The Rebel King Individual

"Ahhh... Achoo!"

After sneezing twice, Xiao Cui rubbed her nose and happily ate cake with Nagashima Koki while wondering if someone was talking about her.

However, Xiao Cui simply put these thoughts aside.

But soon she felt a slight itch in her nose...

"A-chu jiu biu--"

Another sneeze came out, and Xiao Cui blinked, feeling that something was wrong with her... She swallowed the cake in her mouth and raised her head.

Someone is definitely talking about me.

Is it Brother Cong Yu?

(Cong Yu: That's true.)

Sitting next to her, Nagashima Koki shook the cake fork in her hand. "Have you caught a cold?"

Unlikely.

"I'm a magical girl, and magical girls generally don't catch colds... at least I've never been sick."

Upon hearing Xiao Cui's words, Nagashima Koki looked surprised. "Eh? Really? That's amazing... But then we can't pretend to be sick to skip school, can we?"

Ah, that's true.

"Hmm... maybe?"

Xiao Cui spoke with some suspicion, looking at the strange man entering the coffee shop... who seemed to have stopped acting.

The weirdos have stopped acting.

Lately, strange people have been frequently seen in Wind City... and Echo Maid COF has transformed from a base into a strange café.

"But if I want to ask for leave, I can just ask the school for leave, since the school doesn't know I'm a magical girl."

To Xiao Cui's suggestion, Nagashima Koki shook her head and said, "I meant pretending to be sick in front of Mommy..."

As she said this, Nagashima Koki pondered something, then said, "I've already faked being sick once this semester... to play video games at home."

"Next time you pretend to be sick, you'll have to wait a while, otherwise Mommy won't believe I'm really sick... It's a shame Xiao Cui can't pretend to be sick."

As Nagashima Koki said this, she began to tirelessly teach Xiao Cui how to slack off... This child might become the new king of slacking off in the future.

However, Nagashima Koki quickly noticed that Xiao Cui kept glancing behind her... very obviously.

As clever as Xiao Xi was, she figured it out immediately.

"Haha, Xiao Cui, you don't need to pretend my mom is behind you... That kind of scare tactic is outdated, I won't fall for it!"

Saying this, Nagashima Koki put her hands on her hips, looking like she was saying, "I'm smart, you can't fool me."

And then in the next instant...

"Nagashima Koki!"

Mama's voice came from behind, calling out Nagashima Koki's full name, her tone filled with questioning and anger.

"..." Oh no, I'm doomed.

"Waaaaah! Xiao Cui, save me!"

Nagashima Koki immediately grabbed Xiao Cui's hand, but Nagashima Riko quickly pushed it away and dragged her upstairs.

Next, I'll probably get a lecture...

Or he might get a severe beating.

"Skipping class... I've never tried it."

Xiao Cui, talking to herself, ate her cake calmly, unaware of the faint lecturing voices coming from the second floor.

"But there's absolutely no need to skip class..."

Of course, Xiao Cui pretended not to hear Xiao Xi's classic excuse, "I'm a primary school student!"... It gets less effective with repeated use.

Moreover, it was precisely because they were elementary school students that they were beaten.

Accept it, this is the Fate of elementary school students.

While lamenting that her friend really disliked school, Xiao Cui noticed the older girl outside the window who looked rather strange.

The older sister was carrying...

A Takemikazuchi?!

"..." Xiao Cui immediately stood up, guessing that it was the copy of Takemikazuchi she had seen before... Wait, something seems wrong.

Have you seen this red "76" dog tag clone before? The red individual's tail fur is a bit curly.

Individuals with blue badges tend to have more striking, assertive eyes.

But the Takemikazuchi, didn't seem to be any of those; rather, he seemed more like...

Is it a disguise of the real body?!

With her terrifyingly keen observation skills, Xiao Cui simply guessed... or rather, deduced the truth of the matter.

At this moment, Takemikazuchi was pretending to be captured, gently waved his small paw at her, indicating that she did not need to come to his rescue.

This undoubtedly proves that Xiao Cui's guess was correct.

Chapter 488 The Reverse King Variant

Being carried by the neck was a strangely familiar experience for Takemikazuchi... a long, long time ago.

When Takemikazuchi was first awakened, he would wander around.

Then they would freeload at the villagers' homes... or to be more precise, they would steal food and drinks.

If they are discovered, they will be beaten and thrown out.

If the attitude is better, there will be a slight respect, as if he might be a monster, and they will "invite" him out by the back of the neck.

Of course, there are also those who genuinely treat him like a stray animal and are prepared to adopt him... Some people have one bite of food, and so does Takemikazuchi.

But after freeloading for a while, Takemikazuchi ran away... because those kinds of people usually couldn't even afford to eat at home.

Takemikazuchi has a big appetite and often eats a lot, so he feels bad about burdening others... Besides, it's important to have a change of pace.

The Japan of the past...

The cities and city-states in the west eat more refined food; they even remove the bones from fish, eat a lot of tofu, and enjoy light vegetables.

The city-states to the east seem to add soy sauce and miso to everything they eat, and there's also a lot of garlic and oil... but Takemikazuchi doesn't dislike it.

During his wanderings, he sampled Japan of ancient Japan.

Amidst the thunder, he could always traverse this land at an incredible speed, wandering from place to place... until now.

"Mission accomplished... Tatefutsu 76 has been recovered." "Masterpiece" has been confirmed missing during the battle with "Takefutsu 76" and "Toyofutsu 47."

The magical girl carrying Takemikazuchi said this while reporting to a communication device placed at the entrance... but there was no response from the other end.

However, the main gate was simply opened.

A staircase leading directly underground was revealed.

Takemikazuchi was being held by the neck, remained motionless and silent, but his eyes darted around, observing his surroundings.

Takemikazuchi is now trying hard to disguise himself as "Takefutsu 76" and to act like an ordinary little animal.

Takemikazuchi has no ability to "count heartbeats and calculate time," and he also has little concept of spatial awareness.

He only felt that the passage was very deep and that he had walked quite a distance. Although the magical girl holding him was moving forward, there were actually quite a few forks in the road on both sides.

Finally, the magical girl turned into one of the side paths, and at the end of the passage was a huge steel gate.

Outside the door stood several magical girls guarding the entrance... Upon seeing the arrival of the magical girl Takemikazuchi, they silently bowed to her.

That sounds impressive.

This was Takemikazuchi's only thought.

"Open the door."

As the magical girl gave the order, she tossed Takemikazuchi to one of the gatekeepers, saying, "I'll go report back."

"Please wait a moment!"

The magical girl guarding the gate quickly stopped her, then nervously grabbed Takemikazuchi, saying, "Give... what are you giving me for?"

In response, the magical girl who had been holding Takemikazuchi glanced at her and said, "You can put it in the Tatefutsu Sector... or give it to the researchers. I'm going to see the Captain-Commander first."

The gatekeeper hesitated for a moment upon hearing what the other party said, then nodded and accepted the task, while the group opened the gate.

With a metallic scraping sound, the two steel doors slowly opened, instantly dazzling Takemikazuchi.

At this very moment, above the two huge open spaces inside the door, there is a giant spherical light bulb... or rather, it's not a light bulb.

It's a bit like those crystal balls that give off an electric current when you put your hand on them, the kind that Cong Yu and Snow Woman took you to a science museum before.

But that "light bulb" was different...

That was true lightning, purple and blue lightning intertwined, piercing through the air.

The entire space was extremely bright, even feeling scorching hot... as if thunder was constantly erupting.

In the two large open spaces, countless "Takemikazuchi" were playing and eating square, crystal-clear food cubes.

If Cong Yu were here, he would definitely exclaim something like, "What? Energy Cubes?!" But unfortunately, he's not here.

The magical girl gatekeeper, after placing Takemikazuchi in the area marked with the red sign, went back out to guard the gate.

He left behind Takemikazuchi, the little animal, along with a group of other "Takemikazuchi animals" who curiously gathered around to sniff him.

Sniff sniff--

Smell it--

"..." Takemikazuchi felt that these little guys who looked exactly like him didn't seem to be very smart.

As he made this judgment, Takemikazuchi looked at the "207" and "259" signs hanging around the necks of these "phantoms".

Huh? The numbers have already gone this far?

Thinking this, Takemikazuchi blinked, and then in the next instant...

A red tag with the number "195" on it gradually dissipated into magic amidst the thunder in the sky.

This made Takemikazuchi look up at the Tesla Discharge Ball in the sky, realizing that it was a device that accelerated the metabolism of these "phantoms".

Create virtual images, then accelerate their dissipation...

What's the point of this?

--

"What?! Takefutsu 76 has been captured?!"

A man in a white coat looked utterly shocked, his expression one of disbelief. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

He spoke with such certainty, spitting as he spoke, "So much time has passed, Takefutsu 76 couldn't possibly have remained intact! Even with its extraordinary nature, it's impossible to predict how to cultivate an experimental subject capable of remaining active for three days; it would require at least..."

Gibberish, gibberish.

He's been talking non-stop right now, and his professional assessment of the return of "Takefutsu 76" confirms that he is indeed the professional person in charge of this project.

But the problem is... facts speak louder than theory.

"You might be right, I don't know the details of this matter... but that's the truth. You should go and check out Tatefutsu 76."

At the prompting of his colleague, the man in the white coat looked at the monitor screen, which showed someone (Tatefutsu 76) eating food cubes with gusto.

That's undeniable; the nameplate is still the same nameplate.

"That's impossible... No, individual differences are becoming less noticeable."

The person in the white coat who discovered this in the surveillance footage said this, looking at the not-so-curly tail hair of "Takefutsu 76".

"Could it be...?"