The moment Lightning Aegis's monitor locked onto Second Archangel's bridge, Xiao Ran froze with his mouth hanging open. His pupils contracted sharply, his breathing grew rapid, and time seemed to stop as everything froze.
"Bargyll... Flay..." Xiao Ran's eyes widened. Though he had been prepared, seeing it with his own eyes still left him unable to believe it. And Flay being aboard Second Archangel made it even more unbelievable.
The Bargyll Xiao Ran saw was exactly the same as the one aboard Archangel. Other than her uniform, she looked precisely like the Bargyll in Xiao Ran's memories, dressed in an Earth Force uniform. Flay was also wearing an Earth Force uniform as she sat beside Bargyll at the CIC station, while Azrael gripped her shoulder tightly.
Everyone on the bridge, aside from Bargyll—including Azrael and Flay—wore expressions of terror. Some were even running toward the elevator leading out of the bridge.
But the true reason Xiao Ran's pupils contracted and his breathing quickened was not because he had seen Bargyll and Flay on Second Archangel's bridge. It was the expression on Bargyll's face, and the color draining from it.
Bargyll was smiling. That smile was far too complicated—so complicated that Xiao Ran did not know how to describe it. Yet at a glance, he understood what she was thinking: relief, freedom, attachment, acceptance, and a faint plea. But more than anything, there was the feeling that she had finally been released.
The complicated emotions in Bargyll's face and eyes struck Xiao Ran's heart in an instant, shaking him deeply. Unable to bear it, unwilling to attack, he lowered Lightning Aegis's raised beam energy cannon.
For some reason, Bargyll's complicated feelings made Xiao Ran clearly understand the meaning behind her expression. *Please, give me a little time... then kill me with