Chapter 249: The Balance of Two Ends 30
Kui Xin looked at the unfamiliar city and asked, “Where am I?”
“A city that isn’t quite as cold,” Adam replied.
“Clearly…” Kui Xin pouted, “I’m already starting to sweat.”
White Whale City was too cold; it had recently experienced sporadic snowfall, with nighttime temperatures often around zero degrees, and the edges of houses would freeze. While active in White Whale City, she had been dressed in warm, cold-resistant clothing, but upon arriving in another city, she found it hard to adapt. The outdoor temperature was at least twenty degrees now.
“This is Lin Ying City. As you can see, it’s a bustling commercial city surrounded by mountains on three sides. Although it is located in the north, the climate is relatively warm. You’ve arrived just in time for their carnival tonight,” Adam said. “Lin Ying City is over a hundred kilometers away from White Whale City in a straight line.”
“That’s quite a distance… Night Cicada’s ability is truly formidable,” Kui Xin said. “No wonder we lost contact with Ash Ambereye. It’s too far, and once the signal is cut off, it needs to be reestablished.”
“Don’t worry, I notified them to evacuate not long ago. Ash has already left the Poleward District,” Adam reassured. “Do you want to stay in this city a bit longer, or should we head back immediately?”
“Let’s head back immediately. With the Spatial Vortex, I can come here anytime I want,” Kui Xin said with a relaxed tone, her expression softened.
The days of truly breaking free from shackles were getting closer. At this moment, Kui Xin finally had leverage, her newly acquired S Rank Extraordinary Abilities. With this ability, she could deal with Augus and the Resistance Army, and if used well, the Spatial Vortex could also serve as an attacking capability.
Unless she encountered another S Rank ability similar to “Reset,” Kui Xin would always have an escape route.
“Let’s go back to White Whale City,” Kui Xin said with a smirk, raising her hand and pointing forward. A burst of deep blue spatial energy blossomed at her fingertips, and the vortex appeared.
This time, the speed at which she opened the vortex was faster than ever, allowing for a greater distance. Kui Xin stepped into the vortex and instantly returned from the warm Lin Ying City to the biting cold of White Whale City.
Looking up, the laser beams from the tops of the skyscrapers in White Whale City pierced through the clouds, still dazzlingly bright.
Kui Xin’s state of mind changed subtly. Long ago, while in Hei Hai City, she had looked upon those prosperous scenes, like a mortal gazing up at a palace standing at the mountain’s peak. The palace was there, yet out of reach, evoking a sense of awe. But now, looking at those tall buildings and neon lights, although her posture was still one of looking up, her mentality had transformed into one of looking down.
She extended her hand, her silver-gray mechanical left hand slightly opened, enveloping the distant, radiant skyscrapers in her palm.
Light seeped through the gaps in her fingers, shining deep into her pupils.
“…Maotoufu… wait, has the communication been established? It really seems to have been,” Su Rong’s voice came through the earpiece. “Maotoufu, please respond.”
“I can hear you, Ash,” Kui Xin said.
“Phew…” The sound of heavy breathing came from the communication channel, “That’s great. I was worried something had really happened to you. The mission must have gone smoothly, right?”
“Very smoothly,” Kui Xin smiled unconsciously.
The smile was because she had finally obtained what she had desired for a long time.
The names on the death list, Lin Xinji, He Gaoyi, Red, Night Cicada… Kui Xin crossed them off one by one; now the list was blank.
With the game deepening and events unfolding, Kui Xin had encountered far too many enemies on her path of growth, many of whom were more troublesome than those on her original list. Thus, it became necessary to add more names to the death list.
The original four could be considered minor monsters, small bosses on her growth journey. Kui Xin had defeated countless minor bosses along the way, accumulating enough experience points. Now, it was time to take down bigger bosses.
With a cold mindset, Kui Xin scrutinized her inner self and wrote several names on her mental death list.
Augus, Angel, Ghost, Eve.
With the new batch of names added, it represented the next set of goals Kui Xin had organized. She already had an answer for where to start.
The next target was Augus, and the next destination was Fusgong City.
“Did you succeed?” Ambereye’s voice was calm.
He understood better than Su Rong why Kui Xin targeted Night Cicada. He equally hoped she could achieve her desire; the stronger Kui Xin became, the greater the probability she would rescue Black Obsidian.
Kui Xin: “I succeeded.”
The moment Ambereye heard those three words, he sighed in relief, feeling both fortunate and a mix of complexity—fortunate that he chose Kui Xin as a partner and trading counterpart, yet inevitably reminded of the days spent working with Mechanized Dawn and Night Cicada.
Not that Ambereye felt pity for Night Cicada, but he suddenly realized those he once knew were either drifting away or dying one after another. He thought of himself… who would be the next to die? Would it be him?
“Congratulations, Kui Xin,” Ambereye said.
“I reminded you to call me by my codename… never mind,” Kui Xin replied.
“Accidentally,” Ambereye said. “I won’t do it again, Maotoufu. I’m a bit curious; you seem a bit annoyed when I call you by your name. Why is that?”
“It’s a habit,” Kui Xin said.
“Is that so?” Ambereye pondered for a moment, “Got it.”
Current time: 02:15.
At a little past two in the morning, Kui Xin dashed into the Spatial Vortex and arrived at the Mechanized Dawn branch in Lin Ying City, took Night Cicada away in a minute or two, and then spent less than another minute killing him. After that, she walked around Lin Ying City for a moment… overall, it took very little time. Tonight she truly fulfilled the mission quickly.
The night was still long, and Kui Xin had ample time to organize her thoughts and rest.
She returned to the base through the Spatial Vortex and leaned back on the sofa, fiddling with a glass tube filled with deep red liquid.
What kind of stories might be hidden in Night Cicada’s blood? She hoped his blood hadn’t been contaminated.
The memory of her real self showed that Night Cicada seemed to have appeared out of nowhere beside her father, Kui Haidong. After that, Night Cicada was continuously doing errands for him. She had once curiously asked Kui Haidong about Night Cicada’s background, but he dodged the question in a few vague replies, never giving a direct answer.
Night Cicada might be hiding quite a significant secret, beyond just Eve’s secret.
Kui Xin regained her focus, opened the glass tube, and let a drop of blood fall into her mouth.
Countless scenes and fragments came flooding in, the sealed gate of memories opening. Each memory was like a yellowed letter as Kui Xin opened these letters one by one, reading about Night Cicada’s past.
Night Cicada’s name wasn’t actually Night Cicada initially; he had his own name—a very ordinary one. However, he used it for such a short time that the trace of that name in the sea of memories was hardly noticeable.
This name was given to him by the director of the orphanage, who had assigned similar names to dozens of orphans—names that were very common and rustic. Night Cicada always felt that the director’s naming was as casual as naming cats and dogs, which led to his hatred for that name. Once he learned to read, he took two characters he found pleasing from his textbooks and combined them, quietly changing his name to “Night Cicada” from then on.
The orphanage he lived in during his childhood was indeed an orphanage but also more than just that.
It was much later that he discovered the orphanage was, in fact, a testing ground for the Federation.
The children in the orphanage were divided into two categories. One category consisted of test-tube babies cultivated by the Federation; they were placed in glass dishes to grow and then moved to the orphanage once they were developed enough to grow naturally. The other category comprised homeless children who lost one parent who was an Awakened.
Each month, psychological and sociological experts would come to the orphanage for research. They would have the children fill out forms, play games, and observe their behavior. Every week, a group of doctors would come to conduct various medical examinations.
Night Cicada quietly looked at the doctors’ electronic records and saw them marking checks and X’s in the notepad. At first, he didn’t understand what the checks and X’s meant, but he gradually noticed that the children marked with X’s would suddenly disappear one day, never to appear in the orphanage again.
The director told them that those children had been adopted and would grow up happily in wealthy families, living different lives.
When the director said this, her expression was kind, but Night Cicada inexplicably felt she was lying.
“Did they really get adopted?” Night Cicada asked other children in the orphanage, somewhat seeking confirmation. “If they were adopted, why have they never come back to play with us?”
“Because they’ve become upper-class people, different from us!” a little girl stacking blocks huffed. “Their parents won’t let their children associate with kids like us.”
Just as Night Cicada was about to retort, a boy nearby, whom he didn’t know very well, suddenly grabbed his arm. His pale face was expressionless, and his voice was barely a whisper: “Don’t ask anymore… don’t ask, don’t pry.”
After saying this, he released Night Cicada’s arm, as if nothing had happened, and averted his gaze.
“Hey, you…” Night Cicada scrutinized him. “Are you new here?”
“Yeah, I’m new here,” the boy replied.
Night Cicada tried to stand taller, but the boy was much taller than him.
“How old are you?” Night Cicada asked, his tone not very good.
“I’m eleven,” the boy looked at him. “Seems like I’m a year older than you.”
“What’s your name?” Night Cicada inquired.
The boy said, “You Wang.”
Night Cicada had never encountered that surname and asked, “Which You?”
The boy paused for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled and said, “Don’t you know? It’s the ‘You’ from ‘Ghost.’”
“Ghost? Why do you pronounce it with a second tone? Is it a polyphone?” Night Cicada said, confused. “Last time, I was punished for writing that character; I distinctly remember…”
“Yeah, it’s a polyphone.” The boy’s smile was strange. “If you don’t believe it, go ask the director.”
Skeptical, Night Cicada went to ask, and the director’s expression turned serious: “Last time you wrote that character wrong, I had you copy it ten times. It seems the punishment wasn’t enough to make you remember. Go copy it twenty more times, with pinyin, and show it to me when it’s done.”
Night Cicada was dumbfounded, dazed as he left the director’s office, dreamily finishing the twenty required copies of the character—“Ghost’s” “You.”
