VAP - Chapter 33
Chapter 33: The Sleeping Beauty Whose Words Are Law (32)
The rigid, mechanical voice faded into the space.
Yue Du and Qi Jiu exchanged a glance, understanding immediately. As expected, the mission was related to the anti-esper faction.
It wasn't particularly surprising. After all, there were only a few villains in the script. Qi Jiu had already dealt with the Chaos Faction that had abandoned law and morality, as well as the mutated creatures that endangered humanity. Was it any wonder that the extremist anti-esper faction, which sought to erase the very existence of superpowers, would be next?
The Professor Xin mentioned in the mission briefing was named Xin Licheng. Unlike Dr. Yang, who merely wanted to monitor espers, he was a true extremist.
Xin Licheng hadn't awakened any powers himself. He harbored an almost incomprehensible repulsion and loathing for espers—or rather, for anything related to superpowers.
It was precisely this that made his extremism so frightening to everyone.
In the original script, Xin Licheng was Xing Qingcang's fated nemesis. He had far more of a role to play than the final boss, Qi Jiu, who only appeared much later.
Both Xing and Xin were exceptionally intelligent and had achieved fame at a young age. However, while Xing Qingcang was only interested in physics experiments, Xin Licheng was obsessed with studying the life patterns of living creatures and had secretly conducted numerous human experiments.
He had started before the great outbreak of superpowers, and he didn't stop after it began. In fact, he became even more relentless.
Of course, the human experiments were only exposed after Xing Qingcang broke into his secret base. Although his madness had been plain to see even before then, no one had imagined he could be so utterly depraved.
After being discovered by Xing Qingcang, Xin Licheng abandoned the base and fled to another location to continue his experiments. But it was as if Xing Qingcang had made it his personal mission to stop him, always managing to find his new hideout.
This cycle repeated, and their mutual hatred grew to a fever pitch. Finally, Xin Licheng developed a virus that targeted espers and mutated creatures, and he unleashed it upon the world.
This horrifying act resulted in nearly every esper and mutated creature within a seven-city radius in his province contracting the virus and dying a swift, agonizing death.
He even justified his actions, declaring, “All this chaos was caused by superpowers anyway. As long as my virus spreads across the globe, everything abnormal will disappear, and our society can return to the way it was... Isn't that a good thing?”
At first glance, his words sounded reasonable, but upon closer inspection, they were utterly absurd.
How could he be sure that no more ordinary people would awaken as espers? How could he guarantee that chaos wouldn't erupt again after all existing espers and mutated creatures were wiped out?
And even if he could guarantee all that, who gave him the right to extinguish those innocent lives?!
Of course, Xin Licheng cared for none of that, which was why he was the villain. Even as he died under Xing Qingcang's lightning, he was laughing maniacally, cursing Xing Qingcang for destroying the future of humanity.
At this thought, Yue Du shook her head.
“I've hacked into the S-City military's system and found Xing Qingcang's previous mission reports,” she told her host.
“He's destroyed several of Xin Licheng's secret bases and found some test subjects inside, none of whom were alive. At this rate, Xin Licheng has already successfully developed the virus and will release it within a month.”
Qi Jiu pressed the tip of her index finger to her cheek, tapping lightly as she mused, “Do you think that virus would work on me?”
Completely baffled as to how her host's mind had jumped to that conclusion, Yue Du paused for a moment before she couldn't resist asking, “Is your current body even human?”
Qi Jiu paused, then chuckled. “Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be? I'm ‘Qi Jiu,’ you know.”
“...Then there's no question. It will definitely work, so be careful not to get infected.”
Qi Jiu said, “Oh—”
Yue Du immediately sensed trouble. “What's with that eager look on your face?”
Qi Jiu said earnestly, “It wouldn't really matter if I got infected, would it? It's nothing a single sentence can't fix.”
Yue Du retorted, “Accidents can always happen! Avoid risks whenever possible. Don't be so reckless!”
Are you so bored you want to die?!
It was rare to see Yue Du so flustered. Qi Jiu found it amusing and continued to tease her, “Oh, come on, I was just saying.”
Yue Du shot back, “And you think I'd believe that???”
After promising she absolutely wouldn't do anything reckless, Qi Jiu sighed. “It seems you really do care about me.”
“How could I not?” Yue Du said, exasperated. “You're my host.”
A glint appeared in Qi Jiu's deep, dark eyes as she coaxed, “It could be something else... something more intimate than such a simple relationship...”
Yue Du was silent.
How did the topic get steered in this direction again?
“How do you plan to complete the mission this time?”
Yue Du dodged the comment and changed the subject.
Qi Jiu didn't press her, simply going along with the change of topic. “The same way I did it before. Teleport over, say a few words, and come back. Besides, what's for lunch is a much more important question.”
Yue Du frowned. “Have you never considered trying a different method?”
Qi Jiu slowly drew out a single syllable. “Hm?”
“We can't go on like this forever,” Yue Du said, choosing her words carefully as she watched her host's inscrutable expression. “This chaotic era will eventually end. When it does, are we just going to stay here forever, cut off from the world?”
“And what's wrong with that? I can use my Word Spirit ability to make everyone ignore this space. We could stay here forever. No one would bother us, and there would be no danger.” Qi Jiu tilted her head, an expression of confusion on her face—whether it was real or feigned was anyone's guess.
Seeing the conversation about to veer off course again, Yue Du quickly interjected, “That's different! Have you forgotten what I told you before? The reason I bound myself to a host was to help you reach the pinnacle of life. How is being a shut-in for the rest of your life reaching any kind of pinnacle?”
“There's nothing more blissful,” Qi Jiu said with sincerity.
She truly meant it.
The desire for power, the pursuit of fame—none of it mattered to her. What could possibly be better than staying safely at home with Yue Du by her side?
Yue Du was speechless. I should have known. You're such an unambitious salted fish.
In truth, Yue Du was losing the will to persuade her. She worried about Qi Jiu's future after she was gone, but if that future went against Qi Jiu's own wishes, how could she force it on her?
But you know perfectly well she only says that because you're in the future she imagines.
A tiny voice in her heart reminded her.
Yue Du's hands tightened into fists.
Amidst her silence, Qi Jiu let out a soft sigh.
“I'll do whatever you say,” she said, her voice softer than velvet. “I understand what you're trying to say. I'll listen to you.”
Yue Du found herself retorting, “There's no need to compromise or force yourself. If it's not good for you, then none of it matters.”
“But anything that makes you happy is good for me,” Qi Jiu said.
Yue Du watched her with a frown, only realizing after a moment that the distance between them had somehow closed.
“...” The system abruptly turned her head away. “Is that really what you think?”
Qi Jiu smiled. “Yes. I'll do whatever you say.”
The result of “doing whatever the system said” was the two of them ending up in an esper squad on a rescue mission outside Shengjing City.
One of them claimed to be a teleporter, the other an elemental esper, though they both insisted their powers were quite weak.
To the other squad members, they were just a pair of inseparable best friends who had helped each other survive in the city for over a year since the superpower outbreak, and had just been incredibly unlucky to miss every previous rescue team.
Fortunately, their luck had finally turned, and they'd run into this rescue squad, which was now taking them back to the military district.
“Didn't you two know you could call for help online?” the squad leader asked the pair, exasperated.
In truth, it had been a long time since the superpower outbreak. The military district had expanded to dozens of times its original size, housing both ordinary people and espers. Survivors in the city proper had become almost nonexistent.
The “rescue squad” was a rescue squad in name only; in reality, their job was to hunt mutated creatures. Who would have thought they'd actually end up rescuing two young women?
Qi Jiu had no intention of speaking. Her current persona was that of a stunningly beautiful but introverted and naive girl who would dive into Yue Du's arms and feign tears at the slightest provocation.
Yue Du, on the other hand, lied without batting an eye. “Our phones got smashed while we were escaping, and we didn't dare stray too far from home. The streets were full of mutated plants that looked really dangerous... On top of that, the only internet cafe nearby just had to be occupied by a mutated dog! Sigh, we just had no way to get online.”
The squad leader clicked his tongue. “Your luck is really that bad, huh.”
Yue Du said it so convincingly she even made a self-deprecating joke. “What can I say? I'm used to having terrible luck.”
“Well, it's a good thing you ran into us. How much longer could the food in that supermarket downstairs have lasted? It must all be long past its expiration date by now!”
The squad leader laughed as he spoke, clearly finding it uplifting to still be able to rescue people after all this time.
On the surface, everything was perfectly harmonious. In reality, the host and her system were having a private conversation.
“I'm starting to regret this,” Qi Jiu said sullenly, crammed into the military jeep. “I should have just teleported over, said a few words, and been done with it. The mission would be complete, and we could be at home eating lunch right now.”
Yue Du also found herself missing the delicious and varied meals from the System Store, but she didn't let it show. Instead, she encouraged her host, “This is all for the sake of our future plans. It might be a little tiring and troublesome, but as long as everything goes smoothly, it'll be worth it.”
Qi Jiu shot her a dark look.
Yue Du met her gaze with an air of righteous conviction.
After a long moment, Qi Jiu sighed. “Fine. I'll just pretend I'm playing a game with you. Oh, what fun.”
The last part of her sentence was dripping with sarcasm.
Yue Du replied, “...Well, thanks so much for that.”
According to their intelligence, Xin Licheng's current location was Shengjing City, the site of his last secret base. The virus would be released from this city, and it was here that his final showdown with Xing Qingcang would take place.
In terms of combat strength, Xin Licheng was just an ordinary person. So how had he managed to hold his own against Xing Qingcang's esper squad for so long?
He relied on all sorts of strange and advanced technology in his bases, which were ruthlessly effective at trapping his pursuers and left the esper squad unable to defend against them.
Of course, trapping Qi Jiu would be another matter entirely.
Yue Du gazed out the window, as if her sight could pierce through several city blocks to Xin Licheng's base in the distance.
Looks like I'll be stealing Xing Qingcang's thunder again...
Just as she had that thought, the military jeep drove into the Shengjing City military district.
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