Suddenly, Tansy and Rose heard a loud clank behind them.

Both girls instinctively turned around.

A small copper pot rolled across the floor while several silver-colored medicine capsules scattered everywhere.

For a brief second, neither of them understood what they were looking at.

Then their eyes slowly moved upward.

And froze.

Tyler stood there completely naked.

Both Tansy and Rose instantly turned red from head to toe.

"W-What the hell?!" Tansy nearly shouted as she covered her eyes halfway, though not completely.

Rose’s brain seemed to stop functioning altogether as steam practically rose from her face.

"T-Tyler?! Why are you naked?!"

Meanwhile, Tyler himself looked entirely unbothered.

"It also affected the nanobots..." he muttered calmly while examining his arm, as if this was merely a technical inconvenience.

Not even a hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.

The electromagnetic pulse had apparently disrupted the nanobots woven into his clothes, causing the material to completely disintegrate moments earlier.

Unfortunately for the girls...

Tyler didn’t seem remotely concerned about standing there like that.

Tansy quickly grabbed the nearest blanket and threw it at him with full force.

"PUT THAT ON, YOU IDIOT!"

The blanket smacked directly into Tyler’s face.

Rose immediately turned around while covering her burning cheeks with both hands.

"Let him be..." Rose said only to get bonked by her sister.

"Why are you so calm about this?!" Tansy squeaked.

Tyler pulled the blanket off his head and blinked.

"...Should I be panicking?"

"Yes!" both girls shouted simultaneously.

Outside, the pod slowly descended toward danger.

But inside the room—

An entirely different kind of chaos had begun.

---

Far above the mountains, massive Capital helicarriers arrived.

Gigantic flying warships hovered through the clouds, covered in glowing blue cannons and layered energy shields.

"They’ve arrived," an officer muttered in relief inside the command center.

"Good," the commander replied. "Recover the targets immediately."

But then—

Several rebel jets burst out from the clouds.

Missiles rained downward.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Capital shields activated instantly, forming massive glowing barriers around the carriers.

Explosions lit up the sky.

The air battle began.

Jets twisted through the clouds while lasers and missiles crossed the heavens like meteor showers.

Inside one rebel aircraft, the pilot grinned.

"We can keep them occupied for two minutes."

His communicator crackled.

"Get the targets within those two minutes."

"Understood."

Below them, the emergency pod slowly descended toward the mountains.

Toward the battlefield waiting beneath.

---

Back at the landing site, the pod had already been completely surrounded.

Heavy ACVs formed a steel perimeter around the crash zone while armed rebel vehicles blocked every possible escape route. Headlights illuminated the dark mountain terrain, and the cold night air buzzed with tension.

Dozens of rebels stood outside with guns raised toward the motionless pod.

Some crouched behind armored vehicles while others aimed rocket launchers directly at the capsule.

The crimson symbol of the Embers could be seen painted across their armor and vehicles.

Above them, distant explosions still flashed across the sky as the aerial battle between the Capital and the rebels continued.

The pod slowly touched the ground with a heavy thud.

Hissss—

Steam escaped from its damaged engines.

But the door remained shut.

Inside the cockpit, the Capital personnel looked pale.

"They already surrounded us..."

"We’re finished..."

The female escort gritted her teeth and grabbed the communication device.

"This is Capital property!" the pilot shouted through the external speakers. "Do not interfere with the First Citizen’s authority!"

Outside, several rebels laughed mockingly.

"Authority?" one of them sneered. "You people are about to lose your targets."

Another rebel stepped forward and pointed his rifle at the pod.

"Open the door," he shouted. "Or we’ll blast it open ourselves!"

Inside, one of the operators panicked.

"We can’t! The EMP shut down almost everything!"

"There should still be a manual release system," one rebel outside yelled impatiently.

But before he could finish—

BOOOOM!

The entire pod door exploded outward.

Metal fragments scattered across the ground as smoke poured from the entrance.

Everyone turned toward the person responsible.

A woman lowered the smoking barrel of a heavy weapon resting on her shoulder.

She had short silver hair, sharp eyes, and a grin that made her look more dangerous than the gun itself.

Several rebels stared at her speechlessly.

"...What?" she asked casually.

Then she chuckled.

"This is also a manual way to open the door."

A few rebels burst into laughter.

"Good enough for me!"

"Move!"

"Charge!"

The rebels immediately rushed toward the pod with weapons raised.

Boots thundered against the rocky ground as they stormed forward like a wave.

"They told us to capture them," the man ordered coldly as he moved through the smoking hallway of the pod. "So focus on capturing them. All of them alive if possible."

The rebels behind him immediately nodded.

Beside him, the silver-haired woman excitedly spun her weapon once before resting it over her shoulder.

"Oh~ that Tyler guy was one of our former Embers soldiers, right?" she said with a grin. "He’s pretty handsome. I kinda want to capture him personally."

The man instantly grabbed her shoulder before she could walk ahead.

"No," he said firmly.

She pouted immediately.

"Aww, why?"

"Because you’ll kill them."

"I only kill people accidentally," she replied innocently.

"That’s exactly the problem." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The man sighed deeply before continuing forward.

"Just follow me quietly for once."

The silver-haired woman clicked her tongue but eventually raised both hands dramatically in surrender.

"Fine, fine~ You’re no fun."

The rebels quickly secured the pod section by section. Capital personnel were dragged out, disarmed, and forced onto the ground while armed rebels flooded the corridors.

Soon, they finally arrived before the locked room where Tyler, Rose, and Tansy had supposedly been secured.

The reinforced metal door stood silently before them.

One rebel stepped forward and shouted loudly,

"If any of you are inside, move away from the door! We’re blasting it open!"

No response came.

The man narrowed his eyes.

"Do it."

BOOOOM!

The door exploded inward with a violent blast. Smoke and sparks filled the corridor as pieces of metal crashed onto the floor.

The rebels immediately raised their weapons and rushed their sights toward the room.

Then everyone froze.

The room was empty.

No Tyler.

No Rose.

No Tansy.

Only scattered blankets, a few fallen silver medicine capsules, and flickering lights remained inside.

A heavy silence filled the hallway.

Then—

The silver-haired woman suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! Oh, this is getting interesting!"