NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 46 – The Lost
"No, the captain said we should focus on observation tonight and not act recklessly."
Liu Sishan didn't give Zhang Ping any more time to hesitate and decisively rejected his idea.
She said seriously, "The captain's arrangements are always well thought out. Trust me, the captain loves Mingzhu City even more than you do."
"Besides... this situation reminds me of a case file I read before." She frowned, trying to recall.
Once she remembered the details, she began to explain to Zhang Ping.
About a year and a half ago, she became an official combat member of the Sweep Team and gained access to various past case files.
Some of these cases had been resolved by the Sweep Team, while others remained unsolved mysteries.
Among them, there was a particularly strange case of missing corpses from thirty years ago.
Because a large accumulation of corpses could attract Corpse-Eating Dogs, Mingzhu City practiced cremation.
However, in most cases, the city's funeral management office would leave four days for the deceased's family to mourn.
The oddity of this case was that corpses kept disappearing one after another.
Initially, this matter alarmed the Patrol Guard, but they searched the entire city without finding any clues. For a whole month, corpses continued to disappear, and eventually, the City Lord transferred the case to the Sweep Team for investigation.
But the investigation ended inconclusively.
Liu Sishan couldn't understand the case, so she took the file to consult Situ Shibai. Situ Shibai told her that the case was the work of The Lost. Unfortunately, The Lost was very cunning and fled decisively once they realized they had alarmed the Big Three of Mingzhu City.
Thus, the case became a cold case.
"Sister Sisi, what kind of monster is The Lost?" Zhang Ping couldn't help but ask after hearing the story.
Liu Sishan replied gravely, "The Lost are also Awakeners. The captain once told me that an ability will gradually change according to the user's habits, eventually becoming the form most suited to the user. If the user's mind isn't strong enough and they become controlled by their ability, what do you think happens then?"
"The Lost?" Zhang Ping's eyes widened in shock.
Liu Sishan nodded, "Yes, The Lost are Awakeners who can't control their own power and instead become slaves to it."
"That can happen?" Zhang Ping was stunned.
But thinking it over, he realized he had also been subtly influenced by his abilities.
In his previous life, he wasn't particularly lazy, but he always found time to relax and have fun. After coming to this world and consuming the Contract Gem, his greatest joy seemed to be physical training.
Thousands of push-ups and sit-ups—he wouldn't have dared to think about it in his previous life.
Moreover, ever since he gained the Fire Eater ability, he loved staying by the furnace. After acquiring the Night Walker ability, he slept less and less at night. With the Appraisal Skill, he constantly used it out of curiosity.
And the Pureblood Body he had just obtained...
A few minutes ago, he was even thinking of finding an excuse to stay inside Liu Sishan's body and not come out.
In reality, he had indeed been influenced by his abilities, but the changes were subtle and gradual.
"Sister Sisi, do you think I'll become one of The Lost in the future?" he asked worriedly.
Liu Sishan smiled, "It's too early to worry about that. The Lost are usually top-level Awakeners. But the captain said that as long as you hold onto your sense of justice and don't easily break your own moral boundaries, you won't risk becoming lost."
In simple terms, it means controlling your abilities rather than being controlled by them.
The stronger an individual becomes, the less they are bound by morality and law. Once such a strong person breaks their own moral boundaries, they are likely to do so repeatedly.
This is very dangerous.
The best approach is to firmly hold onto your moral boundaries and not give yourself the chance to challenge them, thus fundamentally eliminating the risk of becoming lost.
For example, Situ Shibai never copies other people's abilities without their permission. This is a form of self-restraint.
It prevents him from becoming a slave to his increasingly powerful abilities.
"I understand!"
Zhang Ping couldn't help but think of the late Zeng Xiaofan.
Because of his increased power and the knowledge that he wouldn't be punished, he had actually taken the law into his own hands. The correct approach should have been to knock Zeng Xiaofan out and hand him over to the Sweep Team for judgment.
Just because the Patrol Guard was gone didn't mean Mingzhu City's laws were void. He had other options.
"Sister Sisi, I actually did something wrong tonight. I killed someone."
Zhang Ping clenched his fists and, after some reflection, looked at Liu Sishan and seriously confessed to killing Zeng Xiaofan.
"Got it. Though taking the law into your own hands is wrong, since the other party was so evil, let's not make it a habit. I won't report this to the captain, so you won't get a reward." Liu Sishan couldn't help but ruffle Zhang Ping's hair and smile.
Zhang Ping frowned, "There was a reward?"
"The Zeng Xiaofan you mentioned, if he's the notorious Flower Destroyer I know of, then not only did he deserve to die, but you could also claim a reward from the Patrol Guard or the Sweep Team, dead or alive. His bounty was quite high," Liu Sishan replied.
Zhang Ping felt a bit regretful, but thinking about The Lost, he felt it was justified.
If he had known Zeng Xiaofan was the Flower Destroyer and could be killed without consequence, then killing him would have been reasonable. But at the time, he killed out of anger, which was wrong.
This was different from killing to save Chen Junting. The former was self-defense against a clearly hostile attacker.
The latter was already scared out of his wits and posed no threat to his life.
"Sister Sisi, besides becoming one of The Lost, are there other potential dangers for Awakeners?" Zhang Ping asked worriedly.
Liu Sishan smiled, "Generally, there aren't many dangers. Awakeners usually have good control over their abilities. The Lost are rare. However, if The Lost further deteriorate, they become true monsters—The Fallen!"
"They can evolve?" Zhang Ping was shocked.
Liu Sishan nodded, "I was shocked when I first learned about it too. The Lost are like patients with mental illnesses, but The Fallen are abilities that have developed their own consciousness. They will continually transform their bodies to strengthen themselves, eventually becoming... monsters!"
"Abilities with their own consciousness?"
Zhang Ping felt a chill, as if his abilities were watching him from the darkness.
In the dim light, Liu Sishan looked at Zhang Ping's pale face and couldn't help but smile, "Because abilities gradually become the user's habitual form. What if the user's habitual form is abnormal? An abnormal state creates an abnormal ability form, which is The Fallen!"
"Awakeners have such terrifying hidden dangers. It's too scary." Zhang Ping swallowed hard, feeling like he could lose control at any moment.
Seeing this, Liu Sishan laughed, "Zhang Ping, what are you afraid of? Can't you control your mind and body completely? Just give yourself an order: don't get lost, don't fall. Isn't that simple?"
"......"
Zhang Ping felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his whole body turning to stone.
