CHAPTER 169: HAYASAKA AI’S CLOSE-RANGE PROBE [BONUS CHAPTER 2/5]

"I really traveled through... the Chat Group is too amazing, isn’t it?" Kiana looked excited. Unfortunately, time here hadn’t changed at all; she still had to attend classes. The thought of classes instantly made her good mood vanish. She lay listlessly on her desk, her gaze catching sight of a very tired-looking figure passing by outside the window.

When taking the train, Ren didn’t use his dominant aura but directly stretched space. It seemed like they were a meter away from others, but in reality, the space in between was stretched dozens of meters. This spatial manipulation greatly astonished Eriri and Yukino. But Eriri, after her initial shock, immediately pouted.

Yukino poked Ren’s hand, hinting, "Eriri seems to be jealous."

"Who’s jealous of him! Hmph!" Eriri reacted fiercely, like a kitten whose sore spot had been poked. The tsundere act had begun. This was not a good sign.

Ren pulled Eriri into an embrace and kissed her forcefully. Eriri went from resisting to complying to being docile in just a few minutes. This was his special method for Eriri’s tsundere moments, very simple and effective.

Seeing Eriri completely settled down, Ren asked, "What are you jealous of?"

Eriri, her face flushed, revealed her small canine teeth and muttered softly, glancing at Yukino, "It’s all your fault, you haven’t spent time with me in so long, that day with Yukino..."

"!!!" Yukino, who was mentioned, instantly recalled the scene from that day, when she had willingly used her cat tail! A blush quickly spread across her calm face. Don’t mention such embarrassing things!

"..." Ren reached down. Eriri squirmed, her face beet red. He suddenly remembered something, and with a smile, he asked, "Eriri, have you tried here?"

Eriri blinked her watery eyes, looking like she barely understood. "Train... electric train?"

Yukino also became a girl who understood in a second, looking at Ren with disbelief. "We’ll be at school in ten minutes!" In short, there wouldn’t be enough time for Ren.

"That’s not necessarily true," Ren chuckled. He opened the Chat Group. With 2.4 million doomsday points, he chose to enhance the King of Chronos.

[Ding! 500,000 doomsday points have been consumed!]

[The King of Chronos has been enhanced to Lv6!]

The King of Chronos at Lv6. "Time, slow down!" Ren’s Holy Domain unfolded as he spoke. Time would be controlled by the King of Chronos! Under the horrified gazes of Yukino and Eriri, everything before them became extremely slow, as if time had stopped. In reality, he could indeed stop time for the entire Earth. But he didn’t do that. Because what he was about to do was very time-consuming, and stopping time for so long would consume too much energy. Slowing down time was more practical.

Although he only slowed down the time for the entire Earth, it would not affect the Earth or the universe. Even if he only manipulated time within a specific area, there would still be no impact. He knew this when he gained the ability. The world’s laws would self-regulate. The area where time was manipulated was like a time block that had been removed, detached from the river of time, but it wouldn’t create a new timeline. When the time manipulation ended, this block would be reinserted into its original time. The extraction and insertion happened before the world and time could even react. As for time fluctuations and other factors, they would all be regulated and smoothed out by the world’s laws themselves. He had no need to worry about any negative effects from manipulating time.

"Time has slowed down!" Yukino was shocked by Ren’s new power; this was the power of time.

"Haha, now I can even stop time and reverse time without any problems." Ren smirked, "Eriri, is there enough time now?"

"Ah?" Before she could react, Ren had already acted.

Inside the Supernatural Research Club, everyone was there except for Ren. Three people were slumped listlessly on the desks. Yotsuya Miko was tired and sleepy due to her aura, which Marin and Yumiko could understand. But what was wrong with Eriri and Yui Yuigahama? They were all clutching their stomachs, as if they had stomach aches.

Yumiko asked Yui with concern, "Yui, are you feeling unwell?"

Marin asked Eriri suspiciously, "Eriri, are you also feeling unwell?"

"No... not at all, I just ate too much," Yui said with a laugh, trying to brush it off.

Eriri also forced a dry laugh and chimed in, "Me too."

Yumiko frowned, "Why did you eat so much? Aren’t you maintaining your figures?"

"Hehe..." Yui and Eriri gave forced smiles. Their gazes met, and whether it was an illusion or not, there was a feeling of mutual understanding.

Eriri was complaining inwardly, who knew how she spent those few hours in the space Ren created on the train? Oh... someone knew. Eriri’s resentful little eyes looked towards Yukino. Yukino’s body stiffened slightly, her earlobes turned crimson, and her gaze darted around, not daring to meet Eriri’s eyes. Eriri had cried and begged her for help. But... besides her embarrassment, Yukino was truly scared. The main reason was that the things Ren and Eriri played with... she didn’t understand them. Ren was always extremely gentle when he faced her. But when he faced Eriri, it was a completely different dynamic, and it felt like Eriri was enjoying it, experiencing both pain and pleasure. So, she was truly scared at the time. She honestly remained a bystander, at most giving Eriri a little push. She had done her best.

In this awkward atmosphere, a knock came at the door. Yukino cleared her throat, calmed herself, and said coolly, "Come in." The classroom door opened.

When they saw the newcomer, everyone had a first impression: a blonde hot girl, somewhat similar to Marin. Of course, they knew that Marin wasn’t a hot girl, she just liked to dress up. They didn’t know if the person in front of them was.

"Yo-ho, I’m Hayasaka Ai." Hayasaka Ai walked into the classroom with a familiar air.

Yukino frowned and asked directly, "Hayasaka Ai Student, do you have a request for our club?"

Hayasaka Ai’s eyes quickly scanned the group. Years of observation experience, combined with previously investigated information, allowed her to quickly analyze their mental states.

Yukino Yukinoshita: In the same class as Ren. The second daughter of the Snowfield Family, third in her grade at Comprehensive High School, a high-class beauty, currently seems to be in a calm state after embarrassment?

Miura Yumiko: In the same class as Ren. A blonde beautiful girl, a normie, seems to have a personality clash with Yukino Yukinoshita?

Yotsuya Miko: A first-year junior, seems very timid, ordinary, often mentally sluggish.

Kitagawa Marin: Looks like a hot girl, but is actually kind and generous, likes cosplay.

Yui Yuigahama: In the same class as Ren. Someone who acts according to others’ expressions, with a docile personality. Current state... post-coital [redacted] syndrome?

Eriri: In the same class as Ren. Classmates from elementary school to high school, Ren’s girlfriend, extremely talented at drawing, has a hidden identity. Current state... post-coital [redacted] syndrome?

"Hiss!" Something’s not right! A club full of girls. If her micro-expression analysis wasn’t wrong, two of them were in a post-coital [redacted] state, and one of them was Ren’s girlfriend. She had come specifically to investigate Ren’s associates. This situation caught her a bit off guard.

"Hayasaka Ai Student." Seeing that Hayasaka Ai hadn’t spoken, Yukino reminded her again.

"Oh, oh, I don’t have a request. I’m here to find Ren Student." Hayasaka Ai immediately switched to an extremely relaxed posture. After she said this, except for Miko, who was sleeping, everyone’s gaze seemed to focus on her.

Hayasaka Ai sensed something was wrong. Because the gazes of some people even made her feel a sense of fear. From... Yukino Yukinoshita and Eriri! No... there’s another one! Her gaze quickly swept around. There was a gaze, there really was one... but there was no one there? What she couldn’t see was that, just ten centimeters to her side, Kato Megumi was quietly observing her, especially watching her rapidly moving eyes. "This person is investigating Ren," Megumi silently noted in her heart.

"!!!" For some reason, Hayasaka Ai felt a chilling aura. This club... has a big problem! Hayasaka Ai touched the back of her head with her right hand and said with a smile, "Haha, Ren Student doesn’t seem to be here, so I’ll come find him next time." With a bang, the classroom door closed, and Hayasaka Ai had already run off.

"That Hayasaka Ai has a problem," Megumi said. The others looked at her.

"She is intentionally investigating Ren."

Kitagawa Marin was a little worried. "She wouldn’t know that we are Psychics, would she?"

Yui became even more flustered. "Could it be some crazy scientist sent to capture us? I have to protect Ren-kun!"

Miura Yumiko looked at the panicked Yui with a speechless expression. "You protect him? It’s more like he protects you!"

Megumi shook her head. "I don’t think so." "She feels very weak to me, just an ordinary person. If she knew we were Psychics, she wouldn’t have been so relaxed at first. She only got scared after Yukino and Eriri released their aura." Like Hayasaka Ai, Megumi is also a meticulous person. And Megumi was observing her from only ten centimeters away. In that situation, slitting Hayasaka Ai’s throat with a dagger would have been very easy.

Yukino also had this feeling. She nodded. "We’ll tell Ren-kun about this later."

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[Apologies if this note is disruptive, but it will be present on every bonus Chapter. Feel free to skip it if you wish.]

Hey everyone, Inorin here!

I have some truly exciting news to share! These 5 bonus Chapters are a special thank you to our newest member of "The Founding Pillars" membership tier! Your support means the world to me and is a huge help with my current situation.

I’m also happy to report some progress with the fanfics. Three fanfics on Patreon now have 50 advanced Chapters, and I will be working on five new fanfics for a mass release and advanced Chapters.

To all my amazing supporters, a new, limited-time special tier for our first 10 patrons is now available, offering all the benefits of "The Plot Uncoverer" at a discounted price!

Because of the support from new members of ’The Founding Pillars’ and a purchase of the Doomsday Chat Group: Conquering the Multiverse Heroines collection on Patreon, we have even more bonus Chapters to share.

Thank you so much to everyone who has joined and supported me! Your enthusiasm keeps me motivated.

For those interested in the rewards, here’s a quick overview:

The Curious Reader: 2 Bonus Chapters

The Dedicated Fan: 3 Bonus Chapters

The Lore Diver: 4 Bonus Chapters

The Plot Uncoverer: 5 Bonus Chapters

Any Collection Purchase: 6 Bonus Chapters

Additionally, I’ll be releasing 1 bonus Chapter for every 150 Power Stones reached each week.

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