"Beep beep beep beep!!"

But in the next moment, the transfer station resumed operation and began to run frantically. In just a few seconds, a phantom quickly solidified on the ground, and Kirisu Mafuyu's appearance gradually became clear. As Kirisu Mafuyu's face gradually turned rosy, the transfer station completed its work.

"........"

Gengo released Takamachi Nanoha and tiptoed over, as if afraid of startling her, and placed his hand on Kirisu Mafuyu's wrist, his movements as gentle as if she were a fragile object.

Feeling the warmth from his fingertips and the strong heartbeat, Gengo let out a long, satisfied sigh, hugged Takamachi Nanoha who was walking beside him, and used this action to suppress the myriad emotions that were rising in his heart. Then he quickly dialed the hospital's number and asked an ambulance to come as soon as possible, after all, what if Kirisu-sensei's body had other problems?

"Brother Gensou, do you like Teacher Kirisu?"

"I am simply overjoyed by my friend's rebirth, and it has nothing to do with romantic feelings."

After saying that, Gengo picked up the 'Trigger' memory, pressed it casually, and found that the memory was still usable. This unexpected joy made Gengo's lips curl up slightly. He then put it in the drawer, and then activated the data transfer station again, intending to restore himself back to normal.

However, after switching back to 'restore' mode, the data transfer station immediately emitted a sharp alarm. Startled, Nanoha Takamachi tilted her head and glanced at the screen. When she saw the message "Insufficient reserve data, forced restore is risky," her expression changed drastically. Although she didn't know what this machine was, based on the situation of Professor Mafuyu Kirisu, an obvious answer came to Nanoha Takamachi's mind.

"It's not hopeless yet; I can still struggle a little."

Yuanxiang calmly shut down the data relay station. Although this situation was unexpected, it made sense upon reflection, so there was nothing surprising about it. At this point, it was definitely not the time to gamble, so he started rummaging through the box and found a pair of inconspicuous gloves, which he put on. Fortunately, the flames would only burn his body and would not damage other items.

"But...but...what if I can't struggle?"

These successive changes seemed to have ripped Takamachi Nanoha off her feet. She leaned back slightly, tilted her head, and looked at Gengo, asking him a question. Gengo paused for a moment, then looked at Takamachi Nanoha and answered directly:

"Nanoha, death isn't scary. Struggling... is just because I can't die right now."

"Yuanxiang-nii is an idiot!!!"

Nanoha Takamachi clearly couldn't accept this answer. She screamed, sobbed, pushed open the door, and rushed out. Gengo silently shook his head, picked up Mafuyu Kirisu, and left the basement, heading towards the main hall of the agency.

At that moment, to Yuanxiang's surprise, two heads peeked out from the basement door. They were both familiar faces: one was Kocho Kanae, and the other was Dragon Girl Chen.

"What? You can move around freely like Miss Chen now?"

Before they could ask, Genji spoke first. Kanae Kocho, who was about to speak, changed her question and said gently:

"Yes, one night a point of light suddenly fell into my palm, and I was able to come and go here, but the number of times seems to be limited, and I can't bring anyone else with me."

"Oh, I see. It seems my front door can not only bring me business, but also upgrade itself? That's amazing."

Gensou casually replied as he walked out of the basement. Looking at everything around him, he raised an eyebrow, his gaze strangely fixed on the two who suddenly seemed guilty. He said softly:

"You two started fighting?"

"Cough cough cough, it's not a fight, it's a friendly spar! A friendly spar!"

Chen, his face slightly flushed, explained in a low voice that although Miss Kocho Kanae wasn't very strong, her understanding of swordsmanship was surprisingly good, so... since they had just met and were getting along quite well, and with nothing else to do, Chen's hands started itching to fight... and as they fought, Kocho Kanae got a little carried away, and before they knew it, the back hall of the agency had become a mess.

"No... don't worry about it! I... I'll pay for it!"

Chen subconsciously blurted out "I'm not short of money," but as soon as she finished speaking, she couldn't help but want to cover her face. After all, someone had said the same thing last time, and now...

"No need, you're lucky."

Gensho glanced at the undamaged hat portrait on the wall, something left behind by Genshoji, and said softly:

“I’ve wanted to replace those broken things for a while now, and you’ve helped me make up my mind. However, Ms. Chen, I’m sorry, but I have some urgent business to attend to, and I’m afraid I can’t continue with your request. I’ll discuss compensation with you later.”

"Urgent? What's urgent?"

Although they hadn't spent much time together, Chen still sensed a great deal of dedication from Gensou, so she was curious about what had made him make such a decision. If she could help, she wouldn't mind lending a hand. Meanwhile, Kocho Kanae, who was standing to the side, also looked at Gensou with a puzzled expression.

Gensou didn't answer Chen's question, but just smiled and shook his head. Listening to the increasingly close ambulance sirens, he carried Kirisu Mafuyu away from there.

"I said, is she angry?"

Although Gensou didn't seem very big, for some reason, Ms. Chen felt she couldn't be assertive in front of him. After he left, she quietly asked Kocho Kanae, since the swordsman seemed to be somewhat familiar with Gensou.

"No, Mr. Gengo actually has a very good temper."

"Um...yes."

Upon hearing this, Chen paused for a moment, then covered his face as he spoke. Undoubtedly, the dragon girl was recalling that drunken night.

Although Kanae was curious as to why Chen had such an embarrassed expression, she didn't care. She just squatted down and tidied up the back room. No matter what, it was too messy. Chen quickly patted his cheeks to calm himself down and then helped Kanae tidy up.

However, at this moment, Kanae Butterfly paused slightly, her gaze shifting to a book beside her. In a daze, she felt as if something inside was calling to her. As if possessed, she opened the book, and a somewhat familiar leaf was placed there as a bookmark.

Is this the leaf that Mr. Gensho was holding back then?

Kanae Butterfly recalled something and subconsciously reached out to pinch the leaf. But in that instant, a strong sense of death seeped into her body, a faint cry for help rang in her heart, and a pair of dim, lifeless eyes, with a trace of lingering attachment to the world, were gazing at her.

That's me! That's the dead me!

This horrifying thought struck like a bolt from the blue, startling Kanae Butterfly into a cold sweat. She gasped, released the leaves, and fell backward. Chen caught her, drew his sword with a clang, and watched the slowly falling leaves warily, preventing any accidents from happening.

Kanae Butterfly seemed not to have shaken off the illusion, staring blankly at her hands, tears of relief dripping onto them as if she had survived a catastrophe.

'I'm just here to save you.'

'Of course, it was you who asked me for help.'

'Forget it, explaining this is too complicated. Let's change the subject.'

These private conversations flashed through Kanae's mind. At the time, she was puzzled, thinking that Mr. Gengo was joking. But now... it seemed that she had the answer.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Chen, I have something to attend to right now... so I'll have to leave first..."

Kanae Butterfly stood up with a trembling voice, carefully picked up the leaf, held it to her chest, lowered her head, and quickly left.

Chen frowned slightly, swept her tail on the ground, her head full of question marks. She wanted to find someone to ask what was going on, but Yuanxiang had also left with the ambulance, leaving her alone in the entire detective agency. Chen grabbed her dragon horns and shook them in distress.

Why do I feel like I'm the only one in this firm who doesn't know anything?

080 It's not just you guys

Gengo stood outside the ward, watching Kirisu Mafuyu undergo a medical examination. Although the final diagnosis hadn't come out yet, the doctor seemed to be fine based on the test results. As for why she hadn't woken up, the doctor gave an unexpected answer—

Maybe I was too tired and sleepy.

Yes, this whole ordeal has been quite a hassle.

Yuanxiang smiled helplessly. He was actually very sleepy. If he could, he felt he could sleep for 24 hours straight, but unfortunately he couldn't rest yet.

Because of the previous alien creation incident, although people don't remember being sucked into the mechanical core, the pain of assimilation is still fresh in their minds. Therefore, after returning to normal, most people...

Now that Professor Kirisu's matter has been resolved, I need to go and attend to my own affairs. There are still people in the hospital who remember my kindness, and they will take good care of Professor Kirisu until his family arrives.

"Yay!"

Just as Yuanxiang was walking towards the stairs, a clumsy nurse rushed out of the ward pushing a cart. When she saw that she was about to bump into Yuanxiang, she cried out and tried to brake, but the ground was a bit slippery. When she braked, she was about to fall backward with the cart, but as Yuanxiang put his hand on it, a huge force pressed the cart down, and even the nurse who was tightly gripping the handle was pulled back.

The nurse patted her chest, relieved, and thanked Yuanxiang with a flushed face. Then she quickly left with her head down. Yuanxiang didn't pay any attention, but after the nurse left, he silently looked at his hand. When no one was watching, his hand suddenly rotated 180 degrees and snapped back into place. At the same time, Yuanxiang's impromptu experiment came to an end.

After witnessing all this, Gengo nodded thoughtfully. While on the alien creation, he had vaguely realized that his body had undergone unexpected changes; when he transformed into 'Joker Joker', he had a personal experience of it; and in the test he had just conducted, he had roughly come to a conclusion.

Do you control your own body?

Yuanxiang looked at his left hand, and under the control of his mind, each finger moved and rotated in a different direction. He had just impulsively dislocated his right hand and reversed it before pressing it onto the car, and found that even so, he could still perfectly apply his force to it.

What's puzzling is that even though I can dislocate a joint with my willpower, I can't reattach it with my willpower... Is something wrong?

Yuanxiang grinned, putting aside his doubts for the time being, and then wiped the fine sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. Although his hand had been hurting all along, and he had gotten used to the pain, the reckless experiment he had just conducted amplified the pain several times over due to the friction between the wound and the glove. Fortunately, he was still a virus data body at this time, so he didn't have to worry about other complications caused by the injury.

Alright, the experiment is done, time to get down to business.

Yuanxiang glanced at the crowded hall and quietly blended in...

"Uncle Renno, I'm busy."

An hour later, Gengo appeared in the shopping street. Seeing Chifumi Rinno, who was carrying a cold drink and wearing a sign that read "No Need to Ask for Help," Gengo smiled and waved. Upon seeing Gengo, Chifumi Rinno quickly swallowed the hot drink he was about to put in his mouth, and went to greet him, putting his arm around Gengo's shoulder and saying:

"What? You've received another commission? Tell me, what do you want to know from your uncle?"

"It's about my grandfather."

Gengo said slowly and deliberately, "I think you were the first to discover it the night my grandfather passed away, Uncle Renno?"

Although it was a question, Genji already knew the answer. He sneaked into the hospital's archives and found the relevant records from that year. The person who brought Genji to the hospital and paid the medical expenses was Chio Renno.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to your grandfather that day. I had a lot on my mind lately and couldn't sit still at home. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Chifumi Rinno straightened up in confusion. Since Genji had come to him about this, it must be something important, and he had to take it seriously.

"Nothing, I just wanted to ask, Uncle Renno, about Grandpa's memories... hmm?"

Before Gensou could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Chifumi Rinno. Chifumi sighed, looked around, and pulled Gensou towards a less crowded area. Then, with a hint of relief, she said:

"Impressive, impressive. You actually managed to find this out. You truly are a little detective from Fuuto. Not bad. When your grandfather passed away, there was a memory device on the table next to him, and he was also wearing a special device on his waist... Xiang, you should know that during that period, no matter who it was or what their purpose was, getting involved with a memory device was a troublesome matter. I didn't want people to gossip about Mr. Zhuangji, nor did I want the bureau to send people to investigate, so I hid it."

After speaking, Chifumi Rinno took a sip of his cold drink with a touch of melancholy, tilted his head slightly back to look at the sky, as if he saw that familiar, tough-guy figure. He blinked and looked at Genjiro as he continued:

“I believe in Mr. Zhuang Ji. Even if he has memories, he would definitely use them to help others... Never mind, there’s no need for me to emphasize Mr. Zhuang Ji’s character in front of you. So, are you here to ask about the whereabouts of those things? To be honest, I don’t really want you to be involved with memories.”

"no way."

Yuanxiang smiled and said softly:

"To save a life."

"I see. Then I won't ask any more questions. I trust you. Xiang, let's go. I'll take you to get it."

Chifumi Rinno tapped Gengo on the shoulder with his "No Need to Ask for Help" gesture, then took him home. He dragged a dusty, locked box out of a corner, opened it, and found another metal box with a combination lock. Inside, a Lost Driver and a "Skull" memory lay quietly.

Chifumi Rinno sighed, looking at the two things. His thoughts returned to that Christmas Eve. Even now, he still subconsciously refused to accept Minamoto no Shoji's departure.

"Pack it up like this and don't let anyone see it. Although the bureau isn't as strict about checking memory as it used to be, it's still troublesome if someone sees it. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

"I understand, thank you, Uncle Renno."

Seeing that Chio Renno was in a bad mood, Genji didn't say anything more. He simply packed up, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left. His grandfather was well-liked, so it was normal to encounter people who reminded him of him after his passing. But...

Yuanxiang looked at the swaying tree canopy and pursed his lips.

You're not the only ones who are saddened...

081 Ugh!!

"Hometown, over here, over here."

Just as Gengo was carrying his bag to the front of the agency, he heard someone calling him. Turning around, he saw Takamachi Momoko waving at him. Gengo quickly went over, a vague feeling creeping into his mind, and whispered:

Is Nanoha still angry?

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