In the settling darkness, vibrant crimson soared, wisps of fire speckling her flowing long hair, while icy, crimson eyes pierced through the world's light. A delicate yet sharp countenance, an expression of cool majesty—a maiden with hair reaching her waist, bearing an undeniable, fearless charisma... The Flame-Haired, Eye-Scorching Punisher—Shana!

"Yo, long time no see," Lin Luo greeted the girl stepping out. He hadn't expected Shana to be the one appearing this time; he was somewhat caught off guard, as his interactions with Shana were the least frequent among the hosts in the Sky City.

As Shana exited the training room, the red flames had already receded, and her floating black hair lay still. The moment she looked up and saw Lin Luo, her dark eyes suddenly flared brilliantly, but this expression vanished in an instant. She casually turned her head away and snorted, "So you are back. Seems like that woman was right."

"You don't look too thrilled to see me," Lin Luo managed a wry smile, snatching something yellow out of the void and tossing it over. "Well, even though I didn't expect it to be you, preparations were already complete. Consider this an early congratulatory gift for finishing your seclusion."

Shana caught the Melon Bread, her face showing disdain. "Don't think you can buy me off with something this cheap."

"If you don't want it, give it back," Lin Luo moved to take the Melon Bread back.

"Shut up! It's mine now, why should I give it back!" Shana huffed, already tearing open the packaging with impatience, eating as if afraid Lin Luo would snatch it away.

Lin Luo found it amusing internally but spoke aloud, "You seem awfully unhappy to see me?"

It was better if he hadn't said anything. The moment he did, Shana, whose mood hadn't been terrible, immediately flared up. "Nonsense! Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused? To do something like that so suddenly—did you ever consider anyone else's feelings? You thought you were being a hero, satisfying your machismo, did you think everyone else would be as satisfied as you? Trading everything for sacrifice... that was utterly foolish!"

"..." Shana's tirade left Lin Luo momentarily stunned, eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at her, as if looking at some kind of monster.

"What's with that look?!" Shana's lips instantly twitched.

Lin Luo, however, stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, exclaiming in shock, "Shana! Is that really you? Saying something so mature! Have you been soul-swapped by someone else? That's scientifically impossible!"

"..." Shana paused, then instantly understood Lin Luo's implication, immediately flying into an embarrassed rage and shoving him away. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

The triple-barreled barrage of "shut up" rattled Lin Luo until he felt dizzy. By the time he regained his senses, Shana was gone. After standing still for a moment, he walked out, rubbing his head, utterly bewildered. "That's truly bizarre. How could the typically dense, socially awkward Tsundere like Shana utter such philosophical words? Which wire got crossed? Wait, maybe I’ve been battered by fate so much recently that my mind has become clouded, leading to auditory hallucinations... Ah, it must be a hallucination!"

Lin Luo found a self-serving explanation and finally felt at ease. After all, it was deeply unsettling when someone habitually reckless suddenly became mature.

A loli body with a mature heart—that attribute simply didn't suit Shana.

Returning to the living room on the first floor, Lin Luo found Shana already there, sitting alone at the dining table, holding food in both hands, happily munching away while kicking her little feet, a cheerful smile plastered on her face.

As for what she was eating? Anyone asking that question would clearly have an IQ deficit so profound that even a Dragon Emperor in the heavens would express intellectual superiority. Given the nature of the Tsundere Na, what else could make her so happy besides Melon Bread? Even if one were ignorant of her dietary preferences, seeing the mountain of Melon Bread piled on her table should have provided the answer.

Shana evidently sensed Lin Luo's presence, but eating was clearly far more important to her than he was. Forget greeting him; she didn't even spare him a glance, simply snorting coldly, averting her gaze, and continuing to savor the Melon Bread before her.

Well, no matter how Shana's personality seemed to shift, her ingrained tsundere nature would never change... Lin Luo comforted himself, then gazed across at the glutton lost in thought.

Why was Shana so utterly devoted to Melon Bread? Lin Luo had never understood this. No matter how delicious something was, eating it every day, every month, every year—eventually, one would grow tired of it, right? Even CC frequently changed pizza flavors, like potato or tomato, but why did Shana stick to only one flavor of Melon Bread and never seem to tire of it?

The more he pondered this question, the more urgently he needed the answer. So, Lin Luo walked over and casually plucked a Melon Bread from the small pile.

Shana hadn't paid Lin Luo much mind until that moment, but she reacted as if facing a mortal enemy. She quickly clamped her mouth around the half-eaten Melon Bread, thrust both hands forward, sweeping the entire small mountain of Melon Bread on the table toward her, then stared wordlessly at Lin Luo, seemingly warning him: this was her territory.

What was this girl doing? Lin Luo’s head spun with questions, deeply confused by Shana’s sudden, emotionless behavior—it was neither scientific nor magical.

Never mind; let her be. Researching the Melon Bread was more important... Lin Luo didn't dwell on the strange reaction. He peeled back the wrapping paper on the one in his hand and took a delicate bite. Shana must have a reason for loving Melon Bread; perhaps it held some special power. If he could understand, or even master that power, then later on, whether he was pushing her around or feeding her from above, it wouldn't be an issue.

Tsk. While the taste wasn't bad, it certainly wasn't supreme gourmet fare, and he couldn't sense any special energy from it—far inferior to the taste of Maid Juice... Forget it; leave room in his stomach for the Maid Feast later.

Lin Luo took a few more bites, genuinely unable to muster any interest. In the end, he could only attribute Shana’s obsession with Melon Bread to an instinctive drive, much like how men love beautiful women or mice love rice. He casually tossed the remaining half of the Melon Bread into the nearby trash can.

"Ahhh!! W-what are you doing?!" Shana shrieked at the sight.

Shana was truly entertaining today. From initial disregard to full alert, then from fierce vigilance to outright screaming—it perfectly reflected the little girl's inner emotional shifts. Such dramatic ups and downs, described literarily, were like mist, rain, and wind; in strategy terms... disrupt her state of mind, break her defense, or perhaps, 'Heart is disturbed, defense crumbles on its own.'

Lin Luo faced Shana's roar with an expression of innocent bewilderment, pointing at the trash can next to them, stating matter-of-factly, "Throwing out trash. Is there a problem?"

"Tr... Trash?!" Shana seemed to have heard something utterly inconceivable. Her expression flickered uncontrollably. Then, she lowered her head, her lips moving ceaselessly, looking as if she were grinding her teeth.

Lin Luo realized she wasn't just grinding; she was gnashing them. A bad premonition stirred in his gut, but before he could confirm it, Shana suddenly exploded, lunging at him like a small tiger. "You murderer! I will never forgive you!"

"Whoa!"

Lin Luo was caught entirely off guard and immediately pinned to the floor. Instinctively, he prepared to push back, but Shana was faster. She sat directly on his waist, her fists raining down like raindrops. "I’ll beat you! I’ll beat you! I’ll beat you! You murderer!"

Shana wasn't using any supernatural strength. Although these small punches looked swift—not inferior to the Saint Cloth Minor Saints' Meteor Fist—the actual force was negligible. For Lin Luo, they were neither painful nor annoying; rather, they felt more like a massage.

Given this, Lin Luo didn't resist, happily indulging in Shana's massage, though he couldn't shake off her words. "Wait! Wait! What murderer? Who did I kill to make you so furious?" Was it Yuji xxx? No, that was done by Yumei; what did that have to do with him?

Shana stopped her flurry of punches but didn't move from Lin Luo's body. Instead, she glared at him, pointed at the trash can beside them, and declared, "The Melon Bread! You murderer of the Melon Bread!"

"Pfft!"

Damn it all, Lin Luo choked, spitting out his saliva. What connection was this?

"Hey, hey, are you messing with me? I just threw the uneaten Melon Bread in the trash. At worst, it’s wasting food. Do you have to convict me of murder for that?" Lin Luo felt exasperated. If Dou E heard this, she’d probably feel she was wronged less than him.

"Aren't you?!" Shana suddenly took on the righteous air of Judge Bao and Judge Hai Rui, speaking with utter conviction. "Have you forgotten what you said last time? Followers of the Crimson World eat people, which is an unforgivable sin for humans. Humans eating chicken, ducks, and fish is an unforgivable sin for those creatures. And Melon Bread."

Lin Luo became even more bewildered. "Of course, I haven't forgotten that, but by that logic, by throwing the Melon Bread away, I haven't killed anything; I've set it free. The real murderer is you..."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Before Lin Luo could speak, Shana delivered her triple shout, followed by a punch, and then declared sternly, "Last time I couldn't refute you because I wasn't mature yet. But now, I have grown in every aspect..."

Not in your chest area, though... Lin Luo looked at Shana's completely undeveloped chest and couldn't help but mutter internally, though he certainly dared not say it aloud. If he had, the thing crashing down on him next wouldn't be Shana's small fists, but the Nietono no Kana.