Page 195

She wanted to see the story come to a close.

The sky was overcast today, with dark clouds hanging in the distance, and a heavy rain was brewing over the city.

After leaving the mall, Ye Jiang walked out of Yu Qingyi's apartment. As soon as she stepped out of the complex, the wind blew up the corner of her clothes, and she squinted to shield herself from the dust blowing towards her.

When I opened my eyes again, there was another person in front of me.

The wind continued to blow. The aloof and beautiful Mirror Woman raised her hand and picked up a discarded flyer that had been blown by the wind, but her eyes were fixed on Ye Jiang across from her.

"I didn't tell you not to follow me," Ye Jiang said emotionlessly.

The Mirror Woman raised her hand, and the thin flyer seemed to gain weight, flying straight into a trash can in the distance.

"I didn't go with you." She lowered her eyes and said, "After that day, I left the city and went to City B, City F, City K... In the past two weeks, I've been to many cities, but they were all very boring."

She felt like a rootless duckweed, unable to settle down in a new city and start a new life, so she unknowingly returned here.

She said, "Why don't you let me come with you?"

Ye Jiang: "."

She glanced at her a few times, then, remembering what she was about to do, said calmly, "Go with me, as long as... you can keep up."

As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished from the spot.

The Mirror Woman was prepared; a smirk played on her lips, and she immediately broke through the wind to follow.

The Mirror Woman had experienced firsthand the speed of the person she was chasing; the so-called monster truly was monstrous, terrifyingly strong. Therefore, she unleashed her full power from the start, pursuing him with all her might.

However, something is a little strange.

This time, the monster seemed to be malfunctioning; the figure in front of it remained neither too close nor too far, never once escaping its sight.

That's strange; it shouldn't be like this.

Did I become stronger, or...?

Ye Jiang landed and stopped. The Mirror Woman caught up instantly. She licked her lips, and her eyes, which had been lifeless for half a month, suddenly brightened.

She stopped beside Ye Jiang, panting, "Hey, were you waiting for me?"

Yes, yes, it's not that she's become stronger, nor that Ye Jiang has become weaker, but that Ye Jiang is waiting for her!

The Mirror Woman was so focused on Ye Jiang that she didn't realize where she was until she noticed Ye Jiang wasn't answering her and was staring straight into the distance. Following her gaze, the Mirror Woman froze. Where was she...?

Ye Jiang did not enter the cemetery, but stopped on a high ground. Opposite her was the Bureau of the Ability Control Bureau's cemetery. The view from this spot was unobstructed, and she could see the funeral that was taking place across the way.

"Watch." Ye Jiang only answered this one sentence, which gave Mirror Woman the answer she wanted. What was taking place in the cemetery across the way was Song Cen's funeral.

The Mirror Woman's pupils trembled slightly. She remained silent, her gaze fixed intently on the cemetery. The wind blew against her clothes and ruffled the lines in her eyes.

Eulogy, flower offering, and gift presentation.

The life of an executive of the Ability Control Bureau was condensed into a short eulogy, and then buried with him in the earth.

The wind picked up.

The personnel from the Ability Control Bureau dispersed, and on the opposite high ground, two voices stood silently.

The funeral ended, and the cemetery returned to silence. Ye Jiang withdrew her gaze and witnessed the hero's final moments. Having achieved her goal, she was about to leave with the personnel from the Ability Control Bureau, but a single sentence stopped her in her tracks.

"Thanks."

The Mirror Woman's voice came from the wind.

Ye Jiang stopped in her tracks. She turned to look at the Mirror Woman, Mirror Woman was still looking in the direction of the cemetery, the wind blowing in her direction making her hair flutter.

Ye Jiang saw tranquility in the Mirror Woman's eyes. As the hero who accompanied her on her final journey passed away, the Mirror Woman was slowly letting go.

Ye Jiang hummed in response to the thank you.

She should have left, but she stayed instead.

"You're saying the fragments that split off from your body can be used as disposable props?" she suddenly asked the Polluted beside her.

The Mirror Woman looked at her upon hearing this. "What do you need?"

She pretended to shatter her body, but Ye Jiang stopped her. "No need. I just wanted to ask why you said 'as if'."

The Mirror Woman stopped shattering her body and said, "Because it's not a true artifact. True artifacts can seal energy and be preserved for a long time. My fragments can only be considered raw materials. The energy they contain will slowly dissipate over time, eventually turning into ordinary mirror fragments."

leaf

Jiang fell silent.

"What?" the Mirror Woman asked.

Ye Jiang looked at her, and after a while, said, "In Song Cen's hand, there was a shard of an ordinary mirror."

She was simply stating a discovery.

Mirror Woman's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes reddened. "What... what does this mean?"

Ye Jiang said, "I don't know."

The facts have been erased into history; what remains is only speculation.

Song Cen had already discovered that the friend he had never met in the shopping mall was not human, but a Polluted —the one he had once saved, the one who had fallen into corruption in his arms. This was just speculation, so Ye Jiang kept quiet.

She merely recounted her discovery; the Mirror Woman had her own speculations.

The Mirror Woman stood in the wind, her eyes red-rimmed. After a long, long time, a bitter smile appeared on her lips.

That's such a shame.

If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have avoided him. In that shopping mall, she should have bravely gone up to him and told him that she thanked him for coming.

The Mirror Woman raised her hand to tuck her disheveled hair behind her ear, her gaze returning to the cemetery. She looked at the newly erected tombstone, her eyes distant, as if she had traveled through time and returned to the shopping mall. She stepped out of the pillar and saw the gentle man outside.

A splash of blood caught Ye Jiang's eye. She looked over and saw the Mirror Woman Mirror Woman's raised hand, where a blood-red Blood Moon symbol was gradually taking shape.

Ye Jiang paused for a moment, then opened her Ability System. Sure enough, she saw an extra dot of light in the system's storage compartment, in the second column. The dark red dot was becoming more and more solid as it flickered. When the Blood Moon symbol on the Mirror Woman's hand was fully formed, it stopped and stood still, side by side with two watermelon-sized orbs of light next to it.

In addition, because Ye Jiang hadn't opened the system for a long time, there were other changes. In the third column, the monster column, four dark red dots of varying shades and a dark red sesame ball were added.

Ye Jiang paused for a moment, recalling the Blood Moon symbol on Luo Manyu's hand. She guessed that one of the four points of light belonged to her, and the other three were those of 357, whom she had also left in the mall. She hadn't paid attention to whether they had Blood Moon symbols, but she figured they must be them. The small, clump-like sesame seeds were the little monsters from the toys.

Having clarified this point, Ye Jiang gained new insights when looking at her storage compartments.

She discovered that human ability users appeared as dim black dots in her system, S-Rank Polluted as dazzling orbs of light, and monsters as solid dark red dots. Among the monsters, the dots of higher-level monsters were darker and more solid, those of mid-level monsters were slightly lighter, and those of lower-level monsters were even darker.

Because the Mirror Woman's power is Monster Level, it manifests as dark red specks, similar to that of a mid-level monster.

These are the most obvious and intuitive discoveries. What still puzzles Ye Jiang is: what kind of mechanism allows monsters and special Polluted to enter her storage compartment?

Both were transactions, but Luo Manyu only needed to sign a contract to enter her system, while Mirror Woman's transaction was completed long ago, yet Mirror Woman is only now entering her system.

Ye Jiang didn't want the monster Polluted to enter her system; she was just puzzled.

Ye Jiang noticed the Mirror Woman glancing at her. She looked up and saw the Mirror Woman staring at her system screen, seemingly hesitant to speak. Ye Jiang knew what she was wondering about; Ye Jiang was probably wondering how a non-human like herself could possess a system for human ability users. Ye Jiang didn't explain, but her gaze fell on the Mirror Woman's hand. The Mirror Woman followed her gaze and was startled to discover the newly grown thing.

The Mirror Woman touched the Blood Moon symbol, then touched it again, but the system didn't pop up, which only deepened her suspicions.

"Don't worry," Ye Jiang told her. "I know some monsters and Polluted also get this, some for a long time, and they've never had any problems."

The Mirror Woman was silent for a moment. "So, this Blood Moon symbol isn't exclusive to humans?"

Ye Jiang gave a mumbled "hmm".

The Mirror Woman pointed out the problem. "Why can your system screen pop up while mine can't? Is this discrimination?"

Ye Jiang: "..."

It's about treating people differently.

She is not only capable, but also the mother system.

Ye Jiang didn't talk about these things with her. After thinking for a moment, she asked her a question, "Compared to the last moment, are your feelings for me different right now?"

Mirror Woman: "?"

What kind of abstract problem is this?

Her lips twitched, and she opened her mouth to answer, but she really didn't know what to say.

She stood there dumbfounded, staring at Ye Jiang.

Ye Jiang: "..."

Okay, it seems I won't figure this out for now.

She had to keep the problem to herself and was about to close the system screen when a symbol suddenly popped up on the screen. She looked over and saw an "S" slowly appearing on the screen where the ability level was displayed.

Ability Level: SS.

Ye Jiang froze... her ability level had increased again.

She had thought that although her ability level was a separate system, the level improvement would at least be easy at first and difficult later. Unexpectedly, she didn't even do the kind of training that humans do, but her ability level improved faster and faster.

Her biggest power-up was when she fulfilled Tang Su's wish and her true form descended, her power level rising directly from C-Rank to S-Rank, which was understandable. But now? It turns out S-Rank can go even higher, and she's already leveled up another rank so quickly.

What it relies on is...

Is it the increasing number of monsters and Polluted entering the areas she Domination?