RPDH Chapter 10

The Rank C stopped walking in the middle of her musings.

The door ahead opened. A chandeliers dangled above the central table that occupied a fifth of the room. A lavish feast occupied the bronze table.

Ten black-robed individuals stood silently at either wall.

Qing Yuchen stood at the other end of the table, flashing her a polite but still somewhat arrogant smile.

“We were unsure of your tastes, esteemed guest, so we prepared a bit of everything.” He said as he approached.

So this man called Li Li away from Yi Ming just to curry favour with a meal?

Li Li smiled insincerely at the spread: sweet and salty, refreshing and greasy…she even spotted a plate of bright red peppers.

Why did she have a feeling that there was more than meets the eye?

The worldview of ‘Beyond Black and White’ was completely divested from reality, but regional cuisine differences and customs still existed. Different regions were under the control of different aristocrats. With those details in mind, Qing Yuchen most likely wanted to glean clues on her background based on her tastes.

If she really was a Rank A, logically speaking she couldn’t have flown completely under everyone’s radar.

Alas, she was a fake.

Li Li wasn’t nervous like before now that she knew the quirks to Qing Yuchen’s ability.

As long as it remained impossible for him to control her, her bigshot persona would remain intact.

Meaning she could act even bolder than before.

…

Qing Yuchen believed his humble act to be flawless, but his invited guest evidently disagreed.

The dark-haired young man slightly raised an eyebrow as he seemed to settle in for a show.

“Thank you then– did you really think I would say such a thing?” The young man’s raspy voice immediately changed tone.

Those pitch black irises pierced into him. Qing Yuchen suddenly felt like he had been seen through.

The grime that the young man had smeared across his own forehead to tease the mimic-type teen was still there, but it didn’t obscure his features at all. On the contrary, the black lines almost appeared like scars around the young man’s eyes and made him seem even more dangerous.

“What are you looking at?” The young man suddenly asked.

“I…” Qing Yuchen was not afforded an opportunity to respond.

Like the young man despised him from a fundamental level.

“Ah, I almost forgot.” The young man carelessly raised one hand.

With a snap of his fingers, the black mark and the bloodstains on his trenchcoat all vanished.

Gone in an instant like a gentle breeze.

An ability, Qing Yuchen thought.

This was definitely the work of an ability.

Mimic-type? Blood was still considered a biological substance after leaving the body. Spell-type? Water manipulation could accomplish such feats as well. Or did a domain directly separate the young man from foreign substances?

No, no, no! There wasn’t enough data to draw any conclusions yet!

Qing Yuchen’s thoughts raced as his irises shook uncontrollably. Then the dark-haired young man suddenly laughed.

He watched the young man step forward with his hands in his pockets, leaning over to whisper in his ear.

“You wanted to get to know me better, right?” Those pitch black eyes seemed to both be looking at Qing Yuchen and right through him.

It was at that moment that Qing Yuchen’s heart sank.

Some abilities could control other ability users. As someone who could read the thoughts and memories of ability users, Qing Yuchen understood the feeling of being in complete control all too well. To him, people were like open books, puppets that danced for his amusement.

When he viewed the memories of those he controlled, he could also sense how terrified they were of him. He’s never paid much mind because his ability was mind control, because he was always the one with the upper hand.

Now, he could suddenly empathize with those memories.

Just how much did he know?! Qing Yuchen subconsciously pursed his lips as his pupils dilated.

Did he find out how Qing Yuchen has been trying to test him? Or did he know that Qing Yuchen was secretly investigating his background?

Who the hell was he?!

Nothing on his ability, nothing on his past. The only potential clue was that mimic-type teen, but the two of them seemed to just have met!

Yet the young man withdrew his gaze and turned around a split second later.

“Just kidding. The dark-haired young man walked unhurriedly towards the door. “I’m going for a day or two. Remember to take care of Little Corgi.”

The black trenchcoat lifted slightly before disappearing around the corner.

The bronze door shut before his eyes.

Qing Yuchen slowly backed up a step, staring fixedly at the floor.

A joke?

No, how could that have been a joke??

That was clearly a warning! He knew everything Qing Yuchen had done!

“Sir, about Room 4…”

Qing Yuchen’s head snapped up to the Rank C man who had spoken.

His purple eyes were completely bloodshot.

…

After putting on an act in front of Qing Yuchen, Li Li left Tarnished Bronze entirely.

After learning a painful lesson from wasting two days of mall access, she would make the remaining four days count.

Because accumulating enough plot points would end the daily transmigration early, Li Li left Tarnished Bronze entirely to prevent that from happening. Whether she was successful or not in gaining an ability, she would return here to push the plot forward with Yi Ming on the final day.

The sky was somewhat overcast today, but it didn’t seem like it was going to rain.

Li Li never would have thought before coming here that she would be strolling unhurriedly out of Tarnished Bronze HQ like she was leaving the dorms to attend classes.

She glanced at the 10 popularity value item [Cleanse (one-time use)] she had just bought before exiting the mall.

Items related to ability usually retailed for 300 personality value. Unrelated ones that could provide other forms of specialized help went for around 100. Everything else that fell into neither category was much cheaper, like one time cleanse or this world’s currency, for example.

Li Li even saw fruit-flavoured candy in the mall for one popularity.

“Are you from out of town, youngster?” A middle-aged man asked as he joined her at the table in front of the breakfast stall.

Li Li bit into her soup-filled dumpling and ignored him.

The manhua’s soup-filled dumplings were also very different from those in the real world, mainly the filling. Science and technology took a backseat to ability research and development in this world, so the field of biology was highly advanced.

These dumplings were not filled with pork, but a squid pork mixture refined to possess both the bite of squid and the richness of pork.

Li Li turned down Qing Yuchen because it was just too troublesome to figure out which of the dishes was safe to eat. However, she still had to eat eventually.

‘System, can I take these with me back to the real world?’ Li Li asked mentally after having a taste.

[No.] The system cruelly shot her down.

It was unfortunate but to be expected. Li Li was getting the impression that the system was a purist. It distinguished completely between the 2D and 3D world. Even if there were things that could be bought in both worlds in the mall, like the fruit candies, it still wouldn’t allow them to be taken along.

However, Li Li also found this reassuring in a way. She didn’t want the world she had spent the last 19 years living in to become a mess either.

Each of her trips to the manhua world felt like a dream, like she had logged into some holographic game. There was an unshakeable sense that none of this was real. Yet when Li Li returned to the real world, that dissociation would vanish.

After all, that place was where she truly belonged.

Instead of being discouraged by her indifference, the middle-aged man kept going, “Are you here for tourism? This isn’t the most friendly place to ordinary people, ah. Who in the Empire doesn’t know about how chaotic Desolate Dragon is? This city boasts the highest number of illegal aliens in the nation.”

“This place is apparently attractive to ability users. You don’t need to register with the local authorities, the aristocrats seldom interfere, and there are few events requiring mandatory ‘donations’.”

He gulped down some of Desolate Dragon’s famous Dragon Soup before continuing, “Low-rank ability users often come to settle down here in search of stability. It’s not all a lie, even though our Warden is nowhere to be found…”

He waved two fingers in front of Li Li’s face. “The last time anyone saw him was two years ago.”

The manhua didn’t mention anything about that. Li Li finally spared this person a glance.

“Two years ago, a high-rank aristocrat tried to cause trouble here.” The man gestured excitedly. “It was quite the spectacle. The entire city was shaking!”

He continued before Li Li could even offer a perfunctory response, “Then the City Warden appeared and ended everything in an instant. There wasn’t even a corpse left behind of that aristocrat.”

Wow, so cool, Li Li thought.

If all of this was true, then the rumour about the Desolate Dragon City Warden being above Rank S might have some merit, albeit highly exaggerated.

“Yes, the City Warden is strong, but Desolate Dragon is still not safe.” The man concluded upon finishing his soup, “Those who come here hastily will only become merchandise for Tarnished Bronze. You’re new here, right? If you are an ability user, be sure to hide your ability well.”

That wasn’t a concern for Li Li, because she didn’t have an ability in the first place.

But she had to make it her concern, because she was here to start trouble.

There were two ways to obtain an ability: natural comprehension and bloodline inheritance. Li Li couldn’t use the latter method for obvious reasons, so she had to rely on ‘natural comprehension’.

The description in the manhua indicated a life or death situation/other major stimuli was necessary, so Li Li came out here to find trouble for herself.

So she asked, “And if I don’t hide it well?”

As soon as those words fell, the man stiffened. A split second later, almost all the other diners at the stall set down their bowls and chopsticks and looked this way.

Almost as if.

They had laid eyes on a defenseless lamb.

But in the western sphere of the 3D world, lambs were related to a certain symbol of the devil, ah.

Li Li thought with an impassive expression.