A few days flew by in an instant, and soon it was the opening day of Eden’s concert.
Kiana, ticket in hand, found her seat.
Seeing the bustling, lively scene all around her, her mood couldn’t help but lift.
Everyone has such happy smiles on their faces, and nothing strange is happening.
It would be so wonderful if life could always be this vibrant.
It’s a shame Mu couldn’t come with me, and as for Su…
I can’t let him know about my current situation for now.
At this thought, Kiana felt a pang of disappointment.
However, as she was lost in her thoughts, she failed to notice someone sitting in the row behind her, wrapped tightly in a jacket with a billed cap pulled low to hide their face, as if trying to conceal themselves completely.
Su looked at the lone Kiana with some confusion.
What’s going on?
Didn’t Mu come with him?
Feeling as though he’d been excluded from his own small group, Su had, after much deliberation, decided to follow Kiana to see just what the two of them were up to, cutting him off like this.
Knowing that his good friend had also gotten a ticket to Eden’s concert, he had guessed that Kevin would definitely be here.
So, the day before the concert, he had staked out Kevin’s house, preparing to tail him to see what scheme the two were cooking up behind his back.
And everything had gone smoothly.
He did indeed catch his good friend leaving the house.
But what puzzled him was that it was only ever Kevin alone; there was no sign of Mu.
Just as Su was pondering this, he saw a purple-haired girl with glasses sit down right next to his best friend.
After they exchanged a surprised glance, they actually started talking.
It was obvious his best friend knew her.
In an instant, a bolt of lightning seemed to flash through Su’s mind as a bold idea suddenly took root.
Wait, could I have misunderstood Mu and Kevin?
He was an extremely perceptive person.
Watching Kiana—who was currently talking with Mei—he could still sense that same fervent emotion.
Su slowly lowered his head as a daring theory began to form.
Is it possible that my good friend Kevin is crossdressing specifically to get close to this purple-haired girl?
As for why?
Perhaps…
this girl is a lesbian…
That would explain why only Kevin is here and Mu isn’t.
He left the stage entirely to Kevin!
He understood.
He completely understood now!
—o— Li Mu stood at the very back of the audience, looking at Su, who was wrapped up so tightly he might as well have had the words “I’M SUSPICIOUS” written on his back.
He couldn’t help but feel perplexed.
Su, what are you doing here?
In Li Mu’s grand plan, Su had no major role in the early stages.
The only thing he needed to do was stay alive until his part came.
But this world was growing more dangerous by the day.
He needed to keep his eyes on the script at all times and couldn’t be there to protect Su constantly.
So, it would be best to find an absolutely safe place for him to hunker down in.
“A safe place…” Li Mu pondered.
He remembered that Su’s ambition was to become a doctor.
And among the people he knew, there just so happened to be a woman who, while not a doctor, possessed medical skills that were second to none.
A green figure flashed through Li Mu’s mind, and he was suddenly struck by a bold idea.
Mobius’s lab is chronically short-staffed due to her reputation.
Su himself has a good deal of talent.
What if I just toss him over to Mobius as an assistant?
Although Mobius’s reputation was atrocious, Li Mu knew that she was actually fiercely protective of her own people, and her laboratory would be extremely safe right up until the descent of the Herrscher of Domination.
As he thought this, Li Mu’s gaze fell upon Su.
Su’s body shivered for no apparent reason, and he glanced left and right.
“Strange, why do I suddenly have a really bad feeling?” But Li Mu soon averted his gaze from Su, Kiana, and Mei.
He wasn’t here to watch the concert with them.
He was here to discuss a business deal with Eden.
Li Mu’s figure melted into the crowd.
Using his surroundings, he easily slipped past the professional security team guarding the backstage area.
This Stigmata, belonging to the A-Rank Valkyrie “Wraith” from Schicksal’s Central Intelligence Division, not only granted him the ability of Kaleidoscope but also endowed him with all of the Valkyrie’s stealth skills.
While Eden’s security team was indeed professional, they were no match for him.
Li Mu found Eden’s private dressing room, sat down, and prepared to wait for her to finish the concert so they could talk.
However, as he waited quietly, he felt strange noises coming from the surrounding walls.
Li Mu glanced around before pressing his ear against the wall.
His enhanced physique granted him powerful hearing; he could faintly make out the voices next door even through the wall.
“If we can pull off this one job, we can wash our hands of this business for good…” “Why isn’t Spade 4 here yet…” Hearing the voices from the other room, Li Mu’s expression turned peculiar.
After a moment’s thought, a crimson mist swirled around him.
His figure twisted within the blood-red fog, and he soon emerged with a different appearance.
Using the large, floor-length mirror in Eden’s dressing room, Li Mu examined his current look.
Pink hair and a flawless face.
It was Elysia.
The Kaleidoscope ability granted by his Stigmata was essentially a form of mimicry, remodeling his appearance by analyzing a target’s DNA.
To perform the mimicry, he needed at least ten milliliters of the target’s blood.
And Elysia’s blood?
Li Mu actually had it, and plenty of it.
Back when he was her “big brother” at the orphanage, he had drawn quite a bit of her blood under various pretexts for future research.
Recalling those days, he flashed a peace sign at his reflection and smiled before pulling a spray can from his system inventory.
He shook it and sprayed it over his hair.
Instantly, the pink hair turned a light shade of purple.
At the same time, he took out a pair of orange-red contact lenses from his inventory and placed them over his eyes.
Seeing his temperament in the mirror shift dramatically from flawless to bewitching, Li Mu nodded in satisfaction.
He then put on a black face mask.
As for why he changed his appearance?
“Don’t make me laugh.
Who does bad things using their own face?” He was no longer Li Mu.
He was now the Ferocious Bandit of the Far East, known as the Faded Elf!
—o— At the concert venue, Eden sang her heart out.
The seats below were packed, and the audience waved their glow sticks and banners bearing Eden’s image, moving like a great tide.
The song swept across the venue, stirring up a torrential wave of emotion.
As the final note faded, the crowd erupted in a frenzy.
“EDEN!” “EDEN!” “EDEN!” “MISS EDEN, I’M YOUR DOG!” “?
Hey, you upstairs, you broke the pattern, didn’t you?” “I’M the one who’s Miss Eden’s dog!!!” In the audience, Kiana and Mei were also swept up by Eden’s song, waving their glow sticks enthusiastically.
Looking at Mei beside her, whose eyes were also shining with excitement, Kiana felt her mood soar.
“It would be great if these peaceful days could last forever,” she mused.
Hearing Kiana’s words, Mei thought about her own new life, which had been on a steady upward trajectory since her father had turned over a new leaf.
She couldn’t help but feel the same way.
“Yes, it would be so wonderful if this peaceful life could last forever…” Just as the two were lost in their感慨, the concert entered its next phase.
Interaction!
Eden would select one lucky audience member to sing a song with her.
On stage, Eden raised her arm high, her index finger pointed to the ceiling.
“Now then, my dear listener, may I invite you to sing a song with me?” Eden’s arm came down, her finger pointing in Kiana’s direction as the stage lights began to move toward her seat.
Kiana and Mei looked at each other, their surprise evident.
“For something with such low odds to happen to me, today must really be my lucky day,” Kiana remarked, preparing to stand up.
But the spotlight stopped just short of her before swerving abruptly in another direction, finally settling on a remote seat in the audience.
The light fell upon a girl with light purple hair, wearing a face mask.
It was Li Mu, disguised as the Faded Elf.
Ignoring the mixed stares of jealousy, envy, and gritted teeth from the rest of the audience, Li Mu strode onto the stage without a hint of fear.
The true star of the stage, Miss Eden, however, was a little bewildered, as she hadn’t been the one controlling the lights.
But as she looked at the person who had just walked on stage, her expression shifted from bewilderment to astonishment.
Her eyes widened slightly, her face filled with disbelief.
Although the other person was wearing a mask, had different colored hair, and the wrong eye color, there was no way Eden could be mistaken.
“Elysia, how did you…” Before Eden could finish her sentence, Li Mu flashed behind her and swept her up in a princess carry.
Before Eden herself or anyone in the audience could react, he bolted, carrying her with him.
He left behind nothing but a sea of dumbfounded spectators and an empty stage.
It took a few moments for everyone to realize that this was probably not part of the show.
The venue instantly erupted into chaos.
—o— In the room next door, a group of men and women dressed in work clothes were gathered together.
They were not part of Eden’s logistics team, but a band of robbers disguised as staff.
Their purpose here was self-evident: to kidnap Eden, the brightest star of the era.
A wealthy client had posted a high-priced mission on the Toxic Pupae network, and they were the assassins who had accepted it.
Although they were assassins, they did everything from finding lost cats and dogs to investigating cheating spouses, so naturally, they could handle a kidnapping gig.
However, this kidnapping operation had run into a snag before it even began.
“Why isn’t Spade 4 here yet?” The leader of the operation, whom the other assassins called “Captain,” was so angry his face was contorted.
“Captain, she said she had a family emergency but would be here soon.” The captain checked the time and grew even more furious.
“I’ve heard of people being late to clock in for work, late for class sign-in, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of someone being late for a kidnapping!” “This is so unprofessional!
After this mission is over, I’m definitely requesting that the organization lower her rating…
BANG!” With a loud crash, the door was violently kicked open.
As well-trained assassins, they instantly found cover and drew their firearms, ready for a quick draw.
But when they saw who had opened the door, the kidnappers froze.
A girl with light purple hair and a face mask was holding another, unconscious girl in a princess carry.
And the person in her arms was none other than their target for this operation: Eden!
“Wh-what the…” Just as the robbers were starting to recover from the shock, they heard the purple-haired girl speak.
“I told you I’d be here soon.” “You’re Spade 4…
BOOM!!!” Just as the captain was about to confirm her identity, a massive noise came from outside, followed by the roar of a panicked crowd.
Everyone’s expression changed instantly.
Under his mask, a corner of Li Mu’s mouth curled into a smile.
“There’s no time.
Follow me, quickly!” Without waiting for them to react, he rushed out.
“Dammit!
Follow Spade 4!” The plan had clearly gone sideways, but as long as they had Eden, that was all that mattered.
The next step was to break out and hand this troublesome woman over to their client.
The man who called himself Captain cursed under his breath, grabbed a pistol, and led his men out.
Outside, Eden, who had supposedly been unconscious in Li Mu’s arms, showed no signs of being knocked out.
Instead, she was curiously observing Li Mu and the surrounding scenery.
Li Mu gave her a subtle wink.
Eden understood instantly.
She closed her eyes, and her body went limp.
She had “fainted” once again.
—o—