Chapter 117: Confession

Chapter 117

"Actually, not only am I not human, but... I don't belong to this world either!" Mei hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to reveal her secret.

"I know you're not human, but what do you mean you don't belong to this world?" Mo Chen asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

The others were also confused, especially Qu Wenyuan, who gasped in shock at these words, her eyes flashing with a mix of surprise and sudden realization.

"It's just that... you all remember the time I was ambushed at A-Ye's house? He did kill me, and I happened to arrive right at that moment. I used my own energy to repair the damage to her body, which is why I was 'resurrected' from the dead."

"What do you mean he killed you and you arrived? You're confusing me! Are you trying to say that the person killed Number Nine, and you happened to enter her body at that exact moment, effectively replacing her? Is that it?"

Everyone had been a bit bewildered by her explanation, but after Mo Chen rephrased it, they finally understood.

"Yes and no! I didn't replace her; I merged with her! I am Number Nine, and Number Nine is me. Take operating a computer, for example—my original world didn't have such things. If I had only accessed her memories, I wouldn't have known how to operate one because I wouldn't have understood the concepts. Furthermore, I possess all of her emotions, including her past hatred for the experiments, her longing for freedom, and her confusion about this new life. I have all these feelings. It isn't just understanding; it’s as if I’ve experienced them myself, etched into my very being. We have become one. Can you understand that?"

Hearing her explanation, Mo Chen finally understood why, even though she was no longer the original Number Nine, she could still evoke that sense of shared destiny in him. The others hadn't known Number Nine, so whether she was really her didn't matter much to them. Compared to that, they were more concerned about other things.

"So, is your personality also a new one formed by the fusion of two people?" Ye Jingxuan asked.

"No, this is my original personality. After all, by the time we merged, Number Nine was already dead. While those past experiences generated many negative emotions, my own temperament was already set, so it didn't have much of an impact. If I had to say there was any effect, it would be that I often feel anxious when absorbing those memories and need someone by my side."

Since she had already started, Mei didn't feel there was anything she couldn't say.

So that was it. Ye Jingxuan didn't ask anything further. He had been drawn to her by the clean, pure aura she possessed, as if she had been washed free of dust. Other things were unimportant to him. Knowing that this was her true self, he had no more doubts.

"In that case, the things Mei-er taught me aren't knowledge from this world, are they?" An Ziyou asked.

No wonder she was so young yet knew so much—and all of it was unheard of.

"Right! I don't actually use 'abilities' (superpowers); I use magic! The things I've been teaching you are based on modified magical theories. The abilities in this world are, in many ways, very similar to magic!"

"Then those strange things Mei-er sister brings out, are they also from another world? And since you come from another world, what about him? Is he from another world too?" Lin Shaojie asked, turning his gaze toward Xiriel, who was quietly leaning against the doorway.

"That's right! Xiriel is like me; we come from the same world! However, Xiriel is human—he was then, and he still is now!" Seeing that Xiriel had no intention of speaking, Mei answered for him.

"Can you go back? I mean, can you return to your original world?" Qu Wenyuan interjected suddenly, her expression looking somewhat urgent.

"Of course! As long as there is enough energy, one can use a magic circle to open a gateway between dimensions." Mei didn't understand why she was so anxious, but she nodded anyway.

"Then can you open a gateway to other dimensions?" Qu Wenyuan's tone became even more desperate, her eyes filled with hope.

Mei looked at her expectant gaze and slowly shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Sister Yuan, I can't do that! Spatial magic has never been my specialty."

Seeing her shake her head, Qu Wenyuan could not hide her disappointment, but she persisted, asking, "Then do you know who can? Can the person who sent you to this world do it?"

"Probably! But Xiao Sa is still in the original world; you wouldn't be able to see him at all!" Not yet aware that Savitlan and Dilo had also arrived in this dimension, Mei shattered Qu Wenyuan's last hope.

"I have to ask, why are you asking this? Do you want to be a transmigrator too, Yuan-yuan?" Lin Shaojie didn't understand why Qu Wenyuan was asking these things or why she was so disappointed.

"It's not easy being a transmigrator! Every dimension has its own laws; if you aren't careful, you could be reduced to ashes." Hearing Lin Shaojie's remark, Mei assumed Qu Wenyuan really wanted to change worlds and warned her solemnly.

Qu Wenyuan didn't speak upon hearing this, merely lowering her head with a despondent expression.

An Ziyou, however, asked curiously after hearing Mei's explanation, "Since transmigration is so dangerous, why did Mei-er come to this world in the first place?"

When Mei heard his question, her expression became awkward and a bit dejected. After a while, she said, "I came here to grow up!"

"Grow up?"

Hearing her answer, everyone wore an expression of astonishment. This reason was far beyond their imagination!

"Pfft—Mei-er sister, can't you grow up in your original world?" Lin Shaojie immediately burst out laughing, staring at Mei in disbelief.

The others also felt this answer was truly bizarre, their expressions strange.

"In my world, every elf must pass a coming-of-age ceremony once they reach a certain age to truly grow up. Because I never showed any signs of maturity, I couldn't hold the ceremony, so I've remained in this juvenile stage. Later, Lolo used the Star Sacrifice technique to calculate that if I wanted to reach adulthood, I had to find three items, and those three items are all in this world, so I came."

Whenever she mentioned this, Mei always felt depressed. Why was it so hard for her to grow up and become an adult?

"If you don't grow up, will it have any effect on you?" Ye Jingxuan asked.

"Of course. An elf's juvenile period is usually around 80 years, the adult period is 300 years, and the old age period is 150 years. After entering the adult stage, an elf's lifespan not only extends significantly, but their power also reaches its peak. If I cannot enter the adult stage, not only will my power be unable to progress, but my lifespan will also be drastically reduced."

Most importantly, she was simply tired of being a child. She wanted to grow up; she wanted to experience what it was like to have the emotions that only adults possessed!

Upon hearing that the matter of maturity was linked to her life, Ye Jingxuan’s heart tightened.

Mo Chen also frowned and asked, "What exactly do you need to reach adulthood? You've been here for so long—have you found them?"

"I have three types of energy attributes in my body: Light, Dark, and Plant. To reach adulthood, I must find the corresponding energy sources: the Source of Light, the Source of Darkness, and the Source of Life. Unfortunately, so far, I have only found two fragments of the Source of Darkness. I don't have a single clue about the other two sources!"

"The Source of Life? Since they are corresponding, why is the plant one called the Source of Life instead of the Source of Plants or the Source of Nature?" An Ziyou asked, puzzled.

"Because legend has it that the first elves were born from the Tree of Life. Every elf has a latent plant attribute and can communicate with spiritual plants. Even elves who have awakened other elemental energies will see their abilities enhanced in a plant-rich environment. Especially in places like forests, it's like a fish in water for an elf; very few people can defeat an elf in a forest. That's why we consider plant-based energy to be our 'life-bound' energy, and we call the plant energy source the Source of Life!"

"Fragments of the Source of Darkness? What do they look like? Can you show me?" Mo Chen thought for a moment before asking.

"Of course!"

Mei agreed without hesitation and pulled the fragments she had collected out of Xiriel's spatial storage.

"Here, this is the Source of Darkness fragment! I've already fused two pieces together; it should be about half now. I don't know how many pieces the rest is split into."

As they looked at the black crystal in her hand, Ye Jingxuan immediately recognized it as the new energy source they had found at the experimental base in the snowy mountains. No wonder Mei had wanted this item so badly back then. It was fortunate that Situ Huang hadn't taken it, or getting it back would have been quite a chore!

Lin Shaojie couldn't see anything special about the black crystal in Mei's hand—it looked like a large piece of black gemstone—so he reached out, wanting to touch it.

"Don't touch it! The energy in this thing is very unstable. Your attribute doesn't match it; if you absorb the energy inside, it will devour all the abilities in your body." Mei quickly pulled her hand away, warning him.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shaojie immediately retracted his hand, looking at the fragment of the Source of Darkness with lingering fear. "Mei-er sister, where did you find such a dangerous thing?"

"One piece was found in a valley not far from the Yuehua Base, and the other was found in that underground experimental base back when we were helping Ling Feng with a mission."

Ye Jingxuan, Mo Chen, and An Ziyou immediately recalled the time in Yuehua when she had left alone to find something, though she hadn't said what it was at the time.

Thinking of that valley, they naturally remembered the mission that led them there, and Mo Chen asked, "There must be a way to detect this, right?"

"The greatest characteristic of the Source of Darkness is that it absorbs all energy. Therefore, wherever the Source of Darkness appears, there will inevitably be a 'vacuum zone' of signals that no detector can penetrate. But there are simply too many such vacuum zones, and most are man-made and involve national secrets. It's too difficult to find the other fragments based on that alone!"

Mei shook her head, indicating that she had already considered what he was thinking, and it wasn't feasible.

Mo Chen didn't say anything, merely lowering his eyes as he continued to think of other solutions.

The others also actively helped Mei think of ways to quickly find the remaining fragments of the Source of Darkness. Only Qu Wenyuan stood to the side, distracted, her expression lost and helpless.