The manga's update schedule had nothing to do with normal time flow. After all, it wasn't actually drawn by a real person — more precisely, the manga artist existed in a different dimension from them, so naturally, the timing couldn't be calculated like a regular manga's release schedule.
Each update simply meant that enough had happened in the manga's world to fill one chapter's worth of content.
You Ling hadn't done anything notable this time, which meant that during the one night and one day she'd been absent, quite a lot must have happened on You Shuo's end.
The campus was still a ways off, so she flagged down a car at the roadside.
Sitting in the back seat, she pulled out her phone, opened the manga app, and logged into her reader account.
Voting required a reader account. Every single ballot was precious, and votes had to come from genuine affection — which directly ruled out hiring bots.
This world really had it out for her. Why couldn't she hire bots? Was a cyber-digital life not a real life? She grumbled.
This update picked up right where the last one left off — after You Ling killed 【Quick Blade】.
After the 【Red Moon】 barrier receded, the Nightwatch Logistics Team had transported 【Quick Blade】's body back to base.
Even after returning to the base, You Shuo's mind kept circling back to Bi Xi.
"Who was that person just now? He — how was he able to..." Yiluoqi, who had witnessed 【Quick Blade】's death, spoke up. In the panel, half his face was cast in shadow, his eyes wide with obvious terror.
"You'll be fine. He's only interested in me," You Shuo said, without telling him the truth. "Don't talk to him. Don't go near him. I'll handle the rest."
"I'm not worried about the danger, Shuo-ge. I know we hold you back," Yiluoqi said, his expression in the panel full of helplessness. "But Shuo-ge — what is his relationship with you? Will he hurt you?"
You Shuo gazed at 【Quick Blade】's body lying on the operating table. In the next panel, he looked toward the void behind him, where a blurry silhouette appeared in the emptiness — smiling at him.
A chill ran down his spine.
"I don't know," he said.
In the manga, You Shuo's thought bubbles clearly displayed his apprehension.
【Why did he kill 【Quick Blade】? Why? He already has my soul — what more does he want from me?】
【Bi Xi — what does he actually want?】
【I don't know.】
【I don't know, but I want to know.】
【I want to understand him. I must understand him. I released the devil from the bottle. He's my responsibility.】
"Always overthinking." You Ling muttered. Every time she saw You Shuo's inner thoughts in the manga, she felt he worried far too much. This job wasn't suited for him. "Can't Bi Xi just be Santa Claus?"
Coming specifically to grant your wishes. How nice would that be?
Of course, the process might be a bit twisted and terrifying.
You Ling hadn't turned off bullet comments, so other readers' messages popped up across the page she was pausing on.
[He already said it was to make amends — what more does he want?]
[Hooman, kitty brought you kitty's favorite little mouse~ A live one, extra fresh! Hooman, are you happy?]
[So cute~]
You Ling silently went into settings and turned off the bullet comments, then darkened her phone screen and covered her face with both hands, her shoulders shaking for quite a while.
Thank god You Shuo still didn't know about the manga. If he ever saw this, he would genuinely cry. He really would.
Did anyone ever consider You Shuo's wellbeing?
Once she'd laughed enough, she lit up the screen again and continued reading.
She'd previously guessed the Nightwatch had discovered something, which was why You Shuo had let her move into the dorms. The manga's next pages confirmed exactly that.
【"His phone."】 The Logistics Team had found something on 【Quick Blade】's phone.
【Quick Blade】's escape had been swift and efficient. Not only had he knocked out Sui Xiao and taken the clearance card from her, he'd also retrieved his own phone from the evidence room.
You Ling had the benefit of hindsight — she knew the escape had actually been an inside job. Someone had helped 【Quick Blade】, which was why he'd been so effortlessly smooth.
But to those who didn't know, it suggested that 【Quick Blade】's backers had deep knowledge of the Nightwatch.
The first MMS on the phone was a photograph — a captured face.
Bi Xi, gazing beyond the camera's frame. Judging from the surroundings, it was a surveillance photo taken the moment he and You Shuo arrived at the night market.
Amid the lights, he looked distinctly out of place.
The MMS came with a line of text: 【The target has been revived by this individual. Identity unknown. Suspected ultra SS-rank high-level ability user. Allegiance unknown — currently close to 【Yanmo】. If encountered, uncertain whether to engage. Avoid contact if possible. You are no match for him.】
【Quick Blade】 had replied: 【The target is still alive? Impossible — I watched her die with my own eyes!】
Three minutes later, another text: 【Revived? Are you joking?】
No response from the other side.
The second message had been sent thirty seconds after 【Quick Blade】's death — a terse, single line of command.
【Suspected ultra SS-rank high-level ability user confirmed to be allied with 【Yanmo】. All personnel evacuate Jinli City immediately! All bases to be destroyed at once. All operations in Jinli City are canceled!】
"Their bases?" You Shuo asked.
"If I heard correctly, one minute ago, there were explosions at three separate buildings — in East Third Ring, North First Ring, and Er Village."
Yiluoqi held up his phone. The person on the other end was 【The Listener】. Though she wasn't in Jinli City, her ability could span such distances: "Looks like our 【Jiao Tu】 saw which way the wind was blowing and fled."
"He fled," You Shuo said.
His expression was somewhere between relief and regret, ultimately distilling into a single thought: 【Is this really true?】
You Ling's finger paused on this panel for a moment.
【Jiao Tu】 had deceived the Nightwatch. They might have indeed sacrificed three bases, but 【Jiao Tu】 hadn't actually left. You Ling wasn't safe either.
【Jiao Tu】 hadn't given up on killing You Ling. That message was nothing but a smoke screen.
You Shuo hadn't bought it either. A single text and three bases weren't enough to make him trust his enemy's word.
He was a man who viewed the people around him through rose-tinted glasses, but toward his enemies, he was invariably cautious and suspicious.
So later, something else would have to happen — something convincing enough to make him believe 【Jiao Tu】 had truly been routed.
You Ling's gaze dropped as she turned to the next page and saw the "key."
"You Shuo, good news." A young man with long white hair and closed eyes appeared on the video screen, the faintest curve at his lips. "That criminal you've been chasing — 【Jiao Tu】 — he fled to my territory and happened to run right into me. He's already been captured."
From Chiyu City, the neighboring city's S-rank information-type ability user 【Zhi Tianming】 had placed a video call to You Shuo.
He said they'd caught 【Jiao Tu】.
And with that, You Shuo had no choice but to believe it.
He thought: 【Looks like I was overthinking it. 【Jiao Tu】 really did flee, and he was unlucky enough to run straight into 【Zhi Tianming】.】
Fake. You Ling thought.
But why? Were 【Zhi Tianming】 and 【Jiao Tu】 working together? You Ling's brow furrowed.
【Jiao Tu】 naturally wasn't the mastermind — at the end of the day, they were just a go-between pushed to the forefront. But 【Zhi Tianming】 — that didn't make sense.
This character had an air of transcendence about him, perhaps because of his white hair, perhaps because of his code name. How could someone like that be tangled up in a criminal organization's affairs, even covering for a criminal?
Yet it was even less likely that he'd made a mistake. An S-rank information-type ability user — how could he possibly fail to tell a real 【Jiao Tu】 from a fake?
The fog behind the incident was thickening, but the good news was that You Ling was in the shadows while her enemy was exposed. 【Jiao Tu】 had already been laid bare before her eyes.
She scrolled ahead. To her surprise, she appeared in the manga.
The manga had devoted an extra page to showing You Shuo driving You Ling to the university.
You Shuo stood by the car, watching You Ling's retreating figure for a long time.
Throughout the sequence, You Ling's face was never shown. Only in one small panel were shadows filling in her features, revealing nothing but her expressionless lips.
The subsequent pages showed You Shuo continuing to work with the Logistics Team on the three bases 【Jiao Tu】 had exposed. Yiluoqi was present; the other teammate, Sui Xiao, was still in her hospital bed.
"I just took one nap and the whole thing's over? I feel completely left out," Sui Xiao said.
"Then what do you want?" Yiluoqi asked.
"Team dinner! I'm getting discharged tomorrow. The usual place. Captain, is that OK?" Sui Xiao said.
The teammates bantered among themselves, and You Shuo agreed with a smile.
It truly looked like the rest period after a major battle. You Shuo seemed to gradually relax as well, no longer wound so tight.
Until that night, when Mr. Lan sent him a message.
【"The green-eyed one from last time is here."】
The panel gave the wind chime a close-up, then slowly panned to the bar's golden chandelier and the glass rim glowing with golden light.
Then to the person seated at the bar.
Seeing herself from a third-person perspective was a strange feeling. When You Ling had designed the avatar, she'd piled on whatever looked good. She liked this aesthetic, so that was that.
But perhaps in others' eyes, Bi Xi — draped in his vintage style — stood out starkly amid the neon glow.
The entire bar seemed to contain only him. Mr. Lan was there, yet the panel showed nothing but Bi Xi's back.
Drinking alone. As if waiting for someone.
You Ling hadn't noticed at the time, but the artist had amplified that sense of disconnection. The artist had used heavy, bold lines to render this character, making him seem fundamentally out of place — as though he didn't belong to this world at all.
"Just you alone? Where are those teammates of yours? They abandoned you?" Bi Xi asked.
The next panel showed their backs. Bi Xi seated, You Shuo standing beside him.
"I don't dare let them come into contact with you."
The panel gave Bi Xi's smile a close-up — the curve of his lips peculiarly strange.
He raised his glass; white liquid rippled within it. He looked at You Shuo to his left. This time, both of them were seated at the bar counter, on the same level.
"The people you trust aren't necessarily as good to you as I am. Little turtle," Bi Xi said.
You Ling usually only focused on information when reading the manga. This was the first time she'd paid careful attention to how the manga portrayed her.
This visual language — from the moment the character entered the bar, it was as though he'd always been alone. Profoundly lonely.
Daily life abruptly disrupted, the peculiar devil seemingly bearing an ominous message.
But the moment You Shuo sat down beside him, the panel became two figures' silhouettes, side by side.
Now there were two misfits in the bar.
You Ling gazed at the moon through the car window, vaguely sensing that a manga artist named Fat Fish was watching her.
She quickly shook her head and continued reading.
The later content largely matched what had actually happened, except the three young people who'd wandered in were omitted. The manga hadn't drawn them at all.
Though You Ling knew You Shuo would be wary of Bi Xi, when she saw him messaging his teammates to stay away, she let out an annoyed huff.
"I'm the one who's actually been good to you," she pouted.
In the panel, You Shuo's thought bubble read: 【Will Bi Xi do something? Will he hurt them?】
Sui Xiao had replied: [Understood.]
Yiluoqi had also replied: [Image.]
The image showed a bound person — and that person's face belonged to the account owner himself, Yiluoqi.
The moment You Shuo saw the image, he called Yiluoqi's number. Naturally, there was no answer. He then called the Logistics Team members who'd been at the same site as Yiluoqi, and received an answer—
"Officer Yi left half an hour ago."
After that, You Shuo received another message: [You Shuo. One hour. Come alone.]
You Shuo's expression froze.
He replied: [Bi Xi?]
No response from the other end. But You Shuo's inner thought read: 【Did he make his move?】
The chapter ended there.
You Ling stared at this final page, her gaze slowly darkening.
Fast work, 【Jiao Tu】. After confirming that You Ling couldn't be killed, he'd moved directly against You Shuo.
And why was You Shuo's first suspect Bi Xi? Dear brother, where's the rapport? Where's the trust? Where did it all go?
"Driver, stop the car." She waved her hand. "Turn back!"
So much for going home to rest. That wasn't happening. The under-the-table worker was clocking back in again.
After the manga update, her survival time had increased by ten hours. That counted as a gain, she supposed.
【Host remaining activity time: 39:12:43】
The 【Railgun】 sequence hadn't appeared in the manga — likely because the artist didn't want to ruin Bi Xi's mystique just yet. The System had said it needed to follow the story's logic, and so far, Bi Xi's character was positioned as a mysterious and powerful devil.
Even manga had its own rules. This type of character was better suited for deeper exploration later. For now, it was her time to establish the persona and stir up trouble.
Reinforce the character concept. Make "the strongest" a label seared into every reader's mind.
And the most pressing issue right now — her brother couldn't be allowed to come to harm.