After all the tests ended, it was almost evening.
Ling Ling didn’t go home with Lin Jiu. She told her younger sister to go back and prepare dinner first, saying she “still had some things to take care of.”
Lin Jiu didn’t ask further, only said “Sister, come back early,” and headed alone toward the direction of their apartment.
Ling Ling stood at the academy gate, watching her sister’s figure disappear into the twilight.
Then she turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Not toward their apartment, but toward the old school building behind the academy.
The old school building had been abandoned for years, overgrown with weeds, most of its window glass shattered. The setting sun shone through the holes, casting mottled light and shadow on the ground. There were no surveillance cameras, no passersby, no witnesses.
Only her and—
Ling Ling stopped.
Standing in the shadow of the old school building was a person.
She had brown hair, wore thin-rimmed glasses, and was dressed in the dark blue Countermeasures Section uniform. Medium build, ordinary features—the type that would never attract a second glance in a crowd.
It was Ishida Sanae.
But Ling Ling knew she wasn’t Ishida Sanae.
“You’ve been following me all day. Tired, aren’t you?”
She said in a flat tone.
The person opposite didn’t move. The thin-rimmed glasses reflected the sunset’s glow, making their expression unreadable.
“It started from the moment you entered the school gate this morning, didn’t it? During the strength test, you were on the left; during the speed test, you were at the right rear; during the ability test, you were in front; and during the final combat simulation, you were at the highest point of the stands—that’s the best vantage point, allowing you to see both the entire field and the reactions on the main platform.”
Ling Ling took a step forward.
“You’re very professional. You maintained good distance, and your visual control was natural. Ordinary people wouldn’t notice at all, and even most ability users wouldn’t detect you.”
She took another step.
“But you shouldn’t have suddenly withdrawn your gaze at the end of the combat simulation. A true observer wouldn’t do that. They would gradually weaken their gaze, letting it naturally ‘fade,’ not abruptly ‘cut it off.’ You cut it too abruptly—was it because you saw something you wanted to confirm and were in a hurry to report back?”
Silence.
Then—
The person opposite laughed.
“Haha, as expected of ‘White Night.'”
The voice wasn’t Ishida Sanae’s—it was younger.
Her appearance began to change. Brown hair lost its color, turning light gray. The thin-rimmed glasses disappeared, revealing a pair of pale purple eyes. Her features shifted from the gentle contours of a middle-aged woman to a young, sharp face. Her height also dropped from about 5’4″ to about 5’3″. The Countermeasures Section uniform turned into the academy’s sportswear.
A few seconds later, a completely unfamiliar woman stood before Ling Ling, around her early twenties, not much older than her. Then, the woman spoke in a slightly playful voice.
“Countermeasures Section Special Investigation Room Six, code name ‘Phantom.'”
“My mission today was to observe you.”
Ling Ling looked at her.
“What about Ishida Sanae?”
“Senior Ishida is on the main platform. She’s the overt observer, and I’m the covert one. We work in parallel, cross-verifying each other.”
“…I see.”
“Your analysis just now was basically correct, except for one point.”
“What?”
“I didn’t cut off my gaze because I was in a hurry. I did it intentionally.”
Ling Ling’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
“I wanted to see if you would notice, and if you did, what you would do.”
Phantom tilted her head.
“And sure enough, you noticed, and you even led me here—no surveillance, no passersby, the perfect place to deal with me.”
She paused, a glint of excitement flashing in her pale purple eyes.
“So, what are you going to do? Kill me? Knock me out? Or use me as a hostage to threaten…”
Before she finished speaking, Ling Ling had already vanished from her spot.
She didn’t use any ability at all. Instead, relying on a body pushed to its limits by the “Cradle” and terrifying burst speed, she instantly closed the distance between them.
Phantom’s pupils contracted sharply. She instinctively stepped back, swinging her right hand to release a translucent wind blade—”Wind Blade.” This was Victoria’s ability. The Mimicry ability could not only imitate appearance but also copy abilities that had been displayed.
But the wind blade only cut through air.
Ling Ling wasn’t there.
“Too slow.”
The voice came from the left.
Phantom spun around, and Ling Ling was already standing to her left, less than a meter away, her crimson eyes calmly watching her as if looking at a corpse.
Phantom’s right hand gathered a wind blade again—
But Ling Ling’s left hand had already grabbed her wrist, her right hand pressed on her shoulder, and she lightly tripped her.
Phantom lost her balance, and her vision spun.
Then her back hit the ground hard, forcing all the air out of her lungs. Before she could react, Ling Ling’s knee was already pressing down on her chest, and the fingertips of her left hand touched the skin of her neck.
Contact.
[Ability Copy] activated.
A stream of unfamiliar ability information flowed into Ling Ling’s mind: [Mimicry] —an ability that can change one’s own appearance and physiological characteristics, and even mimic the abilities of a contacted target (limited to the parts they have displayed). Duration is proportional to mimicry accuracy, with a maximum duration of about six hours at peak accuracy.
Stronger than she had imagined, and more useful.
“What… did you do…”
Phantom panted, her pale purple eyes wide.
“What do you want…”
Phantom’s resolve wavered. She was an A-rank ability user, and had even briefly crossed paths with an S-rank ability user before. But the pressure this emotionless girl in front of her brought was more terrifying than that S-rank ability user.
Ling Ling didn’t answer her.
She called up another ability from her ability library.
It was one she had copied a long time ago, from a small-time player operating in the underground of the Seventh District—a fraudster who used abilities to scam. The ability was [Cognitive Modification]. Although its rank was very low, only D-rank, and almost ineffective against those with strong willpower…
But for Phantom at this moment, it was more than enough.
Ling Ling pressed her right hand onto Phantom’s forehead and activated the [Cognitive Modification] ability.
“Your observation mission today was to follow Lin Lingling and confirm whether she is ‘White Night.'”
Her voice was flat.
“But you didn’t find anything unusual. She’s just an ordinary C-rank ability user, an ordinary high school student.”
“You…”
“You observed all day and got nothing. On your way back to report to the Countermeasures Section, you decided to take a shortcut through the old school building. And then—”
Ling Ling’s pupils glowed faintly.
“You accidentally tripped here, hit your head on the ground, and your memory is a bit fuzzy. That’s all.”
Phantom’s gaze began to blur, her pale purple eyes losing focus.
“I… tripped…”
“Yes.”
“Hit my head…”
“Yes.”
“Memory… a bit fuzzy…”
“Yes.”
Ling Ling let go and stood up.
Phantom lay on the ground, eyes half-open, pupils unfocused. Her mind was being churned by [Cognitive Modification]. All the details of today’s memory, from entering the academy to this very moment, were becoming hazy.
She would remember that she had come to the academy, that she had observed a student with white hair and crimson eyes, but that student’s performance, those details, and everything that had just happened would become like fog.
Unclear, ungraspable.
Ling Ling looked down at her.
“I don’t like being followed.”
The voice was very soft.
“And I don’t like people threatening my daily life.”
Phantom didn’t react. She had already fallen into a semi-conscious state.
“Tell the Countermeasures Section.”
Ling Ling turned around, her back to Phantom lying on the ground.
“Next time, send someone more professional.”
Her appearance began to change. White hair shortened and darkened, turning light gray. Crimson eyes lost their color, becoming pale purple. Her features adjusted subtly, including the curve of her nose bridge, the thickness of her lips, and the line of her jaw. Her height slightly increased, from about 5’0″ to about 5’3″.
A few seconds later, another “Phantom” stood in the shadow of the old school building.
Dressed in the academy’s sportswear, “Phantom” walked out of the old school building, crossed the playground, and headed toward the academy’s main gate. Her gait and posture were exactly the same as Phantom’s.
The guard saw her and nodded.
She nodded and walked out.
She disappeared into the streets of the Seventh District in the twilight.