“Do you know… what a Guiyi becomes if it hasn’t consumed life force for too long?”
Outside Qiu Qiqian’s Containment Room, Li Meng was unable to stay too far away because of the binding effect, so she had no choice but to sit near the entrance.
Isana, Yao Xueyue, and Mo Ling happened to be passing by and, having nothing to do for the moment, sat down beside her to chat.
“What a Guiyi becomes if it doesn’t consume life force… will it dissipate?”
Yao Xueyue tried to answer, but Isana shook her head.
“Wrong. The answer is… a starved Guiyi!”
After saying that, Isana spread her hands and mimicked a hungry ghost pouncing on its prey.
However, the three people in front of her showed no emotional reaction.
“Why aren’t you laughing? Is it not funny?”
“…Haha,” Yao Xueyue gave a stiff laugh to prevent the atmosphere from turning awkward.
“Pfft… that’s such a cold joke.”
Li Meng let out a light laugh, seemingly genuinely finding the pun amusing.
“…I think I’ll go over there and play games.”
Mo Ling stood up, somewhat speechless, and walked to the side to silently put on her headphones.
“In that case, let me tell you another joke.”
Isana’s robotic tone sounded again.
“Do you know what the abbreviation of Miss Qiu Qiqian’s name is?”
“The abbreviation for Xiao Qian’s name? Hmm… I feel like it’s just Xiao Qian?”
“No, the correct answer is… 3Q.”
“?”
Seeing the question marks appearing on their faces, Isana coughed twice and began to explain to herself.
“The punchline of this joke is that the initials for the three characters of Miss Qiu Qiqian’s name are all ‘Q’, and ‘3Q’ sounds like ‘thank you,’ which is quite amusing.”
“Uh… it’s… it’s actually quite interesting.”
“Ahem, let’s stop listening to her cold jokes and talk about something else.”
To prevent herself and Li Meng from being frozen to death by Isana’s humor, Yao Xueyue quickly changed the subject.
“By the way, Miss Li Meng, why exactly are you sitting here?”
“Uh… I’m waiting for someone.”
Li Meng answered instinctively.
However, when she realized that the others present did not yet know Qiu Qiqian’s true identity, she suddenly sat up straight, realizing she had accidentally let something slip.
“Waiting for someone? But there’s a Containment Room behind you, Miss Li Meng… Who are you waiting for?”
“It’s… Xiao Qian. She… she is inside conducting a test on the Guiyi in that Containment Room.”
Li Meng thought of an excuse on the fly to explain.
“A test? So Miss Qiu Qiqian also has the status of an analyst?”
“Yes… Xiao Qian is very impressive, isn’t she?”
Li Meng praised her with genuine emotion, acting like a parent whose child had just achieved great grades.
At that moment, a test was indeed being conducted inside the Containment Room… except that Qiu Qiqian was still the one being tested.
***
“Now… Number 1304, we will proceed with the routine inquiry.”
“I’ve told you many times, my name is Qiu Qiqian. Why do you insist on calling me by that number?”
Qiu Qiqian retorted with some irritation.
“Understood, Number 1304. Here is the first question.”
“You… I… fine, call me whatever you want.”
“Number 1304, according to the results of the data analysis performed on you today, your level has been promoted from ‘Hidden Hunter’ to ‘Chimei.’ Is this because you have recently consumed more Wart Crystals?”
The analyst held the data report, his tone as calm as usual.
“There’s no need to state the obvious.”
“Please answer the question.”
“Fine, fine, I ate them, alright? I really have no other choice…”
Qiu Qiqian rolled her eyes and admitted in a resigned tone.
“Very well. Then… after consuming the Wart Crystals, up until now, have you experienced any… loss of sanity or changes in your emotions?”
“No, I feel perfectly fine.”
“Mm… next question. After your promotion to the ‘Chimei’ rank, have you gained any new abilities? If so, please demonstrate them.”
“New abilities?”
Qiu Qiqian muttered to herself.
She could indeed feel that there were two extra skills on her skill list… but she wasn’t entirely sure of their specific effects.
At the same time, the familiar section of the floor opened again, and the Metal Dummy rose up bit by bit from within.
Qiu Qiqian naturally looked over at it as if she were looking at an old friend.
‘Don’t these people want to switch it up with something else…’
Qiu Qiqian complained inwardly.
She then walked over to the dummy and tried to mobilize the Nether Breath within her body in a specific way.
At the very moment she chose to try, an invisible force suddenly knocked the Metal Dummy from its position, pinning it firmly against the wall.
Even Qiu Qiqian was startled, because she felt like she hadn’t even done anything yet; she had merely… had a… thought?
‘Eh? I suddenly knocked the dummy away? Could it be… an ability like Telekinesis? Well… what if I increase the pressure?’
The instant that thought occurred to Qiu Qiqian, the Metal Dummy that was already pinned against the wall was further compressed.
The chest area began to cave inward, emitting a cracking sound of shattering metal.
“Hmm… an ability similar to Telekinesis? It’s not that rare.”
Oppabaf showed no surprise.
Most Guiyi possessed such abilities, and even some Nether Bodies with strong control over their Nether Breath could achieve the same effect.
He jotted down a few notes in his notebook and continued to observe Qiu Qiqian.
“Are there any other abilities?”
“Hmm… there is one more.”
Qiu Qiqian withdrew her Telekinesis, and the Metal Dummy pinned against the wall fell back to the floor with a thud under the pull of gravity.
She tried once more to mobilize the Nether Breath in her body in another specific way…
This time, an invisible field rapidly expanded with Qiu Qiqian as the center.
When it reached the external speakers and sound collectors placed inside the Containment Room, the analysts in the observation room clearly heard a burst of piercing static.
The machine panel showed that the connection to the speakers and sound collectors had been disconnected for several seconds.
However, this situation did not last long.
Because Qiu Qiqian didn’t know what the ability was used for, she actively withdrew it.
The connection between the sound collectors, speakers, and the observation room naturally returned to normal.
“The Interference Field characteristic of Guiyi toward electronic equipment? It’s common, but… I remember the equipment in the Containment Room was specifically reinforced with anti-interference technology, right?”
Oppabaf asked a colleague beside him.
“That is correct.”
“To be able to interfere even under these conditions… hmm… it seems Number 1304 is even more special than I imagined.”
Oppabaf nodded while stroking his chin, jotting down a few more notes in his book.
“Um… Oppabaf,” the analyst next to him leaned in and whispered.
“Actually, I think it’s simply because our equipment hasn’t been upgraded. Have you forgotten? Before this, all the Guiyi we contained here were at the ‘Baoshou’ and ‘Hidden Hunter’ levels. She is the first ‘Chimei’ level contained by this branch.”
“So it was just a matter of outdated equipment?”
Oppabaf said in a tone of realization.
After staring at his colleague for a few seconds, he turned his attention back to Qiu Qiqian.
“Ahem, Number 1304, your performance was good. Now, there are two questions left.”
He cleared his throat and pressed another button on the console in front of him.
The iron rack that had brought up the Metal Dummy slowly descended.
A few seconds later, another brand-new iron rack slowly rose.
On it sat a piece of paper, and printed on that paper were some… very strange characters… or rather, symbols.
“Can you understand what is written on this?”
Qiu Qiqian leaned in and squinted to get a general look at the strangely shaped symbols.
‘These symbols… they really do look familiar… Hiss, isn’t this the writing the Cardinal wrote on the walls?’
“I say, why are you showing me the writing that the Cardinal wrote?”
Qiu Qiqian asked the analysts in the observation room with her hands on her hips.
“It seems you know the source of these characters… We thought that since you are both Guiyi, there might be some kind of connection. So… do you recognize any of the characters on this?”
“Sigh, how could I possibly understand this kind of scribbling that looks like a child’s…”
Qiu Qiqian sighed, about to state that she couldn’t understand these ghost-like scribbles at all.
But inadvertently, when she glanced at the paper again, she suddenly froze, as if she had discovered something incredible.
One sentence…
She could understand the meaning of one of the sentences…
“What is it? Did you find something?”
“This sentence…”
Qiu Qiqian pointed to a section of text on the right side of the paper for the people behind the observation window.
“I can understand the words in this sentence.”
As soon as those words were spoken, almost all the analysts present stopped what they were doing and concentrated their attention on Qiu Qiqian inside the Containment Room.
“What does it say?”
Oppabaf asked solemnly.
“Three… shall eventually become one… to welcome… the Holy Son.”
Qiu Qiqian finished reading the sentence with a frown.
After all, the content of the sentence was not coherent at all… and the references were unclear…
Were all Guiyi such riddlers?
“Three… Holy Son… Hmm, record it for now… Thank you for the translation.”
Oppabaf wrote a few more lines in his notebook, then tore the page out and handed it to someone nearby, giving a few brief instructions.
“Then… now for the final question. Number 1304, how is your construction of the ‘Inner World’ coming along?”
“Constructing the Inner World?”
“…”
“…”
The Containment Room and the observation room fell into a brief silence simultaneously.
“Have you… not even tried it yet?”
‘I don’t know, the instructor didn’t say… and I’m busy making breakfast during the day, coming for tests, and then I have to follow that girl Li Meng on missions and make dinner at night. Where would I find the time to try something like that? I thought that was the exclusive right of… ordinary Guiyi.’
“Alright then, the routine inquiry for today ends here. You may move freely with Miss Li Meng. When you go back tonight, you can try constructing your Inner World.”
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