Another World

If Iron Maiden got worked up, she might just pound him half-disabled with her little fists.

No... no, I absolutely couldn't let her know I had this kind of power!

Although Qiao Ran didn't know whether other wielders of Tokiwa Power had the same problem as him, he silently made a decision in his heart—

He had to keep this secret no matter what. He absolutely couldn't reveal even the slightest trace of Tokiwa Power in front of Iron Maiden—unless it truly came down to a last resort.

Other people might only drain him until he collapsed, but if it were Iron Maiden, it would probably actually cost him his life.

"I got better-looking? How come I didn't know that? Maybe it's just your imagination? Hahahahaha..."

"Let's not talk about that. Actually, I came back this time because there's something very important I need to say."

Qiao Ran forced an awkward laugh and clumsily changed the subject. The transition was incredibly stiff, but for Qiao Ran, as long as he could steer the conversation away, that was enough.

"Came back? You still dare bring up coming back?"

"How long have you been in Jinling, and you've already learned to bring girls into your room? Think your wings have grown in, huh? You think my gym is a **ing motel?!"

Qiao Ran should have kept quiet. The more he spoke, the angrier Iron Maiden became.

She had originally thought highly of Qiao Ran. He was the kind of boy with real talent, and he was worthy of little Eve. But who would have thought that after only a few days, he would start treating her gym like a hookup spot?

How could this go on?

"Holy shit!"

Qiao Ran's eyelid twitched. Iron Maiden's silver hair floated without wind, and her eyes were crimson like those of a vicious demon. One look told him she had entered a furious state where she wouldn't listen to explanations.

"No excuses. Today, I'll clean house for Eve!"

Iron Maiden grabbed the shovel by the door and prepared to throw herself into battle. No matter what, there was no need to listen to any explanation. She would knock Qiao Ran down first and talk later.

Iron Maiden had always believed in the principle that strength reigned supreme. As she grew older, she had learned to use her intelligence, but the reverence for power in her bones would never change.

That was reflected in her battles as well. She had always favored straightforward crushing force. Asking her to give up attacking and choose defense was basically impossible.

Anyway, beat him up first!

"Hey, hey, hey! At least listen to my explanation!"

Qiao Ran's brow twitched as he hurriedly dodged. The two of them left Lillie, who was standing nearby, completely dumbfounded. She could only cover her cheeks and let out startled cries.

Were these people from another world? Were these people from another world??

Even girls here could swing such a huge shovel???

"Stop fighting! Both of you, stop fighting already!"

Lillie tried to join the fight, but after looking at her thin arms and legs, she obediently remained outside the battle zone.

"Gym Leader Tie, I already told you, I have my reasons. Once you bring Eve's older sister here and I explain my reasons to her, everything will make sense."

Qiao Ran was utterly helpless. He could only speak to Iron Maiden while dodging her attacks.

"What reasons could you have that you can't tell me right now? If your intentions were pure, why would you hide things? If you have something to say, say it to my face. Stop acting all coy like a child!"

Iron Maiden's brows stood on end. Qiao Ran's excuse was utterly weak. What she hated most were people who beat around the bush.

"Otherwise, I can ask after I beat you flat!"

"..."

Qiao Ran's mouth twitched. Iron Maiden was a stubborn, steel-hearted straight woman who liked doing strange things such as "making friends through shovels" and "knocking them down first."

If it were an ordinary matter, it would have been easy. Qiao Ran could have simply explained it to her.

But Qiao Ran couldn't possibly tell Iron Maiden that "Lillie is from the Pokémon world." For now, he could only discuss this with those who already knew, and the fewer people who knew, the better.

Qiao Ran had always had his own considerations. He had to ensure that this information wouldn't be exploited by anyone with ulterior motives. If too many people knew, Mei and Lillie's safety couldn't be guaranteed.

But in Iron Maiden's eyes, that attitude only made him seem like he was making excuses.

"Gym Leader Tie, if this keeps up, I'm really going to stop holding back!"

Qiao Ran frowned. He didn't want to get beaten up for no reason. He knew Iron Maiden would have some restraint and wouldn't cripple him, but he definitely wouldn't escape without some pain.

This woman really saw him as a scumbag...

"Fine. Why don't you show me what not holding back looks like?"

Iron Maiden smiled easily and lifted her chin high. She knew exactly what this man was capable of. Based on his own combat ability, he couldn't possibly be her match.

"...You said it."

Qiao Ran's gaze sharpened. Even a clay figurine had some temper. Iron Maiden had looked down on him again and again, dragged him around wherever she pleased, and glared at him with her chin raised every day. Qiao Ran suddenly felt the urge to prove himself.

Was he unconvinced? He really was.

Perhaps he couldn't have done it before, but ever since returning from the singularity, he had become a completely different person!

He had awakened!

"Can you take this palm strike of mine?!"

"Bring it on!"

Iron Maiden laughed loudly and actually tossed aside the steel shovel. She wanted to use the same palm strike to make Qiao Ran submit wholeheartedly.

This was what Iron Maiden had always loved doing—using sheer strength to completely crush her opponent.

However, she didn't see that Qiao Ran's palm was carrying a green glow, filled with the harmonious power of life.

That verdant light roared and boiled...

"Big Sister Tie? Are you in there? I heard Qiao Ran came back?"

Iron Maiden wasn't the only person who had received news of Qiao Ran's return. Eve had also learned about Qiao Ran through her own means and rushed over at once.

She stood outside Qiao Ran's door and hesitated slightly.

However, after calling out once, she heard no reply from inside. It was terrifyingly quiet in there. In the end, she couldn't resist and opened the door herself.

But the sight before her immediately left her stunned.

Qiao Ran was indeed inside. However...

There was actually another woman lying on her side on the bed, resting her head on Qiao Ran's knees. Her long silver-white hair cascaded like a flowing river of stars. Qiao Ran's hand gently petted her head, while the woman wore an expression of enjoyment, as though she was thoroughly savoring it.

On the other side sat a blonde girl, frozen like a plaster statue with lifeless eyes. But Eve, who had also fallen into a state of shock, automatically ignored her.

"...Big... Big Sister Tie?????"

Eve's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"I must be hallucinating... This has to be a hallucination..."

Eve rubbed her eyes, seemingly unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Wait... wait a second? Did I open the door wrong? Right, right... I'll... I'll do it again... One more time..."

Eve reached out, closed the door, and prepared to try again.

However, when she closed the door and reopened it, the exact same scene appeared before her again—

Qiao Ran's hand was still petting Iron Maiden's head, while Iron Maiden... had actually closed her eyes and revealed an utterly blissful expression... as if she had just received a full-body muscle massage.

"Y-You you you you you you you you! What are you doing?!?!"

This time, Eve finally screamed aloud. Her voice practically echoed throughout the entire gym.

Eve's inner world came crashing down.

She had died at the age of fourteen.

To Eve, Iron Maiden had always been an older sister she deeply admired.

This older sister was bold and powerful, full of charm, and capable of making people feel completely safe.

Eve had never imagined that such an incredible older sister would show such an expression while lying on a boy's lap, and that boy was actually Qiao Ran, someone she knew!

What was wrong with this world?

What the hell was wrong with this world????

"Y-You you you you you you you you! What are you doing?!?!"

Eve's scream completely shattered the room's silence. Iron Maiden, who had been enjoying herself, immediately flipped up and sat upright. Qiao Ran also stopped petting her head and wore an innocent expression that said, "I don't know anything."

Looking at her little sister, whose chest rose and fell as though her world had collapsed, Iron Maiden couldn't help blushing.

"I-It's little Eve. Um... we were getting a muscle massage just now. After exercising, you need this kind of maintenance... yeah."

Iron Maiden stammered out an explanation that even she herself probably didn't believe. In truth, after exchanging palm strikes with Qiao Ran, she had no longer been entirely sure what she was doing.

From her perspective, Qiao Ran had used a strange kind of force to directly neutralize her steel-like offensive. Then, with a smooth pull, he used the impact of her own attack to knock her to the ground—her body went limp.

"What... what did you do?!"

It was also the first time she had ever been knocked down by someone, and it had been by a man.

Iron Maiden had been deeply shaken at the time, her face filled with shock and disbelief. That was why she hadn't organized any resistance immediately and had simply frozen in place. And that lack of resistance led to what happened afterward.

If she didn't resist at the beginning, then afterward, she no longer had any chance to resist at all.

On the other hand, Eve naturally didn't believe Iron Maiden's explanation.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

What did she mean by a muscle massage?! What kind of massage ended up on the bed?!

Eve roared inwardly as her gaze swept across the room in search of anything suspicious. Very quickly, she discovered a blonde girl sitting stiffly in a chair.

"Th-This... who is she?"

Only now did Eve realize there was someone else in the room. These two... were they doing something strange while someone watched them????

"???? You were being watched??"

At that thought, Eve was so shocked that her head nearly fell off.

T-That's way too much!

Watching the increasingly chaotic situation in the room, Qiao Ran felt a tremendous headache as well. Although petting Iron Maiden had felt pretty nice, faced with this complete mess, he could only raise his head and let out a long sigh.

"This... her name is Lillie. She's actually connected to Mei. I only brought her back because I needed to find your sister! Really, I just wanted to find your sister!"

Who could have imagined that Qiao Ran had originally come here merely to find Dr. Lilia? Yet somehow, a whole pile of chaotic nonsense had resulted. He still hadn't found Dr. Lilia, but he had certainly acquired a mountain of trouble.

"What? She's someone connected to little Mei?? You were looking for Lilia because of this?"

Upon hearing Qiao Ran's words, Iron Maiden suddenly reacted. She looked at Qiao Ran. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

At that, Qiao Ran's mouth twitched. He nearly flipped over the bed beneath him with his backside.

"At the beginning, weren't you the one who refused to listen to anything I said?!"

"Anyway, it was all just a misunderstanding!"

Perhaps after chaos, everything always tended toward stability. In any case, once Qiao Ran was finally given the chance to explain, the entire sequence of events gradually became clear.

"B-But you still haven't explained why you were petting... petting Big Sister Tie's..."

However, Eve still raised a small objection. Even if everything had begun with a disagreement between Qiao Ran and Iron Maiden, why had things turned into that while they were fighting?!

"Ahem..." Iron Maiden had already given up. She could only cough lightly to indicate that she knew nothing. She had never been good at lying.

As for Qiao Ran, an idea came to him, and he came up with an explanation.

"Well, it was because your Big Sister Tie's head took an impact, so her thoughts became a little confused. I was helping her relax her muscles and improve her circulation."

At Qiao Ran's explanation, huge exclamation marks appeared above both Eve and Iron Maiden's heads.

"You... bastard!" How could Iron Maiden not understand that Qiao Ran was mocking her in a roundabout way? Yet Eve, on the other hand, actually rather believed the explanation.

"Big Sister Tie's head took an impact??? I-Is that it? So her head needed a massage?"

All things considered, it was indeed a very convincing explanation. And after thinking carefully, Eve realized that Qiao Ran and Iron Maiden had not had any suspicious physical contact. Qiao Ran had only petted Iron Maiden's head.

So it was just to promote circulation and disperse bruising!