"Huu..."
Kiana stood beneath the slightly peeling sign for "Happiness Community" and drew a long, slow breath.
Early summer, just before dusk.
The asphalt, baked by the sun all day, was still radiating heat. It mingled with the cumin-spiced smell of fried chicken drifting from a roadside stall, and the sharp, heady sizzle of scallions hitting a hot wok from someone's kitchen nearby.
Hot and noisy and alive.
And somehow so wonderful it almost made her want to cry.
She tightened her grip on the shopping bag in her hand — the one printed with a cartoon cat.
So she'd actually made it out.
Yeah. She really had.
Kiana glanced back at the slightly worn residential building behind her.
The window on the third floor still had its light on.
That idiot Su Yu was definitely pressed up against the windowsill right now, peering down at her like some fussy old mother hen, wasn't he?
"Hmph. This lady doesn't need you worrying about her."
The girl muttered, all prickly pride, then turned around and took her first step out into the world.
It was the end of June in Arc City. Even at dusk, the summer heat still clung to everything.
The streets were full of people.
Students in school uniforms pedaling past on bikes, office workers trudging along with briefcases and tired faces, and old men walking their dogs at a leisurely stroll.
Kiana walked along the sidewalk, her initially breezy steps gradually growing a little self-conscious.
Something was off.
Really, genuinely off.
She kept feeling like a thousand eyes were trained on her from every direction.
The girl waiting at the red light to her left had snuck glances at her several times. The two high school girls sipping bubble tea on her right were huddled together, pointing at her, letting out little gasps of "Wow, she's so pretty."
Even the golden retriever lying by the road had its tongue out, staring at her without blinking.
Kiana reflexively tugged the hood of her sweatshirt lower, trying to hide that conspicuous white hair.
The feeling of being watched made every hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
It felt like... the way it used to feel in Arc City, back when she was wandering the streets and a Valkyrie unit's drone would lock onto her.
"Don't be nervous, Kiana. This is a world at peace. Nobody's coming for you."
She recited it silently to herself, trying to coax the stiffness out of her shoulders.
When she went out with Su Yu, she'd never felt like this, had she?
Back then, he always walked just slightly ahead and to the side of her.
Either griping endlessly about the System's missions, or pointing out which milk tea shop on this block was actually worth drinking.
His back — not especially broad, but inexplicably reassuring — had been like a wall.
It had blocked all those curious, probing, awestruck looks.
Shielding her, completely and carefully, inside a safe zone called "Su Yu."
"...That idiot."
Kiana bit her lip. A feeling — sour and swelling — rose suddenly in her chest.
So it wasn't that the stares had disappeared.
It was that someone had quietly been blocking the wind and rain for her all along, without ever saying a word about it.
If she hadn't come out alone today —
She might never have realized how much quiet, careful tenderness was hidden inside that seemingly offhand companionship.
"Ah!"
A small, startled cry broke through Kiana's thoughts.
She looked down.
A little girl — maybe five or six years old, wearing a poufy skirt — was standing right in front of her, head tilted all the way back, staring up at her with wide, blank eyes.
In the little girl's hands, clutched tight, was a swirling multicolored lollipop.
Kiana froze, instinctively stepping back half a pace, body going taut.
This was... a human child?
What if she bumped into her? What if she cried?
But the little girl didn't cry.
Those big, bright eyes reflected Kiana's white hair — glinting gold in the setting sun — and that face too delicate to look quite real.
Pure, unalloyed wonder. Nothing else.
"Big sis..."
The little girl spoke in a soft, babyish voice.
"Did you run away from a fairy tale book? Are you a princess?"
"?"
Kiana stared blankly.
A princess?
Her? A wanted fugitive. A Herrscher vessel. A monster who only brought disaster wherever she went... a princess?
"You really do look like one!"
The little girl took a step closer and held up the lollipop — nearly as big as her whole face.
"Big sis, you can have this."
"Mommy says, if a princess eats candy, she'll smile."
Kiana looked at the candy.
Then at the little girl, whose eyes were full of stars.
And a short distance away — the girl's young mother, wearing an apologetic but equally warm smile.
No fear.
No disgust.
No look of someone peering at something that didn't belong.
In their eyes, she was just... a pretty big sister.
Kiana felt her eyes grow hot.
She slowly crouched down, bringing herself level with the little girl.
In those mismatched eyes of hers was reflected the most pure-hearted kindness this world had to offer.
"Thank you."
Kiana reached out and gently accepted the lollipop.
Her touch was light.
"But I'm not a princess, you know."
Kiana smiled.
It was a smile with none of her usual pretense or bravado in it.
Just soft — like the early summer evening breeze.
"Big sis is... a little glutton who lives with a big idiot knight."
"Hehe, you look so pretty when you smile, big sis!"
The little girl clapped her hands with delight, then was led away by her mother.
Even as they walked off into the distance, her excited voice still carried back:
"Mommy, Mommy! That white-haired big sis is sooo pretty! Just like Elsa!"
Kiana stood where she was, the lollipop — still faintly warm from the little girl's grip — cradled in her hand.
The setting sun stretched her shadow long across the pavement.
She looked down at the candy in her hand, then looked up at the bustling, jostling crowd around her.
All those gazes were still there.
But this time, they didn't sting.
Because she knew.
In this world —
She was accepted.
She was allowed to exist.
"Huu..."
Kiana stood up and tucked the lollipop carefully into her pocket.
She was going to show this lollipop to Su Yu.
Tell that idiot that out here in this world, something truly wonderful had happened to her.
"Alright!"
The girl slapped both cheeks lightly and snapped back to full fighting spirit.
She fixed her gaze on the brightly lit supermarket sign not far ahead, eyes blazing with fierce determination.
"Next objective — tomatoes! Eggs! And discounted spare ribs!"
"Su Yu! You just wait! Tonight's feast is going to make you swallow your own tongue!"
...
Ten minutes later.
"Hm hm~"
Kiana hummed a tuneless little melody, her steps light as she headed home.
The plastic bag in her hand was satisfyingly heavy, swinging with each stride and making a soft, reassuring rustle.
Tomatoes? Bought. Big and plump ones — she'd specifically picked the ripest.
Eggs? Bought. Free-range, even. A bit pricier, but Su Yu always said those were more nutritious.
Spare ribs? Bought. She'd had the butcher chop them into pieces on the spot.
And of course, most importantly —
Kiana snuck a peek at the very bottom of the plastic bag.
Down there, nestled innocently beneath the vegetables, lay several bags of "Limited Edition Scorching Spicy Chips" and one bottle of "Sakura Flavor Cola."
As for how to explain them once she got home.
"Oh come on, the supermarket was doing a promotion and threw these in for free! It'd be such a waste not to eat them!"
Kiana rehearsed the line in her head and decided she was a certified genius.
As long as her expression was innocent enough and her tone shameless enough, that idiot would definitely buy it!
Just as Kiana was basking in the pre-emptive triumph of her imminent "smooth getaway" —
A commotion suddenly erupted on the street up ahead.
"Stop, thief! Robbery!"
"Stop right there! Police!"
The crowd scattered like a school of startled fish.
A lean man in a baseball cap was tearing down the sidewalk like a headless fly, knocking over several fruit stalls on his way past.
A few dozen meters behind him, a girl in athletic wear with a healthy, tanned complexion was in hot pursuit, showing no signs of slowing.
"Hah... hah..."
Carole felt like her lungs were on fire, but her pace didn't falter by a single step.
As the daughter of Arc City's Special Police Force ace — Captain Lewis — her physical conditioning had been drilled into her since childhood by that "devil of a mother."
Sure, she looked more like a delicate little doll, and in her day-to-day life she much preferred exploring makeup and fashion.
But in her blood ran the same fierce spirit as Lewis.
Her mother was always telling her she was "still too green" and wouldn't let her get involved in squad business.
But Carole had grand ambitions!
Her dream was to become a great cop — just like her mother, or even better.
Today she'd only come out for an evening jog. She hadn't expected to get this lucky — running smack into a robbery suspect who'd been on a wanted warrant for several days running.
This was a gift-wrapped achievement!
If she could bring him in with her own hands, her mother would surely look at her in a whole new light. She might even agree to let her take the selection test for the force early!
"Stop! You're not getting away!"
Carole shouted and surged forward, agile as a young leopard, closing the gap in an instant.
But the man ahead was clearly a seasoned criminal.
He knew this part of the city like the back of his hand.
With a sudden swerve, he ducked straight into a dark, narrow alley at the side of the road.
"Tch! That's the Old Quarter's maze alley!"
Carole's heart clenched.
The place was a labyrinth of branching paths with no surveillance cameras. Once he slipped in there, catching him again would be a nightmare.
And besides...
She thought of what her friend Fu Hua had mentioned a few days ago — the Little Grandmaster.
Apparently, that young girl had made quite a splash at the dojo, even bringing the insufferably arrogant Ma Feima to heel.
"Carole, a true warrior needs not only strength, but the wisdom to make split-second judgments in complex situations."
Fu Hua's words rang in her ears.
"I can't fall behind either!"
Carole gritted her teeth. Without a moment's hesitation, she plunged straight into the alley after him.
If she let this duck fly off the plate today, Carole would write her own name backwards!
On the roadside.
Kiana watched the tanned figure blow past like a gust of wind, and blinked.
"That girl... she's fast."
The Kaslana sense of justice was itching to act, but the countdown on her Absolute Freedom Time was a leash around her throat.
She could tell the girl had professional training — subduing that man would be trivial for her.
And her own free time was almost up.
But.
In the moment the wanted criminal ran right past her —
Kiana's battle-hardened eyes, forged through countless fights, caught a fleeting glint at the man's waist. The unmistakable reflection of metal.
That was...
Kiana's pupils contracted slightly.
In that instant, she stopped caring about time.
"Just a little light exercise — should be enough time, right?"
She picked up her bag, touched the tip of her foot down, and like a white ghost she slipped soundlessly after them.
Deep in the alley.
A dead end.
At the far end stood a two-meter-high red brick wall, covered in withered ivy.
The man had stopped, his back to the alley entrance, gulping down ragged breaths.
He was out of road.
"Keep running! What's wrong, why'd you stop?"
Carole stood with her hands on her hips. She was slightly winded too, but her face was written all over with triumph.
She rolled her wrists, knuckles cracking with a series of sharp snaps.
"You picked the wrong city to pull this in. Do you even know whose turf this is?"
She dropped into a textbook fighting stance, eyes sharp as blades.
"Be a good boy and give yourself up! These fists of mine don't discriminate!"
He was an adult man, yes — but Carole had absolute confidence in the fighting skills she'd trained since childhood.
Once she closed the distance, three moves. That was all she needed to rip this guy's arm right out of its socket.
However.
Just as Carole was about to charge in for a flashy takedown —
The man didn't panic. He didn't drop to his knees and beg.
He turned around slowly.
On that gaunt face: no fear at all. Instead, a ghastly, bone-chilling smirk.
"Stupid little girl..."
The man said it in a cold, oily voice, hand sliding into his jacket.
"Since you're so eager to die... I'll grant you your wish."
"What?!"
Carole's heart slammed in her chest. A wave of overwhelming dread crashed over her entire body.
Before she could even process it —
The man yanked something dark and heavy out from inside his jacket and leveled it straight at her.
A gun.
A real, genuine, pitch-black handgun.
Safety off. Finger on the trigger.
"Wha...?!"
Carole's pupils violently contracted. Her forward momentum came to a screeching halt.
Her mind went completely blank.
A gun?
How was that possible?!
This was Shenzhou! The most strictly gun-controlled place on Earth!
Even the underground gangs usually only brandished steel pipes and watermelon knives to scare people.
How could he possibly be carrying a prohibited weapon on him?
"Is... is this real?"
As a Special Police captain's daughter, she recognized the model at a glance.
Not a toy. Not a replica.
A genuine, fully functional lethal firearm.
The cold sweat hit Carole instantly.
Every shred of confidence she'd had a moment ago evaporated on the spot.
Sure, she could fight. Sure, her physical conditioning was above average.
But that didn't mean she could tank a bullet with her bare body!
Beyond seven steps, the gun beats you to the draw.
Within seven steps, the gun is both fast and accurate!
"Regret it now? Too late!"
The man's ghastly grin widened as his finger tightened on the trigger.
The terror of being locked in death's sights turned Carole's hands and feet to ice.
She wanted to dodge — but her legs felt like they'd been poured full of lead.
It was over.
This had really gone and blown up in her face.
Mom... I'm sor...
"Die!"
A bloodthirsty red gleam flashed through the man's eyes. His finger drove down hard.
At that razor-thin moment between life and death —
Fwip —!
A slicing sound cut through the air from somewhere above the alley wall.
Before the man could even process what was happening —
Two bursts of red powder — like a pair of smoke grenades detonating — landed dead-center across his face with perfect precision!
"AAAAAH——!!"
The man let out a blood-curdling shriek.
That was... devil-spicy instant noodle seasoning packets.
Double-portion, extra-concentrated version.
High-concentration chili powder making direct contact with your eyeballs and nasal mucous membranes was, easily, about a hundred times more effective than tear gas.
"My eyes! My eyes!"
The man clutched his face in agony — but even through the blinding pain, his finger convulsed reflexively on the trigger.
BANG!
The shot rang out in the narrow alley like a thunderclap.
Carole squeezed her eyes shut in despair.
But the searing pain she expected never came.
She only felt her collar get yanked — violently — and her entire body go airborne, sailing sideways as if she'd been launched by a catapult.
The bullet had grazed the top of her scalp by a hair's breadth and buried itself into the wall behind her, showering sparks.
"What are you standing around gawking for? Idiot."
Carole's eyes snapped open.
A white figure descended like a Valkyrie falling from the sky, vaulting past her in an instant and launching toward the man still firing wildly.
The speed was extraordinary.
So fast that all Carole managed to catch was a white afterimage — and long white hair trailing through the air.
Kiana didn't dodge.
Facing the wildly swinging gun, she simply tilted her head slightly, eyes cold as blades.
And then.
A simple, direct, savage straight punch.
No flourishes whatsoever.
That fist — not especially large — carried a howling wind with it and slammed squarely into the man's chest.
Crack!
A sharp, teeth-aching sound of bone fracturing rang out clearly.
The man didn't even have time to scream. He flew backwards like a rag doll and crashed into the wall with a heavy thud, then slid down it like a pile of wet sand and went completely unconscious.
The handgun flew out of his grip and spun upward through the air.
Kiana didn't spare the poor wretch a single glance.
She reached out and caught the falling gun with a casual, almost bored elegance.
Her fingers turned the gun over with practiced ease, thumb pressing down.
Click.
The magazine dropped free, caught smoothly in her other hand.
Rack the slide. Eject the chambered round.
With that, Kiana had reduced a dangerous weapon to a useless hunk of scrap metal, which she tossed casually to the side.
The entire sequence was as smooth and natural as breathing — with the practiced ease of someone who did this before breakfast.
The alley fell back into a graveyard silence.
Only the faint, distant wail of police sirens.
She dusted the chili powder off her hands and turned around.
The evening breeze lifted her long white hair. In the dim alley, those mismatched eyes of hers shone with a particular brightness.
She looked over at Carole, who was still slumped on the ground, expression completely blank.
The last of the sunset seeped into the alley, falling across Kiana's face.
And the most absurd thing of all —
In her left hand, she was still calmly holding the reusable bag. The one with the tomatoes and eggs.
After all those high-difficulty acrobatics just now, not a single egg had broken.
"Hey."
Kiana tilted her head. She fished from her pocket a bag of instant noodles — slightly crumpled — tore it open, and shook a little into her mouth.
Crunch crunch.
She chewed idly and asked, a little muffled:
"You okay?"
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