(Chapter Two later)
"Streaking!?"
Before Sousuke Sagara could recover from the shock of the unit in front of him suddenly vanishing and his own machine abruptly going out of control, he heard the two words Xiao Ran had spoken. His rigid face was instantly consumed by an incomparably conflicted expression, cold sweat pouring down his face.
It was not just Xiao Ran. Cruz and Melissa Mao felt much the same as Sousuke Sagara at that moment, filled with all sorts of conflict and regret. Losing a training battle was not embarrassing, but if they really had to streak around the base once, the consequences would be utterly terrifying.
Xiao Ran's single remark left all three of them completely silent. Xiao Ran wore a conflicted expression, Cruz's eyes kept darting about as though he were considering how to weasel out of it, while Melissa Mao gritted her teeth, filled with regret and helplessness, wishing she could slap herself several times.
"Heh." Xiao Ran merely smiled and stopped paying attention to the three of them. He opened the cockpit and jumped out, heading straight into the base. Before he had fully entered, a group of Mithril members ran out from inside.
Every one of them looked at Xiao Ran as they passed, their gazes filled with disbelief, shock, or wariness. Some even regarded him as a monster, a humanoid monster who had shattered their understanding of reality. He had operated an M9 to the point where its movements could not even be discerned with the naked eye, leaving them completely unable to muster any thought of resistance.
Naturally, Xiao Ran did not know what they were thinking. Once he entered the base, he saw Mithril's senior officers looking at him with complicated expressions: Jerome, Al, Colonel Tessa, Kalinin, and Richard.
Perhaps because