Today, they too are going to their deaths.

In one night, Cui Xun caught two pickpockets, two novice robbers, a half-baked arsonist, and a guy who wanted to disguise the vendetta as a deliberate throat-slitting murder like a corpse thief.

This time, instead of arbitrarily breaking their hands and feet, he chose to tie them up with something else, leaving them and the evidence on the streets at night.

It wasn't until the eastern horizon began to lighten with a very faint pale white light that Cui Xun decided to take a nap before heading to the factory.

But just as Cui Xun had the thought, "This is the second day," his consciousness abruptly plunged into darkness.

The feeling was magical, like meditation. He could still think, perceive, and even sense what was happening in the outside world, and wake up when necessary, but his main consciousness sank into his own depths.

In the pure black space, Cui Xun quietly observed the space itself, and as he observed, the essence of this space truly emerged before his eyes.

This is his "heart chamber," the place where his "heart" resides. The "heart" is the sum of his consciousness, soul, personality, emotions, and all the non-material things that make up him.

This place can help him better examine himself and develop his own strengths.

In the instant he realized this, Cui Xun saw something that had always been there but had been invisible before.

It was a huge circle with blurred edges, resembling a door, a pupil, or a mirror.

These three images alternated in his mind, each correct and each incomplete, but for the sake of convenience, Cui Xun finally decided to give it a name to fix its nature.

"Let's call it the Mirror in the Pupil."

The moment the name was determined, a deep red light surged through the inside of the circle. The light slowly rotated and flowed, like a melted ruby, or like the blood of some living thing.

Cui Xun stared at the light, and then he saw it.

A dragon.

A deep red dragon.

It dwells deep within the Mirror of the Pupil, occupying this place like a proud and aloof king.

Its scales are a dark red color, soaked in blood and then dried. They have sharp edges and are covered with fine lines, reflecting a cold light like the tip of a blade.

Its head hangs low, its snout is long, and its horns curve backward, conforming to the curve of its head, eventually converging into a cluster of thorns at the back of its head, like a polished spearhead or an absurd crown.

Its limbs were tucked to its sides, and its wings enveloped its body. It appeared calm, but in reality, immense power flowed between its limbs, allowing it to unleash a fatal blow at any moment. In fact, its claws had already left a long claw mark on the dark ground reflected in the mirror.

Its tail was long and sharp, with a cold glint at the end, reminding Cui Xun of a soft spear and a long-handled axe.

This ferocious beast is the embodiment of violence and bloodshed!

But Cui Xun still met its gaze firmly.

The dragon opened its eyes.

His scarlet vertical pupils, burning with something that would never be extinguished, stared at Cui Xun, just as he had looked at himself in the mirror every morning.

But unlike before, for Cui Xun, who now possesses extraordinary power, even making eye contact is an act that embodies power.

Cui Xun looked into his eyes and whispered something to him.

Update.

The space trembled slightly.

Flame-colored characters appeared on the mirror in the pupil, reflecting Cui Xun's current state.

Name: Cui Xun

[Development Stage: Before Birth]

【Attribute: To be defined】

[Talents: Reality Distortion, Fear's Roots - Adaptation]

[Traits: Night Watchman, Trickster, Royal Agent]

Cui Xun's gaze lingered on the panel for a moment before he instinctively understood the meaning of the words.

His willpower, combined with the monster's talent, allows him to transform abstract experience and accumulated knowledge into concrete power.

Everything he does leaves a trace here. When those traces accumulate to a certain extent and are then updated at the moment of rebirth, they will condense into traits that, in turn, strengthen his abilities.

It's like actively adapting, or freezing the distortion, and it probably also has a bit of the effect of turning legend into power.

Overall, it's a good thing.

Cui Xun looked at the first trait.

[Trait: Night's Watch]

[Effect: You will be able to see evil clearly at night, shadows will surround your figure, and people will revere the hero who protects them in the darkness.]

Cui Xun never expected that his casual act of doing a good deed would have such an outcome.

This is practically a bootleg Batman.

However, Cui Xun lacks Batman's sense of responsibility and Gotham City's favorable environment for him to develop his talents, which doesn't quite suit his needs.

If there were a limit to the number of traits, he would definitely remove this one. But since there is no limit to the number of traits, it's fine to let it occupy a spot. Maybe he will awaken some ability to synthesize traits in the future.

Cui Xun continued looking down.

Trait: Conman

[Effect: Your disguise becomes more seamless, your lies are more easily believed, and you are adept at impersonating any role.]

It's another trait that feels subtle.

Cui Xun could sense that if he disguised himself again, his body would naturally adjust his micro-expressions, tone of voice, and posture to make his performance more captivating.

Cui Xun doesn't like lying, but if he really has to do it, this thing is still useful.

He looked at the third trait.

[Trait: Royal Agent]

[Effect: You are a royally recognized agent (pseudo). Your words naturally carry official weight, and your very existence is a deterrent. This trait can be promoted.]

This trait is more subtle.

If not for his special ability reminding him, Cui Xun wouldn't have known he was being treated as a royal agent. However, his power doesn't care whether he admits it or not; it's simply anchored to the fact that "someone believes he is a royal agent."

Cui Xun could delete this trait, but seeing the words "can be promoted," he decided to leave it for a while.

Cui Xun instinctively felt that this trait would evolve into abilities like [Word Power] or [Royal Authority] in the future, and might even be related to the extraordinary abilities possessed by the Albion royal family, so it could be considered somewhat useful.

Cui Xun withdrew his gaze and looked at the other parts of the panel.

Compared to the features that come with explanations, the other parts are, to some extent, more fundamental things that he himself cannot fully understand, so there are no accompanying explanations, and he can only speculate on them himself.

[Development Stage: Before Birth]

He's already twenty-two; by human standards, he's decided to become an adult.

Although he's not even a day old yet, counting from the time he was resurrected, he's at least been successfully born.

Cui Xun guessed that this referred to the extent to which he had developed the monster's potential, rather than referring to it literally.

【Attribute: To be defined】

Cui Xun guessed that this line of text existed here because attributes can be considered an essential feature of panel-based abilities, so his subconscious mind put this content into the panel.

However, he has neither a standard for defining attributes nor any special abilities specific to those attributes, so he doesn't seem to need this line of text.

So, Cui Xun simply removed that line from his panel.

[Talents: Reality Distortion, Fear's Roots - Adaptation]

The distortion of reality is related to a special power he tentatively calls Willpower, while the Source of Fear refers to the power he stole from monsters. This power is inherently extremely powerful, but it manifests as "adaptation," allowing him to continuously evolve in battle and change his form to suit his enemies.

Cui Xun vaguely remembered someone saying that it was because of fear and hunger that humans continued to grow and eventually became what they are today.

Cui Xun took one last look at the deep red dragon.

It remained entrenched deep within the circle, its vertical pupils calmly watching him, devoid of hostility or affection, displaying only absolute neutrality.

It is him, so it will not develop any feelings for him.

Cui Xun withdrew his gaze.

He sensed that the space was becoming unstable, and his consciousness was being pushed back in the direction he had come from by a gentle but irresistible force.

He's about to wake up.

He will probably be able to enter this place again tomorrow.