Hua Yizhi’s resolve was wavering. He feared the young man before him, but also trusted him for some reason.
He had been searching for the young man since he disappeared after the huge upset two days ago. Only today did his efforts bear fruit. He hurried over right away.
Yet once he was actually standing face to face with the man himself, his fear returned with a vengeance.
The oppressive impression this Rank A ability user had left on him in the casino last time was just too strong. Hua Yizhi’s ability had no effect and his space was wantonly invaded. Not to mention that insane killing intent…
He would never be able to forget the look in this man’s eyes for the rest of his life. The promise of brutal violence that even sunglasses could not obscure, as if he was ready to crush Hua Yizhi under that darkness in the next second.
Now, bereft of his sunglasses, the Rank A ability user’s pitch black eyes lightly glanced his way, transporting Hua Yizhi back to that terrifying night where his life had been on the line.
Every hair on his body stood on end as he took in this powerhouse’s faint smile.
It was as if a savage beast had its eyes on him and was currently evaluating his worth.
“Tide? Leader?” The Rank A ability user playfully asked.
The silver-white mask was radiant under the sunlight, yet its wearer remained melded into the shadows of night. He appeared careless, but every word from those lips only crushed Hua Yizhi down further.
Hua Yizi was aware of what went down in this city after this Rank A ability user’s arrival.
The Tarnished Bronze members slaughtered callously, and then the great earthquake two days ago.
Qing Yuchen’s disappearance, Tarnished Bronze’s HQ being reduced to ruins, and the cracked earth and disturbance in the sea on that day.
Even though he stayed behind at the casino to watch over that green-eyed little lady, Hua Yizhi could see a dark shadow break past the cover of dark storm clouds and the pouring rain. The aftershocks on the ground seemed to go on forever.
As an information broker, Hua Yizhi knew that Nexus City’s Ability Association Branch President had gone missing in Desolate Dragon. He knew that man was a Rank A aristocrat as well. Even a pedigreed, powerful Rank A of theoretically similar power was no match for the person in front of him.
The mastermind behind all these events was evident at a glance.
It must be him! It must be this Rank A ability user!
This powerhouse who suddenly appeared in Desolate Dragon after reciving word about Tang!
And Hua Yizhi was confident that this was far from the true extent of this Rank A ability user’s power. Everything he learn only served to cement his belief that he had found the one he had been searching for all this time!
“Another name for Tide is ‘the former Ability Association’.” His determination to achieve his goal outweighed his fear. Based on the Rank A ability user’s tone, Hua Yizhi decided to openly reveal his identity.
“The Ability Association split apart six years ago. Our prophet predicted that this year, we would encounter the one who will lead us to overthrow the aristocracy and the leaders of the Empire.”
With that out of the way, it was easier to continue.
“This person would rescue the maiden imprisoned by Tarnished Bronze and join us as our leader.”
“This person would be powerful enough to lead us to triumph over our enemies’ defenses. This person would be intelligent enough to disrupt our enemies’ plots. This person would be firm in their convictions and never betray our cause. They will eventually lead us to victory and usher in the dawn of a new era.” Hua Yizhi’s usual drawl had been replaced by a serious piety.
“And that person is you, sir.”
The Dark Principle…
Hua Yizhi mentally mulled over this name.
He was the leader they had been waiting six years for!
Hua Yizhi once thought the prophesized leader was the teenager named Yi Ming, but the teen fell short of their expectations despite his best efforts.
Their leader had to possess both peerless strength as well as a willingness to stand up for all those struggling to survive in this world.
And just as Hua Yizhi concluded that the teen was a stone in the rough requiring polishing, The Dark Principle appeared.
Although both of them were here for Tang, the latter was far stronger and a closer fit for the prophesized one.
Hua Yizhi knew when the young man didn’t act despite releasing killing intent that his vigil was finally coming to an end.
The Dark Principle was strong. A Rank A aristocrat died by his hands, and the very landscape of Desolate Dragon changed according to his whims.
The Dark Principle cared for the masses. He crushed Tarnished Bronze’s leaders, rescued the low-rank ability users they demeaned as ‘merchandise’, and even helped the teen out in his time of need while he was at it.
Objectively speaking, Tang was successfully rescued with his help.
He was the one Hua Yizhi had been waiting for!
Hua Yizhi believed in the prophecy to a nearly devout degree. Now, that trust had been transferred to the young man before him.
“The aristocracy have been suppressing us, trying to track us down and end us once and for all, which is why we’ve been operating under the pseudonym ‘Tide’.” Hua Yizhi’s phoenix eyes shone brighter than ever before. “However, we’ve laid low for now.”
“The Desolate Dragon branch is managed by me as the intermediary. Our comrades fight for the cause throughout the Empire, in the Ability Association, the aristocratic faction, and even the imperial family itself. We only wait for the right moment to launch an all-out attack. We have no fear of death, as long as those we stand for are able to one day live in a world without oppression.”
“And you, sir, will lead us to victory!” He raised his head, glimmers of the dawn he imagined reflected in his eyes.
The young man in front of him stood with his back to the sunlight. The shadows cast by his dark hair seemed to conceal those black jade eyes. The dark-haired young man listened to Hua Yizhi’s impassioned speech, watching the man praise him to the stars before concluding, “Please, become our leader, sir!”
The young man huffed in amusement.
Then he subtly raised his chin as a mocking expression crossed his face.
“Me? A savior?” He drawled with a smile as the air around him plummeted to subzero temperatures.
Hua Yizhi spoke only to confirm his hypothesis, no?
He was a literal dead man walking. Merchandise like Tang and Yi Ming, whose plan should have failed as soon as Qing Yuchen returned early, were still alive and well.
Didn’t he save the ‘merchandise’ that were freed after Qing Yuchen’s death?
Of course he believed in the prophesized leader, in the young man in front of him.
Yet the young man’s next words struck deep, “I have no interest at all in you guys.”
His pitch-black eyes pierced this way though the silver-white mask. The black trenchcoat swept into the air as he closed the distance between them.
“Most of all, I don’t like decisions being made for me.”
The young man’s tone was suffused with indifference.”
“I refuse.”
Hua Yizhi shot to his feet in panic, but it was already too late.
The young man vanished before their eyes like a mirage with a snap of his fingers, and no one could anything to stop him.
The one they had waited two days for left just like that, and they could do nothing to keep him here.
…
Li Li knew from the first sentence of Hua Yizhi’s speech that this was content the manhua hadn’t mentioned yet.
The mystery of why Tang’s father sent a letter to ‘Tide’ but Qing Yuchen ended up concluding that she was a member of the former Ability Association was solved.
It was because they were the same organization all along.
As for why Hua Yizhi helped Yi Ming in the manhua, why he would cut a low-rank teenager from the countryside a break…
It was all due to this so-called prophecy.
This was all outside of Li Li’s expectations. Hua Yizhi didn’t seem like the superstitious type at all. Who would’ve thought he would be so enamoured by a prophecy?
Li Li had already changed her appearance out of constant vigilance.
The trope of a character being treated as an entirely different person just by changing their hairstyle was a common trope in manhua. Li Li was simply following suit.
Her hair was still black, but here eyes were now red. She swapped out the trenchcoat for a black set of top and bottoms that were easy to move around in. The sleeves and legs were closely cinched. A large, black longcoat tied the entire outfit together, making her frame appear wider and taller.
Nexus City seemed more advanced compared to Desolate Dragon. She walked down the foreign streets of this city, a new expression on her face.
It was a cold, indifferent expression.
At the moment, Li Li was thinking.
If she hadn’t gotten involved, Hua Yizhi would have continued to believe that Yi Ming was the person he was looking for and aided him from the sidelines until Yi Ming was able to abandon the creed meted by his adoptive father and become something greater.
Li Li knew Hua Yizhi’s impassioned request would have worked if he used it against Yi Ming.
Because Yi Ming truly cared about how others were doing. He was just that kind of silly little corgi.
Yet the prophecy mentioned by Hua Yizhi gave Li Li a sense of what was to come.
The prophesized ‘leader’ would supposedly rescue Tang, but Yi Ming only came to Tarnished Dragon because he read the letter Yu Xiao stumbled upon. Thoughts like how many other knew of this prophecy and whether Yu Xiao was involved in the matter were the first to come to mind for Li Li.
However, she concluded that Yu Xiao most likely did not know. Anything and everything was possible with his strange luck.
Li Li felt like she had intervened in the conflict between the current and former Ability Associations. The boss had yet to drag Yi Ming into this, yet.
It would be too difficult for the Rank D Little Corgi to handle. If she hadn’t intervened, the reveal of this plotline would have probably taken an arc or two, when Little Corgi became a mid-rank.
It was too early for the reveal right now in any case.
Li Li was being truthful when she told the boss and his group that she had no interest in their affairs. Her only concern was her own popularity. Although she was more inclined towards the former Ability Association, the position of ‘leader’ would only pile more trouble on her plate currently. After all, she wasn’t truly a Rank A.
Her refusal was only natural.
However, that didn’t mean she would avoid these two factions. In fact, she intended to make full use of them.
The sun overhead was already setting to the west as Li Li stopped in front of a certain building.
It was a completely snow-white structure with a sharp, angular roof that was three times the size of the Tarnished Bronze HQ.
There was a sign hanging above the round columns to either side of the door. The Ability Association.
She would use the existing conditions to make herself a target of the Ability Association. In this way, she would look into the incident that occurred ‘six years ago’ before the manhua update and create a suitable past for ‘The Dark Principle’.
Then, she would present her fabrications in the manhua.
After a brief pause, Li Li crossed the threshold.
