Chapter 40: Time for Extra Training!
Yue Shan was dead, but only Li Li knew.
Using Yue Shan’s appearance, she directly assumed the role of Twinborn’s director, mimicking his mannerisms, walking briskly down the corridor with hands behind her back, her white lab coat fluttering with purpose.
"Tie him up," she pointed to the operating table where Yiming had been bound, directing the blue-robed figures to bustle about.
After the massive upheaval, the blond, blue-green eyed director seemed as unaffected as ever.
In reality, the person inside had changed—this director was not that director.
Li Li pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on her face, her smile carrying an ambiguous meaning.
Afterward, she searched Twinborn thoroughly, fully grasping the building’s structure.
Of the 26 rooms, nine were mechanisms, eight were residences for researchers and storage for test subjects, and the remaining nine were for instruments and experiments.
She found the office storing experimental materials, which contained Yue Shan’s research progress and the manual control methods for the entire ‘Rubik’s Cube.’
She also found Momo’s experimental plan among a stack of documents.
Li Li flipped through the stack from start to finish, her expression growing colder.
She roughly understood what kind of ending this chapter would have.
Li Li set down the papers, tucked the pen into her chest pocket, and strode out quickly.
"System, you wouldn’t refuse something that makes the manga more interesting, right?" she asked.
[Everything serves the manga Extreme Black and White.] The system replied rigidly.
Then she’d do it her way.
She pulled her phone from the white lab coat’s pocket and dialed the only number.
"Come to Twinborn."
...
The one Li Li called over was An Heyu.
He had probably only slept for a bit before rushing over.
Though he still carried the noble demeanor, his face showed slight fatigue.
"Mr. Noble, you’re faster than I expected," Li Li didn’t hold back her praise.
When she met him, she was in Heige’s form, a faint smile on her lips, sitting in an office chair, slightly tilting her head to look at An Heyu.
Yet she was utterly composed, as if she wasn’t looking up but down.
The noble before her carried an air of pride, his every move refined, the expensive fabric of his clothes glinting dully under the incandescent light.
His golden eyes beneath red hair narrowed slightly, exuding sharp arrogance.
But what he said was: "You’re willing to let me handle this, which means you still see me as a partner, not a tool."
He seemed to have his own interpretation, believing they had an unspoken understanding.
Li Li could roughly guess what he’d imagined—likely that both Heige and he had lost everything overnight, their pain the same.
Heige could understand him, and he could understand Heige.
They were both avengers.
Li Li let out a soft "hm," and the chair’s wheels spun as she turned, revealing the body behind her.
"Read his memories," she said casually, pointing.
An Heyu had likely prepared himself mentally on the way, so he wasn’t too shocked, but seeing Yue Shan’s body still brought a trace of concern.
"You got the information and went straight for Yue Shan?" he couldn’t help but say. "Without any plan?"
Clearly, An Heyu strongly disapproved of Li Li’s recklessness.
Li Li blinked, finding it quite amusing.
She had already sensed that this noble was hesitant, lacking decisiveness.
But she hadn’t expected that An Heyu’s failure to guide his younger brother might make him a bit overbearing.
"Mr. Noble," she said, Heige’s voice carrying a magnetic, low rasp, "then what should I do?"
An Heyu didn’t hesitate: "Make a plan first."
"What kind of plan?" Li Li continued to prod.
"Investigate his social connections, track the whereabouts of threatening acquaintances, and act only after avoiding them…" Once he started, he had plenty to say.
But Li Li raised a single finger, gently waving it.
"Sorry, Mr. Noble," she said with a smile, "a commoner like me doesn’t have time for such leisurely pacing."
Still seated in the office chair, her attitude was utterly candid and utterly unreasonable: "When I feel it’s time, I act."
"Regardless of the consequences," she added.
An Heyu was momentarily stunned, as if only now realizing the difference between himself and Li Li.
He had the honor of a noble and a sole younger brother to protect; his actions never fully placed him in danger.
But Li Li was different.
She never left herself a way out.
An Heyu had boarded a pirate ship, one recklessly charging forward with only one outcome—crashing into an iceberg.
"I hope you can get used to my style, Mr. Noble," she finished, pointing behind her. "Now, can you read the memories?"
The noble pursed his lips, saying nothing more.
After the brief exchange, An Heyu obediently activated his ability.
"Necromantic Prelude." With those words, a golden halo expanded, stopping to envelop the space around the corpse.
Golden particles formed in the air, shaping into a blurry human figure, then gradually becoming clearer.
"It hasn’t been too long; you can still converse," An Heyu explained.
He turned to look, but the black-haired youth beside him remained seated, smiling as if she hadn’t heard him.
In truth, her expression had frozen, completely frozen.
An Heyu seemed to understand: "Then I’ll read the memories directly."
He naturally assumed Heige despised this person, hated him to the point of wishing he never existed.
As the ability activated, the human figure formed by golden particles showed a pained expression, then disintegrated piece by piece, dissipating into the air.
At the same time, An Heyu closed his eyes.
After nearly a minute, he opened them, his golden eyes reflecting the ripples of the ability’s space.
After a long pause, he said, "Yue Shan and Yue Qing knew each other since childhood. Yue Shan was Yue Qing’s younger brother, an illegitimate son of the Yue clan."
"Yue Shan hated two people the most: first, the Prophet, and second, Yue Qing." He paused, then quickly added, "The person he cared about most was you, and Yue Qing has claustrophobia."
From the urgency on the noble’s face, it was clear that statement had been softened.
Yue Shan cared most about Heige?
More like he was obsessed with him as his favorite and only creation.
Li Li found it a pity that, unsure of how the manga artist would draw it, she had refrained from telling Yue Shan they didn’t know each other.
His final expression would’ve been far more interesting.
Li Li thought about it and sighed regretfully in her mind.
She didn’t mind An Heyu’s deliberate tact and, after a moment’s thought, asked, "What was his relationship with Tang Zeng?"
"Acquaintances at best," An Heyu replied.
An Heyu then shared some cherry-picked intelligence, but Yue Shan had no connection to the events six years ago, and his memories of the experiments twelve years ago were vague, offering little of value.
After finishing, An Heyu prepared to leave.
Before going, he suddenly mentioned, "By the way, Yue Qing is likely seeking help from the nobles of Floating City. If he approaches the Qu clan, half of Four-Way City’s citizens could become his bargaining chips."
"Is the Qu clan tied to the Former Ability Guild?" Li Li asked.
"I only know that after the chaos, he displayed half of the Former Ability Guild’s higher-ups’ heads in his collection room, holding an exhibition every few years," An Heyu answered quickly.
"Then let him come," Li Li said, unbothered by piling debts.
At that, An Heyu gave her a deep look, then turned and left swiftly.
As if something monstrous was behind him, ready to chase and devour him.
Li Li didn’t mind.
She had indeed startled the indecisive noble.
After An Heyu left, she casually snapped her fingers, transforming back into Yue Shan’s appearance.
Then she stood and left the room.
After days away, she was a bit excited to return to the manga.
...
When Yiming woke, he looked up to see the incandescent light, its white glow making him squint uncomfortably.
When he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by a circle of blue-robed figures.
Their expressions were uniform, staring at him woodenly, like lifeless signs.
Yiming struggled to lift his neck and saw, beyond the circle of blue-robed figures, the master of this place.
The blond, blue-green eyed researcher sat in a chair, his left leg crossed over his right, holding a stack of papers.
As Yiming looked, the gloved fingertips spun a pen, then slipped it into its cap and tucked it into his chest pocket.
For some reason, Yiming felt this person’s aura had changed in an instant.
Before, he was a frenzied blaze; now, he was an abyss without end.
But one thing Yiming was certain of: this person was definitely not good.
"You’re livelier than I expected," the researcher spoke, looking at him with the gaze of appraising an object, his tone evaluative. "A bit of a waste to treat as a disposable item."
As he spoke, the blue-robed figures all stepped back, allowing the two to see each other clearly.
And the blond, blue-green eyed researcher pushed up his glasses, his posture relaxed, yet it brought endless pressure.
Yiming knew this person was very powerful, far more powerful than him.
Even more powerful than the ice-type A-rank he had once seen.
"What do you want to do?" Yiming asked.
He stared intently at the researcher.
Just moments ago, he had looked around—Momo wasn’t here.
The researcher lightly flicked the surface of the document, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
"Don’t be nervous. I’m just using you to test the possibility of ability upgrades," he said, the gold-rimmed glasses reflecting a flash of white light under the incandescent lamp.
After a pause, he added perfunctorily, "For my research and experiments."
Instantly, a wall rose from a seam in the floor, accompanied by a rumbling sound, separating them.
The metal wall gleamed coldly, gears turning, revealing a double-sided glass in the center.
Behind the glass, the researcher, slightly intrigued, interlaced his fingers, propped his chin, and looked at Yiming in front of the glass.
The biological material restraining him released with a beep, and the blue-robed people nearby lined up in unison.
Yiming rubbed his wrists, cautiously stepping down from the operating table.
The moment he left, the table descended into the floor, which seamlessly closed again.
The mad researcher casually picked up a sheet of paper: "No. 18632, spell-type water control, D-rank, it’s you. Go ahead."
He was like someone observing a cage of lab rats, a smile of anticipation on his refined face.
Come on. He seemed to be saying.
And Yiming became even more certain of one thing.
This person was an utterly heartless lunatic!