"Go ahead, I'm listening."
I impatiently urged him once more.
The air around us was still eerily silent. I couldn't see any expression on Aresta's face. In fact, I doubted that the muscles on his face still had the ability to contract. I just sat on the stool and stared at the fallen Aresta for a long time. The two of us were like inverted images in each other's eyes. Then, the air around us once again echoed in the other party's androgynous voice.
"… You're very interesting. Was that your superpower just now? A space-type superpower user? But from what I know, you used a method to suppress energy to stop the second explosion in the store during the explosion at the shopping street. It's impossible for a dual superpower user to exist in the calculations of the tree diagram designer … "
As expected, this guy could see everything from the very beginning. That's right, we never kept a low profile from the very beginning.
"The tree diagram designer is just a primitive simulation machine. Its performance is unbearably low. It can't even support Devil May Cry 4 — and it doesn't even have a controller to drive it."
Of course, the tree diagram designer was quite primitive in my eyes. Any one of my Bubble replicas was smarter than that machine. More importantly, due to a certain otaku mother's hobby, every Bubble replicas could support 10800 kbps HD output and all kinds of simulations. Not only that, they all came with their own controller and cheat modules. Usually, when I was free, I would call over a replicas of a Bubble to act as the host and play King of Fighters with Shallow Shallow in the living room …
Yep, I digressed.
The air was filled with silence once more. It was obvious that Aresta needed more brain cells than usual to process what he had just heard. Of course, if I were a schemer, I would suspect that this guy was thinking about how to get rid of the guy in front of him.
"We don't seem to be discussing the same thing."
Finally, Aresta spoke in a tone as though he had given up. He finally confirmed that the stranger in front of him wasn't that easy to deal with. Yep, if your way of thinking wasn't novel enough.
I cracked a smile. "We're talking about the same thing. However, if you don't get to the point, I might stray off topic. I'm a person who easily strays from the topic."
Aresta remained silent. It was obvious that my reaction wasn't within his expectations. It should be said that ever since the establishment of the school city, Aresta hadn't encountered anything unexpected for a long time. This caused the man in the tube to feel a little confused, but he quickly tossed aside these meaningless feelings and focused his attention on his original goal.
"Then, in order to avoid wasting time, can you answer my questions?" Aresta's voice echoed in the air. "Who are you? Where did you come from? Why did you come here? I want to know all these questions."
"You can go to the library. We have a complete set of information there."
I didn't immediately answer the question. I wanted to know how much this guy knew.
"If you're referring to the information stored in the database, it's indeed perfect. You've even created a fake family history for yourselves. The level of detail can be traced back to 327 years ago, but I know that's just a facade."
"Who exactly are you people?"
"We're outsiders." I gave an ambiguous answer. "Don't worry. You won't be able to find out where we came from no matter what you do."
"Outsiders …" Aresta repeated in a low voice. His tone seemed to have a deeper meaning. However, his voice was even duller than Pandora's, making it hard for me to decipher anything from it. "Then, as the owner of this place, I think I should at least have the right to know why you're here. Can you answer this question?"
I shrugged. "Would you believe me if I told you that we're here for sightseeing?"
"It seems that it's rather difficult for us to communicate … but I think I can assume that you don't have any ill intentions because all the signs show that you have no intention of shaking the foundation of this city. Now, there's one last question that I'm more interested in. There's a little girl named Zuo Tianlei in the 7th district. According to the records, she's a person with no superpower and the probability of her awakening a superpower is less than 0.01%. However, three days ago, she suddenly obtained a level 3 superpower. Moreover, it's a type of superpower that has never appeared before. This girl awakened her superpower after undergoing the development of a research institute called 'Schilling Research Institute'. That research institute seems to be 'fabricated' by you guys."
"Zuo Tianlei?" I thought for a while and nodded. "That was indeed a small experiment that we did out of boredom. Why? Do you want this technology? I'll say it first. You can have it, but I'm definitely not giving it to you! "
"Is that so?" Aresta muttered softly and then sighed. "It seems that you have some sort of prejudice against me. Our conversation has been rather unsmooth from the beginning. Then, I think our conversation can end here."
"Oh." I nodded and then put away the stool. "Then I'll be leaving. By the way, aren't you going to find that 'guide' to bring me out?"
This time, Aresta was silent for a long time. Then, the other party's neutral voice suddenly rang in the air. Hm, this time, it seemed to have a hint of madness in it. "You really don't have anything else to say?"
I revealed a harmless smile. "You were the one who wanted to talk to me. I don't have anything else to say!"
Aresta: "… You can leave now."
Just as I was about to turn my head, I suddenly remembered something and stopped. "Ah, right. I have something to ask you."
This time, the emotional fluctuations were even more obvious. "Didn't you have nothing to say!?!?"
I snorted. "Didn't I just remember!?"
The flashing lights on the surrounding instruments fluctuated for a while before finally calming down. Aresta's weak voice rang out. "Then, you can speak."
"Hm, I'm just a little curious. Why did you ask me to come here today?"
In theory, it shouldn't be just to ask me a few insignificant questions and receive a bunch of messy answers, right?
"Originally, there were many things, but the most important thing was to see what kind of person could easily invade the school city and even change the reality here. But now, it seems like the conversation between you and me will not proceed smoothly. Then, let's just say hello. Since uninvited guests don't have the habit of taking the initiative to greet the host, then as the host, I should at least show my face."
I curled my lips. "I thought you were going to kill me."
"I won't deny that I had such thoughts in the beginning. In this place, an unstable factor that I can't control is quite dangerous."
"Then why did you change your mind now?"
I asked one question after another. To make this old fellow play an aggressive question and answer game with me from the start, damn it, I know how to do it too!
Of course, Aresta wouldn't know that the person in front of him, who he treated with caution and confusion, actually had such a simple way of thinking. He thought for a while and felt that there was no harm in answering this question. Thus, he said, "It's just because I'm curious. There are many things on you that I can't understand. Even if I can't use them, I won't rashly eliminate such existences before shaking the foundation of this city. But I hope you can understand that I don't mind eliminating all uncontrollable factors at critical moments. Although I don't know what you're relying on for your fearless attitude, you haven't truly seen the power of the school city."
The power of the school city? Could it withstand a round of saturation bombardment from outer space?
Alresta's words sounded dignified, as though his true goal was to protect this city. But regrettably, I knew everything about him like the back of my hand. Naturally, I wouldn't be moved by his false righteousness.
There was a ripple in the surrounding space, and something was suddenly added to a certain coordinate. Then, the little girl who was the 'guide' appeared next to me. She looked at the folding stool in my hand with a strange gaze, and then nodded at Aresta in greeting.
"Then I'll be leaving."
I waved at the green man in the test tube. In the next second, the scenery in front of me had already changed to the blue sky and white clouds outside the building.
"It's still so comfortable. I really don't know how that specimen can endure the darkness."
I sighed, then walked forward without minding my own business.
That specimen, what was he thinking about?
Today's meeting was really inexplicable, and the conversation was also inexplicable. To be honest, I didn't believe a single word that Aresta said a hundred percent. As we all knew, in the school city, a force that couldn't be controlled, or even known, was definitely not allowed to exist. Aresta's words might sound nice, but would he really allow uncontrollable factors like us to be mere bystanders in his life's work?
There was no doubt that something would happen in the near future. To a man who could use everyone without hesitation and achieve his goals by any means necessary, a force that suddenly appeared in his territory, if he couldn't make use of it, could only be destroyed.
But let him do whatever he wanted. Anyway, Pandora and Visca had been complaining about being bored recently …
Let me remind everyone here that it wasn't a good habit to let your imagination run wild while walking, especially when there was an idiotic angel living in your mind that could cause your thoughts to fall into a subtle state of dullness. It was very easy for something called the 'Numbness Phenomenon' to occur.
* Bang! *
"Aiya — —"
Following this exclamation, I felt a certain soft body being … sent flying by myself.
Speaking of which, I shouldn't have walked more than 30 miles per hour, so why was she sent flying? Un, this might be because I didn't move at all, causing all the force to be borne by the other party alone. If I were to use physics to calculate it — — I'm off topic.
Due to inertia, a series of nonsensical thoughts continued to flash uncontrollably through my mind. Only then did I focus my attention. I saw a woman who was probably less than 20 years old with a head of silver-white hair rubbing her head as she sat up from the ground. Looking at her attire, she seemed to be a waitress in some store?
Speaking of which, how did such a melodramatic plot come about when I bumped into a beautiful woman because I was distracted while walking come about?
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
As I apologized, I hurriedly stretched out my hand to help her up. It seemed that my guess that the force was borne by a single person was correct. The woman in front of me swayed for a few seconds before she finally steadied herself. I reckoned that she had a mild concussion …
"That … Are you alright?"
I asked carefully. Although it was just a small matter of bumping into her while walking, I couldn't help but suspect if I really walked more than 30 miles per hour just now when I saw the circles of mosquito repellent incense swirling around in her eyes.
"Ah, I'm fine — —"
The silver-haired woman spoke slowly, really slowly. Every word she said was dragged out unhurriedly, but strangely, it gave off a feeling of normality. It was as though it was perfectly normal for this woman to speak half a beat slower than a normal person.
"Er, but you have a huge bump on your forehead …" I kindly reminded her. Judging from the other party's appearance, she was probably the type whose reflexes weren't much faster than Araya's. She was the type of person who would starve to death if you left her alone.
"It's fine — —" The silver-haired woman continued speaking unhurriedly. "My recovery ability is very strong — —"
If we continued talking like this, I felt that my brain was going to slow down, even though it wasn't that fast to begin with.
"Ah — — That's right — —" Even though she suddenly recalled something, the other party still spoke in that unhurried tone of voice. Then, she took out a small piece of paper from her uniform pocket and handed it to me. "If you have time — — You're welcome to visit Xiaoxi Accessories Shop — — Then, goodbye — —"
The silver-haired woman bowed to me with such a leisurely manner, then turned around and disappeared around the corner of a street not too far away in ten minutes. Speaking of which, I was able to send her flying even though she was moving at such a slow speed. Did I really go more than 30 miles per hour just now?
There sure are a lot of weirdos in Gakuen City. That was my final thought.
Xiaoxi Accessories Shop?
I lowered my head and looked at the white card that the other party handed to me. The card was exquisitely made and was decorated with beautiful patterns. The name Xiaoxi Accessories Shop was written in bold and italic Chinese script, and then … there was nothing else.
I raised my head and gazed into the distance with teary eyes.
You should at least write down your store's address and contact number, idiot!!!
This kind of person who was even more Araya than Araya, and even more Little Bubble than Little Bubble, could she really survive in this cruel society until now? Was the store owner's brain filled with Wang Zhi and fermented bean curd?!
Or could it be that the silver-haired waitress's actual identity in the store was actually just a mascot for viewing purposes? That was the only explanation that made sense!
I tossed my hair and tossed aside my thoughts about mascots and continued walking forward.
Then, a wave of slightly familiar energy fluctuations suddenly came from not too far away, causing me to stop in my tracks.
"Why are there so many things happening today?"
I muttered to myself, but I was unable to ignore the energy fluctuations that shouldn't have appeared in Gakuen City. I walked towards a deserted street.
If I recalled correctly, that was the power of magic, but it didn't seem to be the energy fluctuations of any spell. It was just a meaningless release of magic, and its only purpose seemed to be to attract other people's attention. But to release such a "bait" in a place where no one would be able to detect magic fluctuations, could it be that the mages were planning to do something in Gakuen City again?
With such a perplexed thought, I passed through several streets until I entered a deserted area. This was probably a construction site that had stopped working for some reason. Even with the most efficient and complete planning system, there were still unfinished buildings in Gakuen City. The tall buildings in front of me were still in the early stages of construction, and the scattered steel and cement on the ground were in a mess. All the machinery had been removed, and this was now an empty, forgotten zone.
There were obvious magic fluctuations, and there seemed to be runes in the surroundings to keep people away. It was obvious that this was to prevent the meeting from being interrupted by the likes of a young boy who came out to do nothing. There were also some things that I had never seen before, like barriers, which interfered with the flow of information in a large area. But since I wasn't an expert in this field, I didn't know what they were for, but I assumed that they were probably used for concealment?
"Come out, it's boring to hide like this."
As soon as I said that, the sound of footsteps came from the shadows of a building. Just as I had guessed, the one that the other party wanted to attract was me.
Of course, I wouldn't admit that I had scanned the energy fluctuations of the entire Gakuen City and discovered that there wasn't a second source of magic other than this place.
"Old Smoker … Cough cough, Steele?"
When I saw the tall figure that appeared first, even though it was within my expectations, I still called out in surprise. The familiar exaggerated height, red hair, the retail price on his face … Cough cough, the barcode, and the cigarette that would never go out. Wasn't this the Old Smoker Steele?
Following behind Steele, there was another person.
It was a beautiful girl wearing a rather conservative pink dress, and she had golden long … hair. The reason why I emphasized on the long … hair was because … I had never seen anyone whose hair could be tied up and reach their ankles.
The moment I saw the other party, a name was already on the tip of my tongue.
Rolla Stuart, another transliteration would be Rolla Stuart. Right, I still have a few versions of her here … Err, I don't think you guys would want to hear it. Anyway, it's that vixen, the biggest bishop of the Church of Necessary Evil, the person who wields the greatest authority in the English Puritanism. She is a mechanical idiot who can stand on equal footing with the Queen of England, and when she accidentally went offline and video-chatted with the hanging man for half an hour, she even forgot to turn on the camera.
Just look at my ability to summarize!
"Yo, we meet again, Steele."
I waved at the red-haired priest who was walking over from afar. I wasn't too surprised that they came to look for me.
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