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Cui Ming turned his head immediately upon hearing those words, realizing that the Fear Box was only three meters away from him. Damn, he almost fell into a trap. If you hadn't said anything, I would have been caught off guard. Without hesitation, Cui Ming grabbed Jayce's Sister and pushed her toward the Fear Box. The box exploded, and Jayce's Sister trembled all over, her face pale, and she lost control right there. Seeing Joker Jack and Mi Xiaonan stunned by his actions, Cui Ming shouted, "What are you waiting for? Attack!"
Jack turned and ran, splitting into two versions of Joker Jack—one real and one illusionary. Was it effective? Li Qing and Jayce were no pushovers; Mi Xiaonan chased after one Jack while the other dashed out of the library. Jayce shot a lightning sphere that exploded on Jack's body. Jack flew out several meters, struggling to get up as he ran toward the lake.
In front of the Lake Surface stood a statue of a renowned scholar from the university, with Li Qing standing quietly before it, arms crossed.
Cui Ming asked, "How many escape routes do we have? If Joker Jack reveals himself as the Clown, then we can only retreat toward the Lake Surface; otherwise, it would be too conspicuous. Once in the water, he could swim quickly to reach the opposite Highway. Especially in his injured state, he would need a vehicle."
Joker Jack ran toward Li Qing, suddenly laughing—a strange laugh—arms raised as Poker cards shot out rapidly from his palms like a stage magician's act. As he approached Li Qing, his body split into three parts: his head floated forward while his body and arms veered left, and his legs moved to the right.
Cui Ming, exiting the library, felt a jolt in his heart; this was indeed someone of his kind. This was a type of magic trick performed on stage where a person enters a box and is cut into three pieces, with three boxes moving apart. It was magic—deceptive magic… for ethical reasons, he wouldn’t describe how this trick was performed.
Cui Ming shouted, "It's all fake!"
Li Qing was too far away to hear him; he kicked the head away first. Then he chased after the upper body and finally kicked the legs aside. The body was split into three parts. This could be done on stage but required Force cooperation here. Joker Jack utilized his ability to create clones, transforming into three incomplete versions of himself. But where was the real Joker Jack?
Cui Ming only knew that the real Joker Jack likely used this trick to hide himself with Force; after breaking through Jack's invisibility, quite some time had passed. This guy might have regained some Force and could re-enter invisibility. It could have been his head charging toward Li Qing; if Li Qing kicked it away, then he had already passed by. It could have been those legs or the upper body—any of them could be fake.
Li Qing activated his True Sight Guardian; previously unable to pinpoint a location for targeted use, he scanned around and said, "The person is gone."
Cui Ming replied, "This is the first time I've heard of clones being able to create three separate parts instead of three whole individuals."
Li Qing nodded. "I used sound wave sensing and found three locations with Force; I’ll kick the head first. Up close, I saw something that scared me—a head… Luckily, if that head had been disguised as the Fear Box, I would have fallen for it. Where's Jayce?"
"Protecting his sister while cursing some benefactor," Cui Ming asked. "Is everything ready?"
"Ready." Li Qing took out a walkie-talkie: "Let's start the operation."
Within a three-kilometer radius nearby, including across at Highway location, ten vehicles opened their trunks as Royal Bodyguards pulled out a dog. Soon someone reported over the walkie-talkie: "We’ve spotted something at the bridgehead."
Chain Scheme Third. Stealing Fragrance. The library floor had been coated with an odor imperceptible to humans by Royal Bodyguards; once Joker Jack entered this library, his feet would inevitably pick up that scent. However, quite a few people had entered the library before him. This trick required a bit of luck.
As soon as Cui Ming heard there was a scent at the bridge, he knew it was highly likely they had hit the mark. No student would swim across to the bridge in shoes unless one had been studying in the library and took a long detour to reach the bridge on the highway.
A car pulled up beside the three of them, and they got in. Theoretically, a Force User could run at speeds of up to sixty kilometers per hour, which was slower than a car but had the advantage of moving in a straight line. Joker Jack was severely injured this time; if he continued to run quickly, it would only worsen his condition.
When the car reached the bridge, a dog ran ahead, with Cui Ming and the others following closely behind. The dog dashed into the forest park, prompting the three to get out of the car and chase after it. The dog's speed couldn't match that of a practitioner, and eventually, they lost track of it. However, the dog led them out of the forest park. Beyond that lay the Twilight Grand Canal, where only a yacht could be seen two kilometers away.
Cui Ming hadn’t expected that the dog would help them catch up to Jack; his goal was simply to force Jack into a situation where he couldn’t stop to heal and had to keep running at high speed. If he exhausted his Force, he would be left vulnerable. A severely injured practitioner who forced themselves to use their Force to run would risk losing control, leading to backlash against their own body.
An hour later, the yacht was intercepted. Throughout this time, Cui Ming didn’t give their opponent any chance to rest. The Royal Bodyguard was relentless as well, not allowing Joker Jack any respite while maneuvering boats to intercept and collide with him. After multiple impacts, the yacht could no longer break free from encirclement; its main body was damaged and it stalled in the canal, drifting slowly with the current.
Unlike still lake waters, canals are wide with numerous undercurrents. Given Joker Jack's dire situation, attempting to escape by diving into the water was nearly impossible. Cui Ming, Mi Xiaonan, Jayce, and Li Qing were each on separate speedboats. Cui Ming had already locked onto the presence of Force within the yacht but found it strange that there were two sources of Force, indicating that Joker Jack still had accomplices. If that were true, why didn’t they break free? In the first half hour when Cui Ming and his team hadn’t yet arrived, they could have easily killed or sunk their boat.
Another question arose: it was certain that Joker Jack was piloting the yacht; why didn’t he abandon it? Upon seeing the Royal Bodyguard’s yacht approach, why didn’t he immediately take off or enter a meditative state to heal temporarily before escaping? Even an injured practitioner still had many opportunities.
Surrounding boats formed a large circle around the yacht and turned on their lights. Li Qing boarded first, followed by the other three. The deck and captain's cabin were devoid of people. Li Qing moved forward and pushed open a cabin door, revealing Joker Jack and a woman. Due to his eyesight issues, Li Qing couldn’t see what she looked like but felt Cui Ming shudder behind him as his left hand instinctively tightened on Li Qing's shoulder—not as a warning of danger but from an overwhelming sense of fear.
Li Qing steadied himself and stepped inside while relaying their positions: one woman sat motionless on a sofa while a man knelt beside her holding her hand and speaking softly. Li Qing tilted his head and asked, "What?"
"A fake," replied the woman—a beautiful one at that—her eyes vacant and her face showing clear signs of welding marks. Her arms were mechanical prosthetics encased in black steel armor. Yet she seemed lifelike enough to give off an impression of being alive.
"A fake?" That couldn’t be right; he sensed Force emanating from her—not only was she not a fake but also a practitioner with considerable Force levels.
"Haha..." Joker Jack laughed sharply as he turned around; his makeup was now a mess, making him appear even more ferocious.
Li Qing said, "Jack, we won't make things difficult for you if you don’t resist. Just surrender yourself to us; they won’t be too harsh on you."
At that moment, the woman stood up slowly; her head turned toward Li Qing as she extended her hand. A ball about two palms wide flew out from her side and landed in her palm. Joker Jack immediately exclaimed, "No! Don’t act rashly; there are too many of them; we can’t win."
"There is a threat," replied the woman hollowly. "Eliminate the threat."
Li Qing took a step back. "A robot?"
Mi Xiaonan replied, "Big Head said that such robots won't appear for another hundred years."
At that moment, Jayce, who had been silent at the back, spoke up. "She is similar to a Wooden Doll like Pinocchio, but the difference is that the person who invented her must be a Mage. This is a Forbidden Technique, one that even in Silent City, no one would dare to touch. First, a corpse is required, and the appearance of the corpse is what the Wooden Doll resembles. The materials needed are immense, and the magic circle is extremely fierce. It is said that this magic circle requires four Elder-level magic practitioners to activate it together. The main caster will endure endless pain until her completion leads to the death of the main caster."
Jayce continued, "Eighty years ago, there was a naive and beautiful girl who secretly traveled to the Three Continents without telling her parents and even participated in a Force assessment. She was innocent and friendly towards others..."
Li Qing suddenly recalled a story and interjected, "But unexpectedly, her innocence brought her harm; she lost her life. Later, everyone learned that she was the only daughter of the Lord of Quiet City. It is said that after her body was returned to Silent City, the Lord of Quiet City was heartbroken and used forbidden magic in an attempt to exchange his life for his daughter's life. However, he did not succeed; what was revived was not his daughter but a Magic Doll that resembled her. The Magic Doll does not need to eat or think; she wanders around as if searching for something. Jayce, is this story true?"
Jayce shook his head. "I know it's true that the Lord of Quiet City's daughter died in the Three Continents, but whether the Magic Doll is real or not, no one knows."
Mi Xiaonan whispered, "She is crying."
Cui Ming looked closely; while he couldn't see any tears, he could see tear stains. Cui Ming said, "Jack, we are not bad people; you better clarify things."
Jack looked at everyone for a while before saying, "I can make her a living person."
"That's impossible," Cui Ming replied.
"What I mean is to make her a thinking being," Jack said. "But I need materials." (To be continued.)
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