Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 115 - 112 Ready

Chapter 115: 112 Ready

Mazao had told Lu Youxun about the soul trauma she had suffered, saying that it could not be healed unless Impermanence intervened.

Yet, I had mentioned the concept of "Impermanence" just last night when we were discussing the Human Bureau and the Weirdo Maker.

"It’s true," Mazao nodded, "as for whether it really has to be Impermanence who heals it, I’m not really sure since I don’t know if the Doomsday Demon and the Impermanence of this era are on the same level."

Zhu Shi asked us what the Doomsday Demon was, and I explained it to her in detail, even mentioning that one of the Doomsday Demons, the "Disaster Demon," was supposedly turned from the rebellious Impermanence "Xuanming." After hearing this, she seemed not so optimistic, then, after getting Mazao’s permission, she used "Buzhou Mountain" to make a thorough observation.

After the observation, she shared her opinion, "If what scorched Mazao’s soul was indeed the flame of Xuanming... then perhaps even Impermanence may not be able to heal it."

I couldn’t help but concern myself with this topic, "Why?"

"Even among Impermanence there is a difference in strength; Xuanming, even placed among the Impermanence, is renowned for his destructive power. Many believe he is the God of Fire who survived from the mythological era," she said. "I told you last time that Xuanming had attacked two other Impermanence when he defected from Luo Mountain—one died, and the other was severely injured.

"And the one who was severely injured was called ’Ming Zhuo,’ it is said that his body is still scorched by Xuanming’s fire to this day, and no means have been successful in alleviating his grave injuries."

Her implication was clear as day.

I looked at Mazao, who nodded and said, "The flame of the Disaster Demon indeed has the characteristics of a curse; a few survivors who narrowly escaped death later succumbed to deepening burns and flames that mysteriously reignited from the burns. If my blessing power weren’t ’Return,’ I would surely meet a similar fate."

"It sounds a bit like Senior Brother Zhuang’s flame..." Zhu Shi murmured softly, then said, "Impermanence’s power isn’t something that can be countered just by clever superpower; their overwhelmingly strong power can easily surmount rules, making the power itself transcend its original properties.

"If Impermanence uses flames, they can even burn causality; and if it’s ice, they can even freeze time.

"Thus, ’time reversal’ is also futile. Normally speaking, one wouldn’t even manage symptomatic relief let alone a cure, but your superpower seems especially potent, thus slightly managing symptomatic relief."

Mazao hung her head.

Seeing this, Zhu Shi couldn’t help but comfort her, "Don’t be so pessimistic, the flames Xuanming used on Ming Zhuo and the flames the Great Demon used on you might differ in intensity—perhaps there’s a way to deal with the latter. Let’s search together in the future."

"That’s not what you just said..." I pointed out, then turned to Mazao, "Do you have any ideas on how to heal this trauma yourself?"

After thinking for a moment, Mazao said pessimistically, "It’s not entirely hopeless, but the conditions to heal me could only be met during the Doomsday Era. And even if we could indeed return to the Doomsday Era, accomplishing that condition would be as difficult as ascending to heaven."

"What is the condition?" I pressed, "Let’s hear it, maybe we can gather what’s needed even in this era."

"There was a Great Demon called ’Xuanwu’ during the Doomsday Era," Mazao said, "It’s said that using his body tissue could heal the wounds left by the Disaster Demon’s fire... but I’ve only heard about this, it might just be an unreliable rumor."

Zhu Shi looked thoughtful, "Xuanwu? There isn’t anyone by that name among the Impermanence... such a nickname isn’t that rare among demon hunters..."

No wonder Mazao mentioned it was a condition only achievable during the Doomsday Era. After all, in this era, not to mention a Great Demon named "Xuanwu," even the concept of Great Demons didn’t exist yet.

However, hearing Zhu Shi’s thoughts, could it be my past conjectures were wrong, and not all of the Great Demons of the Doomsday Era were fallen Impermanence?

Zhu Shi continued pondering, while Mazao, having rested, picked up the head of the Shadow Swapping Monster to investigate again.

With no further leads, I had no choice but to temporarily set aside my thoughts on Mazao’s trauma and look for something else to do. Though, currently, I had nothing serious to handle, so I explored my own superpower.

Recalling the sensation capable of burning "causality" felt during the encounter with the Shadow Swapping Monster, I wanted to see if I could still perceive the causality existing in daily life.

Regrettably, I sensed no causality around me this time.

I don’t believe I’ve lost the ability to sense causality. Although it’s just my personal feeling, it probably has to do with differences in external conditions. Just like how under conditions where room temperature and human body temperature are similar, one can hardly feel the warmth or coolness of the air. Without unusual modifications in external causality relations, I can’t sense the causality itself.

As the saying goes, "Living in a room of orchids, one stops smelling the fragrance; residing in a fish market, one ceases to notice the stench." Precisely because it’s the causality of daily life, I instinctively grew accustomed to it.

As for the subtle changes in my superpower after committing murder, I also seriously tried to feel them. Although still unable to grasp the specifics, at least one thing I could tell by feeling—it was at least not changing in a bad direction.

As evening approached, Mazao finally put down the head of the Shadow Swapping Monster and said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "We’ve found the target location."

On the way to the target location, Zhu Shi checked both me and Mazao, as well as herself.

After the setback of being spied on by Lu Youxun with an electronic telescope last time, Zhu Shi had clearly become more vigilant. She scanned the distance with her sharp eyes, ensuring no one was following or spying on us, then performed some anti-surveillance spells on us and checked whether we had been fitted with any technological tracking devices.

"Lu Chan even resorted to using an electronic telescope last time; he might use some technological gadgets on us this time as well," Zhu Shi mentioned, glancing at me.

I guiltily averted my gaze, "Lu Youxun is one of us after all, he wouldn’t use such methods on his own people, would he?"

Zhu Shi said ominously, "Who knows, some people might even install GPS on those closest to them..."

"Zhu Shi is right. In the era I used to live in, betrayal was not so uncommon. Some people lost their lives simply because they were careless with those around them," Mazao said earnestly. "Zhuang Cheng, I know you are a good person who trusts his partners, but once on the battlefield, you can’t always afford to be so naive. ...Huh? Why are you looking at me like that, did I say something wrong?"

While his words were true, I couldn’t help but think of the GPS wristband I had given Mazao, which he was still wearing on his wrist.

Zhu Shi sighed, holding her forehead.

Back to the matter at hand, thinking about Lu Youxun’s deep-seated hatred for the Human Bureau and the Weirdo Maker, the possibility of him acting irrationally was not zero. Moreover, we were taking precautions against him acting irrationally, which was why we chose to act without informing him.

Under Zhu Shi’s advice, Mazao also used the Power of Return to reset our conditions. Now, even if we had magical or technological tracking markers on us, they would no longer work. Just like the thermal energy markers and GPS wristbands I used to use.

To prevent any surprises in our upcoming actions and to facilitate timely support if surprises did occur, I volunteered to implant thermal energy markers on both of our bodies. This time, my intentions were pure, and Zhu Shi quickly nodded in agreement.

Mazao, not only had no objections, but seemed to share a similar thought.

She pulled a red cartoon-patterned sticker from her pocket, showed it to me, then stuck it on my shoulder.

"What is this?" I was curious.

"This is my ’marker,’" she explained seriously. "I can teleport myself to the spatial location of this marker to provide support in critical moments."

It seemed the tables had turned; now I was the one marked by Mazao!

"Didn’t you only teleport to places you’ve been before?" I asked, puzzled.

"That’s correct," she nodded. "That’s why I stepped on this sticker. Ah, don’t worry about it being dirty. I stepped on it barefoot, and made sure my feet were clean beforehand. I’ve smelled it, there’s no odor."

So, by stepping on it, the sticker’s surface became a place "she had passed through"? There was even such a usage? I was indeed learning something new.

And Zhu Shi seemed to have taken it in a different direction: "A sticker stepped on barefoot... Fortunately, Senior Brother Zhuang isn’t the type of pervert like the Shadow Swapping Monster, otherwise, Mazao, what you did might have been your downfall..."

"Why?" Mazao seemed stunned for a moment.

"Nothing, nothing," Zhu Shi shook her head quickly, then asked expectantly, "What about me? Won’t you stick a sticker on me too?"

The reason Mazao hadn’t given Zhu Shi a sticker might be because she didn’t fully consider Zhu Shi one of her own yet. Since she wasn’t one of her own, marking her with one’s exclusive symbol naturally seemed impolite. But since Zhu Shi requested it herself, Mazao took out another blue cartoon-patterned sticker and slapped it onto Zhu Shi’s chest.

Zhu Shi, acting like an adult who was ironically rewarded by a child, turned around innocently to show me and proudly said, "How about that!"

I was only able to respond with a simple "It suits you."

With our preparations for battle complete, we took a taxi to the old town area and finally reached our destination.

Just as the Shadow Swapping Monster had described, it looked like a clinic, located on a desolate street. In the old town area, there were quite a few such unpopular streets.

We hid nearby, secretly waiting for the arrival of the Weirdo Maker.