Chihaya Aine has nine wings

Chapter 20 A World No Longer Alone

The maximum time Gao Songdeng could pause was once 37 minutes, but that was achieved by reducing all life consumption to the minimum. If she performed strenuous exercise during the static time, the time she could hold on would be greatly reduced.

For example, when running at full speed and then stopping at the same time, the longest time she could last was only five and a half minutes.

The most important thing is that time does not start to flow again when one's physical strength is exhausted, but it can start to flow again at any time during the process. As someone whose abilities are out of control, she has no way to control the shutdown of her abilities at will.

She wanted to save everyone on the train, and a time stop was not enough. It was not enough to move everyone to the third and fourth carriages away from the explosion site. She got off the train quickly to check and found that the bomb was not installed in the cab, but on the track.

The bomb was triggered by the pressure of a passing tram.

The track had been blown off, and the entire tram would fall from the broken bridge into the water. Even if they were not killed by the explosion, they would be in great danger if they fell into the water from this height.

So they had to be moved out of the train to a place where they would not be affected by the explosion or fall off the viaduct. And all these things had to be done under the premise of maintaining the time pause, which was extremely difficult for Takamatsu Deng, whose physical strength was only at the level of an ordinary girl.

She now had to move as many people as possible outside and gamble that she could reach the second, third, and even fourth and fifth time pauses in time.

One person, two people, three people...

Although she didn't need to use a window breaker because the glass had already been shattered, the energy she expended carrying the adults made her steps heavier. It was only less than 50 meters, but she felt so hard walking.

It took her about four and a half minutes to successfully transfer all seven people in the second carriage.

She glanced again at the first carriage.

If it was just a simple flame, she could actually drag the person out of the first car. Temperature needs time to be transmitted, and in a world where time is suspended, the flame cannot cause any harm to Takamatsu Deng. The person in the flame is not necessarily dead, and if treated in time, he may survive.

But the explosion was not just fire, it also produced sharp fragments. So no matter if there were people in the first carriage or not, she was powerless to save them. Moreover, she didn't know when time would start flowing again - if it was when she went deep into the fire, then everyone would be finished.

She had to give up.

Gritting her teeth, she ran to the third carriage.

The people in the first car died because she was slow to sense danger.

The light can pause time almost instantly when it senses danger, but at the same time, her premonition of danger judges danger based on danger to herself and the people she cares about. Because she doesn't know anyone in the first car, and she doesn't even know if there is anyone in the first car, her intuition didn't warn her before the first car was engulfed by flames, but only when the explosion was about to affect her.

Therefore she failed to save those people.

Yes, Deng was blaming herself. Although it was not her fault, she was blaming herself.

The third carriage was lucky, with only four people.

When Deng dragged the third person, time started to flow again. Even though Deng had been alerting the end of the time pause, she was still caught off guard. When she was about to push the person out of the window, the tram suddenly moved, and she fell to the ground because she lost her balance. At the same time, the man she was dragging was also thrown out due to inertia.

Time had just flowed for a moment when it was stopped again by the light that was prepared. The overload of power made her dizzy and she lay on the ground gasping for breath.

This was her first time trying to stop the time again within seconds of the end of the previous one. The energy consumption was much greater than she had imagined, and her muscles were aching all over her body. She raised her head with difficulty, and saw the man who was thrown into the air was still in mid-air, flying out of the bridge. If she didn't take care of him, he would definitely fall off the bridge and die.

Moreover, the stationary position was very far away from the bridge surface, and she couldn't reach it even if she stretched out her hand.

Deng bit his lower lip.

She didn't think how long she could hold on to the time stop.

Should I give up on this man? No, I don't have to give up, but it would be more sensible to save others now, right? It would be better to save the others and then come back to save him, right?

It's a remake of the trolley problem.

Deng clenched his fists, struggled to get up from the ground, took off his coat and rushed to the bridge.

It was difficult for her to make a choice between these lives, and she knew that she would never be able to come up with the truly correct answer even if she thought about it until the end of time. In this case, rather than losing everything because of hesitation, she chose to have both.

She bet that she could stop time a third time, a fourth time, a fifth time, or even a hundred times!

He grabbed the railing with his left hand and hung himself on the edge of the bridge. He grabbed the two sleeves of the coat with his right hand, and threw the clothes out, trying to put it on the man's head.

It worked!

Although it wasn't his head, it was his arm!

Her pupils shrank, her breathing quickened, and she carefully pulled her clothes, pulling the man's body towards her, then grabbed him with her hands and threw him back onto the bridge.

Click.

"Eh?"

The railing she was holding on to with her left hand broke.

She saved the man, but she herself fell off the bridge.

…………

"This child's ability is unprecedented. She can pause time... I don't know if what she said is true, but apart from this statement, there is really no other way to explain what this child can do..."

I still remember that rainy day when I was sitting in the clinic, with my anxious mother and the doctor in charge of the ability analysis next to me.

"Doctor, can you please help me hide the information about her ability? I'm afraid..." The mother's face turned pale, "I'm afraid... I'm afraid that she will be locked up..."

The young Deng stole a glance at his mother, then looked away uneasily.

"Oh... it doesn't matter. Although stopping time is indeed a very powerful ability, it won't cause fear in the government." The doctor waved his hand and smiled easily. "Although it is no different from a miracle, this ability has a fatal flaw."

"Fatal flaw... You mean the loss of control of abilities..."

"No, that's not it. The flaw I'm talking about is that what she can do in stopped time is affected by her physical fitness." The doctor shook his head. "Ordinary people with special abilities, no matter what their abilities are, can more or less improve their physical performance. However, her body is still the same as that of ordinary people."

"That is to say..."

"That is to say, there are only a few things she can do, and it is not worth the government spending huge resources to seal her up." The doctor gave a soothing smile and looked at the young girl. "Besides, a world where time stops must be very lonely, right?"

"..."

Yes, this world is very lonely.

It is said that people's thoughts will speed up before they die, and it seems to be true. When he fell off the bridge, Gao Songdeng was surprisingly calm after being frightened. Time seemed to slow down, and Gao Songdeng thought about the time when he first gained his ability as a child.

Yes, there was only so much she could do in the paused time. This world where only she could move was still too quiet.

She still remembers that when she was a child, she once took an elevator alone. The elevator lost power and was completely dark. Time paused countless times without her permission, and she was trapped in the elevator alone for an unknown amount of time. She cried and shouted, banging on the elevator door, but she never got a response. In the darkness, she couldn't tell whether time was moving. She pressed the emergency button that her teacher had taught her countless times, but there was no response no matter how many times she pressed it.

Anxious emotions promote the loss of control of abilities, and time is suspended again and again.

Afterwards, it was tested that she could pause for nearly forty minutes at a time when not doing strenuous activities. After being rescued from the elevator, she heard that she had been trapped for five hours in the real world.

She was still young at that time and had no idea how long she had been immersed in the darkness.

She just felt that she was abandoned by the world.

Oh……

Oh.

So that’s it.

With the still sea below reflected in his eyes, the lamp seemed to understand.

So that's how it is. There is no such thing as time being stopped, and there is no such thing as super powers. It turns out that she didn't stop time, but the gods threw her into a world where time was stopped.

Is she going to be like this too?

She fell into the sea, was swept away by the current, and died in the unknown ocean in the paused time. No one knew that she sacrificed herself to save others, and no one knew that she had glowed at the end of her life.

Deng's mouth curled up slightly, and she didn't know why she was smiling. She closed her eyes, having given up helplessly.

There is no way. How can a lonely child abandoned by the world resist fate?

Snapped.

Something grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

His sense of time returned to normal and Deng opened his eyes in disbelief.

Above, the familiar pink-haired girl was lying on the bridge, holding herself tightly with one hand, and trying hard with a grimace.

“…Eh? Eh? Eh Eh!!!!!!” Takamatsu Deng let out the most surprised scream of her life.

Ano-chan? Why is she here? ! !

I looked around. Yes, time is still standing still. Why can Aine still move normally? What is going on?

Was it a death vision? Or something else? What happened?

The brain was in a state of shock and confusion, but the desire to survive made Deng reach out his hands and tightly grasp Aine's arm: "Ano-chan!"

"Hold on! I'll pull you up!" Chihaya Aine squeezed out the words from between her teeth, adjusting her posture and preparing to use her legs to exert force.

"Ano-chan!" Deng asked loudly, "Why are you here? Time should have stopped!——"

“What do you mean by pause——?” Aine was trying hard and didn’t listen carefully.

"Time-time has stopped-"

“I don’t know—suddenly everyone stopped moving, and I saw an explosion over here, so I came over here, ahhhh—” Aine pulled the lantern up a section with all her strength, so that the lantern could grab the edge of the bridge by itself, “When I got up, I found that you were going to fall—grab this side!”

The world where time stopped should have been Gao Songdeng's place of exile, and a lonely cage that belonged to her alone. But, perhaps Gao Songdeng herself had not noticed before, she had actually heard voices that did not belong to her in this world.

Just a few days ago, when she rescued Aine and fled with her on her back, she heard Aine's breathing on her back. She didn't notice it because she subconsciously didn't believe that anyone could save her when time stopped.

But we don't have to notice it anymore, do we?

Takamatsu Deng cried, cried without any image, one of his hands was held by Aine, and the other hand was tightly grasping the edge of the bridge, crying like a child.

"Thank you, Ano-chan, thank you...thank you..."

"Hey, tomorin, can you please come up and cry only when it's safe!"

Aine probably didn't even know what she had done to make the girl in front of her lose her composure like that.

But I guess there is no one else in this world who can understand Deng’s mood at this moment.

Aine not only saved her life, but also broke a certain cage that imprisoned her soul.

From now on, the world where time has stopped will no longer be lonely for Takamatsu Deng.

Chapter 21 This is the combo that makes our blood boil!

The burning tram rushed into the sea with a deafening roar.

Aine and Takamatsu Deng sat on the viaduct, leaning against the railing, shoulder to shoulder, exhausted.

Although she didn't know why, Aine was able to move in the time that Takamatsu Deng had paused. After rescuing Deng, Aine and her moved the remaining people out of the carriage.

Twenty-three people in total.

There was a faint sound of water splashing onto the bridge from below, and a gust of wind blew past, ruffling their hair. They looked at each other and found that their faces were both covered in gray, and they couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The people who were rescued were confused at first, and then they realized that they had just escaped death. Finally, some people realized that it was Takamatsu Deng and Aine who saved them, and they came up one by one to express their gratitude.

Aiyin also told them the route she took to get to the bridge, and it was easy to get down from the bridge. They also called the police, who were already struggling with the other three explosions and were short-handed, so they said that a hero would go first, and the supernatural police who would handle the aftermath would arrive later.

It was said that the other three explosions caused considerable casualties - although one person in Aine's carriage also died.

"I guess Riki is busy right now too," Aine said thoughtfully.

In today's society, the role of the supernatural police is really limited. The real main force in the fight against crime is still heroes. For example, the only core force of the supernatural police in Tokyo is the "Hound" unit where Li Xi is, and the actual number of people in this unit is said to be no more than 30. Therefore, the supernatural police generally do evacuation, rescue and post-disaster work.

The last time Lixi came out to deal with the hyenas was mainly because she was kidnapped on the territory of the superpower police.

Otherwise, the one who comes out to fight won’t be Li Xi, but only the hero.

“Ano-chan…” Deng gently pulled on the corner of Aine’s clothes, drawing her gaze over, “Thank you.”

“Well, it’s okay. There’s no way I’ll just sit there and watch when Tomorin is in danger.” Aine put her hands on her hips, held her head high, and put on a smug look.

The lamp also smiled.

Suddenly, a red light fell from the sky and hit the bridge surface. The smoke and dust made everyone tilt their heads.

“A hero? No…” Aine narrowed her eyes and subconsciously moved sideways to protect Takamatsu Deng behind her, “A mechanical ghost…”

When the smoke and dust cleared, a man wearing exoskeleton armor was revealed. He had two huge rockets hanging behind him and two heavy machine guns hanging from his left and right hands. The parts of his body not covered by the armor were wrapped in bandages, which were oozing with dark purple blood.

"Although I shouldn't tell you, but since you're all going to die, I'll tell you for the time being." The man with a model on his face laughed wantonly, "I'm the 'Father of Mechanical Ghosts'!"

“?” Aiyin’s brows twitched.

I don't know what that means, but he means he's not a mechanical ghost, right?

At first glance, it is difficult to tell what this guy's special ability is. It might be the kind of special ability that can only be exerted with the help of machines.

The man looked past Aine and Deng and looked at a girl with blonde side ponytail in the crowd: "As for you, little brat from the Ijichi family, remember, these people died because of you."

The girl who was mentioned trembled for a moment, and was immediately protected by Aine behind her.