Inside the palace.
The sounds of objects shattering rang out one after another.
Syura's face was dark as he roared in fury,
"Damn it! That bastard! How dare he! How dare he!!"
His voice, now slightly shrill, echoed throughout the room.
It constantly reminded Syura of exactly what he had lost.
A nameless rage burned in his heart, and he let out an almost hysterical howl.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"
Outside the door, the maids all stood silent as cicadas in winter. The atmosphere was so heavy it was terrifying.
In the outer courtyard, Izou leaned against the railing, Kousetsu in his arms.
The palace had excellent soundproofing. Lost in his own thoughts, he had heard none of the commotion.
Syura had no intention of letting anyone know that he had been castrated.
If word got out, it would undoubtedly affect his prestige.
That was why Izou and the others assigned to guard him remained outside.
Of course, no one really cared much about Syura's physical condition.
At most, Enshin might feel a little regretful at losing a good friend to "play" with.
Syura was still placing his hopes on Dorothea and Stylish, hoping they could help him reclaim his manhood.
However, the injuries to his lower body were severe, and he still needed time to recuperate.
"Huff... Huff... That bastard did it on purpose. Was it really just to teach me a lesson?"
There was something suspicious about the whole thing. Syura quietly pondered Uesugi Ryu's true intentions.
After thinking for a while, Syura licked his dry lips.
To avoid urinating, he had deliberately reduced his water intake.
Feeling the urge, Syura called a maid into the room.
He had several broken ribs and still could not move freely.
Naturally, he needed someone to assist him.
The sound of flowing water filled the room.
A horrifying pain shot through him, and Syura's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
He sucked in a sharp breath as sweat poured down his forehead.
Suddenly, Syura turned to glare at the maid beside him. He felt that the look in her eyes was somehow strange.
"You bitch, are you laughing at me?"
The maid trembled violently and immediately dropped to her knees.
Over the past few days, Syura had already beaten more than three maids to death.
Slapping herself repeatedly, she begged for mercy.
"Please spare me, Master Syura. Please, Master Syura..."
Syura lost interest and barked,
"Get out!"
The maid's face was already swollen beyond recognition.
Hearing that, relief flashed across her eyes, and she scrambled out of the room on all fours.
....
Jaegers Headquarters
Esdeath had gone to meet with Honest to discuss strategies for dealing with Night Raid.
The enemy clearly had another objective, and the two needed to discuss how to respond.
After a long day, everyone was resting.
Wave and Seryu felt they had not contributed much, so they were preparing dinner in the kitchen.
Seryu plucked a lettuce leaf and held it out to Koro.
Tentatively, she asked,
"Koro, want some?"
Come to think of it, she had always fed Koro criminals. She had no idea whether Koro even ate vegetables.
"No. No!" (＞人＜;)
Koro crossed his paws over his chest, lifted his chin, and wore an expression of utter disdain.
With a flick of his knife, Wave sent a translucent slice of Danger Beast fish neatly onto a plate filled with ice.
He looked at Seryu helplessly.
"Seryu, stop feeding Koro and help out already."
Seryu gave an embarrassed smile.
"Ah. Ah. Sorry, sorry..."
She quickly tore apart the lettuce and placed it onto a plate.
Koro stared at the Danger Beast sashimi on the cutting board, drool unconsciously dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing that, Wave picked up a slice and fed it to Koro.
After Koro swallowed it, Wave waved him off.
"Alright, go play with Kurome."
"With you here, Seryu can't get any work done."
Koro swallowed the sashimi.
He nodded obediently and reluctantly backed out of the kitchen.
Kurome was reclining tiredly on the sofa, her legs wrapped in thick black stockings, one foot resting atop the other.
"Kurome-chan, your tea and snacks are here."
Bols placed the tray beside the sofa.
Steam rose gently from the hot tea.
He then unfolded the bRanket draped over his arm and carefully laid it over Kurome.
As the bRanket brushed against her ankles,
Kurome unconsciously drew back her legs, the soft rustle of stockings against leather filling the air.
She looked up at Bols and smiled faintly.
"Thank you, Mr. Bols."
Bols adjusted the bRanket neatly and suggested,
"Kurome-chan, you should get some rest. It'll be a while before dinner."
Kurome shook her head and took a gentle sip of tea.
"No, Woll isn't fully repaired yet."
"If I fall asleep, Yatsufusa's ability will automatically be canceled."
Bols scratched the back of his head and gRanced toward the tightly shut door of the nearby room.
"I see. Then it can't be helped."
"Though, from those sounds, is Doctor pRanning to replace the arm with a mechanical one?"
Temporary Laboratory
Woll sat in a chair, several drops of blood splattering across his sunglasses.
His left arm had been completely removed, blood continuously dripping from the wound.
The droplets fell into the basin below with soft plops.
Woll's elbow had been severely damaged, with only flesh still connecting it.
The bone was essentially shattered. Even if it were sewn back together, its functionality would be greatly diminished.
It was far better to amputate it cleanly at the shoulder and replace it with a mechanical arm.
Stylish used Hand of God to slightly modify the severed joint, turning it into a precise socket-like interface.
Uesugi Ryu approached, carrying a mechanical arm gleaming with a dark red and black metallic luster.
A series of crisp clicking sounds rang out as the mechanisms locked into place.
Woll clenched his new fist, and wisps of steam hissed from the seams.
Uesugi Ryu snapped his fingers, admiring the metal arm.
"Masterpiece."
Stylish nodded as well, hugging himself in delight.
"What a stylish machine. It's beautiful."
Yatsufusa's puppets could still understand simple commands.
Stylish then directed Woll through several basic weapon tests.
Woll's left mechanical arm instantly unfolded, revealing countless gun barrels.
A bright red glow emerged from his left shoulder, accompanied by the hum of gathering energy.
"Stop!"
The arm folded back into its original shape. Then it was Uesugi Ryu's turn to demonstrate.
Woll closed his mechanical hand and pressed the switch embedded in his palm.
A dark red shield with a narrow hexagonal structure appeared in his grasp.
At the top of the shield was a 25mm barrel, while the shield itself measured roughly sixty-five centimeters in length.
Watching this, Stylish covered his mouth lightly with one hand.
His painted fingernails gleamed brightly under the laboratory lights.
"Amazing technology. That material called Kagune truly has extraordinary flexibility."
Then Stylish turned to Uesugi Ryu.
"Thank you for the trouble, Vice-Captain. I owed Kurome-chan this favor, after all."
"I was just experimenting."
Uesugi Ryu chuckled softly.
He had simply been itching to use alchemy. Crafting alchemical items was one of its applications.
The mechanical arm's core was built using Stylish's technology, while its extension functions combined Quinque engineering with a measure of alchemy.
This arm was truly a high-end creation.
Giving it to a puppet was honestly a bit of a waste.
Still, it did not matter.
He had made it purely for fun.
While Stylish's attention remained entirely fixed on the mechanical arm,
Uesugi Ryu's figure blurred ever so slightly before quickly returning to normal.
The two then left Woll to his tests and enthusiastically launched into a heated technical discussion.
A water clone would never fool Kurome and the others.
But fooling Stylish was laughably easy.
At this very moment, Uesugi Ryu's real body had already left the room.