Last words, echoes of the departed
It had a thousand words to say, it wanted to express its loneliness, to lament its growing pains, but because of the Creator's gentle touch, in an instant, the grievances of the past three hundred years of hopeless waiting vanished.
Ye Jiang stared silently, her heart enveloped in a damp feeling.
"Bear with it," she whispered, then swiftly tore away the dark chunks of flesh from the cocoon.
The strange cat's body froze, then--
"Squeak!!!!"
It emitted a piercing, soul-wrenching scream.
With a scream, the object that had trapped its body shattered with a bang, turning into smoke and slowly dissipating.
The indigestible energy spheres and the explosive energy from the fleshy chunks—when these two sources of energy, which had been continuously pouring into its weak body, were cut off, the cocoon that had trapped it for many years finally broke open, and it was freed from its painful cage.
What follows is the ease of stepping on clouds.
The monster froze, feeling deeply unaccustomed to its suddenly relaxed body.
It raises its left limb and then its right limb.
Its four heads were tilting and twisting.
So light!
Its eyes lit up with amazing joy as it peeked at Ye Jiang and discovered that Ye Jiang was looking at it.
The four heads drooped in panic; there were too many heads, and they were starting to fight.
Overjoyed, it finally mustered its courage and flew toward the Creator, instantly transforming into a long, thin, fluid strand that smoothly circled the Creator from his feet to his head.
Satisfied with this, it flew back into the tattered toy body, curled up into a ball, rested its head on its forelegs, lay down quietly, and then calmly glanced at Ye Jiang.
That was a farewell glance.
Its body, composed of smoke, is disintegrating.
Its time has come.
It is not a true life form; it was born without authorization and without the Creator's approval. Its fate is to dissipate. But it is content.
Even though they were already satisfied, their eyes remained fixed on the Creator, refusing to close them until the very end...
I'm very reluctant to leave.
Suddenly, the air trembled, and then, as if time and space had frozen, the dissipating black smoke remained suspended in the air. An invisible, silent, and incredibly powerful force descended upon the entire shopping mall without warning. Time and space stood still, except for Ye Jiang, who stood quietly opposite the strange cat. Her blood-red eyes were flashing rapidly like a kaleidoscope. 1, 2, 3, three seconds. After three seconds, time and space resumed their flow, but Ye Jiang's blood-red eyes remained still.
The brief three seconds felt like nothing had happened, yet something had already quietly and imperceptibly occurred.
The strange cat, which had been lying there awaiting its demise, paused, a hint of confusion appearing in its eyes.
It raised its left limb, looked at it, then slowly lowered it and raised its right limb instead.
The collapse has stopped.
What's different?
It suddenly looked at Ye Jiang, its eyes filled with disbelief.
A fire of the soul suddenly ignited deep within his consciousness, and he...
He became life.
A cacophony of chatter came from upstairs as countless toys surged to the railing, eagerly peering down at Ye Jiang. A fire of life ignited within them; they, he, they all became real beings.
They all became...
monster.
Countless tiny, wispy things emerged from the toy's body. Most of them lacked individual shapes, appearing as small, Coal Ball -like lumps, jostling and chattering, celebrating this new life.
The black smoke was ethereal and terrifying; it was a monster.
After these Quasi-Life became life, they all turned into monsters.
Ye Jiang was disturbed by the noise. She looked up and her pupils slowly returned to black, becoming two dark pools, calm and all-encompassing.
She accepted these tiny Quasi-Life.
As the energy sphere dissolved into her forehead, she finally remembered the method of identifying with Quasi-Life.
She didn't need to do much; she just needed to make a concession in her heart.
Voluntary donation.
The Quasi-Life that awakened in the building were not toys that had gained consciousness; rather, they were born from her energy sphere.
That year, Ye Jiang left the mall with the little monster. The mall sank deep underground, and a small energy ball was left inside the toy. Over the years, a small lump of Coal Ball was quietly born in the energy radiation area. It was so weak that it instinctively jumped into a wind-up toy and gave itself a fairly sturdy body.
It manipulated its new body to the railing, leaned against it, and gazed into the distance at this new world.
Later, one after another, little Coal Ball were born.
Then one day, a large Coal Ball was born. It accidentally crawled into a toy cat at the bottom of the building and saw the energy ball that had been left there. It swallowed it whole, and the energy instantly filled its body. It grew into its own form.
It became the largest Quasi-Life in the building, and before being forced into a deep sleep, it used its abilities to establish some rules within the shopping mall.
These Quasi-Life in the building were all born from the energy of the energy spheres; they were born from the unauthorized use of energy.
Therefore, so-called recognition is actually a voluntary donation of energy that has been taken without authorization, without taking back what they have taken.
What is born from the energy of monsters is naturally also monsters, not a new race.
Something rubbed against Ye Jiang's hand. Ye Jiang looked down and saw the strange cat. It boldly rubbed against Ye Jiang's hand, and when Ye Jiang looked over, it darted away.
Ye Jiang: "..."
She sensed it; these newborn lives in the building were exceptionally fond of and close to her, their creator. This was probably because they were born from a small sphere of energy infused with love.
Ye Jiang gave the energy ball to the little monster as a snack, which was an act of love. The energy ball witnessed Ye Jiang creating everything for the little monster, and then leaving with the little monster, leaving the place empty.
The life forms born from this energy sphere possessed, from the moment of their creation, vague memories of the building's former bustling activity and the illusion of having been loved. This is why, over the long years, they felt lonely due to the loss of their creator, and thus—
Ye Jiang looked at the young man behind her, her eyes deep and unfathomable.
She stared at him and asked, "Rong Yin, are you sure you can't contact that monster you know?"
That's why, when young people first step into the mall, they collectively protest against this monster out of jealousy, because he had received the most love from the Creator.
Because the youth was that original little monster.
Chapter 133 Last Words: An Echo from the Deceased
In Shuiling Town, Ye Jiang felt gratified seeing young men who could keep up with her speed; it wasn't something that had damaged her brain from the snow.
It wasn't just wishful thinking, but because the young man was someone she had personally nurtured, and he was right there in this shopping mall.
The young man always managed to appear beside her unnoticed, partly because he was adept at minimizing his presence, and partly because she subconsciously trusted him and allowed him to get close.
There was a story between them, but she had forgotten it.
What would happen if he forgot? Did Zhao Yi feel resentment?
--No, he was just disappointed.
The conversation with Qin Daichuan suddenly popped into her mind, which made Ye Jiang unable to help but observe the young man's expression. She saw that his eyes were dark and deep. Looking into those eyes was like staring into a bottomless abyss. At first glance, she felt a sense of peace, but upon closer inspection, she felt that an ancient loneliness had been deposited within them.
Ye Jiang couldn't help but recall the young man's words to her, saying that being remembered by her was an honor many people longed for but could not attain. Was he talking about himself then, saying that she had forgotten him?
Ye Jiang was momentarily dazed.
"Hmm..."
A groan suddenly rang out, bringing Ye Jiang back to her senses. It was Yu Hai, the captain of the elite exploration team of the Ability Control Bureau, who had broken free from his slumber and regained consciousness.
Ye Jiang looked around and noticed that the little Coal Ball celebrating had all returned to their respective toy bodies. Even the strange cat had obediently returned to its broken cat toy body. With its consciousness back under control, the strange cat withdrew the terrifying Pollution it had spread. It sensed Ye Jiang's displeasure and withdrew it immediately, thus eliminating the Pollution in the building.
Thanks to this, Yu Hai woke up; he was the only one who regained consciousness at the scene. Executors of the Ability Control Bureau must undergo Pollution resistance training, and as A-Rank elite, he had always excelled in this training. Therefore, even if there were people with superior abilities than him at the scene, none of them had broken free from their mental breakdown as quickly as he had.
With a thought, Ye Jiang's consciousness entered a strange space, where all the superhumans present transformed into tiny specks of light that twinkled around her, flickering in and out of the darkness, everything seemingly under her control.
She could clearly see that several points of light were brighter and more dazzling than Yu Hai's, which meant they had stronger abilities than Yu Hai.
Ye Jiang's thoughts wandered aimlessly as she detached herself from her mental space.
Although Yu Hai had woken up, he was still in a sorry state. His exposed skin was festering and black, his pupils were frequently unfocused, and his condition was extremely poor.
"Vomit--"
He bent over and vomited a large amount of bitter liquid.
He felt much better after vomiting, so he composed himself and staggered toward Ye Jiang.
"... healer/ Healer."
His overworked brain hadn't yet realized that the danger in the building had been eliminated. Only a deep-seated sense of responsibility drove him toward Ye Jiang. The Healer couldn't be harmed, absolutely not. He kept this in mind at all times, even in his current terrible state.
Ye Jiang watched as the former elite walked towards her like a walking corpse, muttering to himself repeatedly about protecting Healer Healer. After a moment of silence, as Yu Hai approached, Ye Jiang silently reached out and healed him.
She is now S-Rank, and physical wounds heal in the blink of an eye. The mental Pollution is also rapidly disappearing. Yu Hai's eyes are becoming clearer and clearer. Only then did he realize that the crisis seemed to have been resolved. The terrifying Pollution in the building had disappeared. The out-of-control demonic cat lay there quietly with a large hole in its chest. It looked lifeless and more like a real decoration than ever before.