Chapter 67(2/2): The intertwined hatred finally erupts

After hours, it was Sitong’s turn.

The heavy sealed iron door opened. In the center was an iron bed equipped with restraints, but what caught her attention was a mysterious disc-shaped device hanging overhead.

Following instructions, she lay down and was restrained.

Lights went out, plunging the room into darkness.

The disc began to emit purple light, opening a slit at its center that shone out.

Bathed in the purple glow, she felt heart-wrenching pain as the disc descended, the core of light approaching…

In fact, it was an Earl-level Beast Core.

She screamed in agony; the pain pierced deep into her heart, stabbing her consciousness.

But no one cared. She soon lost consciousness.

The next day.

“The report came back. If we continue the experiments, Saintly says she can become a magic girl. Child’s father, notify Sitong to send her back.”

The girl curled up in the room, unwilling to recall the nightmare.

The man pushed open the door.

“No! I don’t want to go back!” she hugged the blanket.

“If you don’t listen, I’ll kick you out! Don’t expect to eat!”

The woman’s voice came from outside.

Hearing her mother’s scolding, the man motioned for silence and gently said, “Sitong, I’ve never treated you badly, right? I raised you this far. You owe us something.”

“Be good, listen. Once you become a magic girl, our life will have hope. A little pain is nothing—it’s necessary to eat. Come on.”

Seeing her father’s pleading eyes, she softened and agreed.

Back at the iron door, painful memories surged, and she collapsed.

Fear welled in her heart, and she fled, unnoticed by those around.

She ran for who knows how long. Afraid of her father finding her, she hid in an alley.

It began to rain, and she took shelter under someone’s eaves.

Exhausted, she crouched down.

Watching the dirty water flow into the drain, she felt her fate was like a plastic bag drifting on the current—pulled toward the abyss.

She didn’t want to go back. Her stomach grumbled from a day without food, but she no longer cared.

She only felt relief, even as she quietly disappeared into the old city streets.

She curled up like that…

“Little sister, why are you sitting here?”

Looking up, an older girl stood in the rain, offering help.

“If you stay here, the water will soon reach your feet. Didn’t you bring an umbrella? Let me take you home.”

“No… I don’t want to go home. My family doesn’t want me……”

“I see. Your family doesn’t want you, but I do. Get up.”

With her help, the girl stood, finally seeing the newcomer clearly—a beautiful girl in an elegant short skirt, far prettier than herself.

“Uh, are you a magic girl?”

“Yes. You can call me Xingluo. Do you mind telling me your name?”

“My name is Zhang Sitong.”

“Hmm, I think you have the potential to be a magic girl. Want to join us?”

“Can I really become a magic girl? They told me I have no talent……………”

Xingluo gently wiped the rain from her face.

“Don’t believe them. You’re actually very strong.”

“Who are you?”

“We’re different from them. Come, take my hand. Let’s leave this place.”

After that, her memories blurred, and Tianlang abruptly severed the connection.

The tsunami in the dreamscape had not stopped; it was coming.

***

At the last moment, Ciyue asked, “Zhang Sitong—is that your real name?”

“Yes. So do you understand? Come, join us, Luo Zhizhou, destroy them all!”

Tianlang reached out, but the tsunami arrived, and their consciousness left the dreamspace.

Back in reality, the rain still fell.

“Is it because of your little sister again? So weak.”

“I’m sorry… but I’m not like you.”

“Then this stage prepared for you is meaningless. I wanted to see your performance, but now it’s time to take a bow.”

Tianlang took out the remote, about to press it.

“Bang!”

A gunshot cracked through the wild wind. A bullet struck Tianlang’s hand holding the remote, making it fall to the ground. Ciyue rushed forward.

Tianlang pulled out a pistol, firing to stop her advance, but her defenses held.

Ciyue pounced. Despite Tianlang losing one hand, she was subdued on the ground, and Ciyue tightly controlled the hand gripping the gun.

“Remote…..” Tianlang stretched out her bloodied, wounded hand toward the remote, but before she could grasp it, Ciyue kicked it away.

The wet ground made the remote slide over ten meters.

“You won’t run away, Tianlang.”

Seeing the remote safely out of reach, Ciyue exhaled in relief.

“Your plan has failed.”

Yet Tianlang’s face showed no pain from the gunshot; instead, she chuckled softly.

Stepping lightly over the shallow water, a girl emerged from indoors.

She picked up the remote.

“Hm?”

When Ciyue turned, she witnessed something unbelievable.

“Yuying, why are you here?”

The blonde girl looked surprised upon hearing her name.

“You… know me?”

“Yuying, that remote is dangerous. Don’t press it! Throw it away!”

Yuying shook her head.

“I know, but it’s my mission.”

“What?”

Ciyue was stunned as Tianlang rolled, breaking free from her grip.

Tianlang struggled to stand and said to Yuying, “Yuying, good. Tell her what happened.”

“You joined Tianlang?” Ciyue said, shocked, stepping toward her.

“Don’t come closer,” Yuying backed away.

“What does this mean?”

Ciyue stopped.

“My father—he’s dead!” Yuying shouted, tears streaming.

“The doctor said he needed a heart transplant—three hundred thousand yuan. We couldn’t afford it…….”

“You could have asked me… no, asked Mr. Luo Zhizhou?”

Yuying clutched the remote, shaking her head again.

“Honestly, I hesitated at first—worried asking for so much would trouble him. I had said I wouldn’t bother him, but then I thought better and planned to reach out… then I heard about Mr. Luo Zhizhou’s assassination… he was dead too…..”

“Yuying, he isn’t…”

[He’s been standing right in front of you all along!]

“But his obituary came out. The news said Mr. Luo was murdered… how could he still be alive! So, I went to Tianlang. She told me Saintly Benefit Group did it. I hate them!”

Ciyue felt a deep sorrow for the girl—what a pitiful child.

“It’s okay, Yuying. This will all pass… don’t be so emotional. I’ll take good care of you. Think about Mr. Luo Zhizhou—he’d be sad to see you like this…..”

Yuying’s eyes hardened. She had made up her mind.

“I’ve made my choice. Mr. Luo will be comforted. I will avenge him.”

She pressed the remote.

The dark sky was finally pierced by light erupting from the ground.

The explosion’s shockwave shattered every window in the city.

The earth trembled. Scorching debris flew into the sky, crashing down to topple several high-rise apartment buildings.

“What’s happening?”

Kong Ling inside the building looked out. A purple pillar of light shot up like a towering tree, like a heaven-reaching tower.

“That direction—is it the Underground Command Center!?” Chen Lisi couldn’t believe it.

“Hey! Have you contacted Senior Ciyue? She seemed to be on the roof. Let’s go check!” Kong Ling said.

On the other side of Jing’an City, Luo Xi also sensed the explosion’s tremor. She looked uneasily at the pillar and hurried toward it.

***

In the center of the purple pillar, the space structure tore open a rift. Countless beasts crawled out, and nearby anomaly indices surged over a hundred points instantly.

“That’s enough.”

Yuying smiled with relief.

“Bang!”

Then her life was frozen.

A flower withered before it could bloom.

A bullet pierced her skull. Her body crashed to the ground, splashing water without a single whimper of death.

“No!!!”

Everything lost color, leaving only crimson blood.

Another life vanished before her eyes……

“Sigh, such a pitiful soul—another meaningless sacrifice,” Tianlang said.

She stepped to the edge, shouting toward the shooter’s origin, “Killing a poor girl, good job!”

She turned to see Ciyue kneeling beside Yuying’s corpse, weeping. Tianlang said no more, instead pulling out a communicator with her remaining hand.

“Seed Plan complete. Jing’an City mission accomplished. I’m withdrawing.”

She leapt away, vanishing into the rain.