Chapter 250: Ying Duo: Whoever Comes Has to Work for Me

"Directly affecting the game interface on the consciousness level?"

Fang Zhiyan watched with keen interest the semi‑transparent team status bar floating in the upper left of his view, its edges glowing with familiar Ying Guang Lu.

"Looks like it's a ability involving the Consciousness Law......."

Fang Zhiyan recalled that the last time he saw through the monitors a bit of Ying Duo's ability; Ying Duo's Aberrant Arts should be of the spatial type of law.

A single entity simultaneously exhibiting characteristics of multiple laws is itself an extremely rare and worthy subject of deep study.

At that moment, he felt an almost illusory sense of being watched.

It wasn't a physical line of sight; it vanished in an instant, so swift that Fang Zhiyan doubted whether it had truly occurred.

Beside him, Ying Duo was staring at the just‑obtained character panel, lost in thought.

【Name: Fang Zhiyan (Lv. 62)】

【Title: Dimensional Observer】

【Age: 32】

【Race: Aberrant Species】

【Faction: Symbiotic Eclipse】

【Affection: 70/100 (Fanatic)】

【Current Status: Healthy】

【Preferences: Valuable experimental samples, precision devices, anomalous biological specimens....... (Locked)】

woc, there's a pervert.

Yang Yixie stared at the character panel and was momentarily speechless.

Whether from the level or that exaggerated initial affection, it was like that.

He had painstakingly farmed Luo Jinyou's affection for so long just to barely reach this point, only for Fang Zhiyan to show up as such a freebie.

His system couldn't be malfunctioning, could it?

It could be the game system that's buggy, but Yang Yixie's intuition told him that Fang Zhiyan's thing was even more abnormal.

He temporarily set aside his doubts, because Fang Zhiyan had already turned his gaze toward Ying Duo; he guided Ying Duo, expression unchanged, to walk to the streetlamp, raised his hand, and pointed toward the distant Air Train platform.

"Start from over there."

As soon as the words fell, without waiting for Fang Zhiyan's reply, Ying Duo's body was surrounded by a faint green Data Stream aura; its form merged into the streetlamp amid a twisted Data Stream, then leapt away.

【Teleport】 Activated.

Fang Zhiyan merely raised an eyebrow at the scene, considering that Ying Duo was essentially a marionette; this ability was indeed surprising, but only within that limit.

He glanced at the time on the pocket watch and thought it wouldn't hurt to play with a kid.

His figure was like ink dropped into water, melting into the surrounding darkness and shadows.

The Mutation Source granted Fang Zhiyan top‑tier mimicry ability, allowing him to become an integral part of the night itself.

——————————————————

Around the platform's perimeter, four guards in Church uniforms, wielding energy rifles, were on routine patrol, their expressions tense and weary due to the distant unrest in the city.

There should have been more guards here originally, but many were dispatched to help suppress the Aberrant Species uprising within the city.

Fang Zhiyan did not appear directly.

He concealed himself in the shadow of a platform support column; something behind him writhed, several almost transparent tendril phantoms extending outward, each reaching toward the napes of the four guards.

The tips of the tendrils didn't pierce the skin; a light touch was enough for the highly efficient neuro‑paralysis toxin to be successfully injected.

The four guards almost simultaneously went limp, falling into a deep forced sleep.

Fang Zhiyan's silhouette emerged from the shadows, elegantly smoothing his unruffled collar, and stepped into the station.

He pushed the door open and entered; on either side of the platform were maintenance tracks and simple lift platforms, the walls hung with various tools, and only a few scattered emergency lights provided illumination.

Then, Fang Zhiyan saw Ying Duo and what he was doing.

The youth stood with his back to him beside an exposed alloy track, holding in his hand a surprisingly sturdy... pickaxe?

At this moment he swung his arm in a wide arc, the pickhead smashing hard onto the fixed bolt at the junction of the track and wall.

"Clang—!" The dull metallic clang was imagined by Fang Zhiyan, yet for some reason no actual sound reached his ears; the youth must have employed some method to prevent the outside guards from hearing.

Ying Duo's movements were as skilled as an old miner's—one, two, three strikes... sparks flew, and the massive bolt began to loosen.

At his feet a small pile of violently ripped metal sheets, rivets, tracks, and even a few alloy plates that seemed to have been pried from old equipment had accumulated.

Fang Zhiyan: "......."

He stood at the doorway, silently watching for a few seconds.

Ying Duo didn't even turn around; he simply changed angle and began prying a reinforcement metal plate embedded in the wall with the tip of his pick.

If there was enough time, is this kid planning to dismantle the entire station piece by piece with a single pick and pack it away?

The thought inexplicably surfaced in Fang Zhiyan's mind, and considering Ying Duo's previously shown logic, if time were ample, Ying Duo would indeed dare to do this.

It seemed that only after finally noticing Fang Zhiyan had been watching from the side for a long while did Ying Duo halt the demolition work.

His face still bore no expression; he casually leaned the pick against the side, then out of thin air produced another pick resembling the one in his hand, and with a swing of his arm tossed it toward Fang Zhiyan.

"You come help with the demolition too," Ying Duo said flatly; this NPC was only good for this.

Fang Zhiyan instinctively reached out to catch the flying pick; it felt heavy in his hand, the icy metal sensation snapping him back to awareness.

He looked down at the unusually rough tool in his hand, then glanced up at Ying Duo's golden eyes that seemed to say "of course," and surveyed the station interior, now shattered and strewn about...

Ying Duo, perhaps finding the progress too slow, turned his head to glance at Fang Zhiyan, his gaze finally settling on his still elegant and idle posture.

This NPC does like to slack off a bit.

"What is your Mutation Source?"

Ying Duo looked at Fang Zhiyan and suddenly asked.

He now suddenly regretted having kicked Lu Mu out of the team; although those two's current health is increasingly concerning, Lu Mu's ability to command crows to self‑destruct is truly handy.

At least, they don't need to personally gather material from this scene.

Usually, quite a few people secretly inquire about Fang Zhiyan's abilities, but being asked so bluntly is still a first.

However, there really isn't anything worth hiding.

Under Ying Duo's calm gaze, the space behind Fang Zhiyan rippled like water.

Eight tentacles, covered in white smooth skin and dotted with dark red circular suckers, slowly extended from beneath his coat.

The base of the tentacles merged perfectly with his body, feeling utterly natural, as if they were meant to be there.

The silvery-white hue complemented his white hair, and the dark red suckers glowed with an eerie, dangerous sheen in the dim light.

The tentacles moved flexibly, each one containing astonishing power.

Ying Duo's eyes lit up the moment he saw the eight tentacles.

He immediately bent over, Ying Guang Lu energy covered the pile of scrap metal on the ground, quickly fashioning a bunch of crowbars, and thoughtfully handed one to each of Fang Zhiyan's tentacles beside him.