Chapter 156: The Salvation Society's Trap, the Fifth Child |
"In three days, you will head to London to carry out your first external mission on behalf of our Salvation Society."
As he spoke, the Tutor pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his white lab coat.
"London, huh..." Ji Minghuan murmured to himself.
"Exactly."
The Tutor nodded in response while using his fingertips to tear open the cigarette case's wrapping. He flipped the lid and pulled out a cigarette.
Resting his chin on one hand, Ji Minghuan glanced at the cigarette in the Tutor's hand, then at the plastic wrapper on the table. "I have lived for over a decade and never been abroad once," he noted casually. "To think my first trip overseas would be with you guys keeping me on a leash. How boring."
He lowered his gaze to his overly long fingernails. 'Ke Qirui's intelligence was correct: Red Traffic Light will appear in London... Did her clues come from the same source as the Salvation Society's?' he pondered.
'If it is the same source, then the Salvation Society's influence must have already infiltrated the Exorcist Association. That is not entirely surprising, though. After all, they have already infiltrated Rainbow Wing, let alone the Exorcist Association.'
'Looking at it this way, the only major faction that likely hasn't been infiltrated yet is Lake Hunt.'
The Tutor retrieved a lighter from his other pocket. Placing the cigarette between his lips, he leaned down to the flame, took a deep drag, and exhaled a cloud of white smoke.
Pinching the cigarette between his fingertips, he remarked casually, "Honestly, there's nothing particularly great about foreign countries."
"So does that mean the Salvation Society's base is domestic?" Ji Minghuan asked, posing his daily probing question.
"Who knows?"
The Tutor pushed up the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, offering a noncommittal reply.
"Sigh... Let's get one thing straight. I can't do anything. In a fight, the most I can do is throw a couple of pebbles at someone," Ji Minghuan stressed. "Just in case—on the very off chance—that you guys place too many restrictions on the other kids and this operation goes south, you can't blame me."
He averted his eyes. "After all, I'm just a M-M-M-Muggle. Muggle, understand? I won't be of any help."
"That's fine." The Tutor smiled faintly, entirely disapproving of the boy's excuses. "You only need to observe. We will ensure that absolutely no accidents occur during this mission."
"Oh, that's good then." Ji Minghuan tilted his head to look at the cigarette in the man's hand, asking with genuine curiosity, "You actually smoke? I thought you were the type of refined beast who didn't touch cigarettes or alcohol."
"We are adults; we all need a way to vent our stress. Sex, smoking, and drinking are all similar in that regard. Everyone knows they aren't good for you, but in life, it's hard to avoid needing them to dispel your worries."
Suddenly, the Tutor coughed twice. He took a sip of warm water from his thermos cup, then screwed the lid back on. "I only recently learned to smoke," he added.
"Seems like you're under a lot of stress."
Ji Minghuan, the very source of that stress, commented dryly.
The Tutor slipped the lighter back into his white lab coat pocket, sighing with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Being assigned by my superiors to manage a child who could destroy the world at any moment—how could my stress not be high?"
Ji Minghuan tilted his head. "Since you're so pitiful, why don't you let your superiors talk to me directly? I promise I'll chew them out for you. Let's see if I don't spit right in the faces of those brain-dead morons."
"It is inconvenient for them to see you." The Tutor shook his head. "But one day, when you can stably control your power, they will meet with you to congratulate you on 'graduating' from the Salvation Society."
"I almost believed you there. Let's talk about something else..." Ji Minghuan pondered for a moment. "How many kids are going on this mission in total? Just the four of us?"
"There are five in total."
Hearing this, Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow and cocked his head at the Tutor. "Five?"
He counted them off on his fingers. "Me, Kong Youling, Filio, and Sun Changkong. That makes four."
He looked up, probing carefully, "Then who is the fifth child? Is it that 'very dangerous guy' you mentioned before?"
"No," the Tutor shook his head. "That 'very dangerous guy' is still too unstable, so we cannot safely let him leave this research facility just yet."
"Then who is the fifth person?" Ji Minghuan asked.
"We all call him 'Mario'," the Tutor replied. "Mario is an Exorcist. You will meet him in a couple of days."
"An Exorcist, eh? What is his Celestial Drive?"
"A game console."
"A game console? What kind?"
"A handheld one," the Tutor stated lightly. "If placed within the Exorcist Association's Celestial Drive grading system, Mario's Celestial Drive would achieve an SSS-grade rating, the absolute highest evaluation possible. He is an unprecedented genius among Exorcists... though, of course, he still falls far short compared to you."
"Oh? He's that impressive?" Ji Minghuan arched an eyebrow. "What does his Celestial Drive do?"
"Mario's Celestial Drive can pull everyone nearby into a randomized game scenario, and he can manipulate various elements within that space. This includes in-game characters that spawn or interactive environmental objects. For example, if the loaded stage is Jurassic World, he can control dinosaurs to maul his opponents. If the loaded stage is an empty mountain, he can send a massive boulder rolling down the slope to crush his enemies into meat paste."
"That sounds pretty badass," Ji Minghuan praised before asking, "Once he fully matures, will he be able to match that 'Lake Hunt' group you mentioned?"
"Absolutely. The members of Lake Hunt are merely once-in-a-century talents, but an Exorcist genius like Mario only appears perhaps once every few hundred years."
"Oh," Ji Minghuan said. "Then what about that Red Traffic Light we're supposed to catch? What is his Celestial Drive? Don't tell me it's a literal 'traffic light'."
"Spot on," the Tutor confirmed. "Red Traffic Light's Celestial Drive is exactly what his nickname implies—a traffic light." He paused. "His combat style is exceptionally brutal. According to our files, he likes to grip the pole and swing the traffic light to smash his opponents' skulls open."
Ji Minghuan clicked his tongue, gasping in chilled air at the thought.
He leaned back against his chair, clasping his hands over his stomach, and looked up at the Tutor. "So from the sound of it, I just need to trail behind them and slack off, right?"
"Correct... assuming no accidents occur." "Then how about you try unlocking this Anomaly Inhibitor on me, along with this collar? Who knows, maybe the supernatural ability you've all been dreaming of will suddenly awaken?"
"Regrettably, I cannot do that."
"Then what exactly is the point of letting me out?"
"To test your ability. But it isn't just for you; we also need to test the stability of the other children." The Tutor paused. "In my eyes, all of you are equally important."
Ji Minghuan stared into the Tutor's eyes in silence. 'If the Salvation Society knew my ability had awakened long ago, they really might use this exact method to test me...' he thought.
'Looking at it from this angle, releasing my true self into the field might be their way of striking while my ability isn't fully unleashed, aiming to strangle whatever I create right in the cradle.'
'My true self is the bait.'
'The Salvation Society is certain they won't let me escape, which is why they are taking this drastic measure.'
'Therefore, if I keep focusing solely on my true self, I'll walk right into their trap.'
'Instead of obsessing over how to free my true self, I need to figure out how to snatch away that mad Exorcist before the Salvation Society does.'
'By doing that, our core objectives will completely diverge.'
'The Salvation Society's focus for this operation is on testing whether my ability has awakened, not on capturing Red Traffic Light. Meanwhile, my focus will be on stealing Red Traffic Light, not on rescuing my true self from their clutches.'
'As long as I can capture and extract Red Traffic Light, I can later use Black Cocoon's Restraining Band True Words on him to squeeze out intelligence regarding the Salvation Society... No matter how much or how little information I get, it will surely aid my future escape plans.'
'But if I lose my patience now, it's all over.'
'My current strength is nowhere near enough to contend with the Salvation Society. Acting recklessly will only throw away my life and doom everyone around me.'
'My goal must be crystal clear: snatch Red Traffic Light ahead of the Salvation Society and then safely evacuate London. Once this objective is set, I cannot waver regardless of what happens along the way, otherwise I'll fall right into their trap...'
Having reached this conclusion, Ji Minghuan took a deep breath, shifted his gaze, and changed the subject.
"You mentioned I won't get to meet Mario for a couple of days. You don't mean right when the mission starts, do you?"
"No, we will arrange a meeting in two days." The Tutor chuckled. "Mario is a withdrawn child. Unlike the other kids here, he has no desire to make friends. His only interests lie entirely in various video games."
"Sounds super reliable," Ji Minghuan mused. "Can he transmigrate me into the world of Pokemon? I could grab a few Poke Balls and become a Pokemon Master."
"Theoretically, any game scenario you can imagine, he can manifest."
"No wonder you guys keep him locked up here."
"We have no choice; it is our duty."
With that said, the Tutor rose from his chair and clasped his hands behind his back. "Your friends are here."
A cigarette dangling from his lips, he narrowed his eyes into a smile at Ji Minghuan before slowly walking toward the exit of the confinement room.
Ji Minghuan watched the Tutor's retreating back. His small hand fumbled across the plate, popping two pieces of nougat into his mouth before he picked up the remote control from the table to turn on the television.
The disc in the player was Robot Dreams, the film he hadn't finished watching yesterday.
Before long, the heavy metal doors swung open again. As always, the white-haired girl was the first to arrive.
The hallway lights were harsh, so she kept her eyes downcast, toddling over like a chubby little penguin.
She sat down opposite Ji Minghuan, lifting her gaze from her notebook to look at him curiously.
"I have a television now, too." Ji Minghuan met her eyes and gestured with his chin toward the TV on the floor. "We can watch animated series together, just like back in the orphanage."
Kong Youling followed his gaze to the television in the corner. She blanked out for a second before scribbling in her notebook: "That's good."
She had originally watched a myriad of movies and shows, sketching crude drawings of their plots into her notebook. She had wanted to wait until she saw Ji Minghuan to share those stories with him alongside her doodles.
But she hadn't expected his room to already have a television. Thinking of this, Kong Youling closed her notebook carefully, making sure Ji Minghuan wouldn't notice the homework she had prepared.
Otherwise, he would definitely call her an idiot.
A short while later, the metal doors opened yet again.
Following that, a red-haired girl wearing a baseball cap strutted in majestically, acting as if the place were her personal Mountain of Flowers and Fruit. Every step she took was packed with swagger, her red locks swaying behind her head.
She was even humming the melody of the Doraemon theme song.
But the moment she stepped through the door, she saw Ji Minghuan and a white-haired girl sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the floor, deeply engrossed in the television.
From time to time, the two of them would use the notebook to chat about the plot of the animated film, Robot Dreams.
The white-haired girl wrote in the notebook: "The little robot is so pitiful. It lay on the beach for so long, and no one found it."
Ji Minghuan took the notebook and pencil, writing back: "I've already watched it twice. Later on, this little radish-head finds a new owner."
Sun Changkong froze. She stopped humming, and the swagger vanished entirely from her face, leaving behind only the profound awkwardness of a guest visiting a distant relative's house.