A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

Fierce winds howled, reducing the world to a gloomy haze outside the second floor of the abandoned building.

White Jack sat on the windowsill, locking eyes with Lorenzo across a distance of over a hundred meters.

After a moment, he suddenly spoke. "Speaking of which, do any of you hear the sound of a ticking second hand?" He paused. "Yeah, that tick, tock sound."

He cocked his head to listen. He could indeed hear the ticking of a clock, though the downpour muffled much of the noise.

"Is that right? Why can't I hear it?" Guchen cupped a hand over his ear, then took a sip of liquor.

Black Magic Hand and Lorenzo remained silent, seemingly too lazy to indulge White Jack's mad ramblings.

"Alright."

White Jack was fairly certain that either the other side had pulled a trick, or he was simply hallucinating.

But given his position, it didn't matter. Owl Judge and Zero had dealt with their respective opponents at top speed and would arrive at any moment.

"So, can we begin the hostage exchange?" Lorenzo closed his Bible and asked it. "We do not have the patience to wait around for you much longer."

"Of course... Let us begin."

White Jack cooperatively stood up from the windowsill.

Keeping a tight hold on the Theater Puppet disguised as Heimeng, he kept a wary eye on the three members of Death Crow as he pushed her forward by the back, advancing slowly.

Step by step, White Jack approached Xia Zili, who lay unconscious on the ground.

An absolute silence filled the building, making his footsteps sound freakishly loud.

He gradually pulled his cane away from Heimeng, switching to pressing a fist blade against her neck, before attempting to hook and lift Xia Zili's body with the cane.

Ke Mingqing knew his sister was very light; a super-human species' strength was more than enough to lift her with a cane.

However... at that exact moment, "Heimeng" seized the opportunity of White Jack's distraction and suddenly broke free from his control.

She sprang backward, retreating to stand between Lorenzo and Guchen.

"Oh... how could you be so naughty, Miss Heimeng?" White Jack teased, simultaneously manipulating Heimeng to make the act more convincing.

Black Magic Hand made his move. With a crisp snap of his fingers, he conjured a magic wardrobe behind White Jack.

The wardrobe doors flew open, and chains shot out, dragging White Jack inside.

"Leader... then I'll cuff him as ordered," Guchen said.

His handcuffs could suppress an Esper's abilities, which would reveal whether White Jack was truly an Esper.

"Let me do it," Heimeng volunteered with an expressionless face. "I'm extremely annoyed after being held hostage by him."

"Oho, since our little sister Heimeng is begging so pitifully, how could this uncle turn a blind eye?" Guchen let out a sleazy chuckle.

He figured White Jack was already bound anyway, so it didn't matter who did the deed.

Guchen spun the handcuffs around his index finger and tossed them to Heimeng.

"Did you really have to show off?"

Heimeng reached out and caught the handcuffs mid-air.

"Just doing my part." Guchen pulled out his flask and poured a gulp down his throat.

Heimeng clicked the handcuffs open, strode forward to White Jack's side, and stared into his eyes.

"You seemed to be having quite a bit of fun just now?"

"And what if I was?"

The moment the words fell, the bound White Jack suddenly looked up from inside the wardrobe. A strange light flashed in his hollow eyes, and a Pop-up appeared before him.

[E Rank Skill: Phantom Shift (Swap positions with an enemy within 30 meters) (Cooldown: 1 hour)]

In the next second, White Jack and Lorenzo swapped positions.

Lorenzo was instantly locked inside the magic wardrobe, his entire body bound by chains, while White Jack appeared right beside Heimeng.

Black Magic Hand froze. "Leader? How?"

"He's got tricks like this?" Guchen raised an eyebrow.

"It matters not. Cuff him."

Lorenzo watched the scene unfold and gave the order to Heimeng without changing his expression.

But to his surprise, Heimeng ignored White Jack entirely. Instead, she strode over to the wardrobe with lightning speed and clamped the handcuff around Lorenzo's right wrist.

Lorenzo slightly raised his brows, looking up into Heimeng's eyes.

The next second, Heimeng's face abruptly changed. The hoodie-wearing girl's body rapidly lost its color, turning a ghastly pale. The corners of her mouth split open, and her eyes gradually grew hollow.

Black Magic Hand and Guchen stood frozen in place.

To Death Crow, it looked as if two White Jacks were now standing on the floor.

A moment later, the Theater Puppet shifted back to "Heimeng's" face, though it retained White Jack's ghastly skin tone. It spoke in a bizarre, eerie voice, mocking them:

"If I recall correctly, any Esper locked in the cowboy uncle's handcuffs cannot use any abilities for one minute. Which means... Lord Pope, for the next 60 seconds, you are nothing but an ordinary man with slightly more strength."

Looking at the Theater Puppet, Lorenzo finally realized he had been fooled. From the very beginning, this was never Heimeng, but merely a puppet created by White Jack.

In that instant, a gunshot abruptly rang out.

Bang!

In the distance, Guchen had abruptly raised his revolver and pulled the trigger at White Jack's back.

On the other side, Black Magic Hand conjured two magic throwing knives and hurled them straight at "Heimeng"—White Jack's puppet.

Yet at that split second, frost dust suddenly rippled through the air, condensing into a massive wall of ice that shielded White Jack.

Neither the silver meteor of a bullet nor the blue-flamed knives could pierce it even an inch.

The Theater Puppet disguised as Heimeng, on the other hand, was not so lucky—the knives pierced its abdomen, and it collapsed to the ground amid spurting blood.

"This is what I call a sense of security," White Jack teased. "Miss Zero, thank you for the assistance."

The next moment, Zero crashed through the window, while Owl Judge shot in from another entrance on the floor.

The two shared the same goal: instead of rushing to subdue the enemy, they both blurred into phantoms, immediately taking up defensive positions beside Xia Zili.

Could you two sister-complexes be any more embarrassing? White Jack thought. But whatever, fights can happen anytime... It's true that the sister is a bit more important.

Owl Judge lowered his gloomy gaze, quickly sweeping over Xia Zili's body to ensure she hadn't been harmed.

Zero lowered her eyes, slightly dazed.

Earlier, upon receiving Ke Linye's message, she was half-skeptical, thinking it might be one of White Jack's lies. But seeing it with her own eyes, she was finally certain... Her sister truly was that magical girl.

At that moment, the scene she had witnessed at the port suddenly flashed in her mind: the girl in the torn blue-and-black skirt slowly ascending into the night sky, raising a massive umbrella sword.

She took a deep breath. The air instantly turned freezing cold, so much so that even the rain falling into the building stagnated.

Though her mind was a mess, there was no time to think. Everything had to wait until the enemies were dealt with.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the building.

Black Magic Hand undid the magic wardrobe's restraints, releasing Lorenzo. At this moment, a handcuff was clamped around Lorenzo's wrist, and the Bible had vanished.

Guchen pulled down the brim of his hat, thinking to himself that these two opponents did not look like easy prey.

"Can we fight now? Your precious sister isn't missing any arms or legs." White Jack sighed. "Oh, maybe she's missing a brain, but whether she had one to begin with is highly debatable."

Restricted by Guchen's handcuffs, Lorenzo couldn't use his abilities for one minute—which, in a high-tier battle like this, made him functionally useless.

And how could Black Magic Hand and Guchen possibly be a match for Owl Judge and Zero?

White Jack had a crystal-clear read on the situation. This was going to be a completely one-sided slaughter.

Yet what kept him on alert was... as he cocked his ear, the tick, tock of a second hand still rippled through the air, lingering stubbornly.

But the problem was, looking around the abandoned building, where could one possibly find a clock?

The ticking grew louder. It was only then, as White Jack focused his mind, that he realized the sound was coming from the unconscious girl.

Before he could act, Owl Judge and Zero had already noticed it; their hearing was leagues beyond White Jack's.

Owl Judge knelt down and swiftly rolled up Xia Zili's sleeve.

Zero spotted a pale gold clock mark on her wrist, its second hand ticking steadily toward zero.

"What a pity."

A cold, flat voice suddenly rang out from the other side of the floor.

White Jack looked over to see Lorenzo speaking calmly:

"You indeed restrained my abilities. Commendable. But how do you defend against an ability I already released before arriving here?"

It was an ability stored within the Bible known as Anchor Point: etching a time mark onto a target and setting a timer. Once the time was up, the target would automatically return to the ability user's side.

Thus... in the very next instant, the clock pattern on Xia Zili's wrist flared with blinding light, and her figure appeared right beside Lorenzo.

And in Lorenzo's right hand, a gray page was already pinched between his fingers.

In the hands of an Esper of his caliber, even a piece of paper could slice someone's throat open. He pressed the edge of the page against Xia Zili's neck.

A single drop of blood seeped out, spreading across the paper like a red bean.

In that moment, both Owl Judge and Zero froze. They snapped their heads around to glare at Lorenzo.

"Back off to a safe distance," Lorenzo said, his face devoid of emotion. "Otherwise, I will separate her head from her body."

The V-shaped light band on Owl Judge's mask flickered. He lowered his face slightly, speaking almost word by word.

"If you dare touch her... even once, no matter where you flee, I will find you... And then, I'll chop you imbeciles into pieces and feed you to the pigs."

Zero remained silent.

The young woman's eyes were as cold as an ice cave. If Xia Zili was hurt, she wouldn't mind unleashing her mythic vessel right here and slaughtering everyone.

Even if the price was losing control and going berserk.

As both sides faced off, time did not stop. The one minute since Lorenzo was clamped with Guchen's handcuffs quickly passed.

Then, with a click, the handcuff on Lorenzo's wrist sprang open. His abilities were liberated once more, and a Bible manifested in his hand.

"Calm down. What exactly do you want, Mr. Lorenzo?"

White Jack tactfully raised both arms in a gesture of surrender.

Lorenzo didn't answer. Instead, he used his ability to open a Door. A wooden Door materialized in mid-air, leading to a patch of ruins outside the building.

Over the ruins, Captain Red and Zorro could be seen locked in combat, sparks flying as the thunderous roars of their battle pierced through the sheet of rain.

Lorenzo fell silent for a moment. "I will repeat myself. I need you to back off to a safe distance, leaving only White Jack here. Otherwise, I will kill her."

Owl Judge and Zero's expressions shifted slightly, while White Jack remained as nonchalant as ever.

White Jack turned his head and said to the two, "Trust me... I'll bring her back safely. But if you don't cooperate, she will only die right here..."

He paused. "I still have chips to bargain with. Don't forget that."

After a long silence, Owl Judge and Zero exchanged a glance. Finally, they retreated step by step back to the very edge of the floor.

Lorenzo watched this before shifting his gaze to White Jack, slowly opening his mouth to speak.

"I have a few questions for you."

White Jack shrugged. "Ask away."

"First question. Since those two appeared here, does that mean Sorakagehime and Bandage Man..."

"Yes, they're dead," White Jack interrupted.

Lorenzo fell silent.

After a moment, he tilted his head slightly to look at the rain outside the window. The world was an ashen blur, devoid of moonlight.

"Little Sister Sora and Bill... are dead?" Guchen was dumbstruck. He then glared from beneath his hat brim. "You bastard, try lying again."

"Sorakagehime..."

Black Magic Hand kept his head bowed, paralyzed by shock for a long time. Then he suddenly snapped his head up, his eyes flashing with brutality from beneath his owl mask as magic blades spun wildly in the air around him.

"I speak the truth," White Jack spread his hands. "If she didn't die, how could she have let our Mr. Judge and Miss Zero in? Miss Ninja was your best sentry; she wouldn't fail you."

Guchen stared blankly for a second before his face slowly darkened.

He still remembered the first time he met Sorakagehime. She had just been a little girl, delicate and unassuming. This news of her death was far too sudden... For a moment, the fury of being played completely overshadowed his grief.

"Try lying one more time, brat," Guchen growled, raising his revolver and aiming it right at White Jack's head.

White Jack simply tapped his own skull with a finger, gesturing for him to pull the trigger.

Lorenzo stared out the window in silence for a while before stopping the two behind him. He raised his grayish-blue eyes and said to White Jack, "Second question. Where is the real Heimeng?"

"She's dead."

White Jack answered quickly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"You're lying," Lorenzo said blankly. "As long as she can be used as leverage against us, you would never let her die just like that."

"Ohohoho, spot on. I did lie about that." White Jack leaned forward, lowering his face. "And your next line is: 'Trade her to me for this magical girl,' right?"

Lorenzo remained silent, seemingly acquiescing to his words.

"Excellent... then as you wish."

With that, the ghastly white freak suddenly raised a hand, pointing his index finger in a direction no one present had expected...

What he pointed at was, shockingly, the other White Jack lying on the ground.

What was even more bizarre was that this Theater Puppet still had Black Magic Hand's knives sticking out of its abdomen, making White Jack's claim seem wholly unbelievable.

It was like a joke.

A highly inappropriate joke.

"That is your puppet," Guchen said in a dark tone. "And you've already fooled us with this trick once, you idiot."

Black Magic Hand let out a low chuckle. "Do you want me to stick a knife in your stomach too?"

Lorenzo, however, said nothing, waiting for White Jack to explain.

"It is indeed my puppet... But my puppets are ever-changing. Whether it is their volume or internal structure, I can alter them at will."

At this point, Lorenzo's expression suddenly shifted.

White Jack held up a finger. "Then tell me, is it possible that I hollowed out my puppet's insides, reducing it to nothing but a layer of skin, a shell—just like a suit... and then, I stuffed the unconscious Miss Heimeng inside that suit?"

White Jack smiled. The moment his words fell, the other Theater Puppet on the ground suddenly dissolved into wisps of smoke, revealing the figure of the hoodie-wearing girl beneath it.

Ke Mingqing had thought of this trick even before he came here...

He had ordered a Theater Puppet to carry Heimeng away and then altered the puppet's structure.

He transformed the puppet into a creature resembling a "suit"—one without organs or flesh inside, allowing it to house a human body.

He then created an openable slit on the puppet's exterior, much like the zipper on a bodysuit.

The final step was unzipping it and stuffing the sleeping Heimeng through the gap and into the puppet's body.

Because Heimeng remained unconscious the entire time, this ruse was never exposed.

Though Lorenzo's face remained impassive, an unconcealable shock flickered in the depths of his eyes.

"I pondered for a long time over where to hide her so you wouldn't find her. In the end, I decided it was better not to hide her at all, but to put her right in front of your eyes," White Jack spread his hands. "Originally, I wanted you all to experience... the feeling of unknowingly killing your own member with your own hands. But what a shame. I ended up sparing her life."

"Did you calculate this from the very beginning?" Lorenzo asked gravely.

White Jack nodded. "Exactly. You must be very confused, Mr. Lorenzo. The very first second you arrived at this building, you swept over Miss Heimeng with your 'World of Words' ability... That was why you were certain Heimeng wasn't a puppet."

He shrugged. "Because my puppets do not project any emotions—a fact you already confirmed during our first meeting."

At this point, he suddenly laughed.

"But it never occurred to you that an actual, genuine girl was stuffed inside the puppet. The emotions you read with 'World of Words' weren't the puppet's, but hers, drifting in her sleep. That is why I fooled you..."

Lorenzo was silent for a long time. "True... I hadn't considered such a tactic."

He had fallen for the trick. White Jack had simply controlled the "suit" puppet's exterior to speak and act the entire time, leading Lorenzo's perception through three stages of alteration.

And he hadn't realized that the puppet was merely an empty suit, holding a sleeping girl within. It was that girl who served as its flesh and blood.

It was a tightly woven chain of deception, built entirely on White Jack's understanding of Lorenzo's reliance on 'World of Words' and the mechanism of 'emotional text' he used to identify puppets.

If even a single step were missing, White Jack's plan would have failed, and Lorenzo would not have been misled.

The first time, White Jack used the 'emotional text' mechanism to trick him into believing the puppet was the real Heimeng, allowing White Jack to control the puppet and slap handcuffs onto his unguarded wrists.

The second time, White Jack altered the puppet suit's appearance so Death Crow would think it was just a fake, indirectly baiting their members into attacking it and severely injuring the Heimeng hidden inside.

The third time, White Jack revealed the truth and tore away the suit, exposing the slumbering Heimeng to secure the right to negotiate.

And because Heimeng was critically injured, Death Crow was forced to cut the negotiations short, falling into a completely passive position.

Reaching this realization, Lorenzo suddenly looked up, staring straight at White Jack as he spoke word by word.

"But at the same time, you've exposed one detail. The one standing here is your main body—because your puppets lack emotion, yet right now, I am reading emotional fluctuations from you."

His words were true. At this very moment, Ke Mingqing was personally taking the stage to play White Jack.

Ke Mingqing had no more Theater Puppets to spare—Puppet No. 2 was destroyed, and Puppet No. 1 was lying in another abandoned building playing Giovanni.

Thus, Lorenzo could naturally perceive the emotional text emanating from his body via the 'World of Words' ability.

"You could see it that way," White Jack said faintly. "This is your one and only chance to catch me, but you are utterly powerless to do so, aren't you?"

"Leader, so... can we confirm this is the real Heimeng?" Guchen had been thoroughly bewildered this entire time.

Lorenzo remained silent for a long moment before nodding. "Yes."

"How could that be..."

Hearing this, Black Magic Hand looked up, his face deathly pale.

A magic knife was protruding from the hoodie-clad girl's body. Blood seeped from the corner of her mouth, dyeing her clothes crimson.

"I... did this?" Black Magic Hand murmured softly.

Guchen also widened his eyes slightly, barely able to maintain his grip on the revolver.

"Alright, your time is far more precious than ours... because if you take Miss Heimeng now, there's still time to save her." White Jack paused. "Whereas we don't mind wasting time with you here at all. Do you understand?"

"So, after going around in such a massive circle, let's have a proper hostage exchange."

White Jack held up an index finger. "Our combat power is no longer on the same level. Not to mention that Miss Captain Red is still struggling in a bitter fight outside and will soon be defeated by Mr. Zorro. Furthermore... Miss Heimeng was stabbed by Mr. Magician while deep asleep. Her life hangs in the balance, and she requires immediate medical attention."

He let out a sigh. "If you don't wish to lose any more people, kindly make the right choice."

As their conversation reached this point, absolute silence descended over the building's interior. Expressions varied wildly among the two sides, with only White Jack remaining as relaxed and in control as ever.

"I will exchange hostages with you."

After a moment of silence, Lorenzo tossed out the sentence with a blank face.

"A wise choice."

White Jack pressed his Magic Cane against Heimeng's neck on the floor, as Lorenzo picked up Xia Zili and walked toward him step by step.

He leaned down and gently laid Xia Zili on the ground. He then reached over to pick up the critically injured Heimeng, a pool of blood having already formed beneath her.

"Lead... er," Heimeng murmured groggily.

"Go to sleep... Everything will be fine."

Lorenzo reached up to gently close her eyelids, his voice soft. He turned around and walked step by step toward the wooden Door.

Since Lorenzo had given the order, and considering how grievously Heimeng was wounded, Black Magic Hand and Guchen weren't the type to act impulsively.

"One day, I will find you," Guchen hissed. "Whether it's Bill or Little Sister Sora, I will avenge them."

Black Magic Hand kept his head down in silence for a long time before turning away.

They stepped through the wooden Door, arriving at the rainswept ruins.

The floor was utterly quiet now, leaving only Lorenzo. He walked very slowly—slower than anyone else—yet his footsteps rang out exceptionally loud.

"We will meet again."

White Jack said faintly, watching his retreating back.

"You are a terrifying person. I have never encountered such an unpredictable opponent," Lorenzo stated expressionlessly.

He knew very well that without White Jack's interference, he would have not only secured the Comet Fragments but also ensured that every member of Death Crow escaped unscathed.

Yet by himself, White Jack had completely overturned the entire situation.

"Since you are nothing but a mad dog acting solely for your own amusement, I hope the next time you cooperate with someone, it is me." Having said his piece, Lorenzo stepped through the wooden Door and into the ruins behind it.

"Perhaps..." White Jack said. "Provided you show enough sincerity."

Lorenzo paused in the downpour. He turned his head and locked eyes with White Jack through the doorway.

Immediately after, the wooden Door creaked shut, completely separating the two different worlds.

After passing through the Door, the three Death Crow members arrived by Captain Red's side.

Hovering in the sky above the ruins was a ghost ship. However, its cannons had all been destroyed, and its deck was battered to pieces, not a single spot left intact.

"Leader, this old man is a monster..." Captain Red shrugged. "I swear, none of my attacks even scratch him. He literally caught my cannonballs with that arm of his, and even bounced them back."

Lorenzo turned his head, glancing through the rain at Zorro, who was standing in the distance. The old man just scratched his head, seemingly disinterested in them.

"Scarlett, didn't I tell you not to prolong the fight?" Lorenzo asked, his tone much like a parent scolding a naughty child.

"Sorry, Leader. I was just shocked by this old geezer." Captain Red tilted her head. "I was a bit sore about it, so I played around with him a bit longer. But I'm honestly out of ideas now."

The moment her voice fell, the ravaged ship hovering in the air vanished, and the scattered corpses of the pirates dissipated alongside it.

"Let's go..."

Black Magic Hand placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke without looking back.

Lorenzo flipped the Bible open to a certain page and released a healing ability: Holy Light. A layer of sacred, tangerine-gold light poured from his palm, bathing Heimeng's wounds.

"You brought Little Sister Heimeng back. But what about the others?" Captain Red asked curiously. "Why don't I see Bandage Man and Little Sister Sora?"

The casual question fell onto the air, but no one answered her.

Lorenzo was already walking away without a word, carrying Heimeng in his arms, his grayish-blue eyes reflecting the rain-slicked streets.

Black Magic Hand, however, suddenly lowered his head.

Shifting his leather shoe, he saw a torn scrap of bandage soaked by the rain, and lapsed into a long silence.

"Little Sister Sora and Bill are dead..." Guchen took a sip of liquor and took off his hat. "We were all played for fools by that White Jack."

Captain Red froze. It took her quite a while to come to her senses and look up ahead.

Through the curtain of rain, the three figures gradually faded into the distance.

Even with the torrential rain pouring down, the world felt submerged in absolute silence.

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