“Are you surprised? Are you thrilled? Are you happy?”
Faced with this situation, Sarah could only raise her hands above her head in a gesture of surrender.
Her already gloomy face darkened even further upon hearing Li Qianqiao’s mockery.
“If you weren’t still useful to me, you would’ve already… heh~”
Sarah’s expression dropped another shade of black.
Standing off to the side, Li Qianqiao could practically see the dark aura of resentment oozing from Sarah.
That amount of grudge could easily feed ten Evil Sword Immortals!
“Calculating the time, it should be about right.” Li Qianqiao ignored Sarah’s murderous glare and called over Nekomata, whose brain was still in a state of a blue-screen crash, preparing to tie Sarah up.
Nekomata was still trying to process what had happened in those ten seconds.
She felt like she had just seen a giant black blur zip into the crowd, and by the time she snapped back to reality, over a hundred people in front of her were flat on the ground!
“Meow meow meow… what just happened—Ouch! It hurts~”
Li Qianqiao withthrew his ‘Brain Repairing’ technique (A punch) after throwing it at Nekomata’s head to snap her back to reality and sighed, rubbing his forehead.
“Alright, stop being so shocked for a second. Nicole and the others should be here soon. I tied her up myself. Go wait for Nicole. I have some words to exchange with this Auntie.”
Nekomata rubbed the top of her head, giving Li Qianqiao a deeply resentful look before heading off to the tunnel exit to wait for Nicole’s group.
“Alright, now it’s just the two of us.”
Li Qianqiao smiled and patted Sarah’s shoulder.
Although she couldn’t see the expression under his helmet, Sarah was absolutely certain it was an incredibly punchable face.
“Oh? Does little brother want to do something to his prisoner?” Sarah raised an eyebrow, staring straight at Li Qianqiao, placing heavy emphasis on the words ‘do something’.
Caught off guard by the question, Li Qianqiao quickly regained his composure and carefully observed Sarah’s expression, trying to read her.
Unfortunately, Sarah’s face remained as calm as a placid lake, without a single trace of panic.
But he had to admit, her looks were definitely top-tier.
Even though Li Qianqiao kept calling her ‘Auntie’, Sarah actually didn’t look old at all.
You could tell from her skin that she took great care of herself.
There wasn’t a single wrinkle; her skin was fair and tender.
Combined with her emerald green eyes, her silky black hair, and her overwhelming ‘Ara-Ara Onee-san’ aura, she was quite a sight.
Initially, Li Qianqiao felt a little itch in his heart.
Having been single since birth, this was the first time he had been stared at like this.
However, his distraction only lasted a moment before he immediately snapped back to reality.
After all, in a true man’s eyes, transforming into a cool mecha armor is far more attractive than a woman!
Even though Li Qianqiao had possessed the Faiz Gear for a while now, he still couldn’t get enough of it.
He carried it with him all day and even slept with it next to his pillow at night.
“Is 18 supposed to be big?”
“Eh, so you were talking about age, Auntie? I thought you meant that size…”
“…”
Sarah was left completely speechless by Li Qianqiao’s thick skin.
So that’s the size you were referring to!
“Shameless!”
“Call me what you want. Alright, enough small talk. I ask, you answer. If you don’t talk, I can’t guarantee what kind of videos might end up on certain sketchy websites tomorrow, Mrs. Neighbor’s Wife~”
Sarah looked displeased, but given the current situation, she had no choice but to cooperate, so she stayed silent.
“Very good. A wise man submits to circumstances. First: those two guys who transformed into Orphnochs. You sent them?”
“Orphnoch… Orpheus. I didn’t think you’d have such a knack for naming things. Yes, I ordered them. Though we usually prefer to call them ‘Evolvers’ .”
(Translator’s Note: There is also a character in Zenless Zone Zero with the name Orpheus—fully Orpheus “Orphie” Magnusson. But since the this fanfic was released long time ago before Orpheus got released officially, so the mentioned Orpheus is not something related to Orpheus in Zenless Zone Zero but more like a reference related to the fact that the term Orphnoch in Kamen Rider 555/Faiz is derived from combination of the Greek mythological figure Orpheus and the biblical figure Enoch.)
“Call them whatever you want! I just want to know, do you know their direct superior?”
Li Qianqiao grabbed Sarah’s collar, his tone turning fierce, “You’d better tell me, otherwise…”
Just as Li Qianqiao was about to further threaten Sarah, he heard cheers coming from behind.
Turning around, he saw Nicole breaking free from the cheering crowd and hurriedly running towards him.
“Little Li, are… are you playing some weird kind of roleplay?”
Nicole was full of joy and about to greet Li Qianqiao, but at a glance, she saw their intimate posture—their bodies were practically pressed together!
Her eyes shifted away unnaturally, especially when she looked at Sarah tied up in ropes.
She looked way too seductive.
What if this corrupts the kids?!
“Ahaha, I didn’t see anything! Y-You guys keep playing. Hahaha~” Nicole looked up at the sky, laughing dryly as she pretended to just be passing by.
Li Qianqiao helplessly let go of Sarah’s collar and pointed at himself.
“Nicole, please look carefully. I haven’t even cancelled my transformation yet. Why would I be playing some weird roleplay right now?”
“Anyway, why did you run over here in such a rush?”
This reminded Nicole.
She excitedly slapped Li Qianqiao on the back, loudly praising him, “Little Li, we really owe you this time! After we escorted the residents out, we found Nekomata at the exit. When I heard you single-handedly wiped out Vision’s entire squad, I was absolutely thrilled!”
“I didn’t realize you cared about me so much, Nicole…”
“If it wasn’t for you, and Nekomata got killed, who was going to pay my commission fees?!”
Li Qianqiao ( •́ω•̀ ): “…Classic you.”
“Looks like our backup has arrived.”
Nicole crossed her arms, resting them beneath her formidable ‘assets’, and looked at Li Qianqiao.
“I figured that Vision Corporation wouldn’t just surrender quietly, so the moment we exited the Hollow, I contacted Belobog Heavy Industries.”
“Even though you ended up dealing with Vision Corporation yourself, this is a good outcome too. By the way, aren’t you going to undo your transformation?”
Smiling under his helmet, Li Qianqiao held onto the silent Sarah.
“No, I need to keep an eye on her so she doesn’t pull any more stunts.”
In a blind spot outside of Li Qianqiao’s vision, the corners of Sarah’s mouth curled up into a strange smirk.
……
“We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news! Vision Corporation’s disregard for human life exposed in a shocking scandal!”
That notoriously sharp-tongued news reporter everyone knew had also arrived at the scene.
He was currently giving a passionate commentary to the camera, along with…
“And the encirclement of a wanted criminal with an astronomical bounty! Yes, it’s the mysterious man in the bizarre armor standing right behind me!”
Every gun instantly pointed at a deeply confused Li Qianqiao.
“Just moments ago, a shocking arrest warrant appeared on the official Public Security website, featuring a massive bounty of 8 million Dennies!”
“According to Officer Bringer, during a recent Hollow investigation by Public Security, an individual deliberately ambushed their forces, causing massive casualties and property damage!”
“Following a thorough investigation, the traces left by the culprit bear a striking resemblance to the armored mystery man who went viral on the Inter-Knot recently!”
“Because the video didn’t capture the suspect’s true face, and all the Public Security Officers and Hollow Investigators who encountered this criminal tragically lost their lives in the line of duty…”
Saying this, the reporter whipped out a printed wanted poster, shoved it toward the camera lens, and yelled at the top of his lungs:
“Therefore, this is a [bleep] even more evil than a demon! Please remember, citizens of New Eridu: We will never forget our fallen heroes! And we will certainly never forget the most heinous scumbag in New Eridu’s history!”
Crash!
The water glass in Wise’s hand shattered fiercely against the floor.
As he watched the news broadcast, a wave of immense panic overwhelmed his heart, draining every ounce of color from his face.
Completely ignoring the broken glass on the floor, he sprinted over the shards toward Belle!
“Belle! Something terrible has happened!”
The television continued its broadcast…
“That concludes our breaking news report. Stick with me for more exclusive updates!”
With those final words, the broadcast voice ceased, leaving only the image of the wanted poster on the screen.
It was a photo of Li Qianqiao in the Faiz armor.