DEG - Chapter 14
Chapter 14: She's the One Who Killed You
Although Breaking Waves Riding Wind wanted to walk out and talk to Jiang Xun naturally, she couldn't resist the viewers in her stream telling her Jiang Xun's location.
She subconsciously lifted her head and saw Jiang Xun smiling and greeting them.
Breaking Waves Riding Wind: ...
She watched, wide-eyed, as Jiang Xun very naturally scooped Luo Nanqiu up in a princess carry and leaped from the roof to the ground.
The move was so fluid and cool that it drew a gasp from nearly everyone present.
I Heal Your Whole Family: Hiss.
Even though it was a game, she still subconsciously healed Jiang Xun a little.
Even though Jiang Xun was completely unharmed, the only thing injured was her own heart, which had seized up in shock.
Luo Nanqiu got down from Jiang Xun's arms with extreme naturalness. She didn't look at her Optical Brain again, her gaze instead falling on the group of people.
Her expression was placid, even carrying a hint of resistance.
"When did you get here?" Breaking Waves Riding Wind asked, moving past Luo Nanqiu to address Jiang Xun.
"Since the part about 01 and the Regent being mortal enemies," Jiang Xun said nonchalantly.
Her gaze subconsciously swept over her surroundings before pausing.
"Ah." Breaking Waves Riding Wind froze up a bit.
I Heal Your Whole Family and Berry Milkshake were also a little embarrassed.
Hahaha, gossiping about someone only to have the subject of the gossip watching from behind.
Although the subject of the gossip didn't seem to care about her status as such.
In truth, Jiang Xun was also shocked that the original owner of this body had such a background.
She had heard of clone technology before; it was a technique forbidden throughout the interstellar community.
Although it sounded great in theory-being able to create a 100% identical copy of oneself.
But the activation method was harsh: the cloning process required fresh flesh and blood from the genetic donor.
Furthermore, the clones themselves had drawbacks. For example, even with identical genes, their Abilities wouldn't be 100% the same as the donor's. Some clones lacked self-awareness, and their lifespans were even shorter than that of interstellar humans.
When Jiang Xun first learned of this project, her initial thought was that it violated human ethics, trampled on human life, and went against public order and morals.
But considering it purely from a perspective of profit.
This would absolutely be a soldier production factory.
As long as one had the fresh flesh and blood of a powerful ability user.
One could create nearly identical clones. Moreover, a newborn clone's consciousness was hazy, but it possessed a certain degree of executive function, making it the perfect time to receive commands.
Powerful Abilities, and the ability to follow orders to the letter.
If those in power were depraved enough, they wouldn't hesitate to use it.
From that day on, Jiang Xun would always properly treat her wounds after training and take better care to secure her own flesh and blood.
She was afraid that one day she'd go to war and end up fighting an army of her own clones.
Just kidding.
But Jiang Xun couldn't help but wonder if such a clone factory was run by star pirates. But...
As Jiang Xun's gaze swept the area, her heart grew colder and colder.
Because she saw a lot of equipment that was standard issue for the Imperial Military.
Thinking on the bright side, maybe the star pirates had stolen it.
Thinking even more optimistically, perhaps she had been dead for so long that the Imperial Military had released this technology to the public, and it was now available for civilian use-so much so that a meticulous game developer had even included it in the game.
Although Jiang Xun knew this was unlikely. No matter how detailed a game was, it couldn't be so meticulous in every aspect as to resemble the real world.
But the reality was that she was in a game, and before her were the fearless, unrestrained Fourth Calamity, with strange names floating above their heads.
Seeing Jiang Xun's gaze finally land on her, Breaking Waves Riding Wind gave a dry cough. "So, you probably heard our discussion."
"We have to take you to the Regent to get the antidote."
At that moment, Luo Nanqiu gripped Jiang Xun's hand tightly. Jiang Xun turned her head and saw that Nanqiu's eyes were filled with coldness.
"No."
Berry Milkshake silently made a throat-slitting gesture to remind Breaking Waves Riding Wind.
They had just been loudly plotting how to kill Jiang Xun.
Haha, although Jiang Xun's mindset was surprisingly good; she acted as if she hadn't heard a thing.
Jiang Xun obediently let Luo Nanqiu pull her close.
"But the poison on you..." I Heal Your Whole Family stood up, blocking the researcher's line of sight, while Berry Milkshake gestured with her hands and mouth, mouthing exaggeratedly, "We're not going to kill you!"
"We've decided to take down this research institute together!"
Jiang Xun couldn't help but smile at the exaggerated expression. Luo Nanqiu turned her head away to look at the more reliable I Heal Your Whole Family.
"You can pay a priest to keep her alive." Her tone was one of extreme coldness and resistance.
Now, anyone could see that something was wrong.
Berry Milkshake was a bit confused. She had caught up on the story that happened after she logged off, and there was already too much speculation. The mix of intimacy and hostility left her completely bewildered. But now, as if struck by inspiration, she asked Luo Nanqiu, "You don't want her to meet her fu-"
Unfortunately, she only got halfway through her sentence. The next moment, an extremely thin thread appeared out of thin air above Berry Milkshake's head, tightening around her neck with a skillful force that made it difficult for her to breathe.
Berry Milkshake began to cough violently.
The warning delivered, the thread vanished.
Everyone present knew who the warning came from and what its purpose was.
【She doesn't want Jiang Xun to meet her future self!】
【What's going on? Do these two really become enemies later on?】
The stream viewers discussed animatedly.
The players pulled Berry Milkshake back behind them. Luo Nanqiu also flinched suddenly, as if startled by the turn of events and wanting to hide behind Jiang Xun.
But Jiang Xun was lost in her own thoughts. She was wondering when the Eldest Miss's Ability had evolved, and what its final form would be.
She was thinking about what Nanqiu's actions meant.
She was thinking about what kind of person could become the Regent in an interstellar society where the class structure had been rigid for so long.
The final conclusion...
If it was the Eldest Miss who had achieved it, then it wasn't strange at all.
All of Nanqiu's strange behavior from this morning was no longer strange either.
So Jiang Xun asked the players, "What's the Regent's name?"
【Fuck! She figured it out, didn't she! She figured it out!】
Breaking Waves Riding Wind subconsciously protected her own neck.
Jiang Xun felt Luo Nanqiu's grip on her hand gradually tighten.
"She can't go!" Luo Nanqiu said righteously. "She has a very important exam in the next two weeks."
"It's for her school promotion."
【...】
【Fuck, maybe we should just let her finish her exam. Sucking up can wait.】
It could be said that after a whole night of diligently searching for information, Luo Nanqiu had actually found a rather useful stereotype to exploit.
The players clearly hesitated.
Jiang Xun fell silent, not expecting such a ridiculous excuse to work as a delaying tactic.
But at the same time, because of Luo Nanqiu's actions, her heart tensed up, and the smile on her face gradually became somewhat strained.
She reached out and held Luo Nanqiu's hand.
"Nanqiu, you've already given me the answer I wanted."
Luo Nanqiu's back stiffened, and she stared at her blankly.
After seeing the certain seriousness in those gray eyes, her long lashes lowered, her black hair obscuring her face. Her voice trembled slightly as she hurriedly explained.
"You can't go. Please, believe me."
"The future me... she's really terrifying. She's gone mad, she's already mad!"
Large teardrops traced paths down her delicate cheeks, falling onto the back of Jiang Xun's hand.
Luo Nanqiu's whole body was trembling with tension.
"She's the one who killed you. She's a coward. She hated herself, and in the end, that turned into hating you," Luo Nanqiu explained incoherently.
"She's married now. She's already let you go. Don't go poking at that wound. She'll think you're a fake, and she'll kill you.
She's already killed many people who look like you..."
The space wasn't empty, but it felt that way, with only Luo Nanqiu's voice filling it.
"She won't." After listening to her tearful plea, Jiang Xun slowly wiped the teardrops from the corners of her eyes.
"She'll recognize me."
"I've never been able to fool her, not even once," she said patiently.
No, that's not the point!
Luo Nanqiu shook her head frantically. Though she had long since disregarded her composure, the sight of tears welling up in her violet eyes and streaming down her fair cheeks was pitiful enough to move any onlooker.
"She's mad," Luo Nanqiu murmured, clutching Jiang Xun's hand tightly.
"She'll kill you!"
"She won't."
"I trust her."
...
The air fell silent. Luo Nanqiu's hand, gripping Jiang Xun's, finally dropped.
"Is this another one of your decisions?"
Luo Nanqiu tried hard to keep her voice steady. She always wanted to say, You always make the wrong decisions.
But...
She could never stop her.
"I won't help you." Luo Nanqiu's voice steadied, though her tears were still falling.
"You'll have to bear the consequences of your own decision!" She angrily returned to her card.
Jiang Xun felt the damp tears on the back of her hand. Her long lashes trembled slightly as she reined in her complex emotions.
When she looked up again, her gray eyes were once again calm.
Perhaps because she no longer considered the players strangers, some of the cold sharpness about her had faded, replaced by a touch of gentleness.
The moment she raised her eyes, she saw several players watching the drama unfold.
Jiang Xun: ...
I Heal Your Whole Family's gaze drifted, Breaking Waves Riding Wind stared at the ground, and Berry Milkshake pretended she was still coughing.
"Let's go find the Regent," Jiang Xun said, the title feeling somewhat foreign on her tongue.
"If she hates me, I won't have to continue with my studies."
"If she loves... doesn't hate me, then I won't have to continue with my studies either."
Jiang Xun considered whether she could be reinstated to her former post. After all, she had already diligently graduated from the military academy and didn't want to go through it all again.
But before that.
Jiang Xun looked at her Optical Brain.
Current time: Star Calendar, year 6030.
The sixth year after her death.
The sixth year Nanqiu had been without her.
Breaking Waves Riding Wind immediately contacted a flight. The Regent's birthday was in two weeks.
She first had to go with Jiang Xun to the Little Emperor's location, then board his starship to reach the Regent's planet.
The defenses were extremely tight. While Jiang Xun was disappointed that she couldn't get in with her current strength, she also felt a bit more at ease about Luo Nanqiu's safety.
Because Luo Nanqiu's Ability wasn't purely offensive.
When Luo Nanqiu's Ability first awakened, it could only create simple marks. Later, it evolved step by step, developing the ability to add notes, then threads...
In the past, she hadn't understood why Luo Nanqiu's Ability became stranger and stranger as it evolved.
But now.
The players' perspective was Luo Nanqiu's usual perspective.
She treated this world as a stage, and the threads were her puppet strings, directing every move upon it.
This was her Ability, Puppetry.
It wasn't strange that her Ability had evolved into the Fourth Calamity after six years.
She had known long ago. The Eldest Miss had infinite potential.
Comments
Post a Comment