Chương 240: False Conditions

After bidding farewell to Director Roland, Ji Ying silently disappeared into the shadows of the office.

The next moment, when she reappeared, she was already on the rooftop of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs headquarters.

That slightly revealing long black trench coat and hot pants have been replaced by heavy and menacing black armor; Her originally petite and delicate figure has transformed into a burly physique over two meters tall.

Ji Ying slowly raised his head, and two dark red lights, like embers of burning fire, shone through the gaps in his helmet, locking onto the distant northern horizon.

The next moment, the heavily armored knight in black shot into the sky like a cannonball, transforming into a streak of light that seemed to tear the sky apart, and sped towards the northern suburbs indicated by the system alert.

The scenery below rushed past in my field of vision, turning into blurry patches of color.

Initially, the city center was a forest of skyscrapers resembling a steel jungle; then came gradually low-rise and densely packed residential areas; and then, the city's hustle and bustle was completely left behind, replaced by vast expanses of well-arranged farmland.

During the flight, Ji Ying's thoughts were racing.

—Yesterday we had a fierce battle with Jingjue, and today this level of infiltration of the Void Realm has occurred immediately—there is likely some connection between these two events.

The thought flashed through Ji Ying's mind without causing much of a ripple. Whatever awaited him on the "stage" ahead, he would crush it all.

Finally, as the rolling fields disappeared below the horizon, a somewhat desolate, dense forest came into Jiying's view.

Above that vast forest, a huge, translucent bubble, like a malignant tumor, floated silently, distorting the surrounding light and space, and emitting a nauseating and ominous aura.

Ji Ying slowly stopped above the forest. He noticed that there was a huge reservoir at the edge of the forest, which did not seem to be included in the coverage area of the Void Bubble.

His gaze lingered briefly on the calm water for a moment, as if he were pondering something, before immediately returning to the ominous ground beneath his feet.

Even with a strong suspicion that this was a trap set by Jingjue, Jiying still had no intention of backing down or making any detours.

He suppressed all outward aura, his body plummeting vertically, silently plunging into that unknown space.

The world inside the bubble is completely different from the tranquility outside.

The light became unusually dim, and the surrounding trees took on an eerie, distorted appearance. A nauseating aura of ethereal energy permeated the air.

Dozens of juvenile Void Beasts, resembling hunting dogs, immediately sensed the uninvited guest. They let out ferocious roars and pounced from all directions, bringing with them gusts of foul wind.

However, before they could even get close to Silent Shadow, an aura originating from a higher-ranking being suddenly erupted from that jet-black heavy armor.

"Ugh—!"

All the juvenile-level Void Beasts let out a mournful cry in an instant, as if they had encountered the most feared natural enemy in their bloodline, and immediately prostrated themselves on the ground.

Their bodies trembled violently from extreme fear, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

Ji Ying didn't even glance at them, his figure weaving through the horde of virtual beasts like a ghost, the black blades that sprang from his arm armor drawing a few cold arcs in the air.

With a few muffled cutting sounds, the nascent-level Void Beasts, who were intimidated by the aura, were all turned into black dust. The whole process was clean and efficient. It was less a battle and more a one-sided massacre.

After easily dealing with these "minions," Ji Ying turned his gaze to the depths of the forest, where two Erosion-level Void Beasts, whose appearance was almost identical to the humanoid Void Beasts Ji Ying had faced during his first transformation, were emitting threatening growls in his direction.

But just as Jiying was about to step forward and deal with the two cores that had triggered this infiltration, they suddenly stopped attacking, retreated to the sides, and respectfully lowered their heads, making room for each other.

It's a kind of instinctive obedience to those in higher positions.

A tall, slender figure slowly emerged from the shadows behind them.

The newcomer was dressed in a well-fitting black tailcoat, wearing an elegant top hat, and his face was covered by a pure white mask with a strange smile.

"Hehe—I knew you'd come, my dear—'kindred spirit'."

"So that's how it is after all—" Ji Ying sighed softly. He was not surprised at all by Jing Jue's appearance, and was even too lazy to respond to the other party's boring greeting.

His figure vanished from his spot in an instant, and reappeared in front of Jing Jue the next moment with a "bang!"

With a muffled bang, "Mirror Lord" didn't even have time to react before being violently pierced through the chest by an iron fist covered in black armor. Then, it exploded into countless points of light.

Ji Ying slowly withdrew his fist, and as if sensing something, turned his head. Sure enough, he found that at the top of a giant tree not far away, the figure of another Mirror Lord reappeared.

He chuckled, seemingly unconcerned about the destruction of his clone: "As a way of greeting, that's rather impolite. We all know your brainless, reckless image is just a facade, so why continue to pretend? I just wanted to—"

"Didn't you also guess that I would do this, which is why you sent this inferior clone that contains almost no power to me?" Ji Ying interrupted Jing Jue without any politeness, his voice icy.

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure disappeared again.

"Bang!"

Another loud bang, and Mirror Lord's clone, standing on the treetop, was also shattered by a punch from the Shadowless One who appeared from behind.

"Ha—I can have as many mirror images as I want." The third Mirror Lord's figure appeared further away, his tone clearly tinged with annoyance.

"If you don't mind getting tired, it's perfectly fine to keep playing like this. Sooner or later—I'll be able to say everything I want to say!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Ying stared indifferently at the other party with his dark red eyes, his tone filled with undisguised sarcasm: "Using your real clone, which contains true power, to dodge my attacks while speaking is the same thing."

"The reason these cheap megaphones keep popping up like this is because there aren't enough mirrors in this forest to act as juggling props. Are you so afraid you can't keep dodging my attacks and are afraid I'll just slap you to death?"

"—Let's skip the nonsense, Jiying." Jingjue didn't answer the question, but said in a slightly gloomy tone, "I want to talk to you."

"Heh—" Ji Ying chuckled softly.

"After what happened yesterday, why do you naively believe you still have the right to 'talk' with me? Is there anything we can talk about?"

"Don't be so absolute. Why don't you hear my conditions first?" Mirror Lord's voice regained its calm.

"No matter what, fundamentally speaking, compared to those naive magical girls, we—are closer to our kind."

"Whatever your reasons for choosing to stand on Esmeralda's side, it's never wrong to leave yourself an escape route, don't you think?"

Ji Ying lowered his head, as if he was thinking.

A moment later, he actually nodded, as if he had been persuaded.

"Alright, I can talk to you." He slowly raised his head and said.

"But—if we're going to talk, shouldn't we at least show some sincerity? Are you going to continue using these flimsy, cheap megaphones to communicate with me?"

A soft chuckle came from beneath Jingjue's mask, seemingly quite pleased with Jiying's reaction.

"It's not impossible for me to truly appear before you, but I have one question—and one condition."

"You talk too much nonsense," Ji Ying replied impatiently.

"First, state your questions and conditions. As for whether I'll answer or agree—that depends on my mood."

"First of all," Mirror Lord asked, "did you come alone? Those annoying magical girls shouldn't have come with you, right? It's not convenient for them to hear our conversation."

"If you think I'm not enough to deal with you and your little pets by myself, then you can certainly assume my companions are lurking in the shadows," Silent Shadow replied arrogantly.

"But the truth is, to deal with you—I alone am enough."

"Ha, what an arrogant bastard," Jingjue cursed inwardly, then added, "That has nothing to do with whether you can handle me on your own."

"After all, I invited you here by inducing a virtual infiltration, so they could certainly receive those alerts too, and maybe—they'll even arrive faster than you?"

"It's ironic, really. As an apostle of the Void Realm, you actually do those naive and foolish things that only magical girls would do."

Jiying did not answer.

His figure vanished again in the next moment, instantly appearing behind Mirror Lord and shattering the equally inferior mirror image.

Then, under the somewhat exasperated gaze of the newly appeared mirror image, he said coldly, "You talk too much, Mirror Lord. My patience is limited. Don't waste my time with these pointless words."

"State your so-called request right now."

Jingjue suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and replied, "—Then I'll assume you came alone."

"Next, I will truly appear. Although not my true form, I will still carry a significant portion of my true form's power. I believe this is sufficient to demonstrate my sincerity."

"And my request is very simple: you absolutely must not launch any further attacks until the end of our conversation."

"As for what happens after this—hmph, whatever the outcome of the conversation, it's up to you. Consider the illusory source contained within this clone as my gift to you."

"After all that, it's still the same request," Ji Ying mocked again.

"I knew I was right. You're really afraid I'll slap this clone of yours to death too."

"So it seems that losing this clone isn't a small loss for you, is it?"

"Hmph—I don't have that much ethereal energy to squander," Mirror Lord sneered.

"Are you going to agree to my request or not?"

"The conditions I've prepared for you" are anything but ordinary; if you don't listen—you'll regret it later.

After a moment of contemplation, Ji Ying sheathed the black blade that gleamed with a cold light from his arm armor.

"Alright, I promise you," he said.

"At least until this conversation is over, I won't make any more moves."

"Are you sure?" Jingjue asked Jiying warily, confirming again.

"Stop wasting my time." Ji Ying waved his hand impatiently.

"Now I'm curious what kind of generous 'conditions' you've prepared to sway me."

The previous Mirror Lord clone did not answer, but stood there motionless.

Meanwhile, another voice, that of Jingjue, drifted from behind Jiying: "Hehe—don't worry, this condition will definitely satisfy you."

Ji Ying slowly turned around, her posture appearing unusually relaxed.

He sensed it for a moment, then said, "Judging from the fluctuations of the illusory energy, this time it's definitely not the same cheap megaphone as before."

"However—" His tone was slightly amused, "it seems much weaker than the mirror image from yesterday."

"The perfect mirror image you kept talking about back then," did you mean that such a mirror image could hold the most power?

Jingjue snorted coldly, which was taken as tacit agreement with Jiying's question.

"Judging from your reluctance to discard this much weaker clone, destroying that so-called perfect clone yesterday must have been quite a blow to your pride, right? I'm truly sorry."

Jiying continued speaking in a voice devoid of any apology.

"Enough! Let's get down to business!" Faced with Ji Ying's relentless taunts, Jing Jue was on the verge of exploding. If he weren't truly outmatched, why would he waste so much breath here?

He forced himself to calm down, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "Now listen carefully, my condition is..."

Halfway through his sentence, his expression suddenly changed drastically, hidden beneath the mask.

Before he could even finish speaking, he instantly activated his ability to swap positions with the mirror image, and his figure appeared dozens of meters away in the next moment.

Where he had originally stood, Ji Ying's arm, covered in black armor, was slowly withdrawing from the abdomen of a replaced, inferior mirror image.

"Tsk—this ability is still a bit of a headache." Ji Ying shook his head with slight regret, seemingly feeling sorry that his sneak attack had failed.

"I thought—that last strike would have been enough to extract your Void Source directly."

Jingjue stared intently at the inferior clone that had been pierced through the abdomen, his heart filled with lingering fear and rage.

If his reaction had been even a second slower, the one that would have been pierced through his abdomen would have been the strongest clone he could muster right now!

He turned to Ji Ying, his voice almost contorted with rage, and demanded, "What does this mean?! Didn't you just promise me you wouldn't make a move before the 'conversation' was over?!"

"Oh, that?" Ji Ying waved his hand dismissively and replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Of course I was just kidding, you idiot."

"You—!" Jing Jue trembled with rage.

"Don't you really want to hear my conditions at all? Aren't you afraid you'll regret it?!"

He stared intently at the silent shadow, his nerves taut, ready to perform the next mirror jump at any moment.

"Conditions? Regret?" A soft chuckle came from beneath Silent Shadow's helmet.

"That's hardly a funny joke."

.

He slowly raised his arm, and the black blade on the side of his arm guard popped out with a clang, its gleaming cold light pointing directly at Mirror Lord in the distance.

"Are you really planning to engage in another so-called 'negotiation' and 'deal' with me?"

"Or is it that there were no conditions at all, and from the beginning you just wanted to—drag me here to achieve some other purpose?"

Upon hearing this question, Jingjue's expression, hidden beneath his smiling mask, suddenly froze.