Chapter Sixty-Five: The Extraordinary Ability of Cabbage

Chapter Sixty-Five: The Extraordinary Ability of Cabbage

Poison smiled triumphantly, yet as if unsatisfied, she licked her lips—a gesture thick with ambiguity. “Relax, kid, I won’t poison you to death. But… who would’ve thought you’d be so handsome, and still such a fledgling. Your kissing skills are awfully inexperienced.”

Young Master Xu stared wide-eyed, speechless—while beside him, Cabbage, flushed with rage, her previously pale face now so red it seemed blood might seep through. Her eyes burned with fury, sharp as blades, fixed on Alice. If looks could kill, Alice would have been riddled with holes by now.

“Shameless! Despicable! You… you wretched woman!” Cabbage seemed to ignite her own small universe, throwing herself at Alice with wild swinging fists—alas, her fighting strength was far too weak. Alice merely poked her, and she toppled to the ground.

“Oh? Little sister is jealous, eh?” Alice’s malicious grin flickered. “Looks like this boy is your sweetheart, isn’t he? Hahaha…”

Amid her triumphant laughter, the truck’s cargo door slammed shut.

The vehicle soon jolted into motion, but the three were locked inside the container, unable to see anything outside, nor did they know where the truck was headed.

Inside the container, silence lingered for a while before Young Master Xu finally spoke first, forcing a smile as he said, “No need to worry. These people must have a purpose for kidnapping us. As long as we’re still useful to them, they won’t harm us.”

Cabbage seemed to murmur an assent, but said nothing more.

Xu stared at Cabbage for a long moment, his expression complex, before finally sighing. “I’m sorry. Clearly, this is all targeted at me, but I never expected you’d get dragged into it…”

Chen Xiao lay on the floor, unable to move his body, but his mouth and eyes still free. He spoke up, “Xu, let’s skip the formalities. We’re all friends, and now we’re in the same boat. We should stick together.”

Xu managed a bitter smile, moving over to help Chen Xiao sit up. Chen Xiao then looked at Cabbage. “Cabbage… I need to ask you something. Since we’re all in trouble together, better to be honest. Earlier… you… well, let me put it this way: how is it you can turn invisible?”

Cabbage’s face stiffened, but after a moment’s silence, she finally spoke, her voice low. “I… I discovered a few years ago that I could turn invisible… Do you—do you think I’m a monster?”

She glanced anxiously at Chen Xiao and Xu.

The two boys exchanged a look, then Xu deliberately burst out laughing, keeping it up for a good while before exclaiming loudly, “Monster? Don’t joke! Compared to you, Little Five’s super strength makes him more of a monster! Look at him, bashed into a wall and not a single broken bone. He’s the real monster here.”

Seeing that neither boy’s expression was feigned, Cabbage finally relaxed.

Then she explained her situation.

It turned out that several years ago, Cabbage had accidentally fallen down the stairs and struck her head. Fortunately, her injuries weren’t life-threatening. But after she recovered, she began noticing strange changes—sometimes, upon waking and looking in the mirror, she’d find no one reflected at all. Anyone would be startled by such a sight! Yet, when she looked again, everything seemed normal.

At first, she thought it was simply grogginess upon waking, mistaking dreams for reality.

But as time passed, these incidents happened more often, increasing in frequency. One day, after showering and brushing her hair in front of the mirror, she discovered her reflection was gone. This time, she was certain it wasn’t a dream—it was truly bizarre!

These episodes caused her much trouble in the beginning, since the sudden “invisibility” was beyond her control. She never knew when she’d vanish.

Imagine: if you’re eating with family, and midway through, your parents look up and their daughter has disappeared…

During that period, Cabbage was tormented to the brink of madness, constantly anxious that it might happen again. She didn’t dare go to school—she began skipping classes.

Two months passed, with a few “accidents” along the way, which she barely managed to cover up with various excuses. Eventually, her ability stabilized, and she gradually learned to control her invisibility.

Once her panic subsided, Cabbage’s curiosity about her powers grew. Through many secret experiments, she fully understood the nature of her special ability.

She conducted various tests—under normal circumstances, she could remain invisible for about two and a half hours. If she exceeded that duration, she’d become extremely fatigued and unable to maintain the invisible state.

She also found her invisibility could “transfer”—meaning, anything in contact with her body during the process would also vanish (naturally, otherwise she’d have to strip naked every time she went invisible, which was hardly practical).

But there were conditions: for an object to become invisible, two requirements had to be met—first, it had to be in direct contact with her; second, it couldn’t be made of metal.

Through repeated testing, she found she could render up to twice her own body volume invisible (including people, animals, and most non-metal objects). However, the more she brought along, the shorter the invisibility lasted.

“For example, today, I could take both of you invisible with me, but that state could only last at most ten minutes.” Cabbage sounded exhausted. “And I found that if I push this power too hard, beyond my body’s limits, I always get seriously ill afterwards.”

Xu instantly became anxious, moving closer and gently touching her forehead, concerned. “Ah! Are you feeling unwell? Are you sick?”

Cabbage blushed at Xu’s touch, but managed to glare at him.

“That’s about it,” Cabbage sighed at last. “It’s miraculous, but if I told anyone, they’d surely think I was a monster. Even my parents don’t know. Today… if not for this dangerous situation, I wouldn’t have said anything…”

She paused, forcing a bitter smile. “Besides, this ability isn’t really useful—unless I become a thief. Otherwise, what good is invisibility?”

Well… she wasn’t wrong, but…

The truck bumped along for quite a while, nearly an hour, before finally stopping.

The three inside the vehicle tensed instantly, hearing the cargo door open from outside.

“We’ve arrived. Please step out, little friends.”

Alice stood below, smiling up at the three young people in the container. As soon as Cabbage saw the fox-faced woman, she turned away with a heavy snort.

“My, my, such attitude from little sister these days,” Alice’s eyes flashed coldly, though her lips curled in a mocking smile.

Chen Xiao and Xu helped each other jump down from the container, then lifted Cabbage down.

They found themselves in a vast warehouse; the truck had been driven inside. All around was empty, the only items being discarded wooden crates and building materials in the corners.

The air was thick with damp, mildewed odors. Based on this, Chen Xiao guessed the location was in some remote area. The warehouse walls were rusted and mottled, the row of vent windows above had broken metal frames. Judging by the construction, the building must have been around ten years old.

In the city, only the far southern suburbs had such old, empty warehouses. “Alice, you’re late.”

Suddenly, a figure appeared atop the pile of crates in the corner—Chen Xiao recognized him as Autumn Fall from an earlier encounter.

The man sat on a wooden box, a cigarette between his fingers, exhaling pale blue smoke, while his other hand toyed with a metal lighter.

Seeing the lighter, Chen Xiao felt uneasy: another lighter… Last time this guy fought him, he threw dozens of lighters to detonate. Just how many does Autumn Fall carry around?

“Hmph, ask Tyrannosaurus! That brute only knows how to charge ahead!” Alice replied irritably.

Autumn Fall glanced at Tyrannosaurus, who emerged from another truck container—at nearly three meters tall, he could only fit in the cargo bay, certainly not the cab.

Autumn Fall frowned, immediately sensing discord between his two subordinates. Tyrannosaurus was always unhappy about Alice’s higher status, and Alice herself had a rather narrow temperament.

But now wasn’t the time to settle internal disputes. Autumn Fall shot both of them a warning look, then slowly approached the three youths, first looking at Chen Xiao and nodding in greeting. “We meet again.”

Chen Xiao gazed at the man who had once dealt him a heavy blow, his expression indifferent, saying nothing.

Autumn Fall’s gaze shifted past Cabbage, settling on Xu. “Xu Yifan?”

“That’s me,” Xu replied warily, eyes fixed on Autumn Fall.

“Sorry for using such methods to invite you here.” Autumn Fall smiled, his expression free of malice. “I assure you, our organization values its reputation. As long as our business goes smoothly, your safety will not be threatened.”

Xu, heir to a wealthy family, had dealt with abductions before and had been trained for such scenarios. He neither panicked nor lost his temper, but smiled calmly. “Alright, I’ll play the hostage role, then. Is that satisfactory?”

“Let’s hope so. That way, we can avoid unnecessary trouble for both sides.” Autumn Fall smiled. “Personally, I don’t like mistreating captives. So as long as you behave, I won’t tie you up. You’re free to move about this building—but don’t mistake my lenience for unlimited tolerance.”

Cabbage suddenly snapped, “Hmph, you talk a good game! Lenience? Of course you won’t touch us before the ransom arrives! Xu Yifan, don’t believe his honeyed words!”

She glared at Autumn Fall. “If you have the guts, just kill us!”

Xu’s expression fell. “Please, Miss… it’s fine to talk about me, but don’t get us all involved, okay?”

Cabbage paused, then muttered, “Coward.”

Xu took no offense, replying calmly, “It’s not courage to bang your head against a wall. That’s just foolishness. Cabbage, let’s rest and save our strength.”

At that moment, Xu seemed to transform, his eyes full of calm, no trace of fear, nor any of the ingratiating smile he’d shown Cabbage at home. His demeanor faintly echoed the steady air of Elder Xu.

“Sir,” Xu continued smiling, “just to satisfy my curiosity… could you answer a question? I’m simply wondering—why me? My father has more than one son, and you people don’t seem motivated purely by money. Why am I the target?”

Autumn Fall replied, “Simple. For now, your father has protection, and we don’t want a head-on clash.” He glanced at Chen Xiao, who was still immobilized by Poison’s toxin, unable to move, only able to stare at Autumn Fall.

“We’re not afraid of the Service Society, but neither are we reckless enough for a shootout.” Autumn Fall frowned. “Alice, detoxify our guest. The boy is one of the Service Society, and mistreating captives isn’t a good habit in the world of abilities.”

Alice approached Chen Xiao with a teasing smile. Chen Xiao blushed, while Cabbage, seething, could only glare daggers at Alice.

“Little friend,” Alice whispered into Chen Xiao’s ear, blowing warmly and asking in a syrupy voice, “Tell me, was our kiss your first? If so, I’d be delighted.”

Chen Xiao’s eyes flickered with embarrassment, but he quickly composed himself, raising his gaze to Alice and coughing. “No… Ma’am, don’t you know? A man’s first kiss usually goes to a cigarette. Sorry, you’re too late.”

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