Chapter 66: Look at Me Getting Away With It
The charred skeleton of the sofa smoldered. A thick, suffocating layer of dry chemical powder coated the floorboards, while the acrid stench of burnt upholstery hung heavy in the air.
Standing dead center in the wreckage was Wise. He clutched a bright red fire extinguisher in both hands, his normally calm expression frozen in a stiff, awkward grimace.
"Brother!" Belle's voice shattered the silence, pitching up an entire octave in sheer, incredulous shock. "You! How could you use that kind of ability indoors?! Are you trying to burn the entire video store to the ground?!"
She stomped her foot, pointing an accusing finger at the smoking crater of debris. "Do you have any idea how hard we worked to open Random Play?! Have you lost your mind?!"
Wise stared at his sister. Her hair practically bristled with righteous fury. Knowing he was entirely at fault, he swallowed whatever analytical defense he usually kept on standby. Uncharacteristically docile, he set the fire extinguisher down with a dull thud and offered an awkward nod.
"My fault," he admitted, his tone laced with genuine remorse. "I misjudged the output. I won't test it inside again."
He immediately grabbed a broom, sweeping up the chemical powder with swift, frustrated strokes.
Belle watched her usually composed brother scramble to clean up his own mess. The rare sight of him so thoroughly flustered tugged at the corners of her mouth. Her blazing anger fizzled out, replaced by a reluctant, exasperated amusement. Grabbing a dustpan, she crouched down to help him clear the worst of the wreckage before they finally headed downstairs.
The moment their boots hit the bottom of the staircase, a freezing draft washed over them. Wise shuddered, his breath catching.
"Hiss... The weather outside isn't even hot today. Why is the air conditioning cranked down to freezing?" He pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders, grumbling under his breath. "Does electricity grow on trees? Fairy already drains enough power as it is..."
He froze mid-step. A sudden realization clicked into place. Slowly, Wise pivoted on his heel, narrowing his eyes at his sister trailing behind him. The suspicion in his gaze was sharp enough to cut glass.
Belle's stomach dropped. Caught. She instantly plastered on a sickeningly sweet smile, clasping her hands together beneath her chin as she deployed her ultimate, exclusive weapon: weaponized little-sister charm.
"Oh, Brother! Say no more! I know, I know!" She blinked her wide, innocent eyes at him. "I'll definitely pay attention next time! Promise!"
Wise stared at her exaggerated puppy-dog expression. He opened his mouth to scold her, but the memory of the smoldering sofa upstairs flashed through his mind. He exhaled a long, defeated sigh. He really had no ground to stand on. The pot was calling the kettle black; neither of them had any right to judge the other's destructive new powers.
Clearly, Random Play was not opening for business today.
Sharing a tacit, unspoken consensus, the siblings marched to the front door. Wise locked the deadbolt while Belle flipped the neon sign from 'Open'to a glaring, unapologetic'Closed'.
Scooping up Eous, they headed to the back garage. The roar of twin motorcycle engines soon shattered the quiet alleyway. Tires peeled against the asphalt as they sped away from the bustling neon glow of Sixth Street. Their destination lay far beyond the city limits—the desolate, lawless expanse of the Outer Ring. Out there, they could unleash as much destruction as they wanted without burning down their livelihood.
The trip served a dual purpose. They needed to swing by Blazewood to retrieve some proxy equipment they had left behind on a previous job. The vast, empty badlands along the way provided the perfect testing ground for their new, volatile abilities.
Back in the silent, empty lounge of the video store, the servers hummed quietly. Deep within the mainframe, Fairy was currently running millions of background calculations, silently trying to process a concept that was causing its advanced logic circuits to completely short-circuit: 'A Devil Fruit from another world.'
While the proxy siblings roared toward the Outer Ring, a very different scene was unfolding across the stars. Inside the warm, softly lit observation car of the Astral Express...
Dan Heng stood with his arms crossed, his usually calm expression pulled taut with solemn urgency. "I need to depart for the Seat of Divine Foresight immediately. General Jing Yuan must see these items as soon as possible."
He glanced down at the precious cargo secured at his side. The Spirit-Calming and Soul-Nourishing Pills, the scrolls detailing the Ice Heart Technique, and the pouch of Clear Spirit Grass seeds. Together, they formed the impossible: a genuine cure for the Xianzhou Luofu's Mara-Struck crisis.
"Mhm! Safe travels, Dan Heng, go quickly!" March 7th waved her hand dismissively. Her bright pink and blue eyes were already glued to something else entirely, her attention completely derailed.
Stelle nodded enthusiastically, though her focus was equally absent. "Yeah, yeah, go on. Oh, remember to say hi to Jing Yuan for me! And ask him if he has any spare fire-attribute swords lying around. Tell him I just want to 'borrow' one. I'll totally return it once I find my own..."
Dan Heng exhaled a long, helpless sigh. Shaking his head at the chaotic duo, he turned on his heel and swiftly exited the parlor car.
As the heavy automatic doors hissed shut behind him, only Stelle and March 7th remained alone in the room.
Stelle's golden eyes locked onto the ancient-looking Fire Dance Whirlwind sword manual resting on the coffee table. The system had already directly implanted the complete, detailed mastery of the technique directly into her brain, but flipping through a physical martial arts manual just felt so much more authentic. It was all about the ceremony!
She rubbed her hands together, a wicked, battle-hungry grin spreading across her face. "Alright! Next up is the great Savior Stelle's official training montage!"
Pivoting toward her pink-haired companion, who looked equally giddy, Stelle pointed a finger. "Oh, right! March, can I borrow that Liuli Sword you got when you became a disciple? You have two of them anyway! If I'm going to practice legendary sword techniques, I need a proper blade to look the part. The baseball bat just doesn't have the right aesthetic."
March 7th was nothing if not generous. With a casual flick of her wrist, a flash of light materialized in the air. One of her elegant twin swords dropped smoothly into Stelle's waiting grasp. "Here, take it! Just be careful with it, okay? I might not use it in combat much, but I still polish it every week!"
"Thanks!" Stelle gripped the hilt of the Liuli Sword. The polished grip felt cool and perfectly balanced against her palm. The blade was incredibly light and agile—a massive departure from the heavy, brutal swings of her Flame Lance.
She gave it a few experimental, satisfying swishes through the air, listening to the sharp whistle of the steel. Nodding in approval, she eagerly flipped open the Fire Dance Whirlwind manual, diving into the first page.
Meanwhile, March 7th had completely tuned out the world. Her entire focus was captivated by the small, octagonal stone resting in her palm. The Sheep Talisman. An abstract, ancient carving of a ram's head stared back at her from the smooth surface.
Her delicate features twisted into a complicated mix of bubbling excitement and creeping, obvious nervousness. The chat group's item description had been very specific. This little rock granted the user the ability to perceive souls, project their own spirit, and even manipulate soul power.
'Souls...'March swallowed hard.'Wait, aren't ghosts technically souls?'
Her overactive imagination immediately supplied a vivid montage of horrifying, green-faced ghouls with dripping fangs and hollow eyes. A violent shiver wracked her spine.
She vigorously shook her head, slapping her own cheeks to physically dislodge the terrifying imagery. "Nothing to be afraid of! Nothing at all!" she muttered to herself. "This is the Astral Express! Pom-Pom is here. Mr. Yang is here. Himeko is here. Even Stelle is right next to me! It's super safe! Mhm! The safest place in the universe!"
Having successfully gaslit herself into a state of false bravery, March 7th sucked in a deep breath. She wrapped both hands tightly around the Sheep Talisman, squeezing her eyes shut. Focusing every ounce of her willpower, she carefully guided her intent into the ancient stone, prodding its dormant power.
Buzz—
A low, resonant hum vibrated against her palms. The talisman flared to life, emitting a brilliant, ethereal white light that instantly washed over March 7th, swallowing her whole.
The sensation was instantaneous and bizarre. The heavy, grounding weight of gravity vanished. She felt her very being lighten, slipping out of a dense, restrictive shell. An unmatched, floating euphoria spread through her consciousness.
Yet, paralyzed by her fear of the supernatural unknown, she kept her eyelids clamped shut. She refused to look. If she opened her eyes, she might see a ghost staring right back at her.
Thump.
The heavy, deadweight sound of a body collapsing against the floorboards echoed clearly in her 'ears'.
Her nonexistent heart leaped directly into her throat. What was that? Who fell? Was there an attack?! Mustering the absolute greatest courage she had ever summoned in her entire life, March slowly—agonizingly slowly—pivoted in mid-air. Trembling, she peeled her eyes open, millimeter by millimeter, like a slow-motion horror film.
The sight before her instantly turned her to stone.
There, slumped awkwardly against the velvet cushions of the parlor car sofa, was her. The cute, adorable, physical body of March 7th lay completely motionless, her chest rising and falling in a slow, rhythmic slumber.
"AHHHHH—!!!" A piercing, glass-shattering shriek ripped from March's spectral throat. It was a scream born of pure, unadulterated terror and absolute disbelief.
She stared at her own unconscious face on the sofa, then snapped her gaze down to her hands. They were glowing. Translucent, shimmering, pale-blue hands floating freely in the air. A tidal wave of absolute panic crashed over her mind.
"I'm dead?! I used the talisman for two seconds and I instantly died on the spot?!"
"Is this a trap?! Is the chat group actually an evil conspiracy?! Is it finally harvesting our souls?!"
"Waaahhh..." Phantom tears pricked at the corners of her glowing eyes. "My trailblazing journey can't be over yet! I haven't eaten enough of Pom-Pom's cooking! I haven't even gotten my memories back!"
A chaotic barrage of bizarre, terrifying, and utterly dramatic speculations frantically scrolled through her mind like a broken ticker tape. The more she overthought it, the more terrified she became, spiraling deeper and deeper into a hilarious, existential despair.
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