Book Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Chapter 542: Memory Loop

"Renamed" -- Wanhua Xing.

"Blurred Boundaries" -- Su Mengli

A cross-dressing older sister and a cross-dressing younger brother.

A match made in heaven, perfect twins, in terms of personality, appearance, and even special abilities.

Wanhua Xing can change the name of one thing to another. People will feel a little uncomfortable after the name is changed, but they won't think about it for more than a few seconds. If he changes "hand" to "ticket", the ticket collector will naturally punch holes in people's hands. If he changes "panties" to "glow stick", the audience will naturally wave panties as glow sticks.

If "sulfuric acid" were renamed "orange juice," people would drink it without hesitation, mistaking it for orange juice. If "magma" were renamed "bathwater," people would soak in it without hesitation. This is an indirect damage type of ability with a wide range of effects and a long duration. There are no restrictions on its activation. Unless one is directly confronted, the victim can easily be killed without even realizing it.

If you use it on people, for example, if you confuse the names "Ye" and "Xiao Wu," then... something very interesting will happen.

Su Mengli can blur the "boundary" between two things with the same name. Every object has its boundaries. If you pour oil into a glass of water, the oil will accumulate on the water and separate into two layers, hardly mixing with each other. This is the boundary between them.

Su Mengli's superpower is like a stirring rod. When inserted into a cup and stirred rapidly, the separation of oil and water is disrupted, resulting in a mixture that is neither oil nor water, a suspension that becomes a mess.

The same principle applies to people; the boundaries between two people become increasingly blurred. First, memories become ambiguous, with fragments of the other person's memories flowing into one's own mind. Before long, their memories become completely intertwined and inseparable. Then, the senses become blurred, and the things they perceive also become indistinguishable. Eventually, self-awareness is completely obliterated. Next, thoughts become blurred, like two parallel power sources constantly clashing. All of their ideas are annihilated in the collision, rendering them incapable of even the most basic thinking.

The final stage involves the internal structure completely decomposing in a chaotic manner, then fusing back together in an even more haphazard way. At this point, both affected entities are completely rendered useless. While the first three stages could potentially restore Su Mengli's powers, reaching the final stage truly renders it impossible to recover.

"However, Su Mengli's special ability has a major limitation..."

Chi Ying recalled Fisher's explanation to everyone during the initial strategic meeting.

"First, his ability can only target two objects at a time."

Second, the two objects must have the same 'name'.

Third, the target must have a 'dislike' for Su Mengli.

These three conditions must be met to activate it. Although it's a bit troublesome, as long as it's activated and Wanhua Xing cooperates, it will definitely incapacitate two of them. If all goes well, it can directly eliminate the two of them."

That's what they say.

However, one should always seek stability.

Entrusting both of them to a cross-dressing idol and her cross-dressing older sister is still very risky.

"So, Chi Ying, this is your chance to make amends. Use your Shadow Domain to completely seal off Ye and Xiao Wu, who are trapped by the 'renaming' and 'blurred boundaries'!"

The orange runes transformed into Shield of Moon Radiance, blocking the robots' laser barrage. Simultaneously, the bright moon unleashed streaks of light in retaliation. These robots weren't particularly formidable individually, but once they coordinated their attacks...

Protected by the robots, Wanhua Xing smiled broadly. A thick light film made up of countless hexagons wrapped around her, which looked very sturdy and was indeed very sturdy.

"Remove the ability immediately!"

"Hahahaha! Then try and kill me!"

Do you think I can't do it?

Moon Mist!

A storm of silvery light erupted, shattering the nearest robots into pieces, but the other robots had already carried Su Mengli away.

"Idiot! Come and chase me!"

"--It can fly too, wow!"

The robots sprang up devices resembling propulsion wings from their backs, spewing out billowing fluorescent light and gusts of air, moving at an astonishing speed.

Haoyue smacked her lips, hesitated for a moment, but still didn't continue the pursuit. It was a rather obvious trap, and if she went any deeper, she would be in serious trouble herself. It was really annoying.

However, they couldn't just let Su Mengli go. If they chased after her, they would be in danger themselves, but if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to help Xiao Ye. So Haoyue released the Moon Elf, which she hadn't used for a long time. Those silvery-white specks traced brilliant paths and chased after Su Mengli had fled.

The large backstage area was in complete disarray, and several nearby dressing rooms were completely destroyed. The usually glamorous celebrities crawled out covered in dust and screaming as they fled. The sirens above their heads were flashing red, and the loudspeakers were broadcasting emergency evacuation notices.

... Speaking of which, I didn't consider the possibility of harming innocent people when I was fighting with those lumps of iron, so it's no wonder that I made such a commotion. But it doesn't matter what happens to those strangers; now I have to help Xiao Ye out of this predicament.

Haste makes waste. It's even more important to stay calm in times like these. No matter how anxious you are, you can't fall for the Extra Weapon's trick. Xiao Ye and the delinquent girl have clearly been affected by the same supernatural power. Their bizarre reactions are exactly the same, as if they both have developed a serious impairment in their self-awareness.

Let's go back to them first. Leave the pursuit to the Moon Elf for now. We can't completely trust that Sick Spider; I'll have to go back and protect Xiao Ye myself.

Let's go, let's retreat to the lounge for now.

Which way should we go? Naturally, we should follow our memory of where we came from and return the way we came as quickly as possible.

"... Go back the way we came?"

Yes, return the way you came.

Go back the same way you got here.

How did I manage to get through the journey?

I remember it was --

First, walk out of the lounge.

Walk to the end of the ruined passageway,

Turn left at the end.

I encountered Su Mengli and the group of robots disguised as idols when I passed through the crossroads.

And so the war began.

His first wave of attacks was blocked by the robot.

Then he walked out of the lounge.

Continue walking along the corridor to the end...

"... Huh?"

His attack was blocked by the robot, and then... he walked out of the lounge? And then walked to the end of the corridor?

The order is wrong, isn't it? I think I just recalled these things?

But...

The sudden wave of intoxication made Haoyue stagger. She pressed her forehead in confusion, trying to recall something from an earlier time—

Xiao Ye and the delinquent girl are both affected by the troublesome ability and find themselves in danger.

So he left the Sick Spider to guard the rest room.

He rushed out to confront Su Mengli.

After leaving the lounge, I saw Xiao Ye and the delinquent girl trapped by the enemy's supernatural abilities.

So they left the Sick Spider to guard them, while they themselves...

Wrong!

Why... why did we "go back" again?

Shouldn't he have first seen Xiao Ye and the delinquent girl in danger before planning to kill Su Mengli himself? He then instructed the Sick Spider to stay in the rest room, went out, and immediately saw Xiao Ye and the delinquent girl—

I saw it as soon as I went out?

But this is clearly the opposite! They should go out first, walk along the corridor, and then encounter Xiao Ye and the delinquent girl who are in danger—

No... wait...

They... they...

"Damn it!!!"

It's the enemy's superpower!

There was absolutely no warning, no sign of attack whatsoever. By the time I realized what was happening, everything was wrong! It was completely impossible to defend against!

Hurry, hurry back and meet up with Xiao Ye and the others. She needs my help, and I need hers too! For that, I must first find the rest room... I walked along the corridor to the end, turned left, crossed the intersection, and saw the distressed Xiao Ye and the delinquent girl. So I told the Sick Spider to stay in the rest room while I went out to deal with Su Mengli. Then, I walked along the corridor to the end and turned left...

--Completely wrong!!!!

Haoyue forcefully pressed the switch in her heart to cut off the memory of what had happened before—no matter how she recalled it, there would be no result! Starting from "walking out of the rest room," the memory would eventually circle back to "walking out of the rest room," just like returning to the starting point after running four hundred meters around the track!

It's a vicious cycle you can't escape!

"Since... that's how it is... Tsukimi!"

Since that's the case, let's try a different approach. Destroy all the obstacles, walls, rubble, and partitions in this area. It doesn't matter if it affects the spectators in the outer stands! Destroying the things that block the view will make everything clear!

He swung his sword, and silver runes flew out, exploding into waves of light—just before that.

A new discovery caught her attention, causing her to abruptly stop what she was doing.

The hand that held the sword has faded.

Just like a layer suddenly becoming more transparent, it loses its solidity, resulting in an indescribable sense of emptiness.

What's this?

Haoyue certainly knew what this was, and she should have known.

Because I've already experienced it once.

A little recollection is all it takes to know what this ability is.

It happened on a container ship. Suddenly, the ship's protective membrane transformed into a prison, sealing off his movements and abilities. After losing his mobility, his body began to fade and disappear. That was because on the container ship, the ship's protective membrane had suddenly become a prison.

"..."

Instantly, Haoyue's face turned extremely ugly.

I can't remember.

Whenever I try to recall something, whether going forward or backward from any point in time, I always end up circling back to the beginning, just before I remember the most important thing.

It's like an inescapable loop.

Multiple memories are linked together in a loop, a closed loop, so no matter how you try to recall them, you can only return to the beginning.

More importantly, they cannot recall anything outside the Ring of Memory.

Just then,

"It seems the Fais sisters did a good job."

Recognizing the familiar voice, Haoyue looked up and saw two people—two women—walking slowly towards her from the other side of the corridor. Their slow steps, seemingly arrogant at first glance, were actually a sign of extreme caution.

One has long, purplish-blue hair.

One has long, black hair with curls at the ends.

Both of them exude an aura of extreme danger.

"I know at least one of them"—that's what intuition tells Haoyue, but she can't recall them. Her memories, trapped in a vicious cycle, can never retrieve any information about the two women outside the circle.

"It seems we can confirm that Haoyue has been infected."

"I hope things go smoothly with Di Fei'er too... no, she's already succeeded, hasn't she?"

Two girls, Yu Xun and Valentina, who unexpectedly developed a friendship, appeared before Hao Yue at the same time.