The Strange Cat from Fuuto

Shotaro and Philip boarded the cruise ship effortlessly and quickly entered the cargo hold, but what they saw there took them by surprise.

"Didn't they say there were supplies? How come it's empty?"

Shotaro, holding his hat, was utterly astonished by the scene before him. Philip reached out and caught a black feather that was falling from the sky.

"This looks like a trap!"

Philip, his hands clasped together, looked toward the passageway at the other end of the warehouse, where crisp footsteps echoed.

As the footsteps drew closer, black feathers suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the cargo hold.

"Wow, what an extravagant entrance!"

Shotaro, having fastened the W Driver, took the Joker Driver from the inner pocket of his jacket. "Philip!"

"Oh!"

Philip, having put away the wordless book, took out his memory.

"Joker!"

"Cyclone!"

"Transform!"

Amidst the howling wind, a legendary knight, half black and half green, makes his appearance!

At this moment, the newcomer revealed his face.

Blue armor, shackles on hands and feet, and yellow data patterns on black skin.

"A knight I've never seen before!"

Philip's eyepiece flickered, while Shotaro clenched his fist and said, "Who cares who he is, let's take him down first."

"He's really only half-baked."

"Thank you for the compliment, partner!"

Philip, having relinquished control of his body to Shotaro, began assisting Shotaro in the battle, while Number 3 remained motionless, showing no desire to even make a move.

"They say you're the strongest weapon, let me see."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a dark shadow flashed by.

"clang!"

Amidst the clanging of metal, a sinister scythe blocked W's fist.

"what?!"

Following the scythe in front of them, Shotaro and Philip saw a knight with blood-red roses blooming on his white armor.

"Another knight I've never seen before!"

While Shotaro was still in a daze, Philip suddenly shouted a warning: "Watch out, Shotaro!"

"What is this?"

Shotaro's pupils contracted and his fist loosened, but the scythe slammed straight into his chest.

"Crack!"

The crisp click of the trigger clicked as the white and red knight pulled it.

"boom!"

Amidst the bursts of gunfire, W felt as if he had been struck hard in the chest by an invisible hammer. He was sent flying backward and ultimately embedded in the wall.

"How fierce!"

"Be careful, their weapon looks like a hybrid dual-purpose weapon!"

"Does that mean both ranged and melee combat are possible?"

"Yes."

"Then replace the memory!"

With a jolt, W emerged from the wall and replaced the memory chip.

"Heat, Metal!"

Amidst the crimson flames, W grabbed the metal bar behind him and flung it away.

"laugh!"

The two ends of the rapidly separating metal rod burst into raging flames, and Shotaro swung the metal rod as he quickly approached the white and red knight.

The white and red knights protecting Number 3 did not move. Number 3 looked at the white and red knights deeply and then said, "Number 2, kill them."

Having received the order, Number 2 stomped his foot into a depression and quickly disappeared from the spot.

Amidst the howling wind, Number 2 rapidly approached W. His scythe swiftly slashed horizontally, the blade snapping open with a crack, the other end spewing forth a fierce burst of flames to amplify the power of the strike.

"Hmph, a mere trick!"

Shotaro smiled dismissively, holding the metal bar across his chest.

Unexpectedly, the scythe severed W's metal rod, leaving a deep gash on W's chest armor.

"What?! It actually severed the metal rod?!"

As Shotaro was surprised, his opponent relentlessly slashed again, leaving a half-sphere in front of W with the sharp scythe.

This is made up entirely of countless tiny slashes!

"Such strength!"

W, having withstood the slash with her hard left side, barely managed to escape the opponent's fighting range. However, No. 2, Ren, still walked with awkward steps, clinging tightly to W.

"This fighting style is simply like that of a wild beast!"

"But it also reminded me of a guy!"

After barely managing to repel W's attack from number 2, Shotaro, feigning ease, remarked, "Your rapid and frantic fighting style is just like Miku's!"

"It's a pity that Miku has already left this world and gone to travel to other worlds."

"Wouldn't it be better this way? To see more scenery, to meet all sorts of people and form lasting bonds—it's simply enviable!"

W and his companion, who were still in the mood for chatting and laughing, heard a series of crisp footsteps again.

"No way, they're doing it again!"

After dodging the opponent's scythe-like slash, Shotaro quickly retreated and grabbed Philip's body.

"At this point, we have no choice but to retreat."

"But!"

W, whose body control had been taken by Philip, grabbed Philip's body and ran outside. Philip quickly explained to Shotaro, "Given the current situation, it's clear that the X Foundation has joined forces with some other organization. Let's gather more information before making any plans."

"Okay, whatever you say."

Shotaro, having given up, stopped resisting. As W left, Number 2 wanted to continue the pursuit, but Number 3 raised a hand to stop him, saying, "Stop, there's no need anymore!"

"There will be another chance to fight!"

Number 2 stopped and lowered his scythe, the sharp blade easily piercing the warehouse floor.

Number 3 looked at Number 2, who was standing still, and thought of his past.

Number 3 couldn't help but walk up to Number 2 and patted Number 2's head. Number 2 tilted his head away, his eyes devoid of any emotion, only a stagnant pool of water.

Half an hour later, the W duo, who had retreated to their resting place, finally settled down to rest.

"Beep, beep, beep..."

Suddenly the phone rang. When Shotaro answered, he saw it was A-nii and teased, "Why did you suddenly call me? Aren't you going to keep Akiko company?"

"Miku is back!"

"what?!"

Startled, Shotaro stood up, drawing Philip's attention.

"After that guy came back, there was a surge in data flow in Fengdu. There was one before, but it was very brief."

"Then what do you mean?"

“I suspect that Miku has reopened the Well of Earth, so you two need to come back. I’m afraid that the cat will go berserk and might send the Wind City back to the Dark Ages under the rule of the Museum.”

"How could that be? You're overthinking it. Miku wouldn't do that."

"Everyone changes, Shotaro, he's no exception!"

A's words were filled with distrust of Miku, especially after he had recently reflected on his interactions with Miku and noticed that every time the Earth Well was mentioned, Miku would change the subject. This inexplicable intuition only grew stronger.

"Alright, we'll go back!"

After hanging up the phone, Shotaro gave a wry smile to the curious Philip: "Something big has happened, partner."

at the same time.

In Fuuto, in front of the Sonozaki mansion.

A woman wearing a black trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat arrived at the door of Sonozaki's house carrying a suitcase.

Looking at the house number of the Sonozaki family on the wall, the woman took off her gloves and reached out to touch it.

"I really miss those days!"

“However…” Saeko frowned, “Why are there such ugly decorations on the door?”

Saeko, who rang the doorbell, heard a voice on the intercom asking, "Who is this? Do you have an appointment?"

Do I need to make an appointment to go home?

On the other end of the walkie-talkie, the supervising servant looked puzzled.

"What's wrong?" The head maid walked in, pointing to the walkie-talkie and saying, "There's a woman claiming to be from the house, saying she's coming home."

"what?"

The head maid's expression changed, and she immediately went to the walkie-talkie: "Miss Saeko?"

Hearing the familiar voice on the walkie-talkie, Saeko said calmly, "Sugishita?"