WEF - Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Rolls-Royce
"Are you certain that this is your Ability?" Ning Dali smiled, her gaze roaming over Zhuang Yuezhen's face.
Zhuang Yuezhen instinctively wanted to nod.
She had told such lies countless times over nearly the whole of her life.
To her, nodding had never been difficult.
But for some reason, when she looked into Ning Dali's smiling eyes, she did not dare nod.
She had an almost instinctive premonition that something was wrong.
If she nodded now, something terrible would happen next. The price of that nod would be something she could not bear.
She shuddered involuntarily. A few seconds later, she chose to trust her instinct and showed an innocent yet awkward smile.
"Haha. Lao Wang, why is it taking so long to call a car? I'll go hurry her along."
"Go." Ning Dali did not make things difficult for her.
Ning Dali had an Ability she could not bear to reveal either, so she understood Zhuang Yuezhen.
Still, as Ning Dali watched Zhuang Yuezhen flee in embarrassment, two questions arose in her mind: How common were such hidden Abilities? How many people lied about their Abilities?
The answer to both was yes.
In this world, everyone had an Ability. It was the thing they relied on most and kept secret most closely. Few would reveal theirs without reservation. Public information about Abilities was invariably embellished to some degree or concealed.
Zhuang Yuezhen was no exception. There were many others like her.
All Ning Dali had to do was search the public information online, read the publicly disclosed Abilities aloud, and use [Old Liar] to uncover a pile of Old Liars.
Once she activated [Old Liar], she could use Passing Lies as Truth to change those people's Abilities.
Changing another person's Ability did Ning Dali no good, but at crucial moments, it could have an unexpected effect.
Moreover, these were all juicy pieces of leverage... If they did not want to lose their Abilities, they would have to obey...
Ning Dali's gaze darkened as she considered the various uses of [Old Liar] and charged headlong down the road to villainy.
Clinging to Wang You's arm, Zhuang Yuezhen said quietly, "Don't you think Sis Dali's a little frightening?"
Wang You shook her head as she struggled to summon a luxury car. "A little frightening, perhaps, but I think I overreacted just now."
Now that she had calmed down, Wang You realized she had perhaps been a little on edge. The sight of Ning Dali's muscular physique had made her imagine an Ability User of unimaginable strength.
"I guess I imagined too much." Now that she had finally recovered her composure and restrained her urge to fill in the details, Wang You said, "I've met too few strong Ability Users. I imagined her as being on an entirely different level."
"No, exactly the opposite." Still shaken, Zhuang Yuezhen said quietly, "I think you haven't imagined nearly enough! Sis Dali is even more unfathomable than the one in your imagination. I think she's more frightening than Ying."
"Just think. She has never said that she has only one Three-Character Ability."
Wang You: "..."
The two wild fantasizers gaped at one another, their eyes wide, locked in an ultimate showdown.
"Isn't the car ready yet?" Ning Dali asked as she came up behind them.
At the sound of her voice, both of them jerked in unison.
"Soon, soon." Wang You explained, sweating all over. "I was trying to summon a nicer car, but my imagination is rather limited. If I picture it in enough detail, it will be easier."
"Haven't you seen any good cars at the Base?" Ning Dali narrowed her eyes.
"I have." Wang You answered honestly, "but my Ability is to summon a vehicle, not create one out of thin air. If I picture one of the cars at the Base, I might summon the personal vehicle of some big shot and risk being hunted down."
Summon a vehicle, not create one out of thin air?
The thought of the protective talisman in the SUV sent a spark of inspiration through Ning Dali's mind, and excitement surged through her entire body.
"I want a four-wheeled hover sedan," Ning Dali suddenly began placing her order. "There should be a small solid-gold figurine on the hood, a boxy body, a length of more than five meters, rear-hinged doors, and an umbrella that can be pulled out from inside the doors..."
She described every detail as if she had seen it with her own eyes.
Wang You listened intently. The shape of a car slowly formed in her mind, and her imagination seemed to acquire a definite focus.
Countless vehicle models flashed through her mind, one after another, until, at last, a gleaming black-and-white Rolls-Royce appeared out in the wilderness.
Ning Dali's pupils contracted.
Fuck! She actually summoned one!
She strode to the front of the vehicle and saw a license plate hanging there.
Star Harbor B8888
Star Harbor!
A Federation vehicle!
Ning Dali ran her hand over the smooth body of the Rolls-Royce, her heart pounding.
Wang You's Ability could summon a vehicle from the Federation. What about her RV? Was it the same situation?
[I Have a Car, What Did You Expect?] was only a Seven-Character Ability, so Wang You could summon only a vehicle, and after twenty-four hours she would still have to return it.
What if there were a more powerful Single-Character Ability for summoning? Could it summon people and cars from the Federation? Once they were here, would they not have to be returned?
If her crossing was caused by an Ability, could she also return to the Federation through an Ability?!
Fuck! I have been kidnapped!
Unable to hold back, Ning Dali drove a fist hard into the Rolls-Royce, leaving an obvious fistprint in its body.
Wang You and Zhuang Yuezhen both startled in unison once more and stared at her, too frightened to speak.
Alone, Ning Dali clenched her fist and paced around the Rolls-Royce, muttering to herself, completely absorbed in her own world.
On reflection, she probably had not been summoned by anyone. If she had been, the person who summoned her must have had an ulterior motive and should have come forward of their own accord.
Even if they did not, they would take the food from her vehicle.
If not, then what was it?
A swap? A replacement?
Had someone exchanged places with her in this famine-stricken world?
She had been swapped into a place where there was not even any food to eat, while the Ability User had gone off to the Federation to live the life of Riley and haul cement.
This was outrageous.
It was worse than the lunatic who had chased her and swung a blade at her before the college entrance examination.
A murderous gleam entered Ning Dali's eyes as she turned toward Wang You and Zhuang Yuezhen, who were trembling.
"Have you heard of any swap-type Abilities? Or summoning types?"
Wang You, who could summon vehicles, trembled. Ning Dali's gaze felt like two knives, as if they were about to stab her to death.
Zhuang Yuezhen was comparatively calm and said firmly, "Um, what counts as a summoning-type Ability? Does [System] count?"
"[System]?" Ning Dali frowned. "What kind of Ability is that?"
Zhuang Yuezhen spent every day online and now launched into an expert, encyclopedia-like explanation. "[System] is a Two-Character Ability. It issues tasks to Ability Users. Once they complete a task, they receive rewards and Points. Points can be used in the [System] Shop to exchange for all sorts of items, including food."
"Well... I suppose [System] barely counts as a summoning-type Ability."
A very interesting Two-Character Ability.
Leaving this world and swapping lives with someone in another world might be a reward granted by [System].
Ning Dali nodded and added [System] to her list of leads.
"Anything else?"
"Um..." Zhuang Yuezhen racked her brains for a long time, then finally thought of one. "I remember someone who could summon skeletons, but I don't remember the exact name of the Ability. Maybe that Ability User never revealed it either."
Skeletons? If someone could summon skeletons today, they could summon Ning Dali tomorrow!
Abilities could be upgraded. Better to cast too wide a net than let one escape. Ning Dali sternly added the skeleton summoner to her list of leads as well.
"Anything else?"
"None for now," Zhuang Yuezhen said dryly.
Many people had revealed their Abilities for various reasons, but very few openly posted their Abilities online.
Those who did were either people like Yuan and Ying, so powerful and fearless...
Or people like [System], so unusual that no one forgot them...
Or people like Zhuang Yuezhen, who used fake Abilities such as, "Thank you for listening to me. That will waste three seconds of your life," designed above all to deceive.
It was already quite an achievement that Zhuang Yuezhen could name two.
"Sis Dali, are you investigating something?" Zhuang Yuezhen asked. "The Base registers the Abilities of Ability Users. If you want to investigate something, you could ask around at the Base. Information online may be wrong. What the Base has on file is more complete and accurate."
Asking at the Base was indeed a good option.
But why would the Base tell her? What gave it the right to tell her anything?
Ning Dali's feverish brain suddenly cooled.
She glanced at Wang You thoughtfully.
There had to be others besides Wang You who could summon things from another world.
The powerful figures of this world might all know that other worlds existed beyond this one. They might all be making various attempts to make this world a better place.
Could the airdrops be one of those attempts? Could they be the result of some Ability?
"Do you know where airdrops come from?" Ning Dali asked.
Zhuang Yuezhen and Wang You looked bewildered. To them, the question was as strange as asking why one plus one equaled two.
To the people born in this world, airdrops falling from the sky were as common as rain, a perfectly natural phenomenon.
"Airdrops? They fall from the sky?" Zhuang Yuezhen racked her brains and produced a useless statement.
Ning Dali: "...Thank you for telling me."
She gave up trying to get more information from Zhuang Yuezhen, slid the mountaineering backpack from her shoulders, and stuffed the whole thing into the Rolls-Royce's large refrigerator.
That meant they were setting off for the Base.
Wang You and Zhuang Yuezhen exchanged a glance, then packed their own refrigerators and fuel drums into the trunk.
The Rolls-Royce hovercar started smoothly, its body rising from the ground.
"Wow!" Wang You glanced at the dashboard. "In this car, the three of us can reach the Base in three hours!"
That was welcome news.
Ning Dali lowered her gaze. Once Wang You switched on autopilot, she pulled two crystals from her pocket.
The two crystals had been taken from a 'friend.' She had not known what they did.
But now... after seeing the Truth Crystal in Ying's hands, and with two Abilities of her own, the moment she touched a crystal, its effect would automatically appear before her eyes.
[Memory Crystal]
Effect: Erases certain memories from the past half hour.
Ning Dali crushed both crystals.
Wang You and Zhuang Yuezhen had been lounging in the car, comfortably enjoying the ride. A flicker of confusion passed through both their eyes, and they forgot the conversation they had just been having.
The hovercar drove in silence for three hours.
Throughout those three hours, Ning Dali never once stopped thinking.
As more buildings appeared outside the window, she formed a clear plan for her future.
She would hide the secret of how she had crossed into this world, keep growing stronger, and become close with the Base Lords.
She would learn every secret of this world and discover why she had crossed over.
At the same time, she would tell a lie enormous enough to shake heaven, then use Passing Lies as Truth to make it real and return to the Federation.
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