Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 577: Fight for respect.

Sunshine was still blissfully unaware of all that was going on in her world. She was still working on fixing the music box. A job that was supposed to be quick and easy was surprisingly taking longer than expected.

So far, they had only finished the first step of the job. It wasn’t because the work was hard, but because Nine wouldn’t stop talking and rechecking the work Sunshine had done. To make it worse, he decided to make additions or changes that were not in Sunshine’s plan!

It was exhausting fixing what he ruined. If they had not been warned sternly, she would have hammered the annoying bug already.

Nine seemed to have more energy than a hive of bees. He moved constantly and his voice buzzed in Sunshine’s ears like a fly that wouldn’t go away. She had settled for shooing him away and surprisingly, as of a minute ago, he had decided to step aside and let her work. But his mouth had not stopped working.

"So, really," Nine said, leaning against a wall. "Are you actually Maximus Raine’s granddaughter? Because you don’t look like him at all, forget what the king said about you having his eyes. Yours are vindictive and his were kind."

Sunshine didn’t answer. She kept her eyes on the drainage valve, her jaw tight. She wished more than anything she could put on headphones, but this was a two-person job. If the pressure spiked, he was the one to tell her.

"Ignoring me?" Nine buzzed, stepping closer. "That’s cute. You think you’re better than me because of your name.....the Raine name? I see what you’re doing. You’re acting all quiet and mysterious to get the royal family to notice you the more. You’re crafty, Sunshine. You just want attention. Don’t think I did not notice what you were doing with the princess, talking about your shared grief as if you were both born from the same female."

Sunshine gripped her screwdriver until her knuckles turned white. She was grieving, she was tired, and her mood was darker than the liquid at the bottom of the tank. Was this how other repairmen felt when she tattled non-stop sometimes? If that was the case, she owed them an apology.

"You know what the other repairmen say about you?" Nine continued, his voice dripping with spite. "They say you aren’t even a real repairman.....you do not have the hand for the craft and I agree. You faked your way in here. You probably knew about the system. No one respects a girl who plays dress-up in a jumpsuit and cheats her way in, you are a shame to female repairmen. If not for the system....I bet, you would be nothing.....you would have no knowledge. You little cheat, ha-ha!"

The screwdriver slipped from Sunshine’s hand. It hit the floor with a loud clatter that echoed through the quiet room.

Nine saw her shoulders shaking. Instead of stopping, he grinned, showing his strange, insect-like teeth that looked more like fangs. "Oh! Did I hurt your feelings? What are you going to do about it, little girl? What? You gonna cry? Sorry grandpa is not here to come to your rescue, he-he. And neither is your dead mommy."

Sunshine’s eyes brimmed with unshed tears. She didn’t warn him. She reached for the hammer hanging from her belt, activated it to the highest level. Before Nine could even blink, she hurled it.

The hammer flew through the air like a meteor.

Nine’s eyes went wide.

He wasn’t ready.

He tried to duck, but the hammer caught the edge of his shoulder with a heavy CLANG, sending him spinning backward into a pile of crates with some seaweed and dull pearls.

"I....i dislocated something!" Nine shrieked, his voice hitting a high, buggy pitch. "You tried to kill me! That’s a safety violation! I’m reporting you to Vortan!"

"Report this to the whole damn council if you wish," Sunshine said, her voice low and dangerous. "If I don’t kill you today, then I am a shame to the Raine legacy."

Nine scrambled to his feet, his wings buzzing in a frantic, nervous rhythm. "You’re crazy! You’re actually insane!"

"Yes," Sunshine said threateningly in a chilling voice, "Today is the last day you insult me, you miserable insect!" Sunshine’s voice didn’t just shake; it roared.

With a flick of her wrists, she silently aimed at Nine. A massive, jagged wall of ice erupted from the floor with a bone-chilling crack. It surged upward, sealing them off from the rest of the museum and the precious treasures stored nearby. Now, it was just her and the bug_ and the pieces of the music box.

Sunshine didn’t hesitate. She snatched her hammer out of the air and hurled it again. This time, Nine was faster. He screeched and crossed his thick upper legs to shield his face. The hammer slammed into his hard shell with a sound like a car crash.

"My claws!" Nine shrieked, his voice cracking. "You chipped my beautiful claws! Do you know how much it costs to coat them?"

Sunshine didn’t care about his stupid claw coating. She zeroed the gap between them in a heartbeat. "I am a real repairman you moron!" She shouted, her emotions taken over by fury. "How dare you talk about my mother and grandfather?" She rained punches down on his chest plates_ left, right, left_ each strike landing with the weight of her bad week.

Nine opened his mouth to shout another insult, but Sunshine was faster. She slapped a hand over his face, and a burst of frost followed. In seconds, his mouth was sealed shut with a thick, frozen gag of ice.

"Mmmph! Mmm-nnph!" Nine grunted, his bug eyes bulging in terror. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Sunshine reached up, her fingers locking around one of his long, twitching antennas. She began to twist. She wanted to snap it like a dry twig. The pain was enough to break Nine’s panic; he used his superior weight to shove her back. Sunshine flew through the air, but instead of crashing, she tucked her chin and performed a perfect, angry somersault.

She landed on her feet and lunged right back at him.

She didn’t go for the head this time. She went for the wings.

She grabbed the delicate, shimmering membranes and pulled. She stretched them wide, ignoring the way they fluttered frantically against her arms.

Nine’s eyes rolled back in his head from the excruciating pain. He was a big talker, and he was strong and fast, but he wasn’t used to someone fighting dirtier than him.

"You want to talk about me?" she hissed, her hands starting to glow with a dangerous yellow light. "You of all people question my skills? I am better than you and my work speaks for itself. I have had enough of you, stupid bug. Where I come from, you would have been wiped from a windshield a long time ago or slapped to death." She slammed her palms against his abdomen and let out a massive surge of current. "I am going to fry you."