Chapter 87 The Final Feast of Revelry (Part 7) "You want to take control of yourself..."
As Du Yu looked over, someone behind her exclaimed in surprise. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who noticed the abnormality of the corpse. Hu Tiankui was busy with something; he had only briefly appeared yesterday before disappearing again, sending only two unfamiliar stewards.
Du Yu recognized one of the voices. The other person let out a short, startled cry, but then swallowed it back down when they realized it was inappropriate. However, Du Yu had clearly heard the final syllable of "Zhen—".
The pearl that Bu Manyin spoke of had just appeared? Why?
Du Yu was filled with doubt and couldn't help but take a step forward, wanting to observe further.
The atmosphere changed the moment Pearl appeared. The two gentlemen's managers' suspicions about Du Yu lessened considerably, and after seeing her actions, they thought for a moment and did not stop her.
Regardless, Bu Manyin was an A-level ability user who died in the gray fog-shrouded abandoned area. Now that they have a daring fool to help them test the waters, they couldn't be happier.
"What?"
Just as Du Yu took a step forward, before he could even extend his hand, the "corpse" in the eerie fish tank suddenly moved. Its eyelids abruptly rolled back, and the whites of its eyes were completely filled with a pearl-like substance. It didn't look like a human corpse, but rather like the eyes of some kind of fish.
Du Yu's eyelids twitched, and without further hesitation, he sprinted forward, but it was still a moment too late—
A few crisp "whoosh" sounds came from the void. The fish tank, which was clearly filled with swollen flesh, suddenly produced a layer of pink pearls. From bottom to top, from few to many, it filled the bottom of the fish tank in the blink of an eye and was still rising at a visible speed.
As the pink pearl tide spread, the previously stiff and twisted joints in the fish tank suddenly became flexible, swimming among the pearls, like stranded fish finally returning to the sea. In the blink of an eye, the pink pearls filled the fish tank. Du Yu could no longer see Bu Manyin's corpse, only occasionally catching a glimpse of a pair of grayish-white, lifeless eyes amidst the churning of the pink pearls.
*Kiss*
The next moment, she could no longer see even the occasional grayish-white luster.
After the pink pearls filled the fish tank, they gushed out like a fountain. What fell to the ground were not round pearls, but plump pink water droplets.
The pearls began to melt and blend the moment they left the fish tank, scattering a shower of pink rain like falling tears. The raindrops rolled on the ground for a moment, then seemed to be attracted by something, drifting back to the surface of the fish tank. In the continuous pink rain, they melted into foam along with the fish tank and dissipated into the gray mist.
What?
This series of dramatic changes, though complex to explain, actually all happened in the blink of an eye, within a few breaths. Before Du Yu could even retract his outstretched hand, he only caught a few drops of cold rain.
Clearly, this series of changes took everyone by surprise. Until the bizarre corpse, along with the fish tank, turned into bubbles and disappeared in the pink rain, no one present had time to react.
The moment the rain fell into his palm, the pearl in his pocket began to heat up again. Du Yu remained calm, looked at the two gentlemen's club managers, and said feigned anger, "I've already said that Manager Bu's death has nothing to do with me. Look at this scene, do you think I could have put up this?"
"Who else could it be but you? She just arrived, and you're the only one here who had a conflict with her. Besides, you were the last person to see her!"
The two managers were also apprehensive after witnessing what had just happened. They didn't really believe that such a bizarre scene could have been done by "Dong Shiwu." If it wasn't her, who else could it be?
The three argued for a while, none of them willing to give in. Finally, another manager, who hadn't spoken much until now, glanced at the personal terminal, a fleeting look of anxiety crossing his face, and compromised, saying:
"How about this? You've never wanted to go to work, right? You can stay in your dorm for now, and we'll bring your meals and everything to your room. Once we've investigated, we won't wrong you. Don't worry, once Brother Kui is free, we'll find out the truth very quickly."
Du Yu retorted a few more times, but seeing the other party's firm attitude, he knew this was the Gentlemen's Club's bottom line. Since Zuo Youdong Shiwu's identity wouldn't allow him access to any important information, he made one more request before agreeing:
"That's settled then, but before Manager Bu left, he asked me to pass on a message to Lange's people: I need to take care of this before I go."
They'd already argued for so long, what's a little longer? One of the bald men was about to say something when the other bald man simply nodded and waved his hand beside him: "Please."
After Bu Manyin's body was discovered, the vacant factory area was cordoned off, and unauthorized personnel were not allowed to approach. "Dong Shiwu" was allowed to get close to the scene to examine the body because she was the last person to see Bu Manyin, but the people from Lange did not have this privilege.
They were placed in an empty room not far away. They looked different, but they all had confusion and worry in their expressions. It was dangerous to come to the abandoned area on a business trip. Who would have thought that their boss would die on the first day of their arrival?
When everyone was depressed, the only one who remained relatively calm stood out: "Gongyang Niexiu".
The woman looked over coldly. All the children who grew up in the social welfare institution had one chance to change their names when they grew up. Surnames like "Gongyang" (meaning "ram"), which were uncommon and might even be related to the pre-cataclysmic era, were obviously chosen by her.
Corresponding to her surname, when Gongyang Niexiu looked over, the first thing Du Yu noticed was her eyes. Her pupils were not as round as those of ordinary people; instead, the edges were cloudy, and the shape was almost square, making them look like the eyes of a goat at first glance.
Compared to that eerie face, even her beautiful face seemed unremarkable. She remained impassive, glancing at those strangely calm eyes, and relayed what Bu Manyin had instructed her to say before leaving, "...I don't know what mission you received, but I think Manager Bu is right—"
"Thank you for informing me, but our mission requires no outside interference. After Manager Bu's death, I will be the primary executor of the mission, and I will carry it out according to the actual situation."
Du Yu was slightly startled. The strange feeling that had stirred in his heart when he first met Gongyang Niexiu was now even more intense. It was less that the other party was calm and more that he was indifferent. Those strange eyes were fixed on him, filled with a fanatical determination.
Most people might be intimidated by that look, but Du Yu merely raised an eyebrow slightly. She had already delivered her message, and she had no interest in getting involved in Lan Ge's mess anyway. Just as she was about to leave, Gongyang Niexiu placed her left hand on the back of her neck, tilted her head slightly, but her eyes remained fixed on "Dong Shiwu":
"Speaking of which, aren't you the most suspicious person? How could an ordinary person stay in the abandoned area for so long without going crazy? The manager only had an accident after seeing you."
Gongyang Niexiu's tone was anything but pleasant, but the person opposite him just shrugged and spoke as if he were coaxing an unreasonable child: "I already said that this has nothing to do with me. If you have to blame someone, you can only blame the coincidence of fate."
"'destiny'?"
Du Yu's words provoked Gongyang Niexiu, who sneered: "If it's all a coincidence, how do you explain how an ordinary person with a mental strength value of less than 10 could use the [Scales of Fate] and survive?"
It turns out that the strange instrument Bu Manyin had her use at the Florence dock was called the "Scales of Fate".
Du Yu pondered for a moment, feeling both amused and angry. She found it amusing that, as the actual user of the scales, she had learned the name of the device from someone else; she was angry because this thing clearly absorbed a person's mental energy when used, and the people of Lan Ge obviously knew this, yet they still sent Dong Shiwu, an ordinary person, to use it.
What else could this be but intentional homicide?
No wonder Bu Manyin's expression was so complicated when she saw Dong Shiwu off.
Gongyang Niexiu had no idea what Du Yu was thinking. She deliberately used the truth to provoke Dong Shiwu, but was disappointed to find that his expression remained unchanged, and even the corners of his mouth still held a half-smile:
"Really? I don't know that. I only just learned the name of this device... But I might be about to awaken a special ability. The results of my most recent physical exam showed that my mental strength level is 27."
Superpowers require mental energy to activate, but that doesn't mean only superpowered individuals can possess them. Ordinary people also generally have mental energy, but the values are often very low, even negligible. Generally speaking, a mental energy value exceeding 10 indicates the potential to awaken special traits.
If one's mental strength increases abnormally and breaks through 10 in a short period of time, the probability of awakening a special trait will double.
If "Dong Shiwu" is stimulated while using the Scales of Fate and his special abilities are awakening, then a quasi-superpowered individual can indeed use the scales without dying.
Watching Dong Shiwu's departing figure, Gongyang Niexiu's expression remained unchanged. She simply ran her fingers, which had been stroking her neck, through her hair, as if suppressing something, and uttered a murmur that only she could hear:
"A guy who's blessed by fate."
"You're really lucky. The docks have been incredibly busy lately, but you've managed to slack off."
Congratulations to you both!
The task of looking after Dong Shiwu naturally fell to the lower-ranking officers. They had no complaints about Dong Shiwu and were quite happy to have this job as an excuse to slack off. Du Yu casually made a few perfunctory remarks and closed the dormitory door.
Du Yu is, after all, one of Lan Ge's people. Without clear evidence, the Gentlemen's Club members don't dare to do anything to her directly, at least there are no surveillance cameras in the house on the surface.
Du Yu didn't care whether the Gentlemen's Club had secretly arranged for a few people to keep an eye on her. After a quick wash, she lay down on the big bed, pulled the blanket over herself, and her breathing quickly became long and even.
"How about it?"
"She fell asleep quickly and showed no unusual behavior."
Upstairs in the "Dongshiwu" dormitory, this empty room was obviously unoccupied. Only two bald men sat facing each other, one waving his left hand and the other his right, taking turns slapping each other's faces. Even without seeing the red marks, you could tell from the sound that they were not holding back.
The two of them were quite tolerant. Even when one of them was hit so hard that his head tilted slightly and he spat out a mouthful of blood, neither of them stopped. Instead, they lowered their eyes and stared intently at the map that the other was holding in one hand.
The map was drawn by some clumsy newbie; the lines were shaky and messy, but you could still roughly tell that the layout was exactly the same as the dormitory of "Dong Shi Wu." At this moment, a stick figure-like person was fast asleep on the rectangle representing the bed.
After confirming that Dong Shiwu was not acting abnormally using the sealed item "204," the two stopped, looked up sharply at the ceiling, rolled up the map (one side at a time), placed it in a specially made iron box, closed the lid, and kowtowed twenty times to the iron box before finally stopping, covered in sweat.
"Damn it, '204' is useful, but sealing it is too troublesome."
"You should be content. Although the requirements for the sealed artifact 204 are numerous, none of them are fatal. It'll just cause you a few days of pain. If it were like those guys in Group D, who had to kill seven people every few days, that would be a real problem."
One of them carefully put away the milling box and refuted his companion's complaint. His companion was used to his seriousness and didn't mind. He stood up while massaging his legs and said, "204 doesn't lie. It seems that the death of Manager Lange really has nothing to do with her."
"Not necessarily."
The bald man holding the milling iron box glanced thoughtfully out the window, then shuddered as if he had just thought of something. The burly man, who was over six feet tall, actually trembled with fear: "Something happened to the people in Lange. They've decided to speed things up. At this critical juncture, we can't afford any accidents. The higher-ups want to observe for a few more days."
"Is it really necessary for an ordinary person who is undergoing a special awakening process and whose level hasn't even been determined yet..."
Knowing his companion's serious nature, the bald man didn't dare say much, only muttering a few words under his breath. The thought of constantly slapping each other and kowtowing to the milling iron box these past few days made him twitch his lips.
"The higher-ups are really something. 204 doesn't lie, so I don't know why they're being so cautious."
"Tsk, you can't be so absolute. No wonder they have a higher status than you."
Du Yu crossed his arms and shook his head in disapproval when he heard one of the bald men complain.
If 204 doesn't make a mistake, then what am I, standing here eavesdropping on their conversation?
Of course, the two bald men couldn't hear Du Yu's earnest advice.
Du Yu glanced one last time at the rather interesting 204, then regretfully looked away. He channeled his spiritual energy into the sphere of light in his mind, sensed for a while, located Wang Erqi's position, and used the Spirit Realm Teleportation to rush over.
"Why haven't they arrived yet? Could I be mistaken?"
In the dormitory, Wang Erqi anxiously bit her nails while looking at the time on her personal terminal. Suddenly, she stood up because of a sudden thought:
Could she be mistaken? A divine messenger—someone capable of wielding such power—must be a messenger of God, and the place the divine messenger refers to isn't here? Has she misunderstood God's will?
The thought had barely formed when panic gripped her. Wang Erqi abruptly stood up, her expression anxious, and nervously muttered to herself, "No, I have to go out and see. The divine messenger hasn't arrived yet. Maybe it's my... understanding..."
The moment the thought of going out arose, a sudden wave of drowsiness overwhelmed all reason. Wang Erqi's eyelids trembled, but he ultimately couldn't resist the inexplicable sleepiness. His body slumped, and he fell asleep on the bed.
She didn't know how much time had passed—perhaps a moment, perhaps an eternity—but Wang Erqi felt her consciousness rising lightly, rising until she reached an incredibly mysterious world. There was no pain, no worries; her soul felt as if it were soaking in a hot spring, so comfortable that she didn't want to get up.
A sacred voice, both near and far, elusive yet crystal clear, rang in her ears, calling her name. Wang Erqi was momentarily dazed before she could clearly hear the question:
Do you want to take control of your own destiny?
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Author's Note: Ding-dong, your fanatic number two is now online!
As for who number one is, please look at the dog cage (?).
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Debt Repayment Plan (1/3): The author is trying to update daily, but the time is not guaranteed. Please don't wait too late; read it after you wake up =3=
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