Chapter 171 Re-entering 1
I briefly explained the existence of the girl Lu Chan and my own speculations about her.
"...Let me make this clear beforehand, I'm a man. I wasn't transformed into a man, nor have I ever been transformed into a woman. I was born a man." Lu Youxun said, his face darkening. "And...Zhu Shi, what are you laughing at over there? You've known me for several years, right? You can be my witness too."
Zhu Shi struggled to suppress her laughter and said with difficulty, "—I'm sorry, actually I can't confirm it either."
"What?" Lu Youxun was shocked.
“Maybe you’re actually a girl, but you’re too ashamed to admit it, so you usually only present yourself as a male ‘possible alter ego’…” Zhu Shijing said seriously. “You see, don’t you sometimes make disparaging remarks about women? Maybe you have some gender identity disorder, which is why you’re forced to resort to this…”
"I see……"
Zhu Shi opened up my mind—
Thinking about it this way, Lu Youxun was able to escape from the heavily guarded secret stronghold of the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau because he summoned "himself" there who could escape from the desperate situation, and that "himself" was the opposite gender to the girl's original self.
The reason he was able to hallucinate there was not because of his innate advantage in using divination techniques, but because he still maintained a conscious network with his original self.
However, this speculation has an obvious contradiction: Lu Youxun, who harbors deep hatred for the Humanitarian Affairs Bureau, would have no reason to lie or conceal this fact. Furthermore, even if he wanted to lie and conceal it, he couldn't fool Luo Shan and Zhu Shi.
Is it possible that the girl Lu Chan (assuming she is the original) summoned a "possible clone who believes herself to be the original"? The possibility is extremely low. Regardless of whether it is necessary, Lu Youxun, who returned to Luoshan, would have objective evidence to confirm whether he is the original, and there would definitely be someone close to Lu Youxun who knows the original.
Conversely, without these physical and witness testimonies, Luo Shan would not be able to admit that the one who escaped was the real Lu Chan. Furthermore, if the amount of physical and witness testimonies he provides is insufficient, there would be gaps where he could be deceived by magic, making it even less likely that Luo Shan would trust him.
Ultimately, whether he is the original or a clone, Luo Shan certainly has many ways to confirm. Even the creator of the monster had to pair his "possible clone" with his own clone to barely deceive Zhu Shi, and that was only under the premise that Zhu Shi's "Buzhou Mountain" was not fully activated. Lu Youxun, who hurriedly fled the stronghold, had even less chance of being fooled.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Lu Youxun's true form couldn't possibly be that girl.
"Hey, why are you looking so serious over there..." Lu Youxun exclaimed in surprise, "Don't tell me you also suspect I used to be a woman?"
"No, not at all." I quickly changed the subject. "Instead of that, Lu Youxun, could you teleport me to that place again now?"
Zhu Shi also dropped his teasing expression and became focused.
"--Can."
Lu Youxun seemed to check his condition before saying, "But I need to adjust for a few minutes first. Although I don't know why the previous illusion went so smoothly, it was definitely an extraordinary performance for me, which over-exhausted my mental energy. I don't know if it will go so smoothly next time."
I didn't intend to explain Asaha's jinxed nature, I just vaguely said, "It's definitely possible."
“Alright, I believe you,” he said. “Besides, I’m very grateful that you came back so quickly to clear my name, but the whole thing is very strange. According to your description, you seem to have been forcibly reverted while using the power of fire… Did you do anything else at that time?”
"It's just killing a researcher and freeing a witcher, right?" I couldn't understand it either.
Zhu Shi offered a conjecture: "Could it be that Zhuang Cheng's magical fluctuations were detected by some mechanism within the secret outpost of the Humanitarian Division, and that mechanism then expelled Zhuang Cheng?"
“Absolutely impossible.” Lu Youxun denied. “The Humanitarian Affairs Department would not allow outsiders who have entered their own bases to leave at will. It would be even more unreasonable to actively drive them away, as that would only expose the existence of the secret bases.”
"Moreover, even if Zhuang Cheng was really expelled, he should have been expelled outside the secret base. There's no reason for him to be automatically sent back to the location before the teleportation."
During the conversation, the resident detective delivered the information Lu Youxun had previously requested regarding "people with the same name as me." Truly, this is the convenience of modern society; investigating a few people is a piece of cake for Luo Shan.
Lu Youxun glanced through the list briefly and then gave me the answer directly: "There are no junior high school students, elementary school students, or high school students in Xianshui City who share your name. However, if we expand the scope of names to 'Zhuang Chengmou' or 'Zhuang Moucheng', remove the age restriction, and expand the geographical scope to the whole country, then there are quite a few people with the same name."
As he spoke, he handed me the tablet computer displaying the data, and I looked through it. Nationwide, there were several people with the exact same name and similar age, but their appearances were all completely different from mine at age twelve.
As expected, I was a "person who shouldn't exist" at the secret outpost of the Humanitarian Division.
Moreover, if that was really two years ago (which now seems very unlikely), then I would have been around seventeen years old there, not twelve.
Furthermore, I hadn't awakened my superpowers when I was twelve, and my body there was formed from flame mimicry from the very beginning—I wouldn't be mistaken about that. Rather than saying that was "me at twelve," it's more accurate to say that "my current self has shrunk to the appearance of a twelve-year-old."
Zhu Shi also came closer to take a look, and then asked, "Zhuang Cheng, what did you look like when you were twelve years old? Can you write it down for us to see?"
Upon hearing this, Mazao was about to take out a blank copy of the photo.
I simply said, "No need."
After saying that, I shoved the tablet into Mazao's arms and then transformed my body. Flames suddenly erupted from my body, then enveloped my entire being. My vision rapidly lowered, and my body became light.
After the flames subsided, I was back to my twelve-year-old self.
"That's about right."
I showed you what I look like now.
The clothes weren't quite the right size; the sleeves were too long, the hems were touching the ground, and the belt and shoes were loose. Adjusting these items while reconstructing the external world is still a very difficult challenge for me right now.
Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun were both dumbfounded, and even Ma Zao seemed to be frozen in place, staring at me intently.
"You can actually transform yourself!?" Zhu Shi exclaimed in disbelief.
“Yes, it is possible…” I said.
Perhaps still influenced by our previous conversation, Zhu Shi looked at me with a subtle expression: "So, becoming a beautiful girl also means..."
"That won't work."
I can always change my appearance, it's just not as easy as it sounds.
Reshaping one's appearance is a delicate task, much like painting or sculpting. Without the necessary skills, one cannot draw a realistic face or sculpt a lifelike human body; even in video games where character appearance can be customized, it's easy to end up with a grotesque, misshapen face. Let alone using superpowers to reshape one's body—no one can be my teacher in that area.
That's why I say I can transform, but it's difficult to transform into the form I want. At most, I can make some adjustments based on my original form. From the age of fourteen when I first awakened my superpowers to my current age of nineteen, this is all within the range I can easily transform into. As for my twelve-year-old self, although it's a bit more difficult, because I had a personal experience this time, I can also transform easily.
"A woman's self" is not entirely impossible. Aside from the fact that some organs and endocrine systems cannot be perfectly reproduced, it would simply involve making minor additions or subtractions to the original form. At most, it would look very similar to one's current self. In any case, I think it's unlikely to be some kind of "beautiful girl".
To avoid being teased, I'll keep this secret to myself. And unlike some people I've seen online who like to say things like, "I wish I could be reincarnated as a beautiful girl," I've never had any particular longing for that, nor have I ever been dissatisfied with how I am now. I'm perfectly fine as I am now.
Suddenly, Zhu Shi grabbed my shoulder.
"—Senior Brother Zhuang."
"Uh... Junior Sister Zhu?" I was startled.
For some reason, her breathing suddenly became a little heavy, her eyes were fixed, and she seemed to be suppressing a strange smile. She also inexplicably called back "Senior Brother Zhuang".
Junior sister, you're a bit scary right now.
"Can you stay like this for a while longer?" She tried to put on a serious expression. "No... how long can you stay like this at most?"
"It should be fine no matter how long it takes..." I said, at a loss.
Strictly speaking, after becoming a flame aggregate, I no longer have a "real appearance".
I'm merely mimicking my appearance before I mastered elementalization. The reason I'm still growing is simply because I'm instinctively simulating the growth process. After all, I was still in the middle of puberty when I mastered elementalization, and I didn't want to just stop developing like that.
A man's puberty seems to end completely around age twenty, and I plan to stop simulating normal bodily changes after that, so I probably won't age. In other words, the immortality that protagonists in many fantasy novels pursue, I've already obtained from the very beginning.
(End of this chapter)
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