My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 130 Epilogue: Departure, Promise (Seeking monthly votes)

On the morning of July 21st, just as dawn was breaking.

The cries of seagulls echoed across the horizon, and the first rays of sunlight streamed down from the dawn sky, tearing away the curtain that shrouded Tokyo Bay and illuminating the empty attic.

Xia Pingzhou's eyelids trembled slightly as he slowly woke up from the mattress on the floor.

I opened my eyes to find Tokyo still bathed in late summer light. The sky was a clear, deep blue, and the sound of horns echoed continuously from the Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay.

He took a deep breath, rubbed his forehead, and groggily turned his head from the pillow to look around.

There was no sign of Origami Ayase in the attic. He did notice that he was covered with a thin blanket now, which must have been put on by Origami Ayase.

"It's rare... that this cold-hearted young lady can care about others." Ji Minghuan straightened up, yawned, and her eyes were filled with tired tears.

He stared blankly at the blanket covering him for a while, thinking to himself, "I thought the young lady would be angry with me... Last night I knocked her unconscious when she was about to breathe on Zhou Jiuya, but she didn't blame me at all?"

The next moment, a black and white panel suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Due to increased popularity, the code name of this game character has been updated. 】

[The current codename for Unit 2 is "White Raven Brigade Member No. 12: 'Chess Player'".]

"Why is that?" Ji Minghuan tilted his head. "The bodyguards at last night's auction were mostly dead. Who could possibly spread my name?"

He scratched his messy hair, pondering with some confusion:

"It couldn't possibly be someone from the Ghost Train Gang... Ke Qirui knows that Xia Pingzhou and Black Chrysalis are working together. From her perspective, she should be able to see that I deliberately let Black Chrysalis rescue Su Zimai."

"Since she has no reason to leak my information to the association and the underworld, then it seems... that the cameras at the auction must have captured me. There must be a lot of miniature cameras hidden in that kind of place."

With that thought in mind, Ji Minghuan stopped worrying about where the nickname came from and instead brought up the character panel of the second mech, allocating attribute points with great efficiency.

[Your second unit, "Xia Pingzhou," has undergone a change in its "Spirit" attribute: B+ to B++ (your "Chess Seed" power will also increase accordingly)]

The current attributes of Unit 2 are: Strength: D-rank; Speed: B+-rank; Spirit: B++-rank.

[Currently have 3 skill points. Do you want to immediately develop the character's skill tree?]

Ji Minghuan tapped the notification box expressionlessly, and Xia Pingzhou's character tree immediately popped up.

On the black and white tree, three jagged branches of varying lengths come into view, like the hands of a demon reaching out from hell toward the sky.

[Branch 1 (Group): Recruit Soldiers (Learned) → Soldier Training (Learned) → Build Artillery (Learned) → Cavalry Training (To be learned) → Unknown → ...]

[Branch 2 (Courage): Chess type evolution (already learned) → Chess type secondary evolution (Condition: You need to accumulate "10" skill points on other branches before you can learn this skill) (Learning this skill requires "2" skill points) → Unknown → ...]

Branch 3 (Soul): Demon Hunter (requires 1 skill point to learn) → Unknown → ...

He raised his hand and pressed the "Cavalry Training" icon. The text reflected in the young man's pupils went from dim to bright, and finally shone with a black and white luster.

[1 skill point consumed, successfully learning the "Group" branch skill - "Cavalry Training" (Trains one of your soldiers into a "Cavalryman," mounting a warhorse and equipping him with a lance. When the Cavalryman is present, the combat effectiveness of the remaining soldiers is greatly increased).]

Ji Minghuan thought for a moment: "The cavalry should be the 'knight' in chess, and the bishop is the 'bishop'. So it seems that I have collected the whole set of chess pieces."

[The next skill for the "Group" branch is now available for learning: "Puppet King" (Grants your King piece the right to move, and boosts the Morale of "Soldiers" and "Cavalry"—a slight increase in attribute values—while the King is on the field.)]

"Oh... at least the king isn't just a cripple who can only stand there and take a beating. Come out, my puppet king!"

Ji Minghuan's eyes lit up slightly, and without thinking, he raised his hand and pressed the "King of Puppets" icon.

[1 skill point consumed, successfully learned the "Group" branch skill - "King of Puppets".]

The next skill for the "Group" branch is now available for learning: "King's Flash" (After learning, unlocks the King's ultimate power)

Learning this skill requires 3 skill points.

"What kind of ability will the ultimate power be?" Ji Minghuan scratched his chin and muttered, "I can't afford to learn it. Unit 2 only has one skill point left."

Thinking of this, he had no choice but to press and hold the skill on the last branch with his index finger.

[1 skill point consumed, successfully learning the "Soul" branch skill - "Demon Hunter" (When you kill a demon, you have a chance to obtain a "one-time use Demon Piece" of the same type).]

The next skill for the "Soul" branch is now available for learning – "Bridge Between Human and Demon" (requires 2 skill points to learn).

"The Bridge Between Human and Demon?" Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow and tapped the detailed introduction page of this skill.

[Bridge between Human and Demon: Briefly fuses one of your chess pieces with a demon piece (fusion time depends on your "Spirit Attribute"; the higher your Spirit Attribute, the longer the fusion time.)]

[Hint: At the end of the maximum fusion time, the fused piece splits into two.]

"Huh? Fusing a demon chess piece and a chess piece? So, it can be used to enhance a queen chess piece, like fusing a fire demon and a queen to create a 'Fire Queen' or something."

Ji Minghuan muttered to himself with great interest.

He twitched the corner of his lips, feeling a surge of excitement. After all, theoretically, this skill could be developed into an infinite number of combinations, fusing demons with bishops, or demons with kings, or even with soldiers…

Moreover, the effects of fusing different demons are different.

By simply having the second unit spend some time hunting demons and using the "Demon Hunter" effect to collect a large number of disposable demon pieces, he can explore and arrange many powerful fusion sets and apply them harmoniously in actual combat.

However, the pop-up notification box felt like a bucket of cold water being poured over his head, making him feel a little chilly.

[Your current skill points: 0.]

"Alright... Anyway, it's finished."

After allocating all the points for the machine, Ji Minghuan lay back wearily on the mattress, closed his eyes, and took a nap. Ten minutes later, he opened his eyes, slowly moved the blanket off, got up, put on the slippers by the bed, and went into the bathroom to wash up.

After tidying up his messy hair, he guided Xia Pingzhou downstairs.

Looking up, I saw Origami Ayase sitting quietly at the counter of the cafe.

Instead of sitting in her seat reading haiku as usual, she sat on a wooden stool behind the counter, where a glasses case was placed in front of her.

The glasses case was open, and inside was a pair of somewhat old reading glasses.

The reading glasses have obvious repair marks, looking like they've been patched and mended for many years. The owner must have cherished these glasses; otherwise, it's hard to explain why they weren't replaced.

The girl in the kimono lowered her eyes and quietly looked at the pair of reading glasses.

A moment later, amidst the cries of seagulls, she broke the silence.

“Takikage said…”

"What did you say?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

“He said he just wanted to be an ordinary butler… He only joined the Phantom Troupe because of me,” she said. “If I had chosen to stay with him at the Ayase family back then, what would be the situation now?”

Xia Pingzhou was silent for a moment, then walked over, pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her, saying dismissively:
"Then you will most likely be killed by the Phantom Troupe at the auction as guests of the underworld."

He paused for a moment: "That's what they say, but for a young lady of your status, someone should be there to represent you."

"Who's dead?"

"Only Takikage and Rando survived; the other members of the group did not."

"I see."

Seeing that Ayase Origami had suddenly fallen silent, Xia Pingzhou didn't say anything either, but subconsciously turned his head to glance at the cafe's kitchen. At this time in the past, Oda Takikage would have already prepared breakfast for the two of them.

“A certain kitten scratched its owner from behind last night,” the girl in the kimono suddenly said after a long silence.

“If I hadn’t knocked you out back then, many more people would have died.” Xia Pingzhou said expressionlessly. “Now is not the time to seek revenge. Revenge is a very difficult thing. It requires careful consideration and waiting for the right opportunity. One wrong step and all your efforts will be in vain.”

After all, I'm also waiting to avenge myself against the Ripper. How could I not have experience? He thought.

"So fine."

"To be honest, I thought you would blame me."

“Landodo and Takikage are already dead. I don’t want you and Jack to die too, otherwise I’ll have nothing left…” The girl in the kimono paused, “So, it’s fine.”

Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment, then asked nonchalantly, "What if you wake up and find that we're all dead?"

Origami Ayase remained silent for a moment, then turned her head and gave him a lukewarm look.

"Kitten, panting."

"Speaking of which, this incident has blown up so big that we've thoroughly angered Japan's eight major yakuza families," Xia Pingzhou said. "This matter caused a sensation throughout Japan last night, and you can see news reports about it on any TV you turn on. Some of the bodyguards are quite famous... especially that 'Sakura Takeshi,' she's a popular maverick in Japan with a lot of public attention."

He paused, then continued, "The yakuza are mobilizing forces across Japan to search for us. We can no longer stay in Tokyo. It's only a matter of time before Oda Takikage's café is found. The hacker said he's prepared a human smuggling boat for us, so we can leave Tokyo by boat."

“I know.” Origami Ayase said expressionlessly. “We’ll leave after we pack our things. You’re free to move around when the Phantom Troupe disbands, until the next mission begins.”

When will the next operation take place?

"I don't know, I'll wait for the leader's instructions." Origami Ayase shook her head and asked in a low voice, "Are you going alone?"

"I don't care, I'll have nothing to do after the group disbands."

"I suddenly feel like changing my clothes." Origami Ayase looked up from her glasses case. "Want to come shopping with me?"

“Let’s leave the shopping malls in Tokyo for now. We can talk about it after we leave Japan by ship, otherwise we might get caught.” Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment. “I’ve noticed you’ve been wearing the same kimono the whole time. I’ve been wondering if this kimono has any special meaning for you, like it was left to you by your deceased mother?”

"I was just too lazy to change it, so I bought the same one and put it in the closet."

"Oh."

Origami Ayase lowered her eyes, put her glasses case into the sleeve of her kimono, and said, "I'm leaving."

"Ah."

The two rose from behind the counter, took one last look at the soon-to-be-closed café, and then walked towards the wooden door. The wind chimes tied to the door swayed in the morning breeze, making a clear, melodious sound.

"Xia Ping Zhou."

The girl's clear, cool voice, carried on the morning breeze, came softly from beside him, ruffling Xia Pingzhou's black hair.

He suddenly paused, wondering if he had misheard.

This was the first time he had heard this name from her. In the past, she had either called him "Little Cat" or "Newcomer." So, he turned his head with a slight surprise and looked at Ayase Origami beside him.

In a daze, the pale face of the kimono-clad girl was shrouded in sunlight from Tokyo Bay, obscuring her expression.

"Xia Pingzhou," she whispered, "don't die."

　I'm asking for some monthly votes at the end of this volume, lol.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)