My Anime Girlfriends

"This is the Kawaguchiko Central Hotel. The hotel hostage-taker claims to be from the Japanese Liberation Front, and has taken hostage members of the Sakuradite Distribution Meeting centered around Speaker James, along with tourists who happened to be present, and several staff members. This is an image sent by the hostage-taker; besides Speaker James, you can also see students..."

Kallen, watching on television, was speechless with shock when she saw her friends from the student council being taken hostage. At the same time, Summit dressed as a Knight of the Round Table and Lelouch dressed as Zero also witnessed this scene.

The leader of the criminal group claimed to be Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe, a former Japanese soldier…

"That idiot!" Toudou cursed angrily in front of the TV.

"Sakuradite, indispensable for manufacturing high-temperature superconductors, is a crucial strategic material directly impacting global security. Area 11 is not only the world's largest producer of Sakuradite but also supplies 70% of the total market. The annual Sakuradite allocation conference held here determines the international distribution ratio of Sakuradite. It's no exaggeration to say that its outcome directly affects the balance of power between Britain and other countries. Perhaps terrorists took advantage of the significant international public opinion influence generated by this conference to commit the atrocity of hijacking the hotel..." The host's explanation ended there. In any case, this year's Sakuradite allocation conference was ruined by the Japanese Liberation Front. This incident will have two consequences: firstly, Britain can now legitimately monopolize the Sakuradite produced in Area 11; secondly, the international reputation of the Japanese Liberation Front has been tarnished.

Chapter 324 The Black Knights

Inside the Kawaguchiko Central Hotel...

A bearded man shouted sternly at the hostages, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe of the Japanese Liberation Front [lol, it's best not to delve too deeply into this name]. We rose up for the independence and liberation of Japan. Although you are not soldiers, you are Britons, the ones who rule us. If you listen obediently, we will not harm you; otherwise..." His threatening words made the captured men shrink back in fear.

"The bridge connecting to the hotel, except for the main span, has completely collapsed. All attempts to approach from the air and water have failed. Only one route remains for the hostage rescue operation: the supply tunnel extending directly beneath the central hotel. Using it, we can destroy its foundation according to the operational plan, causing the hotel to sink. This tunnel was built for supply transport, so the Sunderland can also enter. The enemy might be on guard, but it's not a problem. Judging from the weaponry they've used so far, they can completely evade all attacks..." A member of Cornelia's staff explained to her, pointing to the map and information on the screen. Unfortunately, before he could finish his explanation, the three Sunderland tanks deployed were blasted away by the terrorists' "super electromagnetic shrapnel heavy artillery" (that name sounds pretty cool).

"Total annihilation!?" Dalton exclaimed in surprise.

"The enemy has modified Glasgow and it appears to be equipped with electromagnetic cannons."

"Does that mean it's impossible to break through?"

"What should we do? Release the political prisoners and... as they demand?"

"We cannot show weakness to terrorists!" Cornelia roared angrily.

Upon hearing Cornelia's words, Guilford immediately whispered in her ear, "But, Princess Euphemia..."

Cornelia frowned slightly and said, "I know. Here's what we'll do: until Summit arrives, the entire army will remain in place."

Upon hearing this, Guilford and Dalton immediately thought of Summit's superb driving skills and the 'Fallen Angel's' terrifying breakthrough ability, and couldn't help but stand up straight and say, "YES Your Highness."

"Can't our special envoy participate in the hostage rescue operation?" Suzaku asked, standing by the lake and gazing towards the hotel. Beside him stood Lloyd, Cecil, and the military truck carrying 'Lancelot'.

Lloyd immediately said, "Although we have submitted an application... we are a special department with a different command system, and..." Lloyd slowly threw the pebble in his hand, which bounced three times on the lake surface before sinking into the water.

“We can’t delegate the battle to the 11 residents,” Suzaku said, picking up where Lloyd left off.

“Princess Cornelia is the kind of person who distinguishes between Britons and Numbers,” Lloyd said with a forced smile.

“Being recognized is far from enough,” Suzaku said with a melancholy expression. In fact, what Cornelia couldn’t accept was Suzaku’s own existence.

“But then, what is the point of establishing the Honorary Britons system?” Cecil complained angrily.

“That’s because it’s one of the important methods for managing Numbers,” Summit, who had just arrived from the Governor’s Mansion, said as he appeared behind the three.

"Sammet, you've arrived! It seems Princess Cornelia is even less likely to heed our request," Lloyd said with a hint of complaint upon seeing Sammet.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness Summit!" Cecil and Suzaku immediately bowed.

Samit, dressed in knight's attire, looked at the two bowing and Lloyd, who had a 'worried' look on his face, and immediately said with a smile, "Don't be so reserved, there's no one else here."

"Yes."

“Mr. Lloyd, you don’t need to worry anymore. Please prepare Lancelot to make his move with Miss Cecil!” Sammet said with a smile, seeing Lloyd’s expression and knowing that he was unhappy about his presence.

“Really! I knew Summit was a good kid.” Lloyd said happily as soon as Summit said that.

Seeing Lloyd's smug expression, Cecil immediately smiled and said, "Mr. Lloyd, watch your tone!" His words contained a strange murderous intent.

"Um... I'm sorry," Lloyd said hastily, putting on a serious expression.

Seeing Lloyd's discomfiture, Summit smiled slightly, gave Cecil a thank you look, and then looked at Suzaku and said, "Suzaku, I'm entrusting Euphemia's safety to you. Don't let me down."

Suzaku, upon hearing Summit's words, knew that Summit wanted him to gain the credit; otherwise, with the breakthrough power of the 'Fallen Angel' who had installed the ECS system, he would never have been able to participate in this project.

As night fell, the terrorists demanded to see ZERO and pushed a male hostage off a building as a warning. Cornelia, who had followed Summit's advice to remain inactive and wait for an opportunity, couldn't help but frown upon witnessing this scene.

As for Lelouch, he had already deduced from the situation that Euphemia might also be among the hostages, and with Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe of the Japanese Liberation Front claiming he wanted to meet with Zero, he devised a daring plan. After some preparation, he brazenly appeared in the army's encirclement in his stolen broadcast van. Cornelia, concerned for Euphemia's safety, didn't cause any trouble for Zero and allowed him into the central hotel.

When Zero, played by Lelouch, was negotiating with Kusakabe, Nina, just like in the original series, was terrified and screamed when terrorists pointed guns at her because she called the Japanese "Eleven."

But this Japanese guy was a stickler for details, and he pointed his gun at Nina and shouted, "Correct me! We're not Eleven, we're Japanese!"

The matter could have been resolved simply by quietly admitting the mistake, but Xia Li, being so thick-skinned, added fuel to the fire by loudly retorting, "We'll correct it!" Her words contained absolutely no intention of "we know we were wrong, please forgive us."

"What kind of tone is that? You all come over here, I'll teach you a lesson. Get up, you bastards."

"No...no!!!" Nina cried out in anguish.

As things escalated, those around Nina not only showed no concern but were secretly laughing, probably relieved that they wouldn't be the next ones pushed down—a sad state of human nature. Yuffie watched, seething with anger, feeling something stuck in her throat that she had to vent. She abruptly stood up, flashed her work badge, and said, "Please stop." The terrorists and hostages immediately turned their attention to the now-standing Yuffie.

"What are you doing?" The terrorist immediately shoved Nina to the ground, pointed his gun at Yuffie, and shouted fiercely.

"Please let me see your leader. I am Princess Euphemia D. Britannia, the third princess of Britain." Euphemia was not intimidated by the other party. Instead, she resolutely removed her disguise glasses and said, then looked at Nina with the gentle gaze of a saint and asked, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" If a certain 'sister-complex' saw her expression at this moment, he would definitely be unable to resist pounceing on her.

“It’s nothing…” Nina replied in a trembling voice, but Yuffie’s image was already deeply etched in her heart.

By the time Euphemia was brought to the presidential suite where Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe was staying, Lelouch had already brought the situation under control. The bodies of the lieutenant colonel and several of his men were bleeding. After subduing the terrorists escorting Euphemia, Zero looked at her with interest and said, "Euphemism, you stepped forward to be a hostage for the people? You haven't changed at all."

On the other side, Suzaku, at Summit's signal, piloted Lancelot into the supply channel. After dodging five shells from the "Super Electromagnetic Scattergun," he took out the antimatter hadron cannon from behind him.

"I heard you've been appointed as Vice Governor, Princess Euphemia." Lelouch said sarcastically to Euphemia from inside the conference room.

“This is not something to be happy about,” Yuffie said, looking both angry and sad.

"Yes, because Clovis is dead, and I killed him. He begged me for his life until the very end, with the same mouth that gave the order to kill Eleven."

In response to Lelouch's words, Euphemia frowned, tears welling in her eyes, and looked at Lelouch dressed as Zero, questioning, "So you killed your brother, didn't you?"

"No," Lelouch immediately denied.

“Then why…” Euphemia pressed.

Lelouch said in a cold tone, "Because that person is the son of the British Emperor." He paused slightly, then casually pulled out a pistol, pointed it at Euphemia, and said, "Speaking of which, you are one too."

Yuffie looked at the gun pointed at her. From the conversation just now, she had deduced who was behind the mask. She couldn't help but smile calmly and close her eyes.

With Suzaku's breakthrough, the supply route was blocked by the explosion at Glasgow. Left with no other option, Suzaku piloted Lancelot out of the tunnel. As Lancelot leaped into the air, Suzaku spotted Zero standing by the window through sensors. Then, to Suzaku's astonishment, Lelouch pressed the remote-controlled bomb button. Afterwards, while everyone assumed the hostages had died in the incident, Lelouch appeared on the surface of Lake Kawaguchi with the Black Knights and the hostages.

Zero's image suddenly appeared on the live broadcast of the kidnapping, and he said, "Britans, don't panic. I have rescued all the hostages trapped in the hotel. I will bring them back to you."

"What shameless talk! If I sold you out, you'd probably turn around and use the hostages against me!" Cornelia said through gritted teeth. But worried about Euphemia, she certainly wouldn't attack Zero.

Summit sneered, "As expected of...Zero!"

Under the spotlight, Zero's figure appeared exceptionally upright, with his subordinates behind him all dressed in black uniforms, black hats, and masks. "People, fear us, thirst for us! Our name is the Black Knights."

"The Knights?"

"How ironic that terrorists call themselves Knights..." Lloyd quipped.

"We, the Black Knights, are not partners of those who seek violence, whether they are Elevens or Britons. The Japanese Liberation Front's despicable act of taking Britons hostage and brutally murdering them was utterly pointless, and therefore we punished them. Former Governor Clovis did the same, ordering the torture and slaughter of unarmed Elevens. I could not stand idly by in the face of such brutality, and thus I punished him. I do not deny the existence of war, but I will never allow the strong to unilaterally slaughter the weak."

“Of course, how could we stop the live broadcast? Responsibility? I’ll take that responsibility.” To ensure that Zero’s declaration of the Black Knights’ founding could be broadcast smoothly, Deehart resolutely refused the request to stop the broadcast, because Zero’s feat was exactly what he was looking for.

"Only those who are prepared to be killed can fire. When the strong bully the weak, we will appear again. No matter how powerful that enemy is." Lelouch's declaration resounded throughout Area 11 through Zero's mask.

"Those who possess power, fear us! Those who lack power, follow us! The world—will be sanctioned by our Black Knights."

Chapter 325 Tessa? A beauty?

Office inside the Governor's House of the 11th District

Cornelia glanced at Euphemia sitting beside her, noticing her preoccupied expression, and frowned, cursing inwardly, "Damn Zero." A week had passed since the hostage situation at the Kawaguchiko Central Hotel, and Euphemia had remained the same, always looking troubled. Cornelia, who doted on her younger sister, felt a pang of heartache seeing this. After careful consideration, Cornelia secretly made a decision.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of Ashford Academy, a dozen or so strangely dressed young men stood guard, their faces menacing, clearly not good people. Summit stood smiling in front of them, with a girl in Ashford Academy's uniform hiding behind him. The girl was incredibly cute, with silver curly hair braided down her back, her petite frame like a little bird nestled against Summit, her face filled with fear. If Full Metal Panic! fans existed in this world, they would surely shout "Colonel Tessa!" and rush to get her autograph.

“Kid! Don’t think you’re so great just because you’re a student at Ashford Academy.” A red-haired youth with a nose ring said to Summit.

"Yeah, get out of here! Otherwise, don't blame us for being impolite," a blond-haired man immediately said.

"Get out of the way, we just want her to sing some karaoke." A minor character said with a shrug.

“But this student doesn’t seem to know you! I advise you to get lost!” Summit said with a smile, slowly moving his feet to completely shield the girl behind him.

"What did you say? Say it again!" the red-haired man shouted immediately. Clearly, he was the leader of the group.

"You guys are really courting death. I can tell you as many times as I want, get out of here now."

"Damn it!" The red-haired man cursed when he saw that Summit was unyielding. After all, if things got out of hand here, he would only suffer the consequences. However, when he saw the pitiful girl behind Summit, he mustered up some courage. After giving his partner a signal to attack, he suddenly threw a punch at Summit's face.

"Bang!" A dull thud rang out. The moment the red-haired man made his move, Summit struck first, delivering a punch to his face, sending him flying. He rolled three or four times on the ground before collapsing, motionless and unconscious. The man's henchmen were stunned, while Summit smiled and struck a pose, saying, "Don't waste time, hurry up and make your move!"

"Kill him!" someone shouted, and the remaining dozen or so men rushed towards Summit.

Summit laughed. He 'slowly' raised his right hand and punched the man who had charged at him in the face. The man flew through the air without even a scream, along with the two unfortunate thugs behind him. While everyone was momentarily stunned, Summit swiftly turned and delivered a side kick with his right leg, knocking one of the thugs to the ground. Immediately afterward, Summit leaped into the air, his right foot transforming into countless kicks that rained down on the crowd with the speed and ferocity of a storm. Even the Taekwondo masters would likely be astonished. After Summit unleashed dozens of kicks, all the thugs were sent flying, lying on the ground without any chance to resist.

"You've all fallen before I even put in the effort, how boring." After the attack, Summit lightly brushed the dust off his clothes and said. He then turned to the girl behind him and asked, "Are you alright? Were you frightened?"

The silver-haired girl immediately smiled and said, "Thank you so much, Senior Summit."

"Senior? How do you know my name?" Looking at the beautiful girl in front of him who called him "senior," Summit didn't feel proud at all, but asked with a face full of doubt.

“Of course, because you’re a celebrity at school! I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Theresa Testarossa, just call me Theresa. Oh, and this is a thank-you gift!” The girl said with a smile, and then tiptoed to kiss Summit on the cheek before running away blushing.

Watching Tessa run away, Summit was stunned. Touching his cheek where he had been kissed, he murmured, "Tessa, how strange... why do I feel heartache?"

A cough brought Samit back to reality. Turning around, he saw Mireille and Suzaku standing behind him, presumably there to support him. Upon seeing them, Samit immediately smiled and said, "President Mireille, Suzaku, what a coincidence!"

"Looks like we came at the wrong time, we missed someone's chance to be a hero and save the damsel in distress." Mirei looked at the smiling Sammet, and immediately felt a little jealous when she thought of the girl who had just kissed her.

Suzaku, being the honest man he was, naturally didn't notice the odd tone in Mirei's voice. He immediately nodded and said, "I was worried you'd get the short end of the stick, but it seems I was overthinking it. They're twins, one with absolutely no motor skills, and the other British..."

“Ahem… Suzaku, don’t forget, I’m a lieutenant colonel with knight qualifications. These thugs are nothing to me.” Summit coughed hurriedly, interrupting Suzaku.

"Ah...that's true." Suzaku realized that she had almost let something slip and immediately nodded in agreement.

Seeing Summit and Suzaku talking, Mirei, relying on her superhuman 'sixth sense' as a woman, realized that the two were definitely hiding something from her. She couldn't help but come up with a plan, and with a 'sly smile', she walked up to Summit and pleaded with a pitiful expression: "In that case... our great, very gentlemanly knight, could you grant me a small request?"

Seeing Mirei like this, Summit's 'sixth sense,' honed through years of battlefield training, immediately detected a 'dangerous' aura. He broke out in a cold sweat and looked at Mirei, saying, "President, tell me honestly... what exactly do you want?"

During the afternoon club activities, Lelouch and Kallen walked towards the student council office looking sleepy. After all, they'd gone off to play the hero the night before. Just as they reached the door, a pitiful-looking girl cried out, "No...no...don't touch me here, Suzaku! Let go! Or I'll definitely take you to a military court!"

"I'm sorry, this is the president's order," Suzaku said apologetically.

“Haha…that’s it, Suzaku, Shirley, hold ‘her’ tighter. Hey…don’t move!” Millie said in a smug tone.

Sensing the girl's reluctant tone, Kallen and Lelouch immediately flung open the door and rushed in, eager to know what had happened. They saw Suzaku and Shirley pinning a 'girl' dressed in a black Gothic dress to a seat. She was bound with a dozen or so finger-thick white ropes, while Mireille straddled the girl's bound legs in an unseemly manner, drawing eyebrows with a pencil, seemingly oblivious to Lelouch and Kallen's arrival.

Lelouch and Kallen stared at the beautiful girl, whose face was flushed and who seemed very familiar, and were momentarily speechless. After a long pause, Kallen finally asked, "President, what are you doing?"

Upon hearing Kallen's voice, the girl immediately called out in a melodious, bell-like voice, "Kallen, Lelouch, come quickly and help me pull them apart, hurry!"