Pei Ran quietly crept closer, hiding behind a tree and peering from afar toward the villa.
She saw that the heavily guarded gate of Nan Yi’s home was now wide open, and the front yard was in complete chaos.
The crossbow bolts had already been fired, scattered sparsely all over the ground.
Two corpses of crazed cleaners lay sprawled on the ground. It seemed that when the crossbow bolts exploded, a blind cat happened to hit a dead rat—just happened to blow apart their mutated hearts.
[Note: “Blind cat hits a dead rat” (瞎猫碰上了死耗子) is a Chinese idiom meaning a lucky hit or coincidence.]
However, there were still other crazed cleaners in orange uniforms in the yard—far more than the five from earlier in the day.
A whole troop had arrived.
The crazed cleaners were busy working with great fervor.
One of them was trimming the flowers, plants, and trees in the front yard with a giant pair of scissors that had grown from his arm—snip, snip, and with a few cuts, half of the spherical tree crown at the entrance was gone.
Unfortunately, after going mad, both their minds and skills deteriorated. The once round crown now looked like it had been chewed by a dog.
Another was aggressively cleaning the statue, gripping a high-pressure hose from who-knows-where, blasting away so hard that the statue wobbled and swayed.
So, it turns out they risked their lives, braved crossbow bolts, and broke in just to trim the garden and clean the house.
She had no idea where the rest of the rescue team had gone.
The courtyard gate was wide open. The door to the ground floor of the small building was closed—maybe the crazed cleaners hadn’t broken in yet, or maybe they opened it and closed it again.
In the dark of night, the curtain of a second-floor window—which was tightly drawn—shifted slightly, letting out a sliver of light.
A figure flickered past, glancing outside for a moment before closing the curtain again.
This person wasn’t wearing the orange uniform of a cleaner.
Pei Ran asked W in her heart, “That seems like Abu’s room?”
The mechanical spider had excellent eyesight. W replied with certainty, “That’s right. That person just now was Abu.”
They were still inside the small building, possibly trapped in there by the cleaners.
Pei Ran stopped peeking and quietly circled halfway around the villa along the outer wall, returning to the spot where she had climbed over earlier.
W asked her, “You’re planning to…”
Pei Ran climbed up the wall in a few swift moves. “I’m planning to sneak back and share weal and woe with everyone.”
W: “…”
W: “Such a touching display of team spirit.”
Not very sincere. His voice carried not the slightest hint of emotion.
As Pei Ran climbed the wall, she summoned Green Light No.1 in her mind.
It had already worked twice tonight, and with a clear conscience had clocked out to go to sleep—showing no intention of working overtime a third time.
Green Light No.1 couldn’t be used—she had to be careful on her own.
Pei Ran nimbly climbed to the top of the wall. With a light push of her hand, her body slid smoothly down along the wall and landed silently.
Not far away, a crazed cleaner was circling a tree, seriously trimming it. Pei Ran hid behind a bush, waited for the right moment, slipped to the side of the small building, leaped up, and hooked her fingers onto the edge of the second-floor window.
By the time the cleaner had turned halfway around the tree and faced her direction, Pei Ran had already slipped soundlessly through the large hole in the second-floor window.
The inside of the small building wasn’t peaceful.
Heavy and hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway, accompanied by the loud thuds of heavy objects crashing into walls.
Everyone in the rescue team was agile—there was no way they’d make that kind of noise.
It was the crazed cleaners. So, they had already made it inside and were running amok in the villa.
Pei Ran hid for a while, and finally, the noise outside quieted down a bit.
The mechanical spider slid down her leg and dutifully went out to scout for enemies.
“There are no cleaners in the hallway right now,” it reported. “But there’s someone else. It’s Ueno Toru. He’s walking toward your room, with his back to you.”
Pei Ran poked her head out.
Sure enough, Ueno Toru was walking down the corridor, gripping a gun in his hand, his footsteps extremely light.
Pei Ran didn’t trust this plastic teammate.
Her own room was in that direction as well. She slipped out without alerting him, tiptoeing and stealthily following behind the already stealthy Ueno Toru.
The crazed cleaners had been to the second floor. Some doors in the hallway had been sawed open, now hanging loosely and in tatters.
And sawed open wasn’t just the doors—but also a person.
Uncle He lay horizontally at the threshold of his room, his body sawed clean in half at the waist. Blood was all over the floor, and his eyes were still wide open in terror.
Another person was dead.
Pei Ran suddenly recalled the look of pity that had flashed across Abu’s face earlier today at the entrance downstairs when she touched Uncle He’s hand.
She had probably foreseen this outcome for him long ago.
Foreseen it, but unable to find a way to change it. Being a prophet was probably not a comfortable thing.
Ueno Toru ignored Uncle He’s corpse on the floor. He only gave the room a quick glance to confirm there were no crazed cleaners inside, then continued walking forward.
His goal was clear—he was heading straight for Abu’s room.
He stopped at the door and turned his head to glance behind him.
The hallway was empty—not a single shadow.
Pei Ran had expected he’d look back and had already slipped into Uncle He’s room.
The mechanical spider quietly poked out its black eye and gave a live report:
“Pei Ran, Green Light has appeared—in his right palm.”
“He twisted the doorknob with that hand. The door opened.”
“He went in.”
Pei Ran immediately followed and arrived at Abu’s room door, glancing through the slightly ajar opening.
Abu had been holding a gun, standing by the window, checking the situation outside. Hearing the sound of Ueno Toru entering, she turned her head.
Without a word, Ueno Toru raised his arm and opened his right hand, which glowed with flickering green light.
As if slapped hard across the face, the gun in Abu’s hand spun and flew out, slamming into the wall with a thud.
Ueno Toru stared fixedly at her, and moved his right hand again.
It was as if an invisible hand clamped tightly around Abu’s neck, lifting her off the ground and violently flinging her forward, pinning her hard against the wall.
Abu hung there, feet dangling, struggling and kicking, her face flushed red.
Outside, the world was filled with crazed fusion-state beings, yet someone was using their powers not to fight them, but to take advantage of the chaos and commit murder.
Ueno Toru held Abu suspended in mid-air. His cold, expressionless face betrayed no emotion, but inside, he was quite pleased.
A rare order-state Green Light was about to fall into his hands.
Ever since the Silence, after completing several missions, he and Lu Ming had discovered that madness-state Green Lights could be hunted down and, once absorbed, could enhance their own Green Light’s abilities.
Ueno Toru had hunted down several madness-state Green Lights and fed them all to his own Green Light, witnessing its abilities improve by leaps and bounds.
He speculated that, by the same logic, other ability users’ Green Lights should also be able to be seized.
He had gone on a rescue mission to the capital with Abu once before, and this time they had come to the offshore island together again. He had been observing her carefully and was now eighty to ninety percent certain that Abu’s ability was prophecy.
She had predicted several dangers before, even foretold others’ deaths.
But Ueno Toru soon realized that Abu was not a prophet who could foresee everything. Her prophetic abilities were extremely limited.
What she saw seemed to be only fragmented glimpses.
Moreover, she seemed only able to see future scenes in which she herself was present—completely unaware of what occurred when she was absent.
But there was one exception: physical contact.
She appeared to be able to see what would happen to someone in the future, even in situations where she wasn’t present, through physical touch.
All in all, this prophet with limited powers was still just a rookie among seers.
Ueno Toru had been plotting to obtain her Green Light for quite some time.
With her fragmented and incomplete prophetic ability, she might not even happen to foresee the moment of her own death. And even if she truly did see herself being killed soon—without any formidable strength, without any means of self-defense or resistance—what could she possibly do?
Perhaps the only use of her prophecy… was to give her enough time to prepare some last words in advance, or write a will?
The prophecy ability could serve as a support—if paired with his violent Collapse-state Green Light, it would be the ideal combination.
Abu’s Green Light had followed her, unable to absorb anything and unable to enhance its abilities. But if it belonged to him, things would be completely different.
He could slowly feed it with the Green Lights he hunted, helping it level up bit by bit. Maybe one day, he would become a truly all-knowing prophet, one who could control fate itself.
Abu’s physical condition was considered pretty good among ordinary people, but in the hands of someone like him—an ability user of the Collapse system—she was as fragile as a rag doll.
Killing her was just too easy. All that was missing was the right opportunity.
Tonight, the opportunity had finally come.
He had a gun in his hand but didn’t plan to use it. A gunshot would leave obvious traces. If Lu Ming and the others saw the body, they’d immediately know it was a teammate who did it.
Strangling her like this left no marks and could easily be blamed on those crazed cleaners. Outside the Kuroi Well, thousands had already died at the hands of berserk fusion-forms—no one would dig too deep.
Abu, just as he expected, had no ability to resist. Her face reddened as she kicked weakly in mid-air, her eyes growing unfocused.
But suddenly, she seemed to see something—her gaze moved past him and looked toward his back.
Ueno Toru immediately turned his head.
But it was already too late.
Retribution came fast. A cold mechanical hand, just like the one he used to choke Abu, seized his own throat in an instant.
Much faster than he was.
Before he could react, he heard the crisp sound of bones shattering in his neck.
It was the last sound he ever heard in his life.
Black death descended. All turned to nothingness.
Ueno Toru collapsed to the floor. The cluster of Green Light in his palm was still there. Pei Ran bent down and lightly touched it with her fingertip.
According to their rescue team’s rules, whoever hunted a Green Light got to keep it.
Ueno Toru’s Green Light surged all at once and flowed into Pei Ran’s body. A home-delivered meal—the Green Lights inside her instantly stirred to life.
Green Light No.1 charged over at full speed.
Every time a new Order-state Green Light entered, Green Light No.1 would circle around it to study, then leave in disappointment. But this time was very different.
It dashed over and opened its mouth to devour it.
Pei Ran hurriedly pinned it down.
Ueno Toru’s Green Light seemed to really be a Collapse-state one. Judging by the current behavior, Order-state Green Lights sat at the top of the food chain—not only could they devour Madness-state Green Lights, but Collapse-state ones were like snacks to them.
Pei Ran was reluctant to feed it. This was a Collapse-state Green Light, one that came with an ability. Swallowing it outright felt like such a waste.
The force choking Abu’s neck vanished. She fell from the wall and collapsed to the floor, coughing violently and gasping for air.
Pei Ran picked up the gun on the ground and handed it to her, helping her up in one motion.
Abu finally caught her breath and slowly tapped out, “When he came in just now, I saw it—I knew you would come to save me.”
She had foreseen it again.
She tapped: [Thank you.]
Now wasn’t the time for politeness. The floors above and below were crawling with crazed cleaners—this place was no longer safe.
Pei Ran tapped: [Where are Lu Ming and the others?]
Abu replied: [I checked. Their room was empty. They might be downstairs.]
Lu Ming and Nan Yi might still be in the tool room on the first floor.
Pei Ran cracked the door open a bit, peeked out to confirm the hallway was empty, then turned back and made a “let’s go” gesture.
But Abu shook her head.
She stood at the door, lowering her eyes.
Pei Ran was close this time and saw a flash of green light flicker across her eyes.
So every time she used her ability, she would lower her eyelids to hide the glow in her eyes.
It seemed like she was carefully sensing something.
Pei Ran understood—she was standing on the World Tree, carefully searching for the safest branch.
Abu stood motionless at the door, fully focused in meditation. Pei Ran patiently waited beside her.
After a long while, as if the perfect moment had finally arrived, Abu suddenly looked up.
Now. She opened the door.
The two of them stepped out immediately.
Abu had an injured leg and walked with a limp. Pei Ran supported her arm and led her forward.
The small building was filled with all kinds of chaotic noises—the buzzing of chainsaws, heavy footsteps. The crazed cleaners were still causing havoc everywhere inside.
But as if blessed with incredible luck, the two of them, though walking slowly—almost leisurely—made it through the hallway safely, descended the stairs, and reached the first floor without incident.
They didn’t encounter a single crazed cleaner the entire way.
As they turned a corner on the first floor, Pei Ran stopped.
A cleaner in an orange uniform passed quickly through the hallway ahead.
Right beside them was an open, empty room. Pei Ran tugged on Abu’s arm and tilted her head to signal: Shall we hide?
But Abu shook her head and gestured for her to keep going forward.
Sure enough, that crazed cleaner rushed straight into the first-floor kitchen. Clattering sounds followed—he was probably cleaning pots and pans—and he didn’t come back out.
The two of them continued forward without a hitch and finally arrived at the door to the tool room.
Pei Ran stopped and looked at Abu.
“Pfft—”
A soft sound came from inside the room—a silenced gunshot.
This time, Abu didn’t hesitate for even a second. She gripped the doorknob and turned it sharply, flinging the tool room door open.
Inside the room, under pale lighting in front of a shelf stacked with boxes of various sizes, stood a man.
It was Lu Ming.
He stood there, holding a gun in his hand.
Not far in front of him, with her back facing him, Captain Mia had collapsed forward onto the ground. Blood was still pouring endlessly from a hole in the back of her head.
She had been ambushed from behind by Lu Ming—likely killed without even realizing how she died.
There were others in the room.
Nan Yi was there, along with a young boy around ten years old—his younger brother, Nan Xuan, the one who had been mute since birth.
Perhaps because the crazed cleaners had broken in, Nan Yi had brought Nan Xuan here for safety.
The two brothers stood right next to Lu Ming, both clearly terrified by the sudden turn of events. Nan Yi immediately yanked his brother behind him and stared at Lu Ming, eyes wide with fear.
Captain Mia was just an ordinary human and didn’t have a fusion Green Light. Lu Ming had killed her—clearly for another reason.
That reason was Nan Yi.
Having succeeded in his ambush and shot Captain Mia, Lu Ming immediately swung the muzzle toward Nan Yi’s head.
Pei Ran had always suspected there was a traitor in the team—and it turned out to be Vice Captain Lu.
With Captain Mia present, Lu Ming hadn’t been able to act directly against Nan Yi.
Both Mia and Nan Yi were ordinary people, so Lu Ming didn’t need to use any special powers—just a gun was enough.
But it seemed the door to the tool room was fated—it creaked open with a soft groan.
Pei Ran and Abu stood at the doorway.
Lu Ming froze for a moment, as if hesitating.
But the hesitation passed in a flash. A flicker of Green Light emerged from his left hand.
He quickly made a specific hand gesture:
The ring and little fingers curled inward, pressed down by the thumb. The index and middle fingers were held tightly together, straight as a blade.
Just like a sword incantation described in novels.
The Green Light hovered at the tips of his joined index and middle fingers, and the sword incantation pointed straight at Pei Ran.