Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

A piercing gunshot rang out in the air. Pei Du felt a jolt in his eardrums, and then half of his face went numb and lost sensation.

"Hide behind me, don't go out." Sheng Shixian moved quickly, revealing all nine of his long tails. Then, his figure flashed past Pei Du's eyes like a gust of wind and disappeared.

Once the battles between advanced mutants escalate, their intensity becomes comparable to a storm.

"Be careful, if you can't win, run away. Lin Xuqiu will help you from behind." Pei Du knew that his physical strength was not good, so he could only give Sheng Shixian a few instructions. Then, he was escorted by the troops that came from the side and walked away.

Sheng Shixian hummed in agreement. His long tail sharpened, and in a moment only an afterimage remained.

Pei Du hid around the corner. Ling Yu didn't possess any special abilities, so the military could easily capture him. As he was pinned to the ground, his eyes were fixed on Pei Du, as if he wanted to bore a hole through him.

"Pei Du! All your efforts are useless, haha... The system will help me, the system will help me! You're just a useless supporting character, you're finished..."

Pei Du watched as the light emanating from the PUA ball grew brighter and brighter, its size expanding more than tenfold. The electric current surrounding it knocked out all the soldiers who were pinning Ling Yu down.

[You're not the system... Who are you? Tell me!]

All the surrounding windows shattered, and the soldiers inside, unable to see the system, were all slammed against the walls by the raging wind and knocked unconscious.

Kuqie Tiaosheng hid inside Pei Du's hoodie hood. Pei Du sensed its trembling body and whispered, "Kuqie Tiaosheng, there's a secret passage in the basement of the villa. I took you there before; you escaped through there."

A trembling voice, barely clinging to life, rang out: "...Then what will you do?"

"If you die, I'll die too. You run first, I'll go to the other side." Pei Du knew that clinging to life was just a cowardly act. It was only one year old, not very bright, and not very emotionally intelligent. It was safer to run away quickly.

He whimpered twice, barely managing to survive: "But..."

The electric current from PUA suddenly struck, turning the wall next to Pei Du completely black before collapsing and crushing him.

Pei Du disregarded the need to live a life of ignominy. He threw those thoughts aside and risked rushing forward, pointing his gun at Ling Yu. "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill Ling Yu!"

Ling Yu is the host of PUA, which is the only way Pei Du can think of to restrain PUA.

The electric current swirling around PUA paused for a moment. Ling Yu's face turned deathly pale. He stared at PUA and said, "Don't come any closer... don't come any closer..."

A sharp, shrill noise churned within the PUA's body, paused in the air for a moment, and then a mocking tone drifted out.

"Ling Yu, you really are a piece of trash. What good can you possibly do? An Jia doesn't love you, Sheng Shixian is naturally more capable than you, and you yourself are incompetent. You might as well just die."

Ling Yu's eyes widened, the bloodshot veins inside looking terrifying. "What did you say?"

"You're a piece of trash." PUA's body grew even larger without him realizing it. Before Ling Yu could react, it unleashed a powerful electric current on him and Pei Du.

Pei Du's entire vision was instantly filled with blankness. The space around him cracked open, and that chilling coldness, just like when he died, crept into his clothes.

Even the air seemed to fall silent, as if no one had arrived.

"Don't hurt him!!!"

The sharp, shrill voice of a child, desperately clinging to life, exploded in Pei Du's ears. Pei Du staggered, and those scenes quickly faded away. The small ball, tinged with blue light, was shattered by an electric current before his eyes, and the entire system panel on it shattered and fell like fireworks.

Pei Du's eyes widened: "...To live a life of ignominy?"

[Those filthy creatures, oblivious to their own mortality, dare to impersonate us! Annihilate them all! Annihilate them all!]

PUA continued speaking, targeting Peidu again and maximizing its energy.

[Smear it all off...]

Another figure suddenly darted out from the side, completely disregarding the high-intensity electric current surrounding the PUA. As soon as he pounced on the PUA, the flesh and blood emitted painful screams.

Lu Xun's eyes flashed with golden light, and his originally normal pupils turned pure gold. At the same time, an unknown black solid substance condensed in his palm, which he then stabbed hard at the surface of the PUA system again and again.

PUA emitted a piercing wail as fragments fell from its body, and it spun around rapidly, trying to throw Lu Xun away.

"What are you? What exactly are you?!"

Hatred piled up in Lu Xun's eyes, reaching its peak in no time. He seemed to remember something and said in a low voice, "I am a ghost that you dismembered."

PUA unleashed another electric shock, causing Lu Xun's entire body to crack, and his soul inside was also severely damaged.

"boom!"

Another gunshot rang out, the bullet ignoring the barrier around PUA and piercing straight through the center of its body. PUA was stunned for a few seconds, its energy rapidly escaping through the small hole in its body.

"No...no! No! This is my energy! This is my energy!"

Lu Xun paused for a moment. He didn't know where the gunshot came from, but he seized the opportunity to take all the energy from PUA.

Pei Du picked up the fragments of the cowardly life that had fallen to the ground. He looked up and saw another similar yet different figure on Lu Xun.

Pure gold eyes, half-curled white hair.

He's actually quite handsome, despite his cowardly existence.

PUA's screams shook the earth. It grabbed Lu Xun and screamed, "You won't take my energy! You won't get it!"

Lightning gathered all around, and after several explosive sounds, Pei Du was blinded by the impact. He seemed to hear something breaking in his mind, and with a "crack," Pei Du fell into the ruins behind him.

Pei Du felt a dull ache in his head, and chaotic scenes flashed before his eyes. He frowned and slowly closed his eyes in his blurred vision.

"Pei Du!"

"Pei Du!"

Who's calling him?

"Pei Du!" Pei Du barely opened his eyes. He saw a dark figure running towards him in the distance, with the nine-tailed fox leaping nimbly behind him, as energetic as ever.

Envy of the prosperous times...

*

"Pei Du, have you done your homework today? Let me copy it, that teacher is so annoying."

……

"Pei Du, Mom is going out for a bit. What would you like to eat? It's very hot outside. Just wait for me at home. Mom will be back soon."

……

"Pei Du, is it alright if you live alone from now on?"

……

"Pei Du, what's in the alley?"

"It's nothing, it's just a cat."

Pei Du suddenly opened his eyes. It was drizzling around him, and the sky was gray, with layers of dark clouds covering most of the sky, leaving only a few rays of light.

Pei Du walked in the rain, the falling raindrops penetrating his palms and directly touching the asphalt road.

A short walk further was his villa. Pei Du glanced at it from afar and saw the police tape cordoned off the villa. A few soldiers were guarding the gate, and the villa was surrounded by weeds, indicating it had been abandoned for some time.

Pei Du didn't go any further. He turned around and walked aimlessly in the rain.

"Commander, we can't find anything. Pei Du's body was cremated long ago, and even his ashes were scattered. Where are we supposed to find evidence?"

Pei Du stopped abruptly. He turned around and saw Sheng Shixian walking in the rain as well.

Sheng Shixian's face was much sharper than Pei Du's previous impressions. His brows were slightly furrowed, and a small scar had appeared at the corner of his eye. His military uniform was neatly worn, and he already exuded the aura of a superior.

Sheng Shixian's eyes were clearly gloomy. He didn't know when he had learned to smoke, and he skillfully exhaled smoke rings. "Continue the investigation, keep a close eye on An Jia."

Pei Du followed behind Sheng Shixian, carefully observing Sheng Shixian's features. He was surprised to find that Sheng Shixian's appearance had a certain fierceness towards outsiders.

Just as An Jia said, Sheng Shixian did not let her off easily. Her last phone call with Pei Du was the starting point and the source of Sheng Shixian's suspicions.

"What did you say to him? Why did you cremate his body so quickly?" Sheng Shixian pressed on, "So hasty? What shameful thing did you do?"

An Jia was getting increasingly annoyed by his questions. "I've told you everything I need to tell you. What's the point of you keeping asking?"

Sheng Shi sneered, "I'll ask you one more time, why did you cremate his body so quickly? What right do you have to dispose of his corpse?"

Pei Du sat down next to Sheng Shixian, and he could already feel Sheng Shixian's suppressed yet obvious anger. He sighed and covered Sheng Shixian's hand with one hand.

Sheng Shixian, of course, couldn't sense it. He stared at An Jia, only to see her sneer, "I'm his fiancée, and he left all his assets to me. Why do you think that is?"

Sheng Shixian's expression froze for a moment, his fingers curled up one by one, and he suddenly turned and left.

Pei Du still followed behind him. Sheng Shixian had a bad temper, and when he got back, he was so angry that he almost crushed the teacup.

Pei Du was somewhat dazed. During his lifetime, he had spent most of his time in an adversarial relationship with Sheng Shixian. They loathed each other, and usually, after exchanging only a few words, they would start giving each other the cold shoulder and then turn and leave.

Why would Sheng Shixian do this at this time...?

Pei Du squatted down in front of Sheng Shixian. Sheng Shixian liked to smoke when he was in a bad mood. He smoked heavily and frequently, and the cigarette butts in the ashtray had piled up into a small mountain.

Pei Du watched him silently, then reached out his fingertips to touch the scar at the corner of Sheng Shixian's eye, as if he could feel the life and warmth of flesh and blood within it.

Sheng Shixian did not stop tracking and investigating Pei Du's case. Pei Du's death was not an accident, and Sheng Shixian found some clues in it.

But Ling Yu was incredibly perceptive. With Yan Xuwen and PUA behind him, Sheng Shixian's repeated investigations ultimately yielded no results.

Ling Yu tossed the jade pendant that Sheng Shixian had given to Pei Du back to him. As if intentionally trying to humiliate Sheng Shixian, he said, "Sheng Shixian, this is yours, isn't it? Pei Du gave it to An Jia before, but An Jia didn't want your things, so she's returning it to you today."

That was a jade pendant left to Sheng Shixian by his mother. It was said that it took a lot of effort to obtain it from a Buddhist temple, and it was meant to ward off disasters and illnesses and ensure peace.

Sheng Shixian clutched the jade pendant tightly and finally couldn't resist going to Pei Du's grave. There were clumps of weeds in front of Pei Du's grave. Sheng Shixian pulled all the weeds out, his movements rough and haphazard, leaving his hands covered in blood.

“Pei Du, a piece of trash.” Sheng Shixian sneered, holding the jade pendant in his hand, and inexplicably raised his head without saying another word.

Pei Du saw his throat move, and he forcefully swallowed most of the bitterness and unspeakable emotions.

The only thing pasted on the tombstone was a small gray photo of Pei Du, staring blankly ahead, frozen in a certain moment in time.

Pei Du hugged Sheng Shixian from behind. He couldn't touch him, but he wanted to comfort him. "It's okay, it's okay, don't cry. Let me hug you, don't be sad..."

Sheng Shixian only swallowed hard a few times before leaving the cemetery.

He won't give up so easily.

Pei Du stayed by Sheng Shixian's side every night, watching him go through many different files. The transition period was too long and yielded no results, so the military finally rejected Sheng Shixian's proposal to reopen the old case.

Sheng Shixian decided to investigate on his own. He encountered danger along the way and almost lost his life.

It lasted for a full seventy years, from age twenty-three to ninety-three.

At the age of ninety-three, Sheng Shixian already had white vision, his face was covered with wrinkles, his skin was old and dry, and most of the light in his gray pupils had died long ago.

His eyes were vacant as he stared upwards, uttering words that came from the depths of his dying breath: "Pei Du..."

Seventy years of manhunt have yielded no results.

This also fails to provide Pei Du with an explanation.

Pei Du lay down beside him, stroking Sheng Shixian's dry white hair. Upon hearing this, tears suddenly streamed down his face.

"Sheng Shixian, give up." Pei Du buried his head in his neck and choked out, "...Give up on me."

Sheng Shixian stopped breathing.