A few minutes ago, this was a corner of St. Honghu Commercial Street.
A snow-white top hat spun down through the curtain of rain, landing beside Red Lotus.
Red Lotus turned to look at the bizarre hat. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Are you... White Jack?"
The top hat was spinning rapidly in the rain like a white cat shaking water from its head. A long "Shhh—" drifted slowly from inside it.
Hearing that familiar voice, Red Lotus snapped out of her daze. With equal parts curiosity and annoyance, she demanded, "Leijing's number one perky ass, where'd you go? Why is it just your hat?! I still haven't settled the score with you!"
"Nature calls, you have to understand. I'm currently keeping your dear daddy company while he battles Clock Maker," White Jack's playful voice echoed from the hat.
Red Lotus's heart tightened slightly. "Daddy and Clock Maker are already..."
White Jack cut her off. "That's right, they're already flirting. And as Leijing's most famous mistress, I can't allow them to enjoy a private world for two."
"Cut the crap. Hurry up and finish them off, then go help my old man..."
Meanwhile, through the hat's perspective, White Jack was quietly staring at several figures from the Clockwork Alliance.
Dream Monk and Mini Girl had already entered the abandoned factory. Only three people remained stationed outside, evidently instructed by Clock Maker to intercept anyone else.
The first to catch the eye was a boy in a school uniform and a red scarf. An iron pot covered his head, with a single eye drawn right in the middle.
His appearance looked quite like the "Three-Eyed Boy" frequently broadcast on provincial and county television stations back in the 2000s.
[Codename: Sanmu Nian]
[Type: esper]
[Danger Rating: A+]
[Profile: One of the children Clock Maker adopted from the orphanage, named "Sanmu Nian". His esper ability is "Telekinesis Manipulation". Due to the side effects of his ability, Sanmu Nian's height, build, and appearance remain completely unchanged.]
[Weaknesses: 1. His eyes are extremely sensitive to light, necessitating the iron pot on his head. Much like a bat relying on ultrasound to navigate, he perceives the world through the ripples generated when his telekinesis touches his surroundings.]
"Here we go, here we go... I was just wondering how I hadn't seen a telekinetic user yet after being transmigrated for so long. It really is an indispensable element."
The top hat tipped slightly as White Jack shifted his gaze away from the iron-pot boy.
[Codename: Thorn Girl]
[Type: esper]
[Danger Rating: A+]
[Profile: One of the children Clock Maker adopted from the orphanage. Her esper ability is "Thorn Manipulation".]
[Weaknesses: None currently.]
"Why is their combat power so high? So these are the main forces?" White Jack raised an eyebrow, muttering to himself through the hat. "I was just thinking there was no way the kids Clock Maker raised could all be that low-level. Turns out I just bumped into two utility-focused members back at the factory."
Red Lotus hovered quietly in midair, cradling her Fire-Tipped Spear. She emanated a faint curtain of flame that evaporated the beating rainwater, preventing White Jack's hat from getting wet.
Hearing the murmurs beside her, she couldn't help but glance at the top hat. "Are they strong?"
"Hold on, maybe it's a team setup with two muscleheads carrying one scrub? You know, a team always needs someone to lighten the mood—just like when I partner with Rain Crow, I always have to rely on that humorous Crow Man to keep things lively."
With that, White Jack looked through the hat at the last figure present.
It was a boy sitting cross-legged on a woven rush mat. He had only a few sparse strands of hair on his head, and his facial features were extremely aged. His body was hunched and withered, putting his height at barely 1.3 meters.
Ke Mingqing found it hard to describe his appearance, but anyone would have assumed this was a severely malnourished, deformed child.
Soon, a super-human species panel popped up above the boy's head.
[Codename: Luosenzi]
[Type: esper]
[Danger Rating: A++]
[Profile: "Luosenzi", the child Clock Maker is most proud of. His esper ability allows him to unconditionally and instantly copy the esper ability of a target within his field of vision. Not only can Luosenzi perfectly replicate their power, but he can also rapidly grasp how to use it in a short amount of time.]
Luosenzi sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. The rush mat beneath him hovered faintly in midair, an inch above the ground.
At this moment, as the torrential rain fell toward the trio, it was completely blocked by an invisible telekinetic barrier set up by Sanmu Nian.
White Jack didn't dwell on it, speaking in a low voice through the hat:
"Miss Red Lotus, that little shota on the far left with the iron pot on his head has the 'Telekinesis' esper ability. That woman in the red skirt has 'Thorn Manipulation'. And that scrawny guy sitting on the mat has the esper ability to 'Copy Others' Esper Abilities'. His power is the most dangerous, because it's highly likely he's copied Clock Maker's esper ability."
Red Lotus blanked for a second. "Copied Clock Maker's ability?"
"Exactly," White Jack nodded. "So my advice to you is to flee from here immediately. Or, you can wait for the reinforcements I called in. They should be arriving soon."
"An orphan like you has reinforcements?" Red Lotus asked, perplexed.
"I'm holding a grudge for that one, Miss Red Lotus." The top hat puffed up indignantly, looking as if it were about to blow steam out the top.
As the two spoke, a massive gray pigeon suddenly pierced through the torrential rain. It plummeted from the sky and tucked its wings right as it neared the ground, kicking up fountain-like splashes of water.
Red Lotus raised her head, eyeing the giant pigeon with high alert.
The pigeon soon came to a halt. Lorenzo, Heimeng, and Jiang Qingzi were standing on its back.
The three members of Death Crow first looked up at Red Lotus, then shifted their gazes to the three children of the Clockwork Alliance.
"Are these... Death Crow's people?"
Red Lotus was taken aback before her expression turned fierce. She whispered a harsh reprimand to the top hat beside her, "Perky ass, are you kidding me? Are you telling me Death Crow's people are the reinforcements you mentioned? They almost killed my brother and sister..."
The hat sighed. "Don't be so impatient, Miss Red Lotus. At least hear out their explanation."
Jiang Qingzi flexed the metal claws on his gloves. As he stepped forward, a heavy, magnetic metallic voice rang out from beneath his pitch-black owl mask:
"Don't rush. My leader wants Clock Maker's ability... which means we temporarily share the same enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. A temporary alliance won't hurt, since there's no conflict of interest anyway."
Heimeng gave no reaction. She simply pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt in silence, quietly playing her PSP like a tranquil black cat.
Lorenzo, meanwhile, had cast his gaze into the distance. His gray-blue eyes silently observed the trio from the Clockwork Alliance.
Red Lotus's eyes swept over them, and she sighed.
"Haha, you think I'd trust you guys?"
The atmosphere instantly grew tense, but she paused, changing her tune:
"As much as I want to say that, they really do have numbers on their side... So, tell me, what's your plan?"
Lorenzo suddenly spoke up softly. Reaching out, he grabbed the snow-white top hat out of the air. Casting his eyes down at it, he stated expressionlessly, "We are merely invited collaborators this time. As for the specific arrangements... you'll have to listen to this hat, understand?"
White Jack seemed quite displeased at being pinched by him. His voice transmitted through the hat, "You're being a bit rude, Mr. Pope. First, I have to warn you... those three over there are all very strong. I'm afraid they're evenly matched with you."
He paused.
"As for how to fight them, arrange it amongst yourselves for now. My energy is limited... Rain Crow has run into trouble on his end, too."
"Daddy?" Red Lotus's eyes widened slightly.
Lorenzo didn't seem to care. He released the hat and lifted his gaze from beneath its brim.
The torrential rain poured down in a deluge.
Jiang Qingzi stood quietly in the downpour. Staring at the figures of Sanmu Nian and Luosenzi through his dark owl mask, he murmured, "Indeed... Boss, this pothead brat and that malnourished-looking brat don't seem very easy to deal with."
Hearing this, Heimeng lifted her eyes from her PSP screen and spoke unhurriedly:
"I can stall him, though maybe not for long. You guys take care of the others first? If the situation turns against me, I'll just let him out of the game space."
Jiang Qingzi hesitated for a moment. "No, I'm not comfortable leaving you alone. Let's go in together."
Heimeng blinked in surprise. "Alright. My game space can hold a maximum of three people anyway... I can bring you along."
Jiang Qingzi turned to look at the side of Lorenzo's face, asking expressionlessly:
"Boss, shall we go in then?"
Lorenzo nodded silently.
In the next instant, a prompt box built out of pixels suddenly appeared in the rain, displaying lines of crooked pixelated text.
[Notification: Successfully loaded into the game space. The randomized arena for this session is—"Tetris"!]
[The competing players for this match are—"Black Magic Hand" and "Iron Pot Boy". The administrator is "Heimeng".]
[Following a five-second countdown, the game will begin.]
A massive countdown panel slowly rose over the long street.
Sanmu Nian raised his head, as if watching this scene through the eye drawn on his iron pot. Soon, his figure was swallowed by a rift of pixels, vanishing from his spot.
Following closely behind, the figures of Black Magic Hand and the hoodie-wearing girl also disappeared into the rain.
Red Lotus stared down at Thorn Girl from above, murmuring after a long moment, "Then I guess I'm in charge of dealing with this one..." Raising her voice, she called out to Thorn Girl in an utterly roguish tone:
"Hey, lady, listen to me—this young master doesn't usually hit women. How about you obediently surrender and throw yourself into the embrace of my Huntian Ling, how does that sound?"
Thorn Girl was momentarily stunned before her mouth twitched into a sneer. "Stop pretending, your tone doesn't sound like a man at all." As her voice dropped, the earth split open, and countless massive thorns drilled out from the crevices.
At this moment, in a spacious, quiet corner of the long street, the rain pattered down.
Lorenzo stepped toward Luosenzi, his black clerical robe remaining completely untouched by the rain from start to finish.
After a while, Luosenzi finally opened his gold-tinted eyes. There was a threat resembling something distinctly inhuman lurking in his pupils.
The two faced each other silently in the downpour.
In an instant, a black-covered Bible appeared in both of their hands simultaneously. The English word "Bible" on the covers gleamed brightly through the curtain of rain.
Lorenzo was slightly taken aback by this, a trace of surprise flashing across his pupils, while Luosenzi's face remained utterly placid.
At this moment, the melodious chiming of a bell suddenly rang out from behind Luosenzi, causing even the rainwater to tremble. Immediately after, centering on him, the phantom projection of a magnificent building began to diffuse outward.
Watching this scene, Lorenzo actually curled his lips into a soundless smile.
He was the person most familiar with this ability in the world. Unfazed, he allowed his own figure to be swallowed by the phantom building.
The next moment, when Lorenzo regained his bearings, he was already standing inside a resplendent and magnificent church.
Luosenzi was positioned exactly two hundred meters opposite him. The deformed boy sat quietly on his mat, bathed in moonlight that spilled through the sacred dome, enveloping his figure.
"Interesting... After being a thief for so long, this is my first time experiencing the feeling of having something stolen from me."
Lorenzo spoke softly, lifting his gray-blue eyes to meet Luosenzi's gaze.
Luosenzi remained silent. He just quietly opened the Bible in his hands. The abilities recorded page by page in its text reflected in his golden eyes.
Above the church, the melodious chiming of the bell washed past their ears like a tide, lingering for a long time.