ATDIWR Chapter 34
by VolareChapter 34 Provocation by the R-Koreans
“Is this the Jing Shi Base?” As the day of the auction drew nearer, representatives from various major bases arrived at the Jing Shi Base one after another.
Jiang Fuzhong began looking around curiously as soon as he got off the plane. “Before the apocalypse, I always wanted to visit the capital, but I didn’t have the time or money. I never expected that after the apocalypse, I would actually get a chance to come to Beijing.”
Owen smoothed her curly big waves. Her vibrant, retro red fingernails made her jade-white fingers look even longer and more beautiful. One of her fingers slid across her lips like a dewdrop slipping over a delicate rose, stunningly captivating.
Jiang Fuzhong’s throat unconsciously bobbed. Owen let out a low laugh. Jiang Fuzhong immediately snapped back to attention and quickly looked away.
Owen stopped teasing Jiang Fuzhong and walked over swaying gracefully to Du Ruanlan, linking her arm through his. Every movement was full of charm. “My dear, this place seems unchanged, yet it also seems to have changed a lot.”
The airport, which usually had no one and looked like it had been idle for who knows how long, now had many more planes and people arriving for the auction, but it still felt empty.
Du Ruanlan gazed at the distant horizon, the blue sky and white clouds, and suddenly smiled faintly. His smile was neither bright nor cheerful; instead, it carried an indescribable evil aura.
Owen loved this evil streak. She leaned in and passionately kissed him on the face. “My dear, this charm of yours is too captivating.”
“Is that so? I’m glad you like it,” Du Ruanlan replied languidly.
Jiang Fuzhong secretly rubbed the goosebumps that had risen all over him. “Boss, look over there. It seems like the people from the Jing Shi Base who are supposed to meet us. They seem to be tangled up in something?”
A glint of excitement, like that of a hunter spotting prey, flashed in Du Ruanlan’s eyes. “The show is about to begin!”
“Excuse me, sir, please accept the security check.” A staff member responsible for security checks at the Jing Shi Base held something resembling a metal detector from before the apocalypse and requested to inspect a delegation.
This delegation consisted of sixteen people, eight men and eight women. Seven of them had East Asian features, with only one European with a high nose and deep-set eyes. He was more than a shoulder taller than the surrounding Asians, and paired with his exposed bulging muscles, he looked quite formidable.
“Jili wala, jili gula…” A short man in the group, carrying a luggage bag, jabbered a long string of words. The few security Power Users looked at each other, none of them understanding a thing.
Seeing this, the man became even more animated and seemed more agitated, chattering non-stop.
The two security Power Users couldn’t understand, exchanged glances, and pressed the button on their walkie-talkie.
“Commander Zhou, there’s a person from R-Korea here, jabbering on and on. You know, none of us brothers got much schooling before the apocalypse; we were all laborers. None of us can understand his ‘bird language’.”
The R-Korean man, whether he understood the security officer’s words or not, became even more agitated. He actually picked up his handbag and was about to smash it directly onto the security Power User’s head.
Of course, the security Power User couldn’t just stand there and let him hit them. The R-Korean man actually released his ability, and a tongue of fire shot directly from his raised palm towards the two security Power Users facing him.
The two Power Users quickly extended their hands to block. One was a Wood-type Power User. The plant vines he summoned were like dry wood meeting fire when they encountered the tongue of fire, instantly consumed by the flames. The fire spread up the vines and in a flash burned the Wood-type Power User’s arm.
The intense heat scorched his skin, and the Wood-type Power User let out a tragic scream. He withdrew his ability and frantically shook his arm, trying to put out the flames.
Clusters of small flames were flung off, landing everywhere, instantly igniting into raging infernos that shot up over a person’s height. These flames could burn anything; iron chairs were devoured in a blink, and even the X-ray inspection machine was set ablaze, with a tendency to burn more fiercely.
The scattered flames sent the surrounding people screaming and fleeing in panic, causing the scene to become extremely chaotic for a while.
Although much of the fire on the Wood-type Power User’s arm had been shaken off, the flames did not lessen. Instead, like a parasite clinging to bone, they remained firmly attached to his arm, burning more and more fiercely.
In just a few seconds, the people around could already smell the scent of burning flesh.
His companion happened to be a Water-type Power User. He quickly shifted his attack target, no longer attacking the R-Korean man, and began spraying water onto his companion’s arm, which was engulfed in flames.
Large streams of water poured onto the Wood-type Power User’s burning arm. Such a large volume of water should have been able to extinguish a fire ten times larger.
However, that was just theory. In reality, the burning flames became even more violent. Initially, it was only burning the Power User’s arm, but encountering the water released by the Water-type Power User was like adding oil to the fire. The flames spread rapidly, and the tongue of fire was seen licking the Wood-type Power User’s face, about to burn his head.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” The Power User’s tragic screams echoed through the security hall, utterly miserable. “Stop! Quickly stop! Don’t pour water!”
The Water-type security Power User now also realized that the flames before him were unusual. He quickly stopped, his hands and feet completely at a loss.
Just then, a transparent water column shot over from a distance at high speed. It was so fast that before anyone could react, the water column had covered the Wood-type Power User’s skin.
It spread and flowed down rapidly, instantly covering the Wood-type Power User’s entire body like armor, tightly wrapping him.
The Wood-type Power User was completely enveloped by water, with only his nostrils left uncovered so he could breathe.
The water on the Wood-type Power User’s body was not still water; it was more like flowing water, circulating around his body.
The water released by the Water-type security Power User just now was not only ineffective but had the opposite effect, like oil, making his companion burn more fiercely. They had thought it was something special about the flames released by that Fire-type Power User. Now it seemed it was simply because the level difference was too great.
Even a counter-element was useless.
The flames on the Wood-type Power User were extinguished. His whole body was encased in water, and the cool flow of water greatly relieved the burning pain on his body, making him less agonizingly hot.
He was no longer screaming hoarsely, only heavy breathing and the faintly visible distorted face under the water flow still indicated that he was enduring immense pain.
Wan Xueying strode over, her beautiful face filled with anger. While releasing her ability to extinguish the scattered flames in the hall, she asked coldly, “What is the meaning of this, sir?”
Seeing that his ability had been neutralized, the R-Korean man knew he was no match for the beautiful female Power User before him and stopped attacking. He merely shrugged casually, as if what he had just done was a trivial matter, and then started jabbering in incomprehensible “bird language” again.
Wan Xueying didn’t understand R-Korean. Although she was a graduate of a research institute, graduate students didn’t need to learn R-Korean, so she also couldn’t understand.
But Wan Xueying knew English. She had studied it in college, and her English was quite good, so she repeated her question to the R-Korean man in English.
Whether the R-Korean man understood or not, he still spoke in R-Korean.
Wan Xueying’s expression turned even uglier. Just as she was about to disregard everything and directly apprehend him, a clear voice like a mountain spring rang out.
“Sir, may I ask if our security personnel offended you in any way? Why did you suddenly attack him?”
Wan Xueying turned back and saw that the person who had arrived was Ji An, and her expression relaxed.
The R-Korean man could no longer pretend not to understand and replied in R-Korean, “Yes, he offended me. He tried to snatch my handbag.”
“What did he say?” Wan Xueying asked, suppressing the anger burning to the top of her head.
“He said the security personnel wanted to inspect his handbag.”
This was normal procedure; everyone passing through security had to undergo this step.
Before the apocalypse, security checks followed this process. Ji An didn’t believe that the R-Korean man in front of him didn’t know this; he was clearly deliberately causing trouble.
Wan Xueying said to Ji An, “He must be doing it on purpose? What does he want? To cause trouble? We’re not afraid of him. Ji An, tell him to either cooperate with the inspection honestly or get out of here!”
Ji An nodded slightly. “Sir, please accept the inspection. Otherwise, our base will consider your previous actions as provoking trouble, and our base has the right to detain you.”
The R-Korean man muttered a few sentences, then finally placed his handbag on the inspection counter. Ji An said to the Water-type security Power User, “Inspect it, check carefully, don’t miss anything.”
The Water-type security Power User was already holding back his anger and inspected it extremely meticulously, wishing he could cut open the handbag to check. It went through the machine again, but nothing was found.
The R-Korean man held his head high, his Fu Manchu mustache gleaming with pride. Coupled with his small eyes, he looked utterly Despicable.
“Scan him,” Ji An turned and said to the security officer.
“Okay.” The security officer scanned him from top to bottom and bottom to top; only the metal buckle of his belt made a sound.
The R-Korean man’s small eyes were filled with disdain and haughtiness. He wasn’t even as tall as Ji An and the security personnel when standing at the inspection counter, yet he insisted on adopting a condescending posture. “No problem? Can I leave now?”
“Nothing was found?” Wan Xueying asked the security officer unwillingly.
“No.” The security officer was frustrated. Thinking of his companion’s miserable state just now, he became even more resentful.
“Give it to me!” Ji An took the handheld detector from the security officer and continued to scan the R-Korean man’s body.
The R-Korean man spread his arms to cooperate, his small eyes full of contempt.
Ji An’s inspection this time was extremely detailed, a hundred times slower than the security officer’s just now. His movements were as if he had taken a slow-acting agent. He even pulled off the belt with the metal buckle that would beep when detected by the security device.
A Power User nearby watched curiously. “Why is he checking so slowly? Does he think the detector will beep if he does this?”
No one around him answered. Ji An scanned the R-Korean man’s entire body inch by inch, his eyes fixed on the R-Korean man’s micro-expressions the whole time, not missing a single inch of his face.
Ji An’s detector slowly slid down past the R-Korean man’s waist to his buttocks. The disdain in the R-Korean man’s eyes became even more obvious. “You’ve checked several times. If there’s nothing, there’s nothing. I’m not a Metal-type Power User. Do you really expect to find metal elements inside my body? I don’t have that function.”
After saying that, the R-Korean Power User felt he had told a funny joke and cackled.
Wan Xueying narrowed her eyes in annoyance, her expression unfriendly. “What’s he babbling about?”
Ji An’s detector had reached the R-Korean Power User’s thigh root by this point. He did not continue downward, instead putting away the detector and standing up straight.
The R-Korean man glanced dismissively at Ji An, unconsciously looking at one of his companions. “That’s right, put away your stupid gadget. I don’t have metal elements on me…”
“Wan Xueying, take them for a body scan. I suspect that these few people have things hidden inside their bodies?” Ji An pointed to one of the R-Korean man’s companions. “Especially check him thoroughly!”
“No, you’re talking nonsense, slandering us!” The R-Korean man immediately yelled, his expression clearly panicked.
Ji An’s expression grew colder. “I was just speaking in Huaxia language to my colleague. Didn’t you say you couldn’t understand Huaxia language, sir? How did you suddenly understand?”
Ji An was even more certain. “Wan Xueying, grab them. He must have something hidden inside his body, probably swallowed and hidden in his stomach. Give all of them a stomach examination.”
“Okay.” As Wan Xueying agreed, she took action. This ten-person team did not sit and wait for death but simultaneously attacked back.
Wan Xueying’s Water-type ability, though soft, was also rigid. It transformed into a transparent nine-section whip.
Wan Xueying flicked her wrist, and the nine-section whip twisted and writhed like a snake, striking a deafening sound in the air, seemingly capable of splitting mountains and cracking stones, lashing towards the R-Korean man’s remaining nine companions.
These nine Power Users clearly had varying levels. The four male Power Users rolled on the ground and all dodged.
The five female Power Users were clearly of low level, each dodging extremely clumsily. They narrowly avoided the attack, but their bodies were still marked with whip scars deep enough to see bone. Two of them were whipped so hard they vomited blood, likely having injured internal organs.
Another was even more tragic; she couldn’t even avoid Wan Xueying’s simple strike and was directly whipped in half at the waist. Her upper and lower body separated, blood splattering everywhere, an incomparably gruesome sight.
At the same time as Wan Xueying launched her attack, Ji An coordinated with her, transforming his mental power into a bow and arrow. His arrow aimed at the R-Korean man’s head and shot out with a ‘whoosh’.
The R-Korean man was only focused on dodging Wan Xueying. He was a peak Tier 4 Power User and hadn’t put Ji An, a low-level Power User who had just entered mid-Tier 3, in his eyes at all. Seeing the arrow approaching, he showed no fear and casually waved out a tongue of fire.
The flame met the arrow and quickly consumed the entire arrow.
“Mental-type Power User, mid-Tier 3?” Du Ruanlan, who was watching the commotion from the side, his eyes swirling with keen interest. “Combat-oriented?”
Owen, with folded arms, her fiery red lips redder than the burning arrow, said, “A very powerful Mental-type ability, even stronger than Power Users of the same level. Good combat power.”
“I didn’t expect a brain power user to have such formidable combat power,” Jiang Fuzhong said. “I heard that the Jing Shi Base always values brain power users and protects them like something precious. How could they bear to let one fight?” However, it’s a pity. Although his ability is very powerful, the level difference is too great. That beautiful arrow cannot be unleashed effectively, can it?”
Cong Xun, the representative from the North Base, said, “The Jing Shi Base truly hides dragons and crouching tigers. Even low-level brain power users who are not skilled in combat are so formidable! Truly not to be underestimated.”