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

Chapter 269 Rumors

Man stopped beside Zero and said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Don't talk big, or you'll regret it. I'll show you how to control the Strelitzia you're riding!" Man's words were clearly directed at Zero, and for some reason, Zero remembered the words spoken by the boy who looked exactly like her.

"See? Your self-righteous kindness is nothing more than a cowardly choice in his eyes."

Zero stood by the glass window, looking down at the view below where Man and Zero-two were riding the Bird of Paradise. A male voice sounded in her ear.

Ling turned her head slightly and saw the boy sitting not far behind her. The boy was holding an apple, took a bite, and looked at Ling with a half-smile.

Zero fell silent. Although it was their first meeting, Zero felt that the boy knew him quite well, as if he were talking about him.

……

Inside the green lily, the future slowly awakens. Upon opening her eyes, the first person she sees is naturally Wanmu.

"what?"

Hearing the voice from the future, it looked over, and tears seemed to well up in its eyes.

"Mirai!" Hime shouted, and hugged Mirai tightly. Mirai was startled by Hime's sudden embrace.

But after realizing what she was doing, Mirai blushed and pushed Misaki away, "W-what are you doing!"

At this moment, the larkspur and the golden finches are blocking a door with their bodies, and the passage behind the door is densely packed with dragons.

"Mirai has come back to life!" Hibiki shouted excitedly. At the same time, Mirai and Hibiki reconnected with Ao-Celosia.

"That's great," Xin said, seemingly relieved.

"I'm not dead!" Mirai quickly retorted upon hearing Miku's words.

"Is Mirai alright?" Ichigo asked, her words trailing off as the door behind her seemed about to give way.

Jinque and Qingxiang rushed over and stood in front of the gate together.

"It's nothing," Future replied.

"But if this continues..." Taide was only halfway through his sentence when the communications of the three mechs suddenly lit up: "Strelitzia has arrived as reinforcements. Can you hold on?"

Upon hearing that Strelitzia was coming to provide support, Ichigo was instantly stunned. If Strelitzia was coming, did that mean Zero would be piloting Strelitzia with Zero-Two?

"Great! If we can just hold on until then," she said excitedly.

"Who, who is manipulating this?" Ichigo's emotions were somewhat unstable.

"Hey, Ichigo, focus..." Goro tried to calm Ichigo down.

However, before he could finish speaking, the connection with the larks suddenly became unstable, and Goro immediately felt much heavier.

"I've suddenly gotten heavier, Ichigo!"

However, Ichigo was completely unable to hear a word, her mind filled with the events that happened in the cockpit when she piloted the Lark with Zero that day.

The next moment, because Ichigo hadn't been paying attention, Delphinus collapsed without a doubt.

"Hey, wait a minute..." Before Future could finish speaking, the door was breached by a Klaxosaur. Behind the door was a dense swarm of Klaxosaurs.

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden?" Future asked with a hint of reproach.

"This place is no good, let's move to the center!" Goro ordered through gritted teeth.

……

Strelitzia has completed the connection and is carrying her weapon as she walks out of the Thirteen Cities.

The mysterious figure stood atop Thirteen Cities, watching the Strelitzia advance towards the drilling site, and sneered, "You think you can control Strelitzia? Ha, what a pipe dream! Besides him, there's really no one who can handle Zero Two. I hope you come back alive."

……

The three mechs, Golden Sparrow, Green Cuckoo, and Azure Sparrow, moved rapidly toward the center of the drilling rig, followed by a dense swarm of Klaxosaurs.

Finally, the three mechs arrived in the central area. As soon as they emerged, Goro began giving orders: "We must think of a way before Strelitzia arrives!"

However, as soon as Goro finished speaking, the goldbird that was running in the lead suddenly stopped, and the kingfisher and blue cuckoo behind it inevitably bumped into the goldbird.

"What's wrong?" Goro asked.

The three mechs stopped and realized that the center had already been occupied by Klaxosaurs, and Klaxosaurs were still appearing from all directions, with more Klaxosaurs catching up behind them.

"This number is simply impossible to deal with," Tai said, sounding somewhat desperate.

From the only other cave entrance where no Klaxosaurs had appeared, a Klaxosaur of enormous size emerged. This Klaxosaur was at least twice the size of Franxx!

"Captain, what should we do?" Mirai asked, looking at the enormous Klaxosaur in front of her, completely at a loss.

Seeing this size of Klaxosaur, and with a large number of smaller Klaxosaurs around it, even Ichigo didn't know what to do.

If I hadn't been thinking about random things, things might not have turned out this way, and the Strelitzia would have caught up. I failed in my duty as the team leader.

The giant Klaxosaurus opened its huge mouth, just about to devour the larkspur, when something suddenly fell onto its body. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than the Strelitzia repens that had come to its aid.

The Strelitzia killed the dragon with a single strike.

Bird of paradise!

After the giant Klaxosaur's body was destroyed by the Strelitzia, a powerful shockwave was generated, blowing away all the smaller dragons around it.

"Zero, is it zero?" Strawberry asked blankly.

"Everyone, please step back."

"Huh? Was that voice full?" he exclaimed in shock.

At this moment, the command center issued an order: "Hand over the site to Strelitzia, all personnel evacuate."

Strelitzia grabbed a Klaxosaurus, thrust it with her spear, and the Klaxosaurus exploded instantly.

The pilot in the cockpit was panting heavily, his eyes somewhat gloomy. "Amazing, brimming with power, practically invincible! Such a huge difference with a different partner... I knew I was right!"

Several Klaxosaurs leaped up, attempting to attack Strelitzia, but Strelitzia simply waved her hand, and the Klaxosaurs instantly exploded.

"I won't lose to Zero! Zero, are you watching? It feels amazing!" As Man roared, Strelitzia slayed one Klaxosaur after another, and Man's voice continued, "I won't lose consciousness, I can move as I please!"

Already on the elevator, Lark, Celosia, and Goldfinch looked down at the scene below that resembled a slaughterhouse, their ears still ringing with Man's voice: "Why don't you make me your partner? Maybe we'll become the best team!"

……

In the conference room, Zero looked at the unparalleled Strelitzia on the screen and listened to Man's words. Zero lowered his head and clenched his hands tightly.

"See? You two seem like good partners, but he's actually thinking about how to trample you underfoot. Don't you find that disgusting?" The boy appeared behind Zero, craning his neck to look at the screen, and said calmly.

……

After clearing away the Klaxosaur in the center, Strelitzia's spear and body were covered in blue liquid. Strelitzia stood still, and Zero Two said calmly, "Eh? Is that so? Then I'll be a little more serious."

Man was stunned when he heard what Ling Er said.

The larkspur, celosia, and finches have all returned to the ground. Hatch said to the bird of paradise, "Bird of paradise, that's enough. The evacuation is complete, from the scene..."

Zero Two interrupted Hachi, saying, "I'll play a little longer."

At that moment, another giant Klaxosaur appeared before the Strelitzia. Looking at this Klaxosaur, the Strelitzia was eager to try.

"No! Come back quickly, Zero Two!" Seventh Sister shouted.

The next second, the bird-of-paradise severed the connection. Seventh Sister sighed, "That child." After taking a deep breath, she said, "Prepare to retrieve the bird-of-paradise and its stamens, quickly!"

Upon hearing her seventh sister's words, Yu Nai was taken aback. "Recycle?"

As the sun set, the three mechs—Delphin, Celosia, and Goldfinch—waited beside the drilling rig for the Bird of Paradise to be retrieved. Heart broke the silence, saying, "We've been rescued."

"I didn't expect it to be all manipulated," Tai said.

Looking at the future not far ahead, where she was sitting with her legs drawn up, she said to the person beside her, "I'm sorry, it's my fault."

Future, however, didn't care about that at all. After glancing at Miyu, she looked straight ahead and said, "Idiot, it's no one's fault. We're partners."

Upon hearing Mirai's words, Hiume was immediately moved to tears, wiping them away as he called out, "Mirai!"

Watching Ichigo's retreating figure, Goro asked, "What's wrong? This isn't like you."

"I'm sorry, maybe I became a little careless because I heard there would be a rescue," Ichigo said.

Before long, the bird of paradise was finally retrieved. The retrieved bird of paradise was completely covered in blue liquid, with only a very small part still clean.

Once recovered, Xun'er and the Bird of Paradise had lost their connection. The cockpit opened, and Ling'er stepped out. Looking at the sunset, Zero Two immediately spotted Zero below and happily waved. Zero smiled and waved back.

The next moment, Zero suddenly realized something.

"That's right, Man has already manipulated Zero-Two once. He's not you, so after being manipulated by Zero-Two once, he won't be like you, unharmed. Remember that man we met before? If Man manipulates Zero-Two twice more, Man will definitely die too!" The boy appeared in front of Zero, looking at Zero-Two on the Strelitzia and said.

"So, is that rumor really true?" Zero asked.

"Well, besides you, no one can perfectly match Zero Two, no one. Seeing what happened to that man before, and now seeing Man's miserable state, what are your thoughts?" The boy turned around and asked with a smile.

Zero remained silent.

Standing in front of the cockpit door, Zero Two said, "As expected, you're not good enough to be my Darling. My Darling is only you!"

(End of this chapter)