Role Playing the Dark Horse Character

Chapter 121: The One-of-a-Kind Candy

“Heige?!” An Heyu was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed with great surprise.

At this moment, Li Li wasn’t using her previous appearance.

Instead, she had crafted a frail, scholarly, slightly sickly handsome face, with a long, low ponytail tied back.

That’s why An Heyu didn’t recognize her at first.

Dan’s eyes lit up, and he shot toward Li Li like a little cannonball.

He raised his head, pointing at his hair, “Heige! I want a ponytail too!”

Li Li rubbed his white bobbed hair, snapped her fingers, and a sunflower hair tie appeared in her hand, perfectly matching Dan’s goose-yellow skirt today.

She smiled and said, “Of course you can.”

A little while later, the three of them sat on a park bench, each holding a milk tea, with a little topknot tied on their heads.

An Heyu was somewhat puzzled, “Why me too…”

He didn’t know what happened, but he now had a ponytail on his head too, with a hair tie featuring a chibi red bird pattern.

Li Li grinned, “Gotta fit in, Little Red.”

Dan, sucking on his straw, mumbled, “My ponytail’s prettier than An Heyu’s.”

An Heyu: “…” Familiar formula, familiar heartache, familiar helplessness.

Then he let out a relieved sigh, feeling that this person was as spirited as ever and probably doing alright.

“By the way,” Li Li set down her milk tea cup, flipped her hand, and a piece of ice, sparkling with crystalline light under the sun, appeared in her palm.

“What’s this?” An Heyu asked.

“Qu Ting,” Li Li said, placing the ice shard into Dan’s outstretched hand.

“Heige’s the best!” Dan cheered.

He still held a grudge against the person who broke his strawberry hairpin.

An Heyu froze, then said anxiously, “You killed an SS-rank ability user in Floating City?”

“That’s too dangerous. The nobles in Floating City may have different stances, but they could still band together…” An Heyu looked at Li Li’s perfunctory smile, sighed, and said, “But thank you.” For killing the enemy who wiped out his clan.

“If there’s danger, you have to call me and Dan,” he added finally.

Li Li nodded repeatedly and said, “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

Her tone grew serious, “Do you know about Libra?”

An Heyu shook his head.

Dan, with his heterochromatic eyes, looked utterly clueless.

“Then do you know about SSS-rank ability users?” Li Li rephrased.

The two in front of her still looked blank, but An Heyu caught on, “You mean there’s a legendary SSS-rank ability user behind the Imperial Family?”

He pondered, “That makes sense. It explains why those SS-rank ability users don’t rebel against the Imperial Family. Sometimes I subconsciously avoid questioning the irrationality of it.”

Then, hesitating, he asked, “Is that person an enemy?”

An Heyu felt nervous.

If their enemy was truly an SSS-rank ability user, it would be far too dangerous, especially since Li Li was on her own.

“Yes,” Li Li said decisively.

She rarely showed a serious expression, “So I need you to assist Tide. In the end, I’ll need you to help me kill It from the outside.”

“I want to go to Floating City with you,” Dan said, tossing the ice shard and grabbing Li Li’s sleeve.

“Good boy,” Li Li rubbed his head, “Work hard. As long as you wait until Tide’s people grow strong enough to storm Floating City, it’ll be fine.”

Dan’s expression hardened, as if he were about to swing a little whip and beat someone up to S-rank.

Li Li silently mourned for a certain corgi for a second.

“And I’ll drop by when I can,” she said, meeting An Heyu’s worried gaze.

“That’s an SSS-rank,” An Heyu said disapprovingly.

“I’m SS-rank now,” Li Li flashed a wild grin, “I’m the best.”

Whether she was the best or not, Li Li’s decisions were never open to debate.

After parting with the two, Li Li strolled leisurely through the streets of Thousand Blade City.

Libra’s voice sounded slowly in her ear, “You wouldn’t really want to kill me, would you?”

Li Li turned a corner and entered an alley.

Then a pink-white light flared beside her, petals swirling in the dim alley, gradually forming a beautiful face.

Libra appeared at her side.

“Of course not,” Li Li said earnestly, “You’re already the villain in the manga. Being the villain of this world is just a side gig.”

She continued in a perfectly reasonable tone, “Since we’re harvesting popularity, the manga can’t fizzle out. The final boss has to die at least once, right? Whether I kill you or Yiming does, a fake death won’t hurt you.”

Libra thought it over.

White hair slipped over Its forehead, and It brushed it behind Its ear.

“And after patching up the world, even if Yiming and the others overthrow the Empire, it won’t destroy the world,” Li Li said.

Libra was convinced.

It showed a humble expression, as if Its earlier dissatisfaction had never existed.

Then, with pale pink eyes, It looked at Li Li and said, “Within the scope of my abilities, you can ask me to do anything.”

He seemed very aware of how good-looking he was, every move perfectly poised.

But Li Li: ...

Great, Libra had managed to give her goosebumps with his words.

Hadn't he always blocked her with "please explore on your own" before? Now he was acting like some considerate little secretary?

As long as her current value was high, she could do whatever she wanted?

It seemed Libra had indeed acted that way.

She had been quite unrestrained in Floating City.

Nobles and imperials were all beneath her, and she could do whatever she pleased.

But once her value was lost, she would be discarded by Libra like Qu Ting, treated as a gift to her.

"No need." She revealed a slightly disdainful smile.

She couldn't afford to accept it.

Libra glanced at her, unsure of what she was thinking but able to sense her disdain, and for once, he seemed a bit confused: "The people of your world should all like white hair."

He had probably taken some online comments from the real world to heart, genuinely believing Li Li should like white-haired characters.

"Respect individual differences." Li Li smoothly changed the topic, saying, "I'm a black-hair enthusiast."

Besides, she thought the face she had crafted was the best-looking in the world.

Although Libra hadn't required her to stay in Floating City, Li Li had rarely ventured outside it during this time, and she didn't plan to leave too soon.

Libra walked beside her, likely using some kind of concealment.

Li Li noticed that the mirror nearby showed no reflection of Libra.

Like a ghost, the sight of only her own reflection in the mirror sent a chill rising from the soles of her feet.

She smoothly shifted her gaze away from the mirror.

Her expression, though stiff, remained as usual, showing no obvious abnormality.

Thousand Blade City was the territory of the Feng clan nobles.

The Feng clan revered ability development and also cherished ability collection.

They believed their abilities were beautiful.

While they wouldn't plunder abilities, they would confine ability users with unique powers, treating them like collectible cards.

But unlike cards, they placed living people they admired in display cases, using biotechnology to suppress their physiological functions, turning them into ability "generators" to showcase their beautiful powers.

The lower district of Floating City had similar devices, but Floating City operated under the guise of voluntariness, allowing civilians in need of a livelihood or outsiders drawn by the city's prosperity but lacking money to "agree" to enter the extraction devices.

The Feng clan nobles loved abilities and supported ability combat and experiments.

Unlike the newly risen Yue clan nobles, their researchers were far more experienced.

Many artificial creatures in the Empire originated from Thousand Blade City.

For example, the dog-goose, an artificial hybrid of a dog and a goose, was created in a lab and later mass-produced for various reasons, becoming a new species in this world.

Creatures like squid-pigs and orange-juice fish were mass-raised and served on dining tables because their flavors suited some humans in this world.

Though Li Li couldn't understand what was so tasty about orange-juice fish, she respected individual dietary preferences, just as some in the real world enjoyed canned herring.

As a result, Thousand Blade City had the highest number of artificial creatures in the entire Empire.

Strange creatures roamed the streets, and sometimes a random passerby might be an android.

In the earlier real-world manga, Tide and others had already occupied the suburbs and most of the civilian district of Thousand Blade City, launching attacks toward the city center.

Yiming and others were at the other end of the city, and this was the civilian district.

Though not too far, it wasn't very close either, so Li Li thought they wouldn't run into each other.

But perhaps by sheer accident, several dazzling beams of colored light suddenly appeared in the sky.

Then, sword light descended from above with unstoppable force, and at the same time, a metallic gleam flashed by.

The sword light left a deep crack in the ground at the center of the street, while a child who had been standing there was now held in the arms of someone who seemed to be wearing metallic armor.

The aftermath stirred up dust, and the child saved by the armored figure opened his eyes, seemingly still processing what had happened.

"Ah!"

The civilians' screams rang out, and the crowd scattered in all directions.

The metallic armor was lifted, revealing the face of a brown-haired youth beneath.

As luck would have it, it was Yiming, who was supposed to be in the central area.

It seemed he had fought his way here.

"Go home, it's not safe here." Yiming said to the child, patting his head reassuringly before guiding him by the back toward safety.

Then he stood up, the metal covering his face again, facing the longsword spiraling down from the sky, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Clang!"

Metal clashed, producing a deafening sound.

"How did he end up here?" Li Li, standing by the roadside, lowered her voice.

Libra, wearing his usual refined smile, said: "I can't predict everything."

Li Li didn't say whether she believed him or not.

She knew Libra wouldn't stop her from helping Yiming, and he might even be delighted by such a situation.

Because he wanted her to care about the people of this world, to love this world.

As it happened, Li Li was best at putting on such an act.

"You there! It's dangerous, get out of here!"

The main cast members tied to Yiming, Tang and An Huyu, soon appeared on the street as well.

They couldn't see Libra but could see Li Li, who, despite her unfamiliar appearance and sickly demeanor, was standing by the street, watching the battle in the center.

Tang left An Huyu behind, and the two split up to cover both sides. Tang ran over to her, saying: "Hurry!"

At that moment, the child Yiming had just saved suddenly appeared at the edge of the street, bursting into tears.

Without hesitation, Tang grabbed Li Li's wrist and ran toward the child.

Li Li didn't resist.

Her face was a disguise, and with her current SS-rank ability, no one could suppress her except Libra.

When they reached the child, Tang let go, allowing the patient, who had been covering her mouth and nose and seemed to be in discomfort, to stand in a safe spot.

Then he crouched down to the child and said: "Don't cry, don't cry. Where's your family? I'll take you back."

"Me, family?" The child sobbed once, then said, "Number 284125 only has a master."

An ability activated, and a circular outline appeared beneath the child's feet, like a seal engraved on the ground, enveloping Tang in red light.

"Tang!" An Huyu noticed the change on this side, turning around and hurriedly trying to run over.

Yiming, who was in the midst of battle, glanced back, and the Feng clan noble facing him said: "Didn't I tell you? Be wary of the androids in the city."

"The reason you're so troublesome is because you have a healer. Once she's dead, you'll eventually run out of strength." Taking advantage of Yiming's distraction, the noble thrust his longsword into Yiming's waist, the sword's gleam piercing through the armor.

But Yiming, without hesitation, twisted his body toward Tang's direction, preparing to rush over when—

A seemingly frail youth with a sickly complexion grabbed Tang by the collar, lifting her out of the seal's range on the ground.

Yiming paused, then, while the Feng clan noble was stunned, launched a counterattack.

"It was actually interrupted?" The noble's eyes were full of shock.

Tang, who was being held, was also somewhat bewildered, as was An Huyu, who hadn't yet reached them but slowed his steps in the middle of the road.

"That..." Tang was set down, turning to look at Li Li, wanting to say something.

But Li Li covered her mouth, coughing twice in a convincing manner, then pointed at the android child whose ability had been forcibly paused.

"Thanks." Tang said first, then walked toward the child again.

An Huyu, calling Tang's name in protest, ran toward them, while Tang stopped in front of the stunned android.

They were actually about the same age.

"A master isn't family." She said with a serious expression, "But companions can become family. Family won't use us or let us get hurt. Family protects each other, and together, they overcome difficulties hand in hand."

She rummaged in her pocket, pulling out three fruit candies wrapped in colorful paper, and handed them to the android who had just tried to kill her.

Then she showed a childish smile befitting her age: "Want to try? They're sweet. These are my second-favorite candies."

"Then what's your favorite?" The android stared blankly at the candies in its hand.

"That one is one-of-a-kind." Tang said, "There won't be a second one. You can't find anything like it in this world, a truly unique candy."

In the black-haired girl's emerald-green eyes, a faint light flickered.

Her smile was nostalgic yet resolute, and at that moment, it was as if she wanted to share this feeling with someone else.

Someone she trusted, someone she cherished.

Standing to the side, Li Li, who had been motionless, had her fingers twitch slightly.

She withdrew her lowered gaze, no longer looking at the scene.

Slowly, without making a sound with her steps, she slipped into the shadows beneath the eaves, heading toward the alley beside the street.

Then her figure melted into the alley's shadows.

She stood at the entrance, lowering the hand that had been covering her mouth and nose.

Her face changed, and she turned her head, looking at the Feng clan noble wielding a longsword in the sky.

A flash of red light passed through her cold, pitch-black eyes.

Then the person in the sky suddenly showed a shocked expression, his mind and body trembling, as if he had forgotten what he was doing.

Yiming's fist followed, striking the noble, sending him crashing from the sky into a deep pit in the ground.

Having succeeded so suddenly, Yiming was equally stunned.

He seemed to sense something, lowering his head and looking around.

But Li Li had already turned away, taking a few steps forward into the depths of the alley, toward Libra, who stood in the darkness with a warm smile.

"Let's go." She said.

"Alright." Libra replied.

Petals fluttered, and white hair gently lifted in the breeze.

Those pale pink eyes looked at Li Li, saying: "Welcome back to the real world."