Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 179 - 170 re-enters 1

Chapter 179: 170 re-enters 1

I briefly explained the existence of the young girl, Lu Chan, and made some conjectures about her.

"...Just to be clear, I am a man. I have never been transformed into a man or had any experiences of transitioning into a woman. I was born a man," Lu Youxun said with a stern face. "Also... Sister Zhu, why are you laughing over there? You’ve known me for many years now, haven’t you? Can’t you vouch for me?"

Sister Zhu struggled to suppress her laughter and said with difficulty, "—I’m sorry, I actually can’t confirm it either."

"What?" Lu Youxun was shocked.

"Perhaps you really are a girl, just too embarrassed to admit it, so you normally use a male ’possibility avatar’ to appear before others..." Sister Zhu said earnestly, "Look, don’t you occasionally make disparaging remarks about women? Perhaps you have some gender identity issues, and so you feel compelled to do this..."

"I see..."

Sister Zhu opened my mind to a new possibility—

Thus, it could be that Lu Youxun managed to escape from that heavily guarded Human Bureau secret base because he summoned an "avatar that could escape the desperate situation," and that "avatar" was of the opposite gender to the girl’s original body.

The reason he could envision scenes from there was not due to his innate advantage in using Divination Technique, but because he still maintained a network of consciousness with his original body.

However, there was an obvious contradiction in this conjecture: Lu Youxun, who harbored deep hatred for the Human Bureau, had no reason to lie or conceal this. Even if he wanted to lie and hide the truth, he couldn’t fool Luo Mountain and Sister Zhu.

Is it possible that the girl Lu Chan (assuming she is the original body) summoned a "possibility avatar that thought it was the original body"? The probability is extremely low. Not to mention whether there’s a necessity for that, the Lu Youxun who returned to Luo Mountain would certainly have objective evidence to confirm whether he was the original body, and there would definitely be people close to him who knew the original Lu Youxun.

On the other hand, if there were no such physical evidence and testimonies, Luo Mountain would not possibly recognize the Lu Chan who escaped as the real one. Even if he did provide physical evidence and testimonies, if they were not sufficient, gaps could be created through magical manipulation, making Luo Mountain even more unlikely to trust him.

In the end, whether he was the original body or an avatar, Luo Mountain would have many ways to confirm it if he wanted. Even the Weirdo Maker had to match their "possibility avatars" with their own clones to barely deceive Sister Zhu’s eyes, and this was under the premise that Sister Zhu’s "Buzhou Mountain" was not operating at full power. The hastily escaped Lu Youxun was even less likely to fool it.

The more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed that Lu Youxun’s original body was that girl.

"Hey, why are you suddenly immersed in such serious thought..." Lu Youxun was startled, "Could it be that you also suspect I was a woman before?"

"That’s not it." I quickly changed the subject, "Instead of that, Lu Youxun, can you teleport me to that place again?"

Sister Zhu too put away her joking demeanor and became focused.

"—Yes."

Lu Youxun seemed to check his condition, then said, "But I need a few minutes to adjust my state. I’m not sure why the previous vision activated so smoothly, but it indeed was an extraordinary performance for me, thus excessively consuming my spirit. I don’t know if it can go that smoothly next time."

I had no intention of explaining Mazao’s Broom Star Physique, so I vaguely said, "It definitely can."

"Alright, I believe you," he said. "Besides, I am truly grateful that you were able to come back so quickly to clear my suspicions, but this matter itself is very strange. According to your description, it seems you were forced to return while using Flame Power... Were you doing anything else at that time?"

"Just killed a researcher and freed a demon hunter," I couldn’t make sense of it either.

Sister Zhu speculated, "Could it be that Zhuang Cheng’s mana fluctuations were detected by some mechanism inside the Human Bureau secret base, and then that mechanism expelled Zhuang Cheng?"

"Absolutely not," Lu Youxun denied. "The Human Bureau would not allow anyone who has entered their base to leave freely; actively driving them away is even more unreasonable as it would only expose the existence of the secret base.

"Moreover, even if Zhuang Cheng was really driven away, he should have been expelled to the outside of the secret base, not automatically sent back to the location before teleportation."

During the conversation, the stationed agent had already sent over the "information about someone with the same name as me" that Lu Youxun had previously requested. Truly worthy of the convenience of modern society, Luo Mountain could investigate anyone at the snap of a finger.

Lu Youxun quickly skimmed through it and directly told me the answer: "There are no middle school students in Saltwater City with your same name, nor are there any primary or high school students. However, if we expand the name scope to ’Zhuang Cheng Mou’ or ’Zhuang Mou Cheng,’ remove the age restriction, and broaden the geographical scope to the entire country, then there are quite a few people with the same name."

As he spoke, he handed me the tablet displaying the information, which I also examined. Throughout the country, there were a few individuals whose names completely matched and were close in age, but their appearances were all very different from me when I was twelve years old.

Indeed, the me at the Human Bureau secret base was a "person who should not exist."

And if that place really was two years ago (which now seems very unlikely), then the me over there should also be around seventeen years old, not as young as twelve.

Besides, when I was twelve, I hadn’t awakened my superpower yet, but the body over there was formed as a Flame Aggregation from the beginning, a detail I am sure I wouldn’t perceive incorrectly. Rather than saying that was "me at twelve years old," it’s more accurate to say it was "the current me shrunk down to the appearance of a twelve-year-old."

Zhu Shi also came closer to take a look and then asked, "Zhuang Cheng, what did you look like when you were twelve? Can you create a Mind-Written Photo for us to see?"

Hearing this, Mazao was about to take out a blank Mind-Written Photo.

But I just said, "No need."

After saying that, I stuffed the tablet into Mazao’s arms and then transformed my body. Flames suddenly burst from me and wrapped around my whole body. My field of vision quickly lowered, and my body felt lighter.

After the flames subsided, I had taken on the appearance of myself at twelve years old.

"It’s more or less like this."

I showed them my current appearance.

The only issue was the size of my clothes; the sleeves extended beyond my palms, and the trouser legs touched the ground, with the belt and shoes becoming loose and baggy. Making adjustments to external objects during the transformation process was still a significant challenge for me now.

Both Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun were shocked, and even Mazao seemed as if hit by an immobilization spell, staring at me intently.

"You can actually transform yourself!?" Zhu Shi exclaimed incredulously.

"I can, yes..." I said.

Not sure if it was still influenced by the previous topic, Zhu Shi looked at me with a peculiar expression and said, "So does that mean you can also turn into a beautiful girl...?"

"That, I cannot."

I had always been able to alter my appearance, but it wasn’t as convenient as it sounds.

Reshaping one’s appearance is a delicate task, akin to painting and sculpting. Without the relevant skills, one cannot draw a lifelike face or sculpt a lifelike figure; even in video games where you can customize character appearances, it’s easy to end up with a face that doesn’t look quite right. Not to mention reshaping my body using superpower—no one could teach me that.

Thus, while I said I could transform, it was difficult to become exactly what I wanted; I could only make some adjustments based on my original form. From the age I first awakened my superpower at fourteen until now at nineteen, these were the ages I could easily morph between. As for my twelve-year-old self, although it was somewhat challenging, the recent firsthand experience made it possible for me to change smoothly.

Turning into "a female version of myself" wasn’t entirely impossible either; aside from certain organs and endocrines that couldn’t be replicated perfectly, it would mainly involve minor additions or subtractions based on my original form, but it would still look more or less like the current me. Anyway, I didn’t really think it would result in any sort of "beautiful girl."

To avoid being mocked, I decided to keep this secret to myself. And I’m not like some people I’ve seen online who fancy the idea of reincarnating as a beautiful girl—I’ve never had any special desire for that, nor have I ever been dissatisfied with how I’ve looked so far. I am quite content with my current self.

Suddenly, Zhu Shi grabbed my shoulders.

"—Senior Brother Zhuang."

"Uh... Sister Zhu?" I jumped in surprise.

For some reason, her breathing had suddenly become heavy, her gaze was intense, and she seemed to be struggling to suppress a weird smile, specifically addressing me as "Senior Brother Zhuang."

Sister Zhu, you are a bit scary right now.

"Can you continue to maintain this appearance for a while?" she asked, trying to look serious, "No... how long can you maintain it?"

"I guess for any length of time..." I said uncertainly.

Strictly speaking, since becoming a Flame Aggregation, I really didn’t have a "true appearance."

I was merely mimicking the appearance I had before mastering Elementalization. The reason I continued to grow was simply that I was instinctively imitating the process of maturation. Since I was still in mid-puberty when I mastered Elementalization, I didn’t want to stop developing just yet.

Male puberty seems to end completely around twenty years old, and I plan to stop simulating normal bodily changes after that. I probably won’t age in the future. In other words, the Elixir of Immortality that many protagonists in fantasy novels seek—I obtained it from the very beginning.

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