Lost Ones (Please Bookmark!!!)

When she recalled the details of the case, she told Zhang Ping about it.

About a year and a half ago, she had become an official combatant of the Cleanup Team and gained access to various old case files.

Some of the cases recorded in those files had already been solved by Cleanup Team members, while others remained unsolved to this day.

Among them, there was a particularly strange case from thirty years ago involving missing corpses.

Because large piles of corpses could easily attract Corpse-Eating Hounds, Mingzhu City practiced cremation.

However, in most cases, when someone died, Mingzhu City's funeral administration would allow the deceased's family four days to mourn them.

What was strange about this case was that corpses began disappearing one after another.

At first, the matter alerted the Patrol Team, but they searched the entire city without finding any clues. Corpses continued to disappear for a month afterward, until the City Lord transferred the case to the Cleanup Team for investigation.

But the investigation ultimately came to nothing.

Liu Sishan had not understood the case, so she took the file to ask Situ Shibai about it. Situ Shibai told her that it had been the work of a Lost One. Unfortunately, that Lost One had been extremely cunning. Once it realized its actions had alerted Mingzhu City's three major organizations, it fled decisively.

Thus, the case became an unsolved one.

"Sis Sisi, what kind of monster is a Lost One?" Zhang Ping could not help asking after hearing the story.

Liu Sishan said gravely, "Lost Ones are also Awakened. The captain told me that abilities gradually change according to their user's habits, eventually becoming the form most suitable and familiar to that user. But if the user's mind is not strong enough and they gradually become controlled by their ability, what do you think they become?"

"Lost Ones?" Zhang Ping's eyes widened in shock.

Liu Sishan nodded. "Yes. Lost Ones are Awakened who cannot control their own power and instead become slaves to it."

"That can happen?" Zhang Ping was greatly shocked.

But on second thought, he himself had unconsciously been influenced by his abilities.

In his previous life, he had not been especially lazy, but he always found time to slack off and entertain himself. Yet after coming to this world, especially after swallowing the Contract Gem, his greatest pleasure seemed to be exercising.

Thousands of push-ups, thousands of sit-ups—he would not even have dared imagine it in his previous life.

Thinking further, ever since obtaining Fire Eater, he had especially enjoyed staying beside furnaces. After gaining Nightwalker, he slept less and less at night. Once he acquired the Appraisal Technique, he kept wanting to appraise everything else, his curiosity far exceeding what it had been before.

And then there was the Pure Blood Body he had just obtained...

Just a few minutes ago, he had wanted to find an excuse to go back inside Liu Sishan's body and simply never come out.

In fact, he really had been unknowingly influenced by his abilities. It was just that the changes had been subtle, imperceptible.

"Sis Sisi, do you think I might become a Lost One someday?" he asked worriedly.

Liu Sishan smiled faintly. "You're still far from needing to worry about that. Lost Ones are generally Top-Tier Awakened. But the captain said that as long as you firmly uphold the justice in your heart and do not lightly trample the boundaries you set for yourself, there will be no risk of becoming lost."

Simply put, one had to control one's abilities rather than be controlled by them.

The more powerful an individual became, the less moral codes and laws could restrain them. So once such a powerful person trampled the boundaries they had once upheld, they would inevitably do so again and again.

That was extremely dangerous.

The best course was to firmly hold to one's inner boundaries and never give oneself an opportunity to challenge them, eliminating the risk of becoming lost at its root.

Take Situ Shibai, for example. His way of holding to his boundaries was that he would absolutely never copy another person's ability without their permission.

That was a form of restriction.

It could prevent him from committing evil as his abilities grew stronger, eventually becoming a slave to his abilities.

"I'll remember that!"

Zhang Ping could not help thinking of the dead Zeng Xiaofan.

Because his power had increased, and because he knew he would not be punished, he had in fact taken the law into his own hands. The proper thing would have been to knock Zeng Xiaofan unconscious and hand him over to the Cleanup Team for judgment.

The Patrol Team being gone did not mean Mingzhu City's laws had become void. He had actually had other options.

"Sis Sisi, I actually did something wrong tonight. I killed someone."

Zhang Ping clenched his fists. After reflecting on it, he looked at Liu Sishan and very seriously told her about killing Zeng Xiaofan that night.

"Mm, I understand. Although taking the law into your own hands was wrong, since he had committed countless evil deeds, let this be the last time. I won't report this to the captain for a reward, so you won't get one." After listening, Liu Sishan could not help reaching out to rub Zhang Ping's head, smiling slightly.

Zhang Ping came to his senses and frowned. "There was a reward?"

"That Zeng Xiaofan you mentioned—if he's the flower-destroying bandit I know of, then not only did he deserve to die, but whether dead or alive, he could be exchanged for a reward from either the Patrol Team or Cleanup Team. I remember his bounty being quite high," Liu Sishan answered.

Zhang Ping had initially felt a little regretful, but after thinking of Lost Ones, he felt that this was only right.

If he had known beforehand that Zeng Xiaofan was the flower-destroying bandit and could be killed without consequence, then killing Zeng Xiaofan would have been justified. But at the time, he had killed him in a fit of rage to vent his anger. That was wrong.

It was entirely different from the previous time when he had killed someone to rescue Chen Juntaing. That time, he had been saving someone, and the criminal had clearly shown resistance and hostility. He had acted purely in self-defense.

The latter had already been scared out of his wits and would not have threatened his life even if he had not been killed.

"Sis Sisi, aside from becoming Lost Ones, do Awakened have any other hidden dangers?" Zhang Ping asked worriedly.

Liu Sishan smiled. "Normally, there isn't much danger. After all, Awakened generally have more control over their abilities, and Lost Ones only appear with an extremely low probability. But if a Lost One deteriorates further, it becomes a true monster—a Fallen One!"

"They can evolve further?" Zhang Ping asked in surprise.

Liu Sishan nodded. "I was also shocked when I learned about it. Lost Ones are actually more like patients with mental illness, while Fallen Ones are when abilities truly develop consciousness of their own. They continuously alter the body in order to strengthen themselves, eventually becoming... monsters!"

"Abilities can develop their own consciousness?"

Zhang Ping felt a chill crawl down his spine, as though his abilities had opened their eyes in the darkness and were quietly watching him.

Under the black-and-white lights, Liu Sishan looked at Zhang Ping's pale face and could not help smiling softly. In a faint voice, she said, "Because abilities gradually become the form their users are accustomed to. But what if the form that user is accustomed to is itself abnormal? An abnormal state creates an abnormal ability form. That is what a Fallen One is!"

"Awakened actually have such terrifying hidden dangers. That's too frightening." Zhang Ping swallowed, feeling as if he might lose control at any moment.

Seeing this, Liu Sishan could not help laughing. "Zhang Ping, what are you afraid of? Can't you control your body and mind one hundred percent? Just give yourself an order: no getting lost, no falling. Wouldn't that solve it?"

"..."

Zhang Ping felt as though he had been struck by lightning, his entire body seemingly petrified.