ATDIWR Chapter 42
by VolareExcept for high-level mental ability users, other ability users cannot voluntarily detonate the ability crystal core in their brains because their mental power is not strong enough.
However, a new type of drug was developed a year ago that, when taken, can rapidly increase mental power within one minute, causing the non-voluntary detonation of the ability crystal core within an ability user’s brain.
This drug that can cause the ability crystal core to detonate is irreversible. This means that once taken, there is absolutely no chance of regret, belonging to the category of scorched-earth drugs.
Moreover, after taking this drug, mental power will rapidly surge. During this period, the drug taker’s mental power cannot be stimulated, meaning no further mental suggestion should be applied to them, nor should devices like energy suppressors be used on them. Doing so will only stimulate the drug taker’s mental power to accelerate expansion and explosion, reducing the probability of survival for people around the self-detonator.
The power of the ability crystal core self-detonation varies with different levels of ability users. The higher the level of the ability crystal core, the greater the power. The self-detonation range of an ability user like Krus can reach within a five-hundred-meter radius.
Ji An, Gu Jinsheng, and others stood on the rooftop. Although their developed five senses allowed them to see the situation below clearly, they could not clearly see the facial features and expressions of people. They only roughly saw Krus’s unwilling last struggles before death.
At the same time, the chaotic sounds on the scene and the shouting of the onlookers were transmitted directly through the internal intercommunication system.
“You guys escape, I’ll stay!” Gou Chong’s eyes flickered with a willingness to die, and a hint of inexplicable relief. He knew that Gu Jinsheng must be paying attention to the situation here at this moment, and directly requested instructions from Gu Jinsheng, bypassing the chain of command, “Commander Gu, Execution Squad Leader Gou Chong requests permission to stay alone and have the other team members withdraw immediately. I can guarantee that even if I die, I will absolutely not let any of these people escape!”
Gou Chong’s firm voice was transmitted through the intercommunication system to everyone present. Gu Jinsheng was not unmoved, nor did he regard human lives as worthless weeds, but as the highest commander of the Jing Shi Base, he always had to consider the overall situation.
With things having escalated to this point, Krus’s self-detonation was unavoidable and would definitely cause heavy casualties. In this situation, if these main culprits were still allowed to escape, the Jing Shi Base would face more than just complete failure.
Everyone’s life is a life, and everyone is worth cherishing, but sometimes some sacrifices are destined to be made.
Gu Jinsheng’s resolute voice issued the command through the internal intercommunication system without hesitation: “Request granted. Others withdraw immediately, Execution Squad Leader Gou Chong stays to tie up all personnel from the T Base.”
“Yes! Execution Squad Leader Gou Chong has received the order and guarantees to complete the mission perfectly with his life!” Gou Chong’s voice was loud and firm, without the slightest hint of fear, but rather revealing a determination to face death bravely and move forward.
Ji An’s arrow changed direction, aiming at Krus. The straight-line distance from their location to Krus’s location was about 1000 meters. Shooting Krus’s brain with an arrow was simple, but what Ji An had to do was not just that simple.
He had to ensure that the arrow hit the ability crystal core in Krus’s brain. Otherwise, if it hit other parts of the brain, it would not only fail to make Krus an idiot with one arrow but would also accelerate Krus’s self-detonation.
Ji An was under great pressure. His face was cold and focused, one eye slightly closed, the other aiming at Krus. His tall, straight back was like a pine or cypress, like a towering tree supporting the sky and earth.
Everyone held their breath, no one dared to disturb Ji An, they all silently cast their gaze towards him, praying in their hearts.
“Leader!”
“Go!” Gou Chong shouted loudly. He rushed forward, and the vines transformed by his wood-type ability shot out like snakes, tying up the escaping ability users waiting to be executed one by one like string on a skewer.
Zhou Qin’s face instantly changed, becoming pale and somber. From the rooftop, he shouted loudly: “Gou Chong!”
After shouting, without waiting for instructions from Gu Jinsheng, he rushed out like an arrow from a bow.
In fact, rushing up at this time would not help at all. What they should do is stay away.
The power of an ability user’s self-detonation is too great. If they don’t evacuate quickly, ability users affected by the self-detonation will at least have their ability crystal core endangered, their ability reduced, and their physical bodies injured. In serious cases, they will be directly blown into blood clots or become brain-damaged.
Knowing the situation was severe, Zhou Qin still plunged into the scene of the incident without hesitation.
After Wan Xueying and others reacted, they directly unleashed their abilities, creating a water wall in front of Zhou Qin to block his path.
Zhou Qin’s ability level was one small step lower than Wan Xueying’s. Although it was just a small step, it was like this among experts; a difference of a hair could be a thousand miles. Zhou Qin was simply no match for Wan Xueying and usually never sparred with her.
At this moment, Zhou Qin directly unleashed thick vines and recklessly slammed into the water curtain in front of him.
Perhaps Zhou Qin was truly anxious. The water curtain, which was usually unbreakable to him, actually showed noticeable ripples under his repeated attacks.
If Zhou Qin continued to attack like this a few more times, he might actually break through, and then Wan Xueying would also be injured.
Wan Xueying was having some trouble coping, and Gu Jinsheng also made a move. His wind-type ability transformed into a wind rope, tying up the extremely agitated Zhou Qin.
“Let go of me, Boss, let me go!” When Zhou Qin looked over again, his eyes were already red, like red ink drops in his eyes.
Gu Jinsheng’s face remained expressionless, “What you should do now is calm down. Even if you rush over, it won’t help. You can’t stop Krus from self-detonating, and you’ll be affected.”
This was probably the most Gu Jinsheng had ever spoken to Zhou Qin since he knew him, and it was even unusually accompanied by explanation and comfort.
Zhou Qin’s eyes were bloodshot, “Boss, I just ask you, if the situation were reversed, and it was Ji An facing this situation now, would you still rush up without hesitation, knowing it’s a dead end?”
Gu Jinsheng’s eyes flickered. Zhou Qin then said: “Boss, Dog saved my life. Although we don’t have that kind of relationship, he is my sworn brother. My brotherly feelings for him are not one bit less than your feelings for Ji An! He can risk his life to save me, and today, for him, I can accompany him to death!”
Zhou Qin finally looked at Gu Jinsheng almost pleadingly, “Boss, I just ask you this once, please don’t make me hate you for the rest of my life!”
The wind-transformed rope wrapped around Zhou Qin loosened, and Zhou Qin easily broke free, then ran away without looking back.
He didn’t see Gu Jinsheng behind him, his back to him, looking in the direction of Gou Chong downstairs, then suddenly closed his eyes for perhaps less than a second or two, but it still revealed the turbulence in his heart.
“Run! Run fast! The M Country ability user is going to self-detonate!”
Someone shouted again, and the crowd instantly became chaotic.
Some speed ability users directly activated their speed abilities, leaping from the crowd, stepping on the walls, and emerging from above the heads of the crowd.
There were also niche ability users who leaped directly from the ground onto the balconies of surrounding tall buildings.
A strength ability user punched down, smashing small obstacles blocking the road into fine dust.
There were also earth-type ability users who drilled an underground tunnel directly into the ground, escaping through the underground tunnel…
The scene was a chaotic mess, the crowd was disorderly, all trying to escape by any means possible. Abilities were flying everywhere, and it was extremely chaotic.
Several ability users who were waiting for execution also began to resist and attempt to escape amidst the chaos.
Gou Chong, as the chief person responsible for the execution, despite facing the self-detonation, quickly calmed down after the initial panic.
Gou Chong could clearly feel a thick and powerful force permeating around Krus. That force was terrifying, and Krus himself, in just a few seconds, had his hair stand up like steel wires, his face swelled purple, and his head looked like it was about to explode in the next second.
Not only did Gou Chong not stay away, but he also tied up those ability users and came to Krus’s side. He was not afraid, but instead smiled and shouted: “Come on, M Country, I’m not afraid of you!”
Just at this critical moment, three consecutive mental-power transformed arrows descended from the sky, one after another, carrying a strong wind, breaking through everything and shooting into Krus’s brain.
Everyone was quietly waiting. Life and death hung in this moment. If Ji An could directly shoot into the ability crystal core in Krus’s brain, then everyone would be saved. Conversely, if he missed the crystal core, Krus would immediately self-detonate, and no one within five hundred meters of him would be spared.
However, at such a long distance, hitting the ability crystal core, which was only a few centimeters inside Krus’s brain, was by no means easy.
A miracle descended, just like a raging fire meeting a torrential downpour from the sky, that tenacious force lingering around Krus instantly vanished without a trace.
Krus’s purplish, swollen face turned pale as snow in an instant, with not a trace of blood on his lips. His eyes were dull and listless, a suspicious drool flowed from the corner of his mouth, and his whole body collapsed to the ground limp like a paralyzed person.
He was actually directly shot into an idiot by the three consecutive arrows!
“Hurrah! Ji An, hurrah!!!” On the rooftop, the people in the command center saw Krus collapse instantly instead of self-detonating and knew that the mission was successful. They cheered and jumped for joy.
Kong Zhongcheng even wanted to rush over and hug Ji An and toss him into the air, but when he turned around, he found that Ji An was already embraced by Gu Jinsheng, his forehead covered in sweat, his whole body looking as if he had just been pulled out of water, completely soaked, with no color in his face, his eyes closed, and his brows slightly furrowed.
Gu Jinsheng looked worried, “Should I have Wan Xueying send you back?”
Ji An frowned and closed his eyes, his voice weak, “No, I want to finish watching the execution.”
“Okay.”
“Calm the crowd, the execution continues.” Gu Jinsheng issued the order through the intercommunication system.
Zhou Qin had already rushed over from upstairs at this time. He ran over just in time to see this scene, and his hanging heart finally relaxed. He couldn’t help but let out a long sigh of relief.
Turning to look, his good brother Gou Chong was staring intently at the paralyzed Krus on the ground, his eyes dull, his whole body in a state of daze.
Zhou Qin poked Gou Chong with his elbow, his mouth grinning so wide it almost reached his ears, “Dog, what’s wrong? Scared silly? So weak, weren’t you quite the hero just now!”
Gou Chong seemed to be brought back to his senses by this elbow from Zhou Qin. However, when he reacted, his first reaction was not ecstasy or relief, but intense anger.
“Zhou Qin, what are you doing here! Don’t you know how dangerous it is here! You didn’t withdraw, and you even rushed in, what are you trying to show off!” Gou Chong roared, clearly emotionally agitated, as if he might attack Zhou Qin at any moment.
Zhou Qin was stunned by the roar, and then he realized that this was because Gou Chong was too worried about him. He wasn’t angry, and still said with a playful smile: “Dog, we are sworn brothers. The day you dug me out of the pile of zombies, I secretly swore to myself that from now on, this brother’s life is yours! As long as you need me, I can go through fire and water for you.”
Zhou Qin spoke the most sincere words in the most relaxed tone. Anyone could hear the firm resolve in his smiling words.
Gou Chong choked up, his eyes turned red just like that. A tear gathered in his eyes. He turned his head away, not wanting Zhou Qin to see the tears in his eyes, and said in a muffled voice: “I didn’t save you for future repayment.”
“I know, brother, precisely because I know, I cannot leave you behind and escape alone.”
Gou Chong said: “I saved your life, I’m not letting you waste it like this. If you encounter danger in the future, I don’t want you to save me, otherwise, we won’t be brothers.”
“Okay.” Zhou Qin readily agreed, but Gou Chong knew that Zhou Qin wasn’t really agreeing with him. He was just comforting him. The next time he encountered such a situation, he would still go to his death with him without hesitation.
Gou Chong’s chest felt suffocated and uncomfortable, as if he couldn’t breathe.
The other Jing Shi Base ability users responsible for the execution had already received the order and knew that the crisis was over, and began to control the scene.
Fortunately, all this happened in a short time. It seemed like it took ten or a few minutes, but in fact, it took only tens of seconds from Krus taking the drug to being shot into a brain-damaged state.
Although the crowd was chaotic, upon seeing the crisis resolved, they calmed down almost immediately. Although some people were injured, the injuries were not too serious.
Cong Xun from the North Base wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with relief, “That scared the hell out of me. For a moment, I thought I was going to die here.”
Jiang Fuzhong from the Luo City Base, having survived, looked left and right and asked, “I was too focused on running for my life just now, didn’t see what happened. What happened? How did this M Country guy become an idiot in the blink of an eye!”
“He was hit by three arrows transformed by mental power.” Owen’s eyes sparkled, “Don’t you think this technique is very familiar?”
Jiang Fuzhong suddenly realized, “That mental ability user? But isn’t he a low-level ability user?”
Owen’s expression was heavy, “This is the most terrifying part. Even if Krus’s ability was unstable and his level was not solid, perhaps his ability was raised by absorbing Zombie Crystal Cores, but a high-level ability user is still a high-level ability user. Even with a difference of three levels, that low-level mental ability user was still able to shoot a high-level ability user into an idiot with three consecutive arrows. Even if it required three arrows, such a person cannot be underestimated and is definitely not an ordinary individual.”
Du Ruanlan’s gaze passed through layers of crowds and buildings of varying heights to look at the group of people standing on the rooftop, the light in his eyes flickering. “I am starting to look forward to having a chance to meet him.”
While Han Zhiwei from the South Base breathed a sigh of relief, his heart grew more apprehensive about the Jing Shi Base.
Don’t think that the Jing Shi Base causing so much commotion with just one auction made it seem incompetent. In fact, these incidents would have happened regardless of which Base in Xia Country held them; the difference would only be in the details.
What truly made him apprehensive was the Jing Shi Base’s powerful and effective response to unexpected changes.
“I wonder which mental ability user made a move this time?”
Han Zhiwei looked towards the rooftop of the building behind him. If it was still the one at the airport that day, then that person was too terrifying, actually capable of fighting across levels.
If it wasn’t, it was equally terrifying. The strength of the Jing Shi Base was even more unfathomable. What special means did they have to cultivate brain-based ability users, who were originally non-combatants and like fragile flowers, to be so powerful!
The strength of the Jing Shi Base was somewhat terrifying! The things displayed at this auction were all very frightening. Who knows how much is hidden behind the scenes that hasn’t been exposed? What if the strength displayed by the Jing Shi Base is just the tip of the iceberg, that would be truly terrifying!
Krus’s self-detonation failed, and the crowd was quickly calmed down, restoring order.
The execution was interrupted but did not stop. After the unrest was quelled, the execution continued.
Krus became an idiot and was thrown next to the H Country ability user whose ability had been disabled. Since the chaos began, the ability user whose ability was disabled had been curled up on the ground, and even such turmoil didn’t make him change his posture. Now that Krus had fallen beside him, he remained indifferent.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to move, but that ability users whose abilities were disabled would briefly lose consciousness or become dazed when their abilities were first disabled. This shows how much mental damage disabling an ability does to an ability user.
After the R Country people and Krus were executed, it was finally the turn of the T Base ability users.
These few people had attempted to escape during the chaos earlier. After failing, and seeing Krus’s miserable state, even worse than having his ability disabled, they began to cry and beg for mercy.
The male T Country ability user cried until his snot flowed into his mouth, “Don’t do this to me, you can’t do this to me. I am also a Xia Country person, we are all Xia Country people, we are ‘born of the same mother’, boiling beans with beanstalks will only make people from other countries laugh!”
Several female ability users shouted: “We are innocent, we are all low-level ability users, we don’t know anything at all, we can’t control our own destiny at all.
They forced us to serve those M Country and R Country men, and we also felt disgusted, but we had no power to resist, we are also victims, you cannot deal with us like this, this is not fair to us!”
These low-level female ability users from Xia Country were indeed as they claimed, knowing nothing, and were sent specifically to serve R Country and M Country men.
However, whether they were willing or not is hard to say. When these female ability users were interrogated back then, they were very arrogant, and their words highly praised R Country and M Country.
This is not surprising. Province T has always been pro-R and pro-M, admiring capitalist countries.
The executioners ignored the wailing and crying of the T Base ability users and dragged the people away for execution one by one.
In just a few minutes, several ability users could no longer cry out and had become soulless living corpses.
Execution vehicles pulled several people onto the vehicles and left the Jing Shi Base.
At this time, the electronic screen on the execution ground changed from live broadcasting the execution to live broadcasting the situation.
After leaving the Jing Shi Base, the ability users drove the cars into a zombie gathering place. Several ability users dragged the people out of the cars, then found a place to hang surveillance cameras high up to ensure they could see the situation clearly before driving away.
Five minutes after the cars left, unconscious zombies began to appear one after another.
When they saw humans, they pounced on them like hungry wolves seeing fresh meat, tearing and biting madly.
The crowd still at the execution ground in Jing Shi Base watched this bloody scene through the large electronic screen. There was no censorship in The Apocalypse. The screen was full of blood, mutilated limbs, and desperate screams of the ability users echoed throughout the execution ground, chilling people to the bone.
“Let’s go.” With the dust settled, Gu Jinsheng asked again.
“Mm.” Ji An replied very softly, his face pale.
Everything was over here, only the dispersal of the crowd remained. Gu Jinsheng saw no need to stay. He held Ji An and personally took him away.
On the other side, the several M Country ability users who witnessed all of this firsthand had faces that were extremely grim, darker and gloomier than rain clouds.
“What does the Jing Shi Base mean by this? Giving us a warning? Not content with disabling their abilities, they have to throw them into the zombie horde and live stream the whole thing?” The M Country representative’s face was like still water.
Dwight, as the leader of the delegation sent to the Jing Shi Base this time, felt even more humiliated. His eyes were dark and gloomy, filled with chilling coldness, “The Jing Shi Base won’t be arrogant for long. Sooner or later, we will get our revenge and make everyone in the Jing Shi Base pay the price for what they did today!”
Dwight gritted his back teeth and said, “Have our spies contact Han Yaokun as soon as possible. Whatever demands he makes, as long as he can state them, we can satisfy all of them. If he is insensible and unyielding, then…”
Dwight made a gesture of cutting his throat, “At any cost, he must not be left alive!”
The H Country ability users who were also watching the execution were initially thinking they had caught the Jing Shi Base by the tail and could use being frightened as an excuse to demand a large sum of compensation from the Jing Shi Base.
When Krus was about to self-detonate, they were so scared they peed their pants, but after Krus was shot into an idiot with an arrow and confirmed safe, the H Country ability users began to stir, their greed resurfacing, wanting to bite off a large piece of meat from the massive body of Xia Country.
Just one large piece of meat would be enough to feed their small country’s common people.
But when they finished watching the entire execution, the H Country ability users were intimidated. They were scared to death in their hearts, and even vaguely began to regret provoking them earlier.
Later, seeing Krus treated so coldly and heartlessly, and the M Country representative not even daring to utter a sound, acting like a shrinking turtle and not daring to show his face, the H Country ability users became even more uneasy and panicked.
If even M Country had to temporarily avoid their edge, but they dared to provoke them recklessly on this land, could they really leave this land alive? Or perhaps, would they be assassinated on the way?
Several H Country ability users regretted it terribly, wishing they could turn back time and slap their past selves twice.
H Country people are not tough-boned. Their true nature is obsequiousness. Now that they have witnessed the power of the Jing Shi Base, they dare not resist. They only want to be treated like a fart and let go by the Jing Shi Base!
Several H Country people looked at each other, and after glancing at each other, one ability user cautiously and tentatively asked, “How about we leave quietly tonight?”
The others quickly nodded. The Jing Shi Base was too terrifying, and its style was too brutal.
The H Country people did indeed sneak away in the early morning. They wanted to leave quietly while the people of Jing Shi Base didn’t know. Unfortunately, there were Jing Shi Base ability users on duty 24 hours a day at the airport.
As soon as the H Country people showed their faces, they were discovered by the Jing Shi Base night shift personnel. The night shift personnel walked directly towards the H Country ability users, scaring the H Country ability users so much that their legs trembled. If they didn’t need to fly back to Q Province, they might have turned around and run away on the spot.
At this time, the H Country ability users no longer had the arrogant and condescending attitude they had when they first arrived. Instead, they wished they knew bone-shrinking techniques so they could shrink themselves small enough to squeeze into any crack in the ground, so that these cruel Xia Country people wouldn’t see them.
“What, what’s the matter?” The H Country delegation leader had to brace himself and say with a show of strength, “We haven’t committed any crimes in the Jing Shi Base. Now we are returning to our country. Your Jing Shi Base cannot detain us without reason, otherwise, our H Country is not to be trifled with either!”