The chill and terror brought by the [Finality] preview had not faded with the night. Instead, like a festering wound clinging to his bones, they were branded deep into Luo Li's heart.
That "perfect" future belonging to Castorice, one without him, was like an invisible thorn, constantly reminding him of his own insignificance and fate's unpredictability.
Yet that almost despairing shock was precisely what ignited the defiance and fighting spirit deep within him.
He no longer cultivated merely to grind affection or gain power.
Every meditation, every exploration of the [Remembrance] Path, now carried an all-or-nothing resolve.
He had to grow stronger. He had to seize every possibility and turn things around before that destined "finality" arrived.
Under this almost self-punishing focus, his control over his mental power and his ability to perceive memory fragments improved at an astonishing rate.
Even Xiao Hong in his mental space sensed the change in her master. She no longer dared to make noise whenever she pleased, only occasionally sending out ripples of concern.
"(´•ω•̥`) Master's been working so hard lately... He doesn't even snuggle with the pretty lady anymore..."
Luo Li had no time for her muttering.
On the third day after successfully registering his "bug-type ability," Luo Li received his first official mission notification from the Ability Users' Guild.
[Mission number: C-774] [Type: Intelligence analysis and on-site investigation] [Location: Seventh Abandoned Biological Research Institute, old district] [Details: Abnormal energy fluctuations and signs of low-tier vampire activity have recently been discovered in this area. The patrol has completed a preliminary sweep, but a hidden nest or unusual source of contamination is suspected. Members with information-perception abilities must be dispatched to conduct an in-depth analysis of the remnants and environment at the site, trace the source of the anomaly, and assess potential risks.] [Requirements: Ability user rank C or above, with information perception, tracking, or related support abilities.] [Reward: 80 contribution points, basic supply pack.]
A standard mission suited to a newly minted "support" member like him.
The location was in the relatively outlying old district, the risk level was low, and the reward was fairly substantial.
Almost without hesitation, Luo Li immediately tapped to accept.
This was his first step toward proving his worth, earning the guild's trust, and finding "legal rations" for Xiao Hong.
"Castorice..."
He put away his phone and addressed the girl quietly reading in the living room.
"I accepted a guild mission. I'll be heading out this afternoon."
Castorice looked up from her book, her purple eyes turning toward him with a hint of inquiry.
Luo Li briefly explained the mission. To keep her from worrying, he deliberately downplayed the risks, saying only that he was going somewhere that had already been cleared to do some analysis.
"I'll go with you."
Castorice closed her book and stood, her tone calm but leaving no room for argument.
Luo Li froze for a moment, then instinctively tried to refuse. "There's no need. The mission description said it's just support analysis. There isn't much danger..."
"I can help you."
Castorice interrupted him, walked over, and looked straight into his eyes.
"My power's perception of 'death' and 'anomalies' may be more sensitive than your ability."
Her gaze was clear and firm, carrying an insistence on standing beside him.
Luo Li looked at her, his refusal caught in his throat.
He remembered that future without him, and pain stabbed through his heart.
Perhaps... letting her take part, letting her become more integrated into this world, letting her grow accustomed to having me beside her, was itself a way to resist that "finality"?
Besides, Castorice's abilities truly were extraordinary. Having her there would undoubtedly make things much safer.
"...All right."
Luo Li finally nodded, a helpless yet slightly warm smile appearing on his lips.
"Then we'll go together.
But you have to follow my lead. If anything seems wrong, we retreat immediately."
"Mm."
Castorice answered softly, a barely perceptible trace of relief flashing through her eyes, along with... a faint hint of delight.
That afternoon, following the mission instructions, the two arrived at the Seventh Abandoned Biological Research Institute in Jiangcheng's old district.
It was far more dilapidated and sinister than the abandoned industrial area they had visited before.
The rusted fences stood crooked, and most of the windows were shattered, resembling pitch-black eyes.
The main building was a small, grayish-white five-story structure. Large patches of its outer coating had peeled away, exposing dark red bricks beneath, all covered in withered vines.
The air was thick with the smell of mold, the pungent remnants of disinfectant, and... a faint, sickly-sweet scent mingling blood and decay.
Two stern-faced patrol members in uniform were already waiting at the entrance. They were responsible for perimeter security and support during this mission.
"Mr. Luo Li?"
One patrol member checked Luo Li's identification card, then glanced at Castorice beside him, wearing a baseball cap and mask as a simple disguise. A flicker of puzzlement crossed his eyes, but he asked no further questions.
"We've done a preliminary sweep inside, but we can't be certain there aren't any stragglers or traps. Please be careful.
Here's the floor plan and the marked locations of the energy anomalies."
Luo Li took the tablet, thanked him, and entered the building with Castorice, stepping into what resembled the remains of a gigantic beast.
The light dimmed the moment they entered.
Only a few emergency lamps temporarily installed by the patrol cast limited beams of pallid light, barely driving the darkness from the corners.
Broken glass, abandoned laboratory equipment, and dried, blackened bloodstains littered the floor.
The air was cold and damp, as though it could seep into their bones.
Luo Li took a deep breath and focused, quietly activating [Remembrance Perception].
Invisible mental tendrils spread outward like spilled mercury.
In an instant, a vast jumble of information fragments flooded his mind-
Shattered test tubes, terrified screams, twisted and mutated shadows, crazed muttering, despairing wails... Some kind of inhumane biological experimentation seemed to have taken place here, and the vampire invasion had turned it into an even more horrific hell.
"The third room down the left corridor has the strongest lingering scent of 'death.'"
Castorice's soft voice sounded beside him. She had not even deliberately tried to perceive it, pointing out the direction on instinct alone.
Luo Li nodded and walked toward that room with her.
The room's door had long since vanished. Inside was utter chaos, instruments toppled in every direction, the floor covered in a thick layer of grime mixed with dust and unidentified slime.
In the center of the room, one area had clearly been cleaned, yet strong energy fluctuations still lingered there, along with... a viscous, icy residue of "Remembrance" that made Luo Li extremely uncomfortable.
"This is it."
Luo Li crouched, held his hand above that area, and pushed [Remembrance Perception] to its fullest.
This time, he perceived not only chaotic fragments, but also more concrete, more disturbing images-
Several "people" in tattered lab coats, their eyes fanatical and their bodies giving off a mixture of human and vampire auras, were gathered around an egg-sac-like object emitting a ghostly green glow, conducting some bizarre ritual...
The egg sac ruptured. What emerged was not an ordinary Bloodthirsty Beast, but a more grotesquely twisted monster covered in slime and bone spurs...
The monster let out a piercing screech and instantly tore those "researchers" apart, devouring them...
Then it melted into the shadows and disappeared into a ventilation duct...
"This wasn't just a gathering of vampires..."
Luo Li opened his eyes, his expression grave, and looked at Castorice. "Someone was using the vampire virus here to conduct some kind of... fusion or enhancement experiment!
They created a... monster. That thing may still be hiding somewhere in this building!"
The instant he finished speaking-
Crack!
Overhead, the ventilation grille suddenly gave a sharp crack and fell away.
Like a phantom, a dark shape plunged down at astonishing speed, bringing a heavy, bloody stench and bone-chilling malice.
Its target was none other than Luo Li, crouching on the floor.
It was an extremely bizarre creature.
It retained a roughly humanoid shape, but its limbs were twisted backward like an arthropod's, its fingertips tipped with coldly gleaming bone spurs.
Its skin was a sickly gray-green, covered in slippery slime and fleshy growths that constantly opened and closed like breathing holes.
Its head was bald and eyeless, with nothing but a gaping maw split all the way to its ears, packed with fine, closely set fangs.
This was nothing like any known kind of vampire! It was a product of those insane experiments.
Its speed defied imagination.
Almost the instant the grille fell, it was already in front of Luo Li! Its bone spurs aimed straight for his throat.
Luo Li's [Super-Speed Reaction] ability allowed him to catch the attack's trajectory, but his body simply could not dodge effectively in time.
The breath of death rushed toward his face!
At that critical instant-
Hum!
A streak of dark purple light, like a butterfly from the River of Souls cleaving through the darkness, moved later but arrived first.
Castorice moved!
Her movements were elegant and precise, without a single unnecessary motion.
She did not even raise the scythe in her hand. With only a slight turn of her wrist, its curved, incomparably sharp tip darted out like a snake's tongue, striking the wrist of the monster's thrusting bone claw with perfect accuracy.
Shhk!
There was a soft sound, like a hot knife slicing into butter.
The monster's wrist severed at once.
Thick, dark green blood sprayed out.
"Hiss-!!!"
The monster let out a shrill screech of pain and fury. Its unbalanced body twisted unnaturally in midair, and its remaining claw swept toward Castorice's waist and abdomen with a vicious whistle.
Yet its attack missed again.
As though weightless, Castorice lightly pushed off with her toes and drifted half a meter backward, just far enough to evade the lethal sweep.
At the same time, the scythe in her hand traced a perfect arc. Its ghostly purple light poured down like moonlight, silently passing through the monster's neck.
There was no violent collision, no shower of sparks.
Only a smooth cut.
The monster's screech abruptly stopped.
Its head, still wearing its hideous expression, slowly separated from its body. Dark green blood gushed out like a fountain, but before it could hit the floor, the River of Souls' chill coiling around the scythe froze it into eerie green ice crystals that fell and shattered with a clatter.
Its headless corpse twitched a few times, then went completely still.
From the monster's ambush to Castorice's instant kill, the entire process took no more than three seconds.
Clean, efficient, and so quiet it was as though nothing had happened.
Luo Li remained half-crouched. Only now did a bead of cold sweat slowly slide down his temple.
He looked at the monster's corpse on the floor, rapidly losing its vitality and beginning to release even denser "Remembrance Energy," then at Castorice beside him, her scythe lowered and her expression as calm as before. His heart was still pounding wildly.
"(⊙ˍ⊙) Wow! The pretty lady's so cool! An instant kill!" Xiao Hong exclaimed in admiration inside his mental space at just the right moment.
"My first mission... and I run into something like this?" Luo Li pushed against his knees and stood, his legs feeling a little weak.
He had thought it would be a simple "cleanup" mission. Instead, he had run straight into a hidden boss!
Castorice approached the monster's corpse, frowning slightly. "The 'death' in it... is very impure, mixed with so much pain and madness. Those 'researchers' created a monster that shouldn't exist in this world."
Luo Li nodded in deep agreement, still shaken.
If Castorice had not been beside him, he would probably have been in dire straits.
Once again, he realized that this apocalyptic world was far more dangerous and... insane than he had imagined.
"Let's finish recording the information left here first."
Luo Li steadied himself, pressed his hand to the floor again, and concentrated on reading the memory fragments about the experiments and the monster, while signaling to Xiao Hong that she could "dig in."
The red Memory Spirit cheered and pounced on the monster's corpse, beginning to absorb the memories and life essence within it, chaotic but exceptionally rich in energy.
Only after finishing up at the site and handing the analysis report and sample-a small piece of monster tissue for the guild's further research-to the patrol members outside did Luo Li and Castorice leave the oppressive abandoned grounds.
On the way back, Luo Li looked at Castorice walking quietly beside him, his heart filled with complicated feelings.
There was lingering fear, relief, and an even more indescribable sense of... dependence.
"Castorice..." he said softly.
"Just now... if it hadn't been for you, I might have..."
Castorice turned her head, her purple eyes looking especially gentle in the setting sun. "I told you I'd help you."
Her tone was very even, yet carried an unquestionable resolve.
Looking at her, Luo Li felt that some of the chill and terror brought on by the [Finality] preview seemed to dissipate in this real, tangible warmth.
He reached out and gently took her hand.
Castorice curled her fingertips slightly, then let him hold it.
The warmth of their touching palms seemed to carry their heartbeats to each other.
"The next mission..." Luo Li looked at her earnestly. "We'll go together again."
Castorice nodded gently, the faintest yet unmistakably real curve lifting the corners of her lips.
"Mm."
[Ding! First guild cooperation mission completed. The host's practical combat experience and crisis management abilities have been exercised. Proficiency in applying the [Remembrance] Path has increased.] [Fought alongside target 'Castorice.' Bonds and trust have deepened, strengthening the emotional connection.] [(Affection continues to rise steadily...)]