Chapter 101 - 96: The Tables Have Turned

Chapter 101: Chapter 96: The Tables Have Turned

The moment Zoe truly made up her mind, Yin Zhen felt it — she had finally awakened.

For the first time, Zoe had broken free from the tired tropes of a melodramatic love story, using the kind of clear-headed Wisdom that a protagonist was supposed to have to map out the right path forward.

Zoe’s reasoning was simple: the Rebel Army had already recognized Ian’s value and would throw everything they had into rescuing him. If she wasn’t there, the Guard Team would have no leverage to use Ian against anyone, and that would keep him as safe as possible — after all, the company had no interest in seeing Ian dead.

They could exploit her feelings for Ian, but she could just as easily exploit Ian’s value to them!

Yin Zhen hadn’t said anything at the time, but there was one more thing worth adding: with Zoe gone, Nan Jiamu’s group would lose their target entirely and have no reason to give Ian any further trouble.

Zoe had stepped outside the romance novel playbook — but Nan Jiamu was still running the classic "heroine must rescue the hero" scheme, banking on Zoe playing right into it.

Zoe had made her decision. Now it was Yin Zhen’s turn.

Go with Zoe to the secret lab, or head to the prison break and take Nan Jiamu out from the shadows.

Yin Zhen didn’t hesitate — she chose the former. She knew perfectly well that a nobody cannon fodder character had no business killing a protagonist. Even with her one-second Protagonist Halo Experience Card and an uninherited Villain Card, she simply wasn’t in the same league.

The only real shot at success was riding on Zoe’s coattails.

Yin Zhen had turned this over in her mind before: why was it that in other worlds, Nan Jiamu — a protagonist — could actually be killed? Wasn’t that a direct contradiction of the rule that protagonists don’t die?

Unless... the roles had been flipped.

Nan Jiamu had invaded the Red Corpse World. Here, she wasn’t the protagonist — Zoe was.

In the eyes of Zoe, the protagonist of the Red Corpse World, Nan Jiamu was nothing more than a villain. How much could her Protagonist Halo even do on someone else’s turf?

The description of Dark Destiny had hinted at it all along... the villain of one story, the villain of a story, the villain of all stories... there was never just one villain. There could be many.

Any team recognized by a protagonist, or any scheme set in motion by a protagonist’s hand, carried the power to kill a villain!

The clock was already running out on Nan Jiamu. She had to resolve the Chi Hai invasion as fast as possible, and Yin Zhen was certain that her burning resolve to kill Zoe would carry her through every obstacle until she finally stood face to face with her.

All Yin Zhen had to do now was wait.

Wait for everything to explode at the story’s peak — and then carve out the outcome she wanted from the chaos!

So for now, she would stick firmly by Zoe’s side, leech off her Protagonist Halo, and slot herself into the protagonist’s inner circle.

Before the operation kicked off, Yin Zhen had Jenny’s group strike near the Guard Corps Building — hit fast, hit hard, and leave them no time to react.

She’d also come up with the real-and-fake Zoe scheme for Jenny. No Overlord Aura this time, but Jenny still thought Yin Zhen’s presence alone could fill a room — the plan was just that brilliant!

And when it came to dyeing hair, Jenny was a professional. There wouldn’t be a single shade off, guaranteed.

With Jenny’s side sorted, Yin Zhen and Zoe headed to the location Ian had told them about.

Among the things Ian had left for Zoe — besides the necessary access cards and route maps — there was a blood sample and a detailed profile on one specific person.

That person was the director of the secret lab: Julian Saint’s sister, Silvia Saint.

Ian had specifically sourced a Spiritual System Extraordinary Ability for Zoe — one that, when she was impersonating someone, would use the power of the mind to make everyone around her genuinely perceive her as that person.

Zoe’s acting had never been great. She’d been practicing, and Ian had been waiting for the day she’d be convincing enough before taking her to the secret lab.

She still wasn’t ready. But this time, she had Yin Zhen.

Yin Zhen’s Blood Mimicry was far more straightforward, and on top of that she had the Talent called The Birth of an Actor — together, they made for a much more convincing Sylvia. Even if they ran into fingerprint or iris scanners along the way, Blood Mimicry could handle all of it without breaking a sweat.

The one problem was that the blood sample was over twenty-four hours old — too stale for mimicry.

But that wasn’t a problem for Yin Zhen, who now carried ten different Extraordinary Abilities and possessed physical attributes that put the vast majority of Blood Clan Extraordinary Ability Users to shame.

She spent two days staking out her target, and when Sylvia slipped away for a night of fun with her guards nowhere near her, Yin Zhen killed her without making a sound.

Then she drew the blood, triggered the mimicry, spent a night in Sylvia’s villa without a care in the world, and showed up for work the next morning like nothing had happened.

The only difference was that "Sylvia" arrived carrying a fish tank — inside was a small mutated fish she supposedly kept as a pet at home. It was no bigger than a thumb, like a tiny mermaid: a humanoid upper body, long hair like flowing seaweed, with an eerie, unsettling kind of beauty.

"Sylvia" walked in carrying the fish tank — and Zoe, who had shifted into a water form inside it — and passed through every checkpoint without a single problem, all the way down to the underground lab.

The heavy alloy doors of the secret lab slowly ground open. Yin Zhen hadn’t even gotten a proper look at the interior before a voice drifted out to meet her.

"My dear sister — you’re four minutes and thirteen seconds late today."

Yin Zhen was caught off guard to find Julian standing in the center of the lab’s main hall. At his side was a guard dressed in a black tailcoat — pale-faced and gaunt, someone Yin Zhen recognized all too well.

Urban. The one who had killed her over seventy times inside the Training Pod. Only this time, he was the real thing.

Julian was dressed in a finely tailored dark grey suit. As he spoke, he didn’t bother turning around to look at her — his gaze remained fixed on the massive cylindrical tank dominating the center of the lab.

The tank was filled to the brim with pale blue nutrient fluid, and suspended at its center — stretching from floor all the way up into the mezzanine of the ceiling — floated an enormous, blood-red brain. Its surface was dense with veins and nerve bundles, tangled as thick as a spider’s web.

Countless tubes snaked out from the tank’s ports and connected to the instruments surrounding it. Julian stood beneath it all, head tilted back, as if admiring a painting.

"No matter how many times I see it — it feels like a miracle."

A sudden spike of pain shot through Yin Zhen’s head, and that woman’s murmuring rose up again — identical to what she’d heard back on the drilling platform, but this time the voice was close. It was right here.

The fish tank in her arms shuddered violently, ripples spreading across the water. Zoe had heard it too, without a doubt.

Yin Zhen followed the sound with her eyes, sweeping the room — and first spotted three upright coffins lined up side by side against the far wall.

They were called coffins, but they looked more like some kind of high-tech sleep capsules: silver-white casings, tubes connecting each one to the massive blood-red brain at the center of the room, and carved above each capsule, a distinct totem.

A platinum laurel branch, a Bloodthorn, a silver gear — each one representing one of the three great families. The ancestors of those families lay inside.

But the woman’s murmuring wasn’t coming from the coffins. It was coming from a small nutrient pod tucked away in the corner, its semi-transparent shell cradling a pure white brain suspended within.

No folds. No veins. Just an unnaturally clean white — the same white as that white creature.

The instant Yin Zhen’s gaze landed on the white brain, the murmuring she’d never been able to make out suddenly became crystal clear.

"I have been... waiting for you."

Julian turned around, following her line of sight to the small white nutrient pod.

"The former leader of the Rebel Army — still so far from a true miracle."

Yin Zhen quietly pulled her gaze away and set the fish tank down on the desk where Sylvia usually worked.

"What brought you all the way down here today?"

Julian walked over, Urban falling in respectfully behind him, maintaining exactly three paces of distance at all times.

Julian leaned down and tapped a finger against the glass of the fish tank. The little fish inside darted straight into the weeds in fright.

"The old men on the council are worried someone might try to infiltrate and cause trouble. They specifically asked me to come and keep an eye on things. Starting today, dear sister, you and I will be commuting together."

Fortunately, Yin Zhen had used resonance on Sylvia’s memories when she killed her. She knew that Sylvia couldn’t stand her insufferably superior little brother — so she wasted no time snapping at him to get out.

"We don’t need you getting in the way here!"

Julian didn’t look the least bit bothered. "Don’t be like that, sis. How’s the progress on waking up those three? If you’ve run into any problems, I’m happy to help."

The urge to kill him surged through Yin Zhen.