"No—!"
As March 7th and Firefly watched helplessly as Stelle's body dissolved into a pool of liquid memoria, in that instant, boundless regret surged from the depths of their hearts.
If the two of them hadn't been bickering over trivial matters in such a dangerous place, if they had been a bit more vigilant…
"This is bad…"
Nearby, Black Swan, who had been observing, let out a soft sigh. A card materialized in her hand, and the surrounding memoria began to distort—
Only Mila, who witnessed it all, remained unfazed, seemingly indifferent.
"Wahahahaha—Gotcha!"
Capitalist Bird flapped its wings in the air, laughing triumphantly: "Losers, you're all losers, hahahaha—"
"…Heh, SAM armor, combine."
At that moment, Firefly suddenly let out a cold laugh. Her eyes were filled with an unprecedented madness, and the light sword in her hand transformed into a palm-sized device.
"…Stelle is gone, and I no longer care about right or wrong."
"Little bird, do your best to survive."
Click, click—
A scorching heat rose, flames enveloping Firefly's body. Moments later, a towering silver mech appeared in everyone's view, exuding white steam and flames, looking incredibly dazzling.
"This is… that SAM from the Stellaron Hunters?" March 7th stared at the mech beside her in shock, her heart reeling.
If she had learned this a few minutes ago, she would've happily dragged Stelle to play around with it for half the night. But now… she only hoped this thing could be stronger, strong enough to physically avenge Stelle.
"That's it?" Capitalist Bird sneered disdainfully: "What's that supposed to do? You think you can take me with that little toy? What a joke!"
"I could buy a whole pile of those with pocket change!"
Firefly ignored it, silently stacking buffs. Cyan flames erupted from the mech as it entered "Complete Combustion" mode.
Capitalist Bird glanced at it: "Is that all?"
But the mech's transformation continued. Soon, a truck cab emerged from nowhere, transforming into chest armor.
Capitalist Bird: "? Where'd this off-field support come from, cheep?"
Firefly: "Heh, isn't pairing a skirt with a four-dimensional pocket standard tech? You don't even know that?"
Firefly: "…Oh, right, I forgot. Sitting high on your golden throne, creatures like you have long since left the world of ordinary people!"
More transforming mechs began merging with "SAM"—a red sedan, a blue police car, a red-and-yellow Iron Man, a blue motorcycle called "XX Bunny," a white-based Gundam…
Including SAM itself, a total of twelve mechs fused into one, forming a "Super SAM" with a timer on its chest.
"Now… I lack nothing!"
"This, this…"
When Capitalist Bird saw the mech, a trace of panic finally appeared on its usually arrogant face. "You… who the heck are you?"
"To think you could secure the rights to so many in one go?!"
The corner of Firefly's mouth twitched upward, her smile growing more terrifying: "I'm not afraid to tell you, I have a friend with two side gigs."
"One is writing cheats, and the other… is being a pirate emperor."
"She has many names—'Wolfsmile River,' 'PenX Court,' 'GourdX,' 'P, E Warlord'… Need I say more?"
With every word Firefly spoke, Capitalist Bird's body trembled a little more.
As the pet of Penacony's elite capitalists, Capitalist Bird naturally knew what these names represented.
The greatest enemy of capital is free pirates. These things are like weeds—no matter how many lawsuits they file, no matter how fiercely they resist, they sprout up the next day like mushrooms after rain, causing endless trouble for their profits.
"I know I can't defeat you physically with my strength alone, so I've decided to make you suffer in a way that hurts even more."
Firefly said sinisterly: "Now, do you still dare to appear in the same paragraph as me?"
Capitalist Bird panicked: "Wait, what do you mean 'same paragraph'? Hold on, you—don't come any closer!"
With that, it turned and flew, the space ahead of it warping into a passage leading to the outside world.
Firefly: "Hmph, trying to escape?"
"Born for battle…" The mech on Firefly blazed with firelight, every thruster pushed to maximum power.
Capitalist Bird: "Run, you stupid legs, run! This lunatic is catching up!"
"For battle, I live!"
Super SAM went all out, catching up to Capitalist Bird in an instant.
Capitalist Bird screamed in desperation: "No!! I don't want to appear in the same paragraph as you! Get away, get away!!"
Super SAM grabbed the feathers on Capitalist Bird's tail, yanking it down from the sky—
Firefly: "Hahaha… hahahahaha—We've already appeared in two paragraphs together. This copyright fee, you have to pay!"
Capitalist Bird no longer had its lofty demeanor. Now, it was desperate and on the verge of collapse. It was just a capitalist's pet—if it dragged its master into a massive lawsuit and fines for no reason, its bird life would be over!
It had to escape, no matter what!
Super SAM pinned Capitalist Bird down, not attacking, just holding it there.
From the start, Firefly had made up her mind: anything that dared harm her Stelle, whether human or bird, would face the deepest fear in the world!
As everyone knows, the longer you're on screen, the higher the chance of being sued, and the bigger the compensation.
So, Firefly would make sure Capitalist Bird was sued into bankruptcy. She'd make sure this bird never dared call itself "capital" again!
Thus, Capitalist Bird's greatest fear began to unfold, bit by bit:
—Super SAM sat on Capitalist Bird, which struggled desperately but couldn't escape (for a total of one minute and twenty-five seconds).
—Super SAM displayed its full form and Capitalist Bird's full form to the camera (the fourth-dimensional lens), allowing higher-dimensional beings to clearly see both, though most of Super SAM's body was mosaiced.
—Super SAM stuffed a bottle of Sunkiss into Capitalist Bird's hand (Firefly hesitated, worried Sunkiss's copyright might already belong to the enemy, so she switched it to Calibai), and used AI dubbing to deliver the following ad lines:
[Kidney deficiency, sometimes it comes after exhaustion…]
[Lack of energy, feeling like your body's been drained…]
[Is your kidney overdrawn?]
[Use Calibai! Twenty-two herbal ingredients, warming yang, nourishing kidneys, strengthening the foundation!]
[When your kidney's overdrawn, use Calibai! Reclaim what you've lost!]
…
Warm reminder: This chapter has faced dual lawsuits from the Penacony Group and the Interastral Peace Corporation. Viewers are kindly requested to visit XXX for memoria erasure surgery by incineration. Thank you for your cooperation.