Madness ecstasy

The section chief suddenly rose into the air before the glass tsunami arrived, and was about to collide with the steel bars.

Gah, gurgle.

The surface of the section chief's shirt and trousers was printed with circles of fingerprint-like lines; his body suddenly deformed and twisted: his torso bent into an irregular shape, and his hands and feet were broken into curves.

With her strangely deformed body, she suddenly moved a short distance in mid-air.

Blood spurted out from the broken parts, but the body just happened to fit through every tiny gap and contour - bypassing the steel bars, air currents, and glass fragments flying like stray bullets.

The section chief seemed to be playing a game of [posing through walls]; first he twisted into a strange posture, then shifted, finding the only position that could pass through this "bullet screen" without being harmed by external forces.

Boom: The glass tsunami smashed open the window behind the section chief, and along with the dozen or so steel bars, flew out of the building and into the dark night.

She didn't lie flat again until the section chief was completely free from Doudou's attack.

Click, click, click, click—

With the teeth-grinding sound of joints turning and bones making unusual noises, the section chief returned to her human form again - a little blood splashed out of the corner of her mouth and was licked back by her tongue.

The blood in her body seemed endless. The blood she had lost so far was enough to cause a normal person to go into shock seventy or eighty times. Similarly, this kind of pain could also cause a normal person to faint and wake up.

But the section chief's face only showed surprise and a smile:

"Tight attack, well done."

Looking at the "unharmed" section chief, Doudou couldn't help but scratch his nose:

"Ah, this doesn't work either? I thought this trick was fine."

He had clearly blocked the section chief's vision with the broken glass before launching his attack; but he still failed at the last moment.

[Either her eyes are incredibly good—like X-rays or something? Or, it's not her own observation at all.]

What kind of trigger mechanism is this "passive flight"? The gentle cement I threw at her didn't react, so it seems quite intelligent. But at least one thing is certain: if she encounters danger, she can move at super-fast speeds.

If my actions don't hurt her, then it doesn't mean she's dangerous? Or does she need to determine that she's in danger before she can activate her ability to fly?

[Hmm, there must be something I haven't discovered. This is too complicated! I feel like there should be a simpler answer.]

Doudou shook his hands, but he didn't feel much frustration. He remembered the days when he played "Dr. Sloppy Modern Detective" at home at the beginning of summer vacation:

Although this raid was not successful, we did get some clues.

This auntie can even transform! She's quite impressive, like she's playing with plasticine—hmm. Playing with plasticine?

It was a long time ago when Doudou played with plasticine, but he still remembers the touch, especially the softness at his fingertips:

The section chief's deformation just now also seemed to be caused by external force.

-

Doudou's gaze wandered over the section chief's head:

"Auntie, why were you always looking up before? And now you don't even raise your head. Is there something up there?"

Doudou squatted down, picked up the stone, and threw it gently. The cement fragments flew upward in a high and long arc, falling over the head of the section chief.

pat.

This time, the section chief didn't reach out to catch it. She let the fragments fall to the ground beside her. But the smile on her face grew even wider, like the Cheshire Cat in the book illustration:

"Any new discoveries?"

Doudou felt like he had solved the first layer of the puzzle—the thoughts in his brain were flowing freely.

"Ah! I see! So that's how it is, Auntie!"

He took a deep breath and then uttered the following difficult words as if speaking a tongue twister:

"There's something above you that I can't see, right? That's what's making you fly. I can't see it, but you can: so when I throw a rock higher, you just don't catch it—because the arc of the fall is blocked."

“But what could this thing be?”

He thought of playing Theme Hospital on the library terminal, where he would just use the mouse to drag the selected characters around, dropping them off at new locations—

"You're not really flying! There's something holding you up and swinging you around—is it a wire? An invisible rubber wire? Like the rope holding the witch in the building?"

"That's not right! It must be something bigger."

He raised his hands and gestured towards the head of the section chief:

"The cement block I threw this time was quite far from you; a wire shouldn't have blocked your view. So it was a thick mass of wire? It doesn't seem so."

Doudou turned his gaze back to the section chief: the red and swollen circles on her body that appeared when she dodged the attack gradually faded until they disappeared; as if they were pressed by a huge finger.

When the section chief stopped suddenly to avoid the airflow from Doudou's mouth, it was like she had hit a transparent wall - at that time, palm-like lines also appeared on her body.

[Ah——that’s it!]

Doudou opened his palm and pointed it at the head of the section chief:

"I know: it's a hand. A huge, giant hand—transparent to me! This hand is carrying you around!"

"And—not only can I not see it, the hand can't touch me. The only person it can affect is you, Auntie. It just squeezed you around like playdough to avoid my attack."

"And, uh, when you were mending your wound, it was actually this hand that was doing the work, right?"

"That's what I was saying! Even though we've merged, how come your regeneration ability is different from your daughter's?"

"Is that so, Auntie? It's quite funny. But actually, now that I think about it, this kind of reluctant effort can be considered flying. I'm a little envious of you."

Chapter 83 Development

Although he could jump very far after a run-up - he had not yet tried the extreme distance - he was not truly flying in the air; he seemed to have taken a plane when he was a child, but now he had forgotten everything.

Even if the section chief can't do whatever he wants like anti-gravity, this is indeed a kind of flying for Doudou.

The section chief raised her hands, clapped them lightly, and gave a thumbs-up. She smiled warmly and praised him generously:

"Excellent, very excellent, Doudou. You're absolutely right. It's a hand, that's right."

The section chief finally raised his head and hands, as if to touch the invisible giant hand above him:

"You possess a keenness beyond your years and a willingness to think; this is truly rare, especially for a child like you who can completely rely on strength to solve all problems."

"What kind of environment did you grow up in? I'm really curious. But - let's continue our conversation."

"I told you this before, didn't I? [Love] is physical. It's strong, it's fierce, it's beyond reason and self-control—and it's invisible to others."

"[Motherly Love]: This hand is my [Motherly Love]; it's behind me and above my head. Since my daughter and I have become one, it's not surprising that this love can now shine upon me, right?"

Doudou followed her gaze and looked upwards. There was nothing there except the ceiling, which had been tattered by the shockwave.

"Ah—can it really be called maternal love? Actually, I feel like you love yourself more, Auntie."

The section chief was adjusting his body. Having been flattened out, his limbs still had a strange bend.

"Of course. Only by loving yourself first can you have the ability to love others. And love can be expressed in many ways. Many, many ways - the one I love most is myself, I can really say that."

"As for [maternal love]—it's not an adjective or a nickname, it's actually a name."

"Name your ecstasy, give yourself a clear enough concept to summarize it: it will increase the intensity of the ecstasy. You can try it too, child. You can get better at it."

Doudou suddenly shrank back, and moved his hands repeatedly to express his refusal:

"Don't pick a name yet. It would be awkward if I came up with one myself. It's not a pen pal name, it would feel awkward."

Apparently, since he didn't like naming, he changed the subject:

"Eh—now that I think about it: what I said before about the transitional ecstasy wasn't wrong. In fact, the wire hanging around the witch's neck in the building should be your ecstasy; otherwise, there would be no need for her to attack me in the first place. I didn't even make the first move."

"When you were transporting her, it seemed like she just casually spun around in the ceiling a few times, without even a package. That probably means she's in her skeleton form, so she's not dangerous or aggressive. She won't attack anyone."

"I've seen on TV that powerful and lethal superpowers like these are sealed and reinforced in some way; like, put them in some kind of iron coffin. You yourself said that the witch in the building was going to be weaponized, right?"

"Actually, judging by your current behavior, Auntie, you were controlling people through that wire. You were indirectly controlling them through your trance, and that caused the wire to carry the witches in the building."

"It's pretty much the same now—but this [control] part has been extracted and turned from a wire into a hand."

"And because you two merged, it can control you too. So, you and your daughter are both insane, right? I guess that's correct."

The section chief's patience seemed to be as boundless as her blood. No matter what questions Doudou asked, she would answer them carefully and calmly:

"Yes. As I said, the truth is more complicated than you imagine: my ecstasy with Manon was partly hers and partly mine."

"It's a mutual interaction, a mutual interweaving—we don't call it [transferential ecstasy] anymore; it's a cognitive [projection], a psychological [transference]: the result of ecstasy becoming directed towards another person."

"Ecstasy is not a machine, it doesn't have clear boundaries. It's chaotic—just like the human mind. You can try your best to understand it, but it will still change."

"So it's better to just be yourself."

Doudou listened carefully and then continued with the question:

"Then—Auntie, this [maternal love] of yours is actually completely automatic, right? You can't really control it yourself."

The section chief didn't even raise an eyebrow, nor did he show any sarcasm when his weakness was exposed:

"It's obvious, isn't it? This ability to fly—or rather, the ability to move short distances—seems to only be activated when my life is in danger or when I'm about to be hurt. There's nothing to fake about it. Let alone fool you."

"A mother will naturally protect, save, or restore her child. But a mother won't fulfill her child's every wish, will she? Often, the only person a mother can influence is her child."

"It's truly tragic. A mother cannot understand her child, and the child cannot understand her mother. But every love in the world is wrapped in selfishness—without selfishness, love cannot exist. This does not affect the intensity and value of love itself."

"All ecstasy has similar commonalities. Either it's completely uncontrollable and you need to adapt to it yourself; or you use some ritualistic behavior to try to communicate and evoke some feedback; more often it's a mixture of the two."

-

"Hmm, I think I understand a little bit."

Doudou rubbed his chin——

So now, cat and mouse becomes a whole new game:

Simply noticing the Section Chief's frenzied behavior wasn't enough for Doudou to resolve the current battle—he still couldn't touch or attack him.

Is the "maternal love" the section chief spoke of a completely independent, intelligent individual? Is she capable of assessing the situation and even making more complex moves, such as simply running away with the section chief?

Doudou imagined a large, transparent hand grabbing the section chief's head, pulling her out the window, and flying all the way out of Mong Cai City:

So funny--

Doudou chuckled: It hasn't happened yet; but the possibility exists.

And in some relatively extreme situations, that hand would even help the deformed section chief avoid attacks by kneading her.

What kind of behavior causes displacement, and how is an attack defined? Are there actions that are "murderous"? Does murderous intent exist? Does a fired bullet have murderous intent? Or does just the presence of hostility count?

"No, no. I threw a lot of steel bars, stomped on glass to attack, and spit air arrows from my mouth; everything was dodged. Whether it's murderous intent or hostility, I guess I need to try a different method to confirm it."

What if I punch her to save her? Will she dodge? But if I can't hurt Auntie, then it doesn't seem easy to get into other more serious dangers in this building.

It was obvious that the section chief's "maternal love" could only affect herself. Otherwise, Doudou felt that he would be hit like a ping-pong ball by that transparent big hand.

"Ah, that's hard to say. Is he really stronger than me? I don't think so. I'm incredibly strong."

However, this is difficult to confirm: after all, I can neither see nor touch the section chief's "maternal love"; without contact, there is no way to verify it.

Doudou was tired of standing, so he simply sat down cross-legged; he picked up a piece of broken cement as chalk, wrote and drew on the ground, and recorded the key points he had thought of.

Thinking at this time is more interesting than when in class or doing homework, and it also makes Doudou feel less sleepy.

-

Seeing Doudou thinking seriously, the section chief did not continue to interrupt him.

Beneath, bee, bee.

She walked all the way to the wall in her white bone high heels - the wall that had just been painted white was now full of pits from the shock wave.

The section chief stretched out her hands and fumbled around in the corner of the wall: with a crisp sound, she opened some mechanism in the gap.

Whoosh—the sound of the axle turning. She pulled hard, pulling out the hidden plywood from the wall:

Embedded in the gray sponge were a pair of indistinct pistols and rows of magazines, neatly arranged. Shining black, they reflected the moonlight from the window.

Doudou couldn't help but glance at what the section chief was doing:

"Huh? You guys hid weapons in the building too."

The section chief turned around and winked at Doudou:

"This building belongs to the Asia-Europe Post Office, so weapons are already equipped; there are weapons on every floor. Didn't Richard tell you that?"

The section chief took out a pistol, looked at the smooth surface of the gun, and blew on it twice. Then she skillfully unloaded the magazine, checked the ammunition level, cocked the gun with a click, and released the safety.

There was another pistol and other spare magazines; this time she stuffed them all into her pockets - the maroon shirt had a surprising number of pockets, and each one was tight, making it difficult to see anything falling out.