Chapter 22: Doll

A starlight-like brilliance shimmered in the Doll's eyes, making her already beautiful face even more captivating.

This left Li Yelaie momentarily stunned, feeling as though his colleague's emotions had undergone a massive shift.

As for the Doll, she was naturally filled with pleasant surprise and excitement.

In her childhood, she had suddenly become ensnared by a curse. Her kin, gripped by fear, had abandoned her.

It forced her away from her hometown, leaving her to wander the wilderness.

A young girl walking through the wilds should have been the weakest of prey.

Instead, she had transformed into an existence that even beasts, bandits, and even Void monsters avoided at all costs.

She was the incarnation of fear, an entity that struck terror into all living things.

Her appearance would send the fiercest beasts fleeing in terror; her voice would cause even the most ruthless bandits to lose control of their bowels in fright. Her very presence could make the aberrations wandering the wilderness tremble.

And so, loneliness became her eternal companion.

No being could harm her, and no being could communicate with her.

It wasn't until years later, when she was discovered by an official expeditionary team and brought back to the Megacity, that she was able to interact with humans once more.

But even so, she remained lonely.

Years passed, and she grew into a graceful, increasingly stunning woman.

Yet, no one could look directly at her face, and no one could listen to her voice.

She could only wear a doll suit that covered every inch of her skin and use a signboard capable of displaying text to communicate with her colleagues.

Even though her colleagues were kind and warm toward her, she still felt a profound sense of pain.

She wanted so desperately to chat and interact with her colleagues like a normal person; she wanted to go shopping with friends like a normal person; she wanted to be embraced, just like a normal person.

And now... she finally saw hope.

The Doll looked at Li Yelaie, her eyes shimmering with light, but her rationality ultimately allowed her to suppress the urge to pour her heart out.

Instead, she put her mask back on.

She knew how to prioritize; right now, she had to kill this illegal psion first!

Thus, she picked up her signboard and replied to Li Yelaie.

[Get far away, I'll be right back (｀ω')]

"Will do! I'm a man who listens to advice! Next time, dinner is on me!"

Li Yelaie followed her lead. A psion of his level shouldn't get involved in such matters. Since he wasn't trading with 'Mr. Shadow,' it was only natural to run.

He immediately sprinted out of the alley to regroup with the other handlers surrounding the area.

On the other side, the young man with the black umbrella, who was being besieged by two captains simultaneously, was in a state of extreme disarray.

Overwhelmed by fear, he was unable to mount any effective countermeasure, being struck directly by the lightning unleashed by Moonshadow and the dragon claws mimicked by Furnace.

His skin was charred by electricity, and his shoulder was pierced and torn.

However, immediately after being attacked, he broke free from the state of fear.

The black umbrella in his hand flew up autonomously, blocking the even more violent lightning from Moonshadow.

At the same time, he spat out a mouthful of dark green liquid.

Once the liquid hit the ground, it began to spread rapidly, actually transforming into an expanding swamp.

From within the swamp, an eerie head emerged, clutching a meat cleaver in its mouth. The head had sparse hair and a bloated face; though it was human, it looked more like a toad.

Its glowing green eyes stared fixedly at the approaching Furnace.

Furnace's expression shifted slightly. "This guy can actually enslave a Cleaver Ghost aberration? Speed up the evacuation!"

The other handlers surrounding the area changed expression and quickly pulled back to increase their distance.

Li Yelaie was, naturally, among them.

"What's a Cleaver Ghost?" Li Yelaie asked as he ran.

"A type of aberration, a monster that appeared even before the Calamity arrived. It's highly toxic!" a colleague he hadn't met before explained briefly. "In short, it's very dangerous. Once you're contaminated, an ordinary person is basically dead within ten seconds, and even psions will have a hard time. Raise your psionic shields!"

Li Yelaie's heart skipped a beat. This was a busy district with heavy human activity.

If this thing spread, the consequences would be unthinkable. How many people would this thing poison to death?

Furthermore, because they were in a crowded area, the handlers did not dare to use large-scale weapons or abilities.

As if sensing Li Yelaie's concern, the colleague whispered, "Don't worry, comrade. Several colleagues have already gone to evacuate the civilians. Besides, with two captains and the Doll attacking simultaneously, this guy isn't getting away."

On the other side, the young man with the black umbrella sneered through blood-stained teeth, "You think you can take me just because I suffered a minor setback? I dared to come to the Megacity alone because I have my reasons!"

Pitch-black mist erupted from his mouth, nose, and wounds, instantly enveloping half the alley and spreading rapidly outward.

Having retreated quite far, Li Yelaie even heard the thunderous sound of iron hooves coming from within the mist.

"All units, stand guard!"

The colleague and the other handlers immediately took defensive stances, preparing to meet the enemy's attack.

Li Yelaie also drew his crimson longblade and prepared to shake his silver bell.

However, before the summons within the black mist could emerge, the mist suddenly sank and dissipated, and the young man with the black umbrella suddenly collapsed into a kneeling position.

The swamp where the Cleaver Ghost resided also began to crumble.

This was not because he had given up resistance or surrendered.

Rather, a terrifying, massive pressure had slammed directly onto his body, pinning him to the ground. Even the black mist and swamp he had summoned dissipated under the pressure.

The ground around him began to crack and sink rapidly.

Under the immense pressure, he was forced to his knees, sinking into the earth, unable to move.

He could only struggle to lift his head, attempting to cast some kind of ability, but he failed.

The Doll had acted!

She had slammed her signboard down, exerting a massive force upon the young man with the black umbrella.

And as she raised the signboard again and slammed it down with even more force...

That terrifying pressure doubled!

The young man's head, which he had struggled to lift, was smashed violently into the ground.

Bones snapped, muscles tore, and internal organs spilled from his wounds, blood flowing into the cracks in the ground.

He was like a mosquito being swatted dead.

But even though his body was shattered, he did not die.

Enduring the massive pressure, he reached out toward the black umbrella, seemingly attempting one last act of resistance.

But under the Doll's suppression, he could not even control the umbrella. No matter how he reached, the black umbrella did not move toward him.

With the black mist and swamp suppressed, Furnace stood prominently atop a rooftop.

He cast a deliberate glance at Li Yelaie, who was dozens of meters away, and smiled. "Kid, let me show you the power of Myriad Manifestations!"

He then took a deep breath.

In the next instant, a massive, ferocious phantom of a dragon's head appeared behind him.

The dragon head opened its eyes and tilted its head back.

Then, it exhaled a blast of scorching dragon fire!

Myriad Manifestations Path, Mimicry: Dragon's Breath!

The blazing flames instantly filled the alley, and the young man with the black umbrella was swallowed by the fire before he could even let out a wail.

Even from dozens of meters away, Li Yelaie could feel the terrifying heatwave crashing against his psionic shield.

This was Myriad Manifestations! Mimicry—to imitate and make it one's own!

However, amidst the flames capable of melting steel, a shadow shot upward into the sky.

It wasn't the young man, but the black umbrella!

It soared upward, its speed so great that it produced a sonic boom. It flew toward the high walls of the Megacity at an extreme velocity.

Yet, in the next second, bolts of lightning struck down from thin air.

They hit the black umbrella with precision, causing its speed to falter, but it still continued its rapid flight toward the walls.

Its speed was so great that no one could intercept it.

"Dammit, so the umbrella was the real body! You little... %$#@&!*&...!" Moonshadow, holding his longblade and shield, had been the one to release the lightning, and he was now cursing loudly.

His language was so foul that Li Yelaie was somewhat taken aback. He turned to ask his colleague, "Does Captain Moonshadow's curse require him to swear at people?"

"No, you're overthinking it." The colleague covered his face. "He's just plain rude."

"Oh."

Soon, the flames vanished, and the pitch-black alley was cleared.

The corpse of the young man with the black umbrella was found, undoubtedly burned to a cinder.

The Cleaver Ghost had also been burned to nothingness, and its remaining toxic remnants were safely disposed of.

Furnace's psionic flames had only one drawback: the charging time was too long. It took about two seconds to release them fully.

But with the Doll's gravity suppression, that weakness vanished, leaving behind flames capable of incinerating everything.

Li Yelaie specifically asked Captain Furnace about it.

He learned that this was an ability Furnace had obtained during his fourth awakening.

It was said that it had cost over a thousand merit points to gather the primary materials. Furnace even told Li Yelaie that he could start saving his merit points to prepare for his own medicinal potions and so on.

However, Li Yelaie felt he was still quite a way off from his fourth awakening and decided not to worry about it for now.

Fortunately, this operation resulted in no casualties and did not affect the civilians.

But an alleyway had been burned down, after all; the finance department of the East District branch would likely have a headache over it.

As the person involved, Li Yelaie returned to the branch and wrote a report as required.

At the same time, an investigator dispatched from headquarters personally questioned Li Yelaie about the details.

"The black umbrella ultimately disappeared toward the northeast outside the Megacity. We have already dispatched an expeditionary team to investigate the route. However, we are unsure if there are accomplices remaining within the city. You must be careful and stay vigilant. If you detect any danger, sound the alarm immediately." The investigator was very kind. "You did well, successfully containing the danger within the alley. In recognition of this, the No. 3 Border City Processing Department will award you twenty merit points."

"Thank you." Li Yelaie smiled. He hadn't even participated in the actual combat, yet he was receiving twenty merit points. What more could he ask for?

With his previous twenty-five points, he now had forty-five merit points.

The anti-psion helmet plus shipping would cost ninety points; he was already halfway there.

"Now, for the second question." The investigator continued with a smile, "Did you see the face of the handler 'Doll'?"

Recalling that stunning face, Li Yelaie nodded. "Yes."

The investigator paused, then continued, "How did it make you feel?"

"She's a very beautiful girl," Li Yelaie responded honestly.

"Uh, looking at the photos, she is indeed very beautiful, but... is there anything else?" The investigator asked curiously. "Don't you have any other thoughts? Did you feel any fear?"

Now, Li Yelaie remembered that the Doll's curse was that she was feared by the outside world.

Everyone—whether it was Cheese, Yang Chen, or even more powerful psions—could not look directly at her face. Even the slightest exposure of her skin could strike terror into all living beings.

And the sound of her voice could cause even Void creatures to fall into immediate panic.

Therefore, she usually lived within the East District branch, and every time she went out, she had to wear a thick doll suit. This was also the origin of her codename.

In the past, when communicating with others, she either used a signboard or typed on a communicator.

From a certain perspective, her curse was the opposite of her sister Li Yunyan's.

The commonality was that they both suffered.

But for some reason, Li Yelaie was not affected by their curses.

His sister's curse made her fear outsiders, but she was never afraid of Li Yelaie. Li Yelaie had thought it was because he was her blood-related brother that he was immune.

But now, he could even face the Doll's true visage.

'Is it because of Mr. Shadow? Because of His existence, I am not affected by these curses? Or is it something else?' Li Yelaie pondered internally before saying, "No, I didn't feel any fear at all."

"Very good." The investigator nodded. "It seems your curse resistance is extremely high!"

"Is that rare?" Li Yelaie ventured.

"Rare, extremely rare," the investigator replied. "But not unheard of. Curse resistance varies among psions of different paths, but there are those born with exceptionally high resistance. In a Megacity very far from us, there is a handler born with extremely high curse resistance. There are even natural anti-psions. They are essentially miracles of humanity."

'Then it seems I'm quite lucky,' Li Yelaie thought, feeling slightly relieved.

"Indeed, and this is also a good thing for the Doll." The investigator smiled. "You know her curse; she is too lonely. We all worry that she will be crushed by the loneliness and become distorted."

"Fortunately, you can now communicate with her normally. Therefore, headquarters hopes that you can interact and meet with the Doll more often. Don't let her become too isolated and depressed."

"From a personal standpoint, it's not a bad deal for you either."

Li Yelaie nodded. "I will."

"Very well, then I won't stay any longer." After standing up and shaking Li Yelaie's hand, the investigator left the room.

Li Yelaie fell into deep thought. He had already entered the sights of certain organizations, and with the power of Myriad Manifestations' Faceless, he would inevitably be noticed by them sooner or later.

They would either capture him for research or kill him to refine him into a psionic armament.

These were all threats; he had to become stronger immediately.

Furthermore, his sister couldn't stay in that old apartment forever. He had to come clean to her.

As he thought this, Li Yelaie pushed open his door, only to freeze.

Because standing outside the door was a snowman doll wearing a red cloak.

Noticing Li Yelaie coming out, the Doll raised her hand, and words appeared on her signboard.

[When are we eating? (*^▽^*)]