Chapter 204: Heredity
Cold sweat quietly emerged on her forehead.
Death came too fast. That man who had clearly struggled to survive until now, becoming a first-class passenger with fate and supernatural item, and could be considered a “veteran” on his own platform, was crushed as easily as an ant by the roadside.
How could this be?
What he faced was clearly just another first-class, even one not particularly famous.
But… was it really another of his kind?
The woman felt Lu Jinzhao’s gaze fall on her, a chilling sensation akin to being stared at by a ghost.
She couldn’t help but start thinking: Could it be… that without them noticing, the ghost had already possessed a passenger?
Right… for example, when taking the tablet at night.
The woman couldn’t help but let her thoughts run wild.
But she actually knew clearly that if that were true, the first-class present wouldn’t have no reaction.
What she faced was just a person who was very much like a ghost.
“What should I do now?”
“She’s looking at me; does she want to kill me?”
“My city has two first-class; next, she might encounter something inside the platform, so she has to have some concern, right?”
“Would an apology work?”
A series of slightly panicked thoughts emerged in the woman’s mind; the first thing she settled on was to apologize.
The strength Lu Jinzhao displayed exceeded her expectations and those of the person who planned this “small event.” Even though she and her companion were on the same platform, she could be sure that, when necessary, they wouldn’t pay too great a price to protect her.
Just like now, everyone was watching coldly from the sidelines, especially after Lu Jinzhao displayed absolute strength—no one would step in to help her!
So, she had to apologize.
“Sor—” As soon as the sound came out, the woman saw the girl who brought her that oppressive, ghost-like pressure raise one index finger to her lips, making a silencing gesture toward her.
The woman immediately stopped her voice, not daring to speak again.
Then, Lu Jinzhao smiled and spoke in a gentle voice that couldn’t be ignored: “No need to apologize. You just need to do one thing.”
Instinctively, the hairs on the woman’s arms stood on end, and goosebumps rose on her back.
She sensed boundless malice in that sentence.
Just like a fierce ghost breaking free.
She controlled her urge to retreat, quietly gripping the life-saving supernatural prop in her hand, her fate [Shadow] also activating, the shadow at her feet swaying slightly.
“What do you want me to do?” she probed.
As soon as the words fell, the girl who had been smiling faintly suddenly cracked her mouth open. She saw the other’s white teeth, upturned corners, and heard a voice as if transmitted from hell.
“Right now, destroy the tablet in your hand.”
“I’m very curious what will happen to the person who destroys the tablet.”
The woman’s pupils shook violently.
She had thought about what Lu Jinzhao might make her do: kneel, kowtow, kill, take the tablet she had just obtained, or other things—but she hadn’t expected this.
In the instant Lu Jinzhao’s words fell, the woman felt the gazes of the others present.
Surprise, astonishment, sudden realization, and… the same curiosity.
Those gazes fell on her, pressing down until she could hardly breathe.
That even included her companion’s gaze; clearly, they too were curious about the consequences of destroying the tablet.
She couldn’t dodge it anymore.
The woman looked up at Lu Jinzhao: “If I do this, will you forgive me?”
Lu Jinzhao’s crescent-moon-like eyes curved happily again, and she replied with a smile:
“How could I?”
When you made that suggestion to the man, you didn’t think about leaving me any way out—why would I leave you one?
That’s only fair.
“If you do this today, today’s me will forgive you,” Lu Jinzhao kindly added.
“What about tomorrow?” the woman couldn’t help but ask.
Hearing this, Lu Jinzhao looked at her as if she were some ignorant child: “Tomorrow’s matters can naturally wait until tomorrow.”
Hearing this, the woman felt a faint despair in her heart.
She understood Lu Jinzhao’s meaning: as long as she was alive, Lu Jinzhao would keep watching her, making her do things like destroying the tablet, using her, squeezing her, until she died.
This was “atonement.”
From now on, she would have to face not only ghosts but also Lu Jinzhao.
What difference was there between Lu Jinzhao’s demand and the platform mission’s requirements?
Weren’t they both just making her go to her death?
But she couldn’t refuse to complete it, because she was certain Lu Jinzhao had the ability to kill her.
At least, she didn’t want to die right now.
“…When can it end?” Finally, the woman had no choice but to ask this with hope.
She wanted to live, so she resorted to any means to take back the tablet, offending others without hesitation, serving as a probe’s pawn without hesitation.
Lu Jinzhao gave her answer: “After this platform ends.”
If Tian Lei were here, she would immediately know that Lu Jinzhao saying this meant this woman absolutely wouldn’t live until the platform ended.
But everyone here didn’t know Lu Jinzhao.
Even if they thought the woman probably wouldn’t live that long, they also believed Lu Jinzhao’s words meant that once this platform ended, she and the other would be even.
“Okay.” The woman nodded, no longer struggling.
She took out the tablet, hesitation flashing in her eyes, but upon seeing [Tan Meng] still sitting on Lu Jinzhao’s shoulder, she gritted her teeth and forcefully snapped the tablet in her hand.
The shadow at her feet followed her movements, and within a few seconds, she erupted with superhuman strength, actually snapping the tablet in two.
Accompanied by the sound of the tablet breaking, the woman’s expression suddenly stiffened.
She felt that in this instant, something had changed.
This was a mysterious “premonition,” like an illusion, or perhaps just a breeze passing, or even just a sudden chill in her heart—but she knew that snapping the tablet had triggered certain changes.
Sure enough, this was a terrible move she shouldn’t have made!
Lu Jinzhao noticed the change in her expression and realized that destroying the tablet indeed had some consequences.
“Every morning from now on, wait for me here.” Lu Jinzhao ordered the woman; she needed to observe the other’s changes.
The woman’s face was pale, and she could only agree.
She thought: At least now, Lu Jinzhao and the others were curious about her “fate,” so they wouldn’t act against her for the time being; in this period, she could still think of a method.
She hadn’t reached a desperate situation yet; she couldn’t give up just like this.
After doing what she wanted, Lu Jinzhao swept her pitch-black eyes over the crowd present. Everyone her gaze fell on involuntarily looked away; most people didn’t want to make eye contact with her, at least not now.
Only a few first-class and a very few first-class passengers would meet her gaze.
Lu Jinzhao blinked, somewhat regretful; the first-class all put on a perfect show, making it impossible for her to tell who had planned this incident, but after all, there were only these few first-class; even if she couldn’t pinpoint who, it didn’t matter.
She would always have a method.
[You’ve scared them.]
The parchment sensed negative emotions from these people; they were most sensitive to such emotions.
Simply killing someone might not mean much; by now, no passenger could claim to have no relation to “human lives,” but Lu Jinzhao’s actions just now made these passengers feel fear and wariness toward her, their fellow kind.
Unlike the madmen from extreme platforms, she was more rational, more intelligent, more decisive. She wasn’t simply driven by rage; she retaliated against those who tried to harm her and obtained what she wanted, using the other to probe this platform mission, and plunged the woman into long-term pain and unease—this was what was truly fearsome.
If she had simply killed these two, it would have caused their wariness, but not to this level of fear.
No one wanted to easily provoke someone powerful, with extreme vindictiveness, and sufficiently cold and rational.
Lu Jinzhao had perfectly achieved the situation she wanted.
