After Transmigrating to Become Lady Skylark - Chapter 49

Chapter 49

When Jin Chaoyan woke up again, the bedroom was empty.

She sat up in bed, staring at the exquisite room filled with the lingering traces of the other person’s life. After a long daze, she threw a coat over her shoulders, yawned, and walked out.

“Madam.”

Kina was standing in the hall watching a projection screen. Hearing movement, she looked over immediately, her eyes full of worry, yet she still managed a small smile. “You’re awake.”

Jin Chaoyan rested her hand on the sliding wooden door. Her gaze moved past Kina to the screen—

Amidst a chaotic, jagged pile of rocks stood a figure in an old-style school uniform holding tonfas. The red “Disciplinary” armband on the sleeve of his black gakuran jacket was striking. Above him were countless missile warheads aimed directly at his position.

“…!”

Jin Chaoyan never expected to wake up to a “live stream” of ten-years-ago Hibari getting beaten. She didn’t even have time to process his younger appearance; she instinctively checked the store to activate [Kamui] to warp there, only to remember that space-time displacement abilities required her to have physically visited the destination before.

She took out the [G380-Follow] card, but before she could chant the incantation, 001 reminded her that there was no destination coordinate on the map, making travel impossible.

Before she could argue with 001 about the “rogue” logic of a coordinate disappearing just because the 10-years-later version was replaced by the 10-years-ago version, countless barriers flaming with Storm attributes flew out to block the missiles for the boy on screen.

Boom boom boom—

Jin Chaoyan breathed a sigh of relief. Her eyes remained on the screen as she asked, “Whose perspective is this camera?”

“It’s Mr. Kusakabe. When he left in the early hours, he instructed me to bring you here to keep updated if you asked about Mr. Hibari,” Kina said, though she couldn’t help but steal another glance at the screen, utterly confused as to why Mr. Hibari had suddenly become so much younger.

Seeing that the Madam didn’t seem surprised, Kina swallowed her doubts and pointed to a microphone setup. “The signal is normal. If you need to communicate, you can use this to contact Mr. Kusakabe.”

Jin Chaoyan shook her head. “They are in a critical situation. I can’t help much right now, so I’ll just watch quietly. Mr. Kusakabe has followed him since middle school; he should be able to find a way to get him to use the ring’s power.”

The rings…

Kina nodded. Having stayed by Jin Chaoyan’s side, she had seen quite a bit of this era’s combat style. Seeing Chaoyan so composed, she relaxed and asked thoughtfully, “You haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. You must be hungry. I’ll prepare breakfast.”

“Okay, thank you.”

The woman responded gently, her eyes focused on the broadcast of the Vongola attack on the Merone Base.

By the time Kina brought breakfast in, the screen showed only static snow.

She gasped, the tray clattering against the side table. “Madam? Did the signal go out?”

Jin Chaoyan pressed a hand to her forehead, her violet eyes blank. She was still reeling from the image of the younger Hibari injecting an excessive, terrifying amount of Cloud flame into his Box, causing Roll to get “drunk” on fire and go berserk after accidentally pricking its master.

“Mhm…”

She walked toward the breakfast in a daze, picking up a bowl of hot porridge. Her fingertips were scorched by the porcelain, and she belatedly let go, blowing on her fingers. “I almost forgot, I haven’t washed up… Kina, pack a few extra breakfasts. I’m going to change clothes and head to the neighboring base.”

Kusakabe’s situation was likely due to Roll’s rampage. He was probably busy carrying half the Vongola Guardians to safety and couldn’t mind the camera. However, this plan was co-developed with the neighboring base; she might find other camera angles there.

“Understood, Madam.”

Fifteen minutes later—

Vongola Base, B5, the door to the Main Strategy Room was knocked upon.

Reborn and Giannini looked up simultaneously. The infant in a suit and black fedora, sitting in a strange white device at the center of the conference table, curled his lips into a smile. He didn’t look surprised at all. “It’s you.”

“Mr. Reborn, Mr. Giannini, good morning. I brought breakfast. Is now a good time?” she asked politely from the doorway.

“I happen to be hungry. Thank you for the breakfast,” Reborn accepted first. Giannini, busy modifying equipment, stared at the screens and politely declined.

Jin Chaoyan entered and glanced at the monitors. The infant asked in his high-pitched voice, “So, how is the situation on Hibari’s end?”

“Not great.”

She shook her head. Noticing the screens currently only showed Sawada Tsuna, she explained what she had seen and handed over an extra wireless device. “I tried contacting Kusakabe on the way here, but the signal hasn’t recovered.”

“I see,” Reborn replied thoughtfully. “Then we’ll have to watch Tsuna for now.”

“Leave the radio communication issues to me,” Giannini said, taking the device from her and asking her to wait.

Seeing they weren’t hiding intel from her, Jin Chaoyan pulled out a chair and sat down to watch Tsuna’s feed.

Having just defeated the Cloud-attribute “Fake” Six Funeral Wreath at the Merone Base, Tsuna received news from Reborn about Hibari and the other guardians being in trouble. They adjusted the plan on the fly to rush toward the target device.

Unfortunately, they encountered a formidable gatekeeper.

“It’s him,” Jin Chaoyan said instinctively when she saw the enemy.

Reborn tilted his head. “Hm?”

“The younger Hibari just faced him, which triggered the Box weapon rampage. This guy’s illusion skills are strong, and his swordsmanship isn’t bad either,” she noted, thinking that if she faced such an opponent, she’d definitely need to activate the Sharingan.

“I see,” Reborn nodded, speaking into the comms. “Be careful, Tsuna.”

After providing the info, Jin Chaoyan fell silent. Knowing Tsuna was the protagonist, she wasn’t worried about him fighting a supporting character. In fact, because their moves were so brilliant, she unconsciously activated her Sharingan to copy them.

Reborn watched the battle calmly. Judging that Genkishi was no match for his student, he glanced sideways. Seeing her eyes had turned scarlet, he asked curiously:

“Does your ability to improve so quickly in a short time have something to do with those eyes?”

“Mhm.” Jin Chaoyan nodded, eyes glued to the screen.

Reborn didn’t pry further. Getting his answer, he went back to the screen. At the same time, Jin Chaoyan witnessed the technique the 10-years-later Hibari had praised, the move Tsuna created:

X-Burner.

Soft flames surged from the palm extended backward, warm as the sunset. Simultaneously, high-purity, transparent “Hard” Sky flames were fired from the forward-facing black Vongola glove. It was terrifying power, yet it emitted a color so magnificent one couldn’t look away.

So beautiful.

Jin Chaoyan felt like she was reliving the feeling of watching the anime years ago, except this time, she was in the same world as these characters.

Then, she finally saw the status of the ten-years-ago Hibari. He and the other guardians had been captured by Irie Shoichi and locked in a giant transparent cylindrical tank.

The familiar imagery finally knocked some sense into her head. Jin Chaoyan realized she knew Irie Shoichi was an ally about five minutes before anyone else in the room. Her tension vanished instantly. She even recalled seeing this double agent on a screen in a meeting room back when she visited the Millefiore headquarters in Sicily.

Wait… come to think of it, I’ve also met Gamma, whose Lightning Ring was stolen by the older Hibari.

While the Vongola crew at the Merone Base were being stunned by the influx of information from Irie, Jin Chaoyan took out her phone in the strategy room.

Photo mode. Flash off. Silent shutter.

Precious footage of the early-era Kyoya Hibari being knocked out and locked up must be preserved.

…What a pity her memory was so bad; she hadn’t remembered this key info earlier. If she had, she would have recorded the moment Hibari injected fire into the Box, got pricked by Roll, and triggered the rampage!

She could have even edited a short video for him! And watched it a hundred times a day!

Jin Chaoyan snapped a few photos of Hibari in the corner of the screen. Reborn noticed her lack of tension. As he listened to Irie Shoichi explain Byakuran’s plan through Tsuna’s earpiece, a flicker of doubt crossed his mind.

Meanwhile, the satisfied photographer was fully immersed in watching Irie Shoichi’s “Oscar-worthy” acting.

“Sending you all, who possess the Vongola Rings, to the world ten years in the future, with my base as the final meeting point… this operation plan was co-developed by me, the ten-years-later Tsuna-kun, and the ten-years-later Kyoya Hibari.”

Irie’s voice, struggling to prove he was an ally, came through clearly, answering the skepticism of Gokudera and Lal Mirch. Fortunately, his logic convinced Reborn, and with Tsuna’s Hyper Intuition as verification, everyone grudgingly accepted his status as an ally.

Soon, good news arrived that the Varia had eliminated another Funeral Wreath on the main battlefield in Italy. The tension at the Merone Base finally eased.

The captives in the cylinder were released. As Irie Shoichi helped tend to the wounded, Reborn spoke calmly:

“According to your plan, the success rate of our operation against Byakuran has greatly increased. However, Irie, there is one piece of intelligence you aren’t aware of yet.”

Reborn’s projection at the Merone Base pressed down on his hat, his smile vanishing. “The Six Funeral Wreaths that have appeared so far, and the Mare Rings they wear, are all fakes.”

“What?!”

Irie Shoichi’s eyes widened, and his stress-induced stomach pain flared up, causing him to collapse. Spanner helped him up. His voice trembled in shock. “That’s impossible. Based on the list I vetted while undercover, the Six Funeral Wreaths Byakuran chose are the strongest six… Moreover, the Mare Ring I wear truly possesses A-rank power or higher. Mr. Reborn, why would you reach such a conclusion?”

“We also believed the identities of the current Funeral Wreaths, but—” Reborn turned to look at the woman in the meeting room who was drinking tea after her breakfast. “This was discovered by you and the ten-years-later Hibari, wasn’t it? Why don’t you explain?”

“Who?” At the Merone Base, Tsuna looked around blankly, reflexively forgetting he was only looking at a projection. He saw only air.

“A-Ah?”

Jin Chaoyan, who had been relaxing and watching the drama, flinched, nearly spilling her tea. In this moment, she fully empathized with Tsuna’s awe of Reborn. This felt like being in class, listening to the teacher tell a story, only to be suddenly called upon to recite the background, process, and outcome of that story. It was terrifying.

However, Kusakabe spoke up instinctively, “Madam?”

Ah, right. The Mare Ring discovery was indeed made by Madam and Kyo-san together.

“Hm?”

Kyoya Hibari, who had been brought to the future world against his will and just fought a completely unsatisfying battle, had been standing away from the group with a cold expression, listening to their “nonsense” plan. He was now drawn by Kusakabe’s reaction and turned his head.

“Chaoyan-san?”

Tsuna also realized there was someone else in the strategy room. As he called out her name, he suddenly remembered something and reflexively looked at the Disciplinary Committee Chairman who—like them—was currently his ten-years-ago self.

Only Reborn remained calm, the corners of his mouth curling up as he looked toward Hibari. “Let the wife of the ten-years-later Hibari explain the process of discovering the Mare Ring anomaly to everyone.”

Jin Chaoyan: “…”

She felt Mr. Reborn had a bit of a wicked sense of humor.

Especially seeing the ten-years-ago Hibari on the screen looking momentarily stunned and “cute,” she was certain Reborn did this on purpose.

Now, she felt like a failing student forced to give a speech at a school assembly without preparation. When Giannini handed her the headset, she froze. Under Reborn’s inscrutable gaze, she remained silent for a few seconds before finally speaking:

“Oh, it was like this…”

She briefly mentioned how she accidentally broke that Lightning attribute ring, how Hibari saw it and had the gem tested, concluding it was just a regular A-rank gem—not a true Mare Ring that, along with the Vongola Rings and Arcobaleno Pacifiers, formed the Tri-ni-set and the foundation of the world.

“…How can this be?” Irie Shoichi was dumbfounded.

No matter how much he didn’t want to believe it, he had to admit that a true Mare Ring contained the power to construct the world and could never be easily broken.

Furthermore, both his and Gamma’s Mare Rings were personally bestowed by Byakuran. If Gamma’s was fake, it meant his was too.

…And it meant that the Funeral Wreaths defeated so far were not Byakuran’s true military trump cards.

“Vice-Chairman.”

At this moment, having finally snapped out of the reality of being married ten years later and hearing his spouse’s voice, the younger Kyoya Hibari gripped his tonfas. Under his slightly long bangs, his grey-blue phoenix eyes were shining. Even the exhaustion on his scarred, slightly “baby-fat” face diminished. His tone held a hint of anticipation as he asked:

“Is she strong?”

Tetsuya Kusakabe: “!”

Why is his first reaction exactly the same as the ten-years-later Vongola crew when they found out he was married?! Are they the ones who truly understand your battle-maniac nature?!

Beside him, Tsuna also went: “!”

While Kusakabe hesitated, not knowing how to answer, Jin Chaoyan hurriedly answered for him. “Not strong at all. Super weak. The ‘weak, pitiful, and helpless’ kind.”

“…I see.”

Hibari lowered his tonfas, his expression turning indifferent in a second. The aura radiating from his body could be translated as:

Then I’m not interested in you.

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