44: Chapter 44 Choice

The man was very fast; before Xing Yaoyan could react, he had already put ten-odd meters of distance between them.

“Bridge of Worlds...”

The moment she smelled that familiar stench, Xing Yaoyan immediately realized the opponent's identity.

“What’s going on, Little Xiao Yan? I can't feel the location of my memory crystal anymore.”

“What else could it be? It was taken by someone from that organization you founded in secret called the ‘Bridge of Worlds’!” Xing Yaoyan replied crossly.

“Hiss...”

Hu Wang took a sharp breath of cold air.

“...Forget it then, you should retreat first. I'll give you that star crystal, we have plenty of time in the future...”

“Thank you, Senior.”

Xing Yaoyan looked up and stared at that infuriating smiling face mask not far away, the golden light in her eyes growing more intense.

“But today, I must give this thief a lesson he'll never forget!”

“Hey! Hey! Little Xiao Yan, calm down, calm down.”

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is busy...”

Xing Yaoyan cut off the voice transmission with Hu Wang, the corners of her mouth curling into a playful smile.

She extended her claws and made a grasping motion toward the masked man from a distance.

“A mere third-rank Esper, it's not your place to act tough in front of me! Swallow!”

The next moment, the masked man, who was about to retreat, suddenly stiffened. He felt as if he were suddenly being sucked in by something, and the power within his body was rapidly depleting.

“What is this thing...”

However, this thief was also experienced; he almost instantly understood that this was the work of the white wolf glowing with golden light.

He turned around, lunged forward, and added a smooth side roll, instantly vanishing from Xing Yaoyan's perception.

“Tch!”

Xing Yaoyan bit her teeth.

This thief was also someone who knew when to yield. Seeing things weren't right, he stopped acting tough halfway and directly fled at the speed of light.

Moreover, he had no intention of fighting her at all, so Xing Yaoyan couldn't locate him using her Malice Perception.

Xing Yaoyan looked in the direction the thief had vanished, only to find a wall with no signs of damage.

“So you can even burrow into the ground... Since I can't do anything to you, I'll find someone who can...”

Xing Yaoyan sneered, then threw a punch toward the glass cover containing the Demon Core.

Unsurprisingly, the protection for this third-rank Demon Core was well-made; the glass cover didn't even have a crack after her strike.

However, her true goal was...

“Wooo wooo wooo~”

A piercing alarm instantly rang throughout the room. The next second, the prize storage area below the rostrum was immediately enveloped by a blue barrier emitting strong spiritual energy fluctuations.

Having anticipated this, Xing Yaoyan used ‘Mist Form’ plus ‘Swap’ to instantly arrive in a hidden patch of bushes outside the venue before the barrier fully formed.

“Run? Let's see how you run, kid. If I can't have it, don't even think about getting it either!”

She carefully poked her head out. After confirming no one was around, she calmed her mind and silently began converting the spiritual energy for these two Superpowers.

Although ‘Swap’ was useful, the spiritual energy it consumed was proportional to the distance. The two Swaps she just performed had completely drained the spiritual energy she had previously converted.

“It might just disturb Qian Mo and the others' Awakening ceremony...”

“Sigh~ Forget it, anyway, he’s finished showing off what he needed to...”

Eh! Wait, did I forget something important...

Meanwhile, inside the Awakening ceremony venue.

“Little Xiao Yan, Little Xiao Yan, can you hear me? Look at what you've done, the entire Awakening ceremony has been suspended now. Did you get out?!”

Hu Wang anxiously tried to sense Xing Yaoyan's aura.

That's right, Xing Yaoyan forgot to tell Hu Wang that she could directly Swap away on her own.

Now Hu Wang still thought the silly girl had been provoked into a fit of rage after being played and was going to perish together with the thief.

“Phew~”

He exhaled softly to steady his mind.

Opening his eyes, he happened to see Qian Mo and Xiao Meng watching the commotion over by the rostrum with confusion.

“Qian Mo, I have something to tell you. Xing Yaoyan just...”

Under Qian Mo's shocked gaze, Hu Wang gave a brief account of what had just happened.

“What? Did I hear that right? She, a wolf, went alone to steal the things left behind from your previous life, bumped into another thief, and finally chose to blow herself up with him?!”

Qian Mo's mood instantly plummeted from heaven to Hell.

But his assassin instincts from his previous life allowed him to calm down immediately.

He didn't blame Hu Wang for letting Xing Yaoyan do something so dangerous. Since it had already happened, the priority now was to find a solution; other things could be considered after the crisis was resolved.

“No, that's not right. With her personality of being so afraid of death, how could she possibly blow herself up with a thief...”

Qian Mo recalled the bits and pieces he had experienced with Xing Yaoyan.

He was clearly very puzzled by her choice this time.

“Everyone, please remain calm. A small situation has occurred on-site...”

Secretary Wu Ming wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead, quietly waiting for instructions in his earpiece.

All the students present held their breath, looking at the blue barrier that had suddenly risen below the rostrum, speculating about the cause of the accident in their hearts.

Meanwhile, the atmosphere on the rostrum was exactly the opposite of the serious atmosphere below.

“Reporting to Captain Li, according to information from the first batch of Enforcers who entered the barrier, the culprit who triggered the warning device is from the ‘Bridge of Worlds’.”

A Black Dragon Enforcer walked up to Captain Li Qiaoyan and spoke respectfully, not showing any negligence because of her young age.

“Those lunatics who have nothing better to do are supposed to be in the Capital, aren't they? Why did they suddenly run to our backwater Youfeng City...”

Captain Li Qiaoyan slightly supported her forehead.

“Sigh~ It's fine... Anyway, these people just have sticky fingers; they don't even have a single life on their hands. We can just turn a blind eye and let it pass, and maybe even apply for a subsidy from the higher-ups...”

“Hey, Teacher Long Kong! It's one thing for you to be a slacker, but don't lead Little Yan astray!”

Feng Yan directly reached out and twisted Teacher Long Kong's ear half a turn, making him plead for mercy repeatedly from the pain.

“Was there any loss to the prizes stored earlier?”

Ignoring the flirting couple, Captain Li Qiaoyan continued to ask the Black Dragon Enforcer.

“There wasn't much loss, just a tray of memory crystals went missing. Those things were only intended as consolation prizes and aren't very precious.”

“Can you confirm their identities?”

“A smiling face mask was left at the scene, along with a slightly charred mask and some ‘Soul-Confusing Mist’ that hasn't dissipated yet.”

The moment she heard "smiling face mask," a flash of imperceptible panic crossed Captain Li Qiaoyan's eyes, but she quickly suppressed it.

“Are there photos? Let me see.”

She stood there, looking at the photos taken on-site, the originally smiling expression on her pretty face gradually fading.

After a long silence.

She lowered her voice.

“Withdraw the barrier. The Awakening ceremony will proceed as normal.”

“But...”

“Obey the order.”

“...Yes...”