"So, Toji, you and Ren must’ve been inseparable. I loved to hear about your stories from before Thumb's rule," Commander Bill said. "I also loved hearing about how you both were Linkin Park fanatics. You know, my son was also a Linkin Park fanatic. What did you think of their come ba—"

But before Bill could finish speaking, there was a knock at the door.

"It must be one of Thumb's men," Bill said, grabbing his baseball bat. He opened the door and, on instinct, hit the person standing there.

"Oww! What the fuck?" a feminine voice exclaimed.

"Oops, I guess it wasn’t Thumb’s men after all. What’s with the fox ears?" Bill asked.

----------------------------------------

Neon War Chapter 9: The Link Between Kyozan and Demi

Commander Bill places the fox-eared girl on the couch and carefully applies ice to her forehead. Her unconscious body appears to be that of a fox-human hybrid, with orange fox ears, an orange tail, blonde hair, and blue eyes. She’s dressed in a crop top, but the most peculiar part of her appearance is her choice of clothing—a brown bikini bottom, which seems like an odd fashion statement.

After a few minutes, the fox girl woke up, saw Commander Bill, and screamed, "What the fuck was that for?"

"Sorry! I thought you were one of Thumb's men," Bill said.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Oh shit! I forgot—Thumb! He’s going after my people!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Bill said, startled.

Soon after, Zemaku rushed in, having heard the girl scream twice now.

"Dad, what’s going on?" Zemaku asked, his voice edged with concern. "And what the fuck is with the animal girl?" he added in confusion.

Meanwhile, in the Lucid Room, Ren continued his training. He knew he needed to confront his past, but he still wasn’t sure how to approach it. Suddenly, a thought struck him.

"That’s it!" Ren said, his voice resolute.

Back outside, at the couch where the fox girl had been placed, she began to explain her story.

"Hi, I’m Lea," she introduced herself. "I’m part of the Demi-Human Tribe."

"Demi-Human Tribe?" Bill and Zemaku said in unison, both surprised.

"Yes," Lea continued. "I’m sure you already know about the Kyozans. From what Canal told us, one of your own is training..."

"You know about Canal?" Bill asked.

"Yes," Lea responded. "You see, the Demi-Human Tribe was close allies with the Kyozans. Once Canal, the goddess of dreams, died, they created the Lucid Room as a place not only to train the Kyozan soldiers who were going to fight in the war but also to help them combat mental health struggles caused by the war. At some point, the Kyozans' backs were against the wall, and because they knew our tribe would be questioned about their relics once the war ended, they had us all put into cryostasis and linked with Canal to protect us. They set it up so we would wake up 15 thousand years in the future. But the one you call Thumb managed to find out about us somehow and awakened us from cryostasis. He's been torturing us about the Kyozan tech, but we don’t know anything about how their tech works, as they never told us anything about it. I managed to escape, but—" Lea suddenly fell over, revealing a knife in her back.

"Oh no!" Zemaku said.

To Be Continued…..