Chapter 204 – Killing Zhao Yan
Two guards worked together to lift a stretcher, on which lay a person covered with a white sheet. Bloodstains were visible near the head, and it was likely General Xie Hong.
Tu Ran stood ten meters away from them.
Zhao Yan stopped, raised his hand, and the two guards carrying the stretcher paused in response to his signal.
Tu Ran’s gaze fell on the top of Zhao Yan’s head.
[Time Pause]
[Telepathy]
[Mental Control]
Three abilities.
Only these three; there were no additional abilities like Xie Hong’s [Ice Freeze] or [Deafness].
Could it be that he didn’t consume the inner core after extracting it? Tu Ran’s gaze wandered over his body.
Where had he hidden it?
If she could find the inner core on him, she could clear her suspicion.
While she was assessing Zhao Yan, he was also scrutinizing her and Xie Xu.
He suddenly sneered.
“No wonder. I wondered how you could pass the memory reader. It turns out you’re working under Xie Xu just like Li Wenchuan.”
He used [Telepathy] to leave a voice message in Tu Ran’s mind.
Tu Ran instinctively took a step back.
Wasn’t his [Telepathy] supposed to only work within ten meters? Now that they were much farther apart, how could he still send a message into her mind?
Tu Ran quickly glanced at the light screen above his head.
[Telepathy
Description: Captures the thoughts of any species within thirty meters and can transmit thoughts over long distances.
Level: Intermediate]
Tu Ran’s eyes widened: Intermediate!! Thirty meters!
Tu Ran grabbed Xie Xu’s arm and quickly pulled him back to a distance of more than thirty meters.
Xie Xu was puzzled and frowned at her. Tu Ran didn’t have time to explain and kept her eyes fixed on Zhao Yan, growing increasingly anxious.
A few days ago, Zhao Yan’s [Telepathy] was still at the primary level, able to capture thoughts of any species within ten meters. Now it had advanced to intermediate.
Tu Ran recalled the standards for ability upgrades.
Accumulating enough primary abilities allows for the upgrade of one primary ability to an intermediate level. Similarly, accumulating enough intermediate abilities enables upgrading one intermediate ability to an advanced level.
She had accumulated six primary abilities and was given an upgrade opportunity. However, she hesitated to discard the other five abilities and did not choose to upgrade.
Had Zhao Yan’s [Telepathy] reached the intermediate level by consuming other five abilities? But a few days ago, he had only three abilities. Now, the light screen above his head still showed just those three abilities. How had he managed to accumulate five additional abilities in such a short time?
Could it be that the standards for upgrading were different for everyone? She required six for one upgrade, but others might not?
Or perhaps Zhao Yan had a large number of inner cores saved up but had not consumed them until he could achieve a six-for-one upgrade.
Both possibilities were troubling for Tu Ran.
If the former, Zhao Yan’s growth rate was several times faster than hers, and he would eventually surpass her, becoming an insurmountable obstacle she could not afford to wait for.
If the latter, Zhao Yan’s depth of cunning was profound, and with the enhancement of [Telepathy], he would be even more formidable. She couldn’t afford to leave him around.
“Are all the surveillance cameras in the eastern zone out of commission?” she tilted her head slightly, asking Xie Xu.
Xie Xu nodded. “Yes. What are you planning to do?”
“Zhao Yan’s [Telepathy] has upgraded. Now he can read thoughts within thirty meters.”
Xie Xu’s typically expressionless face showed some surprise.
“Let’s move up the plan to eliminate Zhao Yan,” Tu Ran said coldly.
Xie Xu didn’t hesitate much. “Can you handle it alone?” He could also call in Li Wenchuan for assistance.
“Yes,” Tu Ran’s eyes gleamed with killing intent. “Just make sure that nothing that happens here leaks out.”
“I will handle it,” Xie Xu said. “If you kill him, you can shift all suspicion onto him.”
“Alright.”
With that word, Tu Ran’s figure flashed and she moved so quickly that only an afterimage was left. In the moment before anyone could react, she reached Zhao Yan’s rear.
With a series of hand strikes, she knocked out all the guards following Zhao Yan.
The stretcher, no longer supported, fell heavily.
Before it hit the ground, Tu Ran had already moved behind Zhao Yan. She raised her knife and aimed for the back of his neck.
As the blade touched his neck, time froze.
The stretcher hovered in mid-air.
The knocked-out guards hung in the air in strange poses.
[Time Pause].
Zhao Yan had used his ability.
The flow of time in the universe paused for one second.
In that second, Zhao Yan had enough time to escape from under Tu Ran’s knife.
Tu Ran watched as the person vanished from under the blade, her heart racing with alarm.
Almost instantaneously, she rolled to the side.
A dozen bullets whizzed past, grazing her shoulders.
One bullet, however, hit her arm directly before she could dodge.
Tu Ran let out a muffled grunt, her heart twitching with pain. Fortunately, she managed to bite her lip to suppress any cry of pain.
The [Diamond Body] ability soon took effect, pushing the bullet out of her arm and causing it to fall to the ground.
“Your recovery ability is impressive,” Zhao Yan’s voice came coldly, his eyes burning with interest as he watched Tu Ran. He liked her ability.
Tu Ran’s face turned pale. Although her [Diamond Body] helped to prevent serious injury, the pain in her arm was genuine and could not be completely negated.
Experiencing being shot for the first time in her life, having grown up in a time of peace, was indeed unpleasant.
But that didn’t stop her from making a fierce statement.
On the battlefield, maintaining one’s momentum was crucial.
“Your few abilities are quite impressive. I hope I get a chance to experience them too.”
“Heh, let’s see if you have what it takes,” Zhao Yan retorted, aiming his gun at her once more without giving her a chance to recover. He continued pulling the trigger.
Tu Ran gritted her teeth and got up from the ground, activating [Teleportation] to dodge around.
The distance between her and Zhao Yan was far less than thirty meters, so her thoughts were clearly visible to Zhao Yan.
What she planned to do next, where she intended to dodge, which abilities she would use, and even the specific effects of those abilities, Zhao Yan could read them all.
In this intense combat situation, Tu Ran could not hide her thoughts from Zhao Yan.
She was almost entirely suppressed by him.
From a distance, Xie Xu observed the scene, drew his silenced pistol, aimed at Zhao Yan’s back, and fired two bullets.
The bullets sped forward silently.
Zhao Yan didn’t turn around, but the bullets stopped two meters from him, suspended in mid-air as if hitting an invisible barrier. Then, a frightening sight occurred: the two bullets reversed direction and returned along the same path.
[Mental Control]
One of Zhao Yan’s three abilities, capable of controlling objects within ten meters.
He redirected the bullets, sending them back toward Xie Xu.
The bullets reached Xie Xu in the blink of an eye, but he reacted swiftly, sidestepping just in time to avoid them.
