Chapter 64 Hypnotizing Lin Jiaojiao

As night deepened, Ruan Ning lurked like a shadow outside Lei Bao's stronghold, her mental energy probing silently like the finest spider silk, precisely locking onto the sleeping Lin Jiaojiao.

Ruan Ning's mental energy carried no aggression; instead, it transformed into wisps of invisible, intangible yet strongly suggestive fluctuations, like the whispers of a hypnotist, repeatedly invading Lin Jiaojiao's mind.

"Power...I need power..."

“Lei Bao… he’s been bewitched by that new slut…”

"Without superpowers, I'm just a burden... I'll be abandoned..."

"The slums... filthy, hungry, and bullied... I don't want to go there!"

"Outside...it's dangerous, but there are also opportunities...I heard someone awakened a superpower at the brink of death..."

"Go out with Lei Bao... he'll protect you... just one chance... just one chance..."

These thoughts did not arise out of thin air, but rather Ruan Ning precisely amplified and guided the fears, ambitions, and resentments that already existed in Lin Jiaojiao's heart.

Lin Jiaojiao was already extremely insecure due to Lei Bao's recent coldness and the appearance of his new lover, and the fear of losing her current life overwhelmed everything.

Deep down, how could she not envy those with superpowers? How could she not want to take control of her own destiny? It's just that she was timid and lacked the courage to face danger alone.

At this moment, under Ruan Ning's continuous and subtle mental suggestion, these suppressed thoughts grew wildly like weeds, gradually converging into a clear and intense obsession:

"I must be taken on Lei Bao's next mission! I need to go out and find an opportunity to awaken my superpowers! Only by becoming a superhuman can I hold onto everything I have now and avoid being abandoned!"

This idea grew stronger and stronger, and it became almost her only lifeline.

She began to repeatedly devise ways to persuade Lei Bao, how to demonstrate her "value" and "determination," and even fantasized about how she would finally be able to triumph and crush all the women who coveted Lei Bao after awakening her powerful abilities.

Ruan Ning sensed the gradually forming, intense will within Lin Jiaojiao's mental fluctuations, knowing that the suggestion had been successfully planted. She slowly withdrew her mental energy, like the receding tide, leaving no trace.

Next, all you need to do is wait.

Lin Jiaojiao's "proactive" request, driven by ambition and fear, will be more effective than any external pressure.

She would try every means to pester Lei Bao, and Lei Bao, while annoyed, might also feel that taking a "burden" out with him would be an investment if he could really awaken his superpowers, and if he died... it would just be one less troublesome person.

Ruan Ning's figure blended into the deeper darkness, a cold smile curving her lips.

Winter had completely enveloped the land, and Dawn Base seemed to have entered a state of stagnation, a kind of "hibernation."

The biting cold wind and frequent light snow have greatly reduced the frequency of going out on missions.

Aside from necessary patrols and emergency supply searches, most superhumans and soldiers chose to remain in the relatively warm base to conserve their energy and minimize consumption. Lei Bao's squad also almost completely stopped venturing out, and the base's doors and windows remained tightly shut all day.

Ruan Ning's revenge plan had to be temporarily shelved.

She went to the water factory every day to "work" as usual, steadily earning points and maintaining a semblance of normalcy.

For the majority of the rest of the time, she stayed in the apartment, absorbing crystal cores to consolidate her advanced level two cultivation and trying to use the combination of water-based and mental abilities to a more refined level.

Days passed peacefully in anticipation. Outside the window, the sky was overcast and snowflakes occasionally drifted down, while inside, the faint glow of energy flowing during cultivation filled the air.

On this day, Ruan Ning finished her cultivation and looked at the desolate scene outside the window, a thought suddenly struck her. She flashed into the jade bracelet space.

The space remained warm and inviting, brimming with life, a stark contrast to the icy landscape outside.

She strolled on the soft ground, her gaze sweeping over the neatly stacked supplies, finally settling on several well-sealed metal boxes—containing various vegetable and fruit seeds she had collected in the early days of the apocalypse.

A thought, like a tender sprout breaking through the soil, began to grow in her heart.

"Perhaps...we could try planting it?"

Previously, she had been busy improving her strength, struggling to survive, and plotting revenge, and had never seriously considered developing this space for any other purpose besides storage and spiritual springs.

With the outside world in freezing cold and movement restricted, isn't this the perfect time to try something new?

She opened the metal boxes, inside which were neatly arranged seeds of common vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, bok choy, lettuce, and cucumbers, as well as some fast-growing wheat seeds and fruit tree seeds, all well-preserved and still full of life.

Let's get right to it.

Ruan Ning found some gardening tools that she had casually collected before the apocalypse in the space.

She chose a small area near the spring where the soil looked exceptionally fertile and moist, and began clumsily loosening the soil and digging shallow trenches. She had no planting experience and relied entirely on intuition and vague memories.

Carefully scatter each tiny seed into the soil, cover it with a thin layer of soil, and then gently water it with the spiritual spring water.

Having done all this, she looked at the newly sown, slightly messy land, and a strange sense of peace and subtle anticipation rose within her. This was different from the sense of power boost brought by battles and cultivation; it was a sense of creation, a budding hope.

She didn't know how these seeds would grow in the space, nourished by the spiritual spring water, or how long it would take.

But this undoubtedly adds another potential trump card to her survival in this cruel apocalypse—if successful, she will have a stable, safe food source that is unaffected by the external climate, and even precious ingredients of far superior quality to those outside.

The upcoming winter seemed to bring another thing to look forward to and keep her busy. Every day, she would enter the space to observe the changes in that land and carefully water it with the spiritual spring water.

A few days later, tiny, tender green shoots actually sprouted on that land!

Ruan Ning crouched down, her fingertips gently touching the green that represented vitality and hope. A rare, soft light flashed in her cold eyes.

Her desire for revenge had not diminished in the slightest, but beneath that hard shell, something seemed to be quietly taking root and sprouting in this world that belonged only to her.

As she awaited the arrival of spring and the opportunity to strike her enemy with the blade of revenge, she also began to sow seeds of a different kind of hope for the future in this space.