Eighty-Sixth Page Pseudo Exchange
“Wha~ Is Lord Hái there?”
In my dream, I dialed Lord Hái’s “phone,” and the connection was established, but I didn’t see that familiar figure.
“Xiǎo Kǎi? Wait, I’ll be right there!!”
The voice came from afar, from another room, accompanied by hurried footsteps approaching.
“Huff! It’s been days since you last called!”
Lord Hái just sat down and complained to me, still keeping the camera aimed at their chest, refusing to show their face… Suddenly, I became curious about Lord Hái’s appearance. Could they also be a VTB?
“Do you mind? I’m super beautiful!”
Lord Hái was eavesdropping on my thoughts again.
“Even if you’re beautiful, I can’t see it, so it’s just meaningless self-praise, right?”
“Hmph, in any case, I won’t lose to you!”
She poked the camera with her finger, as if in a huff.
“Don’t do that! I’ve said it’s uncomfortable, so can’t you just admit you’re the most beautiful?”
“Alright~ Tell me why you came to see me today. After all, you wouldn’t contact me unless you had nothing better to do, right?”
Though I didn’t want to appear too mercenary, this was an undeniable fact, so I scratched my head to cover my embarrassment.
“Cough, cough, my mother sent me three bracelets today. I want Lord Hái to analyze the spells embedded in them. The effects of the items are already known—they swap the wearers’ souls—but we don’t know the trigger mechanism or how to reverse it…”
“Swapping souls with a spell? Impossible!”
Lord Hái nearly shouted, their chest bumping against the edge of the table, almost knocking over the camera.
“Uh, it seems you’re quite surprised?”
Although I couldn’t see her expression, I could sense Lord Hái’s disbelief from their tone, as if they had heard something unbelievable.
“Because that is impossible! Swapping souls can’t be done with just magic. Any spell involving the soul requires permission from a divine altar.”
I knew this too; Cherry Sauce had mentioned something similar before.
The magic used by witches is always inferior to Cherry Sauce’s divine techniques, not only due to a lack of knowledge but also because they lack “permission.”
“Does this mean my mother is still connected to a divine altar?”
If she has been using divine techniques, it explains why she can always use instant teleportation to escape, since divine power is much more efficient than magical energy, even concentrated liquid magic. Even with Cherry Sauce’s divine techniques, teleportation is straightforward.
Lord Hái
He waved his hand to deny my guess.
“It’s impossible, this is absolutely impossible! Ning Ying is Zhú Běihǎi’s half-soul, and Zhú Běihǎi lost the qualification to become a deity due to failing the trials. Therefore, she couldn’t possibly have the authority to use the divine altar. Moreover, she is a wanted criminal by Tiāndào. If she were to come into contact with the divine altar, she would be discovered for sure. How could she then live freely in the mortal world?”
“Could it be related to that curse?”
I thought for a moment and then voiced my speculation.
“Although it’s illegal, Qiǎnxià did establish a connection with the divine altar of the ‘Goddess of Beautiful Girls,’ didn’t she? My mother’s current body belongs to Qiǎnxià. Could she perhaps utilize the divine altar through Qiǎnxià’s identity to perform divine techniques?”
“That’s also impossible. The calamity-causing curse has already been lifted by me personally. She is no longer an artificial deity.”
At this point, Lord Hái paused, seeing that I had stopped guessing randomly, he continued.
“But I do have a conjecture.”
“Then please, go ahead and tell me.”
“You two young ladies might just be experiencing a pseudo-body swap.”
Pseudo-body swap… What new term is this?
I asked, “What exactly is this pseudo-body swap?”
Lord Hái tapped the table, pondering how to explain this to me.
“In simple terms, it means the soul remains in its original body, but the five senses are exchanged through a technique, allowing one to remotely control the other person’s body through consciousness. Since it’s not a true body swap, I call it a pseudo-body swap. This can achieve the effect of swapping bodies without involving divine rights… Considering the situation of Mysterious Girl A, she is more likely to adopt this method.”
If it were me, it would indeed be possible.
She previously used Cherry Sauce’s body to interact with us, employing a technique of remote controlling an avatar through consciousness. It should be similar to what Lord Hái described.
“A swap of the five senses and body control… Isn’t this pseudo-body swap essentially the same as a real body swap?”
“No, there are significant differences! First, in a pseudo-body swap, any danger is borne by the other party. Entrusting your life to someone else doesn’t feel very comfortable; secondly, compared to a true body swap, this technique has limited range. They cannot be too far apart from each other, so it’s not very convenient as a tool; and finally, consider this reminder from me… How do you know this bracelet only has three links?”
Because only three were sent, it led to a preconceived error.
Impression, in fact, there might be several other identical bracelets like this.
Lord Hái continued, “Assuming Mysterious Girl A has other bracelets, and if one of those bracelets has a higher-level function, allowing her to unilaterally dominate Lǐn Huā and the clumsy girl’s bodies, you wouldn’t even know if they switched places. Then it would be even harder for you all to catch her, huh?”
If that were true, it would be quite troublesome.
According to Sister Zǐ, these bracelets were originally one-of-a-kind, meaning as long as one bracelet was charged, the others would activate simultaneously.
Since they sent them without infusing magical energy, there’s a high likelihood that there’s a fourth bracelet.
I asked again, “Lord Hái, regarding the real body swap versus the pseudo body swap… Is there any way to tell them apart?”
“It’s not difficult. With the tools you have on hand, you can distinguish between them. Do you remember the sticky note your master gave you?”
Lord Hái was referring to the sticky note that kept someone alert, which was currently lying in a drawer of the coffee table downstairs, gathering dust.
“Mm-hm, but it hasn’t been used since Old Dad got better.”
After all, its effect was similar to that of peppermint oil, which refreshed the mind.
“That sticky note is a tool that directly affects the soul. Just stick it on anyone’s forehead, then check the state of another person. If she appears very excited, it means it’s a pseudo body swap.”
On the contrary, if it’s a real body swap.
“Lord Hái is so smart!”
“Hmm, praise me more! I love hearing it!”
I asked again, “If it’s really a pseudo body swap, as long as they keep a certain distance, it should be resolved, right?”
“Yes, but we don’t know how far that distance is. I think the effective range shouldn’t exceed two hundred meters. After all, the size of the bracelet is fixed here. Setting up a remote transmission array for magical energy would be impractical. Even if it’s carved to be very small, it can’t possibly support any high-power spells… If it’s indeed a pseudo body swap, then once they create enough distance and the bracelet stops working, they should no longer be affected.”
Although I didn’t understand the earlier parts, Cherry Sauce’s rather scientific analogy style came from Lord Hái.
“Still don’t get it? Explaining these things to laymen is really tiring… Let me just give you my conclusion!”
Lord Hái propped his arm on the table, supporting his chin with his hand.
“Whether it’s a real body swap or a pseudo body swap, it’s best not to let them wear these bracelets. Your current most important task is to make sure Níng Yīng takes the pill as soon as possible and bring her to the Divine Court. She knows this too, so she’s been avoiding you. But now, she can only guard against you through the restraint’s field of vision. However, if she wears those bracelets,
“The chain, those around you might become objects of her surveillance. It would be even harder to catch her then.”
I had considered this issue, but as long as Sister Zi doesn’t wear it, we’ll be fine.
Linhua and Xiaolei wearing the bracelet could serve as bait, drawing the attention of Mysterious Girl A, thus covering Sister Zi’s covert actions. “Hmm? Do you have a plan?”
Lord Hai questioned my thoughts, but before I could explain, she understood on her own.
“Haha, you intend to have Sister Luzi arrange an encirclement operation outside your field of vision, right?”
That was the best plan I could think of with the highest success rate.
I explained, “Lord Hai, you mentioned that the bracelet’s range is limited to only two hundred meters. If my mother truly has a fourth bracelet, she will surely approach to make use of it, which would be our best opportunity.”
Mysterious Girl A was very confident in her instant teleportation ability, so her previous actions were quite daring. However, such boldness can only be utilized once. If she fails, she will become even more cautious, making it nearly impossible to capture her later.
Lord Hai read my mind and asked, “The witch from the Magic Research Institute, the fan club of Thunder Meow-Meow, members of the Asura Ghost Team, along with members of the Student Council and News Club… Can Sister Luzi really coordinate all these people alone?”
“Don’t underestimate her. As the leader of Roheimen, she previously managed several dozen gangs of various sizes. This operation’s scale is much smaller compared to her past activities, so it should be no problem.”
“I understand your trust in her, but don’t be too optimistic. We’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg regarding Ningying’s abilities. She might possess the capability for direct confrontation.”
“Sister Miamao and Little Haitang will also help. If we can’t stop her even with such forces… then I have no other options.”
In my view, this plan was already quite reasonable and thorough.
The Magic Research Institute provides a magical barrier to block teleportation, which Sister Zi can certainly arrange;
Core members of the fan club are former subordinates of Sister Miamao, familiar with the structure of the commercial area, so they will handle patrols;
The Student Council will identify Mysterious Girl A, who is using cognitive hindrance, through the footage from the patrol team;
The News Club provides monitoring equipment, though it may not be enough, but Sister Zi has her own channels;
Finally, Xiaolu, Little Haitang, and Sister Miamao form a special task force to use forceful suppression if necessary…
Of course, I do not hope for things to escalate to that point.
