The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 119 - 94 Because I Can

Chapter 119: Chapter 94 Because I Can

Six demonic shadows wielding weapons rushed forward. In a moment of desperation, the Weaver spread her ten fingers, shooting dozens of invisible threads from her fingertips. The threads wove into an impenetrable web around the demonic shadows and suddenly contracted.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!!!

Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of metal scraping, countless sparks burst forth in the darkness.

The demonic shadows’ entire bodies hardened, resembling dark, angular iron soldiers, resisting the lethal force of the invisible threads. Deep, dense scars two centimeters deep appeared all over their bodies.

If these hardened demonic shadows were instead flesh and blood, they would have been sliced into pieces without even realizing it.

These invisible threads were very peculiar, invisible and not physically present. Zhou Yuan sensed them thanks to his extraordinary perception. He was not on this floor, but each demonic shadow acted as his eyes, extensions of his will.

The invisible threads contracted, wrapping around the six demonic shadows and binding them tightly, rendering them motionless.

Almost simultaneously, the manipulated fire-type extraordinary person unleashed Aoneng Power.

Boom!

A blazing fireball exploded at the demonic shadows’ feet, instantly blowing them to pieces and shattering the glass of several nearby shops.

Flames roared, painting the space red and casting large shadows.

Illuminated by the light, a giant shadow was cast behind the Weaver. The shadow wriggled suddenly, and several sharp spikes of darkness shot out.

Splat! Blood splattered as the Weaver’s body was ruthlessly pierced. Her spine and nerves were severely damaged, causing her eight limbs to lose control instantly. Her whole body thudded heavily onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Swish!

Two demonic shadows rose on either side in front of her, each holding an electric baton crackling with arcs of electricity, and struck the Weaver with maximum power.

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!!

Blinding arcs of electricity burst forth, causing the Weaver to smoke and roll her eyes back, falling unconscious immediately.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The corpses of various men and women, old and young, lost control and fell from the ceiling. There were young people in casual wear, suited office workers, children no older than ten...

In addition to the two Control Bureau investigators, three other extraordinary persons had been turned into puppets by the Weaver.

A total of five extraordinary persons had fallen, showcasing the Weaver’s eerie powers. Zhou Yuan might have also failed if he hadn’t been forewarned.

Killing such an unusual creature would be a real pity.

Zhou Yuan opened the system store, spent 4,000 Star Coins, and bought an ordinary Paru Ball.

Then, a cold smile appeared on his lips.

The demonic shadows acted as his eyes and extensions of his will, thus the Eyes of Identification would also work.

[Weaver, 2nd-tier abnormal creature, culprit behind recent disappearances in Xinhu, insect-type Pokémon, Aoneng Power: Puppet Invisible Threads.

Current status: Playing dead

Current health: 13%

Capture success rate: 89%]

The Weaver was playing dead!

How sinister... Zhou Yuan hadn’t expected this abnormal creature to be so smart, pretending to be unconscious after detecting he hadn’t immediately struck to deceive him.

Unfortunately, I’m still one step ahead.

Dark matter surged, wrapping around the ordinary Paru Ball, sending it to the battlefield under the feet of a demonic shadow.

The demonic shadow picked up the ordinary Paru Ball and threw it at the feigning Weaver. With a burst of light, the Weaver was absorbed into the ball.

The Paru Ball shook slowly three times; a multicolored light flashed.

Capture successful.

Zhou Yuan then used Teleportation to appear and picked up the Paru Ball, placing it in his backpack.

The Weaver had great potential. With proper training, she could cultivate a puppet army of extraordinary persons in the future.

In fact, the 31 puppets currently under her control already constituted a rather formidable force, including five 1st-tier extraordinary persons. The other ordinary puppets also possessed combat abilities surpassing normal humans. Combined with the eerie invisible threads, they could likely defeat even a 3rd-tier extraordinary person.

If Zhou Yuan took these 31 people away, his comprehensive combat strength would undergo a tremendous boost, but his morals wouldn’t allow it.

Ordinary people were innocent victims, and among the five extraordinary persons, two were Control Bureau investigators, whom Zhou Yuan recognized. He had seen them at a previous assembly, making them colleagues. Commanding their corpses in battle would be unacceptable to him.

The other three extraordinary persons were civilians. The Eyes of Identification indicated they were not nefarious. One of them was a formidable man who nearly single-handedly defeated the Weaver but was manipulated by Puppet Invisible Threads when the Weaver used a child as a shield, pleading for her life, causing his momentary hesitation and downfall.

Zhou Yuan looked around at the scattered corpses and fell silent, a sudden impulse rising in his heart.

After a long time, he raised his left hand, and the Raven mark appeared.

"You better think this through."

The Raven, in the form of a crow, appeared on his shoulder without warning and calmly warned, "Using Resurrection of the Dead requires consuming Divine Power, and the Divine Power I granted you is limited. Reviving these thirty-something people means you’ll be unable to use other Divine Arts."

"Doesn’t matter."

Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "If I can’t do what I want, then what’s the point of all my efforts? I don’t care; I’ll do it anyway!"

He stomped his foot, and an eerie green magic circle lit up on the ground, sweeping in a cold wind from the Netherworld. Countless dark crow shadows swirled in the air, gathering into a storm with pitch-black feathers falling like rain.

The Raven chuckled softly and vanished into a wisp of black mist.

"Spirits, return!"

Whoosh!

Eerie green light burst forth, and the dead suddenly opened their eyes.

·

"Whoa, that’s incredible."

In the Control Bureau morgue, the coroner stood gape-mouthed as Zhou Yuan used Resurrection of the Dead—he had already resurrected 31, so one more wouldn’t make a difference.

"I’ve heard many stories of people coming back to life, but this is my first time seeing it in person. Even a soul that dissipated can be brought back. Is this... Divine Arts?" The coroner gasped, deeply shocked.

The newly resurrected looked dazed, not understanding what had happened.

"Why are you just standing there? Thank your savior." The coroner nudged him impatiently.

"Huh?" The man looked even more confused.

·

"Is this case closed now?"

In the office, Zhou Yuan submitted his mission report.

"So... the spider woman turned to ash after you killed her?" Chen Guangxi raised an eyebrow, feeling something was off.

"Yes." Zhou Yuan nodded. "It’s probably because she was an abnormal entity born from a rule anomaly, but I don’t know the exact reason. When something is abnormal... don’t overthink it."

"Right..." Chen Guangxi reluctantly accepted this explanation.

"Still, I didn’t expect you to be willing to waste Divine Power to save people." Chen Guangxi had a newfound respect for him.

"Because I can." Zhou Yuan answered succinctly.

The office immediately erupted in a chorus of exaggerated complaints:

"Whoa, I can’t take it. How can someone act so cool?"

"This time, he really pulled it off."

"Oh, please, I’m an exemplary student, a model youth. What’s wrong with doing some good deeds?"

Zhou Yuan retorted angrily, "I even help old ladies cross the street regularly!"

"Why don’t you let the old ladies help you cross?"

Chen Guangxi rolled her eyes. "Treat us to dinner."

This abnormal incident had been classified as Level 3, so Zhou Yuan would receive a 5 million Star Coin bonus, a tidy windfall.

"It’s late, let’s eat tomorrow."

"I’m hungry and want a midnight snack." Chen Guangxi insisted, wanting to take advantage of Zhou Yuan now.

"Fine, let’s all go together." Zhou Yuan invited the others in the office, adhering to social etiquette.

·

After the midnight snack, Zhou Yuan hummed a tune back to the Control Bureau dormitory and checked the system task prompt.

[Task ’Aftermath’ completed]

[Task rating: S (Experience Points and Star Coin rewards increased to 150%)]

[Comment: You really... I’m speechless.]

[Task reward 1: Experience Points *600]

[Task reward 2: Star Coins *3000]

[Experience Points: 970/1100]

[Star Coins: 14100]

Zhou Yuan hadn’t killed the Weaver, but capturing her seemed to be considered "killing" by the system.

The S-level rating was likely largely due to reviving those deceased.

Although he had used up all the Divine Power granted by the Raven, Zhou Yuan had no regrets. As he said, because he could, he did it.

Besides, he never used other Divine Arts except Resurrection of the Dead anyway, so it didn’t make much difference whether he had them or not.

After a hot shower, Zhou Yuan went to bed.

He had to get up early to train tomorrow.

·

The anomalous event caused by the Weaver was just a brief episode.

Zhou Yuan maintained his half-month routine: jogging in the mornings, four hours of martial arts training after breakfast, having lunch, napping for an hour, and another four hours of training in the afternoon...

Every day was filled with training and cultivation, but he found it neither tedious nor boring.

Because his strength was genuinely increasing.

Time flew by, and the second half of the month passed quickly.

Chen Guangxi had promised that he would become a Cross-Training Master in thirty days. In reality, Zhou Yuan achieved it even faster.

On the twenty-eighth day, he reached the minor accomplishment stage of the ’True Dragon Body’ and officially became a Cross-Training Master.

"Very good, a minor achievement means you can graduate." Chen Guangxi grinned, eagerly taking off her jacket.

"Let’s have a match."