Lies, B-Rank Enhancement Card (Bonus Chapter—Monthly Votes Please!)

[Good morning, dear player "Ke Mingqing." Today is Thursday, July 5, 2026. Time remaining until the "Exterminate Superhumans" mission deadline: 176 days, 17 hours.]

The college entrance exams were over, and the first-year teaching building was no longer occupied. Ke Mingqing still had to attend school as usual that day.

He got up early, washed up, and after finishing breakfast on the first floor, left the house with Xia Zili.

The weather was unremarkable today. A heavy rain had fallen last night, leaving the air damp and the sky overcast. After waiting for a while at the empty bus stop, the siblings boarded the school bus.

They did not speak the entire way and did not even meet each other's eyes. But as the school bus was about to reach its stop, Xia Zili suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"By the way, is your girlfriend a Super-species?"

"Why are you so concerned about her?" Ke Mingqing asked, turning toward her.

Xia Zili thought for a moment. "Dad used to say that even if we dated in the future, we couldn't date Super-species. They wanted us to find ordinary partners."

Ke Mingqing rolled his eyes. If you took everything the Dread Crow Man said to heart, you'd be set for life. He married an alien himself—what right does he have to forbid us from dating Super-species?

"Don't worry. My girlfriend is just an ordinary person," he said with a sigh.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's just a pampered young lady with a very simple personality. She relies on me quite a lot." Is it really okay to leave all the tasks of establishing contact with the other players in Dawn Capital to her? What if the other players trick her into a trap?

Xia Zili said nothing more. She rested her head against the window, her eyes lowered as she quietly watched the rain-soaked road.

Before long, the school bus arrived at its stop.

Not long after Ke Mingqing got off, his best friend Jiang Qingzi came over from afar and threw an arm around his shoulders. The two chatted and joked as they walked toward school. Golden fallen leaves carpeted the ground, and the sky was beginning to clear.

"What did you do yesterday afternoon?" Ke Mingqing asked first, his hands in his pockets.

Jiang Qingzi smiled faintly. "Nothing much. I made plans with someone to see an art exhibition."

"You left in such a hurry that I thought you had something important to do. What's so interesting about an art exhibition?"

"I'd already made plans with someone. What else could I do?" Jiang Qingzi paused. "By the way, are you really not curious about that fire?"

"I already said I don't care." I'm troubled enough as it is, so don't come making things worse. Am I, a transmigrator, supposed to avenge this body's biological parents?

Jiang Qingzi glanced at his expression, as though trying to determine whether he truly did not care or was merely being stubborn.

"All right. If you ever become interested, come ask me." As he spoke, he patted Ke Mingqing on the shoulder.

The two entered the school with their backpacks.

Jiang Qingzi's popularity at school was in a league of its own. He stood head and shoulders above the rest—rich, handsome, and an excellent student, driven to school in a luxury car every day. If this were a game, the status bar above his head would already be stacked full, so the girls all turned to look at him.

But Ke Mingqing was also popular at school in a different sense. People dreaded the sight of him and avoided him whenever they could. He was practically a walking jinx. The two of them together drew even more attention.

Jiang Qingzi did not care what others thought. He was as cheerful and playful as ever, even sharing one of his earbuds with Ke Mingqing so they could listen to music.

After a while, Ke Mingqing and Jiang Qingzi parted ways in the corridor of the teaching building, each walking into his classroom under the morning light.

He put his backpack into the desk drawer, sat down, and turned to stare blankly at the athletic field outside the window.

School had now become the only place where Ke Mingqing could feel at ease.

At home, every day felt like a year. He was surrounded by Super-species who were abnormal in every sense of the word, and he had to find every possible way to keep them from noticing any flaws. Once his eldest brother and second sister returned home, his situation would only become more dangerous.

The existence of "players" had already been exposed, and before long, it would be made fully public. As a superhero within the upper ranks, Rain Crow would likely soon obtain related intelligence from others.

Ke Mingqing was about to face a joint assault from his father, eldest brother, and second sister. If he took even one wrong step, he would either be captured and made into a research specimen or tortured to death outright.

I need to get stronger, fast. Strong enough that even if my identity is exposed someday, I won't have to fear dying at their hands. With that thought, Ke Mingqing opened his inventory.

His gaze settled on the "Intermediate Skill Enhancement Card," a reward he had received for completing a previous mission.

[Item Name: Intermediate Skill Enhancement Card]

[Item Description: This card can be used to enhance one B-rank or C-rank skill, granting it a new effect or strengthening its existing effects.]

[Note: Each player may obtain only one "Intermediate Skill Enhancement Card." Intermediate Skill Enhancement Cards cannot be given to other players for use. Please choose the target skill carefully.]

Ke Mingqing currently had only two skills that met the requirements. One was the C-rank skill "Gate of Truth," while the other was the B-rank skill "Theater Puppet."

Each player could obtain only one "Intermediate Skill Enhancement Card," so its importance went without saying.

Ke Mingqing had originally planned to save it until the middle stage of the game, when his skill set was more comprehensive, before deciding which skill to use it on.

But now, it seemed he did not have that much time left. After weighing his options for a moment, he finally pressed confirm, and a series of notification panels immediately appeared before him.

[Notice: You have used an "Intermediate Skill Enhancement Card" on the B-rank skill "Theater Puppet."]

[The following changes have occurred to the effects of "Theater Puppet" during this enhancement:

1. Theater Puppets no longer have an existence time limit. Upon death, they will no longer disperse into lingering smoke and can fully simulate the death of a normal human;

2. The player is now permitted to create a second "Theater Puppet," but the second puppet possesses only 50% of the player's base attributes.

(The two Theater Puppets are respectively marked as "Puppet 01" and "Puppet 02." When a puppet is destroyed, their cooldowns are counted separately. A puppet may only be created again after its cooldown ends.)]

The enhancement card's effects did not disappoint Ke Mingqing. He raised his brows and thought, Creating two Theater Puppets is pretty good. It'll make it easier for me to play multiple roles by myself later.

Just as he was thinking that, his phone suddenly chimed.

Ke Mingqing checked it and saw a message from the group chat, "A Loving Family."

[Ke Linye: I'll be home tonight. Anyone want to go out with me? It's been a long time since I last came back to Dawn Capital.]

"Nothing but lies. You were obviously already home." Recalling what he had seen last night, Ke Mingqing lowered his head and gave a quiet laugh. "Since you all want so badly to drag me out and slaughter me, then even if I die, I'll play with you until the very end."