Night’s Nomenclature - Chapter 196: Forbidden Item ACE-005
“The Forbidden Item ACE-005…you have already given it to me?” Qing Chen’s tone was full of doubt and surprise.
How could I have not found out when his master gave him such an important item?
However, Li Shutong never lied to Qing Chen.
At this time, the floating vehicle had already passed over Prison No. 18 and landed lightly on the wilderness.
Li Shutong walked with Qing Chen to the secret entrance leading to the prison’s cold storage, passing through the narrow corridor surrounded by tritium lamps.
Those tritium lamps were expected to stay on for another 20 years or more.
Li Shutong walked in front and said, “I did give you ACE-005. I’ve been waiting for you to ask me for it and give you a surprise. But you’re just always so stubborn. Strictly speaking, I’m the first one to give you a forbidden item. Next time when you go to Forbidden Land 002, remember to tell those old guys so that they won’t think I’m petty.”
Qing Chen followed behind in a daze. Is the competition so fierce among his elders?
He walked behind Li Shutong, searching through his memory for all the items that Li Shutong had given him, trying to find out which one might be the Forbidden Item ACE-005.
Walking in the long narrow underground corridor Qing Chen thought hard.
Qing Chen said quietly, “Just like other time travelers, I want a Forbidden Item too. Such items can travel between two worlds with me and are tremendously useful in the Outer World, but before you give it to me, it’s still yours. I really never thought about asking for it. And I have the Marionette Strings now, which is already very good. Of course… if you want to give me another one, I won’t refuse.”
Li Shutong said, “I have been busy these days trying to restore your youthful disposition. It seems that my work was not in vain.”
With that said, Li Shutong looked back at Qing Chen.
In this dark corridor, Qing Chen actually saw a cat mask outlined with strange red lines on his master’s face.
All the answers emerged. “Master, is ACE-005 the big cat beside you? So, is that also why you can change your appearance?”
He never thought that the Forbidden Item ACE-005 could be a large cat!
Now thinking about it, Qing Chen picked up from his memory that the large cat sleeping on the table disappeared after his master showed him the cat mask. The two never appeared at the same time.
Before knowing this, Qing Chen would never believe that a living creature can transform into a mask.
Moreover, Li Shutong indeed gave it to him before, yet he returned the mask!
The feeling of realizing that he has held a Forbidden Item so soon after transmigrating made Qing Chen’s current mood a bit complicated.
“Master, how did you get this forbidden item?” Qing Chen asked.
“A gift from a friend,” Li Shutong said.
“Girlfriend?” Qing Chen asked suspiciously.
“Why are you starting to gossip like this?” Li Shutong was puzzled.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” said Qing Chen calmly, “I can’t imagine anyone other than you or the will of those ancestors in Forbidden Land 002 who would be generous enough to give others Forbidden Items.”
Li Shutong smiled confidently and said, “It was given to me by a close friend. ACE-005 is the most suitable Forbidden Item for the Knights, because our breathing technique can change one’s voice, and the Forbidden Item ACE-005 can change one’s appearance, so naturally, this forbidden item should be in the hands of the Knights. Most importantly, it’s just so cute when it’s in the form of a cat.”
“… That last reason can’t be serious right?” Qing Chen asked, feeling speechless.
“Of course, it is!” Li Shutong said, “Maine Coon cats are known to be gentle giants. They are very clingy, and forbidden items don’t shed! You can’t understand because you’ve never owned a cat before, but it’s such a relief to find a cat that won’t shed!”
Qing Chen asked, “So where is your close friend now?”
“Well, he’s dead of course,” Li Shutong said, “How else do you think I got the forbidden item?”
Qing Chen: “???”
He thought it was a sincere gift from Li Shutong’s true friend, but it turned out that this forbidden item must have been one that Li Shutong snatched!
At this time, Li Shutong took off the cat face mask and put it in Qing Chen’s hand, “From now on, it belongs to you.”
Qing Chen silently looked at the cat face mask in his hand and said, “Master, how many years has it been in your hands?”
“18 years,” Li Shutong said with some emotion, “Your Master did a lot of immoral things with it, but then again, it’s really cool to be able to change into someone else’s appearance at any time. Excellent for framing and a must-have artifact for travel.”
Qing Chen was speechless. He could even imagine what his master had done with ACE-005!
“Master, what are its containment conditions?” Qing Chen asked.
“The first step is to drop your blood on it,” Li Shutong held Qing Chen’s wrist and then pulled out two hairs from Qing Chen with the other hand.
He poured his Qi into the hair strands, and the hair immediately straightened to form needles.
“Master, why did you pull out two?” Qing Chen was puzzled.
Li Shutong said calmly, “You got a lot of hair on your head. I plucked one too many.”
Qing Chen: “…”
As he spoke, he threw away one hair, leaving only one, and stroked lightly on Qing Chen’s wrist. Qing Chen’s blood flowed down from the wrist onto the mask, seeping into it bit by bit.
“The second step is to call its name,” Li Shutong said with a smile, “Do you remember what it’s called?”
Qing Chen frowned, he searched through his memory quickly but found that he didn’t know the name of that big cat at all!
For others, they might think they must have forgotten, since, after all, the cat was around all the time, so someone must have called its name.
However, Qing Chen was very sure. Even Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan never mentioned the big cat’s name. Perhaps the two of them didn’t know what the big cat’s name was.
“Master, what’s its name?” Qing Chen asked.
“Big Fortune,” Li Shutong said with a smile, “Anyone who knows its name can become its owner. This is the containment condition of ACE-005. Now the blood in the cat face mask has been replaced by yours, you just need to call it name to become its master.”
“Big Fortune…” Qing Chen murmured, “What a name.”
The next moment, the cat face mask seemed to have felt Qing Chen’s call, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into a huge Maine Coon cat, lying on Qing Chen’s arms with a dazed expression.
It shook the fluffy hair on its body and then meowed at Li Shutong. Qing Chen actually understood its meaning in his heart, “Did you just give me away to your student?!”
Li Shutong smiled and said to Qing Chen, “Put on the mask, we are going back to prison. Remember, don’t tell others its name.”
Qing Chen asked, “Does no one else in this world know its name?”
“Well, I have deleted all related records,” Li Shutong said, “and also those who knew about it.”
That was the first time he felt such ferocious meaning from the word ‘delete’. With just a change of his mind, Big Fortune shrank into a cat mask again.
This time, when Qing Chen put it on his face again, the cat mask was no longer a blunt, cold item.
Li Shutong said, “Try to change your appearance. It will be difficult to use for the first time… Forget it, just give it a try first.”
Qing Chen thought about who he should change into. He first changed Lin Xiaoxiao’s appearance, and even imitated his voice with breathing technique and said, “Master, is this right?”
“This Forbidden Item ACE-005 is really made for you,” Li Shutong said with a sigh, “When I used to change my appearance, I had to be in front of a mirror and a photo for half an hour before I got it right. In your hands, the mask can be changed within a second. I can’t even tell if I didn’t know beforehand.”
Qing Chen then changed to Ye Wan’s face next, but his body was far less burly than Ye Wan’s, making him look a bit weird.
Looks like body shape would be something he had to pay attention to when he changes faces.
“By the way, Master, what level is ACE-005?” Qing Chen asked, “Does it have a secondary form?”
“It should be Level S because it was produced from a Level S superhuman,” Li Shutong said, “But I haven’t figured out what its second or third stages are yet. In fact, those that require sacrifices are the easiest to figure out the rules. But for items like Big Fortune, where the containment conditions are a bit weird, it’s much harder. You have no clue where to even start trying.”
At this time, Qing Chen suddenly thought of something, “Master, how many people are there in the Spades organization?”
“There are 13 core members, from Ace of Spades to Two of Spades,” Li Shutong said, “Aside from them, there are hundreds of people supporting, but 13 of them should be the only people that are superhumans.”
“Then are there any of the 13 that are similar in size to me?”
“I can think of one.”
“Do you have a picture of that person?”
“Yes,” Li Shutong said with a mysterious smile, “I’ll ask Lin Xiaoxiao to give it to you when we get back to Prison 18.”
The two continued to walk deep into the corridor, and Qing Chen asked, “Master, would anything go wrong with the student protest happening right now?”
“No,” Li Shutong replied, “Someone will protect them.”