Chapter 405: I Really Want to Report the World for Exploiting Underage Labor
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 405: I Really Want to Report the World for Exploiting Underage Labor
"Then... I’ll give this to you, Sister Xiao Han... I don't have the right to keep it."
Qiu Ruxin spoke up, looking at the object as if it were a "scourge." In her eyes, it was the culprit behind her family’s ruin and something far beyond her control. Now that she knew its value was so immense—even if she didn't fully grasp its true significance—she understood clearly that she lacked the fortune to enjoy such a thing.
It was better to trade it for the protection of a powerful patron; perhaps then she could escape her current predicament.
She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but although she had still been unlucky these past few days, the mishaps hadn't been as frequent as usual. Because of this, she felt that Sister Xiao Han might have the ability to master such an object.
"The right... don't think like that. Of course you have the right to hold onto it. It is your opportunity; you just have to endure until it passes." I held the pendant, but I made no move to keep it. "I will follow our previous agreement and add a rune to summon me onto it. I will still protect you."
"This..."
"Does it make you hesitate?"
"No... not at all," she said, shaking her head.
"I can give you a simple explanation of what this is. These types of things are called Transcendent Items. You pay a price to gain a benefit. From the current situation, the price you're paying seems to be your luck. Have you felt yourself gaining anything in return?" Seeing Qiu Ruxin like this, I stopped hiding the truth and spoke to her directly.
The concept of Transcendent Items wasn't a big deal, but I didn't say a word regarding [Transcendent Knowledge]. Besides... [Transcendent Knowledge] was just my guess. It was possible there were Transcendent Items that weren't [Transcendent Knowledge] themselves, but the information they leaked was comparable to it.
"A Transcendent Item? But..." Qiu Ruxin looked deeply troubled. "I haven't felt any benefits at all..."
"You haven't felt anything?" I frowned slightly, somewhat surprised.
If Qiu Ruxin couldn't feel it, there was a high probability it was because the effects weren't obvious to her own perception. It was just like the Transcendent Item, Ninglan's Heart; it required the sacrifice of countless lives' flesh and blood just to manipulate the Luck that ordinary people couldn't even see.
The most direct way to find out was for me to experience it myself. It was just a bit of bad luck, after all. At worst, it would be like me taking off my Alchemy Collar and enduring the Bad Luck Curse.
"I'm sorry... I'm not lying... I really don't know what benefit I've gained..." Qiu Ruxin said, her voice tinged with anxiety as she tried to prove she wasn't being dishonest.
"It's okay, I don't blame you. I've seen other Transcendent Items before. I can only say that there are indeed items whose abilities are beyond the mastery—or even the perception—of ordinary people," I comforted her.
It looked like I wouldn't find a breakthrough through Qiu Ruxin. However, at least I understood the side effect: it was simply a decline in luck. That was bearable, though I didn't know if the decline was permanent or temporary.
After all, compared to a Transcendent Item like Ninglan's Heart, the flesh it took was a permanent loss. Once used, the flesh wouldn't return on its own; it required a Flesh and Blood Regeneration Spell or other means to offset the cost.
That was why I was so wary of this Transcendent Item and hesitated to use it. What if the luck was permanently consumed?
I didn't want to be a jinx for the rest of my life.
"By the way, I wanted to ask: since this thing left your person, has your luck improved?"
"My luck? I'm not sure... but I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel... it might be a bit better than before."
"A bit better." I nodded. It seemed it didn't just snap back to normal instantly... No, wait!
Another possibility suddenly occurred to me: Qiu Ruxin might still be the owner of this Transcendent Item. It was just like when I held Ninglan's Heart, but the true owner was the First Generation Growth. I couldn't use the item until he went "offline."
If I wanted to know if Qiu Ruxin was still the holder of this Transcendent Item, wouldn't a simple test give me the answer?
I looked at the Transcendent Item in my hand, preparing to activate it.
My goal was merely to probe it. As long as I could confirm whether it was usable, I would stop immediately. That way, my own luck wouldn't be too severely drained.
Just as I attempted to communicate with the Transcendent Item, a thread of Luck faintly shimmered with a golden light. Even before I could get a result, it seemed to "forcefully" tell me that this item already had a master.
In the next moment, as expected, I failed. I could not successfully activate the Transcendent Item.
But the strange part was that the thing that blocked me and caused the failure wasn't the Transcendent Item itself, but... Luck!
That brief probe, though a failure, allowed me to discover one thing: Luck wasn't just strongly correlated with this Transcendent Item; Luck was actually one of the essential structural components that formed it!
It was a relationship similar to how the First Generation Ninglan City Lord's soul essence had become part of a Transcendent Item, to the point where even a Resurrection Spell couldn't bring him back.
"This!" I looked on in shock, unable to believe it!
Luck becoming a constituent part of a Transcendent Item—no matter how you looked at it, that was pure fantasy!
There seemed to be some great secret or story hidden behind this that I wasn't aware of. It was a pity I couldn't witness it personally.
However, this also indirectly confirmed one thing: the formation of this Transcendent Item was likely related to the Script. Otherwise, how could Luck become part of a Transcendent Item?
Combined with my previous guess that this item might be [Transcendent Knowledge] itself...
Then... it seemed I could deduce, or at least hypothesize, even more information!
This might involve the machinations of the World Will and the Script. And... if the secret the Secret Diggers were looking for was [Transcendent Knowledge], could this be the so-called truth?
Furthermore... if both the World Will and the Script were involved in the formation of a Transcendent Item, it meant its creation was vital to this world. Otherwise, they wouldn't have let Luck be mixed into it.
So... if I made an even bolder assumption, considering Qiu Ruxin's status as a Child of Destiny, could she just be a "tool" meant to bear the side effects of the Transcendent Item?
While the benefits were enjoyed by the world itself?
Adding in the secrets about the world the Academy Dean told me—if this world was indeed the small world mentioned before, then a small world would instinctively find ways to raise its own level and develop toward becoming a large world...
And what was the essence of a Child of Destiny?
A laborer kicked out of the house by the World Will to support the world!
Laborers and tools were essentially the same thing, so this hypothesis wasn't without merit. It was just that Qiu Ruxin, this particular laborer, was already being squeezed by the World Will before she had even left the house!
I really wanted to report this small world for labor exploitation—exploiting underage labor, no less!
"Um, Sister Xiao Han?"
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about some things. Where were we?" I snapped back to reality instantly.
I had been thinking a bit too much just now, and I didn't have clear evidence to prove that everything was developing this way.
However, that didn't mean the possibilities I thought of were meaningless. At the very least... I now had a bit of a plan for what to do next, rather than being completely in the dark.
"We were talking about how my luck feels a bit better than before," Qiu Ruxin reminded me.
"Right, that's where we were." I nodded. Combining that with the fact that I had failed to use the Transcendent Item, I realized that Qiu Ruxin's feeling was likely indeed an illusion. "I might have to tell you some bad news."
"What is it?"
"Just now, I tried to use it, but I failed. It seems to have formed a special connection with you. So, you should keep this after all. I won't take it."
"A connection..." Hearing my words, Qiu Ruxin's mood visibly plummeted. This meant she could never escape this burden. Still, she didn't want to give up. "Is there really no other way?"
"You mean to sever this connection?" I asked, knowing the answer.
"Yes!" Qiu Ruxin nodded heavily.
"The depth of this connection far exceeds your expectations and understanding," I said, choosing my words carefully. I didn't plan to tell her about concepts like Luck or the Script, so I used a more indirect approach. "If you really want to know how... it would probably take the destruction of this world."
"The destruction of the world? That... how is that possible?"
"Maybe it is?" I said with a shrug.
After all, it wasn't entirely baseless. If the world was destroyed, the World Will would cease to exist, the Script would no longer have a reason to be maintained, the Luck would dissipate, and the Luck Seed would likely collapse. Then, the sole connection between her and this Transcendent Item would be broken. I just didn't know if the Transcendent Item itself would collapse at that point due to the missing Luck component.
"Right! Sister Xiao Han, didn't you say our world is going to collide with yours? If that happens, then would I..."
"That... I really don't know." Hearing Qiu Ruxin say this, I felt a bit helpless.
When worlds merged, the Main World would definitely be the dominant one. Even if it wasn't naturally, the Transcendent Witches of the Witch Academy and the Transcendent experts of other academies would ensure it was.
As for whether the Script would be included when the World Will was swallowed by the Main World Consciousness, I had no idea.
It was a pity I couldn't help Qiu Ruxin sever the Luck Seed. I had only managed that strike back then through a stroke of luck; if I were asked to do it again, it definitely wouldn't work.
"But anything is possible. Maybe a miracle will happen?" I forced a smile to comfort her. "So, until the ending you hope for arrives, you must keep this secret well. Don't let anyone know. And... I suspect that the 'secrets' those Secret Diggers are digging for might be related to you."
"Related... to me? How is that possible? What have I done to deserve..."
"That's why I said it's just a guess." I shook my head with a smile and didn't explain further. Qiu Ruxin was a Child of Destiny; therefore, it was beyond doubt that many things were related to her.
But... had those Secret Diggers really not discovered her identity as a Child of Destiny?
Moreover, those Secret Diggers had arrived in this world a long time ago, even before Qiu Ruxin was born. The title "Secret Digger" had existed back then too. So... there was a high probability that there was another Child of Destiny acting as a tool at that time.
Qiu Ruxin said this pendant was a family heirloom; it was very likely that it had belonged to her grandfather's generation or her father's, and the culprit was this emerald pendant.
After chatting with Qiu Ruxin for a bit and calming her emotions to ensure she was okay, I finally returned to my guest room.
Although I had become something of a shut-in these past few days, I hadn't neglected my meditation at all. As for body tempering, I occasionally made do with the hotel gym. After all, if the body isn't exercised for a long time—even just a few days—it starts to get rusty.
Back in my room, I spent the rest of the day focused entirely on the pendant.
Before leaving, I had learned the name of the pendant from Qiu Ruxin. It was called "Tears of the Mad Plant." Looking closely at the green gemstone, it was indeed shaped like a water droplet. Calling it a teardrop was fitting, as the thing was certainly filled with blood and tears.
As for the origin of the name, Qiu Ruxin didn't know. she had only overheard it at the time, before she had even become the owner of the pendant.
She didn't know anything beyond that.
Late that night, I used Alchemy to "enchant" the pendant, adding the techniques for the summoning runes of the Reverse Summoning Spell onto it.
Because it was a Transcendent Item, I naturally couldn't use Alchemy to transmute it in a way that might damage it. So, I used a different method that took a bit more time.
Looking at the final product—the emerald teardrop pendant—one only needed to hold it with both hands to trigger the ritual. It would then automatically activate the Reverse Summoning Spell. At that point, the rune ritual would establish a connection with me, the master of the spell, and I could be summoned over.
After confirming everything was foolproof, I placed it in my storage equipment and fell into a deep sleep on the bed.
The research of the past few days had indeed been draining, and I needed a good night's rest. I had even set up very tight security measures within my guest room.
Even though this was a high-end hotel, I had understood since arriving in this world that nowhere was truly safe.
I slept very deeply, and fortunately, nothing happened that night.
By the time I woke up naturally, a faint light was already shimmering outside the window. It was morning.
"Ugh... awake so early again. Has my need for sleep decreased that much?" I muttered to myself, though I knew this was likely the effect of deep sleep.
In fact, for students of the Witch Academy, achieving deep sleep wasn't difficult. As long as one didn't focus too hard after a successful meditation, their consciousness would seamlessly transition into deep sleep. The quality of sleep was excellent and very reliable.
After a quick wash, I took out my small incense burner and prepared for my routine morning meditation.
However, halfway through my meditation, a series of loud, violent, and urgent knocks came from my door, instantly breaking my focus.
"Who is it?" I sighed, calming my emotions as I stood up and walked to the door.
When I opened it, a waiter in uniform was standing there.
"Is something the matter?" I asked, looking him over. No matter how urgent the matter, didn't he know that such violent knocking was incredibly rude?
"Guest, I am very sorry, but a large number of Explorers have been spotted in the area where our hotel is located, and a large-scale fight has broken out. For your safety, please follow me to the hotel's underground levels to take cover. Otherwise, our hotel will not be held responsible for any personal injury caused by those Explorers."
"Oh, I see. I'll head out in a moment," I said flatly. Internally, however, I was a bit surprised. I hadn't expected even this high-end hotel to yield to these Secret Diggers.
As for hiding?
If a fight really broke out, it wasn't certain who would be the one needing to hide.