Two days later, in the evening, Chloe sent Ashley a message via Little Blue Strip, notifying her that the city hall’s publicity department had issued a press release to all newspapers, which would be published uniformly the next morning.
Thus, tomorrow was the day of the Jenkins Family’s “public trial.” There would inevitably be verbal and written condemnations, and perhaps even small-scale protest marches demanding severe punishment for the entire family.
Moreover, several influential newspapers had gotten wind of Ashley’s intention to join the Tribunal and were preparing to make a big story out of it. It was obvious they would choose the approach that generated the most traffic, rather than trying to protect an eight-year-old little loli.
Ashley paced back and forth in her room like a trapped beast.
In her hand, she tightly gripped a key—the one that had mysteriously reappeared in the pouch that was lost and then found.
“Since I can’t be a good person anymore, there’s no need to hold back. If no one protects me, I’ll protect myself.”
Having made up her mind, Ashley left the community and walked along Laurel Street to Fourth Avenue. After confirming no one was tailing her, she boarded a carriage, drew the curtains, and headed to the East District.
“Lodanmi Street 148…”
Ashley murmured the address as she counted the houses one by one, then suddenly stopped. She looked up at a two-story villa, where the elegant floral patterns on the brass nameplate framed the number 148.
This was Villa Street, paved neatly with small square bricks that gave it a refined and beautiful appearance. Bright gas lamps lined the road at intervals, and the street was flanked by orderly 12×12 meter plots designated for compact little villas, exuding a distinct petty bourgeois vibe.
As if expecting her arrival, the door was unlocked.
Ashley pushed it open, closed it behind her, and walked across an intricately patterned brown Persian-style woven carpet and beneath a lavish, multi-tiered crystal chandelier to the door opposite the master bedroom on the first floor.
She pushed open what appeared to be a door leading to a storage room and descended the stairs. Finally, she reached a heavy lead-gray iron door that matched the key. Its surface was etched with concentric circles of grooves converging from the outer edge toward the center, forming a pattern rich in geometric beauty but devoid of obvious meaning.
Standing at the threshold, Ashley hesitated for a moment before inserting the key into the lock.
Her own strength was what mattered most. Good and bad weren’t abstract concepts but choices made in specific situations—and only with strength did one have the right to choose. She convinced herself of this.
Click…
The key’s teeth ground against the mechanical springs, producing a crisp, intricate sound.
The heavy iron door swung open silently.
The secret room was not what she had imagined. It was meticulously organized and orderly, lacking the mystical aura she had anticipated.
The four walls were coated seamlessly in blue-gray putty, possibly some extraordinary material that blocked detection.
Four neatly arranged shelves took up most of the space, filled with jars and bottles. Through the glass, she could see tentacles, insect legs, vacuoles, coelenterates, and various organ fragments… bizarre but not arcane. They were common biological materials and technological items from the market, along with a few relics no higher than C-grade—utterly ordinary.
Her gaze swept over the materials until she spotted the item the family wanted her to retrieve.
It was a small vial seemingly crafted from the tip of a leg bone, made of lustrous black bone that faintly gleamed like jade.
Ashley hesitated for a moment, then picked it up with her fingertips. It was very light, and shaking it suggested it was empty.
Driven by curiosity, she pulled out the stopper and peered inside. In an instant, her pupils lit up!
Countless points of white light coalesced into a dreamlike liquid, flickering in and out of existence like a brilliant galaxy.
“What is this…”
Unwittingly, some white light particles escaped from the bottle’s mouth, trailing wispy streaks of light. As if drawn to her, they all sank into her chest.
Oh no!
Ashley quickly jammed the wax-coated black cork back in and swept her small hand over her chest, but it was no use.
Once inside her body, some light points rose while others sank.
The rising points followed mysterious channels into her brain, instantly igniting every node in her neural network! The white flashes merged into a shimmering sea of light!
“Aaah—!”
Ashley’s body trembled violently, as if countless icy fingers were caressing the folds of her brain!
Suddenly, her mind became extraordinarily clear. She thought calmly, her cognitive abilities enhanced several times over, while an inhuman rationality devoured all emotion, leaving only “correct” and “absolute” echoing in her mind.
If her usual thoughts were like feeble currents threading through the brain matter, barely illuminating the chaotic darkness they passed, now her brain was fully illuminated, transparent as a flawless crystal!
Sensing only positive effects, Ashley didn’t panic. It was just that her thoughts raced so fast her body lagged behind, creating a delay.
Meanwhile, the sinking light points filtered through flesh and bone into the stem cells of her bone marrow and went dormant without reacting.
Ashley staggered among the shelves, hand pressed to her forehead. Though controlling her body was difficult, her thinking was unaffected. She made her way to the workbench at the wall, carved from a single block of limestone.
Yellowed candles piled at the four corners, their wax tears dripping and hanging in clumps along the edges. She pushed aside papers of various materials covered in assorted texts and diagrams, revealing an odd pattern etched into the tabletop.
“Hu…”
Ashley braced herself against the table edge, studying the pattern while catching her breath, waiting out the duration of the elixir’s effects.
Her eyes scanned the design on the limestone surface. At its center was a massive Mutated Ankh Cross. The downward extension consisted of dozens of smooth, soft tentacles like bowstrings or dead snakes. The sides curved into inverted crescents, while the upward ring radiated concentric circles.
The circles sprawled across the table, linking stars into a vast, intricate constellation. Staring at it too long made the spiked stars seem to rotate slowly.
“【Heavenly Father】【Myriad Stars】… What exactly are they… Those guys in the family… The reason they attacked the Hoicher Meteorological Station… Did the scientific team there observe the secrets of the stars?”
Ashley skimmed the papers. Though vague and full of coded language, under the amplification of the mysterious light points, inspiration struck, and she grasped the key points.
She gradually realized the family members might not be madmen. Their plans were meticulous and purposeful, spanning generations in pursuit of something terrifyingly extreme—like the three great families in Rust Lake.
Whether seeking redemption or profit, they had clearly begun disregarding law and morality, becoming terrorists.
The light points’ effects faded rapidly. Her once-transparent brain grew dim and turbid again. In the pitch-black void of her mind, occasional neural impulses flickered weakly, stubbornly illuminating the despair.
“No—no!”
Ashley clawed at her hair neurotically, nails scraping her scalp as if to trap the escaping points through her strands. A profound sense of loss assaulted her!
She felt herself growing dull and unwise, regressing step by step on the path to transcendence! The sensation of devolving from superhuman to mortal was like humanity reverting to apes—like looking back from now at her past ignorant self, breeding immense regret!
“Aaah…”
Ashley collapsed to her knees, letting out a cry of desolate loss. Her trembling fingers reached for the vial’s stopper again. Just as she loosened it, she summoned immense willpower to slam it down and fling it away like it was electrified. The sturdy bone vial didn’t shatter but rolled into the corner with a gurgle.
Then, she curled up tightly on the floor, eyes wide open, drenched in cold sweat, battling the intense withdrawal.
After enduring it for a while, it finally eased. She realized this substance was too advanced for humans.
If she had used the entire bottle, she might have transcended into something beyond the species—but whatever it was, it would be far removed from humanity.
