Soul Trigger

Chapter 608 Clementine
The sharp blade cleaved through the air, and the dark purple spiritual energy tore through the thin lines. The "ghost nun's" figure suddenly stopped, and then she screamed and exploded into a cloud of black smoke.

The walking stick sword "Other Shore" danced in Ji Li's hands, then sheathed itself.

He watched as the black smoke coalesced back into the shape of the ghost nun, confirming the power [Undying Curse].

But perhaps because she was newly "born", she opened her mouth again and bit at Ji Li, only to have her head smashed by a blow from the cane.

After another restoration, those jet-black eyes regained some clarity, transforming into dark brown pupils.

"you……"

Clementine looked at Ji Li, then at her own palm, and then around her:

"Where am I? I...I'm not dead??"

Ji Li slammed his palm on the ground and began to analyze the situation to himself:
"It does indeed have its own independent consciousness, and it's even the consciousness it had before death... which means its memories are also perfectly preserved?"

"You are... Pulitzer? You are also an Awakened One... What did you do to me?!"

Clementine's face contorted in a ferocious grimace again. He lunged forward to grab Ji Li's neck, but Ji Li slammed his elbow through the air, shattering the grip.
"No, you're dead."

Looking at the ghost nun who had been reborn once again, but whose aura was several times weaker than before, Ji Li calmly revealed the truth.

Betrayed by his adoptive father, a priest, he died, and then became a resting place "resurrected".

Clementine floated blankly in mid-air. Although her consciousness had returned, she was still completely out of sorts and couldn't accept reality for a while.

For her, it was like waking up from a nightmare to find herself a resting place, and Pulitzer standing right in front of her was still alive and well.

“No… Pulitzer Orin is dead… You were clearly sacrificed by the priest…”

She suddenly clutched her head, her breathing becoming erratic:
“You’re Pulitzer Orin? No, you are…”

Her gaze fell on Ji Li's cane.

Instantly, in her eyes, Ji Li's figure overlapped with Pulitzer Orin's original nerdy appearance, and then flashed together with the image of the "Deadly Sir" she had seen. Her pupils contracted sharply.

"It's you……"

Ji Li's gaze was subtle:

"Because of death, the memories were still retained?"

Just like Anya, Clementine also seemed to see through the cognitive rewriting brought about by the Crimson Ritual, but this gave Ji Li the reason:
memory.

Strictly speaking, cognitive rewriting can affect memory, just like how "sister" Equiel and Mrs. Duke both believed they were Pulitzer.

However, it seems that Anya's memories were not truly reset because of the pendant.

Therefore, in Anya and Clementine's eyes, even if Ji Li is Pulitzer, the fact of his death in their memories conflicts with the Pulitzer who is currently alive and well.

This is like a small bug in cognitive rewriting. When two facts conflict, people quickly realize what the real facts are, thus breaking free from the influence of cognitive rewriting.

Clementine, upon seeing the cane in Ji Li's hand, immediately realized his true identity:

"You are the intruder... the one who disrupted everything!"

Ji Li raised his cane and pointed it at Clementine in the air:

“I think we need to get to know each other again, little girl. But from now on, I hope you’ll address me as ‘master’.”

While Clementine was still somewhat bewildered, Ji Li raised the cross in his hand.

She could feel the spiritual connection that had been established between herself and Ji Li.

Meanwhile, the connection to Ji Li sent out a terrifying fluctuation that made her heart pound.

A few minutes later, Ji Li was left alone in his room. Clementine had returned to the cross pendant, which was now an inverted cross.

She still finds it hard to accept reality, whether it's the priest's betrayal in his madness before his death or the fact that she herself has become a resting place.

So when he crawled into the cross, he immediately became withdrawn.

Ji Li decided to give her some time to process the information, because he also needed to process the new information he had come into contact with.

He originally intended to create a memorial object for the priest, after all, he was a ruler.

But to his surprise, what has emerged is even more interesting than he imagined.

This is clearly an item that embodies Sister Clementine's emotions and obsessions, rather than the priest's.

Now that she has appeared, the cross panel has some more information:
Bound Person: Clementine Caro
characteristic:
1. Ghost Body: Cannot be observed or discovered by the ordinary naked eye, but can be observed by the other soul when they interact.

2. Blasphemy: Clementine Caro can only exist in spiritual environments imbued with faith. She can leap through the darker aspects of faith, imperceptibly, yet leaving traces of her existence.

3. Fullness: Despair Spirit can enhance Clementine Caro's power, but the enhanced power will disappear after her death.

4. Bionic Ghost: Clementine Caro's core spiritual ability during her lifetime. She could mimic the spiritual essence and abilities of other souls; these mimicked abilities would disappear upon death.

5. Self-destructive tendencies: Clementine Caro's memories of death cause her great distress, leading to recurring suicidal behaviors.

6. Betrayer: Memories of death instilled distrust in Clementine Caro, leading her to repeatedly attempt to kill the donors through self-sacrifice.
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There are quite a few fancy tricks.

The bound one appears to refer to a resting object possessing a specific consciousness, while the hourglass formed from the film fragments and the glasses formed from Pulitzer are both without consciousness.

Take the glasses as an example. Pulitzer's consciousness is more like being integrated into the rules, or rather, expressed in the form of rules.

Because he had a fervent love for mathematics and idolized a mathematics professor during his lifetime, its rules include "forced mathematics" and "forced idolization." The mathematical abilities granted to the holder will, due to their idolization of the mathematics professor, be capped at the level of that professor.

Clementine possesses consciousness, but she is also subject to rules, which are the seemingly limiting aspects of her abilities.

To be honest, her situation seems somewhat similar to that of the Black Box, although the Black Box is an evil entity, they are essentially the same in their endeavors.

Ji Li infused the cross with spiritual energy, and a cloud of black mist appeared. Clementine's figure flew backward and was forcibly pulled out by him.
"you……"

Is it really that hard to accept the fact that you've already died once?

Clementine took a step back in mid-air, gritting her teeth as she said:
Where is the priest?

"It's already been packed up and disposed of; it should be nourishing nature now."

"Then... what about the array diagram? What about the burial object in the underground castle?"

“That’s mine, or to put it another way, it was always mine.”

Clementine was taken aback:
"You are the master of that place! You are... from the Tower of Babel?!"

Ji Li tilted his head and remained silent for a moment:
"You seem to know something that most people don't..."

An awakened being with a projection level beyond the ordinary should not know about the Tower of Babel.

Or is it because White Island is the stronghold of the Tower of Babel?
Clementine grabbed Ji Li's shoulder, his face contorted in pain:
"Take me to the Tower of Babel...I want to go to the Tower of Babel...I want to..."

puff.

The cane smashed her head open, and Ji Li waited for her to recover.

"Speak properly. What are you going to the Tower of Babel for?"

Perhaps my mind cleared up, and I truly realized that I seem to be immortal now.

This made Clementine look at her hands somewhat uncomfortably, and after a few moments of hesitation, she clenched her long fingernails:
"Revenge, I want revenge."

To whom?

“One disciple, one evil creature.”

"why?"

"Because it raised me..."

A keen interest appeared in Ji Li's eyes:

"Isn't the priest your adoptive father?"

Clementine looked at Ji Li:

“I was born in Limbo, where the haunt master fed me with buffalo milk until I was 10 years old and escaped, where Father Kelton found me…”

This might explain why Clementine, an ordinary projection of extraordinary awakening, possessed so many strange abilities after becoming a resting object:

It's a childhood trauma.

She looked at the cross in Ji Li's hand, her expression complex.
"Now that things have come to this, I am willing to follow you, as long as you promise me to help me kill that disciple."

Ji Li shook his head:

"It's not about following."

Clementine immediately clenched her long fingernails:
"I am not a slave..."

"But you are a servant."

"I have free will!"

"Your free will serves me."

"It's not fair..."

Ji Li raised his hand and, amidst Clementine's scream, pulled her neck into his grasp:

"Might makes right."

Her fair neck instantly became covered with hard black veins, and the girl transformed into a "ghost nun." Her mouth tore open like liquid, baring her teeth and claws, but Ji Li still held her firmly in his hand.

"You are an accomplice of Father Kelton. You killed Pulitzer, tried to take the Tower of Babel, and trapped ordinary people in time loops, killing them over and over again. Neither you nor he did anything good."

And yet you still want to negotiate with me? If I put the cross in the storage space and never take it out again, do you think you'll have a second chance at life?
For such kindness, it wouldn't be an exaggeration for you to even call me "father."

Clementine roared, his face contorted in a grotesque, torn expression:
"abnormal!!!"

Ji Li: ?
How is that perverted?

He spoke White Island English, and his father used the word "Daddy".

This thing is usually used in certain romantic settings, and the resulting fantasies made Clementine struggle even more fiercely—

She is not a star slave!

(End of this chapter)