Crack (III)
"Woo woo woo, brother——"
"Teacher Shang——"
The time traveler and Ye Bai hugged each other tightly and cried bitterly.
After leaving the rift, they landed on a shaded path outside the campus wall.
It was just after seven o'clock in the evening. A student who had skipped evening self-study was about to climb over the wall, but was frightened back by the howling of two people, one big and one small.
"Brother, even though we have only had a short time together, I will never forget you in my life!"
"Once a brother, always a brother!"
The time traveler wiped the tears and snot that covered his face, then patted the child who lowered his head, "Don't cry, your teacher Shang's spirit in heaven would definitely not want to see the two of us like this."
“…”
Ye Bai sniffed, raised his tear-swollen face and said, "Senior Chen, um, I seem to... seem to have suddenly awakened a supernatural power."
Traveler: “?”
He stared blankly at the young man raising his hands which were glowing with a faint warm yellow light, his lips trembling unconsciously.
Is it true that the only condition for awakening is to sacrifice one's brothers?
【Ding Dong.】
The system's mechanical prompt sound rang in the traveler's mind.
[Task 1 has been completed, points have been credited, please continue to work hard. ]
[The content of Mission 2 has been released: Help the protagonist enter the supernatural high school and slap the cannon fodder villain in the face.
【Points earned: 300 points.】
Oh shit!
The time traveler almost jumped up on the spot.
No, this also counts as completing the task? !
【In fact, as long as the key nodes are consistent with the original work, it will be fine. 】
The plot correction system comforted him: [Host, don't be sad. As long as you accumulate enough points by completing the tasks, you can redeem the resurrection card in the mall! ]
"But it's hard to earn points." The time traveler said to the system in his heart.
He subconsciously looked at the child in front of him.
Ye Bai knelt on the ground, still immersed in loss and self-blame, "Wuwu, why did you not awaken your superpowers until you left the rift? I didn't have time to save Teacher Shang!"
“…”
The time traveler closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled deeply.
"Brother, I will never let your sacrifice go in vain!"
He clenched his fist and swore to the sky, "I will complete the mission well, and then I will redeem the points for your revival!"
"puff."
A faint sneer came from the wind.
Traveler: “?”
He lowered his head and lightly kicked Ye Bai, "Were you the one who was laughing just now?"
"ah?"
Meanwhile, rift.
The dark monster lying at the exit raised its tentacles and wrapped up the only remaining prey, turning it over and over in the air, as if considering whether it could be eaten.
After hesitating for a moment, it finally opened its abyss-like mouth.
However, the next moment, several crescent-shaped silver lights flashed and pierced into the monster's mouth like arrows, piercing through the dark body.
“Shua——”
The terrifying giant creature seemed like a piece of soft tofu under the knife and was easily chopped into pieces.
The small monsters around who were originally trying to get a piece of the pie noticed the approach of the powerful aura and immediately scattered.
The tentacles of the bindings disintegrated, and the body with a big hole in it fell from a high place to the ground.
At this height, you will definitely be crushed to pieces.
But just as he was about to touch the grass on the playground, a pair of bony hands caught him steadily.
"despair."
The man in the black windbreaker appeared silently on the playground and hugged Shang Li, who had his eyes closed.
His cold eyes scanned the unconscious body for a moment, confirming that the person in his arms was no longer alive.
Cui Lan sighed softly and was about to walk towards the other exit of the rift when the cell phone in his coat pocket began to vibrate.
“Buzz buzz buzz—”
Who would call me at this time?
He didn't intend to answer.
Cui Lan supported his body with one hand and let him lean on her, while with the other hand she took out her cell phone and prepared to hang up.
"drop."
Before my fingertips even touched the screen, the call was automatically connected, and a gentle male voice with a smile came out of the phone.
"Hey~ Xiao Cui, I knew you had been secretly watching me through the crack."
Shang Li said in a cheerful tone, "There is no need to guess at this point. You will not allow your prey to leave your sight."
"Look, I just used a little trick and you showed up on your own."
“…”
Seeing that Cui Lan didn't respond, he didn't get annoyed and continued: "I guess the reason why Ye Bai wasn't eaten by the monster is because you protected him."
"Because your target is me." Shang Li hummed confidently.
A pixelated man with red eyes appeared in the center of the phone screen, raising two small square hands to show love to Cui Lan, "How about it, have you realized that I am the one for you now?"
Cui Lan: “…”
He simply threw away his phone, not caring that the blood had soaked through the white shirt under his windbreaker, and walked towards the exit holding the corpse.
"I just met a time traveler, from whom I learned that this world is a book."
Faced with Cui Lan's cold reaction, Shang Lisi was not discouraged at all, and continued to say in that sweet tone: "Dear, you are a big villain in his world, and I am a small cannon fodder. I should have been killed by you on the rooftop."
"Yeah, that was my initial thought as well." He smiled even more.
Cui Lan stopped and looked up.
This time, the sound did not come from the phone, but from in front of him.
The tall and thin young man stood in front of the exit in a serious and orderly manner.
He was wearing a bright red shirt that looked like it could ooze out sticky liquid, his long raven-colored hair was trailing the ground, his deep red eyes were slightly narrowed, and the corners of his mouth were raised to form a captivating smile.
[Superpower: Information Ghost
□□After unnatural death, consciousness turns into data stream.
First-level ability: Ability to tamper with and distort information received by objects that have direct contact with itself. 】
Seeing the familiar face of the man, Cui Lan was dazed for a moment, then immediately turned his head away, "I'm lucky to meet a fool."
"It's not luck at all. As a smart person, I naturally have smart ways to deal with it."
Shang Li pouted in dissatisfaction, and then said again in the most sincere tone: "Look at me, look at me, I am the real Shang Li, don't disbelieve it."
Cui Lan said impatiently, "With your identical abilities?"
"Still have the same personality?" The ghost put his hands behind his back and tilted his head.
“…”
Cui Lan lowered his eyes and glanced at the body in his arms, but two pale hands suddenly stretched out, blocking his view.
"It's a body that has been abused. Let it rot here."
Shang Li leaned close to his ear and whispered, like a devil tempting people to fall into the abyss, "Don't you think that if Shang Li knew that he had been used as a shell for ten years, he would hate it so much that he would want to tear that body into pieces."
"It would be better to grant his wish."
“Zheng——”
A flash of silver light flashed across, shredding the approaching ghost.
"It is undeniable that you are the most similar one among all the time travelers, far more similar than the others."
Cui Lan drew a long knife from his waist and pointed the tip of the knife at Shang Li, who had transformed into data and reassembled in the air. "But superpowers can be copied, personalities can be disguised, and even memories can be stolen."
“…”
"So you still don't believe me?"
Shang Li was silent for a while, and the corners of his lips slowly drooped. "I thought we knew each other well enough for you to quickly confirm who was the real one. Now it seems that I misjudged."
The warm voice was chilling, but Cui Lan remained silent. He just stared at the ghost floating in the sky in front of him, without a trace of emotion in his silver-grey eyes.
"'This must be a conspiracy by the time traveler to deceive me' - do you think so?" Another ghost appeared, twisting a strand of long hair from Cui Lan's back, with a subtle tone.
“Based on my experience, that’s just the way it is.”
Cui Lan turned the blade with his backhand, and the arm that was groping was cut off cleanly and fell to the ground.
The cutouts were filled with red data, and the arms grew into new ghosts.
Three Shang Lis with the same appearance surrounded Cui Lan.
One of them was behind him, with his arms over his shoulders and his hands touching his face as if hugging him.
One had unknowingly replaced the corpse in his arms, leaning against his chest affectionately.
A figure floated in front of him and slowly approached him, his scarlet pupils reflecting the face of the person in front of him.
Cui Lan stood in the middle, motionless as if petrified.
It's not that he doesn't want to, but all the information he receives from the outside world is distorted and deformed in an instant.
Vision, hearing, touch…
All I see are ghosts, and all I hear is the tempting voice of "believe me" that keeps repeating. The ground beneath my feet seems to have turned into a vacuum, and if I move a step, I will lose my balance and fall into an endless abyss.
"Every time traveler has tried their best to prove to me that they are real. You are the thirteenth one."
Cui Lan clenched the knife so tightly that he could no longer feel the handle. A murderous intent surged through his body. "You are also the only one who faced me in this form. You deserve praise."
"It cannot be denied that Shang Li would hate this body."
He looked directly into the ghost's scarlet eyes, "In that case, let's just end everything here and let him rest in peace forever."
[Superpower: Heavenly Punishment
Third-level ability: Ability to "cut off" everything conceptually]
A tremendous amount of supernatural energy gathered around Cui Lan, and then was completely released at a certain moment.
“Shua——”
Countless silver lights flashed at the same time, crossing every space in the crack.
Accompanied by crisp shattering sounds, white spider-web-like patterns began to grow in the surrounding scenery until they covered the entire sky and earth.
The world seemed to stop for a moment, and then suddenly exploded, turning into snow-like fragments.
The crack was actually shattered just like that.
Shang Li, who was at the center of murderous intent, couldn't help laughing out loud when facing the fear of being truly annihilated.
Two minutes later.
The members of the Supernatural Bureau who were secretly knocked unconscious by Shang Li were scattered on the path.
The time traveler and Ye Bai on Chen Jin's body had not left yet. Looking at the team members who appeared out of nowhere, the two began to give them first aid in a hurry, and then waited for the rescue vehicle of the Power Bureau to come.
At the other end of the path, Cui Lan silently covered the lower half of his face with a scarf, hid the long knife in his coat, and walked away alone.
He didn't notice that a palm-sized pixelated man was quietly following him.
Shang Li disappeared and stepped lightly on a leaf at the top of the tree, watching quietly as the separated information group followed the thin black figure away.
He sighed only when it disappeared from his sight.
At the last moment, Shang Li transferred his consciousness to the information group that had already left the rift along with the communicator in Ye Bai's hand, thus avoiding the end of annihilation.
I hate Xiao Cui. How dare she treat me like this?
He thought gloomily.
How abominable! How could we really come to the point of parting ways?
Just because of a damn inexplicable misunderstanding, I became such a loser.
Tsk.
Shang Li twirled his long hair around his face in anger.
What is the reason that makes my wife so sure that I am not real?
“…”
He examined himself carefully with a skeptical attitude, checking every code repeatedly to confirm that there was no problem.
It must be some unknown external factor.
...Perhaps if we find out the truth about the time traveler, we can find the answer.
Shang Li put his hands behind his back and looked down indifferently at the two people who continued to cry after giving first aid.
The investigation will definitely take some time. Is it really possible that during this period, this child, whose hair hasn't even fully grown yet, will become an enemy of my wife?
He gritted his teeth at Ye Bai.
No, absolutely not. My wife’s only enemy is me.
As for those twelve time travelers... haha, what kind of enemies are they who can't even last a year on average? If it weren't for my wife's reluctance to destroy my body before -
Thinking of this, Shang Li suddenly discovered in surprise:
Am I crazy? Why are there so many time travelers wearing my body?
——
Late at night, in a dimly lit room in an upscale apartment.
After completing the final step of modeling the doll on the computer, Zhang Yunshan stretched his back.
There are only a handful of people with the ability to create shapes in Yan City, and Zhang Yunshan, as the owner of the [Puppet Master] ability, is even rarer among the rare.
Decades ago, after Zhang Yunshan awakened his supernatural powers, he did not choose to join the Supernatural Bureau. Instead, he started a doll customization business at home, and his business was quite prosperous.
"It's finally over—"
He moved the mouse and was about to close the software when the computer suddenly froze and a red pop-up box with the words "Program Error" popped up.
Immediately afterwards, identical crimson blocks kept popping up, overlapping until they almost covered the entire screen.
Just as the computer was about to be invaded by the Trojan, the next moment, the screen went black.
Zhang Yunshan pressed his finger on the host switch, and then quickly unplugged the power supply and network cable.
"oi~ A little Trojan virus, you still want to fight me." He said arrogantly.
“…”
As soon as he finished speaking, the computer turned on by itself and half of the room was instantly plunged into red light.
“Sizzle…”
The pop-up boxes covering the entire screen slowly melted away and transformed into a man in red with disheveled black hair and an unclear face.
He was positioned very close to the screen, with only his head to chest showing.
The electronic screen seemed to have become a window, and the man in red stood inside. A scarlet eye appeared from his messy hair, and he looked into Zhang Yunshan's eyes.
Then, he raised his pale and bony hand, slowly stretched out his hand from the screen, and pressed it on Zhang Yunshan's computer desk as if breaking through a dimensional wall.
He actually wanted to crawl out of the computer directly.
"Give me a new body."
The man in red crawled and said grimly, "Give it to me..."
“What the hell!!”
Zhang Yunshan finally reacted, jumped down from his computer chair, and fled using both his hands and feet.