The long beard-like tentacles of Wuliang twitched as if startled, then pitifully wrapped around Liu Mingxi's body, hugging her completely.
Ye Fan raised an eyebrow. "It looks like Wuliang doesn't really want to."
Still, he was genuinely tempted. A free Wuliang-level helper was too good of a bargain to pass up.
Liu Mingxi gently stroked the silver-gray tentacles, comforting it. "There, there! It's inconvenient for you to follow me around, and I don't want to erase you either. Tagging along with the Night Watchers to help out—think of it as doing a good deed! Besides, it's not like I'm abandoning you. Can't we still stay in touch? Plus, I'll have time to come visit you."
"'Erase'? 'Stay in touch'? It seems you still have a lot of things you haven't explained clearly." Ye Fan said with a warm smile.
Liu Mingxi rolled her eyes. "You didn't ask! How was I supposed to know what to say?"
"'Erase' means exactly what it sounds like—canceling Heaven's Eye just like yesterday. But Heaven's Eye is a single-use item that disappears on its own when the time is up; I simply erased it a bit early.
However, I can still paint the erased creation again, exactly the same, with no drop in power, and with the exact same consciousness as before. I just can't paint a second one, meaning I can't bring a second true entity into reality, though it can still exist on the drawing paper.
This kind of 'erasing' applies to high-level creations—that's what I call powerful creations.
Other creations I can paint many times, as long as they aren't innovative creations with self-awareness and emotions.
As for 'staying in touch', didn't Professor Li just analyze the mental link between us? No matter how far apart we are, my creations and I can communicate. It's just that convenient."
With that, Liu Mingxi gently patted Wuliang's soft, mechanical umbrella-shaped head and untangled the tentacles wrapped around her.
"It looks like I need to call Professor Li back. There's still a lot to record." Ye Fan opened his phone, walked to the other side, and made the call to speak with Professor Li.
Whatever Liu Mingxi communicated mentally with Wuliang, it finally let go of the tentacles tightly wrapped around her, swaying them with a lingering reluctance as flashes of blue light flickered on and off.
"Is your creation similar to a Mystery?" Zuo Qing, who had been standing quietly to the side, asked.
"I wouldn't know about that. I haven't had much contact with Mysteries, but I'm certain it isn't one!
They are living beings, just like naive, ignorant children who need my guidance. Their nature is kind, which probably has to do with the goodness in my own heart.
Didn't Professor Li just say so? The Forbidden Ruins are fused with my mind, and the disposition of my creations is related to mine."
As if validating Liu Mingxi's words, Wuliang timidly wrapped its tentacles around Zuo Qing's arm.
Feeling a chilly coolness radiating from the arm, Zuo Qing shuddered, but he didn't pull away. He knew that if Wuliang was like a child, then right now it was interacting with an adult, curiously observing him.
Moreover, Wuliang would be going on missions with the Night Watchers in the future, which made it all the more important that he didn't pull away now. He needed to make Wuliang feel that the Night Watchers were also trustworthy.
Imitating a child's parent, Zuo Qing gently patted Wuliang's umbrella-shaped head. *Well, it's actually quite soft!*
Wuliang shrank its head back in fear, but sensing no harm from Zuo Qing, it curiously approached him again, its cold tentacles climbing up his entire arm.
Liu Mingxi stood to the side, watching Wuliang's movements with a sense of fulfillment, much like a parent seeing their child grow up, knowing that the innocent child ultimately had to face the unfamiliar world outside.
When Professor Li returned, he was greeted by the sight of Liu Mingxi wearing an affectionate, maternal smile while Zuo Qing stood rigid, letting Wuliang wrap around him.
A question hung in Professor Li's eyes as he looked with perplexity at Ye Fan, who was still standing idly by.
Ye Fan briefly explained the situation to Professor Li, and as a result, the latter became even more excited than Ye Fan.
"Now that is wonderful! Come, come! Little Ling'er, is it? Welcome, welcome!"
Professor Li clapped his hands in excitement and patted Wuliang's head just like a friendly neighborhood grandpa.
This caused Wuliang's soft head to bob up and down. Dissatisfied, it swatted away Professor Li's hand and quickly scrambled onto Zuo Qing's head, completely enveloping him.
Liu Mingxi, still smiling maternally on the side, did not stop their interaction, instead turning to discuss Wuliang's future arrangements with Ye Fan.
"Wuliang gets along very well with you all. Since it can be considered to have 'been born' here anyway, how do you plan to arrange things for it going forward?"
"Wuliang-rank ones are usually assigned to those more developed mega-cities, but considering that Wuliang's appearance isn't quite suited for public exposure, I'll have to see if we can make it a member of a special team. That way, it'll also be easier for it to move around.
By the way, what is Wuliang's ability?"
Ye Fan asked. Liu Mingxi hadn't mentioned Wuliang's specific abilities yet; they had only been able to sense that it possessed Wuliang-rank spiritual power.
"Wuliang is a mechanical jellyfish. Its abilities are just like a biological jellyfish—its tentacles are highly toxic. Of course, the blue light on its body is a kind of radiant energy that can be released to paralyze enemies and create illusions.
Its perception is very strong; it can anticipate danger in advance and read the target's mental activity.
Its tentacles are both attack and sensory tools, and they are extremely flexible. Its dodging speed is ten times that of an ordinary person."
Liu Mingxi explained in detail to Ye Fan.
It sounded a bit like fighting monsters in a game, but she could only be forgiven—her inspiration for painting such supernatural creations all came from watching anime and playing video games.
"By the way, what was that special team you mentioned?" Liu Mingxi vaguely remembered Zuo Qing saying something about being a Special Operations Division director who seemed to oversee all special teams.
"They are composed of a group of people with extraordinary strength and immense potential, with each team shouldering different heavy responsibilities. Look, Zuo Qing there—the Special Operations Division director—he'll arrange where Wuliang goes."
Ye Fan nodded toward Zuo Qing, whose head was still wrapped by Wuliang.
Liu Mingxi looked at Wuliang getting along harmoniously with Zuo Qing, walked over, and pulled at it to rescue Zuo Qing from its clutches.
She patted Wuliang's soft head and said softly,
"Ling, be a good boy. Starting today, you are a Night Watcher. You must listen to Uncle Zuo Qing and Uncle Ye Fan"—she heavily emphasized the word 'uncle'—"I'll come visit you often, so you have to do your job well and protect the people! Do you understand?"
Wuliang tightly wrapped its tentacles around Liu Mingxi, its blue light flashing on and off as it obediently nodded.
"This is truly a rare sight today—a non-human creation joining the Night Watchers!"
Zuo Qing shook his head with a quiet, helpless sigh from the side.
"This is a good thing! We need to take good care of our new colleague from now on!"
Ye Fan laughed and patted Zuo Qing's shoulder. "Otherwise, you'll be the one getting chased and beaten next time!"
Remembering the suffocating, oppressive killing intent Liu Mingxi had radiated last night, he still felt a lingering fear and deliberately gave Zuo Qing a solemn warning to take good care of Wuliang. Otherwise, Liu Mingxi's killing intent could definitely turn the entire Shangjing upside down.