Chapter 10 Looking for Trouble, Looking for Trouble, Looking for Trouble
Just as she was pondering, the C-rank ability user stopped.
The door in front was opened.
A flickering chandelier and a table occupying one-fifth of the space stood quietly in the center of the hall, and on the bronze table were plates of delicacies.
Ten black-robed men stood in two rows against the wall, silent.
And Qing Yu Chen stood behind the table, giving Li Li a polite yet slightly arrogant smile.
“I don’t know which kind Your Excellency prefers, so we prepared all of them,” he said, stepping forward.
So this man called Li Li out from Yiming’s side just to curry favor and bring her food?
Li Li glanced at the tabletop with a smile that wasn't quite a smile: sweet, savory, light, heavy-flavored, she even saw a whole plate of bright red chili peppers.
She somehow felt it wasn't that simple.
The worldview of the manga 《Extreme Black and White》 was completely different from the three-dimensional world, but there were still distinctions in regional tastes and food preferences.
The ability user nobles behind different regions were also different.
Connecting this to the content in the manga, Qing Yu Chen most likely wanted to know her taste and then guess her origin from it.
If she really was A-rank, then she definitely couldn't be unknown—logically, it should be like this.
But who made her a fake?
Compared to her previous nervousness, after knowing the characteristics of Qing Yu Chen's ability, Li Li had already grasped the method to face Qing Yu Chen.
Anyway, it was impossible for him to control her.
As long as this premise existed, her big shot persona would not collapse.
So her actions were also bolder than before.
...
Qing Yu Chen considered the humble expression on his face to be flawless, but the invited guest didn't seem to think so.
The black-haired youth raised his eyebrows slightly, a smile like watching a play gradually appearing on his face.
“Then thank you very much...” The youth's low, hoarse voice had just begun, then suddenly changed tone, “You thought I would say that?”
Those dark pupils looked straight over, and Qing Yu Chen suddenly had a feeling of being seen through.
The dirt smeared on the youth's forehead from teasing the mimicry-type youth yesterday was still there, but this didn't conceal the youth's appearance at all.
Rather, these black marks formed a scratch-like mark around the youth's eyes, like an engraving, making the youth look even more sharp and prominent.
“What are you looking at?” the youth suddenly asked.
“I...” Qing Yu Chen was about to speak, but the black-haired youth gave him no chance to speak at all.
As if fundamentally despising him as a person.
“Ah, I forgot,” the youth said, gently raising his hand.
His slender fingers snapped in mid-air.
At the same time, those black marks, along with the residual bloodstains on the youth's black trench coat, all disappeared.
Like a gentle breeze brushing past, a change occurred in an instant.
It was an ability, Qing Yu Chen thought.
Definitely an ability.
Mimicry? Detached blood also counted as a source lifeform. Was it spell-type? Water control could also achieve this level. Or was it a domain-type that directly separated the two?
No, no, no, it was impossible to determine based on this point alone!
His pupils trembled.
In that instant, Qing Yu Chen uncontrollably began to brainstorm, and the next second, the black-haired youth suddenly smiled.
He saw the youth take a step forward, hands in the pockets of his trench coat, turn sideways with a light movement, and whisper in his ear.
“You want to understand me?” Those dark pupils shifted slightly, as if looking at Qing Yu Chen, yet also as if looking at nothing at all.
And in that instant, a chill spread upwards from the soles of Qing Yu Chen's feet.
His ability could control other ability users, and Qing Yu Chen, who could read their thoughts and memories, understood very well the feeling of controlling others; everything about that person was laid bare before him.
When he viewed the memories of those he controlled, he would also read their fear of him.
He had never taken this to heart, because his ability was mental control, because he was the one in the dominant position.
But this time, he suddenly resonated with those memories.
What did he know! Qing Yu Chen subconsciously pursed his lips, his pupils slightly dilated.
Did he know that he had been trying to test him? Or did he know that he was secretly investigating his origin?
Who on earth was he?!
Ability unknown, origin unknown, the only lead was that mimicry-type youth—yet they seemed to have just met!
However, the next second, the youth withdrew his gaze and turned around.
“Just kidding.” The black-haired youth, with his back to him, walked unhurriedly towards the main gate. “I’ll be out for two days, remember to take good care of Little Corgi.”
The hem of the black trench coat billowed gently with his movement, and then he stepped across the threshold.
That bronze door closed before his eyes.
And Qing Yu Chen slowly took a step back, staring intently at the ground.
Kidding?
No, how could it be a joke!
That was clearly a warning! He knew everything he had done!
“Leader, Room Four’s...”
Instantly, Qing Yu Chen looked up, towards the C-rank black-robed man who had spoken.
Those purple pupils were bloodshot.
...
After putting on a show in front of Qing Yu Chen, Li Li directly left Qing Tong.
Having had the painful experience of wasting two days of shop usage, Li Li certainly couldn't continue to waste her remaining four days.
Daily transmigration would end after accumulating enough effective plot in the early stages, so Li Li directly left Qing Tong, preventing herself from driving the plot development.
And she would use these two days to obtain an ability.
Regardless of success, on the last day, she would return to Qing Tong and advance the plot with Yiming.
The weather was somewhat gloomy that day.
Dark clouds covered the sun, but judging from the shape of the clouds, it didn't seem like it was going to rain.
Before coming, Li Li had never thought she would leave Qing Tong like this: unhurried and composed, as simple as leaving the dormitory to go to the teaching building.
She looked at the 【Cleansing (One-time)】 item she had just purchased for 10 popularity points, then exited the shop.
Items related to abilities generally sold for three hundred popularity points, those unrelated to abilities but providing special assistance sold for one hundred popularity points, and those unrelated to either were much cheaper, such as one-time cleansing, or the circulating currency of this world.
Li Li even saw fruit candy in the shop, priced at one popularity point.
“Young man, are you from out of town?” The middle-aged man at the breakfast stall familiarly pulled up a chair and sat down, speaking as he did so.
Li Li picked up a xiaolongbao, took a bite, and didn't reply.
The xiaolongbao in the manga world were quite different from those in the real world, the biggest difference being the filling.
In the manga world, the development and research of abilities surpassed technology, so biological research was very advanced.
The meat in this xiaolongbao wasn't pork, but squid-pork that had been researched and improved.
It had both the toughness of squid and the richness of pork.
Li Li refused Qing Yu Chen because it was troublesome.
Who knew if the things he provided were edible, but she couldn't possibly not eat.
‘System, can I bring this to the three-dimensional world?’ Li Li thought after taking a bite.
[No.] The system replied coldly.
A pity, but not too surprising.
Li Li often felt the system was very pedantic; it would completely separate the two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds.
Some things in the shop wouldn't matter if bought in the three-dimensional world, like fruit candy, but it didn't allow it.
But it had to be said that this, in another way, gave Li Li a great sense of security: she also didn't want the world she had lived in for nineteen years to become chaotic.
Every time she came to the manga world, it felt like a dream, or like logging into some holographic game; in short, there was a great sense of unreality.
But once she returned to the three-dimensional world, Li Li would feel that detached sense of separation disappear.
After all, that was her home.
The person sharing the table next to her wasn't discouraged by Li Li's indifference, but instead started talking animatedly: "Young man, are you here for tourism? This isn't a good place for ordinary people. Everyone in the empire knows Jiao Huang is chaotic, the number of unregistered residents here is the highest in the entire empire."
“It’s said that many ability users think this is a good place: no mandatory household registration, nobles don’t interfere, there are few ceremonial activities, and no compulsory offerings.”
He took a sip of Jiao Huang's specialty, Jiao soup, and continued, “Often, low-rank ability users run to Jiao Huang to settle down, just for this stability. But this isn't entirely false, although our city lord is as elusive as a divine dragon…”
He held up two fingers and waved them in front of Li Li's eyes: "The last time the city lord appeared was two years ago."
This wasn't mentioned in the manga. Li Li looked up, giving the man a glance.
“That time, two years ago, it was because a high-rank noble wanted to cause trouble in Jiao Huang.”
He gestured excitedly as he spoke, “That scene, the entire Jiao Huang was shaking.”
Before Li Li could respond cooperatively, he continued: “Then the city lord appeared, and everything ended in an instant. That noble didn’t even leave a corpse behind.”
Wow, cool, Li Li thought.
If all this was true, then the Jiao Huang city lord's rank might be above S—however, hear say might be exaggerated, so it wasn't necessarily accurate.
“The city lord is very strong, but Jiao Huang isn’t safe either,” the man finished his Jiao soup and concluded, “Coming here rashly will only make you merchandise for Qing Tong. Young man, you’re new here too, right? If you’re an ability user, you must hide your ability well.”
However, Li Li didn't have this worry, because she had no ability.
But she also had to have this worry, because she was here to look for trouble.
There were two ways to acquire abilities: natural awakening and bloodline inheritance.
Obviously, the latter method was not applicable to Li Li.
If she wanted to acquire an ability, she could only try ‘natural awakening’.
It was introduced in the manga that natural awakening basically occurred between life and death or under the stimulation of a major stimulus, so Li Li came out this time precisely to find some trouble for herself.
So she said: “What if I don’t hide it well?”
As soon as her voice fell, the man sharing the table was stunned.
Immediately after, almost all the diners at the small stall put down their chopsticks and bowls and looked over.
It was as if—
They had locked onto a plump sheep.
But in the three-dimensional world, Western sheep represented demons.
Li Li thought, her expression calm and undisturbed.