Inside Amestris City, the streets were heavy with silence.

Nijisha led her team through the narrow alleys, their footsteps echoing faintly behind the floating corpse of their captain. Her emerald eyes stayed lowered, her face expressionless, but inside she was seething. The faint, warm scent of roasted sweet potatoes drifted toward her from ahead — a cruel reminder of the very thing that annoyed her most.

He's eating again… she thought bitterly. Even now, he still has the appetite for roasted sweet potatoes.

She had long known the captain's fondness for that smell — ever since their days stationed at Black Tortoise.

Suddenly—

Ta! Ta! Ta!

A sound of hurried footsteps came from the rooftops. A black-robed man leapt down, landing lightly before the floating corpse. His cloak rippled with the night wind.

"Master Fuzi, the dungeon has been breached," he reported, bowing low.

The captain's hollow, raspy voice came from within the decaying flesh. "Who escaped?"

"Yanlu," the man replied solemnly.

At the name, Fuzi frowned, his voice dry and cracked. "Why does that name sound… familiar?"

Behind him, Nijisha's pupils contracted sharply. Her lips pressed together, trembling slightly.

She didn't need to think twice. Of course it's them.

Only Yanlu's companions would risk everything to rescue her. No one else dared to oppose Fuzi.

But even for them, to break through the dungeon guard and escape… that was something she hadn't expected.

A small part of her chest loosened. Good… she's free.

If Yanlu had truly escaped, then at least Nijisha would not bear the sin of killing her friend.

"Master Captain," she said after a pause, stepping forward. "Yanlu was a defector captured a few days ago. I was waiting for your judgment, but… she managed to escape."

"I remember now," Fuzi murmured, nodding slowly. "I didn't expect her to survive this long."

His dull, glassy eyes swept toward Nijisha, and though his tone was even, she could feel it—something probing beneath the surface. The weight of his gaze made her neck stiffen.

She quickly lowered her head.

That look… it was as if he could see straight into her heart.

"Go," Fuzi rasped to the black-robed man. "Send others to capture them. This time, I'll send a stronger squad of ghosts. No more failures."

"Yes, Master." The man bowed and retreated into the darkness.

"Go, all of you," Fuzi added faintly. He raised the roasted sweet potato in his hand, glancing at it as though the interruption had ruined his meal. "I'll handle this matter. I'll send the ghosts myself to ensure no information leaks — especially with a Tier Eight power lurking outside Amestris City."

"Yes, sir," Nijisha replied softly.

She bowed, watching as Fuzi's corpse floated away into the mist. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

She didn't dare let even a flicker of hatred show.

One trace of emotion — a heartbeat too loud, a breath too fast — and Fuzi would notice. And once he did, poison or punishment would follow without hesitation.

When he was gone, one of her team members broke the silence. "Captain… what should we do now?"

Another sighed. "Our roasted sweet potatoes… gone again."

"Don't worry," Nijisha said, forcing a faint smile. "We'll have another chance."

The girls around her nodded reluctantly. All of them — every single one — knew the truth of this place. They had been changed, experimented on, turned into half-living, half-dead weapons under Fuzi's hand.

Now, they only had one goal left.

Revenge.

One of the girls, her eyes shadowed but steady, said in a low voice, "It's fine. I've got thirty-five days left before ghosting."

The others fell silent.

She had tried to defect fifteen days ago, only to be caught in the last five. Her execution had been delayed only because Fuzi found her "useful." Now, the five-day trial period before her complete transformation into a ghost had begun.

"…I see," Nijisha murmured. Her throat tightened.

She herself still had one year left. One year to live — one year to plan an assassination that might never succeed.

"Don't look so sad," the girl said softly, smiling as though death were nothing. "I'd rather die than become one of those monsters."

Then she looked up, a spark of mischief breaking through her melancholy. "Oh, Captain — before I die, can we go to Black Tortoise again? I want to eat roasted sweet potatoes one last time."

For a moment, Nijisha couldn't speak.

Then she nodded, her voice quiet but firm. "Tomorrow, we'll go to Black Tortoise City. We'll eat roasted sweet potatoes together."

Her team smiled — weary, fragile smiles filled with a bittersweet light.

"Yeah! Captain's the best!" one of them said, throwing her arms around Nijisha.

Nijisha froze. She felt something cold and wet against her chest — silent tears.

No one wanted to die. No one wanted to become a monster.

But there were things they could no longer run from.

She patted the girl's back gently. "Let's go back and rest."

The group walked through the quiet inner city, returning to their small courtyard. Since being taken to Amestris, they had lived side by side — trained, fought, and bled together.

They were sisters, bound not by blood, but by pain.

Meanwhile, Fuzi drifted through the fog-covered streets toward his private courtyard, the faint glow of his soul-fire flickering within his hollowed eyes.

When he arrived, the front gate was ajar.

He stopped. His expression darkened.

He distinctly remembered giving orders — no one was to enter this place.

Slowly, he pushed open the door. The hinges creaked. Inside, the main house stood open, and his study lay in chaos. Scrolls and papers were scattered across the floor. The smell of chemicals and dried blood mixed in the air.

Fuzi's eyes widened.

His research samples — the insects he'd been cultivating for his next generation of poisonous beasts — were gone.

Rage flared like fire.

"Who is it?!" he roared, his voice shaking the walls.

Someone had dared to steal from him. To touch his work.

He clenched his claws, his entire body trembling with fury.

"Was it another city's agent? Or…" His voice lowered to a whisper. "…has the Strange Ghost project been exposed?"

Either way, it couldn't be ignored.

He stormed out of the courtyard, his floating corpse cutting through the air like a wraith. He would summon his elite ghosts — track the intruders, rip them apart, and reclaim what was his.

At that very moment, Nijisha and her team had just returned to their own quarters.

Before they reached the gate, Fuzi's furious roar echoed through the streets:

"Who is it?! Who stole from me?!"

The shout shook the courtyard walls.

The girls exchanged uneasy glances.

"What happened to that monster?" one whispered.

"Maybe he slipped and fell," another muttered darkly.

A few giggles escaped despite themselves.

"Heh… maybe."

"Should we go look?"

Nijisha frowned, then shook her head. "Forget it. Don't get close. If he sees you, he'll kill someone just to vent his anger."

"You're right. That pervert would," one girl agreed bitterly.

"Still, what could've been stolen?"

"Who'd even dare?"

"Enough," Nijisha interrupted quietly. "Don't talk about it. Keep your voices down."

They nodded, falling silent. The courtyard gate creaked shut behind them. One by one, the team drifted back to their rooms, exhausted.

Nijisha lingered a moment, watching the pale moonlight spill through the cracks in the wall. Then she entered her own room.

The air felt… wrong.

Her instincts flared. Someone was here.

Her eyes darted toward the bed — there, a slight dent in the mattress. Someone had been sitting there recently.

Without a sound, she closed the door, her muscles coiling, ready to strike.

A familiar voice came softly from the shadows.

"It's me."

A shimmer in the air, and Yanlu's figure appeared, her form fading out of stealth. Her violet eyes glowed faintly in the dim light.

"Yanlu?" Nijisha whispered, her shock breaking through her composure. "Why are you here?"

"I came to find you."

Her voice was steady, but her eyes held something deeper — sorrow, determination, maybe both.

"What are you thinking?" Nijisha hissed, glancing toward the window. "Amestris City is too dangerous. You and your companions need to leave now, before he—"

"I came to take you with me," Yanlu interrupted gently.

Nijisha froze. Then she shook her head, her silver teeth clenched. "Don't be ridiculous. I won't leave. Not until I've had my revenge."

"I have a way," Yanlu said, her tone urgent. "A way to delay the ghosting. For everyone."

Nijisha's expression hardened. "You're lying."

"I'm not," Yanlu said. "You've heard of Angel Wings, haven't you?"

The name hit Nijisha like lightning. Her eyes widened. "You… found it?"

"Yes," Yanlu nodded. "Not with my own eyes, but my companion saw it. It's real."

Silence filled the small room.

Nijisha's breath came shallow. If it's true… if Angel Wings really exists… then maybe—

She bit her lip, voice trembling. "I want to see it. I won't believe until I see it myself."

"I'll take you," Yanlu said softly, rising to her feet. "I'll be waiting outside the city."

Then, before Nijisha could answer, she vanished into the shadows again, leaving the faintest ripple of energy in the air.

Nijisha stood alone, her hand pressed against her chest.

Her heart pounded painfully.

She looked toward the window — toward the distant walls of Amestris City, beyond which her friend was waiting.

She didn't know whether to call it hope or betrayal.

But for the first time in a long while… she wanted to believe.

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