The Mecha-Kai Species During Dimensional Travel

Natsumi resignedly closed her eyes, waiting for the other to kill her.

Only...

Ten seconds passed...

Twenty seconds passed...

Huh?

The anticipated pain never came. The only things she could sense now were her own tense breathing and the ache from the wound on her abdomen.

Then, curiosity getting the better of her, Natsumi cracked one eye open slightly and saw Xiu Er's glowing mechanical eyes staring right back at her.

The two fell into an eerie silence.

Until...

"Analysis complete."

Huh?

Analysis?

Hearing the other's words, Natsumi had no idea what was happening.

Then she saw what came next.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Pseudo-Phantom Witch]-"

Golden energy materialized beside Xiu Er, converging from different directions to take shape in front of her. When the light faded, something Natsumi was painfully familiar with appeared before her eyes.

Her eyes flew wide open. Ignoring the pain in her body, she sat up.

After confirming that the object in the other's hand was indeed something she knew intimately—her Angel, the Pseudo-Phantom Witch—her worldview took a severe blow.

"Ahaha... am I, by any chance, dreaming?"

In the end, Natsumi fled from reality.

Chapter 7: Becoming Human? Did It Change? Like It Changed

Looking at the unconscious Natsumi before him, Xiu Er naturally wasn't about to just leave her here.

After all, she was the one who had caused this mess. Since her goal was already achieved, she didn't mind finishing the cleanup and taking Natsumi to a safe area.

She already knew the exact location of the AST and that they were about to storm this mall.

Knowing full well what the AST thought of Spirits, Xiu Er certainly couldn't abandon this defenseless Natsumi.

By the time the AST arrived, all they found was a floor covered in traces of a fight—nothing else.

Xiu Er's database had no records of medical knowledge or healing armaments. Looking at Natsumi, whose body was covered in wounds, a faint trace of guilt stirred within her.

With a face that's not bad at all, to be this insecure... sure enough, the harm of domestic violence and bullying on a child's growth is immeasurable!

Downloading all medical knowledge from the internet was trivial for a Mecha-Kai species. A human brain might miss or blur relevant memories, but a Mecha-Kai would not.

Right now, the only way Xiu Er could make up for Natsumi was to treat her.

Not much time had passed since the Spatial Tremor alert ended, and the ground was still empty of people. Xiu Er carried Natsumi into a hospital.

She found the necessary medicine, treated Natsumi's wounds, and left the rest to the Spirit's own regenerative abilities.

After settling Natsumi, Xiu Er took out the armament she had just obtained.

"-[Codex Opening]-[Pseudo-Codex]-[Pseudo-Phantom Witch]-"

Natsumi's Angel took the form of a broom with a star pendant.

Mm, quite the witchy vibe.

Holding the Pseudo-Phantom Witch, Xiu Er aimed it at herself and activated its ability.

Now, the mechanical parts on Xiu Er's body had vanished.

Her originally expressionless face had become lively; she could now make all kinds of expressions!

Her amber-like eyes darted around energetically, full of vitality!

At this moment, judging by appearance alone, Xiu Er looked completely like a lively, adorable human girl—a world apart from her previous lifeless robot form.

Of course, that was only on the surface...

Because the real effect of this transformation was merely wrapping a "skin" around Xiu Er; underneath, she was still the mechanical body of a Mecha-Kai species.

She pinched her chin, muttering to herself.

"Only this much, huh..."

Though the result differed quite a bit from her earlier calculations, it was still barely acceptable.

It turned out that the ability of the Pseudo-Pseudo-Phantom Witch in her hands now was far inferior to the original.

Natsumi's Angel, the Pseudo-Phantom Witch, had the power to turn living or non-living things into whatever she desired—truly transforming them into another species, even organic into inorganic.

And Xiu Er's [Pseudo-Phantom Witch] could indeed transform—pinching the body that had softened back up, Xiu Er was satisfied.

It was just a pity that this state could only be maintained while continuously using [Pseudo-Phantom Witch], and it could hold even under attack.

Moreover, although the body was disguised as flesh, those vital organs didn't affect Xiu Er; even if the so-called [flesh] parts were pierced, it still had no impact on him as a Mecha-Kai species, and he could recover.

But once he used other armaments, the [Pseudo-Phantom Witch]'s function would be affected, automatically causing the disguise to collapse and revert to its original form.

In other words, if Xiu Er wanted to use other armaments, he would "burst through" this outer layer of "skin."

Still, fortunately, the Pseudo-Phantom Witch itself could also transform; Xiu Er could turn it into an accessory and wear it, so daily use didn't take up space.

"On second thought, I'm a suit actor now too."

After understanding the effects of his Pseudo-Phantom Witch, Xiu Er didn't complain much.

After all, although the Mecha-Kai species themselves had camouflage-type "armaments" like Optical Camouflage, in the end, an Angel like [Pseudo-Phantom Witch] that could truly change the nature of objects was the "top choice" for disguise.

But the copied effect was still barely passable—at least it was a layer of skin, more real than the "illusion" of Optical Camouflage.

Now he could walk openly on the streets; that was a good thing.

Turning the Pseudo-Phantom Witch into a hair clip and putting it on his head, he tossed the extra thoughts out of his mind.

Now, Xiu Er had to consider his next move.

A few days later—

Xiu Er held a cup of milk tea, his face troubled as he looked at the young couple in front of him.

The purple-haired woman pointed straight at Xiu Er, her words righteous and stern.

Meanwhile, the blue-haired man was pulling at the woman's hand, trying to lead her away.

Unfortunately, whether because the woman was too strong or the man was weaker, the two just stood there, not moving an inch...

"It's you! What are you doing here!?"

"Tohka, what are you doing?"

Compared to the clearly hostile girl, the man trying to drag his girlfriend away was all smiles, apologizing to Xiu Er.

"Sorry, little sister, she just mistook you for someone else, she's not targeting you on purpose."

"No, Shido, you have to believe me! She's that person from that day!"

The commotion naturally drew the attention of passersby.

Under the gazes of the onlookers, Shido felt so embarrassed he could dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his toes.

He naturally knew who Tohka meant by "that person."

But no matter how he looked at it, the little sister in front of him was a genuine human—how could she be that terrifying robot.

"Hey, what do you think happened here?"

"No idea, maybe a love triangle."

"Wow, that's messed up. That little sister doesn't look old enough yet, and that guy seems all innocent on the surface, but he's actually scum."

"Should we call the cops?"

The passersby's whispers reached Shido's ears.

Please, if you're going to whisper, could you at least keep it down? I can hear everything!

Shido complained in his mind.

He felt that if he didn't do something soon, he would definitely face social death.

And Xiu Er naturally heard those words too. Don't let his expressionless face fool you—he was just holding it together with his excellent emotional control.

The annoyance of being called out by Tohka vanished in an instant. Watching Shido's awkwardness, his heart was already bursting with laughter.

Funny, too funny.

But he had to hold it in, not show it. Luckily, he was a Mecha-Kai species now, and he'd temporarily shut down his expression system; otherwise, he really might not have been able to hold back.

In the end, the matter only wound down after Shido, using all his strength, dragged Tohka away.

As for what happened between them afterward, Xiu Er didn't care.

This incident provided Xiu Er's joy for the day, but aside from that, he had other things to do. Running into Shido and Tohka was just a small interlude.

Xiu Er finished his milk tea, casually tossed it, and the empty cup flew in a perfect arc into the trash can by the street.

Drawing exclamations from the nearby young men.

Chapter 8: The Worst Spirit

Tokisaki Kurumi, one of the Spirits in Date A Live, known as the Worst Spirit, because of a certain trait of hers, she has no aversion to killing.

And this Spirit was Xiu Er's next "prey."

Time-related abilities—if he could copy them, even if they were fakes, they couldn't be too bad, right?

The question was whether an ability of this level could be successfully replicated.

According to online data, Xiu Er had directly grasped all the information about Tokisaki Kurumi—family situation, address, even which school she had attended in the past.

In other words, Kurumi had been doxxed without her knowledge.

The Mecha-Kai species' traits were perfectly suited to this modern technological era. Whatever Xiu Er wanted to do, as long as it involved networks and mechanical fields, it came effortlessly to her.

Searching for a person's complete information was almost too easy for her.

In just one second, Xiu Er could obtain all of someone's online personal data.

And now, she stood at Kurumi's doorstep and rang the doorbell.

Ding-dong~

No one?

Hearing no sound from inside, Xiu Er pressed the doorbell again.

Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~ Ding-dong~

Still no one came to open the door.

Could she not be home?

After confirming no one was coming, Xiu Er's gaze shifted to the lock on the door.

Just analyzing it wouldn't affect the disguise effect. With a single glance, Xiu Er knew the internal shape of the door lock.

She took off the Fake Demoness that had transformed into a hairpin on her head and held it up to the lock.