Sister, I’m fine~

As Song Ning ventured deeper into the thick fog towards where the girl had been, she saw two figures partially obscured by the mist, less than ten meters apart.

A strangely-shaped, grotesque monster with smooth, brownish skin and a crooked posture that made it look as if it would fall over at any moment stood not far from the girl, making strange “glug” sounds as it approached her.

Ping Chengcheng, however, stood in place, her eyes somewhat dazed, her movements suggesting she was embracing someone. But there was no one beside Ping Chengcheng!

Song Ning immediately realized that Ping Chengcheng was hallucinating. But the girl had been so confident just now. What… ?

‘Never mind. I’m here anyway.’ Song Ning frowned and looked at the monster.

“Hmph… I’ll just try out the exoskeleton in its first real battle.”

When Ping Chengcheng had supplemented the Variant Illustrated Handbook the day before, Song Ning had been there too, and knew its general information. Its characteristics were that it feared high-temperature explosions, had strong defense against sharp weapons, and possessed terrifyingly great strength, but was very slow, only possessing the speed of a normal human.

Bullets and the bone blade in her hand would only cause it limited damage.

But that was for ordinary people.

Song Ning felt a little excited. Her slender fingers, encased in the exoskeleton, tightly gripped the bone blade in her hand. Since Ping Chengcheng had joined the team, she had hardly been of any use.

Her eyes were cold. In an instant, the girl wearing the exoskeleton, holding the black matte bone blade in her hand, turned into a black-and-red streak of light, suddenly rushing towards the Imposter.

The Imposter quickly noticed this menacing figure, but before it could react, the blade had already arrived!

Splat!

It was the sound of the blade scraping flesh! Strange, viscous matcha-colored blood splattered. Song Ning twisted her body to dodge the disgusting blood, so as not to stain her exoskeleton armor.

After a round of attacks, Song Ning shook the black bone blade in her hand. Inside the helmet, her eyes revealed her rationality.

Her attacks seemed strong just now, but now, looking more closely, the Imposter only had a not-too-big, not-too-small wound cut open on its chest, which didn’t affect it in any way.

“Glug…”

It made an incomprehensible, muffled sound from its strangely-shaped body.

Song Ning chuckled calmly, her clear, girlish voice sounding fearless.

The previous her might have avoided battle, but now, wearing the exoskeleton, it was a world of difference.

If one scraping attack wasn’t enough, what about a hundred?

The girl’s figure was ghostly. In the thick fog, a dark red stream of light flashed rapidly!

Each time the light flickered, another wound would appear on the Imposter’s body!

And the Imposter? It couldn’t touch the girl at all!

More and more wounds appeared. If it continued like this, it would probably be killed on the spot!

Its muffled voice finally seemed unable to suppress its agitation. It made a strange, “glug, glug” sound. It actually gave up tangling with the girl and staggered back towards the girl who was talking to herself.

As long as it ate today’s food, it would run!

That was what its simple brain thought.

In the girl’s eyes, “Song Ning” was gently holding her in her arms, comforting her again and again.

“Chengcheng… I don’t blame you… Besides, those are all things from the previous life…”

“In this life, didn’t Chengcheng save my life too?”

The girl’s eyes felt a little sore.

“Sister… I’m sorry… It was all my fault before…”

“I won’t be cowardly again in the future. I’ll protect you, I definitely will!”

Song Ning responded, “Chengcheng is the most amazing. I believe in you!”

A gust of wind blew around them, and the girl’s heart trembled.

A gust of wind blew around her, and the girl’s heart sank.

All of this was a fake hallucination, the girl knew. But…

Let her take this opportunity…

She gave a weak chuckle, tears unknowingly dripping from her eyes.

“Sister, I love you so much… From a long, long time ago…”

She lowered her head, her laughter delicate. The sound of wind approaching her ears made her twist her body unhappily, and then wave her fist at the air.

But there was a “splat!” sound of impact.

In Song Ning’s astonished eyes, Ping Chengcheng, who had been lowering her head and smiling as she said something, twisted her body and threw a punch as if by conditioned reflex, hitting the Imposter’s cheek. That powerful, heavy blow directly caved in the Imposter’s entire face.

“Glug! Glug, glug!” The Imposter made a low sound. Its pea-sized brain couldn’t guess why this girl, who was obviously controlled by its symbiont’s toxin, could still blindly hit it!

This wasn’t scientific!

You knew in your heart whether you were cheating!

Song Ning only stared blankly for a moment before arriving with her bone blade, but before she could do anything, Ping Chengcheng seemed to be chatting about something happy, laughing, and then punched the Imposter, followed by a kick in the air aimed at the Imposter’s chin.

Boom!

The Imposter, as if weightless, was kicked into the air!

The girl looked at the “Song Ning” beside her, blushing as she said, “Sister, do you know, I’ve been afraid to say that I’m Ping Yan this whole time…”

“Mostly, I was afraid that after you found out, you wouldn’t like me anymore…”

“In the previous life, you rejected me so thoroughly…”

“But it’s great that you say you don’t care now!”

“Of course, there’s another reason…”

“I felt that I, Ping Yan, wasn’t worthy to be with you, so I’ve been too embarrassed to say it…”

Song Ning shook her head helplessly, then looked at Ping Chengcheng. “You’re silly. How could I not like you? Although you were very timid and a bit clumsy before…”

“But you’ve changed all of that now, haven’t you? Besides, we’re already lovers. I really like you, Chengcheng.”

The girl nodded happily. The sound of a heavy object falling from above appeared again. She raised her head and looked at the empty sky, but she seemed to know that something was about to fall. She exerted force in her legs, leaped lightly, and delivered another beautiful knee strike!

Thud!

In Song Ning’s eyes, the Imposter, which was just about to fall, flew into the sky again.

She stood in place, a little at a loss.

After hesitating for a long time, she chose to try and wake the girl up.

“Chengcheng?”

When she said that, Ping Chengcheng did look in her direction, but she didn’t seem to see her.

Ping Chengcheng looked a little sadly at the “Song Ning” in front of her. “I know you’re a fake sister…”

“I’m leaving. I’m going to find the real sister.”

As she spoke, a scarlet color appeared in her eyes.

“Also, although you did make me very happy, but… you deserve to die for daring to impersonate my sister!”

With a grin, the girl suddenly moved, and in “Song Ning’s” astonished gaze, punched her into oblivion.

“Chengcheng? Chengcheng?”

Song Ning stood beside her, calling to her with a frown.

Ping Chengcheng shook her head, becoming much more awake. She looked at Song Ning and revealed a sweet smile.

“Sister, I’m okay~”