"Xia... Lin? How can this be?" Anby's eyes widened at the sight of Number 11. She was supposed to have lost her memories, so why was she here? "Don't tell me..."
She snatched Eous from the air. "Mo Wang, you'd better explain why Xia Lin is here."
"Poo poo~ I don't know anything~" Mo Wang, controlling Eous, put on a cute, innocent expression.
"You...! "Anby's grip tightened. She knew, without a doubt, that he was behind this.
"Tsk~! So what if you're here?! You're just the final product," Cui Ji sneered at Number 11.
"I'm not the 'final product'," Number 11 retorted, pointing her weapon at Cui Ji, just as Anby had. "I'm just here to take care of a troublemaker like you. Surrender, Cui Ji."
"Ha? Surrender?" Cui Ji laughed. "What nonsense are you spouting?! Do you really think the two of you can stop me? I'm not the same weakling I was back then! Get them!"
The clones surrounding them took a step forward. Anby and Number 11 tightened their grip on their weapons.
"Remember how we used to fight?"
"Hmph, even if you've forgotten, I never will."
"Good. Formation 13. On my command..."
Just as they were about to strike, the clones that were lunging at them suddenly collapsed to the ground as if their power had been cut.
"Huh?"
"Wh-what's going on?!" Cui Ji was stunned. "Get up, you useless things! Get up!"
"C-can't move..." one of the clones weakly replied.
"What... just happened?" Anby and Number 11 exchanged confused glances. They hadn't even done anything. And this situation felt strangely familiar...
"Damn it!" Even Cui Ji stumbled, glaring at the two sisters. "You... you despicable creatures... you used poison!"
"Huh?" Poison? They hadn't done anything of the sort. And the poison seemed to be the same one that had been used on Number 11... the one Cui Ji had.
They both turned to look at Mo Wang.
"Oh, well, you see, when I was treating Number 11, I analyzed the poison's composition," Mo Wang said through Eous, a sheepish expression on his face. "I figured, since I'd already figured it out, I might as well try it out. I didn't expect it to be so effective."
"S-so it was you?" Number 11 covered her mouth. "So that weakness I was feeling just now... it wasn't a side effect of the previous poisoning?"
"So, it wasn't just me... you too..." Anby also collapsed to the ground, having been putting on a brave face the whole time.
"Why are you all on the ground?! You... this Bangboo, you can use poison?!" Cui Ji was completely bewildered.
"Why would you do this?!" she screamed at Eous, wanting to tear the little Bangboo to pieces.
"Because it would be such a waste to kill so many cute little sisters, wouldn't it?"
Just then, a rift opened in the Hollow, and Mo Wang stepped out.
"It... it's you!" Cui Ji's face paled at the sight of him. The image of him effortlessly tossing a giant Ethereal was still seared into her mind.
"Sorry, you two," he said to the paralyzed sisters on the ground. "This poison is still in the prototype phase, so I haven't been able to program a target selection yet. You'll just have to lie there for a bit."
"Mo Wang, what... are you doing?" Anby asked, her eyes fixed on him.
"Didn't I say? I can't stand all this fighting and killing. It's such a cliché plot. You're sisters, for crying out loud." A little bickering between my wife and her sister-in-law is fine, but a fight to the death? That's just too ugly.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Only Number 11 was completely lost.
"Damn you! Don't think you've won just because you used this method!" Cui Ji snarled, and pulled out another syringe filled with a high-concentration Ether.
"Oh, you have another one of those? Confiscated!" Before she could use it, Mo Wang had already snatched it from her hand.
"You!"
"Guh... just kill me then," she said, her last hope gone.
"Hey, you really want to die at Anby's hands that badly, don't you?" he said, crouching down in front of her.
"Wh-what are you talking about? I don't know what you mean," she denied, but he had already seen through her. If she really wanted to kill Anby, she would have used the same poison she used on Number 11.
"Reviving the Silver Squad is the only reason I have left to live. If the Captain won't agree, then I have no other choice."
"Cui Ji..." Anby looked at her with sadness in her eyes.
"So you really do want to die? But what about them?" he asked, pointing at the dozens of clones lying on the ground, all trying to crawl towards her.
"Please... don't hurt her," they pleaded.
"You... why?" Cui Ji stared at them in disbelief. She had treated them so poorly, yet they were still trying to protect her.
"Well, well, it seems you're not so heartless after all," he said. "Let me guess? You've already made arrangements for your clones after you're gone? But do you really think the people behind you will treat them well?"
He looked at the clones, each with a physical imperfection, and a thought occurred to him. Perhaps... she did it on purpose, to protect them?
"So, you really don't want to live? Not even for these children?"
"You can't, Mo Wang! The military will never allow it," Anby and Number 11 cried out, struggling to get up. But he just pushed them back down.
"I said, I'll take care of it. You two just lie there and rest," he said, and then turned back to Cui Ji. "What if I can give you another reason to live? What if... you could get revenge on the people who ordered the destruction of the Silver Squad?"
"Revenge?"
"That's right. The hypocrites in the military, and the people behind you who are using you as a tool. I can help you get rid of them all. So, tell me. Do you want to understand the meaning of life? Do you want... to live?"
In that moment, in her eyes, he was glowing with a holy light.
"If... you really can, then I'll do it," she said.
"Heh, then welcome to the team, little sister-in-law," he said with a satisfied grin.
Silver Squad, Sister-in-Law Rangers, get!