Before heading out, Xu Zhi first confirmed that the Game Console was still under maintenance. She had a feeling that the maintenance would probably not end until everything was settled.
She put on her cloak and stuffed Little Aberration back into her pocket. Little One lay quietly dormant around her wrist, while the Black Cat turned into a wisp of green smoke and followed at her side. Blending into the night, Xu Zhi slipped into the Aberration horde.
The feeling was rather strange. The area around her was packed with inhuman creatures, and Xu Zhi was the only human hidden among them. She could hear the deep breaths of those towering, ferocious beings and feel the "danger" radiating from them. It kept her nerves taut, yet made her mind increasingly clear.
Because she knew perfectly well that if she took even one wrong step, she might not leave alive.
As Midnight drew near, Xu Zhi noticed that every Aberration around her had slowed its breathing and leaned slightly forward, as though preparing to welcome something. Already prepared herself, Xu Zhi grew even more tense, her heartbeat speeding up.
When the time passed a quarter past midnight, the pitch-black sky seemed to ring with the sound of clock hands turning. An eerie presence spread outward from the center of the square like ripples across water. When the ripple passed over Xu Zhi's body, her expression abruptly darkened. This presence—
Was unmistakably the presence of Midnight.
For an instant, Xu Zhi seemed to return to that dark forest. The densely packed army of Aberrations around her was gone, replaced by towering black trees that pierced straight into the sky.
But the sensation lasted only an instant before fading as the ripple passed through her and continued spreading outward.
Even so, Xu Zhi