Killing Zhao Yan

Two guards carried a stretcher between them. On it lay a figure draped in white cloth, bloodstains dark near the head.

It was undoubtedly Xie Hong.

Tu Ran stopped about ten meters away.

Zhao Yan paused and raised a hand. The two guards behind him halted at the signal.

Tu Ran's gaze fixed on the top of Zhao Yan's head.

【Time Freeze】

【Telepathy】

【Mind Control】

Just those three—no additional 【Ice Freeze】 or 【Earless】 from Xie Hong.

Could it be he'd dug out the core but hadn't consumed it?

Her eyes roamed over his body.

Where had he hidden it?

If she could find the core on him, she could clear herself of suspicion.

As she sized him up, he was doing the same to her and Xie Xu.

He let out a light scoff.

"No wonder. I wondered how you passed the Memory Reader. So you're working under Xie Xu, just like Li Wenchuan."

His voice echoed in her mind through 【Telepathy】.

Tu Ran instinctively stepped back.

Wasn't his 【Telepathy】 supposed to work only within ten meters? They were far beyond that now, so why could he still reach into her head?

She quickly looked up at the light panel above his head.

【Telepathy】

Description: Captures the thoughts of any species within thirty meters, allowing long-distance thought transmission.

Level: Intermediate

Tu Ran's eyes widened: Intermediate!! Thirty meters!

She grabbed Xie Xu's arm and yanked him back, retreating beyond thirty meters.

Xie Xu frowned in confusion, but Tu Ran had no time to explain. She kept her eyes fixed on Zhao Yan, unease mounting.

A few days ago, his 【Telepathy】 had been basic, reaching at most ten meters. Now it had climbed to intermediate.

Tu Ran thought of the upgrade criteria.

Accumulate enough basic abilities, and you could raise one to intermediate; accumulate enough intermediate abilities, and you could promote one to advanced.

She'd originally gathered six basic abilities before earning a single upgrade opportunity, but she'd been reluctant to discard the other five, so she'd never upgraded.

Zhao Yan's 【Telepathy】 had now risen to intermediate—had he also consumed five other abilities to do so?

But just a few days ago, he'd only had three abilities, and the panel above his head still showed those same three. How had he managed to accumulate five others in such a short time?

Could it be that the criteria differed for everyone? Hers was six-to-one, but others' weren't?

Or perhaps Zhao Yan had possessed enough cores all along but had saved them, waiting until he was certain he could do the six-to-one promotion, then eating them all at once.

Both were possible, but either way, it was something Tu Ran didn't want to see.

If it was the former, Zhao Yan's growth rate was several times faster than hers. He would eventually surpass her and become a mountain she couldn't topple. She couldn't afford to wait for that moment.

If it was the latter, Zhao Yan was deeply calculating, and with the added boost of 【Telepathy】, he was like a tiger with wings. She couldn't let him live either.

"All the surveillance in the eastern district is down, right?" She tilted her head slightly, asking Xie Xu.

Xie Xu nodded. "Yes. What are you planning?"

"Zhao Yan's 'Telepathy' has been upgraded. He can now read anyone's thoughts within thirty meters."

A hint of surprise flickered across Xie Xu's usually expressionless face.

"Move up the plan to kill Zhao Yan," Tu Ran said coldly.

Xie Xu didn't hesitate long. "Can you handle him alone?" He could also summon Li Wenchuan.

"Yes." Murderous intent gleamed in her eyes. "You just need to make sure nothing here leaks out."

"I'll take care of it," Xie Xu said. "Once he's dead, all suspicion can be shifted onto him."

"Good."

The word had barely left her lips when Tu Ran's form flickered and shot out, moving so fast she left only a residual afterimage behind. In the instant before anyone could react, she was already behind Zhao Yan.

With a series of swift chops, she knocked out all the guards following behind Zhao Yan.

The stretcher lost its support and slammed hard to the ground.

Before it even hit the floor, Tu Ran had already darted behind Zhao Yan, her hand rising and falling as she drove the blade toward the back of his neck.

The instant the tip touched his nape, time froze.

The stretcher hung suspended in midair.

The unconscious guards were frozen in bizarre poses.

【Time Freeze】.

Zhao Yan had used his ability.

The flow of time in the universe paused for one second.

In that second, it was enough for Zhao Yan to escape from beneath Tu Ran's blade.

Tu Ran stared at the spot where the man had vanished from under her knife, alarms blaring in her mind.

Almost instantly, she rolled to the side.

Dozens of bullets whizzed past her shoulder in rapid succession.

One she didn't manage to dodge in time buried itself straight into her arm.

Tu Ran let out a muffled groan, pain making her heart spasm. Fortunately, she bit down on her lower lip in time to keep from crying out.

The "Adamantine Body" quickly took effect, and the bullet was squeezed out of her arm, clattering to the ground.

"Your recovery ability is impressive." Zhao Yan's voice came coldly, his gaze burning as he stared at Tu Ran. He liked this ability of hers.

Tu Ran's face was pale. Though the "Adamantine Body" kept her arm from being crippled, the pain was real and impossible to negate.

Born and raised in an era of peace, this was the first time she'd experienced what it felt like to be shot—truly unpleasant.

But that didn't stop her from talking tough.

On the battlefield, you couldn't afford to lose face.

"Your precious three abilities aren't bad either. Hope I get a chance to try them out myself sometime."

"Ha. Depends on whether you have the skill." The muzzle aimed at her again, and Zhao Yan didn't give her a chance to recover, pulling the trigger repeatedly.

Gritting her teeth, Tu Ran scrambled up from the ground and activated "Blink" to dodge around.

Her distance from Zhao Yan was far less than thirty meters, so her inner thoughts couldn't escape his eyes.

Where she planned to dodge next, what she intended to do, which ability she would use, even the specific effects—Zhao Yan could read all of it.

In the heat of such fierce combat, Tu Ran simply couldn't hide her thoughts.

She was practically being suppressed and beaten by Zhao Yan.

From a distance, Xie Xu watched the scene unfold. He drew his silenced pistol, aimed at Zhao Yan's back, and pulled the trigger, firing two rounds.

The bullets sped forward, silent and swift.

Zhao Yan didn't even look back, yet the bullets stopped two meters from him, hovering in midair as if they'd hit an invisible barrier. Then came the horrifying sight—the two bullets reversed direction and flew back the way they'd come.

【Mind Control】

One of Zhao Yan's three abilities, controlling objects within ten meters.

He curved the bullets around and fired them at Xie Xu.

The bullets arrived in the blink of an eye. Xie Xu reacted quickly, twisting aside and barely dodging them.