"Makino-kun." Miyamoto Kojiro's voice came from the corridor at just the right moment, "One should be gentler to ladies."
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Aya Ikegami stood up and bowed. Compared to the repulsive Makino Tenki, Miyamoto Kojiro, always impeccably dressed in a suit, at least maintained a gentlemanly demeanor on the surface. Although she knew that beneath this politeness lay an equally shrewd calculation.
"Mr. Miyamoto, you've arrived at the perfect time." She used the opportunity of pouring tea to step back to a safe distance. "I heard your family had a remarkable presence during the Chinese delegation's visit?"
Miyamoto Kojiro's smile froze for a moment. That visit was a disaster for all three families—Makino Tenki was crippled, the Miyamoto family's laboratory was attacked, and the Ikegami family... She stole a glance at Makino Tenki's crotch area, and he immediately smashed his teacup in a rage.
"Don't mention Zhang Qian in front of me!" Mu Ye Tianji's face twisted in anger. "When we find him, I'm going to do it myself—"
"Makino-kun," Aya Ikegami interrupted softly, "the tea's getting cold."
The agonizing tea ceremony continued until sunset. After seeing off the two "distinguished guests," Aya Ikegami encountered her father at the corner of the corridor. Ikegami was wearing a traditional dark haori, and his eyes behind his glasses were devoid of warmth.
"The Makino family offered the best terms," he said bluntly, "but the Miyamoto family has the Matsui clan backing them. You know what to do."
Aya Ikegami clutched her sleeve tightly: "Father, I'm only twenty years old, and—"
"And what?" Ikegami sneered. "Don't forget who provided for you, fed you, clothed you, and sent you to study abroad. Daughters of the Ikegami family are born to serve the family."
Moonlight streamed through the lattice windows, casting cold, striped shadows on her father's face. At that moment, Aya Ikegami suddenly realized that in his eyes, she was no different from the genetically modified beings in the lab—just a tool to be used.
A month later, Makino Tenki was completely crippled by Han Feng, and the Matsui family prepared to help the Makino family. At this time, the Ikegami family took the initiative and held a welcoming banquet for the head of the Matsui family. Ikegami Aya, wearing a heavy twelve-layered kimono, sat upright in the main guest seat like a doll. Matsui Takashi—the fat man in his fifties with three gemstone rings on his fingers—was looking at her with the eyes of someone looking at goods.
This is the Matsui family backer that Ikegami Masashi found for Ikegami Aya after learning of Makino Tenki's death.
"I've heard that Miss Aya's pupil technique has reached the highest level in the family?" Matsui Takashi's thick lips revealed smoky, yellowed teeth. "I happen to have a few antique paintings in my residence that I'd like to invite Miss Aya to appreciate them together."
Aya Ikegami nodded mechanically, swallowing the kaiseki meal with a bland taste. Halfway through the banquet, she excused herself to touch up her makeup and fled to the mirror pond deep in the courtyard.
The moon, tinged red by lanterns, was reflected on the water's surface. Aya Ikegami stared at her distorted reflection, suddenly remembering Misaki-sensei's words: "The greatest taboo in illusion is losing one's true self..."
"Found you."
The voice sent a shiver down Aya's spine. Mu Xiaoxiao appeared in the shadows of the corridor at some point, still dressed in a black leather jacket, twirling the Blue Moon badge between her fingers.
"How have you been lately?" Mu Xiaoxiao approached, her pupils gleaming an unnatural blue in the moonlight. "I heard you're going to be sent to that old lecher in a couple of days?"
Aya Ikegami's nails dug into her palm: "You're spying on me?"
"It's out of concern," Mu Xiaoxiao chuckled. "The Moon Goddess Organization can help you advance your illusion techniques even further. Just imagine, at that point, not only the Matsui family, but the entire hidden families of R country will have to defer to you."
The moon's reflection on the water suddenly shattered—it was Aya Ikegami's tears that fell. She remembered Makino Tenki's disgusting touch, Miyamoto Kojiro's hypocritical smile, and her father's cruel orders...
"Why did you help me?" she asked, her eyes filled with tears.
Mu Xiaoxiao's smile widened: "Because your eyes... are the 'Moon Eyes,' a rare beauty found only once in a century." She leaned down and whispered in Chi Shangling's ear, "They'll probably make their move tomorrow. If you've thought it through, come to our usual coffee shop. I'll pick you up."
A commotion arose from the direction of the banquet hall; Chi Shang was searching for her. Mu Xiaoxiao's figure vanished like mist, leaving only the Blue Moon Badge lying on the corridor floor.
Aya Ikegami picked up the badge and twirled it in the moonlight. The inscription on the back of the badge emerged in the moonlight:
The next morning, the maid found a neatly folded twelve-layered kimono in Aya Ikegami's room, and the Ikegami family crest lying quietly on the dressing table.
In the waiting room, Aya Ikegami stared at her newly issued passport—"Aya Smith"—the girl in the photo had an empty gaze, like a doll. Outside the window, the engines of a private jet began to roar.
"Reluctant to part with it?" Mu Xiaoxiao handed over a glass of champagne, the blue crescent moon pattern on her nails shimmering eerily under the light.
Aya Ikegami shook her head; the layers of constraints of her twelve-layered kimono had long since been replaced by a sharp black suit. Last night, as she fled, she took one last look back at the Ikegami family mansion, that gilded cage-like "home."
"Very good." Mu Xiaoxiao took a sip of her drink. "Once you arrive in the US, you will witness true power."
As the plane pierced through the clouds, Aya Ikegami had a long dream. In her dream, she stood by a mirror pond, and the reflection in the water suddenly transformed into countless faces—her father's stern one, Makino Tenki's lewd one, Matsui Takashi's greedy one... until finally, they all twisted into Mu Xiaoxiao's ambiguous smile.
"We've arrived."
Mu Xiaoxiao's voice startled her awake. Outside the porthole was the night view of the east coast of the United States, with countless lights cascading across the land like a galaxy. But the most striking sight was a strangely shaped black building in the distance—it looked as if it were pieced together from countless irregular crystals, gleaming with a metallic sheen under the moonlight.
"That is..."
"Moon Goddess Headquarters." A fervent glint flashed in Mu Xiaoxiao's eyes. "Welcome to the new world, Ling."
Upon disembarking, they were greeted by a team of fully armed guards. Aya Ikegami noticed that these people all had an unnatural blue halo around their pupils, just like Mu Xiaoxiao. The convoy drove towards the crystal building, passing checkpoints that used some kind of biometric technology, with guards scanning their irises against a blue crystal.
Upon entering the main building, Aya Ikegami's pupil technique was unconsciously activated—the spatial structure here completely defied common sense; the corridors twisted into unbelievable angles at times, and the light sources on the ceiling resembled suspended celestial bodies. Most unsettlingly, the seemingly decorative patterns on the walls appeared to be slowly writhing upon close inspection.
"These are..."
"A living structure," Mu Xiaoxiao explained proudly. "Technology from extraterrestrial forces; its form changes according to the user's needs."
They finally arrived at a circular hall. In the center floated a two-meter-tall blue crystal, within which cloud-like matter slowly rotated. Aya Ikegami's moon-like eyes suddenly stung, and countless overlapping images appeared in her vision—war, starry skies, destruction...
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