Super Soldier in the City

Chapter 2436 - 2500: Reiko’s Change

Aoki Reiko woke up and opened her eyes. What she saw was not an unfamiliar scene; it was her bedroom. This villa was also located in the Chiyoda Ward, one of the 23 districts of Tokyo, known for its affluent neighborhoods. Of course, this was just one of the properties owned by Aoki Reiko. Aoki Ryota had prepared houses for his daughter all over Japan, and even around the world, there were many properties.Aoki Reiko would occasionally stay here, so she was familiar with the room’s layout. Seeing the familiar scene, Aoki Reiko did not feel happy. On the contrary, she felt a sharp pain in her heart. As she awoke, her consciousness returned, and all the previous events surfaced again—from receiving news about Mr. Mu Fei to the final moment when the other person knelt in front of her and admitted in person that he was an impostor.

The more Aoki Reiko recalled, the more her heart ached with intense pain, and tears began to fall silently. There’s nothing wrong with loving someone, and she had become accustomed to this one-sided longing, this one-sided love, but she could not endure the feeling of being deceived.

Aoki Reiko obviously found it hard to accept this reality. It was as if, in a long dream, a bright light suddenly appeared in the darkness, but when you reached out to touch it, you found that the so-called light was just a glow from a firefly, and with a poke of your finger, that small glow vanished.

If there had never been any hope, then hope would not matter. But this time, it was that person who appeared in a despicable way, forcibly opening a window, only to quickly seal the room again.

Footsteps sounded outside. Aoki Reiko didn’t look; she seemed not to care at all who was coming in.

The footsteps approached, and Li Yifei pushed the door open and came in. He saw that Aoki Reiko’s eyes were open but staring blankly at the ceiling, seemingly unfocused. He sighed inwardly. Aoki Reiko’s body had nothing wrong, at most a bit of mental exhaustion, so having her rest was good. But he hadn’t expected her to be like this upon waking.

In fact, this was the third time Li Yifei had come in, and each time, Aoki Reiko’s condition was the same. As the initiator, he felt very empathetic.

Heartbreak, those heavy words unfolded. Li Yifei was no stranger to heartbreak; it was an indescribable pain.

He walked to the bedside. Although Aoki Reiko’s eyes were open, there was no change, as if she couldn’t see him. Li Yifei sat down and gently said, "Reiko, Kawako just made some delicious food. Would you like to eat something?"

The first time, Aoki Reiko didn’t respond. Li Yifei softly repeated, and after a while, Aoki Reiko suddenly asked, "How did that person know this information?"

Her voice was cold, instantly reminding Li Yifei of the scenario when they first met. Li Yifei replied, "His friend visited your home, applied for the Huaxia Language Teacher position, and then used hacker techniques to break into your computer and saw some things, which is why he had malicious intent!"

Upon hearing this, Aoki Reiko’s eyes immediately welled up again. She understood the reason, making her even sadder. Hence, the impostor had nothing to do with the real Mr. Mu Fei.

"Yifei, might he be lying? Wasn’t he sent by Mr. Mu Fei on purpose, just to make me give up?" A while later, Aoki Reiko suddenly said.

This... Li Yifei found it difficult to answer. If he denied it, Aoki Reiko might become even more saddened. He whispered, "Reiko, don’t overthink it. It’s not as bad as it seems. This has nothing to do with Mr. Mu Fei. It’s completely Zhang Dabao’s fault. He harbored evil thoughts and wanted to impersonate, precisely exploiting your feelings for Mr. Mu Fei, so it’s not your fault. You don’t need to be sad. Besides, even if there is something to say, you can entirely blame the other party, not..."

"How did you handle him?"

"I punished him a bit," Li Yifei said.

"I want to know."

"Alright, I just turned him into an idiot. After all, he’s Huaxia People. I didn’t kill him!"

Aoki Reiko nodded and said, "Too light."

Too light, meaning she was unsatisfied. Even turning him into an idiot wasn’t enough; did it mean she wanted him killed outright? Li Yifei was slightly surprised, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Aoki Reiko. It was then he noticed her expression and demeanor, as well as her tone, were all off, as if... she had really returned to the cold state from their first meeting. No, she was even colder than back then because now Aoki Reiko’s tone had a hint of murderous intent.

This change surprised Li Yifei. He could hardly imagine the gentle-natured Aoki Reiko would say such things, showing her anger at Zhang Dabao, or perhaps... Aoki Reiko’s personality had changed due to this deception incident.

This was not a good thing. Li Yifei immediately became alert. Even as a friend, he didn’t wish for Aoki Reiko’s personality to change like this; it was not a good transformation.

Looking at Aoki Reiko, Li Yifei felt a trace of killing intent. Killing intent is a mysterious thing, and for someone like Li Yifei, it’s all over him, but... sensing it from an ordinary person didn’t seem right to Li Yifei.

He reached out and held Aoki Reiko’s hand, but it was icy cold. Li Yifei said, "Reiko, you needn’t worry about this. I’ve already punished that man. Rest for a few days!"

"I’m fine now, thank you, Yifei!" Aoki Reiko said as she pulled her hand away from Li Yifei’s and added, "You and Miss Yanzi go ahead and handle your own affairs."

Was she issuing an invitation to leave? Li Yifei wasn’t exactly upset but felt that Aoki Reiko’s state was extremely abnormal. Thinking about the many stories and news he had seen on the internet about people heartbroken choosing suicide or other extreme actions, Li Yifei did not believe Aoki Reiko would do such things, yet her changes...

"Reiko, we’re good friends, aren’t we?" Li Yifei sighed deeply and asked.

Aoki Reiko acted like she didn’t hear, her eyes seeming puzzled again.

Half an hour later, Li Yifei exited Aoki Reiko’s room and closed the door. He rubbed his face with his hands. In that half-hour, he tried several ways to communicate with Aoki Reiko, but the effects were minimal. It could even be said to have almost no effect; Aoki Reiko seemed unconcerned about anything except feeling that Zhang Dabao’s punishment was too light. She showed little reaction to anything else Li Yifei mentioned, causing him some concern that any severe change in Aoki Reiko’s disposition due to this incident would make him a sinner.

The Holy Maiden was in her room. Seeing Li Yifei with furrowed brows, she got up and walked over, asking, "Is Reiko’s condition not good?"

"Not just bad, it’s terrible," Li Yifei sighed and recounted what had happened.

The Holy Maiden shook her head and sighed, saying, "I’ve advised you many times similarly, but you didn’t listen. Of course, I understand your approach!" With that, the Holy Maiden could only be silent for now. Aoki Reiko seemed to have undergone a significant personality change due to this matter, and Li Yifei wanted to maintain his boundaries and not bring more sisters into the family. If he doesn’t change his mind, he might have to watch Aoki Reiko go through a monumental transformation.

This seemed like a deadlock. Li Yifei gripped his hair and sighed, "Let’s see. If it really comes to that... I’ll reveal myself."

"Yifei, I have only one thing to say: feelings can never be forced. Like is like, and dislike is dislike. If you like her, you can do that. If you truly don’t wish to, and don’t like her, there’s no need for such actions, for the life and death of someone irrelevant to you doesn’t matter." The Holy Maiden now said sternly, "Now you must ask yourself, do you like Aoki Reiko?"

Do I like her? Li Yifei asked himself. The answer was undoubtedly yes, he did like Aoki Reiko, but should he really reveal his identity?

Of course, it wasn’t something others could decide for him. Li Yifei, if he came around, could make that decision on his own; no one else could do it for him...

A day later, Li Yifei hadn’t seen any improvement in Aoki Reiko. Though she ate meals normally, she didn’t communicate with Li Yifei, the Holy Maiden, or even Suzuki Kawako, and after finishing, she returned to her room without sleeping or doing anything else at all.

This wasn’t normal, not at all. Occasionally dazing off could be understandable, but behaving like this repeatedly just wasn’t right. Especially since Aoki Reiko often stared blankly with unfocused eyes as tears rolled down silently. Li Yifei was very concerned she might develop a mental illness.

Once a mental illness sets in, it’s irreversible. So Li Yifei knew he had to do something. He couldn’t just stand by and watch Aoki Reiko sink into depression or even develop a mental illness.

Matters here also needed to be resolved quickly. Now Huaxia and the Holy War Organization were declaring war against Noah’s Ark, and no one knew when a major battle might occur. Li Yifei and the Holy Maiden were both carrying the Kill Order on them. Considering these factors, extensive contact with Aoki Reiko and others was absolutely not a good idea.

But... just when Li Yifei decided to reveal himself, he remembered the connections between the Aoki Group and Noah’s Ark. The former provided raw materials to the latter, and how much sin was involved in this cooperation with the Aoki Group?

Did Aoki Reiko truly know nothing? If she knew, why didn’t she speak out, or was she waiting for him to bring it up voluntarily?

Li Yifei fell into contemplation. As he furrowed his brow deep in thought, a car engine roared from outside, followed by Suzuki Kawako’s voice calling from downstairs: "Yifei! Reiko just left in a car!"

"What?" At this, Li Yifei rushed to the window just in time to see a sports car roaring away. Why on earth would Aoki Reiko drive off suddenly? And evidently without notifying anyone. Li Yifei quickly pushed open the window and jumped down, shouting, "I’m going after her."

Landing on the ground, Li Yifei sprang into action, increasing his speed to its maximum. Of course, he didn’t expect to catch up to a high-performance sports car on foot, even though, here, the car couldn’t reach maximum speed.

With a few swift moves, he reached the garage, where he located another sports car to pursue her.