Volume 1, Chapter 40: Dr. Qin's Warning

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Energy beams and specialized bullets rained down upon the massive shield, sending sparks flying and creating a deafening roar. Zhang Nan’s arms bulged with veins, and the ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch. With every impact, his body shuddered violently, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Yet, like an immovable mountain, he blocked the path of the pursuers!

"Mengyi!" Li Hexuan’s voice rang out again.

Su Mengyi understood immediately; she pressed her fair palm firmly against the cold wall.

"Entangle! Seal!"

Whoosh!

Tough vines, seemingly imbued with life, surged frantically from the cracks in the walls and floor, instantly weaving into an impenetrable green barrier that completely blocked the corridor. Countless fine, thorn-covered tendrils struck with precision, snaring the pursuers' ankles and weapons.

"Dammit! What kind of hellish thing is this?" The pursuers' formation fell into immediate chaos.

"Three seconds are up! Retreat!" Li Hexuan grabbed the still-straining Zhang Nan and led the team in a rapid dash toward the base of the tower.

They did not take the path they had arrived by, instead veering into a more secluded and structurally complex maintenance tunnel. It was an escape route few knew about, gleaned from Li Hexuan’s memories of his past life.

Behind them, the military and the forces of the Apocalypse Group violently tore through the vines in hot pursuit.

"They won't get far! After them!" Zhao Qilong’s voice was filled with venomous malice.

Just as the pursuers reached the first corner of the maintenance tunnel, Li Hexuan’s figure flashed past, a cold curve playing on his lips. Without even looking back, he simply snapped his fingers.

"Detonate."

Hum!

On the metal pipes lining the tunnel, several makeshift devices he had quietly planted—repurposed from source crystals—instantly overloaded!

A powerful electromagnetic pulse erupted with a roar!

The pursuers at the front felt a flash of white light, followed by a buzzing in their brains. All their electronic equipment failed instantly, and even the abilities within their bodies stagnated for a split second. Their legs gave out, and they tumbled into a heap.

Taking advantage of this, Li Hexuan and his team vanished into the depths of the tunnel.

Minutes later, they emerged, disheveled, from an inconspicuous sewage outlet on the west side of the Source Energy Tower, seeing the light of day once more.

Without a moment’s pause, Li Hexuan oriented himself and led the group into the maze-like ruins of City E.

Only after confirming they had completely shaken off their pursuers did he find a partially collapsed office building and lead his team into the relatively safe underground parking garage.

"Hah... hah..."

Everyone, including Li Hexuan, leaned against the cold walls, gasping for breath. The flight had pushed everyone’s mental and physical endurance to the limit, and several members were nursing wounds.

Zhang Nan lowered his massive shield and plopped onto the ground; the shield was covered in dense dents and cracks.

Su Mengyi immediately stepped forward, channeling her remaining life energy to heal the injured members.

After a brief, heavy silence, everyone’s gaze converged on Li Hexuan.

Li Hexuan said nothing. He slowly withdrew the fragment of the Source Energy Core from his coat.

The moment the fragment appeared, the entire dim underground garage was illuminated. It was the size of a human head, irregular in shape, and radiated a dreamlike, seven-colored halo. A vast and pure energy emanated from it; simply being near it made the team feel their fatigue and pain rapidly washing away.

"This thing..." Zhang Nan’s eyes widened, his throat dry.

Li Hexuan attempted to channel a strand of his own electric arc slowly into the core fragment.

Hum!

The fragment shuddered violently. The moment the tiny arc entered, it was as if a sliver of steel had been thrown into a furnace, tempered a thousand times over!

The next moment, a surge of lightning—several times thicker and shimmering with deep blue and bright silver hues—fed back from the fragment and flooded into every fiber of Li Hexuan’s being!

Li Hexuan’s body jolted, and an expression of disbelief ignited in his eyes.

His "Electricity Control" ability, amplified by this energy, had increased in power by at least thirty percent! Furthermore, the fragment possessed a peculiar "assimilation" property, making his abilities more refined and stable.

With a thought, he tried to manifest the prototype of his "Thunder Punishment Domain."

The domain, which previously required immense mental effort to barely maintain, was now effortless, and the lightning at the edges of the field was far more solid than before!

This fragment was, quite simply, an ultimate cheat code tailored for ability users!

Just then, Su Mengyi, who had been silently watching the fragment, flushed slightly and spoke with hesitation.

"Mr. Li, may I... touch it?"

Her voice was soft, carrying a trace of longing she hadn't realized herself.

Li Hexuan looked at her and nodded.

Su Mengyi took a deep breath and reached out with her fair fingertips, cautiously touching the core fragment.

The moment she made contact, a radical change occurred!

The magnificent seven-colored light on the core fragment seemed to be guided by something, and it erupted in brilliance! A rich, intensely verdant life energy poured out from Su Mengyi’s body, actively merging into the fragment.

Upon receiving this energy, the fragment emitted a joyful hum, and subsequently, a pure life force ten times greater than before surged back into Su Mengyi like a bursting river!

"Ah!"

Su Mengyi let out a soft cry, feeling the awakening warmth in the depths of her bloodline boil over! She felt as if she could hear the breathing of every surviving plant in all of City E, and could sense the most primal pulse of life deep within the earth!

Li Hexuan’s pupils contracted sharply as he stared fixedly at the scene.

This fragment of the Source Energy Tower was acting as a catalyst for Su Mengyi’s special constitution in a way he could never have predicted!

The magnificent seven-colored light exploded, instantly engulfing the entire underground parking garage.

That intensely pure life energy was no longer a warm current, but a volcano that had found its vent, roaring out of the core fragment and brutally flooding into Su Mengyi’s body!

"Urgh!"

Su Mengyi let out a stifled groan of pain. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and her fair, pretty face was twisted in a mixture of agony and extreme ecstasy.

She felt the blood in her body burning; every cell was being forcibly torn apart and reconstructed. The mysterious power that had been dormant in the depths of her bloodline was, at this moment, completely awakened, resonating with the fragment in her hands in the most primal way.

"Mengyi!"

Zhang Nan was shocked and grabbed his shield, preparing to step forward.

"Don't touch her!"

Li Hexuan barked a low command, blocking him firmly.

His gaze remained locked on Su Mengyi and the core fragment, deep within his eyes lay profound shock and a sudden, crystalline realization.

This constitution, this tyrannical affinity for life energy—in his past life, it only existed in the most top-tier legends.

A Life Whisperer!

In rumors, such people were the darlings of life and nature, born with the ability to command all living things. They were mythical-level support and crowd-control experts in the apocalypse! He had never dreamed that Su Mengyi would be this one-in-a-million monster!

This core fragment was merely the key that had happened to unlock the shackles of her bloodline!

The light came as quickly as it went.