Chapter 46: Mad Bounty Hunter
After confirming Tang had arrived, Li Li used her ability to leave Twinborn.
A lot seemed to have happened in the research facility, but outside, only a day had passed.
She emerged at night, and at midnight, she even crossed back once.
Maybe the manga artist didn’t want to break the chapter here.
Li Li felt she had grasped the artist’s update pattern.
When she crossed back, she continued under the guise of the cold, detached Li Baige, heading to the Ability Guild to clear her daily tasks.
But on her second trip to the Ability Guild, An Heyu sent her a message.
[Yue Qing is preparing a thorough investigation of the Ability Guild’s internals, sending two A-rank operatives.
A-rank spell-type ability user Rao Yue, a key subordinate of the Yue clan.
A-rank spell-type ability user Yue Fu, Yue Qing’s cousin.
Stay safe.
He]
Li Li roughly understood An Heyu’s motive for messaging her—they were allies, and he was worried she’d run into trouble.
But the “stay safe” part puzzled her slightly; she didn’t think they were that close.
Was this the protective instinct of someone who’d been raising a younger brother for too long?
Li Li suddenly understood.
The so-called investigation of the Ability Guild posed no threat to her.
The Ability Guild’s hall was bustling as always, with ferocious-looking bounty hunters coming and going, alongside identical androids and cleaning bio-machines.
The usual scene, except that young master An Huyu was likely locked at home by An Heyu, unable to come pester her with his chatter.
At the moment, Li Li was in her Li Baige persona, her face stern, exuding a cold, restrained aura compared to Heige’s flamboyant recklessness, and far more ruthless.
The blue pendant earring swayed lightly among her black hair.
She was about to take on a bounty mission, but as she approached the Bounty Hall, she was stopped.
She turned her head slightly, and the man in a white uniform who had raised a hand to block her froze briefly before saying: “This area is off-limits. Line up over there to leave.”
At the entrance to the Bounty Hall, several men in white uniforms stood blocking those trying to exit.
To the right, a man and a woman sat behind a desk.
The man with blue hair, clearly Yue Qing’s cousin Yue Fu, looked bored as he watched the passersby, while the woman with moon-white long hair beside him coldly scrutinized the crowd.
They had conducted an investigation before, but this time, the inspectors had changed.
The bounty hunters who frequented this place were mostly familiar with each other, not to mention the guild’s receptionists and hired androids.
Skipping these inspections and returning later wouldn’t work, but Li Li had no intention of avoiding them.
Even if she strutted right past, no one would guess her identity.
Unless they had someone who could see through her lies.
At the desk, a line had already formed.
The bounty hunter facing the white-haired woman grumbled discontentedly: “An ability is an ability user’s trump card. Why should I tell you?!”
The white-haired woman looked up, her deep blue pupils glancing at him.
Instantly, a gun appeared in front of the bounty hunter, pressed against his forehead.
“Speak,” the white-haired woman said coldly.
“Rao Yue, don’t be so hot-tempered. You’ll get wrinkles,” Yue Fu remarked casually, then resumed idly watching a bird on a branch outside.
Clearly, Rao Yue was the only one doing the work.
The bounty hunter, with the gun to his head, was visibly frustrated but eventually gave in. Glancing around, he muttered under his breath, barely audible: “Mimicry-type, [Rabbit Transformation].”
“Just a rabbit?” Yue Fu waved dismissively. “Sounds vaguely related to illusion. You, transform on the spot.”
The bounty hunter’s face grew even more aggrieved.
When it was Li Li’s turn, the questioning was much the same.
But when Li Li locked eyes with Rao Yue, she felt the woman’s gaze linger on her a bit longer, as if scrutinizing her.
Yet Rao Yue said nothing, moving on to the next person as she had before.
It didn’t take long for Li Li to leave.
It was noon, the sun blazing overhead.
In front of the Ability Guild was a public area, and across the street lay the plaza with the white doves.
As Li Li passed through the plaza, startling the doves into flight, she sensed a gaze.
From the corner of her eye, she caught a pair of deep blue pupils.
It was Yiming, standing with the chubby Le Caille and a vaguely familiar passerby.
The next moment, the doves blocked her view, and she left without a second thought, mercilessly moving on.
Today’s Li Baige was, as always, locking her heart and sealing her emotions, playing the cold, unfeeling cool guy.
[Update target achieved.]
[Opening passage for you…]
At that moment, she recalled who the passerby was—likely the guy she’d encountered on her first day in Four-Way City.
[Welcome back to reality.]
Li Li opened her eyes in the darkness, a slow smile curling her lips.
The fuse she’d set earlier was about to ignite.
…
Two days later, the manga updated.
Her roommate had gone to the library to pull an all-nighter for a paper, and Li Li still had a speech draft to finish.
After rushing through her assignments, an hour had passed since the manga’s update.
She considered, then picked up her phone and opened the manga.
The color page featured Yiming.
Li Li studied it, confirming the artist hadn’t left any hidden hints.
She flipped forward.
The manga continued from the previous chapter’s events, picking up where Tang revealed the truth about Momo and Youyou’s relationship.
The comments exploded with shock, interspersed with praise for Tang.
[Cat Tang has grown so much!]
[Tang’s got this! Yiming’s still in the dark, huh?]
[Ahoge Li would be so proud—there’s a new brainy character to carry the torch!]
But Momo’s deception and manipulation sparked some discordant voices in the comments.
When Momo admitted she didn’t want to be alone, the criticism softened slightly.
The artist revealed Momo’s intent to lure someone to help but cut the scene just before ‘Yue Shan’ spoke, leaving only Momo’s line about having no time.
Li Li noted that the artist concealed Heige’s early appearance on Tang’s side.
The scene shifted to Yiming.
This part was unedited, so every word ‘Yue Shan’ said was fully depicted.
Not only did it fuel the existing animosity toward Heige and Yue Shan, but Yiming’s fans also erupted in outrage.
As the manga’s protagonist and central figure, Yiming had far more fans than any other character.
Even non-fans generally liked him.
The comments were almost unanimously condemnatory.
[Argh, how dare you bully Little Corgi!]
[It’s definitely Heige! Only he calls Yiming ‘low-rank’ like that!]
[Warriors, don’t gloat—an A-rank bigshot bullying a D-rank is nothing to brag about!]
[Other people’s suffering isn’t your game! This guy is rotten to the core!]
[First time I’ve hated a villain this much. Who does he think he is? A philosopher? The truth?]
[Daily check-in: When will Heige die?!]
The artist meticulously illustrated this segment, capturing ‘Yue Shan’s’ demeanor and actions, including the scattered research documents and the experiment plan on the floor, marked with notes and a footprint.
Yet it all seemed nonchalant, as if nothing was amiss.
The manga pressed forward, the sharp art vividly portraying Yiming’s rage and hatred as he powered up.
In the black-and-white panels, the boy, his baby fat fading and face growing leaner, was visibly maturing.
Yet the researcher causing it all remained as leisurely as ever.
Attack, block, counter—Yiming was sent flying.
The sequence flowed seamlessly, the shattered glass creating intense tension as it scattered across the panels.
The stark power gap between them was laid bare.
[So hopeless—why is he so strong?]
[Ironclad Heige, ever the villain. His strength is undeniable!]
[Heige’s only redeeming quality is his power, right?]
[Okay, but white-coat Heige is so cool—I’m obsessed!]
[Sorry, Yiming, but how is this man so hot? I’m dying for his composure!]
[Argh, my external application of Mai!]
[Stop bullying Corgi! Bully me! Bully me!]
[You villain stans are terrifying!]
Li Li felt that the upcoming developments probably wouldn’t differ much from what she had experienced.
She quickly flipped through the pages, mainly waiting to see how the plot involving Tang would be handled.
In the manga world, she had met Tang and the others earlier and didn’t wait for Yiming to actually fulfill the so-called promise: crawling back up to save someone or whatever.
This time difference was crucial, and she was quite curious about how the manga artist would handle this plot point.
Of course, she didn’t think her cover would be blown.
The black-and-white pages turned, and the action scenes in extreme black were praiseworthy.
This segment unfolded just as she had experienced: removing the mask, attacking again, and the manga depicted Yiming crashing into the wall, his fingertips completely unable to move.
Until Tang arrived, and Yiming lost consciousness.
At this point, the scene finally shifted to Tang.
It was as if the events took place in the time between Heige leaving and Tang arriving.
After Heige left to fulfill a promise, the owner of the pendant lingered in the darkness, waiting until everything was resolved on Tang’s end before approaching Yiming’s side.
Only then did the pendant’s owner leave.
This time difference was perfectly staggered, but Li Li, with her omniscient perspective, knew that wasn’t the case at all.
“As expected,” Li Li propped her cheek and sighed lightly, “If you scrutinize this part, the only questionable detail is that Heige appeared still dressed as Yue Shan.”
After all, Heige had already reverted to his original appearance after Yiming pointed out his identity.
In the manga, Yiming fainted, and when he woke up, Tang was by his side, with Momo and Youyou coming to bid him farewell.
This time, it was Momo who stepped forward, head lowered, explaining to Yiming what she had done.
This segment in the manga was extremely emotional, and Li Li propped her cheek as she read on.
“I’m sorry for using you,” Momo said, completely blind by now.
Beside her, Youyou also said earnestly, “Momo caused you trouble. Sorry.”
Having just woken up, Yiming was still thinking about the blue pendant earring and looked confused at their words.
Then, from the depths of his memory, he recalled something Heige had once said and asked,
“Are you guys okay now?”
“That person saved us,” Momo said.
“That’s good,” Yiming said with a smile.
‘I don’t care about being toyed with, as long as they’re okay,’ he thought to himself.
He was completely off the mark, yet it made perfect sense.
Yiming had no intention of talking about his own ordeal.
As long as the outcome was good, he had no complaints.
After this, Momo and Youyou bid farewell, leaving word that they would join Tide.
In the manga’s final scene, Yiming arrived at the square, gazing at the white doves there, and waited until the information broker Le Caille showed up.
Le Caille came with that young man, chatting as they walked.
Seeing Yiming, Le Caille greeted him with a cheerful smile, “Hey there, kid.”
But Yiming had come with a question.
“Do you know a man with black hair, crimson eyes, and a blue pendant earring on his right ear?” Yiming asked.
In the panel, Le Caille blinked and said, “Of course I know. I even know him personally. He’s the most famous bounty hunter around here. Everyone calls him the Madman.”
“Him, huh,” the unfamiliar young man thought for a moment. “I’ve seen him too. But he’s really nuts, trying to take on an SSS-rank bounty.”
The scene shifted to the Ability Guild’s Bounty Hall.
“SSS-rank bounty, Illusionist, Heige.”
In the black-and-white panels, a crowd surged, the news causing a massive uproar.
Amid the clamor, a black-haired youth turned his head, looking at the black screen and the line of text on it.
“No matter what, the one who succeeds in the end will be me,” he said.
In the next panel, his profile showed pupils filled with madness.
This was a crazed bounty hunter, but it was unclear who his longsword was aimed at.
The scene returned to the present, and the young man recalling the memory, Yi Xiangnan, shuddered and said again, “That guy’s really a madman.”
“What’s his name? If I want to find him, how do I do it?” Yiming pressed.
“His name?” Le Caille waved a hand with a smile. “He’s called Li Baige.”
The white doves in the square took flight, and among the flock, it was as if the familiar earring could be seen swaying.
The black-haired youth looked ahead, his profile devoid of any expression, like a frozen iceberg or a still, ripple-less lake.
But when Yiming looked again, the doves obscured his view, and the man had vanished without a trace.
In the black-and-white panel, Yiming wore a dazed expression, looking ahead.
“Li... Baige?” he murmured.