Chapter 94 Patience and Deterrence (8)
Top floor of the Pinheid National Union Building.
The sunlight streaming in through the transparent skylight distorted the proportions of light and shadow, casting an elongated shadow on the edge of the round table.
Immediately, a wisp of cigar smoke disappeared into the drifting dust.
In the center of this panoramic glass room stands a huge round table, around which are arranged thirty-seven soft chairs, symbolizing the thirty-seven members of the Piedmont Union.
Of course, it's not always full.
A member of parliament serves a one-year term, during which it is not surprising that they may encounter any unexpected events such as poisoning, illness, or car accidents.
The only person smoking a cigar on such an occasion is Anoberia, the current headmaster of Cornunos and the patriarch of the Beria family.
In the year 517 of the Last Star, in Piedmont, where smart virtual cigarettes had become widespread and tobacco cultivation had ceased, some still believed that the elegance of pure nicotine could outweigh its harmful effects, and they especially loved hand-rolled cigars.
Arnobelia leaned back in his chair, twirling the cigar in his hand, the diamond chain adorning it making an unsettling sound.
Noticing the displeased glances from other councilors, Lux, who stood ramrod straight behind Arnobelia, smiled slightly. His golden hair shone brightly in the sunlight, making him look like an unpleasant young lion, which was even more irritating to the eyes of the elderly.
The senator, who had been casting an unpleasant glance, was momentarily stunned by the irritating father and son.
It has to be said that Edwina's genes are incredibly strong.
Even after a century, the Belial family remains as dazzling as ever.
The man tapped the table lightly with his fingernail, squinting at Lux behind Principal Cornunos: "Even at a time like this, the principal doesn't forget to train your son."
The congressman appeared refined and handsome, and spoke in a friendly tone, but his words actually contained a subtle undercurrent of sarcasm.
If Shu Ningmiao were there, she would recognize the voice as that of the congressman who spoke with Gawande at the Academy of Life Sciences and helped Gawande frame Weston.
Aloberia frowned, but before he could speak, Lux behind him raised his sharp eyebrows, the father and son displaying identical expressions.
Lux bowed slightly, placed his hand on his chest, and raised his eyebrows with an air of extraordinary composure: "I simply wish to make a small contribution to Pigne, just like my father."
The senator who had spoken gave a cold snort, picked up his teacup, looked away, and curled one corner of his mouth: "Having ambition is a good thing."
Lux stared at the sarcastic congressman for a while before his gaze fell on the nameplate on the man's desk.
His name was clearly engraved on it.
Lin Shengyi.
...From the Lin family. The Lin family are staunch supporters of "natural persons," which are ordinary people who cannot awaken supernatural abilities.
There are many ordinary people who cannot awaken their superpowers, and it is common for them to call themselves unawakened or ordinary people.
Those who identify themselves as "natural persons" mostly have political stances and oppose a series of policies such as preferential treatment for people with superpowers and propaganda for those who use them.
Within the Pinheis leadership, supporting natural persons also carries a hidden meaning. Lin Shengyi, on certain grounds, supports Prometheus and was previously the leader of those opposing the arrest of Prometheus members.
No wonder he still has the leisure to sit here and savor his tea.
Lux thoughtfully gripped his chin and fell silent.
It wasn't an important occasion where Aloberia made an exception to bring his son into the Joint Parliament. Although the parliament only had thirty-seven members, there were at least a hundred people present at each meeting, and basically everyone would bring a secretary, deputy, recorder, and other close associates.
It's common for members of parliament to bring their family members to observe hearings, although the current National Union Building is certainly not exactly respectable.
No one else reprimanded Aloberia for smoking in the meeting room; they simply didn't care, as the room was already in an uproar, with everyone's voices mingling and no one being able to hear anyone else's opinion.
The contradictions that are usually invisible and latent become concrete and visible when faced with an impending choice, and suddenly become extremely sharp.
The five missing students have not been found to this day, and no effective clues have been found in any of the searches conducted.
Five students are not a big deal, nor are public opinion or the government's credibility crisis an urgent concern.
Above the center of the round table, a panoramic screen plays surveillance footage that has been sealed off from the Pandora Springs area for the past few weeks.
Different locations, the same disaster.
At 4 p.m. on July 11, three Pandora geysers suddenly exploded simultaneously, spewing out clusters of viscous flames and liquid from a depth of nearly 4,000 meters underground.
The twenty-one surveyors standing on the scaffolding were instantly engulfed, and the last thing transmitted was white smoke that completely filled the frame in a few seconds.
At 5 p.m. on July 12, two Pandora springs in the Cunha district exploded.
...
The explosion's flames illuminated half the sky like lightning, but the public watching the news were unaware that behind the official reports lay a situation far beyond what was under control.
For the long-comfortable capital of Pines, this was indeed an unprecedented disaster. There was no pattern, no warning, and no one could predict which spring would explode next.
The mining of Pandora cannot stop, and every destroyed geyser affects the global price of Pandora in real time.
They have to make a choice.
Evacuating people, bearing the enormous losses caused by the disaster, searching for the remnants of Prometheus's forces...
And—to appease ordinary people's fear of those with superpowers.
No one survived from the depths of the spring. Those affected by the turbulence were scattered around the spring, their pitiful cries echoing across the screen.
However, what was repeatedly played on the largest screen in the center was the flame that reignited after the white smoke dissipated.
More terrifying and resilient than any naturally formed flame, the inextinguishable flames gathered together, gathering surrounding debris in the explosion, producing a terrifying roar.
The dark red flames rolled and gradually formed a human shape, like a sculpture rising from the earth, silently watching them.
Six months after the attack by Cornunos, the familiar figure once again descended upon the skies above Pigne and spoke.
The criminal with the fewest records in the police department, the Prometheus leader who appeared out of nowhere, the flame manipulator like a ghost, Achini.
He was silent and quiet when he transformed into flames, but when he spoke, everyone tensed up.
Repeating the previous request, the incarnation of fire asked to speak with the council, but this time it was not arrogantly refused.
Parliamentary representatives communicated with him immediately via live broadcast.
"What are your demands?" The current parliamentary representative was unassuming, but perhaps his strength lay in not easily offending anyone and speaking in a friendly manner: "We can discuss this properly—regarding Pandora and the children you took away."
"...In any case, we will do our best to meet your requirements." On the Xijin screen used for the dialogue, the representative glanced subtly at the manuscript on the table, receiving a muffled, mocking laugh from the flames.
The flames, symbolizing those behind the scenes, trembled with laughter.
Amidst the deafening explosions and the sounds emanating from the flames, every word seemed to carry the stench of blood.
“I gave you a chance, just as your gods told you to build an ark.” Achini’s voice blended with the mournful cries from below, sending chills down your spine: “But you greedily clung to your worthless treasures, unwilling to let go, and you have only yourself to blame.”
"The flames will burn away all that is greedy and continues to bring disaster to the planet."
The voice sounded like a prophecy, silencing everyone.
At this rate of explosions, one day Pigne will be torn to pieces like a gasoline-filled bomb.
But no one could suggest stopping the mining of Pandora, because without energy, humanity would still be tormented to death by the barren planet.
Everyone understood that this was not a natural disaster, but the greatest man-made calamity left behind this threat, which, along with the five missing students, vanished without a trace as if into thin air.
The banging on the table grew louder and louder, and the verbal conflict was about to escalate into a physical one.
The young man standing behind the police chief frowned slightly, a barely perceptible wrinkle appearing between his brows.
The formal attire made him appear even more upright and serious, with a solemn expression.
He operated the portable processing terminal with one hand, and messages kept popping up on it like a screen being refreshed.
Even during meetings, he had to arrange the current security deployment for the bureau chief in Pinheit.
The topmost call message came from a subordinate stationed near the medical facility. After the call automatically ended, the subordinate sent him several more messages.
After confirming his subordinate's duty location, Yu Lu thought of the people living in the medical center. Knowing that subordinates couldn't send messages directly, he leaned down and whispered to the director for instructions.
With permission, Yu Lu put away his portable processing terminal and went to a more secluded corner of the conference room to reconnect to the call.
"Director Yu Lu." The call had barely been connected when a commotion came through: "Some ordinary people were just protesting and vandalizing the first floor of the medical facility. They have all been detained, and there were no casualties."
"Hmm." Yu Lu, holding the terminal, checked the message while leaning against the corner and turning on another portable processor: "Just follow the normal procedure, as long as no one gets hurt."
Although the medical facility was a key protected area, this incident wasn't considered a big deal. Yu Lu was about to hang up when, as if remembering something, she asked casually, "Is she alright?"
"Actually..." The voice on the other end hesitated for a few seconds before finally reporting honestly, "The girl you sent over hasn't shown up at all during this time."
Yu Lu straightened up slightly, his brow furrowing even deeper: "Shu Ningmiao?"
Yes, yes.
"It's been several days, why haven't you reported it?" The young man rubbed his temples. "Didn't we say the medical center should pay close attention?"
“She didn’t leave.” The sound of flipping through papers came from the other end. “There’s a record here at the medical clinic. I’m guarding the door, so she couldn’t have left under my nose. It’s just that the nurse told me she’s been staying in the omniscient person’s ward… I don’t dare to disturb her.”
The subordinate didn't want to bother the Omniscient with uncertain matters, but still dutifully said, "Yesterday I asked the nurse to inquire, and the Omniscient said that Miss Shu is with her, so there's no need to worry."
It's unexpected that Shu Ningmiao and Arsia actually know each other.
Arsia, the only 'omniscient' superhuman currently existing in Pinne.
Many people know of the existence of the "Omniscient One," but no one in Pinhás can truly understand the use of the "Omniscient One."
But the omniscient must be used by Penelope; this is a consensus among all.
The people at the National Research Center were convinced that the young genius Weston would awaken to become an "omniscient one," but unexpectedly, the one who successfully awakened was Weston's sister, who looked like she could die at any moment.
After years of treatment, Arsia, who had been given up on by the hospital, was awakened and taken over by the Pinheid government, barely managing to save her life with a large amount of exorbitantly priced medication.
The Dean of the School of Life Sciences, Athens, wanted to bring the once-in-a-century Omniscient back to the research center for study. However, at that time, Weston was elected as a senator and was at the height of his power. Due to the power struggle between the two sides, as a patient with a rare genetic disease, the child could only stay in the medical facility and receive secret care, serving as a mascot.
Yu Lu agreed to take Shu Ningmiao to the medical center because of Arsia's existence.
The girl didn't tell him the truth, but he didn't tell Shu Ningmiao the whole truth either. There were police officers guarding the clinic, but he didn't expect that Shu Ningmiao and this omniscient person knew each other.
He recalled that long ago, Shu Ningmiao had been hunted down by Prometheus because he mistook her for the All-Knowing One.
Did you know each other from that time?
It turned out that everything had been foreshadowed all along—thinking he had found the reason why Shu Ningmiao had been chased before, Yu Lu turned off the terminal and walked back behind the director.
Even if the omniscient are not as all-knowing as rumored, their perception of "correctness" is much stronger than that of ordinary people, and they would not lie to them for Shu Ningmiao's sake.
Believing that Shu Ningmiao was safely with Arsia at the moment, he quickly put the matter out of his mind.
The dire situation before him left him little time to think too much.
Seeing Yu Lu leave his seat, the councilors who had just been arguing turned their attention to him.
"What good are you people from the Sheriff's Department? If you could have dealt with Prometheus from the start, things wouldn't have turned out this way."
People often think that those in high positions are infallible, strategists, and visionaries, like saints or gods. But looking at the mess before them, most people are still just ordinary people.
Yu Lu calmly opened the processor and swiped his finger: "So far, the Security Bureau has arrested 219 people related to Prometheus, 31 of whom have been arrested in the last seven days. This does not seem to help the situation."
He looked up and said, "I said long ago that these people who are like moths to a flame are nothing but insects bewitched by fire. Achini is the real dangerous one."
He had repeatedly emphasized the danger of Achini and proposed solutions, but he was still intoxicated by the "natural man" senator's mild protests against Prometheus in previous years, and was still smugly using Prometheus as a means to suppress the status of superhumans.
"With so many superhumans across the country, you can't even find a single position?" The council representative rested his chin on the back of his clasped hands, casually pointed to a department, and accused with a serious expression: "Have you deployed all your personnel?"
"No, no, no," the deputy director of the emergency management department said awkwardly. "We can't send everyone to search... The explosion affected a wide area, and disaster relief requires a lot of manpower."
Yu Lu picked up the conversation for him, who was feeling awkward: "The suspect is a superhuman, so it would be a waste of manpower for ordinary people to search for him."
The representative frowned and stopped blaming him, but the deputy head of the Ministry of Emergency Management, who was sitting across from Yu Lu with his head down, looked somewhat surprised.
The Public Security Bureau is usually a department where everyone pushes each other around and passes the buck, so he didn't have a very good impression of Yu Lu. He didn't expect that this person would be so tough when it comes to important matters.
The representative turned to the military and said, "Then let the superhumans handle the superhumans' affairs."
The military representative leisurely stroked the warm cup in his hand, his words laced with sarcasm: "After hearing some people's proposals, I thought the implementers were dispensable."
"What do you mean?" someone said discontentedly. "The military's budget is overspent every year, so cuts are justified."
"Then why should we clean up the mess you made?" The military representative propped up one side of his face and looked over with a gloomy gaze: "You can't clean it up properly. When you found out that the five children were missing, you should have cleared up all the information and controlled those crazy parents. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in such a mess on both sides. This is the kind of thing your security bureau does."
“They have the right to know.” The military pointed the cannon at the Public Security Bureau again, and Yu Lu frowned.
“What are a few children?” The military representative raised his voice, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
She slammed the terminal onto the table, making a loud thud: "Look at the public opinion now! It's ridiculous. A few kids have managed to cause such a huge uproar. The country has lost trust because of you—you good-for-nothings must take responsibility."
As the military representative stood up, the two officers behind him simultaneously revealed the badges on their chests: a shield with a cracked serpent pattern on a dark red background, a sharp sword traversing the scales in the center, and the word VENIENS embroidered at the bottom, the symbol of the executor.
The police chief, who had remained silent until now, stood up, his hands resting on the table: "Supporters of Pandora, opponents of Pandora, those with superpowers, and those who have not yet awakened—the conflicts have been long-standing. Even if it wasn't this time, it would happen again. How can you say we've failed in our duties?"
"After all that arguing, you haven't gotten to the point." Lin Shengyi, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, suddenly sneered: "The students are a minor matter; the explosion is the most important thing right now."
"That fire-type ability user has already issued a warning, and we..." He looked around as if scrutinizing someone, "yet no one can come up with a solution?"
The surroundings quieted down.
“Listen to me.” The senator from the Pandora Institute of the National Research Center pushed up his glasses and broke the silence first: “This person’s ability is quite unusual. First of all, there is no way to retrieve a completely matching data from the gene bank, which means that he was not born in Pines.”
"Nonsense." Aloberia was fed up with this perpetually pointless, back-and-forth meeting.
He took an extremely loud drag on his cigarette, the smoke ring drifting towards the man: "Don't we know?"
The researcher slammed his fist on the table in frustration, and could only retract his lengthy preamble: "Do you know that the Pandora within each person is limited? That is to say, one person—it is simply impossible for him to accomplish these things alone, no matter how powerful his abilities are!"
He pointed to each screen displaying the explosion site: "These disasters cannot be caused by one person at the same time. The Pandora's box of energy flowing within the human body has its limits, and the power of superpowers has objective limitations."
"Pandora can regulate and balance human superpowers on its own. This is the most magical and beautiful aspect of Pandora. We should start our investigation from here and classify this crime as a group crime."
The crowd's reaction was lukewarm.
Only the military representative sneered, laughing at the naiveté of the people at the National Research Center who thought Lin Sheng-yi genuinely wanted to solve the problem.
As expected, Lin Shengyi ignored him and lazily spread his hands: "Just as he said, but there is another possibility, that is, Achini has evolved."
"The power of superhumans is evident to all." His gaze swept over the military representative almost imperceptibly: "If they still have the potential to evolve, like this Achini, and every superhuman evolves, then resolving the current crisis would only be putting out a fire, and we would still be under constant threat."
The members of parliament who had been silent on the other side of the round table began to echo his words.
Lux understood what he meant and frowned. Looking down, he saw his father, Aloberia, flicking ash from his cigarette and laughing, neither confirming nor denying.
On the surface, the people at this table were discussing countermeasures, but in reality, each of them was plotting their own schemes and harboring ulterior motives.
The current chaotic situation and the rampant public opinion present the perfect opportunity to shake up the Superpower Act.
Lin Shengyi believes this will be a significant turning point in the change of the status of natural persons.
"This is not the time to talk about this..." someone said, looking troubled.
“How could it not be?” Lin Shengyi smiled. “Some people have taken advantage of their superpowers to deprive us of too many rights that rightfully belong to us.”
Without superpowers, those who wield power will still wield power, and tools should be used as tools in their proper way.
“This time it’s solved, but what if another ‘Asini’ or ‘Anani’ tries to destroy Pine next time?” the man murmured. “No, they not only want to destroy Pine, they want to destroy Pandora, they want to destroy our planet.”
"How can we guarantee national security if we don't address the root cause?" Lin Shengyi looked at the representative aggressively: "Our country no longer needs to rely on people with superpowers."
Before the parliamentary representative could smooth things over, the military representative leaned back in his chair and said coldly, "Then I'll wait for you to resolve the current crisis. I'm afraid you won't live to see that day."
The parliamentary representative was caught in the middle, torn between the two.
Lin Shengyi glanced indifferently at the edge of his glasses and smiled slightly: "The citizens contribute a large amount of taxes to the authorities every year, not so they can just sit around and do nothing. Pigne is in danger of exploding at any time, and you intend to stand idly by?"
"You...don't understand at all."
The military representative smiled instead of getting angry, folding his hands in front of him. Behind the cold gloves were the other person's calm eyes with fine lines: "Heroes need to be seen, and salvation also needs to be performed."
Lin Shengyi is waiting for an opportunity, a chance for natural persons to regain their place in mainstream society.
She was also waiting for this opportunity, an opportunity to make the actor completely unshakeable.
It was grand enough, powerful enough to turn the tide, and enough to turn those who witnessed the performance into fanatical believers in the war of superpowers.
So it's not the right time yet.
At that moment, someone unexpectedly spoke up: "Let me go, how about it?"
All eyes searched for the source of the rising smoke. Aloberia's face was ashen, and the cigar in his hand was broken in two.
Luxberia, who was standing behind him with one hand raised, flashed a set of white teeth. Before he could introduce himself, he was bluntly interrupted and ignored by the military representative.
"We will think carefully about who to send on the mission."
"Let's finalize the list first, so everyone can feel more at ease," the representative said in a low voice.
The military representative smiled enigmatically: "Then let's have Zhao. Isn't he quite popular lately? Let him appease the frightened masses."
In a seemingly joking conversation, a momentous event that would impact the entire city of Pinne was decided.
His father grabbed his ear and scolded him, "You little brat, do you think you're something special just because you passed the preliminary exam with a perfect score? Get back here right now and stop embarrassing me."
Lux frowned, feeling that the parliament was very different from what he had imagined. Although the military representative had agreed, he didn't seem to take the matter seriously.
He looked out the panoramic sunroof at a quiet and distant cluster of buildings.
Being so far away, he couldn't tell where the explosion had occurred.
If it weren't for the raging fire still burning in the sky that was playing on a loop, he would have thought that this was something that happened very, very far away from him.
In the lounge on the same floor as the conference room.
With the hearing of a superhuman, if one listens deliberately, even in the lounge, one can hear every word of the conversation in the conference room.
During the meeting, most people stayed in the meeting room even though they knew they would be scolded and blamed, for fear of missing any information. As a result, only two people remained in the break room.
One of them was striding towards the front door, furious, when he reached the doorway and was stopped at the ankle by a slender, jeweled scepter.
Moving the scepter upwards, you see a hand adorned with rings and a face exuding a poet's air.
He tapped the ground with his cane and said calmly, "Xiao Jiang, calm down."
“Calm down? Even if you calm down, Phineas will be burned to ashes.” The man glanced at Zhao, who was blocking his way, and suddenly smiled: “This group of people are still picking and choosing like livestock, throwing out conditions back and forth. Isn’t that ridiculous? I can’t let my family fall into such danger again.”
“If you were an ordinary person, I would let you go,” Zhao said in a low voice, “but you must learn discipline and obedience.”
Xiao Jiang crouched down, burying her face in her hands, remaining silent for a long while before finally speaking again: "Where's 03?"
“He…” Zhao frowned, but did not answer her.
Although the military intends to have him take over the performance, it doesn't really mean they'll only send him out at the last minute.
As the most capable fighter among the executors, Shu Changyan will resolve this problem and then let him take over this "honor".
All the credit and prestige are bestowed upon one person; this is the military's star-making program.
This "star" could be him, or anyone else, but he is the most suitable one at the moment.
He comes from a respectable and noble family, has an appearance that is not too sharp or aggressive, and his superpower is the most "glamorous" of all the superpowers that Pinne has collected so far.
In contrast, anyone who has seen Shu Changyan train would not think he is suitable to appear in public.
Zhao looked up at the ceiling, which was decorated with exquisite paintings.
This is the Pinheid Union Building, and the murals on the ceiling could not possibly depict the mythology of any particular religion.
The painting depicts three differently shaped crimson stones against a background representing the region where they were discovered, symbolizing the great changes Pandora brought to Pines.
Half an hour ago, there were three people standing under this ceiling painting.
——
The vivid colors of the ceiling painting are so intense that they hurt the eyes after a while, and the dried bloodstains on it seem to drip again in the overlapping view.
Due to years of neglect, the large amount of blood on the fallen ceiling paintings has made the details even more difficult to see.
What exactly is depicted on it? Are there any famous stories about the Church of Praise?
Oh well, it's made up anyway.
1
Shu Ningmiao withdrew her gaze and looked back at the two people in front of her. Ai Ruiji had his eyes closed and his expression was painful.
Receiving no response from her, Su Ni sneered, realizing that she was deliberately trying to embarrass him.
She's always like that, completely disregarding other people's feelings.
Su Ni held the knife tip up to her wrist and gestured a few times: "Do you think you know everything about my abilities and have nothing to worry about?"
Shu Ningmiao indeed knew his special ability very well. The ability "Transfer" required him to touch the other party to mark the damage, and there was a certain distance limit.
Since he said that, even a fool would know something was amiss.
Shu Ningmiao did not rush forward rashly, but remained where she was.
Not to mention her 'Arrogance' state that blocks all additional superpowers, with Wei Shengqianheng next to her, as long as 'Forgiveness' is activated, Su Ni would have no way to mark her.
After much thought, he could only threaten her with Erice, who was beside him, just like he was choking a bird.
First of all, Shu Ningmiao knew that Su Ni couldn't kill Erigi. Achini obviously needed Erigi to do something, and Su Ni, being dependent on Achini, wouldn't be so shameless.
She still didn't answer, but gently touched the back of Wei Shengqianheng's hand with the back of her hand, signaling him to activate 'forgiveness' again, so as not to be affected later.
But before he could back away, a tearing sound, accompanied by the piercing noise of a sharp object being slashed, echoed in the empty church.
Before Shu Ningmiao could see clearly, Wei Shengqianheng had already pressed down on the hand that she had just touched.
Because of the gloves, no blood had flowed out yet, but based on the tear, Shu Ningmiao could roughly determine the extent of the puncture.
She looked at Su Ni, the sharp blade stabbing into his slender hand again and again, bright red blood gushing from the back of his hand, then quickly healing.
In contrast, Wei Shengqianheng pressed harder and harder on the back of his hand, his veins bulging.
But—Su Ni never even got close to them.
Shu Ningmiao instantly realized that his superpower was different now.
Liang Siyan had previously told him that Achini had injected a large amount of Pandora into Su Ni's body. Could this be related?
After absorbing the Crimson Palace Stone, her superpowers became stronger. According to the system, the Crimson Palace Stone did not completely transform into Pandora and was absorbed by her; it was still releasing Pandora little by little within her body.
If she fully absorbs the Pandora of the Crimson Palace Stone, her powers will likely undergo a qualitative change.
But Shu Ningmiao had a gut feeling that this was not a good thing.
"I can still hold on." With more and more wounds on his body, Wei Shengqianheng knelt down and smiled at her, still managing to remain calm.
Sitting at the far end, Erici seemed to be in even more pain than him, his face almost contorted.
Wei Shengqianheng had already seen through her thoughts. Unable to figure out the situation, the only way to deal with Su Ni's superpower was to get close quickly and take advantage of him drawing fire so that Shu Ningmiao could finish the battle quickly.
She had just taken a step forward when she involuntarily raised her hand and felt a chill on her neck, as if a thin sheet of ice, carrying a cold air, had sliced across her throat.
Shu Ningmiao opened her mouth slightly, and a sweet, sour, and itchy sensation rose in her throat. She wanted to breathe, but couldn't.
She and Su Ni faced each other from a distance, and she saw that the knife in Su Ni's hand had somehow slashed across her entire neck from top to bottom, but the wound was gradually healing.
Shu Ningmiao steadied her hand and slowly moved it away. Her palm was covered in blood, and several streaks of crimson blood rushed out from the increasingly swollen wound on her neck.
Her trachea felt like it was blocked by something, and she couldn't utter a single word.
Su Ni stood up, carrying the knife, and slowly walked towards her. Her face, pale to the point of being transparent, was stained with blood, and her pupils trembled uncontrollably.
Shu Ningmiao could see that his pupils radiated an eerie golden-red color, superimposed on his once pale pink irises, like flowing lava.
Perhaps because the scene of her throat being slit was too gruesome, Erice finally struggled violently and broke free from the chair, but was too weak to move and collapsed to the ground due to the shackles.
"It's so good to be alive." Su Ni stared at her, slowly wrapped her arms around her neck, looked up at the sky, and a clear tear gently rolled down her cheek and down her temple. "It feels so good to be healthy, doesn't it? Just thinking about how happy you are every day makes me want to cry."
Are you surprised?
Su Ni dug her slender hands into her neck, her nails sinking into the soft flesh, while Shu Ningmiao felt a suffocating pain: "I can still make you suffer without touching you. Do you still think I'm a clown showing off in front of you?"
"Break free from the limitations of disease, break free from the limitations of life and death." His eyes widened until the clear liquid in his eyes turned into a murky black, and his eyes gleamed with an eerie light: "—Break free from the limitations of Pandora, and I will be God."
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Author's Note: [Other Characters: Zhao]
The No. 01 Ability User's family was said to be a very famous noble family in Pinne before the Liberation War of Ability Users. They were very wealthy, but all of them except for the Ability User himself had died. He had already joined the army as a deputy before the "Fire Seed". He accidentally awakened his ability during a study at the research center. He is currently ranked No. 01 in the Pinne military's publicly recognized ability ranking, and is also one of only two ability users who have publicly revealed their abilities.
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