“Time is limited.
Our target this time is the Young Lady of the Raiden Family.
Take her alive if possible.” Outside Raiden Mei’s villa, over a dozen men in knit caps gripped an assortment of cold, heavy firearms, ready to open fire at any moment.
Some time ago, their organization’s boss had obtained the address of ME Corp’s current Young Lady and learned that Raiden Ryoma wasn’t with Raiden Mei.
Their objective was to kidnap ME Corp’s Young Lady and use her as leverage to extort a hefty ransom from ME Corp.
A series of beeps rang out around the entire villa, while the smell of sulfur filled everyone’s nostrils.
Explosives—enough to reduce the entire villa to rubble.
“Hey, you people inside!
If you don’t bring your Young Lady out, you’re all going to die.” A bespectacled Mercenary tapped his radio as he spoke, white light glinting across his face.
He was the commander of this operation.
Although he appeared exceptionally calm, he was secretly planning to flee as soon as they captured Raiden Mei, without giving Raiden Ryoma any time to react.
ME Corp had ties to that behemoth.
If his organization hadn’t been desperately short on money, he never would have set his sights on Raiden Mei.
But this time…
he had more than a dozen veteran teammates directly under his command, along with over fifty affiliated members providing support.
How could a force like this possibly fail to overcome the villa’s security and a little girl?
If the people inside still refused to hand over Raiden Mei in another two minutes, he planned to blow open the door and storm in to take her, even at the risk of exposing his identity.
….
“Young Lady, please stay hidden in your room and don’t come out.
We’ve already notified your father.
He’ll be back soon.” The maid spoke softly before locking Raiden Mei inside the room.
Raiden Mei clutched Raijū in her arms as she listened to the explosions outside.
Her previously excited face turned deathly pale, and she trembled too violently to move.
What was happening?
Ling Yi had only just fallen asleep when explosions suddenly erupted around the house.
Flames and stray bullets had nearly burned Raiden Mei.
If she hadn’t witnessed it herself, Raiden Mei never would have imagined something so sudden could happen, much less that she would be the target of a kidnapping.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out to stop the departing maid.
The maid had watched her grow up, and that was precisely why Raiden Mei knew she would protect her.
The people outside were vicious criminals.
If the maid went out there, wouldn’t she die?
But Raiden Mei didn’t dare stop her.
Fear had left her mind completely blank.
No matter how gifted she was at research, she was still only an eight-year-old girl.
‘Don’t panic.
I’m here.
Relax.’ Ling Yi’s voice echoed in Raiden Mei’s mind, instantly giving her something to hold on to.
“Ling Yi!
There are so many people outside the villa!
They want to kidnap me!
The maid and the butler went outside and told me to stay here, but I’m scared something will happen to them.” Raiden Mei spoke hurriedly.
‘Relax.
Just like going to sleep, slowly hand control of your body over to me.’ “Okay…” Raiden Mei offered no resistance.
She relinquished control of her body, and her consciousness descended into the mindscape.
“Leave it to me.” Ling Yi spoke confidently.
In the original story, there had been a minor plot point.
When Raiden Mei was eight years old, she was attacked by a terrorist organization and kidnapped.
The psychological trauma afterward forced her to recuperate for three years at a private ME Corp facility.
 Most people probably wouldn’t remember it, but Ling Yi did.
Moreover, it was also when Raiden Mei was eight that her Stigmata went out of control and the Gem of Conquest was implanted into her.
Perhaps the two events had occurred on the same day.
In other words, if she handled this well enough, Raiden Mei wouldn’t be implanted with the Gem of Conquest, making it difficult for the Third Honkai to erupt in the future.
As for what would happen if Raiden Mei couldn’t become a Herrscher without the Gem of Conquest…
never mind the fact that Ling Yi had already steered Raiden Mei toward a career in research.
Even without the Gem of Conquest, Raiden Mei was destined to become a Herrscher.
However, the Great Honkai in Nagazora City would probably be much less likely to erupt.
“And so, I make my move.” With that thought, Raiden Mei [Ling Yi Manifested] twirled Raijū in her hand…
only to slam the hilt into the top of her foot.
“Ow, ow, ow!!” She didn’t actually know how to use a blade either…
After using electrotherapy to heal her injured foot, Ling Yi pushed open the door and walked outside.
“Young Lady!
What are you doing?!” The maid, who was confronting the kidnappers at the front door, widened her eyes when she saw Ling Yi walking out alone and hurriedly tried to push her back.
“Don’t worry.
I’ll take care of this.” Ling Yi shook her head, signaling for the maid not to worry.
Her voice carried an inexplicably convincing air.
“Please be careful…
Young Lady.” The maid froze at the sight of this Raiden Mei and spoke almost instinctively.
She had seen the Young Lady act serious and mature many times before, slightly different from her usual self.
She had always assumed that was simply how the Young Lady behaved when she got serious.
But now…
that didn’t seem quite right.
Creak— The moment Ling Yi opened the villa’s front door, she found countless cold gun barrels aimed directly at her.
Dozens of people had surrounded the entire villa.
“Young Lady Raiden, you’re more obedient and sensible than we expected.
Get in the van yourself and save yourself some pain.” The bespectacled man smiled and stepped aside, revealing the black van behind him as he gestured for Raiden Mei to get in.
“Oh.
I never said I was going with you.” Gripping Raijū, Ling Yi thrust it into the ground.
Countless arcs of blue lightning erupted with her at their center, enveloping the entire villa and several kidnappers who failed to dodge in time.
The remote-controlled bombs buried around the villa instantly went dead as their electronic components were destroyed.
The kidnappers struck by the current also collapsed to the ground, their bodies completely paralyzed.
After confirming that the kidnappers could no longer detonate the bombs remotely, Ling Yi charged forward.
The instant Ling Yi moved, the bespectacled man ordered everyone to open fire.
If she got close enough to unleash that attack again, they might all fall here!
He would rather take the corpse of the Raiden Family’s Young Lady than die here himself!
Bang, bang, bang— A dense net of gunfire instantly swept toward Ling Yi.
Unless she could move faster than bullets, there was no way for a human being to evade the attack from any angle.
‘Ling Yi, watch out!!’ Raiden Mei hurriedly shouted from within the mindscape.
‘Don’t worry, coward.
She’ll be fine.’ Inside the mindscape, Raiden Mei heard a voice different from Ling Yi’s.
Just as the voice had said, Ling Yi raised one hand, and a barrier of violet lightning enveloped her.
Countless tongues of fire struck the barrier, only for the bullets to turn to ash and scatter through the air.
“Just this once.” Ling Yi didn’t know how to use a blade, but Raijū was a pulse Tachi.
Its sole ability was to absorb energy and then unleash one hell of an attack.
Ling Yi could at least serve as a portable battery.
The electromagnetic force within her body was continuously absorbed by Raijū.
Ling Yi then swung her arm, unleashing a massive ripple.
The instant the kidnappers came into contact with the ripple, they all collapsed limply to the ground.
Their guns clattered from their hands.
“Done.” ★ ★ ★ T/N: If you spot mistranslation, do tell me!
★ ★ ★ Shilling time!