Ironclad: How can hand-crafted knight belts not be considered genius?

"Strange... Are the lights here broken? Why is it so dark?"

Laira gripped the electronic display screen in her hand tightly, feeling a little uneasy.

Normally, to ensure that experiments are not disturbed, the lights on the Black Tower space station are kept on.

Maintaining power for the lights is just a drop in the ocean compared to the enormous operational costs of the entire Black Tower space station.

But this area was completely dark. If it wasn't a problem with the power supply, then there was only one other possibility...

Someone deliberately turned off the lights in the hallway.

But what sane person would be so idle?

Thinking of the various strange tales circulating among the staff, Laira felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing her heart.

"Laira... don't scare yourself. If some unknown creature had really infiltrated the Black Tower Space Station, Lady Black Tower would have discovered it long ago..."

Yes, if you don't believe in yourself, you have to believe in Lady Black Tower...

Leira repeatedly brainwashed herself, mustering her courage to continue exploring deeper into the corridor.

Bang bang—

A faint metallic clanging sound reached Laira's ears.

"Wh...what was that sound...?"

Laira stopped and listened intently, trying to catch the sound she had just heard.

boom--

The sound rang out again, but this time it sounded like a heavy object hitting the ground with a dull thud.

goo-dong-

Leira swallowed hard.

At that moment, she felt a little short of breath, and her brain was frantically sending out retreat signals.

"No... we're already here... at least take a look..."

After a struggle with her conscience, curiosity finally overcame fear, and Laira began to force herself to suppress her fear and gradually approach the source of the sound.

Soon, Leira stopped at a heavy iron laboratory door that had never been opened in any records.

Based on my judgment, those sounds just now came from inside.

However, once he actually stood in front of the iron gate, the strange voice seemed to be hiding from him and inexplicably disappeared.

The corridor fell silent again, and darkness enveloped Laira, making her feel like a goldfish trapped in a fishbowl.

Laira pulled out her access card from her pocket, trying to open the door to see what was inside.

Beep beep—

The red indicator light on the iron gate lit up without warning, then turned green.

This is an access control card that someone inside swipes from the inside!

Is someone about to come out?

Laira's heart was in her throat.

Finally, we can see the true face of the mysterious creature!

The alloy door in front of her slowly opened a crack, and white steam poured out from the crack. Leira opened her eyes wide, not wanting to miss what was about to happen.

The hatch opened completely...

Bang!!---

The powerful blast of air blew Leira backward, causing her to fall flat on her backside.

Amidst a multitude of colorful chemical gases, a figure, barely visible, slowly emerged.

"Cough! Cough cough..."

Jiang Ning clenched his fist and coughed violently, covering his mouth with it.

"Seriously... The energy bottle powers the Build Driver so smoothly, so why is it so unreliable when it powers Assistant 1?"

Jiang Ning raised his hand and pressed the switch on the exhaust fan on the wall. The powerful airflow quickly swept away the smoke and dust in the room.

"Bro, how about we try again? I have a feeling this time...—wait, what?"

Jiang Ning bent down to pick up the metal parts that had been blown away from the ground, but when he looked up, he saw a strange woman sitting on the ground in front of him.

"……Who are you?"

"Cough cough—"

Laira was also choked quite a bit, and a tear welled up in the corner of her eye.

Raising her hand to push up her glasses and rubbing her eyes, Leira was finally able to open her eyes and look ahead with difficulty...

"well…?

"A ghost—!!!!"

Laira casually touched the electronic display screen next to her and waved it at Jiang Ning.

"puff--!"

Jiang Ning was sent flying by the blow, rolling several times on the ground without any regard for his image.

As Leila gradually calmed down, she patted her chest, her agitated emotions slowly subsiding.

"...Ber? ​​Girl...did I do something to you...?"

Jiang Ning, lying on the ground, twitched at the corner of his mouth, covering the half of his face that had been hit with his hand, a nameless fire burning in his heart.

Who can stand being hit like that right from the start?

"Huh...wait? It's not a ghost?"

"You big dummy!"

Jiang Ning rushed forward and grabbed Laila from the ground.

Although Laira is considered tall, even by most standards, she is still half a head shorter than Jiang Ning.

Looking at the man whose pupils were practically spitting fire, Leila realized that she had accidentally hurt him. She immediately pushed Jiang Ning away and gave him a perfect 90-degree bow.

"I'm...I'm sorry—!!"

The smoke and dust were so thick just now... I couldn't see clearly, and instinctively..."

Jiang Ning pursed his lips, somewhat speechless.

"Even with so much smoke and dust, you can still tell it's a person, right?"

"This... pfft... um—"

Leila looked at Jiang Ning's face, covered her mouth, and turned her head away shyly, her body trembling slightly.

"Hey, are you laughing at the Bull Demon King?"

You hit me and you're still laughing? Doesn't your conscience hurt?

Jiang Ning had never seen such a rude woman before, and she made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Excuse me... cough cough, I'm not laughing anymore."

The main problem is your face is a bit... um... well, why don't you look in the mirror first?

What does it mean?

Jiang Ning frowned, somewhat puzzled, but still took out a mirror from the laboratory as instructed and looked at his face.

"Um... okay... I understand..."

Jiang Ning's lips twitched violently.

How can the "person" in the mirror still be considered a person?

Her hair was blown out of control and looked like a bird's nest.

His face was completely black; if you had to say, even someone who had just come out of a coal mine in Africa wouldn't be that dark.

Jiang Ning put down the mirror in her hand, and just as she was about to say something after suppressing her complicated feelings, a white handkerchief was smeared on her face.

"Here, take this. Use it to wipe your face."

"...Thank you..."

The anger that Jiang Ning had just begun to build was extinguished in an instant.

The handkerchief has a wonderful feel; it's very soft to the touch, and you can immediately tell it's made of high-quality fabric.

It even had a faint fragrance, somewhat like the scent of some unnamed plant I had smelled in the botanical garden before.

Jiang Ning rubbed his face vigorously with the handkerchief, transferring the black stains from his face onto the once pristine white handkerchief.

"I'll wash the handkerchief and return it to you later..."

Laira was taken aback by what she heard, then waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, no need, you can have it. It's just a handkerchief, I have plenty more, it's too much trouble to run around."

Um. My name is Laira, and I'm an energy management staff member at the Black Tower space station.

"By the way... I don't recall seeing you on the space station before? Who are you?"

Jiang Ning took a deep breath and put the handkerchief in his pocket.

"My name is Jiang Ning. I'm a new staff member at the Black Tower Space Station. My position... well, maybe head of the defense section?"

Jiang Ning recalled the Black Tower puppet's earlier mention of establishing a defense department and spoke with some uncertainty.