“Ah!”

Sharp claws slowly formed on her hands, and the blonde girl could feel they were still expanding. “Don’t get any bigger! My hands hurt!”

Within seconds, swelling turned to agony. It felt like someone prying her hands off piece by piece, a heart-rending pain. The pain wrinkled Little Loli’s delicate face; her teeth clamped her lower lip, and blood… slowly trickled from her mouth. For the first time, tears shimmered in her scarlet eyes.

“Ah!”

Her cry carried pain. She clearly felt she’d lost control of her hands. “My hands… well, fine… at least it hurts less.” She toppled to the ground and blacked out, while the blood mist around her slowly drifted toward her hands.

“Beep… fusing… beep… fusing.”

After who knows how long, “Mm…” Little Loli opened her eyes. “So dark…” The flashlight held only a weak glow. “How long was I out?” She struggled up, pushing with both hands. “Right, my hands…”

Sensing they no longer throbbed, she raised them to her eyes. “Seems fine?” Her pale palms shone in the cave’s dim light. She closed her fingers and opened them, testing that her hands were nimble again.

But when she turned the backs over, “What is this?!” On the back of her right hand she found a blood-red eye. At its center lay a slender black cross, like a pupil, black as an evolution bead’s bottomless night. Around it, ridged skin rose like bulging veins, encircling the red eye. She snapped a look to the other hand. “Good, this one didn’t change.”

Her left hand brushed the red eye on the right. “Mm…” A current raced through her whole body, like a sensitive spot being touched, even a little itchy.

“Congratulations, host. Evolution successful,” the metal voice rang in her mind.

“Wow, you can congratulate me? Bloodgod Claw—so it’s this?” Little Loli stood and gave her right hand a swing. She felt no special change.

“Please deploy the claw.”

“Oh.”

As usual, both hands quickly shifted—“Eh!” Her left hand didn’t change at all. Her right hand… black scales armored it from elbow to wrist. The red eye on the back flared brighter, more scarlet. The whole hand was wrapped in black, the once-wrinkled skin magnified, savage and fierce. Each finger became a blade as long as a calf. Each blade had joints like human fingers, rising then curving, no longer straight—now rippling like waves.

“Woah!” Little Loli lifted the claw, almost half her body’s size, before her. It looked huge, yet the blonde girl moved her right hand with ease, like always. A light sweep sliced the air; a razor hiss answered.

“This is the Bloodgod Claw,” the system said in her head.

“So strong!”

“Bloodgod Claw no longer feeds on human blood like before. It now absorbs an entire person’s life force.” The flat metal tone explained, each word landing heavy.

“Life force?”

“But don’t worry. Most enemies will be ripped to shreds on contact. The powerful espers won’t fare any better.”

Listening, and admiring her claw, the blonde girl felt confidence surge from her heart’s core.

“What about my left hand?” Little Loli glanced at her unchanged left hand.

“No change. After evolution, Combat Mode cooldown is halved.” The system’s reply was cold as steel.

“Alright…” Little Loli tugged at the corner of her mouth. Fair enough. With a claw like this, if her left hand got another upgrade, no one else would get to live. And halved cooldown was a sweet perk for her.

She turned to leave the cave. Suddenly, a click underfoot, like she’d stepped on a trigger. The stone under her left foot sank. Rocks crashed down, blocking the tunnel ahead. Whoosh whoosh whoosh—she felt arrows shoot from behind, from the altar’s direction.

“What age is this? Still using such outdated junk.” Little Loli casually raised the Bloodgod Claw before her. Thud thud thud—arrows slammed a wall of iron and bounced away.

She watched them skitter off. “Such strong defense.” Her rating of the Bloodgod Claw climbed another notch. She flipped the claw to check the back. The black scales were flawless, not a scratch, even if those arrows had flown at full draw.

“Yo—still a heap of busted rocks blocking me.” She faced the exit. Her lips arched with disdain; her scarlet eyes gleamed with mischief.

Swish—the huge black talons swept forward. The air split with a shriek. The result was obvious. The stones plugging the mouth broke like tofu, cleanly sliced into neat blocks. Another sweep, and they crumbled into tiny gravel.

“I’m starting to look forward to cutting open a human body.” Little Loli ran her tongue over sharp teeth. “No more wasting time. Blood-Crystal Arrow—Pierce!”

Back at the station, at dawn, Xiaoxue’s adoptive dad and mom had been invited in for tea. They sat in a small room watching the news. All morning, her dad had been shouting at the officers. The cops kept using their usual script, saying the chief would be right there, please wait. Her dad had no way around that, and worry gnawed at him for his daughter.

As they watched TV, a breaking bulletin cut in—right at the moment cops took Xiao Qianxue away. The footage came from the reporters who’d rushed past the cordon; the camera caught the blonde girl’s bullied look and the cuffs on her hands.

“What did you do to Xiaoxue?!” Her dad finally snapped. He grabbed a chair and charged the door.

“Sir, do not act rashly. Assaulting an officer in a station will land you in jail.” Several policemen walked in. The lead caught the thrown chair and spoke with righteous sternness.

“Look what you did to Xiaoxue! She’s just a middle-schooler. Where’s the evidence you talked about? Is this how you treat a little girl?” Her dad pointed at the TV and roared.

“If your daughter truly has no problem, she’ll be released quickly.”

“Damn it!” He knew it wasn’t that simple. Something was wrong. Yet his daughter was suffering, and he, her father, was powerless. He flipped the table hard, then sat back down, breathing rough.

After roughly two more hours, the officers returned, carrying photos. “Here. Take a look at what your daughter did.”

Her dad and mom took them and looked.

“This…”