Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 419 - 54: Irreplaceable Things_2

"I have a question," Ling Xiao suddenly said. "Since you can use Teleportation Magic, why don't you just teleport us outside the factory?"

"Teleportation Magic is essentially a means of instant movement, and since it's movement, there will be a trajectory involved. I can't teleport you from inside a sealed space to the outside—the only outcomes of forced spellcasting are either you end up as a smeared mess on the door or wall, or you pass through molecular gaps in an even more 'fragmented' form to the outside... Of course, I can't reassemble those smaller-than-molecule bits back into a person," Lilith candidly replied.

"So if we keep our retreat path open while fighting the supernatural entities later, you could teleport us out at any time, right?" Ling Xiao asked again.

"Theoretically, yes... If I hadn't been ambushed, and those chains of the supernatural entities hadn't sealed most of my magical abilities, that guy wouldn't have been able to get close to me at all. I could've toyed with it just by teleporting," Lilith said confidently.

"Since your teleportation can work on us, it should work on the enemy too, right?" Jiang Yu's eyes lit up. "For example... teleporting the entity into a trap we've set up in advance..."

"Nice idea, but reality is harsh," Lilith sighed. "The stronger the entity, the harder it is to target them with spells. They can resist my spells, and might even make the spell backfire on me... like teleporting my head to the rooftop, my limbs to the first floor, and the torso to the open ground outside... Unless I'm sure my abilities can completely suppress the opponent, I won't take that risk."

"But I'm also an infected, why..." Jiang Yu asked.

"Do you want me to say 'you're too weak' out loud?" Lilith rolled her eyes.

Jiang Yu: "..."

"Let's go."

Ling Xiao drew his Godslaying Spear and headed straight toward Factory No. 5.

"Brother Ling Xiao, to be honest, I'm quite interested in that spear in your hand." Lilith immediately teleported behind Ling Xiao. "Can I take a look at it?"

"No," Ling Xiao responded decisively.

"Don't be so stingy..." Lilith said in a nearly coquettish tone.

Jiang Yu, walking at the back, heard Lilith's voice and, remembering the fact that this guy was once a man... a shiver ran down her spine...

Ling Xiao said nothing.

Only Ling Xiao and Sun Hang knew the secret of the Godslaying Spear; it technically wasn't part of the Federation's official 'containment items,' so he naturally wouldn't use the excuse of 'you don't have the clearance' to refuse Lilith. And with his emotions completely absent, Ling Xiao seemed to have also lost the ability to lie... Faced with Lilith's request, he simply chose to remain silent.

"If you're not going to show it, then fine, but don't ignore me," Lilith said, her body closely pressed against Ling Xiao, almost glued to his back. "But there's something big sister wants to remind you of: that gun in your hand is much more dangerous than you think... It's not a toy for children."

"I know," Ling Xiao said.

"Do you really know?" Lilith asked with a somewhat eerie smile. "Do you know what price you have to pay after pulling the trigger?"

Ling Xiao remained silent.

"Damn! Seems like you do know!" Lilith suddenly swore, "How the hell did they let you use that thing? Are they planning to treat you as a disposable item?"

"I requested it myself," Ling Xiao said.

"Are you tired of living?" Lilith was a bit speechless.

"No."

"Are you planning to use it as a trump card to go down with the enemy in a dire situation?" Lilith muttered, "But holding a trump card openly like this, are you planning to have a showdown with the entity the moment you see it?"

Ling Xiao said nothing, only quickening his pace to widen the distance between him and Lilith.

"Do you not have any other weapons?" Lilith, with another teleport, moved in front of Ling Xiao, fuming, "If you don't have other weapons, why are you leading the charge like a hero, treating yourself as cannon fodder?"

Ling Xiao gave her a glance but still said nothing.

"Fine, I'll lead the way!" Lilith said, pulling out two pebbles inscribed with strange symbols from her pocket and tossed them to Ling Xiao.

"What's this?" Ling Xiao asked.

"Runestone, a vessel for magic. I can store my magic inside it to use as a one-time consumable... You can think of it as a magic scroll from fantasy stories," Lilith said. "The green one is a defensive rune; once crushed, it creates a defensive shield that blocks physical and energy attacks not stronger than the shield itself. The red one is a blast rune, and you can throw it like a grenade... But I assure you, its power is greater than any grenade you've ever seen, so you should throw it as far as possible."

"Is this considered an object-type entity?" Jiang Yu asked.

"Yes and no. Dubhe Tower defines it as a 'meme-based derivative,' while Institute No. 1 wants to classify it under 'general-purpose anomaly equipment,' but I rejected it," Lilith explained.

"Why reject it?"

"If a piece of anomaly equipment can be used by anyone and mass-produced without limits... I'd be doing nothing but making runestones all day if it got popular," Lilith grumbled. "It takes me over a hundred hours to make the simplest runestone and the success rate is less than one percent... If they use them like grenades, they'd still waste them faster than I can make, even if it kills me."

Jiang Yu wanted to ask more, but Ling Xiao, walking ahead, suddenly stopped.

"We're here."

Unknowingly, the three had arrived in front of Factory No. 5.

"Huh..." Jiang Yu turned around and found that Factory No. 1, where they had started, was already far behind—within just a couple of minutes of conversation, they had moved almost a kilometer.

"Don't be surprised, it's just the simplest 'Shrinking the Ground into Inches'... besides Western magic, I also dabble in Eastern spells," Lilith said. "This spell consumes much less than teleportation, and it's great for covering distances."

"... Incredibly magical," Jiang Yu marveled.

"I know you're envious, but don't be too envious," Lilith smiled, "My ability is very useful, but the problem is that it's just like something out of a game. Casting spells consumes mana, and once it's exhausted, I'm just a weak girl who can't even truss a chicken."

"Can mana recover then?"

"Yes, the natural recovery rate would take about a week to go from zero to full. Meditation can speed it up a bit, but it's not much, better than nothing."

"Then... you should save it," Jiang Yu said worriedly, "Save the magic, don't use it just for moving around... if you run out during a fight..."

Lilith was about to answer Jiang Yu's question, but on the other side, Ling Xiao had already placed his hand on the door of Factory No. 5.

The door, which should have been locked, made a heavy creaking sound the moment Ling Xiao touched it—the door opened on its own!