As he spoke, he stole a glance at Ren Man, who was standing not far away. His originally calm tone weakened by half, and he cautiously added, "Currently, this human is a stowaway; he wasn't invited by an invitation."
"That's why I didn't notice his presence at first. I only learned of his origins once the mission was officially handed down from above."
Ren Yi fell into a brief silence.
The plot was certainly exciting—the world's will self-destructing, internal strife among the natives, the Alliance getting caught in the crossfire...
These stories sounded full of twists and turns, and he had enjoyed listening to them.
But why did he feel like he hadn't actually learned anything useful?
"Even though the backstory was quite extensive..."
Ren Yi looked at him, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but speak his mind.
"It feels like there isn't much actionable information?"
Ren Yi raised a hand to support his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
He spoke with some hesitation.
"So, all we know now is that he has a very strong talent."
"But as for what that specific talent is or what his true goal is, we still can't determine either."
As soon as these words were spoken, the scene fell into a dead silence.
The few Anomalies looked at one another, but no one spoke up to respond.
The air seemed to freeze. From far off in the entertainment city, a high-pitched shout of "I won!" drifted over.
The atmosphere was so awkward that Ren Yi felt like he was about to die of embarrassment.
"Heh... heh heh."
The waiter gave a dry laugh, the expression on his face exceptionally stiff.
When you don't know what to say, just laugh first.
"Anyway, that's all the information I have on my end. I don't know anything else."
"This... these things are mainly what we need to focus on researching later. We can't figure it all out in such a short time."
So, where was the mission info?
Was the big shot who assigned this mission a bit unreliable?
Ren Yi rubbed his temples.
So, not only do the Alliance Parents let their children run wild, but the Alliance higher-ups also let their subordinates do the same?
Just send the mission out, leave the intel to chance, and let the results depend on fate?
The fish rots from the head down... no, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
"Fine."
With a face full of dark lines, Ren Yi completely gave up on getting any key intel from this group of unreliable guys.
Then, his gaze shifted to his shoulder, landing on the cockatoo that had been unusually restless for a while.
That is, Wang Zhixin, who had transformed into a parrot and seemed to be enjoying his role as a bird quite a bit.
Wang Zhixin fluttered his wings, hopping back and forth on his shoulder, looking full of energy.
For a moment, Ren Yi was at a loss.
How should he address him now?
Calling him Little Wang seemed too flippant, Mr. Wang felt too distant, and King of Xin or Wang Zhixin felt a bit too formal.
"Uh, so, Mr. Xin, you're so excited, is there something you want to tell me?"
Ren Yi put a stop to his theatrical antics.
Wang Zhixin immediately stopped moving, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
He fluttered his wings twice, landed in Ren Yi's palm, tilted his small head, and spoke in human tongue.
"I can speak now?"
"Oho?" Dr. Zhao's eyes lit up instantly.
"I've seen plenty of humanoid NPCs, but this is the first time I've seen one using a small puppet as a body."
"Young man, is this parrot for sale? The price is negotiable. Any amount of chips is fine!"
His focus was certainly peculiar.
Without a second thought, Ren Yi stepped back two paces, shielding the parrot in his arms.
It wouldn't be a big deal if someone from the entertainment city said that, but coming from Dr. Zhao... that was worth being wary of.
"Not for sale... I've already refused that many times today!"
"Go buy one from his shop yourself," Ren Yi said, pointing at the waiter nearby.
"Aiya, puppets are easy to find, but operators are hard to come by..."
Ren Yi ignored him and looked down at Wang Zhixin, who was perched obediently in his palm.
"So, what exactly were you trying to warn me about just now?"
Wang Zhixin fluttered his wings. His previously relaxed gaze instantly became serious, and a look of gravity actually appeared on his small bird face.
"Mr. Ren Yi, that guy from before—hardly a word out of his mouth was true."
Ren Yi nodded slightly, not surprised.
Just listening to the Battle-Damaged Guy's words, he had felt a sense of dissonance.
From the moment he first noticed Wang Zhixin's abnormal restlessness, he had already harbored suspicions; now, they were simply confirmed.
However, he hadn't expected Wang Zhixin to be able to see through it directly.
"How did you know?" A flash of surprise crossed Ren Yi's eyes. "Is this your talent?"
Come to think of it, he had never actually asked Wang Zhixin about his talent.
Among the top-tier humans who appeared in the Three Cities World, every one of them had a trump card.
The old Pope had True Sight, allowing him to remain unaffected by Azure's brand of piety.
Extinction, who had been turned into a mutant beast, had Unfettered Body, allowing him to maintain absolute clarity within an Instance at the cost of his daily sanity, greatly increasing his resistance to Contamination.
There was no reason for Wang Zhixin, a lord of a city, not to have one.
After all, Wang Zhixin was someone who had truly cleared the final Instance back then.
However, after a Participant becomes an NPC, they lack the support of a world's will, so their talent should also be restricted.
"Uh, it's not directly from a talent." Wang Zhixin quickly explained, fearing Ren Yi might misunderstand.
"This... did I explain it too simply before? This is a specialized application of my mental power."
"It's an ability I naturally possess. It wasn't granted by a world's will after entering an Instance."
"I've had training in this area since I was a child. My mental power is exceptionally sensitive when it comes to identifying lies. I can clearly sense when someone is telling a falsehood."
"However, my talent is indeed related to this."
Ren Yi suddenly understood.
He had almost forgotten that Little Wang was an Esper.
But, training since childhood and a mental power specialization for lies?
Presumably, it had to be related to the soul experiments of the Three Cities World.
Ren Yi nodded in understanding.
"Then what exactly is your talent?" Ren Yi pressed.
Wang Zhixin paused for a moment, his tone a bit bashful, as if he were embarrassed.
"Well, my talent might not be very useful now, which is why I haven't mentioned it before."
"My talent is that I can apply the aforementioned ability to the Instance rule texts I have acquired."
"Furthermore, the effect isn't limited to just judging truth or falsehood. Specifically, it includes judging whether rules are incomplete, whether they are distorted, whether there are logic traps, and so on."
Hiss, that's a bit broken.
That is an incredibly powerful talent for clearing Instances.
Ren Yi stared at Wang Zhixin with wide eyes.
Truly, one shouldn't judge a person by their looks—and now, one shouldn't judge a bird by its feathers.
Despite how dense Wang Zhixin could be at times, he was, after all, a Participant who could clear an Instance solo.
Rate on N.U.
