A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 292 The System's Ruthless Skills

"A small gift - from the friendly Spider-Man."

The dormitory room was dark. In the darkness, Quinn stared at the Gospel of Genesis in his hands.

This is Pepe's scripture. He stole it along with the suitcase.

This line of Chinese is on the first page of the scripture.

The gift it was referring to was lying quietly in a small box to the side.

The box was tightly bound by a cross necklace. Sealed within was an entire abyssal sequence.

Quinn had always wondered what this "gift" could actually be used for.

Who is the hero?
Amamiya Nene's father was an Earth traveler who wasn't a hero, a mysterious fortune teller with no records, and a man who called himself Spider-Man.
Quinn didn't think he wanted to help him find the hero.

From any perspective, he had no reason to help the demons.

So what exactly was this "gift" for him to do?

Since it's a gift, it must have a purpose, just like the three pieces of advice that let him choose his path as a thief.

He had been thinking about this for a long time, but now it seems he has found the answer.

Quinn untied the pendant from the box, opened the lid, and his gaze fell on the matte gray fountain pen.

The red pentagram pattern on the pen cap is chipped, like an old object that has been forgotten since the last century and has been lying in a drawer.

[A pen imbued with the laws of the abyss. Its tip can slash through a person's life, allowing them to review, modify, and add to it. — I have crossed out immortality, Emperor, and shall fight in a fair and square battle.]

The blue light from the system item descriptions faded deep within his eyes.

"You even divined this?" Quinn's voice was filled with hatred.

I don't know if I hate that fellow villager who played with fate, or I hate myself for not daring to face fate.

Quinn recalled the future he had seen in the divination system, a future that was avoided because the box was stolen.

Peipei was bathed in sunlight, her face as ruthless as an angel's. The tip of her pen sliced ​​open her face, revealing her skin and face like a book cover, layer upon layer of flesh and texture filled with her life story, open for all to see.

After using this pen.

What will she become?

Quinn stared silently at the gates of Heaven for a long time.

In the end, he put the lid back on and tied the cross back up.

In the darkness, Quinn sat on the edge of the bed, the light from the magic tower faintly seeping through the gaps in the curtains. Time ticked by, and he sat in the shadows, his head slowly drooping, his fists clenched. Though the muscles in his arms were harder than mountain rocks, he felt as helpless as he had been in the first seven days after arriving in this world, hiding in the darkness of his rented apartment in Ankuya.

[Pathological findings: The dream was based on the individual's own experiences. The resulting distortion may be related to the hero.]

"What makes you think you've come to that conclusion?" he asked the school doctor, his voice sounding like it was being squeezed out of his throat.

The school doctor replied that the conclusion was drawn by the college's senior management, and he was only responsible for pathological testing.

Celia showed no signs of mental instability or personality disorder while in the Forbidden Forest. The gray mist of the Abyss had no effect on her.

Based on the Academy's research on Abyss contamination cases over the past millennium, apart from a "strange dream suspected to be an Abyss experience," there are no suspicious points about Celia.

The most important characteristic of the Abyss Dream is language.

Even if an Abyss transcendent or corrupted person can remember what happened in their dream, they cannot repeat the language used in the dream. It is an extremely obvious cognitive impairment. They can remember the people they met, the events that happened, the words they spoke, and even the expressions of those people in the dream, but they just cannot recall the words they used, as if the brain's language module has malfunctioned.

Celia, however, was different. She could remember the language in her dream, which meant that her dream used the language of Temüran, a language that never appeared in the Dream of the Abyss.

The school doctor assured Quinn that the girl was perfectly fine and that she shouldn't worry too much about the student, but rather worry more about herself.

Quinn said that Celia had never experienced what he dreamed about.

The school doctor's answer was either that she had forgotten, or that there was another soul inside her.

Quinn closed his eyes.

"Xiaoqian can't be a hero. Impossible." He muttered to himself in the darkness.

If she is a hero, then who is the Earth soul that traveled from here?
The answer is no question.

“If she were a hero, she wouldn’t have done this to me.” Quinn repeated, “That’s right, she’s not Mi Yutong, she isn’t.”

He nervously repeated the phrase.

'system.'

Quinn's mind returned to absolute calm, as if he had made up his mind.

A futuristic blue-framed interface appeared before my eyes, with Chinese characters in a Song-style font, and dialog boxes popped up as if calculated by AI.

【Please say. 】

'Activate the future notification system.'

What tips do you need?

'How do I resolve the abyssal contamination on Celia?' He asked the system as if it were his last lifeline.

The system displayed an ellipsis.

【.】

This time, the system took an exceptionally long time to calculate.

It was longer than any of the previous ones, even surpassing the question he asked in the goblin cave, "How can I escape my current predicament?"

【Ding! 】

After a long silence, Quinn finally received a reply from the system.

His expression gradually became blank; this was the first time he had ever seen the system give such an answer.

[This question is invalid. Future calculations cannot be performed. Please ask your question again.]

Quinn slowly buried his head in his hands, resting it on his thighs, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Is Celia Mi Yutong?"

The system responded quickly:
The 'Future Computing' module cannot answer this question. Please change your question format; this module can only calculate the 'process', not the 'result'.

I do not know how long it has been.

Quinn then raised his head and asked again:
"How can I remove Mi Yutong's soul without harming Celia and keeping her soul and life intact?"

[This question is invalid. Future calculations cannot be performed. Please ask your question again.]

[WARNING! Do not waste the computing power of the 'Future Hints' module. Please ask questions based on the actual situation. If the system is used for meaningless premise tests, even if no solution can be found, the system will still charge a 'cost'.]

"."

"Correction. How can I erase Mi Yutong's memories without harming Celia and preserving her soul and life?"

Quinn asked, his voice choked with emotion.

About three seconds later, the system's familiar notification sound came.

【Ding--】

[The system has completed the future calculations for 'erasing Mi Yutong's memories'. Would you like to view the notification?]

【Warning: If you choose to view, you will pay the price. 】

"Check."

The moment those words were spoken.

The world in Quinn's eyes became blurry, as if fog had seeped into his eyes.

Please implement the following plan:

Please attend next week's hearing at the Elswell City Council regarding the performance of acting councilor Elon Branson.

[At 32 minutes and 12 seconds into the hearing.]

[Use all remaining soul fragments in the system to perform a demonic prayer ritual—]

[Send a message to the Demon King Ruby.]

Report your coordinates.

[Please ask Him to help you kill the hero.]

[This allows for the erasure of Mi Yutong's memories without harming Celia, ensuring her soul and life remain intact.]

Quinn's eyes widened suddenly.

What kind of ruthless work is this?
The system page fades out.

The given future hints are saved as in previous future hints and can be reviewed at any time.

He immediately opened it again and read it over and over again.

I wish I could rub every single word into my eyes.

System What does this mean?
His premise was "not to harm Mi Yutong's life and soul".

But he had to ask the Demon King to kill the hero.

If Mi Yutong is a hero, then the premise and the process conflict.
Quinn was unsure whether his prayers would reach the Demon King's castle in the gray fog, and even less certain what the strange dragon-horned girl Demon King would do after learning of his request.

But does the system's solution mean that Celia is not a hero?
But why are the hero's memories related to Mi Yutong?

He grasped at that straw. After learning that Celia was still very unlikely to be the hero, Quinn's mind began to race unhindered.

He was still thinking when he heard light footsteps outside the door.

The door was opened from the outside, and warm light streamed in through the crack. Quinn turned around at the sound, his expression returning to its usual relaxed state.

He looked at the very blurry doorway and thought he saw a petite figure standing there.

Lin stood at the door, holding Huanhuan, the three-tailed fox, in her arms.

"what happened?"

"Pizza, I'm hungry."

"I was just working, I'll be right there."

The moment Quinn stood up, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him. This exhaustion wasn't physical, but rather a spiritual one, like someone who, after a busy day, no longer wanted to do anything.

"I need to use the restroom first." Quinn prepared to wash his face.

Just as Quinn passed by Lynn, the little girl's serene and indifferent white eyes fell on his hand.

"Going to the toilet, using a pen?"

"Pen?"

Quinn looked down upon hearing this, but couldn't see clearly. He raised his hand, and his eyes widened in shock. The lethargy and laxity he had felt due to exhaustion vanished instantly.

He was holding a gray fountain pen in his hand, the red star on the cap was chipped.

Containment Items 0-14, Heaven's Gate.

When? Didn't you put it back in the box?!

Impossible, I clearly remember putting the pen back and even checking it before sealing it with the cross—

Have I really checked?
Did I really put the pen back?

Quinn gritted his teeth. "Lin, keep your eyes on this pen. Don't get distracted."

Lin tilted her head, puzzled. But since it was Quinn's request, the little girl obediently complied.

For some unknown reason, the three-tailed fox in Lin's arms suddenly became very agitated, its lips curling up to reveal sharp teeth, and it adopted a defensive posture towards the pen in Quinn's hand.

Quinn retreated back into the room step by step.

Holding the pen high, his gaze fixed on the cap of the Heaven's Gate pen, he looked like a soldier marching in formation with a rifle.

He didn't close the box until he put the Gates of Heaven back in it—this time he was really sure the Gates of Heaven were inside.

"The pen didn't come out, did it?"

Lin shook her head.

Do I have a pen?

Lin shook her head again.

Quinn grabbed the box and shook it, hearing a dull clatter of pens inside before retying the cross.

He carefully examined the entire room, including the notebooks and notes on the desk, and after confirming that he hadn't written anything with the Gates of Heaven, he began to rummage through the pockets of his trench coat.

Quinn felt a cold metallic touch in his left pocket and pulled it out. The chipped red pentagram of the Philippine Empire was so conspicuous.

"How can—"

He paused in his nervous monologue, then leaned closer and realized he had misjudged the situation.

This is a switchblade I obtained from a loan shark in the Razor Gang yesterday afternoon at the casino.

Both are products of the empire, yet I mistook them for fountain pens.
"Don't worry too much about the students, you should worry more about yourself." The school doctor's voice still echoed in my ears.

"Lin, use arcane magic to check my room. Find where the pen is."

"A magic to find things?" Lin confirmed.

"Any kind of magic."

Then Lin raised her little hand, as if a gentle breeze had blown by.

She walked over to Quinn, the fox in her arms no longer baring its teeth.

Lin picked up the box on the table, shook it, and the fountain pen inside made a clanging sound.

"The pen, here."

Quinn finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Is there anything strange in the room? Like writing or a recently written paragraph?

The little girl blinked.

"In the cabinet. At the very bottom."

"The very bottom?" Quinn asked, alarmed.

"The cat's black stockings."

"."

Quinn blushed. It was a reward from the system after he changed the future. Although he didn't know what it was for, he kept it anyway.

"Hey, come on, I'll make you a pizza."

Quinn went into the bathroom and washed his face.

I rubbed my eyes vigorously with a towel, but my blurry vision did not improve.

He didn't say much, but went back to the living room to cook dinner for Lin.

I only realized it was almost nine o'clock when I looked closer at the clock.

The little girl waited for him in the living room for two hours.

Light the fire, knead the dough, prepare the tomato sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.
These are things that I've mastered so well that I won't make mistakes even if I can't see them clearly.

He placed the freshly baked pizza on the table and let Lin eat it all by herself.

Quinn went to the desk by the window, started typing on the typewriter, and began writing a letter to Ankuya.

"Bro, it's like we're meeting in person. Hope you didn't get caught by Peipei in Dongguo."

"My tendency to lose control seems to be getting worse. I need to advance to Sequence Six as soon as possible to suppress my extraordinary traits. Therefore, I need an item—'Primal Flame'. Please reply and tell me where to obtain it, if you know."

"Lately, I keep dreaming about performing demonic prayers in public and then being discovered. These nightmares might be a form of loss of control. The best way to overcome fear is to face it. What do you think would happen if I actually did that?"

"By the way, I need to get a pair of glasses for my disguise. Are there any good opticians in Aiswell?"

He folded the letter he had written and walked to the still-burning fireplace. His vision was blurry, the colors blurred together as if spilled. Quinn switched to the Demon King's Eye. Fortunately, the Demon King's Eye's monotonous field of vision was unaffected; he still possessed the terrifying eyesight of an assassin, though it required a continuous drain on his mental energy.

The letter was thrown into the brazier and burned to ashes.

You have paid the system for 95% of your vision.

Are you nearsighted? Well, with the Demon King's Eye, you can just wear a pair of glasses normally.

Quinn was prepared to instantly turn into an old man or lose limbs, but he didn't expect the price to be so acceptable.

He walked to the window.

"Nature spirits that linger above the foggy city, the winds of the four seasons that propel the clouds, familiars belonging to Ankua. Please take these ashes away."

The winds of Ankua swept out from the spirit world, carrying away the "letter" and disappearing into the night sky of Grindelwald.

I sat back down on the sofa, squinted, and tried to focus my gaze to see more clearly. The pizza seemed to be finished.

"There's no class tonight, you can go home first. I'm a little tired, I want to get some sleep."

"The pizza is burnt." Lin's voice was emotionless, just like when she ate a delicious pizza.

"Huh?" Quinn was taken aback. Had he not paid attention to the heat just now?
"Sorry, Lin, I... uh."

A furry thing was stuffed into his arms.

"Touch," Lin said crisply, "Touch Huanhuan. Make me happy."

Quinn chuckled. "This little fox doesn't like me that much. She'll run away after a short while. You see?"

Sure enough, the three-tailed fox ran to the side, unwilling to be held by Quinn.

Then, her small, cold body nestled into Quinn's arms and hugged him.

"Don't be sad," the little girl whispered, patting his back like a mother comforting a child. "Lin likes you. Lin won't run away."

Quinn paused for a moment, then smiled and patted her head.

"Thank you. I'm happy."

"really?"

"Then touch it a little longer."

"Ah."

(End of this chapter)