Chapter 197
by Need_More_SleepChapter 197: Hypnosis
A vacant room on the fourth floor.
Upon entering and looking up, the suitcase was immediately visible.
It had been stuck to the ceiling near the doorway with a large amount of strong adhesive tape, briefly hidden using an optical illusion.
Too obvious. This kind of trick was something he’d stopped playing by the age of eight. A slightly closer look would reveal it—especially since the ceiling was pale yellow, the suitcase was blue, and the adhesive tape was yellow.
It was only because the four-story villa had so many rooms that no one had searched here yet. Meanwhile, his ability to sense life signs allowed him to know exactly where Gloria had spent the most time last night.
Bracing himself against the doorframe, he reached up and tore the suitcase down.
It was somewhat heavy.
The password was set to 0000, but it didn’t open.
Nikita wrapped his hand in his clothes to avoid leaving fingerprints on the lock. He tried a few possible passwords Gloria might have set, and finally succeeded with 0201.
Misha’s birthday. Simple and easy to guess.
Inside, the suitcase was packed with foam padding to prevent impact damage. Nestled in the center was a cylindrical container—clearly premeditated.
The container held a colorless, transparent liquid, in which floated a small human forearm bone, about the size of a child’s.
Shaking his head, Nikita closed the suitcase and used his clothes again to reset the password to 0000.
Sensing that the Chairwoman was interacting with Mi Xiaoliu on the first floor, he called out, “I found the suitcase, sister-in-law.”
“You bastard!” Gloria, who had been on the second floor, appeared before him in an instant, glaring furiously. “Traitor.”
She reached for the suitcase, but Nikita dodged.
Grabbing her arm, he threw the suitcase toward the open window, where ivy vines outside stretched out to catch it.
“You must have no friends,” Gloria said coldly, not bothering to break free.
“Wrong. I actually have quite a few,” Nikita replied expressionlessly.
“Like you, many people are willing to indulge your antics. The people around you might seem friendly, but that’s not because they’re naturally kind—it’s because your mother is rich, and they don’t dare cross you. They just want to stay on your good side.”
“What’s this? A lecture just because you’re pissed?”
“Did your father ever tell you how his ability awakened?” Nikita controlled the ivy to coil around the suitcase, slowly passing it down floor by floor.
The prerequisite for the Lasvedo family’s ability to record matter was, first, the capacity to “see,” and only then the ability to “endure.”
As a child, Gloria had nearly blinded herself trying to record light, but at least that still counted as something she could “see.”
“No child in the Lasvedo family had as comfortable a childhood as yours. Your father grew up in a small-town elementary school in Fanzui City—no one there knew he was a young master.”
“You think my childhood was comfortable?” Gloria shook off his grip but made no move to chase the suitcase.
Nikita ignored her remark. “Back then, he was just like he is now—quiet, rarely showing emotion. His classmates avoided him, and even his teachers gave him nicknames.”
Given his current status, it was hard to imagine.
This was also why Okulet’s relationship with the old man was strained. Both the Black and Lasvedo families shared the belief that “to become a hero, one must suffer from childhood.”
They’d toss their children into high-crime or economically depressed cities, sometimes providing only the bare minimum for survival each month.
Then, once those children had risen above their past, the elders would expect gratitude for the suffering they’d endured. This philosophy was passed down through generations.
Maybe there was some truth to it, but Okulet hated it. At the very least, he refused to treat his daughters that way. He believed children should have some choice in the matter.
“He fantasized about having a friend who didn’t exist in reality… Maybe it would’ve been better for you to accept the old man’s way of raising you.”
“…”
Ignoring Gloria, who seemed even more vexed, Nikita headed straight downstairs.
He sensed that the person he was assigned to protect had left.
When he reached the first floor, he immediately saw the Chairwoman holding a plush toy, Nuomi lying on the floor covering their eyes, and the group of bodyguards standing nearby.
Something unpleasant must have happened here, but his job was only to ensure physical safety—not to tend to anyone’s feelings.
“The one you’re protecting got driven off by me,” the Chairwoman remarked coolly.
That kid had guts.
Not in a complimentary way. If anything, it only reminded her of the time the kid had attacked the school doctor.
“Hostile” was the better word.
After being slapped, the kid had even dared to try hitting back. Fortunately, not all bodyguards were as useless as Nikita.
Even excluding her husband, her bodyguards combined were enough to hold their own against an LV5.
“Yeah, I’ll catch up to him soon,” Nikita replied indifferently, handing her the suitcase.
“He needs an LV4 like you as a personal bodyguard?” The Chairwoman guessed the password effortlessly, confirming the contents were intact.
“He’s… special.”
Leaving it at that vague remark, Nikita walked out. Instead of taking a car, he hopped onto his modified motorcycle—standard issue for an ESP officer—and chased after his charge.
He could still sense her nearby. As long as she was within seven kilometers, she was still under his protection.
“Shen Qing, have someone look into that kid again,” the Chairwoman ordered.
Not that she particularly cared.
The only ability she cared about was self-healing, and Mi Xiaoliu’s peculiarities—like single-handedly taking down the LV5 Electronic Virus—had nothing to do with her LV3 Cellular Regeneration.
The Chairwoman placed the plush toy back in its original spot, crouched down, and patted Nuomi. “Good job. You’ll get extra treats when we get back.”
Nuomi: “…”
There existed a certain type of golden retriever in this world that found its owner a bit slow.
A while later, Shen Qing came up empty-handed.
The federal database hadn’t updated any information on Mi Xiaoliu. Worse, all online discussions about her were encrypted at LV5 clearance.
An LV5 at 13 years old?
No sane person would believe that.
So, to the authorities, this kid was more important than she’d thought?
The Chairwoman called Heli.
Honestly, Heli wasn’t thrilled to pick up.
Last time the Chairwoman called, Heli had rushed straight to the forest—only to get another call late at night saying she could turn back because Gloria had been found.
It was exactly the kind of move a shady boss would pull, assigning extra tasks through private work chats.
Still, Heli hadn’t returned immediately. The other side of the forest was the meteorite crater. While it wasn’t directly relevant to her main research, it could still offer some insights into Black Elements.
Easter had branches near every crater, though most had probably relocated by now—the Little Demon King had recently wiped out several exposed outposts.
“How nice. Your adopted son’s abilities have caught the attention of federal authorities,” the Chairwoman said, her tone laced with sarcasm.
Back then, Heli had described the subject as just some insignificant test specimen.
“Well, mainly because he was one of Easter’s test subjects. He knows things about Easter. You’ve noticed how the Feds have been cracking down on them lately, right? A shady organization hiding under their noses for so long isn’t something they can ignore.”
Heli carefully weighed what she could disclose. Not a single word she said was a lie.
“I told you before—Easter infiltrated the federal ranks to some degree. Now’s their chance to root out some of the rot.”
That much was true. Higher-ups were indeed suspicious of each other, though they weren’t using Mi Xiaoliu as bait. Why would they risk their “miracle herb production machine”?
Not that Heli needed to point any of this out.
“Your son tried to take my daughter’s memento.” That was the real reason for this call.
Heli fell silent.
“I hope it’s the last time.”
————————
Memory Fragment: 【】
Memory Fragment: 【】
Memory Fragment: 【】
……
Using her limited access, Sasha browsed through the memory fragments Mi Xiaoliu had drawn. Most were from her time at Easter—the happiest moments being when the white-haired auntie visited her and when the prison girl told her stories.
Blank memories made up a staggering 236 slots. A terrifying number.
Of course, “terrifying” wasn’t referring to the monetary value—as if those forgotten memories added up to 20,000 mira.
Memory fragments had no fixed duration—some were as short as half a minute, while others spanned several hours.
Among the directly recallable fragments, not a single one involved her former family.
Not one.
Whether painful or joyful, none existed. There wasn’t even a scene where a teacher or classmate called her Misha, which was why her current self still didn’t realize that Misha was her.
What this implied was already obvious…
If initially, it was her own stubbornness that kept her master away from that woman, now she genuinely didn’t dare let her master remember who she really was—because she herself didn’t want to know.
Sasha still remembered, Misha was a child who could smile. Mi Xiaoliu couldn’t.
She was just a system sprite. She couldn’t even bypass her master to tell those people to treat her better.
Just like back in Fanzui City, black-clad figures roamed the streets—but they were no longer fugitives or assassins, and there was no longer a loyal little White Whale fan following behind them.
“Xiaoliu!”
But there was Yiwen.
Intercepting her mid-air, Yiwen caught her in a hug.
In Sunshine City, people flying around or swinging like Spider-Man were common, but few leaped between skyscrapers the way Mi Xiaoliu did.
This wasn’t some dedicated parkour zone. The distance between buildings was enormous, yet someone could just jump across?
Yiwen had encountered someone with abilities similar to hers—someone who’d even robbed an armored transport vehicle. Though somewhat curious, she didn’t linger after the ambulance arrived. She had more important matters to attend to.
Her girlfriend had been taken away by some blond guy. If she didn’t act fast, her pure yuri romance might turn into an NTR mess!
Not that she could be blamed for thinking this way—that bodyguard was just plain suspicious.
Mi Xiaoliu remained motionless, letting Yiwen hold her.
“Where’s that bodyguard? Did he do anything to you?” Yiwen asked anxiously, her hands slipping under the other’s clothes, groping around.
If they weren’t in public, she’d have stripped Mi Xiaoliu right then to inspect her.
Her newly minted girlfriend—so far, she’d only gotten to hug her and sneak peeks at her underwear.
Mi Xiaoliu shook her head, burying her face in Yiwen’s chest, staying perfectly still.
Yiwen recognized this: the “Mi Xiaoliu-style sulk.”
“What’s wrong?” Yiwen panicked further. “Did he bully you?”
“Bad woman bullied me,” Mi Xiao replied, touching her cheek.
“She hit you? Which bad woman dared bully my Xiaoliu?” Yiwen fumed. “I’ll beat her up for you.”
Mi Xiaoliu shook her head.
Yiwen couldn’t beat the bad woman.
The bad woman had lots of mean bodyguards.
She knew how strong they were—she’d run into them while stealing dream servers before.
“Tell me, who was it? Don’t act like some bullied romance novel heroine,” Yiwen shook her lightly.
Mi Xiaoliu would tell her things but refused to name the bully.
Still silent.
Yiwen didn’t dare press further. If she pushed while Mi Xiaoliu was upset, what if she started crying?
“Then what about your bodyguard? Did he just watch?” Yiwen scanned the skies but saw no one who looked like a bodyguard.
What kind of joke was this? An elite government-assigned bodyguard, and when his charge got bullied, he was nowhere to be seen? In ancient times, he’d have been dunked in a pig cage.
She’d have to complain to her mom later—get the police to replace him.
Useless bastard. She’d do a better job herself.
Unbeknownst to her, the very bodyguard she was cursing was now within 300 meters, quietly eavesdropping on their conversation, choosing not to approach yet.
He had no means of sustained flight.
Frustrated but with no outlet, Yiwen sighed.
“Let’s go home first. I’ll treat you to something delicious—whatever you want.”
Angry or not, sulky Mi Xiaoliu still needed comforting.
“Mmm.”
Yiwen sensed she wasn’t much happier.
“Xiaoliu, look.”
Yiwen pulled out her phone, showing off cringey old clips of herself—including an embarrassing rap performance—to cheer her up.
[Rap:] “I’m Liang Zhichao’s granny, cooking with my cane…”
Mi Xiaoliu’s attention was successfully diverted. She’d never seen this side of Yiwen.
With Mi Xiaoliu guiding her, Yiwen managed the trip home without getting lost, alternating between comforting and coaxing her along the way. Long-distance flight with Mi Xiaoliu in tow? She’d already mastered that back in the forest.
“Xiaoliu, look here.” Yiwen produced a pocket watch, eager to show off her newly “acquired” skills.
Sadly, not time-slowing—just some shady tricks learned from online videos.
“Keep your eyes on this watch.” Yiwen swayed it rhythmically. “From now on, you’ll obey my commands…”
Mi Xiaoliu stared blankly.
Thinking she’d succeeded, Yiwen immediately issued an order: “Tell me, which nasty woman bullied my Xiaoliu?”
Mi Xiaoliu turned away.
…Hypnosis failed?
Yiwen felt awkward.
Sasha, ever the veteran at comforting their master, facepalmed internally. This dumb white-haired girl finally got her cheered up—why bring it up again?
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll ignore you,” Yiwen pretended to sulk.
“Chairwoman,” Mi Xiao recalled Heli’s term for the bad woman.
Fake anger worked wonders.
“…Huh?”
Yiwen processed this. “Our school’s chairwoman?”
“Mmm.”
Yiwen had always thought the chairwoman was decent.
She still had her contact info—time for some angry questioning.
Wait. The chairwoman and Mi Xiaoliu?
Yiwen felt like she’d grasped something, yet nothing concrete.
Somehow, she sensed a connection between Mi Xiaoliu and the chairwoman but couldn’t pinpoint it.
Just as she opened her contacts, “Uncle Humpback Whale” called.
“What? I already took the day off,” Yiwen grumbled. “If it’s about the statement, can’t it wait?”
“Little White Whale, you’re certain you killed the Red Prince, right?”
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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