Chapter 32

The next day was another meeting. She arrived at the political and cultural heart of Xia Country, a building known to nearly every Xia citizen, its defenses heavy—she even sensed the gaze of an A-Rank Awakened in the shadows, clearly not hostile, merely performing routine duty.

If even the gatekeepers are A-Rank, and given Xia Country’s usual habit of cautious restraint, she dared not imagine whether even stronger Awakened lurked within—S-Rank? SS-Rank? Or perhaps ones with even more unpredictable abilities, since some Awakened powers can mutually counteract each other.

And was she merely pushed forward as a facade and symbol, precisely because she had already been exposed to the public?

Carrying this unease, even fear, she entered the magnificent, solemn, mysterious building. She worried about causing unnecessary misunderstandings and deliberately suppressed her own abilities.

Before entering the meeting hall, she could no longer hold back. Yang Yi lowered her voice and asked Director Zhou: “Director, even the gatekeepers here are A-Rank—does our nation still harbor more experts? Is my modest ability truly unworthy of the stage?”

Director Zhou looked at her with a strange, speechless expression. He opened his mouth, then closed it, finally letting out a long sigh: “If only that were true! Do you think people like you are cabbages, to be mass-produced? Comrade Yang Yi, believe in yourself!”

Feng Liancheng chuckled beside her.

Although Yang Yi nodded, her doubts did not fade. Instead, she began to suspect Director Zhou lacked the rank to know deeper secrets.

This meeting had a higher secrecy level and more senior participants. If yesterday’s meeting had placed Director Zhou among the mid-level officials, today he was merely an ordinary junior officer. The chairperson was one of the few central figures who appeared on television only during national crises—those who shaped Xia Country’s fate.

Yang Yi was the youngest person in the hall—and the most conspicuous. Those top central figures had even greeted her warmly with casual small talk before entering.

This treatment gave her a flicker of confidence. Oh, so even if the nation hides many experts, people like me must still be rare. Yang Yi thought. Once this idea solidified, her earlier fear eased slightly.

Once she realized she possessed self-preservation—and even situational control—her sense of security returned.

Ah, superpowers—right now, she loved her superpowers more than ever! They had pushed her into realms she’d never touched, given her certainty, brought her security. Security—the very thing most absent from her life.

“If you absorb more Life Source, you will grow stronger. Then, no force on Earth can suppress you—you will be the sole sovereign. Even the entire galaxy, the entire universe…”

It was back! But Yang Yi quickly realized—it wasn’t “it,” but herself, her other personality. Though both shared the same “voice,” the feeling they brought was different.

So to distinguish them, she would call this “old friend” “It,” and that boastful one “He.”

As she thought this, a sudden tremor stirred in her chest, as if an ancient, loosened stone door had been pushed open from somewhere beyond. But the feeling vanished quickly.

“I thought you wouldn’t come out,” Yang Yi said inwardly. “After all, He said you’re just a subconscious warning.”

Still, she was pleasantly surprised—this “old friend” hadn’t vanished, easing her loneliness slightly. Yet she also felt disappointed: it meant her illness hadn’t improved, perhaps even worsened…

“Didn’t you get a full physical exam the day before yesterday? Were the results released?” Yang Yi turned to Feng Liancheng. The meeting was about to begin.

“They’re out. The digital version was sent to your onboarding email. Didn’t you see it?” Feng Liancheng prepared meeting materials, opening his laptop.

“I didn’t have time to check…” Yang Yi reached into her pocket for her phone, then suddenly realized Feng Liancheng was the first person to access her files—he even knew every website she’d browsed online. Then about “the other voice”… could he…?

Yang Yi stared intently at Feng Liancheng. Though terrified inside, her tone carried a cold sarcasm she didn’t even notice: “Didn’t you investigate my past? My browsing history? My shopping records? Right…?”

Feng Liancheng muttered apologetically: “Didn’t we already move past this? Besides, I didn’t do this myself—it’s standard procedure. At most, it’s a stricter ‘political review.’ You know, Awakened entering public service are held to stricter standards than ordinary people… And your data is classified—only a handful can access it…”

Yang Yi cut him off, as if eager to open Pandora’s box: “Then what do you think of me? Since you know me completely—better than anyone else—how do you see me? What kind of person am I?”

“A good person. Classic lawful good alignment—you know the nine alignment grid from Dungeons & Dragons, right? It classifies people by morality and personal attitude…” Feng Liancheng launched into an enthusiastic explanation.

His reaction made Yang Yi suddenly feel guilty for her earlier sarcasm. What am I thinking? Why am I taking out my anger on him? It wasn’t his choice to dig into my files. Maybe he finds this boring? After all, snooping on others’ privacy as a job isn’t exactly thrilling, is it…

But then she remembered how every one of her private details had been exposed without her knowledge, and a helpless resentment rose again. She muttered: “Then… what did my ‘political review’ say?”

“If you got hired, there’s clearly no problem,” Feng Liancheng shrugged. Then he noticed her unusual demeanor, studied her for a moment, and carefully added: “I know you still… feel uneasy about me checking your files. I understand…”

“Understanding is enough,” Yang Yi replied awkwardly, a hint of disappointment she didn’t recognize in her tone.

Maybe those browsing records weren’t such a big issue? Who doesn’t have troubles in life? Who never feels depressed? These are normal psychological states… And since discovering her uniqueness, she’d paid special attention to this—those records only proved she was often down. They proved nothing. Yes, only that she had a passing interest in psychology…

She comforted herself, opened her phone’s email, quickly scanned her physical exam—all results were normal. She flipped through, searching for anything different about her body, but found nothing.

Of course—if a physical exam could detect that strange presence inside her, the matter would be far too simple.

She scrolled further, finally finding the psychological evaluation section. She eagerly read the psychiatrist’s note: “...Strong psychological defenses, high vigilance…”

Oh, she remembered—the psychiatrist was a mild-mannered, humble man in his forties. But that day, she’d been agitated and brushed off his questions carelessly.

That’s it? Just that?

This conclusion did nothing to ease her inner suffocation. She grew sullen again.

She had gone to great lengths to appear normal—and now, finally, others treated her as one. But for the sake of that entity that dictated her future, that hateful “voice,” to verify whether it was real, whether it was tied to dark matter’s arrival on Earth, she might have to expose the scars she’d hidden, reveal the secrets she’d buried…

No, she couldn’t expose them!

Otherwise, how would they see her? A schizophrenic lunatic? If I were a harmless ordinary person—even a D-Rank Awakened—they wouldn’t care if I were a little crazy, because it’s within manageable limits. But now—I am a nuclear bomb! And a nuclear bomb with self-awareness! One that could detonate at any moment!

Yes, you’re safe now, even celebrated, because you hold a fixed stance, think rationally, and have immense utility—so you’ve temporarily earned a place. But a dangerous madman, a madman carrying a heavy weapon? Everyone will destroy him immediately. Even a minor psychological issue will be exaggerated by those with ulterior motives, turning you into a lunatic on the brink of madness!

If you stand at the center of the storm, this is unquestionable.

They won’t even send you to a psychiatric hospital—they’ll destroy you outright—because your threat level is S-Rank! Like that Pacific Giant Crab!

“So your only option now is to rapidly strengthen yourself—make yourself invulnerable to anyone! You’re still too weak. Earth holds too many things that can kill you…” It coaxed gently: “If you feel guilty about draining innocent Life Source, we can target the most wicked criminals instead… I heard the West abolished the death penalty. Those bastards live comfortably in prison—some even better than outside. Why not start with them?”

“Shut up! If not for you, I wouldn’t be this terrified!” Yang Yi suddenly surged with rage. She clenched her fists, forcing her breath steady, maintaining outward calm so as not to draw attention from the meeting: “Ha, do you think I don’t know your plan? Like a drug addict—you lure me in with sweet words, get me hooked, then unleash slaughter, draining more Life Source! Get out. I won’t fall for your tricks!”

“Hahaha… You yourself said: you are me, I am you! Admit it—all I say is what you want to say. You hypocritical coward, you coward… You won’t even admit your own thoughts—you just let me play the evil clown…”

Yang Yi took a deep breath, suppressing her anger. Whatever. It wasn’t the first time. It had used even crueler, sharper words to provoke her. Could she do anything about it? All these years—had she ever solved it?

So the problem returned to square one: if you seek outside help, you must reveal your dissociative identity and constant conversations with another personality. People will call you insane, fear you, and try to destroy you. If you don’t want to reveal it, you must learn to live with it—what? You still haven’t gotten used to it? Haven’t gotten used to two people living inside your body? Haven’t gotten used to someone suddenly popping up to mock and curse you? Haven’t gotten used to someone occasionally urging you to die? Sometimes you even feel grateful to have a “friend” who talks to you!

“Yang Yi!” Director Zhou nudged her shoulder. “It’s your turn to speak.”

Yang Yi snapped back to reality, realizing everyone in the hall was watching her.

“Comrade Yang Yi, please recount your experience in Misty Town yesterday,” Secretary Li said.

She steadied herself and retold the events of yesterday’s Misty Town incident, emphasizing the various planetary apocalypses they witnessed in the illusion created by Veed, drawing intense attention from the attendees.

The “Fire Demon Incident” had proven extraterrestrial civilizations existed. Were there stronger, more unimaginable ones? Could they slip through interdimensional portals to Earth undetected?

What was their attitude toward humanity and Earth? Hostile or benevolent? If hostile, how should humanity respond? These were the questions raised by the Misty Town incident.

Yang Yi recounted everything in meticulous detail, omitting only the stone chair and the Life Source.

“What is your opinion on what happened in Misty Town, Comrade Yang Yi?”

Yang Yi replied cautiously: “I believe Veed is guided by a hidden force behind the Divine Punishment Organization. Whether this force truly consists of a god’s followers, belongs to an extraterrestrial civilization, or is the root cause of dark matter’s arrival on Earth—I cannot confirm.”

“But Veed claims dark matter’s arrival means Earth is being devoured by another dimension, and one day, Earth will be fully occupied by alien life. Awakened are beneficiaries of this invasion. To stop the invasion is to halt the Awakened’s evolution; if dark matter vanishes, Awakened revert to ordinary humans.”

“I fear that if this claim spreads unchecked, it will breed hostility between Awakened and ordinary people, trigger social unrest, cause Awakened to slack off in resisting the invasion, and even allow malicious actors to deliberately allow alien life to harm civilians. This must be prevented.”

Eyes—scrutinizing, doubtful, approving, and countless others indescribable—fixed on her. She felt like sitting on pins and needles.

A traitor to her own class—was she acting for the public good? Or pursuing some grander, longer-term goal?

As the strongest Awakened, as the representative of Awakened, she was warning people against the dangers Awakened might bring. What was her own stance?

Fortunately, Secretary Li smoothly took over: “Comrade Yang Yi has thought deeply and considered issues from the standpoint of the masses, not personal interest. This is exceedingly rare. Many among us cannot do this.”