Episode 6: The World Crisis is Close At Hand – Part 6
“Hmph, are you finally interested in listening to me?”
Since Xiao An was involved, I had no choice but to listen.
“You’re not trying to lure me in with some baseless gimmick, are you? I can tell if you’re lying.”
I remember when I was looking for her before, she acted like she didn’t know Xiao An. If she wasn’t faking it…
Zhao Zili said with displeasure.
“So you’re in league with those guys, bunch of perverted lolicon scum!”
“Huh?”
How did I become a perverted lolicon? There’s no logical connection between your sentences. Are you even being reasonable?
The blonde girl turned her head away unhappily, looking annoyed. But she still endured and began to explain.
“I’m not so卑劣 as to lie to scum like you.”
“Oh, in that case, please explain clearly.”
“I already told you, I’m eighteen years old, but my body stopped growing. This clearly can’t be a natural phenomenon, otherwise, I would have already developed a devilish figure with curves!”
She emphasized the words “curves” with great resentment.
However, from Zhao Zili’s appearance, she looked at most twelve or thirteen years old.
If Xiao An was in the second or third grade, she would be in the fourth or fifth grade.
She’s what you’d call a loli.
“Do you know that a small portion of humans have special abilities?”
Zhao Zili suddenly changed the subject, her train of thought jumping.
Why did we suddenly go so far off topic…
“I guess I have some idea.”
“Do you know that ability users awaken their powers during childhood?”
So abilities can only be awakened when you’re young?
Since Lily and Saint both have abilities, I thought abilities could be acquired suddenly.
“This, I don’t know.”
“Actually, it’s not that most ability users awaken their powers in childhood, but rather that ‘abilities can only be awakened during childhood.'”
Abilities can only be awakened during childhood.
I see, I didn’t expect there to be such a condition for awakening abilities.
“And then, a group of ability users discovered this pattern.”
I reached out and interrupted Zhao Zili, covering my head with my other hand.
Integrating all the information so far and considering the meaning of Zhao Zili’s sudden talk about her own condition.
“Could it be that a group of ability users are letting people stop growing under the guise of ‘human evolution’?”
“Judging by your tone, you seem completely unaware. It seems you’re not one of them?”
“How could I possibly be!”
“Hmph, in short, there is indeed a group of ability users who established an organization called ‘Eden,’ or perhaps more like a religion. They advocate for more people to become their companions, believing that the future of humanity lies in the hands of awakened ability users.”
Just as I thought.
Humans are such foolish creatures. With a little progress, they get carried away and develop strong self-righteousness.
Regardless of whether others support them or not, they will forcefully persuade others to accept their views.
“Then next, we should talk about your own situation. Were you persecuted by this organization, which is why you’re like this?”
Zhao Zili remained silent, and Su Zhixia spoke on behalf of her young lady.
“That’s right, five years ago, my young lady was kidnapped and injected with a growth-stopping agent. Ever since then, my young lady has no chance of developing a figure like mine. She can only be a cute loli for the rest of her life. It’s so pitiful, sob sob.”
After saying that, she feigned wiping her even dry eyes with a handkerchief.
This guy is clearly happy that her young lady will remain a loli forever.
“And then? What does this have to do with Xiao An?”
“As far as I know, they don’t arbitrarily choose targets. They are looking for ‘special targets.'”
Special targets?
“This is why I said they are more like a religion than an organization. Everyone in Eden seems to firmly believe that there are six ability users who, upon awakening, can lead them to a new world. These are the six special individuals they call ‘Sons of God.'”
“Although I don’t know the Xiao An you mentioned, I suspect that the ‘Xiao An’ you’re talking about might be one of the six they’ve always wanted to find.”
“I see!”
This is indeed an important clue.
Light Novel
I wonder if I can find Xiao An’s exact location with this clue.
“So, is this chuunibyo organization Eden mistaken, and they thought you were Xiao An?”
“It’s very possible. They were afraid that the Son of God they were looking for might have passed the age for awakening abilities, so they injected potential targets with a growth-stopping agent. Therefore, they encountered me, who looks very similar to the target, and injected me with the growth-stopping agent.”
“In other words, you were collateral damage.”
Ah, it seems I’ve stepped on one too many mines.
But the result is indeed comically absurd.
It’s something that had nothing to do with her, yet she got involved and was forced to remain a loli forever. How unlucky can one be?
Truly collateral damage.
“Oh, that makes sense. When I rushed over and picked you up this morning, you thought I was from Eden, didn’t you?”
“I suspected that at first. But then I thought that if they were from Eden, they wouldn’t be so foolish as to openly come looking for me. So, I had Zhi Xia investigate things about you and found many inconsistencies. Most importantly, the fact that you are an immortal.”
“Is that so strange?”
“Since you are an immortal, it means the Salvation Army’s plan for eternal life has made progress, right?”
“Ah? Salvation Army? What’s that?”
“You don’t know? It’s a global organization that opposes Eden’s fanatical claims and the tyrannical rule of ability users, advocating for pan-humanism. I am a lieutenant in the Salvation Army.”
So the uniform you’re wearing is…
What the heck is going on…
I felt a bit exhausted.
This is that typical thing, isn’t it? A righteous organization opposing evil, and so on. It’s definitely going to be like that.
Ah, it’s so troublesome. Suddenly, there are these inexplicable organizations, two of them at that.
And they’re causing these inexplicable events.
Now I realize how powerful the previous organization was.
The previous world was clearly more chaotic, with more anomalies and anomalous events, but the organization could still suppress most anomalous events and detain problematic anomalies.
Maintaining the balance of the world.
That’s why the ‘Organization’ didn’t need any other name; it was just called ‘Organization.’
It’s just that in the end, it couldn’t resist the arrangements of fate.
Light Novel
And in this world, although the messy anomalies are gone, just having a crowd of ‘ability users’ can cause such things…
The ‘mob of the incompetent,’ that probably describes this situation.
However, it has nothing to do with me.
“I have no interest in these messy organizations. You can play your conspiracies, do your big things, and oppose each other however you want, it’s all the same to me!”
Honestly, I don’t care at all.
“I can see that all you care about is finding Xiao An, right?”
“You know that very well.”
“Then I’ll tell you, it’s highly possible that the Xiao An you’re looking for has already been taken into custody by the people from Eden.”
“And then?”
I’m not a fool; I immediately heard the loophole in Zhao Zili’s statement.
No one would give valuable information to someone else for no reason.
Besides, she said “possible location,” not “definitely.”
It’s obvious she wants to use me.
“You want to use me?”
“Hmph, that’s right, I want to use you.”
“You actually admitted it.”
“Because I believe you’ll be willing to be used by me.”
This Zhao Zili has more guts than I imagined.
A chance for Xiao An.
And if I agree to her, even if I destroy the organization called Eden and still can’t find Xiao An, I won’t be able to say anything.
Because she didn’t promise me she could definitely find Xiao An from the start.
Okay, very cunning.
Her appearance is that of a loli, but her mind is already mature?
“Let me ask you in advance, why are you doing this?”
“Hmph! Do I even need to say it! Of course, for revenge!”
Zhao Zili’s emotions became more agitated, and flames seemed to ignite in her eyes.
“Those lolicon bastards! After kidnapping me, they experimented on me for a full 210 days! In the end, they even said I was just a ‘defective product’ and discarded me—What a joke! How can I stand this! Did they treat me like trash! Or like a lab rat!”
SF Light Novel
Pure rage poured out with her words, making me understand how angry she was.
“If those bastards hadn’t injected me with some growth-stopping agent, I would have had a great figure like that cow over there now.”
Saint, who hadn’t been able to get a word in, felt ashamed when she was called a cow and covered her chest with her arm.
Seeing Saint’s ample bosom further ignited Zhao Zili’s volcanic anger.
SF Light Novel
“I will destroy those idiotic lolicon bastards who can’t even distinguish between humans!!!”
So it wasn’t for any noble cause, but purely for revenge.
Heh… Isn’t that a good enough reason?
“Fine, I agree.”
“Hmph, follow me, I’ll tell you the exact location.”
The ability to change demeanor is one of a woman’s essential skills. The next second, Zhao Zili, who was still furious, immediately calmed down and turned towards the inner room. Su Zhixia also made a gesturing motion.
I shrugged, exchanged a glance with Saint, and then, holding her hand, followed Zhao Zili into the inner room.
Upon entering the inner room, the first thing I noticed was a shrine placed in the center of the room. In the middle of the shrine was something very familiar to me.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked Zhao Zili.
“Hm? Oh, that’s an heirloom mirror from our family. It’s said to bring good fortune and reveal the human heart. But it’s actually just a broken mirror; you can treat it as ordinary decoration.”
Ordinary decoration…
It is indeed ordinary now.
Having lost its original abilities, it has become a normal mirror.
But in the past, it was a crucial artifact that I relied on for survival.
Yata no Kagami, an heirloom mirror…
Memories automatically flooded back. I remembered that right at the very beginning, when I was hit on the head by the Yata no Kagami in the park, before I passed out, two voices were talking.
When I came to my senses, I looked at Zhao Zili and Su Zhixia again.
Their voices increasingly overlapped with the voices in my memory.
…It should be a coincidence, right?
If it’s not a coincidence, then this can truly be called ‘bad fate.’
I was the first one to be caught in the crossfire, and now it’s your turn.
Heh, interesting.
