Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the rubble, painting golden streaks in the lingering dust. Yvette crawled up from the ground, still somewhat dazed.
What was going on…?
She adjusted her slightly drooping black dress and glanced at her loose-fitting jacket that had transformed into oversized sleeves, feeling as if she were still caught in a dream.
Could it be that she had fallen victim to the Soulfire High Priest’s soul magic, trapped in an illusory world?
She couldn’t help but pinch her cheek; the pain confirmed that it was unlikely. After all, with her strength as a spirit, even if she were caught in an illusion, she wouldn’t be completely unaware of it. And besides, this so-called illusion made no logical sense—third-rate writers wouldn’t dare to write it this poorly.
So, Zero really has disappeared?
She said she needed to sleep because she had gone berserk and exhausted her powers?
But why had she shrunk?
Could it be that on a world-historical level, there was some sort of correction? One of the two Zeros, both of whom were anomalies, vanished, and the other automatically became the “true” one?
Also, how did Zero know that she was herself? And what did she mean by “not entirely a false world”?
Was it not just a dream?
Countless questions churned in her mind; Yvette felt as if her head was swelling. She sighed, adjusted her skirt, and decided it was best to leave this place and see how things were going with Lianna and the others at the rendezvous point.
……
Being a cautious person, Yvette had always kept an eye on her magic Power throughout the fight with the Soulfire High Priest. Thus, she still had a tiny portion of magical energy left, initially reserved for an escape, but it would now suffice for her journey.
Perhaps due to the chaos caused by Zero, many staff members had already been slain, and the no-fly zone’s effects had diminished. She could enhance herself with wind magic, gliding lightly across the ruins of the city, heading toward the predetermined location.
By now, the abandoned steel factory had returned to its usual tranquility.
Golden morning light poured onto the grass, making it appear vibrant, a stark contrast to the horror of zombies that had once roamed here before dawn.
Since Zero had indicated she would return soon, Lianna and Firefly had managed to find a corner to wait. Upon seeing Yvette approach, Lianna jumped out, shouting, “Yvette! Yvette! Over here!”
She was relieved and sighed, feeling foolish for having previously doubted that Yvette wouldn’t return; looking back, it seemed a bit embarrassing.
But when “Yvette” landed, she felt something was off. The other girl’s aura was strange, calm like a placid autumn lake, completely opposite to her impression of “Yvette.” Moreover, the clothes she wore were ill-fitting black attire, which she remembered as the outfit her sister had chosen when departing.
“What happened? Why are you wearing sister’s clothes?” Lianna asked, her tone shifting to one of concern. “Where is she? How is she? Have you seen her?”
Firefly also came jogging over, scanning Yvette from head to toe with its camera, saying, “Yvette, you look just like sister!”
Yvette looked silently at them, unsure how to explain Zero’s disappearance, but feeling that enduring the moment was tougher than revealing the truth. Instead of pretending to be Zero, it was better to be honest.
“Yvette is gone; I am sister, and I am also her,” Yvette stated simply.
Lianna and Firefly both froze in shock.
But they had no choice but to believe it since the personality of Yvette and that of Zero differed vastly. Aside from their connection with Zero, the two knew enough about Yvette to immediately perceive the distinctly different souls hidden beneath the same exterior.
“Sister, have you merged with Yvette?” Firefly was the first to recover, shocked.
Yvette shook her head. “No, she simply vanished in front of me, and I… am also her, but without her past memories.”
Firefly looked puzzled. “Sister, what do you mean by ‘you are also her’?”
Yvette explained honestly, “I am her from the future, and she is me from the past. But I have no memories from the past, and for reasons I don’t understand, I arrived here and encountered you…”
In just a few sentences, she summarized the gist of her situation, omitting much of the details about the real-world context. She only mentioned how, after the apocalyptic downfall, the amnesiac her had somehow traveled back to the past and noticed Zero’s existence, which prompted her to adopt her sister’s identity to interact with them.
Firefly’s expression shifted to realization. “No wonder you and Yvette look so alike. I thought it was strange; typically, identical twins share similar appearances, and given your age difference… it turns out you are the same person.”
As a mechanical automaton, Firefly had a relatively quick acceptance of the current reality. It had also noticed the odd emotions and state expressed by Zero before her departure, so even if this unfolding of events was bizarre, it could still explain Zero’s attitude.
Then Yvette asked, “What situation did you encounter earlier?”
Since Zero referred to needing sleep rather than being dead, this aligned strongly with her earlier exhaustion, leading Yvette to wonder if there was a significant connection between them.
But she needed to know what had happened on their end that had necessitated Zero’s furious display of power to resolve the issue that even Lianna, acting as “One,” couldn’t handle.
Lianna remained silent, still paralyzed in shock by the overwhelming tide of information, like a stiff marionette.
Seeing Lianna’s prolonged silence, Firefly narrated the earlier events to her, starting from Ducha’s unexpected appearance, followed by the two High Priests commanding the bone dragon to descend from the sky, and finally detailing Zero’s deity-like power display.
Yvette listened in silence, having never anticipated that the Holy Spirit Sect would be this twisted. The mere arrival of a Soulfire High Priest was already shocking, but in secret, they had sent a Ghoul High Priest, a heavyweight war beast in the form of a bone dragon, and a Reincarnation High Priest besides.
Yet Zero’s unthinkable display of strength, capable of eliminating a top-tier powerhouse like the Ghoul High Priest with a glance—didn’t it seem like a manifestation of a true god?
Thus, was she truly the source of the apocalypse? Was she a harbinger of the world’s destruction?
An oppressive silence enveloped the room, broken only by the soft breeze stirring silver or golden strands of hair, dancing gently.
After an unknown duration, Lianna finally managed to break free from her stupor. She looked helplessly at the familiar yet strange Yvette, overwhelming sorrow washing over her as she nearly stumbled in place. After Yvette steadied her, Lianna, her eyes tinged with red, asked, “Then… can Yvette come back?”
“Of course.” Yvette extended her hand to ruffle Lianna’s golden hair, reassuring her, “She said she would just take a nap, so there will definitely come a day when she wakes up. She probably just needs time to regain her strength.”
After a brief pause, she continued, “And even if the future world collapses, she would have navigated through it safely, or else how could I exist? Don’t forget, I am also her.”
“Also…” Lianna sighed, her earlier gloom starting to dissipate slightly, her eyes shining with a glimmer of hope. “So we just have to wait, right?”
“Exactly, just wait.” Yvette smiled.
……
That evening, in a small county adjacent to Firth River, a disguised Yvette, alongside Lianna and Firefly, checked into a small inn to rest temporarily.
After Zero’s horrific aberration army wreaked havoc, the soldiers stationed at the various checkpoints outside Firth River had been deployed into the city, and they became an effortless target for Zero.
This allowed Yvette to drive a found magitek bike without any resistance, escorting Lianna and Firefly across the desolate wilderness to the nearby small county, where they met almost no opposition on their journey.
That night, within the inn, Yvette utilized a magitek terminal to review the latest announcements from the Rustbone government regarding the Firth River catastrophe.
In the official announcement, the Rustbone government attributed the incident to a highly lethal super-virus and claimed it to be a premeditated bioweapon attack, directly accusing the New Eden Federation and Black Tower Pharmaceuticals.
However, while it was true that the virus had leaked due to Black Tower’s experiment, it was somewhat unreasonable for Rustbone and the Holy Spirit Sect, who had failed to contain the experiment and were responsible for the chaos they caused, to place the blame entirely on the New Eden Federation.
Thus, within hours, President John of the Federation issued a robust rebuttal, declaring the accusations to be fabrications and slander.
What ensued became a war of words; while over 300,000 deaths stunned the international community, the mutual blame between the two nations successfully categorized the event as merely a “lethal virus leak,” leaving deeper inquiries regarding the distortion phenomena completely undisclosed or lacking any public attention.
But that was not the end.
Perhaps to suppress the heat surrounding the Zero incident or to divert public attention, shortly afterward, another event rapidly climbed to the headlines across various media platforms: the dramatic showdown between the national hero “Nameless” and the Soulfire High Priest.
……
While the Firth River catastrophe was more horrific and shocking, the materials, evidence, and news channels were all controlled by the authorities. If the governments of the New Eden Federation, Rustbone, Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, the Holy Spirit Sect, and other knowledgeable parties intended to cover up the incident, it would naturally not spread, becoming nothing more than an urban legend ultimately shared among the locals in subsequent years.
Conversely, the battle between Nameless and the Soulfire High Priest had no such need for concealment; the combat scenes were extravagant, thrilling, and filled with the public’s imagination about high-level mage battles—a spectacle almost everyone wished to witness. Thus, it quickly went viral within the Federation’s networks, with discussions about it extending into the international realm, even capturing the attention of netizens from the Emerald Continent and Silver Mirror Continent.
It was difficult not to engage in conversation; how many sixth-level mages like the Soulfire High Priest existed worldwide? Typically, battles involving such powerful figures would never be visible to the general populace, as they belonged to state security secrets. Now, there was a rare opportunity to witness a public clash between top mages—who could resist taking a peek and chatting about it afterward?
Thus…
Although she hadn’t been in the Origin Civilization for long, Yvette had already become a bona fide international figure. In martial arts terms, she was like a newly added mysterious young hero to the jianghu, having unmatched skills in confronting the esteemed elders of famous sects at such a young age.
Especially after the encounter concluded, the disappearance of the Soulfire High Priest only added a layer of intrigue.
While the majority would likely doubt that a person who personified death would fall so easily, many speculated that the Soulfire High Priest must have been severely injured or defeated in battle, leading to his seclusion.
This only served to enhance the mysterious aura surrounding the legendary mercenary, Nameless.
……
In the following days, while still hiding in the county hotel, Yvette, now dressed in a child’s dress, observed the online developments regarding the conflict between her and the Soulfire High Priest.
The uploader was battlefield er Cromwell, who live-streamed for over two hours until he was arrested by Rustbone military personnel on charges of “threatening state security” and “illegal filming.” Lucky enough to evade the indiscriminate aberrations in the city, he remained alive and well.
However, his stream got out, triggering a massive wave of reactions globally.
But after browsing through the plethora of discussions and praises following the video, Yvette felt somewhat embarrassed.
She hadn’t actually decisively separated herself from the Soulfire High Priest; considering that he merely sent a clone to confront her while she had refrained from expending all of her magical energy, it was difficult to assert that she would achieve complete victory in a true life-or-death fight against him.
Who knew what hidden cards the Soulfire High Priest still had up his sleeve?
Yet now, the online audience was inflating the tale so that it appeared as if she had triumphed outright, leaving her feeling strangely shy.
Then, upon contemplating the Soulfire High Priest’s fate, she felt a wave of sadness wash over her.
The Soulfire High Priest had been killed by Zero, alongside the bone dragon and the Ghoul High Priest. Since they reverted to the distortion army upon their transformation, Yvette could easily ascertain that the being was indeed eliminated.
But this created a dilemma; since she had effectively become Zero, the Holy Spirit Sect would undoubtedly implicate her for the consequences, regardless of whether she accepted it. After all, with the amount lost, would they simply choose to swallow that bitter pill?
Naturally, given Zero’s demonstrated abilities during the Firth River incident, the Holy Spirit Sect wouldn’t treat her like they had this time. They weren’t foolish.
Thus, in the future, the Holy Spirit Sect would likely forge a partnership with Black Tower Pharmaceuticals, forming a joint capture squad to hunt her down.
Just thinking about it was enough to give her a headache.
……
That afternoon, after scanning through the latest news online, Yvette logged into her personal account and found a message from Hoyel.
The essence of this good-hearted Soul Absolution Priest had become disgruntled due to his dissatisfaction with the Reincarnation High Priest Lind as a general, and unable to go against his superior, he took a long leave of absence to rest in the countryside.
This break allowed him to evade the chaos of Firth River caused by Zero. Recently, he had been called back to handle primary matters relating to the Soulfire Cathedral.
Hoyel was entirely oblivious to how the Firth River incident had transpired, but he had kept one thought running through his mind: the fact that Nameless had truly defeated the general, accomplishing a long-standing commission he had issued.
Although he could no longer follow the Church’s standard procedures to reward a task—that was, the Church wouldn’t recognize the general as the Reincarnation High Priest—on a personal level, he had still managed to obtain enough digital currency as a token of gratitude.
“You’re pretty wealthy.” Yvette commented as she noticed a deposit of 5 million digital coins suddenly materializing in her account.
“Hehe, it’s technically still routed through the Church’s budget, though I’ve made some adjustments to the headings,” Hoyel replied happily but quickly turned somber. “Sigh, with such a serious incident having occurred, the Church needs a huge budget for placating the public and many donations coming in; this is just a temporary fix. But regardless, this amount will be used properly; at least I can rest easy…”
Considering that the blame for the Firth River incident rested on her for Zero’s actions, Yvette didn’t dare to linger on that topic. She exchanged some pleasantries before ending the conversation.
Then she began to tally her current assets, and after accounting for the recent 5 million deposit, she had approximately 7 million digital coins in her account. This fortune was partly from the reward received during the human trafficking incident and partly from selling “Spear Magic,” a unique technique from the Neon Nightmare Killer, on the dark web.
This was sufficient for her to purchase the reinforcements she needed. However, regrettably, she was currently in Rustbone, and many transactions were inconvenient. Ideally, she would prefer to return to New Eden to spend, but doing so would mean stepping back into the territory of Black Tower Pharmaceuticals.
Therefore, after pondering thoroughly, Yvette concluded that purchasing some software would be prudent.
She now possessed a Soul Brain, but the system architecture for it was quite subpar. The Holy Spirit Sect, being primarily focused on necromantic magic research, had approached software creation with little competency—more or less comparable to a makeshift operation.
Of course, Yvette could write some system architecture and software for the Soul Brain herself, but achieving an excellent level would likely take a lot of time to refine. Moreover, there were aspects beyond her capabilities, like developing AI algorithms—without data, she could never nurture a competent AI. This entire aspect fell outside her expertise in runes.
So…
After contemplating further, she decided to buy a ready-made system, along with some pre-existing AI models to deploy into her Soul Brain. This way, no matter what she needed to do in the future, it would be far more convenient.
Book 2: Chapter 131: Headache Just Thinking About It
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