My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 144 Venice, A Date, Newcomers to the Tour (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

On July 22, over northern Italy, the plane carrying the three-person tour group was very close to its destination and was expected to land at Venice International Airport in three minutes.

In first class, Xia Pingzhou slowly opened his eyes and saw a piece of napkin wrapped with fruit flying in mid-air. It was a girl in a kimono next to him who used her supernatural ability to hand him the fruit.

He ate the cherry tomato in one bite, then put the apple in his mouth.

The napkin then floated away and landed in the trash can. He glanced to the side and saw Origami Ayase keeping her eyes down, reading a book, while taking a small bite of an apple in her other hand.

The roar of the engines gradually subsided, replaced by a low hum. The plane descended slowly through the clouds, the landing gear deployed, and it finally touched down smoothly.

The cabin lights slowly dimmed, and a voice came over the loudspeaker: "The plane has arrived at Venice International Airport. Please make sure you have all your belongings with you before disembarking and check that you have collected your luggage."

Xia Pingzhou remained in his spot, slowly eating fruit while switching time zones on his phone. Beijing time was seven hours ahead of Venice time; it was only noon here, but it was almost evening at Unit 7.

The girl who played the ripper stood up, walked to the middle aisle, and turned to look at Xia Pingzhou: "By the way."

"What?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

“Anlens asked me to thank you on his behalf,” the Ripper said casually, his eyes lowered.

"Thank you for what?"

"You healed his face."

"You're welcome," Ayase Origami replied on Xia Pingzhou's behalf, her voice light and calm as she looked at her book.

After saying that, she stood up, holding the haiku collection, and walked towards the exit of the cabin.

Xia Pingzhou glanced at Ayase Origami's retreating figure, then silently looked at the Ripper, and asked her while putting on his coat:

"And what about you? Aren't you going to thank me?"

"Instead of thanking you for healing my face," the Ripper paused, "I'd rather thank you for knocking out the young lady back then."

She turned her head slightly and glanced at Ayase Origami's back. Ayase Origami had been very quiet these past two days. Or rather, this yakuza heiress was naturally quiet to begin with, and her bad mood only made things worse, turning her into a complete block of wood.

"Why are you thanking me?" Xia Pingzhou asked expressionlessly. "To be honest, I was initially worried that you would take your anger out on me or isolate me. As a newcomer, that's not a good outcome."

“If she had wanted to attack the Lake Hunters back then, none of us would have stopped her,” Ripper said. “Our chances of winning were slim at the time… It wasn’t impossible to take him down with a desperate gamble, but many people would have died, and it was very likely that only the commander would be left in the end.”

"So, you should actually thank me for being a newcomer and not having a deep relationship with you, which is why I was able to make the most rational judgment at that time."

“Pretty much,” said the Ripper. “We can exchange contact information, and I’ll let you know when the new member arrives in the city…provided you want to meet him.”

Xia Pingzhou shook his head: "No need, we can contact each other through hackers, that's safer too."

The Ripper shrugged: "Sure."

"Could you tell me the name of the new member?"

“Come see him yourself later.” Jack the Ripper looked up at him. “Are you curious?”

"It's nothing." Xia Pingzhou shook his head. "I miss Lan Duoduo. It feels like she just died not long ago, but it's strange that her position in the troupe was so easily replaced."

"That's the rule of the Phantom Troupe. If you die, someone will take your place. If I die, so will the leader. If you don't want to die, make yourself stronger."

The Ripper responded expressionlessly.

"But I've become stronger... and then it's you who will die," Xia Pingzhou silently replied in his heart.

The two disembarked from the plane and walked down the gangway from the exit to the airport terminal. They soon spotted Origami Ayase. The airport's security system had been completely hacked, allowing them to leave the airport without any problems.

The Venetian summer sun beat down fiercely on the three of them. Xia Pingzhou felt slightly dizzy, but not from airsickness. Rather, it was because his consciousness was switching between multiple bodies simultaneously, and the feeling of disconnection would eventually turn into a mental burden, more than ten times worse than airsickness.

After a moment, Xia Pingzhou squinted slightly and raised his head.

Venice truly lives up to its title of "City of Water," with its emerald-green waters shimmering in the sunlight. White bridges connect the islands, ultimately forming this city of a hundred islands.

Ripper glanced at the two of them: "I'm leaving. I heard the newlyweds will arrive tonight. You can come and meet them then."

Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami were so engrossed in admiring the scenery under the blazing sun that they simply nodded in response.

A piece of paper flew out from Ayase Origami's sleeve, and the paper transformed into a small hand that gently tugged at Xia Pingzhou's sleeve.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

“Go sit on that,” she said.

Xia Pingzhou followed her gaze and saw a pleasure boat floating on the water.

A moment later, the two went down the steps to the shore, paid the boatman, and boarded a small sightseeing boat.

The boats drifted leisurely forward, with streets on both sides of the river and shops displaying a dazzling array of goods on their shelves. Flowers adorned the wooden bookstore signs.

The wooden boat rocked gently, ripples across the clear water, and the reflections of the old brick-red houses on both banks shattered into shimmering waves. The boatman poled his long pole through the narrow alley, where checkered aprons hung on clotheslines on the mottled walls, and wisteria blossoms cascaded down the balconies.

Occasionally, a waterfront café will open its wooden window, and the aroma of coffee mingled with the sea breeze will waft past your nose.

Origami Ayase, her ochre-red kimono sleeves drooping, sat at the stern of the boat, the city lights reflected in her slightly vacant eyes.

Under the sunlight, the bell tower of St. Mark's Square pierces the clouds, and the statue of the golden winged lion stands atop the dome of the Doge's Palace; the stone carvings of the Rialto Bridge are polished to a shine by the years, and merchant ships and pleasure boats come and go beneath the bridge.

The boy and girl sat silently at the stern of the boat.

The sightseeing boat passed through one archway after another. The world brightened and darkened, then brightened again. Each time we passed through an archway, it was as if a new painting was slowly unfolding before our eyes.

"Have you ever been to Venice?" Xia Pingzhou suddenly asked.

"No."

"It's my first time too."

"Let me ask you a question."

"what is the problem?"

“Takikage said… people shed tears when someone important dies.”

"and then?"

“But when he died… I didn’t shed a tear.” Origami Ayase paused. “Why?”

“Isn’t that normal?” Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment. “You give me the feeling of a doll, wearing the same kimono every day, with the same bland expression and the same bland tone. I can’t even imagine what you would look like when you cry.”

“No one has ever taught me how to be a person.” Origami Ayase lowered her eyes, gazing at her blurry face reflected on the water.

"why?"

Origami Ayase was silent for a while, and in the end, instead of answering his question, she said:
"I've had enough shopping. Time to buy clothes." "Yes, you did mention wanting to buy clothes in Tokyo before," Xia Pingzhou said, glancing at Ayase Origami's kimono.

"I've never bought them myself; Takikage always bought them before."

"Since you're wearing the same kimono all the time, what's the difference between buying clothes and regularly restocking?"

"...I breathed on it."

Ayase Origami glanced at him, seemingly a little angry... This was the first time Xia Pingzhou had seen her furrow her brows slightly. Rather than saying she seemed to want to show anger, she ended up looking bewildered.

She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then looked up at him again: "Is it strange that I wear other clothes?"

Xia Pingzhou shook his head.

A flock of white doves took flight from the bow of the boat, their white feathers fluttering down onto the water.

Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami disembarked and strolled along the marble street. They found a modern fashion store in a quiet alley.

The shop assistant approached them with a smile and introduced the brand's fashion items in the store to them in fluent English.

Ayase Origami paused for a moment. She had clearly never had any sense of dressing up since she was a child, so whenever a shop assistant introduced a new dress to her, she would turn to ask Xia Pingzhou for his opinion.

Xia Pingzhou didn't pay much attention to her, but was thinking about whether he could find suitable diapers for Su Zimai in this place.

Finally, Origami Ayase simply tried on each outfit one by one. Xia Pingzhou stood in front of the dressing room with his arms crossed, waiting. Every time this fair-skinned girl opened the curtain, she was wearing a different outfit. Sometimes it was a Lolita dress, sometimes a gothic dress, sometimes a high-necked trench coat...

Only at this moment did Xia Pingzhou feel that she was not a doll, but a living person.

The girl's face was as cool and beautiful as a painting; even in the height of summer, her eyebrows and eyes seemed like a piece of snow that would never melt.

Every time she raised her empty eyes to ask for his opinion, he would either shrug, shake his head, or rest his chin on his hand as if deep in thought. But every time he was halfway through his thought, Origami Ayase would decisively pull the curtain shut, as if she wanted an outfit that would satisfy him at first glance.

The shop assistants were completely charmed by her cuteness, exclaiming that she would definitely be successful as a model while snapping photos with their phones. They even planned to print out the photos for the store's promotional materials.

In the end, they discovered that the phone's camera was covered by a thin piece of paper, resulting in completely black photos.

Xia Pingzhou finally nodded in satisfaction when Ayase Origami changed into her sixteenth outfit.

"But... what's so special about it?" She slightly raised her arm, looking down at the British-style long dress she was wearing, with a gray hair clip tied on her head.

"Actually, I think they're all fine, I just wanted to see you change into a few more outfits," Xia Pingzhou said.

"why?"

"It's very novel. It's like a doll has come to life."

"Kitten, don't hiss..." When Origami Ayase said this, her usually calm tone seemed to have changed, and it was hard to tell whether she was happy or angry.

She's always so unpredictable.

In the end, Xia Pingzhou bought all the clothes that Ayase Origami had tried on. The money the hacker sent to his bank card was more than he could ever spend, not to mention the enormous sum of cash he would receive after reselling all the auction items.

There were too many clothes, so Xia Pingzhou asked the shop assistant to deliver them to their booked hotel in the evening.

She changed back into her ochre-red kimono in the dressing room.

Just as he was about to leave the fashion store, Origami Ayase raised her slender fingers and tugged at his sleeve, pulling him back.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Buy clothes for the kitten." The girl in the kimono said, emphasizing each word.

Xia Pingzhou stopped in his tracks, turned to meet her icy gaze, and then sighed helplessly:

"Ok."

The two switched places, and Ayase Origami picked out several well-fitting outfits for Xia Pingzhou, ranging from suits to shirts, hoodies, and pajamas.

Origami Ayase remained expressionless and offered no opinion from beginning to end. She simply stared at Xia Pingzhou, who emerged from the dressing room, like a doll, without moving an inch.

Like an iron-faced judge.

The overly arduous fitting finally came to an end when a barely perceptible smile appeared on her pale face. Ayase Origami retaliated by buying all the clothes Xia Ping had tried on.

When they came to their senses, it was almost dusk. They found a seat at a nearby Western restaurant, and just then, three figures pushed open the wooden door and walked in, approaching them.

Xia Pingzhou looked up and saw a woman in a red dress with long, light blonde hair, a man in a white cloak with a white film over his left eye, and an uncle dressed in Western cowboy attire.

The exquisitely beautiful blonde woman, with her vampire-like features, tugged at the corners of her lips, revealing a playful smile. She said:
“Say my name.”

"A long-lived, love-struck old woman." "Old woman."

Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami answered in unison, their indifferent tones like robots produced in the same factory.

Bloodline's face immediately darkened, and he said, enunciating each word clearly: "Go out, let's fight one-on-one."

"I'm saying... please don't smash up this lousy place, I still want to have a drink." Andrew scratched his head helplessly.

"Isn't that childish?" Bai Tanlang said expressionlessly.

The three of them sat down on the sofa opposite Xia Pingzhou.

"Could you please stop scaring us like this?" Xia Pingzhou asked. "I thought the police had come knocking on our door."

"I came here specifically to find you after I heard you had arrived," the Bloodline said with a smile.

Xia Pingzhou said, "I just heard that there are many demons here, so I came here to find a contracted demon, and I'll leave after I find one."

“Demons usually appear more often at night,” said White Greed Wolf.

"It's quite convincing to hear the devil say that," Xia Pingzhou said, taking a sip of whiskey.

"By the way, have you met the newcomer yet? The one who's taking over position number 5." Bloodline rested his chin on his hand, raised his crimson eyes, and stared at Xia Pingzhou, asking casually.

"Not yet." Xia Pingzhou shook his head. "What's the new bride's name?"

The Bloodline thought for a moment: "The leader said his name is 'Bernardo Edward,' and he possesses a fragment of a generational wonder." She paused, "I don't know the specifics, but the hacker said we'd better be careful of this newcomer."

Bernardo Edward...

Xia Pingzhou was slightly taken aback. He clearly had some impression of this name. Not only had Caesar mentioned this person, but he had also seen this name while creating his game character.

Bernardo is the leader of the Black Death Cult and the holder of the generational rare fragment "Black Death"!
　There will be another chapter tonight, please vote with your monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)