Openly wielding firearms (12)
Linlu couldn't believe that such a wonderful thing as someone bringing you a pillow when you're sleepy existed, especially since the person who brought it was Shu Ningmiao. It was even more unbelievable.
This guy isn't a treacherous or vicious villain, but he's definitely not a good person either.
They were just one person away from completing the mission when Shu Ningmiao came in carrying a pollutant. Could there be some kind of trap?
Linlu looked at her suspiciously, shielding Eric behind her like a mother hen protecting her chicks: "Really? And this contaminant is clearly dead, you're lying through your teeth."
She pointed to the black, muddy liquid oozing from the chest of the shriveled contaminant. The wound was clean and crisp, clearly in Shu Ningmiao's style. She had already killed the contaminant with a single sword strike, so why bring it here to torment them now?
“It’s not dead.” Shu Ningmiao stated calmly, “If it were dead, I would have a kill count here.”
That makes sense, Linlu reluctantly agreed with her statement.
“I’ve never purified such a large pollutant before.” Erici calmed down and said to Shu Ningmiao with some uncertainty, “...I’ve only purified these two types so far.”
She gestured the size of the fish, then drew a shape about the size of a coconut: "I don't know if it will work."
Without the drawing, Erici had no idea that such tiny pollutants existed.
"Whether you succeed or not, the kill count is yours." Shu Ningmiao didn't make things difficult for her, her gaze fixed intently on the motionless contaminated body.
Eric tentatively reached out her hand, and just as the halo in her hand was about to touch the contaminated object, Shu Ningmiao suddenly grabbed her wrist: "Wait."
Linlu had a feeling that she had just expected this: "You changed your mind?"
Shu Ningmiao remained silent.
They didn't know what might be purified in a moment, but she had a pretty good idea.
She witnessed the process of Erici purifying the sea with light, and the fish on the beach would become unpolluted after being purified.
So what was this pollutant, which has limbs similar to a human and walks upright, originally?
It could be a monkey, it could be an ape, or it could even be... a human.
Even if they know, they might not fully understand what it means.
There has never been a precedent in the world for a person being contaminated.
Pingyi has been polluted for hundreds of years, and in those hundred years, there has not been a single news report about human pollution.
The significance of human contamination is vastly different from that of any other organism being contaminated.
This is not something that can be shown to the public.
Their simulation environment was not private; all the teachers and officials were watching their every move in order to judge their performance.
Purifying this thing's original form in front of so many people... If the contaminated object were a monkey, that would be fine, but if it were a human...
It will definitely bring her unimaginable trouble.
Shu Ningmiao knew that even if this was an objective fact, the truth must not be revealed to her. If this matter could not be made public, she would become the target of public criticism.
But she couldn't just pretend it never happened.
A strong sixth sense compelled her to find out what it was.
The content of each supernatural ability practice is a random combination of data. If she misses this opportunity, she may never know what exactly happened in Pingyi.
What is unknown is not only the world before her eyes, but also her destiny.
If you don't have the courage to face anything, you can't change anything.
Ignorance is the best way to protect yourself, but if you want to understand the truth of this world, you must bear the corresponding price.
Alan's timid face appeared before her.
The broadcast of the students' supernatural abilities practice does not disclose internal data. Although it will cause trouble, she can bear the cost.
Shu Ningmiao sighed and let go of her hand: "You can use it."
Erice held his hand above the contaminated creature, and the light gradually penetrated into the creature's head, but remained suspended above the head and could not go down. After a while, Erice's arm trembled, and he gritted his teeth with difficulty, putting all his strength into using his superpower.
Shu Ningmiao was watching her, and she didn't want to appear incompetent in front of Shu Ningmiao.
However, her superpower was limited; she had already reached her limit by covering just her head, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get any closer.
After a stalemate lasting more than ten minutes, she managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "No...it seems like it won't work."
Shu Ningmiao had previously guessed that Ai Ruiji's superpower might have some kind of limitation, but she didn't expect it to be confirmed at this time. She could only purify some smaller pollutants or those with similar strength to herself.
Even though they are all T6-level contaminated entities, there are still differences in their strength.
Eric's face turned red, and he wanted to try again.
As someone who wasn't good at fighting, and whose superpower wasn't particularly strong, she felt needed for the first time after entering the superpower practice, and she didn't want to give up just like that.
Her head was buzzing.
Shu Ningmiao grabbed her hand and threw it back, pushing her back slightly: "That's enough, don't use it anymore."
She took a few steps back, feeling her vision blurry, unsure whether it was because Shu Ningmiao was too strong or because she was exhausted.
Feeling a burning sensation on her face, Eric raised her head somewhat blankly, wiped her face, and found that her hand was covered in bright red blood.
She had a nosebleed.
Linlu pulled her over worriedly. Erici was bleeding from her nose without realizing it and was looking back at the contaminated creature. Her powers were only enough to purify a small part of the contaminated creature's head. What would happen if it suddenly broke down?
A window popped up in front of her.
Condition: Kill at least three Corrupted Beings (Current progress: 3/3)
Reward: 6 credits (basic reward)
The purification was only one-third complete when the two parts clashed, and the contaminated creature died completely.
Shu Ningmiao's heart twitched inexplicably.
The head of the corrupted creature, which had been partially restored by Erici, was clearly a human skull. Although most of the skin was still ulcerated, the general facial features were already discernible.
She had seen it before.
The girl had a thin face and plain features, and her eyes were wide open, but they looked particularly bleak because they lacked any sparkle.
It looks like Alan... From this perspective, Alan's height and build are similar to the pollutant in front of us.
Shu Ningmiao's lips tightened silently. A flurry of thoughts and doubts flashed through her mind, but she could only choose the clearest one at the moment.
She had to minimize the impact of this incident.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by Eric's nosebleed, Shu Ningmiao quickly took off her coat and covered the face of the pollutant.
Linlu's attention was on Eric.
Just before the light on the tainted body's face faded, Erice was deliberately pushed away.
Su Ni had been ordered to stop a few meters away before she even entered.
She could assure everyone that no one could clearly see the appearance of the contaminated object. The large areas of ulcerated skin mixed with black liquid obstructed part of the vision, and it would be difficult to confirm that it was a human face unless observed up close.
"Wait, don't move." Linlu held a strip of cloth under her nose, and Erice quickly dodged it.
When she looked at the contaminated body again, she saw that Shu Ningmiao had taken off her coat at some point and covered the contaminated body's corpse with it.
Her long coat completely covered the small, polluted body, obscuring it so thoroughly that nothing could be seen.
Shu Ningmiao picked up the contaminated object, clothes still on, without explaining anything to them, and turned to leave.
Su Ni walked to her side: "Sister, let me help you."
Shu Ningmiao didn't make a move, avoiding him as if afraid of touching something dirty: "Get away, don't touch me."
Eric frowned, covering his nose as blood continued to trickle from between his fingers: "Could you... please not talk to him like that?"
Out of consideration for Eric's help, Shu Ningmiao glanced at Su Ni and said, "Please move away from me."
Su Ni stared at her, slowly backing away under her icy gaze.
Shu Ningmiao withdrew her gaze and quickly disappeared into the darkness, leaving just as inexplicably as she had arrived.
Linlu complained, "What kind of mess is this? Oh well, as long as it gets done."
Eric wiped the blood from his nose, ignoring the vague sense of unease in his heart, and clenched his fist: "That's right! We completed the mission, we should be able to get full marks!"
Contrary to Shu Ningmiao's imagined fears, the training ground of String Light Academy was in complete chaos, and no one saw what she did.
Shortly after dark in the simulation, all the students' broadcast screens suddenly went black.
Hundreds of screens, large and small, went dark at the same time, and the atmosphere on the training field instantly turned into boundless panic.
This was the first time Alo Beria had ever lost his temper like this with a senior researcher at the research center. He slammed his fist on the table, causing it to crack: "All the new students this year—they're in there! How could this happen?!"
The researcher, engrossed in the main control machine, stubbornly insisted, "It's just a minor problem with the broadcast screen! Everything else is working perfectly!"
Yu Lu from the Public Security Bureau frowned: "The broadcast doesn't go wrong for no reason! Weston said there was a problem with the system a long time ago, but you didn't listen."
"Come on, you'd fawn over Weston even if he farted." The researcher slammed the controller on the table, annoyed. "Is he talking about some kind of divine oracle?!"
Yu Lu's voice was indifferent: "At least the combat simulation system was developed by him."
“He’s long gone from the research center!” the researcher laughed. “Our director only allowed him to come and introduce the system out of respect for him.”
The men in suits seemed to find him utterly unreasonable and stopped arguing with him in vain; they considered it an insult to have Weston introduce the combat simulation system.
Take away his achievements, and then pitifully give him a trivial opportunity.
Yu Lu found it strange that Weston, with his personality, could tolerate such a thing.
He had always admired Weston's achievements and had worked as Weston's intern assistant for a year. He failed to get into the research center but ended up working for the Sheriff's Department because of his special abilities.
Although he had settled down in the police department, he still admired Weston as a researcher. Regardless of his personality, his expertise and achievements were impeccable. He was the one who researched and improved the Heart Stone, combat simulation, gene testing technology and many Pandora derivative projects.
Alo Beria roared, "Stop arguing! It's all your research center's fault! Do you know how precious these students are? They can't afford to make a mistake on any of them!"
The researcher retorted defiantly, "Then why don't we just disconnect them all now?"
“Disconnect?” Alo Beria pointed at him, grabbing his blond hair with one hand, his face contorted with rage. “You want tomorrow’s headlines to be about 165 students from Stringlight Academy being hospitalized with concussions? My school and I will be disgraced.”
The researcher simply sneered: "Then don't give orders blindly."
“Don’t give me that arrogant look. Who do you think you are?” Alo Beria lowered his voice, like an angry lion: “Their family will definitely put you on trial in the Central Court.”
The education bureau representative grabbed his arm: "Calm down, Belial. Their vital signs and activities are indeed normal. It's just a problem with the broadcast. There's no need to disconnect now. The superpower practice will end in an hour, and they will come out safely."
"Get Weston over here!" Alo Beria glanced suspiciously at the main control screen. "Mr. Yulu is right, this thing can't malfunction for no reason..."
He took a deep breath, regained his usual debonair demeanor, and smiled at everyone: "I think it's better to let the people who actually developed it handle it."
Weston stood by, observing the farce with indifference.
The research center was on guard against him relentlessly.
He slowly adjusted the monocle on his face.
Weston is not nearsighted; the glasses on his face are specially made supernatural devices that can be adjusted to magnify or shrink his field of vision. They have been auctioned for 2 million Cin.
He had been observing the screen the researchers were operating through his glasses when he suddenly spoke up: "There's a problem with the data model. Someone is destroying the model and replacing the damaged part with new data. You're completely unaware and are still constantly fixing the broadcast connection."
When Weston pointed out his earlier actions, the researcher's face turned a deep shade of purplish-red with shame and indignation.
Weston sneered, "How clever."
——
A dark, oppressive color rolled in on the distant horizon. Shu Ningmiao didn't know when the sky over Pingyi would brighten, but she knew that she didn't have much time left for her mission.
She didn't know what to do with the contaminated body. Usually, she would just draw her sword and leave, letting the body blend into the soil, but... this was Alan.
After thinking for a long time, Shu Ning finally confirmed the identity of the contaminant. Judging from its appearance and physique, there seemed to be no other possibility.
That's so strange. Even if this corrupted body is Alan, how did Alan suddenly appear where she was resting?
At a child's pace, it's impossible for them to keep up with her and Wei Shengqianheng's speed. Alan not only appeared on the distant coastline, but also in this state. What exactly happened in between?
The town of Litong, where Alan lives, is quite far from here, and she can't run back now to check if Alan is still there.
She felt very strange and confused. How common is it for a person to become a pollutant?
Too many questions troubled her. She left the contaminated body on the coastline, leaving her clothes and coat behind. Watching the fluorescent blue seawater gradually cover the body, Shu Ningmiao felt that this might be better than leaving her in that black soil, although it wasn't much better.
The corpse was rather unsightly; half of its head had regained human facial features, but its limbs remained severely deformed, giving it a strange, forcibly pieced-together appearance.
A whimsical thought suddenly popped into Shu Ningmiao's mind: what if she had superpowers like Erici?
At least let her leave looking presentable.
This was entirely her own way of thinking; if she were dead, she certainly wouldn't want others to see her ugly appearance.
But if you really die, who would care about these things?
Watching its corpse disappear into the shimmering waves, Shu Ningmiao sat in front of the waves, listening to the sound of the waves crashing around her gradually fade away as the tide receded.
Someone sat down next to her.
Shu Ningmiao stared blankly at the sea: "You're not dead yet?"
Her tone wasn't exactly friendly.
Wei Shengqianheng rested his chin on his hand and looked at her sideways: "I'm going to see a friend."
"Didn't we agree to keep watch?" Shu Ningmiao was extremely angry, pointing at herself, "What if I fall asleep and die?"
If it weren't for his status, Shu Ningmiao really wanted to draw her sword and stab him a couple of times, and ideally be ejected by the system and turned into a complete idiot.
Wei Shengqianheng showed no remorse: "There's someone watching over you, so you won't be in danger."
“No way…” Shu Ningmiao retorted subconsciously, then suddenly realized something and felt a moment of suffocation as if she couldn’t breathe: “It’s a pollutant.”
Wei Shengqianheng looked down at her expression. The beauty mark between her eyebrows seemed eerie in the fluorescent blue light of the sea. He nudged Shu Ningmiao's outstretched hand, telling her to put it down: "Do you know the principles of real-world simulation data models?"
"I don't know," Shu Ningmiao said coldly. "You really do know everything."
“The data is not coherent,” Wei Shengqianheng said with a smile. “Most of it comes from the recorders worn by soldiers. They turn on automatically when a mission is being carried out and turn off automatically when the mission is over. Therefore, the uploaded data are all fragments, just pieced together.”
He drew short, intersecting lines on the soil with his finger, some of which overlapped: "So the timeline of the model made from this data is not consistent."
So... the Alan she met in the city and this pollutant can coexist?
Shu Ningmiao grabbed his wrist and gripped it tightly: "Did you know that Alan would have a hidden mission, so you deliberately went to that snack shop?"
“No, how could that be?” Wei Shengqianheng seemed somewhat surprised: “I’m not the one who created this system, how would I know where there are hidden missions?”
"Why are you sitting there? It's not a coincidence, is it?"
Shu Ningmiao was not to be outdone. Her long black hair fluttered in the sea breeze, brushing against her soft face, but her eyes were full of aggression and vigilance.
“I told you before.” He looked at her with a forgiving smile. “I’ve been to Pingyi before.”
He placed his hand on the back of Shu Ningmiao's hand, which was gripping his, gesturing for her to loosen her grip a little: "When I arrived, only the owner of this food stall was left."
He spoke as if it were true, and Shu Ningmiao let go of his hand with some skepticism.
"The boss told me that he used to have a daughter."
--once.
"His daughter is very well-behaved and obedient."
“But during a move, they lost her toys outside the protective wall.” Wei Shengqianheng’s voice was perfect for storytelling, as alluring as a whirlpool: “His daughter kept trying to find her toys, but they always refused. One day, she secretly ran away with someone else and never came back.”
“So I want to see his daughter,” Wei Shengqianheng said. “That’s right, she’s really well-behaved, isn’t she? You couldn’t find the hidden quest, so she specially came to give it to you.”
He sighed: "The person who made this system is very kind. This time, she listened to her parents and didn't run away. She's living a good life in the city."
"—Unfortunately, it's all fake." Wei Shengqianheng faced the sea, bowed slightly, and placed his hands on his chest in a strange gesture, crossing his hands together with his thumbs and little fingers touching, as if in prayer. But Shu Ningmiao had never seen such a prayer before.
"Everything that has happened has already happened; this is just a trace left by the data."
“I didn’t lie.” He looked at her quietly, his face like distant, blurry moonlight. “Why don’t you try to believe me this time?”
Shu Ningmiao glanced at the window in front of her; there were still thirty minutes left before the mission ended.
——
Outside the system, the researcher sitting in front of the main control screen moved away, gritted his teeth, and said, "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Weston didn't come over to take control. Instead, he turned his head and glanced into the distance, his brow furrowed. "Force all students to log out."
“No…” Alo Beria hesitated.
"Half of the model data has been replaced!" Weston raised his voice, impatiently saying, "How long are you going to be so stupid? You have no idea what data they replaced, or what the students will face. Do you really want to wait until all the students are brain-dead before making a decision?"
This probably gave Alo Beria a big fright. He quickly ordered the researchers to set up a forced exit, but the researchers said in a trembling voice, "No, no, the forced exit from the outside is locked."
He kept clicking the screen but it was no use. At this point, he finally started to panic, but he still tried to comfort himself: "It's okay... there are only a few tens of minutes left. It will be over soon. They can't do anything in such a short time."
As they were speaking, a cluster of sparks the size of a bowl suddenly burst open in the sky, scattering like a fine rain, filling the air with star-like particles of light.
With a hissing sound, the particles of light landed around the training field.
Weston turned around abruptly: "Yeah, there's no need to worry about how long the students inside can hold out. You should worry about how long we can hold out."
He controlled the table in front of him to fly up rapidly, the exquisite food, wine glasses and placemats on it clattering and falling to the ground, and at the last second, it turned completely sideways, blocking everyone's view.
A fireball flew over the training field, precisely heading towards the leaders and teachers on the platform, only to be blocked at the last moment by the large tabletop.
Yelüqi leaped up from behind Weston, instantly turning to stone, and jumped off the platform while holding the table.
The fireball exploded in his arms, blocked by his petrified skin, emitting a muffled sound, like a dud.
Fortunately, there were no students below the platform. Yelü Qi landed heavily on the training ground, creating a large crater in the white sand used as a buffer.
He rolled on the spot, stood up unharmed, and roared, "What are you standing there for! Protect the students!"
The once tranquil sky was shattered and scattered by the flames. Suddenly, a continuous stream of fiery red lines appeared around the training ground, starting from the very center of the String Light Academy—Cornunos—and rising out of thin air like a fire net.
Screams of panic echoed both inside and outside the academy.
The raging flames distorted the flowing air—the students, unable to escape, were now the most vulnerable lambs.
Unable to protect all the students by himself, Yelü Qi looked up and shouted, "Are all the people in your security bureau dead?"
Yu Lu stood on the high platform, the terminal slowly slipping from his hand. He spoke blankly, his voice not loud, but clear enough to reach everyone's ears as if it were being transmitted: "The six teams of the Public Security Bureau responsible for this security supervision, a total of twenty-four people, have all lost contact."
——
"Crackling"
A tiny spark that fell in the training field seemed to roll into the data and splashed onto Shu Ningmiao's hand.
She flinched as she was burned, and suddenly realized that Wei Shengqianheng, who had been standing next to her, had disappeared.
Suddenly, she was all alone in the world.
The surroundings were as quiet as an empty space, yet a few sparks still fell from the sky for no reason, occasionally making a "pop" sound.
Shu Ningmiao remembered You An saying that seawater was flammable, so she took a step back and moved away from the sea. Before she had taken more than a few steps, she saw a towering flame erupt from the sea in front of her with a loud bang. The calm seawater turned into the hottest oil, splashing onto the soil and continuing to burn.
It was all too familiar; the painful memories of the overpass began to resurface. She instinctively covered her face with her hand as the heat washed over her.
Shu Ningmiao's skin burned with intense heat. The sea and land of Pingyi seemed to be connected, and the whole place was burning violently. Flames churned and spewed out hot air, tearing at the sky like a hellish inferno.
There are only a dozen minutes left; it's impossible for any other challenges to arise.
She realized something was wrong with the system and ran desperately away from the coast without looking back.
Something suddenly climbed up her back, and cold, hard arms wrapped around her body.
Shu Ningmiao felt nauseous all over and almost screamed. She tried to elbow the thing behind her away, but then she suddenly realized that her hands were weaker than noodles. Not only did she fail to shake off the thing behind her, but it also grabbed her arm.
New windows kept popping up in front of her.
Data modified: Stamina -99999
『Data modified: Supernatural connection closed』
'Data modified: Conversation permissions'
"Hello everyone"
"Hello everyone"
"Can you see it?"
Shu Ningmiao felt as if all her strength had been drained away, and she knelt down with a thud. Something was pressing down on her from behind. Shu Ningmiao used the last bit of strength to turn over, trying to see what was pressing down on her, but she froze the moment she saw it.
The thing pressing down on her was the corrupted form that Alan had become. The girl's half-normal and half-rotten features were facing her face, and black liquid was constantly flowing from all seven orifices.
It pressed down on Shu Ningmiao's shoulders, doing nothing, but the black, sticky fluid kept oozing out, dripping all over Shu Ningmiao's face.
Shu Ningmiao struggled to even lift her eyelids; through her blurry vision, she saw those empty, lifeless eyes staring straight at her.
In the blink of an eye, she found that Alan in front of her was gone, replaced by long, dark red hair that was the same color as the blazing fire, hanging down her face.
The man deftly gripped her neck, pressing her down. His face and below were covered in dazzling tattoos, and behind him was a sky full of flames. He released his grip on her neck and instead cupped her face in his hands, his eyes reflecting the madness of the fire.
"bring it on."
"bring it on"
"It's a pleasure to meet you all."
It's nice to meet you all.
“I want to tell you all…our name, from this day forward, will become the new hope of Phineas.”
—Prometheus
"The history written by desire will be rewritten by us."
He happily cupped Shu Ningmiao's face in his hands, lowered his head, and pressed his forehead against hers.
His long, dark red hair fell behind him, spreading out on the ground like a dense spider web, which was unsettling.
The man smiled, his warm breath brushing against her ear, his voice filled with unrestrained laughter.
"It's time for the little princess in the ivory tower to face the reality of this world."
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