Chapter 81: Don’t Look at Me
The reason they took Su Wan instead of Luo Ling was simple.
Luo Ling was an Awakened One with unknown abilities. The previous battle had been too short to discern the specifics of her powers.
Both the Company and the local Awakened organization, the Qingshan Hospital Exchange Group, had ways of obtaining information.
But Luo Ling was different. She didn’t exist in any records, and even the Harbingers’ Other Shore path users couldn’t find anything about her.
Although Artist and Scientist were confident in their strength, they weren’t willing to take unnecessary risks.
Kidnapping Luo Ling directly might expose them to unknown dangers.
For example, Luo Ling could temporarily borrow abilities. If she borrowed Scientist’s power and used Retrospect on her, it could put Scientist herself in danger.
Retrospect wasn’t without limitations. Although its cooldown was short, if Li Shaoheng seized the opportunity, it could be fatal.
Therefore, targeting the ordinary person closest to Luo Ling, using her as a “hostage,” was the simplest and most effective method.
As for whether such actions were despicable and shameless?
There were indeed some old-fashioned members within the Harbingers who adhered to certain moral boundaries, but Artist and Scientist clearly had no such qualms.
“My ability is Retrospect. I can move to any location I’ve marked with Retrospect,” Scientist said, taking out a transparent crystal.
“I know you can temporarily borrow other people’s abilities. This crystal contains the power to Retrospect to this train, and to Retrospect an object from the train to this car, but each can only be used once.”
In other words, they were inviting Luo Ling to come alone, while also giving her a chance to rescue her sister.
Their ultimate goal was still to kill Luo Ling, use Artist’s ability to reanimate her corpse, and use it as a lead to find the weakened High-Risk Grotesquery in Jiangcheng County.
Luo Ling was silent for a moment.
She tried to use her Spores to borrow Scientist’s ability, but Artist, knowing about this ability, had taken precautions.
Both of them were covered in a layer of inanimate material, preventing the Spores from attaching.
The crystal on the table did contain an ability, but Luo Ling could sense that it had been tampered with. If any other ability interacted with it, it would collapse, preventing further borrowing.
Luo Ling couldn’t find any openings.
These were just hasty preparations. If Luo Ling hadn’t taken her sister away and had stayed in Jiangcheng County, the situation would have been far more dire.
At least now, Artist and Scientist still wanted to make the bait more tempting, giving Luo Ling a chance to rescue her sister. Otherwise… one more or one less life meant nothing to them.
This was a dead end.
Someone had to die.
“Xiao Ling…”
Hearing the voice appearing out of nowhere, Su Wan’s expression turned complex.
She had noticed her sister’s strange behavior for a while now, perhaps since her illness a few months ago, or even earlier.
Her recent actions had been even more mysterious.
How could Su Wan not notice?
She saw through every one of Luo Ling’s lies, clumsy or elaborate, but she had chosen to ignore them, to avoid confronting them.
Until now, Su Wan finally understood why her sister had been hiding things from her.
“I believe in you.”
No matter what, I believe in you.
“I believe… you can protect me.”
Just like last time.
…And every time.
The crystal on the table shattered silently, meaning the ability within had been borrowed.
Artist and Scientist smiled slightly; their plan seemed to have worked.
But then, something unexpected happened.
A silvery white figure materialized at the designated location, but the ordinary woman sitting in front of them didn’t disappear.
It was Artist who vanished.
Luo Ling hadn’t chosen to rescue her sister, but instead, Retrospected Artist onto the moving train!
Luo Ling knew they would be waiting for her, a trap laid out. They were the trap. Without the “egg’s” power, she would be no match for either Artist or Scientist.
If she agreed to their terms, it would be a dead end.
So, she couldn’t play by their rules.
“A different person…”
Luo Ling murmured, her eyes hardening.
The next moment, a cold voice echoed in the minds of everyone in the train car,
“Enemy attack.”
Two Retrospects activated, the exchange happening in an instant.
Artist materialized inside the train car, surrounded by three attackers.
A flicker of surprise crossed his face, then a smile returned.
“An unexpected move, well played.”
Choosing to eliminate an enemy instead of rescuing her sister directly…
A good choice.
But ultimately… meaningless.
It would only result in more casualties.
The reason Scientist feared Li Shaoheng was because their abilities countered each other, but Artist was different.
He was an Awakened One on the Myriad path, the absolute master of life.
“An opponent of the same level is not qualified to kill me,” Artist said, looking around at his attackers, a hint of arrogance in his voice. He had underestimated Luo Ling before, until he placed her on the same level as himself.
“Interesting.”
Inside the Spirit Walker, Scientist grinned, her red tongue licking her lips, her posture straightening slightly.
Her single eye watched the slowly materializing figure with interest.
First, a flash of silvery white, then, a gloomy, black-haired girl.
The girl didn’t hesitate, rushing straight towards Scientist the moment she appeared, her speed surprising even Scientist.
Dust rose from the floor beneath her feet. If this weren’t a Sacred Tool but an ordinary train car, it would have been crushed by her force.
“Is she trying to borrow my ability?”
Scientist chuckled. Borrowing abilities sounded powerful, but only when it was unexpected.
Once she knew about it, she could easily avoid the conditions for borrowing.
Luo Ling’s method of borrowing abilities, through physical contact, had been revealed during her desperate attempt to reach Artist. And avoiding contact was precisely Scientist’s specialty.
With a snap of her fingers, Scientist vanished from the sofa.
But to her surprise, the black-haired girl didn’t stop, instead, she accelerated.
Her target was…
The unconscious Elsa.
From the beginning, this had been Luo Ling’s goal. She had merely made it seem like she was trying to borrow Scientist’s ability.
“Oh?”
Scientist, having missed her chance, could only watch as Luo Ling touched Elsa, a flicker of surprise in her eye.
However, she also found it amusing. Elsa’s abilities weren’t so easily used. Grotesquery powers came at a price, and the price Elsa paid was unimaginable.
Elsa was currently in a deep coma, her consciousness sealed within the Grotesquery space.
Scientist didn’t know why Elsa’s mind hadn’t collapsed in Baiyan Village. Perhaps she had grown stronger, but it didn’t matter. As long as she could control Elsa’s actions, that was enough.
Due to the heavy price she paid, Elsa’s abilities were incredibly powerful. Although their current strength was only equivalent to a Mid-Order Awakened One, even Scientist found them troublesome to deal with.
Fortunately, Scientist had the habit of performing neurosurgery on her experimental subjects beforehand, allowing her to control this powerful, human-shaped Sacred Tool.
Yes, to Scientist, Elsa was a Sacred Tool, a tool for wielding Grotesquery powers.
Sealing the Sacred Relic of a Grotesquery within an infant with Awakened One physique, allowing the infant to merge with the Relic from birth, creating a being capable of freely wielding Grotesquery abilities.
Scientist had requested Philosopher’s help in slaughtering several cities and taking all the children under three, for this very purpose, to create these weapons.
Elsa was the only successful case, the only surviving weapon.
Just as Scientist was wondering which ability Luo Ling would borrow, she saw the black-haired girl slam her forehead against the unconscious Elsa and shout,
“Elsa, wake up!”
Who’s calling me?
Within the mindscape, Elsa, once again surrounded and assaulted by Grotesqueries, opened her eyes in a daze.
A familiar feeling…
It had happened recently…
Could it be… Big Sister Bai?
At the same time, the Grotesqueries in her mindscape retreated slightly at the shout, as if afraid of something.
A faint light appeared in the darkness, and Elsa reached out, grasping a soft, silver strand of hair.
“This is…”
Big Sister Bai’s hair.
Every time… it was her.
The fear in Elsa’s eyes vanished. She was no longer lost and terrified.
Because she saw that this single, seemingly insignificant strand of silver hair was enough to repel the surrounding Grotesqueries.
“It’s useless,” Scientist chuckled. “Do you really think she’s just asleep? My god, you should see for yourself… eh?”
Scientist stopped mid-sentence, stunned.
She watched as Elsa slowly opened her eyes, an expression of disbelief on her face for the first time.
“Big Sister Bai…”
Elsa murmured, her voice slightly dazed, then realized the person standing before her was the black-haired girl, not the Big Sister Bai she knew.
“No, it’s Miss Luo Ling.”
She quickly covered her mouth, afraid her voice would harm Luo Ling.
But… Luo Ling showed no signs of being affected.
Not only that, but her voice, imbued with the will of a Grotesquery, had no effect on anyone present.
Luo Ling, of course, was immune. Scientist had her own methods of resistance, but even Su Wan… felt no discomfort from her voice.
“Do it,” Luo Ling’s voice echoed.
“Okay.”
Luo Ling moved aside.
At the same time, Su Wan stood up and approached Luo Ling.
Elsa opened her eyes, the runes of the death warrant swirling within, and stared at Scientist. As she uttered a few words, three soul-based tortures instantly afflicted Scientist.
“Tsk…”
Scientist’s face contorted in pain. Even as a High-Order Awakened One, she couldn’t easily withstand such a continuous assault on her soul.
She raised a hand, her cat-faced eye patch removed, the living pupil in her prosthetic eye twitching uneasily.
“Retrospect, Immerse.”
Activating her ability on a target, reverting their state to a specific point in time marked by an Anchor Point.
A faint chime echoed, and Scientist clearly intended to revert Elsa’s consciousness back to the moment it was sealed within the Grotesquery space.
Just like in the subterranean cavern.
Every battle Elsa participated in was dangerous.
If Elsa’s path reached the level of a High-Order Awakened One, Scientist wouldn’t even dare confront her alone, unable to withstand the soul damage, just like Performer, who was also a Mid-Order Awakened One.
Of course, such an opportunity would never have arisen.
Because Elsa would never be able to escape Scientist’s control, let alone attack her.
But now…
A monstrous figure with blue skin and fangs suddenly appeared before Scientist. Caught off guard, Scientist’s abdomen was pierced, even her protective Sacred Tool cracking slightly.
“What—”
Scientist spat out blood, the interruption of her ability painful.
Even more painful was Luo Ling’s attack.
It had been terrifyingly powerful, almost shattering her protective Sacred Tool, which could withstand any attack below High-Order Awakened One level.
If it weren’t for the protective gear, Luo Ling could have ripped out her intestines with a single hand.
Unexpected.
“Not Myriad, but Judgment…?”
Scientist wiped the blood from her lips, relieved that the attack hadn’t been fatal.
Luo Ling’s speed had been far beyond her expectations, a speed impossible for a Myriad path Awakened One, only achievable by someone on the Judgment path.
But all the abilities Luo Ling had displayed so far had been Myriad.
It was impossible for a person to be on two paths, at least it had never happened before, and it was highly unlikely to happen in the future.
Because the conflict between different paths would tear such an ambitious being apart, erasing even their concept of existence.
That was why Scientist had misjudged Luo Ling’s movements, giving her an opening.
However, it would be the only opening.
Scientist looked up and saw Luo Ling’s current form, momentarily stunned.
“Holy moly… little girl, you’re really Grotesque-side, aren’t you?”
She had never seen such a dense Grotesquery aura on an Awakened One. No wonder she had left such a strong trace after merely touching Artist’s sand puppet.
Wait, was she really an Awakened One?
Wasn’t this… an “egg”?
Scientist’s mind reeled. What kind of opponent were they facing…? It was completely beyond their expectations.
Elsa, having used her ability three times and almost being sealed back into the Grotesquery space by Scientist, was also extremely weak. She looked at Luo Ling’s back, a faint sense of familiarity stirring within her.
As if she had seen her in the subterranean cavern…
But… she hadn’t known Miss Luo Ling back then, had she?
“Xiao Ling.”
Her sister’s voice, seemingly trying to guide Luo Ling.
Luo Ling maintained her composure.
Demonic transformation…
Using it again.
Because she knew that only in this state could she force Scientist to focus on her, leaving Elsa and her sister alone.
But this demonic transformation seemed deeper than the previous ones.
Something was taking over her consciousness, greedily consuming something intangible within her.
Was it her “humanity”?
It didn’t matter.
The only thing she cared about…
“Sister, close your eyes… don’t look,” Luo Ling’s voice was hoarse.
“…Mm.”
Her sister’s voice trembled slightly.
I’m sorry, even my voice scares you now.
Even now, she still didn’t want her sister to see her like this.
Such an ugly, terrifying…
…monster.
At this moment, Luo Ling had accepted the fact that she was a monster.
So now, let the monster save them all.
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