My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 286 The Time of War, The Awakening of the Ghost Bell (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
"What's happening here?"

Xia Pingzhou raised his eyebrows slightly, his right hand resting on the coffee grinder, but his eyes were glancing to the right out of the corner of his eye.

Through the narrow kitchen doorway, the schoolgirl in her uniform had just entered the café when she suddenly turned to face Rukawa Chiba, her hand flashing as her blade struck. A dark red flash appeared, and the tip of the demon sword pierced towards Rukawa Chiba's chest.

Objectively speaking, Xia Pingzhou's dynamic vision is not outstanding. After all, the Ripper is a natural disaster-level weapon, and he can only barely catch the afterimage of the katana.

After a quick glance, Xia Pingzhou understood the Ripper's intention. He looked away, took out a few slices of toast, put them into the toaster in the kitchen, and calmly closed the lid.

Press the button, and the bread maker starts. Looking through the glass, the interior is lit with warm light, and the toast spins like a record on a gramophone.

Inside the café, Rukawa Chiba surprisingly did not resist or show any signs of panic. The man simply observed Enma Rin with interest through his glasses.

"okay."

Enma Rin lowered her eyes and, while speaking, used the tip of her katana to lift Rukawa Chiba's heart, letting it fall into her palm. Then, she closed her five fingers, and as if performing magic, the beating heart suddenly disappeared.

"Shouldn't I be a veteran member already? Why do I have to hand over my heart to join?" Rukawa Chiba raised his hand and touched his chest.

He could still hear his heart beating, and the blood flow in his chest was normal, but he just felt like something was missing.

“I don’t know you well,” Enma Rin said, “so I can only treat you as a new member. Besides, nobody knows what you’ve been through in prison these past few years. Maybe one or two psychic abilities have manipulated you and brought you back to us as an undercover agent.”

She paused for a moment, then said matter-of-factly, "No one can guarantee that these things won't happen, so I did it."

"Is that so?" Rukawa Chiba adjusted his glasses. "The leader also supports you doing this?"

"He didn't say it, so that means he tacitly approved it." Enma Rin said expressionlessly. "That's just the captain's personality."

“I see.” Rukawa Chiba smiled. “But if we’re talking about undercover agents, I think that guy over there is more like it.” As he spoke, he glanced sideways at Xia Pingzhou.

“It’s nothing,” Enma Rin said casually, sheathing her sword. “If he’s an undercover agent, then we’ll just kill him and be done with it.”

"The Phantom Troupe is doing well, with so many interesting new members." Rukawa Chiba sat down on the sofa, a smile playing on his lips. "In comparison, the older members from the previous generation seem rather ordinary... You two are both quite special."

"What do you mean?"

Rukawa Chiba looked at Enma Rin, gray emotional bubbles rising from her body. "I can see other people's emotions. One can be categorized as emotional indifference, numb, cold, even cruel, yet it has a unique beauty; but the other person... I'm not so sure how to describe it."

As he spoke, he turned his head and stared intently at Xia Pingzhou's profile, but still could not see any emotional bubbles.

A look of great interest appeared on Rukawa Chiba's face. This was the first time he had ever seen anything like this; it was as if he were watching a fake person dangling in front of him.

For him, it was like stumbling onto a horror movie set. More than a decade had passed since he awakened his superpowers, but this was the first time Rukawa had encountered something like this.

"Is a person without emotions even real?" he wondered.

"What do you mean by 'difficult to describe'?" Enma Rin sat down opposite him.

"Who knows?" Rukawa Chiba smiled slightly and looked away. "It's just very interesting. The last time I met someone this interesting was the leader. Do special people really do attract each other?"

He clasped his hands together and looked up at Enma Rin: "Why don't we talk about you? Your emotions are quite peculiar, unlike the colors of others."

"After killing so many people, you naturally lose your emotions. Is that strange?" Enma Rin said dismissively.

“Not surprising,” Rukawa Chiba said quietly. “But I’m more inclined to believe that your Skyward Blade influenced your emotions, because your demon sword also contains strong emotions. Don’t you think so?”

He paused for a moment, then said, “Ever since I awakened the Sky Chaser, a different kind of impulse and desire has been born in my heart. That voice is like the devil in Faust, bewitching you and prompting you to tear others to pieces.”

You've got it backwards.

"What's backwards?"

"It's more accurate to say that your understanding of exorcists is inadequate. First of all, you should know that every exorcist is born according to the exorcist's will." Enma Rin looked down at the scabbard. "That means, because I want to tear others to pieces, this kind of exorcist was born according to my ideas, understand?"

Rukawa Chiba remained silent for a moment, then curiously examined Enma Rin.

"Miss Ripper, what is your family background like?" Rukawa Chiba picked up her cup and took a sip of water.

Enma Rin looked up from her scabbard and asked indifferently:
"Even if you know, what can you do about it?"

"It's just a guess. For example, in an extremely oppressive family environment, there's an abusive father and a mother who hangs herself. The father cries and says, 'I didn't want it to be like this. Your mother was too fragile, so she killed herself. Let's die together, then we won't suffer anymore.'" Rukawa Chiba smiled. "Then, in order to protect herself, when her father is choking her, her 'Heavenly Drive' awakens. It's a machine containing malice and a bloodlust; it turns around and controls the girl. When the girl comes to her senses, her father has already turned into pieces of dismembered organs hanging from the ceiling."

He paused for a moment: "From that day on, all that was left for you was a gray world, so your emotions were gray."

As soon as he finished speaking, an almost tangible killing intent erupted, spreading throughout the café like glue and seeping into everyone's mouths and noses, making it difficult for them to even breathe.

Xia Pingzhou slowly turned his head, drinking milk while gazing at the scene outside the door. Enma Rin didn't even raise his head; silently, his demon sword was already drawn and pressed against Rukawa Chiba's neck.

"How do you know about this?" she asked slowly, raising her head without expression.

“Your emotions contain some thoughts, faint memories, and they are what tell me,” said Rukawa Chiba. “Don’t be nervous, Ms. Enma. This is something that is unavoidable for me. Even if I don’t want to do it, I will unconsciously touch the deepest scars and memories in other people’s hearts. That’s why, in order to calm my own mind, I often perform emotional elimination surgery on the people around me.”

After saying that, he licked his lips and put down his water glass.

"Why not just die and solve the problem once and for all?" Enma Rin said, enunciating each word clearly.

“I think so too. I’ve even thought about ending it all. But thankfully, there are still so many interesting people in this world waiting for me to discover. Their emotions are the most mysterious treasures in my eyes, as dazzling and dangerous as jewels guarded by a swarm of snakes.”

"for example?"

"For example, the team leader, or this guy in the kitchen, or you."

“I’m starting to think that getting you out of that prison was a mistake.”

“This world is sometimes too noisy for me, Ms. Enma, like a child and a dog. But after a long period of quiet, one craves a little noise; Chinese people value compromise, and I think I also have a bit of that compromising tendency. You brought me out just when I was getting tired of that prison, and I am truly grateful,” Rukawa Chiba said slowly.

"We're just short of people. I think you'll die soon. Then we'll find the next new member."

Rukawa Chiba smiled nonchalantly and casually asked, "By the way, what about that little sister named Lan Duoduo?"

“They’re dead…” Enma Rin said calmly. “A lot of members have died recently, but new ones are coming in quickly too.”

“It’s such a pity,” said Rukawa Chiba. “When I went to prison, she was very young, she had just joined the Phantom Troupe. I never expected her to die like this. The loss of a young and vibrant life is as painful as watching a small flower being accidentally trampled to death.”

“We are all robbers, and only robbers. We are stronger than others, so we can step on their heads and humiliate them. When we meet someone stronger than us, we have nothing to complain about being trampled underfoot.” Enma Rin said, “When anyone kills, they should be prepared to be killed by someone stronger. If you don’t want to be killed, become stronger. It’s that simple.”

"The law of the jungle is primitive, but it also shows a lot of awareness," said Chiba Rukawa. "Humanity has gone through so many ages and made so many laws, but the emergence of superhumans makes civilization seem like a joke."

Xia Pingzhou came out, placed two cups of hot coffee on the table, and then looked up at the two of them.

"Internal strife is prohibited among members." After saying that, he carried the plate upstairs, placed the breakfast on the table in the attic, and then came downstairs, pulled up a chair and sat down next to Rukawa and Enma.

Rukawa Chiba picked up his coffee cup, brought it close to the rim, and took a sip; Enma Rin, on the other hand, was holding her sword sheath and playing with her phone.

"Oh, by the way, I have some news to tell you," she said.

"What news?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

"The captain plans to take action against the Lake Hunters." Enma Rin raised her head. "We will then travel to China, join forces with White Wolf and the strongest demon in China, 'Great Lord Nian Beast,' to take down the four members of the Lake Hunters."

Xia Pingzhou was slightly taken aback.

He wondered, "Is the leader going to officially start a war with the Lake Hunters? This is a really tricky situation. How should I handle it? I was hoping to lure the Lake Hunters to the Salvation Society base to help me out."

If the Brigade and the Lake Hunters were to clash, both sides would certainly suffer losses in combat power; moreover, the Nian Beast army is not weak either. Bai Tanlang said that the Seven Deadly Sins of Northern Europe have also come to China as support, and they are at least a group of natural disaster-level forces.

"To side with demons? That doesn't sound like a good decision, especially since the enemy is the world's four strongest exorcists." Rukawa Chiba smiled. "But with Shiro Tanlang around, maybe things will turn out well."

Xia Pingzhou was silent for a moment, then looked up at Yan Molin and asked:

"When? When will the war begin?"

“In half a month,” Enma Rin replied.

At the same time, in Lijing, China, in the basement.

Lin Yilong walked through the dark passageway, where the surroundings were eerily quiet.

After walking for a short while, he silently pushed open a door and entered the basement.

Looking up, I saw a man wearing shorts and with his upper body wrapped in bandages sitting hunched over on the operating table, breathing heavily.

On the operating table, cold lights shone down, illuminating the man's gloomy face, the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and his slightly bloodshot pupils.

The man's eye twitched. A golden clock was reflected in his right eye, displaying twelve blood-red numbers, the second hand ticking relentlessly.

After a moment, Gu Zhuoan slowly raised his head, staring at Lin Yilong like a raging beast, and asked, almost word by word:
Tell me...where is my son?

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(End of this chapter)