Chapter 156: The Salvation Society's Trap, The Fifth Child |
"In three days, you will travel to London to represent the Salvation Society on your first-ever field mission."
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.
"That is correct."
The Tutor nodded, using his fingertips to tear open the wrapping on the cigarette case. He flipped the lid open and pulled out a single cigarette.
Resting his chin on one hand, Ji Minghuan glanced at the cigarette in the Tutor's hand, then at the discarded plastic wrapper on the table. "I've lived for over a decade and never stepped foot outside the country," he remarked casually. "To think my first trip abroad would be with a leash around my neck. How boring."
He lowered his gaze, staring at his overly long fingernails. 'Ke Qirui's intelligence was right. Red Traffic Light will appear in London... Did she get her leads from the same source as the Salvation Society?' he thought.
'If it is the same source, then the Salvation Society's influence must have already infiltrated the Exorcist Association. That wouldn't be surprising, though. If they managed to infiltrate Rainbow Wing, the Exorcist Association would be a walk in the park,' he continued pondering.
'Looking at it this way, the only major faction left that hasn't been compromised by the Salvation Society is likely Lake Hunt.'
The Tutor took a lighter from another pocket, clamped the cigarette between his lips, and leaned down to ignite it. He took a deep drag before exhaling a thick cloud of white smoke.
Pinching the cigarette between his fingers, he added nonchalantly, "Honestly, foreign countries aren't all that great anyway."
"So, does that mean the Salvation Society's base is domestic?" Ji Minghuan asked, attempting his daily probe for information.
"Maybe."
The Tutor pushed his glasses up his nose, giving a completely noncommittal answer.
"Sigh... Let me make this clear beforehand: I can't do anything. In a fight, the most I can do is throw a couple of pebbles at someone," Ji Minghuan stressed. "If, by some massive chance, the restrictions you placed on the other kids are too tight and this operation goes south, you can't blame me."
He looked away. "After all, I'm just a M-M-M-Muggle. A Muggle, you understand? I'll be of no help at all."
"That is fine." The Tutor offered a slight, disapproving smile, entirely unconcerned. "You only need to observe. We will ensure that absolutely no accidents occur during this mission."
"Oh, good." Ji Minghuan tilted his head, eyeing the cigarette with mild curiosity. "You actually smoke? I pegged you as the type of refined scum who never touched tobacco or alcohol."
"We are adults; we need some way to vent our stress. Sex, tobacco, alcohol—they all serve a similar purpose. Everyone knows they are bad for you, but in life, it is hard to avoid needing them to wash away your worries."
As he spoke, the Tutor suddenly coughed a couple of times. He took a sip of warm water from his thermos cup, then screwed the lid back on. "I only picked up smoking recently myself," he added.
"Looks like you're under a lot of pressure," said Ji Minghuan.
The very source of that pressure remarked.
The Tutor tucked his lighter back into the pocket of his white lab coat. With a hint of amusement in his tone, he sighed.
"When the higher-ups assign you to manage a child capable of destroying the world at any given moment, how could the pressure not be immense?"
Ji Minghuan tilted his head. "Since you're so pitiful, why don't you let your higher-ups come talk to me? I promise I'll give them a piece of my mind for you. I'll spit right in the faces of those brainless idiots."
"It is not convenient for them to meet you." The Tutor shook his head. "But one day, when you can stably control your power, they will meet you in person to congratulate you on your 'graduation' from the Salvation Society."
"I almost believed that. Let's talk about something else..." Ji Minghuan pondered for a moment. "How many kids are going on this mission? Is it just the four of us?"
"There are five in total."
Hearing this, Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow and shot the Tutor an inquisitive look. "Five?"
He counted them out 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 'extremely dangerous guy' you mentioned before?"
"No," the Tutor replied, shaking his head. "That 'extremely dangerous guy' is not stable enough yet, so we cannot safely let him leave this research facility for the time being."
"Then who is the fifth person?" Ji Minghuan asked.
"We all call him Mario," the Tutor explained. "Mario is an Exorcist. You will get to meet him in a couple of days."
"An Exorcist, huh? What is his Celestial Drive?"
"A gaming console."
"A gaming console? What kind?"
"A handheld," the Tutor said mildly. "If judged by the Exorcist Association's rating system, Mario's Celestial Drive would easily achieve an SSS-grade, the highest possible evaluation... He is an unprecedented genius among Exorcists. Though, of course... he still falls far short compared to you."
"Oh? That impressive?" Ji Minghuan raised his eyebrows. "What does his Celestial Drive do?"
"Mario's Celestial Drive can pull everyone around him into a randomized game scenario, allowing him to manipulate various elements within it. This includes any game characters that spawn, as well as interactable environmental props... For example, if the loaded scene is Jurassic World, he can command dinosaurs to maul his opponents. If the scene is a desolate mountain, he can send a massive boulder tumbling down the slope to crush his enemies into meat paste."
"Sounds pretty badass," Ji Minghuan praised. Then he asked, "When he fully matures, will he be able to match up against that 'Lake Hunt' you mentioned?"
"Certainly... The members of Lake Hunt are merely once-in-a-century talents, but an Exorcist prodigy like Mario might only appear once in several centuries."
"Oh," Ji Minghuan said. "Then what about the Celestial Drive of this Red Traffic Light guy we're supposed to catch? Don't tell me it's an actual 'traffic light'?"
"That is exactly what it is," the Tutor confirmed. "Red Traffic Light's Celestial Drive is a traffic light, just like his moniker suggests." He paused. "His combat style is exceptionally brutal. According to the data we have, he likes to grip the pole and swing the heavy light fixture around to smash his opponents' skulls in."
Ji Minghuan clicked his tongue, gasping slightly as a chill ran down his spine.
He leaned back against his chair, folding his hands over his stomach before looking up at the Tutor. "So from the sound of it, I just need to tag along behind them and slack off?"
"Correct... that is the plan, provided nothing unexpected happens." "Then why don't you try taking off my Anomaly Inhibitor and this collar? Who knows, maybe the Supernatural Ability you've been dreaming of will suddenly awaken?"
"Unfortunately, I cannot do that."
"Then what exactly is the point of letting me out?"
"To test your ability. However, it is not solely for your sake; we also need to test the stability of the other children." The Tutor paused. "In my eyes, you are all equally important."
Ji Minghuan stared silently into the Tutor's eyes. 'If the Salvation Society knows my Supernatural Ability has already awakened, then it makes sense they'd use an operation like this to test me...' he thought.
'Looking at it from that angle, the reason the Salvation Society is letting my True Self out is to nip whatever things I've created in the bud, taking advantage of the fact that my power hasn't fully manifested yet.'
'My True Self is the bait.'
'The Salvation Society is completely confident I won't be able to escape, which is why they resorted to this tactic in the first place.'
'Therefore, if I hyper-fixate on protecting my True Self, I'll be falling right into their trap.'
'What I should be doing isn't plotting how to smuggle my True Self away. Instead, I need to figure out how to beat the Salvation Society to the punch and snatch away that Mad Exorcist before they do.'
'This way, our core objectives won't align at all.'
'The Salvation Society's focus for this operation is testing whether my Supernatural Ability has awakened, not capturing Red Traffic Light. My priority is stealing Red Traffic Light, not rescuing my True Self from their clutches.'
'As long as I can capture and extract Red Traffic Light, I can use Black Cocoon's "Restraining Band True Words" to squeeze information about the Salvation Society out of him... Regardless of how much he knows, it should benefit my future escape plans.'
'But if I get impatient now, everything is ruined.'
'My current strength isn't enough to contend with the Salvation Society. Acting recklessly will only get me killed, and drag everyone else down with me.'
'My objective must be crystal clear: snatch Red Traffic Light right from under the Salvation Society's nose, then evacuate London completely unharmed. Once I've locked onto that goal, I can't let anything distract me, or I'll stumble straight into their trap...'
Having finalized his thoughts, Ji Minghuan took a deep breath. Shifting his gaze, he steered the conversation in another direction.
"You said I won't get to meet Mario for a couple of days. Don't tell me it'll be right when the mission starts?"
"No, we will arrange it in a day or two." The Tutor smiled. "Mario is a solitary child. He is quite different from the other kids here; he has absolutely no desire to make friends. His sole interest revolves around playing all sorts of video games."
"Sounds very reliable," Ji Minghuan sighed wryly. "Could he transport me into the world of Pokémon? I'd love to grab a few Poké Balls and become a Pokémon Master."
"Theoretically, any game scenario you can imagine, he has the power to manifest."
"No wonder you guys locked him up here."
"We have no choice. It is our duty."
With that, the Tutor rose from his chair, clasping his hands behind his back. "Your friends are here."
Cigarette dangling from his lips, he narrowed his eyes and offered Ji Minghuan a smile before slowly making his way toward the exit of the Confinement Room.
Ji Minghuan watched the Tutor's retreating back. His small hand felt around the plate on the table, picking up two pieces of nougat and tossing them into his mouth before picking up the remote control to turn on the television.
The disc loaded in the CD player was the animated film "Robot Dreams", which he hadn't finished watching the day before.
Before long, the heavy metal doors opened once again. The white-haired girl was the first to arrive, as always.
Under the harsh glare of the hallway lights, she kept her eyes lowered, waddling over clumsily like a chubby little penguin.
She sat down opposite Ji Minghuan, peering up over her notebook to look at him with curiosity.
"I've got a television now, too." Ji Minghuan met her gaze, gesturing with his chin toward the screen resting on the floor. "We can watch animated series together, just like back at the Orphanage."
Kong Youling followed his gaze to the television in the corner. She blinked blankly for a second, then scribbled in her notebook: "That is wonderful."
She had actually watched tons of movies and shows, meticulously drawing out simple little sketches of their plots in her notebook. She had been eagerly waiting to see Ji Minghuan so she could share all the stories she'd seen, using her drawings to explain them.
But who would have thought his room already had a television? Realizing this, Kong Youling closed her notebook, carefully hiding away the "homework" she had prepared so Ji Minghuan wouldn't notice.
Otherwise, he would definitely call her an idiot.
A little while later, the metal doors slid open once again.
A red-haired girl wearing a baseball cap marched in majestically, acting as if this place were her own Flower Fruit Mountain. Every step she took oozed cool confidence, her fiery red hair swaying behind her head.
She was even humming the melody to 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, completely engrossed in the television screen.
Every now and then, the two would use a 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, replying: "I've seen it twice already. This rust bucket finds a new owner later."
Sun Changkong froze. She stopped humming, and the smug aura around her vanished instantly, leaving behind nothing but the sheer awkwardness of a guest visiting a distant relative's house.