pjbooks Chapter 394 High-level hunters often appear in the form of prey...
Chapter 394 High-level hunters often appear in the form of prey...
"Uh, it wasn't bought..."
"You didn't buy it? It was a gift from your friend? Who gave it to you?"
Himeko raised an eyebrow, looking at the magical quill pen with great interest.
"Looks like you're surprised too, huh? You didn't know it was supposed to be this? Tell me, which friend gave you this high-tech gadget?"
Qiong scratched her head, her eyes darting around—she couldn't very well say it was a gift from Kiana, could she?
"Did your friends who visited the academy send it to you?"
Himeko crossed her arms and looked at Sora with amusement—this kind of automatic writing quill pen that she had never even heard of was obviously a high-tech product, and the high-tech that Destiny had never even heard of was probably something from Anti-Entropy.
After all, anti-entropy focuses on technology.
"Qiong boy, let me see—don't look at me like that, I'm not going to steal a child's things."
Himeko stepped forward and picked up the quill pen to examine it closely. She was merely curious and out of proper caution, trying to check the pen's construction and any possible locations where a self-destruct device or listening device might be hidden—don't let her age fool you; even though she's almost thirty and spends her days either fighting Honkai Beasts or drinking and tutoring students, a decade or so ago, she was a top student in engineering! She'd studied at least the most basic mechanical structures…
"Huh? No electronic structure? It even has... something embedded in it?"
The moment Himeko touched the quill pen from the reluctant hand of the girl who was handing it to her, she immediately realized that it really was a quill pen: the main body of the quill pen was a pink feather from some unknown animal—Himeko felt that this shouldn't be the color scheme for a boy...
How old is he, a boy, and he's wearing pink? She's so embarrassed!
Himeko stroked the decorative accessories that resembled branches and leaves, and poked at the small dark blue gemstone. She looked at it for a long time, but still couldn't figure out where the power switch was.
"Where's the switch? Speaking of which, Qiong, your friend's taste isn't very good..."
Ding--
As soon as Himeko finished speaking, the quill pen suddenly vibrated and broke free from her hand, then hovered in mid-air.
"What the hell?"
Himeko and Sora were both stunned by this sudden turn of events, staring wide-eyed at the floating quill pen. The small, deep blue gem on the quill pen flashed, and then the tip of the quill pen pointed towards Sora's location. Before the two could react, it flew back into Sora's hand and lay in his palm.
"It can actually fly? And it has a hidden power source? And it even has an automatic master-finding function? Has Anti-Entropy's technology advanced to this level?"
Himeko stared incredulously at the quill pen in Sora's hand. She had never imagined that a small quill pen could simultaneously possess the functions of efficient automatic writing, flight, and finding its owner... Was this even scientific?
"Himeko-neechan..."
"What's wrong, Qiong boy?"
Qiong looked at the quill pen in her hand, then at Himeko in front of her.
After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head.
"Never mind, it's nothing."
Let Himeko think this is something that reverses entropy. If I told Himeko that I felt the Divine Key was "angry" just now, there would be even more to argue about.
Suddenly, Qiong was a little puzzled: This wasn't a pirated Feather Dust mimicry of the End Worm, could it give her a Divine Key that allowed her to occasionally use the power of "memory"? How could it make her see the Pink Fairy? And how could it make her feel "angry"?
Could it be that this Feather Dust is actually also the Void Treasury, with a machine spirit residing inside? But Kiana wasn't with him when he was given away!
……
Thanks to the feather pen-shaped Feather Dust, which for some reason can autonomously review documents at an unimaginable speed, Sora, who had originally planned to work overtime and stay overnight on the Hyperion, escaped from Himeko's place ahead of schedule.
Although he couldn't quite understand it, leaving get off work early always brought joy. In an exceptionally cheerful mood, Qiong tucked his quill pen behind his ear as an ornament, humming a little tune as he walked towards the infirmary—there, there was one last question: the Martian god on Xing's body…
I suppose Baiji has already taken care of everything?
"Teacher, are you there?"
Qiong pushed open the door to the infirmary, only to find it empty. On the table sat a piece of paper with dog paw prints and a route map resembling graffiti, next to which were written several large characters:
If you see this, come here immediately.
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【Ugh!】
Inside a bathroom, Xing let out a cry of pain that didn't seem to be hers alone. Her body struggled violently in the water. Under the combined suppression of Baiji and Songque, her face was sometimes filled with rage, sometimes contorted with rage, and she was constantly radiating shadows outwards...
"Woof! You two have to hold on! If you can't hold on, we're all doomed!"
Donegal, who was in charge of containing the shadows, called out anxiously from the side and encouraged the two of them.
"Donigor, you really don't know how to talk when you're not the one suffering... We've been putting in so much effort!"
Baiji wiped the water from her face, her eyes filled with exhaustion, and Songque, who could still tell witty remarks, was in no better shape.
The consciousness of the deity was not completely eradicated by the first wave of the "fake" attack. Due to timing and backlash issues, the combined efforts of Baiji, Donigor, and the three spells they pulled out—the Pine Sparrow—were barely enough to maintain the effect of the first sneak attack, temporarily helping to regain some control of the star. However, the situation remained dangerous...
They could certainly use the three arts of "falsehood," "sacrifice," and "deception" to set up a targeted seal. A low-end, simplified version of the "rice cake seal" would be enough to control Leiera's consciousness.
However, this also means that the gods of Luo Xing can always sense the existence of the stars, and thus perceive the existence of the sky. If one day the consciousness of the gods sends something like a cosmic broadcast and it is received by the main body of Luo Xing...
Putting everything else aside, they're probably doomed... cough cough, not that serious, but they probably won't be doing well.
Either do nothing or do it ruthlessly. For Bai Ji and the others, if they want to continue living peacefully and even revive the Luo Xing civilization, they must do one thing right now: force Leiera out of Xing's body!
"My Lord, please stop!"
Song Que's pleading voice rang out simultaneously with her spell. The water in the bathtub, guided by her, transformed into tiny water chains that wrapped around Xing's wrists and ankles. Though not sturdy, they, combined with Bai Ji's "False Rules," possessed a soul-suppressing effect. At the same time, Bai Ji took out several talismans, moistened them with water, and strengthened the suppression effect.
That's all they can do for now; the rest is up to Xing herself... Unless she gathers all seven spells that are impossible to gather, she simply cannot confront a god head-on—even if she is just a consciousness.
【impossible!】
A purplish-black light shone from Xing's eyes once more, and Bai Ji knew that she would not give up.
She didn't want to give up, she couldn't give up. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her (although there had been quite a few such opportunities lately). Although Xing's power was temporarily dormant due to her own talisman water, how could her status as the Goddess of Mars and her control over shadows be so easily sealed off? Right now, wisps of shadow began to seep out from under Xing's water-soaked body, attempting to erode those water chains—this wasn't the first time she had done this. Fortunately, they had Donigor; as long as the situation developed in her favor, the reliable hounds would lend a hand.
If Star's resistance were weaker or Donigor wasn't there, Baiji would have to admit she would win; if Star cooperated, she could probably make the shadows on them rebel with a flick of her finger—for example, make Donigor hang himself up and beat him?
"Teachers, are you here?"
After an unknown period of stalemate, an anxious voice rang out from the bathroom doorway.
"elder brother--"
[Dan...Heng...]
Upon hearing Qiong's voice, the previously tense situation paused for a moment. No one noticed that Xing's face curled into a slight smile, which immediately turned into a gritted-teeth expression.
"small star!"
When Qiong burst into the bathroom, which was inexplicably located in the basement, she saw her own Xing's lips trembling as she uttered broken syllables. Her left hand suddenly broke free from the water chain binding Song Que and rose upwards, and then...
Xing's pupils began to tremble wildly, changing from a stable, indistinct color to gold, then purple, then back to normal pupil size, and then into a heart shape...
Wait, heart-shaped?
"Leera..."
Qiong practically gritted his teeth as he uttered the name, instantly understanding what had happened. He strode to the bathtub and grabbed the outstretched left hand.
"Get out of my sister's body now!"
Upon seeing Qiong appear, a hint of panic flashed across Xing's face.
"Brother... run..."
Xing's voice rang out again, broken and strained, filled with sobs and extreme pain. But immediately, the pain vanished from her face. In its place was a triumphant, mocking, and greedy smile, like a gentle breeze. The left hand that Qiong had been holding was no longer easily grasped. Instead, Qiong immediately exerted force, her five fingers clamping down on Qiong's wrist like iron pincers. The strength was so great that Qiong's expression changed instantly.
[Leave? Where do you want him to leave to?]
A sweet smile curved the corners of "Star's" lips. The heart-shaped purple light in her purplish-black, gold-plated pupils stabilized, no longer shifting, and stared intently at the sky so close to her. Her voice was no longer distorted and fragmented, but smooth and melodious, yet carrying the fervor unique to gods, and... a touch of coquettishness.
[Danheng, why are you so late? I've been waiting for this moment for so long—no, to be precise, I've been "acting" for so long...]
Leiera, controlling Xing's body, swept her smiling gaze over the three people and the dog whose expressions had suddenly changed.
What, do you really think this silly little sister can outlast her, who has waited for so many years? Although she has spent most of these billion years in slumber, it doesn't mean she can't outmaneuver these few mortals—just two techniques, plus a dog raised by Lithost, is like wrestling with divine consciousness?
Want some peaches?
Bai and Song Que's pupils suddenly contracted sharply.
"W-what? So, the reason we were able to suppress you before was actually because..."
That's right.
Leiera casually interrupted, watching Sora try to break free of her grasp—this was actually a bit troublesome, as the star she was controlling was one whose power was partially unleashed, and if the dragon's power was too great, his knight might get injured... It must be said that she was not the kind of god who wanted to cut off the knight's hands and feet and lock him up, that would be too boring!
Feeling Qiong's frantic struggle to break free, and seeing the incredulous expressions on their faces, Leiera, whose scheme had succeeded, smiled happily.
[Baiji, your teamwork with this dog to launch a sneak attack did surprise me, but that's all—you didn't really think I couldn't beat you, did you? Cooperating with your performance was just to conserve my resources...]
Feeling that it was not good to continue, Leiera stopped talking. With a thought, the water chain that the sparrow had been struggling to maintain collapsed instantly.
"Wow!"
The sparrow, suffering a backlash, turned as pale as paper, and Bai Ji, who was standing nearby, quickly helped it up.
"Squirrel!"
"Master, I'm alright, Qiong—"
Leiera ignored the master and apprentice and the dog that seemed to have fled as it realized the situation was hopeless. Her gaze returned to Qiong, whose heart-shaped pupils shimmered with an eerie light.