Chapter 29 - 27: Lethal Question

Chapter 29: Chapter 27: Lethal Question

When Victor rushed back, he walked straight into a tense standoff.

S717 was aiming a gun at Ian. Victor’s expression darkened, and his body shot toward Yin Zhen with almost teleportation-like speed, striking the gun out of her hand with a backhand blow.

"You!" The enraged ’Lucia’ glared at Victor like a defiant little beast, instinctively using her Extraordinary Ability to fight back. Then, she transformed into a tiny, pitch-black Raven.

Seeing this, the three members of the Bloodthorn Squad shuddered in unison. White Phosphorus and Lighthouse tacitly took a step back, hiding behind Tuner as usual, and shoved him forward together. Tuner froze in sheer panic!

Their captain’s pursuit of Strength had reached an absolute extreme. To gain overwhelming power, she would train relentlessly through the night, always charging at the very front when purging Fallen Species and Mutants. There was no way she could accept that her originally devastating A-level White Bone Thorn had turned into a C-level Transformation: Raven.

Sure enough, when ’Lucia’ reverted to her human form, the fury in her eyes was on the verge of erupting.

"You! How dare you! How dare you fob me off with this trash?!"

’Lucia’ lashed out at Victor, but a surge of electricity erupted from the back of her neck, paralyzing her body and sending her crashing to the floor.

"Captain!" White Phosphorus rushed over with concern.

Seeing the remote control in Victor’s hand, ’Lucia’ grew even more furious. "You! I’ll kill you all!"

White Phosphorus also felt a surge of anger. Tracking chips were meant for test subjects; putting one on their captain was an insult.

"Since the consciousness transfer is successful, shouldn’t you remove the tracking chip from the captain?" White Phosphorus asked, suppressing her rage.

Victor looked down at ’Lucia’ sprawling on the floor and raised a hand to rub his temple. "Not yet. She must remain in the laboratory for follow-up observation. Once I confirm that... everything is normal, I will personally remove the tracking chip for her."

At this moment, Ian stepped forward to add, "Miss Lucia’s consciousness transfer experiment is the first successful case to date. To prevent any rejection reactions or other potential dangers, it’s safer for her to stay in the lab. Three days at most, I promise."

"Take her to the lounge," Victor ordered. White Phosphorus secretly curled her lip. Together with Lighthouse, she helped ’Lucia’ up from the floor, letting Lighthouse carry her on his back toward the lounge.

"Wait!" ’Lucia’ ordered Lighthouse to stop. "Give me an Extraordinary Catalyst!"

"S717 has already used one before," Victor said. "If you’re not afraid of mutating again, I can give it to you."

"You!" Before Yin Zhen could finish her sentence, Lighthouse scurried out of the laboratory. Although Victor had no Extraordinary Ability whatsoever, his combat Strength was terrifying. He was the vice-captain of the Guard Team and the most relied-upon man in the Dracula family.

Just outside the lab, the group saw Adeline leaning against the wall, her cigarette already burned down to the filter. Adeline’s inquiring gaze landed on Yin Zhen.

"Adeline, why aren’t you dead yet?"

Adeline, who had been about to probe her with a question, laughed in exasperation. Despite the strange circumstances, that highly punchable tone made it incredibly difficult for Adeline to associate the familiar face before her with the original S717.

"If I die, who’s going to make your mundane life miserable?"

"Adeline, you f***ing—" Once again, without waiting for Yin Zhen to finish, Lighthouse continued trotting down the hall, delivering her straight to the lounge.

This lounge, specially prepared for Lucia, was enormous and fully equipped. The refrigerator was stuffed with bottled Clones’ blood plasma and expensive blood source element, while the wardrobe held many of Lucia’s usual clothes.

After White Phosphorus helped Yin Zhen wash up, she kept a watchful eye during the change of clothes. Instead of picking an outfit for her, he stood silently to the side and observed. Seeing Yin Zhen grab Lucia’s usual black tank top, short jacket, and cargo pants, White Phosphorus let out a breath, increasingly convinced that this was undoubtedly their captain.

"Get out! I need to rest for a while." Yin Zhen lay down on the sofa, clutching her forehead. Swallowing the barrage of words she wanted to say, White Phosphorus dragged Lighthouse away.

Tuner didn’t leave. He gently closed the lounge door, walked over to the head of the sofa, and pressed his cold fingers affectionately and softly against Yin Zhen’s temples.

"I’ve been so worried about you all this time."

Yin Zhen’s heart tightened; Lucia and Tuner had an intimate relationship. However, from Lucia’s perspective, Tuner was merely a boy toy used to spice up her life, hardly qualifying as a lover. During their clash of consciousnesses, Yin Zhen hadn’t managed to achieve resonance with all of Lucia’s memories regarding Tuner, retaining only a few fragments that had left a deep impression on her.

If Tuner were to ask about their shared past right now, she definitely wouldn’t be able to answer. She swatted Tuner’s hands away and sat up from the sofa.

Tuner sat down right beside her, closing the distance. He gazed deeply into Yin Zhen’s pale red, glass-like pupils at this moment with his affectionate eyes.

"I’m so glad you could come back!"

Yin Zhen furrowed her brows slightly. Turning the tables, she leaned in close to Tuner, pinched his chin, and stared intently at her own reflection in his eyes. S717 had a typical Eastern face, whereas Lucia had a blonde Western face—they were worlds apart.

"Do you like my face now? How does it compare to the original? Does it turn you on even more?"

The deep affection in Tuner’s eyes was instantly shattered by this barrage of questions. He instinctively tried to look away, but Yin Zhen gripped his chin firmly, forcing him to face her.

"Look me in the eyes and answer me!"

"I... I... I..." Tuner’s mind was buzzing. If he said he liked the original, it would definitely damage his future relationship with Lucia, especially since she would be living with S717’s face from now on. But if he said he liked her current face, it would be tantamount to betrayal in Lucia’s eyes. If he said he liked both... he’d be an unfaithful jerk!

"What I’ve always loved is your thorn-like soul, regardless of the vessel," Tuner finally said, silently praising his own quick wit.

Yin Zhen let out a cryptic scoff. "You love my soul? Then when I was mutating, you couldn’t bring yourself to kiss me?"

Tuner’s expression cracked, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

At that moment, a voice coming from the wristband communicator saved Tuner’s life. "A riot has broken out in the Blood Feeding Ground! A Blood Beast has suddenly awakened and escaped! The Bloodthorn Squad is requested to provide immediate backup!"

Hearing this, Yin Zhen thought of the Player who worked in the Blood Feeding Ground, as well as the person who had transmigrated directly into a Blood Beast. She released Tuner’s chin. "Get lost!"

"You... get some good rest. I’ll go take care of business first." Tuner fled in panic. He absolutely didn’t know how to answer that lethal question!

As the sound of the door closing echoed, Yin Zhen collapsed back onto the sofa. She was safe for the time being. However, Victor’s suspicions had not yet been dispelled, and the Dracula family would undoubtedly conduct further verifications to confirm if she was truly Lucia. Yin Zhen felt uneasy, unsure of how much longer she could use this Identity, so she had to prepare a backup plan.

[18:45:11]

As long as she survived the next 18 hours and returned to her own world, she would have enough time to sort through Lucia’s memories, analyze her personality and behavioral patterns, and figure out how to better play the Character of Lucia.

Fortunately for Yin Zhen, Lucia was the first ’successful case’ of consciousness transfer. With no precedents or standard benchmarks to reference, even if she made occasional slip-ups, she could easily brush them off. Recalling the situation at the time, Yin Zhen’s heart still pounded with fear. Thankfully, it had been a close call but ultimately safe.

Yin Zhen reviewed the logs on the System Panel.

[Warning: The Player’s consciousness is undergoing severe destruction. If your consciousness dies in the Red Corpse World, the Player will die along with the Character.]

[You have stimulated the residual power of the Extraordinary Catalyst in your body and grasped the key to Blood Source Resonance. Your Blood Source Resonance has been upgraded to A-level.]

[Your consciousness has achieved resonance with Lucia’s. You have copied Lucia’s memories. Your spiritual power has massively increased. Character S717 Wisdom +9.]

[You have completed the side plot event ’Assassination’, obtaining Silver Item ’A Piece of Paper’ x1, attribute points x10, and 10,000 words.]

[Special event ’Cannon Fodder Must Die’ completed. Obtained single-use Item ’See You in the Next Chapter’ x1, 500 words.]

[Accumulated 5 completed death events. Obtained exclusive title ’Why aren’t you dead yet’.]

[Congratulations, your Identity Card has been upgraded to Copper Card. Luck Value +3.]

[Please draw your new Talent.]