Starting from Douluo Continent, I've become a god through daily check-ins.

Chapter 262 The Meaning of Existence

The moment Zero and Zero II kissed, FRANXX activated! However, Zero's focus was not on this. In the instant Zero II kissed him, some strange fragments of memory appeared in his mind. Although they appeared, Zero could not grasp those fragments of memory no matter what he did.

Although Zero felt a vague connection to those memory fragments, he was certain that they were his, without any apparent origin. He simply felt a sense of familiarity upon seeing them.

It's impossible to capture it now. First, my mind is completely unclear, and second, that feeling isn't something you can just grasp at will.

The dragon also resumed its movements, returning from its previous turret-like form to its original state, raising its chin and pressing down hard on the location where Zero was!

"It was...it was eaten!" said a man with a buzz cut.

No, that is.

As the Klaxosaur pressed down on FRANXX, a blinding light emanated from the gap.

The next moment, the Klaxosaur's body suddenly stiffened, and its entire body was lifted up by something. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the white Franxx! As it bit and lifted the Klaxosaur, Franxx's appearance changed.

In just a short while, FRANXX transformed from a beast into a young girl, raising the Klaxosaur with both hands and hurling it far away.

The dragon slammed to the ground, while Franxx remained motionless, unchanged.

"When concave and convex factors, male and female factors combine and their hearts are in sync, the steel girl will reveal her true form." As the old man spoke, some garbled text appeared on FRANXX's face, and after the garbled text, a girl's face was revealed.

"This is the real FRANXX, how beautiful, the most beautiful bird of paradise!" The old man raised his hands high, sparing no words of praise.

"But who is behind this?" the woman next to the old man asked.

Strelitzia stood with its back to the Klaxosaur, which also stood up, preparing to gather energy again and unleash another powerful attack. Strelitzia wasn't in a hurry; it slowly gripped its weapon, turned, and hurled it into the Klaxosaur's mouth!

The spear struck its target, and the Strelitzia's thrusters immediately went at full power, propelling it towards the Klaxosaur. In the blink of an eye, Strelitzia was right in front of the Klaxosaur, gripping the spear. The powerful impact of the thrust was slammed into the Klaxosaur.

Energy flowed continuously from Strelitzia's body into the spear. Strelitzia pressed a button on the weapon, "Final blow!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Klaxosaur trembled violently, and a container flew into the sky before crashing back to the ground. Suddenly, the Klaxosaur's entire body exploded, spewing out a large amount of blue liquid, and blue raindrops fell from the sky.

A blue sphere was embedded in the bird-of-paradise's weapon, containing something yellow. Due to gravity, the blue sphere slowly fell.

"That's FRANXX, the robot we control." Ichigo said, somewhat shocked, as she looked at Strelitzia's figure.

……

The battle was over, and the crew was cleaning up the battlefield. The cockpit of the Strelitzia was open. All the pilots were looking at the Strelitzia, eager to see who was piloting it.

Soon, Zero appeared before everyone. Seeing Zero emerge from the Strelitzia cockpit, Ichigo exclaimed in surprise, "Zero!?"

"Why him?"

"No, there's one more person."

"That is..."

"Horns?"

Zero Two laid the unconscious Zero down and looked down at the people below.

"So... that pistil is..."

"Partner Killer"

Hearing the operators whispering amongst themselves, the woman who had been standing next to the old man stepped forward and said, "Let me introduce you. She is Pisces, codename 002, from APE's Special Guard Unit. She is a girl who inherited the bloodline of the Klaxosaur."

Zero 2 licked his hand, looked at Zero who had fainted beside him, and smiled slightly. "Found you, my Darling."

……

After the battle, the joining ceremony, which had been forced to stop due to the destruction caused by the Klaxosaur, was resumed. The procedure was completed in a very small scale.

Zero was there, watching his comrades begin the induction ceremony again. He remembered what they had told him before, about the large FRANXX called the Strelitzia. For some reason, Zero had no recollection of ever entering the cockpit and piloting it. However, Zero never trusted memories; he only trusted his senses.

Zero's intuition told him that he had entered and manipulated the Strelitzia.

Five FRANXX units were pushed out of the standby point, and all FRANXX units were now successfully connected. The blue and white FRANXX unit looked down at Zero, who was not far in front of it, and zoomed in to see the expression on Zero's face.

……

In that forest, Zero found the bird's body and buried it under a tree.

Back in the dorm, Zero looked up and saw Ichigo sitting on the steps, teasing the kitten beside her. The kitten was also lying down, comfortably enjoying itself.

"Meow, meow, are you a kitten from around here?"

Suddenly, the kitten rolled over and ran away. "Ichigo?"

Upon hearing Zero's voice, Ichigo quickly stood up, looking somewhat bewildered. "Zero."

"Actually, you didn't need to come out to pick me up. I'm not a child anymore," Zero said.

"It's your fault for disappearing for a whole morning without permission. Even if you feel bad, since Zero has decided to stay, you should just hold your head high," Ichigo said with a smug look on her face.

After saying that, Zero didn't react at all. Zero opened one eye to see Zero's current reaction.

Seeing that Zero didn't react, Ichigo walked down the steps towards Zero, stood in front of her, and said, "I heard she's alright and was taken to the hospital."

Zero nodded. "I know." After saying that, Zero walked past Ichigo.

"That FRANXX... is it driven by Zero?" Upon hearing Ichigo's question, Zero also stopped in his tracks, lowering his head and unsure of what to say.

"I don't know. So, I'm going to try riding it again," Zero said.

"Let's go up... but that girl doesn't belong to our team," Ichigo said, turning around to look at Zero's back.

"It doesn't matter, as long as I can sit on it," Zero said.

"I've heard some rumors that, to date, whoever she's partnered with, has never worked with her more than three times, and something bad is bound to happen," Ichigo said.

Hearing Ichigo's words, Zero thought of that man. Seeing his pitiful state, Zero had already foreseen her own fate. But Zero was not afraid.

"I don't know if it's true, it's better not to get involved with her," Ichigo said.

"Don't get involved with her, huh? If I can't pilot a FRANXX, what's the point of me staying here? In the end, I'm just a good-for-nothing who's just wasting my life." After saying that, Zero ignored Ichigo and walked towards the dormitory.

Just as she reached the top of the stairs, the dormitory door opened. A boy with short blond hair pushed the door open and said to Zero, "Hey, Zero, hurry up, the girl from before is in the cafeteria."

(End of this chapter)