Mimicry

At that moment, Li Yèlái had no idea that as he signed his name on the document,

the girl codenamed Cheese had already quietly left the hospital room and given a slight wave toward the silent corridor.

The next second, the elite soldiers stationed throughout the corridor quietly withdrew. Several official psychics also vanished after giving slight waves.

Then, Cheese grabbed several fructose candies from her pocket and tossed them into her mouth before picking up a Bluetooth earpiece to contact the person on the other end. "I used my ability. He wasn't lying. He did encounter The Skinner by accident and became a psychic during the battle. But to avoid alerting him, I didn't guide him into revealing more details."

"That's enough." A steady voice came from the other end of the earpiece. "What do you think of him?"

"He really is pretty handsome. Tall and skinny, with a rather honest-looking face." Cheese gave her assessment.

After a moment of silence, the other side replied, "I'm asking whether you sensed anything unusual about him. I didn't send you there to set up a blind date."

After eating a few more candies, Cheese replied, "The guy is a little stingy, which has something to do with his family circumstances. That does lower his danger rating somewhat. There's nothing unusual so far. But clearly, he's still hiding something."

As she spoke, she glanced at Li Yèlái's file.

'Li Yèlái, twenty-three years old. Citizen of Border City No. 3. Nine years ago, his father left home. Three months later, his mother died of illness. He and his younger sister, Li Yúnyān, depended on each other. Currently employed by an Antique Shop. No criminal record.'

"For now, he probably isn't affiliated with the Ashes Church."

"The odds are indeed low, but we still need to be careful."

Inside the meeting room of the Disaster Management Department in Border City No. 3, the higher-ups who had ended the call fell silent.

The white-haired old man seated at the head of the table spoke. "This Li Yèlái should be a psychic of the Myriad Paths, correct? Yet he instantly killed The Skinner, who was also of the Myriad Paths. His background is anything but simple, and his ability must be extremely unusual. I wonder whether this is the handiwork of some King of the Forbidden Zone."

"If we suspect him, why invite him into the Processing Department?" someone asked. "Are we planning to keep an eye on him at close range?"

"That is part of the consideration. But someone who could say in his final words, 'Don't scare my younger sister,' isn't someone I'd consider a monster. Even if he truly has secrets, as long as his heart is with humanity, we can accept him."

An elderly woman spoke faintly. "Of course, the necessary vigilance and probing are unavoidable. Have Little Yáng Chén keep an eye on him and use the training period to learn about his ability."

Meanwhile, Li Yèlái, now officially a disaster reserve processor for Border City No. 3, was led out of the private hospital by Yáng Chén and Cheese.

Li Yèlái had previously fallen unconscious because his body had struggled to adapt to psychic power after his first Awakening.

Now that he was fine, Yáng Chén planned to take Li Yèlái to the nearest Processing Department branch, where he could familiarize himself with his ability in the Training Room and receive relevant knowledge and skill training.

Li Yèlái had yet to reach the technical standard expected of a processor, so he was only a reserve processor for the time being.

Thus, the three of them got into a black SUV with trepidation.

Throughout the drive, all three wore grave expressions. They were terrified that Li Yèlái's curse would trigger and wreck the vehicle!

Li Yèlái, meanwhile, worried that if he did wreck it, he might be forced to pay compensation.

Fortunately, nothing happened to the vehicle. It drove steadily along the road.

"Looks like your curse only lasts for a period after you use your ability. It isn't active around the clock." Cheese smiled from the back seat. "That's good news. Otherwise, whenever there's a mission, you'd have to run there yourself."

"How do you normally suppress your curses?" Li Yèlái, who was also seated in the back, asked as he looked at Cheese beside him.

The girl was young and beautiful, capable and spirited, and didn't seem affected by any curse. Yet his younger sister, Li Yúnyān, couldn't even leave their home. Whenever she saw any stranger—even small animals—she showed a terrified expression.

"Every curse is different. Compared with yours, mine is much easier to deal with." Cheese looked at Li Yèlái. "In truth, every psychic's curse is a secret, because it represents a weakness. But I'll tell you anyway. My curse is Sugar Craving."

"Sugar? The kind of sugar I'm thinking of?" Li Yèlái was somewhat stunned.

He had heard of alcohol addiction, but never Sugar Craving. This curse was rather willful.

"That's right. Every time I use my ability, I need to consume a huge amount of sugar. Otherwise, my heartbeat will weaken." Cheese opened the large pocket of her hoodie, took out a candy, and handed it to Li Yèlái. "Here, specially made candy. Eating too much sugar is painful, but compared with the curses of other colleagues, mine is child's play."

Li Yèlái accepted the candy, tore off the wrapper, and tossed it into his mouth. An intensely sweet, cloying flavor bloomed across his palate.

If she ate too much of this stuff, she might get diabetes or some other illness. Calling it child's play was one thing, but in large enough quantities, her body wouldn't be able to take it.

Seemingly seeing through his thoughts, Cheese smiled. "Don't worry about that. Psychics have stronger physiques than ordinary people and can avoid many illnesses. Of course, as a psychic of the Whispers Path, my constitution isn't among the strongest, so I still need to be careful."

"Path?" Li Yèlái asked in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"You'll receive the detailed information later." Yáng Chén, who was driving, replied, "Simply put, it's a classification based on a psychic's characteristics. Different Paths have different ability tendencies. At present, the authorities have identified seven Paths, ranked by the ratio of psychic power gained to physical enhancement gained with each Awakening.

They are: Zeroing, Whispers, Divine Command, Myriad, Netherworld, Spirit Eye, and True Martial. With every Awakening, the Zeroing Path gains the most psychic power, while the True Martial Path gains the greatest physical enhancement. As for each Path's specific traits, you'll receive the materials shortly."

Li Yèlái silently memorized the names of the seven Paths and paid particular attention to Myriad.

His ability was called Myriad Faces. Did that mean he was a psychic of the Myriad Paths?

"What is Awakening?" Li Yèlái continued asking.

"You're still far from that. Simply put, Awakening is a promotion ritual in which a psychic further develops their Soul Well and draws closer to the Void Realm." Cheese picked up the explanation. "With every Awakening, a psychic strengthens their original ability and gains a new ability from their Path. But the risk is that they become more susceptible to distortion."

"Remember this: no matter when, if you aren't completely certain, never attempt an Awakening. In Melting Ore Giant City, an official psychic suffered distortion and lost control during his fifth Awakening. He tore apart the giant city's high wall with his bare hands."

Cheese's words shocked Li Yèlái. Tore apart the high wall?

A wall over fifty meters tall, nearly ten meters thick, poured from reinforced concrete?

What kind of humanoid self-propelled cannon was that?

Psychics after multiple Awakenings were actually this terrifying?

At that moment, the vehicle slowly came to a stop.

They had arrived in front of a clothing store on the edge of the old district. Business at the store was dismal. Not just this clothing store—none of the shops along the entire street had many customers.

Yet Yáng Chén and Cheese were unsurprised. After greeting the clothing store employee, they led Li Yèlái straight toward the fitting rooms in the back.

"Isn't it a little inappropriate for two men and a woman to enter the same fitting room?" Li Yèlái tried to say.

"What? You think you're the one getting the short end of the stick?" Cheese teased, rolling her eyes at him.

"That costs extra!" Li Yèlái shot back, only to see Yáng Chén open a second door inside the fitting room.

Beyond it was a brightly lit passageway. At the end of the passage stood two steel giants.

They wore thick powered Lamellar Armor, steam blasting from behind them. Their three-meter-tall bodies seemed to contain endless strength.

Li Yèlái stared blankly at the two steel giants and murmured, "Border... Iron Guard!"

These elite soldiers clad in thick powered armor were the strongest military force of the border cities.

Border Iron Guard!

They were known to the residents of the border cities, yet almost impossible to see.

According to the Antique Shop owner, who claimed to be a veteran, if an Iron Guard appeared on the battlefield during the chaotic era, you should seize the chance to kowtow.

Because that Iron Guard might turn the tide of battle and save your life.

And if a full formation of Border Iron Guard appeared, then find a chance to kowtow to yourself, put your dog tags in your mouth, and don't make things harder for the comrades-in-arms who would collect your body. It meant the coming battle would be exceptionally brutal.

He hadn't expected to meet two Iron Guards here. Though... it did make sense?

"They're reliable comrades-in-arms." As Yáng Chén passed through the corridor, he greeted the two Iron Guards.

The human-tank-like Iron Guards gave slight nods, their gazes turning toward Li Yèlái.

"He's a newcomer. Unless something unexpected happens, he should become one of my team members." Yáng Chén introduced Li Yèlái.

"Understood. Welcome to the East City Branch." One of the Iron Guards spoke in a metallic voice and opened the heavy metal door.

The East City Processing Department branch was hidden underground, and the clothing store from before was one of its entrances.

The interior was spacious and fully equipped. There were lounges, Training Rooms, and a cafeteria.

Psychics assigned to the branch trained here, received equipment, or underwent Awakening.

Unless something unexpected happened, this would become Li Yèlái's future workplace.

But Li Yèlái had no time to inspect the branch's layout before Yáng Chén brought him into a Training Room.

The Training Room was roughly the size of a basketball court. Various cold weapons were placed around its edges. In the center stood a massive metal cube covered in countless scratches and cracks.

Clearly, this was the target used by official psychics to practice their abilities.

"They only put up a new one yesterday. How did it end up like this already?" Yáng Chén clicked his tongue at the cube, then said to Li Yèlái, "Practice and familiarize yourself with your ability here. You've got long arms and a slim waist, so you're suited for a blade. Go pick one."

He pointed toward the weapon racks along the edge.

Li Yèlái scratched his head and asked, "Why use cold weapons? Do we have to use cold weapons against psychics and Suffering Ones too? Times have changed, sir."

"Because every psychic is protected by a Psychic Barrier, and only a handful of firearms can efficiently deplete one." Yáng Chén pulled a large-caliber revolver from his coat, replaced its cylinder, and fired a shot directly at his own forehead.

Bang!

The sudden act of apparent suicide nearly made Li Yèlái jump.

But he saw that the bullet was firmly suspended about five centimeters in front of Yáng Chén's temple. No matter how rapidly it spun, it couldn't get any closer to him. In the end, the bullet exhausted its kinetic energy and dropped weakly to the ground.

It reminded Li Yèlái of his first attack on The Skinner, which had likewise been blocked by a similar barrier.

So this was a Psychic Barrier?

"With specialized training, you can also block some bullets. This is the most basic use of a Psychic Barrier. Skilled psychics can even use their barriers to jump through the air." Cheese explained from the side.

Even a psychic like him, who had only undergone one Awakening, could block bullets?

Li Yèlái's heart stirred. He didn't dare imagine how terrifying highly Awakened psychics could be.

"And Psychic Barriers can be disrupted or neutralized by the barriers of other psychics."

"So psychics fighting psychics is the optimal solution. Since they need to get close, official psychics all have to be skilled with cold weapons, neutralizing Psychic Barriers and killing the enemy with a single slash." Li Yèlái nodded slightly, indicating that he understood.

Then, he went to the weapon rack to choose a weapon.

He had no intention of hiding his ability. The authorities would need to design equipment around it.

And since he had already decided to join the authorities, there was no need to conceal his ability.

As for Black Shadow, Li Yèlái didn't plan to tell the authorities about it yet. He still wasn't sure how they viewed such a bizarre existence.

Before long, following Yáng Chén's advice, Li Yèlái chose a long-handled blade that was somewhere between a pudao and a Zhanmadao.

Held in both hands, it was heavy and powerful.

The old Li Yèlái might have found it difficult even to lift, but after becoming a psychic, his strength had increased considerably. He could now swing it freely.

Meanwhile, several more official psychics quietly entered the Training Room.

"What a handsome young man. He's the one who took down The Skinner?" A muscular man in a black athletic tank top sat to one side and asked Yáng Chén.

Yáng Chén gave a slight nod. "One axe strike cut through both blade and man."

The muscular man's expression shifted. "What Path? True Martial?"

"The tests suggest Myriad." Yáng Chén replied.

"Are you sure?" The muscular man frowned. "I'm of the Myriad Paths myself. My first Awakening ability was Beast Speech, and my second was Mimicry Blade Sickle. Only then did I gain some real combat power. You know psychic abilities are random, but the Myriad Paths usually gain support abilities in the early stages. How could he kill The Skinner, another Myriad psychic, with one strike? What, did he have especially good luck and draw a god-tier skill?"

In his understanding, the abilities of the Myriad Paths could be summed up as controlling and mimicking extraordinary creatures. What had Li Yèlái mimicked? Something that could defeat an enemy with an axe in one move?

"We'll find out soon enough." Yáng Chén said solemnly. His gaze swept around the room, where official psychics watched in silence.

There was a handsome man wearing a silver cloak and carrying a shield and axe on his back.

There was a black-robed doctor carrying a briefcase and wearing a bird-beak mask.

There was someone dressed in a frog Doll costume and holding an advertising sign.

It seemed the headquarters didn't fully trust Li Yèlái. They had summoned nearly all the branch's captain-level combatants.

Meanwhile, Li Yèlái carried his blade to the metal cube.

After taking a deep breath, he recalled the sensation of using his ability before.

He raised his left hand and brushed it across his face. A black-and-white opera mask instantly appeared.

Those Double Pupils manifested!

In an instant, the expressions of nearly all the psychics changed.

Because Li Yèlái's bearing underwent an earth-shaking transformation in that instant. An incomparably domineering aura burst forth across the room. It was as though he were no longer one person, but countless troops hardened by war!

After the mask appeared, countless practiced combat techniques flooded into his mind. Li Yèlái held the blade one-handed, swung it downward, then slashed diagonally.

A piercing sound of metal being cut rang through the room. The blade sank into the metal cube as though slicing tofu, forcefully ripping open a huge crack!

"What did he mimic?" Yáng Chén asked quietly.

Staring at those Double Pupils, the muscular man abruptly rose to his feet, disbelief filling his eyes.

"He mimicked the Spirit Eye Path!"