On both sides of the back seat, two Level 3 Mid Stage Ability Users leaned forward slightly, their mental power spreading outward to meticulously scan every inch of space outside the vehicle.
These two were also experts from within the City Defense Force, sent by Pei Su to protect Chen Shijie.
“No abnormalities.” The one on the left was the first to retract his mental power, shaking his head.
“Nothing on my side either.” The one on the right followed suit, his brow furrowed.
Chen Shijie remained silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the grey, hazy sky outside the window.
The cold wave was approaching, and the free energy in the air was even more turbulent than usual.
Perhaps... it was the influence of the cold wave?
He retracted his gaze and glanced at Subject 5 once more.
The youth had grown completely quiet, his head hanging low, his eyes half-closed and showing only the whites, his body no longer trembling.
“The cold wave is almost here,” Chen Shijie said, his voice returning to a calm tone.
“The free energy in the air is more chaotic than usual. Subject 5 is extremely sensitive to energy fluctuations; he might be affected by the cold wave.”
The driver nodded, asking no further questions.
Chen Shijie leaned back against the seat and clipped the remote back onto his waist, his finger still resting on it, not moving away.
The armored vehicle continued forward, passing through the Outer City gates and entering the Ruin Zone.
The pitted road caused the vehicle to bump slightly. The scenery outside changed from low, dilapidated buildings to charred rubble and twisted rebar, with the grey skyline stretching infinitely in their vision.
Su Wan stepped out from behind a broken wall.
She stood in the middle of the road, the hood of her combat suit obscuring most of her face. Her collar was pulled up high, wrapping her up tightly and leaving only her eyes visible.
The armored vehicle sped toward her.
Su Wan stood her ground, unmoving.
“Someone’s there!” the driver barked, slamming on the brakes.
The tires let out a piercing screech against the gravel road. The vehicle jolted violently before coming to a halt less than five meters away from Su Wan.
Su Wan raised her hand.
A torrent of mental power poured from her palm, condensing into an invisible shockwave that slammed into the side of the armored vehicle.
“Bang—!”
As if struck by a giant invisible palm, the entire armored vehicle flipped onto its side. It rolled twice through the ruins before crashing into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Glass shattered, metal twisted, and items inside the car flew in all directions.
The two Level 3 Mid Stage Ability Users sitting beside Chen Shijie reacted the moment the vehicle flipped.
Their bodies simultaneously erupted into their strongest defensive stances. Flanking Chen Shijie, they grabbed his arms and burst through the shattered windows, landing steadily on the rubble.
Gravel rolled from beneath their feet as dust billowed behind them.
Chen Shijie was held between them, his glasses crooked, his hair a mess, and his face as pale as paper.
His gaze was fixed on the figure standing in the middle of the road.
The driver leaped out from the overturned vehicle, his expression filled with cold killing intent.
He let out a low growl as his Level 3 Late Stage ability core spun frantically. His body moved like a bolt of grey lightning as he lunged toward Su Wan!
During his sprint, his right arm began to mutate. A layer of fine, dark grey scales emerged on the surface of his skin, and his five fingers pressed together like a blade, his fingertips glinting with a metallic chill.
He was actually a gene-modified organism!
A distance of twenty meters was but a single breath for a Level 3 Late Stage gene-modified organism.
His hand-blade strike aimed directly for Su Wan’s throat.
Su Wan raised her right hand, and the silver-grey bracelet on her wrist glowed slightly.
A Gene Disruption Wave was emitted silently.
It was a death frequency specifically designed for gene-modified organisms. It acted directly on the gene sequence, disrupting the stable structure of the non-human genetic fragments.
The driver’s forward momentum came to a sudden halt.
He froze less than two meters away from Su Wan, his pupils constricting violently as a look of disbelief flashed across his face.
His right arm trembled, and the dark grey scales began to peel off like withered leaves falling from a branch.
His legs went weak, his knees buckled, and he slowly sank to the ground.
From the start of his charge to his collapse, barely three seconds had passed.
Su Wan looked down at the kneeling driver, her expression unchanged.
She raised her left hand, and her mental power condensed into a needle, piercing into his consciousness core.
The driver let out a muffled groan, his body stiffening before he slumped onto the ground, unconscious.
From the moment she acted to the moment she subdued him, only a few breaths had passed.
Chen Shijie, supported by the two Ability Users a dozen meters away, watched this scene with his pupils constricted to pinpricks.
This sudden turn of events left the knowledgeable doctor stunned.
He had never expected to be attacked just after leaving the Outer City.
Even less did he expect that a Level 3 Late Stage gene-modified organism wouldn’t even last a single round against her.
Who exactly was this woman?!
Su Wan stepped forward, walking toward Chen Shijie.
The two Level 3 Mid Stage Ability Users simultaneously stepped in front of Chen Shijie. Their bodies were trembling slightly, but they did not retreat.
They exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and charged at Su Wan.
Their coordination was seamless; one attacked high while the other went low, attempting to overwhelm Su Wan with speed.
Su Wan raised her right hand, and her bracelet lit up again.
Two Energy Pulses shot out, one to the left and one to the right, accurately hitting both Ability Users.
Their bodies froze simultaneously, their forward momentum cut short.
Their bodies began to shake, their muscles twitching, and the energy fluctuations on the surface of their skin became as chaotic as a disturbed lake.
A few seconds later, both slumped to the ground, losing consciousness just like the driver.
Chen Shijie stood a dozen meters away, watching three powerful Ability Users collapse in the span of a few breaths, his pupils constricted to the limit once more.
As an ordinary human, he hadn’t even seen how Su Wan attacked; he only saw the three men fall.
But unexpectedly, there was no fear on his face at this moment.
Instead, it was replaced by a near-maniacal excitement.
Level 4!
This woman was absolutely Level 4!
A Level 3 Late Stage gene-modified organism couldn’t even last a single round before her.
This kind of crushing power gap could not belong to a Level 3.
Chen Shijie’s breathing suddenly became rapid, his heart thumping like a drum in his chest, and his temples throbbing.
A Level 4 female Ability User.
A living, breathing Level 4 female Ability User!
Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes surged with uncontrollable fanaticism.
The Aberrant specimens lying in the laboratory freezers, the organ sections suspended in formalin solution, the cell samples burning silently under the microscope...
Compared to the living, fully conscious Level 4 Ability User before him—one capable of normal communication—none of those meant anything!
A living specimen!
Level 4!
Female!
These three words echoed repeatedly in Chen Shijie’s mind, each repetition making him more ecstatic.
He had originally only intended to go to the Terminal Station to capture a Level 3 Late Stage woman, never expecting to encounter a Level 4 on the way.
This was simply a gift from the heavens!
If he could capture this woman, she would become the most precious test subject in the history of the Deep Blue Research Institute!
The physical structure of a Level 4 Ability User, the operation of their Energy Core, the expression mechanism of their ability genes...
Every single study could lead to a revolutionary breakthrough!
Chen Shijie’s eyes became bloodshot, and his mouth slowly curled into a grin, revealing a nearly maniacal smile.
He reached out and pulled the palm-sized silver remote from his waist, his thumb hovering over the largest red button.
Subject 5 was still inside the overturned armored vehicle.
The white-pupiled youth was secured to his seat by a seatbelt, his body slumped forward and his head hanging low. The metal collar around his neck flickered with a steady green light.
He was as quiet as a soulless husk.
Chen Shijie pressed a blue button on the remote.
Click—!
Inside the armored vehicle, the matte black metal rings on Subject 5’s wrists and ankles simultaneously snapped open.
The restraints automatically retracted into the grooves on either side of the seat.
The white-pupiled youth’s head slowly lifted.
Those cloudy white eyes, devoid of pupils, glinted with an eerie luster under the grey, dim sky.
He unfastened the remaining seatbelt with stiff, mechanical movements, like a puppet controlled by a program.
With one hand bracing against the seatback and the other on the door frame, he crawled out of the overturned armored vehicle.
He stood barefoot on the gravel and rubble, his greyish-white skin turning slightly red in the cold wind.
Those white eyes slowly rolled, scanning the three Ability Users lying on the ground and the overturned vehicle before finally landing on Su Wan, who stood in the middle of the road.
Subject 5’s body tensed slightly.
Chen Shijie stood a dozen meters away, the silver-grey remote gripped tightly in his hand.
He watched Subject 5’s reaction, his heart beating so fast it felt like it would leap out of his chest.
He wanted to see exactly how the Super Gene-Modified Organism, the result of five years of intensive research by the Deep Blue Research Institute, would fare against a true Level 4 Ability User!
This was the ultimate field test and the best opportunity for data collection.
Chen Shijie took a deep breath and pressed the largest red button on the remote.
“Initiate.”
Subject 5’s body jolted violently.
His head snapped back as he let out a silent roar from his open mouth.
His cloudy white eyes began to fill with blood, turning red from the edges inward until the entire eyeballs were an unnatural, crimson scarlet.
His body began to swell.
His originally frail frame shot up in height within seconds. His muscles bulged, veins popped, and a layer of fine, metallic-glistening scales emerged on the surface of his greyish-white skin.
His aura began to climb frantically.
Level 3 Late Stage!
Level 4 Early Stage!
It was still rising!
That violent, chaotic, and twisted energy fluctuation was like a volcano that had been suppressed for a thousand years, erupting completely at this moment!
Chen Shijie was pushed back two steps by the force of that aura. His face was pale, but his eyes were terrifyingly bright.
This was Subject 5’s true strength!
This was the true ace of the Deep Blue Research Institute!
Subject 5’s crimson eyes locked onto Su Wan.
His mouth slowly curled back, revealing a row of jagged, uneven teeth.
Then, he moved.
Without any warning, his figure vanished from where he stood.
In the next second, he was already in front of Su Wan!
Talons tore through the air with a sharp whistle, aiming straight for Su Wan’s face!
Su Wan raised her right hand.
The Dual-Mode Pulse Bracelet lit up, and a pale blue energy shield expanded before her.
Screech—!
The talons scraped against the energy shield, producing an ear-piercing sound of friction.
Sparks flew, and the energy shield fluctuated violently, like the surface of water struck by a massive boulder, with ripples spreading outward.
Su Wan’s body was pushed back a step by the force of the impact.
Subject 5 gave her no room to breathe.
His other set of talons swept in from the side, carrying even more berserk power.
Su Wan lunged to the side to dodge, and her energy shield blocked the strike once more.
The shield’s glow dimmed noticeably after the two consecutive attacks.
Su Wan raised her left hand, her mental power condensing into a needle that pierced toward Subject 5’s consciousness core.
Mental Shock.
Subject 5’s body stiffened abruptly. His crimson eyes lost focus for a moment, and the rhythm of his attack stalled briefly.
But that pause lasted for less than a second.
His consciousness core was far too chaotic.
Those energy fluctuations of different frequencies were crashing into and interfering with one another like a boiling medley. When the Mental Shock pierced into it, it was like a pebble thrown into a raging river; it failed to create any effective ripples.
Subject 5’s consciousness was not suppressed; instead, he was enraged by the stinging pain.
A low growl escaped his throat as both hands clawed at Su Wan with startling speed.
Su Wan retreated rapidly, her energy shield blocking the strike again.
The shield’s light had dimmed to the extreme.
The energy reserves of the Dual-Mode Pulse Bracelet were being consumed at a rapid pace.
Su Wan stopped retreating.
She had already gauged Subject 5’s strength.
Level 4 Early Stage combat power, a berserk and chaotic attack pattern, and a consciousness core like a boiling medley that was nearly immune to Mental Shock.
However, his weakness was equally obvious.
He was a gene-modified organism, and one with an extremely high chimerism rate at that.
Su Wan raised her right hand, aiming the Dual-Mode Pulse Bracelet at the lunging Subject 5.
This time, it wasn't a shield.
It was an attack!
The Gene Disruption Wave was emitted silently.
That invisible frequency sank accurately into Subject 5’s chest, passing through muscle, bone, and blood vessels to reach every single cell in his body that carried non-human genes.
Subject 5’s body froze instantly.
His claws stopped mid-air, less than half a foot away from Su Wan’s throat.
His crimson eyes widened suddenly, his pupils contracting violently as the bloodshot color began to recede from the surface of his eyes.
The greyish-white scales began to peel away from his body, falling off piece by piece like dead bark from a tree trunk.
The exposed skin was unnaturally pale, but that pallor was gradually being replaced by a normal skin tone.
His body began to shrink.
His bulging muscles deflated like a balloon losing air.
His heightened frame shortened inch by inch.
His sharp nails became blunt and short, and his hooked fingers returned to a normal human form.
The roar in his throat grew lower and weaker, finally turning into a faint, confused whimper.
Subject 5—
He had turned back into a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy.
Frail, pale, and sickly.
The crimson in his eyes had faded, replaced by a cloudy greyish-white.
His body swayed, his legs gave out, and he collapsed forward.
Rate on N.U.
