Chapter 246

Chapter 246: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

[Memory Fragment:]

“Xiao Mi, time to wake up.”

Opening her eyes, she saw rows of bars.

“Look, what’s this?”

Emily smiled as she pulled out a teddy bear from behind her back, though she hadn’t managed to hide it well from the start—the bear was even bigger than Mi Xiaoliu at the time.

She squeezed it through the gaps of the cage, making the already cramped space even more crowded.

Mi Xiaoliu hugged it in confusion and looked at the unfamiliar woman outside the cage, then suddenly bit down on the teddy bear’s ear and tore at it fiercely, even swallowing a chunk of the ear.

“You can’t eat this,” Emily said heartbrokenly, stopping her.

“From now on, you’ll sleep holding this.”

And so, she developed the habit of hugging something while sleeping.

[Memory End.]

……

……

“Xiao Mi, time to wake up.”

Today, it was Heli who came to wake her personally.

Mi Xiaoliu rubbed her eyes, let go of the limp teddy bear, and sat up.

“Do you remember me?”

Heli held her icy little hand.

Mi Xiaoliu climbed onto her lap from the bed and wrapped her arms around Heli’s neck.

“Do you remember your father’s name?” Heli asked again.

“Wei Shi, Ao…”

Mi Xiaoliu lowered her head, trying to recall Okulet’s name—not because she forgot but because she had never bothered to remember it.

Okulet standing outside the door: 💔

Heli sighed in relief and took out a test tube containing a turbid gray liquid with some white particles floating in it.

“Drink this.”

Mi Xiaoliu obediently complied.

It was bitter, with a strange taste—utterly disgusting.

Heli quickly handed her a lollipop.

She pinched the teddy bear: “If you like it, I’ll sew it up and you can take it with you.”

When Emily wasn’t around, Mi Xiaoliu had definitely gnawed on it plenty. Though the most obvious damage was the missing ear, the stuffing inside was almost entirely gone.

Holding Mi Xiaoliu, Heli waited quietly for ten minutes until she fell asleep again.

Then Heli shook her awake and handed her a water bottle: “Give me a urine sample.”

“Okay.”

Mi Xiaoliu climbed off her lap and was about to pull down her pants right in front of her.

Heli hesitated, then pushed her into the bathroom.

It was a bit tricky for a girl to use a water bottle.

After wiping with tissue, she handed the half-filled bottle of pale-yellow liquid to Heli.

The test results showed a significant drop in the Black Element index. After running several more checks, Heli finally let out a long sigh of relief and stretched her limbs.

“Two bottles a day, and she should fully recover in a month.”

“Fully recovered?” Okulet confirmed.

Just like that?

“Yes, fully recover,” Heli nodded.

As expected of herself—solving a problem that had plagued humanity for a century with such ease.

Of course, the main reason was that the Second Branch had plenty of ready-made materials, which made things much easier. Otherwise, she might have had to act like a quest-giving NPC in a game, asking Okulet to fetch something at every stage of research.

If that had been the case, given Xiao Mi’s physical condition, she probably wouldn’t have made it.

“Mass production is impossible, though. The main ingredient for the medicine is powdered ‘Star’.”

This was an extremely rare and non-renewable resource. Moreover, without Xiao Mi’s unique abilities, even Easter’s technology wouldn’t have been able to separate the energy from the Star’s ore.

A Star with energy is indestructible.

So, without Xiao Mi, even if Easter had someone more knowledgeable than Heli, it would have been impossible to develop the medicine in just a month.

With this definitive answer, both Okulet and Heli relaxed visibly.

Having witnessed Heli’s capabilities firsthand, Okulet began to wonder if she really could succeed in resurrection technology.

It had gone too smoothly. He had braced himself for an attack from Easter, but they hadn’t sent a single person.

Were they too scared to come? Had they lost too many top-tier fighters? Or had they genuinely not noticed?

The earlier discovery of the AI Black King was intriguing. As an artificial construct, was it really planning to betray them?

Moreover, he had suspected that Heli might replace the cure with inhibitors to secure funding from his wife. But now, it seemed he had misjudged her.

“Let’s head back straight away to avoid complications,” Okulet decided.

“Alright.”

Before leaving, Heli selected several pieces of equipment for Mi Xiaoliu to pack and take with them. Any one of these devices would cost hundreds of millions on the open market.

As they walked out, Mi Xiaoliu stared at the pavement tiles, which were only slightly larger than her shoes. She tiptoed carefully to avoid stepping on the cracks, stretching her arms out for balance.

Did she seem livelier than before?

Okulet recorded the moment, even though there was no signal to send it to his wife yet.

Though perhaps “livelier” wasn’t the right word.

Sasha cautiously tested: “Master, do you still remember me?”

“Yeah, Sasha.”

“What about Yiwen?” Sasha pressed.

“Husband,” Mi Xiaoliu replied.

Sasha fell silent for two seconds. If she had a physical body or a display screen, her expression would have twisted in agony.

“Then, Master, are you a boy or a girl?”

“Girl,” came the instant reply.

“Uh…”

System Panel:

[Current Name: Mi Xiaoliu / Misha Lasvedo]

[Gender: Female]

[Age: 13]

[Strength: Weak]

[Endurance: Weak]

[Stamina: Weak]

[…]

[Mental State: Partial Memory Loss, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder]

Originally, the second line under Mental State had been “Gender Identity Disorder.”

Every time she was resurrected, this flaw would reset.

When they reached the edge of the island, where they had arranged to meet the captain, they found the crew unharmed and unbothered.

A few sailors could be seen fishing by the shore, chatting idly. The litter on the ground suggested they had been living there for days.

After exchanging greetings, they followed the same procedure as before: first moving the ship away, then having Mi Xiaoliu retract the island into her system space from the submarine.

This moment was far more dangerous than releasing Shrimp Tail Island. The sudden disappearance of a landmass spanning dozens of kilometers would create a massive, temporary “sinkhole” in the ocean. Up close, it would look like waterfalls cascading inward to fill the void.

This was when Okulet’s abilities would be crucial to teleport them to safety.

The plan was sound, but when Mi Xiaoliu was about to retract Shrimp Tail Island, Okulet stopped her with a grave expression.

“What’s wrong?” Heli asked, puzzled.

“Danger,” Okulet frowned, activating the submarine’s radar.

“Change positions?” Heli assumed the angle of retraction might damage the submarine.

“Not that kind of danger. The kind that would harm Misha alone.”

“Huh?” This confused Heli.

But Okulet recognized this eerie sensation.

So that’s how it was. Lacking the confidence to confront him and Misha head-on, they had resorted to an open scheme to seize Shrimp Tail Island.

Losing Shrimp Tail Island meant Misha would lose a nuclear-level deterrent.

After hesitating for less than two seconds, Okulet made his decision.

“We’ll abandon the island. Let’s leave now.”

He acted swiftly, steering the submarine away. To reassure his daughter, he added, “When we get back, I’ll help you reach Silver rank in League of Legends.”

Mi Xiaoliu, currently Gold I: “…”

She lightly stamped her foot on Okulet’s toes, reminding him of his wife in her younger days.

“What about the Federation? This’ll put pressure on the boss’s votes.”

Okulet patted his daughter’s head with one hand. “I’ll tell them Misha’s going through a rebellious phase.”

Undoubtedly, the only person from Easter who could make him back down now was that one.

The self-proclaimed current Sixth Fractal.

Easter’s scheme was simple, just have her stand somewhere on the island. If Misha tried to retract it, the girl, as a living being, would plummet into the ocean. Given her abilities, Misha would inevitably bear the brunt of the damage—and Okulet would surely sense the danger.

An open ploy to seize Shrimp Tail Island.

Of course those bastards wouldn’t give up so easily.

But they had overlooked one thing—or perhaps they didn’t fully understand his abilities.

He avoided using his powers recklessly because he feared accidentally erasing innocent bystanders. His erasure range spanned sixty kilometers, but his intuition only covered a few dozen meters. Moreover, he had little awareness of the harm he might cause to himself.

But if he targeted the current Sixth Fractal, the backlash would hurt him directly.

So, he tested his abilities in various directions around Shrimp Tail Island, stopping just short of activating them. Based on the danger signals he sensed, he could roughly pinpoint the girl’s location.

And then…

There was a faint whoosh—something happened, but none of the three in the submarine could see what.

After putting some distance between them, they signaled the ship and were hauled aboard along with the submarine.

Only then did Okulet relax enough to explain the situation to Heli.

“A girl who attacked first? Don’t know her,” Heli shook her head.

Okulet lowered his head in thought.

As the Third Fractal, Heli should have known someone of that caliber. Did her lack of recognition mean Easter’s ranks were too vast, or was the girl an outsider?

Losing Shrimp Tail Island wasn’t just about the Federation’s reaction—it would also affect his wife’s campaign, as they had planned to use the island as leverage for votes.

After confirming there was no further danger, he finally connected to the network to share the good news with his wife, sending along the video of their daughter playing hopscotch.

Blooming Wealth: My darling 😘, hug her quick!

Okulet hugged a bewildered Mi Xiaoliu and sent another video.

Blooming Wealth: Gloria got into a fight at school. The school wants a parent to come in. I’ve been busy lately, so you handle it when you get back.

Ultra Father: Didn’t get along with her roommate? Is she hurt?

Blooming Wealth: No, but she got disciplinary action and had to pay a hefty fine.

Okulet had heard that the covert conflicts in girls’ dorms were intense—outwardly friendly, but with hidden knives, like razor blades tucked into towels.

So he had specifically warned Gloria to keep a low profile, not to buy expensive cosmetics, and never to flaunt her family’s wealth.

But Gloria had just snapped, “What’s with this ‘playing weak to crush others’ crap? Why should I suffer?” and ignored him.

Blooming Wealth: It wasn’t with her roommate—it was with a senior named A-Jiu.

Looks like there’d be more work after returning.

After getting more details from his wife, he checked the latest updates on Fanzui City’s most-wanted list.

The Evil Albatross was the original Fifth Fractal. Even with dementia, his powers hadn’t waned. Easter had no reason not to rescue him.

Okulet had a feeling the Evil Albatross might have breached Easter’s defenses.

……

……

On Shrimp Tail Island, atop a research institute at the edge.

“Ruined! This is just too much!”

Sherry slammed her lunchbox onto the ground, splattering braised pork rice all over her feet.

The ground was littered with empty lunchboxes and instant noodle containers, suggesting she had been here for days—perhaps even since Shrimp Tail Island first appeared, living right next to Mi Xiaoliu and the others.

“Yeah, way too much,” the Weapons Master echoed, clinging to a lamppost as he gazed into the distance.

The once-thriving Shrimp Tail Island was now barren. The entire city looked as if an invisible blade had shaved off its edges, leaving only basements and first floors behind—a sight both awe-inspiring and chilling.

Only their immediate surroundings remained intact.

Clearly, even while abandoning the island, the Little Demon King had no intention of leaving its resources intact for them.

“How could he do this? Does he even realize what he erased? There were seeds of extinct plants in there! Do you know how much good those could’ve done for humanity? What if one of them could cure a terminal illness? Can he take that responsibility?”

Sherry was heartbroken.

Absolutely despicable.

“Yeah, what a scumbag,” the Weapons Master agreed, scanning the Second Branch’s “crew-cut” landscape. “Let’s search. Some things might still be salvageable. I remember…”

After a long search, they reached the lab where Heli had developed the Black Element cure. In this altered terrain, even former Second Branch members could get lost—there were hardly any landmarks left.

The lab hadn’t been spared either. The first-floor walls were reduced to half their height, with exposed wires crackling dangerously.

The Weapons Master led Sherry down the hallway.

“Black King?”

No response.

This was their main reason for reclaiming Shrimp Tail Island. With all AI systems down, their only hope was that the former Sixth Fractal had preserved something from the Second Branch.

The Weapons Master stared at the empty room, deep in thought.

Truly empty—no walls, no floor tiles, nothing.

So they had found Black King.

And yet, despite being discovered, it hadn’t sent a signal to headquarters. This AI…

“Stop staring. If we hurry, we might still catch up,” Sherry tugged at the Weapons Master’s sleeve.

He didn’t budge.

“It’s pointless now.”

“Then what do we do?”

Sherry slumped against a wall, grinding her teeth audibly.

That little bitch.

“The Evil Albatross escaped a week ago,” the Weapons Master said.

“Who?”

“An old-timer. You wouldn’t know him.”

He pulled out a brick-like phone and showed her the wanted poster: “Also, the Hanged Woman—a woman with a terrifying ability.”

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