Li Andy pinched his chin, observing the lucky young man with interest.
The person was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with slightly dark skin and ash-gray hair, like a mixed-race individual from Africa and Russia. He was thin and seemed a bit malnourished, not looking like someone who could fight well.
Could it be that he was a master at feigning weakness to ambush his opponents?
"He's cornered!" Sophia exclaimed.
Now, he should have nowhere to hide, right?
Just as Li Andy thought the other party was finally about to show his strength or be killed, a "boom" sounded, and an explosion occurred in the alley.
Various hard objects, under the impact, turned into deadly projectiles, sweeping through the crowd.
The cornered lucky individual once again displayed his incredible luck; those who had surrounded him now all became human shields protecting him.
For a moment, the alley was like hell.
Such a tragic scene made Sophia instinctively cover her mouth. Fortunately, she had also witnessed strange things before, so she wasn't overly nauseated.
A moment later, the survivors slowly crawled out from the ruins and gathered in the center, cheering for victory.
"Black Snake! Black Snake! Black Snake!"
That lucky young man was embraced by the crowd as a hero, lifted high.
The stark contrast between before and after made Li Andy feel that reality might be even more absurd than a domain.
"Is Black Snake the name of their gang?" Sophia asked.
"It should be."
Li Andy wasn't sure. He only knew that the unified gang later was called the 【Black King Snake】. Black Snake, perhaps it was its predecessor?
"Time to go, someone noticed us here."
Li Andy patted the dust off his pants and stood up.
"Come, I'll carry you."
Sophia frowned, wanting to say she could walk, but she looked at the crowd gathering below and the dangerous height, then swallowed her words.
Li Andy picked her up on his back, habitually weighing her; she was about 1.35 Youxis heavy.
"Hold your legs tighter."
"I... I know."
Sophia slowly tightened her embrace. Because her legs were quite long, most of Li Andy's waist was occupied.
Thus, a strange two-headed figure moved across the rooftops, quietly leaving Black Alley.
...
The two returned to West Suburb Church, where they happened to see Sister Anna seeing off a middle-aged lady into a car.
The middle-aged lady sat in the car, looking back at Anna with a very rude attitude: "The remaining matters will be handled by the Meditation Society. You can just focus on serving God; don't try to be clever again."
Anna did not reply, her face expressionless, showing no joy or anger.
"Hmph."
The middle-aged lady closed the door. The carriage carrying her passed by Li Andy and drove away from the West Suburb.
"Anna, who was that person?" Sophia asked with a frown.
Sister Anna, seeing it was her own people, showed her usual gentle sisterly smile: "Someone from the administration. She came to warn us."
"Warn us about what?" Li Andy asked.
Anna said:
"Regarding the academy incident, they said our unauthorized actions caused significant losses."
"It's not just the academy you investigated; several other academies also had cases of puppets replacing people."
"Several officials' children were among them, and they were killed by us before they could be rescued."
Li Andy raised an eyebrow:
"They were already dead; we didn't kill them."
Anna nodded:
"But some people don't think that way, so they sent someone to pressure us. The local funding for these next few months, perhaps..."
Li Andy, understanding, took out a document:
"This is a donation from Harveys Apparel. It can be deposited at the bank."
He had asked Mr. Harveys to reduce the amount on it, but it was still a considerable fortune, much higher than originally promised.
Anna smiled happily, and like an older sister, reached out and ruffled his hair.
Li Andy shrugged, a little unaccustomed, but Anna was a bit taller than him, so it didn't look out of place.
"Anna..."
Sophia, standing beside them, seemed to have made some kind of decision. She took a deep breath and said:
"I want to borrow the 'non-object'!"
Anna was a little surprised and looked at Li Andy, who remained silent, offering no opinion.
Then, her lips curved slightly as she asked:
"Are you really sure? You're different from Youxi. Perhaps... you might turn into a monster and die inside."
Sophia was silent for two seconds, bit her lower lip, and nodded heavily.
Anna nodded, saying no more.
She looked at the sky; it was currently a full moon.
"Alright then, you go take a bath first. Come to the backyard to find us in the latter half of the night."
Sophia's body tensed slightly, and she walked back to the church somewhat stiffly.
Li Andy paused briefly, then followed her.
...
In the latter half of the night, the full moon hung in the sky.
Night Raven Sister, Li Andy, and the three siblings, a total of six people, gathered in the backyard.
Emi and Aya took out several boxes and opened them one by one:
"These are the objects we've collected over the years that can serve as mediums."
Li Andy frowned as he observed, finding them all to be unsettling things:
【A strange half-tentacle: It was purplish-black overall, almost shriveled, yet still wriggling on its own. It seemed as if it would regrow if watered.】
【A bloodshot eyeball: About the size of a chicken egg, its pupil seemed to reflect something, but for some reason, it was impossible to see clearly. Staring at it for too long made him feel a bit dizzy. It... seemed to be staring back at him?】
【A piece of skin with scales: It looked like the skin of a marine creature, and the scales moved on their own, as if breathing.】
【A bandaged severed finger: It looked like a mummy's finger, with writing on the bandage, but he couldn't tell what language it was.】
【A bottle of red liquid: It had a fishy smell, possibly blood, but it was bubbling, also resembling some kind of poison.】
Sister Anna did not give a detailed introduction but looked directly at Sophia:
"Come, follow your spirituality and choose the one most suitable for you."