Blazing beams of light kept sweeping past Chiin or exploding on the buildings in front of him, forcing Chiin to perform a series of difficult dodge maneuvers. Sometimes he would climb vertically along the glass curtain wall of a building, and sometimes he would suddenly dive and squeeze into the narrow gaps between buildings.

"Are you crazy! Using this kind of firepower in the city?! What if there are friendly fire incidents?!"

Chiin couldn't help but complain, "Master, I'm not your Shido, why are you chasing me so hard? You're putting me in a difficult position."

They made a sharp turn around to the back of a large shopping mall, temporarily escaping the enemy's line of fire.

However, AST's tactical skills were extremely high, and their teamwork was excellent. They quickly flanked her from both sides again, and the beams of their searchlights locked onto her once more.

"Origami is still chasing me, damn it!" she cursed under her breath, and shoved the control stick hard, sending the motorcycle hurtling almost vertically into the complex overpass area below.

The AST troops immediately swooped down to follow, and beam bullets rained down, leaving scorched craters on the overpass road and piers.

She weaved through traffic and bridge pillars at an alarming speed on her motorcycle, fraught with danger. Several times, beams of light nearly grazed her hair, and the scorching heat sent shivers down her spine.

"No, I have to shake them off!" She steeled her resolve and focused her mind. She ripped off the blue gemstone embedded in her chest and stuffed it into the groove of the motorcycle's control panel.

As if by Ah's malice, Chiin seemed to see two turbochargers suddenly appear inside his motorcycle, turning it from two to four.

The main thruster at the motorcycle's tail shone brightly once more! The speed instantly increased to another level!

At the same time, Chiin stopped running in a straight line and began to change direction continuously without any pattern. Sometimes he rushed up the side of a tall building, and sometimes he would enter the entrance of an underground passage and then rush out from another exit not far away.

By fully utilizing the core of reason's "understanding" of the terrain, the city itself becomes the best cover.

This seemingly chaotic yet precise and efficient escape method was difficult for the AST forces, who were used to either direct attacks or holding their ground, to adapt to, and the encirclement was repeatedly broken through.

"Target attempting to escape! Locking on is difficult!"

"Too fast! Requesting higher-level support!"

The other team members' somewhat exasperated voices could be heard over the communication channel.

Origami frowned, still staring intently at the faint blue dot in front of her, constantly adjusting the aim of her rifle, but her opponent always managed to dodge with incredible movements at the last second.

"Keep the pursuit! Analyze her patterns of action! She must have a destination!"

However, the performance of the Mari Motorbike and Senin's racing style (or rather, instinct) ultimately prevailed.

After forcibly traversing a complex industrial park, she finally managed to temporarily disappear from AST's radar and field of vision, thanks to the dense factory buildings and massive pipeline infrastructure.

"...The target's spiritual energy response is rapidly decreasing! The fluctuation pattern has changed... This is... it's going to 'Lost'?!" An AST member reported with surprise and uncertainty as he looked at the plummeting data on the detector.

All the AST members paused, including Origami Tobiichi. This was a common occurrence when they fought against spirits.

—When a spirit consumes too much energy, whether actively or passively, or simply when its time is up, it will disappear into thin air and return to the so-called "neighborhood".

Origami hovered in mid-air, her brows furrowed. The behavior of this newly appeared elf was too strange, and its escape method was unprecedented, making her instinctively feel that something was wrong.

However, the spirit readings on the detector that quickly return to the level of background noise are the most typical characteristics of "Lost".

"Stay alert! Form a tighter formation, search the surrounding area, and collect samples of residual spiritual energy!"

Origami did not immediately disengage from combat stance, but calmly issued commands. The black CR-unit formation began to descend.

Like a fishing net slowly being pulled in, the searchlight beams carefully swept across every inch of land and every corner below, while sensors worked hard to analyze the energy particles gradually dissipating in the air, trying to capture any anomaly.

In a dark corner piled with industrial waste, less than twenty meters from the edge of the AST search zone, our protagonist was pressed against the cold, damp ground, almost blending into the shadows.

In the instant after Chiin crawled into the bunker, he had a sudden inspiration and frantically squeezed out the pitiful amount of basic permissions of the Law Core to do one thing: understand and simulate the unique spiritual energy decay fluctuation when the "Elf Lost"!

She couldn't truly disappear, but she successfully created a convincing illusion of spiritual power vanishing, lasting for several seconds!

"Now... take a gamble!" she screamed inwardly, but her body remained as still as the most cautious gecko, her breath almost ceasing.

She could clearly hear the sound of the AST team members' boots stepping on the gravel. The searchlight beams swept over her head several times, and the scorching energy beams occasionally hit the nearby metal, making a "sizzling" sound that was terrifying.

She saw Origami's white figure hovering not far away, her cold gaze sweeping across the area as if it were a tangible object. For a fleeting moment, she felt that Origami's gaze lingered on the pile of scrap metal where she was hiding for a fraction of a second longer.

My heart was pounding in my throat!

"Don't look back...don't look back..." she prayed frantically in her heart, while reducing her physical functions to the minimum. Even her thoughts seemed to freeze, and she couldn't even muster the most common complaints. All that remained was the most instinctive pretense.

Fortunately, the deadly gaze quickly shifted away. Origami's attention seemed to be drawn to an anomaly in the residual energy at a pipe interface further away.

Just as Origami turned her head to inspect the pipe—

She didn't run or fly, but instead, in an extremely disheveled and unseemly manner, she used all four limbs, like a frightened groundhog, to silently crawl towards the darker outer perimeter of the factory area, which was opposite to the AST unit!

The makeshift "ghillie suit" she wore, crafted from twigs, leaves, and her own powers, provided perfect camouflage while simultaneously minimizing all signals she could send to the outside world.

Her movements were extremely careful, each step she took was as light as a feather, to avoid making any strange noises.

"Just get to that corner... just get into that abandoned sewer well..." Only one thought echoed in her mind, like a spell. Her adrenaline was surging, her muscles ached from tension and maintaining the awkward posture, but she dared not stop.

Soon! Soon!

However, just as she was about to touch the anticipated sewer—

An AST member responsible for flank surveillance seemed to have heard a faint noise and turned his head in her direction with a puzzled look.

The patient's heart stopped instantly!

In a split second, she made an incredibly decisive (and embarrassing) decision—to immediately lie down on the spot, spread her limbs out, bury her head in the ground, and use her ghillie suit to perfectly disguise herself as a pile of inconspicuous industrial waste, completely "playing dead".

They held their breath completely, as if they were just a pile of lifeless waste.

The team member looked at it suspiciously for a few seconds. The searchlight swept across the area but found nothing unusual. He assumed it was a rat or the sound of wind and turned his attention back to the main force.

The crisis is temporarily over.

Chiin dared not move immediately, and maintained this suffocating posture for a full minute. Only after confirming that there was no more attention from others did she begin her slow and arduous "crawling long march" again.

"As long as... as long as I can get to that place..." Feeling the rough ground rubbing against my skin (thankfully, I have basic protection from my spirit armor), I slowly moved towards the edge of freedom.

Finally, she managed to climb to the edge of the factory wall, and using a broken drain, she fell in with difficulty, disappearing completely from AST's sight and monitoring range.

Chapter 3 Aha's Settlement

Chapter 3: Aha's Settlement

Origami looked at the faint residual spiritual energy sample she had collected, and the data clearly showed that it matched the decay characteristics after "Lost".

But the unease she felt lingered. It was too straightforward, too "standard," as if it were deliberately contrived.

She turned her gaze back to the wasteland, where only silence and shadow remained.

"Fall back." After a long silence, her cold voice rang out, carrying a hint of barely perceptible doubt.

"Report the characteristics of the spirits that have appeared this time as the highest priority intelligence. Focus on analyzing their energy patterns and...behavioral patterns."

The black-clad troops ascended into the night sky and disappeared, leaving behind only the industrial park, which had been briefly disturbed before returning to silence.

Meanwhile, our protagonist, dragging his dusty, sweaty, and disheveled body, is using his Law of Reason ability to create a gun that can fire ink.

The brief disruption (physical) to surveillance and the ultimate use of shadows, like a true ghost, finally... slipped back home.

"Disarm! Disarm now!"

With a flash of light, the spirit armor and halo vanished completely.

Chiin returned to his original state, leaning against the door, panting heavily. His back was soaked with cold sweat. Several seconds later, he collapsed to the ground, his hands still trembling slightly.

"Damn it... I almost turned into a sieve... Master is too ruthless..." Qianyuan muttered to himself with lingering fear, feeling as if his soul had been scared away.

Outside the window, the distant sounds of AST unit engines and faint alarms could still be heard.

This sudden and thrilling chase finally came to a temporary end with his lucky escape. But he knew that the trouble had only just begun.

Chiin slumped on the floor, leaning against the bed. His heart was still pounding as if the thrilling aerial chase had just happened a moment ago.

The scorching heat of the AST beam rifle still seemed to linger on the skin, and the Origami Master's cold and decisive "fire freely" command still echoed in his ears.

"Damn it... I almost turned into a sieve..." Chiin muttered to himself, still shaken.

"AST is too ruthless, they just unleash their firepower without warning... And Origami, she usually seems so unassuming, but she's so fierce when she fights..."

Outside the window, the distant sounds of AST forces expanding their search area and faint alarms still reminded him of the horrific mess he had made.

Just as he was trying to sort out this chaotic mess, a cold interface with a bit of electronic noise and cheerful background music was projected directly onto his retina without warning, interrupting his thoughts.

The interface is extremely flashy, full of asymmetrical lines and comical smiley face patterns, exuding a kind of chaotic and wicked humor.

[Ding dong! Congratulations! You have been officially bound to the 'Aha's Pleasure Gift System'!]

[A warm welcome to the new candidate for Commander! May your journey be pleasant (and filled with fun)!]

"..." His lips twitched. "...There really is an instruction manual? And this UI design... Ah, your aesthetic sense is truly... unique."

At the center of the interface is a simple 3D model of him, a thumbnail of the sprite form we just saw, with data listed next to it:

[Current Status: Inactive (Safe Mode)] [Bound Core: Herrscher Core of Reason] [Core Permission Level: Lv.1] [Current Pleasure Level: Lv.1 (12%)] [Echoes of Destiny Energy: 10% (Low)]

"Access level? Pleasure level? Echoes of destiny?" He curiously scanned the information with his mind, "What is all this...?"

His attention was drawn to a flashing gift box icon next to him.

Concentrate your mind on it, and the icon immediately opens, displaying a new notification:

[Ding! Congratulations on unlocking the achievement: [First Cry]!]

[Evaluation: Successfully triggered a large-scale spacequake and escaped despite being pursued by an entire AST tactical team (including an A-level response specialist)! Initially demonstrated potential as a fun-loving individual!]

[Ding! Congratulations on unlocking the achievement: [Escape!]] [Evaluation: Successfully escaped from the pursuit of the AST elite team!]

[Achievement rewards are being processed...]

• Rewards: Joy Experience +10%, Echoes of Fate Energy +5%

• Item obtained: [Herrscher Core Trial Card (Random Blind Box)]

• Effect: Randomly gain a non-Rational Herrscher core ability, lasting for 10 minutes.

• Note: Exciting! You might get a god-tier card, or you might get 'Herrscher of Flame' and burn your hair. Aha loves this uncertainty!

• [Make a quick getaway]

• Rewards: Joy Experience +2%, Echoes of Fate Energy +5%

• Item obtained: 【'Echoes of Fate' Energy Shard】 • Effect: A precious resource used to upgrade core privilege levels or activate certain special abilities.

• Note: This is hard currency given by Aha, so use it sparingly.

• [The Origami Master's Dilemma] (Unlocked) • Effect: ? • Reward: ?

"So you can earn this pleasure experience by causing trouble?" Chiin looked at the rapidly increasing experience bar and seemed to understand a little. "Is this system encouraging me to go out and have fun?"

"The Origami Master even has an achievement! I should have known better than to come back so quickly. I should have played with the master a little longer. What a loss." Chiin looked at the ununlocked achievement and regretted it.

Curious, he clicked on Aha's mask icon on the system and brought up the system instructions.

[Privilege Level]: Determines your level of control and the upper limit of your application of the Herrscher's core power. Upgrading requires [Echoes of Fate Energy].

[Pleasure Level]: Equivalent to your "Adventure Level". Increasing your level unlocks more system features and occasionally rewards you with "Stylish Little Trash".

[Echoes of Fate Energy]: The "rewards" from Aha for the fun you create are a key resource for upgrading [Permission Level] and unlocking certain special abilities.

[Achievements]: Unlocked by completing specific fun activities, providing a large amount of [Pleasure Experience] and possible small gifts.

"So you just want me to recklessly court death?" Qianyuan concluded. "Aha, you really love making a scene."

He looked down at the dodecahedron Rubik's Cube in his hand, which had turned back into a dark gold color.

The system panel now displays the item as the [OmniDriver] and the now-quiet [Herrscher of Reason Core], and an extreme sense of absurdity and unreality washes over me.

【Aha's Pleasure Gift System - Inventory】

【Kaleidriver】 Category: Core Equipment / Destiny Armament

Rarity: ★★★★★ (Special Offer from Aha)

Status: Bound

User: Phoenix Academy Thousand Institutes

Description: "Hey! Look at this! This is a little treasure I personally crafted, a limited edition from across the universe, absolutely unique! Don't let its current appearance as a sly Rubik's Cube fool you; it's the key to 'happily connecting' you with those sparkling little cores! Simply place it on your waist and it transforms into a belt. Insert those happy little cores, twist and pat them, and the surprise will come instantly! Remember, every transformation should be a ritual—the pose must be cool, the lines must be witty, and the sound effects must be loud—that's how you provide the real fun!"

Disclaimer: Aha is not responsible for any spatial earthquakes, worldview shattering, social death, or being chased by beautiful girls caused by the use of this product, and reserves the right to laugh it off.

【Equipment Parameters】 Compatibility: Extremely high (theoretically compatible with all "Herrscher Cores" or similar energy sources)

Adaptive Deformation: When connected to different cores, the external shape and lighting effects will automatically change to match the core attributes.

Customizable sound effects: Includes multiple preset sound effect packs (such as "classic mechanical", "passionate recitation", and "aha grotesque" styles), and allows customization of some lines.

Fun Feedback System: The more elaborate and creative the transformation process, the easier it is to obtain a small reward of "Fun Experience (EXP)". Energy: Directly draw energy from "Echoes of Fate" or connect to the core for power.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

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