A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

The sun hung high in the sky as Ke Mingqing took the bus back to the Old Jingmai District.

It was around nine in the morning when he arrived. As he unlocked the door, he happened to bump into Xia Lingxue, who had just finished her breakfast and was about to head out.

The siblings brushed past each other, yet stopped in their tracks at the exact same time.

Xia Lingxue leaned her back against the front door, looking down as she slipped on her black leather shoes, then slowly turned her head.

Ke Mingqing, meanwhile, sat down on the entryway floor to take off his sneakers, turning to meet her gaze.

"Where are you going?" Ke Mingqing asked casually as he changed into his indoor slippers.

"Do I have to report to my little brother every time I leave the house?" Xia Lingxue asked. "When you grow up, you really ought to be a cop like the old man."

'Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,' Ke Mingqing thought. 'When it comes to stalking, no one in this house beats you.'

"I opened that music box," he said, finding a topic to stall for time. "You secretly listened to my MP3 player, didn't you? How else would you know that piano piece?"

While he spoke, he retrieved the "Tracking Sunglasses" from his inventory, hid them in his pants pocket, then reached in and pressed the button on the frame.

Instantly, a prompt panel popped up in his vision.

[Prompt: You have locked onto the location of the super-human species "Executive Zero". The target's position will now be tracked by the sunglasses and continuously displayed on the map for two hours.]

"Who played that piece?" Xia Lingxue asked. "I noticed the audio file didn't have a name attached."

"You still haven't explained why you were snooping through my MP3 player."

"I just wanted to know what songs you like. How else was I supposed to prepare a surprise for you?"

Xia Lingxue lowered her head, her medium-length black hair draping over her shoulders.

"A surprise? It felt more like a massive jump scare," Ke Mingqing said as he stored the sunglasses away.

Xia Lingxue fell silent for a moment. "Then I can only say... I'm not very good at giving gifts. I'm leaving. I have to meet a friend today and won't be back until the afternoon."

With that, she unwrapped a candy, popped an Alpenliebe lollipop into her mouth, and stepped outside, vanishing into the blinding sunlight.

Ke Mingqing watched her go, genuinely worried that a woman as cold as an ice sculpture—in both personality and appearance—might simply melt under the sun.

He crossed the living room and hurried upstairs. Stepping into his room, he was just about to shut the door and summon his Theater Puppet when he suddenly spotted a figure inside.

Xia Zili was sitting on his bed, looking utterly flustered, her hands tucked behind her back as if hiding something.

Upon seeing Ke Mingqing enter, she suddenly shifted to the right, her eyes darting away. The jerky movement only made her look more suspicious.

"What are you doing in my room?" Ke Mingqing asked suspiciously.

"J-just coming to get you for breakfast, what else would I be doing?" Xia Zili stammered, frowning as she looked up. "How was I supposed to know you weren't in your room? You were nowhere to be found all morning."

"I already ate breakfast while I was out. You're clearly deflecting," Ke Mingqing said. "Sneaking around like this, what exactly are you doing? Were you going through my stuff?"

Whatever Xia Zili was up to, he just wanted to kick her out as quickly as possible. Then he could focus on controlling the Theater Puppet to meet Xia Lingxue and complete his main quest.

Xia Zili refused to speak.

Ke Mingqing was half-tempted to kick her in the rear just to make her scramble out faster.

Xia Zili furrowed her brows, stared at him for a moment, and finally said indignantly, "A birthday present."

"What?"

She raised her voice. "I wanted to hide your birthday present in your room to give you a surprise! Are you happy now?"

Ke Mingqing froze. 'Do you two sisters just love giving people jump scares?'

Xia Zili stood up, forcefully shoved the blue gift box she had been hiding behind her back into his hands, shot him a thoroughly annoyed glare, and stormed out of the room.

Ke Mingqing turned his head, watching her leave.

He didn't have time to see what was inside the gift box. He shut the door at lightning speed, sat on his bed, and summoned the Theater Puppet in an empty alleyway nearby.

The white top hat on the puppet's head spun rapidly, generating an updraft like helicopter blades that carried it high into the sky, disappearing into the sea of clouds in moments.

Ten minutes later, Central District.

On the sunglasses' map, Xia Lingxue's position had been constantly shifting, finally coming to a stop inside a cafe in the Central District.

Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow. He recognized the cafe on the map; he and Jiang Qingzi had arranged to meet here before.

The manager of Solomon Cafe was an old man who went by the codename "Black Hand Zorro." Back then, Ke Mingqing had only caught a fleeting glimpse of the man, but he had been deeply shocked by his super-human species panel.

"Black Hand Zorro" was once a member of the Superhero Roundtable, on the same level as Rain Crow. His combat rating reached a staggering A++ Rank, and that was after suffering severe injuries. One could only imagine how terrifyingly strong this Roundtable Hero had been in his prime.

It was worth noting that Ke Linye seemed to be connected to Zorro. Zorro had founded an anti-hero organization called "Solomon," and Ke Linye was one of its members.

The Solomon organization specialized in hunting down superheroes who appeared gilded on the outside but were rotten to the core. Naturally, they didn't let villains off the hook either.

One could only imagine how obsessive a person had to be to create an organization with such an absolute, burning hatred for evil.

And the reason Xia Lingxue had come to this cafe was most likely to meet with Black Hand Zorro.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Solomon Cafe was still completely empty.

Xia Lingxue reached out and pushed open the cafe's wooden door. It was unlocked. She stepped inside, but didn't take a seat right away. Instead, she used the coffee grinder in the corner to brew herself a cup of coffee.

Then, she pulled out a wooden chair and sat down.

She sipped her black coffee while reading the latest edition of the Leijing Newspaper.

She seemed to be waiting for someone.

Suddenly, a ghastly white figure wearing a white top hat pushed the door open, casually strolling inside amidst the clear chiming of the wind chimes.

Xia Lingxue remained in her wooden chair, quietly drinking her freshly brewed coffee. Her face was expressionless, as if she hadn't even noticed the uninvited guest.

White Jack walked forward step by step, his back to the sunlight. Perched on his shoulder was a small ragdoll wearing a black Western-style dress, its button eyes mismatched in red and blue.

"Miss Mio, White Jack has gone blind—starting today, you are my guide dog." White Jack kept his eyes closed, lightly tapping the ground around him with his cane, looking around in bewilderment like a genuine blind man.

"You're lying," the doll said. "Even if Mio has to go dig potatoes in Siberia, Mio will never be your guide dog!"

"Oh, Miss Mio, this customer shares a name with you," White Jack said. "You are Mio, and she is Zero—but both are pronounced Ling."

"Nonsense, Mio's character clearly has an extra water radical attached to it!" Mio said. "Mio wins!"

"But you are a ragdoll, and she is an Executive. You lose!" White Jack said.

"Mio didn't lose!" The doll raised her short little arms, huffing angrily.

At this point, Xia Lingxue, arms crossed, leisurely raised her eyes, finally turning her gaze to White Jack.

Her eyes were calm. So calm, it was as if she were looking at a dead man.

"Shh! Our Miss Xia Lingxue is angry, and she doesn't like noisy atmospheres. I suggest you quiet down a little bit." White Jack suddenly raised a finger to his cracked lips.

Then, completely unfazed, he pulled out a wooden chair and sat directly across from Xia Lingxue.

"Miss Xia Lingxue, why aren't you speaking? Are you discriminating against the blind?"

White Jack set his cane aside, raised a hand to pry open one of his eyelids, and stared right at her.

Xia Lingxue ignored him. She simply continued to sip her coffee and quietly read her newspaper.

"Oh, not speaking is fine too. I like cold people." White Jack closed his eyes once again and said profoundly, "Because they aren't gentle to just anyone, when someone with a cold exterior finally blooms into a smile for a specific person, it is exceptionally charming... and exceptionally reassuring."

"Are you done with your little comedy routine?"

Xia Lingxue finally spoke, her voice frigid.

"I am," White Jack said in absolute earnest.

Xia Lingxue took a sip of her hot coffee and set the cup down on the wooden table. "Since you're done, I'll send you both to the West."

As her words fell, the air inside the cafe seemed to instantly plummet in temperature. A faint layer of frost formed over the wooden tables and the walls, turning the cafe into a freezer.

"What do we do, White Jack! She's sending us to the West to dig potatoes in Siberia!" The doll thumped her short hands against White Jack's top hat. "Think of something! Mio doesn't want to go to Siberia!"

"Don't panic, Miss Mio," White Jack patiently comforted the small ragdoll on his shoulder. "'Sending us to the West' doesn't mean sending you to Siberia. It means she's going to kill us."

"Oh, so that's it! Then Mio is relieved." The doll sighed in relief, before suddenly realizing something was wrong. "Wait, isn't that even worse?! Mio doesn't want to die! White Jack, think of something, quick!"

The doll began vigorously thumping White Jack's top hat again. White Jack adjusted his hat and looked up at Xia Lingxue.

"Miss Xia Lingxue, there is something I must tell you—"

Before White Jack could finish his sentence, his body temperature plummeted. Every muscle in his body was frozen solid by a layer of frost. He couldn't move an inch; only his mouth was left exposed outside the ice.

Mio didn't escape disaster either. The poor little ragdoll was sealed within a block of pure white ice, her button eyes staring unblinkingly straight ahead.

Fortunately, White Jack's mouth could still move, showing that Xia Lingxue had at least given him a tiny sliver of respect.

"Thank you for your understanding, Miss Xia Lingxue." White Jack's lips moved slightly. "Then I'll get straight to the point. Your little sister is Little Nezha—the very person you've been dreaming of killing!"

He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice. "So? Now that you've heard this intelligence, do you want to turn against the Hero Control Bureau? After all, their enemies are out-of-control superheroes and mythic vessels. One day, they will come for your sister."

The cafe was dead silent.

Ke Mingqing had long wanted to see a look of remorse on his second sister's face.

He thought to himself, 'Are you shocked? You and your sister were just fighting to the death on the overpass.'

Yet, contrary to his expectations, Xia Lingxue's face remained completely expressionless. She merely dropped a single, lukewarm sentence: "You're a player, aren't you?"

The moment those words fell, the cafe instantly turned cold. But this time, it wasn't just the air that was freezing; Ke Mingqing felt as though his very heart had stopped beating.

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