Chapter 62: Disappearance
Xu Zhi took out the black fruit and handed it to the small withered creature in front of her.
The little creature didn’t hesitate and swallowed the fruit in one gulp.
After eating it, it even tried to crawl onto Xu Zhi’s lap to snuggle, but clearly underestimated the aftereffects of the fruit. After taking only a couple of steps, it collapsed with a thud and lay motionless.
“Tch.”
Why does it always feel like it’s both weak and playful?
Xu Zhi scooped the little creature off the floor and placed it on the table. Glancing at the time, she decided not to send any of her familiars out and instead picked up pen and paper to write a letter.
The letter was addressed to Zhong Lingfan. It urged her to recruit more people to the old residential district and suggested forming search and rescue teams. It also asked her to draft some simple, easy-to-understand reports—like the dangers of midnight, classification of extraordinary abilities, basic survival knowledge in Cloud City, and the rules within the residential district. Xu Zhi would review the drafts, and if everything looked good, they would be compiled and distributed to every new resident.
Along with the letter, Xu Zhi included three basic cores of the [Lamp] attribute.
If you want people to work, you can’t send them off empty-handed.
“Give this letter to Zhong Lingfan—you’ve seen her before,” she said, patting Zhen on the head. Obediently, Zhen grabbed the envelope and flew out the window.
She was trading a manual—one that anyone in the city could read—for great profit outside. That shouldn’t be considered unreasonable, right?
Actually, this idea came to her even before dealing with the Federation. She had always wanted to make a guide for the residents, similar to the ones outside. But Xu Zhi’s ideas came in bursts—once the moment passed, she often forgot or moved on. Now that the Federation had made a request and she needed a report from Zhong Lingfan anyway, she figured she might as well do both.
Zhong Lingfan’s reply came quickly. On a blank piece of paper, she gave a brief update on the residential area. Someone had spotted signs of living people while hunting outside, and they were sending someone to investigate. She also said she would complete the basic content of the manual within a week.
“So reliable!”
With a sigh of admiration, Xu Zhi picked up the knife Shen Jinwen had given her and began her daily training.
About forty minutes later, she stopped swinging the blade and looked over at the alien creature on the table, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
The previously brown, withered-wood-like creature was now black in color.
Just like the fruit it had eaten.
“…It can change color?”
This was a first. Xu Zhi put down her knife and leaned in for a closer look.
Nothing else had changed—only the skin had turned black.
“What’s going on?”
Frowning in confusion, Xu Zhi muttered to herself. As if in response, the creature twitched and slowly woke up.
Its first instinct, as always, was to crawl toward Xu Zhi, trying to snuggle.
The girl ignored the little thing on her knee and instead picked up her game console to check its stats.
What she saw surprised her again.
There were no changes in the status screen.
Not even a single evolution point had been added.
“So… it really just changed color?!”
Xu Zhi’s voice was laced with disbelief.
Thankfully, the system narrator chimed in in time:
[Due to your influence, your familiar has undergone a certain transformation after consuming the fruit.]
“My influence?”
Xu Zhi was puzzled at first, then remembered—she had fed this creature quite a bit of her blood. Maybe it had absorbed some [Moth] energy?
[This is a strange, irreversible transformation that deviates from its original evolution path.]
[Its connection to Midnight has grown stronger.]
[Perhaps… you could feed it more fruit.]
“Easier said than done! Where am I supposed to get more of those fruits?”
Xu Zhi was speechless. The fruit was rare, and now she knew it didn’t level up or add evolution points—just pushed along some mysterious transformation. Who knew what it would eventually become?
This was a complete shot in the dark. In a civilized society, this would practically be considered a scam!
Still… she was already in this deep.
“You’d better not get too greedy.” She lifted the creature that had climbed onto her shoulder and warned it.
Of course, the creature didn’t understand a word. It simply sent out joyful vibes, happy to be picked up by Xu Zhi—another form of snuggling!
Once she’d nearly depleted her stock of cores and her familiars had all finished evolving, Xu Zhi decided to send them out hunting again.
She waited several days, long enough for Zhong Lingfan to complete the manuals—Xu Zhi reviewed them and found no issues. But still, no new members joined the residential district.
Just as she was beginning to wonder if most of Cloud City’s people were already dead, Zhong Lingfan suddenly paid her a personal visit.
Xu Zhi had told her before: if something came up, Zhong Lingfan could handle it herself. So if she came in person, it meant something she truly couldn’t solve had happened.
“What’s going on?” Xu Zhi asked, curious.
Zhong Lingfan began, “It’s about those living people I mentioned in my letter a few days ago.”
“I sent a team to that location, but they haven’t returned, nor have they sent any updates.”
“Even if they could only travel by day and rest at night, they should’ve been back by now. But there’s still no word.”
“They’ve gone missing.”
That wouldn’t do.
Xu Zhi thought, Each of them is a precious chive. She hadn’t found any new ones yet, and now the old ones were being yanked out by the roots?
Who could put up with that?
“Where did they disappear?”
Zhong Lingfan pulled out a prepared map and pointed to the location.
It was a bit of a distance from the old residential area.
“Why’d they go that far?”
Zhong Lingfan replied, “There didn’t seem to be anyone nearby, so they searched a bit further out.”
Of course no one was nearby—those cultists had likely killed off most people in the area.
“All right, I’ll go check it out.”
Xu Zhi nodded and accepted the request.
If she wanted her “chives” to feel safe and stay in her garden, she had to give them a strong sense of security.
Normally she’d play the hands-off leader, but for this kind of issue, she knew she had to take charge.
“Zhen, time to come back.”
After sending Zhong Lingfan off, Xu Zhi tapped her console. The falcon on the screen seemed to hear her call and flew into the fog.
The alien creature had to come along, of course. Zhen, meanwhile, was the most reliable when it came to finding people, and its combat ability wasn’t bad either.
Besides, Xu Zhi herself was no longer a liability. In fact, she was stronger than most extraordinary beings now. She didn’t need to bring a full entourage anymore.
Once Zhen returned, Xu Zhi gave its head a customary pat. “Let’s go. This time, our mission is to find the missing chives.”
“Take me to this place, then look around for any signs of people nearby.”
She pointed out the location. Zhen’s bright blue eyes memorized the map coordinates before perching obediently on her shoulder.
Word of the missing people had already spread through the residential area. When Xu Zhi left, she noticed some residents didn’t look too optimistic.
Before leaving, she found Zhong Lingfan again. “Calm the people down. When I bring them back, I’ll have Zhen send word ahead. Make sure everyone sees it when we return.”
She intended to solidify her influence in their minds.
