NOVEL SIMPLE 0050 – Advanced Control of Platinum and Killing Intent
It took less than twenty minutes.
Taking a cab, Zoe Carter arrived home much faster than if she had taken the subway. She carried the dog cage and opened the door to her apartment.
The room, as always, lacked any sign of unfamiliar presence. This reassured Zoe, yet also made her feel a hint of... disappointment?
She couldn't help it.
With her evolving abilities, everything she saw looked like a nail to the hammer in her hand. It wasn’t that she suddenly aspired to be an omnipotent protagonist; rather, it’s hard to resist the urge to clear a patch of tall weeds when you're holding a long stick. Despite her rational mind constantly urging her to refrain from unnecessary actions, occasional impulses still stirred within her.
Therefore, Zoe realized that in her state of constant change, she needed a hobby or routine.
Keeping a pet seemed like a good choice.
Having a pet made her feel less alone.
Back when she was a diligent writer, Zoe always dreamed of having a lazy cat basking in the sun beside her desk while she typed away. When she got tired of writing, she could just reach out and stroke the cat's head. The thought was incredibly appealing.
Now, even though her focus had shifted more towards her own evolution, Zoe still wanted a pet. Although it wasn't a cat, a dog would do just fine.
With these thoughts in mind, Zoe set the cage down. She opened the cage door and prepared a water bowl and food dish for the dog. The dog, which had been quietly lying in the cage, cautiously poked its head out.
Gone was the excitement it had when they first met, when it had been running wildly on the street. Now, in front of Zoe, it behaved well and properly. Even when it stepped out of the cage to drink some water, it first glanced at Zoe for approval. This obedient demeanor brought a smile to Zoe’s face.
Gently patting the dog's head as it drank, Zoe thought for a moment before saying, "How about... I name you Platinum?"
The name, seemingly based on color, had nothing to do with the dog’s brown and white fur. It actually carried a deeper significance for Zoe. As a former web novelist, her greatest dream had been to become a platinum-awardee author, one who stood at the pinnacle of the literature world both online and offline. However, that dream had been too difficult to achieve and remained unfulfilled.
Now, for some reason, Zoe wanted to name her newly acquired dog Platinum. Perhaps it was a form of commemoration, or maybe it symbolized letting go of a simpler past. Zoe couldn't be certain.
Regardless, Platinum seemed like a fitting name.
Watching Platinum drink water and eat dog food, Zoe smiled.
At 2:30 in the afternoon.
“I have excellent strategies in mind that are exactly what a Woman needs.”
“My talents are wasted on you!”
“With my brilliant plans, taking Warrington will be as easy as flipping my hand.”
The game’s voiceovers echoed through the room. According to her short-term plan 3.0, Zoe should have been exercising at this time. However, considering the white mouse she bought from the flower and bird market in the morning would arrive in the afternoon, she did a quick 9.7-second muscle tremor exercise before indulging in some gaming.
And her game of choice was the famous internationalized chinese game "Three Warrington Kingdoms."
Zoe recalled that the last time she played "Three Warrington Kingdoms" was in college. She had spent a lot of money on in-game purchases, only to draw terrible cards each time, which led her to rage-quit and delete the game.
Now, she found that her extraordinary abilities still allowed her to enjoy the original gaming experience in this strategic card game.
Just as she was about to continue playing, there was a knock at the door.
Zoe, deeply engrossed in her game, looked towards the sound. The mice she had bought at the flower and bird market that morning had been delivered. Standing at the door was a delivery man, surrounded by a stack of clear plastic boxes, each housing the forty-five mice she had ordered.
Seeing this, Zoe rose from the sofa, phone still in hand as she played her game. With a casual swipe, she gently knocked over Platinum, who was anxiously eyeing the door.
"Silly dog, Platinum. Don’t be scared of everything just because you’re with me now," she teased, giving Platinum’s exposed belly a comforting rub before walking to the door with a smile.
Opening the door, she simultaneously dealt with the delivery man and continued her game with her other hand. Multitasking like this was effortless for her; neither focusing on two tasks at once nor navigating her phone without looking posed any difficulty.
Before long, the game concluded, and she had successfully received the mice from the delivery man. After carrying the boxes into her apartment, Zoe eagerly set up her experiment on the small hexagonal table in the living room.
First, she activated her Transparent World 2.0 ability to sense the emotions of all forty-five mice. Most of them felt uneasy and tense, with a few already in a state of fear. Using the provided tongs, she carefully picked up one mouse. Throughout this process, the mouse’s intense emotional fluctuations were clearly perceived through Transparent World 2.0.
The other mice in the same box also showed significant emotional responses, though not as pronounced as the one being handled. The mice in the other boxes displayed even milder reactions.
Next, Zoe individually lifted each mouse, sensing their subtle emotional shifts. She also performed various stimulating experiments, such as pinching and pricking, to observe their immediate responses.
This experimentation continued into the evening, making Zoe feel increasingly adept at using her emotion-sensing abilities. Besides detecting general emotions like happiness, fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, stress, confusion, and curiosity, she could now also discern the faintest emotional fluctuations.
Pondering further, Zoe began to explore whether she could influence these emotions with her mental energy. However, this attempt proved unsuccessful. Just as her telekinesis could not directly affect living beings, her mental energy could not directly interfere with their emotions either.
After a moment’s reflection, she glanced at the moon now risen outside her window. Deciding to swiftly end the suffering of these lab-worn mice, she prepared to release her killing intent.
Yet, as she was about to unleash it, a thought struck her. The nature of her killing intent seemed to share several characteristics with her mental energy. Could they be linked somehow? Realizing she had overlooked this possibility, she felt a twinge of negligence.
She concentrated, trying to blend her mental energy with her killing intent, attempting to synchronize them. Perhaps due to their intrinsic similarities, the next moment, her killing intent—typically an indiscriminate or targeted force—seemed to take on a shape.
Under the influence of her mental energy, her killing intent gained unprecedented control and malleability, opening up new avenues for its application.
