Epoch of Twilight

Luo Yuan walked out of the cave and saw everybody having a chat. As soon as they realized Luo Yuan was there, they all turned to look at him.

"Shishi, could you come with me?" Luo Yuan said. He waved at Wang Shishi before he walked back to the cave.

"Sure." Wang Shishi ran happily towards him, entering the cave. "What’s up, Brother Luo?" she asked.

"Come here and finish this," Luo Yuan said, pointing at the Wisdom Heart.

There was only a small portion left, so it was definitely not enough for everyone. Based on the speed of digestion, Luo Yuan predicted that the portion would only be enough for one person to upgrade his or her Intelligence. Their special relationship aside, Wang Shishi was still considered the strongest person after him in terms of power, so she’d be able to make a bigger contribution if she ate the Wisdom Heart.

"What’s this?" she asked curiously.

A big portion of the heart was gone, so it did not look as scary or disgusting anymore.

"It’a fruit that can increase your Intelligence. Don’t panic, I’m here," Luo Yuan explained briefly to her.

Wang Shishi seemed very happy. As she looked at the half-eaten fruit, she asked, "Am I the only person who gets to eat it?"

Luo Yuan nodded and said, "This thing is very valuable and I only found one. Don’t tell anyone else after you eat it, understand?"

Wang Shishi promised and kept smiling. Luo Yuan looked at her and frowned in worry. There was not much risk to an Intelligence upgrade. However, Wang Shishi looked quite emotional, so it would probably be very difficult to get her senses to shut down if he did not remind her.

Luo Yuan told her about the experience of eating the fruit, and Wang Shishi got panicked. She was afraid of the quiet and dark that Luo Yuan had mentioned.

"You don’t have to be afraid as long as you calm down." Luo Yuan realized that his words had had the complete opposite effect, so he tried to make her feel better.

His feelings for Wang Shishi were complicated. He felt as if he had a crush on her, but also like she was his own daughter. He was always worried about her, and he was sure he would not do the same for any other girls.

He thought again before he said, "You can try to think of something happy. It will be over soon. Is that clear?" he asked.

"Yes, crystal." Wang Shishi looked tense and serious.

Luo Yuan was probably worrying too much. After all, she had gone through so much with him for such a long time and killed quite a number of mutated beasts. She was no longer the little girl who could not sleep alone at night. She rarely acted like a little girl in front of him anymore.

"Alright, take it now. I’m waiting here," Luo Yuan said.

Wang Shishi took a deep breath, put the Wisdom Heart into her mouth and started to chew. She frowned as she slowly bit the fruit and swallowed it.

"I feel numb!" she said a few minutes later.

"Don’t panic. Your senses will start to feel weird next, but you need to keep calm," Luo Yuan said.

"Alright, I got it." Wang Shishi calmed down when she heard Luo Yuan’s gentle voice.

Time passed, but she remained silent. Suddenly, her body slanted to the side and she almost fell. Luo Yuan rushed over to support her. She didn’t have the energy to support herself anymore. Apparently, her cerebral nerves had disconnected from her body.

Wang Shishi had reached a critical moment. She had not said anything in a long time. Luo Yuan laid her down on the ground and sighed, touching her cheek. He realized there was a teardrop sliding down from her eye.

He was worried about her. After going through so many critical moments together, Luo Yuan considered her his closest family. He could not imagine what would happen to him if anything happened to Wang Shishi.

Anxious, he kept making stupid thoughts in his head. He did not realize that Wang Shishi had recovered from her coma until she tried to move.

"You’re awake! How do you feel?" he asked nervously right away.

"I have no idea. It’s strange. I feel more conscious now." Wang Shishi slowly got up and looked around her curiously. It seemed as if her surroundings had changed.

"What’s the product of 33 and 52?" Luo Yuan suddenly asked.

Wang Shishi was stunned. "1716!" she said after a few seconds.

"How about the product of 78 and 24?" Luo Yuan asked again.

"1872!" This time she was faster. It had only taken her three seconds.

"How about the product of 23 and 465 then?" Luo Yuan continued.

The first two questions had been within the limits of her ability. Normal people had an Intelligence level of 11 points or higher, so they could answer in 10 seconds as long as they could do mental arithmetics. The last question, though, was not as easy as it sounded. Usually, it required an Intelligence level of 13 points or some kind of special training to find the answer.

"It’s so difficult! You know I’m bad at Math!" Wang Shishi complained after thinking for a long time.

Luo Yuan was not happy with her. He felt that she had wasted the Wisdom Heart.

"Apparently, her intelligence level was relatively low. Even though she ate the Wisdom Heart, it does not seem to be affecting her much. She probably only has 12-points of Intelligence, but it’s still better than nothing. At least her power should have been upgraded a little," Luo Yuan tried to comfort herself.

Intelligence was a unique property. Perhaps the Intelligence of mutated beasts was too low, or maybe there was some kind of limitation on human genes. Luo Yuan had never seen any creature able to upgrade their Intelligence after consuming a heart or a brain. On the other hand, Will was similar to Intelligence, and Will was not affected by consuming internal organs of mutated beasts.

Luo Yuan felt depressed, but Wang Shishi had not noticed anything. She was too busy looking around and jumping from time to time.

"I can feel the Earth rotating!" she suddenly said.

Luo Yuan felt strange at first, but he reacted very fast. "What? Did you say that you can feel the earth spinning? Impossible!"

"I have no idea how, but I really can feel it!" Wang Shishi looked confused.

"Try to describe it," Luo Yuan said.

"It’s quite difficult to describe. I feel like I’m moving forward at a very high speed." Wang Shishi looked scared.

"Is the feeling always there, or does it come and go?" Luo Yuan asked seriously.

"I can only feel it when I focus," Wang Shishi said after some thought.

Wang Shishi was really lucky that the Wisdom Heart had worked on her. It was a very rare thing to happen. Based on the system, evolution did not take place when the system deemed someone as extremely weak.

However, Luo Yuan did not look happy. He was frowning and looking very serious. Obviously, that was not good. The Earth rotated at 465 km/hr, which was a scary speed that was supposed to make people feel weak. It didn’t matter if Wang Shishi could use that power or not, the fact alone that she could connect with such a dangerous speed put her in an extremely dangerous situation. She could even die if she made any careless mistakes.

"Listen, don’t try to explore that power again. Don’t even pay attention to it. I don’t want you to be thrown out in space by the centrifugal force or be squashed by the air pressure," Luo Yuan told her strictly.

Wang Shishi felt scared by Luo Yuan’s advice. She immediately got over the excitement of obtaining a new power and said, "I understand, Brother Luo. I won’t do it anymore."