A fireball erupted over a residential building one kilometre from the apartment.
The glow of a mortar shell streaked through the night.
Upon Ryōko Yakushiji's command, the long-prepared mortar team coldly executed their orders, encompassing both the enemy and their own comrades in the bombardment.
The L-16 mortars fired 81mm shells with an effective range of 5,850 metres.
The artillery team consisted of nine men in total, with three operating each mortar. The theoretical rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute per mortar.
In just one minute, with the soldiers showing some reluctance, 43 shells were rained down upon the road in front of the apartment building.
In a sudden flash of intuition, Sharon, standing on the road before the apartment, looked up. An overwhelming sense of danger emanated from the northeastern sky.
At the same time, strikingly vivid white dots flickered intermittently across the night sky.
And then, it was as if the entire world had been slowed down, everything moving at a reduced speed.
'Again... this feeling...'
As an observer, Sharon recognised those dots.
Or rather, she had seen these peculiar dots countless times before, during the brief periods when Luo Shu had taken control of her body.
'Are these aiming dots this time...?'
In the less than ten minutes Luo Shu had been 'piloting' her body, Sharon had already grasped part of the truth behind this bizarre perspective.
The appearance of white dots signified the optimal attack positions.
Attacking in the direction indicated by these dots at the right moment often yielded unexpectedly effective results.
Like shooting a sniper rifle without harming the sniper.
Or firing at a bullet mid-air to deflect it.
These were manoeuvres that Sharon, skilled with firearms, couldn't even conceive of. Yet the person inhabiting her body—presumably Luo Shu—could perform them effortlessly.
Beyond these white dots, this strange perspective also featured peculiar phenomena of red lines crisscrossing the view.
From Sharon's personal experience, those red lines represented bullet trajectories.
Simply avoiding these lines allowed one to effortlessly dodge incoming bullets.
This was how Luo Shu, controlling Sharon's body earlier, had so easily evaded the machine gun's sweeping fire.
This extraordinary perspective also occasionally displayed various other colours. Unfortunately, since Luo Shu hadn't taken corresponding actions, Sharon couldn't discern their true meanings.
For now, Sharon only understood:
White dots indicated optimal attack positions. Red lines showed bullet trajectories.
As for the other colours, Sharon remained uncertain. But these visual cues alone made one thing abundantly clear:
The man inhabiting her body was an absolute monster!
Because she could distinctly perceive that these various colours were phenomena recreated in her consciousness purely to accommodate her understanding.
Even if Sharon possessed this perspective herself, she would still need to expend mental effort interpreting what each colour represented.
But for the actual Luo Shu...
He rarely saw these chaotic visual elements. He made his choices purely through intuition.
The time between selection and decision was compressed to the limits of neural reaction speed.
Without conscious thought, he could effortlessly make optimal choices within this perspective—choices that would take Sharon agonising deliberation.
In fact, even now, Sharon harboured doubts:
'Was that perspective I just saw something a human could perceive?'
'Could it be... the perspective of fate, something only gods should see?'
As Sharon's thoughts wandered, Luo Shu—still controlling her body—fired towards the northeastern sky without even looking up.
His Hyper Intuition told him the direction to shoot, and his Subconscious Manipulation allowed him to effortlessly execute the optimal movements.
Almost in one fluid motion came a barrage of gunfire—the likes of which had never been heard before.
Yet what followed was a spectacular display: over forty mortar shells exploding mid-air like fireworks, lighting up the night sky.
Under normal circumstances, it was virtually impossible for bullets to detonate mortar shells.
The sturdy casing of mortar shells could easily withstand the kinetic force of bullets, often rendering them ineffective.
Even if a bullet penetrated the casing, unless it struck the tiny detonator inside, the shell would not explode.
Thus, the act of bullets detonating shells defied conventional logic.
Yet, Luo Shu possessed an ability that transcended common sense.
—Wind Element Manipulation.
By enveloping the bullets with dense wind energy, he could precisely strike the shells, piercing their outer casings and hitting the detonators within.
The result was the breathtaking, firework-like explosions unfolding before them.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The orange-red flames illuminated the night sky.
"Quite the spectacle."
Luo Shu glanced up at the fireworks above, chuckling lightly before reloading his assault rifle with a fresh magazine. Without hesitation, he strode toward the parking lot.
The soldiers behind the makeshift barricades, pistols in hand, remained silent, watching him leave without firing a shot.
"Chief, you go ahead. I'll cover you."
Having witnessed the scene unfold from the parking lot, Kirika Tachibana extended an arm to stop Takina Inoue from acting, shaking her head.
"Don't act rashly."
As she spoke, Kirika retrieved her cigarette pack, lit one, and watched as Sharon approached.
"How should I address you?" Kirika Tachibana asked calmly.
"Sharon."
Luo Shu smiled as he spoke, then turned and walked towards a parked black Lexus nearby. With a casual slap, he shattered the window, pulled open the door, and got inside.
Next, he removed the casing beneath the steering wheel, exposing the wiring inside. He connected the ground wire, ignition wire, and starter wire together simultaneously.
With a hum, the instrument panel lit up, and the car started without a key.
Before pressing the accelerator, Luo Shu glanced at the SDS members outside who were keeping their guard up. He smirked playfully at Chisato Nishikigi and Takina Inoue:
"You spared me once just now, so this time I'll spare you."
With those words, he stepped on the accelerator, and the black Lexus crashed through the parking lot barrier, disappearing onto the road.
Meanwhile, Kirika Tachibana, left behind in the parking lot, silently took a drag from her cigarette and exhaled a smoke ring before saying:
"Stand down!"
Hearing this, Takina Inoue opened her mouth to speak, but with a sudden clap, Chisato Nishikigi patted her shoulder:
"Takina, to celebrate being spared by the Monster Nun, let's go eat yakiniku? The most expensive Kobe beef—and we'll invite Luo Shu and Mika."
Takina blinked at this, then replied somewhat awkwardly, "Alright."
With Takina's agreement, Chisato turned to Kirika Tachibana and asked, "What about you, Big Sister? Want to join us?"
"I'll pass." Kirika took another drag from her cigarette and paused briefly. "You go ahead. I need to compile a report on today's events."
"Eh... alright then." Chisato didn't press further, seemingly sensing that Kirika needed time to process.
Meanwhile, inside the van, Mizuki Nakahara—who had been too frightened to move earlier—sighed with a mix of envy and resignation:
"If only I had Chisato's nerves of steel!"
She exhaled deeply before adding:
"Let's go pick up Luo Shu and Mika. I've been craving instant noodles so badly I could die!!"
"Right, that's the spirit—let's go, go, go!"
...
Inside the office.
Ryōko Yakushiji's face was pale with anger as she demanded from Shirō Magi:
"Where is that monster now?"
"How much longer until the emergency response team arrives?"
"Stop asking."
Shirō Magi gave Ryōko a cold, impassive look before replying calmly:
"Her destination... is here."