Chapter Seventy-Two: A Tragedy of the Human World

“My daughter! Where is my daughter?” The deputy director, who had miraculously survived without receiving a lunchbox this time, burst into the Archangel’s dining hall, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Papa!” Frey threw herself into the deputy director’s arms and began to sob uncontrollably.

“Sei, you’re here too? Isn’t it a bit early to be calling me ‘Dad’ already?” Her father couldn’t help but tease. Frey now looked exactly like Sei, and being embraced by a man who wasn’t her real father must have felt awkward no matter what.

“Papa! It’s me, Frey! Your daughter!” Frey’s tears streamed down her face as she stared at her father in disbelief.

“What’s gotten into you, child? Since when did you become so soft? I’m starting to reconsider whether I should let Frey date you,” the deputy director said, wearing the look of a disappointed parent.

Sei hid behind the kitchen door, his expression one of utter embarrassment.

Hao Ren was doubled over with laughter, nearly to the point of coughing up blood. Scenes like this, straight from a sitcom, were not something one witnessed every day.

But Hao Ren had more important matters to attend to.

In the maintenance bay, Miss Kira, our new human, had just finished a fierce battle with her close friend. Her face, revealed beneath the helmet, was already drenched in fragrant sweat. Uncle Koroje and the rest of the technical crew stood by, utterly dumbfounded, their eyes nearly popping out.

Kira was exhausted, not just physically but mentally as well. The safety of the Archangel and the rest of the Earth forces had depended entirely on her impulsive actions—though, of course, she was using Lacus’s body…

Returning to her single-occupancy room, just as she was about to collapse onto the bed, Kira felt a hand clamp around her neck.

“Tired, kid? You’re far too sweet!” The owner of this hand was none other than Hao Ren, fresh from his blood transfusion.

“Senior! I’m about to drop from exhaustion—let me rest a bit, will you?” Kira turned and looked up, fluttering her lashes with practiced skill.

She’d barely had control of this new body for any time at all, yet she was already using these tricks so well.

“Quit with the cutesy act! This new body seems to suit you perfectly…” Hao Ren’s eyelid twitched violently, thinking to himself, Have I done something utterly irreversible?

“N-no, not at all! I’m troubled by it myself,” Kira replied, her eyes darting everywhere, clearly saying one thing and feeling another.

Kira couldn’t help but recall the series of events in the private shower room before the battle, and suddenly a bright red nosebleed gushed down her face.

…

Hao Ren swiftly pulled out a tissue called “Clear Breeze” and pressed it against Kira’s bleeding nostrils with lightning speed.

“You know what you’re capable of—after all, we’re both men. But look.” Hao Ren patted Kira’s shoulder with a meaningful air, then stepped aside to reveal what was behind him…

There stood Lacus, clutching her stomach, eyes brimming with tears.

Kira turned to stone.

“As you can see, from the time we switched bodies until now, Lacus hasn’t been able to relieve herself. If this continues, it’ll be very bad for her health,” Hao Ren rattled on, ignoring the nearly petrified Kira.

“Blackflame! Didn’t you say you had a way to switch us back? Please, stop talking and do it quickly!” Lacus had lost all traces of elegance and composure.

There’s nothing more tragic for a person than needing to use the restroom and not finding one—except perhaps finding one, only to discover it’s occupied.

But Lacus’s predicament was even crueler: the restroom was free, but she couldn’t bring herself to go, out of sheer embarrassment.

As a young lady with only the vaguest notion of the opposite sex, being forced to see or even touch a man’s private parts was pure torture!

Of course, there are some girls out there who’d boldly exclaim, “Girl, you’re a real man!” But Lacus wasn’t one of them. Aside from her political talents, she was just a young girl! This was an ordeal of humiliation that no girl could possibly endure.

“Nemesis, it’s up to you now.” Hao Ren formally summoned the soul expert—Nemesis.

“Master, you owe me once more,” Nemesis said, extending a strand of her hair, which darted straight into the backs of Kira’s and Lacus’s necks.

Hao Ren, arms folded, watched from the sidelines, but was quickly ambushed by Little Darkness.

A large, reddish-brown hand formed from hair seized Hao Ren, shaking him violently.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner that Nemesis could swap souls?” Little Darkness, her face flushed with embarrassment, found it easier to vent her frustration on Hao Ren.

“I—just—found—out—myself!!!!!!!” As everyone knows, it’s easy to bite your tongue when speaking during intense shaking.

Splat! A spray of blood!

“Big Sis Darkness, you’re too rough!” Mea, for once, scolded Little Darkness, helping the frothing Hao Ren to his feet.

Perhaps realizing she’d gone too far, Little Darkness blushed and turned her head away, refusing to look at Hao Ren’s sorry state.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“Ahhhhhh!”

Kira and Lacus screamed in unison, their bodies trembling violently. Meanwhile, Nemesis, her black hair swirling like a demon descending upon the world, wore a wicked grin.

The room was in utter chaos.

“Mom, look! There are some weird brothers and sisters doing something strange in there.” A chubby, middle-aged man passing by the cabin tugged at the sleeve of a young woman beside him, pointing into the room at the scene of devastation.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I’m your uncle. Don’t look at those things—you'll get dumber.” The young woman snapped, smacking the man on the head, then dragged him away by his collar.

“So complicated,” muttered a little boy in a cap, crunching his lollipop before following after the other two.

“Uwoooooo!” Lacus—or rather, Kira—now wore a thoroughly contorted expression.

Destination: restroom!

Mode of transportation: 100-meter dash!

Go!

At this moment, Kira was in a state of unstoppable determination. If anyone was in the restroom, Hao Ren couldn’t guarantee they’d make it out alive.

“Thank you so much, Miss Nemesis.” Lacus bowed at a ninety-degree angle—the most heartfelt thanks she’d ever given in her life.

“Don’t thank me, thank my master.” Nemesis nodded toward the badly wounded Hao Ren, who was now resting in bed.

“Thank you for your help, Lord Blackflame.” Lacus redirected her bow.

Hao Ren waved her off, pointing first at his tongue, then at Little Darkness, who had yet to return to her normal form.

In response, Little Darkness produced her contract card, which transformed with a “bang” into a book—a diary, to be precise.

Contract Card: The Ego Sketch Diary. It can read the surface thoughts of any specified target within a 100-meter radius and record them in diary format. If the target’s appearance and true name are known, it can even read their deeper consciousness. The effects of this item are absolute, ignoring any defensive measures.