe in my people! They will undoubtedly survive this historic Dimensional Rift Incident!"
"Our immediate priority is to restore Nawajima to its former glory as quickly as possible, as we await their return..."
Bang!
An San was passionately addressing the camera when, in the blink of an eye, a crimson stain blossomed across his chest, and he collapsed to the ground.
The scene stunned everyone watching the live stream in the Sakura Nation, as well as the staff members standing beside An San.
A curvaceous female bodyguard in high heels froze in place, utterly bewildered.
"Assassin!" the cameraman shouted, and chaos erupted. Some rushed to perform CPR, while others frantically searched for the assassin, all in vain.
Remember the Hunter's final shot fired skyward? The moment she pulled the trigger, the bullet didn't leave the chamber—it simply vanished into thin air.
After all, her target was beyond the Dimensional Rift. How could a bullet possibly cross such a boundary? It was the same principle as facing the Shield Hero's impenetrable shield. Following the logic of Certain Hit, the bullet bypassed the impossible trajectory and arrived directly at its destination.
Just as the Hunter had declared: "I've fired the first shot of this war."
-
The perspective shifts to Robin. Normally, she wouldn't waste her time watching live streams, but this incident was so outrageous that it went viral almost instantly. Robin saw the video within about ten minutes of it happening.
Online, everyone was speculating about the assassin's identity, but Robin immediately realized that the shot had most likely been fired by Hunter.
Hermit, one of the White Eagle Eight, came to the same conclusion. Less than half an hour after the news of An San's assassination broke, an even more shocking announcement emerged:
Hermit had formally declared war on Sakura Nation!
Needless to say, anyone reading this news would be utterly dumbfounded. Declaring war wasn't like two kids fighting in the street—it was a momentous decision. How could someone declare war so impulsively?
Furthermore, Hermit offered no justification or pretext for his declaration.
However, Robin noticed a crucial detail: it was Hermit alone, not the entire White Eagle organization, who had declared war on Sakura Nation.
It seemed Hermit had made this decision unilaterally, without consulting the other seven members of the White Eagle Eight. Whatever his reasons, his relationship with Hunter must be exceptionally close.
Curiously, when Robin investigated Hermit's background to uncover the nature of his connection with Hunter, she found nothing beyond his codename. This was particularly strange, considering that the other seven members of the White Eagle Eight openly displayed their Abilities.
Unable to find any information, Robin turned her attention back to the White Eagle. This nation operated under a peculiar system: the eight members formed a governing council, yet each ruled their own territory as an absolute monarch, essentially an emperor. This meant Hermit's decision was beyond reproach by the other seven.
Even if the rest of the White Eagle Eight remained neutral, Sakura Nation now faced a conflict equivalent to war with one-eighth of the White Eagle's total military might.
To be honest, Robin didn't think the Sakura Nation stood much of a chance. The disparity in national power between the two sides was simply too vast.
The future of the war remained uncertain, but the immediate priority was for Firefly to evacuate the Sakura Nation as soon as possible.
At the Longcheng Investigation Branch, Lü Heng watched Robin sitting in the lobby, sipping bubble tea and frowning at her phone while occasionally sighing. "What's got you so down?" he asked.
It's worth noting that Robin visited the Investigation Branch to deliver "feathers," though she only came about once a week.
"White Eagle just declared war on the Sakura Nation," she said.
"Oh, I heard about that. But it doesn't really concern us, does it? The Director-General apparently returned to Kyoto recently, thanks to the Second Mobile Squad's efforts," Lü Heng said, stroking his chin as he eyed Robin. "More importantly, Robin, have you gained weight?"
Robin blinked. "???"
"There's a rumor going around that you've been ordering double portions of takeout every day and buying loads of snacks at the supermarket," Lü Heng continued. "And now you're even drinking bubble tea. People online are starting to suspect you might have binge-eating disorder."
Robin fell silent.
The rumor was annoyingly accurate—all of it true. But that very truth made it impossible to deny!
Yet she genuinely hadn't gained any weight!