Chapter 263 – The Big Boss
Tu Ran held a flashlight and moved forward in the dense forest.
She did not let her guard down; since the big boss had already targeted her, it was likely that it wouldn’t give up easily.
Since she couldn’t find him, she waited for it to come to her.
After walking for half an hour, a gust of cold wind rushed in, whipping up the dust in the forest.
Just when Tu Ran thought this was just an ordinary wind, the dust-swirling “wind” transformed into a large net, enveloping her and the flashlight within it.
Then Tu Ran felt as if she had been filtered through a sieve, her body dispersing into individual cells, floating away with the wind.
The flashlight’s light suddenly went out.
Tu Ran quickly lost the sensation of being out of control.
The world once again fell into darkness.
Tu Ran let out a long breath, suppressing the palpitations of her heart.
She couldn’t determine whether the wind that had just swept over her was the physical form of the big boss or an attack it had launched.
But at least the big boss had made a move; it was right beside her.
Tu Ran rewound time back to a minute ago, restoring the flashlight that had inexplicably malfunctioned, and light flooded the entire forest once again.
Tu Ran gathered her spirits, especially paying attention to the wild winds swirling around.
When the next nearly transparent gust carrying dust swooped in from behind, Tu Ran quickly turned around.
But she was still too late.
The giant net covered her once more, passing through her body, and the feeling of helplessness hit her again as the flashlight’s light went out.
Tu Ran did not stand there helplessly waiting for her heart to calm down like last time; instead, she immediately activated the [Wheel of Time] to restore the flashlight’s light while turning to look at the direction the “wind” had departed.
She saw it: a transparent humanoid figure.
The dust within its body allowed Tu Ran to discern its human shape.
The transparent figure was startled by the suddenly bright light and quickly twisted its body into a tornado, spinning away rapidly.
Tu Ran couldn’t let it escape and activated her [Teleportation], quickly following closely behind it.
In the forest, two figures chased one another, moving so fast that only their afterimages remained.
Tu Ran had estimated that her speed after using [Teleportation] was one hundred and fifty meters per second, yet at that speed, she still couldn’t catch up to the “tornado,” indicating that the opponent’s speed far exceeded hers.
In the blink of an eye, the figure vanished from sight.
Tu Ran stopped.
She needed to wait, to wait for the opponent to launch an attack against her.
The forest was eerily quiet; the wind had ceased to flow, and time felt as if it had frozen.
Holding the flashlight, Tu Ran stood in the center of the forest.
A purple mushroom silently grew in her palm.
The wind picked up, and the singing grew closer.
It was the taunt of the alien creature.
It sang a song, circling around Tu Ran, spinning at high speed and enveloping her in layer upon layer of wind. It sometimes drew near, sometimes pulled away, revealing the futility of the hallucinogenic mushroom against it.
Tu Ran crushed the hallucinogenic mushroom.
Since the opponent possessed a mid-to-high-level support ability, the hallucinogenic mushroom had no effect.
The wind carried the mushroom fragments away.
The singing, hidden in the shadows, abruptly ceased.
The “wind” launched another attack against her.
Tu Ran coldly watched the “wind” rushing towards her, a slight smile tugging at her lips.
“Annihilation!”
“Ah—”
A piercing scream erupted from the semi-transparent figure ahead.
It sounded as if a living creature was being roasted over flames, filled with despair and sharp enough to pierce Tu Ran’s eardrums.
Tu Ran furrowed her brows deeply, focusing intently on the “wind” that continued to charge at her.
Its speed gradually slowed, its formless body starting to take shape, shifting from transparent gray to a solid gray and then to an inky black, resembling a shadow that changed shape recklessly.
As it strained to move forward, its body began to dissolve, leaving behind black, floating gas in its wake.
Finally, it reached Tu Ran, expending all its strength, leaving only a head connected to a faintly visible neck. Its facial features were human-like but twisted with rage.
It gazed at Tu Ran with malice and greed, its nostrils flaring as it inhaled her scent. It wanted to move closer, closer still, craving the energy from Tu Ran’s body.
But its form no longer existed; it could not touch her at all.
It was desperate, it was furious, and it screamed in anguish and defiance.
In the end, it transformed into a wisp of smoke and vanished, leaving a silver inner core that dropped from midair and rolled to Tu Ran’s feet.
Tu Ran stiffly lowered her head to glance at the inner core, unable to hold on any longer, and knelt on the ground, removing her mask before spitting out a mouthful of blood.
A tearing pain gripped her lungs, as if they were being tightly clenched and fiercely squeezed.
This was the side effect of [Annihilation].
[Annihilation] was the ability she had obtained from Zeng Jing, allowing her to destroy flying bullets, the flowers in Pang Xinting’s belly, and hallucinogenic mushrooms from a distance.
[Annihilation] was a high-level ability capable of destroying anything “high-speed.” Flying bullets qualified as high-speed, while the growth of embryos and hallucinogenic mushrooms involved rapid cellular division, which was why Zeng Jing could control the annihilation of these three things.
The unknown object from just moments ago, moving at a speed comparable to a bullet, also belonged to the high-speed category, allowing her to tear it apart.
After acquiring this ability, Tu Ran realized she had narrowly escaped with her life; her [Teleportation] could also be considered very fast.
Had Zeng Jing used [Annihilation] against her then, she wouldn’t have even known how she died.
Fortunately, Zeng Jing hadn’t used it; Tu Ran speculated it was because her speed hadn’t yet reached the minimum Threshold for [Annihilation] to take effect, or perhaps Zeng Jing had been unable to bear the cost of annihilating her at that moment.
Regardless, she had managed to escape a disaster.
The world-destroying capability of [Annihilation] necessitated strict usage limitations. Its energy consumption far exceeded that of the [Wheel of Time], and each use would inflict some damage on her body.
Tu Ran lay on the ground for more than ten minutes before she had the strength to open the [Shadow Storage]. She took out a bottle of nutrient solution and a recovery agent, injected the recovery agent into her body, and drank the nutrient solution. Trembling, she picked up the inner core from the ground.
Finding a nearby tree, she climbed onto a branch and settled into a comfortable position, remaining still. She needed to recover her strength quickly; she was completely out of fighting capability at that moment.
The flashlight had turned off, plunging the world back into darkness.
Two hours later, dawn broke.
Tu Ran did not wake up.
Night fell again.
Tu Ran still hadn’t woken up.
When the sky brightened once more, Tu Ran finally opened her eyes.
Her stomach felt as if it were about to collapse from hunger. Ignoring the surrounding scenery, she retrieved the nutrient solution from her storage and downed four bottles, finally alleviating her hunger.
She rubbed her legs, which had gone numb from lying down for so long, and casually tossed the empty nutrient bottles back into her storage before she noticed the scene in front of her.
The white frost that had covered the thick tree trunks had completely melted, and ice crystals on the needles dripped water steadily. The air had become humid, and the perceived temperature had noticeably risen.
