My Avatar is Becoming the Ultimate BOSS

The chimes of Big Ben slowly faded away, replaced by the evening breeze gently blowing from beyond the horizon.

Bathed in moonlight by the windowsill, Ayase Origami held Xia Pingzhou in her arms. The girl's pale eyelids hung low as she raised her right hand, gently stroking his hair.

In fact, even Ji Minghuan couldn't understand why he was so anxious and unsettled; perhaps it was because tomorrow he would meet Kong Youling in London.

Just thinking of Kong Youling being right in front of him, wearing hospital garb and a metal collar around her neck, yet being forced to ignore her, weighed down his heart. It felt like a rupture inside him, panic seeping out uncontrollably, the more he tried to plug it, the more it leaked out, choking him.

He could act nonchalant with everyone else, but not with Kong Youling.

Could he really...really stay calm then? If Kong Youling got hurt in this London operation, could he still remain indifferent?

What should he do? Save her? Or ignore her to avoid exposing himself?

What was the Salvation Society plotting with this operation? Were they truly intending to use Kong Youling's safety to force him to reveal his weaknesses?

Even if he saved her and took her away, could it be a trap set by the Salvation Society, deliberately letting her go, then using the tracker on her collar to find him and capture all his bodies in one go?

Was it, from the very beginning, a dead end? Struggling seemed futile.

The more he thought, the heavier Ji Minghuan's heart became, his mind in turmoil as if it were about to explode. Wearily, he rested his head on Ayase Origami's shoulder. Her pale and cold hand brushed through his hair, calming his thoughts.

After a long silence, Ji Minghuan said softly, "I'm alright now, sorry, I just... lost control of my emotions."

He paused: "On the Ferris wheel, didn't I tell you I have a family member? That white-haired girl. Lately, I've been thinking about how to find her, so I'm a bit exhausted, I'm so worried I might never find her again."

"So you joined the corps for the same reason as them, to find someone." Ayase Origami did not let go of him.

"When you said I was important... was that to comfort me?" Ji Minghuan asked.

The girl in the kimono didn't respond.

After a moment of silence, she asked, "What do you think?"

"It was to comfort me." Ji Minghuan buried his face in her shoulder.

"Then it was..."

"I figured as much."

The girl in the kimono looked down at him, "Seeing a teary little kitten cuddle in for comfort, what else could I say?"

Ji Minghuan paused, looking up at Ayase Origami; soon he would kill Jack the Ripper. To her, this was undoubtedly an utter betrayal.

Oda Takashige was dead, and Jack the Ripper was the only one she felt close to, yet he killed Jack the Ripper, becoming a traitor in Ayase Origami's eyes, leaving her with absolutely nothing.

At that moment, what expression would Ayase Origami show him? Would she cry... could this doll-like girl cry? Or would it be anger?

No, perhaps the most likely would be confusion and numbness?

She might not even know what expression to show upon betrayal, after all... she even needed him to accompany her for buying clothes the first time, not knowing what kind of clothes she liked.

This doll-like girl didn't understand how to express her emotions to others. Her father treated her as a tool; her mother died the moment she was born.

So... within these sixteen years, even if she felt sad, there would be no one to hold her like this, stroke her head, and tell her she was just a child and didn't have to bear so much.

When Oda Takashige was still alive, Xia Pingzhou would sit in the café and chat with him, mentioning that the young mistress seldom smiled at people.

Because when she was young, the young mistress's father often got angry and behaved gloomily at home. At that time, Ayase Origami used her fingers to pinch the corners of her mouth, mimicking her mother's smile from photos, hoping to show her father a happy face like her mother's, thinking, "Wouldn't that make father a bit happier?"

But her father just scolded her angrily, asking why she would show a smile like her mother's, accusing her of causing her mother's death. "How dare you smile like her; are you mocking me?"

The young mistress stared blankly at her father's hysterics, slowly lowering her fingers from her lips, merely saying, "I'm sorry, father, I won't smile again."

After that day, she very rarely smiled at others.

Oda Takashige also said that if he could return to that day, he would forsake his responsibilities as a butler and opt to confront the young mistress's father with a sword, because a child's smile needs no reason, and a child's desire to smile should never be criticized.

Indeed, she was never taught how to express herself from childhood to adulthood; she isn't allowed to smile, nor to cry out loud like other children...

Even when she feels sadness, she can only empty herself like a doll; over time, her gaze grew this void, making it hard to find focus.

Yet this very girl, she left this remaining shred of emotion for you.

Perhaps sensing your unease, she took the initiative to hold you, gently stroking your head.

Just like a mother.

Yet her mother had long since passed away.

No one could teach her, so where did she learn such tenderness? On television, in books?

When she saw mothers on TV stroking their child's head, would she feel a sense of loss?

Would she also imagine that in her sadness, if only her mother was still there... if only her mother could hold her in her arms and stroke her head.

But she didn't have that...

She only had a father who unjustifiably yelled at her, blaming her for her mother's death.

She was such a lonely person, so she could only awkwardly imitate what she saw on TV, holding you in her arms, stroking your head.

Because she had nothing, never experienced such love, yet gave you the gentleness she had never felt herself... that's why Ji Minghuan found it laughable...

Truly, it was incredibly laughable.

From the bottom of her heart, she hopes that she can open her eyes and see clearly that he's only using her. Sooner or later, he will kill the person she cherishes most right before her eyes, and then discard her like a chess piece.

After a long, long silence, he finally whispered:

"Thank you."

"It's the first time I've seen a cat say thank you to its owner." Ayase Origami rested her chin on the back of his head.

"Don't you think I'm embarrassing?"

"It's quite normal for a cat to occasionally cuddle in its owner's arms."

"I thought you would feel... I've suddenly become weird."

"No, it's the first time I've seen it. It's quite novel."

"It's better not to have such novelty." Ji Minghuan paused, "May I ask you a question."

"What?"

"After Takayama died, did you ever think about leaving the corps?"

She was silent for a long time: "This place gave me freedom, I belong here."

Xia Pingzhou lifted his eyes, silently gazed at her face, then slowly withdrew his gaze:

"I understand."

The last question in his heart disappeared. He has no choice but to counter the Salvation Society. The second machine is indispensable, but if Jack the Ripper is not killed, this machine will be destroyed... He's destined to become a traitor, no matter how good the relationship is now, it's all just a dream. They will sooner or later become enemies.

"Why ask such a question?" the girl in kimono asked.

"It's late, let's sleep," he diverted the topic, slowly distancing himself from Ayase Origami.

"Okay."

She remained silent for a while and placed the haiku collection on the windowsill.

"Tomorrow, I want to go out for a walk by myself," Xia Pingzhou said.

He knows that if Ayase Origami follows him at such a juncture, she will definitely have conflicts with the Ghost Train Corps and the Salvation Society people.

The kimono girl glanced at his back, lowered her eyelids, and nodded, silently saying:

"Alright."

She seemed to want to say something but didn't.

"In the future... we should travel around the world together," Ji Minghuan suddenly said.

The kimono girl was slightly stunned.

"Provided, that at that time, you're still willing to stay with me."

After adding this sentence, Xia Pingzhou moved into the bathroom and picked up his phone.

As soon as he opened it, there was a message, and there was no need to check who it was from, he already guessed.

[Hacker: Oh my, crying in the lady's arms, enjoying it so much, I never thought our newcomer would show this side, I must treasure it well.]

Xia Pingzhou's face twitched slightly.

He took a deep breath, then quickly typed a line and sent it.

[Xia Pingzhou: Sooner or later, I'll bury you, this electronic pet.]

[Hacker: Don't be so fierce, actually I've been really touched by you guys. If you ever get together, I can make an electronic memo for you, play it at your wedding, guaranteed to be better than anyone's. I've been editing videos since I was four.]

[Xia Pingzhou: We're not in that kind of relationship.]

[Hacker: Then what do you take her for? Really your owner now?]

[Xia Pingzhou: A good friend.]

[Hacker: You have such a tough mouth, newcomer. But I'm relieved, before this, I was suspicious why I couldn't find your background... but now it's unnecessary, feels like what you said isn't fake, after all, you cried in the lady's arms.]

Was it accidental, or did it dispel the hacker's suspicion of me? Xia Pingzhou thought.

[Hacker: "Who's more important, me or Jack the Ripper?" Oh my, can't believe our deadpan love saint could say such things, I'm really impressed by you.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Get lost.]

Xia Pingzhou put away his phone, looked up at the indifferent face in the mirror, washed his face with water, and then returned to the bed in the room, slowly closing his eyes.

The main body on the other side remains in a dormant state, unable to wake up no matter what, or open its eyes. The sedative effect is strong, and the Salvation Society people have already started to act, they are using some method to move the children out of the base, taking them to London.

And Black Cocoon at this moment is quietly hanging upside down beneath London's Big Ben, overlooking the brightly lit Westminster District.

That night, Ji Minghuan couldn't fall asleep. Even in the deep night, various chaotic thoughts kept pulling him back and forth between dreaming and reality. By the early morning the next day, the message ringtone awakened his groggy mind.

Black Cocoon lifted its head, hanging upside down and looking towards London's skyline. A giant sun slowly rose, the morning light washing over, enveloping the Gothic buildings.

He took out the phone hidden in the restraint belt, glanced at the message.

[Ke Qirui: Time to start acting.]