Chapter 269: Nearly Broken by Ying Duo's Torment

"What weapon do you want?"

Meng Kexin has already given up keeping up with Ying Duo's jumping thoughts.

Just a moment ago she was being asked whether to destroy bodies and erase traces, and the next second she was asked what weapon she wants?

She looked at Ying Duo's clear golden eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then sighed.

"Actually, I'm not very good at fighting."

"It was just an emergency situation just now, so I used some special means; that potion will cause considerable side effects to my body and can't be used frequently."

She rubbed her arm; the muscles were still a bit sore and swollen—normal feedback after a brief surge of power, and a more severe overexertion feeling will strike later.

But by then, they should have already returned to the Academy, right?

"So, if I really have to say a weapon..."

She thought for a moment, and, considering the actual condition of her current body, gave an answer.

"A gun, then—small, low energy consumption, easy to conceal, just enough for self‑defense when needed," she said.

Although the guns produced by the Church still lag considerably behind those of the Dome, many people still prefer using firearms.

After all, the barrier to using guns is relatively low; as long as you can inject energy into the gun to load bullets, even the child who just awakened Aberrant Arts can kill.

Ying Duo nodded after listening, jotting down Meng Kexin's requirements, and couldn't help but reply.

"The demands are really many,"

Meng Kexin: "........"

Weren't you the one who asked first?

The two had just approached the corner of the wall they had uncovered, and before they could do anything, they heard faint voices coming from that side.

The voices weren't loud, but one of them sounded very familiar to Meng Kexin.

Meng Kexin froze, quickly made a "silence" gesture toward Ying Duo, and the two concealed themselves behind the corner of the alley.

She promptly pulled Ying Duo's hood down; although the alley had some haphazard wooden planks propped there, the glowing fluorescent green at the front was still too conspicuous in the dim surroundings.

"........ The situation is roughly like this,"

A male voice, very unfamiliar to Meng Kexin, came.

"The Supervision Bureau is currently conducting joint operations with the Heresy Tribunal, sealing off key areas and tracking down the remnants of Co‑Absorption and the perpetrators of last night's series of attacks,"

"Under the papal crown, an edict has been issued, greatly increasing the bounty on several suspects, and these cultists must be captured and brought to justice,"

"Was last night's attack really that large?"

Another voice sounded, as gentle as always; it was Shen Zexi.

"When I returned, I saw many places still under martial law, the Air Train area..."

"The losses are quite severe," Min Tianyou shook his head, "it's not just a few sections of track destroyed; the explosions even caused overloading and disorder in the floating rune arrays of some areas, and repairs will take time."

"More importantly, Co‑Absorption mixed high‑activity mutation factors into the explosives; the falling debris and spreading mutation contamination have made cleanup and rescue in the Slum extremely difficult, and casualty figures are still being tallied,"

"........ We can't let Qi Hengyu hear that,"

Now that the Air Train is destroyed, ordinary people have no means to reach the ground; given how much Qi Hengyu cares about those families in the Slum, if he learns this news he'll be frantic beyond belief.

Min Tianyou recognized the name; the last investigation into the Gloomy Fluorescent Stone could proceed, thanks in large part to Qi Hengyu's contacts in the Fourth District.

"You don't need to worry too much, because the rescue efforts are timely, and the current casualty numbers aren't large,"

That counts as the only good news among a pile of bad news, but even that good news comes at a cost.

Thinking of this, Min Tianyou felt a headache coming on.

At the time, the situation was too urgent; most of the Supervision Bureau personnel were concentrated on Tianmian City, and if they wanted to keep Slum casualties within an acceptable range, they could only resort to other means.

Every gain has a loss; such an operation will inevitably alert Co‑Absorption to the issue.

The two seemed to run out of topics, falling briefly into silence, only hearing the faint chime of the Academy's bells in the distance.

"Has our waiting time gotten a bit too long?"

Min Tianyou's voice sounded again, tinged with doubt.

"If they went to the nearby Chen Family enterprises to gather information, they should be back around here now, unless something happened..."

He had indeed heard that Zhao Family agents were roaming near the Academy; could they have just run into each other?

Meng Kexin felt a chill in her heart.

Is this person looking for them? Why? And seems to know their whereabouts like the back of his hand.

If it weren't for them encountering thugs sent by the Zhao Family, they might have been cornered here.

"Mr. Min, haven't you used your prophecy to take a look?"

Shen Zexi asked with a gentle smile, his tone sounding offhand.

"For such trivial matters, a prophecy isn't needed," Min Tianyou shrugged helplessly, "Prophecies aren't omnipotent; they need a trigger, and they consume a lot."

"Speaking of it, those two are really bold, blatantly skipping class and even sneaking out of the Academy,"

"I remember Mitra Academy's school atmosphere being famously strict; without complete departure paperwork you literally can't leave. Back then I avoided the hassle, so I didn't enroll here and instead chose to go straight to the Supervision Bureau for a job,"

Ordinary people still need Mitra Academy as a stepping stone, but he has his sister's connections, and he also possesses the Aberrant Arts of "prophecy," so being a bit willful is fine.

Min Tianyou paused, his tone carrying a hint of relief and teasing.

"Fortunately I brought the official Supervision Bureau joint‑investigation paperwork this time, so I could smooth things over. I originally came to escort Miss Meng Kexin to the Chen Family, but in the office I heard that Ying Duo had also disappeared,"

Recalling the recent events, Min Tianyou couldn't help but chuckle; the last time in the Slum, he saw Su Jingchuan as a taciturn, measured teacher, but this time he seemed more like a resentful woman.

When classmate Shen came to submit the report and paperwork for last night's assistance to the Supervision Bureau, and conveniently borrowed Min Tianyou's documents to help the two fill out a fake leave slip, Teacher Su Jingchuan became completely expressionless.

Looks like they've been worn down by Ying Duo quite a bit.

Spending too long with Ying Duo, how could one not go mad?

Just a few encounters and he can't stand it, let alone Teacher Su Jingchuan, who is responsible for teaching Ying Duo.

Isn't that exactly the opposite of why Teacher Su went crazy?

Shen Zexi, hearing Min Tianyou's words, also recalled Teacher Su's slightly broken demeanor a moment ago and wanted to laugh.

The two exchanged a glance and reached a consensus on the matter of Ying Duo.

Hmm, should we say it's truly Ying Duo?