Chapter Ch218.1 - Evolutionary Direction

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

Pieces of glass flew out!

The light from the ceiling lamp was split out into countless pieces of light and shadow. The rose petals were stirred up and flew everywhere amidst the sharp glass blades!

There was a ‘reverse world’ behind the mirror. The tables, chairs, carpet, and vases in the corridor that had been duplicated one by one in the layer behind the surface of the mirror were flipped horizontally. Even the ceiling chandeliers that were wired to the left had been reversed to be wired to the right.

The Queen stood beneath the chandelier, her face full of resentment, and her pupils dark and empty as she gouged at Wu Jin.

Wu Jin didn’t intend to stop at all, charging at the Queen with thunderous momentum!

There was a cry as Wu Jin and the Queen both raised up their hands at the same time, their semi-mechanized arms colliding with each other under the fierce force of their kinetic energy!

The superconducting metal flashed with red sparks instantly, and the mechanical transformation connections almost short-circuited and combusted due to a voltage overload and friction. Both of them were forced to withdraw at the same time!

Wu Jin kicked at the Queen’s back, his left hand dropping down as he opened up the mechanical panel on his right arm as fast as he could. The material changed as the metal surface plating rotating outwards and the silicon carbide insulation crystal surface retracted. He punched again, using a fist that scattered the current––

The electric light dissipated.

The Queen gave a muffled groan.

The strangely damp and fragrant scent of roses was pungent as it spread through the air. Countless books and manuscripts fell down like hail as the Queen was suppressed by Wu Jin and pressed up against the bookcase!

Wu Jin finally had time to gasp for breath.

The youth turned his head sideways. His first reaction was to smile broadly at Brother Wei and show off, “She’s one evolutionary level lower than me…”

There was a huge gap in the smashed mirror, and wind blew in from the outside. Karen’s long, black hair fluttered in the air after the strenuous exercise, and the trainee combat jacket that had been draped over him had been sent flying off a long time ago. His bare spine was covered with a crystal clear layer of sweat, and the lines of his muscles still retained the taut arc of a youth who was on the hunt––

Wei Shi narrowed his eyes and strode forward to toss the coat over Wu Jin again.

Wu Jin quickly expressed that he was lively and full of energy, “I’m not cold, I’m not cold!”

Wu Jin casually tossed the Queen to the big boss, then sat down on the floor to pull at the red dance shoes on his feet, “The rules are still in play. These shoes really burn the feet, and they can’t be taken off.”

Facts proved that the attractive youth in white silk was still extremely cute when he sat cross legged on the ground.

Wei Shi pressed down on the Queen’s back, and the female ghost instantly lost strength and slid down. Wei Shi bowed his head indifferently, “Where is it hot.”

Wu Jin patted the little red shoes.

Wei Shi gestured for Wu Jin to hand them over.

Wu Jin thought about it and could only extend his feet over. Wei Shi looked it over casually, “The sensor is on the sole of the shoe. Stepping on it will trigger a shock circuit that generates heat and connects the ankle to the shoe. There are gas tubes for the connection at the side.”

Wu Jin understood. If he’d known, he would’ve looked the shoes over carefully before putting them on––

Wait a minute. Wei Shi was looking at the red dancing shoes, but his hands had moved from the shoes to pinch his ankle, and then up to his leg, what was going on!

Wei Shi was expressionless as he remained with his back to the camera, his hands neither light nor heavy as he continued, his actions rather like weighing meat in the vegetable market. He then looked at the shoes again with satisfaction.

Wu Jin gradually grew panicked, “……” Could it be that you want to buy these shoes?!

However, fear bred wisdom, and getting tripped up would allow one to grow. Wu Jin glanced over the Queen, then looked over Wei Shi, then looked back at the Queen, and a happy idea instantly came into being!

“Brother Wei,” Wu Jin raised up his small round face beneath the mask and smiled, “Brother Wei, you should take a look and see if she has a mask on her face. Brother Wei, do you want to tear off the mask and scan the chip with your wrist watch? Brother Wei, Brother Wei––”

Wei Shi made a sound of acknowledgement, then looked at Wu Jin’s long hair, red dress, and dance shoes, “And then become like you?”

“……” Wu Jin saw that his plot had been seen through and cleverly tried to sell the idea, “… Although it involves a temporary change in appearance, it’s all in exchange for a wealth of mechanical transformation options. Look at the Queen, she’s tall and wide, and her dress is large and round. From a transformation perspective, the Queen’s future evolutionary tree is likely to be in the direction of armored court wear. The dress support is strengthened and enlarged, her hair is long and barbed, and the body is covered in armor.”

Wu Jin paused suddenly as a new guess began to take shape, “The Queen wears a heavy court dress––her evolution direction is heavy armor. Karen required three evolutions in order to generate the blades and metal spikes at the fingertips. The only armor on Karen’s body is a strong alkaline solvent gel armor, so there’s more offensive power than defense––Karen is going in the assault evolutionary direction. As for the Nightingale, they could spread their wings and fly, as well as sing loudly in the fairy tale, so they’re most likely going in the direction of agility and signal disruption.”

Wu Jin’s eyes were bright and sharp, “Based on the death rate over the past two nights, the death toll in <Red Dancing Shoes> was highest, followed by <The Nightingale and The Rose> and <Snow White>, because Karen is much more aggressive than the Nightingale and the Queen.”

“In the three plays by Anderson, Grimm, and Oscar Wilde, the contestants aren’t choosing the plot itself, but rather their female ghost’s evolutionary direction and attack mode.”

“On the third and fourth nights, the losses in the Nightingale group decreased significantly, to far lower than <Red Dancing Shoes> and <Snow White>. It’s impossible for the female ghost to give up on evolution. Since I have Karen’s identity, it’s impossible that I’ve been interfering with the Nightingale, which leaves only one possibility––”

“The Nightingale has also been replaced by a contestant!”

Wei Shi turned his head to look at him and saw Wu Jin speaking excitedly, “Brother Wei, should we play a high stakes game?”

“There are 16 survivors, and there’s no need to worry about qualifying.”

Wu Jin leaned over, his mouth opening and closing, unconsciously blowing rabbit air at Wei Shi, “… We’ll leave the Queen here and wait until the Nightingale comes.”

Wei Shi stretched out his hand and covered up the area on his neck that had just been blown at with rabbit air. He slowly, slowly raised up his eyelids and looked at Wu Jin, “Okay.”

“One hour.” Wei Shi opened his mouth and spoke coldly, “One hour to end the game.”

Studio stage.

Qin Jinbao’s elimination was like a beacon in the brawl. It gathered the few remaining contestants to the middle of the field.

There were 15 survivors left in the arena.

Only the top trainees from the Crosson Show and Stardust Cup were left. Having 15 left meant that most of the trainees had success in maintaining their A-level rankings.

Fighting for survival was no longer meaningful.

The only thing that was worthwhile––was to eliminate the other 14 people and aim for the throne.

On the southwest side of the studio, Wen Lin and Raphael finally made their way back to the center of the fighting.

“In cold steel weapon combat, nobody here can eliminate Qin Jinbao in a face to face fight. Dolma Entertainment trainees are all proficient with knives.” The two of them snuck back into the main battlefield, and Wen Lin lowered his voice, “The female ghost can’t do it and Wei Yan can’t, either. Unless his opponent’s strength and equipment far surpassed Qin Jinbao’s––”

And at this time, Qin Jinbao’s ally had already been left on his own.

Not only had Qin Jinbao been eliminated, but his teammate was now scurrying about in fear.

“In other words, we can infer that our guess that Wei Yan has replaced the Nightingale was probably correct, and Wei Yan also acquired the Nightingale’s abilities.”

Raphael nodded slightly, and the two of them quickly dispersed.

Raphael took the assault and scout position, while Wen Lin took up the support position. The two of them were experienced in patrol and exploration and soon found the scene where the incident had occurred.

“Here.” Raphael thought for a moment, “The life-saving capsule has already been taken away, but it was definitely here.”

Wen Lin was stunned, “This seems to be the place where laughter could be heard from earlier.”

“Twice.”

“Twice in a row, the contestants were eliminated after laughing loudly. Wei Yan’s elimination of the contestants is directional. However, who would laugh like this in a normal competition…”

The stage was still shining brightly.

The feathers on the ground were sparkly and flashy.

Wen Lin bent over on one knee and picked up a feather with two fingers, his heart suddenly going soft. There had been a pink feather on the ground, with fine roots and soft down. It was an artificial, environmentally friendly feather that was commonly found in hair ornaments for young girls. For a moment, he thought of his sister, who was watching TV at home, wearing this kind of delicate and soft feather in her braid––

A shadow to the side of the stage shifted, and Raphael and Wen Lin were both momentarily caught by surprise!

Their intuition put them on alert instantly.

A thin and elongated shadow with two strange bulges drifted down from above, like a ghost floating in the sky! The shadow’s original figure was definitely not the same shape; the shadow had been extended because the newcomer was suspended in the air, his feet floating above the ground!

Raphael didn’t hesitate to grasp the handle of his knife. Countless changing thoughts flashed through his mind as he lifted his head, and his first reaction was that it was a long tongued ghost hanging from the neck––

The figure suspended in mid-air was Wei Yan, who had a stiff expression on his face.

Wei Yan, who was wearing a fairy chiffon and tulle skirt around his shoulders.

Wei Yan, who was in full battle mode with two pink feathered wings on his back.

“……” Raphael clearly saw that Wei Yan was stepping on a flight propeller, but this human-shaped weapon’s pink wings were still shaking in a way that very much drew the camera’s attention.

Raphael’s throat moved, his facial features twisting into a ball due to his pride in his own self-control. From beside him, Wen Lin forcibly pinched the muscles responsible for smiling a few times as though squeezing them tightly would help him avoid being manipulated by instinct.

At this time, following Wei Yan’s appearance, countless cameras swarmed up to the stage! The proportion of individual cameras focused on Wei Yan instantly shot to first place!

Wei Yan raised his hand slowly.