Chapter 117: A Candid Meeting

Chapter 117: Chapter 110: A Candid Meeting

Early the next morning, Yin Zhen pulled open the bedroom curtains, letting the sunlight dispel the gloom within.

Waking up and seeing the sunlight, Zoe instinctively shrank into the corner of the bed. She pulled the blanket up, clutching it tightly to her chest, her back pressed hard against the icy wall.

Then, it slowly dawned on her that she was no longer in Night City. She was human now.

Curious, Zoe stared at a single spot of golden light falling on the edge of the bed. She gulped. With one hand still gripping the blanket, she cautiously reached out with the other.

Her fingertips first brushed the edge of the light, but she flinched and pulled back, as if she had touched something scalding.

Mustering her courage, she reached out again, even slower and lighter this time. When her fingertips finally rested in the light, she squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath.

It was warm. There was no burning pain. Her mind was still screaming at her to pull back, but her body had already fallen in love with the sensation.

Zoe’s eyes flew wide open in pleasant surprise. Her fingers unconsciously stretched and opened, wanting to grasp the light.

“May!” Zoe’s voice trembled slightly. “I can… I can…”

Yin Zhen completely drew back the curtains of the small bedroom. The entire room was flooded with the early morning sunlight, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air.

Zoe leaped off the bed and stood directly in the largest, brightest patch of light. She looked down at her hands, turning them over and over. Sunlight leaked through her fingers, turning the edges of her nails a translucent pink.

“It’s not burning,” she murmured. Then, she turned to Yin Zhen with a radiant smile, her voice raising a full octave. “I’m not burning! Look, May, the sunlight isn’t burning me!”

Spreading her arms wide, Zoe stood spread-eagled in the light. She tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply, as if trying to suck all the sunlight into her body at once to store it away.

The sun warmed her eyelids, turning them a faint red. Her toes unconsciously curled and uncurled against the floorboards. Like a cat basking in the sun, she wanted to stretch herself out to cover the maximum possible surface area.

“May, do you smell that? There’s a scent—it’s strange, but it smells really good. Does sunlight actually have a scent?”

Leaning against the edge of the bed with her arms crossed, Yin Zhen glanced at her quilt. “That’s the smell of dead dust mites.”

Zoe cracked one eye open, wearing a look of genuine confusion.

Lucy walked up behind Yin Zhen and broadcasted in a flat, mechanical tone: “Dust mites are microscopic arachnid arthropods, measuring approximately zero point one to zero point five millimeters in length. They are widely distributed in the textiles of human living environments. The ultraviolet rays in sunlight can destroy the protein structure within a mite’s body, resulting in its death. The scent you are smelling is the volatile organic compounds produced by the decomposition of mite corpses under high temperatures.”

“Are they tasty?”

“Consumption is not recommended.”

Right on cue, Zoe’s stomach let out a series of distinct GURGLES. She looked down at her belly, then back up at Yin Zhen with an embarrassed expression.

“Sorry, May, I’m rumbling again. Humans really are a bit of a hassle. They constantly need to eat, excrete, and sleep. Yesterday, I dreamt about this body’s recent memories. She went to work every day, had an endless amount of tasks, and got scolded by her boss. She was very short on money and very unhappy. May, is being human a very unhappy thing?”

“I can’t answer that question for you. Everyone’s answer is different; you’ll have to experience it for yourself.” Yin Zhen rummaged through her closet and handed Zoe a set of clothes. “These are my clothes. They’re clean. Put them on, and we’ll go to the market for breakfast.”

When leaving the residential compound, Yin Zhen stored Lucy away in her game inventory and headed out leaning on a crutch. She needed to let the people around her gradually get used to the idea that she could stand on her own two feet again.

Since she had agreed to an honest meeting with Bai Qiang, some of her disguises were no longer necessary. Her Identity would be exposed sooner or later anyway, and she was already prepared for that.

However, Yin Zhen had a gut feeling that Bai Qiang would help keep her secret. She didn’t even know where this confidence came from.

And then there was Lucy. She couldn’t be exposed either, or it would attract the attention of the higher-ups. Having promised Lucy her freedom, Yin Zhen couldn’t let her become a tool for the elites to exploit.

Therefore, after breakfast, Yin Zhen spent some time and effort pretending to pick up her “younger cousin Lucy” from the train station. Lucy could handle any surveillance camera issues herself.

Last night, Lucy had also perfectly forged her household registration files. She was supposedly born in the remote countryside of Yin Zhen’s hometown and wasn’t registered until she was six. With no birth record, she was officially registered under the name “Yin Xiaoxi,” currently aged eight. A congenital illness made her unable to attend school normally and caused stunted growth.

Lucy was incredibly meticulous, which put Yin Zhen completely at ease.

After finishing these errands, it was time for Yin Zhen and Bai Qiang’s scheduled meeting. Yin Zhen settled Zoe and Lucy in a cake shop on the first floor of Tiansheng Department Store before heading to the corner cafe alone.

When Bai Qiang arrived, the cafe had just opened. She picked a window seat facing the street, ordered a matcha latte, and leaned back in her chair to wait.

Yin Zhen had scheduled their meeting for nine o’clock. Outside, the morning rush hour crowd surged by. Office workers hurried past clutching paper cups, while food delivery riders on electric scooters lined up in strings along the bike lane, waiting for the red light.

Bai Qiang took a sip of her latte. Habitually, she pulled out a cigarette and twirled it between her fingers, mentally reviewing the geographic layout of the location.

There were two subway entrances, two underground pedestrian passage entrances, and a side door to a shopping mall. The foot traffic was heavy and there were many branching paths. Someone could disappear into the crowd just by turning a corner.

Bai Qiang scoffed with a smile. “Booking such a bustling spot… is she afraid I’ll ambush her in a remote location?”

Hilarious. As if she could even win a fight against her.

That was a Kill God who could even slay protagonists. Her combat power was simply too immense. Just like Zoe, she possessed multiple Extraordinary Abilities—she probably had even more in her arsenal than Zoe did.

Blood silk, Magnetic Control, Shadow Manipulation, Raven Transformation, and Iron Bone. Who knew if she was hiding any abilities she hadn’t shown yet? Her original Extraordinary Ability was definitely the same as Zoe’s—the power to steal the Extraordinary Abilities of others. It was absolutely terrifying!

“That person is definitely a villain. You really know how to play games, System. You just have to force me to stand against her, don’t you?”

A forum private message notification chimed suddenly. It was from “Blossoming Prosperity,” containing only two words: “Look up.”

Bai Qiang snapped her head up. Outside the glass window, standing amid the sea of people on the sidewalk, was Yin Zhen. She wore a black summer tracksuit, a baseball cap, and a high ponytail, her gloomy face utterly expressionless.

The moment their eyes met, Bai Qiang’s eyes widened in shock. It was her!

A second later, Bai Qiang snapped to her senses, leaped out of her seat, and dashed for the door.

“Don’t you dare run!”

The cafe door chimes JINGLED wildly as Bai Qiang shoved her way out. She charged into the crowd outside, glancing left and right. Nothing!

Yin Zhen had vanished. Bai Qiang pushed through the crowd and ran a few steps toward the subway entrance before stopping to scan the entire street again. Still nothing.

Bai Qiang stood in the crowd for a moment. Resting her hands on her hips, she was once again driven to a frustrated laugh.

“Fine, fine, fine! When I said we should have an honest meeting, I didn’t mean literally just seeing each other’s faces for one second! Playing word games with me, huh? Awesome! You’re really awesome!”

However, this meeting wasn’t entirely fruitless. She had finally learned that person’s true Identity. So, they had actually met a long time ago.

Bai Qiang abruptly looked down at the cigarette in her hand and facepalmed.

“Quit smoking, Bai Qiang. Start quitting today. Nothing good ever comes from smoking!”

Back then, she had even felt guilty over S717’s line about “not wanting to disappoint Ms. Adeline.” And as a result… what a joke.

She had even put on an act to snatch her away, childishly bickering with Lucia over it. That person had put on such a righteous front, but in reality, she had probably been laughing behind Bai Qiang’s back every time they met.

What a bastard. She was way too manipulative!