Chapter 627 - 172: Born a Worthless Stone, Not Worth Mourning If Destroyed
"Ha... Ha..."
South District, a certain alley.
An Le, who had been running for an unknown amount of time, finally stopped in the middle of the alley, bent over, gasping for breath.
After having used her tentacles earlier, she lost all sensation below her neck, and now, having pushed her body to its limits, it felt as if she was about to collapse, leaning against the wall for support.
An Le’s face turned slightly pale, but she gritted her teeth and immediately pulled at her clothes.
After confirming the clothes had returned to being inanimate and no longer restricted her movements, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, seeing the message from her mother on her phone, she couldn’t help but dial the number,
"Beep~"
"Hello, daughter?"
"Mom, what was going on earlier, why did you suddenly send me that message?!"
Startled by An Le’s angry voice, her mother was slightly taken aback and said,
"Hiss, I don’t know what got into me just now, had a sudden urge to see that Spencer you brought last time..."
"Well... what about now?"
"Ugh, what was I thinking? That kid eats a lot, doesn’t take off shoes indoors, why would I want her around? Just to clean up more often?"
"..."
Hearing this, An Le glanced at her phone, her face showing a hint of confusion.
Her mind quickly processed the reaction from her mother, sensing a familiarity...
Memory modification?
"Okay... then... I’ll hang up now."
"Hey, wait, when are you coming back... "
"Beep... Beep..."
An Le hung up the phone, looking at her pale face on the darkened phone screen.
Then, in the next second, she suddenly snarled through gritted teeth,
"Little Thumb!"
"..."
A white snake with a slightly guilty expression appeared on her shoulder.
It flicked out its tongue, watching An Le, unsure of what to say.
But there was a trace of anger on An Le’s face as she turned to stare directly at Little Thumb, asking,
"Little Thumb, is there... something you’re hiding from me?"
"Well, um, this..."
"Besides my parents, I’ve only ever considered Xiao Huan, Spencer, and you as the most important in my life..."
Seeing Little Thumb look away, tears formed in An Le’s eyes, then she grabbed Little Thumb’s neck, redirecting its gaze towards her,
"Now that Spencer has deceived me, are you planning to lie to me too?"
"..."
"Tell me, was the strange behavior of my parents, my phone, and my clothes all related to Spencer?"
Seeing the pitiful expression on An Le’s face, Little Thumb hesitated for a second, then sighed and admitted,
"Yes."
Upon hearing Little Thumb’s words, An Le’s eyes flicked slightly, finally loosening her grip on its neck.
Then, she asked again,
"Does she also have superpowers like you, Little Thumb?"
"...Yes, but not quite like yours."
An Le took a deep breath, showing confusion,
"Then why didn’t you tell me before? You know I never believed I was some unique Child of Destiny...
"Just now, when my parents were affected, do you know how scared I was?
"If you had told me about this earlier, I could have... sob..."
Listening to An Le’s slightly frightened voice, Little Thumb sneaked a glance at her, only to be caught by the tears at the corner of her eye.
It quickly looked away, but a second later, it couldn’t help extending its tail to gently stroke the back of her head.
"Sob sob sob..."
It truly didn’t mean to withhold this from An Le, leading to her getting the short end of the stick, almost having her parents taken by the aftermath of Thumb’s power.
It had been told before, the deity had forbidden it from revealing these to the host before discovering and asking about other fingers.
This wasn’t just some prank by the deity, it was objectively better to delay informing the host.
Informing the host of other fingers’ existence would accelerate the finger competition, which is a double-edged sword for any host.
For the current An Le, it’s more harmful than beneficial.
Swelling desire would not only strengthen the power of the finger but would also bring increasingly severe side effects to the host using it.
If the host’s desire exploded, evolving the modifier to its peak in an instant, the first to be wiped out wouldn’t be other competing fingers but the host who couldn’t handle the side effects.
Once the host dies, the finger has to find another host and start afresh.
The only solution is to progress gradually, step by step, allowing the host to adapt to the modifier’s side effects.
Only when the finger reaches its full form with the host alive can it be considered a victory.
But An Le was given this sudden upgrade because of Spencer’s betrayal, leaving her shaken.
Continuing to use it would lead to side effects far exceeding those of other contemporaneous hosts. If she were told of this matter...
It would likely fan the flames.
"..."
However, it is a risk and an opportunity.
An Le was initially just an inadequate ’substitute,’ unable to secure Tong Yingying, the ’ace mecha,’ hence she was chosen instead.
Not only is she weak, but also has a strong sense of morality, making her no match for other significant competitors under normal circumstances.
Now, there is this heaven-sent opportunity through Spencer’s betrayal, and if she doesn’t seize it, she could never win in her lifetime.
Since she was merely a substitute, destroying her wouldn’t be a big loss, so why not take a gamble...
What if she wins?
Thinking this way, Little Thumb hardened its heart, yet still expressed helplessness on the surface, saying,