Mister Zero, Her Story: Chapter 46 – Rain Without a Trace
“It’s raining.”
A light drizzle began to fall, lightly dampening Luo Yan’s clothes.
Although Luo Yan liked rain, she didn’t particularly enjoy being caught in it.
Fortunately, Anna, knowing it would rain, had brought an umbrella.
A large, floral umbrella, disproportionate to her small frame, was opened, creating a barrier against the rain, separating two worlds.
Luo Yan and Anna were now quite far from Construction Street Six in District Three.
However, due to the elevated terrain, they had a clear view of the street below.
“Lady Luo Yan, why did you suddenly want to come here?”
Anna, having held the question in for a while, finally asked.
“Because it’s a good spot.”
Luo Yan replied softly, then, to Anna’s surprise, she pulled out some mechanical parts from hidden compartments in the armrests of her wheelchair.
“What… what is that…?”
Luo Yan didn’t answer, her hands moving quickly, assembling the parts with a speed that dazzled Anna.
It was a pulse sniper rifle.
Ordinary sniper rifles couldn’t fully utilize an ability user’s power. This spiritual energy-driven pulse rifle, in the hands of a “Peril” level ability user, could destroy an entire city block.
Even Luo Yan could destroy three or four buildings with it, if she focused its power on explosions.
—So, Davis had underestimated Luo Yan’s strength.
Luo Yan’s destructive power had already reached “Ruin” level in Ghost Town, and it had grown stronger in Yan City.
Although not quite “Peril” level, she was at the peak of “Ruin” level.
“Are you planning to use the sniper rifle to help kill the calamity monster?” Anna asked hesitantly. “But from this distance, and without Second Sister Hua and her ‘Eagle Eye’…”
At a distance of over three kilometers, hitting a Devil’s minion accurately was difficult without “Eagle Eye.”
Even with a regular scope, it was useless against ability users above “Calamity” level.
The time it took for the bullet to travel that distance was more than enough for them to react.
Although Anna had no combat experience, having been raised by Hua Qingling, she had some basic understanding.
“It’s fine, I’ll just make sure he can’t move,” Luo Yan clumsily attached the scope; she wasn’t used to using it. “Keep an eye on the surroundings, make sure I don’t hit any passersby.”
“…There probably aren’t any passersby.”
The drizzle had turned into a downpour; no one was out in this weather.
“Good. I can only protect you at this range.”
Luo Yan removed her eye mask, raised the sniper rifle, and placed her closed right eye against the scope.
Although her posture was awkward, her grip was firm.
“Turn around, don’t look at me,” Luo Yan whispered.
“Okay.”
Anna quickly turned around, knowing some abilities could indiscriminately harm those nearby.
Luo Yan took a deep breath and opened her right eye, its appearance now terrifying.
For the first time, she tried to control “Envy,” focusing it in a straight line, along the scope’s trajectory, towards Construction Street Six, number twenty.
“…Found you.”
In Luo Yan’s vision, the dark, malevolent aura stood out starkly.
…
Construction Street Six, number twenty.
Inside the collapsed building, the man with the black umbrella faced the Apprehension Department team.
Or rather… the now incapacitated Apprehension Department team.
Except for the team leader, a “Ruin” level ability user who was barely holding on, the others had lost control of their bodies.
They watched in horror as their bodies mutated, just like the small boy’s corpse earlier.
“I didn’t expect… a mega-city to be so weak,” the man with the black umbrella sneered. “Half an hour, and only one team?”
He had used the civilians as bait to see how many would respond.
If he knew he wasn’t a match, he wouldn’t have revealed himself.
Hidden in the shadows, he would be difficult to detect, unless he encountered Luo Yan or Qin Wen, who were sensitive to the aura of Devil’s minions.
But after half an hour, only one team had arrived, their strength negligible.
“If it weren’t for… this time…”
The team leader gritted his teeth.
Yan City had been facing numerous incidents lately, stretching the already understaffed Anomaly Management Bureau thin.
Under normal circumstances, they could have assembled three teams within half an hour.
These Devil’s minions, without Demonic Powers, even at “Ruin” level, weren’t as dangerous as Red Butterfly.
But for a single, isolated team, they were a deadly threat.
“My collection… will grow again.”
The man kissed the boy’s lifeless head and put it away.
He looked at the contorted bodies of the Apprehension Department team, a pleased smile on his face.
His ability, aligned with the “Sovereign of Madness,” allowed him to infect others with his blood, controlling their nervous systems.
This was why the boy’s corpse had been able to move; its nervous system was under his control.
Moreover, the demon-tainted blood caused physical mutations, transforming them into monsters.
Of course, his control had limits.
He couldn’t handle too many people at once, and his control wasn’t precise enough for complex commands.
In direct combat, he was no match for Qin Wen, or even Hua Qiling.
Devil’s minions without Demonic Powers weren’t inherently stronger than ordinary ability users; their abilities were simply more grotesque and terrifying.
However, back when the Primordial Demons hadn’t been sealed…
Devil’s minions could fight ability users a level above them, posing a significant threat to humanity alongside Devil’s Apostles.
But for now, dealing with a single, weak Apprehension Department team was enough.
“Eat, devour yourselves, until only your heads remain…”
As the man’s seductive voice echoed, the team members, like puppets, twisted their heads and, with their now grotesque mouths, bit into their arms.
“Rip—”
Blood splattered.
The team leader watched in despair, helpless.
Resisting the control was already pushing him to his limit; he couldn’t protect his team.
And the Disaster Response Department’s backup was still five or six minutes away.
—They were the Apprehension Department, not the Disaster Response Department, not specialized in handling disaster events.
Davis was among them, feeling the agonizing pain in her arm and the horror of her body mutating.
For some reason, she thought of Miss Luo Yan.
That frail, pitiful, yet incredibly powerful figure in the wheelchair…
If I had agreed to Miss Luo Yan’s request earlier, would the outcome be different…?
Just as this thought crossed her mind, she saw a silver flash in the distance.
What’s that…?
Before she could react, a terrifying eye seemed to be opening in her vision.
This is… Miss Luo Yan’s ability!
Davis remembered the ability Luo Yan had used on her before entering Spring Breeze Pavilion.
Those mysterious eyes, and the soul-shaking terror…
With the last of her strength, Davis briefly regained control of her nervous system.
It only lasted for a split second, but it was enough for her to shout,
“—Close your eyes!”
Although the other team members and their leader didn’t understand, trusting their teammate, they forced their eyes shut.
The man with the black umbrella, annoyed by the sudden shout, frowned.
“Such an ungrateful female… ruining my artistic vision!”
He was about to strengthen his control over Davis, but then he heard a cold, indifferent voice.
“…I see you.”
“Who?!”
The man’s snake-like eyes widened, searching for the source of the voice.
But everything was obscured by the rain.
Just then, he felt a stinging sensation on his skin and instinctively looked towards it, seeing a pulse of spiritual energy heading straight for him.
“A spiritual energy pulse sniper rifle!”
But from this distance…
The man relaxed slightly. From such a range, a wide-area attack couldn’t harm a “Ruin” level ability user like him.
Only a concentrated attack could be effective.
But a concentrated spiritual energy pulse had a limited area of effect.
Once detected, he could easily dodge it.
And the timing of detection…
“Heh, you scared me,” the man sneered. “Just a little rat hiding in the distance…”
But in the next moment, his smile froze.
He… couldn’t move!
He, the self-proclaimed puppeteer, was being controlled!
No, not his body…
The man could feel a mark seared onto his soul.
Even a slight touch brought a terror more horrifying than death…
This terror paralyzed him completely.
And this fear… was familiar.
“It’s the Lord’s power!”
That dreamlike experience had been his initiation, his introduction to the “Lord.”
“But this isn’t my Lord’s power… Is there another follower of the Lord nearby…?
“But why would they help those humans from Yan City…?”
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but his soul was trapped, unable to control his body.
“Whose follower…? Soul… mind-related… could it be… ‘Envy’?”
Although Devil’s minions and Apostles rarely used human names for their “Lords,” they still knew them.
The man with the black umbrella worshipped the “Sovereign of Madness,” whose power was “Madness,” a Superpower type.
But it didn’t matter now. He knew his opponent possessed a Demonic Power!
Before obtaining the power of “Envy,” Red Butterfly had been a weak “Ruin” level ability user.
But with that power, even Qin Wen couldn’t defeat her directly.
Without Luo Yan, although Red Butterfly would have eventually been killed by Yan City, the cost wouldn’t have been so low.
But… how could he just sit here and wait for death?
No, even if he did… what then?
A sinister grin appeared on the man’s face. A lifeless head floated up, intercepting the spiritual energy pulse.
The pulse pierced the head, but more heads appeared, blocking its path.
“These works of art… are more than just art…
“They can die for me!”
One head after another was destroyed, until finally, after piercing thirteen heads, the spiritual energy pulse was weakened to its limit.
The man with the black umbrella took the hit directly, stumbling backward before regaining his footing.
Half of his internal organs were destroyed, the severe injury weakening his control over the Apprehension Department team.
But he survived.
“Too bad.”
Luo Yan, in the distance, closed her eyes, taking a brief rest.
Maintaining her eyes open was straining, unless she burned through her life force, she couldn’t sustain it for long.
But that one shot had created an opportunity for the Apprehension Department team, freeing them from his control.
The heavily injured man, no longer concerned about art, just wanted to escape.
But the team leader wouldn’t allow it.
Gathering his remaining strength, he unleashed his ability, several fireballs flying towards the man through the rain.
“Damn it…”
The man swatted them away, losing precious seconds.
And in those few seconds, the situation changed drastically.
“…Farewell.”
The man saw a pair of blood-red eyes open slowly, their cold, malevolent, black pupils fixated on him.
This time, there was no escape.
A spiritual energy pulse pierced his head. There were no “works of art” to protect him this time.
The puppeteer, even stronger than Red Butterfly, collapsed.
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