Chapter 32: Family Matters and Hidden Origins

Over the course of the following week, Lin Ling enlisted Little White to fabricate a company online. She also acquired a plot of land as an elaborate cover, securing a new job for her male persona.

Just recently, to alleviate her family’s persistent worry about their child’s employment, Lin Ling had even taken her parents on a special tour of her “company.”

Overall, Lin Ling’s parents expressed considerable satisfaction with their son’s new position and the working environment. This successfully mitigated the anxiety they had felt regarding her previous unemployment.

What the two elders remained oblivious to, however, was that the enthusiastic employees who had just welcomed them at the company were all manifestations of Lin Ling’s own clones. It was an elaborate, self-directed performance.

The sole purpose of this charade was, naturally, to spare her parents any worry. Lin Ling unequivocally desired for them to enjoy a comfortable life. To that end, she needed a plausible job, allowing her to legitimately channel the money earned by Little White to her parents in the future.

Furthermore, Lin Ling had previously leveraged her inherent authority to subtly enhance the health of her parents and a few other significant relatives. Yet, she refrained from outright curing their chronic ailments, apprehensive that such an abrupt recovery might provoke unforeseen scrutiny.

Nevertheless, while these physical afflictions technically persisted, their impact was indistinguishable from a full recovery. For instance, her mother’s heart condition could no longer flare up, and her father’s stomach issues would not only cease to worsen but would also gradually “naturally” heal.

After escorting her parents back home, Lin Ling, just as she was preparing to depart, was suddenly called by her father.

“Next week, your younger brother will be back after graduation. Let him stay with you for a while. Xi Yue isn’t there anymore, so you should have a spare bed, right? Your mother and I will be with your grandfather back in our hometown then, so we’ll have to ask you to look after him.”

“Oh, no problem.”

Lin Ling readily agreed. It had, in fact, been a considerable time since she had last seen her younger brother; nearly three years had passed since he left to study abroad.

“Good, then. He should arrive in Cangyang City next Wednesday evening.” With those words, her father turned and departed.

‘As taciturn as ever,’

The young woman couldn’t help but muse inwardly.

Though her father was not as verbose as her mother, his affection and attentiveness towards both her and her brother were absolute.

****

Half an hour later.

Deep within the Kalarido Trench at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, a vacuum space, held open by spiritual energy, shimmered.

Within this ethereal void, the silver-haired young woman floated, held in a tight suspension.

With her father’s affairs now settled, it was time for her to finally turn her attention to more pressing matters.

In the preceding days, thanks to the diligent efforts of her various clones, most of Blue Star’s Star Sources had been successfully recovered. However, a single dark-attributed Star Source remained stubbornly elusive.

Even after activating her wide-area perception, she couldn’t find any trace of it on Blue Star.

This even led Lin Ling to wonder if there might not be a dark Star Source on Blue Star at all.

However,

Bisika’s subsequent words, however, entirely refuted Lin Ling’s conjecture. According to Bisika, the final Star Source was located underground. Could it truly be found simply by digging downwards from her current position?

‘A Star Source… how could it be underground?’

Logically, Star Sources should only form in places with relatively high spiritual energy concentration, such as the surface. How could one possibly emerge in a secluded, subterranean realm?

‘Strange,’

Though doubt gnawed at her, Lin Ling ultimately chose to trust Bisika’s words. After all, as her sister—enmmm, while perhaps a touch unreliable—she wouldn’t outright deceive her.

‘No choice but to try it.’

After a resigned sigh, a surge of silver light rippled around the young woman’s body. It then rapidly converged and reshaped itself over her hands, manifesting as two terrifying silver energy drills.

‘Alright, time to get to work!’

And so,

In the deepest trench of Blue Star, a location utterly beyond human detection, a massive undertaking commenced with imposing momentum.

****

Concurrently,

On a highway in Cangyang City,

Wu Hang and other investigators dispatched from the capital, Tianjing, were engaged in a transport mission. Their task was to deliver a batch of critical items to Kanghai City, a city renowned for its superior scientific research facilities. They essentially served as security, safeguarding these crucial research products from falling into the hands of foreign spies.

Currently, they were en route to a temporary airfield.

Gazing at the fully loaded container beside them, Wu Hang fell into deep thought.

While he was generally unaware of the specific research materials contained within the shipping container, he was unequivocally certain that everything inside was inextricably linked to either the colossal beasts or the silver-haired young woman.

This realization only deepened his confusion. The bodies inside the container had been personally retrieved by their team from the Cangyang City Public Security Bureau’s morgue, specifically every corpse present on the night the silver-haired young woman had appeared there.

Initially, Wu Hang was naturally puzzled as to why the silver-haired young woman would appear in such a place. According to Lin Ling, the girl was an extraterrestrial visitor who came to Blue Star to hunt giant beasts, so why would she visit a morgue to examine human corpses? He quickly dismissed the thought, however, rationalizing that alien minds were simply unfathomable.

But when Wu Hang extracted the bodies, he realized the matter was far more complex than he had imagined. He had seen Xi Yue’s corpse. Moreover,

The corpse’s appearance was utterly baffling; a body dead for two months should not possess such delicate skin or the rosy complexion of a living person. Had the forensic examiner not repeatedly confirmed it, Wu Hang would have suspected Xi Yue was merely asleep.

Therefore, seizing an opportunity when his captain wasn’t looking, Wu Hang discreetly questioned the security guards. It was then that he learned about the various abnormalities surrounding Xi Yue’s death and the state of her body.

At this point, Wu Hang was almost certain that the silver-haired young woman had come to the morgue that night specifically for Xi Yue’s corpse. But why? Could the anomalies of Xi Yue’s body truly attract the attention of a girl as powerful as a deity? Even more suspiciously, both individuals were connected to Lin Ling.

‘Could Lin Ling truly be hiding something?’

“Hey, what are you thinking about so intently?” The captain’s voice pulled Wu Hang, deep in his reverie, back to reality.

“Oh, nothing,” Wu Hang quickly replied.

“Then get to work seriously. We’ve reached our destination, and the escort helicopter will arrive shortly. Let’s establish a perimeter.”

“Understood.”

Only then did Wu Hang fully register that the convoy had arrived at the designated handover point.

“Ah, I should just focus on the task at hand for now,” Wu Hang muttered to himself.

****

Inside the container,

Two investigators, clad in protective suits, were meticulously cataloging the various materials based on the reports in their hands.

“Rip, rip,”

Faintly, a strange sound seemed to emanate.

‘?’

“Hmm? What was that sound?”

Hearing it, the investigators paused their pens, exchanging glances to confirm neither was responsible.

Just as they began to search for the source of the sound, one investigator suddenly froze, his eyes fixed on a corner of the vehicle. The other investigator followed his gaze, and was instantly struck with a chill, cold sweat trickling down his back.

‘Could the rumors of a female ghost be true?’

Before their eyes, the body bag they had previously confirmed to contain a corpse now seemed to have something stirring within, tearing the fabric open.

In this utterly oppressive, dim, and eerie environment, the sight was terrifying! One investigator, unable to suppress his internal dread, prepared to call for help.

However,

The very moment he opened his mouth, a slender purple figure suddenly appeared behind him.

The next moment,

The poor investigator’s neck was ruthlessly twisted.