Chapter 375
“Alright... I’ll go find Adele and be back soon.” Aivina walked toward the door, glancing back at Xia’er one last time. Seeing her bent over the desk, scribbling away, she felt reassured and left.
Finding the materials and handing them over to Adele would only take a few minutes.
At that moment, Xia’er picked up her pen and began to write in the endless manual.
She wanted to see what changes would occur in Ansu City three days later, and whether the influence of “uniqueness” would bring about any shifts.
And while she was at it, she would also digest a potion.
Dealing with a Level 4 challenge was a bit tricky for Xia’er, and she was becoming increasingly aware of her own limitations.
Even as a “Subverter,” it was impossible to perfectly handle every situation. The last simulation had left her with a cold sweat when the Level 4 “Punishing Saint” Eleanor had seen through her illusion in an instant.
Now, two enhancement plans lay before her.
The first was to quickly gather all potion pathways and initiate the old simulation to see what the system meant by “creation pathways.”
The second was to find a potion that had strong offensive capabilities and was highly compatible with her, preserving its high-level archive through multiple simulations.
Xia’er decided to pursue both plans simultaneously, collecting pathways while searching for the most suitable offensive potion.
Rustle, rustle—
The tip of her pen touched the paper, producing a pleasant sound.
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PS:
179 (overdue) - 1 (extra update) = 178 (overdue) — I’ll add the rewards once the bounty is over.
Thank you all for your monthly votes! Thank you so much! Today was a bit of a mess!
Let me explain myself!
Those in the group probably know that a couple of days ago, I went to the hospital for sleep issues and got some medication, which I’ve been taking for two days.
The doctor prescribed me an antidepressant, saying the side effects were minimal and that it could help me wean off a stronger sleeping pill. So, I took it for two days.
Then, I felt drained for two days, in every sense of the word, um, just as you might imagine.
I really wanted to write more, but I couldn’t muster any excitement. I’ve temporarily stopped the medication for tonight and will continue with the extra updates tomorrow.
I promise to deliver over 8K tomorrow, guaranteed!
Good night!
Chapter 204: “Heartbreaker” Detective, Xia’er (8090 words)
“Tomorrow.”
“No. 0.”
A blazing silver light enveloped Xia’er, until all the colors around her were assimilated into silver.
...
“Tomorrow”
“Year 741 of the Holy Era, July 20, 18:21”
“Countdown - 23:59:59”
Xia’er slowly opened her eyes.
At that moment, she found herself in a strange room.
Xia’er looked around; the room was about half the size of a hotel suite, but in the precious real estate of Ansu City, it was far from small.
Though the room wasn’t large, the furniture was exquisite, almost all antique solid wood pieces, well-maintained, with a faint fragrance lingering in the air—emanating from an oil lamp nearby.
She was sitting at a desk, with a notebook, two newspapers, and a potion in front of her.
The potion emitted a soft blue glow, with two eyeballs of unknown origin floating inside, each about the size of a fingernail, slowly rotating in the azure liquid like two planets drawn to each other.
The goal she had set for her simulated self was quite simple.
Prepare the “Detective” potion and meticulously record the changes over the next few days. In addition to the major newspapers, she would also ask Lucy for updates every day.
Having navigated Ansu City for years, Lucy’s intelligence network would surely provide information more easily than Xia’er could gather on her own.
Moreover, with Lucy’s position as an acting board member, she might access information that only the upper echelons of the Dedton Manor were privy to.
Xia’er opened the notebook and looked at the notes left by her simulated self.
[July 17, 8 PM]
[There’s a significant discrepancy from the simulation this time; not only the North District but parts of the East District have implemented strict curfews.]
[According to Lucy, she received information that the royal family has increased police presence to control entry and exit from the city while investigating the bombing case.]
[In the previous simulation, the royal family’s investigation didn’t have such a large scale. I suspect they’re using the expansion of the situation as a cover to secretly investigate the Pleasure Society and the Keyholder.]
[I had Tara cut off contact with the Chaos Squad to avoid being dragged into their mess.]
[As for the Chaos Squad—good luck to them.]
[July 18, 4 PM]
[Everyone except Aivina has successfully moved to new places. The residences are mostly clustered around St. Iselin Park, providing mutual support. Even the farthest, Adele’s place, is just a five-minute walk.]
[The only issue is that the members of the Chaos Squad are mostly distributed in the Mafer District—after all, their public identities are either great painters or wealthy merchants and nobles.]
[Fortunately, I’ve already severed ties with them. Even if they are investigated, they won’t be able to extract any information about the Keyholder from them—because they themselves don’t have much information about the Keyholder.]
[I plan to discuss with Lucy now to quickly send Lichi to the Salvation Society’s sanatorium. At least in the simulation, Lichi has always been safe there.]
[July 19, 10 AM]
[Lichi has left Ansu City. Lucy placed an order for the most expensive treatment package for ordinary people in her own name, and she also sent over the “Gardener” potion.]
[This simulation can only use one potion, so I didn’t keep the “Gardener” potion and handed it directly to Amy, along with the replication ritual.]
[I glanced at the replication ritual; it’s not a challenge for Amy, as she has unknowingly completed it in her previous life. However, this replication ritual isn’t suitable for me—if I have time, I can look for shortcuts for the “Gardener” replication ritual.]
[If that doesn’t work, I can directly use the “Coroner” archive, transfer to the Gardener’s Level 2, and save it. There’s no need to be tied down by the time-consuming “Gardener.” I’ve already asked Lucy to help gather information about the “Gardener” Level 2.]
[July 19, 9 PM]
[The curfew has been lifted... The news announced that the Russell family has found the planner and executor of the Royal Medical Society bombing, arresting over twenty people...]
[Just like in the simulation, the “mastermind” is a gang from the Holy Church District, with the reason being the theft of precious medical instruments for sale, but a mishap caused the explosion—who would believe that?]
[Aside from that, there’s not much news about any royal actions...]
[Is Qiangyin not anxious at all? Or did he leave some information through “uniqueness” that I’m unaware of?]
[Completely at a loss...]
[July 20, 5 PM]
[Looking at the newspapers, there are changes.]
Xia’er closed the notebook and picked up one of the newspapers.
[North Ansu Issue: The House of Commons begins debates on autonomy.]
The second one.
[William Winston Murder Case: Sensational retaliation from the Orlando Republican Army.]
[Queen Vitalis addresses Parliament: New governance plan for North Ansu.]
William Winston?
Aivina’s uncle?
Why? There was no mention of his murder in the last simulation; all she knew was that he had gone to North Ansu.
Moreover, when Xia’er began the simulation, William had already returned to Ansu City, so he hadn’t died at all.
The disturbance caused by “uniqueness” had indeed stirred up a storm that had never been seen before.
And Queen Vitalis took the opportunity to announce further measures for North Ansu... not only cutting off civilian aid but also dispatching troops there.
Was this... an attempt to stir the pot?
It was important to note that there was likely a high-ranking member of the Pleasure Society conducting a replication ritual in North Ansu; the Queen’s actions were undoubtedly a provocation against the Pleasure Society.
Xia’er knew this had to be Qiangyin’s plan.
Just stepping into Qiangyin’s mindset made it easy to understand why he would do this.
In the past few days, he hadn’t uncovered any results.
Knowing that he had left traces of the Pleasure Society, his provocation against them was likely not aimed at disrupting their activities—but rather to negotiate.
Either disrupt your ritual or hand over the Keyholder... Xia’er could almost predict what Qiangyin was planning.
But it was all in vain.
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