Chapter Sixty-Seven: What a Massive Mushroom Cloud

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Such a Great Mushroom Cloud

The rebar was slick with blood, drop after drop falling onto Chen Xiao’s face. Despite the agony distorting his muscles, a hint of mocking still lingered in his expression, and his eyes—those eyes—made Qiu Yun feel a surge of indescribable revulsion. He couldn't even pinpoint where this sense of disgust came from; all he could do was clench the rebar tightly, attempting once more to stab it down toward Chen Xiao.

At that moment, Qiu Yun’s body suddenly swayed. The rebar slipped from his grasp with a clang, dropping to the ground. He staggered sideways, taking two unsteady steps, feeling as though he’d forgotten to take a breath; his vision flickered to black.

His arms, his fingers, his legs—every muscle in his body began to go numb and stiff, as if even the smallest movement of his pinky finger was slipping beyond his control.

Suddenly, he collapsed to his knees with a thud, his arms weakly propping himself up on the ground. His breathing grew labored, but every breath he drew failed to restore any strength to his body.

His senses dulled, and gradually, it was as if he were drunk—everything became a blur.

“You… you… what did you do to me?” Qiu Yun’s face was filled with terror.

Chen Xiao lay helplessly on the ground, giving a bitter laugh. Though his face was smeared with blood, his eyes remained bright and unyielding. He gasped out a laugh: “Ha! Haha! Just now… that wooden spike… it had my blood on it.”

Qiu Yun felt even the muscles in his throat slipping from his control. The numbing sensation made his heart jolt in alarm as a thought struck him like lightning.

Could it be? This little rookie—his blood is poisonous too? He has the same ability as Alice?

Poison?!

Qiu Yun’s body toppled sideways to the ground, but he forced himself to dig frantically through his pockets. After a moment, he finally pulled out a slim metal vial with a glass body. He didn’t bother unscrewing the cap, instead smashing it on the ground and, heedless of the glass shards, shoved it to his mouth and quickly swallowed the liquid inside.

It was an antidote—being a top Black Knight, and Alice’s superior, he always carried with him a special antidote for her kind of toxin to maintain control over his subordinates. Although he didn’t know if Chen Xiao’s blood carried the same poison as Alice’s, he had no other choice but to try.

The Black Knights’ secret antidote worked wonders. Within just a few breaths, Qiu Yun felt the stiffness in his body ease; control over his muscles and joints gradually returned. He could move his wrists and legs again. Though still weak, he managed to kneel up on one knee, bracing himself on the ground.

“Haha! Hahahaha!” Qiu Yun laughed venomously. “A rookie is still a rookie! Did you think a little poison was enough to deal with me? Hmph, how could a C-rank Esper possibly defeat an A-rank?”

He took a deep breath, swayed, and finally managed to stand. “What more do you have left now?”

Chen Xiao still lay weakly on the ground. The wound on his shoulder was a bloody mess, a large pool of scarlet spreading beneath him. His pale face contrasted starkly with the vivid red of blood, lending him a ghastly air.

Chen Xiao panted but still managed a faint smile. “Do you think the antidote is enough? Heh…”

Qiu Yun gripped the rebar again. “You almost tricked me, rookie. I’ll drive this bar into your gut and then blow you up!”

But after just two steps, his expression changed dramatically. Suddenly, his knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground again!

This time, Qiu Yun’s face was stricken with terror, his whole body trembling violently.

“How can this be!” he shrieked. “Impossible! Did the antidote fail? What kind of poison is in your blood?!”

“I don’t know, either,” Chen Xiao managed a weak smile. “Probably something similar to Alice’s. But… maybe I can explain a little—my body, you see, probably contains something else as well.”

He deliberately paused, drawing a deep breath, his gaze locking onto Qiu Yun’s eyes:

“Have you ever heard of… purification?”

...

Qiu Yun felt his strength slipping away—not just his strength, but his last chance. He still had the metal! The rebar was right beside him!

Blow him up! Even if I lose, I’ll take him with me!

But the mysterious power he’d relied on was ebbing away like a receding tide. No matter how hard he tried, his will could no longer command it. The rebar was right there, but now it was just a lump of dead iron, unresponsive to his power—indeed, it was only ever just a lump of iron.

“Ability… my power…”

Suddenly, Qiu Yun’s face was suffused with an eerie blue light—the same color that had infected the “Black Seven” from the service club after purification, the same as what Chen Xiao had seen before.

Qiu Yun’s body writhed and convulsed on the ground like a fish out of water, struggling, trembling, clawing desperately at his own throat, howling in agony like a beast.

He was unwilling to accept it!

How could this be! A rookie!

He… he’s just a rookie!!!

With trembling hands, Qiu Yun reached out as if to grasp something, his fingers stiff and clawed, finally fumbling into his pocket…

His eyes were hidden by his disheveled hair, but behind that wild mess, there flashed a last flicker of madness.

“Huff, huff, huff…” He panted, his voice rough and strained from the stiffening of his muscles. “Ha! Rookie… you’ve got some tricks… then let’s… let’s die together!”

He clutched a syringe wrapped in rubber, bit off the cover, and stabbed it savagely into his carotid artery!

A stream of green fluid was quickly injected beneath his skin…

Qiu Yun let out a piercing scream, twisted by unbearable pain.

In an instant, the blue color on his face shifted to a ghastly green, and before their eyes, his muscles—all over his body, even his ten fingers—began to swell grotesquely.

At last, Qiu Yun pressed both hands to the ground, and when he lifted his head—

From his eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth, blood began to seep—all at once, terrifying and grotesque.

And that blood was not pure red, but streaked with sickly green—

As if it were—jade blood?!

“Let’s die together!” Qiu Yun’s laugh was no longer human, a cackling, inhuman sound.

Suddenly, some unknown force surged in his hands; he dug his fingers deep into the concrete floor, scattering stone chips, his hands becoming mangled and bloody—but Qiu Yun seemed oblivious now.

His face was twisted in nothing but maniacal glee.

Chen Xiao watched Qiu Yun in horror as a green mist seemed to erupt from his entire body, his eyes turning pure green. Blood began to bead and seep from his face, arms, every exposed patch of skin and every pore.

And then—

Crack, crack… crack-crack-crack…

All around the abandoned factory, the walls groaned and twisted as if about to shatter. The steel rods buried in the walls writhed like serpents. The roof above trembled and split apart, sheets of asbestos, metal, gypsum, and synthetic panels raining down in slabs.

Everywhere, the air rumbled with the promise of imminent destruction.

At that final moment, Chen Xiao summoned all his strength, curling himself into a tight ball.

He had barely managed this when—

BOOM!!!!!!

…

In the heart of the abandoned factory district, a deafening roar erupted from the central building—a blast like a summer thunderclap. Then a column of smoke and dust soared skyward, flames flickering ominously, engulfing the entire area. The massive factory, its walls and roof, were blown to fragments in the explosion. A powerful shockwave swept in every direction, collapsing the walls of four or five neighboring warehouses.

Even the ground itself shuddered at the force.

Amid the cataclysm, Qiu Yun began to laugh wildly, but in the next instant, a massive roof beam crashed down, smashing his skull to pulp and silencing his laughter forever.

This famous Esper, a top Black Knight, could not comprehend even in death how he had been defeated by a mere rookie.

As for Chen Xiao, in the first wave of the blast, he was knocked unconscious, and then buried beneath a hail of debris.

...

“Hmm?”

The violent explosion startled a man who had been hiding at the edge of the abandoned factory district, curled up like a fat marmot on a dusty, discarded lathe, snoring away. Jolted awake by the blast, he leapt up in alarm.

Wiping away the drool from his nap, the fat man shook his head vigorously, shrinking his neck nervously.

His first instinct was to check his pockets—inside, a crumpled wad of cash. All there. Good.

But… no way, right? I’ve hidden in such a remote place. Could the police have found me? What could cause such a commotion?

He poked his head through a hole in the wall and stared wide-eyed into the distance, watching as a colossal gray mushroom cloud rose from the explosion.

The fat man swallowed hard.

“That’s one huge mushroom…”

...

“So, kidnapping means…” Officer Xu, half laughing, half exasperated, patiently finished explaining the meaning of “kidnapping” and looked at Ya Ya’s face.

Yet the young girl seemed utterly unruffled, simply tilting her head to think, then softly replied, “That can’t be. Chen Xiao will be fine. He’s very strong, you know.”

“Uh?” Officer Xu was at a loss for words.

By rights, he should be comforting the family of the victim, reassuring them, easing their fears. But now…

It seemed this girl didn’t need any comfort at all.

He hesitated, and then his phone rang. Answering, he heard his subordinate’s excited voice:

“Chief! We’ve found the victims! Just ten minutes ago, the Xu family’s boy and the female victim who was kidnapped with him were seen on a street not far east of the old factory district—they called for help. I’ve already dispatched the nearest units to respond…”

At this news, Officer Xu leapt to his feet. “What did you say?”

“The victims got away!” the officer shouted excitedly.

“…” Officer Xu was silent for a few seconds. “You said two were found? What about the other one? The boy named Chen Xiao?”

The voice on the other end quieted. “Not yet… But we just got a call that there was an explosion in the abandoned factory district…”

When Xu heard this, his face turned grim. He hung up and turned to glance at Ya Ya, still wearing a blank, innocent expression.

His brow furrowed. “Miss… I need you to come with me. Since you’re Chen Xiao’s only family, I’m afraid you must be present for what comes next.”

He sighed inwardly—an explosion? Could something have happened to that Chen Xiao boy?

Looking at the delicate girl before him, Officer Xu drew a deep breath. “Come on, I’ll take you to the station. Just promise me to stay calm, no matter what happens, all right?”

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