Chapter 106 – When the Roses Bloom (24)
◎ Touch my people ◎
Three S-level awakeners emerged from a spatial rift and walked towards Nai Kang. Except for Punk, the other two were dressed in matching combat suits.
The leading man, upon confirming Nai Kang’s identity, presented his credentials and introduced themselves, “Former Mu City Magistrate, we are Alliance Special Operations Team members, Gasta and Roy. We arrived at District C55 at 17:27 local time as scheduled.”
“Why is it only you? Where are the Special Envoys and the Starships?” Nai Kang’s expression soured. “I demand an immediate departure.”
“The starship escorting you is estimated to arrive in thirty-three minutes,” Gasta replied.
“Then I command you to kill these people now,” Nai Kang said, pointing at the awakeners Song Ke and the Shaye awakeners across from him.
Gasta remained unmoved, showing no regard for Nai Kang’s demands. “Former Mu City Magistrate, our mission is to ensure your personal safety until the Special Envoys arrive. You have no authority to issue orders to me.”
Gasta and Roy exuded a calm and restrained demeanor, unlike Punk, who stared intensely at Song Ke. The scars on his face twisted grotesquely, clearly recognizing her as the culprit who had blinded his right eye on Manzoni Street, forcing him to replace it with a mechanical eye.
Punk took a slow step forward, without any warning, and suddenly erupted.
A series of bloody smoke explosions ensued. Fortunately, Song Ke was prepared, instantly transforming her shield. With a flick of her left hand, a handful of shurikens flew towards Punk.
Punk’s face contorted as he charged like a wild beast. Song Ke morphed her shield into a blade, striking at his lower body. Punk jumped to evade, and simultaneously, Song Ke leaped higher than him. Leveraging her aerial advantage, she delivered a brutal sweeping kick to Punk’s chin.
A “boom” echoed as fireworks exploded, the strong recoil causing Song Ke to spin in mid-air before landing steadily. Meanwhile, Punk staggered backward, his feet leaving deep marks on the ground, his lower jaw almost dislocated.
The exploding fireworks still managed to injure Song Ke. The cuff of her coat was blown off by the explosion. Despite dodging quickly during the face-off, she was grazed by Punk’s blood explosion, leaving a wound on her arm. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious.
Samuel and the others wanted to intervene but were stopped by Song Ke. “You guys, step back.”
In a fight between S-level awakeners, ordinary awakeners couldn’t intervene. Samuel and his group would only be massacred by Punk.
Gasta stood in front of Punk, speaking coldly, “Bloody Hunter, acting without authorization, this is your first warning.”
Punk sneered, “You brought me here to quell the rebellion, didn’t you? What’s wrong with me killing her?”
Gasta remained unfazed, “All actions are subject to the Special Envoys’ directives. If it happens again, I will initiate containment orders and send you back.”
Punk clenched his fists in frustration.
His distinct eye revealed a fierce hostility, akin to a vicious dog on a leash, though he refrained from initiating any further attacks.
Gasta turned to Song Ke. “Are you an S-level awakener? Which unit do you belong to? What’s your designation? Who’s your superior?”
Song Ke paused for a second before honestly replying, “I have no unit, no designation, and my superior… I am, I am the highest.”
A wild S-level awakener? Gasta gradually furrowed his brow. S-level awakeners were extremely valuable as strategic assets and were surely subject to various attempts by the Alliance to recruit them.
Gasta didn’t want to engage in direct conflict with her at this moment. “The Alliance is officially executing a mission. Take your people and leave the Reunification Palace immediately.”
“No, Nai Kang must die,” Song Ke countered, raising her blade without stepping back.
Seeing her stubbornness, Gasta’s tone grew colder. “Intentionally obstructing, hindering official duties. Do you know the consequences?”
Punk formed blood beads at his fingertips, provoking madness, while Nai Kang in the distance felt triumphant, expecting his imminent escape.
Talking was futile with them. Song Ke gripped her Tang sword tightly, bypassing Gasta in preparation for a forceful breakout!
Punk laughed maniacally, confronting her head-on. “She struck first, you can’t blame me!”
Gasta and Roy felt a headache coming on, forced to join the fray. As they moved forward, blockers appeared before them.
Roy faced off against Lu Xiaoyu. The man in front of him moved with the aid of six huge mechanical arms, engrossed in a screen, tapping his fingers rapidly, appearing dismissive. He easily intercepted Roy.
With composure, Roy initiated his attack. His ability, the “Prism,” manipulated refraction rates of different colored lights, creating illusions of displacement and dispersion during combat, inflicting numerous cutting injuries. Roy mastered his ability to perfection. His prism, angled sharply, shot directly at Lu Xiaoyu, emitting a blinding seven-colored light.
Lu Xiaoyu inputted the final code, confirming Marsha’s location. Done. He happily curved his lips, sending it to Zhang Ci.
Then, seemingly nonchalant, Lu Xiaoyu casually lifted his head. The nearest prism had flown close, less than an inch from his nose. His ice-blue eyes gleamed with an extraordinary radiance, displaying the code “101010” from his pupils, altering the prism’s structure, slowly disintegrating it.
Lu Xiaoyu swung all six arms together, a torrential data flow erasing Roy’s formidable attacks effortlessly. Those terrifying prisms seemed like mere toys, effortlessly eradicated by him.
Only then did Roy clearly see his opponent’s appearance: silver hair, ice-blue eyes. He exclaimed in disbelief, “You’re… from the Lu family?!”
Lu Xiaoyu blinked in confusion. “What Lu family? No idea.”
…
Gasta was also an offensive-type awakener, possessing the rare ability known as “Biogenic Current”: controlling the electrical currents in biological entities with awakened energy, causing them to erupt explosively, thereby stunning or killing the target.
Gasta glanced at Zhuang Qingyan, who was seated in a wheelchair, not underestimating him. Daring to actively obstruct an S-level awakener, the opponent’s strength was not to be underestimated.
As the secretive biogenic currents attached to Zhuang Qingyan’s various organs, tissues, and cells, about to unleash, suddenly, each current encountered formidable awakened energy and was instantly obliterated!
Gasta felt deeply shocked; the opponent’s energy control was even more exquisite than his own.
Zhuang Qingyan’s counterattack mirrored Gasta’s electric currents. Taking a page from his opponent’s book, he controlled awakened energy to strike back. The radiation field in the air fluctuated intensely. Gasta felt as if his thoughts were weighed down by heavy stones, continuously retreating, momentarily falling into a disadvantage.
“…An Early Awakener?”
Gasta thought of something and abruptly lifted his head.
Early Awakeners referred to a group of individuals who had awakened their abilities before the apocalypse. They absorbed more intense radiation than ordinary awakeners, had more time to adjust their states, and mastered their abilities, making them even more powerful.
However, nurturing an Early Awakener required massive manpower and financial support. Whether it was the nutrient tanks, laboratories, exclusive potions, or the stages of radiation absorption, all were highly confidential data that only the major families in District B could manage. As far as Gasta knew, the genetic optimization program implemented by the Lu family aimed to nurture Early Awakeners. So, who exactly was this person in front of him?
Surveying the battlefield, Gasta gradually realized that the three S-level awakeners were intent on killing him. No wonder the Mu City magistrate had requested asylum.
…
Song Ke, engaged in combat with Punk, remained highly vigilant, always mindful of her positioning. Although both were evenly matched at the moment, her opponent had yet to use his other ability: time reversal.
All three battlefronts were locked in a stalemate, with little time left before the Alliance Special Envoys arrived.
Above the Reunification Palace, the outlines of five starships faintly appeared. Among them, the smallest one suddenly surged its engines, accelerating instantly and appearing overhead. It slowly descended, hovering at low altitude, extending a gangway.
Nai Kang impatiently stood up, striding hastily toward the gangway.
Ignoring everything, Song Ke swiftly forced Punk back with a series of strikes and chased after, determined not to let Nai Kang board the starship!
Gasta and Roy’s primary task was to protect Nai Kang. Without hesitation, both diverted their attention and charged towards Song Ke.
Nai Kang ascended the gangway, standing at the doorway, looking down at Song Ke, who was desperately chasing after from behind. As she threw hidden weapons and swung her blade toward him, each strike deviated from hitting him.
A merciless smirk graced Nai Kang’s lips: How does it feel, watching helplessly as you let me depart, powerless to stop it?
Nai Kang moved his lips, about to speak, but a faint cracking sound echoed in the air.
The sound was light, easily overlooked, but Nai Kang felt as if struck by lightning. His pupils sharply contracted.
—Miao Lun… is dead!
Song Ke’s spirit surged. Her senior brother had succeeded; the final layer of causality on Nai Kang had vanished.
Nai Kang, now devoid of any protection, was at the mercy of others.
Pale-faced with terror, Nai Kang turned his head and scrambled into the cabin, slipping multiple times in his panic, barely managing to enter the compartment. The cabin door closed slowly, and the starship began to ascend.
With a leap, Song Ke caught the remaining piece of the gangway with her hands, gripping it tightly with her legs, swiftly climbing upward. She hung from the underside of the starship like a precarious kite.
“Bang! Bang!”
Blood explosions continuously exploded behind Song Ke. Attacks from prisms and biogenic currents came relentlessly towards her. Unable to evade, she became a living target, enduring the damage. Flipping herself onto the top of the starship, she struggled to maintain balance against the powerful airflow as the starship ascended.
Moving forward, she located Nai Kang’s position and thrust her Tang sword.
“Clang!”
The formidable metal-based ability created a deep crack in the cabin window but didn’t shatter it.
Nai Kang and she locked eyes through the transparent glass, his gaze filled with terror.
“Boom!”
A cloud of blood mist billowed from her abdomen as Punk’s explosions intensified. Song Ke staggered; her whole body slipping off the starship, seemingly about to plummet from the height. At the critical moment, she gripped her Tang sword with one hand, flipping herself back up.
Far away, Zhuang Qingyan’s eyes turned chillingly cold. He retrieved the last remaining seal from the space and prepared to inject it into his leg.
“No longer want your leg?!” Lu Xiaoyu’s mechanical arm extended, stopping his action, his face uncharacteristically devoid of mockery.
“Don’t need it. It’s nice to accompany you. Happy?” Zhuang Qingyan’s smile was radiant. He forcefully pushed Lu Xiaoyu away, resolutely injected himself, and the potent seal took effect once more. In extreme agony, he stood up again, running swiftly in Song Ke’s direction.
Lu Xiaoyu couldn’t help but stay silent. He knew his own situation very well. With years of chronic illness, his broken leg couldn’t regenerate. Yet Zhuang Qingyan clearly had hope for a cure but was willing to take such a risk. He used to be such a proud person. Could he really accept a lifetime in a wheelchair?
“Madman.” Lu Xiaoyu rolled his eyes.
One couldn’t deny, this person was becoming more and more insane but also more… like a living person.
Song Ke’s right hand, blood flowing profusely, covered the surface of the starship. Her awakened energy surged at a terrifying speed, causing the surface of the starship to emit a faint blue light, trembling incessantly.
Nai Kang’s panic grew, wondering what kind of monster she was to want to forcibly destroy the starship’s hull!
Nai Kang anxiously looked at the control panel; there were five seconds left until the next leap.
[Five]
Song Ke gripped the Tang sword with her left hand, inching it into the porthole.
[Four]
Gasta and Roy unleashed their abilities, launching their most ferocious attacks at Song Ke, while Punk lit blood explosions on her.
[Three]
Just as Song Ke seemed about to fall again, two figures rushed forward, powerful and icy waves of awakened energy erupting. A torrent of data formed an inescapable defensive net, repelling prism, bioelectric currents, and blood explosions.
Zhuang Qingyan and Lu Xiaoyu were thrown more than ten meters away. Zhuang Qingyan, who always cared about appearance, had a torn and tattered coat. Lu Xiaoyu fared worse with six mechanical arms broken, but this wave of attacks hadn’t harmed Song Ke in the slightest.
[Two]
Punk’s left eye flickered a deathly white, time rewound—activated.
Song Ke exerted all her strength, her eyes bursting with a brilliant blue light. The starship’s hull collapsed, the Tang sword unstoppable as it pierced Nai Kang’s heart.
[One]
“Boom—” The entire starship exploded into dazzling fireworks.
Time’s flow slowed down, eventually freezing and reversing.
Under the gaze of all, an intact starship reappeared. Punk’s ability had taken effect!
Everyone held their breath, looking up at the sky.
A graceful figure leaped high and landed soundlessly. Slowly, with injuries all over, Song Ke stood up.
Behind her, the starship, just recovered from the explosion, stayed in place for two seconds before its hull shattered into pieces.
Nai Kang’s corpse slammed heavily onto the ground, a Tang sword stuck in his mouth.
Time reversal could only revert non-living entities to their state a few seconds prior.
But on the starship’s surface, the impact left by Song Ke’s ability remained. Even with time reversal, it would still shatter.
Moreover, long before Punk activated his ability, Song Ke had already killed Nai Kang.
The scene fell into dead silence.
Song Ke’s eyes flashed with blue light, her awakened energy gushing out wildly, crackling with electricity like a rampaging madman.
She passed judgment on Punk’s trio: “Who gave you permission to touch my people?”
