He attacked the wrong mountain (4)
"Please don't tell You An about this."
The infirmary was filled with the smell of disinfectant. The glass door of the partition opened and closed, and Shu Ningmiao stood in front of the doctor. She turned around and glanced at him when she heard the sound.
Just that one look made him feel extremely uncomfortable, yet he still couldn't help but steal glances at her cautiously. After what had just happened, he felt as if something was different.
Shu Ningmiao listened to the doctor's ramblings listlessly, then walked over to him.
The doctor found it hard to believe that someone could break their leg like that while walking on flat ground in Kornunos, but Rennagi herself didn't say anything, so there was nothing he could do.
Why should I tell him?
Shu Ningmiao sat beside him, her expression indifferent.
She was unaware that You An's unusual behavior was related to him.
Rennagi breathed a sigh of relief.
She paused for a moment: "Because you lied to him and used him as a cover?"
His relaxed heart jumped again instantly. He subconsciously avoided her gaze, and it took him a while to steel himself and look back at her expression.
She had just planted a psychological suggestion in the "Neural Connection" ability user, and the very next day, You An unexpectedly came to her door. What a coincidence!
Rather, it was Yu An who was the key reason why she immediately locked onto Ren Nagi.
Yu An's unusual behavior did indeed confuse her for a short time, but it also became the biggest clue for her to identify Rennagi among so many people.
She hadn't forgotten her previous experience with supernatural abilities; Yu An and Ren Nagi were a team.
Yu An is in Class A, while Ren Nagi is in Class C.
When choosing teammates, most people choose those they know and trust.
You An was a student from out of town, and it was unlikely that he would have any acquaintances outside of his classmates in Pines. Moreover, the two were not in the same class, so Shu Ningmiao could only think of one reason for them to get together.
— Cornunos's accommodation is not arranged by class, so the two of them are very likely to be roommates.
Thinking about it this way, the reason why You An was affected is also obvious. It's just that we don't know what Lian Nagi said to him, or how he made him willing to take the blame and do all sorts of strange things to attract her attention.
Shu Ningmiao's gaze held no contempt or condemnation, only a simple question: "You've already done all this, are you still afraid he'll find out what you did?"
Rennagi must have been well aware that if she made a wrong judgment, Yu-An's life would be in real danger.
It's really strange that he betrayed his friend's life and is now worried that You An won't be able to be friends with him after knowing the truth.
But it has nothing to do with her.
Seeing his embarrassed expression, Shu Ningmiao spoke with the utmost calmness and indifference: "Didn't I say that this is our secret?"
Rennagi's Adam's apple bobbed, and she lowered her eyes, remaining silent.
She didn't bring it up again, casually setting the school doctor's diagnosis aside, and said as if speaking offhand, "Since you're one of Prometheus's people, you should also have the 'Symbol of Life,' right?"
“Hmm.” Rennagi hesitated for a moment, her fingertips touching her chest, where a cold pendant separated the fabric from her skin: “We will wear it around our necks... so that we can use it directly when needed.”
So, Su Ni was the same; the first time she saw the "Symbol of Life" was on Su Ni's neck.
"Does the Life Symbol have any other use?"
Shu Ningmiao was curious.
According to Su Ni, although the "Life Talisman" is a supernatural item, its effect is only to eliminate pain, so is there any need to carry it?
“It can relieve pain.” Rennagi clutched the clothes in front of her chest.
She knew this: "What good is simply relieving the pain?"
Unawakened ordinary people can use the "Life Symbol" to recklessly die and buy time, but against superhumans, they will ultimately perish; it's only a matter of time.
For those with superpowers, losing the ability to feel pain is roughly equivalent to losing the ability to feel danger, which isn't much better.
“It can’t change anything anyway.” Rennagi’s face seemed to have a bleak smile: “The only purpose of the Life Symbol is to let us die without pain.”
He said, "To change the world, one must be prepared to die."
Shu Ningmiao saw that he spoke with particular conviction, as if he wasn't the one who had sold out the organization's information to save his own life.
Even so, does that mean we won't be afraid when we actually face death?
After careful consideration, she realized that she probably wouldn't sacrifice herself for any lofty dreams or goals; having more money was only meaningful if she was alive.
“In the past, present, and future, people are dying every minute and every second.” Rennagi turned to look at her earnestly: “People may think we are disrupting our stable lives, but in reality, we are just breaking the veil of pretense… Disaster is already very close to us, and the fate of Pingyi will be the fate of any other place on this planet. There is no use in deceiving ourselves. The death of any one person is insignificant; what matters is the future of this planet.”
"Pandora is a complete scam."
He pressed his hands to his forehead and remained silent for a long time before saying, "I apologize on their behalf for attacking you before. We were really just... too hasty."
"It's alright." Shu Ningmiao's expression was clear, and she showed no reaction to his words. She pondered his words and thought about the function of the 'Life Symbol'.
Regardless of whether Rennagi's words were true or false, Su Ni didn't seem like someone with a goal of "saving the planet": "Do you know Su Ni?"
Within the String Light Academy, she knew that only the two of them were currently among the superhumans who had joined Prometheus, and there might be some connection between them.
“He…” Rennagi’s expression showed a hint of disgust: “I know him, but I don’t know him.”
He thought for a moment, then glanced at her before saying, "It was Achini who let him in. He provided Achini with a map of the surveillance route to the Shu family's Pandora Spring, hoping we could attack this place."
But that day, Achini ultimately chose another spring and, while escaping the pursuers, also blew up the viaduct.
He looked down on Su Ni's impure motives—Su Ni joined Prometheus probably to compete with her sister for the family business, or to retaliate against the Shu family, and had nothing to do with opposing Pandora.
But Achini thought he was useful, so he had to keep quiet.
It matches Su Ni's behavior in her death scene.
It seems that Su Ni's goal from beginning to end was to destroy the Shu family's Pandora's Spring, in order to take revenge on Shu's father?
When Su Ni destroyed Pandora's Well in the game, she was already dead. It couldn't have been to get revenge on a dead person.
Shu Ningmiao rested her chin on her hand and asked the question she had been preparing for a long time—a trick she had learned from Yu Lu.
"Do you know what Achini's special ability is?"
If Rennagi were clear-headed at this moment, he would have sensed that something was wrong, but his head was sore and throbbing, and his keen perception of Shu Ningmiao seemed to be vaguely blocked by something.
"Is it [Fire Control]?"
Shu Ning subtly guided him: "But his special ability doesn't seem like normal fire control."
Any superpower that controls natural elements, such as the most common [ice control], [fire control], and [water control], is simply controlling substances that already exist in nature, rather than creating water and fire out of thin air, so it cannot be considered a particularly powerful superpower.
—If superhumans could conjure water and fire out of thin air, there would be no shortage of resources in this world. Pinheit would definitely tie all the superhumans with the ability to control water to the National Research Center and use them as human water taps.
Shu Ningmiao had two main doubts. First, a simple fire control ability couldn't be as terrifying as Achini's. For an ordinary person, at most, it could condense into a huge fireball.
On the day Cornunos was attacked, flames soaring into the sky engulfed the entire perimeter of the String Light Academy.
Fire control is essentially an explosion caused by compressed oxygen in the air, but the oxygen content in the air is limited, which also limits the upper limit of the [fire control] ability.
Secondly, she had seen Prometheus's men emerge from the flames of Achini, and she had also seen Liang Siyan, who attacked her, disappear from the flames with Lin Chuiyun.
She speculated that Achini's flames might have teleportation capabilities.
"His ability isn't [fire control], it's [different kind of fire]." Rennagi said with her head down, "It's not actually a flame... it's probably something very similar to a flame, capable of igniting other things or merging with other flames. All I know is that two different kinds of fire burning at the same time can connect."
It does indeed have a function similar to [teleportation].
Having gotten what she wanted to know, Shu Ningmiao left him with a few words of comfort, telling him to take good care of his injuries, and then turned and left without saying anything more.
Rennagi leaned against the hospital bed for a long time, then sighed softly, feeling a slight weight lift from her heart.
For the first time after deciding to join Prometheus, he confided his thoughts to someone else.
Although most of it was forced upon me, I felt much better after speaking out.
Perhaps it was because Shu Ningmiao didn't judge his right or wrong, but simply listened to him quietly—he didn't need others to acknowledge his correctness, nor did he want others to criticize his mistakes.
He was just... too lonely.
Feeling misunderstood, unable to confide in anyone, always feeling lonely.
No matter how eager he was to change the world, he was just an ordinary human being, cowardly because of death, and lonely because of not fitting in.
You An is a good person who doesn't think too much, so even though he's not popular at school, You An can still be friends with him in a very easygoing way.
They were both from small towns, so they had some common topics, but that was about it.
You An's hometown, Lunan, was also a not-so-wealthy place, but You An was innocent and happy, carefree like a puppy. They were destined to be different people.
You An still has his hometown to return to, but he can no longer return to his hometown.
He limped back to his dormitory, using the crutch that came with the medicine from the infirmary—paid for by Shu Ningmiao.
In any case, it's a good thing that Shu Ningmiao listened to him and decided to reconcile with him. He no longer needs to worry about this; there's plenty of time, and perhaps he can even persuade her to join Prometheus.
Even if one is not omniscient, the ability to plunder is extremely rare.
When I got back to my dorm, I found that You An's dorm room across the hall was open.
Renna stopped in front of Yu'an's door, hesitated and looked over, only to find Yu'an sitting on the ground with his back to him, lost in thought and motionless.
He called out, "You An."
You An's ears twitched, so he must have heard it, but he didn't react.
Rennagi felt a little strange, and continued, "Shall we go to the cafeteria together later?"
He has been locked in the storage room by Shu Ningmiao and hasn't eaten yet.
You An still didn't respond to him, but simply stood up and walked towards him.
He usually has a cheerful and silly demeanor, but when he suddenly turns cold, his face becomes somewhat gloomy and stern, and his angular face even has a sharp edge.
Yu An didn't say a word, but reached out to close the dormitory door. Lian Naqi quickly used her cane to block it, wedging it in the crack, and asked in a panic, "What are you doing?"
Even if Shu Ningmiao didn't keep her word, You An wouldn't have found out so quickly.
You An lowered her eyes, stared at him for a long time, and suddenly uttered two words: "Liar."
Rennagi was truly stunned this time.
You An seemed to have been holding it in for a long time before she finally spoke, unleashing a torrent of words like a machine gun: "...Why didn't you tell me?! They all say she even went to her elective class today specifically for you..."
He was stunned for a long time, then his voice gradually turned somber: "Are you and her already together?"
Rennagi thought he had discovered something, and her heart skipped a beat. Now, after hearing what he said, she slowly clenched her fists.
His forehead veins bulged: "...You idiot."
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