Strong Little Sister

(This chapter is free)

Just like that, Pandora moved into my home without a hitch. Although there were still many things about her identity that couldn't be explained, my sister didn't seem to mind at all. She already treated Pandora like her own little sister. Her sympathy was overflowing; she never would have imagined that the pitiful little girl before her was actually such a terrifying unknown lifeform.

I had originally worried that, in this era with such comprehensive citizen identity verification, Pandora's identity would become a huge problem. But after Pandora privately showed me the full set of identification and personal records in her bag, I was completely won over.

"This world's information storage and encryption technologies are primitive and backward." Pandora casually dismissed humanity's proud modern computer technology as worthless.

If things had continued like that, the situation wouldn't have been too bad. There would simply have been one more quiet little sister in the house. But before long, I realized that the trouble this little loli could bring me went far beyond that.

"Pandora, are you sure you want to go to school with me?" On the way to school, I stared at the transfer certificate in Pandora's hands with a headache. I really didn't want such an unstable factor among humans—though I did hope she could integrate into human society as soon as possible, I also didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone. I was partly worried that others might bully her, but even more worried that she might bully others...

"As the Emperor's only guardian within this spatial range, I must remain by your side as much as possible." Pandora's expression didn't change, but her tone left no room for doubt.

"Fine, fine. But you'd better remember what I'm about to tell you..."

"A Jun!"

A voice suddenly came from behind us, interrupting my quiet conversation with Pandora. I turned around and saw Xu Qianqian running toward us.

"A Jun, why didn't you come to class yesterday? You didn't even ask for leave... Hm? Who's this little girl?"

"Her name is Pan Lili. She's my younger sister."

"Your younger sister?" Xu Qianqian looked Pandora over in surprise. She knew about my background, so this suddenly appearing little sister caught her off guard. "You have a younger sister?"

"Yeah. I hadn't expected it either."

I then told Xu Qianqian the same explanation I had given my sister about Pandora's identity. Finally, I said, "That's how it is. Since Lily and I were both adopted, neither of us knows what our original surname should have been. So I gave up on the idea of changing Lily's surname. Her surname is Pan, but she really is my biological younger sister."

"Ah..." Xu Qianqian opened her mouth wide and responded in disbelief. A plot like long-lost siblings unexpectedly reuniting and recognizing each other was just too dramatic, the kind of thing usually only seen on television. Now that it had happened right before her eyes, she didn't know how to react. "That's... really unbelievable. Congratulations to you both..."

As she spoke, Qian Qian bent down and carefully touched Pandora's cheek. "Your sister really can't see anything?"

"That's right." I affectionately stroked Pandora's hair and subtly pulled her a little farther back. Although Pandora had followed my instructions and pretended to be blind in order to conceal her eyes, which couldn't focus properly at all, I was still worried that she would be exposed if someone got too close.

"Lily's optic nerves are completely fine, but perhaps because of severe psychological trauma, she can't see anything at all now..."

I wasn't entirely lying. Pandora's eyes really couldn't see anything, but apart from those eyes, the one hundred and thirty-two types of multiband scanning radar she had activated certainly weren't just for show...

"Is that so... But in that case, shouldn't she attend a school for the blind? Why does the transfer certificate in her hand say she's transferring to our school?"

I'd be even happier if she didn't go to school!

But obviously, I couldn't say that out loud.

"That's true, but Lily insisted on staying with me, so I had no choice but to let her. Besides, Lily is very capable of taking care of herself. It might be difficult, but she can still attend classes at a regular school."

Qian Qian gave an "oh," then perhaps realizing that discussing such things might hurt the little girl in front of her, she took the initiative to change the subject. I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

If Qian Qian had really pressed Pandora's situation to the bottom of things, I truly wouldn't have been able to handle it.

"Alright," Xu Qianqian said happily when we reached the school gates, taking Pandora's hand. "This is the school you'll be attending from now on. What do you think? It's not bad, right... Ah, sorry, I forgot you can't see..."

"I don't mind," Pandora said flatly. Then she edged closer to me, looking as though she didn't want to be around strangers.

At the same time, Pandora's mechanical voice sounded in my mind. "One hundred and seventy-five meters to the left front. Carbon-Based Lifeform marked as dangerous detected. Target possesses crude weaponry. Threat level extremely low. Eliminate now?"

"What?" Pandora's report left me dumbfounded, and for a moment I failed to react.

Just then, a bang came from our left front. Then I saw a huge group of students rushing out of the Canglan Private High School next to us. The student at the very front shouted, "Run! They have guns!"

A school shooting? No way. Wasn't that ridiculously absurd?

Yet I had run into something so absurd. More precisely, an ordinary student attending school nearby—me—had run into a school shooting at an elite private school.

Amid a wave of screams, I saw three tall men rush out of the school across from us. Each of them held a gun—real guns, of course! The man in the middle, built like a bull, was dragging along someone who was clearly a student. Judging from the blood soaking through the student's pants, he was the victim of that gunshot just now.

The three armed men rushed toward a white sedan nearby while holding the hostage and firing wildly in every direction. Perhaps because they were too nervous, their bullets had no accuracy at all. Even so, several students were grazed by bullets and fell to the ground screaming—if this continued, a student could be shot dead at any moment!

At that moment, I no longer had time to consider what story lay behind this shooting at an elite private school. I had only one thought: I had to stop those three men! Otherwise, every student here could come to harm!

I obviously couldn't do it with my own strength. If I were the old me, all I could have done in this situation was run. But now, I had another choice.

"Pandora, didn't you say Shilin Apostles are a natural combat species? Can you resolve the current crisis?" I asked anxiously in my mind.

"Receiving external command set... Analyzing vague command... Executing!"

As Pandora's words fell, the sky suddenly changed!

Accompanied by a terrifying low hum, the sky rapidly turned dark red. Countless golden lines gradually appeared in the atmosphere above us, eventually forming a golden clock that covered the entire sky. As the clock appeared, everything around us suddenly froze. The fleeing students became motionless statues, the swirling dust stopped in midair and formed delicate clouds of particles, and scraps of paper fluttering in the air froze in place as well. From afar, they looked like blotches caused by uneven exposure in an old photograph.

As Time Stop took effect, Pandora-zero beside me also entered combat mode. Green streams resembling computer data flows from a science-fiction movie passed over her, and a silver Close-Fitting Alloy Battle Armor appeared on her body. A translucent Light Green mask covered the lower half of her face from the bridge of her nose down, leaving only her mutated purplish-red eyes, devoid of pupils, calmly fixed on the front.

I looked Pandora up and down in her tight alloy battle armor, then inexplicably blurted out, "Sure enough—she's completely undeveloped."

Seeing such an exaggerated scene in reality for the first time, I could still remain this calm. Did that mean my nerves were just incredibly thick?

Pandora ignored my assessment and continued staring ahead with icy eyes.

In this situation, all I could do was marvel: science fiction. This scene was just too much like science fiction...