This Kind of Behavior Is Generally Called Filling in the Blanks (4k)

Klein felt as though she had been threatened.

But when she looked at Xu Ziling's highly deceptive smile and impossibly handsome face—one that didn't look villainous in the slightest—she still felt uneasy.

After weighing the matter in her mind for a long while, she finally spoke:

"Um... Assistant Xu, is this power you're using right now... normal?"

"Cough, cough... Of course, classmate. The power I'm displaying is indeed somewhat beyond your understanding."

Xu Ziling coughed twice tactically before saying,

"But if you knew the doctor's true identity, I believe you'd gradually come to understand everything. After all, there's nothing strange about the doctor doing anything."

"So your power... all comes from Professor Serpent?"

Klein's eyes widened slightly. She had imagined that Professor Serpent's achievements might be immense, but she had never expected that the woman had reached the point where she could easily alter the limits of the human body's power.

For some reason, Klein suddenly connected the Xu Ziling before her with the "suspect" she had seen last night—the one possessing inhuman physical strength and capable of jumping an entire floor high...

"Cough, cough."

Sensing that Klein was about to guess the correct answer, Xu Ziling hurriedly coughed twice and said,

"That's right, classmate. My power does come from the doctor, but just like you... I'm a perfectly normal person who thinks like a human being. Perhaps you've seen terrifying beings like me who possess inhuman strength... but that wasn't the doctor's intention. Someone stole the doctor's idea and conducted experiments with incomplete data, creating those things. They have nothing to do with us. They're forces hostile to us.

"As for the doctor herself, well... she's actually very gentle. You may not get along with her at first, but after spending more time together, you'll discover that she's nothing like those mad biology doctors you see in novels. She has her own moral standards, too. I can guarantee that with my own character... Even if you don't intend to stay here for long and are only hiding from the hostile forces, I still think that, even after a brief acquaintance, you'll come to like the doctor."

Klein thought of the "Professor Serpent" she had seen last night, her face flushed red after getting drunk. Xu Ziling's words seemed reasonable. How could a truly terrifying mad doctor reveal such a limp, utterly drunk state? It was far too undignified. So Professor Serpent was probably a good person... right?

Of course, more importantly, Klein had no choice now.

What had happened last night had indeed awakened the fear in her heart. She was now too afraid to return to school, terrified that if she saw something she shouldn't, that "evil kidnapper" would catch her and silence her.

As for running away... where could she go? Klein had no confidence that she could escape from the clutches of a highly intelligent criminal who had seen through every one of her thoughts.

So... after eliminating every impossible option, Klein had only one choice left.

She would remain at the research institute and use its power to protect herself. Once the incident had passed and the "villain's" attention had gradually shifted away from her, she would return.

She would definitely miss this year's college entrance examination, but as long as she stayed alive, even if she took the makeup exam next year, Klein's own knowledge would be more than enough to get her into a university she liked.

But... wasn't this all a little too coincidental?

Klein's brows drew tightly together.

If she had sought out Professor Serpent to ask questions and consequently been drawn into the whirlpool of the other party's conflict, that could be called her own bad luck... But if Xu Ziling was right and Professor Serpent was an extraordinarily capable biologist, then what qualifications did Chiyu Academy have to hire her as a lecturer? Chiyu Academy was decent by Changkong City's standards... but only by Changkong City's standards. It should not have been worthy of her attention.

Sensing Klein's suspicions, Xu Ziling nodded in satisfaction. His target had already fallen completely into his mental trap, unaware that this, too, was part of the plan.

Suspicion? That was exactly what he wanted. If he explained everything clearly from the outset, the other party might instinctively become wary. But if she developed suspicions herself, discovered the problems, and then convinced herself based on details in his words and even physical evidence... the nature of the matter would be completely different. Not only would he avoid suspicion, but once Klein discovered that her suspicions were mistaken, she would even have to apologize for her behavior!

This sort of behavior was generally called filling in the blanks.

Tricking underdeveloped elementary schoolchildren and regressed college students might not work, but a lively-minded high school student was just right.

With that thought, Xu Ziling smiled and said:

"Of course, classmate. Judging by your age... you should be about to take the college entrance examination, right? I'm sorry again for dragging you into our whirlpool at such an important time. However... the doctor actually has quite a lot of authority.

"Classmate, as a token of my apology for dragging you into this, I intend to recommend you to the doctor later. If you're willing to use your free time to help out under her... with the doctor's status, all she needs to do is nod, and skipping straight past university to take the graduate entrance examination would be no difficult matter... Of course, both the beginning and the end of this matter depend on your wishes. I'm only offering you a suggestion.

"Classmate, if you decide, you can come find me anytime. I'll do my best to persuade the doctor for you. After all... this is something I owe you."

Xu Ziling apologized over and over until he made Klein feel embarrassed. After scratching her head, she said,

"N-no, it's fine... I'll think about it myself later. But before that, there's still something I'm very concerned about, and I hope you can answer it, Assistant Xu... Since I can only stay here for now to hide from danger, shouldn't we at least have a general understanding of each other? I'd like to know who you are, so that I don't... do something foolish when I help you later. Um... of course, if it's inconvenient, then..."

"No. Speaking only for myself, it's convenient. Very convenient."

Xu Ziling quickly took Klein's hand, a satisfied smile already spreading across his face.

Under normal circumstances, the cautious Klein would naturally understand that the more one knew, the greater the risk. But she was currently suspicious of both Xu Ziling and Professor Serpent, and was desperate to uncover the truth. Therefore, she at least needed to know who Xu Ziling and Professor Serpent really were.

Asking directly was obviously not a good choice, but she had no other option.

What Klein did not know was that once she learned of the identity known as "Mobius" as an ordinary person, she would never be able to get off this pirate ship again.

Although the process had involved quite a few deviations and accidents, this abduction of Klein for her talent ultimately ended with Xu Ziling, having welded the car doors shut, obtaining the perfect result he had expected.

And sure enough...

"Mei...bius?"

Upon hearing the name, Klein blinked, seemingly searching through her mind for information about it.

But after a long while, she lowered her head dejectedly.

Then again, it made sense. Not everyone possessed MEI's foresight and vast channels for gathering information. From a certain perspective, Klein's ignorance of what the name Mobius truly represented also protected her.

After all... once she learned how much weight the name Mobius carried in this civilized era, Klein would completely understand what sort of pirate ship she had boarded today.

"That's right... classmate. The doctor's real name is Mobius."

Xu Ziling smiled and explained to Klein,

"However, the doctor drank last night and still hasn't woken up. Don't disturb her for now. You can familiarize yourself with the doctor's home first... Oh, right. There's someone in the living room whom I called over yesterday to help rescue you. She's making breakfast for everyone. If there's anything you want to eat, you can ask her. She never refuses anyone's request."

"There are other people?"

Klein blinked. Staying in bed all day obviously wasn't a solution. It would be good to meet the people she might be living with over the next few days.

With that thought, Klein looked at her clothes. She was still wearing the same outfit as before, and it had not been disturbed. She relaxed slightly, then said:

"Um... thank you, but I'd still like to wash up before meeting anyone else... Assistant Xu, may I ask where the bathroom is?"

"I'll take you there."

Xu Ziling smiled and nodded before extending his right hand toward Klein.

After thinking for a moment, Klein also took the right hand he offered.

At the same time.

Outside the door.

Elysia, wearing an apron and crouched there to eavesdrop, became increasingly excited.

"Wow~? So this is how Little Ziling tricks an innocent girl... Hmm~ I'm not sure whether I'll ever need it myself, but I'll remember it~"

Hearing the two sets of footsteps already coming from the bedroom, Elysia smiled faintly, then hurried back to the kitchen to continue preparing the breakfast she had not finished.

And just as Xu Ziling had said, Mobius had drunk the system-supplied Realgar Wine last night and was still tossing about in bed, unconscious. Elysia was cooking, and the living room of the little house was empty.

This calmed Klein once more. She was used to coming and going alone, and being introduced to several new friends all at once might have been too much for her.

Following Klein's request, Xu Ziling briefly introduced the layout of the little house and the underground research institute connected to it before sending her into the bathroom.

That meant he had successfully fooled this "truly flawless person." From here, all that remained was to see how much information he "accidentally" revealed and how much Klein filled in on her own.

But that was a matter for later. For now, the most important thing was waiting for Serpent to wake up and explaining to her what he had done with Klein, as well as the... Simulated Herrscher born last night.

Listening to the sound of Klein washing up in the bathroom and the melody unconsciously hummed by the fairy in the kitchen as she cooked, Xu Ziling had the vague feeling that he had overlooked something today...

He glanced at the tightly covered windows, then instinctively looked down at his own body. Suddenly, he remembered, and asked inwardly:

Speaking of which... System, why have you been so quiet today? Aren't you issuing the daily mission?

[...]

[Waaah...]

"?"

Hearing the sudden dejected voice in his mind, Xu Ziling developed a large question mark above his head.

No... System, did you update yourself into a bug? Why are you throwing a tantrum now?

[Waaah... I'm unhappy...]

"???"

[Host, I spent so much effort last night condensing that black outfit for you... How could you turn around and put it on an outsider? And in the end, it was even torn to pieces... Waaah, you bad host! If I'd known this would happen, I never would have condensed that convenient black night suit for you. Waaah...]

Ah, this...

Xu Ziling was momentarily speechless. Last night, he had taken on the appearance of a randomly selected lucky person from the roadside; the mask had been picked up from a trash can; the rope had been created from his own hair; and the stool had been carried over from nearby... The only thing he had hidden beneath was the white-and-gold Bishop's Attire Elysia had given him, so he had pestered the system into giving him a black night suit.

That night suit had then become his tool for diverting attention and shifting the blame. Xu Ziling had never expected that his innocent little system would start throwing a tantrum over it.

But putting himself in its place, it made sense. If Xu Ziling was compared to an unscrupulous entrepreneur and the system to a freshly graduated, naïve college student, then what he had done was like a boss ordering an employee to handle a task, only to casually throw away the result the employee had worked so hard to obtain. It was indeed despicable.

The transmigrator's habitual view of systems as tools had disrupted Xu Ziling's thinking and prevented him from considering the matter from this angle... But he could not deny that he bore the most direct responsibility. After all, he had long known that his system was different from everyone else's.

The system was his cheat ability, after all. He couldn't break it by playing around with it. Thinking this, Xu Ziling hurriedly said inwardly:

"All right, all right, System... Systemy! Stop crying for now... I apologize, okay? From now on, unless it's absolutely necessary, I definitely won't destroy anything you give me. Now cheer up. Our system isn't a child anymore. You're the best system, so don't throw a childish tantrum!"

[...Really?]

Of course it was true!

[But I heard that my predecessors are all emotionless gacha machines... I don't want to become like that...]

Ah, this...

Xu Ziling was speechless again. After thinking for a moment, he quickly added:

"Systemy, we won't compare ourselves with them. Systemy, you have to believe in yourself, too. Our system is the best! You're not inferior to anyone else's system, understand?"

[Hmm... I suppose that's true...]

"Mm-hmm, so you have to be more confident in yourself, and trust the host you chose a little more, understand? Cheer up quickly. Don't cry like a child."

[Hmm... I wasn't crying and throwing a tantrum like a child...]

P.S. I reflected on things, and the update speed these past few days does seem a little too fast. If I also have to update another book... well, first, there's the obvious issue of energy, and second, there's the issue of handling details... As you can see, the number of typos these past few days has been absurd, because I basically posted everything immediately after writing it without having time to proofread. Also, with the updates coming too quickly, the word count has gone up, but the plot hasn't kept pace. One reader suggested that I slow down a little and reorganize the outline. It's better to update less but make it better... and I think that makes sense. So for the next few days, I'll update one chapter of four thousand words a day! (Actually, that's generally the amount a normal author writes in a day anyway—cue the doge.) I'll reorganize the plot and outline so I can bring everyone a better story. Tian Zhen bows.