Chapter 205 – Still Cooperating?
His face darkened, and his eyes grew deep and somber.
This was the first time he had witnessed the power of supernatural abilities.
Such an ability, one that no level of technological advancement could ever match, no wonder it would drive so many people to fight for it at any cost.
It was easy to imagine the chaos that would ensue if the existence of supernatural abilities were made public.
On the other side, Tu Ran couldn’t find an opportunity to approach Zhao Yan.
She had [Teleportation], while Zhao Yan had [Time Pause]. Several times, she had gotten close to him, almost about to succeed, but then he would disappear with a [Time Pause].
He always seemed to know her next move, shooting bullets directly at the spot where she was about to dodge.
It left her with nowhere to land, making her jump around.
Tu Ran gritted her teeth and unleashed her ultimate move, [Blooming Flowers and Full Moon].
Zhao Yan, who could read her thoughts, sneered, “You actually wasted your time mastering such a useless ability.”
Useless ability? Tu Ran curled her lips. You’ll find out soon enough whether it’s useless or not!
A seed took root and sprouted inside Zhao Yan’s stomach, growing multiple branches at hundreds of times the normal speed. The branches grew longer and thicker, quickly filling his entire stomach.
As space in his stomach ran out, the branches began spreading down toward his intestines and up toward his esophagus and respiratory tract.
Zhao Yan immediately sensed something wrong inside his body.
“What did you do to me?!” His temples throbbed as a sense of dread crept over him.
“You’ll know soon enough,” Tu Ran smiled cruelly.
In the next second, Zhao Yan felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, as if something inside was trying to burst out.
He bent over, clutching his stomach, and quickly activated [Mental Control], resisting whatever was trying to break free.
[Mental Control] allowed him to control any object within ten meters, and to some extent, the plant inside his stomach counted as an object.
He used his [Mental Control] to compress the plants inside his body, squeezing them together like kneading dough. The branches that had spread into his trachea and intestines were forced to retract.
It wasn’t easy; he had to maintain intense concentration at all times. A single lapse, and the thorny branches could tear through the delicate lining of his organs, causing beads of sweat to form on his forehead.
There was no way Tu Ran would just stand by and watch him succeed. If she didn’t act now, when would she?
She raised her machine gun and unleashed a barrage of bullets at Zhao Yan, the muzzle even sparking with the intensity.
Zhao Yan managed to divert part of his attention, using [Mental Control] to envelop his entire body. The countless bullets were all blocked outside his barrier.
The bullets then reversed direction, flying back toward Tu Ran’s position.
But Tu Ran had already used [Teleportation] to teleport behind him.
The bullets hit the wall behind her, leaving deep and shallow craters.
Bullets were objects, easily caught by Zhao Yan’s [Mental Control].
Tu Ran casually discarded the machine gun, advancing with bare hands to engage in close combat.
She raised her leg and delivered a powerful kick, the force of it whipping through the air toward him.
Zhao Yan instinctively raised his gun to block, but the heavy 7.5-kilogram large-caliber submachine gun instantly split in two, cracking right down the middle.
Zhao Yan was knocked back by the sheer force of the impact, stumbling repeatedly.
He was stunned by Tu Ran’s incredible strength.
In fact, Tu Ran had infused her attack with [Immense Strength].
Having multiple superpowers was advantageous; just using one could easily overpower the opponent.
Distracted by Tu Ran’s attack, the plants inside Zhao Yan’s body experienced a compensatory explosive growth, expanding at dozens of times their previous speed, quickly occupying his intestines and esophagus.
Zhao Yan’s face contorted in pain as he once again tried to use [Mental Control] to resist their rapid growth.
Tu Ran didn’t give him the chance. She unleashed a series of punches aimed at his helmet, and although the blows didn’t directly harm Zhao Yan inside, the tremendous impact left him dizzy and disoriented, making it impossible for him to focus.
The rapidly growing branches seized the opportunity, piercing through his abdomen. Several branches burst out, tearing through his stomach, with some even emerging from his mouth.
Zhao Yan’s body convulsed in pain, his head forced back so that his neck and body formed a straight line. Blood-red flowers began to bloom from his mouth. He stared at this horrifying sight in despair, his body staggering as he collapsed to his knees.
Tu Ran spun around and delivered a powerful kick to his helmet, sending Zhao Yan flying across the room. He crashed into the wall, raising a cloud of dust, then slid down to the ground, slumped and motionless in the corner.
Tu Ran picked up the machine gun she had casually discarded earlier and walked toward the corner.
Bright red flowers burst through a tear in his combat suit, blooming from his body. The flowers inside his transparent combat helmet filled it completely, making it look like a crystal ball—if one could ignore Zhao Yan’s deathly pale face within.
“He’s dead,” Tu Ran said.
From a distance, Xie Xu heard her words and fell silent as he watched her back.
He had witnessed the entire process of how she dealt with Zhao Yan. Her various abilities seemed endless: rapid healing, teleportation, making plants grow inside someone’s body, extraordinary strength…
And that was just what she had shown in this battle; she likely had many other abilities that she hadn’t revealed.
She was too powerful.
So powerful that no one could control her.
So powerful that she could decide his life or death.
He didn’t like this feeling.
Just as Zhao Yan had been a threat to him, Tu Ran was now an even greater threat.
She wasn’t loyal to him, and she wasn’t particularly invested in his offer to collaborate. To her, he was dispensable, and the benefits he could provide were limited.
Collaboration is a process of mutual benefit. When evaluating whether someone could bring him “benefits,” he often reflected on whether he could offer the same value in return.
Only when both parties’ benefits are balanced can the partnership be stable.
Clearly, he wasn’t offering Tu Ran enough benefits at the moment.
If he wanted to maintain this collaboration, he needed to find a way to increase his value.
Or, he could simply break off the partnership and eliminate her before she grew even stronger.
“How are we going to divide this single inner core?” Tu Ran suddenly spoke, interrupting his thoughts.
Tu Ran had already extracted Zhao Yan’s inner core.
After wiping it clean with a corner of his combat suit, she held it in her hand, examining it.
The abilities [Time Pause] and [Mental Control] could be given to Xie Xu without much concern, but there was no way she was giving him [Telepathy].
Similarly, Xie Xu certainly wouldn’t want to give [Telepathy] to her either.
Xie Xu pushed his thoughts aside and took a step toward her.
Tu Ran stood up, holding the inner core in her palm.
At the moment Xie Xu’s gaze fell on her, she opened her hand, revealing a small purple hallucinogenic mushroom standing daintily in her palm.
Xie Xu felt a wave of dizziness, and in the last moment before losing consciousness, the last thing he saw was Tu Ran’s smiling lips.
