PSW - Chapter 38
Chapter 38
“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help.” Zheng Yi said, looking a little lost. “Should I have gotten out of the car with you?”
“…” Chu Yi was struck for a moment by the innocent naivety in Zheng Yi’s eyes. She averted her gaze and looked at Yu Yinan. “No, I’m sorry. I lost my composure just now.”
“The moment thirteen of their ability users came out, I had no intention of starting a fight. No matter what, I had to pretend I hadn’t noticed anything.” In fact, Chu Yi didn’t know if those thirteen were their full strength. After all… that Yang Ge hadn’t seemed very guarded at first.
“I’ll help,” Yu Yinan said, meeting Chu Yi’s eyes. “For no contribution points.”
“I’ll help too, and I don’t want any contribution points either,” Zheng Yi immediately chimed in. “You’re not mad at me, are you?”
“You don’t have to… I’m not mad at you.” Chu Yi felt a sense of powerlessness when facing Zheng Yi. As for Yu Yinan… Yu Yinan clearly understood and had told her, seriously and straightforwardly, that she would get involved and help for free.
“Well now, does this mean I have to join the next mission?” Xu Lanjun drew out her last word. “This old woman doesn’t work for free, you know. I still need to earn my coffin money. Little Zhao girl, I’ll only take half the reward in contribution points. That’s not unreasonable, is it?”
“You too… Not unreasonable, of course not.” Chu Yi sighed. The interruption had completely stabilized her mood. She decided not to dwell on it and instead focused on planning how to report to Zhou Xiyue and the other leaders tomorrow, how to post the mission, and what an appropriate contribution point reward would be… If possible, she should also hold a seminar. The shelter treated those ability users quite well; how could they turn traitor so easily?
Their survival needs were met, but their morale and ideology also needed attention. The ideological education of the ability users was a matter of urgency. With great power comes great responsibility. Humanity’s Light Shelter… truly had to live up to its name and strive to be a beacon for humanity.
Night had fallen completely, and a deep silence settled over the land.
Zheng Yi was sleeping leaning against the driver’s seat, wrapped in a blanket. Yu Yinan was asleep in the passenger seat; as a fire ability user, she wasn’t afraid of the cold and had used her ability to raise the car’s internal temperature slightly. Even in sleep, she held Zheng Yi’s hand, passing her warmth over in her dreams. Xu Lanjun and Chu Yi had returned to the back seat, sleeping under a quilt.
Zero One had also entered standby mode. It had been worried that a fight would expose Zheng Yi, but now it could finally rest easy. The entire system felt a great sense of relief.
Just then, it heard Zheng Yi’s voice.
‘What’s the cheapest stand-in in the store? How many Saint Points?’
[?!] Zero One snapped awake. What was this powerhouse planning now?! [A stand-in?]
‘A puppet will do. As long as it can pretend to be me, that’s all that matters.’
[But that’s thirteen ability users! At least thirteen!]
‘Hm?’
[…I’ll search for you right away.] Zero One meekly opened the store. [This Stand-in Puppet might be suitable for you, but it’s a one-time use item and has almost no other functions.]
【Stand-in Puppet (Lesser)】: Can be perfectly disguised as the host’s designated appearance, with a realistic touch! It’s worth noting that it can’t move at all~ You also can’t perceive anything from its perspective; it’s just a plain, unremarkable disguise puppet~ (Disappears after sustaining a certain amount of damage)
Saint Points: 5
Once Zheng Yi confirmed it was the cheapest option, she bought it immediately.
[Do you want to use it now? If you do… you can record one sentence and set it to be spoken under a certain condition,] Zero One asked. [If you increase your Saint Point budget, a more advanced puppet can not only say more things but even move! You could also perceive everything from its perspective, making it a true stand-in!]
‘No need.’ Zheng Yi glanced at Yu Yinan in the passenger seat. Looking at their intertwined hands, she slowly pulled hers free. ‘Record.’
Zero One was stunned for a moment, then saw Yu Yinan’s fingers twitch. She groggily opened her eyes in the darkness and glanced at Zheng Yi. Seeing that Zheng Yi had only shifted her sleeping position, she drowsily closed her eyes again.
‘Jiejie? Go back to sleep…’ Zheng Yi’s voice was impossibly soft and gentle, with a hint of sleepiness, like the tip of a sleepy kitten’s tail brushing against your heart and making it flutter. After she finished, her tone became flat and emotionless. ‘Use it when Yu Yinan wakes up and makes a move toward me.’
How long would this take? It might not even be triggered once. After all, Zheng Yi had spent so much time with Yu Yinan; she knew Yu Yinan was a heavy sleeper who rarely woke up during the night.
[It’s set. Use it now?]
A layer of water silently enveloped the car door. Zheng Yi pushed it open and slipped out of the car without a sound. In an instant, the puppet was sitting in the driver’s seat, its head tilted in sleep. In the moonlight, its face was indistinguishable from her own.
Zheng Yi draped the blanket over it, carefully arranging it into natural-looking folds. The water-cushioned door closed slowly, making no sound at all.
Soon, she disappeared into the night.
However, not long after she left, Yu Yinan, who had been asleep, frowned. As if troubled by something in her sleep, she forced her eyes open and looked at Zheng Yi beside her. She reached out, took the hand resting beneath the blanket, and transferred her warmth to it.
“Jiejie? Go back to sleep…”
“Sorry.” Some of Yu Yinan’s sleepiness faded. She felt bad for waking Zheng Yi. “Go back to sleep.”
It was at that moment that she suddenly noticed something was wrong. Zheng Yi’s hand… seemed a bit cold? The car windows were still closed. Yu Yinan glanced at the two sleeping in the back seat and silently used her ability to raise the temperature inside the car a little more.
Zheng Yi said no more, as if she had only been murmuring in her sleep and had now fallen deep into slumber once more. Yu Yinan closed her eyes, but just as she was about to drift off, the feeling that something was wrong grew stronger. In the darkness, her eyes snapped open, all traces of sleep gone.
She lowered her voice, tightening her grip on Zheng Yi’s hand. “Zheng Yi?”
“Jiejie? Go back to sleep…”
“…” Yu Yinan fell silent. Her eyes adjusted to the dark. In the moonlight, she stared at Zheng Yi’s sleeping profile. The hand in hers felt normal, and this face was identical to Zheng Yi’s. She watched for a long time and realized that “Zheng Yi’s” chest wasn’t rising and falling with breath.
In the silence, she didn’t want to wake the two in the back. Even if Zheng Yi was hiding something and had secrets, they were Zheng Yi’s secrets, and she didn’t want anyone else to know. She closed her eyes for a moment, then raised her other hand and cautiously reached out to check for breath from “Zheng Yi’s” nose.
“Jiejie? Go back to sleep…”
This wasn’t Zheng Yi.
A lifelike doll? Yu Yinan didn’t know what kind of technology could create something so realistic, or where Zheng Yi had gotten such a thing. Her thoughts were a mess. She instantly guessed where Zheng Yi had gone—it was just like that time with the leader of the other camp.
Zheng Yi… what exactly was her ability? Water? Storage space? What else… what else was she hiding from her? How many more secrets did she have?
Of everything she had ever told her, was any of it the truth?
In that instant, Yu Yinan remembered the note, remembered Zheng Yi’s innocent face. Then she recalled the naive things Zheng Yi had said to Chu Yi. A series of images flashed through her mind: the day they first met, with Zheng Yi downstairs in a raincoat collecting rainwater; the way Zheng Yi had followed her upstairs, completely unguarded; how she had caught her when she collapsed…
Sincere? Or a pretense?
Real? Or fake?
Which words were true, and which were lies? Zheng Yi’s ability… her ability…
“That’s right, it’s Saint.” Her codename had to be Saint, too.
“But I’d much rather be a Saint,” she had told Xu Lanjun.
“Jiejie, do you think I’m a Saint?”
“The kind of Saint who is kind, helpful, and selfless.”
Yu Yinan still remembered the look of anticipation on Zheng Yi’s face.
“You’re welcome~ If you really want to thank me, just remember… that I’m a Saint, okay?”
“I’m Zheng Yi. I am the Saint.”
“You don’t have to thank me. All that matters is that you truly believe, from the bottom of your hearts, that I am a Saint.”
Scene after scene flashed through her mind, finally settling on a memory from shortly after they’d met. They hadn’t known each other well, and Zheng Yi had gone to face that camp leader alone. When she returned, the leader’s attitude had completely changed. When she’d asked Zheng Yi what she did, Zheng Yi hadn’t answered, instead launching into a long, preachy monologue.
And during that speech, she had mentioned it. She had said…
“Jiejie, I know my ideas are foolish. Maybe I’m what people would call a ‘Saint’ as an insult, but…”
“If upholding one’s principles makes you a Saint, and if remaining kind makes you a Saint, then I am a Saint.”
“If the light of a Saint could shine upon the whole world, then there would surely be no apocalypse.”
Ability users had many different kinds of powers.
Having been at the shelter for so long, Yu Yinan had learned about all sorts of special abilities. One type allowed the user to assume a certain identity, thereby gaining the powers or all-around enhancements associated with it.
Yu Yinan didn’t know the specifics of Zheng Yi’s ability, but she suspected it was something similar to that type. After all, no one knew how many kinds of abilities truly existed. The ability users came first; the classifications came later.
She released her grip on “Zheng Yi’s” hand and leaned back quietly against the passenger seat.
Zheng Yi had deceived her.
No, perhaps Zheng Yi had her reasons. She just had a secret. Everyone has secrets; that’s normal. Maybe her relationship with Zheng Yi… just wasn’t that intimate yet. Not to the point where Zheng Yi could trust her, where she could confide in her and be honest about her ability.
Or maybe, after lying to her from the start, Zheng Yi just didn’t know how to confess.
Or perhaps… perhaps her ability was something she couldn’t tell anyone about.
Yu Yinan’s eyes were squeezed shut, sleep now a distant memory. She didn’t want to dwell on it, but thoughts kept bubbling up, one after another—one moment making excuses for Zheng Yi, the next piercing her heart.
With your attitude back then, so cold and aloof, how could you expect her to tell you everything?
You’ve never been good at relationships. You have no idea how to be a friend—you don’t even have any friends! Zheng Yi was so good to you and got nothing in return. It’s perfectly normal that she doesn’t trust you, isn’t it?
You never saw her for who she was. She’s a liar, through and through. You’ve been played for a fool, like an idiot!
How can you think that? Were her smiles fake? Was the warmth of her hugs a lie? Were the candy and chocolate she gave you fake? Was all her care, everything she shared, a lie? Zheng Yi only hid something from you; she never did anything to hurt you!
You don’t even deserve to be her friend. She’s obviously out there taking a huge risk, putting herself in danger! Against so many ability users! And instead of going after her to help, you’re just sitting here doubting her? Does it even matter if it’s real or fake?
Are you questioning whether she’s a Saint? After guessing her ability might be tied to being acknowledged as one? While she could be out there fighting for her life right now, you’re questioning if she’s a Saint? Yu Yinan!
Was everything you’ve been through with Zheng Yi a lie?
Too many voices crowded her mind. All Yu Yinan could do was squeeze her eyes shut.
‘It’s so cold tonight.’
Yu Yinan felt ill. She was a fire ability user, so why did she feel so cold?
“Jiejie…”
“Will you always believe in me? Will you always be on my side, no matter what?”
How had she answered then? She’d said yes. That they were good friends, and that she would always be with her.
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