After a fierce internal struggle, Fang Ran finally accepted, helplessly, that he had drawn a worthless card. He once again recalled his noble identity as the Great Onmyoji and remembered all the times he had drawn Ibaraki Doji.
"Ahh~"
Fang Ran sighed and turned on the only entertainment appliance in his rented apartment—the old television.
Central TV Station was still broadcasting current affairs. The female anchor delivered the final few brief reports in a formal tone.
"There is still no news regarding the individual who previously stole the cultural relic. Authorities are continuing their investigation."
Fang Ran: "."
After a long silence, Fang Ran resolutely turned around and made his choice. Sure enough, as an upstanding citizen, a law-abiding citizen, he believed that as long as he confessed honestly, the state would surely give him a—
"Xiaomi!! Lord Xiaomi!!! Save me!!! I don't want to get arrested!!! I'm still young!! I don't want to go to prison!!!"
With a sliding step, Fang Ran threw himself onto the floor before Ling in a perfect Dogeza.
"Holy crap! What are you doing?!"
Ling was startled by Fang Ran's sudden move as well. This guy had suddenly lunged at her, tears and snot everywhere, so she hurriedly flew up to dodge him.
"Xiaomi! Mi!! You can't just abandon your master when he's about to die!"
Fang Ran still reached out with both hands toward Ling, wearing an expression so revolting it made her skin crawl.
"Get lost! Don't call me Xiaomi! And I'm not your Summoned Beast!!"
Ling shouted in disgust, controlling a slipper with telekinesis and smacking it hard across Fang Ran's face.
But Fang Ran no longer cared about slippers, dignity, or any so-called master's pride. He had long thrown all of that away. With tearful eyes, he stared at Ling—at his Power Bank, his Summoned Beast, who seemed to know everything—as if she were his final lifeline.
"Can you have a little backbone? Look at how pathetic you are! One news report scared you this badly!"
Ling looked at Fang Ran disdainfully. Of course, Fang Ran could not see her expression and could only infer it from her voice.
"Come on! It's an official wanted notice! If I get caught, I'll go to prison! And this isn't even a matter of three years or whatever—it starts at ten freaking years!!"
Fang Ran covered his face and spoke in utter disbelief.
Ling stared at Fang Ran, the corner of her eye twitching as though she simply could not understand him. Deep in her heart, she was genuinely confused.
Could there really be a Night Battle Participant this cowardly?
Any Night Battle Participant, no matter how they got by in real life, should at least have a strong mind, right!?
Ling knew quite a few people who had spent their entire lives in the gray world.
For Night Battle Participants, this was merely a wanted notice. The authorities did not even have a photo of him, so it was probably only a warning to keep him in line. After all, they were all Night Battle Participants.
But just this much?
Had made him panic into such a pathetic wreck?
Ling's disbelief felt like seeing someone suddenly appear in the upper-class society she was used to, someone who was afraid to drink a cup of black tea because they might not be able to pay the bill.
It was not a perfect comparison, but that was exactly how Ling felt right now.
Seeing Fang Ran look terrified out of his mind, Ling suddenly had an idea. The corner of her mouth curled into the little devilish smile she often wore in her childlike form.
"Don't panic yet. Go on, bring me that cultural relic so I can take a look. Then tell me everything that happened from beginning to end~"
Ling's tone suddenly became gentle. Her loli voice turned irresistibly convincing, immediately steadying Fang Ran.
"Okay!"
The moment he heard that Ling was willing to help him, Fang Ran hurriedly pulled the bronze animal-head statue, Si Snake, out from beneath his bed.
Ling stared at him speechlessly.
So the cultural relic lost to history had been hidden under his bed?
"Listen, it all started when I came back from that convention in the city center that day."
Fang Ran gritted his teeth and stomped his foot. He had finally made up his mind to recount that piece of history he did not want to remember.
"Wait? A convention? You actually go to places like that? Heh, so you really are a shut-in." Ling sneered.
"Uh, there were very complicated reasons for that."
Unexpectedly, Fang Ran did not argue. He merely scratched his head and gave an awkward, complicated smile, his gaze shifting away.
"And then? How did you take this special reward from the state authorities?"
The Power Bank, Ling, slowly floated down onto the sofa while Fang Ran knelt on the floor before her. It was an incredibly strange sight.
"I don't really know either." Fang Ran wore a miserable expression, then carefully began telling Ling everything from the moment he entered that station.
Ling occasionally responded with an "Mm-hm." By the time Fang Ran had finished, she had roughly understood what had happened to this rookie.
Obviously, that D-27 had been a special target disguised by mist. But its true body had the bad luck of running into Fang Ran. After sensing Fang Ran's weak-chicken strength, it immediately chased him across ten streets. Then, by sheer coincidence, after a bunch of big shots fighting had destroyed its camouflage power, it was killed by Fang Ran's absurdly lucky strike.
She had to admit, this coward had pretty good luck.
Ling's data-soul form flickered slightly. She narrowed her eyes gently. From Fang Ran's description, she could roughly guess who had come from the state authorities.
It was probably Night Fairy—Ye Sheng—the state official Night Battle Participant another idiot had fantasized about before. Mystic Side, cultivation abilities, A-rank strength.
"Hehe~" Ling smiled. She had basically confirmed that the state authorities had not obtained Fang Ran's information. Otherwise, in the nearly two days since that scene ended, this guy would have been arrested long ago.
So the news really had been a warning?
Ling smiled indifferently. A so-called warning merely expressed the authorities' stance. But it was completely useless against someone like her, a special existence who belonged to no national power and lived alone in the Arctic Circle.
Ah, but still.
Ling glanced at Fang Ran. He looked nervous and uneasy, terrified that she might say something like, "Give up," or, "Stop struggling and wait for prison."
What a spineless fool.
Come on, he was a Night Battle Participant now, wasn't he?
In other words, he had superpowers. He was no longer an ordinary person.
Forget it. Even if she explained it to this guy, he would not understand. Ling knew that even if he did, changing his mindset would take a long time.
But this worked out perfectly~
Ling wore a wicked little devil smile, cleared her throat, and spoke in a grave tone.
"To be honest, your situation is very bad."
"So it really is like that." Fang Ran immediately deflated like a punctured balloon.
"But." Ling began, and Fang Ran immediately raised his head like revived leeks, asking as if he wanted to hug Ling's thigh, "But there's a way!?"
"Of course." Ling's voice was brimming with confidence, giving Fang Ran an endless sense of relief and security. "Understand your identity. You are now a Night Battle Participant, with extraordinary abilities granted to you by Night Battle."
"Even if it's Magical Girl Power." Fang Ran could not help complaining bitterly.
"Get out of here. Don't interrupt!"
Ling snapped at the guy who had interrupted her, nearly making her forget her prepared speech—cough, her carefully planned explanation.
"In a movie, you'd be one of those superpowered people. In other words, you now have the capital to survive." Ling guided him patiently. "As long as you become stronger, reach B-rank in Night Battle, and find a suitable scene to return this Si Snake, which was lost from the Great Water Method in history..."
"Oh, oh, oh! And then?" Fang Ran nodded eagerly, looking as though he had committed every word to heart.
"Then the authorities will think you've expressed goodwill toward them. Given your B-rank strength, they won't pursue the matter. Instead, they'll try to befriend a strong person like you. This matter will naturally pass, and that prison sentence will become a joke." Ling revealed her ultimate goal.
"Oh, oh." Fang Ran looked enlightened, deep in thought.
"But!" Ling abruptly changed her tone. Fang Ran suddenly felt as though his Power Bank's gaze had sharpened.
"If you're too weak, and they discover you, hehe~"
"What will happen?" Fang Ran swallowed nervously.
"Life imprisonment at minimum. The death penalty at most."
"Pfft!"
Fang Ran immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and roared in disbelief.
"No way! It's that serious?! Legally speaking, it shouldn't be that bad!!! And it clearly started at ten years—how did it suddenly become life imprisonment?!"
"Hehe, the world of Night Battle is a place where strength speaks. If you have no power, the other side naturally won't be polite." Ling said leisurely.
Then Ling secretly praised herself. Now that this coward had been scared, he would work hard to improve his strength. As long as he reached B-rank, she would have hope of escaping this damned Power Bank!
Compared with more than ten years, life imprisonment, or execution, he should know what to choose.
But Fang Ran's next sentence instantly shattered her fantasy. While making Ling slightly regret frightening him too much, it also filled her with rage. How could someone be this cowardly?!
"Say, Xiaomi,"
After weighing his own strength against the strength of the only B-rank person he knew, Lightning Girl, Fang Ran said with a mournful face.
"How about we turn ourselves in?"
Before you continue