Chapter 250: Thanks for the Help
Chapter 250: Thanks for the Help
The ethereal shadow drifted silently in space.
Lying beneath it was a motionless corpse. The body wore a red cloak, an Ability Suppressor around its neck, and a Glass Helmet on its head. All signs of life were gone. Around the neck were severe burns from intense electrical currents.
The shadow itself seemed to sprout from the corpse, much like white flowers emerging from red soil.
At first, it appeared utterly devoid of consciousness, suspended in mid-air as if frozen in that state.
Only when Lu Xin greeted it did a strange sort of awareness stir. Its form shivered slightly. A faint spark of life flickered into its vacant eyes as it slowly lowered its head to look at Lu Xin. It hovered, silent and unmoving.
Instantly, a torrent of hollow despair surged toward Lu Xin.
Enormous, pale markings similar to the white shadow erupted across Lu Xin’s body.
However, these markings vanished almost immediately, washed away by the shadows swirling around him.
Parts of these shadows even turned ferocious, surging forward violently, threatening to engulf the white phantom.
Lu Xin raised a hand slightly, restraining the Black Shadow.
It was like declaring ownership of prey to his own shadow.
The Black Shadow writhed around him, as if emitting cold, mocking laughter, but ultimately did not advance.
Only then did Lu Xin turn his attention to the white shadow, speaking softly, “Look around. Look at the mess you’ve made.”
“The hotel glass is all shattered, the roads are cracked, railings twisted… How much will it cost to fix this, huh?”
He sighed deeply. “I actually quite liked this city…”
“People worked so hard for so long to draw these neat lines, and you’ve messed them all up in an instant.”
“……”
It was unclear if the white phantom could comprehend Lu Xin’s words. It seemed to cast a glance toward Lu Xin’s shadow.
It seemed confused.
A person harboring this kind of shadow—speaking to it about “rules” and “order”?
Lu Xin didn’t attempt to explain or justify himself.
From the intel he’d received, he knew this S-Class Ability User was already dead.
He was communicating with a corpse.
So, he couldn’t expect a corpse to understand his point. He just needed it to grasp what he was about to do.
“You really seemed to have been craving death,” Lu Xin looked at it and said. “I could feel it. Feeling nothing, just existing in sheer exhaustion.”
“Staying alive, perceiving this world… that must have been agony. I’ve felt something similar myself.”
“I had it a bit better, though. I at least had things left unfinished. And soon after… I had family.”
“……”
The white phantom remained still, drifting silently, as though detached from the world.
“I sense your Emotion. So I’m not here to demand why you did this,” Lu Xin said earnestly. “But you did commit these wrongs. So I don’t pity you, either.”
He then looked directly into the phantom’s eyes. “Someone used your pain as a weapon against Qinggang. So, by destroying you, I’ll send a warning to anyone else who wants to weaponize another’s suffering.”
“That… seems entirely fair and reasonable, doesn’t it?”
“……”
The white phantom gave no reaction. Perhaps incapable of understanding, or perhaps simply unwilling to answer.
Maybe if it had possessed the slightest Desire to respond to others, it wouldn’t have wished to die.
“Later, I’ll eliminate you… kill you again… in a highly noticeable fashion.”
“To conclude this event.”
Lu Xin spoke to the white phantom with genuine sincerity. “But before I do that… there’s something I need your help with.”
“Since nothing matters to you anymore, you probably don’t mind helping me, right?”
“……”
The phantom showed no response.
So, Lu Xin expressed his gratitude. “Thank you!”
As he spoke, he slowly reached out and grasped the phantom’s neck.
The white phantom was, after all, just an ethereal shadow.
When a hand approached or passed through it, one would only feel a faint tingling sensation.
Simultaneously, one sensed its boundless Void, a great chasm antithetical to Emotion. The feeling of nearness to it was like the complete inversion of all ordinary human feelings, all emotions.
Lu Xin endured this sensation, using it to sense other presences.
Intangible threads of Perception extended from the phantom.
Through it, Lu Xin felt the innumerable Psychic Entities surrounding him, even sensing their emotions. Some felt Fear and hopelessness toward the wildly Chaotic shadows, desperately wanting to flee.
Others looked at the elegant, gentle woman and trembled with terror.
Still others were chased by a terrifying yet strangely adorable girl, frantic only to escape…
…None of that mattered.
……
Lu Xin traced what he sought through the phantom.
According to his deduction, the target should exist.
Sure enough, amidst sensing dozens of Psychic Entities in an instant, Lu Xin’s eyes snapped open.
He’d spotted one: a Psychic Entity with stumpy, thin limbs but an obese, bloated body. A fissure ran down its middle, revealing a single, bewildered eyeball inside. It moved slower than the rest, lagging behind.
Within this Chaos, it seemed utterly lost. It survived purely by luck, lurking at the very back of the disarray.
Lu Xin looked at it. An overwhelming sense of familiarity washed over him.
Instantly, the surrounding shadows grew even more violent. The pace at which they devoured or Annihilated other Psychic Entities multiplied.
This particular Psychic Entity also sensed the terror.
Though it moved clumsily, it desperately wiggled its little legs, striving to push forward.
Amidst the vast, chaotic melee of Black Shadow and Psychic Entities spanning hundreds of meters, it miraculously, perfectly stayed within the shadows’ gaps. Thus, lucky yet bewildered, it wobbled forward, its tiny legs pumping…
It ran… and ran… then abruptly sensed danger. Looking up, it saw Lu Xin nearby.
Lu Xin stood there, one hand gripping the white phantom’s neck, his gaze fixed on the creature. A kind, gentle smile played on his lips.
This smile instilled profound Fear in the monster. Almost reflexively, it unleashed its ability on Lu Xin. Its feeble limbs instantly elongated, turning into fine Tentacles that lashed out, grabbing hold of Lu Xin.
Lu Xin didn’t evade. He let the creature take hold.
Immediately, a wave of unnatural exhaustion washed over him. The surrounding world began to destabilize.
Before the real world dissolved completely, Lu Xin cast one glance at his own shadow.
A single glance toward Mother.
The meaning was clear: This matter… do not interfere.