23 23 301 Karenina You, and you, and you! Get up and do something or I'm going to find that Xi thing myself! 2
24 24 302 Humans need sustenance. 25
25 25 204 2
26 26 301 Karenina Tch. Sure you do! 2
27 27 204 1 5
28 28 301 Nanami Karenina still doesn't trust Nanami! 1
29 29 301 Nanami Nanami was working so hard! Can't you tell? 1
30 30 204 1
31 31 301 Nanami pulls Karenina's arm and drags her to a higher vantage point in the ruins.
32 32 204 2 5
33 33 301 Karenina What the hell—what is this? Stop dragging me! 2
34 34 204 2
35 35 301 Karenina What... is this... 2
36 36 301 Looking down, you find the emptied ruin is now adorned with a giant smiley face, assembled with the red envelopes you collected earlier. In the middle of it is a table laid with all kinds of snacks and candies.
37 37 302 That looks pretty nice. 38 Why do you have to decorate it like that? 48
38 38 204 1 1
39 39 301 Nanami I know Commandant will understand Nanami's hard work! 1
40 40 302 But what are those on the table? 41
41 41 301 Nanami Not bad, am I right? They're New Year's Goods for the Lunar New Year, and they're also really good baits! But we don't have much to work with... so this is only enough for one big hunt. 1
42 42 301 Nanami Commandant, if you want another piece... Nanami will let you have one more as a reward for your work! The last one! 1
43 43 302 That'll be great! 44
44 44 301 And you face the wrath of Karenina.
45 45 204 2 5
46 46 301 Karenina Stop eating! Can someone explain to me what's going on?! 2
47 47 302 Fine, fine... 54
48 48 204 1 1
49 49 301 Nanami To complete our mission—to lure Xi out! 1
50 50 302 With all the colorful stuff? 51 And what's on the table? 52
51 51 53 301 Nanami They're not just pretty colors! The food on the table is the bait Nanami's specially prepared! 1
52 52 301 Nanami The food on the table is the bait Nanami's specially prepared! 1
53 53 301 Nanami But there isn't much to begin with! During Lunar New Year they'd have all these New Year's Goods! Nanami spent a lot of effort collecting them! 1
54 54 301 Karenina Are you kidding me... Those things don't even have a mouth! How would they be attracted by food? 2
55 55 203 1 0.25 600
56 56 203 2 0.25 -600
57 57 201 3 1091001
58 58 301 1 Bianca But Xi's behavior has been extremely abnormal. Maybe Nanami was right about their... non-mechanical logic. 3
62 62 301 Karenina's expression softens upon seeing Nanami crying.
63 63 204 2
64 64 301 Karenina Dammit... Alright, alright. I'll go with what you said, alright? 2
65 65 204 1 1
66 66 301 Nanami Hehe! I know Karey deary is on my side all along! 1
67 67 301 Karenina Hey, weren't you just crying? 2
68 68 302 She was obviously pretending... 69 Karenina is quite gullible... 69
69 69 301 Karenina ****! Shut up! 2
70 70 301 Nanami Now, our final step! We need to decorate this mall with even more colors! More nice smells! More pretty things! 1
71 71 301 Bianca But where would we even find something like that... 3
72 72 301 Nanami With your imagination, duh! Make and craft some things you like! 1
73 73 202 1 2 3 1
74 74 301 And so all of you sit down inside the mall, a group of novice crafters once again crafting things.
75 75 302 It's like deja vu...
76 76 201 1 1111001
77 77 301 1 Karenina ****! I can't believe you're asking me to do an arts and crafts project! 1
78 78 302 You're doing great, though. 79 Your works are impressive. 79
79 79 301 Karenina O-of course! That's redundant... I'm good at everything I do! 1
80 80 202 1 1
81 81 301 Bianca also has a stack of carefully folded decorations completed in front of her.
82 82 302 They look beautiful. 83 Bianca, you're so much faster at this than I am. 85
83 83 201 1 1091001
84 84 87 301 1 Bianca There were a lot of children in the church back in the days, so I used to do this a lot. A nice trick to keep the children happy... 1
85 85 201 1 1091001
86 86 301 Bianca Commandant, you're also quite a fast learner. Your work isn't too shabby yourself. 1
87 87 202 1 1
88 88 201 1 1111001 -400
89 89 201 2 500091 1 400
90 90 301 1 Nanami One of you... say something! Didn't you say we'll find them if we collect all these red envelopes?! Those... Xi, where are they? 2
91 91 301 Karenina I don't care what you say! I'm not... 1
92 92 301 Nanami We just need one final thing from Karey deary here! 2
93 93 301 Karenina Hmph. I guess you really can't do this without me in the end, can you? What is it? 1
94 94 301 Nanami Well, that— 2
95 95 302 What? 96
96 96 301 Karenina You mean... 1
97 97 301 Nanami Yep! That one! Do it again! 2
98 98 301 Karenina points her rocket launcher to the air, asking again uncertainly.
99 99 302 You can't mean... 100 No way... 100
100 100 301 Karenina You're talking about this? 1
101 101 301 Nanami That's right! Waiting for you! 2
102 102 302 Hold on— 103
103 103 401 2 10007502
104 104 301 RImgBg1Shake You are stopped by a loud explosion. Karenina has launched her rocket, and the ground immediately shakes as a response.
105 105 204 1 5
106 106 301 Karenina Is that enough? 1
107 107 301 Karenina shouts amidst the explosion.
108 108 301 Nanami One more! One more! 2
109 109 301 With confidence, Nanami peeks at how the Xi are reacting. Unlike how they ran from the loud noises earlier, they have yet to run away from the explosion, seemingly confirming her theory.
110 110 401 2 10007502
111 111 301 RImgBg1Shake Another explosion echos in the space and small bits of dust and ceilings fall from above.
112 112 301 Not only have the sparks from the explosion caught your Construct companions' attention, but they have also enthralled Xi. Maybe they are staying due to their fascination with beautiful things.
113 113 401 2 10007502
114 114 301 RImgBg1Shake Karenina Haha! How about this? 1
115 115 301 Nanami Perfect! Another one! And... with these! 2
116 116 301 Nanami brings over a bunch of colorful ribbons and confetti, as well as a huge amount of glitter—items she has scavenged from the mall, no doubt.
117 117 301 Nanami Karenina, set your launcher to the minimum heat setting and the force output to the highest! 2
118 118 301 Karenina No problem! I get it! Let's give them a loud one! 2
119 119 202 1 2 1
120 120 201 1 1091001
121 121 301 1 Bianca ... 1
122 122 302 ... 123
123 123 301 Bianca I can't say for certain that this would work... 1
124 124 301 Bianca crosses her arms, while Nanami and Karenina are having the time of their lives with their explosives.
125 125 301 Bianca ...But let's treat this as our break before our job begins. 1
126 126 302 Yeah, you're right. 127
127 127 202 1 1
128 128 301 After a series of bombastic actions, Nanami suddenly puts up her hand, and the explosion ceases afterward.
129 129 201 1 1111001 -400
130 130 201 2 500091 400
131 131 301 1 Karenina What's up? Did we do it... 1
132 132 301 Nanami Shh— 2
133 133 301 Nanami Quiet! I can feel them... approaching... 2
134 134 302 Them? 135
135 135 202 1 2 1
136 136 401 1 203
137 137 201 1 1101001
138 138 201 2 500005 600
139 139 201 3 500005 -600
140 140 301 1 Right at that moment, a group of people shows up at the entrance of the mall. The figure leading the group is holding a gun in his hand, and on his body is a familiar jacket.
141 141 302 Watanabe...?! 142
142 142 301 Watanabe gives the area a scan until his eyes meet yours, and you see him noticeably breathe a sigh of relief, and his body relaxes.
143 143 301 But then he immediately does a sign for "quiet," and with a wave of his hand, a fully geared troop appears behind him, scouting.
144 144 302 (What is this...?) 145
145 145 301 Watanabe You... are Constructs from Babylonia, aren't you? So you've been accompanying the commandant... 1
146 146 202 1 2 3 1
147 147 201 1 1091001 4 400
148 148 201 2 1111001 -400
149 149 301 1 Karenina The Forsaken?! Why are you here—are you following us?! 2
150 150 301 Bianca Commandant, please take cover. You've seen what this man had done. 1
151 151 202 1 2 1
152 152 201 1 1101001
153 153 301 1 Watanabe Ha, are we shooting first and asking later? In that case, we aren't going to stand here just to be your target practice. 1
154 154 302 All of you, calm down! 156
155 155 202 1 1
156 156 301 Seeing how everyone is on the verge of drawing their weapons, you have a sense that Karenina is just a step away from striking. At this moment, however, a few children dash forward from behind Watanabe.
157 157 201 1 500279
158 158 201 2 500279 600
159 159 201 3 500280 -600
160 160 301 1 Ann There's the supplier! 3
161 161 301 Deckard For real?! 3
162 162 301 Xiuyong I was so scared when we were lost and ran into the Corrupted earlier... 3
163 163 202 1 2 3 1
164 164 201 1 1091001
165 165 301 1 Bianca These are the Forsaken's children... What were you thinking about bringing them to somewhere so dangerous?! 1
166 166 301 Seeing the children, Bianca lays down her arms, her voice going from alerted to motherly.
167 167 202 1 1
168 168 301 Knowing that Bianca has no intention of attacking anymore, Watanabe also orders his men to put down their weapons.
169 169 201 1 1101001
170 170 301 1 Watanabe We were just bringing them to look for 【kuroname】. We weren't expecting to find Corrupted here. 1
171 171 201 1 1111001
172 172 301 1 Karenina Wait a minute—did you say Corrupted? But we haven't run into any Corrupted so far... Ahh! 1
173 173 203 PanelActor1Shake 500 1 0.1 -400
174 174 301 Before Karenina can finish, a dark shadow darts out from a corner and hits her on its way.
175 175 204 1 5
176 176 301 Karenina What the—what is that? A Corrupted?! 1
177 177 301 Karenina quickly turns and points her rocket launcher toward the dark shadow. Right when she is about to pull the trigger—
178 178 201 2 500091 5 400
179 179 301 1 Nanami Wait! Don't attack Xi! 2
180 180 204 1
181 181 301 Karenina stops her attack abruptly upon hearing that, and she pauses and finds the mechanoid in front of her coated in colorful paint.
182 182 204 2
183 183 301 Karenina This is Xi? Doesn't matter... It was trying to attack me... 1
184 184 301 Nanami It's not like that! Let Nanami do the talking, please! 2
185 185 301 Karenina Are you kidding? You want to talk to that thing— 1
186 186 202 1 2 1
187 187 301 Suddenly, you hear a series of clanking sounds from the empty hall as the two argue, and a large group of "Xi" rushes in from nowhere toward Karenina and the Forsaken.
191 191 301 The three children scream as they run and hide behind Watanabe, but Xi do not appear to want to attack them. Instead, they rush toward a corner, seemingly frightened.
192 192 201 1 500091
193 193 301 1 Nanami What's wrong with you guys... You look like something's going after you. 1
194 194 201 1 1091001 4
195 195 301 1 Bianca Corrupted! The Corrupted are after them! 1
196 196 201 1 1101001 -400
197 197 201 2 500279 400
198 198 301 1 Xiuyong Ah! That's the thing we ran into! 2
199 199 301 Before the Corrupted is a Xi, albeit much bigger. It appears as startled as the other Xi, but it is fighting against the Corrupted despite its nerves to protect its companions.
200 200 301 Watanabe Fighting for its companions instead of abandoning them, that's the indication of a good leader... Hey, Babylonians, are we not helping the Xi? 1
201 201 202 1 2 1
202 202 201 1 1111001 5
203 203 301 1 Karenina Of course we are! Regardless of the reasons, it is our job to destroy the Corrupted! 1
204 204 201 1 500091
205 205 301 1 Nanami For our lovely Xi! Go, my brave bodyguards! Hurry! 1
206 206 201 1 1101001 5 400
207 207 201 2 1111001 5 -400
208 208 301 1 Watanabe & Karenina We are not bodyguards! 1 2
209 209 202 1 2 1
210 210 301 1 AniZhuanchangBegin Having said that, the two of them still dash toward the Corrupted in unison, ready to fight.
