Chapter 137: Aberrant 27

Qian dragged the Peach Wood Sword along as she found her two little companions. They were crouched beside the stiffened Li Dashao, poking at his body.

“Is he dead?”

“He is. Hmph, he got off easy!”

Qian didn’t understand what they were saying but crouched beside them anyway.

Seeing them poking at Li Dashao, she curiously joined in, giving him a prod with her wooden sword. The grayed, faded body of Li Dashao crumbled into a pile of ash under the sword’s tip.

Qian quickly hid the Peach Wood Sword behind her back, shook her head, and said guiltily, “It wasn’t me who broke him.”

Muriel and Harriet tilted their heads at her, then burst into laughter.

“The bad puppy’s gone. Let’s go play by ourselves.”

“It’s no fun here. Let’s go outside—there’s still so many fun toys out there!”

The two of them pulled Qian along as they ran out of Tianzi Building.

The bats they had summoned earlier to chase Li Dashao were now hanging upside down from the eaves. As the girls ran, the bats squeaked and flew after them, immediately catching Qian’s attention.

Dragged forward by the two girls in skirts, Qian looked up and shouted, “Bats! Bats! I want to play with the bats!”

Her pointing was obvious, and Muriel casually reached out and grabbed one, stuffing it into Qian’s hand.

The bat was tiny, furry, with two little red eyes. It looked a bit like a mouse. Its thin membrane wings flapped a couple of times in Qian’s hand, but she gripped it tightly, and it let out a pitiful squeak—nowhere near as terrifying or arrogant as when it had been drinking blood earlier.

Not wanting to hinder her play, Qian looped the tassel of the Peach Wood Sword around her wrist like carrying a bag. Since she was small, the sword’s tip dragged along the ground.

Now with her hands free, Qian spread the bat’s wings with her fingers, happily showing it to her friends. She also squished its soft belly, making it squeak even more.

Seeing how much she liked it—smiling so wide her teeth showed, her eyes curving like little moons—the two girls caught a few more unfortunate bats for her to play with.

Qian held one in each hand, then two in one hand, and even tossed them into the air like tiny birds, cheering when they flew away successfully.

And just like that, while playing with bats, she was led out of Tianzi Building by Muriel and Harriet.

Due to the Domain Fusion with Blood Castle, the streets outside Tianzi Building had turned strange and bizarre.

A large fountain had appeared outside. When Qian saw it, she immediately ran over to splash in the water. Though Muriel and Harriet didn’t think it was all that fun, Qian refused to leave, so they sat bored on the side and waited.

Once she’d finally had enough, an impatient Harriet scooped her up and ran.

Harriet, who looked like a doll herself, holding the even smaller Qian in her arms, made for a particularly adorable sight—but the Outer Zone Players hiding nearby didn’t see it that way.

They had fled the demons of Blood Castle and come here, only to find that two little demons had followed them.

“Qian, let’s keep playing hide-and-seek. This time, the three of us will be the seekers.”

As for who would hide—there were plenty of people cowering nearby. They could find them all, one by one!

Even though they didn’t speak the same language, children often didn’t need words to play happily together.

Qian was pulled along by Harriet and Muriel, occasionally being led into some random house on the street or having a door suddenly pushed open—behind which someone would inevitably scream.

In the quiet, eerie streets, strange invisible monsters lurked at every turn. Footsteps approached, accompanied by the children’s clear, sweet voices and cheerful giggles.

A brown-haired Outer Zone Player was curled up inside an old cabinet, trying to stay still, but his trembling made the wood creak.

They’re going to find me! They’re going to kill me! he thought in terror.

“Is it here?”

“It’s here, oh yes!”

“Hahahaha!”

“Heehee, what’s hiding in here?”

“A poor big bear, trembling in fear.”

“Hahahaha!”

…

Qian couldn’t understand what her friends were saying, but she chimed in with laughter whenever they spoke, joyfully playing “hide-and-seek” with her companions.

Every time they found someone hiding in a corner, that person would either faint with a thud or walk off dazed after being bitten.

One person even tried to hide in the lake. The lake came from a garden corner fused in from Blood Castle, covered with blooming purple lotuses.

Drawn by the beautiful flowers, Qian went to the edge of the lake to pick some. Lifting a lily pad, she came face to face with a man hiding underwater—startling them both.

Frightened, Qian turned and dove into Harriet’s arms. Muriel laughed and dragged the man out of the lake. “Hiding here, huh? Not bad. We’ll make you our Blood Servant.”

“Qian is so clever! Even found someone hiding here!” Harriet cradled Qian’s cheeks and gave her a loud kiss on her soft, puffy face.

Qian didn’t understand what she meant, but hearing her name, she looked up at the soaking man, scratched her cheek, and went back to picking lotuses.

To Harriet and Muriel, the familiar garden had become strange and new, and that made it even more fun. The three children held hands and continued their games in this new “amusement park.”

Unknowingly, they wandered farther and farther from Tianzi Building.

On a wind-sheltered street a good distance from Tianzi Building, Vice President Cui and team member Magpie Shuhang sat together. Opposite them sat the five members of the Judgers.

“So Vice President Cui wants to cooperate with us?” the leader, Angel, confirmed.

The teenager behind him scoffed, “All bark and no bite—now suddenly looking for help? Tch.”

“Scorpio,” Angel said with a glance, and only then did the boy reluctantly shut his mouth.

Across from them, Vice President Cui looked grim, but since he was the one needing help right now, he didn’t argue.

Before entering the Monster Domain, killing the Aberrant had mostly been about face and securing power within the Association. But now, killing her and stopping her evolution had become a pressing matter.

According to the Association’s monitoring, the Aberrant hadn’t changed much over the past decade. But recently, she had clearly mutated and begun to evolve. Compared to the data the Association team retrieved three or four weeks ago, her abilities had significantly strengthened.

This time, in just a short battle, two team members were devoured, and the sense of crisis Vice President Cui felt was overwhelming.

She must not be allowed to continue evolving!

“You should give it some serious thought. The bosses of these strange Domains are the common enemy of all Players. Only by containing them can we carve out more space for survival. Sure, there are frictions between the Judgers and the Association, but those are internal matters. In situations like this, we should be standing united.”

The Judgers gave no response to the Association’s usual rhetoric. Clearly, they were waiting for something more substantial.

Vice President Cui had no choice but to continue, “As long as you agree to cooperate this time, I can revoke the Association’s bounty on you.”

“Even if you don’t revoke it, no one could kill us and claim that bounty anyway,” Scorpio couldn’t help blurting out the truth.

Everyone knew the Association’s long bounty list, whether targeting the Judgers or the Pyramid, was largely useless—a mere formality. Barely two bounties had been fulfilled in an entire year.

“We want high-level items. And control over an A-level Domain,” Angel demanded.

Domains that the Association had downgraded could gradually become safe zones under their control and were used to train new members.

“Impossible!”

“Then there’s nothing more to discuss.”

“…I can authorize handing over control of a B-level Domain.”

Back and forth they went, negotiating terms until they finally reached a tentative agreement. Angel added one last condition: “One more thing. Have your Association go all out to hunt down Black Rabbit of the Pyramid. He’s quite the thorn in your side, isn’t he? On this point, we’ll fully cooperate.”

Neither side noticed the two small bats hanging in the shadows under a nearby eave.

“Are those three over there the food that escaped from Qian’s mother?”

“Looks like it. What are they talking about?”

On another street, Harriet and Muriel exchanged a look and saw the same spark of interest in each other’s eyes.

Up to now, they’d only encountered useless Players who were scared of them—no fun at all. But these people looked like they might be more entertaining.

Just as the Judgers’ five-person squad and the three from the Association reached a cooperation agreement, Scorpio, joking with his teammates, casually said, “Bingo!”

Harriet and Muriel, listening in through the small bats, lit up with excitement: “This one speaks our language! Let’s catch him and use him as a translator!”

So, when Scorpio wandered off from the group alone to deal with personal business, he was unsurprisingly captured by the two little vampires.

“What the hell are you freaks?! Let go of me!” Scorpio cursed loudly.

The three kids squatted in front of him. Harriet ordered him to translate for her, but Scorpio, who wasn’t exactly a stellar student, only understood two words and kept on cursing.

Harriet and Muriel were furious—this guy couldn’t even speak their language!

So, in their irritation, the twins turned Scorpio into a Blood Servant.

The temporary alliance of Judgers and the Association decided to head to Tianzi Building tonight to deal with Aberrant. It was currently daytime, and they were still far from the building. With no threatening anomalies nearby, everyone was relatively relaxed during this rest period.

When Scorpio didn’t return for a while, they all assumed he had wandered off to explore. When he finally came back, head down and silent, no one found it odd—he’d been quiet and sullen ever since the death of his friend Tianping.

“Scorpio, stop wandering around. Come sit down and rest. We’ll be heading to Tianzi Building tonight,” Mirror called out to him.

Scorpio walked toward her. By the time Mirror sensed something was wrong, it was already too late. His fanged mouth opened wide before her eyes.

“Aaaahhh!”

Blood splattered. In an instant, the once-quiet corner of the street erupted into chaos.

The team of eight was suddenly down to six. They didn’t even see where the enemy was.

“On guard! Activate the barrier! Go check if Mirror can be saved!” Angel shouted.

As the group scrambled, the three children ran off hand-in-hand.

Qian followed her companions, listening to them whisper and scheme. Left to herself, she picked flowers, tucking them into her collar, her pockets, and on her head, turning herself into a walking flower basket.

When the other two grabbed her hands and pulled her along, she followed them, flowers and all, laughing with them—without understanding at all what they were laughing about.