Winning Hearts and Minds

Boom!!!!

Like the sun erupting from the horizon, the sky blazed a brilliant, snowy white. Its immense power simultaneously obliterated the surrounding structures.

Yet, Nuwa had only deactivated the defensive formations shielding the building’s surface. The surrounding Defensive Arrays withstood the blast, preventing its impact from reaching the underground shelter ten kilometers away.

However, this compression meant the energy contained within was immense. Under ordinary circumstances, survival would have been an impossibility.

Crunch! Thud!

He seized the stone slab pinning him down and hurled it away. Kanzaki Ieyasu, his face streaked with dust and grime, rose from the rubble.

“Did someone hack in ahead of time? Were the underground defenses compromised, or, Miss, were you assisting her?”

As he recalled Kanzaki Tianxing’s report from days prior, he could roughly discern the root of the issue.

“Emergency defenses complete. Awaiting command.”

A flat, cold, inorganic electronic voice emanated from the figure standing before him.

“Hunt down… expel the Dancer. Should she threaten the life of any direct Kanzaki family member, eliminate her on the spot.”

The commanded figure activated the thrusters mounted on their CR-UNIT and soared towards the magic cannon turret where Yisha had been. Meanwhile, Kanzaki Ieyasu unclasped the necklace that had rested against his chest.

After slotting it into his phone, a signal was immediately transmitted.

‘Miss, I’m coming for you.’

A verdant glow emanated from his form. As the light receded, a CR-UNIT—predominantly silver with black accents, adorned with numerous armor plates, and a massive blade strapped to its back—manifested upon Kanzaki Ieyasu.

“Save… save me!”

The individual beside him, who had been saved by the Divine Machine alongside him, seemed to awaken, perhaps stirred by the light of his CR-UNIT’s activation. They clutched Kanzaki Ieyasu’s leg, pleading for rescue.

Clang!

The massive blade slid from its scabbard, followed by the chilling glint of steel.

As the woman’s head severed, her eyes were wide with utter disbelief. As a Kanzaki family member, she had strived diligently, her contributions undeniable, and her loyalty beyond question. Why, then, had she been slain?

Kanzaki Ieyasu offered no reply.

He moved towards the crater blasted into the building by the magic cannon and peered down into its depths.

There, a lithe young woman with long black hair, its tips fading to blue, was making her departure.

“Round two, begins!”

“Not this, nor that. Damn it, where is it?”

As Yisha made her escape, she utilized the network and permissions Nuwa had established for her, continuously sifting through all available Kanzaki family data.

“Master, this!”

Nuwa decrypted a file and promptly transmitted it to Yisha. As Yisha scanned its contents, the young woman’s hand clenched into a fist.

“Package all this data. Continue searching for the remaining parts.”

In the space illuminated solely by the glow of the computer screen, the contents were starkly visible.

“Through numerous experiments, we have posited a hypothesis: direct descendants of the Kanzaki family possess a superior adaptability to magical modification, potentially even reaching the same caliber as Spirits. However, at present, no other direct descendants can provide conclusive evidence to substantiate this theory. —’Mech-Soldier’ File No. 1351.”

Yisha’s hand clenched tighter and tighter. She understood the profound implications of ‘the same caliber as Spirits’, meaning this data must have been recorded within the last two years.

As she passed the paralyzed Mech-Soldiers—their command center destroyed and Nuwa now in control, yet ironically rendering them inert—Yisha seemed to recall something important.

“Have the Mech-Soldier command codes been cracked?”

“Another three minutes are required. They utilize dynamic encryption, with passwords changing every thirty seconds. The initial password has just been cracked, and we are currently testing the dynamic patterns based on methods recorded in the data.”

Hearing this, Yisha couldn’t help but click her tongue in exasperation. It was utterly insane. The protective measures for large-scale magical equipment were practically negligible, yet when it came to the Mech-Soldiers, how had their intelligence suddenly surged?

Not only did every single command demand a unique password, but all initial passwords for different commands were distinct, and even their dynamic transformations varied!

If even a fraction of the effort spent on these intricate security measures had been directed elsewhere, their control room wouldn’t have been utterly annihilated right now!

“Never mind. Yina, how are things on your end?”

As she detached a CR-UNIT from a Mech-Soldier, the young woman examined it while contacting Yina, who had been executing the infiltration plan.

“No injuries. I’ve acquired some peculiar data; it appears to detail an experiment conducted here.”

“Hmm, keep it safe. It might prove unexpectedly effective against them later…”

As if sensing something, Yisha immediately recoiled, launching into a series of evasive maneuvers. Magic beams, like relentless rain, fiercely pursued her.

Each shot was not only predicted but struck Yisha in the most vulnerable and inconvenient spots.

‘Calamity!’

She invoked its name within her mind. A shimmering barrier of countless light particles materialized, blocking the furious barrage that had targeted her momentary pause.

Yet, buffered by her Spirit Armor, she reacted without hesitation, unleashing a counter-shot that decisively interrupted her adversary’s assault.

The wind swept through, bringing fresh air and carrying away the choking smoke and dust.

Boom!

As if her opponent had located her precise evasion point, a resounding boom heralded the true beginning of this battle.

“Sister, Sister!”

Her calls went unanswered. Yina pulled out her phone to check, and just as she expected, the screen displayed ‘No Signal’.

“Those good-for-nothings actually managed something useful. A wide-range signal jamming array. I honestly thought we’d never have occasion to use it.”

A slightly hollow, masculine voice drifted from behind her, accompanied by unhurried, yet steadily approaching, footsteps.

Yina’s body froze the instant she heard it. She had envisioned their reunion countless times. Sometimes, she’d angrily demand answers from him; other times, she’d be forced to confront him to protect Yisha.

And sometimes, he’d arrive to halt her as she prepared to execute the experimenters. Yet in none of these scenarios did she ever imagine their encounter would be so eerily calm… or rather, so cruelly serene.

“They are not mere pawns to be discarded at will! They are human beings, living, breathing people, with emotions, ideals, and families, just like you and I!”

The young woman spun to face him and articulated her thoughts with powerful conviction.

“Occupying a position of authority, I cannot afford to extend such consideration to every single individual. Appropriate sacrifice is necessary, not to mention that gain often comes only through loss.”

The man remained composed, though the dust on his face lent him a rather disheveled appearance.

Yina slowly retreated, attempting to widen the distance between them, her eyes fixed intently on him, wary of any sudden move. However, when her gaze fell upon the massive blade strapped to his back, her pupils contracted involuntarily.

“Ah, this? It seems you still remember.”

Kanzaki Ieyasu noticed her reaction, a faint smile playing on his lips.

“I remember that was…”

“Indeed, your thoughts are not mistaken.”

As if knowing what Yina was about to say, Kanzaki Ieyasu provided the answer. Yina stared at the massive blade, her body frozen in astonishment.

“In days past, he was utterly devoted to you. Even unto death, he whispered your name. His final wish was to protect you, and I merely carried out a similar objective, aligned with my own goals.”

Noticing Yina’s distress, he immediately intensified his psychological assault. Yina, meanwhile, was stunned by Kanzaki Ieyasu’s words.

“He died? Why! Wasn’t he… wasn’t he the family’s strongest? Who could have killed him!”

“What do you think? He might have been the family’s strongest, but unfortunately, he encountered a monster—a monster called a Spirit.”

Yina saw the half-smile on Kanzaki Ieyasu’s face and seemed to understand, her body trembling uncontrollably.

“It can’t be… no, no, no! She wouldn’t do that. She’s so kind, even willing to save those children. No, she wouldn’t…”

Kanzaki Ieyasu shook his head, pulling out his phone and playing an audio file before tossing the device to Yina.

“You can listen. These are his last words, and there’s a photo taken by his CR-UNIT just before his death.”

Yina caught the phone, her heart already a tangled mess over the death of the man who had vowed to protect her for life, who had become the strongest for her—Kanzaki Tianyi.

“Please… I’m counting on you. Take care of… Miss… and Tianxing…”

Her trembling fingers repeatedly missed the photo icon below. When she finally opened it, what she saw was Yisha shooting Tianyi through the heart.

“Do you understand now? His ultimate wish was for you and Tianxing to be cared for. And what did Shimazaki Yisha do? She shattered Tianxing’s limbs, forced you to stand against the family, enduring inner torment, and wantonly trampled upon Tianyi’s dying wish.”

“You people are utterly insane! You’ve lost your humanity!”

Yina cried out, as if shouting would prevent her inner resolve from being swept away by a torrent of conflicting thoughts.

“Shimazaki Yisha has humanity? Our every experiment is aimed at saving the world. And her? She triggered the Eurasian Great Disaster, then massacred Night City for a little girl, even setting it ablaze for good measure. Is she better than us? So many were left homeless because of her, and it was the family who ultimately provided aid to those people!”

Kanzaki Ieyasu sneered, listing examples that left Yina unable to retort. She didn’t know the full story of the first incident, but it was a fact that Mongolia, which had finally achieved rebirth, became a battleground because of it.

As for the second, the explanation she had heard at the time was that Yisha accidentally detonated an ammunition depot.

“No, she…”

The young woman murmured repeatedly, but Yisha’s past actions made her unable to stop her suspicions. Tianyi’s smiling face and the image of a bruised and battered young girl flashed before her eyes.

“Miss, come back. The family is where you belong. If you return, everything can stop.”

Kanzaki Ieyasu knelt, extending a hand towards her.