Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Forum Big Shot

Feng Ling froze too.

Was her temper really that bad? Or had her corruption level climbed to the point where she couldn’t control herself anymore?

She frowned, thinking hard, then got up and went inside. A moment later she came back with a bottle of air freshener and sprayed Huang Fu Miao Miao from head to toe.

Huang Fu Miao Miao stared at her, stunned. “… Th-this—what is that?”

“I noticed when I showered just now that a nice scent helps me calm down,” Feng Ling said evenly. “So I’m spraying you, so I don’t slip up and kill you.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao went rigid. Please don’t say something that terrifying in such a calm voice!

Her appetite died on the spot. Tomato sauce clung to the corner of her mouth, and she sat there like someone had yanked her soul clean out.

After a long, blank beat, she forced out, “Can I go buy a bottle of perfume?”

“Go.” Feng Ling produced a credit card and slid it over. “Get something good. This smell’s cheap.”

With her life on the line, Huang Fu Miao Miao didn’t dare waste a second. She grabbed the card, changed clothes, and rushed out.

“Oh, right.” Feng Ling’s tone stayed casual. She speared a chunk of watermelon with a tiny fork. Red juice ran down the prongs and dripped onto the plate. “You do know this, right? Don’t even think about running. I put a mark on you.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao shuddered so hard her shoulders jumped. “Got it…”

She shrank her neck and fled.

…

The moment the door shut, the apartment turned hollow and quiet. All that remained was the soft, steady sound of Feng Ling chewing.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Huang Fu Miao Miao being removed from her friend list.

If her guess was right, the player on the forum called Moonshadow was most likely the same aberrant she’d burned to death at that villa.

That thing could split its body into countless leeches.

It wasn’t especially lethal head-on, but it was a nightmare to finish off—too flexible, too changeable. The bugs could crawl into any crack. Look away once and it slipped out. Trying to uproot it completely was like trying to catch smoke with your hands.

And if what Little Skeleton said was true—if logging out and then logging back in with a character cost a massive amount of points—then Moonshadow was probably flat broke right now. Desperate. Scrambling for points just to stay alive.

Trading intel on a hidden Boss for points fixed her immediate crisis and let her get revenge indirectly. Two birds, one stone.

As for deleting Huang Fu Miao Miao… maybe it was as simple as this: Moonshadow had already made a deal with someone else. No need to keep talking.

The thought made Feng Ling’s irritation spike again, sharp and sour in her chest.

Once her corruption level rose, her mind didn’t settle the way it used to. Every thought skittered. Every conclusion fell apart.

What now?

What now?

How was she supposed to break this?

She ate watermelon one chunk at a time, thumb idly scrolling her phone, thinking until her temples throbbed—and still nothing. Not a single plan that didn’t stink of suicide.

Huang Fu Miao Miao wasn’t wrong. Once corruption crept toward thirty percent, you really did start to split. Feng Ling was just sitting there watching juice run down her fingers, and for a second her brain insisted it was blood.

She was losing her grip. How could she expect herself to outthink anything?

Feng Ling exhaled and rubbed her brow. Pity for herself welled up, hot and ugly.

If only someone could give her an idea.

Too bad. No parents. No one to lean on. Her closest friends were all back home. Here in Qing Jiang City, aside from Su Yu Qing—someone she’d only just met—there wasn’t anyone she could truly trust.

Should she ask him?

And say what? Because of me, a swarm of aberrants is about to come slaughter their way into Qing Jiang—get ready, okay?

If she said that out loud, Su Yu Qing would probably toss her out of the city before dawn.

Feng Ling pressed her hand to her face, then suddenly froze and stared at her phone.

“I’m an idiot,” she muttered.

Players had a forum. So did humans. If the “power of the people” was real, she could use it—throw the problem into the crowd and see what came back.

She opened the Alienstar Forum app. A purple-red Xing Xing popped up and spun, loading the page.

Two seconds later, the interface snapped into place. Feng Ling went straight for the hottest board and started a new thread.

She even had the title ready:

[Folks! What do I do if a bunch of aberrants are teaming up to kill my friend?]

Inventing a “friend” was standard operating procedure online. People who knew, knew.

She wrote the post in one messy rush—weak, pitiful, helpless on purpose:

“Dou Sha Le: What do I do, folks? My friend is so miserable. She picked up an ability card and somehow became a hidden Boss, and now aberrants are hunting her! She was just defending herself like any normal person would, but that aberrant held a grudge and even exposed her info! Now they’re teaming up to kill her! Wuwuwu, what do we do?!”

When she finished, she stared at the screen and felt her mouth twitch.

“I’m really splitting,” she whispered. “Too split.”

She refreshed.

One reply.

Qing Feng: “If you’re not calling the cops, are you waiting for the funeral banquet?”

Feng Ling’s eyelid twitched. She refreshed again.

Jiao Jiao Zhe: “Making up stories with your mouth wide open, huh? Go read the pinned posts first. The aberrant ranking system for humans has been compiled for ages. Never heard of any hidden Boss.”

Da Ha Ma Gua: “Your friend’s having a breakdown.”

Mi Jia: “Fishing for replies. Next you’ll cut to ads. Someone tell a moderator to delete this.”

Feng Ling stared at the screen, jaw tight. Humans were really hard to like.

She fired back: “Dou Sha Le: What do I have to do for you to believe me?!”

Mi Jia replied almost instantly: “Post photos~ If your friend has an ability card, let her show what it can do.”

Qing Feng: “Don’t post cosplay pics. And keep your AI composites to yourself.”

Da Ha Ma Gua: “Make the thread starter post it! Hahaha, I wanna see!”

Sheng Xia: “Wanna see +1.”

Little Yang Wants To Sleep: “Wanna see +99.”

The reply count exploded like a busted hydrant.

Feng Ling stared, stunned all over again. Where was this “power of the people” she’d been counting on?

Oh. Right. The power of the people was mostly used for gawking.

She was about to close the thread and give up when a new reply slid into view.

Qing You 01: “Don’t post.”

A second message followed immediately.

Qing You 01: “Photos might leak your current location.”

Feng Ling paused.

She knew that name.

Qing You 01 was famous on the forum—a reposting big shot who quietly moved aberrant intel from place to place, day after day, as if it were a job he’d never asked to be paid for. He almost never spoke. He just worked.

And now he’d spoken.

The thread’s heat spiked again.

Da Ha Ma Gua: “Holy shit, Qing You big shot finally opened his mouth!”

Qing Feng: “What does big shot mean by that? Don’t tell me he believes the thread starter’s nonsense.”

Sheng Xia: “If it’s real, posting photos would be dangerous.”

Luo Xi: “What’s happening? I’m awake now! Are we getting a new general in the resistance? A hidden model?”

Mi Jia: “I’m almost believing it! Thread starter, swear you won’t post ads or I’ll curse you for life!”

Qing Feng: “@Qing You 01 big shot, say something—hidden Boss, real or fake?”

Feng Ling’s thumb hovered, then she clicked into her unread private messages—eyes bright with surprise.