NO.19 [Apostle of the Mind]

Watching the golden-eyed boy look so confident of victory, Chu Yunyi felt his irritation flare.

He wasn't exactly a bratty little girl.

But.

Seeing a boy so much younger than him acting so superior really rubbed him the wrong way.

Then he remembered that the other guy probably wasn't very strong, and felt a little better.

Then.

Chu Yunyi said calmly, "Money, food, people, even power—none of them tempt me in the slightest."

"And you? Whether you live doesn't matter."

Chu Yunyi shifted his tone, and a hint of killing intent crept into his voice:

"But your death..."

"Matters a great deal to me!"

With that.

Chu Yunyi stopped holding back. He had never let go of the Black Gold Shock Saber, and now pointed it straight at the golden-eyed boy on the upper bunk.

Seeing this.

The golden-eyed boy's expression didn't change. He leaped down!

Thud...

A muffled sound rang out as the golden-eyed boy landed on the floor.

The next moment.

The golden-eyed boy fixed his gaze on Chu Yunyi, and the two stared straight into each other's eyes.

Whoosh!

Chu Yunyi had just started to draw his blade when the golden-eyed boy immediately made his move!

He's going for my legs...? Pointless! Take this! Chu Yunyi saw through him and prepared to strike, severing his head with a single blow.

But what happened was nothing like he'd imagined.

Thump!

The golden-eyed boy dropped to both knees and knocked his head loudly against the floor three times, shouting,

"Grandpa, spare me!"

"I may be the leader of the Greed, but I've never hurt anyone!"

"The abilities of Greed patients evolve endlessly based on their greed!"

"And my ability..."

"Is being afraid to die, Grandpa!"

The jarring reversal left Chu Yunyi momentarily frozen.

If the other guy had wanted to kill him—or even so much as harm him—Chu Yunyi would have struck without hesitation.

But the golden-eyed boy, leader of the Greed, had surrendered without a fight?!

What was this?

Wouldn't it be better to obediently let himself be killed and become Control Power?

For a moment.

Chu Yunyi couldn't make heads or tails of the situation, so he decided to hear the guy out first.

"If you spare my life..."

"I'll offer you my loyalty right away. You may not care about money, food, people, or power, but you can't have none of them, can you?"

"Just spare me, and you'll be king of the world!"

"I'll help you control the world. You won't have to lift a finger; one word from you could change the entire world order!"

The golden-eyed boy rattled it all off in one breath, his tongue practically sprouting wings.

As Chu Yunyi listened.

He found himself hesitating. Honestly, he didn't need those things, but not needing them and not having them were two different matters.

If he did have them, they could still be useful in all sorts of ways.

As it happened.

Chu Yunyi remembered his earlier plan, though it was only a rough outline with no clear way forward.

Then.

After thinking it over, Chu Yunyi asked, "No matter what, you're still that Mo Xun's subordinate."

"How could you switch sides to me so easily?"

At the question.

As if he'd been expecting it, the golden-eyed boy answered at once:

"My ability evolved from being afraid to die."

"It lets me screen for things that could work against me."

"One of the Virus Trait's rules was that I had to obey Mo Xun. I've already optimized that away."

"And..."

"My ability tells me that following you will benefit me far more than following Mo Xun!"

The golden-eyed boy's reasoning sounded perfectly convincing, but Chu Yunyi couldn't tell whether he was lying.

Kill him?

Keep him?

The decision kept turning over in Chu Yunyi's mind.

"Tch. Wait here!" Chu Yunyi said, feeling a headache coming on. He turned, twisted the dormitory door handle, and stepped into the Void Gate.

Inside the Void Gate.

Chu Yunyi closed the door, then lay back on his side and entered the dreamscape.

Round Table Dreamscape.

The Round Table looked rather empty now.

Only five purple balls, three red balls, and one black ball remained. The table was nearly cleared.

This time, Chu Yunyi's Control Power.

Could only affect the purple balls. He'd expected as much.

After all, it made sense for the available targets to progress in order of scarcity.

It would be strange if he could move only the white balls one moment and only the black balls the next.

But.

This time, Chu Yunyi didn't do what he had with the yellow balls and pocket them all without caring what their abilities were.

That would be a total gamble.

Chu Yunyi extended his Control Power, intending to find an ability among the five purple balls that suited his current situation.

"Tch."

He clicked his tongue. The amount of Control Power it took just to examine the information on those purple balls was no joke.

Just looking at their information cost enough to pocket several yellow balls.

But after checking them.

Chu Yunyi did find an ability that suited him.

He checked three abilities:

[NO.?? [Element Master]]

[NO.?? [Absolute Blade]]

[NO.?? [Soul Guest]]

The last one was exactly what he needed right now.

Chu Yunyi focused on the purple ball, then used his Control Power to pocket it, spending a great deal in the process.

Clack.

The ball dropped into the pocket, and its information appeared:

[NO.19 [Soul Guest]]

[Quality: Purple]

[Description: You can place soul fragments inside other living beings to gain a small degree of loyalty and the ability to monitor them.]

[Soul Fragments: With this ability, you will separate one soul fragment every hour. This process will not cause any damage to your soul's essence.]

[Note: This ability is suited to fusion with other abilities and may produce a beneficial mutation.]

After seeing the final note, Chu Yunyi thought it over and took out the Propagation Trait he'd left in the corner earlier, fusing it with the ability.

As expected.

Just as the note had said, it underwent a mutation—but one that benefited Chu Yunyi!

The Soul Guest ability grew noticeably larger after fusing with the Propagation Trait.

The information changed:

[NO.19 [Apostle of the Mind]]

[Quality: Purple+]

[Description: You can turn any living being that pledges allegiance to you into an [Apostle].]

[Apostle: [Apostles] are absolutely loyal to you. You can grant them your own abilities, and they will never be able to attack you without your permission.]

[Note: Granting an ability will not cause you to lose it. You can revoke any ability you have granted at any time.]

Looking at this change, Chu Yunyi honestly didn't know what to say.

His plan.

Seemed to have taken a huge leap forward, completed in an instant.

With NO.19 [Apostle of the Mind], Chu Yunyi could not only have absolutely loyal subordinates but also grant them abilities.

And.

Granting them abilities wouldn't make him lose those abilities himself!

How could he pass up something this good?

He left the Round Table Dreamscape.

Back in the Void Gate.

Dragon Country, An Da City First High School.

Boys' dormitory.

Chu Yunyi was back.