She no longer tried to “guide” that violent ice-blue energy.
That would have been no different from suicide.
Instead, she condensed all her mental strength into an extremely fine yet incredibly resilient “thread,” carrying a faint, cool glimmer.
This thread was no longer a probe—it was more like… a weak beam of purifying light.
Carefully controlling this strand of mental light, as if dancing on the edge of a blade, she avoided the raging regions of the ice-blue storm inside the crystal. With extreme difficulty, bit by bit, she let it seep into the edges of the ice, attempting to…
Touch a black thread that was stubbornly writhing within a gap at the edge of the storm.
The moment of contact—
“Zzz—!”
An indescribable, violent reaction exploded within Su Qianqian’s consciousness, like cold water splashing into boiling oil.
The black thread seemed to encounter its natural enemy, twisting and struggling frantically.
A violent, chaotic, malicious mental backlash surged back along her mental thread.
“Ugh!” Su Qianqian groaned. Her head felt as though it had been struck by a heavy hammer. Her vision went dark, and a warm liquid flowed from her nose—blood—which instantly froze in the frigid air.
The strand of mental light trembled violently, nearly collapsing.
Such strong resistance!
Did this infection have consciousness?!
But Su Qianqian clenched her teeth, blood seeping from between them.
She held on desperately to that nearly collapsing will, pouring every ounce of her determination into the strand of light.
Purify!
Dispel!
Get… out!
“Buzz…”
Under the force of her unyielding will, the faint strand of mental light did not collapse. Instead, it seemed to grow slightly more solid.
The cool glow burned against the black thread like a powerful acid.
The black thread’s violent twisting gradually weakened, its color visibly dimming and fading.
It worked!
It really worked!
Just as a surge of ecstasy rose within Su Qianqian and she prepared to press on—
“Boom! Crack—!!!”
From the direction of the cold storage door—sealed shut by thick ice—came a deafening explosion and the terrifying sound of ice shattering.
Immediately after came Brother Qiang’s ecstatic roar and the excited scream of the Glasses Guy!
“It’s open! It’s open! Damn it! This damn ice is finally broken!”
“Careful! The energy readings are still there! Inside there might be—”
They had broken through!
The Black Tiger Gang had taken advantage of the perfect moment—while Su Qianqian was fully focused on purifying the infection and Lin Chen was completely frozen and defenseless—to finally break through the ice wall.
A massive crisis descended instantly.
Su Qianqian’s eyes snapped open, and the mental connection was cut off immediately.
She had no time to check the result of the purified black thread, nor to wipe the frozen blood from her face. She looked toward the door in horror.
At the center of the heavy silver door, a jagged hole the size of a washbasin had been smashed open with some kind of powerful tools—likely a fire axe combined with a crowbar.
Shattered ice and twisted metal curled outward.
Outside the hole, Brother Qiang’s scar-covered face—filled with savage delight—stared into the cold storage like a demon from hell.
The spiked club wrapped with wire and broken glass in his hand swung excitedly.
“Hahaha! Little bitch! Let’s see where you run this time!” Brother Qiang sneered, impatiently reaching his hand inside to tear the hole wider.
The Glasses Guy’s face squeezed in beside the opening, his eyes behind the lenses gleaming with greed and fanaticism as he stared at the massive ice-blue crystal deep inside the storage.
He breathed rapidly. “Brother Qiang! Hurry! That ice lump! The person inside! That’s treasure! Priceless! Grab them!”
The chef lingered behind them, holding a fire axe, his expression conflicted and hesitant.
It was over.
All their efforts were about to be wasted.
Su Qianqian’s heart sank to the bottom.
She looked at Brother Qiang’s arm reaching in, at the three greedy and vicious faces outside the hole—and then at the iceberg behind her, sealing Lin Chen within its despairing cold…
A surge of fierce resolve—mixed with anger, unwillingness, and a do-or-die determination—crashed through her fear.
“You want to capture us?!”
Her blood-streaked face, smeared with ice shards, no longer held fear or confusion. Instead, her wide eyes burned with a near-mad intensity.
She suddenly raised the hand that had just been cut by ice shards, still bleeding, and with all her strength slammed it against the freezing metal wall beside her.
“Smack!”
Blood instantly left a glaring handprint on the icy surface.
At the same time—
“Buzz—!!!”
A mental shockwave far clearer, more condensed, and carrying an intense will of expulsion and chaos erupted. No longer an invisible ripple, it became like a tangible spike, centered on her bloodstained palm, slamming violently toward the three heads crowded at the opening.
Targets—Brother Qiang! Glasses Guy! The Chef!
Effect—Get out!
Be confused!
Feel guilt!
Feel fear!
“Ahhh—!”
Brother Qiang, taking the brunt of it, let out a shrill, distorted scream.
His arm snapped back out of the hole as both hands clutched his head.
It felt as if countless icy steel needles had pierced his temples, twisting violently.
Overwhelming confusion and terror swallowed him whole.
He felt as though he were falling from a great height, or being dragged into the depths of hell by countless rotting hands.
Even worse, an intense, inexplicable wave of guilt surged over him like a flood.
He saw all his past atrocities replaying before his eyes—those he had bullied and harmed, their twisted, anguished faces screaming at him.
“N-no… not me… don’t come for me…”
He howled like a beast, tears and snot streaming down his face as his body convulsed uncontrollably. The spiked club fell to the ground with a loud clang.
“Ugh! My head! Data… logic… it’s all scrambled…”
The Glasses Guy reacted just as violently. His brain felt as though it had been thrown into a high-speed blender. All his analysis, judgment, and ability to interpret signals were shredded instantly.
In their place came extreme dizziness and nausea.
His prized rationality collapsed completely, replaced by overwhelming shame and chaos, as if he had been stripped naked in public.
He crouched down, clutching his head, his glasses crooked, retching in pain.
Only the chef was less affected, but his face turned deathly pale. His eyes were filled with fear and confusion, as if trapped in a nightmare. The fire axe in his hand drooped as he stood trembling, completely unable to act.
It worked!
Their actions were instantly dismantled!