Chapter 74: The Lie That Must Not Be Exposed
Li Li was seriously thinking.
She remembered her opponent was a powerful high-rank ability user, and this high-rank even wanted to kill her.
She was only mid-rank, so she responded to the high-rank’s killing intent.
The sequence of events should be like that, and Li Li felt she could claim self-defense.
But when her true body, the black crow flying in the sky, saw the white-haired boy on the ground clutching the rabbit plushie, burying his head in it, trembling as if holding a long-lost treasure, a nonexistent conscience suddenly pricked her.
Clearly, Dan was the powerhouse who could shut her down with a single sentence about illusions not working here, so why did it feel like she, Li Li, was the villain?
She had the illusion she was bullying someone.
In the end, Li Li attributed this illusion to Dan’s deceptive appearance.
Six minutes remained until five o’clock.
Dan was half-kneeling on the ground, as if having endured immense shock, clinging to his rabbit plushie, as though nothing else around him mattered.
In the illusion, the black-haired youth also turned, her long boots stepping on the cracked ground, walking toward Dan step by step.
The high pressure had vanished the moment the rabbit plushie left his hands, but Li Li remained vigilant.
If Dan attacked her, she would proceed with her plan.
Error Correction might, like her Illusory Reality, be capable of altering its user’s state.
As long as it wasn’t a fatal blow, it could potentially heal itself, fully restoring health.
So, from the start, Li Li never believed she could kill this high-rank ability user.
Ranmu City’s daytime was like Jiao Huang’s city lord appearing when large-scale attacks occurred.
As long as she delayed until daytime, letting Dan use his ability to cause destruction, she could leverage Lin Ran’s authority to deal with him.
Just as she thought this, Dan suddenly moved.
The white-haired boy in the puffed-sleeve black dress tightly clutched his rabbit plushie, his face marked with two visible tear streaks.
Five minutes remained until five o’clock.
Dan turned his head, looking at Li Li, as if he desperately wanted to tear out her throat.
This mad dog was still untamed, though that wasn’t particularly surprising.
He wanted to kill Li Li, and Li Li wanted to kill him.
They were the same.
But Dan, holding the rabbit plushie, took a step back, then opened his mouth and said, “Rewind.”
Rewind? The different phrasing made Li Li pause for a moment.
In that instant, behind the phantom, the debris of the destroyed street trembled, floating upward with a clatter, as if guided by thought, returning to their original places.
The sunken ground was leveled, the cracked patterns faded, and the debris reformed, filling gaps.
After that single word, “Rewind,” the street was renewed.
It was just like the scene Li Li had seen at the transition between Eternal Night and daytime.
Dan had rewound time.
The one cleaning up the aftermath of Eternal Night was Dan!
“I will kill you,” Dan said, seemingly eager to act on his words immediately.
His heterochromatic pupils still glistened with tears, but deep within them burned the furious flames of a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched.
Li Li had no doubt that if there were a button to kill her instantly, Dan would press it a hundred times in a second, eager to smash it to pieces.
But in the end, he tightened his grip on the plushie, took a step back, and his figure vanished from the spot.
Four minutes remained until five o’clock.
The crow soared through the air, and Li Li saw Dan arrive in District 12, instantly activating his ability to rewind the city’s time to before the night.
After completing the rewind, his figure disappeared, heading toward District 11.
In the final four minutes, Dan raced across Ranmu City, rewinding the broken city after Eternal Night.
There was no mistake—her analysis that day had been correct.
The ability to restore the city destroyed after Eternal Night was a concept-type time rewind, and its master was Dan.
This was likely one of the abilities he had plundered.
Known as a concept-type hunter by Qing Yu Chen, Dan possessed multiple abilities beyond his own.
Due to the flaws of plundering, these abilities might be incomplete, have increased restrictions, or even be downgraded by a rank.
But if Dan had plundered a high-rank ability, even with significant losses, it would still be immensely powerful.
Her mind raced, and the phantom of the black-haired youth left in place curled its lips into a smile before vanishing.
Li Li was still thinking.
She had come here for the Lin clan nobles, and now Dan was connected to them as well.
Dan’s name was clearly that of a commoner, yet he was working for nobles.
Considering Dan’s attachment to the rabbit plushie and the strangeness of District 13, Li Li glanced at the time.
Taking advantage of Dan’s rush to rewind the city, the black crow spread its wings in the sky.
A phantom appeared, and the illusory crow dove toward District 13, which she hadn’t been able to enter earlier.
What met her eyes was a dilapidated city, completely different from the other districts.
It resembled old high-rises from a decade ago, half-collapsed tenements, and ground overgrown with weeds.
It was as if District 13 had been left in a time from over ten years ago, while the rest of Ranmu City had naturally progressed, leaving District 13 far behind in the past.
The crow perched on a utility pole, its claws covered in dust, so it shook the wire back and forth to dislodge the grime.
She noticed one tenement showed signs of life, with a path trodden through the weeds.
Her gaze shifted upward, seeing withered vines crawling over the building’s exterior, half of it collapsed.
Was this Dan’s domain? Li Li naturally speculated.
Whether Dan was a commoner or not, for an S-rank to work for them, the nobles must have paid a significant price.
If District 13 was the reward the nobles gave Dan, it wasn’t hard to understand why it was so distinct.
This area, frozen in the past, was important to Dan, much like the rabbit plushie he always carried.
Two minutes remained until five o’clock.
To be safe, Li Li recalled the phantom wandering in District 13, her true body vanishing from the spot and swiftly leaving the area.
In the final minute, she flew through a window, landing and reverting to her original form.
This was the house An Heyu had rented for them in Ranmu City, though they had only stayed a few hours on the first day before An Heyu remained in District 3 to organize the ability user groups there.
“Ding.”
The clock’s chime rang.
Five o’clock had arrived.
Li Li adjusted her sunglasses, hands in the pockets of her navy-blue hooded jacket, stepping out right on time to explore during the day.
She opened the door, and outside stood a familiar red-haired youth in a hoodie, holding a bag.
“Are you opening the door for me?” An Heyu said, his face lighting up with surprise, as if he had witnessed a miracle on par with a meteor striking the earth and ending the world.
Or perhaps it was just the joy of a parent seeing their lazy, chore-averse child suddenly volunteer to wash dishes, eager to announce it to the world.
Li Li’s smile didn’t falter.
She stepped back to let An Heyu in, as if she had indeed foreseen his arrival and opened the door for him.
"There was something I originally planned to tell you tonight," An Heyu said as he sidestepped inside. "I screened out some people from the Former Ability Guild in a violent gang in District 3."
"Their organization is now called Tide, but you probably already knew that," An Heyu continued.
He paused appropriately as he passed by Li Li, asking, "How should we handle them?"
Li Li thought for a moment.
For now, they were on the same side as Tide, so it was definitely impossible to actually do anything to Tide’s people.
But it was also impossible to make those people obedient without saying anything, and she didn’t want to leave potential hidden dangers.
"Tell them the person you’re loyal to is Heige. They’ll listen," Li Li finally said.
Although she didn’t want to be the so-called leader, using the name to act was convenient, and it would be a waste not to use it.
Whether it was the steady faction led by Hua Yizhi or the radical faction led by Rao Yue, if they had heard Heige’s name, they would generally give some face.
"Alright," An Heyu nodded in agreement, not asking why.
Perhaps because he had experienced the joy of commoners at the breakfast stall in Jiao Huang last time, An Heyu began to enjoy lingering at local breakfast stalls.
For example, today, after finishing business, he walked to the dining table, placed the breakfast he brought on it, and said, "Ranmu City has breakfast stalls too. I brought some back from there. It’s not squid and pork stuffed buns, but there’s orange juice fish and chicken shred tofu brain..."
??? What was this stuff?
Li Li had thought the salty-sweet tofu brain debate only existed in the real world, but she didn’t expect the manga world to come up with something like orange juice fish and chicken shred tofu brain.
The question was, was this considered sweet or salty?
In any case, she said no to this dark cuisine that sounded awful just by its name!
"I’m not hungry," Li Li quickly refused, then flashed out the door.
"...I also brought milk tea," An Heyu said as he finished his next sentence, placing the bag on the dining table.
He turned his head and saw the closed door.
He was silent for a moment, then said in a hesitant tone, "Has he been eating anything lately?"
An Heyu hadn’t seen Li Li eat much, except for occasionally drinking the milk tea he made and eating once at a breakfast stall in Jiao Huang.
After all, with her ability, Li Li could completely achieve self-perpetuating motion.
She didn’t care much about the desire for food.
She ate when she could, and when she didn’t have time, she used her ability to refresh her state.
Back when she was Li Baige in Four-Way City, she had lived like this too.
After pondering for a few seconds, An Heyu turned his head again, looking toward the kitchen next to the living room.
Then he walked in.
...
Li Li had always left the handling of District 3 to An Heyu.
She had no interest in managing any organization.
But what An Heyu said made sense.
With just the two of them, their target was too obvious.
It was better to blend into the collective of the District 3 ability user organization.
Like a drop of water falling into a pond, it was more concealed and safer when information was insufficient in the early stages.
Just like when she first arrived in Four-Way City, she became a bounty hunter, only taking action after collecting enough information.
Night fell, and Eternal Night visited this land once again.
Li Li had originally planned to go to District 3 to check on the Tide members An Heyu mentioned, and An Heyu seemed to have something to show her, specifically instructing her to go there tonight.
But plans couldn’t keep up with changes.
On her way, she saw a striking flash of orange.
The black crow that had been hurrying along circled around, flapped its wings, and perched on a branch, quietly watching the few people confronting each other on the road.
"Please, save us!"
This was District 1, an area where Ability Guild members were active.
At this moment, several ability users were holding two ordinary people, a man and a woman. In front of them were people from the Ability Guild.
Two orange-haired nobles and a blonde who seemed like a subordinate.
The leading orange-haired youth was the one who had appeared on the big screen, making public service ads.
He wore extremely expensive fabric, adorned with various costly gold and silver jewelry.
Unlike the other two, he had a white coat draped over the Ability Guild’s white uniform, looking very luxurious and strikingly handsome.
One of the ordinary people looked at the leading orange-haired youth with pleading eyes.
"We’ll do anything, please save us!"
At that, the ad orange-haired youth said, "How much can you pay?"
"Huh?" The ordinary person was stunned for a moment, then, as if grasping a lifeline, said, "My entire fortune!"
But contrary to his expectations, after hearing this, the orange-haired youth turned to the ability users holding the captives.
"And you?" he asked.
The leader of the ability users quickly replied, "Twice what he’s offering!"
It was as if they had been through this many times and had a well-practiced response.
And their words were obviously very satisfactory to the ad youth.
How could an ordinary person’s fortune compare to a lucrative human trafficking organization?
The ad youth spread his hands and said to the ordinary person with a regretful expression, "So that’s how it is. I’m powerless."
He wasn’t powerless; he was blatantly money-driven.
Li Li, watching from the sidelines, couldn’t help but shake her head, feeling that this person’s character design must have the two words "loves money" boldly highlighted.
"I can offer more, I can still..." The ordinary person struggled to grasp the lifeline that didn’t belong to him. "I’ve bought your protective doors and windows, I’ve supported every product update, please, save me!"
To him, this was his only chance at salvation.
But the ad youth had already turned away, casually making a gesture.
The two people beside him, to varying degrees, showed expressions of amusement, turning away with him.
"It’s useless," the bound female ordinary person said.
She seemed numb to the situation, looking down at the ground and saying softly, "No one will save you because you’re just the sludge at the bottom."
Seeing that the few people from the Ability Guild were already preparing to leave, the ability user detaining the two individuals said impatiently, “Let’s go, what’s with all the mumbling.”
But the woman was still talking, “Unless we can meet that person, only that person can save you.”
She raised her head, revealing a face that Li Li seemed to have seen before but couldn’t quite place.
It was likely the first night she arrived in Ranmu City, a young woman from the human trafficking organization she had taken down.
So how had she been captured again?
Seeing that the Ability Guild members were about to leave, Li Li quickly thought it over.
If she stepped in, she definitely couldn’t use Heige’s face, or the moment she appeared, a fight would break out.
So as long as it wasn’t Heige who showed up, it would be fine.
However, she also had to consider the Lin clan nobles and the high likelihood that Lin Ran’s ability was similar, meaning their eyes might have a chance of seeing through illusions.
She had to account for that possibility.
Li Li thought of Dan in his little black dress and his obviously pink and fluffy rabbit plushie.
Then she tapped the crow’s head.
The hardest lie to uncover in the world was probably a false lie.
Because that was the truth.