Millennium Witch

And the soul-slaying technique that uses fragments of spirit to possess others.

These four spells, along with "Bone Armor" and "Bone Sword," while not the strongest in the records, are currently the six spells that she can use most quickly.

……

From killing Lind in the early hours of the morning to studying the magic notes after returning, by the time he came to his senses, it was already noon the next day.

After lunch and a short rest to recover her energy, Yvette continued to study another trophy—the Soul Brain.

Unlike the Magic Terminal, the Soul Brain's system architecture appears to be self-developed by the Holy Spirit Cult, exuding a strong sense of amateurishness and being frighteningly rudimentary. Yvette bypassed the initial security authentication in just a few minutes.

Furthermore, there is no knowledge or information within the Soul Brain. According to the part about the Soul Brain mentioned in Linde's notes, in his opinion, the Soul Brain's greatest function, besides being a hidden magic terminal, is to amplify the holder's mental power, enabling them to have stronger and more precise magical operations, which is crucial for necromancers who require micro-management.

I won't go into the downsides, but it's easy to develop cyberpsychosis.

However, Yvette discovered that she had a high tolerance for the Soul Brain. After activating it, she maintained it for more than two hours without feeling that her memory was being eroded. It was suspected that her spiritual body was too thick, and the memory inside the Soul Brain could not penetrate it.

But this is just a preliminary feeling, and she will need a long time to verify whether it is actually harmful.

……

Having acquired readily available necromancy, Yvette spent the next two days practicing and deepening her understanding of the "Soulflame" spell.

After all, this is a method of directly attacking spirits, and it should be very useful against Soulfire Saint.

In addition, during these two days, she also asked Firefly to help monitor the network and observe the movements of Fusijiang. She obtained several clear pieces of information: the martial law in Fusijiang had become more severe, the police and the church protection group had begun to investigate house to house, and according to rumors, a big figure from the Holy Spirit Church had secretly come here, but it was uncertain who it was.

Unbeknownst to many, a tense atmosphere, as if a storm was brewing, had already spread throughout the city.

Only one update today, consider this a day off. Thank you all! *knock knock knock*

Chapter 126 Do you want to eat me?

It was a rainy night without stars. The cold rain seeped through the light screen formed by holographic advertisements and flowed into the depths of the city's bones along the gaps in the buildings. On the streets of the lower level, swarms of shuttles roared past, and pedestrians hurried by with transparent umbrellas in hand. The puddles on the ground were like mercury mirrors, reflecting the neon lights of the sky.

Soon, a boot shattered the neon lights. It was a member of the friars wearing a white robe and a fully reflective helmet. The body beneath the white robe was not human, but a metal structure with gears and seams.

Holding a long black staff, he walked to one of the entrances to the hive and began knocking on the door of the nearest house.

The pounding continued for a long time, but the family remained unmoved. The priest stopped, his long staff gleaming. He aimed the staff at the door, and with a deafening boom, an invisible pulse sent the iron door flying, twisting as it landed inside.

The people inside screamed in panic, "What are you doing! This is my home! Do you have a search warrant?"

"The missionary body is investigating; no search warrant is needed," the white-robed missionary said coldly. Immediately afterward, several police officers rushed in from outside and began investigating the room.

After a while, he confirmed the homeowner's identity: "Although you're not the target, you have a criminal record and are a fugitive. Come with me obediently."

Soon, the homeowner was dragged out by the police officers. The white-robed priest nodded slightly and continued searching house to house. If the homeowner was not home, or was pretending not to be home, he would break down the door and conduct a violent search.

This process quickly continued to the first floor in a corner, but unexpectedly, the door of the house was not closed properly and was open.

The white-robed priest went inside and searched every possible hiding place. He smashed any cabinets that couldn't be opened until the room was a complete mess. Once he was sure there was no one else there and no information left behind, he turned and left.

……

"There are so many people here." Liana, disguised, stood in a dark underground tunnel, holding the sleeping Zero in her arms, and exclaimed.

Ivy nodded and looked to the side. Under the dim yellow light of the underground corridor, a large number of people were standing densely packed together. As a den of iniquity in the Fusijiang slum, the Hive naturally had some places known only to locals, places specifically for hiding from the police, such as this underground corridor connected to the sewers, which no one knew who had dug it.

Due to pressure from the New Eden government, the Holy Spirit Cult's search for the two test subjects has become increasingly aggressive, escalating to the point of sending friars and police to conduct violent searches. Yvette's main goal is to stall for time, as President John and the Holy Spirit Cult's pope have reached a secret, but identifiable, agreement. With only about 10 days left under martial law, she can use this time to move Zero and One to other cities.

Yvette instructed, "If anything happens, I will distract them, and you will move from here to the designated location."

This was a plan she finalized with Liana and Firefly. Firefly would use the city map and sewer system to identify several suitable hiding places. If the location was exposed, Yvette would violently break out on the surface to attract the attention of important figures such as Soulfire Saint. Liana and Firefly would then take Zero through the sewers to change hiding places.

Once she is sure it is safe, Yvette will find a way to escape and then reunite with them.

"It's too dangerous, let's run together, sister," Liana said worriedly.

“I’m fine, the important thing is whether you can escape.” Yvette smiled and ruffled her hair.

If she wanted to leave, she could simply break through from the front; no army or religious guard at any checkpoint could stop her.

Furthermore, the Federal President will pressure the Rustbone and Holy Spirit sects and reach an agreement with the Pope, ostensibly to rescue her, this "national hero," and she will immediately receive the protection of the New Eden government if she goes directly to the border.

The only reason she was there was to ensure that Liana and Zero could escape safely.

As for observation and non-interference... well, given how far the butterfly effect has progressed, she no longer harbors such expectations.

Plans can’t keep up with changes!

“Sister…” Liana was touched. She stood on tiptoe and nudged Yvette’s chin with her head.

Yvette smiled and lowered her head, then saw Zero in Liana's arms suddenly raise his head, staring at her with lifeless dark red eyes, like a zombie just awakened from a coffin.

Liana reacted even faster, immediately raising her hand to cover Zero's eyes and giving Yvette a reassuring look.

Sure enough, after a few seconds in this state, Zero slowly lowered his head and fell asleep again.

……

It's unclear how much time had passed—a few hours, or even more than ten hours—but just as everyone in the basement was sleeping soundly on the floor, seemingly unconcerned about the dirt, someone finally entered from the outside and announced that the missionary had finished their inspection and left, and that everyone was safe.

After queuing up, the group returned to the ground. It was already dawn, I don't know if it was seven or eight in the morning. Not long after, a lot of cursing came from the various rental houses in the Hive. Obviously, many people found that their homes had been ransacked and made a mess.

“Cults are truly terrifying,” Firefly exclaimed.

If even a smart AI says it's scary, then it really is scary... Yvette thought to herself, and then together with the others, she restored the messy room to its original state.

It must be said that Liana is indeed a very capable and good girl. She quickly restored most of the place to order. Her hands-on ability far surpasses that of Firefly, not to mention that lazy Yvette.

In addition, since they were all blonde little girls, Yvette would sometimes have hallucinations when she looked at her back.

“Liana,” she said suddenly.

"Hmm? What's wrong, sister?" Liana was putting the things that had fallen out of the cabinet back when she heard this. She turned her head and blinked her beautiful, big eyes.

"Do you want to learn magic?" Yvette asked.

“She doesn’t want to learn.” A voice sounded from the side. Yvette turned her head and saw that Zero, who had been thrown on the sofa, had opened his eyes at some point and was looking at her with a smile.

"You're asking them a question, what are you going to answer?" Yvette glanced at her, then heard Liana say shyly, "Um... this is too difficult, sister... I can't learn it..."

"You've studied this?" Yvette asked in surprise.

“Yvette taught me… but there are so many symbols, I can’t remember them all…” Liana said with a pained expression.

Sure enough, there are differences between blonde girls. Yvette nodded gently and said, "Okay, I understand."

But then she suddenly remembered something and turned to Zero: "Where did you learn magic from?"

She remembered that the Abyss Base did not teach this kind of knowledge to orphans participating in the Metamorphosis Project, nor was there any reason to do so. They had escaped from the Abyss Base two years ago, and it had only been a little over two years since then. In such a short time, they had to hide, travel to various cities, run from Ish Island to the mainland, cross New Eden, and finally arrive at Rusty Bones...

During this period, what opportunities did Zero have to come into contact with the extremely high-threshold rune literature?

"Call me 'sister,' and I can tell you," Zero said, looking at her with a mocking expression.

Before Yvette could even respond to such an impolite remark, Liana, standing nearby, said unhappily, "Yvette, what are you saying? How can you talk to your sister like that?"

Zero closed his eyes and fell asleep immediately.

“Pretending to be asleep won’t work!” Liana walked over, pinched her soft cheeks, and pulled and twisted them repeatedly, but Zero’s act of being dead was so convincing that she wouldn’t do anything too outrageous, so she could only give up in frustration.

“She wasn’t like this before.” Liana looked at Yvette somewhat embarrassedly, feeling like she had led someone else’s sister astray.

“I know, she’s just targeting me.” Yvette nodded calmly.

"Why is that?" Firefly asked curiously. "Sister, do you think Yvette is blaming you for not saving her before, and that's why she's holding a grudge? I recently read a detective novel, and the story was like that. Because he was worried about being abandoned by his family, the protagonist's resentment grew bigger and bigger during his wanderings, and eventually it turned into a murder case."

"Ah~" Liana looked frightened.

“That possibility cannot be ruled out,” Yvette said thoughtfully, stroking her chin.

"That's not the reason." Hearing the three of them making up stories about him to his face, Zero finally stopped pretending to be dead.

She opened her eyes, glared at the firefly, and waited until a "fearful" expression appeared on the firefly's screen before looking at Yvette and asking with a cold smile, "If I told you that as long as you eat me, you can know everything and have everything, would you do it?"

The air suddenly fell silent. Liana and Firefly stared at her blankly, wondering what she was suddenly saying.

Yvette quickly realized something, her face turning icy: "You want to eat me?"

She had no intention of eating Zero, not even that concept, so this must be Zero's "judging others by herself" due to her own reasons.

If this conjecture is true, her behavior can be explained. If she sees someone as just an ingredient, then of course she would not want to get along with that person. Otherwise, how could she bring herself to do it if she developed feelings for him?

Even from Zero's perspective, this suspicion still exists. She might think that Yvette harbors the same malicious intentions, which is why she suddenly appeared and took the initiative to contact them.

Surprisingly, Zero shook his head and smiled, saying, "No, I was just reminding you."

After saying that, she closed her eyes, nestled in Liana's arms, and fell peacefully asleep.

Chapter 127 Is This Still Human?

A few days later, in the dead of night.

Located in the city center, the church's sharp top, like the horns of a demon, pierces straight into the night sky. The Soulfire Saint stands here, his black, misty figure almost blending into the darkness.

He looked up at the night sky, where countless spirits, invisible to the naked eye, were wandering beneath the brilliant starlight, quietly slipping into every household.

But that wasn't enough. He would also have these spirits possess ordinary people one by one, digging into their experiences and secrets to ensure that he could capture every clue.

Such behavior is naturally harmful to the spirits of ordinary people, and he would not want to do it unless absolutely necessary.

But the time for the agreement between His Holiness the Pope and President John is fast approaching, and he must hurry.

Moments later, an entire block was silently searched. Thousands of spirits swarmed like locusts, forming ranks in the night sky as they pounced on their next target. If all went well, he could search one-tenth of the city in just one night.

That's enough, because in another place, many necromancers of the Holy Church are doing the same thing. With everyone working together, the investigation can be completed in a maximum of two days.

He closed his eyes and quietly manipulated the spirits as they soared invisibly through the city, until they approached a slum known as the Hive. Suddenly, he felt that the number of spirits he controlled had decreased significantly.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked in that direction, the black mist around his body surging violently, as if expressing some kind of emotion.

……

Inside the rented room in the Hive, the lights came on. Seeing Yvette standing at the door, gently knocking, Liana sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes and asking sleepily, "What's wrong, sister?"

Number Zero was still asleep next to her, his slender limbs tightly wrapped around her body like a clingy white octopus.

“The cult has discovered this place; you need to prepare to move,” Yvette said.

"Huh?" Liana snapped back to reality, but after glancing at Zero and thinking for a moment, she decided not to wake her and asked instead, "Now?"

Yvette looked at the fireflies in the living room and asked, "What's going on now?"

"A major crisis, my friends!"

Firefly was actually quite safe, since it wasn't even on the wanted list, despite being an unnoticed magical puppet. It still seemed very nervous, shouting, "The Guardians and the police are on their way! They'll be there in 10 minutes at the latest! And I even saw military mechs on the surveillance footage! Liana, we need to hurry!"

In their plan, Liana, Zero, and Firefly would take a shortcut known only to the locals into the sewers, while Yvette would draw the cult's attention from above.

Of course, there will be enemies in the sewer system, but the environment here is too narrow. At most, there might be some guardians or undead. Magic mechs can't get in, and noble figures like the Soulfire Priest or the Reincarnation High Priest certainly won't appear.

Under these conditions, Liana could defeat ordinary enemies on her own, and if all else fails, she could wake up Zero.

However, Yvette consistently advised against waking Zero, believing that it was best for Zero to remain asleep from beginning to end.

Once she wakes up, the plan could immediately spiral out of control, plunging into an uncontrollable abyss.

"Okay!" Liana changed her clothes, got off the bed, and then put a small black cloak on the sleeping Zero.

Then, under the pressure of time, the three of them came to the dimly lit corridor outside the door.

Liana and Zero concealed their faces with hoods and masks; Firefly held a rune rifle from who-knows-where; only Yvette, like a snowflake falling in the dark night, with her blazing silver hair and trailing black dress, was exposed to the murky air without any disguise, looking exceptionally bright and eye-catching.

Of course, this is exactly the effect she needs to attract attention.

Upon arriving at the entrance to the underground passage, the hidden wooden door was lifted, revealing the passage below, and the group was about to part ways.

Liana carried Zero without any difficulty and turned to Yvette, saying, "Sister, be careful!"

At this moment, she began to regret her decision, feeling that it was indeed quite dangerous and that it would be better to escape together. However, she knew that things had been planned for a long time and couldn't be changed at the last minute—a principle even a ten-year-old understood. She earnestly reminded him, her eyes filled with worry.

“Don’t worry about me,” Yvette smiled. “I’m much stronger than you think.”

"Well...see you later." Liana gave her a deep look, a resolute expression appearing on her delicate face, and said to Firefly, "Let's go!"

Immediately, she hugged Zero tightly and, together with Firefly, disappeared into the depths of the underground corridor.

……

After Liana and the others disappeared into the shadows, Yvette left the hidden entrance and used earth magic to conceal it, ensuring she wouldn't be easily discovered.

She then walked down the stairs to the ground floor, and through a narrow, beehive-like path that resembled an intestine, until she arrived at the third floor of an old building.