Transform into a human

"The problem now is how to find evidence, and even further resolve the issue of the 'ghost society'."

Lou Wen paced back and forth excitedly: "Junior, how about we do something big?"

"I thought we'd already accomplished something big enough."

Li subconsciously glanced at her chest.

Any older and she would be dead.

"Actually, the method is very simple. We just need to gather all the vengeful spirits together in a public place, and then take action to resolve the situation."

Weiswood blushed with excitement and continued the conversation:

"This will not only confirm our findings, but also help the school solve a major problem!"

At this moment, Senior Lou could be described as having a "flow of inspiration":

"The welcome ceremony is in a week, so let's set it for that day!"

Yue Lai complained, "If a bunch of vengeful sea monsters suddenly appeared during a gathering of ten thousand people, no matter how you look at it, they'd probably be beaten to death afterwards!"

"Junior, how can you be afraid of death if you want to achieve great things!"

"Then let me hear your specific plan first."

"Sirens have a tradition of worshipping the spirits of space; it has almost become their instinct. If we just 'borrow' a ritual object from a history museum, we can definitely attract vengeful spirits to appear on that day."

"As for a solution... the 'Sea-Suppressing Sword,' forged by the Imperial Advisor himself and used to behead the Siren Queen, is also in the history museum. If we 'borrow' it as well, no amount of vengeful spirits will be a threat!"

Li swallowed hard. Are all the younger students these days so imaginative? Compared to the Zhenhai Sword, even though they are both cultural relics, the Mo Du is just scrap metal!

Even if they could steal it, this crime alone would be enough to keep them in jail for life!

Then she saw Yue Lai nod.

"?"

Why did you nod?!

"The plan is good and has a certain degree of feasibility."

Where is it feasible?

Yue Lai seemed to know what she was thinking, and turned to explain, "Many lice don't bite, but you have to distinguish between the important and the trivial."

I didn't think much about whether I could steal it or not. How hard is it to steal from a museum than from a space fortress?

As for deeper considerations... the academy has set up two layers of time seals, so even if the vengeful spirits riot, the contamination shouldn't leak out... right?

Never mind that, the most urgent task is to set up the promotion ceremony. He feels uneasy if he doesn't complete the task in a day!

On the other hand, Li thought about her dream of becoming like the director. After struggling for a long time, she finally gritted her teeth and convinced herself that she would feel uncomfortable if the pests were not caught!

"Okay! It's settled then!"

A few minutes later, Lou Wen and Weisswood left the ward satisfied. In the end, none of the four mentioned an important question—if it was really that simple, why didn't the school do it?

……

On the other side of the planet, in Fairy Island City.

This city is built on an isolated island in the ocean, and long ago it was the site of a siren's temple. Because it produced many cipher tablets for wanderers, it gradually evolved into the largest underground cipher tablet trading center in the police headquarters.

At a scenic guesthouse by the sea, the owner, carrying a tray, knocked on a guest room door, only to be met with a furious roar from inside:

"Get lost! Don't bother me!"

"Father, you haven't left the house for three days." The boss was an old man over a hundred years old. He never dreamed that he would find a father before he died, even though he was close to the average lifespan of the Federation.

"Get out! Don't make me say it a third time!"

"Okay, okay, I've left the food at the door."

The boss fled as if his life depended on it.

Xia Du had no appetite at all. Logically speaking, the police headquarters had no shortage of cipherboards from prodigals and spies, especially ordinary level 2 cipherboards. But none of her former partners were willing to sell to her now!

As for the reason, she could guess a bit. When the building was still standing, she did have some face. But as the underground intelligence network in various places was destroyed, it was obvious to everyone that they had offended the police. And the spies' cipherboards only had one source—all of them were defective products rejected by the police.

The customer is always right, but the police are the bread and butter of the cipherboard vendors. Not betraying her is already a huge favor, considering their past relationship.

She had considered hiding her identity, but who in the police headquarters' underground market would dare sell to someone without an identity, not Esfrie?

Xia Du was extremely anxious at the thought of ruining Yue Lai's important plans.

Just as she was about to commit a heinous act, an "old friend" she had contacted before suddenly sent her a communication request.

She paused for a moment, then closed her eyes and entered the Chain Crystal Network.

This makeshift data space had no superfluous decorations, and a pixelated man in a black cloak had been waiting there for a long time.

"Mr. Xia, after careful consideration, it seems that the deal we discussed before can proceed."

The surprise came too suddenly, and Xia Du instinctively began to doubt the other party.

"There's no need to look at me like that," the cloaked man shrugged. "You should be able to understand the hardships of our line of work. To put it bluntly, we're just middlemen, not the real sellers."

The other party had already made it very clear that, no matter how outrageous it seemed, someone in the government had indeed offered her a helping hand, which made Xia Du even more confused.

Putting aside how she was exposed, why should the police help her?

But it's foolish not to take advantage of a good deal; let Yue Lai figure it out. So she didn't press for details and went straight to asking about the transaction details:

"Where are the things?"

"I put it in a locker at the station. You can open it using the fake identity information you used when we made our deal."

"Thank you, I'll transfer the money to your account."

"Aren't you going to check the items first?"

"No need. Now that the person behind it has spoken, I doubt you'd dare to cause any trouble."

"clever."

The man hung up the phone.

Xia Du opened his eyes, his heart finally settling down, but his brows furrowed: "The official... could it be Yue Hao?"

Contrary to Xia Du's expectations, Yue Hao was currently accompanying Miss Clockwork Elf to fulfill her wish, as the latter excitedly described her dream skin to the leatherworker:

"It not only needs to be easy to wear, but it also needs to look good."

"Uh, skin isn't clothing, especially bionic skin. Once it's attached and then removed, it will be completely destroyed. Besides, 'beautiful' is a very broad term. You need a more specific description."

"It's the kind of girl Yue Lai likes."

The leatherworker at the Federal National University's Elf Research Lab was going crazy. If it weren't for the spy chief following him, he would have already dismantled this ancient relic from who-knows-where into a pile of gears!

He could only forcibly lower his IQ, trying to align his granularity with that of the clockwork sprite:

"Why don't you describe what kind of woman Mr. Yue Lai likes?"

"Brother's taste," Yue Hao interjected thoughtfully, "is that what he likes? He likes the battle songstress Winona Loan, so let's make him look like her and have her figure."

The leather maker felt mentally exhausted.

"That's someone else's appearance. Doesn't Miss Elf want to have her own unique look?"

"As long as Yue Lai likes it." Mo shook her head. There are plenty of clockwork sprites that look the same, so she doesn't care about being unique or not.

The leatherworker was on the verge of despair:

"But that violates portrait rights..."

Moreover, he's a public figure whose influence spans several galaxies; if people were to take it seriously, he could be considered an accomplice...

"What are you afraid of?" Yue Hao patted his shoulder. "She won't be able to use this skin for long. If she gets caught, just say it's for laboratory research. And if she gets arrested, I can still get you out of there."

So you're already planning to shift the blame onto me?

The leatherworker gave up the struggle and started laying out his plan:

"Whatever you say..."

Then, under his command, Mo entered a large vacuum jar, where countless laser pointers suddenly lit up and began to etch designs onto her body.

Then countless tiny holes on the jar spray out foam, which adheres and solidifies, gradually transforming into the shape of skin.

This was the first time Yue Hao had seen this, and she clicked her tongue in amazement: "I thought you would be the one to carve the inscription yourself."

The leather maker proudly puffed out his chest:

"This is no small matter for me. We 'Skin Painters' can truly change the original species. This young lady is not willing to give up her identity as a clockwork elf."

"Alright, I'll step aside for a moment." The leather tanner took a white coat out of the wardrobe and handed it to Yue Hao. Only then did the top agent realize that the brand-new Mo didn't have any clothes to wear.

She suddenly seemed to have discovered some new galaxy, and said with a lewd expression:

"You skin-changing artists have such convenient skills. You could easily buy a robot and mold it into your favorite partner, like a catgirl or your first love..."

"Don't talk nonsense!" the tanner exclaimed, as if he'd been stepped on. "How...how could I possibly do such a thing? Don't slander me out of thin air!"

"Hey, looks like I was right."

"Nonsense, utterly unreasonable!" The strange man fled the laboratory as if avoiding a snake or scorpion, leaving Yue Hao completely satisfied.

Half an hour later, Jasmine's body gradually filled out, and a beautiful body could be vaguely seen through the steam inside the jar. Finally, the steam dissipated, and the fairy opened her eyes as if in a dream.

She raised her hand, her fingertips trembling as she touched her cheek—warm and soft, a touch she had never experienced before. Her gaze fell, tracing along her pale arm, the joints bending and straightening without a sound.

She carefully touched the long hair that cascaded over her shoulders, stopping at the sight of every inch of new skin, her pupils reflecting pure astonishment.

Mo's voice trembled slightly: "So, this is what it feels like to be human?"

The laboratory suddenly became quiet. Mo looked up and saw that Yue Hao's face only had one word written on it—lust.

As the saying goes, like brother, like sister. Rather than saying that Yue Lai's fantasy is Winona, it's more accurate to say that Yue Hao himself wants Mo to become like Winona!

Mo immediately became alert. She hadn't forgotten her good friend's "misdeeds," so she snatched the clothes from her hands and put them on before letting out a sigh of relief.

Yue sighed regretfully, "Is it really necessary? Even your best friend is being wary."

"That's exactly what we're doing!"

"Alright, alright, your wish has been fulfilled. Now it's time to come with me to do my things, right?"

"Hey, are we going to find a ghost?"

"It's a ghost society, not ghosts. Ghosts are just an exaggerated adjective."

"Let's go back to the museum tonight and let Xiaodong rest. Tomorrow we'll go to the Federal National University's history museum. According to the information provided by our informant, there seems to be some unusual activity there."

"good!"

……

……

"We're heading to the museum tonight," Yue Lai said, explaining his plan in Li's rented room. "Senior Lou and the others have already gotten information from the museum's interns that the museum only has three security guards."

"So weak? The Zhenhai Sword is stored there!"

"When did you start to see Shiro as so weak... Besides, the police station in the university town is not far away, and there is a Zanhua Ke stationed there year-round. That person is the real protective force."

"Moreover, the history museum is located near the national university. The university is full of distinguished guests, and your principal is apparently a high-ranking nobleman..."

"you mean?"

"As long as we don't alert the active protection system and those three martial arts masters, there's still a chance, and that happens to be my forte. I'll need your assistance then."

Suddenly, Li grabbed Yue Lai by the collar and said fiercely, "I'm not the backup power source for that evil relic! You'd better prepare your heart before you set off this time!"

"Okay, okay, okay..."

As the setting sun streamed in through the window, Yue Lai began a difficult conversation with Xie Xin, asking if they could temporarily substitute pig hearts, and if they could have a larger quantity...

In the end, he reached an agreement with Xie Xin: pig hearts could be used as a substitute, but they had to be high-grade hearts produced by the Shan Hai Star System, and there had to be ten of them. He would also have to make up for the human hearts he owed today in the future.

Yue Lai had no choice but to sign this unequal treaty in humiliation...

"A pig demon's fancy taste? Only high-end restaurants have that. I'd have to borrow money from the policewoman."

"That damned Xiadu! They squeezed every last penny out of me!"

Just as Yue was negotiating, Li suddenly received a call from Donald. She returned to her bedroom, sat down, and carefully set up a temporary data space. However, the other party did not choose real-time communication at all, but instead sent an untraceable recording:

"Wallace, I'm telling you, listen to me..."

"No matter what I say, stay calm..."

After a long while, Yue Lai, having finished his internal struggle, suddenly realized that there was no movement in the bedroom. He got up and knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.

He frowned slightly: "I'm coming in."

Upon opening the door, a dazed young girl sat by the bed, letting tears fall, her eyes blankly staring at the photo wall—a picture of an old man and a little girl, with a massive cruiser about to take off behind them.

Yue Lai suddenly felt a pang of heartache. Even when facing dire straits, he had never seen Li so... broken and shattered.

"Wallace, are you... alright?"

A call from the human world roused Li, and she whispered:

"Yue Lai, Grandpa Ji... he's dead."

Yue Lai suddenly felt something blocking his throat. He had planned to spend a few days with the old man who also loved ancient music from outside the department, exchange ideas, and accept his commission. But he never expected to hear such bad news.

"No, how could this happen so suddenly..." He seemed to remember something and asked with difficulty, "W-was it those people?"

"Yes, they found a con artist to frame you, and at the same time, they killed you to silence you and prevent us from saying anything we shouldn't have to Grandpa Ji."

Yue Lai remained silent for a long time, until the last ray of the setting sun slanted into the room, and the photos on the wall could no longer be seen.

He said bitterly:

"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry... I didn't expect those people to go to such lengths. That was a highly respected headquarters advisor."

"I'm sorry, Wales..."

"Yue Lai, I don't blame you." Li stood up, walked up to Yue Lai, and stared intently into his eyes, as if trying to memorize every change in his expression.

"Do you remember the initiation ritual for the newborn? It's the simplest of all the paths."

Yue Lai recited softly:

"He will repay each person according to what they have done: to those who steadfastly do good and seek glory, honor and immortality, he will repay with eternal life; but to those who are self-conspiring and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness, he will repay with wrath and anger."

Li cupped his cheeks:

"Promise me you will tear them to pieces by any means forbidden by law!"

Sensing the boiling fervor and cheers of evil, Yue Lai slowly nodded, his gaze fixed directly on the other person, without shifting in the slightest:

"I promise you, Li."