Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Huang Fu Miao Miao

The truck rolled out of the villa district and stopped outside the iron gate.

Feng Ling found a landline in the guard booth and called the aberrant hotline. She reported the fire and the location.

Then she returned to the truck and leaned back.

Her body was a map of injuries. Mother Nest’s healing was already working—bleeding slowing, edges of wounds tightening—but the pain was everywhere, sharp and constant, like teeth.

The skull girl stayed busy in the passenger seat. She pulled out a syringe-like potion and injected it into her severed arm. Then she conjured a pouch that looked like a jelly drink and sucked on it.

Feng Ling watched in silence from the corner of her eye. Even through the mask, she could see color returning to the girl’s pale skin.

So the shop’s items really worked.

But the potions weren’t the main value here.

Aberrants had descended on Earth for over half a year now. Humans hadn’t figured out much—at least, nothing someone at Feng Ling’s level would ever be told.

This girl, though, was a living handbook.

Like what she’d said earlier: digesting the wrong Ability Card could raise corruption.

Feng Ling’s corruption was already at 7%. That mattered.

“What’s your name?” Feng Ling asked.

The girl removed the skull mask, revealing a clean, pretty face. “Huang Fu Miao Miao.”

Feng Ling’s lips curved slightly. “That’s a human name.”

“Yes.” Huang Fu Miao Miao looked uneasy. “After we log in, everything we say is automatically parsed by the System and converted into your language. So even if I tell you my real name, the System will still translate it into ‘Huang Fu Miao Miao.’”

Feng Ling tapped her fingers lightly on the steering wheel, thinking. “Then we won’t dwell on names. Tell me about your Ability Card.”

“O-okay.” Huang Fu Miao Miao sat up straighter, tense like she was being interviewed.

“What kind of card is Devil?” Feng Ling asked.

“Devil is a high-tier card,” Huang Fu Miao Miao said. “Its talent skill lets me sign a Devil contract with any intelligent life-form. Besides that, I have good night vision and I’m sensitive to malice… I haven’t digested any Ability Cards yet, so I don’t have other skills for now.”

Strong on paper. Weak in practice.

If every aberrant was this harmless, the bureau wouldn’t be drowning.

Feng Ling asked, “Why did those aberrants grab you?”

“Because I posted on the forum looking for a team to enter the Maze…” Huang Fu Miao Miao dropped her gaze, fingers twisting the mask in her lap. “I didn’t dare go in alone. We agreed to meet offline, but when we met, I sensed malice from them… I got scared. I tried to run, and they caught me.”

Then, worried Feng Ling didn’t understand, she added, “The Maze is a separate instance. Killing monsters inside gives double points. If you’re lucky and find a Maze idol, you can optimize your deck and lower corruption. That’s why every player wants to enter.”

Feng Ling’s interest sharpened. “Do you know where the Maze is?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao shook her head hard, panic flashing. “I really don’t know! I only know a tiny clue—but the exact location, I swear I don’t know.”

“Besides entering the Maze to find an idol,” Feng Ling asked, “is there any other way to lower corruption?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao’s eyes widened. Fear slid into her posture. She pressed back against the passenger door as if distance could save her.

“Y-your corruption…” she asked, voice tight, “is it high?”

Feng Ling’s mouth tilted. “How high is ‘high’?”

“Twenty,” Huang Fu Miao Miao said, swallowing. “Once you pass 20%, there’s a risk of losing control. Thirty percent makes it hard to stay rational—you can split, hear things, see things… Fifty percent is basically a Madman. No communication. Sixty, seventy… I’ve never seen it. At that level, even if you don’t get killed, your body changes into something strange and then you die.”

If Feng Ling was near twenty, then Huang Fu Miao Miao had walked into the wrong shelter.

She wanted a shield, not a bomb.

“You still haven’t answered,” Feng Ling said calmly. “Is there another way to lower corruption?”

Huang Fu Miao Miao sensed it then—not outright murderous intent, but something colder. A pressure that said: answer wrong, and you become useless.

Goosebumps rose on her skin.

She took a slow breath and forced her voice steady. “Choose your deck carefully. You need to select the cards you digest based on your main card’s traits. The higher the compatibility, the lower the corruption. If you digest a low-compatibility Ability Card, then the idol is your only salvation.”

Feng Ling laughed once, short and humorless.

Huang Fu Miao Miao flinched.

She didn’t know Feng Ling wasn’t laughing at her.

She was laughing at herself—at the fact that her main card’s name was a string of garbled code. How was she supposed to understand its traits? If she asked, she’d expose how little she knew. And once that was exposed, could she trust this little Devil not to lie, mislead, or steer her into a trap?

A Devil contract might bind her. But whether she could sign it, and how, still needed careful thought.

“Open your forum,” Feng Ling said.

“Huh?… O-oh. Okay.” Huang Fu Miao Miao opened the forum panel.

A beautiful blue virtual screen appeared in the air. Forum threads lined up neatly. A friend list. Buttons and icons.

But in Feng Ling’s view, there was nothing.

Feng Ling said, “Collect everything you can about bosses and Ability Card traits.”

Huang Fu Miao Miao froze.

Feng Ling lifted an eyebrow slightly. “You can’t?”

“N-no,” Huang Fu Miao Miao stammered. “It’s just… there’s so much. If I collect all of it, it’ll take a long time…”

Feng Ling glanced out the window. The night was deep, and everything was silent.