"Buzz."
The entrance of Shengxin Hospital was almost swallowed by darkness due to the rare, torrential downpour.
However, inside the hospital, it was brightly lit and incredibly busy.
At that mont, the automatic doors slowly slid open, inevitably drawing the attention of a few staff mbers working at the information desk.
They looked up in a daze, only to see a girl with vacant eyes and a soaking wet body slowly walking in from the darkness, which seed shrouded in an unclean pink haze.
"Um, are you sick and here for the ergency room?"
Perhaps it was an illusion, but the skin below the girl's neck seed unusually pale.
But when the nurses at the desk looked closer, the area had returned to a normal flesh tone.
"Ye Shiyu."
"Ye Shiyu?"
The nurses at the front desk exchanged glances, finding the na sowhat familiar.
Soon, they realized sothing and asked her,
"Ah, are you a family mber from the car accident in the North Sea District today? Are you from Ms. Ye's family? Are you related to the ambulance personnel or the deceased?"
"The deceased."
"Ah, another family mber of the deceased? There was a young girl here just a mont ago..."
An Le slowly turned her head and looked at the nurse beside her in a daze.
That single eye, resembling a poisonous snake, peered through her damp, drooping bangs. It looked so creepy that it nearly made the nurse's heart stop.
After all, they had worked in the ergency departnt for a long ti and dealing with the families of the deceased was a common occurrence.
But this particular family mber's reaction today...
Was completely unheard of.
"Ah, the deceased is still in the morgue. Please, co this way."
"Here, a towel. Please dry yourself off."
One nurse led the way while another fetched a clean towel and warmly handed it to An Le.
However, An Le ignored it completely, simply walking straight toward the morgue.
"Ding."
"Click."
The heavy doors to the morgue opened once more. The unclean pink hue seeped through the widening gap, causing the accompanying nurse to shudder slightly.
She glanced at the vacant-eyed An Le beside her and slowly backed away out the door,
"My condolences. I won't disturb you any longer. When you leave, please make sure to cover him back up with the white shroud."
"..."
An Le was left alone in the freezing morgue.
Staring at the body lying on the stretcher, covered by the white shroud, An Le stood frozen for a long ti before trembling as she walked over and gently grasped the edge of the cloth.
Yet, for so unknown reason, even though the white shroud was so light, An Le's hand trembled violently. She tried to lift it several tis but failed.
"Haha..."
On her shoulder, Little Finger watched the heavily panting An Le and sighed. The white snake silently floated down and used its tail to hook the white shroud.
Beneath it, Yan Huan's pale, peaceful face was instantly revealed.
"Ah..."
An Le stared blankly at Yan Huan lying on the bed, her breathing stopping abruptly.
She had lived with Xiao Huan the longest. She could no longer rember how many nights and mornings she had seen his sleeping face.
But...
Never once had it been like this.
"Ah... Xiao Huan... Xiao Huan, don't scare ."
An Le's vacant eyes suddenly began to tremble violently. Then, she clutched her head in agony and started shaking Yan Huan's body, just as she used to do in the mornings to wake him up when he wanted to sleep in.
"..."
But this ti, Yan Huan did not react at all.
"You... you need to wake up... Wake up... please."
Seeing that shaking him with her hands was useless, An Le desperately reached out and activated her Modifier's ability to Manipulate Pleasure on the corpse, trying to stimulate him into waking up.
However, the ability that could normally evoke crashing waves of intense pleasure sank into the corpse without stirring even the slightest ripple.
"An Le... An Le!!"
Little Finger helplessly flew back to An Le's shoulder and wrapped its tail around her arm, trying to stop her from continuing to use her ability on the remains.
"Ah..."
It wasn't until Little Finger's shout reached her ears that An Le, her face covered in tears, seed to jolt awake from a dream and looked up in a daze.
In her vacant eyes, which resembled stagnant water, the light of hope was extinguished little by little.
Then, replacing it, was an overwhelming despair.
"Ye Shiyu."
The tears in An Le's eyes flowed for a long ti, and she gazed at Yan Huan for just as long.
Only when the very last teardrop had dried did she gently reach out and drape the white shroud back over Yan Huan.
Imdiately after, she spoke that na softly.
As she muttered the cursed na, Little Finger's body trembled slightly.
Because it felt a massive surge of Desire!
"Rumble!!"
At this mont, in the sky above Shengxin Hospital.
A pink hue gradually seeped through the dark clouds, and even the roaring thunder was dyed a crimson red.
The stars in the firmant above were also painted red, beginning to writhe restlessly.
Just like that day in Tokyo.
"Squelch."
"Bang!!"
However, just as the pink color in the room was about to condense into sothing physical...
The door to the morgue slamd open, revealing Sakuramiya Hitomi standing outside. Her face was equally pale, and her red eyes were vacant and dull.
"..."
Hearing the noise, An Le turned her head.
Seeing that it was Sakuramiya Hitomi entering, An Le said nothing. She simply moved slowly past her, intending to walk out the door and find Ye Shiyu.
"What are you going to do?"
However, just as An Le, who looked like an evil spirit radiating a heavy sense of oppression, walked past Sakuramiya Hitomi, the latter suddenly spoke.
Hearing this, An Le's body stiffened slightly.
She didn't turn around, but her vacant eyes shifted back through her black hair to look at Sakuramiya Hitomi,
"I'm going to find Ye Shiyu. She was also injured and admitted to the hospital. She's right upstairs."
Sakuramiya Hitomi shook her head, her voice hoarse,
"I already went up there. She isn't there, only her mama is."
"She hid... Hahaha... Good, very good."
An Le let out a crazed laugh, but at that mont, Sakuramiya Hitomi turned to look at her,
"But even if she were here, I wouldn't let you go after her. At least not right now."
"..."
An Le's body froze. She looked back at Sakuramiya Hitomi in disbelief.
What she saw, however, was Sakuramiya Hitomi's face, dark and gloomy, yet bearing an extrely serious expression.
She...
Was being entirely serious.
"Heh."
An Le slowly withdrew her gaze but didn't say a word. She simply went her own way, continuing to walk toward the door.
Watching An Le about to leave without saying a word to start a massacre, Sakuramiya Hitomi pursed her lips, then suddenly lifted her right foot and stomped it heavily on the ground.
"Crack-crack-crack!!!"
In an instant, the entire morgue was covered by invisible fluctuations.
It was a barrier.
"Clatter."
An Le grasped the door handle and tried to push the door, only to find the iron door was as solid as a fortress, completely immovable.
"..."
An Le's vacant eyes trembled slightly, and in the next second, her aura beca incredibly terrifying,
"Enough!"
"Squelch!"
Countless tentacles instantly erupted from An Le's body, whistling through the air as they smashed right toward Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Sakuramiya Hitomi was prepared. With a thought, the entire morgue expanded countless tis over, transforming into a space the size of a football field.
"Rumble!"
Imdiately after, a dense array of earthen walls and brick blocks rose like a forest in front of Sakuramiya Hitomi, eting the whistling strikes of the tentacles and blocking the terrifying impact.
As one earthen wall after another shattered, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face remained as pale as ashes. She only muttered in a low voice,
"The use of Modifiers is forbidden here..."
"Buzz!"
However, the mont the distant An Le saw her speak, she instantly canceled her tentacle form. Reaching out with a grasping motion, she directly unleashed Superconductor Loser on Sakuramiya Hitomi.
"Ugh!"
With her Resistance pierced by Little Finger's ability, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face instantly flushed red, and the incantation to control the barrier faltered.
And in that single second of hesitation, An Le, trailing countless tentacles, arrived right in front of her.
"Rumble!!"
Countless tentacles seized Sakuramiya Hitomi and hurled her violently away from Yan Huan's remains, slamming her brutally into the wall ahead. Only then did An Le look into Sakuramiya Hitomi's eyes, re inches away, with her vacant gaze,
"Why?! Why?!! This is all Ye Shiyu's fault! If it weren't for her, how could Xiao Huan... I'm going to kill her! Why are you stopping ?!"
"Why..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi lowered her head and softly muttered a few words,
"I cannot feel pleasure... My strength becos infinite..."
"Guh!"
The next second, under An Le's astonished gaze, her tentacles snapped one by one, and Sakuramiya Hitomi seized the opportunity to kick her away.
The trendous force sent An Le, who was protected by her wrapped tentacles, crashing into the ground. It produced an explosion-like sound, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"Boom!"
At this mont, Yan Huan was already a corpse.
And without his interference, the terror of the Modifiers was unscrupulously bearing its fangs and claws at the world.
"Whoosh."
The shockwave from the explosion carried fierce winds toward the intact freezers and morgue stretchers at the edge of the barrier. It blew back the white shroud covering Yan Huan, revealing his peaceful face.
He faced the ceiling, but ahead in the swirling dust, the two Hosts with their Modifiers firing at full firepower both seed to feel his gaze, stopping in unison.
An Le panted and slowly canceled her tentacles, while Sakuramiya Hitomi gripped the wall, pulling herself out of the cratered crack bit by bit.
"Let
tell you why..."
Saying this, Sakuramiya Hitomi gently reached out and tapped the ground.
The next second, the space above the barrier instantly beca translucent.
An Le looked up, her gaze piercing through layer upon layer of walls without any obstruction, to see the sky.
The pink clouds were incredibly thick. Amidst the rampant flashes of lightning, they could no longer hide the increasingly bright stars in the sky above...
The Modifiers were about to reach critical mass.
"Do you see it?! Your Modifier is about to replicate what happened in Tokyo! You're going to destroy this world, do you know that?!"
Sakuramiya Hitomi warned sternly, looking at An Le with red eyes.
"..."
An Le stared blankly at the sky. A second later, she lowered her head and looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi with vacant eyes,
"...Do you think I care?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi's pupils shrank, reflecting the image of An Le, who was nearing madness.
"Right now, all I want is to kill Ye Shiyu and have her buried with Xiao Huan."
An Le let out a bitter laugh and continued,
"That's right... Besides Xiao Huan, you still have a happy family and a prominent background. Of course, you'd be reluctant to let it all go..."
"..."
"But... but, I only had Xiao Huan."
"..."
Saying this, An Le gently raised her hand, her body beginning to turn pale bit by bit,
"Actually, when it cos down to it, you don't even realize what Xiao Huan ant to ...
"If it weren't for Xiao Huan, I would have already chosen to die back in Tokyo...
"Right, to Vice-President Sakuramiya, Xiao Huan wasn't even that important, was he?
"Your affection for him was only superficial.
"That's why, after seeing Xiao Huan die so tragically because of Ye Shiyu, you can actually still..."
However, before she could finish, a resounding slap struck viciously against An Le's face, the only part of her body that still had any feeling.
"Slap!!"
An Le's expression went blank. Because she hadn't deployed her tentacles and had no sensation below her neck, she was slapped straight to the ground by Sakuramiya Hitomi.
This forced her to cancel her tentacle state, clutching her reddened face, and turning her head in a daze to look forward.
Before her stood the petite Sakuramiya Hitomi, tears streaming down her face, her expression utterly ferocious.
She bent down, grabbed An Le by the collar, and scread hoarsely,
"What do you know?! An Le?!
"Do you think I'm not sad?! Do you think I'm not in agony?!
"Stop using your barren brain to judge others and acting like you're so special!!
"Let
tell you, it's exactly because I like the President, because I love him to the absolute extre, that I cannot let you go!!"
Sakuramiya Hitomi's eyes were bloodshot, her tears falling drop by drop onto An Le's face,
"I don't know what the President sacrificed to solve the disaster caused by your body in Tokyo, or if you even rember...
"But everything the President did to save
from the Modifier, I rember perfectly!!
"It's because he did so much, and because I rember so much... that's why, that's why...
"That's why I can't bear to let all of his hard work go to waste in an instant right after he died!! Do you understand?!"
An Le stared blankly at Sakuramiya Hitomi, who was experiencing an identical emotional breakdown, and found herself temporarily speechless.
But Sakuramiya Hitomi shoved her collar away, throwing her back to the floor, and continued furiously,
"Do you think I want this?! Huh, An Le?! The President was an orphan! He had no family!!
"His body is still lying here, and his final arrangents haven't even been handled! Can you bear to leave him lying here all by himself?!
"What about his cremation? What about his funeral?!
"Auntie Ye Lan is injured and hospitalized, and Ye International has a massive ss that needs her attention...
"Ye Shiyu ran away, Bai Yi vanished without a trace, Aria cannot be counted on, and you are a madman...
"If I give in to my grief, if I go crazy like you and destroy everything, then who will take care of the President?! Tell !?"
After screaming all of this, it was as if every ounce of strength had been drained from Sakuramiya Hitomi's body. With her head bowed, she slowly collapsed to her knees, covered her face, and began to sob,
"So, even if the President is gone... I must... I must! I have to finish what he wanted to do in his stead...
"The President always wanted to stop the Modifiers, and I... I must replace him and stop you... stop all of you...
"I cannot lose my rationality, I cannot... cannot... wu...
"Wuwuwuwu... President..."
At that mont, within the expansive space of the morgue, the dust kicked up by their battle slowly settled.
The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet, tinged with a heavy sorrow brought solely by the weeping of a girl pretending to be strong.
An Le's emotions cald down slightly. Feeling the Desire receding, the heavy, unclean air over Linn finally eased...
Just a little bit.
An Le took a deep breath, understanding Sakuramiya Hitomi's underlying pain, though her eyes remained vacant,
"Then what about Ye Shiyu?"
"..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi sorrowfully raised her eyes. She adjusted her breathing several tis before she could barely stabilize her emotions.
Just as she had said earlier.
"There's sothing suspicious about this whole incident.
"I investigated it on my way here. There was sothing wrong with the driver; it perfectly aligns with the symptoms of soone Hypnotized by Ye Shiyu.
"But, do you really think Ye Shiyu would do sothing like this?
"Leaving aside the fact that the President was there, Ye Lan was also there... Do you think Ye Shiyu would be so dented as to crash and kill the President, her mama, and herself together?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi spoke without joy or sorrow, but this provoked An Le.
She cast a terrifying glare that landed on Sakuramiya Hitomi,
"Have you been Hypnotized by Ye Shiyu?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi looked back at her and simply asked softly,
"Do you even know where she is?"
"..."
"Could it be that you plan to use your Modifier to torture Auntie Ye Lan, forcing her to tell you where Ye Shiyu is?"
"..."
An Le didn't answer.
Sakuramiya Hitomi shook her head and continued,
"Why don't you understand... if Ye Shiyu hadn't abused her Modifier, would the President have ended up like this today?
"If you want to seek revenge against Ye Shiyu, I won't stop you, because I hate her right now too.
"Furthermore, compared to soone like Tong Yingying who doesn't have a Modifier, us taking revenge is the best option.
"But absolutely not in the way you are doing it."
As she finished speaking, Sakuramiya Hitomi cast a mournful glance at Yan Huan's corpse,
"The President would definitely never agree with your thods either."
"...Do you think I want to?"
However, there was an insurmountable barrier between people.
Now that Yan Huan was dead, An Le's heart had nothing left to tether it; she no longer cared about any of this.
She simply hadn't thought about the future at all, so naturally, it was impossible for her to reach a mutual understanding with Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Even after Sakuramiya Hitomi had said so much.
"You saw how terrifying Ye Shiyu was before. The three of us together were still completely manipulated by her.
"Without strengthening my Modifier, it will be impossible to avenge Xiao Huan in this lifeti...
"If that's the case, I'd rather destroy everything."
Sakuramiya Hitomi didn't speak, because she knew that An Le was telling the truth.
Ye Shiyu was incredibly powerful. Her Ability was not sothing an ordinary person could defeat.
Although gathering more Hosts could probably defeat her, now that the President was dead, their emotions would surely all be...
Like this. Even if they avenged the President, everything would still be ruined because the Modifiers would spiral out of control.
The dilemma was how to take revenge on Ye Shiyu without letting the Modifiers destroy everything.
Thinking of this, the sorrow on Sakuramiya Hitomi's face grew heavier.
"...How do you plan to arrange Xiao Huan's funeral?"
But right then, An Le abruptly changed the subject and asked sothing else.
Sakuramiya Hitomi looked at her and snapped her fingers.
"Snap."
The barrier was dismissed, the spatial expansion effect disappeared, and they instantly returned to Yan Huan's side.
Sakuramiya Hitomi glanced at Yan Huan's deanor as the deceased and said hoarsely,
"I've already contacted the funeral ho... They'll be here soon. Then, we will hold the funeral tomorrow, and the cremation and burial will be the day after tomorrow. The location... hasn't been chosen yet."
"...Three days?"
"Yes."
An Le nodded. Her vacant eyes turned away, unable to bear looking at Yan Huan's body any longer,
"Then three days. For these three days, I won't... I won't do anything. You don't need to worry about my Modifier losing control...
"I will go look for Ye Shiyu's whereabouts, and then, in three days..."
Saying this, An Le looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi again,
"When it cos to dealing with Ye Shiyu, you'd better put in so effort. Otherwise... to avenge Xiao Huan, I won't care about anything else."
"..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi didn't speak, her eyes simply staring blankly.
Behind her, An Le had vanished from her spot at so unknown point, her whereabouts unknown.
"Click."
An unknown amount of ti passed before the morgue door opened again.
Outside stood a nurse and Nara, who was dressed entirely in a black trench coat.
"Eldest Miss."
"Um..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi turned her head tiredly and looked toward the door.
Nara gestured for the nurse to speak first. The nurse took out a phone and said,
"The police just gave
this. They said it was a personal effect of the deceased found at the scene, and they asked
to hand it over to the family."
"Okay, thank you."
Sakuramiya Hitomi took Yan Huan's phone from the nurse. It had facial recognition unlock.
But after hesitating for a second, she chose to enter the password instead.
Because she knew the President usually used his birthday as the passcode.
While typing in the password, she asked Nara,
"How is it?"
"...I've asked around. Tong Yingying returned to the gang earlier and took a lot of weapons. After that, she disappeared."
"..."
After entering Yan Huan's birthday, it displayed that the password was incorrect.
Sakuramiya Hitomi was slightly startled before she realized sothing.
She lifted her finger and entered...
Another birthday.
Do you rember? On Yan Huan's birthday from his 'previous life', Sakuramiya Hitomi had gifted him a fan.
Because he had once accidentally filled in that birthday.
With just one glance, Sakuramiya Hitomi had committed it to mory, retaining it until today.
Funnily enough, regarding this birthday, besides Yan Huan himself and Myau-chan...
Sakuramiya Hitomi was the only other person who knew about it.
"Password correct."
Sure enough, after entering that password, Yan Huan's phone unlocked.
Seeing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi pursed her lips and let out a soft chuckle, revealing a beautiful smile.
Except the corners of that smile turned downward, tainted with a touch of bitterness.
"Keep an eye on her. Do not let her do anything stupid."
"Yes, I know. Her mother is still receiving dical treatnt in Linn; we can't let her ruin her entire life."
"Ah, also, can you find Bai Yi?"
"Hmm... I just checked the surveillance caras, but I didn't see her."
"...Regardless, send more people to look for her. Her ho, where she works, don't miss a single place. The mont she shows up, notify
imdiately. Tell her I want to see her."
"Understood."
As she made these arrangents, Sakuramiya Hitomi opened Plane, which contained many ssages.
Among them, Aria had sent nurous ssages.
"Yan Huan, where are youuu?"
"Why aren't you replying..."
"Yan Huan! I'm going to ignore you!"
"Just kidding, hurry up and reply to . I sneaked out to get my phone. That jerk Heather suddenly confiscated my phone, how annoying!"
"Without you, I can't do my sumr vacation howork..."
"I miss you so muchhh..."
Looking at the ssages one by one, Sakuramiya Hitomi couldn't describe how she felt.
But the most glaring piece of information was obvious:
Aria still didn't know the news about the President's accident!
In that case, the reason Heather had confiscated her phone was very clear.
"..."
Indeed, Aria's emotions were also very unstable. If she were to find out about this...
Dealing with An Le's side was already sowhat difficult for her to handle.
And Aria's Modifier...
If it erupted, she feared they would truly be dood beyond redemption.
No, she couldn't let her get involved in this.
At least, not right now.
"Tap-tap-tap."
Thinking this, Sakuramiya Hitomi pondered for a long ti. Suddenly, she raised her fingers and placed them over the input thod editor on Yan Huan's phone.
As she tapped out the words, she spoke softly,
"Make arrangents for . I need to et with Heather from the Golden Lion Group later."
"Understood."
Nara turned and pushed the door open, just about to leave, only to see that there were quite a few people waiting outside.
"..."
"Ah, excuse , are you Miss Sakuramiya? We're from the funeral ho. How about we transport the body tomorrow?"
"Miss Sakuramiya, we are from the hospital. Please take a look at the death certificate..."
"And for the funeral, we have several packages available..."
"Miss Sakuramiya, please take a look at this cetery plot..."
"Student Sakuramiya, I am here representing the school. About Yan Huan..."
"Hey, hey, hey! Miss Sakuramiya!!"
An unknown amount of ti passed. It wasn't until the very last person finished speaking that Sakuramiya Hitomi, with a slightly pale face, abruptly leaned against the wall of the corridor by the morgue entrance, startling everyone around her.
"Miss Sakuramiya..."
"I'm fine."
Sakuramiya Hitomi panted, her face ashen, and refused their attempts to support her,
"Just handle things exactly as I instructed."
"Ah, alright. Then I won't disturb you any longer."
"Mhm."
In front of the morgue, the last person departed, leaving Sakuramiya Hitomi all alone, leaning against the wall in silence.
Her eyes were completely empty. Originally, she had intended to leave as well.
But just before she left, she couldn't help but turn back and glance behind her.
"Click."
Once again, she pushed open the door and entered.
Inside the morgue, the arrangent remained the sa.
It was only now that Sakuramiya Hitomi noticed that the white shroud covering Yan Huan, which had been blown off during her battle with An Le inside the barrier, still hadn't been put back.
"..."
Gazing at Yan Huan lying motionless on the bed, Sakuramiya Hitomi stood frozen for a very long ti.
A mont later, a bitter smile finally appeared on her face,
"The President is still... the most handso when he smiles."
"..."
Saying so, she gently reached out, slipped her hand beneath the white shroud, and grasped Yan Huan's icy hand.
Holding it tightly, she lowered her head.
"Drip-drop... patter-patter."
Tears fell drop by drop from her eyes, thoroughly staining her smile.
"...Wu... Wuwuwu... Wu..."
In the quiet morgue, Sakuramiya Hitomi's body went limp as she slowly slumped to the floor.
But...
She continued to hold tightly onto Yan Huan's hand.
Only now, in this empty place, alone with him, did Sakuramiya Hitomi finally let herself weep without restraint.
With her head bowed, she sat on the floor, her tears flowing endlessly,
"President... Wu... Wuwu...
"What... Wu... what should I do?"
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