Chapter 401: Chapter 401: The Colors of Words
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"Where has Shixin gone?" Abigail hurriedly walked into the hotel room and asked Honglian.
Honglian calmly poured tea for the two of them, "Have a seat first, he’s doing some preparatory work and will be back soon."
It was six o’clock in the afternoon.
The sky gradually turned yellowish, and city lights lit up one by one, supporting the afterglow of sunset, while indicating the arrival of another sleepless night.
Abigail sighed and sat on the sofa with some helplessness. Wanderers are notoriously undisciplined, and working with them tends to lead to unexpected events. She didn’t anticipate that on the first day, they’d already start "freestyling."
But she had no one else available.
After receiving notification from her adjutant, she even had to entrust her lawyer to contact the cleaning company to temporarily seal off the Evangelicals’ lodging room under the guise of a "full house cleaning," to prevent them from sneaking back to disrupt the scene.
It seemed quite embarrassing for someone in the disciplinary team to reach this point.
Out of courtesy, Abigail took a sip of tea and couldn’t help but ask, "When you worked with him, did he often...act like this?"
"...Like what?" Honglian didn’t immediately react.
"Always so self-centered, loving to take unconventional approaches."
She couldn’t help but smile. In some ways, Chen Xuan indeed was like that, "But he’s different from other illegal wanderers."
"How is he different?"
"When he comes up with ideas, they usually work out." Honglian laughed.
Abigail raised her eyebrows slightly. Although her eyes were not visible, this subtle expression clearly conveyed skepticism.
"Don’t forget who exposed the Dimensional Limit Mechanism to the public, and who made the Jiang City branch collapse completely." She shrugged indifferently, "Was there such a prominent wanderer in the past? Though the mechanism has always seen wanderers as the primary threat for triggering erosion, those wanderers were either killed, imprisoned, or completely banished from this world, right?"
"..." Abigail was silent for a moment, "You’ve changed a lot."
Honglian didn’t expect her to say this suddenly, "Have I?"
"I find it hard to imagine how the disciplined and rule-abiding honor student from before could speak so enthusiastically about an illegal wanderer who thrives on chaos." She paused, then added, "I’m not blaming you, just feeling a bit emotional. Maybe your initial intentions remain unchanged, but your style of action is quite different."
Honglian’s expression grew serious, "It’s not me that changed, but the Dimensional Limit Mechanism itself. I have a serious question for you, Abigail. Haven’t you noticed the internal conflicts within the mechanism after working at headquarters for so many years?"
She realized the problems from the branch office, not to mention those agents at the headquarters who can overlook the whole situation.
The casual treatment of unruly ability users, excessive expansion in commercial layout, and growing emphasis on power and money...all have made the organization increasingly bloated.
Previously, she had no options.
A world full of crises still needs the Dimensional Limit Mechanism.
Even now, it still does.
Just that her perspective and mindset are different than before.
Abigail fell into deep thought.
Reid, sitting beside them, couldn’t sit still. He was about to say something when the door "clicked" open right on cue.
The three turned their heads, and it was Chen Xuan who had returned.
"Sorry for the wait." Chen Xuan smiled and locked the door.
"You should know that the longer I stay away from the branch, the more suspicion I attract." Abigail directly addressed the topic, "Time to talk about your plan, Mr. Shixin. I hope it’s not a reckless act lacking thought."
"Of course, I went to contact a friend."
"What friend?"
"A friend with special abilities." Chen Xuan turned on the phone’s video and placed it on the tea table, "Please take a look at the camera."
"Me?" Abigail pointed at herself.
"Yes, remove the blindfold." Chen Xuan nodded.
"Aren’t you going to explain what this is all about first?" Reid complained.
"Explaining is too troublesome, and merely verbal persuasion is hard to convince. It’s better to let your superior experience it firsthand." He looked at Abigail, "Isn’t time pressing? This is the most efficient way."
Actually, whether she removed the blindfold or not didn’t matter, but Chen Xuan just wanted to involve her.
Moreover, those emerald-like eyes were indeed quite beautiful.
Abigail sighed lightly and complied by taking off the blindfold.
"Does this work?"
"Certainly." Chen Xuan clapped his hands, "Keep your gaze on the camera, don’t move. Next, my friend will transfer an ability to you."
"Transfer...what?" She was stunned.
"What did you just say?" Reid was shocked and quickly stood up to ask.
"Shh." Chen Xuan deliberately made a gesture for silence. "Don’t panic. Random movements will ruin it."
This "friend" naturally didn’t exist. He hadn’t even opened a live broadcast link; the phone merely played a recording. The actual ability transfer came from his glasses...or the QR scanner hidden in his pocket. By scanning, he clearly saw that aside from "Barrier," Abigail now possessed the ability "Voice of Trust."
This ability was transferred from Walter.
As Chen Xuan expected, Walter cared more about family and business dealings with the "mechanism," rather than a standalone superpower. As long as business continued, his safety would be protected by the "mechanism," and the Walter family could rely on it. Therefore, when Chen Xuan proposed retrieving the ability temporarily, Walter agreed without objection.
This is the convenience brought by an LV6 store manager.
With the removal of ability transaction restrictions, some abilities previously locked by the store can now return to inventory.
Of course, the transaction premise hasn’t changed—whether it’s a normal transaction or a one-way request, it requires mutual consent.
"It’s done." Chen Xuan closed the phone to prevent them from discovering the trick, "Try to discern how I feel about you."
"Discern feelings? Wait a minute, what’s this...thing?" Abigail instinctively held her forehead, feeling as though a cluster of memories suddenly appeared in her mind. In an instant, she understood the influx of thoughts.
A new ability she had never had before.
This is also the effect of the Ability Store: it provides not only the ability itself but also countless users’ experiences and feelings.
Abigail raised her head incredulously and discovered that every time Chen Xuan spoke, she could "see" a blue hue. It represented calmness, stability, and distance—emotions most common in interactions.
"What did you do to my boss?" Reid exclaimed.
"Don’t move!" Abigail shouted, preventing her adjutant from reacting excessively. Reid’s voice was entirely different, appearing as a warm orange-yellow in her mind.
She realized it was a mixture of trust and reliance.
"...And your color?" Abigail was stunned and turned to Honglian.
"I’m a bit envious of you." Honglian smiled, "I’ve never used such an ability myself."
Her answer was green. Although these pleasing greens were mixed with some distant bluish colors, green itself represents friendship and goodwill.
Despite having red hair.
Abigail had a strange thought.
Her impression burns hotter than flames, but who knew her heart was so broad and peaceful.
Perhaps she’d never truly gotten close to her.
"What’s going on here?" Reid felt his brain short-circuiting.
"I’ve gained an ability." Abigail put the blindfold back on, understanding that this color didn’t need her eyes to see—it was a color from deep within the soul. It doesn’t exist in the material world, "I can discern the attitude of the speaker towards me."
"A, ability?" Reid stammered, "How is this possible? Aren’t abilities only supposed to be plundered? Could people actively give them to others?"
"Honestly, I’m as surprised as you are." Abigail murmured as she looked at her hands, "I thought I’d seen enough abilities, yet the wanderer gave me a surprise. If your friend gets caught by the mechanism, I can’t imagine what the world would become."
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