Chapter 111: The Real and the Fake

In the empty second-class tea room, Menglinna was confronting Peiji.

Seeing that Menglinna had actually managed to hold the other back, Peiji, who had just arrived, felt a surge of joy and immediately threw herself into the fight.

“Haha, now you’re cornered, impostor!”

Peiji pulled out her mud-caked warhammer and strode straight toward Peiji.

“Heh…”

Peiji gasped for breath, not bothering to reply. She only gripped her short sword tighter.

“Your eyes are full of resentment. Even now, are you still thinking about turning the tables?” Peiji stepped forward slowly. “Too bad. I’ve already cut off your retreat.”

Peiji didn’t let her finish. She lunged forward in a sudden attack, aiming straight for Peiji’s throat—clearly a tactic chosen because Peiji’s long-handled warhammer couldn’t block flexibly.

But Peiji chose to parry while steadily retreating. Hearing Menglinna’s footsteps shifting slowly behind her, she revealed a smug smile. “Even without killing, my team can still win.”

“Hmph?”

Peiji said nothing, merely pressing the attack.

Soon, a lightning spear shot over, landing right at Peiji’s feet.

“Hey, aim better!”

Peiji, nearly hit, couldn’t help shouting back at Menglinna.

Menglinna replied earnestly, “Sorry, your body is blocking the line of fire.”

“Think of something, for f*ck’s sake!”

As blood sisters, Peiji and Peiji were actually evenly matched in strength. The real outcome of this battle lay with Menglinna and Yushi.

Unfortunately, Yushi, a melee fighter, was held up, leaving only Menglinna, whose divine arts as a priest were of little use.

Only Menglinna knew that her mistake just now was genuine.

But since they were so close that she couldn’t use offensive divine arts, she might as well change her approach.

Menglinna shook her bell. This time, instead of casting a divine art, she used magic to buff Peiji.

“Shelter of the Ocean!”

With a single spell, Peiji felt her sword swings become much faster.

“Did you buff the wrong person!”

Peiji, already on the defensive, became even more overwhelmed, driven back step by step.

Menglinna didn’t reply but slowly descended the steps.

Getting closer would make it harder to miss.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Peiji suddenly realized the truth. “No—you’ve betrayed me!”

“I haven’t!”

Even at this moment, Menglinna chose to hide the truth.

But Peiji didn’t care anymore. She swung her warhammer, forcing Peiji back even at the cost of injury, and spat out, “Fine. Since you want my life, I’ll fight you to the death!”

With that, Peiji took a pill from her storage ring. Before the two could react, she swallowed it.

“You’ve only got one minute to live!”

The pill made Peiji’s body swell instantly, almost rivaling a small giant. The long-handled warhammer in her hand now seemed shorter, no longer like a killing weapon, but like the limb of a beast looking down on everything—drenched in a thick stench of blood.

It was a claw hammer for pounding.

Pem had no choice but to charge with all her might, trying the same trick again. But with one swing of Pem’s hammer, she was sent flying.

Now only the support priest remained. Pem turned around, revealing an evil grin. “Ah, I was hoping to use your hand to cover this up, but I didn’t expect you to side with her. Don’t blame me!”

“Do you think I’m completely useless?”

Menglinna raised her holy bell, and a violent water cannon shot out from it.

“What?”

Pem had thought the lightning spear was the limit of Menglinna’s attack, but this damn water cannon was far more powerful than she expected.

“No matter. I can withstand it!”

Relying on the power from burning her lifespan, Pem actually managed to hold against Menglinna’s water cannon, even advancing steadily.

Seeing this, Menglinna had no choice but to increase her mana output. The two sides were temporarily at a stalemate.

It was now a race between Menglinna’s mana running out and Pem’s enhancement expiring.

But before that happened, someone appeared to break the deadlock. A familiar voice rang out at the pump room door. “What are you doing? Why are you suddenly fighting?”

Yushi had apparently retrieved her backpack and arrived at the pump room entrance.

“Doctor, you’re here!” Pem held off the water cannon, choking out her words. “This woman listened to the impostor and turned on me. Help me take her down!”

Menglinna wiped the sweat from her forehead and shouted, “Yushi, those so-called scandals were actually her doing. She was just using us to get rid of a scapegoat!”

So it seemed that the fate of both rested in Yushi’s hands.

The cheerful doctor just smiled. “Killing someone? How would I know who’s real and who’s fake?”

With that, she slowly walked down the steps while pulling a syringe from her bag.

Watching the doctor approach, both women increased their output.

But a hand grabbed Yushi’s shoulder. She turned to see Nanaya holding the shattered Giant Hammer.

Nanaya’s expression was cheerful, though the hammer was conveniently raised above Yushi’s head. “Doctor, don’t you think the unconscious person in the corner is the real prosecutor? After all, the one still standing doesn’t match in build, and she’s all dirty.”

“Seems about right…”

Given Nanaya’s persuasive hammer, Yushi simply threw the syringe, striking Pem precisely in the neck.

“Yushi, you bi—”

Before Pem could finish, the tranquilizer took effect, and she collapsed.

Nanaya nodded and patted Yushi’s shoulder. “Good. You made the right choice.”

Menglinna quickly cut off her magic and dragged Pem over. “Hey, Yushi, this one’s a vampire. Let’s do what we discussed. I’ll wake up the prosecutor.”

“Of course.”

Yushi was sharp. She had already suspected something because of their similar faces. Since Menglinna and the others had already made a move, she might as well go with the flow.

Even if Pem had taken over Peiji’s identity, this new prosecutor now owed her a favor, didn’t she?

Thinking this, Yushi hesitated no longer.

“This is a fresh heart!”

In the hospital lab, Yushi finally revealed the biggest prize of this operation.

Menglinna stared at the pale red heart behind the glass case. If she wasn’t mistaken, it seemed to still be beating, even detached from the body?

Nanaya couldn’t help asking, “This thing is still alive?”

Yushi shot her a glance. “Want to read the name out loud?”

“So…” Menglinna hesitated. “I’m supposed to eat this thing raw?”

Yushi quickly shook her head. “Raw? Of course not. We’ll use it as a medicinal ingredient. As for the specific treatment plan, please give me a few more days to study.”

“Then we have to wait a few more days?”

“I’ll notify you then.”

With the heart issue resolved, everyone turned to Peiji.

“So, what do we do with you, miss?”

Yushi seemed in a great mood and actively approached the weakened Peiji.

Only then did Menglinna realize that this was Yushi’s turf. Even if she wanted to pin the death of Prosecutor Peiji on Pem, it wouldn’t be impossible.

“Watch your words!” Peiji mustered her strength to put on a stern face. “I am Prosecutor Peiji.”

“Good reaction. Clever girl.” Yushi winked at her. “Alright, Prosecutor. How about I help you clean up this mess?”

Peiji’s eyes widened in surprise. “You?”

She was naturally wary of the doctor who had almost killed her.

“Of course,” Yushi nodded. “You seem to be seriously injured. I imagine you’ve lost some memories?”

Nanaya looked confused. “What game are you playing?”

She didn’t know the full story, but she could guess.

Yushi smiled. “Stating it outright would spoil the fun. Let’s just say I’ve decided to help this prosecutor. That’s all you need to know.”

But Peiji didn’t smile at Yushi’s declaration. Instead, she asked, “Then what reward do you expect in return for such kindness?”

“Isn’t it fun to have a prosecutor in your pocket?”

Seeing the smile on Yushi’s face, Peiji understood that although she was safe for now, she had jumped from the wolf’s den into the tiger’s lair.

Today’s events had wrapped up faster than expected. Menglinna was too lazy to cook, so she dragged Nanaya into a restaurant.

While waiting for their food, Menglinna looked seriously at Nanaya and said softly, “Thank you for earlier. Without you, I might have been done for.”

“Actually, even if I hadn’t come, the only one who’d be in trouble is your former teammate, right?” Nanaya took a sip of water. “Even with me, she still got unlucky. But at least she’s not dead.”

“That’s not good…”

Recalling the predatory look in Yushi’s eyes as they left, Menglinna felt that her former teammate had been targeted.

For some reason, that feeling seemed familiar—like she had seen it somewhere before…

Menglinna looked up and met Nanaya’s gaze, which had been fixed on her.

There was no emotional fluctuation in those deep eyes—only intense curiosity.

“Wah!”

Startled, Menglinna let out an embarrassing sound.

Nanaya, completely oblivious, touched her own face. “What’s with that reaction? Am I that scary?”

Menglinna nodded, then recalled all her strange behavior earlier.

She had suspected it before—this kid kept doing odd things. Excluding the possibility that she had corrupted Nanaya, the only explanation was that she was doing system tasks.

Whether it was the so-called obedience tests or just now following her, Menglinna was sure it was the doing of the shady system living inside Nanaya.

She hadn’t wanted to call her out earlier, but now Nanaya was squatting in her nest and tailing her. She couldn’t live like this.

Today, she had to have a serious talk with her!

After confirming that no one else was in the private room, Menglinna’s face turned stern. “Nanaya, I’m grateful you saved me, but I have to ask something annoying. Have you been tailing me all day?”

Nanaya didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

“But—” For an instant, Menglinna felt her words stuck in her throat, blocked by Nanaya’s matter-of-fact attitude. “But that’s wrong. You know that, right?”

Nanaya knew, but she didn’t want to admit it. “The outcome was good.”

“The outcome… we’re not consequentialists,” Menglinna pinched her nose. “Can you at least tell me why you were following me?”

“I felt you might be in danger, so I came.”

Menglinna frowned. “What kind of reason is that?”

“More than that, isn’t Miss Scum’s problem bigger?” Nanaya suddenly stood and stepped toward Menglinna. “You knew there’d be danger this time, but you completely refused to tell me. Did you have to hide it from me?”

The sudden closeness made Menglinna lean back involuntarily. “I wasn’t hiding it. I just didn’t think it had anything to do with you.”

Even though that was true, Menglinna’s voice somehow sounded low.

“Are you on guard against me?”

“It’s not that.” Her back hit the sofa cushion, and Menglinna suddenly realized she was being too weak. “These are just my personal affairs. It’s normal not to casually tell you, because between us… we’re just superior and subordinate, right?”

Nanaya was stunned for a moment, then slowly sat back down. “Of course, I’m your boss. But it’s normal to be concerned about my subordinate’s whereabouts and safety, isn’t it?”

That seemed to make sense.

Menglinna was stumped and couldn’t speak for a while.

Just then, the waiter rang the bell at the door, and the long-awaited dishes were served one by one.

With a third party present, Menglinna didn’t have the courage to continue this topic with Nanaya, so she swallowed her retort.

She would talk to Nanaya later—properly, covering everything she had done before.

The two finished their meal in silence.

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