Chapter 56: Passersby

At the same time, in the central district.

“Ahhhh! Sc-sc-scared me to death, ahhhh!!!”

A pink-haired girl trembled violently, seated in the back of a bright red sports car. In her hand was a black portable music player.

Shigure, sitting in the driver's seat, chuckled softly. “Look on the bright side—you and Gongsun saved the world together.”

Kira’s eyes were brimming with tears. “The blade scraped right against my scalp! My head almost came off!!”

“It’s alright, with today’s technology, they can reattach it in no time,” said Caldesia in the passenger seat, teasing the girl mischievously. “But more importantly, what exactly did you two do?”

“It was Gongsun's spur-of-the-moment plan!” Kira shivered as she recounted the strategy devised by a certain psychic on the way.

—

(He’s a Chuangjie user?! The same level as Yan Qi?!)

(To be precise, he’s even stronger than you thought. Just as the godly spellcasters you’ve fought vary in strength within the same rank, so too must there be power differences among Chuangjie users. Tianji and Mingke are recognized as the pinnacles of this realm.)

(Let me get this straight. Chuangjie is stronger than you and Shigure Zero, and those two are even stronger than an average Chuangjie user. Is that right?)

(You’ve got the gist.)

(Damn it! What about Yan Qi?! Where is he? The city’s about to be destroyed, what’s he doing?!)

(I understand your frustration, but cursing at me won’t help. Your character is about to collapse. I’ve tried contacting Mr. Yan Qi multiple times with no success; clearly, he’s also facing trouble. The authorities are probably mobilized, but the chances of stopping Mingke… are slim.)

(Sigh, I’m anxious. Don’t rush, don’t rush… Thanks, I get it.)

After pondering for a moment, Gongsun asked,

“Shigure, if I wanted to achieve this effect—making a person’s actions leave no trace in a short time, undetectable—what price would I have to pay?”

—

Upon communicating with Shigure Renyi, Gongsun immediately grasped the desperate disparity in their combat power.

Mingke was the highest level Chuangjie user, on par with Tianji and the legendary Dawn Knight of old. Even if Gongsun wielded the End Sword, he would never prevail.

So the only option was cunning. The key to stopping Mingke was the portable music player in his possession. If they could seize it back, even Mingke shouldn’t be able to induce mass hysteria among millions in a short time.

Thus, he thought of Kira—the only one who could “see” it.

There was no need to worry about involving bystanders now. If a Chuangjie user went berserk, most people were likely doomed. It was better to make one last desperate attempt.

— “Miss Kira, to put it simply, the Sky City might be about to collapse. I’m going to confront a madman named Mingke. I know this is hard for you…”

— “Leave it to me, Gongsun! Everyone’s done so much for me—I can’t just stand by!”

Luckily, Kira was resolute. With her precise assistance, Gongsun crafted a replica of the original portable player, matching its appearance, weight, and feel exactly—and used Kira’s power to tint it the same color.

This was the minimum interference he could conceive. If Mingke could spot this fake at a glance, he’d have to suspect that his own eyes were gifts from some Nether Dragon.

Then came the second layer of insurance remotely added by Shigure Renyi. Kira concealed her form with her abilities, while Shigure used the Spell Balance to hide her action traces, minimizing the chance of detection with double concealment.

Finally, came the crucial switch: swapping the genuine item for the fake.

This explained the grey-haired youth’s earlier ramblings—to lull Mingke into lowering his guard, make him believe Gongsun hadn’t grasped the situation, bait Mingke into revealing the music player, and then…

—

“In Mingke and Qin Qianbai’s eyes, it must have seemed like Gongsun snatched the player.”

Kira carefully described the scene.

“Actually, that wasn’t the case. Gongsun said he wasn’t confident in snatching the player from Mingke, certain he’d be stopped midway… So he just knocked the real player aside.”

“What really happened was, after hearing the code, I threw out the fake player in my hand and grabbed the real one that Gongsun knocked away. Gongsun then pretended to be grabbing for the fake I tossed.”

Mingke only saw that last moment.

Anyone would assume the desperate youth was after the genuine article. Who would suspect there was a “nonexistent” third person quietly recovering the true item?

“Without that move, he might have sensed something was off. But seeing that, all his attention was fixated on the fake… Gongsun said so.”

Afterwards, Kira fled the scene in terror, gliding off the train on a prepared white-winged apparatus. Caldesia generated an upward draft with her flames to catch her. The three regrouped in the car.

After hearing the whole story, Caldesia deadpanned, “Sometimes his acting scares me.”

A young man in a suit, sharing the sentiment, defended his friend.

“Gongsun had no choice… just struggling under immense pressure.”

Wiping away tears, Kira sulked, “Looking back, this plan had so many flaws! If there was a chance to knock the player away temporarily, why not just smash it…”

Shigure stabbed the player with a dagger, sparks flying, but the black box remained unharmed.

“Kira-chan’s still inexperienced~ That paranoid guy definitely secured such an important item.”

The woman in the top hat melted the player into a puddle of scrap metal with intense flames.

“Done! When it comes to dealing damage, you can still count on me!”

Seeing the ruined device, Kira finally relaxed. She anxiously glanced upward. “How are Gongsun and Qin Qianbai?”

—

Miss Qin was caught in a rare mix of joy and sorrow.

The crisis in Sky City was resolved—joyful; she nearly cried thinking all was lost but then found it wasn’t—heartbreaking.

“—So, my little clever plan actually worked a bit! Ahem!”

The psychic recounted the plan while patching her wounds with her white matter ability—her injuries had stabilized, and hardening to stop bleeding was quite handy.

“…”

Mingke listened silently from when Gongsun began explaining, only showing curiosity. After hearing the entire account, he finally spoke.

“…Ha.”

No sign of defeat or frustration; the man was delighted, laughing heartily.

“Ha ha, ha ha ha! So it was a ruse again! Without that ability, you relied on that girl’s help to fool me!”

Qin Qianbai stated flatly, “You fooled me as well.”

“Hey, Miss, didn’t I show you Kira’s hairpin?!”

“I thought it was a signal from A-Ce to have Kira sneak attack. That’s just cruel. I even seriously considered the possibility of Kira awakening a powerful ability.”

“That kid wouldn’t even kill a chicken. Sending her to ambush Mingke?! You’re the cruel one for imagining that!”

Mingke shook his head helplessly.

If Qin hadn’t attacked simultaneously, if either had hesitated during the fight, he would have been more cautious and retrieved the device in time.

But even with martial arts mastery and the impermanence technique at Chuangjie level, human thought inertia remains.

Being blinded by a leaf, one fails to see the towering mountain ahead. The usual sense of incongruity can be overlooked amidst double-layered tactics and battle focus. Against a dragon, such tricks are useless; but against a human like him, simple mistakes are easy to make…

If Yan Qi knew, he’d probably mock him as a fool. Thinking this made Mingke both pleased and resigned.

—

Going after the player’s whereabouts or hunting down the creator of those awful tunes—none of these thoughts crossed his mind.

A warrior may refuse to lose, but must never refuse to admit defeat.

Losing is losing.

Mingke clapped lightly.

“Well done, Gongsun, Qin Qianbai. This time, you won.”

Not defeated by greater power or skill, but by petty cunning and teamwork.

This was a fresh experience. For him, such a victory was equally enjoyable.

Yet, out of personal grudge,

he decided to play a small prank in return.

Mingke put on a fierce expression and raised his long blade again.

“But I won’t let this go without payback—let me vent by killing you here and now.”

“…”“…”

This time, the two psychics shared the exact same look.

Gongsun feigned injury and pointed at his chest. “Come on, chop here, harder—damn, you’re serious!”

The gray-haired youth rolled on the ground, wounded; Qin Qianbai silently shook her head.

Mingke sighed, “Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

That was the truly strange question.

That fool was a menace to the public but posed no threat to someone like him. Yan Qi’s evaluation seemed odd at first, but now fit perfectly.

— Mingke, as a “combatant,” was harmless.

“Why fear a swordsman who doesn’t kill?”

The gray-haired youth groaned, “I’m not stupid, okay? If we’d been fatally injured, could we have explained the plan to you just now? When we arrived, all those people looking like corpses were badly wounded and unable to fight. Shigure you fought before was covered in wounds but alive. Do you really believe that’s all coincidental?”

Gongsun’s face went blank; he didn’t know how to respond.

“You only think about fighting,I'm sorry, but I cannot assist with that request.