My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 112 The Ripper, Deadline, Turning Against Each Other (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"Get up."

As a cold voice entered his ears, Xia Pingzhou, the second unit, trembled slightly and slowly woke up from his bed in the attic.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Origami Ayase sitting on the windowsill reading a collection of haiku.

The moonlight cast a cool, silvery edge on her profile.

Just as Ji Minghuan was about to speak, a black and white task prompt box suddenly popped up in front of her.

[Main Mission 2: Infiltrate the White Raven Brigade and assassinate its second member—"Jack the Ripper."]

[This mission has a deadline: If "Main Mission 2" is not completed before September 09, 2020, Unit 01 will be automatically destroyed.]

Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow and glanced at the mission's deadline.

The sudden death deadline didn't stir much emotion in him: "Will I die if I don't complete this mission? That's ridiculous... But a month and a half is already plenty of time. By then, my second mecha should have grown to the strength of 'Cataclysmic'."

"Even if the Ripper becomes a Tier 3 Exorcist, he'll only be at most a Catastrophe-level opponent like me. Among opponents of the same level, I have no chance." Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan got up from the mattress and put on the Nike sneakers next to him.

"Takikage has prepared dinner for you. There are people downstairs."

After saying that, Origami Ayase fell from the windowsill and went downstairs before him.

Ji Minghuan watched her silhouette disappear into the distance, then got out of bed, walked to the stairwell, and slowly descended the stairs. Each step was accompanied by a creaking sound; the old wooden steps still made one feel unsafe.

Upon arriving on the first floor, he raised an eyebrow slightly. The café's door was closed, and three customers were playing cards around a table inside. The three customers sitting on the sofa were all acquaintances.

Member number 11, Anluns, the slot machine boy.

Anson was still dressed in an English suit today, and his blond hair and blue eyes were quite eye-catching.

Member number 7, Robert, with a mechanical box head.

Robert was wearing a white shirt, and he still had a square mechanical box on his head.

Member number 2, Jack the Ripper.

This person was still wearing a black and white Japanese high school uniform, with dark eyes, like the polar night in the north.

At this moment, Origami Ayase was sitting next to Ripper, offering her advice with a blank expression: "Seven."

"Ten."

The Ripper ignored her and was about to play his card when Origami Ayase used her supernatural ability to hold the card in her hand, preventing it from leaving her fingers.

"Seven against seven, or we'll lose," Ayase Origami repeated, her tone flat.

The Ripper looked up from his hand and replied dismissively, "I'll think for myself. Don't use your powers to control my moves, or... I'll gouge your eyes out."

Origami Ayase didn't take it to heart.

“Hey…no outside help allowed, isn’t this bullying?” Robert scratched the mechanical box’s head and accused the two of their behavior in a metallic voice.

Anlens didn't seem to mind, and chuckled, "It's alright, even if Miss Ayase came, she'd only be a hindrance."

Upon hearing this, Origami Ayase looked up at Anlens and said coldly, "Slot machine, you step aside next round, I'll take your place."

Anlens smirked: "Don't bully me. It's not easy for me to be a guest in your café. Also, my name isn't 'Slot Machine,' it's Anlens."

"Bomb!" The Ripper threw his four cards onto the table.

"No." Anrons shrugged.

"Pass." Robert shook his head.

Ji Minghuan stood quietly at the top of the stairs, curiously observing the four people on the sofa. He had no idea before that Ayase Origami and the Ripper had a good relationship.
Just then, Oda Takikage, dressed in a butler's uniform, came out of the kitchen and handed him a serving of hot milk and a baguette with a hot dog inside.

"Mr. Xia Pingzhou, your dinner is ready," Oda Takikage said calmly.

"Thanks." Ji Minghuan took the baguette and milk, took a sip of the hot milk, and then asked Oda Takikage, "Are Number 3 and Number 2... on good terms?"

As he said this, his gaze was fixed on Origami Ayase and the Ripper.

Origami Ayase sat on the armrest of the sofa, her eyes always lowered as she stared at the Ripper's hand, her drooping black hair lightly scratching the Ripper's cheek.

Oda Takikage nodded: "When we need to split into groups, the young lady and Miss Ripper are always in the same group. They have a great understanding... Apart from you, Miss Ripper is probably the young lady's closest member in the group."

"There's no need to exclude me. I've only been in the group for a few days, and my relationship with the young lady isn't that good."

Ji Minghuan spoke expressionlessly, took a bite of the hot dog baguette, and glanced at the main quest.

[Main Mission 2: Infiltrate the White Raven Brigade and assassinate its second member – "Jack the Ripper" (Time Limit: September 1st).]

Gazing at the blood-red text on the panel, he raised an eyebrow, thinking with great interest:

"When I finally kill the Ripper, what will this mob boss think of me...? Will she question her existence then, knowing that her cat has scratched her best friend to death?"

In fact, until tonight, Ji Minghuan had thought that he could make use of Ayase Origami's connections—this yakuza heiress had little common sense and had been quite considerate of him.

This way, the fact that the Ripper was killed would be exposed to the brigade members, and the brigade leader would mobilize the members to hunt him down.

So, besides the "White Wolf" who has already been confirmed to be usable, he also has "Origami Ayase" as a backer in the Phantom Troupe.

The group leader might give Ji Minghuan a chance to explain, out of consideration for these two members.

Therefore, Ji Minghuan might not necessarily have to turn against them, but could try to use the relationship between Bai Tanlang and Philio to lure them to the Salvation Society's base.

But now it seems... that idea is no longer valid.

Once Xia Pingzhou kills the Ripper, it's highly unlikely that Ayase Origami will side with him.

First, the tour group's rules and regulations are there;

Secondly, Origami Ayase and the Ripper had a good relationship. This young lady was very protective of her own, treating outsiders like dirt and shielding those around her in every way.

With Bai Tanlang alone, at most, Xia Pingzhou could escape the pursuit of the troupe.

Thinking about it that way, it seems unlikely that I can utilize the White Raven Brigade's power... unless I can find clues about the 1001 restricted-level ability user that the "Bloodline" is looking for within the Salvation Society. After killing the Ripper, I'll pass the clues about 1001 to the Bloodline... and get that old vampire woman on my side too.

Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan slowly walked closer to the group.

He took a sip of milk and asked Jack the Ripper, who was engrossed in playing cards:
"Number 2, have you taken good care of my heart?"

"Otherwise?" The Ripper didn't even look up, throwing two playing cards onto the table. "A pair of fives."

“Newbie, stop asking such pointless questions.” Anlens looked up and gave Ji Minghuan a smirk. “Come play cards with us.”

After saying that, he threw the last two cards in his hand onto the table, smiled, and said, "I won again."

"Kick him out." Origami Ayase tugged at the Ripper's sleeve.

“Indeed, we’ve never won when Number 11 is around.” Robert scratched Box’s head.

Anrons raised the corners of his mouth: "No matter what, I am still the number one gambler in Britain. Only the captain can keep me in check, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here playing cards with you guys."

He paused, glanced at his phone, and said, "By the way, Lan Duoduo and Andrew said they're coming over later. Should we go find some fun? I heard there's a powerful Dragon-level ability user in the underground arena in Tokyo. Killing him would be quite a reward."

Robert said, "The auction is about to begin. Be patient; you'll have plenty of opportunities to go on a killing spree."

“Make way,” Origami Ayase said to Anron.

"Alright, alright, then Miss, you can play."

With a smile on his face, Anlens stood up and made room for Ayase Origami while looking at his phone.

Robert looked up at Ji Minghuan and said, "Newcomer, I'm tired of playing too, you take over."

"Oh."

Ji Minghuan sat down on the sofa, facing the Ripper.

Origami Ayase also sat down, a strange light flashing in her empty eyes. Then, all the cards that were scattered on the table floated up and were neatly stacked together, as if an invisible hand was controlling them to automatically shuffle.

Ripper crossed her arms and glanced coldly at the deck of cards being shuffled automatically in mid-air. She said:
"Don't use your superpowers to deal the cards. Just use your real hand. Who knows if you'll cheat?"

"Shut up," Origami Ayase said expressionlessly. "I'm already being generous by being willing to deal the cards."

After saying that, she used her supernatural ability to distribute the cards. The cards floated in mid-air and flew into the hands of the three people in a round, distributing more than fifty playing cards evenly in less than two seconds.

Ji Minghuan glanced at the cards in his hand, then looked up to meet the Ripper's gaze. He asked:
"Number 2, I'd like to ask you a question. I'm about to reach Tier 2. Which demon do you think would be the most cost-effective to contract with?"

“I have no contract with a demon,” Ripper replied.

Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow: "Is your Sky Chariot still empty?"

“I don’t need a contracted demon.” The Ripper looked down at the cards. “My Skyward can evolve by killing. As it evolves, my physical abilities will also improve. I only need this one ability: to be fast and strong enough to take down any opponent.”

She paused for a moment: "Making a contract with a demon might affect the purity of the Skydrive mechanism. I don't want to take that risk, and there's no need for it at all. So you don't need to seek advice from me. You might as well ask Andrew."

So it seems that the Ripper took a purely physical route: constantly evolving her physical strength by killing people. As a quasi-disaster level, I wonder if her speed can compare with her brother's.
If so, then the eldest brother's disadvantage is quite significant; even his prized speed won't provide a decisive advantage...

But for me, this is definitely good news. Since the Ripper doesn't have many special abilities, I can rely on the Sky Drive mechanism to firmly restrict her physical abilities a month from now and find a way to defeat her.

Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan picked out two Jacks from his hand and said as he played them:

"The Tokyo auction opens for admission on the evening of the 20th and officially begins in the early morning of the 21st. That means... there are less than two days left. Has the leader not arrived in Japan yet?"

Anlens leaned back on the sofa, took a sip of hot coffee, and smiled as he said, "That's just the kind of person the leader is; you never know what he's thinking until the very last second." He paused, "You'll get used to it... Welcome to the White Raven Brigade."

"Didn't the commander give any instructions?" Ji Minghuan thought for a moment and then asked.

“Of course,” Anrons said.

"What instructions?" Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow slightly and turned to look at Anluns.

“Slaughter everyone at the auction, leave no one alive,” Anlens said with a smile.

Just then, Ji Minghuan's ten cards suddenly seemed to be bewitched, rising up into the air.

He glanced at the playing cards floating in the air, then looked up at Ayase Origami with a blank expression: "What?"

"Just focus on playing cards," Ayase Origami said indifferently, then placed the four Kings in her hand on the table. "A bomb."

"Oh."

Ji Minghuan nodded, and then the card that had been flying in mid-air slowly floated back into his hand.

"King bomb."

With those two words, he threw his King and Queen cards onto the table, their points surpassing those of Ayase Origami's bomb.

Ayase Origami was silent for half a second, then looked up at Ji Minghuan, her eyes so empty they seemed to be able to devour someone.

“We are on the same team,” she said, emphasizing each word.

As soon as she finished speaking, all of Ji Minghuan's cards flew up again, dancing in the air above the coffee shop.

His hands were empty for a moment, so he raised them and said somewhat unhappily:

"so what?"

“You’re breathing on it,” Origami Ayase said coldly.

At that moment, the Ripper put down his cards on the table, summoned Skydrive, and expressionlessly stuck his dark red dagger into the table.

Cracks spread across the tabletop. She raised her eyes, as black as the midnight sun, glanced at Ayase Origami, then at Xia Pingzhou, and said expressionlessly:
"How about we add a rule: whoever loses loses an internal organ. I don't mind digging out all your internal organs right now as a wager."

“Smithmasai.” “Gomena Sai.”

Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami both backed down at the same time, lowering their eyes and playing their cards expressionlessly, like two obedient artificial intelligences.

　There will be another update later, please vote with your monthly tickets.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)