Night deepened, and the old building was brightly lit. A faded maple leaf or two rested on the windowsill. Outside, the maple trees remained a fiery red in the twilight, and the streets were bustling.
It should have been a relaxing evening, but Ke Mingqing currently sat on pins and needles, gripped by trepidation.
"Do you know I spent the entire day looking for you?"
Xia Lingxue asked coldly, her arms crossed and her face expressionless.
"Not only did a certain someone fail to reply to a single text, but the first thing I saw when I got home was him cuddling with his own sister..."
She paused and lowered her head slightly:
"And in the living room, no less."
"Hear that, kiddos? Remember to find a different spot to play next time."
Ke Linye pulled a bottle of fluorescent-blue iced cocktail from the refrigerator, tossing out the casual remark while checking its production date.
On the sofa, Ke Mingqing and Xia Zili kept quiet, each minding their own business. The TV was still playing My Little Pony, the colorful ponies clip-clopping proudly across the screen.
Xia Lingxue slowly turned back and frowned at them.
She was certain that, a month ago, these two would have been blushing and stammering out explanations by now. Today, however, they were completely unfazed, thick-skinned and unapologetic.
Xia Lingxue sighed, finding it hard to imagine what would become of this family.
She raised a hand to massage her forehead. After a long pause, she asked in a frosty tone:
"Guess what Dad would have thought if he had been the one to walk in on you instead of us?"
Like I care what he thinks. I'm the one who saved Crow Man's life, Ke Mingqing thought, letting out a soft sigh.
Lowering his head to text Xia Zili for help on WeChat, he asked,
"Jeez, sis, she's the one who was in a bad mood. She came home and treated me like a body pillow without a word. Why am I the one getting lectured every single time?"
Xia Lingxue shifted her gaze to the younger sister sitting beside him.
"Yeah, I was in a bad mood," Xia Zili said, her eyes glued to her phone. "I went downtown today and got spooked by that nuclear explosion overhead. I thought I was a goner, so my mood was terrible. When I got back, I just couldn't help but cry... Happy now?"
Are you sure you didn't cry because you thought Blue Pigeon had died, only to come home and find A'Qing perfectly alive and kicking...?
Xia Lingxue really wanted to ask this, but she ultimately decided to save her sister some face. Instead, she ended up dropping a highly provocative remark:
"It was just a nuclear explosion. Was it really that scary?"
Nearby, Ke Linye popped his bottle cap off with Pitch-Black Moonlight. He had just taken a swig of his iced cocktail when he suddenly did a spit-take, coughing repeatedly.
Ke Mingqing turned to look at him.
Ke Linye laughed, his shoulders trembling. He raised a hand toward them and smiled. "Carry on, you two. Don't mind an outsider during the meeting..."
Xia Zili froze. Raising her head, she stared at Xia Lingxue with sheer disbelief and said coldly:
"What high school student wouldn't cry after getting all dressed up for a fun weekend outing, only to see a nuclear explosion right above their head? Sis, do you think I'm a magical girl?"
Xia Lingxue fell silent for a moment.
The two sisters stared straight into each other's eyes, the atmosphere turning tense.
"Forget it, forget it. We'll talk about this tomorrow," Ke Linye said with a slight smile. "A'Qing and Little Li both look pretty tired today. Let them get some rest first."
Xia Lingxue said lukewarmly, "If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be slanted. If you hadn't gone to Japan, there wouldn't be so many issues today."
"So this can be blamed on me too?" Ke Linye shrugged. "You really should reflect on why your desire for control is so strong, little sister... Even family members need to maintain some distance."
"Don't worry. I'd go looking for anyone else in this family if they went missing, but not you."
"That's because you know there's no need to worry about me. That's trust in your big brother."
Ke Linye curled his lips. Taking another cocktail from the fridge, he paused, swapped it for an iced Sprite, and casually tossed it toward the sofa.
Xia Lingxue made no move to catch it. Instead, without even turning his head, Ke Mingqing reached up and snatched the Sprite right over the back of the sofa.
Ke Linye and Xia Lingxue both froze slightly at the sight.
Catching a drink thrown from behind with absolute precision, without looking or being warned—that kind of reaction time was truly something only a member of the super-human species could pull off.
The two exchanged a glance, remaining silent.
"Thanks, bro."
Ke Mingqing twisted off the cap, bit down on the Sprite bottle's rim, and launched Magic Tower on his phone.
The living room was completely quiet.
Finally, Ke Linye threw his hands up and smiled faintly, as if fully accepting the fact that his younger brother was part of the super-human species.
Xia Lingxue's expression, however, grew heavier, her eyes shifting silently.
With this, she could basically confirm that all the children in the family belonged to the super-human species.
Then what about Mom? Or Dad...
If they didn't carry super-human species genes, could they possibly give birth to so many children with various abilities?
She had never wanted to think about it before, but now she had to wonder if her parents were hiding some kind of secret.
Thinking of this, she turned her head and glanced at Xia Wenna's back as she busied herself in the kitchen. Her ditzy mother was humming a tune while chopping vegetables, the fog in her eyes making her emotions impossible to read.
Ke Mingqing really couldn't stand these damn family meetings anymore. Every time, he had to sit there terrified, walking on thin ice, afraid these older siblings would suddenly go crazy and slap the Brain Imaging Helmet on his head.
He calculated in his head that if this happened once a month, it would happen five times in half a year.
That was right, a full five times... As for why it wouldn't be six, that was because he wouldn't be around for the last one.
Ke Mingqing simply used his mind to open the Gate of Truth panel. Using his phone game as a cover, he raised his well-defined fingers to scroll down the interface.
His gaze stopped on the Skill Bar for the philosopher Plato.
[Detected that the player has reached level 20. The final skill for the philosopher Plato—"The Republic"—has been Unlocked.]
["The Republic":
1. For the next five minutes, the player will endure the Philosopher King's gaze, falling into a state of judgment. The body will be immobilized and unable to use any skills (including the actions of the Theater Puppet).
2. Once the Philosopher King's judgment concludes, the player is granted action Clearance, and every one of the player's attributes will be doubled across the board for the following 30 seconds.]
Ke Mingqing blanked. He took a sip of Sprite to calm his nerves and thought:
So it's a burst skill after all. But the cost for this skill is way too high. Idling for five minutes means it's absolutely unusable in a sudden encounter.
He scratched his chin and muttered,
"But other situations would be different. As long as I initiate the fight and hold the advantage, I can cast this ability before the opponent even notices me."
Ke Mingqing scrolled down the panel. Suddenly, the corner of his eye twitched. "You've got to be kidding me, right?"
[Cooldown time: 60 days.]
That was right. The cooldown for The Republic was a full two months.
Ke Mingqing's vision went dark.
He thought he had stumbled upon a treasure, but after doing the math, even in the most ideal scenario, he would only be able to use The Republic two more times before his six-month time limit was up.
As for which big shot he was going to take out with these two burst states, Ke Mingqing would have to consider it carefully.
After all, such an important skill couldn't just be wasted on some random lucky passerby, right? That would be a criminal waste.
"First off, I can lock in one spot for Zeus."
Ke Mingqing let out a long sigh. Resting the back of his head on the sofa, he stared up at the ceiling, falling into deep contemplation about life.
Xia Lingxue and Ke Linye were still chattering away endlessly. When those two started nagging, there really was no end in sight. Xia Zili had originally intended to suffer alongside him, but she was already showing signs of retreating from the front lines.
Right at that moment, the doorbell suddenly rang: Ding-a-ling—
Ke Mingqing's eyes lit up.
"I'll get it."
Having finally found an excuse to escape, he eagerly bounded off the sofa, slipped on his slippers, and scrambled his way to the entryway like greased lightning.
Guessing who had returned, Xia Zili asked with a displeased expression,
"Third Sister was gone for a whole day too. Why don't you ask her where she went?"
"She's not a kid. There's no need to ask."
Xia Lingxue already knew what her third sister had been up to today. After all, when she saw Ke Mingqing on St. Honghu Commercial Street, Xia Ningzhi had been right by his side.
Ke Mingqing crossed the pitch-black entryway and reached out to turn the doorknob.
The door opened, revealing a young girl with her hair in a bun. She had a schoolbag slung over her shoulder and held a palm-sized English vocabulary book.
Xia Ningzhi raised her head, staring at him unblinkingly for a long time without saying a word.
Ke Mingqing reached out and waved a hand in front of her face. "Sis, did you lose your mind memorizing vocabulary?"
Seeing that Xia Ningzhi still wasn't speaking, he tentatively asked,
"Abandon?"
Xia Ningzhi finally reacted. She blinked and asked curiously,
"I heard you went missing today?"
"Yeah, yeah," Ke Mingqing said. "A friend went through a breakup, so I kept him company for a walk by the sea. I never expected to see a nuclear explosion. It was super thrilling."
"You're terrible. Everyone in the family was looking for you today. They could have filmed a family rescue movie," Xia Ningzhi said casually, raising her hand to give him a very light flick on the forehead.
"You have the nerve to lecture me? Weren't you gone all day too?"
Ke Mingqing said as he stepped ahead into the living room, casually dropping a bombshell: "Oh right, I ran into Red Lotus on the street today."
The moment he said this, the entire living room fell silent. Only the sound of their mother humming while boiling soup drifted through the old building.
Ke Linye raised an eyebrow and turned to ask,
"Red Lotus?"
"Yeah, the little Nezha of Leijing. Bro, you don't even know her?" Ke Mingqing asked suspiciously, meeting his gaze.
Does Big Bro still not know Third Sister's identity? Why?
Thinking this, Ke Mingqing turned to glance at Xia Lingxue again.
He still didn't understand why his second sister wouldn't tell their big brother about their third sister's identity. Was there some kind of hidden complication?
But if the Hero Control Bureau decided to target Third Sister one day, Second Sister would have to reveal it sooner or later anyway. What difference did it make if she said it now or later?
Could Second Sister have some special arrangement for Third Sister?
Ke Mingqing raised his eyebrows, utterly baffled. He simply shook his head and dismissed the thought.
Hearing their discussion, Xia Ningzhi widened her eyes slightly. She hurriedly jogged over to drape an arm over Ke Mingqing's shoulders, hastily making up an excuse with a hmph:
"What's so weird about seeing Red Lotus? I've bumped into her several times myself. Every time, she just flies past on her Wind and Fire Wheels in the sky, completely ignoring us little fans. She acts so aloof!"
"But today, Red Lotus specifically stopped and called out my name."
"Impossible. What did she call you?"
"She called me A'Qing," Ke Mingqing said lightly, raising his Sprite for a sip.
Ke Linye was slightly taken aback, and Xia Zili froze as well. Xia Ningzhi was dumbstruck. By the time she snapped out of it, she had already clamped a hand over Ke Mingqing's mouth, only letting go after a long while.
Only Xia Lingxue remained completely silent, her face devoid of any expression.
"Fantasizing again? Last time you fantasized about the magical girl Ember flying into your room in the middle of the night," Xia Zili chimed in.
The moment she finished speaking, however, she frantically pulled out her phone to send Ke Mingqing a text.
[Xia Zili: What do you mean?]
In the dead silence, Ke Mingqing quickly replied.
[Ke Mingqing: Exactly what it sounds like. She called my name.]
[Xia Zili: Hah... Even assuming it's true, you still shouldn't be talking about it at home... They're all muggles. Aren't you just asking for trouble by bringing this up?]
Just as Xia Zili sent the message, the "muggle" in question decided to make trouble: "A'Qing, are you sure you didn't mishear?"
She sighed and looked over at Ke Linye, only to see her eldest brother turn his clear eyes to stare unblinkingly at Ke Mingqing.
Ke Linye thought for a moment and added curiously, "Why would she call out your name?"
"I have no idea..." Ke Mingqing shook his head. "I was just wondering if Red Lotus might be someone I know."
Saying this, he lowered his head for a sip of Sprite, catching a glimpse of the panic-stricken Xia Ningzhi out of the corner of his eye.
The very next second, Xia Ningzhi opened her mouth, blurting out several sentences in rapid succession:
"How is that possible? A'Qing, do you have a fever?"
"I get it! The nuclear radiation must be too strong! It's making A'Qing hallucinate!"
"Isn't there a phenomenon like that? Where machines malfunction after a nuclear blast? A'Qing's robot brain must have been corrupted by the radiation too!"
Only Xia Ningzhi was left prattling on in the living room. Acting like Crayon Shin-chan's mom, she started drilling her fists into the sides of Ke Mingqing's head, making him yelp.
Surprisingly, Xia Lingxue didn't ask any further questions. Finding this odd, Ke Linye approached her and asked in a low voice,
"If what A'Qing said is true, could Red Lotus be... Mom?"
Xia Lingxue remained silent for a moment before shaking her head.
"It's possible. I've been suspicious of Mom and Dad myself. Don't you think it's weird? Almost all the kids in this family belong to the super-human species, yet they're both completely ordinary."
Ke Linye nodded and let out a soft sigh, lamenting, "More like, I just really don't want to suspect them."
"Who wouldn't feel the same..."
With that, Xia Lingxue turned and headed upstairs.
"What about laying our cards on the table with A'Qing?" Ke Linye set down his cocktail, looking up at her back.
"I'm tired. We'll talk about it in a couple of days."
As her voice fell, Xia Lingxue's back was swallowed by the shadows of the stairwell.
...
...
That night, at exactly midnight.
Exactly 12 hours had passed since the death of Theater Puppet No. 2, so the Theater Puppet skill cooldown had reset once again.
With less than a week left until the new school term, Ke Mingqing was sitting at his bedroom desk under the glow of a desk lamp, frantically cramming to finish his summer homework like most high schoolers.
[Notice: The player may now deploy Theater Puppet No. 2 once again.]
Halfway through a math function problem, he looked up at the Pop-up prompt in front of him. He instantly closed his eyes and deployed Theater Puppet No. 2 without hesitation.
Ke Mingqing set the puppet's spawn coordinates to an alley near his home.
The bone-white puppet raised its head and retrieved a flight attendant uniform from its inventory, pulling it over its naked body.
Next, its appearance gradually shifted. In no time at all, it transformed into a handsome Italian youth with fair skin, black hair, and blue eyes. He opened his deep eyes in the dead of night.
Taking advantage of the dark night, Giovanni hurried toward the Death Crow base—the abandoned building.
He had been missing for a full day; the people from Death Crow might be looking for him right now. If he was gone, he didn't know what the others would do with Bai Ziling.
About an hour later, he finally spotted the abandoned building looming like a pitch-black fortress. He cast the Mist of Loss outside the building to conceal his presence.
Giovanni approached the wall of the building step by step. He then let out a breath and closed his eyes.
The cast range for Phantom Shift was twenty meters, and the target had to be a living organism.
Therefore, he used Phantom Shift to swap positions with a frog he had caught and brought into the building that morning.
In a flash, Giovanni's figure vanished, instantly reappearing inside the building.
He retracted the Mist of Loss that still lingered outside the ruins. He then looked up, spotting three figures inside.
Looking from left to right, they were Heimeng, Jiang Qingzi, and Bai Ziling, who was staring blankly while hugging a Backkom Bear plushie.
The three of them froze for a moment before almost simultaneously looking up at the suddenly appearing Giovanni.
Heimeng remained expressionless. She didn't say a word, simply lowering her head to continue staring at her game console.
Bai Ziling blinked and murmured, "Giovanni?" With that, the white-haired girl walked over quickly. She reached out and pinched Giovanni's sleeve, staring up at him without blinking.
Jiang Qingzi, on the other hand, frowned and slowly asked:
"Where have you been all day?"
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