Chapter 888: Identity Arrangement

Her gaze fell on Sakura.

Sakura was silent for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

"I'll stay outside. If the carriage shows any anomaly, or the entrance changes, I'll notify you immediately."

Heimu turned to Kesi Mo again.

Kesi Mo stood opposite her, back straight, the warm orange pattern on the visor flashing steadily at a normal rate.

She emitted two brief words with an electronic reverberation: "I'm going."

"Ge Lei Xiu, you too."

Heimu fastened the Witch Hat back onto her head, stood up, the picture album tucked under her arm.

"This picture album was drawn by her. At least the cover style is. After we go in, we might be able to use her recognition ability. Fine, that's it—Sakura stays behind, the three of us go in."

Heimu spread the picture album open again on the tabletop, her right hand pressing on the simple sketched little door on the front page.

The moment her fingertip touched the paper, the outline of the door lit up, warm yellow light seeping from the pencil lines, spreading outward along the door crack; the light grew brighter and denser, bathing the entire front page in gold.

Then the light overflowed from the paper, expanding above the tabletop, forming a door hovering in the air.

The door frame was pale gold, the door panel semi‑transparent, with faint Nihong lights flickering on the other side.

The handle was an ordinary round sphere; Heimu grasped it, pressed down, and pushed inward.

The door opened.

White light engulfed the entire carriage.

Heimu's boot soles struck the solid floor, producing a crisp clack.

The white light faded slowly from her retinas, and Nihong's colored lights surged in from all directions, filling her field of view to the brim.

She found herself standing on the rooftop terrace of a tall building.

Below her was dark‑gray concrete, edged by half‑person‑high metal railings; beyond the railings stretched an endless city skyline, skyscraper glass façades reflecting Nihong signs, elevated light‑rail tracks spiraling between buildings. A hovering train passed through the gap between two towers, its warm window light drawing a flowing line through the air.

Amid this cyber‑style steel forest, occasional traditional eaves and upturned corners of ancient‑style buildings peeked out of the gaps, their vermilion wooden frames bearing electronic lanterns whose LED filaments flickered with cold light.

"Cyber‑ancient style."

When Heimu uttered those four words, her tone carried a hint of unexpected appreciation.

She had thought Hua's Adventure Record would be a traditional xianxia or modern campus story, never expecting such a mixed art style.

Ge Lei Xiu stood at her left side, head bowed, looking at her own hands.

Her hands were still the same delicate, fair ones, but when she tried to draw the Light Sword from her waist, its hilt flashed briefly, then dimmed quickly, emitting a weak, feeble hum.

She tilted her head, glanced at the hilt, then at her hands, and raised her head to Heimu: "A lot of power has been taken away. Probably only a little remains."

Kesi Mo stood half a step behind them.

She was looking down at her hands encased in ice‑blue armor, fingers opening and closing as if testing grip.

The warm orange pattern on the visor flickered at a noticeably slower rate than usual, conveying a sense of gravity.

"My propulsion wing plates won't open. The armor's basic protection remains, but the energy circuits are suppressed; all active skills are gray."

She looked up at Heimu, a hint of unease in the electronic reverberation, and said, "None of the ten remain."

Heimu raised an eyebrow.

She lifted her right hand, snapped her fingers; when the fingertip brushed her palm, no usual violet‑black light threads emerged, only a few faint sparks flashed briefly then vanished.

She attempted to invoke edit permissions, drawing a line in the air with her fingertip; the panel popped up, all the edit buttons on it were gray.

She stared at that row of gray buttons for a moment, then closed the panel.

The rules of the Painted World differ from the outside; Aha's permissions are locked even tighter here.

However, she still has the Task interface on the System Panel; that thing isn't affected by the Painted World.

She opened the Task interface, a pale‑blue translucent window unfolding before her eyes.

The Task bar contained only a solitary line of text, as clean as if freshly formatted: 【Complete Hua's wish】.

Heimu read the sentence over three times.

A task, as concise as possible.

What wish? How is it counted as completed? What happens if it isn't? No answers given.

She sighed and closed the Task panel.

Anyway, find Hua first, then deal with it.

The stairwell door on the terrace was open.

Heimu led the two down several steps, pushed open a fire door, and entered the building's corridor.

Classrooms lined both sides of the corridor, a standard campus layout, except the signs on the classroom doors were electronic ink displays, and the honor board at the corridor's end was projected onto the wall via Holographic Projection.

Heimu walked along the corridor for a while and found the floor directory for the building.

Then she looked down again at her own clothing.

Off‑shoulder Lolita dress, Witch Hat, high‑heeled boots.

In the Teaching Building's corridor, this outfit's mismatch was about as striking as an elephant walking into a tea house.

She quickly assessed the situation: this is a school, Hua is currently a student, and her mission requires close observation and guidance.

What kind of identity is most convenient for approaching a student?

She tugged the brim of her hat down; the dark pattern on the dress flickered faintly under the corridor's fluorescent lights.

"We need an identity."

She turned to Ge Lei Xiu and Kesi Mo, saying, "This school appears to be an ordinary middle school; Hua studies here. We're outsiders, with no identity data, no records. Approaching her as visitors would draw unwanted attention. The quickest method is to use the system to forge a temporary identity and embed it into the school's personnel database."

Ge Lei Xiu blinked.

"Should we be a student?"

"Right. You'll be a student." Heimu raised her hand, swiping through the air a few times; the System Panel popped up, and the identity‑fabrication module began running.

"Your appearance matches the enrollment age for this school; if you fabricate a transfer student identity, you can directly join the class. Kesi Mo—" she gave Kesi Mo a glance.

Kesi Mo wore a full Kamen Rider armor, the shoulder plates high and pointed, the thrust wings folded against the legs, and the warm orange pattern on the visor flickered with each breath.

Showing up in that outfit to transfer into a class would probably draw the entire school's attention within three seconds of stepping into the classroom.

But she couldn't remove her armor, at least she absolutely refused to.

Moreover, in this world her power has been reduced by ninety percent, and the armor is her only protection at present.

Having her shed the armor is neither realistic nor safe.

"Kesi Mo."

Heimu spoke again, her tone steady, "Maintain the status quo."

Kesi Mo's shoulders sank slightly.

But then she lifted her head toward Heimu again, the warm orange pattern on her visor flashing once, and in the electronic reverberation a hint of unease slipped through: "Then what identity should I use? Coming in like this would frighten the students. Moreover, the teacher wouldn't let a person in armor stand at the back of the classroom."

Heimu's mouth curved slightly upward.

She raised her hand and swiped the System Panel a few more times, bringing up the sub‑menu of the identity forgery module.

"Don't worry, I've arranged it. Identity: a newly hired security system tester for the school."