Chapter Summaries

El-Elf struggled to adjust to the attention of his new classmates during his first day at school, while hiding the weapons he carried. After fleeing another round of absurd questions, he left Chidori to rein in the class.

• Teacher Kagurazaka cut off questions about El-Elf's shooting hobby, and El-Elf answered his classmates' questions about music, romance, and life in Japan.
• Chidori slammed her desk to stop the questioning, startling El-Elf into drawing two pistols before he quickly hid them again.
• Teacher Kagurazaka asked whether El-Elf had brought a weapon to school, but he calmly denied it, and she accepted his explanation.
• El-Elf set up a desk by the window at the back of the classroom, then endured more questions from classmates during the first break.
• El-Elf left the classroom to escape another crowd during the second break, and Chidori slammed her desk and shouted at her classmates to stop asking absurd questions.

El-Elf settled into school life while planning how to gather intelligence and strengthen the team during the three-month mission. Xiao Ran and El-Elf agreed to investigate Mithril and secure a suitable AS for Luo, but Xiao Ran hinted that his knowledge of the story might offer an easier path.

• El-Elf noticed classmates had stopped crowding around him after Chidori's training, then continued protecting her on the way home.
• El-Elf considered using the mission to find Super Robot technology, recruit Whispered, and hunt evil-faction participants for their mecha and equipment.
• Xiao Ran proposed sending Luo to Mithril to learn its technology and increase the team's strength, while El-Elf began investigating Japanese officials who might recommend Luo.
• Xiao Ran decided not to join Mithril, and El-Elf explained that they needed an AS for him to pilot while Luo was away.
• El-Elf identified the M9 as a powerful but difficult-to-obtain option, so Xiao Ran chose to seek an M6 and continue gathering information on Mithril.
• Xiao Ran said that, based on the plot he remembered, their plans might not be as difficult as they seemed.

Xiao Ran, El-Elf, and Luo planned how to use Mithril’s technology and industrial capacity to build a Variable Fighter, while El-Elf investigated the organization. After concluding that Luo should seek a place in Mithril’s central Technology Department, El-Elf revealed he had found a direct way to contact it.

• Luo explained that Mithril’s technology could support building a VF-17-level Variable Fighter, and Xiao Ran decided he should first investigate Mithril before seeking cooperation.
• El-Elf spent the following days protecting Chidori, hacking government networks, and gathering technical and organizational intelligence about Mithril.
• El-Elf learned that Mithril had a vast industrial network and separate departments, but found little information about Amalgam or a reliable route into Mithril through Japan.
• El-Elf advised Luo to join Mithril independently and target its central Technology Department rather than one of its combat teams.
• El-Elf said he had found a direct way to approach Mithril: Luo could submit a small piece of technology, express interest in joining, and make reasonable conditions.

Luo chose small-scale beam technology as the key to approach Mithril and sent them a redacted technical document after relocating to Eagle Country. A week later, three armed intruders entered his hotel suite, and Luo subdued them before learning who they worked for.

• Luo, Xiao Ran, and El-Elf chose small-scale beam technology to present to Mithril, while keeping the other technologies concealed.
• Luo prepared a redacted Small Beam Rifle document, and El-Elf hacked satellites to maintain contact and support him.
• Luo left Japan for Eagle Country, and El-Elf erased records of Luo’s activities in Japan before sending the document to Mithril.
• After a week, El-Elf received a signal during class as three people entered Luo’s hotel suite at night.
• Luo swiftly knocked out two intruders and restrained the third, then questioned him about his organization.

Luo subdued three armed intruders who identified themselves as Mithril operatives sent to assess him and install surveillance equipment. After Mithril promised a senior officer would arrive, someone knocked at Luo’s door, and several figures entered.

• Luo tied up the three intruders and messaged El-Elf, who suspected they were Mithril Special Operations personnel and prepared to support him with Xiao Ran if needed.
• Luo questioned the captives, and Mole 2 revealed that she and the two men belonged to Mithril’s Atlantic Team.
• Mole 2 contacted Mithril’s command center, which confirmed that a higher-ranking officer would arrive within thirty minutes and authorized her to explain the mission.
• Mole 2 told Luo that her team had been sent to assess him and then surveil him, but their operation failed when he captured them.
• After half an hour, someone knocked at Luo’s door, and several figures entered after Mole 2 opened it.

Luo met with Mithril senior leaders and confirmed their identities by seeing an M9 appear and vanish. He told General Jerome that he wanted to join Mithril, study its technology, and cooperate on developing new weapons.

• General Jerome introduced himself as commander of Mithril's Combat Division and asked Luo to release the captured Mole Team members.
• Luo requested the M9's technical specifications as proof, so Jerome instead showed him an M9 using its ECS stealth system.
• Jerome explained Mithril's suspicions about the beam weapon information, and Luo said he had sent it to attract their attention.
• Luo told Jerome he hoped to join Mithril, study its technology, and contribute beam weapons and other technologies.
• Luo identified himself as a professional technician and Mechanical Master, and said he chose Mithril because it represented justice.

Luo and El-Elf negotiated with Mithril commander Jerome, offering technology and a strategic alliance in exchange for access to Mithril’s core research. Jerome remained wary, but the conversation established a path toward cooperation while keeping the rest of Luo’s team hidden.

• Jerome questioned whether Luo represented himself or a larger group, and Luo contacted El-Elf for help answering him.
• El-Elf introduced himself as part of a three-person mercenary team with Luo and their captain Alex, and said they had chosen Mithril over Amalgam.
• El-Elf offered technology and Luo’s expertise in developing AS units in exchange for access to Mithril’s core technology.
• El-Elf proposed an alliance but refused to reveal the team’s identities, and Jerome accepted that future discussions would proceed through Luo.
• Luo told Jerome that he trusted his own ability to stay safe and believed Mithril would not harm him if he proved useful.

Mithril accepted Luo’s cooperation and made him head of its practical miniaturized beam weapons division, while Xiao Ran and El-Elf continued protecting Chidori. When Mithril’s team arrived with an M9, El-Elf secretly entered the truck and added his and Xiao Ran’s credentials to the AS, leaving the story poised for their involvement at school.

• Mithril accepted Luo’s proposal, placed him in charge of a new weapons project division, and assigned watchers to monitor him.
• El-Elf spotted Melissa Mao, Cruz, and Sousuke Sagara unloading equipment from a truck near Chidori’s apartment and recognized that an M9 was inside.
• Xiao Ran told El-Elf that the team had likely come to protect Chidori and asked him to inspect the AS while he planned to make contact.
• El-Elf left the base at three in the morning, opened the truck’s cargo compartment, and climbed into the M9’s cockpit.
• El-Elf connected his computer to the M9, breached its system, and added his and Xiao Ran’s login credentials before restoring the cargo door and returning to the base.

El-Elf followed Chidori and Sousuke Sagara to school while secretly assessing the new Mithril protector. Sousuke was caught bringing a real gun onto campus, and El-Elf entered the school as Chidori and Kyoko reacted to the scene.

• El-Elf left home after preparing breakfast and lunch, while Xiao Ran watched him go and decided it was too early to contact the others.
• El-Elf followed Chidori and Sousuke Sagara to school, judging Sousuke's conspicuous behavior as poor protection but useful cover for himself.
• Teacher Kagurazaka inspected Chidori's bag, and Sousuke slipped through the school gate while she checked another student.
• Teacher Kagurazaka caught Sousuke and pulled a gun from his bag; Sousuke explained that it was a loaded, lethal weapon, but she confiscated it and took him away.
• El-Elf stepped between Chidori and the incident before entering the school, while Chidori called Sousuke a war maniac and Kyoko photographed her and El-Elf.

El-Elf monitored Sousuke Sagara as the new student followed Chidori around school with increasingly bizarre vigilance. When objects flew from the girls’ baseball club room, El-Elf rushed to investigate and discovered Sousuke had mistaken a harmless situation for a threat, before the girls drove them both off with thrown objects.

• El-Elf recognized Sousuke Sagara as a Mithril operative sent to protect Chidori and decided to keep him under surveillance.
• Sousuke followed Chidori and Kyoko around school, including to the girls’ restroom, where a student slapped him for acting like a pervert.
• El-Elf monitored Sousuke as he followed Chidori to the girls’ baseball club room and saw objects fly out after he knocked on the door.
• Sousuke drew his handgun and rushed into the club room, prompting El-Elf to hurry there with his own weapon and a flashbang.
• El-Elf saw Sousuke pinning Chidori down and realized the commotion was a misunderstanding, then quietly left as the girls shouted and threw more objects.

El-Elf monitored Chidori as Sousuke Sagara’s reckless protectiveness caused chaos, then grew alarmed when their school trip to Okinawa was announced. After a suspicious man left a briefcase at a restaurant, Chidori chased after him and narrowly avoided a truck, and El-Elf followed her and Sousuke onto the train before they both jumped out.

• Sousuke Sagara’s overreactions caused a string of accidents at school, while El-Elf stayed close to Chidori and worried about her safety.
• When the school approved a weeklong trip to Okinawa, El-Elf considered preventing Chidori from going and planned to discuss it with Xiao Ran.
• At a fast-food restaurant, El-Elf and Sousuke Sagara watched a suspicious man leave behind his briefcase, and Chidori grabbed it and ran after him.
• Chidori rushed into the road and faced an oncoming truck, but Sousuke Sagara lunged toward her and a cloaked AS stopped the truck before El-Elf exposed his abilities.
• Chidori left for the subway with Sousuke Sagara following her, and El-Elf secretly boarded the same train.
• Chidori ran out of the train at a station, Sousuke Sagara jumped from its window after her, and El-Elf followed under the stunned gaze of the other passengers.

Xiao Ran recognized Kowloon as an Amalgam operative and decided to join El-Elf on Jindai High School’s class trip, anticipating a confrontation involving Chidori. The night before the trip, Xiao Ran and El-Elf hid their equipment aboard the plane, where they discovered another group had secretly loaded crates and posted guards.

• Xiao Ran recognized Kowloon beneath his stealth-equipped Mobile Weapon but let him leave after considering the risks and opportunities of keeping him alive.
• El-Elf proposed preventing Chidori from attending the trip, but Xiao Ran rejected harming her and instead planned to observe the λ-DRIVER incident and cooperate with Mithril.
• Xiao Ran told El-Elf that Amalgam had appeared and decided to accompany him on the class trip, hoping to assess both factions and obtain AS units.
• Xiao Ran and El-Elf bought tickets for the same flight as Jindai High School and infiltrated the airport at night to hide their packages aboard the plane.
• Xiao Ran and El-Elf discovered another group disguised as airport staff loading crates into the plane and guarding them.

Xiao Ran and El-Elf let the hijackers take control of the plane, intending to learn why they wanted Chidori while keeping her safe. After the plane landed at a remote air force base, the hijackers took Chidori, and Sousuke Sagara and El-Elf moved to pursue her as Xiao Ran prepared for action.

• Xiao Ran and El-Elf noticed dangerous crates being loaded onto the plane but left without raising an alarm.
• At the airport, Xiao Ran and El-Elf met Chidori and boarded separately with the students and passengers.
• After a miniature explosion near the cockpit, El-Elf met Xiao Ran, and they agreed to stay in contact and let the hijackers take Chidori while protecting her.
• The hijackers diverted the plane to an air force base in the Xingkai Autonomous Region and announced that everyone aboard was being held hostage.
• Armed soldiers took Chidori off the plane, while Sousuke Sagara caused a disturbance to protect Teacher Kagurazaka from being shot.
• El-Elf followed Sousuke Sagara off the plane, while Xiao Ran changed into tactical gear, armed himself, and put on a mask.

El-Elf delayed the bomb and found Chidori, while Xiao Ran searched the air base for an AS and started up a Barbarian. When Sousuke's rescue attempt brought the truck under fire, El-Elf attacked the guards and reached Chidori and Sousuke inside.

• El-Elf hacked the bomb's timer to extend its countdown, then went searching for Sousuke and Chidori.
• Xiao Ran entered the air base to search for Gauron's Lambda Driver-equipped AS, but found only Barbarian ASs.
• Sousuke contacted Mithril, while El-Elf located Chidori in a guarded box truck and waited nearby.
• After gunfire broke out, Xiao Ran climbed into a Barbarian and began its lengthy startup sequence.
• Sousuke charged into the truck with only a pistol, and armed soldiers surrounded it and fired.
• El-Elf attacked the soldiers, entered the truck, confirmed Chidori and Sousuke were unharmed, and asked whether anyone was injured.

El-Elf rescued Chidori and Sousuke Sagara from the hijackers, then helped them escape while revealing that he was a mercenary protecting Chidori, a Whispered. They reached a warehouse as Xiao Ran stayed behind to delay the growing enemy force and searched for Kowloon.

• El-Elf criticized Sousuke Sagara for compromising the mission, then ordered him and Chidori to start the truck while he provided cover.
• El-Elf killed the enemies surrounding the truck, and Sousuke Sagara and Chidori joined him in fleeing.
• Sousuke Sagara told Chidori that Mithril had sent him to protect her because an intelligence agency wanted to capture her for experiments.
• El-Elf used an RPG against an approaching AS unit, then directed Sousuke Sagara to drive toward the last one, which Xiao Ran had disabled.
• El-Elf confirmed that Chidori was a Whispered and said he was an independent mercenary assigned to protect her.
• Xiao Ran told the group to reach the warehouse while he delayed the enemies, then wondered where Kowloon had gone.

Xiao Ran led the retreat from the military base while protecting Chidori, but an ambush split the group and revealed the enemy machine he had been seeking. The chapter ended with Xiao Ran facing that target as Sousuke Sagara was held back by two veteran pilots.

• Xiao Ran destroyed three tanks and withdrew with Sousuke Sagara, while El-Elf carried Chidori and a captured woman on the Savage.
• Xiao Ran and Sousuke Sagara agreed to return to the base after their rescue team arrived, but an ambush forced Xiao Ran to kick Sousuke's AS forward and El-Elf to escape with Chidori.
• El-Elf warned Chidori that several AS units had attacked, and Sousuke Sagara fought two coordinated Savages that tried to delay him.
• Xiao Ran crossed a hill and recognized the silver-white AS with golden hair-like components as the target he had been searching for.

Xiao Ran engaged Kowloon’s Hell Monarch with a Savage to test the λ-DRIVER, using his extraordinary piloting skill to evade and counter its attacks. The battle ended with both machines disabled: the Savage’s legs were destroyed, and Hell Monarch overheated after Kowloon lost concentration.

• Xiao Ran stayed behind to fight Kowloon’s Hell Monarch, trusting Sousuke Sagara, El-Elf, and the expected support from Sousuke’s blond comrade to handle the departing AS units.
• Xiao Ran used the Savage to shoot down Hell Monarch’s incoming shells and pursued Kowloon, landing a kick and using Hell Monarch’s shoulder to propel himself away.
• Kowloon activated the λ-DRIVER, stopping the Savage’s bullets and sending them back with an invisible force as Hell Monarch attacked with its dagger.
• Xiao Ran used the λ-DRIVER’s air wall as leverage to dodge the dagger, but the strain destroyed both of the Savage’s legs.
• Kowloon lost concentration after seeing Xiao Ran’s maneuver, causing Hell Monarch to overheat and collapse alongside the disabled Savage.

Xiao Ran explained how the Lambda System worked and why his Barbarian had managed to disable Kowloon's Hell Monarch, despite being outmatched by its defenses. After both pilots escaped their wrecked units, Xiao Ran reached Kowloon and faced him at close range.

• Xiao Ran concluded that the Lambda System's power depended on its user's will and Mental Power, and that the system had overwhelmed his Barbarian while protecting the Hell Monarch.
• Xiao Ran considered the Lambda System's possible applications and the ways to counter it, including the Fairy Feather System, another Lambda System, a surprise attack, or waiting for the pilot's mind to collapse.
• Xiao Ran opened the Barbarian's cockpit and climbed out after it crashed, while Kowloon left the Hell Monarch with a rifle and began firing at him.
• Xiao Ran dodged Kowloon's shots, vaulted over the disabled Hell Monarch, and landed in front of him.
• Kowloon swung his rifle at Xiao Ran and drew a dagger to stab him.

Xiao Ran defeated Gauron and considered taking the Hell Monarch, but time was running short as enemy forces approached. After contacting El-Elf about Mithril’s evacuation, Xiao Ran kept Gauron captive for the moment and left his plans for the Lambda Driver mecha unresolved.

• Xiao Ran kicked Gauron into the Hell Monarch, then threw him away from the vomit after Gauron collapsed.
• Xiao Ran considered recovering the Hell Monarch but decided its owner and disabled systems made taking it impractical for now.
• El-Elf told Xiao Ran that Mithril had dealt with two AS units, Sousuke Sagara’s AS could no longer move, and enemy forces would arrive within fifteen minutes.
• Xiao Ran told El-Elf to ask Mithril for help transporting his spoils, or to bring Chidori to him.
• Gauron recognized that Xiao Ran was not with Mithril and offered him the Hell Monarch after learning Xiao Ran wanted its Lambda Driver.
• Xiao Ran told Gauron he was not interested in handing him over to Mithril and chose to keep him captive for the moment.

Xiao Ran refused Kowloon's offer to join Amalgam and let him leave, then boarded a Mithril transport with the captured Hell Monarch. The aircraft took Xiao Ran, El-Elf, Chidori, and the captured woman to Mithril's flagship, Danner's Son, where their uncertain relationship with Mithril remained unresolved.

• Kowloon offered Xiao Ran power, money, and women in exchange for joining Amalgam, but Xiao Ran refused and said he would only act against Kowloon if his mission objective was targeted.
• Kowloon left after recognizing that Xiao Ran did not intend to kill him or hand him over to Mithril.
• A Mithril transport arrived with Sousuke Sagara and two M9 units, which carried the Hell Monarch aboard before taking off.
• Cruz abandoned his M9, which exploded after the transport departed, while Xiao Ran joined El-Elf in the cargo hold.
• The transport brought Xiao Ran, El-Elf, Chidori, and the captured woman to Mithril's West Pacific Fleet flagship, Danner's Son.