The air in the command room froze for a full ten seconds.
Electrical sparks crackled at the muzzle on the end of Willowisp's tail. Orphie still had both hands over her mouth, her green eyes wide.
Soldier 11 still stood ramrod straight, but her orange pupils contracted slightly.
The indicator on Trigger's visor had already turned red, signifying "extreme shock."
And Lin Shuo...
The little girl in his arms was still sobbing. Her Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly spun through her tears. Those eyes-were exactly like his.
"LIN-SHUO!!!"
Willowisp's synthesized voice distorted with extreme rage. "Y-you'd better give me a fucking good explanation!! Who is this child?! Why is she calling you Daddy?! And those eyes-"
"Captain, calm down."
Soldier 11 suddenly spoke, her voice as calm as if she were reporting the weather. "Lin Shuo's daughter appears to be six or seven. That would put her conception roughly seven to eight years ago-Orphie was only eight or nine then. It would have been physiologically impossible."
"So?!" Willowisp turned toward Soldier 11.
"So this child may have come from somewhere else."
Soldier 11 looked at the little girl in Lin Shuo's arms. "Or... she isn't from this point in time."
As expected of Soldier 11, she had hit the nail on the head.
Lin Shuo gently patted the little girl's back. "Can you tell me your name?"
The little girl raised her head, her Three-Tomoe Sharingan still brimming with tears, her voice choked. "Lin... Lin Yue-Daddy calls me Xiao Yue..."
"Lin Yue."
Lin Shuo repeated the name, then asked, "Where did you come from?"
"The f-future..."
Lin Yue gripped his clothes. "When I woke up, I was somewhere really dark, with rocks all around... Then these uncles and aunties brought me here... I waited so long, and Daddy finally came..."
As she spoke, she was about to cry again.
Orphie finally came back to her senses and cautiously asked, "Then... why are you calling me Mommy?"
Lin Yue looked at Orphie, and tears welled up again. "Because you are Mommy... You look a lot younger, but you smell the same..."
"S-smell?"
"Mommy smells sweet, like cake..."
Lin Yue sobbed as she spoke. "And... Auntie Willowisp's voice sounds really familiar too, even though she sounds mean..."
"Auntie Will-" Willowisp nearly exploded. "I'm the captain! Not an auntie!"
Lin Shuo took a deep breath.
The situation was already clear-another daughter from the future.
But this time, her mother wasn't Yuzuha.
It was Orphie.
"Lin Yue."
Lin Shuo crouched down and met her eyes. "Do you remember how you got here?"
Lin Yue shook her head. "I don't remember... I only remember that Daddy said he had an urgent mission that night and told me to wait at home... Then I fell asleep-when I woke up again, I was in that dark place..."
She paused, then suddenly clutched her backpack as though remembering something important. "Oh! Daddy told me I had to keep this safe!"
She hugged the backpack to her chest and clumsily unzipped it with her little hands.
[Note: The backpack can be unlocked with a fingerprint.]
Everyone's gaze focused on the backpack.
Lin Yue took out a transparent container-roughly palm-sized, made of something like reinforced glass, and filled with pale green preservation fluid.
And submerged in that fluid was...
A pair of eyes.
The pupils were a deep, dark red. Even in the preservation fluid, the distinctive shuriken-shaped pattern was visible.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
Lin Shuo's breathing stopped for a moment.
He knew those eyes all too well-although their pattern differed from his, that feeling of a blood connection, those lingering fluctuations of ocular power...
Those were another "Lin Shuo's" eyes.
"Daddy said that if he wasn't around one day, I should be given these..." Lin Yue's voice grew quieter. "He said that when I grew up and needed power... I could use them..."
The room was deathly silent.
Willowisp froze in midair, the electrical sparks vanishing.
Orphie's face was as white as paper.
Soldier 11 took a step forward. The indicator on Trigger's visor changed from red to a dark blue signifying "sadness."
Lin Shuo looked at the eyes in the container. After a long while, he quietly asked, "Your daddy... what else did he say?"
Lin Yue thought for a moment. "Daddy said he met Mommy in the Defense Force... Mommy was really scared of him at first and kept hiding from him... They only slowly got to know each other after going on lots of missions together..."
She looked at Orphie, her eyes full of attachment. "Mommy said Daddy once rescued her from a Hollow... Even though Daddy always looked stern, he was really, really good to her..."
Orphie's lips trembled, but she couldn't speak.
Willowisp's tail slowly drooped, and her synthesized voice grew unusually low. "...Another spacetime?"
"It seems so."
Soldier 11 analyzed the situation. "Based on the timeline the child described, if Lin Shuo hadn't retired and had remained in Obsidian Camp, he could indeed have developed feelings for Orphie."
She looked at Lin Shuo. "Parallel spacetime has long been hypothesized in Ether science, but this is the first empirical evidence."
Lin Shuo didn't argue.
Because a flood of information had already appeared on the system interface in his field of vision-
[Parallel spacetime individual detected: Lin Yue (daughter of Orphie Magnusson)] [Spacetime designation: Beta-7] [Key divergence: The host in this spacetime did not retire and continued serving in Obsidian Camp. Mangekyō Sharingan ability: "Kotoamatsukami" (both eyes). Killed in action three months ago while opposing The Order's ritual to bring about the descent of the "Primordial One."] [Warning: Hollow disaster level in this spacetime is "apocalyptic." Defense Force casualty rate: 87%. Lin Yue is the sole surviving bloodline.] [Mandatory mission issued: Care for Lin Yue until a way to return her to her original spacetime is found.] [Mission details: Lin Yue's spacetime is on the brink of destruction. Her very existence is gradually being assimilated into the primary spacetime. If the host refuses to accept responsibility or fails to establish sufficient emotional bonds within the allotted time, Lin Yue will disappear completely after 72 hours, leaving no trace.] [Note: Establishing emotional bonds requires all of the following-1. Lin Yue acknowledges the host as her "father"; 2. Orphie Magnusson's favorability toward the host reaches "trust" or above; 3. The host accepts Lin Yue as his daughter in his heart.] [Mission reward: Exclusive weapon "God Cutter" (Tang-style straight saber, delivered to the host's storage space in advance)] [Failure penalty: Lin Yue disappears, and the host permanently loses the possibility of awakening the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.]
Lin Shuo quickly read through all the information, and his heart sank.
Another daughter.
Another responsibility he had to shoulder.
And this time, it was even more troublesome-he also had to establish a sufficient emotional bond with Orphie to preserve this child's existence.
"Lin Shuo." Willowisp's voice interrupted his thoughts. "What do you intend to do?"
Lin Shuo raised his head, looking at Willowisp, then at Orphie.
Orphie was still in a state of confusion, her tear-filled green eyes looking blankly at him, then at Lin Yue.
Meanwhile, Lin Yue tightly hugged the container holding the eyes, as though it were the most precious treasure in the world.
"...I'll look after her," Lin Shuo finally said, his voice calm. "Until I find a way to send her back and make her strong enough."
"Back?" Willowisp asked. "Back where? To that spacetime that already sounds doomed?"
"There'll be a way."
Lin Shuo bent down and picked Lin Yue up-the little girl was as light as a feather.
She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed quietly.
"Ma'am, I need to rejoin the unit temporarily."
Lin Shuo looked at Willowisp. "At least until Lin Yue's situation is resolved."
Willowisp was silent for a few seconds, then flicked her tail. "...Fine. But you'll have to write me a detailed report-about those eyes, about those 'special abilities' of yours, and... what exactly is going on with this child."
"I will."
"And you!" Willowisp turned to Orphie. "Stop standing there in a daze! You'll be looking after this child for now-since she's your daughter from another spacetime, you have to take responsibility!"
"Huh? M-me?" Orphie waved her hands in a panic. "But I don't know anything about looking after children! Besides, I'm still young-"
"Sixteen isn't young!" Willowisp roared. "I was already on the front lines at your age! That settles it! While Lin Shuo is back with the unit, you're responsible for Lin Yue's daily care!"
Orphie wanted to say something else, but when she saw Lin Yue's tear-filled green eyes, so very much like her own, she swallowed her words.
She hesitated, then cautiously asked, "X-Xiao Yue... are you hungry?"
Lin Yue lifted her head from Lin Shuo's shoulder and nodded. "Mm..."
"Then... shall I take you to the cafeteria?" Orphie tentatively held out her hand.
Lin Yue looked at her, then at Lin Shuo.
Lin Shuo nodded. "Go on. I'll come find you soon."
Only then did Lin Yue let go and allow Orphie to take her hand.
The two orange-haired figures, one big and one small, left the command room, and the atmosphere eased a little.
Soldier 11 looked at Lin Shuo. "What do you need me to do?"
"Help me check whether there have been any similar reports of spacetime anomalies recently."
Lin Shuo said, "And... all intelligence on The Order's ritual for the descent of the 'Primordial One.'"
"Understood." Soldier 11 nodded, turned, and left.
Trigger walked up beside Lin Shuo, the indicator on her visor returning to a gentle green. "Lin Shuo, are you... all right?"
Lin Shuo was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head. "No. But I can only face it."
Trigger gently patted his shoulder. "If you need help, just say the word."
"Thank you."
Trigger left as well.
Lin Shuo walked to the window and looked out at Scott Outpost's training grounds.
Soldiers drilled beneath the blazing sun, while searchlights on the distant Hollow containment wall cut across the sky.