The next day,
"The Line 1 tram to Academy City is about to depart. Please mind the closing doors."
Katsura Kotoha stood quietly in front of the tram doors, listening to the announcement from the platform, her head scanning around as if searching for something.
Inside the tram, Makoto Itou, seeing the beautiful girl outside still unwilling to enter, couldn't help but speak up:
"Classmate, the tram is about to leave. You should come in quickly."
"Um… I'm sorry… I'm waiting for someone."
After Katsura Kotoha politely replied, she no longer paid attention to him, instead continuing to look around.
Hiss… As the tram doors closed, Makoto Itou watched, his face full of disappointment, as his goddess's figure gradually disappeared from his sight.
Just as Katsura Kotoha was wondering whether to make a call, a warm large hand patted her right shoulder.
"Kotoha, you're looking around everywhere, are you looking for me?"
Katsura Kotoha, who subconsciously turned her head, looked at the smiling young man in front of her, and a faint smile couldn't help but appear on her slightly melancholic face.
"Lord Chen, I thought you had already left."
Hearing Katsura Kotoha say this, Zhong Chen deliberately leaned close to Katsura Kotoha's right ear and whispered:
"If I had left first, wouldn't someone have been waiting here foolishly?"
Feeling the warmth from beside her ear, Katsura Kotoha's small face instantly flushed, and she lowered her head, muttering softly:
"No… I'm not stupid either…"
Although Katsura Kotoha's voice was very soft, what kind of person was Lord Chen? He could hear you if you muttered something in outer space.
He then shook his head, amused, and reached out his right hand to gently ruffle Katsura Kotoha's small head.
"Mmm mmm mmm… I'm not a child…"
Hearing her murmur, Zhong Chen not only didn't stop but ruffled her hair with even more enthusiasm.
Her normally smooth black long hair was now a mess from Zhong Chen's ruffling.
"Hahaha, Kotoha, your head looks like a bird's nest!"
Hearing Zhong Chen say this, Katsura Kotoha hurriedly took out a small mirror from her schoolbag to check her appearance.
Then she saw her hair all split, and a rare look of anger appeared on her face. She pouted her small mouth and looked at Zhong Chen:
"Moe! Lord Chen, really…"
"Hahaha, sorry, sorry, I really did it on purpose."
Zhong Chen reached out and scratched the back of his head, deliberately showing a simple and honest smile.
Katsura Kotoha, who heard Zhong Chen apologize, decided to forgive him when she heard him say he didn't do it on purpose, as she wasn't truly angry after all.
Huh? Something seems off? Never mind, some details shouldn't be bothered with.
The two of them stood together chatting. Of course, most of it was Zhong Chen talking and Katsura Kotoha listening.
Not far from them, three people were huddled together, furtively staring at the two.
"Lucci, I told you, as long as Lord Chen learns all the knowledge points from the 'Maiden's Heart-Fluttering Diary' I gave him, pursuing a few young girls will be as easy as playing."
Ace, wrapped entirely in a trench coat and wearing sunglasses, was smugly boasting to Rob Lucci beside him.
Rob Lucci put down the binoculars in his hand, gave Ace a disdainful look, and said three words plainly:
"You're single."
Ace, hit where it hurt, immediately flared up, and angrily shouted at Lucci:
"What did you say? I'm single? That's because I don't want to be, alright? Who am I? A senior double agent of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, personally bestowed the codename [Pangolin] by Lord Chen."
"The people who want to pursue me could line up from the Red Line to Academy City, alright?"
Although Ace babbled on and on, Rob Lucci still replied with three words:
"You're single."
"I @##$%^… As if you're not single!"
Hearing this, Katakuri, who couldn't stand it anymore, gently pulled Ace and said plainly, expressionless:
"Lucci has a girlfriend, Kalifa, Chairwoman Shizu's secretary in Academy City. The two of them are old acquaintances."
"What!!! This scoundrel actually got out of being single behind my back!!!"
Ace looked at Rob Lucci with an incredulous expression, noticing the mocking smile on his lips, and for a moment didn't know what to say.
We promised to be single together, we promised to be each other's… Bah, bah, bah… Damn normies!
Suddenly, Ace noticed the expressionless Katakuri, and his heart suddenly lightened. Good, at least someone hadn't betrayed the organization.
Unfortunately, Ace's fantasy was directly shattered by Rob Lucci, who saw through his thoughts.
"You don't need to look at Katakuri, he also has a girlfriend, Domino, the Vice Warden of Impel Down."
"…"
After hearing Rob Lucci's words, Ace fell into a long silence.
"Heh heh, good… very good… too good… truly too good!!! Hahaha! Damn it, just destroy everything!"
Ace, filled with indignation, directly pulled out a horn from his embrace. Just as he was about to blow it, Katakuri snatched it away.
"Ace, the Horn of Doomsday cannot be blown casually. It would be bad if it affected Lord Chen."
The Horn of Doomsday, this was a doomsday weapon issued to the three of them by the Imperial Intelligence Bureau.
Its function was very simple: to directly summon a branch fleet of the Imperial Navy, bringing a Colossus to unleash a Chibaku Tensei on this planet, which could be called the Monster Country Federation's version of the Buster Call.
"Wuwuwu, you traitors, I curse you all to be siblings!"
"You're really vicious, you're single purely because you deserve it. Ms. Rouge introduced so many good girls to you, why didn't you take a liking to any of them?"
Rob Lucci was actually very curious why Ace was still single, when Rouge had introduced quite a few to him.
"Uh… the ones Mother introduced… how should I put it… it's a bit hard to explain, and besides, I have a li… cough cough… never mind."
Rob Lucci, who discovered a slip of the tongue in Ace's words, suddenly had a shiny light bulb appear above his head.
It wasn't a metaphor, it was indeed a shiny light bulb. Not only the strange appearance of the light bulb, but everything around them suddenly became dim, as if the time of the entire world had suddenly paused.
"Crack…"
Just as the three of them, full of vigilance, prepared to protect Zhong Chen, a clear, crisp sound of cracking melon seeds reached their ears.
"Crack…Pooh… Don't just stand there, keep talking! Who is it that you like?!"
Hearing the sound, the vigilance on their faces instantly disappeared. Ace even turned his head helplessly towards the source of the sound.
"Lord Chen, this small matter doesn't require stopping the entire world, does it?"
Zhong Chen, while spitting out melon seed shells, handed the melon seeds in his hand to Lucci and Katakuri. Neither of them refused, taking them and immediately starting to crack them.
Just like that, the three of them, while cracking melon seeds, stared intently at Ace, as if if he didn't explain clearly today, this matter would not be over.
"Alright… I'm really scared of you guys. The person I actually like is…"