"Before meeting the target, their abilities are consistent with the deceased..."
Herta fell into deep thought, not quite understanding.
"If I didn't misunderstand, this hint means... the death god incarnation chasing me is at an ordinary person's level, and only after both parties meet will all restrictions be lifted?"
"It doesn't matter, I will take action."
Qi Zhimu called back the Staff and shouldered it.
"If it can't be killed, then just keep killing it. An elephant stepping on an ant just takes a step at most; it's no trouble."
"Come on, take flight with me."
Qi Zhimu picked up Herta in one arm, sat on the Staff, and rushed out of the swimming pool, heading straight for the high sky.
Before long, the two were suspended under the full moon, taking in the entire Fog City.
"I'd like to see how the death god incarnation can find you, and even if it does, how it can fly up here."
"Now... kid, enjoy the show."
With a phantom swipe of his right hand, a screen appeared out of thin air in front of Qi Zhimu, just like watching a movie.
Seeing the screen divided into six parts, Herta was slightly startled.
Isn't this the first-person perspective of those temporary teammates of hers?
"You used magic to share their vision?"
"What else?"
"When did this happen?"
"Starting from that woman named Xi-something's house." Qi Zhimu snorted: "I won't allow any accidents to happen to my food—none at all."
"..."
Hearing this declarative statement, Herta's heart skipped a beat.
Qi Zhimu really protected her well...
Feeling the faint warmth from the arm around her waist, she subconsciously covered it with her hands.
Sitting on his lap, leaning in his arms, her heart felt very settled.
Qi Zhimu didn't mind the actions of the small girl in his arms, a curve at the corner of his mouth as he watched the pathetic flight of the useless gluttons in his eyes.
Not long after the chase began, no one had been killed yet.
The female, Number Seven, hid in a large commercial building bustling with people.
She entered a milk tea shop with exits at the front and back, ordered a drink at random, and found a seat in the middle of the shop.
There wasn't much foot traffic in the shop. Number Seven sat against the wall, and by turning her gaze, she could clearly observe the flow of people entering from different directions.
She gripped her phone tightly, keeping an eye on messages.
"Idiot, sitting in a place with so few people, as if she's afraid the death god won't see her." Qi Zhimu commented bluntly.
"Agreed." Herta nodded.
The hint said that before meeting the death god, its ability is the same as the deceased.
The five people who died during the moment of death didn't have any special abilities. Even if they lock onto a target, they can only rely on their eyes to find people.
Find the person, then appear in their line of sight.
That counts as meeting, or spotting the target from afar and making eye contact to lift the restrictions.
"Hey, do you think the way to pass would be to blind one's own eyes? That way, you can't meet the death god face to face." Qi Zhimu guessed with interest.
"Extremely unlikely. The broad meaning of 'meeting' doesn't necessarily mean seeing each other; hearing a voice could also count."
Herta didn't think self-mutilation was a way to escape the death god's pursuit.
Besides, if a person is both deaf and blind, there doesn't seem to be much difference between being alive and dead.
Unknowingly, more than ten minutes passed.
Number Seven took a sip of milk tea with a heavy heart. Inadvertently turning her head, she saw a scene that made her soul scatter.
The deceased Xi Manning was actually standing at the left entrance of the milk tea shop, casting a gaze with a sinister smile.
In the next second, her face instantly appeared in front of Number Seven.
"Found you..."
A sweet, cloying tone like calling a lover, yet mixed with a chilling coldness.
The screen belonging to Number Seven ended there, turning pitch black.
"Number Seven died so easily." Herta shook her head.
"If she had that kind of intelligence, she wouldn't have appeared so useless during the moment of death mission." Qi Zhimu curled his lips in disdain.
"Currently, it seems the death god can indeed lock onto the Executor's location. No wonder its ability is equal to an ordinary person's before finding the target."
Herta knew all too well what it meant to be able to perceive the target's location.
The Executors can only play a cat-and-mouse game with the death god; the opponent has your movements, but you know nothing about them.
"But if the death god can also predict the target's movement trajectory and lie in wait in advance, then it'll be interesting."
"It shouldn't... the audience for this type of work is already low. If it's an unsolvable ending where everyone dies, it will definitely be criticized."
"Bad directors might not think as much as you do. You can't judge a trashy work by how a smart person would die. That's what you told me yourself in Life-taking Mirror Shadow."
"True."
"I hope the death god comes knocking soon. My hands are itching for a fight."
Eight minutes later, the second Executor died.
Less than two minutes later, another one died.
A chain reaction like falling dominoes arrived. Not even half an hour after the chase began, four people had been found by the death god incarnations.
The death god incarnation in the form of Xi Manning even took two away, leaving only Brooks and Green alive.
And this also means that the deceased who became death god incarnations have the task of killing everyone, rather than targeting a single individual.
Next, they will face the joint pursuit of five death god incarnations.
The people who died earlier had almost no difference in their deaths; after seeing a familiar face, the opponent would turn into an afterimage and fly over rapidly.
That speed wasn't fast in Qi Zhimu's eyes, but it was a dead end for an ordinary person.
"It's looking more and more like a pure slaughter." Herta's brow furrowed into a frown.
If there weren't an existence like Qi Zhimu, similar to a cheat, by her side, she couldn't imagine how she would survive unless everyone's fate in the moment of death was changed.
"It doesn't make sense..."
"Even a bad movie should at least follow basic logic. If there's no way out for the mission Executors in the end, why bother setting up mission prerequisites?"
"It couldn't be that there's a second batch of Executors whose mission is to change their fates, right?"
"That would be too ridiculous."
"Locking onto the mission Executor's coordinates to launch a pursuit... locking, locking..."
"Wait!!"
A flash of inspiration struck Herta's mind.
She thought of an extremely terrifying speculation.
"Mr. Creditor, I have a request."
"Hmph, planning to order me around again? Seeing as your tone is fairly sincere, speak."
"Go find Green or Brooks."
"No way. Their life or death is none of my business."
"I'm not asking you to help them. I want to verify a guess in my heart. Just get within thirty meters of them. If possible, it's best to let the death god find me."
Herta turned her head back and raised her eyes to gaze at Qi Zhimu.
"You're so powerful, you definitely won't let me die prematurely, right?"
"...Tch, only this once." Qi Zhimu smirked, acting as if he only reluctantly agreed because she spoke nicely.
"Do you need me to give directions through the buildings on the screen?"
"No need. I left marks on them using magic. If the death god can find them, I certainly can too."
"Marks..."
Hearing Qi Zhimu's answer, another possibility surged in Herta's heart.
—Maybe... the death god doesn't rely on marks to lock onto the Executors' locations?