As the invisible channel opened.
Kurumi Tokisaki landed nimbly on the ground, lifting the hem of her black-trimmed red Gothic dress as she curtsied to Tabane and Ania:
"Good afternoon~"
"Ohhh~ So you're the Demigod from the Familia."
Tabane floated through the air, shifting from a reclining position to an upright hover:
"It seems the so-called space channel has been successfully established."
As she spoke, Tabane raised her hand, squinting hard with thumb and forefinger as she stared at Kurumi's back.
"What a shame. The spatial fluctuations are only faintly visible through instruments—completely imperceptible to the naked eye~"
"Should I develop an auxiliary observation device?"
"If you need my cooperation in the research, you can let me know in advance."
"Really?" Tabane Shinonono's eyes immediately lit up.
"It's true."
"You're quite kind, aren't you~" Tabane Shinonono remarked with genuine sincerity.
Hearing this, Kurumi Tokisaki felt somewhat conflicted.
To some extent, as a man-eating monster, was she actually a good person?
Thinking this, Kurumi Tokisaki shook her head and turned to Ania with a smile:
"Things seem to be progressing much more smoothly than Luo Shu and I imagined. Though we used one of the lucky charms you made, Ania-san, I feel we won't need to waste any more from now on."
"With my current mastery of space, I should be fine even working alone."
As one of the few items that could temporarily boost luck, Ania's lucky charms were limited-edition items within the SDS, typically reserved for important scientific experiments or major Abyss exploration missions.
Thus, no one would normally choose to waste such difficult-to-produce items, and Kurumi was no exception.
Hearing this, Ania suddenly understood:
"So the requirements for constructing a space channel are much lower than expected?"
"Yes. After practical testing, even someone as unskilled as me in spatial manipulation has an 80% success rate in creating channels."
Kurumi couldn't help but sigh at this.
Unlike Mukuro Hoshimiya's still-unknown hidden abilities, Kurumi's inverted power was the Mad Emperor, the Angel of Space.
However, unlike her more proficient Zafkiel, the Angel of Time, when using the Mad Emperor, Kurumi was most familiar with offensive techniques like spatial strangulation and teleportation.
More intricate operations, such as solidifying or overlapping space, were beyond her capabilities.
This lack of control wasn't unfamiliar to Kurumi.
When she first used Zafkiel, she'd faced similar difficulties. Later, by actively restricting Zafkiel's powers and creating twelve types of bullets—streamlining the complex temporal abilities into twelve distinct functions—the situation improved.
Drawing from this experience and with the Dream Simulation Chamber's help, an idea began forming in Kurumi's mind:
"Perhaps I could develop this space channel creation into a bullet type and distribute it to my clones to meet the global base deployment needs."
"Hmm~~ Let's call it the Thirteenth Bullet."
As Kurumi murmured to herself, a small hand suddenly appeared beside her, lightly resting on her shoulder.
"Um~ Kurumi-nee, you're blocking Muku's way."
Kurumi instinctively grasped the hand on her shoulder and turned to see Mukuro Hoshimiya's upper body emerging from a one-metre-wide spatial hole.
"My, my, if it isn't Mukuro? Have you come to help, too?"
Mukuro didn't resist Kurumi's affectionate gesture.
According to the knowledge she'd gained from the Divine Pantheon after their contract, Kurumi was essentially her sister—a blood sister in the mystical sense.
Thus, Mukuro welcomed familial closeness, even craving more of it:
"This is Big Brother's orders."
Mukuro smiled sweetly:
"Big Brother thought my abilities could assist Big Sister Kurumi, so he asked me to try."
"Ah, that man..." Kurumi Tokisaki sighed, unsure whether to laugh or feel resigned. "He always prefers to play it safe."
Kurumi couldn't quite understand where Luo Shu's sense of unease came from, but compared to charging ahead and making a big splash, he seemed to prefer slowly accumulating strength and developing things in the shadows.
This was something Kurumi actually quite liked.
After all, her personality leaned towards being proactive, yet her combat abilities weren't particularly aggressive, tending towards careful planning before action. Meanwhile, Luo Shu was cautious by nature, but his abilities leaned towards active offence.
These opposite inclinations made her feel rather compatible with Luo Shu.
"Looking at this, Mukuro, your abilities seem capable of opening channels, too?"
Kurumi glanced at the hollow space behind Mukuro Hoshimiya, which had just accommodated her width.
Unlike Kurumi, who needed to fix the size of her space channels to that of Zafkiel, Mukuro appeared able to freely control the size of her passages.
It seemed the so-called 'power of sealing and opening' was far more convenient than her own specialised space-time abilities.
"Mmm, although I need Big Brother's permission to open them, such channels are indeed very easy for Muku to create."
At this point, Mukuro suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" and immediately waved her hands:
"Um, Big Brother is still waiting for Muku's reply, so... Muku must take her leave now~"
"Bye-bye~ Big Sister Kurumi~"
Watching Kurumi's momentarily stunned expression before she recovered and smiled, waving back, Mukuro grinned and turned to slip back into the space channel.
Seeing this, Ania, who had been quiet until now, showed slight surprise:
"That girl has become much more lively than before... Did something happen to her after becoming a Familia?"
Hearing this, Kurumi tilted her head slightly and thought carefully before replying:
"Perhaps it's because she was afraid of being abandoned?"
"Eh?" Ania froze.
At that moment, Tabane Shinonono, who had been using a virtual system to display observational data on her retina, snorted:
"How idiotic, Ania."
"What Kurumi-chan means is that after signing the contract, that girl realised Luo Shu could never escape her grasp even if he died, so she naturally let her personality loose~~"
"Hmph, I understand these yandere girls all too well~~"
"More than being disliked, what they truly fear is having connections severed completely. So while these girls are easiest to please, they're also the most troublesome—very prone to going berserk~"
Hearing this, Ania had a moment of realisation even as a vein pulsed on her forehead from irritation:
"You're the last person I want calling me an idiot."
Sighing, Ania glanced at the spot where Mukuro had been standing, then shook her head:
"It seems Director Luo Shu's Familia is going to be quite lively in the future."
"Are you implying you plan to cause trouble later?" Tabane looked shocked. "Ania, I never knew you were that kind of person~"
Ania's composure shattered. Her face darkened as she snapped:
"Piss off!"
With that, Ania glared at Tabane before turning to Kurumi:
"Don't mind this idiot. Let's go test the channel data in another space."
As she spoke, Ania grabbed Kurumi's hand and began pulling her away.
Hearing this, Kurumi Tokisaki smiled but didn't refuse, instead following Ania's footsteps.
"Hey, don't leave me behind~~"
Amid Tabane Shinonono's complaints, the spacious hall gradually quietened down.