ATDIWR Chapter 35
by VolareJust as Jiang Fuzhong finished speaking, an arrow burning with raging flames shot through the heavy fire, carrying a hellish fire that seemed capable of incinerating everything, fiercely penetrating the R-country person’s brain.
The R-country person didn’t even have time to let out a scream before lying stiffly on the ground, eyes wide open but blank and listless, saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.
“He actually shot the R-country person into an idiot with one arrow!” Jiang Fuzhong exclaimed in disbelief, “How is this possible! That was a high-tier Power User, only one tier below this Mental-type Power User? Since when could non-combat oriented Mental-type Power Users fight above their tier?”
Owen’s arms, which had been crossed, had unknowingly dropped. She began to get serious. “The arrow formed by his mental power is still attacking and hasn’t disappeared!”
“This is too terrifying!” Jiang Fuzhong muttered in a low voice, he simply couldn’t believe his eyes.
An arrow transformed from Tier 3 mental power could not only penetrate the flames of a peak Tier 4 Power User but also still have residual power to attack after destroying the brain of the peak Tier 4 Power User.
This was too frightening, even combat-oriented Power Users couldn’t do this!
Although the arrow, after penetrating the brain once, was no longer as beautiful as when it was first released, now only a fragmented arrow body remained, it was still terrifying.
“Take down that Mental-type Power User, he can turn people into idiots!” Among the companions of the R-country Power User was a blonde, blue-eyed M-country Power User. He spotted Ji An hiding behind Wan Xueying and shouted to his companions.
Instantly, Fire-type, Wind-type, Water-type, in short, all kinds of abilities were hurled at Ji An. Ji An couldn’t bother with the mental power arrow he had released and quickly weaved a Vajra Shield with his mental power, covering himself completely.
“That broken arrow disappeared?” Jiang Fuzhong asked.
“It should disappear,” Owen said, her eyes fixed on Ji An. “If he could simultaneously control mental power to form two things to attack, *that* would be truly terrifying.”
“It’s already very terrifying now, he’s just a low-tier Tier 3 Power User,” Jiang Fuzhong said. “But it’s a pity, his ability level is still too low. With so many high-tier abilities targeting him at the same time, that small Vajra Shield of his simply won’t hold up.”
As if to prove Jiang Fuzhong’s words, just as he finished speaking, various abilities struck the Vajra Shield.
Watching the seemingly indestructible Vajra Shield, which appeared capable of withstanding anything, gradually show points of impact as each ability landed. Those impact points continued to be attacked, cracks began to appear, splitting open and shattering into pieces that fell to the ground.
The man with a beautiful, almost androgynous face within the Vajra Shield reappeared before everyone, little by little. Ji An’s forehead was covered in layers of cold sweat.
Wan Xueying had already noticed the commotion here. She split her ability into two parts, trying to form a water wall in front of Ji An with water to help him block the subsequent attacks.
Jiang Fuzhong shook his head repeatedly, “It’s too late, and that female Power User’s ability level isn’t high enough. The Power Users from Province T Base aren’t low level, even the one who was just turned into an idiot was a Tier 4 Power User. The remaining ones are all at least Tier 5 or above, the highest one might be a Tier 7 Power User. She herself can’t even guarantee her own safety, she can’t help at all.”
“What a pity for a genius, he’s about to fall before he’s grown,” Owen said.
“A genius who wants to fall won’t fall easily!” Du Ruanlan hooked her lips. “Help is here.”
Overwhelming black tornadoes swept over, instantly engulfing those terrifying abilities. A green vine swiftly wrapped around Ji An, pulling him away from the dangerous area.
The violent storm suddenly changed direction without warning, blowing fiercely towards the direction where the group from Province T Base was located. Those messy abilities also turned a corner and attacked their masters!
“Ah…”
“Pfft…”
Screams of pain and sounds of spitting blood mixed together, and the Province T Base Power Users fell to the ground in disarray.
“Holy crap! Gu Jinsheng, the Chief Commander of Jing Shi Base, is actually so awesome, a Tier 5 Power User single-handedly taking on three high-tier Power Users who are higher level than him!” Jiang Fuzhong just wanted to curse. How did he not know that fighting above one’s tier had become standard for Power Users now? “Does Jing Shi Base have some secret method for cultivating abilities? How come every single one of them can fight above their tier!”
He dared to pound his chest and guarantee that he couldn’t do it. If he dared to challenge their boss, he would turn into ash in one move, no, half a move!
Owen furrowed her beautiful eyebrows, her charm increasing rather than decreasing, making people wish they could sacrifice everything for her, just to smooth her brow. “It’s undeniable that Gu Jinsheng’s ability is indeed powerful, but those high-tier Power Users’ abilities feel unstable and lack combat experience. They don’t look like they leveled up through combat; they should have just stacked up their levels by forcefully consuming Zombie Crystal Cores. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lost so miserably. Including the ability of the Power User who was just shot into an idiot, something was off!”
The tall, blonde, blue-eyed M-country man once again unleashed his Wind-type ability. Before the incoming ability could hit him, he blew it off course. The ability struck the empty ground, directly creating a large pit two meters deep.
It was Gu Jinsheng who released the tornado to protect Ji An. He raised his hand, and a fierce and majestic Thunder Dragon soared into the air. One thunderball after another struck the Province T Base Power Users on the ground, causing the already injured Power Users to scatter in a panic.
Zhou Qin rolled Ji An over and placed him behind Gu Jinsheng, then released his own skill. He was a Wood-type Power User, capable of manipulating anything related to wood. Giant trees sprouted from the ground, blocking the escape routes of the Province T Base Power Users.
“Stop, Stop!” The blonde, blue-eyed man saw that no one was listening to his English and quickly shouted in Chinese: “Stop, stop the attack immediately! I’m not with them. I’m from M Base, and I’ve come on behalf of M Base. If you don’t want to provoke a war between two countries, stop immediately!”
Gu Jinsheng ignored the shouting blonde Power User and continued to attack. Seeing that Gu Jinsheng didn’t stop, Zhou Qin and the others didn’t stop either until everyone was subdued, including the blonde Power User. Only then did they cease their actions.
Although the blonde Power User was subdued on the ground, it was obvious that he was unconvinced. Even as a loser, he still maintained a condescending attitude as if he were the victor.
“I advise you to release me immediately. My arrival is by the will of M-country. The price of angering my Base is not something you can afford…”
“You cannot harm Mr. Cruise, he is an M-country citizen! If you dare to touch a single hair on him, M-country will not let you off! This will likely cause conflict between the two countries!” Another R-country person among the Province T Base group shouted in Chinese.
“Chief Commander Gu, Mr. Cruise is indeed from M-country, he is here to establish diplomatic relations on behalf of M-country. If anything happens to him in Jing Shi Base, M-country will certainly not give up, and it might very likely lead to disputes between the two countries.” The only Xia Country male Power User from Province T Base, who had been acting like a frightened quail since the R-country people started causing trouble at the airport, not saying a word as if he were also R-country and couldn’t understand Xia Country language, finally decided to speak up in his unique Province T accent.
However, his tone was very firm, as if just mentioning M-country should make them tremble in fear, and then they would obediently do whatever was told.
The only Xia Country male Power User from Province T Base continued: “You have already injured Mr. Koyanjiro twice and turned him into an idiot. R-country will definitely pursue this matter to the end. Do you really want to provoke M-country as well? Aren’t you afraid of starting a fire that will burn you to ashes?”
“Oh, so they can speak Chinese,” Cong Xun from North Base said. “It seems there’s also a Xia Country person from our Province T Base among them. What was he doing earlier? When the R-country people were provoking us, why didn’t he say anything, hiding in the back too afraid to even fart? Now that they’re at a disadvantage, he knows how to fart, but not a good one! M-country is nothing! This is Xia Country’s land!”
“These little short guys are deliberately looking for trouble! Beat them well! This is how you deal with those who lick M-country’s butts, make them know that if they want to lick M-country’s butts, they have to become idiots,” Ding Yong cursed along.
Du Ruanlan from Luoshi Base let out a cold scoff. Owen crossed her arms again, her expression equally disdainful. Jiang Fuzhong spat softly.
“Shut them up,” Gu Jinsheng instructed his subordinates with a wave of his hand. Someone immediately went up and gagged these people. The blonde Power User seemed unable to believe that they dared to treat him like this.
The eyes of the Xia Country male Power User from Province T Base were also wide open. Although his mouth was gagged and he couldn’t speak, his expression was as if asking how they dared!
How dare they offend R-country and M-country at the same time? Aren’t they afraid that these two countries will team up and attack them!
Ji An walked up to Gu Jinsheng and said again, “Give them a thorough check of their stomachs. I suspect there’s something hidden in their stomachs. If you really can’t find anything, give them soap water, keep pouring until they can’t expel anything anymore. Something will definitely come out.”
“Okay,” Gu Jinsheng didn’t ask Ji An why he was so sure. Instead, he looked at Ji An and asked, “Were you injured anywhere?”
“I’m fine,” Ji An shook his head.
“That’s good. Be careful yourself.”
“I will.”
Gu Jinsheng looked Ji An up and down again, confirming that he was indeed unharmed, then turned to look at the Wood-type Power User who had been burned.
The Wood-type Power User was named Gou Song, a peak Tier 3 ability.
At this time, he was sitting in a chair, supported by someone. To protect him from further harm during the recent battle, Wan Xueying hadn’t withdrawn the Water-type ability attached to his body. Separated by a layer of flowing water, people couldn’t clearly see his injuries at all.
Now that the danger was gone, Wan Xueying withdrew her ability. As the water screen gradually faded, everyone present saw the Wood-type Power User’s injuries and couldn’t help but gasp.
It was terrible, truly too terrible!
Almost the moment the Water-type ability faded, everyone smelled a very strong odor of burnt flesh. Gou Song’s entire right upper body, including the right half of his face, was burned beyond recognition, completely lacking any blood color and instead appearing black.
This just showed the robustness of a Power User’s physical constitution. If it were an ordinary person who was burned like this, they might have turned into a pile of scorched earth.
“Has Fang Rurong arrived?” Although Gu Jinsheng had no expression, those around him could feel his low pressure.
“Here,” a female Power User in her forties ran in, panting.
She was also startled when she saw Gou Song’s injuries. “What tier Power User?”
“Peak Tier 3,” Zhou Qin replied. “Can he be healed?”
Gou Song was Zhou Qin’s close subordinate and confidant. The two had a good relationship, they were friends before the Apocalypse and had supported each other for so many years.
Fang Rurong visibly let out a sigh of relief, “Thankfully he’s Tier 3, one tier below me. He can be healed.”
Fang Rurong’s hand started from Gou Song’s head, moving downwards little by little from a millimeter away from his skin.
Although Fang Rurong’s Healing-type ability was invisible, Ji An could feel a strange force slowly healing Gou Song’s injuries.
As that force gradually penetrated the cells, Gou Song’s cells were repaired, then the basal layer, then the epidermis. Within tens of seconds, flesh had grown back on Gou Song’s head, and then it spread downwards to his face, neck, shoulders, arms, torso…
In about a few minutes, new skin had grown back on Gou Song’s body. However, the new skin was a different color from his original skin, making Gou Song appear like a half-and-half person for a while.
Healing Gou Song also consumed a lot of Fang Rurong’s energy. She was supported to sit down, her body was weak, her forehead was sweaty, and her lips were pale.
These were symptoms of excessive ability consumption.
“Sister Fang, how are you?” Zhou Qin asked quickly when he saw Fang Rurong like this.
“It’s fine, just excessive ability consumption. It’s probably because the Power User who caused this injury was a higher level than me, but it’s good that he can be healed,” Fang Rurong replied.
“Thank you, Sister Fang,” Zhou Qin said sincerely.
Gou Song also thanked her, saying, “Sister Fang, I owe it to you, otherwise this layer of skin would definitely have peeled off. And Commander Wan, without you, it might not have been just peeling skin, but I would have turned into a pile of black ash.”
After his injuries were healed and the burning pain was gone, Gou Song remembered to thank everyone one by one.
Wan Xueying and Fang Rurong both said it was fine, that’s what they should do.
“Do you have a mirror on you? Let me look,” Gou Song was still concerned about the color of his new skin.
“Why would I carry that around as a big man?” Zhou Qin said.
“I have one here, borrow it,” Wan Xueying took out a vintage hollow-carved mirror from her space and handed it to Gou Song.
Gou Song looked in the mirror and let out a loud shriek of “Mama!” “Who is that half-and-half person in the mirror?”
Zhou Qin couldn’t bear to look at his foolish behavior and turned to ask Fang Rurong, “Can his skin color change back? This guy hasn’t married yet, he dreams of marrying a wife. With this skin color, he probably won’t find a wife in this lifetime.”
Gou Song quickly shouted, “How can you say such things in public? Why don’t you say you’re the same? You don’t just dream about marrying a wife, you think about it when you eat and drink too.”
Zhou Qin didn’t care about Gou Song slandering him and shrugged, “I didn’t become a half-and-half person!”
Fang Rurong watched the two of them fooling around and smiled weakly twice, “It’s fine, sunbathe more. After a few hot days, the skin color will change back.”
“Gou Song, is there anywhere else you feel uncomfortable?” Gu Jinsheng asked.
“No, I feel great. I can kill a mutated cow right now.” Gou Song wasn’t lying, that’s how he truly felt. There was no difference from before he was injured. If it weren’t for the two different skin colors on his body, he would have thought he just had a nightmare.
Gu Jinsheng nodded, “Subsidies will be issued to you. You’d better still go to the hospital for a check-up. I have things to do, so I’ll go first.”
“Okay, Boss, you go ahead and get busy,” Gou Song patted Zhou Qin’s shoulder. “Brother, you go get busy too. Thank you for worrying about me. When you’re done with this busy period, I’ll treat you to drinks.”
Zhou Qin gave Gou Song a playful jab, “Why are you saying such polite words to me?”
Walking to Ji An’s side, Gu Jinsheng stopped and asked, “Want to come along?”
“Can I?” This seemed to involve base secrets. Could he, an irregular member of the research institute, participate?
“Yes, you proposed the inspection.”
“Alright, I’ll go.”
Leaving Wan Xueying to continue as the Chief Commander here, Gu Jinsheng took Zhou Qin and Ji An to the hospital first. At this point, among the original team of ten, excluding one who was unfortunately cut in half and killed and one who became an idiot, there were eight remaining.
These eight were four men and four women. The female Power Users were all Xia Country people from Province T Base, and their ability levels were all Tier 1 or 2. Of the four male Power Users, one was Xia Country, one was M-country, and the rest were R-country.
These people had all suffered injuries of varying degrees, but no one gave them medicine or bandaged their wounds. They were simply gagged and roughly stuffed into various machines for examination.
From head to toe, inside and out, they were thoroughly examined without missing a single strand of hair.
“How is it?” Gu Jinsheng asked the hospital director in charge of the matter.
The director’s expression was serious. “There really is something in their abdomen. We’ve already given them enemas. It shouldn’t be long before it comes out.”
“I knew these little short guys were up to no good!” Zhou Qin cursed. “We absolutely can’t let them off lightly this time! If we don’t teach them a lesson, they’ll never know how many eyes the King of Horses has! Following a blonde lion-dog and thinking they can act fierce by borrowing power! Bah!”
Gu Jinsheng’s eyes flickered, emitting a dangerous light.
“Director, it’s out, it’s out…” A doctor ran over shouting, holding a transparent plastic bag in his hand. Inside was a transparent cylindrical object, about three centimeters long and one centimeter in diameter, covered in excrement.
Power Users’ senses were highly developed, their sense of smell infinitely more sensitive than ordinary people. Several Power Users covered their noses and backed away.
The excited doctor then calmed down, saying awkwardly, “We don’t know what this thing is, and we didn’t dare to clean it ourselves, so we just took it out directly.”
“That’s correct,” Ji An affirmed.
The doctor smiled, “Who should keep this? I’ll give him a few pairs of disposable gloves.”
“Give it to me,” Ji An said to Gu Jinsheng. “Hand it over to me, I’ll take it back to the lab for examination. I already have suspicions.”
“Okay,” Gu Jinsheng didn’t hesitate. “Be extra careful, it might be dangerous.”
“Okay.”