Chapter 448
【Please forgive me...】
【Master of Time Binding...】
Xia'er was almost certain that it was the system that had gone after that otherworldly creature, but she had no idea how the system had done it.
The system had never left Xia'er’s side to act independently... The most likely scenario was that the creature had come knocking.
She had hardly ever seen an otherworldly being that could appear without being summoned. That pure white armor could do such a thing? If so, it could have already emerged from the otherworldly node and eliminated all the "trash" that disturbed its peace.
There was another possibility—no, it should be the only possibility.
That armored creature had intentionally tainted itself or left some sort of backdoor in its own psyche... It had gained access to its own blood, allowing it to do this.
If it had truly attacked Xia'er’s mind, it would have faced the backlash of the "Uniqueness" gear, which was primarily controlled by the system, and the knowledge within it was sealed by the system...
Through the "Uniqueness" gear, the system had given that otherworldly creature some warnings.
And was the anomaly in her eyes the creature's "compensation"?
Xia'er shook her head.
All of this was merely her subjective speculation based on the possibilities at hand. If she truly wanted to know what had happened, she would have to wait until she encountered that otherworldly being again.
Right now, Xia'er leaned more towards the idea that the creature had left her some sort of "curse" that invaded her mind; otherwise, her psyche couldn't have been so severely tainted.
But thankfully, whether it was a "curse" or an attack, it no longer affected Xia'er.
During the time she had been awake, the metallic buzzing in her head had slowed considerably. She estimated that after a while, the residual taint would completely vanish.
"One last question."
Xia'er asked in her mind.
"Will there be any side effects if I enter the simulation again in a short time?"
「As long as you don’t touch the otherworld, there won’t be any problems ^_^」
The system rarely smiled seriously, which made Xia'er feel a bit uncomfortable.
Just don’t touch the otherworld... Xia'er hadn’t planned to use the otherworld in her next simulation anyway.
She needed to take some time to rest and quickly devise a plan for the next simulation.
Lying here wouldn’t help at all, so Xia'er decided to do something to shift her mindset.
After taking a shower and changing into a uniform from the Deton Group, she had Tara prepare a carriage, and together they headed to the Deton Group.
At the group, she met Lucy.
Lucy was surprised by Xia'er’s arrival. She received Xia'er in her private office, thinking Xia'er had some instructions, but Xia'er was just there to ask her a few questions about weapons of mass destruction—more like casual conversation.
Even so, Lucy didn’t slack off at all; she answered every question Xia'er had and tried her best to provide her own suggestions...
But whether it was Lucy’s imagination or not, she felt that this "weapon of mass destruction" was intended for Ansu City...
Surely... it wouldn’t be that crazy, right?
After sending Xia'er off, Lucy still felt a bit anxious. Unable to resist, she took out a "Lucky Coin" and made her last fixed toss of the day.
Heads.
"Ah..."
Lucy let out a long breath.
That should mean nothing bad would happen.
Meanwhile, Xia'er had returned to her room and taken out the Endless Manual, beginning to write in it.
Two plans gradually took shape under Xia'er’s swift writing.
The first idea was still to control the merged Church of the Savior and use information from the otherworld to seek help from the Church of the God of Order. As long as she didn’t kill the strong sound in the simulation to trigger a backlash, it wouldn’t matter if the strong sound learned something.
Utilizing the powerful forces of both churches, she would conduct a large-scale operation... a hunt for the extraordinary, leaving the final judgment and execution to Xia'er.
The second idea was to compile a virus... The previous dehydration virus had been successfully prepared by Adele in less than a week, and she had even written a paper on it.
This time, with 21... no, 20 days, and with the help of her thoughts from the simulation as the "Plague Bearer," the virus she manufactured and spread would be even stronger.
She had to choose a virus that could spread covertly and be easily detonated at the moment she descended into the simulation, causing maximum damage—this required a detailed list of extraordinary individuals in Ansu City.
She aimed to infect the vast majority of the extraordinary on that list.
Xia'er paused her pen, looking at the plan before her, and let out a long sigh.
To anyone else, this would be an extremely evil plan. If it were truly implemented in reality, Xia'er’s infamy would likely echo through the ages, and even the Joyous City might send someone to invite her for guidance and exchange.
But Xia'er couldn’t afford to think about that anymore.
She had to earn a massive amount of points to maximize her mental strength, at least enough to cope with all the mental pollution she had previously encountered.
This was her responsibility for the subsequent plans and for herself.
A silver light flashed, and the Endless Manual vanished from Xia'er’s sight.
"System."
Xia'er called out to the system in her mind and opened the simulation interface.
"Coming day."
"No.0."
Xia'er didn’t log in directly using No.11; she wanted her simulated self to drink the "Toxic Master" potion directly, ascending from "Toxic Master" to "Plague Bearer," maximizing her ability to create poisons, viruses, or bacteria.
Next... she just needed to wait and see which path her simulated self would choose and what impact it would have...
The silver light engulfed everything before Xia'er.
...
「Coming Day」
「Year 741 of the Holy Calendar, August 8, 18:00」
「Countdown - 23:59:59」
Pitter-patter—
The sound of light rain tapping against the umbrella echoed above Xia'er’s head.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Before her lay the streets on a rainy night. Xia'er turned her head slowly; beside her stood Tara, dressed in a maid outfit, holding a black umbrella high with her right hand to shield Xia'er from the rain.
This was... the East District?
Xia'er glanced around the streets.
It seemed to be the factory's break time; the bells of the Church of the Savior rang out, and many people walked along the streets in the rain, hardly anyone using an umbrella. The people of Ansu had long since grown accustomed to the rain, just as they had to breathing.
A chaotic drainage system left the streets muddy; it looked like this rain had been falling for several days.
"This damn weather is like liquid coal dust waxing the city."
A voice of complaint came from beside Xia'er. It seemed to be a well-dressed middle-class man, likely inspecting the factory, as he lowered his hat brim and passed by Xia'er.
He held a burning red cigarette in his hand, and pale pink smoke wafted up from the glowing tip... Most people on the street seemed to be holding such cigarettes.
"Tara."
Xia'er looked at Tara beside her and spoke directly.
"Did I ask you to bring me something?"
Tara looked at Xia'er, momentarily taken aback by her beautiful deep red eyes, but quickly regained her composure and took out a notebook from the crossbody bag she was carrying.
"Please take a look, Lady Xia'er."
Xia'er took the notebook and quickly flipped through it.
A virus... huh.
Her simulated self had chosen this more covert and less detectable method.
Rustle—
Rustle—
Xia'er continued to turn the pages. The earlier content about finding Adele was relatively straightforward, but the subsequent notes were filled with extensive research data—like writing a thesis.
Xia'er knew this was what her simulated self had written after drinking the "Toxic Master" potion, likely treating the notebook as a research journal or draft.
She needed to extract useful information from the research notes.
"Scarlet Madness Fungus..."
Xia'er frowned as she looked at the research notes in her hand, gradually becoming absorbed in the content.
Just reading the somewhat chaotic handwriting on the notes and the descriptions of that parasitic fungus sent shivers down her arms.
"Goodness..."
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