SS-Rank Mysterious Source (Six Thousand Words)

"I think there must be some misunderstanding between us..."

"Actually, I'm not that stingy. What's a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand points, let alone one point?"

"What I really care about is that you're always playing hide-and-seek with me. I always feel like you have many secrets that you're keeping from me. For example, you can Mingming speak, but you always pretend you can't. After a while, I started to feel resentful... I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shone on the gutter... This description might not be quite right, but I'm really hurt emotionally because you're always keeping things from me..."

"Of course, that's not an excuse. I must apologize to you first..."

"Thinking about the future, we might have to spend a long time together. How about we make up?"

"..."

"..."

In the night breeze, Xiao Xiao's tone was very sincere and gentle as he patiently explained to the air.

He felt that he had truly spoken the truth and that his attitude was good enough.

But the Record Player Miss remained silent, and no more information popped into my mind.

He explained for a long time, even looking up somewhat helplessly at the second-floor window with its white gauze curtains. He could vaguely see a slender shadow standing behind the curtains, so he forced a friendly smile, only to find...

... Slap! The window closed.

"??"

Xiao Xiao couldn't hold back any longer; it seemed the Record Player Miss was really angry.

The kind that can't be coaxed?

Damn it...

I shouldn't have been so good at PUA; I've gone too far.

I still don't understand what her wish-granting ability is like after her advancement...

Can it really grant your wishes directly?

Can I have any kind of wish?

What would happen if I directly wished for her to save Yang Jia?

Unfortunately, he was filled with curiosity but could not get a response or detailed explanation from the other party. He could even try a few times himself, but the wishing price of this Wish-Granting Record Player was too high... This was the first time Xiao Xiao had ever seen that using a special item required additional points. Was the Record Player Miss deliberately being capricious?

In any case, trying this out with 10,000 points is a really high price to pay.

I can't just throw out 10,000 points to verify the authenticity of her function, can I?

Never mind, I'll try to coax her first.

He now had a vague feeling that this Record Player Miss was definitely not simple. Whether it was the relationship between the Mysterious Guidepost and her, or the uniqueness of her abilities, it all meant that she controlled some core secrets.

But she wouldn't say.

This is really...

Xiao Xiao had one thing to say, "Riddlers deserve to die!"

"Xiao Xiao, what are you doing?"

Just as Xiao Xiao was standing under the second-floor window, thinking about how to use some sweet words... and sincere language to persuade the Record Player Miss to change her ways, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Xiao Xiao turned around in surprise and saw his mother standing inside the iron gate, looking at him with a strange expression and worry as he stood under the neighbor's window in a daze.

"Uh... it's nothing."

Xiao Xiao was a little embarrassed, so he quickly turned around and walked towards his home, trying to explain, "I just had a cigarette outside."

His mother let him in, then glanced at the curtains on the second floor across the street, but didn't say anything.

She just asked worriedly, "You've learned to smoke?"

"Um."

Xiao Xiao nodded and said, "My high school classmate taught me how to do it, the one who came to visit with milk before."

"I remember..."

Xiao's Mom accompanied Xiao Xiao back to the house and said, "The young lady is fair-skinned and has a good temperament. How come she smokes?"

"She has already quit."

Xiao Xiao said, "The reason they smoked before was probably because of the high pressure at their hospital?"

"So, how's your relationship with her now?"

Xiao's Mom and Xiao Xiao returned to the house and sat on the sofa. Xiao's Mom looked a little worried, but the question she asked made Xiao Xiao feel a little awkward. How was he supposed to answer that? Unexpectedly, seeing his silence, Xiao's Mom became even more worried. As if she wanted to say something but hesitated, she held Xiao Xiao's hand and said, "You're not young anymore. You should start a relationship with your classmate when you're about the same age."

Xiao Xiao was even more embarrassed now, not knowing how to explain it to his mother.

This is probably all that matters in her world right now, isn't it?

Somewhat unexpectedly, her mother continued, urging Xiao Xiao to quickly solidify his relationship with Yang Jia. She paused, then suddenly added, "It's perfectly normal for a boy to want to find a girlfriend as he grows up, but I have to advise you..."

As she spoke, her eyes suddenly glanced at the neighbor's window outside the yard, and she lowered her voice:

"We can't afford to mess with that woman..."

"..."

"Um?"

Xiao Xiao was suddenly surprised and looked at his mother with some astonishment. After confirming again, he realized that his mother was indeed pointing to the woman's window on the second floor where the white curtain had always been hanging. His expression became even more surprised, and a sense of excitement and intense curiosity arose within him.

"You know her?"

"..."

I knew absolutely nothing about that neighbor; on the contrary, I felt that she was full of mystery.

Even with his ability to see through things, he didn't dare to easily pry into the secrets of that room. The last time he tried to see it, he accidentally saw something he shouldn't have, which made them both very embarrassed. Later, although Xiao Xiao still had the ability to look into that room, his intuition as a seer always made him feel that it was better not to look.

Only now do I realize that Mom actually knew the people in that room?

"Of course I know my neighbors..."

Meeting Xiao Xiao's surprised gaze, his mother looked even more surprised, saying to Xiao Xiao, "We often run into each other when we're buying groceries!"

What does she look like?

Xiao Xiao immediately pressed for details, filled with curiosity and even a bit impatient.

The mother became even more worried. "She's quite pretty... but she's not young... although you can't really tell from her face."

"You'd be better off talking to your classmate."

"Don't feel inferior just because others are rich and have good jobs. Our house is worth a lot too..."

"..."

"It's not what you think..."

Faced with his mother's misunderstanding, Xiao Xiao was momentarily at a loss for words and could only try to clear his mind:

"I'm just a little curious, we've been neighbors for so long, but I've never seen each other before..."

"..."

"You've never seen anyone before, yet you're squatting under someone's wall?"

The way his mother looked at Xiao Xiao seemed to lack even the trust between mother and son, but she didn't say much about it, giving Xiao Xiao some face, and said, "Besides, haven't you two met before? I remember last time we bought groceries, at the butcher shop at the end of the alley, she was in front of me in line, and she told me that you two are colleagues now, that you're very close, and that you often sing together..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao was suddenly a little confused.

A strange image flashed through my mind: a woman who always wore white dresses appeared in various places throughout my life, seemed very familiar with me, even with my mother, yet I had never actually seen her before. In this city, I, the observer, had been secretly and silently watched by her all along...

Who is she?

The embodiment of the Record Player Miss?

Or does it have some other mysterious origin?

Xiao Xiao's mind was filled with curiosity, but meeting his mother's worried gaze, he knew he couldn't let her continue to worry. He could only force a smile and explain, "It might be a joke, but don't worry, she and I..."

"... Actually, there's nothing particularly related to it."

"..."

"Then you should hurry up and make your relationship with that high school classmate official..."

Xiao's Mom gave her a few more words of advice before going back to her room to sleep.

These days, young people always ask Old Auntie for help. Xiao's Mom knows her son is good-looking, and she's really worried that he might go astray. She's met that woman before. Although she is indeed beautiful and has a good temperament, she doesn't look like a little girl. She usually calls her "big sister" when they meet. She can't let her call her "Mom" next time.

Especially Xiao Xiao, who is good-looking and used to be too naive because he rarely went out.

You can't afford not to know how to protect yourself.

"Perhaps once she's willing to see me, many things will become clear..."

After talking with his mother, Xiao Xiao felt a strong desire to find out the truth.

But he didn't dare.

Record Player Miss seems to have acquired remarkable abilities now, so I mustn't afford to offend her any further!

He could only endure it for the time being. After returning to his bedroom and turning on his computer, he found that he had received several new emails in his inbox. He breathed a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that both the Dante Organization and the Hell Organization were giving him, the chairman, a lot of face.

First, I opened the materials sent by the Dante Organization, which were forwarded by Lin Bo, and included a message:

Upon learning of Yang Jia's accident, the Dante Organization took it very seriously and has been communicating the matter to Yang Jia's mentor through secret channels. He is no longer in this world, and once he learns of this information, no one knows what this elder of the Dante Organization will do. Be prepared, Chairman Yang Jia's school are terrifyingly stubborn and unreasonable.

Unlike me, I don't have flexible principles or bottom lines...

Xiao Xiao ignored his words, even though Yang Jia was Dante Organization's mentor and his status should be extraordinary.

But judging from this, it's clear that they might not be able to get here in a short time.

But there wasn't much time left to prepare for Yang Jia's matter, so she couldn't place her hopes on him.

He directly looked up the following information:

[Nature: Mysterious Source]

Codename: Gatekeeper of the River of Three Crossings

[Rank: SS]

[Note: Among the Mysterious Source observed and recorded by the Dante Organization, "Mister Du," codenamed the Gatekeeper of the Sanzu River, belongs to the mid-to-high-level oscillating Mysterious Source. This type of Mysterious Source cannot be located, and its purpose is currently unknown, but it can be considered one of the more active life forms among the Mysterious Source observed so far, ranking alongside Mysterious Source such as War, Hell, and Lost.]

[To date, forty-one individuals have been identified as bearing its Branders, all possessing strength at the level of lords or even forbidden realms.]

[Note 2: The mysterious instructions received by the Branders are attached below...]

[...]

Xiao Xiao slowly scanned through the documents before he vaguely understood their contents.

Mysterious Source can be categorized into wandering or fixed types.

The fixed type is like Black Gate City; it is right here and can be found at any time. But there are also wandering types that do not have a specific city. Their existence can only be confirmed through their Branders. These kinds of Mysterious Source cannot be located or even observed, but their goals and strength levels can be determined through the commands they give to their Branders.

The Dante Organization has documented several mysterious instructions carried out by these Branders.

Or perhaps you'd go to a city to eliminate a specific type of Aberrant Creature, or enter the Mist Sea to kill a pirate.

The data is limited, so we can't analyze much.

But one thing is certain: this "Mister Du" who wants to kill him will become new material for Dante Organization.

"He has forty-one recorded Branders..."

Xiao Xiao noticed this problem and couldn't help but feel a slight chill. "Then wouldn't the actual number be even greater?"

If every one of these Branders were as powerful as Yang Jia, wouldn't that be too exaggerated?

With forty-one Yang Jia, you could practically walk sideways across the world, right?

Of course, just as Xiao Xiao was feeling a little worried, he saw the explanation attached to the document by the Dante Organization: "Each Branders possesses strength far exceeding that of ordinary outsiders. However, Branders of the same kind will try to avoid meeting or working with each other. Once two Branders meet, their power will be transferred or divided equally, resulting in a strange phenomenon of fluctuating strength."

This put Xiao Xiao at ease, at least he didn't have to worry about facing forty-one Yang Jia directly.

Judging from this phenomenon, those Branders have a characteristic of being scattered like stars in the sky, and gathered as a whole group.

It is probably because Mysterious Source gave them the same power, so they usually have the ability to control this power. However, once they meet together or attack at the same time, they need to divide this power and become weaker.

This is a good thing for me.

While processing the information on the Dante Organization, Xiao Xiao looked at another document.

This is an email forwarded by Mister Ye, from his friend in the Hell Organization, the White Devil:

Dear Chairman Xiao:

I was so happy to receive your letter. I'm glad you haven't forgotten your old friend. I've missed you terribly since we parted ways in Black Gate City. My work is going well, and although my luck at cards hasn't improved, I've been too busy to play and have been losing less lately.

Don't worry about it.

I have new artistic ideas, and I look forward to having you appreciate them when we meet again.

As for what you mentioned, it was originally a top secret of my Hell Organization. However, after I earnestly begged our leader and threatened to leave the organization, he finally agreed to give you this confidential file. I have now compiled it in detail below, hoping it will be helpful to you.

Yours sincerely.

Your forever friend: White Devil

"This is truly the Hell Organization; this letter is much more humane than the Dante Organization's..."

Xiao Xiao sighed for a moment before clicking on the attached document, which contained the process and detailed plan of the Hell Organization's hunt for the Mysterious Source. There was even some analysis and suggestions from the White Devil, who was afraid he wouldn't understand.

It was only after seeing this that Xiao Xiao realized that the Hell Organization had indeed hunted down the Mysterious Source.

Their method of hunting down the Mysterious Source was to find a small town with only a few hundred residents in the Mist Sea outside the big cities. The leader of the Hell Organization, in order to verify certain ideas, first used powerful force to clear out the town, ensuring the spiritual purity of these natives. Then, he sent people to proselytize, brainwash, and provide them with various benefits.

The residents of this small town had begun to deeply believe in that Mysterious Source and worship it like a god. Then, the Hell Organization suddenly cut off all contact between the town and the outside world. The leader of the Hell Organization then entered the residents' shared dream, that is, the spiritual world. There, he found the personified Mysterious Source and then killed it.

There are two pieces of evidence that later confirmed he had killed the Mysterious Source.

Firstly, the residents of that small town suddenly lost all their faith starting the next day, and even forgot about the "god".

Secondly, the leader of this Hell Organization retrieved a piece of skin from that dream.

Xiao Xiao had even seen that skin before; it was the same thing he used when he signed the bet with the Hell Organization.

"That leader of the Hell Organization is truly remarkable..."

Looking at these documents, Xiao Xiao couldn't help but sigh, "Was he doing all this just to confirm the existence of the Mysterious Source?"

Furthermore, the way he hunted down this Mysterious Source was quite interesting. It seemed that he had set a trap for the Mysterious Source through a spiritual summoning. In that case, it turns out that ordinary people are not entirely passive when facing Mysterious Source.

He pondered deeply and fell silent. If he could kill him, things would be much easier.

A few seconds later, he closed the page, rewrote the two documents he had obtained in his own words, and then handed them over to the email address the Shepherds had left him. "As we agreed before, I have found some logic in the Strangers killing the Mysterious Source from the documents left by the Old Chairman. Now, shouldn't you give them to me?"

This was arranged during our first interaction with the Shepherds.

Xiao Xiao needs to find the logic behind killing the Mysterious Source from the perspective of a stranger.

In return, the Shepherds will provide specific plans based on the indigenous people's understanding of the Mysterious Source.

Furthermore, it provides all the technical support that Black Forest currently possesses.

Xiao Xiao believed that only in this way could they truly concentrate all their efforts and turn the hunt for the Mysterious Source into reality.

"I know Black Gate City best, and I know our mission objectives best."

At the same time, outside the city, after all the Branders of the same type arrived, Yang Jia slowly stood up from the skeleton, looked at everyone below expressionlessly, and said in a low voice, "Therefore, I propose that I take command of this mission, and I also need to obtain the highest authority over the power of the brand. You only need to follow my orders and attack Black Gate City in turn."

The others either laughed or looked up indifferently.

When those Branders meet, they must distinguish between superiors and inferiors, or things will descend into chaos.

However, deciding who should hold the highest authority is not such an easy question to answer.

A man in a pink suit with his hair styled like a rooster's comb tilted his head and sized up Yang Jia, then chuckled softly, "Black Hand Yang Jia? Heh, you're quite famous, and as beautiful as the legends say..."

"But were you wearing those famous black gloves?"

"..."

Yang Jia stared at him intently, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that many people had the same unconvinced expression as him.

Then she nodded slightly, and a door-frame-shaped ripple suddenly appeared in front of her. The next moment, she appeared directly in front of the man. The man was taken aback and stepped back. At the same time, he raised his hand and summoned a door-frame-shaped ripple in front of him. But before the ripple in front of him could take shape, Yang Jia flashed behind him and her palm pierced his back with a hiss.

"Thump" "Thump"

When she withdrew her hand, a bloody hole appeared in the man's back, and a still-beating heart appeared in her palm.

Blood gushed out, staining Yang Jia's palms red.

She slowly raised her head to look at these people and said, "I didn't bring the black gloves with me."

"But what about red?"

"..."

The rest remained silent for a long time, as if no one had spoken, their throats were being choked.

"I have no objection..."

At this moment, a burly man dressed in camouflage smiled at Yang Jia and said:

"Just carry out the instructions. Who gives the orders is not important. I'm just curious, what plan do you intend to use to achieve your goal?"

"..."

"I tried to trick him out of the city, but I failed."

Yang Jia looked at them coldly, threw the heart in her hand to the ground, and crushed it.

Then he said, "Our only option now is to break into Black Gate City, capture him, or kill him. But if we do that, we will not only be blocked by the other outsiders in Black Gate City, but we may also activate the Black Gate City 'City Will to fight against us. So, my plan is simple: use the abilities of all of us to work together to create a door that leads to the interior of Black Gate City."

"Directly decapitate the target."

"As for the location of that door, it can only be opened in a place where the target can be found the fastest. I have already made a decision."

"..."

She paused slightly before giving her answer, "Iceberg Bar!"

Listening to her arrangements, everyone present seemed thoughtful and remained silent.

The man in camouflage paused for a moment, then asked her, "What about the time?"

"Black Gate City has many strange things, and even I haven't learned all the secrets of this city."

Yang Jia said slowly, "Therefore, to prevent any unforeseen complications, I propose that we begin immediately!"