Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1923: The Truth

Ning paused for a long moment, simply staring at Larissa, who was undergoing an emotional turmoil that he could hardly understand.

”So you can see the past?” Ning asked.

”Yes,” she answered.

Ning nodded slowly, while at the same time asking System what had happened. As it turned out, Larissa had indeed awakened the power to look into the past of anyone she wished to.

In this instance, she had wanted to help Valen Jassens and thought she was looking into his past, only for it to turn out that who she thought was Valen just wasn’t him for the past 3 months.

”Well, I guess there’s not much to say then,” Ning said. ”My name is Ning. And as you’ve figured out, I am not the person you know about.”

Larissa shrank back a little upon hearing the truth.

”What did you do to Sir Valen?” she asked.

”Nothing much,” Ning answered. ”I just sent him elsewhere to live out the rest of his life. Don’t worry, he’s happier than he was before.”

”Where did you send him?” she asked.

”I’m sorry, but I can’t answer that,” Ning said.

”How?” she asked. ”How did you make him disappear?”

”With my powers,” Ning said. There was no point in telling her more than that.

”Your powers? You turn into a bat,” she said.

”That’s just one of the many things I can do,” Ning said.

Larissa’s breathing grew haggard as she thought about everything that had happened for the past few months. All this time, she had been friends with an impostor and had never known about it.

She breathed in deeply. ”Why did you impersonate Sir Valen? What are your objectives in taking his identity?” she asked.

”Nothing really. I just needed an identity, and he happened to be one of the people no one would miss if he disappeared,” Ning said. ”And more importantly, he was someone who had no more ties to anyone else and was happy to have me replace him, which is what I did.”

Larissa didn’t understand. ”You didn’t become him for any specific reason?” she asked.

”None at all,” Ning said. ”Although, if I had to give a reason, then it’s because I want to destroy Tritus as soon as I can.”

”...what?”

She couldn’t even begin to imagine what he had to do with Tritus.

”I’m sorry, but I can’t go any deeper into this,” Ning said. ”Since you know the truth now, you are free to not associate with me anymore. I just ask that you don’t tell the others. I won’t mind if you do so later, but until I capture Tritus, I wish to hide who I am.”

Larissa’s eyes narrowed. ”Do you know something about Tritus?” she asked.

”In a general sense, yes,” Ning said. ”I haven’t exactly met him or anything, but I know more about him than anyone else in this world. And trust me, he is far too dangerous a person. He has been going unnoticed for a long time, but sooner or later, he will strike. We can’t let him do that.”

Larissa didn’t know what to say. She remained standing with her lips closing and opening as if wanting to utter something before deciding not to.

Ning scratched his chin as the silence between them grew.

”So... what do you want me to do?” he asked. ”I can stay away if that’s what you want to do.”

Larissa kept staring at him with almost a glare. Then, she spoke.

”All this time you said you were interested in my father’s murder. Was that true? Or was that just a lie to keep me tagging along?” she asked.

”It was the truth,” Ning said. ”If you want revenge on behalf of your father’s murder, I can still help you. Just tell me if you want to.”

Larissa slowly nodded. ”I... I need your help,” she said. ”The people I must go after may be far too big for me to do it all on my own. I need someone strong by my side.”

Ning smiled. ”Consider it done.”

There was a sense of relief within him at having revealed who he was. Not having to hide the truth was cathartic in its own way.

He looked around the room, deciding that it may be time to return. The sun was already down, so it was growing too dark to keep staying here. Just as he thought that, he remembered something.

”Actually, now that we’re here, can you help me with something?” Ning asked.

Larissa hesitated. ”What do you want from me?” she asked.

”I promised Valen that I would look into his family’s murder and bring him justice,” Ning said. ”If you don’t mind, since we’re already here, why don’t you look into it?”

Larissa thought for a long moment before nodding. ”Alright, I’ll do it,” she said, presenting her hand to him. ”That’s what I came here to do in the first place.”

Ning looked at her hand with a strange glint in his eyes. ”Hmm?”

”Hold my hand,” she said with an annoyed look. ”I can take another person with me to the past. That way, you can see things directly.”

”Ah!” Ning realized before taking her hand. He walked up closer and could see a somewhat distrusting emotion on her red face.

Larissa said nothing more and directly activated her technique. Ning felt something stir deep within him as a power tried to take effect. Ning let it.

The very next second, images began to fade into his eyes, overlapping across the destroyed room, turning into what it used to be. Time seemed to move backward at the moment as glimpses of the past flashed by before them.

Ning saw himself maybe twice before it switched to a miserable Valen, who spent the majority of his time drinking or passed out. They could see the backward progress of how Valen had come to be an absolute ruin over the course of many months.