Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo

Life can't be assumed; just as one can't know how they will live ten years from now, one also can't know how their life would be if a certain condition in the past had changed.

Therefore, regarding what Zhu Shi said, I could only remain noncommittal. However, there was something she still misunderstood. I've emphasized in the past that my true obsession was not with strange beings, but rather with unpredictable adventures beyond reality. It just so happens that the world of the strange closest matches this answer. They seem similar, but this difference is quite significant to me.

"Since you've mentioned my superpower, I have a question I want to ask you," I said earnestly, "This question has troubled me for many years, and it's very important to me."

Seeing how serious I was, she became earnest as well, "Ask away."

I then voiced my own question.

"What exactly is my superpower?"

"Hmm?" She looked puzzled, "You're asking me? Shouldn't you be the clearest about it?"

"Actually, it's like this..."

I recounted the circumstances around the awakening of my superpower.

"Ah, no wonder you used to carry candles around in junior high and stare at them..." After hearing me out, she had an epiphany, then uttered some unintentionally cruel words, "I even thought you were acting so abnormal because you were possessed by some evil spirit, but it turns out it was your brain that was abnormal."

"What did you just say?"

And why did she know about my junior high days?

"Cough cough!" She finally realized her faux pas, coughed twice to cover it up, and then shifted to a more serious tone, "So, what you're saying is that you want to know the principle behind the creation of your superpower?"

"Exactly. Even in fictional worlds, the source of superpowers is always explained. Whether it's some superpower gene undiscovered by scientists, radiation from a special mineral, or that humans can naturally awaken superpowers but only in a small proportion of the population..." I provided several examples.

"I can't give you an accurate answer to this question," she observed me carefully.

I didn't know if she used some special power at that moment, but suddenly I felt as though all my clothes had been stripped off and I was being scrutinized naked.

Soon, that feeling disappeared, and she withdrew her observing gaze, then concluded, "There are many reasons why a supernatural power user might arise. The cases you mentioned before are all real, and currently, I can only say that you probably don't have the blood of devils or monsters mixed in. A more specific conclusion can't be reached unless a detailed examination is done."

Should I ask for a detailed examination from Luo Mountain... I weighed this option back and forth in my mind.

"But this is odd..." Zhu Shi suddenly remembered something, "Devilry should attract devilry by nature. Since you've been a superpower user for a while, you're one of us, so it makes even less sense that you haven't encountered any strange incidents."

"Devilry attracts devilry? Why is that?" I was curious.

She provided a noncommittal answer, "I don't know, it's just a recognized phenomenon."

"Isn't that answer a bit too rough?" I complained.

"Plus, I've investigated some of the places you've looked into before," she continued, baffling me further, "Many of those places genuinely harbored strangeness, and it shouldn't have been that difficult for you to find them. But you just never encountered them..."

Her words stirred a tempest within me, "Wait, I don't understand, what you mean is..."

"I can't figure it out either, it's as if your relationship to strange incidents isn't one of attraction but repulsion," she said, puzzled.

Did the strange incidents I had investigated before contain many truths? Was I repelling these strange incidents?

This was the first time I'd heard of such a thing!

But if what she said earlier was true, then I indeed should have been more likely to encounter strange incidents than the average person, and the lack of results after many years of pursuit indeed made no sense.

I steadied my thoughts, then tentatively asked, "...then, assuming I joined Luo Mountain..."

"If we can't find out the reason, even if you became a member of Luo Mountain, you'd probably still be doomed never to connect with strange incidents," she concluded before falling into thought again, "Now that I think about it, this time you should've missed the cave in the fifteenth-floor room just like always... Was there some special change that caused you to finally encounter a strange incident this time?"

Upon hearing this, I could only think of one decisive change—that was, I had met Mazao.

I had previously thought that as long as I could get connected with Luo Mountain, I wouldn't need Mazao's "Broom Star Physique" anymore. Now it seemed that was just wishful thinking.

I indeed couldn't let Mazao leave!

She was still indispensable, even more important than before.

I must keep her tightly in the palm of my hand, and absolutely cannot let her drift away from me.

It seems that Luo Mountain is also looking for Mazao, but I don't know what their intentions are. Could I find out something through Zhu Shi? I carefully contemplated my questioning tactics in my mind. A slight misstep, and I might reveal flaws, leading the other party to discover that I know Mazao's whereabouts.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Zhu Shi seemed to notice the question I was holding back, "It's okay, we're getting reacquainted today. I've also learned quite a bit from you before, so feel free to ask me anything, and I'll answer as best I can."

"It's just about the Fallen Demon Hunter." I finally prepared a specific line of questioning in my mind, "Didn't you say before that the Fallen Demon Hunter was the murderer from the crime that happened eight months ago? I encountered a policeman before, and he said the murderer from eight months ago is the recent serial killer."

She thought for a moment, "The policeman you're talking about is Agent Kong, right? I asked him to investigate the room on the fifteenth floor for me."

"That policeman is also one of your Luo Mountain people?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Yes, but his main job is as one of Luo Mountain's front-line investigative agents. He only impersonates a policeman as part of the mission requirements and isn't a real policeman."

"I see..." I continued, "Anyway, Agent Kong told me that the murderer and the serial killer are the same person, and moreover, a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl. Could it be that the Fallen Demon Hunter, before transforming, was a girl?"

"Ah, that…" She showed an embarrassed expression, "No, that's not the case. Rest assured, you haven't burned a girl that young."

"So, what you're saying is, Agent Kong lied to me back then, deliberately accusing someone who hadn't killed anyone of being the murderer?" I pressed, "Why? Who is the girl he is looking for?"

"This matter is related to the mission Agent Kong is currently on, it's not very convenient to reveal from my end..."

From her expression, it seemed she also felt it was unconscionable of Luo Mountain to accuse Mazao of being a serial killer. But after all, I was an outsider to Luo Mountain, and in her eyes, I was unrelated to this matter. If I pressed too hard, I might incur suspicion. I needed to think of another way to probe.

Just then, Zhu Shi's mobile phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID, her face turning to a strictly professional demeanor, and then she answered the call.

Meanwhile, I silently moved my right hand behind me and quietly lit up "Firefly," using special perception to eavesdrop on the content of the call. The person on the other end of the phone seemed to be the gray-uniformed personnel who had retrieved the Fallen Demon Hunter's body previously, and they spoke in a somewhat strange tone, saying that the preliminary results of the body examination were in and requesting Zhu Shi to come over and take a look.

What was so important that it required front-line personnel like Zhu Shi to go back and check?

After agreeing to the request, Zhu Shi ended the call and then showed me an apologetic look: "I'm sorry, I have to go back for a bit, it's work-related."

"Is it related to the Fallen Demon Hunter? He said before dying that he had met me two years ago, and that there was some resentment between us, but I don't remember him at all."

I had mentioned this matter briefly when I described the battle process to her earlier.

"I will investigate," she nodded, then added, "Actually, I think there's a very strange aspect to the death of the Fallen Demon Hunter."

"What is it?" I asked.

"He had a skill, which is to use shadows as a passage to move between different spaces," she said. "However, according to your description, during his escape, he didn't use this skill, which would've been very suitable for fleeing. Although it might just be me overthinking... this incident might not be over yet."

I wasn't totally unfamiliar with the skill she mentioned.

When the Fallen Demon Hunter first appeared before me, he had emerged from a shadow.

If he could come out from a shadow, then he should certainly be able to enter into one.

Yet, while fleeing in a panic, he did not escape into the shadows until his death. Was it because flames were burning on his body, and the shadows he passed through were dispersed? But when he tried to manipulate the shadows to extinguish the flames on himself, he wasn't affected by the light. The shadows he controlled at that time were burnt by the flames, not dispersed by the light.

This incident might not be over yet—I couldn't help but have this thought.

After saying goodbye to me, Zhu Shi quickly turned around to leave, and I was also ready to head back home.

In fact, if the conditions had allowed, I would have liked to take out the black jade I had obtained from the basement and ask Zhu Shi to help me identify it. But considering her wary attitude towards bizarre items, as well as her sense of duty as a Luoshan Demon Hunter, I might not get the black jade back once I handed it over, so I had to give up this plan for now.

Suddenly, I noticed that after Zhu Shi had walked a few steps, she turned around to look at me, her eyes seemingly hesitant.

I didn't know what she wanted to say, so I stood still, waiting for her voice.

After a moment, she finally exhaled, then her expression slowly softened, and her voice returned to a casual tone, smiling slightly at me.

"See you tomorrow, Senior Brother Zhuang."

While speaking with a smile, she waved goodbye.