The Same Ability

The private bodyguards of the major families all rushed in, shielding their own as they fled.

Tu Ran picked up a pistol from the wreckage of the iron cage.

"Tu Ran! Get out of there! We'll cover you!"

Ye Qingcai shouted through the earpiece.

He still hadn't realized that the cage's sudden collapse was Tu Ran's doing.

All he wanted now was for her to leave immediately. The mutant was right in front of her—if it turned its head even slightly, it would see her.

Ye Qingcai gave the order, and the others coordinated at once.

But events spiraled far beyond their expectations.

Tu Ran acted as if she hadn't heard him. She chambered a round, raised her arm, aimed at Xie Heng, and pulled the trigger—all in one fluid motion.

Bang!

The high-velocity bullet grazed past the mutant and struck the back of Xie Heng's head as he scrambled away in panic.

Thwip.

The sound of the bullet piercing flesh was unmistakable. A stream of viscous liquid sprayed from his forehead, splattering across the silver hem of his mother's gown.

Then Xie Heng collapsed backward, lifeless.

His eyes were wide open, pupils dilated—dead without closing them.

It all happened so suddenly.

All the bodyguards' attention was on the mutant; none expected someone to fire from the shadows.

"Heng'er!" Wu Yun spun around in disbelief, saw her son lying on the ground, and went weak in the knees, collapsing beside him.

She tentatively touched Xie Heng's cheek a few times—still warm—but the black, gaping gunshot wound in his brow reminded her that he was gone.

"Heng'er! Heng'er! My Heng'er!"

Xie Xu stood off to the side, watching the scene with cold eyes.

"Tu... Tu Ran, what are you doing?"

On the other side, Ye Qingcai's lips trembled slightly as he stared at her in disbelief.

Tu Ran still held the shooting stance, arm straight. She didn't reply. Her jaw was taut, and her eyes were as cold as those of an emotionless robot.

Bang!

She pulled the trigger again without hesitation.

The massive recoil made her wrist shake, but she quickly steadied it.

This time, her target was Pang Xinting.

The deputy director of the Executive Department, who was about to be promoted to director.

He was following behind the Pang Family clan, escorted by their bodyguards as they left.

The bullet tore through the air. The moment it was about to reach Pang Xinting's head, it dissolved into countless particles of dust and vanished.

A chill ran through Tu Ran's gaze.

Someone was using their ability against her.

She immediately abandoned the pistol and silently invoked her ability, "Blossoms in the Full Moon."

No response.

She sensed a seed burrow into layers of flesh, and a tiny sprout quickly began to grow. Just as it was about to expand, the sprout suddenly vanished—as if an invisible hand had reached into Pang Xinting's abdomen, found the sprout with pinpoint accuracy, and pinched it off.

From start to finish, Pang Xinting's expression showed nothing but fear; nothing else changed.

Cold sweat broke out on Tu Ran's back.

Somewhere within Wanle Temple, a person with no fewer than two abilities was hiding.

The moment she silently uttered "Blossoms in the Full Moon," the other party had already acted, cutting off the sprout in Pang Xinting's belly. This could only mean they had been prepared in advance.

Being prepared in advance implied they knew she possessed the "Blossoms in the Full Moon" ability.

Yet she had never revealed this ability to anyone—except for the one time she used it at Sankar Arsenal, and she hadn't used it since. The surveillance there had been destroyed, and everyone present at the time was dead.

A dozen thoughts raced through Tu Ran's mind in an instant. After eliminating the others, only two possibilities remained.

The other party had an ability similar to "Ability Identification"!

Or an ability similar to Zhao Yan's "Telepathy"!

But she had only thought the words "Blossoms in the Full Moon" subconsciously, without time to consider the specific effect. If the other party had "Telepathy," they wouldn't know the effect of "Blossoms in the Full Moon," nor could they have acted so quickly. The second possibility could essentially be ruled out.

The person hidden in the shadows possessed an ability similar to "Ability Identification"!

The fact that they stayed hidden also suggested they had seen she possessed a similar ability.

Combined with the fact that this person only protected the Pang Family, Tu Ran suddenly understood why Pang Shixi had repeatedly pitted her against the mutants.

Pang Shixi wanted to obtain her ability.

The person behind him was loyal to the Pang Family. At today's banquet, they saw she had an ability, reported it to Pang Shixi, and Pang Shixi's interest was piqued. He tried every means to get her into the iron cage.

The cage was electrified, so she couldn't use "Heaven and Earth Split," and thus couldn't escape. Inside the cage, there was a mutant that wanted to eat her, and she had nothing but a knife. Outside the cage, there was also a person with multiple abilities working against her from the shadows. Her death was all but sealed.

That was Pang Shixi's goal.

A cold sneer rose in Tu Ran's heart. He really had it all figured out.

Too bad they never expected she wouldn't fall for it.

Tu Ran didn't bother searching for the person directly in the chaotic crowd.

There were too many able-bodied people here. She didn't have the stamina to find them, and besides, she would need to escape afterward—she couldn't waste her energy in this place.

Tu Ran bit her finger and smeared blood on her shoulder.

The other party could annihilate a bullet in mid-flight, could kill the sprout in Pang Xinting's belly. She wondered if the hallucinogenic mushroom could evade their attack.

Her hopes were slim, but Tu Ran decided to try anyway.

Sure enough, the moment the hallucinogenic mushroom began to take shape, it dissolved into a wisp of purple smoke and vanished.

The hallucinogenic mushroom was useless too!

Tu Ran's eyes darkened. What exactly was the other party's ability?!

If they could destroy bullets, mushrooms, and sprouts from a distance, why not just kill her outright?

On second thought, they still needed the cage and the mutant to dare make a move, which indirectly showed their ability wasn't overwhelmingly powerful.

Tu Ran steadied herself.

At that moment, Zero's order rang out, addressing all guards.

"Kill the mutant. Capture Tu Ran."

"Repeat: Kill the mutant. Capture Tu Ran."

Tu Ran received another message, a reminder from Zero: "Nearby Pioneers have been notified and are on their way to reinforce. You need to hurry."

Tu Ran decisively abandoned the pistol and lunged toward the Pang Family's large group.

She used "Instant Shift."

On the third floor, Zhou Ming, who had been aiming at her the moment the order came down, was just about to pull the trigger when Tu Ran vanished from his scope.

Gone in a split second.

Zhou Ming couldn't help but curse, "Damn! What kind of monster is she?!"

He immediately adjusted his sniper rifle, scanning the chaotic crowd for Tu Ran.

Besides him, many other guards had their guns trained on Tu Ran.

But they couldn't hit her.

Tu Ran was moving too fast.

In the blink of an eye, she was among the fleeing Pang Family members.

The Pang Family's young masters and misses were mixed in with them, and the guards didn't dare fire.