"I've actually turned into Firefly?"
Upon hearing the system's prompt, Firefly lowered her head to inspect her body.
She wore a short black coat over her chest—which remained roughly the same size as Cipher's—adorned with a metallic accessory shaped like a butterfly spreading its wings. From the sides of the butterfly, two green neckerchiefs extended downward, featuring patterns composed of white rhombuses.
A gradient green skirt flowed from her waist, its hem embroidered with golden diamond patterns. Two orange gemstones were embedded in the center, shimmering with a warm light like stars fallen into a lakeside.
"Sure enough, these are Firefly's clothes."
"So, the system means I now possess two bodies?"
Processing the system's explanation, Firefly quickly grasped the core concept.
With a simple thought, Cipher's perspective appeared in her field of vision, hovering like a small picture-in-picture window on a screen.
Firefly spun around in place while looking down; simultaneously, on the other side, Cipher narrowed her eyes and let out a long yawn as she stretched.
"How miraculous. I'm clearly controlling two bodies, yet there isn't the slightest hint of discomfort..."
"It's as if... my consciousness has been split into two. Even though both halves share memories and thoughts, they don't interfere with one another."
After experiencing this bizarre sensation, Firefly looked up once more to observe her surroundings.
"So many trees. Where is this? Am I still in the Pit Bottom District?"
Firefly felt a bit lost. Given the conditions of the Pit Bottom District, it was practically impossible for this many trees to exist.
If this wasn't the Pit Bottom District, then where was she?
"Whatever. Should I just fly up and take a look?"
Scanning the area, she saw no signs of another soul. Firefly sighed and manifested Sam's transformation device in her right hand.
Closing her eyes, she slowly brought the device to shoulder height. Then, she thrust her right arm out and snapped her eyes open. Accompanied by a blinding flash of fire, silver-white armor encased her body.
In an instant, the beautiful and cute girl transformed into a towering humanoid mecha.
Well... she knew she didn't actually need to perform those poses to transform, but it felt inexplicably cool. Since no one was around anyway, she decided to indulge herself.
"What a strange sensation."
She extended her arm, staring at the metal-plated limb and the surging power flowing endlessly from within. This was a novelty to her.
This power was ridiculously immense. She was certain that if she had faced Feng Wuya's defenses in this form, a single punch would have shattered that "hard" turtle shell into tiny pieces.
"If I'm already this strong in my normal state, what happens if I trigger the Complete Combustion state?"
The thought made her itch to try it out.
However, after looking at the vast forest surrounding her, she quickly dismissed the idea.
Influenced by the values of her past life, she felt it was best not to set the mountains on fire.
Besides, in the original story, Firefly had cleaved a planet apart in her Complete Combustion mode. She figured she should take it easy for now, lest she lose control and accidentally blow up this region along with her enemies.
"I should find out where I am first. If I'm on the same planet as Cipher, I'll see if I can head over and find my other self."
With that, she exerted a light pressure on her legs. In a flash, Firefly leaped over the forest canopy and soared into mid-air.
Although night was approaching and the sky was turning pitch black, it didn't hinder her observation.
"Hmm... a massive forest. But... there's a city not too far away."
About ten kilometers out, Firefly spotted a structure resembling a city wall. Inside the perimeter, she could see numerous tall buildings standing tall.
Atop the walls sat various weapons that looked like artillery pieces.
Unlike modern cannons, these were crafted from an unknown silver-white metal. The muzzles were small, and Firefly could see energy condensing within them.
"Energy-based weaponry? Is it a laser cannon or an electromagnetic gun?"
Because of the distance, Firefly couldn't tell exactly what kind of energy was gathering inside.
"Whatever, I'll go check it out first."
After confirming the direction, Firefly dropped back to the ground and began to sprint toward the city.
The reason she didn't fly was simple: flying was too conspicuous. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, she decided running was better. Besides, her running speed wasn't much slower than her flight speed anyway.
★ ★ ★
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, while Firefly was halfway to her destination, a series of explosions erupted from nearby, causing her to stop in her tracks.
"What's that sound?"
Startled by the noise, Firefly looked toward the source of the explosions with confusion.
Why were there constant explosions? Was something happening over there?
Maybe I should check it out. If there are people there, I can ask where exactly I am.
With that thought, Firefly changed course and sped toward the direction of the blasts.
★ ★ ★
"Lin, we have to leave now! We can't handle this mutant beast; its strength is at least A-rank!"
A girl holding a sci-fi-looking weapon—resembling a sniper rifle—shouted at another girl wielding a blade a short distance away.
The girl called Lin stood before a mutant beast that looked like a giant spider. She looked up at the black-robed figure standing atop the creature, her face contorted with frustration.
They were so close... Damn the Mutant Cult! The intelligence clearly stated the strongest beast was only B-rank, so where did this A-rank monster come from?!
"We're retreating! Yunzhi, please help stall the beast's movements!"
Despite her frustration, Lin was self-aware. Combined, the two of them could at most defeat a B+ rank mutant beast. This situation far exceeded their expectations. If they didn't retreat, there would be no outcome other than being killed by the beast.
Ye Yunzhi smiled upon hearing Lin's command. She tossed the sniper rifle aside, and the weapon dissolved into blue-violet particles, vanishing into the air.
"Got it! I was waiting for you to say that!"
In a split second, the blue-violet particles coalesced again. A quadruple rocket launcher appeared on Ye Yunzhi's shoulder.
"You wicked Mutant Cultists, eat my Quadruple Electromagnetic Rockets!"
Four rockets trailed heavy blue-violet electric arcs as they streaked toward the giant spider.