My Avatar Is Becoming the Final Boss-Chapter 40: Cooperation

Hearing the name “Blue Arc,” Su Zimai froze for a moment.
She widened her eyes in disbelief: “Huh… that big blue electric rat?”
Ke Qirui walked toward the stairwell of the abandoned office building as she said, “Actually, Japan’s Reality-altering Esper Association already negotiated with China’s Reality-altering Esper Association. They said Blue Arc would also be sent to help guard the auction.”
She chuckled, “Blue Arc is a reliable teammate. If I hadn’t heard he was coming, I wouldn’t have taken this commission so recklessly.”
Su Zimai followed behind her. “But isn’t that guy insanely busy? How’d he find the time to come to Japan?”
“If the Reality-altering Esper Association asks, there’s no way he can say no.”
Su Zimai held her forehead and sighed, “I seriously can’t stand that smug electric rat guy. Can’t take it… can’t take it… Leader, do we really have to work with him? I’m afraid I’ll choke to death on one of his greasy one-liners. Honestly, I don’t get why he’s so popular in China. When I see my classmates fangirling over him, I can’t help but roll my eyes.”
“He’s still a national-level hero. Why do you have such a bias against him?”
Su Zimai mumbled with her head down, “Why don’t the Japanese Yakuza just borrow people from the United Nations and call in Rainbow Wing instead? If those calamity-level monsters from Rainbow Wing show up, I bet the White Crow Brigade wouldn’t dare make a move.”
Ke Qirui patiently explained, “First, the Japanese Yakuza don’t have good relations with the United Nations, so there’s no way they’d ask them for help; second, an organization like Rainbow Wing wouldn’t be deployed for something like auction protection. That’s like using a rocket launcher to roast a sweet potato.”
“Well… I guess if they managed to get the electric rat, that’s already not bad.”
“When we meet Blue Arc, don’t call him ‘electric rat’ to his face, alright?”
“Pfft, I’m not stupid,” Su Zimai scoffed.
As Ke Qirui walked toward the exit, she pulled out a tobacco pipe from her pocket, placed it between her lips, and took a drag. She said, “By the way… that guy earlier felt familiar to me.”
“Which one?”
“The one in the hoodie. I saw him at the Reality-altering Esper Association two years ago,” Ke Qirui said thoughtfully. “I don’t remember his name, but I do recall his Tianqu was very unusual… it was ‘chess.’ He left the association later because of something, and I never saw him again.”
“He joined the White Crow Brigade too?” Su Zimai was stunned.
“Maybe.”
“A promising young man lost to the wrong path, huh. Even getting a stable position at the association would be better than joining a bunch of maniacs to go murder, burn, and pillage…” Su Zimai sighed.
Ke Qirui shook her head, “Who knows what he’s thinking. Anyway… let’s regroup with the others first. Stay alert on the way—no telling if the brigade is still lurking around.”
“Mm.”
Ke Qirui put away her pipe into her trench coat pocket. The two of them chatted and laughed as they walked out of the abandoned office building.
...
...
Japan, the other side of Minato Ward, Tokyo.
Ji Minghuan had ramen with the three White Crow Brigade members, then they split up. Before leaving, Origami Ayase left him a phone number, saying the other members would call him when they arrived in Tokyo.
After leaving the ramen shop, he found a hotel and checked in alone. He swiped the card and opened the door.
He inserted the room card into the slot and turned on the lights.
A few steps in, he flopped onto the bed, thinking, “Looks like I’ll be sticking with this gang of robbers for a while… the White Crow Brigade’s got a notorious rep. Maybe they’ll even attract Rainbow Wing. If I can get my hands on intel about Rainbow Wing—even just one member’s Esper ability—that’ll be enough bargaining power to deal with Gu Qiye long-term.”
Lying face-down on the pillow, he tapped the Gear Icon in the lower right of his vision to pull up the System Panel, then selected the Character Skill Tree System.
[Branch 1 (Mass): Recruit Pawns (Costs 1 Skill Point to learn) → Unknown → Unknown…]
[Branch 2 (Valor): Chess Piece Evolution (Condition: Requires spending a total of 3 Skill Points across other branches before it can be unlocked) (Costs 1 Skill Point to learn) → Unknown → Unknown…]
[Branch 3 (Soul): Demon Hunter (Costs 1 Skill Point to learn) → Unknown → Unknown…]
“Second branch has a learning prerequisite, so I can’t touch it for now. Gotta choose between the other two.”
Thinking that, Ji Minghuan glanced at the initial skills in the first two branches.
[Recruit Pawns: Gain two Pawn Pieces.]
[Demon Hunter: After your pieces participate in killing a demon, you have a chance to obtain a unique piece related to the demon. (This piece can only be ‘materialized’ once, and unlike normal pieces, it does not respawn after being destroyed)]
“Looks like the first one’s clearly more useful.”
Without hesitation, Ji Minghuan raised his finger and long-pressed the skill name “Recruit Pawns.”
The text on the panel brightened, glowing with black and white light. A notification popped up in front of his eyes.
[1 Skill Point consumed. Successfully learned Branch: Mass – Skill: Recruit Pawns.]
[Next skill in the ‘Mass’ branch is now available for learning.]
Ji Minghuan glanced at the new unlocked skill in the Mass system.
[Pawn Training: Equip your Pawns with shields, enabling them to use the command—Shield Block—in battle.]
He closed the Character Skill Tree Panel and summoned Xia Pingzhou’s Tianqu. A black-and-white glow shimmered around him, gradually forming a ring-shaped path made from warped chessboard tiles. Compared to before, two new Pawn Pieces had appeared on the ring—that was the effect of learning Recruit Pawns.
“Not bad, Your Majesty feels much safer now.”
Ji Minghuan yawned, retracted his Tianqu, and rolled over to face the ceiling.
He then opened the Quest Log.
[Main Quest 1: Participate in the White Crow Brigade’s heist of the “Tokyo Underground Auction” on July 21 and survive. (Reward: 3 Skill Points, 1 Attribute Point, 1 Split Point)]
He thought, “Wait, the reward for this quest is 3 skill points… that’s the first time I’ve seen so many points. Does that mean surviving the auction will be really hard?”
[Main Quest 2: Find the evil Exorcist ‘Jack the Ripper’ who killed ‘your family.’ (Reward: 1 Skill Point, 1 Attribute Point, 1 Split Point)]
“Jack the Ripper is a brigade member… Once the whole team gathers, I’ll definitely be able to complete this one.”
Ji Minghuan silently looked toward the third main quest.
[Main Quest 3: Investigate the whereabouts of ‘your former teammate,’ the berserk Exorcist—‘Traffic Light.’]
He rummaged through Xia Pingzhou’s memory, recalling events from two years ago. Back then, during a mission, one of Xia Pingzhou’s Exorcist teammates, “Traffic Light,” suddenly went berserk—as if possessed by a bloodthirsty killer—and smashed the other two teammates into pulp, blood splattering everywhere.
After that, Traffic Light vanished for a long time. Then he reappeared as a monster who hunted Exorcists.
Every time he struck, he’d leave a “hexagram” mark by the corpse, with a line of Latin text beside it: Sodalitas Salvifica.
Translated into Chinese, it meant “Salvation Society.”
“Salvation Society… sounds like some pretty terrifying group,” Ji Minghuan muttered.
He sighed, “Anyway, nothing else to do for now. Just wait for the brigade’s next move. This body can stay idle in the hotel for a bit.”
With arms folded behind his head, Ji Minghuan stared blankly at the ceiling for a while. He thought, “Now that I have a second body as a backup, I should use ‘Black Cocoon’ to check out the orphanage. Hopefully the headmaster will mention something about the Research Facility.”
With that, he closed his eyes and shifted his consciousness to his first game character—Gu Wenyu.
Everything gradually quieted down. The hotel room’s light glowed dimly yellow, and the boy on the bed slept peacefully. Outside the window, a light rain fell, and Tokyo Tower glowed with a soft white light under the drizzle.