Sister, Yeah, Sister

In the end, I skipped class anyway.

There was nothing I could do about it. Just imagining taking a loli-shaped unknown creature to school was enough to make me stand out, and optimistically speaking, my homeroom teacher, who was already suffering from severe menopause syndrome, would definitely seize the chance to give me a thorough lecture. But if I left this possibly dangerous unknown creature alone... based on the lessons of most movies and novels, the only result would be a mountain of trouble following me around. After considering everything, skipping class was the best choice—besides, wasn't I feeling a little unwell? Perfectly reasonable. Perfectly reasonable!

Older Sister had already gone to work. Only Pandora and I were left at home, so I had to make the most of the time to give this unknown lifeform some basic common-sense education.

"Alright, remember this. Your name is Pan Lili now," I repeated once more. "You're my long-lost younger sister. Unless there's absolutely no one else around, you are never allowed to mention that stuff from some unknown corner of the universe. Yeah, let me see that mark on your arm again—good. Mana Constructs really are impressive; they can even do that. Now you just have to remember not to give yourself away in front of my older sister."

"Yes, ...Brother." Pandora clearly wasn't used to this new form of address and hesitated before saying it.

This was my plan! I would have Pandora pretend to be my long-lost younger sister. After all, I was an adopted orphan from childhood, and no one knew my background. That way, no one would find it strange if I suddenly had a younger sister. Still, why did I feel like something was off?

I frowned and looked Pandora up and down. She had changed into a worn-out set of clothes, but something still felt wrong. I just couldn't put my finger on what it was...

Uh, found it...

"Pan... Lili, can't you smile?"

That was the heart of the problem! I had only just remembered that the little girl in front of me hadn't smiled once since we met. More than that, she hadn't shown any expression at all. She was like an exquisitely crafted doll. Besides, apart from when she had introduced the situation to me and spoken quite a bit, she had been incredibly sparing with words afterward—so quiet it was astonishing. No matter what, that kind of personality shouldn't have appeared in a fourteen-year-old girl.

Those were only minor issues. After all, an extremely withdrawn personality could be explained away with some corresponding life experience. The truly fatal issue was something else—Pandora's eyes!

They had no focus at all. They were basically just decorations. Eyes like that would draw attention the instant she went anywhere.

It looked like I still had a lot to learn about bluffing if I wanted to successfully pass Pandora's identity off as genuine.

The day passed quickly. During that time, I did my best to teach Pandora about human ways of life. I wasn't worried at all about whether she could remember it. Meanwhile, I also learned more from the taciturn Pandora about the situation, including, of course, the command set I cared about most—the one that was 99.9999... percent unusable.

According to Pandora's explanation, the nearest Void Node was simply too far away. As a result, every command signal I sent had to travel an extremely long distance before reaching the nearest Shilin Colony. The distance was so immense that by the time the signal arrived, it had decayed to the point where it was completely indistinguishable from cosmic microwave background radiation. A signal like that could only be treated as noise. As for the remote fire support I had triggered yesterday morning, that had been an extraordinarily rare coincidence. At that moment, our great star had bestowed power upon me, allowing me to instantly contact the Xiling Mother Planet on the other side of the universe.

"I can serve as an emergency Shilin Terminal," Pandora said. "However, even with my enhancement, I can only relay less than ten percent of vague commands, and the conditions for relaying them will be extremely demanding. Do you wish to establish a Shilin Outpost Base on this planet? Once the base is established, you may wage war at any time and turn this world into the Empire's new frontier."

"I'll pass," I replied, sweating coldly as I rejected the very tempting suggestion. "I have no intention of conquering the world."

Give me a break. Establish a Shilin Outpost Base? Then what? Summon massive numbers of Shilin Army troops? Conquer all humanity? Rule the world? Then get taken out as a brutal conqueror by some immortal Hot Blood underdog, like in most Hot Blood novels?

Based on my rough search earlier, the messy commands I received last night were basically all war-related. They included troop deployments, remote bombings, strategic strikes, and all kinds of things completely at odds with the peaceful state of the modern world. There was no way I could use weapons of mass destruction against humans, right? Those command sets were practically useless to me, so building a base would be a complete waste.

As for using those fierce-sounding things as secret weapons to teach some arrogant rich kid a lesson someday and win girls' hearts along the way...

Were you stupid? Someone bumped into you and you fired the Shilin Directed Star Annihilation Cannon at Earth? A hyperspace fire support system was absolutely not meant for showing off...

"Brother, a Carbon-Based Lifeform is approaching. Please confirm the other party's identity."

"Probably Older Sister coming back," I said, glancing at the clock on the wall. "Also, Lily, don't talk like that anymore. You have to make people feel that you're human."

I was still explaining things to Pandora when the sound of the door opening came from outside.

"I'm back," Older Sister said tiredly. Then her voice turned surprised. "Hm? A Jun, who is this child?"

"This is Pan Lili." I gently pushed Pandora forward and tried my best to look excited. "She's my younger sister!"

"Younger sister?" Older Sister was startled. The next moment, she thought of a possibility and cried out, "You mean she's your younger sister? Your biological younger sister?"

"Yes." I smiled. "I thought my original family was no longer in this world. I never expected that I still had a younger sister."

"Hello." Pandora nodded slightly and greeted her in her uniquely emotionless tone.

Older Sister frowned, seemingly bothered by Pandora's cold response. Seeing that, I immediately explained, "Lily's life used to be difficult, and... she went through some unpleasant things, so her personality is a little strange."

Only then did Older Sister notice the worn-out clothes Pandora was wearing. Sympathy immediately appeared in her eyes, though the suspicion in them had not completely faded.

I knew what she was doubting. When I had been brought home, I was less than a year old. It was impossible for me to have any memory of my family, let alone a younger sister who clearly hadn't even been born yet. Older Sister was worried that I had been deceived.

I smiled faintly, took Pandora's arm, and rolled up the sleeve on her right arm.

There was a nearly triangular birthmark the size of a fingernail—there was an identical mark in the same place on my arm.

"This seems to be hereditary in our family. It isn't a birthmark, but a mark possessed by every direct blood relative. Also, although it sounds a little mysterious, Lily and I seem to share some kind of connection. I can be completely certain that she's my biological younger sister."

Thank God Older Sister had a mind that was terribly clueless when it came to biology. Otherwise, she would definitely have seen through my clumsy lie soon enough—what kind of inheritance was that supposed to be?

Fortunately, Older Sister had never passed biology in her life, so she immediately believed it for the most part. At the same time, she noticed the unusual nature of Pandora's eyes.

"A Jun, what's wrong with this child's eyes...?"

I put on a sympathetic expression and stroked Pandora's hair. "Didn't I mention it earlier? She went through some unpleasant things. After that, she lost her sight, and her personality became like this too..."

I really felt that not becoming an actor was a tremendous loss for the entertainment industry.

My flawless performance immediately caused Older Sister's maternal instincts to erupt. Almost instantly, she let go of her doubts.

"Poor little sister..." Older Sister's voice was already choking up. She bent down and pulled the expressionless Pandora into her arms. "Where are you living now? If possible, move in with us. I'll take care of you like a real older sister..."

Older Sister, whose sympathy had completely overflowed, utterly ignored why I had learned so much about this younger sister's past in just one day. She did not even remember that she should first take Pandora for a genetic test or something.

Sorry, Older Sister. I could only keep this from you for now. After all, the truth had become so extraordinary that it was completely unsuitable for ordinary people to come into contact with...