Chapter 125 The Story of Cat Whiskers [Fate] Tells me that time does not...
"Well, how should I put it... you should be able to tell that I didn't always look like this, right?"
Clearly, she had intended to take this secret to her grave. Cat Whiskers hesitated for a long time before using an obvious fact as an opening statement, but once the topic was set in motion, her thoughts became much clearer.
Catwhisker cleared his throat: "Before I touched the line of 'transcendence', I was just an ordinary Mist Hunter in the Lower City. In fact, because the Blessing of Good Fortune of the [Catwhisker] trait was sometimes effective and sometimes not, I was the least popular type before I upgraded to A-rank."
Most traits under the "Fate" element have this problem: they are either so overpowered that it's beyond criticism, or so weak that it's too lazy to even comment on them.
Catwhisker's eponymous trait is clearly the latter; the description of bringing good luck every few days, and the concept of "good luck" itself, are too broad. Even when it works, hunters often attribute it to their own strength.
Cat Whiskers only barely made it into the ranks of top-tier hunters after reaching A-rank, not because her traits became useful after reaching A-rank, but because A-rank ability users, regardless of their traits, can project their mental energy to attack, giving them the ability to protect themselves even against Fallen Ones.
Of course, Cat Whiskers' account clearly contained an element of self-deprecation, but there was no point in dwelling on that. Du Yu nodded, listened to Cat Whiskers pause for a moment, and then continued:
"After being promoted to A-rank, things improved a bit, but compared to those ability users with offensive traits, I was still a marginal figure in the team. In order not to be abandoned when danger came, I began to learn to take on more roles in the team: tactical guidance, advisor, logistical support..."
"Gradually, I discovered that my traits had changed. Giving good luck, or rather, misfortune, was no longer an abstract feeling. I could vaguely 'see' the trajectory of a person's future fortune, and with very little mental energy, I could change the course of their destiny to a greater extent..."
Is this a sign of 'transcendence'?
Cat Whiskers fell into deep thought, and Du Yu couldn't help but ask. There was a blank in her memories of her past life, and she felt that it was related to "transcendence". Now she didn't want to let go of any clue.
Cat Whiskers shook his head, his eyes revealing caution and a hint of... lingering fear?
"That was by no means a sign of transcendence. At the time, I just thought that after using the trait for so long, I had finally mastered the correct way to use it and was able to get rid of my awkward position in the team. When a superpower is first awakened, superpowered individuals often cannot use the newly awakened superpower well, which is normal. It's just that my adaptation period was exceptionally long. That's what I naively thought at the time. Now that I think about it, I was probably targeted by Him back then. This was the first probing trap."
"trap?"
Du Yu was taken aback by Cat Whiskers' description, and then couldn't help but complain, "You said you couldn't narrate, but your ability to keep people in suspense is almost on par with a writer. What exactly is this awakening?"
"I've been the captain for so many years, and it wasn't for nothing, okay?"
While arguing with Bishop D, Cat Whiskers suppressed his unusual emotions and sorted out his thoughts: "Don't rush, I'll get to it soon—back then I knew nothing, I was practically illiterate in the supernatural realm. At that time, I was immersed in the thrill of increasing my power and was still fantasizing about earning more money, but I soon discovered that compared to my teammates who were with me day and night, my superpower was more effective on strangers, and the increase in luck was more significant."
"For example, if we output the same amount of mental energy and choose to add the 'Good Luck' status, my teammates often only get a few hundred more credit points, while a stranger might find an unclaimed elemental core, or even win the lottery and become rich overnight."
"At the time, I was very confused. Although I couldn't find the reason, I instinctively hid my own trait of evolving and kept experimenting in secret, trying to find the determining factor for the effectiveness of the superpower. Hehe, now that I think it was probably the only correct thing I did during that period."
"After about three more months, I figured out the mechanism by which my superpower takes effect—the difference in the effect of the superpower is not the difference between acquaintances and strangers that I initially imagined, but is more complicated. For example, if I have two strangers I have never met, one of whom is from the Lower City, and the other was working in a factory in the Middle City but was forced to drift to the Lower City due to an accident, my superpower will have a much greater effect on the latter than on the former."
At this point, Cat Whiskers touched the cup in his hand and narrowed his eyes: "They're like acquaintances of mine, we've spent about the same amount of time together. My special ability isn't very effective for Lao Cai, but it's a bit better for Qiuqiu."
Wenren Qiu? Is he the strategist in the Cat Beard team?
Knowing who "Qiuqiu" was in Cat Whiskers' words, Du Yu rested his index finger on his chin, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him—
"Yes, you guessed right. The strength of my special ability does not depend on my relationship with others, or rather, it does not depend on simple social relationships—gender, birth, wealth, occupation, personality, preferences, and values. These constitute the elements of all humans, including myself, and determine the effect of my ability."
"The greater the difference between my past experiences and my personality, the stronger the effect of my supernatural ability on good fortune; conversely, my 'good fortune' has little effect on my friends."
"I've finally mastered the correct way to use this special ability, but I'm not happy. I even feel a vague sense of fear. The farther away from me, the more obvious the good fortune. But I'm powerless to help my friends who are close to me. This superpower rule that goes against human emotions seems to be a sign from 'Fate' to me. Defying fate is not an ability that ordinary people can possess. The farther away from people, the closer I can get to 'Fate' and the more I can continue to hold onto 'Fate's' favor."
"I still don't know if I made the right decision, but I'm absolutely certain that I made a decision that puts my mind at ease. Humans walk upright to hunt, free their hands to use tools, and awaken their superpowers to better help humans survive in the gray fog. If I'm far away from people, far away from the people I love and who love me, then powerful superpowers are meaningless to me."
"Oh."
Catwhisker gave a bitter laugh, a bitterness that didn't match his youthful appearance appearing on his face: "When I was young, I always chased after power, but things never went as planned. But when I gave up, it came back to me on its own. When I decided to fight with more spiritual power and thinner effects, [destiny] sprouted within my nature—just like you are now."
"The meaning of 'destiny' is to never give in."
Thinking of the seed she inherited from the original owner, Du Yu murmured to herself. Cat Whiskers gave her an appreciative look: "It seems I was overthinking it. You are much more insightful than me. Even without my interference, you would have found the right path sooner or later."
The relationship between himself and the original owner of this body was too complicated for Du Yu to explain to Cat Whiskers in a short time, so he poured her another glass of fruit beer and urged her:
"Whether it's useful or not, I'll tell you myself. Tell me quickly, what happens after the seed sprouts?"
"The rest is simple—"
Cat Whiskers gulped down the fruit beer and let out a burp that tasted like oranges.
Before a seed germinates, it must endure all sorts of hardships and even face the danger of dying in the womb. But once the seed has germinated and sprouted roots, there is only one thing left to do—absorb nutrients, grow, and grow with all its might.
According to Cat Beard, during the period when the seed had just sprouted, she not only ate almost five times more, but also particularly liked to run into the depths of the gray fog. Once there, she didn't have to do anything; just standing there for a while would make the restless energy floating in the air seem to be drained away, leaving a large empty space.
That period was the time when her strength improved the fastest, and it was also the time when her personal wealth and reputation reached their peak. Cat Beard even planned the assassination of the city lord because he disliked the new city lord. The people of the lower city still talk about it to this day.
"……Then what?"
Cat Whiskers urged Du Yu to drink another glass of fruit beer. Although it had no alcohol content, his eyes were already showing signs of drunkenness, and his smile grew wider and wider: "Then I was shot twice in the back, and when I woke up, I was lying in a secret laboratory in the Upper City."
After saying this, the child fell silent again. Du Yu didn't urge him. Clearly, even a transcendent being standing at the pinnacle of humanity, about to shed his mortal form, couldn't see through the complexities of human nature.
"Those lunatics seem to be trying to strip away my traits. I don't know how they did it. It seems they got inspiration from some unfortunate rebel leader. The experiment was half successful and half failed."
Cat Whiskers shrugged casually, but Du Yu noticed that her hand holding the cup trembled slightly: "Perhaps it's because my traits can't be separated from me. They successfully extracted my traits, but every night, the extracted traits will grow back in the emptiness of the soul's wailing. This seems to be a very interesting topic for them."
The cup, which he couldn't hold, crashed to the ground with a "clatter," spilling liquid everywhere. Neither of the two people present had the time to care. Du Yu grabbed Mao Huzi's hands, which were trembling uncontrollably. Mao Huzi pulled away and tightly gripped Du Yu's fingers, like someone falling off a cliff clinging to the only withered tree on the edge.
"So day after day I lose the most important thing in my soul, and then I reunite with it every sleepless night—sometimes I hate it, I hate why I'm still alive, why I awakened my superpowers, but occasionally, for a moment or two, I feel grateful, grateful that in the small and short life of a human being, I can grasp something eternal, even if what I grasp is eternal pain."
Du Yu secretly gasped. Special traits are the most important and inseparable thing for a superhuman. Compared to the heart, they are more like blood vessels that are spread throughout the body. Repeatedly dissecting special traits is a torture that is a hundred times more cruel than being slowly sliced to death.
"...I didn't come here to complain to you."
Cat Whiskers took a deep breath, barely managing to calm himself down. "After that, I met Linqi in the Cross Prison. You should have seen her by now. With her help, I paid a price to become what I am now. There's not much to say about what happened after that."
Cat Whiskers pointed to himself, then to Du Yu: "But you're different. Not only are you just beginning to sprout, but you also have infinite possibilities, and you have the protection of a god whose realm doesn't conflict with yours. You must hurry, before that person's hand reaches into the gray fog! I can feel it; [Fate] is telling me that time is running out!"
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