Dusk was about to depart, the sky gradually shifting between dark blue and dusky yellow.
The lingering sunset enveloped the streets of Tokyo. In the distant lights, two figures leaned against a vending machine, heads lowered in silence.
Li Qingping slowly raised his head, gazing into the distant sky, his eyes slightly bewildered.
"What was that thing... just now?" Gu Wenyu asked. He had calmed down, but his voice still trembled slightly.
"Do I have to answer?" Li Qingping murmured.
"Are you crazy? I just saw something like that, how do you expect me to sleep tonight without knowing?" Gu Wenyu said.
"That person just now was probably... ’Black Cocoon’." Li Qingping was expressionless.
Gu Wenyu nodded: "Oh, that does seem possible... I was so scared I didn’t react at first, but as I was running, I realized that black mud man was actually made up of a pile of restraint belts."
He shrugged, "I thought it looked familiar. My little sister loves him; she praises him every day."
Seeing Li Qingping remain silent, Gu Wenyu pondered, "Why would Black Cocoon latch onto you? Doesn’t he only deal with those Mutants?"
"Do you really not know?"
"Gu Wenyu... stop asking, it’s very dangerous for you."
Li Qingping changed his tone, as if he were a different person.
"Very dangerous?" Gu Wenyu was stunned, "You aren’t really some Mutant, are you?"
Li Qingping shook his head: "I’m not."
"Then what are you?" Gu Wenyu said suspiciously, "I don’t believe that big flapping moth would bother a regular person."
Li Qingping looked at the sky, nearby a child let go of a kite they were holding, and it drifted over neon signs, through cables and skyscrapers, wobbling toward the twilight sky like a solitary martyr.
"Gu Wenyu, actually I’m an Anecdote..."
At this point, Li Qingping’s phone suddenly rang, interrupting his words.
"Anecdote?" Ji Minghuan mumbled, squinting, thinking this couldn’t be a worse time for a phone call.
Li Qingping took out his phone, glanced at the name on the screen, was silent for a moment, then took a deep breath and smiled, "I’ll tell you next time."
Ji Minghuan was mildly surprised, then controlled Gu Wenyu’s body to ask, "When is next time?"
Li Qingping thought for a moment: "Didn’t I just tell you by the seaside, there’s something I want to do?"
"I’ll tell you next time," Li Qingping smiled, "By the way, there’s something I haven’t mentioned... When this summer holiday ends, I might be transferring schools."
"Transfer schools?" Ji Minghuan frowned, "So suddenly? Is this what being a rich second generation is like? It’s not because your parents’ job is changing, is it?"
"Yes, I have to go to a faraway place, and it might be a long, long time before we see each other again." Li Qingping said softly.
"Then don’t wait for next time, just tell me now, what exactly do you want to say?"
Li Qingping was silent for a moment: "I... actually don’t know what will happen next, as I told you before, I don’t understand how much this thing I want to do will cost me, but..." he paused, "I think it’s the right thing to do, so I want to do it. I’ve been running away for a very long time, but now I want to face it."
Ji Minghuan’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.
Buddy, what exactly are you planning to do... Are you going to start a revolution and overthrow the Anecdote Terrarium’s royalty?
I hope I didn’t just accidentally inspire him to rush like a moth to a flame, with my half-hearted motivational words.
The more Ji Minghuan thought, the more he shuddered, thinking that his good friend was acting like an enigmatic persona today, and the scariest part was that this guy was setting up death flags while being mysterious.
Then he thought again: "Forget it... as long as I create a character related to the Anecdote Envoy later on, I’ll know what Li Qingping is scheming."
If necessary... he could indeed reveal his identity to Li Qingping here.
But Ji Minghuan still maintained that if he exposed his identity, the people around him wouldn’t be able to cooperate with him fairly and efficiently—even if they promised verbally, they would find ways to protect him and wouldn’t let him be involved in any dangerous matters, nor would they trust him as a collaborator.
And from Ji Minghuan’s perspective, this was clearly not good news.
To escape from the Salvation Society’s clutches, Ji Minghuan could choose to sacrifice the persona of "Gu Wenyu" because it was just a game avatar to him;
But in the eyes of his big brother, little sister, old dad, and even his best friend, it was different: they would save Gu Wenyu even at the cost of their own lives.
This created a disconnect, even a contradiction, with Ji Minghuan’s outlook, to him, Gu Wenyu is a tool, to those around Gu Wenyu, he is an incredibly important person...
But if it’s "Black Cocoon" it’s different. They can cooperate with Black Cocoon normally, without needing to worry about what happens to him; if necessary, abandoning Black Cocoon is acceptable, because from beginning to end, Black Cocoon is just a collaborator to them.
A collaborator who can be discarded at any moment.
This is precisely the kind of collaborative relationship Ji Minghuan idealizes: to gain operational autonomy, he must hide his identity from those around him;
Once his identity is revealed, it’s like putting shackles on himself and those around him, only magnifying the limitations of their actions—to both Ji Minghuan and them, this is absolutely not good news.