My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 414 (Rated R 1003, Devouring, Tomorrow) (Seeking monthly votes)
Night had fallen. The young man in the hoodie came from the top of the snow-capped mountain and entered Reykjavik, slowly crossing the neon lights of the billboards and stepping over the dimly lit wooden houses.

Finally, we arrived above the deserted harbor.

He looked up and saw a girl with a simple and elegant face. She was leaning against the railing, hugging her shoulders, and turning her head to look at the aurora in the night sky. Her black hair swayed in the wind, and the fiery red hair behind her head danced in the wind.

"We haven't been able to sit down and have a proper chat yet," Lin Xingshi said without turning his head.

"So many things have happened lately..." Xiao Nian said, "First, my dad suddenly went crazy with you guys, then your people were brainwashed by the Salvation Society, one thing after another."

“Yes, I don’t have time to catch up with you, my mind is a complete mess.” Lin Xingshi turned around.

“What’s there to talk about?” Xiao Nian said. “It’s something that happened when we were ten years old, when we weren’t grown up yet.”

"Actually, I'm very curious... how did you see me back then when you weren't grown up yet?" Lin Xingshi tilted his head.

"Good friend," Xiao Nian replied without hesitation.

"That's going too far. I considered you family back then," Lin Xingshi said calmly, arms crossed.

"You're human, I'm a demon, how can we be family?"

"You know what?" Lin Xingshi thought for a moment, then curled the corners of his mouth and said casually, "I was thinking at the time, if I were a demon and you were an exorcist, I would have made a contract with you and run away with you."

Are you resenting me for not going with you back then?

“No… I’m not that selfish. If you sign a contract, you’ll have to follow me for life. That’s so boring.” Lin Xingshi shook his head. “I was just saying that if I were a demon, I might do that, but I didn’t mean for you to do it.”

"I suggest we don't talk about the past, let's talk about the present," Xiao Nian said calmly.

“Now, in my eyes you’ve been downgraded from family to just a good friend,” Lin Xingshi snorted. “After all, it’s been ten years since we last met.”

“Oh, so to me, you’ve gone from being a good friend to a stranger,” Xiao Nian said.

Lin Xingshi shrugged slightly. "No, once you reach the 'good friend' level, you can't be downgraded."

Xiao Nian looked at her helplessly, "Stop fooling around, we're not children anymore, let's talk about the Salvation Society."

Lin Xingshi was silent for a moment, then said, "How about we go explore that glacier together the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes, that's what I was planning too. It would be better if our two groups could look out for each other."

"Then how are you going to convince the Zodiac Team? They're not just ordinary people who hate the Lake Hunters."

“I’ll tell them that we’ll start the war when we get to the Hofs Glacier, and that we should abide by the code of honor,” said the little beast. “Once we get there, I’ll lie to them and say that the Salvation Society is just the Lake Hunters or something like that.”

"Are you that easy to fool?" Lin Xingshi asked.

"That's how they fool people."

"Are demons all this stupid?"

"Just look at my dad, and you'll see."

"Makes sense."

Lin Xingshi nodded thoughtfully, and Xiao Nian also nodded. Then the two of them suddenly burst out laughing at the same time, as if they thought the conversation was too absurd.

"We're setting off tomorrow night," Lin Xingshi said. "Are you confident?"

"We've joined forces, so why do we lack confidence?"

"I've heard that the Salvation Society members even possess mythical feats, but I'm not sure."

"This is real."

"It seems this trip is fraught with peril," Lin Xingshi said with a shrug.

"Now that you know, are you still going?"

“Yes, I can’t let Zhou Jiuya die like this, without knowing why. As his friend, I have to give myself an explanation; as the captain of the Lake Hunting Team, I have to give my family an explanation.” Lin Xingshi nodded and said slowly.

Xiao Nian looked at her silently, and then said, "It's okay, I will protect you."

Lin Xingshi was taken aback and turned to look at him. Their eyes met.

"Ten years ago, you protected me from those people; now it's my turn to protect you."

"As expected of our little Nian, he really knows how to talk. We just met a few days ago and he slashed at me, leaving me bedridden all night."

"Given the circumstances, you were about to kill my father, so even if I was just acting, I had to at least show some remorse... Besides, Zhou Jiuya wanted to kill me on the spot."

"makes sense."

The two exchanged a glance, chuckled softly, and remained silent for a moment.

"See you tomorrow night, don't go alone." After a while, Lin Xingshi said.

"I will then openly and legitimately ride the Totoro Demon away from Reykjavik, and you can just follow along."

After saying that, Xiao Nian left the port without looking back. Lin Xing Shi silently watched him leave.

She lowered her eyes, her dark reddish-black hair billowing in the sea breeze, swaying gently in the aurora borealis. After a while, she looked up at the sky, her pupils reflecting the Icelandic night sky, a sky as breathtaking as the legends had described.

One day later, at sunset on August 31st.

The interior of a colorful wooden house in the harbor of Reykjavik.

The huge floor-to-ceiling windows faced the sea, and the setting sun was sinking towards the horizon, gradually taking away the light that had fallen on the city. The last rays of sunlight streamed in through the window and fell on Gu Wenyu's face as he sat on the floor, lost in thought.

On the large bed behind him, Su Zimai was fast asleep, her head resting on the pillow.

After the two returned from lunch, Su Zimai fell asleep on the bed. Gu Wenyu knew she didn't want to make things difficult for him; they had to say goodbye that day. Then he would have to head to Hofsjökull Glacier in Iceland with the others.

If Su Zimai acts up and insists on following, then Gu Wenyu will have to use a restraint trap to tie her up.

Su Zimai is now lying on her side on the bed with her eyes closed. She looks so peaceful and her breathing is even, so she probably doesn't have any reckless plans.

Thinking of this, Gu Wenyu withdrew his gaze from the bed and continued to look at the sea.

After a while, as the sun completely sank below the horizon, the world reflected in Gu Wenyu's pupils dimmed, and the sea and the port became pitch black.

He picked up the dark red mask from the ground beside him, then used the restraints to pull a cell phone from the pocket of his trench coat and dialed an anonymous number.

"Who is it?" After a short while, Ke Qirui's voice came from the other end of the phone.

“It’s me… Miss Ke Qirui.” Black Chrysalis activated the voice changer on her mask and said slowly.

Ke Qirui paused for a moment, then her tone was filled with strong disbelief:

"Gu Wenyu?"

“Yes,” Black Chrysalis replied. “Yeah, we haven’t been in touch for a long time.”

"Where are you?" Ke Qirui asked immediately.

“I’m in a rented room in Reykjavik’s western port. Su Zimai is also here with me. I need you to come here to find her and take her away safely. Then you and she need to leave Iceland as soon as possible,” Hei Yong said. “But you are the only one allowed to come. Gu Zhuoan, Gu Qiye, Lin Yilong, and Su Wei, the others have to go to Hofs Glacier together.”

He paused, then narrowed his eyes slightly. "Otherwise, I won't release them."

“You mean them? They set off together just an hour ago,” Ke Qirui said. “At Su Wei’s pace, they should reach the Hofs Glacier in no time…” She paused. “Although I don’t know what your difficulties are, you don’t need to do this. Your family cares about you more than you think.”

Hei Yong was silent for a moment. "Stop with the pretty words. Come to the port to pick her up. I'll wait for you to arrive before I leave." After saying that, he hung up the phone and then turned to look at Su Zimai on the bed.

She had her back to him, still pretending to be asleep with her eyes closed, as if she didn't want this parting to be too awkward or sudden, so she simply pretended to be stupid without saying a word.

At that very moment, the black pupa suddenly closed its eyes slightly, and a commotion came from the perspective of its main body.

"Restricted-level ability user, number 1002, Ji Minghuan, your mentor is visiting. Quickly prepare to get up."

A cold, human voice came through the loudspeaker, and then the lights in the entire cell suddenly flickered on, one by one. The dazzling light screen shone on Ji Minghuan's face, waking him from the bed.

"What are you doing here now..." Ji Minghuan sat up in bed and turned to look at her mentor who was walking in from outside the door. "Are you already planning to have 1003 eat me up?"

"No, I just wanted to take you to see R-rated 1003. Let's go."

As the tutor spoke, he paused at the doorway and looked up at his face.

"It's finished?" Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow.

"Just one last step."

After speaking, the mentor stepped out of the metal door and into the world inside the light screen.

Ji Minghuan hesitated for a moment, then got out of bed and followed her mentor.

He stepped into the seemingly endless corridor, following his mentor's footsteps with each step. After a while, they entered an elevator.

Ji Minghuan opened one eye. The elevator in front of him was very special; he had never seen one like it before. The elevator panel displayed the floor numbers, so many that it was impossible to remember them all.

The instructor pressed the button for the fifth basement level, and the elevator began to descend. A moment later, the elevator doors slowly opened with a "ding-dong."

The two looked up and were greeted by a vast space, but it was so dark that they couldn't see their own hands in front of their faces. They couldn't make out what was hiding in the shadows, but they could hear the sound of liquid sloshing around.
Suddenly, a bright green light emanated from the very center of the space, rushing towards him. Ji Minghuan couldn't help but squint slightly, but his eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and his pupils contracted slightly, allowing him to see the scene before him clearly.

"What is this... Doctor Octopus?" Ji Minghuan murmured curiously, her lips moving slightly.

What came into view was a huge tank containing nutrient solution, inside which sat a naked boy. The boy's entire body was covered in a metallic skin, with mechanical tentacles growing from his back, and his hair and eyes were hollow black.

At this moment, the boy was hanging his head, hugging his knees and curling up into a ball. His thin body rose and fell in the nutrient tank, and his long black hair rose and fell in the liquid like seaweed.

"This is... Rated 1003," the instructor suddenly spoke, speaking in a low voice.

"I always feel like you have some misunderstanding about what 'restricted' means," Ji Minghuan said casually.

The mentor disagreed, saying, "1003 can absorb the abilities of others. In just a while, he can become the most powerful ability user in the world."

He paused, then said, "Then... 1003 will absorb your powers as well, and that will free you."

Isn't this my Black Chrysalis? But devouring abilities is only one of my abilities. I can even accommodate Sky Drive and Strange Tales. Compared to that, 1003's ability is indeed just a degraded version... Ji Minghuan thought to himself.

"My brother has become his sacrifice, hasn't he?" He was silent for a moment before asking.

"That's right. As an experiment, the first superhuman he absorbed was your younger brother. Your brother's flesh and even bone marrow were all absorbed into 1003's body."

Ji Minghuan was slightly taken aback, recalling the faces of Ji Huaiye and Lin Xi from his 1001 memories. He wondered what his deceased parents would think after this incident.

"How cruel."

The tutor was silent for a moment, then suddenly brought up an unrelated topic:

"Prophet, we suspect he's R-1001, and he's contacted you, right?"

Ji Minghuan did not answer; her mentor's voice echoed in this emerald green world.

"If Restricted Level 1001 still retained his original abilities, he wouldn't need to go to such lengths. It seems... he's practically useless now?"

You can guess whatever you want.

"That's good... at least it won't affect my plans. One restricted level is manageable for 1003, but two is another story." The mentor smiled slightly.

"Are you sure 1003 will obey you?" Ji Minghuan raised her eyes and silently looked at the boy in the nutrient tank.

"Who knows?" the tutor said with a smile. "How will you know if you don't try?"

As he spoke, he suddenly changed the subject, "By the way... you don't seem to have ever asked me about traffic lights."

"Why ask?"

"Didn't Black Chrysalis participate in the Red Light incident in London? You should know the ins and outs. Your initial clues about the Salvation Church, regarding Red Light, should have come from Red Light, right?"

Ji Minghuan sighed softly, thinking to himself that the old fox had indeed known all along.

"Okay, then let me ask you, why did you control the traffic lights? And then... make him reveal the Salvation Society's affairs? Isn't that just burying your head in the sand? Shouldn't those old men in the Salvation Society immediately know that it was you, a psychic ability user, who did it?"

“The red light was just a sacrifice,” the mentor said. “At that time, I wasn’t the only psychic in the Salvation Society, and I couldn’t allow two psychic abilities to exist here, as that would affect my plan to take full control of the Salvation Society.”

He adjusted his glasses. "So... I created the serial killer Red Light, making him leave the Salvation Society's name after each crime. At the same time, he left various clues, pointing all the clues and the root cause to another psychic ability user, successfully making the Salvation Society mistakenly believe that he was the mole. Then he died."

“So that’s why you went to all this trouble. It was to frame someone else.” Ji Minghuan thought for a moment. “But that makes sense. If there were another mental ability user, it wouldn’t be so easy for you to brainwash the higher-ups of the Salvation Society.”

The mentor stood with his hands behind his back, looking up quietly at the boy in the nutrient tank.

He said, "Your father, Ji Huaiye, and your mother, Lin Xi... they were all my friends."

"and then?"

"In the end, I personally arranged for someone else to kill them."

"I knew it."

"Aren't you angry? I killed your whole family with my own hands, and now I'm going to kill you too."

Ji Minghuan looked up and thought for a moment, "How should I put it... never mind, I'm too lazy to talk to you."

“So calm,” the mentor said. “Perhaps you’ve been separated from your family for too long, and you’ve lost all feelings for them.” With that, he walked back into the elevator, watching Ji Minghuan’s retreating figure. “Go back and rest… it’s getting late.”

“Indeed… it’s getting late.” Ji Minghuan said meaningfully, glancing one last time at the restricted-level 1003 in the nutrient tank, before moving back into the elevator car.

The professor raised his hand and pressed a button on the elevator panel. The elevator hummed as it went up. At that moment, he suddenly spoke:

"Tomorrow... I'll tell you a secret."

"Tomorrow?" Ji Minghuan leaned against the wall of the sedan chair. "Even at the very end, you still manage to keep us in suspense as always."

"Bad people have to stick to their own style so they don't lose themselves," the mentor said with a slight smile.

Ji Minghuan stared blankly at the indicator panel inside the elevator car, the numbers on it slowly changing.

At this moment, it was almost midnight on September 1st in Iceland, and all forces from Reykjavik were taking advantage of the darkness to head towards the Hofs Glacier.

As the elevator hummed, he slowly closed his eyes, and images from the perspective of various machines immediately appeared in his mind. At this moment, from any perspective, he was walking on the white glacier, step by step moving towards the eastern part of the Hofs Glacier.

"You have no tomorrow, old man..." Ji Minghuan opened his eyes, glanced at his mentor's profile out of the corner of his eye, and muttered to himself.

His face was illuminated by the dim light of the elevator, and a hint of undisguised ferocity flashed in his pupils.

A moment later, the elevator stopped. Ji Minghuan stepped out of the car alone.

(End of this chapter)