“Zhong Mo…”
“Zhong Mo…” Lu Xihe stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar face, a name slipping out of his mouth involuntarily.
The transformed Zhong Mo seemed to still remember his own name. He nodded silently and raised the button in his hand to Lu Xihe’s eye level.
Before Zhong Mo had turned into an aberrant, the clothes Zhong Hao and Zhong Yue often wore were blue and pink. Lu Xihe understood his meaning at a glance.
“You want to see Xiao Hao and Xiao Yue.” Lu Xihe spoke the words for him.
Zhong Mo nodded, his gaze fixed on the RV.
“They’re in the vehicle, but you…” Lu Xihe hesitated. He wasn’t sure whether Zhong Mo had fully become an aberrant or still posed a certain level of danger. “Getting close to them like this might not be safe. If you want to see them, stand farther away. I can bring them up to the second floor so you can take a look.”
Zhong Mo froze, his eyes still fixed on the direction of the RV. Those eyes, which had long lost any human emotion, now revealed a deep longing and sorrow. He shook his head, then darted off into the distance, only to fly back in a flash carrying two large burlap sacks.
Just as Zhong Mo was rushing back, Lu Xihe was yanked backward a great distance from the aberrant. In a blur, Cheng Yuchuan’s figure appeared in front of him.
“Careful, it’s a mid-tier aberrant.” Cheng Yuchuan gathered an ability orb in his hand, ready to strike at any moment.
The instant Cheng Yuchuan appeared, the two low-tier aberrants that had been obediently carrying supplies behind Lu Xihe suddenly went berserk. They dropped what they were holding and bared their teeth, looking ready to lunge and bite.
Even Zhong Mo grew agitated. His murky yellow eyes blazed with piercing golden light, and his body twisted unnaturally into an attack stance.
Seeing that a fight was about to break out between one person and three aberrants, Lu Xihe quickly shouted, “Everyone, stop!”
Cheng Yuchuan naturally didn’t move. Zhong Mo’s eyes gradually dimmed, and his body quickly returned to calm. As if remembering something, he bent down and picked up the burlap sack that had fallen to the ground.
The low-tier aberrants were slower to react, but they too gradually settled down, frozen in their lunging poses without moving.
“You two, pick up the things and stand properly.” Lu Xihe pointed at the two low-tier aberrants.
The moment he spoke, the two aberrants, under Cheng Yuchuan’s stunned gaze, slowly picked up the supplies and stood at attention, as obedient as tamed wolfhounds.
Now it was Cheng Yuchuan’s turn to be so shocked he couldn’t control his expression. His eyes were wide open, his mouth hanging in an oval shape, staring at Lu Xihe in utter disbelief. His face practically screamed three words, What the hell?
Even having lived two lifetimes, Cheng Yuchuan had never seen aberrants that could obey human commands.
His worldview shattered into pieces at that moment, reassembled, shattered again, and reassembled once more.
The fact that Lu Xihe could fight aberrants bare-handed without an ability or a system had already blown his mind. Now it seemed he had developed some new skill, one that specifically worked on aberrants.
Lu Xihe could tell from Cheng Yuchuan’s dumbfounded reaction how shocked he was, but the moment he remembered he had snuck out, he felt a pang of guilt for no reason.
Lu Xihe scratched his head awkwardly, not knowing how to explain. After all, he had only just discovered that he could command low-tier aberrants and communicate with mid-tier ones.
“Maybe… you could try too?” Lu Xihe tugged at his ear and pointed at the two low-tier aberrants in front of him.
“Low-tier ones can only follow simple commands and actions. Mid-tier ones seem to allow a bit of communication. I’m still experimenting.” Lu Xihe added.
Hearing this, Cheng Yuchuan withdrew his ability and tried giving a command to the two low-tier aberrants: “Squat.”
Before Cheng Yuchuan even finished speaking, the two low-tier aberrants immediately entered a frenzy. Lu Xihe quickly followed up with, “Hold steady, stand still, don’t move.”
Sure enough, it took effect instantly.
It seemed only he could command aberrants.
Lu Xihe then had Cheng Yuchuan try with the mid-tier one. The result was the same, the moment Cheng Yuchuan spoke, it went berserk, and the moment Lu Xihe called it to stop, it returned to calm.
At this point, it was clear: only Lu Xihe could control aberrants.
The two exchanged a glance, both understanding the implication.
Cheng Yuchuan said nothing. He opened his palm and condensed a small ball of flame. Lu Xihe immediately understood his meaning: “You’re saying this is my ability?”
Cheng Yuchuan nodded. Though he had never seen anything like it, it was the only explanation that made sense.
Lu Xihe was instantly thrilled. He threw his arms around Cheng Yuchuan, hopping and jumping with excitement. His dancing eyebrows, bright shining eyes, and upturned lips all spoke of his joy.
He had an ability! And it was an incredibly powerful, unprecedented special ability!
Cheng Yuchuan was happy for him too, but he couldn’t escape the harsh reality. He pointed at himself, then at Zhong Mo and the RV, and shook his head with a grave expression.
The joy that had lit up Lu Xihe’s eyes because of his new ability sank in an instant. A trace of pain and sorrow surfaced in his gaze.
This indirectly meant that Zhong Mo could not meet his younger siblings.
Anyone other than Lu Xihe would trigger the aberrants’ brutal nature.
“…” Lu Xihe was at a loss for words, not knowing how to tell Zhong Mo.
But Zhong Mo seemed to understand what Cheng Yuchuan meant. He silently placed the two bags of snacks on the ground and backed away to a distance, signaling for Lu Xihe to take the supplies back.
A layer of mist covered his eyes, blurring his vision and stinging the tip of his nose.
“I’ll help you take good care of them, don’t worry.”
Hearing this, Zhong Mo opened his mouth as if to say something, gave the two of them a deep bow, then turned and disappeared into the darkness.
The Abnormality couldn’t make a sound, but Lu Xihe could read his lips.
What he said was, thank you.
As for the two burlap sacks of snacks Zhong Mo left behind, Cheng Yuchuan and Lu Xihe each carried one, while the four large bags in the hands of the two low-level Aberrants continued to be carried by them.
“You!”
The moment Cheng Yuchuan opened his mouth, the two Aberrants behind him immediately started wailing as if on cue, startling Lu Xihe half to death.
“Shut up!” Lu Xihe set down his sack, turned around, and smacked each of the two Aberrants on the head, though when he reached the fat boss, his hand didn’t actually land, just making a token gesture in the air.
“Why did you only hit him?” Cheng Yuchuan naturally noticed the preferential treatment and asked curiously.
The moment Cheng Yuchuan spoke, the two were about to wail again. Lu Xihe preempted them, glaring at them with a sharp “Quiet!”, the shout immediately silenced both Aberrants.
Having dealt with the mood-killers, Lu Xihe covered his mouth with a stifled laugh, playfully winked at Cheng Yuchuan, and said with mock seriousness: “Because the boss generously sponsored us four big bags of supplies, and even delivered them to our door. It wouldn’t be right to hit him after that.”
One second he was ferociously yelling at Aberrants, the next he was acting cute and playing innocent. After ten years, Cheng Yuchuan once again witnessed a master-level demonstration of face-changing.
Adorable. How could his little boyfriend be this adorable.
Cheng Yuchuan couldn’t help but laugh, listening to his nonsense reasoning and nodding mindlessly in agreement, then turned around to politely thank the fat boss.
The moment Cheng Yuchuan’s “thank you” left his mouth, Lu Xihe’s “Quiet!” followed right after, training these two Aberrants into face-changing masters as well.
After transporting the supplies to about ten meters from the RV, Lu Xihe dismissed the two low-level Aberrants. Cheng Yuchuan used his ability to toss the rest up onto the second floor of the RV in one go, leaving them for Qi Jin and the others to deal with in the morning.
Having been out causing trouble for most of the night, Lu Xihe was feeling sleepy. He simply changed his clothes and was about to go to bed when Cheng Yuchuan grabbed him and interrogated him about sneaking out.
“I need to sleep.” Lu Xihe refused to answer the question directly.
“It’s too dangerous outside at night. You’re not allowed to sneak out while I’m sleeping anymore, got it?” Cheng Yuchuan warned sternly.
God knows how panicked he was when he woke up and couldn’t find Lu Xihe. When he spotted Lu Xihe from the second floor standing with three Aberrants, one of them a mid-level one, he was so scared he lost a shoe running down.
Good thing his pants were long enough that Lu Xihe didn’t notice he was missing a shoe in the dark, or he’d never hear the end of it.
“Not listening, not listening, turtle chanting sutras.” Lu Xihe covered his head with a pillow, stubbornly refusing Cheng Yuchuan’s demand.
He could beat up ordinary Aberrants, command low-level ones, communicate with mid-level ones, and talking to high-level ones would only be easier.
With that, what danger did Aberrants even pose? He was practically invincible, free to go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
Lu Xihe’s dismissive attitude irritated Cheng Yuchuan. Grabbing the blanket, he flipped the whole person over, pressed himself on top, and delivered a solid smack to Lu Xihe’s butt.
“Hey, hey! What are you doing? I’ll scream, I’ll scream!” Lu Xihe couldn’t break free, clutching his butt with both hands and threatening at the top of his lungs.
The RV was only this big, everyone’s rooms were separated by just a few curtains, let alone soundproofing. Any little noise was heard by the whole vehicle.
Cheng Yuchuan’s lips curved slightly. With a raise of his hand, a blue barrier formed around them, creating a sphere that enveloped the two, no need to guess what that was for.
“Cheng Yuchuan, you bastard, you’re bullying me!” Lu Xihe protested loudly in defiance.
“No respect for your elders. Call me ‘brother.'” Cheng Yuchuan smacked him again, this time without any force, yet Lu Xihe howled louder than a pig being slaughtered.
“No way, no way! Kill me if you dare!” Lu Xihe glared at him indignantly, found his chance to flip over, and bit down hard on Cheng Yuchuan’s hand.
Bite you to death, bite you to death, you damn level-five all-rounder ability user!
Watching him throw another tantrum, Cheng Yuchuan let out a helpless sigh and could only pull the person up into his arms to soothe him properly.
“Next time you go out, take me with you. Seeing you standing with a bunch of Aberrants nearly scared me to death.”
Lu Xihe responded to softness, not hardness. When Cheng Yuchuan showed his vulnerable side, he immediately softened his own attitude: “Got it. Won’t happen again.”
“Mm.”
The next morning, Lu Xihe told the other team members about his ability to command and communicate with Aberrants. Everyone was skeptical one after another, until they saw with their own eyes Lu Xihe ordering around a low-level Aberrant, only then did they believe, dumbfounded.
No one had ever seen Lu Xihe’s ability, nor had they even heard of anything like it. The only guess was that it belonged to the mental control category, but theoretically, aberrants had no consciousness, how it could understand Lu Xihe’s commands was another question that baffled everyone.
Still, having an ability was ultimately a good thing. Lu Xihe had only just discovered this power, which meant it had likely manifested recently, probably only at level one or two.
With an ability, there was a way to level it up. Boss Cheng was extremely generous, with a single gesture, he produced a complete high-tier core.
High-tier cores were extremely rare, let alone complete ones.
Every high-tier aberrant had a core at its neck. Because high-tier aberrants had bodies that were too hard, killing one required unleashing a very powerful ability, and the core was extremely fragile, a massive wave of energy could easily shatter it. A shattered core would have its power greatly diminished, so a complete high-tier core was exceptionally hard to come by.
Lu Xihe followed the method Cheng Yuchuan described to absorb the core. Soon, a complete high-tier core fully merged into Lu Xihe’s body and vanished without a trace.
Suddenly, Lu Xihe felt a surge of energy colliding back and forth inside. Focusing carefully to sense and guide it, the energy eventually gathered in the palm of his hand.
With a whoosh, a wave of warmth swept across his face, and a ball of flame ignited in Lu Xihe’s palm.
“Fire ability?!” the crowd exclaimed, their eyes widening in shock at the sight before them.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be leveling up?” Lu Xihe was just as stunned. “Could it be… absorbing a core can manifest a new ability?”