Chapter 4: A Total Moron; Yun Zhou: It’s as easy as pie, as easy as pie…

“What is your name?”

Black Swan put away the sleek black pistol, tucking it into her waistband. The handgun instantly collapsed into a small cube, appearing to be made of some kind of memory metal.

She walked up to Yun Zhou with a bright, friendly smile and asked the question.

“Yun… Yun Zhou.”

Yun Zhou stared blankly at this woman, the Council Chairman of the Seven-District Council whom he had only ever seen on the news. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, and his ears and tail began to twitch nervously.

The young protagonist snapped to attention, giving a salute as crisp and clean as he had during his freshman military training: “My name is Yun Zhou!”

Liu Ming shot him a look of pure disgust, while Du Shui sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

“Good, good, good! You’ve got spirit!” Black Swan didn’t look surprised. She paused for a moment, and then her smile grew even more radiant. “Come with me for a moment.”

Yun Zhou’s back straightened even further. Please, this was the most powerful Corrector in the world, the leader of humanity! He had finally made it!

Black Swan turned to leave, then stopped as if suddenly remembering something. “That girl from the Third District, and little Ming of the Liu Family, you two come along as well.”

Du Shui’s expression became very strained the moment Black Swan mentioned the “Third District.”

Liu Ming noticed this, but there were more important matters at hand. He narrowed his eyes. As the heir to the Liu Family, he didn’t view Black Swan through the same rose-tinted filters as Yun Zhou. He wasn’t excited by the Council Chairman’s favor; instead, he began to wonder why the Council Chairman was summoning three students from the Tree Tower Academy in the middle of the night.

Scorching Ghost was a powerful Anomaly ranked in the top fifty. He had endured years in the World Tree prison without being fully corrected, only to find an opportunity to escape and burn down an entire street. His words were certainly enough to warrant the Council Chairman’s attention, but given that attention, what would she do?

This concerned Yun Zhou’s future, as well as his own and that of the Liu Family. In an instant, Liu Ming’s mind constructed a map of the shifting political landscape in the First District. Which factions would move, and which needed to be courted further—it all formed a perfect spreadsheet in his mind by instinct.

What would Black Swan do? If Grandfather were facing this situation right now, how would he respond?

Liu Ming pondered this as he followed behind Du Shui and Yun Zhou.

The bullet chat offered no clues either. Liu Ming could only speculate based on his grandfather’s impressions of the Council Chairman. In the eyes of the Liu Family head, Chairman Black Swan was a difficult and capricious figure. But no matter how difficult she was…

She surely wouldn’t call an emergency meeting of the Seven-District Council over this, would she?

Liu Ming watched the private hovering tram Black Swan had summoned, and a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.

“Madam Council Chairman.”

The olive-drab tram, possessing a certain vintage military aesthetic, glided along the suspended tracks weaving between the skyscrapers of the First District and came to a halt before them. The carriage doors slid open, revealing an elegant, smiling face that bore a slight resemblance to Liu Ming’s.

The man wore a sophisticated black tailcoat uniform. His smile was warm and gentle, and his legs were fitted with exquisite metal auxiliary braces. The moment he saw Liu Ming, a flash of casual contempt flickered in the depths of those blood-red eyes—eyes identical to Liu Ming’s own.

Liu Ming’s expression instantly soured.

It was Liu Chuan, his second older brother. He was also Chairman Black Swan’s most capable assistant and the Secretary of the Seven-District Council.

Due to inheritance issues, Liu Ming was on terrible terms with every member of the Liu Family except for his grandfather. Liu Chuan was the worst of the lot. Despite being several years older, the man was like a lunatic, using every means at his disposal to trip Liu Ming up whenever possible.

He was even willing to damage the Liu Family’s interests to do so.

Now, seeing the man arch an eyebrow, Liu Ming knew that whatever came out of his mouth next would not be pleasant.

“Madam Council Chairman, please.”

Liu Chuan glanced at Liu Ming and then casually looked away. Just as Liu Ming, controlled by the Plot Strings, looked down on Yun Zhou, Liu Chuan utterly despised his youngest brother, despite the boy being Grandfather’s favorite.

“Well? Any new discoveries?”

Black Swan spoke up, breaking the strange atmosphere in the tram. She sat down casually in a seat of her choosing and looked up at Liu Chuan.

“Yes, Madam Council Chairman.”

Liu Chuan glanced at Liu Ming again. “I have just returned from the bottom levels of the World Tree prison. I discovered that there was a problem with Scorching Ghost’s cell. Someone deactivated the spiritual power lock on his cage in advance. In other words—Scorching Ghost didn’t break through the World Tree’s defense mechanisms from the inside. Someone intentionally let him out.”

Yun Zhou blinked, his thoughts immediately swept away by Liu Chuan’s words. “You mean someone let Scorching Ghost out on purpose?”

Liu Ming could practically feel Du Shui’s gaze beside him turning sharp and cold.

The only people with access to the World Tree prison were the Council led by Black Swan and the administrators of the First District—the Liu Family. Following Liu Chuan’s logic, the fact that Liu Ming, who was supposed to be away recovering from an illness, had appeared before Yun Zhou and Du Shui was suspicious beyond belief.

If they weren’t standing in front of Chairman Black Swan, he would have released his Spiritual Body¹ right then and there to maul this bastard Liu Chuan to death.

“I’ll have someone investigate this thoroughly. Liu Chuan, do something for me first.”

Just as Liu Ming was trying to figure out how to explain himself, Black Swan spoke again at the perfect moment, breaking the silence. She gave Liu Chuan a deep look, one that seemed like a warning mixed with a sigh over the squabbling between the Liu brothers. “Help me convene a meeting of the Seven-District Council at The Tower.”

Before Liu Ming could even think of how to get back at Liu Chuan, he heard Black Swan drop that casual command.

He checked the time on his phone: 3:56 AM.

Four in the morning. She was calling a meeting of the Seven-District Council. Was she expecting the administrators of all seven human districts to show up just to watch the sunrise?

Liu Ming’s lip twitched. She truly was the capricious powerhouse his grandfather had described.

A strange, uncomfortable sensation of being watched crept up from behind him. Liu Ming jerked his head around, his gaze colliding with a pair of eyes as deep as the ocean.

They were water-blue with crimson pupils, reminiscent of the legendary ghost fires that burned upon the seas of the Third District. They were eerie, possessing a drowning quality that seemed to drag one down into the abyss.

Du Shui, one of Yun Zhou’s best friends and the only fellow Corrector at the Tree Tower Academy whose background Liu Ming hadn’t managed to uncover, was currently watching him in silence.

That gaze was flat and clinical, as if she were inspecting a mere object.

【Misunderstanding Points +50】

As T231’s notification chimed, Liu Ming let out a soft sigh.

He was doomed. He had no idea what kind of scenario Du Shui was inventing in her head, but it had to be something outrageous for the Misunderstanding Points to spike that much.

The moment Liu Ming Chuan uttered those suggestive words, these two members of the protagonist’s party, Du Shui and Yun Zhou, were bound to believe that the midnight Scorching Ghost encounter was his doing.

While he didn’t particularly care whether the protagonist’s group liked him or not, being framed for something he didn’t do was still incredibly irritating.

He turned his gaze toward Yun Zhou, prepared to extract more Misunderstanding Points from the protagonist himself, only to find that Yun Zhou wasn’t focused on him like Du Shui was. Instead, he was staring intently at Liu Ming’s hospital gown.

“What are you looking at?”

Liu Ming spoke up, his tone laced with annoyance. Was there some secret to saving the world written on his hospital gown?

To his surprise, Yun Zhou offered a somewhat nervous smile. “Ah… I was just thinking, so you really were sick.”

He was referring to the rumors circulating back at the Tree Tower Academy regarding Liu Ming’s leave of absence. Some said Liu Ming was hospitalized for a simple cold; others claimed he had retreated to the Liu Family to cultivate in seclusion after being repeatedly thwarted by Yun Zhou. The most ridiculous rumor suggested Yun Zhou had beaten him half to death, forcing an emergency admission to the ICU.

Yun Zhou wasn’t foolish enough to believe every rumor, but he hadn’t expected Liu Ming to actually be hospitalized.

After all… the young master had seemed plenty energetic whenever he was busy making trouble for him.

Liu Ming suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. “I don’t have time to invent boring rumors to deceive you.”

He really had suffered a major illness a few days ago. It was because of that illness that he had started seeing the bullet-chat comments and learned the truth about the world. For that, he was almost grateful.

“So, how is your illness? Are you still feeling unwell?”

Yun Zhou’s words caused Liu Ming to freeze involuntarily.

Liu Ming looked at the boy. Yun Zhou’s golden eyes were filled with nothing but sincerity, and even… genuine worry.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Liu Ming’s fingertips trembled beneath the sleeve of his oversized hospital gown. He suddenly realized that in all the time he had spent in this ward, this was the first expression of concern he had received.

Before Yun Zhou, no one had uttered a single word of care regarding his condition.

Not even his grandfather.

Translator’s Notes