Starting from Douluo Continent, I've become a god through daily check-ins.

Chapter 264 The Mysterious Man Who Appeared at the Mobile Fortress

Seventh Sister and Zero Two took the elevator into the mobile fortress. Seventh Sister said to Zero Two, "If you act on your own, we will be in a difficult position."

Ling Er leaned against the glass and said nonchalantly, "It's just having dinner with Darling."

Seventh Sister looked at Zero Two and said, "Try not to have contact with the manipulators. You're too stimulating for those kids."

The lights inside the elevator suddenly went out, and the next moment, yellow light filled the entire elevator.

Zero Two walked to the viewing window, looked at the interior of the mobile fortress, and said, "It's so suffocating in here."

……

Somewhere, a large screen displays the previous battle report, as well as the fuel reserves of "City Thirteen".

Seven masked men in white hooded robes sat on high chairs supported by scaffolding, watching reports on screens.

After one of them granted the docking request from City Thirteen, a tall man said, "There are reports that the Strelitzia will remain in City Thirteen."

"Is it that little girl's capriciousness again? Even a professor should have limits to spoiling her," another person said.

"However, in this case, judging from the numbers alone, there are indeed no signs of physical aging. It seems to be an extremely rare case."

"Code name Zero, that's the child, right?"

"Unbelievable! Without even a confirmed cause, the interaction with a special Primarch could contaminate the bloodline. It must be retrieved immediately!"

"However, the origin of that child codenamed Zero is also unknown, and we have no way of knowing about his physical condition. However, the child codenamed Zero was able to activate the Strelitzia with that little girl. Perhaps there is something different about the child codenamed Zero. Perhaps we can learn about the physical condition of the child codenamed Zero by piloting the Strelitzia with the child codenamed Zero-02."

"Furthermore, that light from the previous battle is worth investigating. Let's see how it goes."

……

"That thing called a dragon, you actually managed to fight it. What was that like?"

In the manipulator's locker room, the blond-haired boy asked Zero.

"How did it feel? I can only say that I don't remember much about what happened back then, so I can't answer you now if you ask me how it felt. But I still remember the feel of the controls, so I want to take control of that FRANXX again to confirm some things."

"Really? Anyway, I'm glad you stayed. You're the type who gets stronger in formal settings." The blond-haired boy said as he unzipped his jacket.

As he spoke, the blond-haired boy approached Zero and nudged him with his elbow, saying, "You've overtaken me."

"Hey, you're blocking my way!" The brown-haired boy walked past Zero from behind and shoved him on the back.

Zero stopped what she was doing, turned around and looked at the boy walking towards the other side of the locker room. "I don't admit you got into the cockpit before us. You crybaby, hmph!"

Zero watched the boy walk into the locker room, remaining silent.

...(I won't write about the women's changing room; it just doesn't feel right.)

The standby pods of all five mechs opened simultaneously, and all the pilots except Zero boarded FRANXX and began to connect.

"I will be responsible for the operational instructions, but the on-site command will be handed over to Captain Lark."

"Understood," Ichigo replied.

"Alright, let's begin training now. This is the first time we're using live equipment for this exercise, so I hope everyone can remain calm and focused, coordinating with your team members. Now, let's connect."

At the commander's order, all the mobile suits simultaneously began to connect. Except for the captain's machine, the Lark, all the female pilots in the other mobile suits emitted indescribable sounds.

Not long after, Cuocuique, the captain of the aircraft, was the first to leave the standby point.

After a few FRANXXs played around for a while, all of them got back on track, activated their thrusters, and moved toward the target point.

"Each aircraft advances in formation with the kingfisher as the center."

"Understood!" everyone replied.

Five FRANXXs left the mobile fortress at the same time. At the top of the mobile fortress, there was a figure. Judging from the shadows, the person was wearing a trench coat, carrying a sword on his back, and seemed to have something on his right wrist.

The appearance of this mysterious figure is highly illogical. The mobile fortress's technology is incredibly advanced. Yet this mysterious figure simply appeared on top of the mobile fortress without being detected! How did he manage that?!

The mysterious man watched the direction the five FRANXX had left in until they disappeared from sight. Then he looked at the mobile fortress beneath his feet, as if he could see someone inside it through the fortress.

With a soft sigh, the mysterious man shook his head. As he did so, the afterglow of the setting sun shone on his hair, making it appear strikingly silvery-white.

The mysterious man bent his knees, then exerted force, and instantly disappeared from the mobile fortress.

Zero, piloting a training aircraft, saw five FRANXX aircraft that had already set off for training. He stopped, opened the cockpit, and watched them gradually disappear into the distance.

Zero showed no emotion on his face, closed the cockpit door, and continued his training. No sooner had Zero left than Zero-Two emerged from behind him, a piece of candy in his mouth, watching Zero pilot the training aircraft away.

……

After training, Ichigo and Goro walked in the waiting room, exchanging tips on connection techniques.

"The secret to connecting, if you want to..." Goro hadn't finished speaking when Ichigo stopped because she saw Zero Two.

Zero Two strolled leisurely past Ichigo and Goro, munching on candy.

Ichigo turned around, looked at Zero's retreating figure, and asked, "Hey, tell me, why did you choose Zero?"

Zero Two stopped. "Zero? Are you talking about my Darling?"

"Not again." Ichigo muttered irritably, then said to Zero-Two, "We are very grateful that you defeated the Klaxosaur back then, but we hope you will not have anything to do with Zero again."

Zero Two turned to the side, eating a lollipop, and asked, "Why?"

Ichigo said, "Because you're not part of our unit, and you'll be leaving eventually anyway, don't let Zero have any undue expectations of you."

After listening to Ichigo's explanation, Zero Two approached Ichigo and asked, "What's your relationship with Darling?"

Ichigo said, "I'm the captain of this squad."

Zero Two moved closer to Ichigo's face, looked her over, smelled her, and finally licked her right cheek. Ichigo was startled by Zero Two's sudden action and quickly covered her face and backed away.

After licking it, Zero savored it carefully, then turned around and said as he walked away, "I don't dislike sweetness."

Ichigo could only glare fiercely as Zero Two left. Goro touched Ichigo's head, but Ichigo forcefully slapped Goro's hand away.

……

Zero's training had ended, and with a towel draped around his neck, he slowly walked back to his dormitory. Just then, a ball suddenly flew towards Zero.

Zero was taken aback at first, but quickly recovered. He pushed the ball with his chest, and it bounced back and forth on Zero's foot. Finally, Zero lifted the ball high and kicked it back hard.

The brown-haired boy narrowly dodged the attack, then walked to Zero with a smile. "Practicing all by yourself over there using the training machine? You two are a perfect match. You crybaby who only knows how to rely on women."

Ling ignored the boy's taunts, bent down to pick up the towel, hung it around her neck again, and walked towards the dormitory.

"What are you pretending for!" Seeing that Zero ignored him, the boy felt slighted and punched Zero in the back.

Without even turning her head, she delivered a back kick, sending the boy flying.

After doing all this, Ling calmly continued walking towards her dormitory.

(End of this chapter)