Chapter Eight: Inhuman Intelligence (Part One)

Chapter Eight: Inhuman Wisdom

“Elder sister… I… I…” Shuster’s voice faltered, stuttering.

“Elder sister? Only that person ever called me that. Who are you, really?” The woman’s tone remained distant, cold as ever. Though she couldn’t quite grasp the situation around her, she recalled that she was the one who had resurrected the person before her. The idea of resurrection itself was strange enough, and her body felt stronger, more resilient than before. Yet, what mattered most now was uncovering the reason for her own revival.

“Sister… I… I… I am…” Shuster’s eyes blurred with tears, his voice choked. He mouthed his name without a sound. The beauty before him was the very person who had haunted his memory, the one he could never forget. Her joyful laughter, her anger, her serene face—all these scenes flickered before his eyes like a lantern slide. Tears slowly soaked his collar, and everything became a haze. Suddenly, darkness fell as his forehead pressed against something soft and warm. It was just as comforting as it had been in the past. Thirty years, yet nothing had changed.

Lolita watched the two embrace and weep, silent tears slipping from her large, beautiful eyes. She and Shuster had once been one—shared memories, shared language, a shared soul. Yet she was now a separate entity, still without a body of her own.

Tears dampened his clothes, and Shuster fell asleep in the woman’s arms.

Caressing the slumbering Shuster, gently running her fingers through his silken silver hair, the woman finally lifted her lovely face, on par with anyone present, to look at Lolita.

“And who are you? A strange girl who looks exactly like him.” At last, her words carried more substance.

“This isn’t the place to talk. With your wisdom, Sister Jingchen, you must have realized that. Come with me inside.” Lolita stowed everything into her spatial ring and led the way into an empty room.

Seeing her host disarm, the woman named Jingchen lowered her guard. Cradling Shuster in her arms, she followed Lolita into the room.

Inside was a maddeningly simple chamber: one wooden bed, a table, and a bookshelf overflowing with books.

Everything felt painfully familiar, as if it had all happened just yesterday. But things had changed; the people were not the same. Jingchen gently laid Shuster on the bed and sat beside him, softly stroking his cheek.

“Well then… allow me to introduce myself. I am Lolita Redona, Shuster’s sister. More precisely, I am the alternate personality who bore the memory of your death for thirty years. Now, I am completely separate from him, though we are both one and not one at the same time. Two months ago, while my primary personality was unconscious, I fought in his stead, killed an Abyssal Demon, absorbed its soul, and became an entirely independent personality.” Lolita sat on the other side of the bed, her feet swinging from the higher edge.

“Is that so? Tell me about yourself. You’ve been through so much.” Jingchen sighed.

“Me? After you left, the trauma of your death awakened my accursed powers. The Dragon Division of our country took notice, and I spent twelve years there. It was then that I, as an alternate personality, was split off to bear the memory of your death. I learned many ways to fight and carried out missions. Life was good there—every completed mission brought lengthy holidays. That went on until a mission twelve years later… I died during that mission…” Lolita gazed up at the ceiling as she spoke.

At this, Jingchen suddenly looked up at her.

“There’s no need to worry. We’re both alive—let me finish…” Lolita gently recounted everything that happened after Shuster’s death.

“So, the two of you… you didn’t truly reincarnate, then?” Jingchen played with a stray lock of hair.

“Rather than reincarnation, it’s more like we directly took over the bodies of infants,” Lolita replied.

“Well, at least we’re all together again. That head maid you mentioned—I’d like to meet her. And what’s so special about this place called the Realm of Infinite Terror? With your power, you could easily sweep through every horror movie here.” Jingchen continued to twirl her hair.

“The system limits our strength. Here, the energy we can use is capped by the power of the strongest being in this realm. Right now, we’re only allowed enough magical power for the peak of the second tier.” Lolita made their clothes transform into pajamas and lay down beside Shuster, embracing him from behind.

“Is that so? Even so, this system hardly seems malicious. Never mind, you both look exhausted. Sleep for now.” Jingchen smiled softly at the two, not minding their closeness, and gently joined their embrace.

The three fell quietly asleep together. Fortunately, the bed was large enough. Still, a faintly romantic, lily-like atmosphere filled the small room.

In the midst of girlish affection… how tongue-tied!

Knock, knock, knock.

A series of knocks sounded at the door.

Lolita, still groggy from lack of sleep and clad in rumpled, rather revealing pajamas, twisted the door handle open.

“What is it?” She and Shuster both had a peculiar affliction—upon waking, they always suffered a brief bout of low blood sugar, something even their fallen-angel forms couldn’t shake.

Zhan Lan stared at the dazed young girl before him—Lolita looked about seventeen. Her face was still clouded with sleep, her expression blank, her pajamas thin and disheveled, long silver hair draped over her shoulders, and flawless, fair skin peeking from the collar. Below, a white lace bra was visible—her bust even larger than Zhan Lan’s.

“Uh… Zhang Jie said we’re to meet under the Lord’s Sphere… You should get changed…” With that, Zhan Lan fled.

Oblivious to her lethal appearance, Lolita watched Zhan Lan’s retreating figure, puzzled.

She returned to the room, woke the others, and, with Jingchen’s help—just as in their childhood, when Shuster relied on Jingchen—they got dressed. Two of the three shook off their post-sleep daze and headed for the Lord’s Plaza.

“Where’s Zheng Zha?” Shuster looked around. Only Zheng Zha was missing.

“He’s not up yet. Aren’t you going to introduce your companion?” Zhang Jie asked.

“Yao Jingchen. Just call me Jingchen. I’m Shuster and Lolita’s elder sister,” she replied.

“Oh, welcome. We’ll wait for Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi, then.” Zhang Jie conjured a circle of tables and lavish sofas in the Plaza.

After a while, Zhang Jie, unable to bear the silence, grumbled, “Zheng Zha and Li Xiaoyi sure are slow.”

“My apologies for being late!” Li Xiaoyi appeared at Zhang Jie’s side, one arm around a fiery blonde woman with mismatched emerald and scarlet eyes, startling Zhang Jie enough to drop his cigarette.

“All right, enough bickering. Come try the pastries your sister-in-law made.” Across from the chubby one, Zhang Jie and his classic beauty sat eating fruit side by side, Zhang Jie’s scarred face beaming with contentment. Beside them, Shuster and Lolita nestled against Jingchen, their aura of sisterly affection so strong it made Li Xiaoyi cringe.

With a crash, Zheng Zha burst from his room in nothing but briefs, rushed beneath the glowing sphere, closed his eyes, and communed with the Lord, startling the affectionate group. Li Xiaoyi whispered to Zhang Jie, “Since when did he become an exhibitionist?”

“And he looks so happy about it.” Zhang Jie added.

As the two scoundrels exchanged knowing grins, Zheng Zha—labeled as an exhibitionist—dashed back to his room and slammed the door.

“What on earth is he doing?” Zhan Lan asked Shuster.

“No idea… not that it matters,” Shuster replied, adjusting his glasses.

Soon after, Zheng Zha reemerged, dressed properly, with a little girl in tow.

In the hall, aside from Shuster’s trio and Zhang Jie’s classical beauty, Zhang Jie and his companions wore stern faces, though Zheng Zha saw their lips twitching. He scratched his head and said, “Laugh if you want—don’t force yourselves to hold it in, looking as if you’ve been punched.”

At that, the three burst out laughing, with only Zhan Lan retaining her composure.

Zhang Jie said between laughs, “How strange—you actually like girls with that kind of personality, so fiery and strong-willed!”

Zheng Zha sat down, smiling wryly, and explained the origin of the little girl, ending with a sigh, “I never expected this. I only meant to create someone resembling her in looks and personality, but somehow, I actually replicated her entirely.”

The others were astonished. Zhang Jie exclaimed, “Unbelievable! The Lord can really bring someone from your memories to life? I’ve survived four horror films and never knew about this. Who knows how many secrets this place holds? It seems we’ve only scratched the surface.”

“All right, now that everyone’s here, I have something to say,” Jingchen suddenly interjected.

Everyone turned toward her.

PS: At last, the brains of the five-person team has appeared.