Chapter 156: Scar Across Happy Town

Qin Ran froze, instinctively becoming wary.

He couldn’t understand why such a strange-looking mother and daughter pair would appear near this small town.

The mother looked elegant and refined, like someone from High-wall City… no, at least from the main city within High-wall City. One of those self-proclaimed nobles who still clung to the refined lifestyle from before the cataclysm. But how could someone like that possibly show up around here? Judging by her appearance, she looked like she’d come to this small town for tourism, admiring the flower fields.

The little girl, however, seemed odd. She was short, wore a worn-out white dress, and her black hair fell down, covering most of her face. Beneath the black hair, bright eyes stared intently at him…

…and she was letting out a low, chilling laugh.

Outsiders shouldn’t be in this small town, especially not people like this who seemed normal yet extremely abnormal.

Qin Ran didn’t dare draw attention. He stole a glance at them, careful not to show any surprise. Without hesitating, he casually changed direction, preparing to duck into another alley and leave the town through a different exit.

“Excuse me, could you tell me who asked you to investigate the Escaped Lab?”

A polite question sounded from not far behind him.

*Swish!*

Qin Ran’s body went rigid. Goosebumps erupted all over him, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.

No time to think. Qin Ran drew his gun with lightning speed and pulled the trigger.

*Bang!*

A bullet shot towards the source of the voice.

Simultaneously, he rolled, deftly diving into the waist-deep flower field beside him.

Even without his ability, he was quite skilled physically.

He had made the most correct choice.

After diving into the flower field, Qin Ran instinctively glanced back and broke out in a cold sweat.

He had fired a special bullet.

Even an Ability User should have been somewhat affected, giving him a chance to escape.

But the bullet had stopped.

Just centimeters away from that beautiful face, the bullet hung suspended in mid-air.

Cracks had already appeared on the black casing, and blue arcs of electricity flickered between them.

Normally, this bullet should have exploded, unleashing a ball of blue electricity between the fragments, destroying everything around it.

But the bullet seemed enveloped by some invisible force, unable to disperse.

The woman gently raised her hand, pushed the bullet about ten centimeters to the left of her cheek, and then let go.

*Crack…*

The bullet continued forward, exploding in mid-air, flashing with a large ball of blue electricity.

A charred area nearly three meters in diameter instantly appeared in the flower field.

The woman didn’t look back. She looked at Qin Ran regretfully, shaking her head slightly. “Why couldn’t you just die quickly?”

Qin Ran trembled, feeling as if he’d fallen into an ice cellar. A sense of helpless despair surged from his heart.

…

…

*Swish!*

Just as the special bullet exploded, Lu Xin, who had been frantically whipping the Human-shaped Fruit Tree, suddenly turned his head.

He looked towards the edge of the small town, a red glow blooming in his eyes.

By now, the Human-shaped Fruit Tree in front of him had been whipped into unrecognizable shreds. Only small, broken stumps remained of the trunk, and the dozen or so vines on it were shattered and snapped.

The ground around was littered with shattered fragments of Qin Ran, some slowly disappearing, others still twitching slightly.

In such chaos, Lu Xin hadn’t even noticed that one Qin Ran was missing.

But when the gunshot rang out, he suddenly became alert, and the anger on his face visibly intensified.

“People who run away are the most annoying…”

…

Roaring softly, he suddenly lashed out with force.

This time, the force behind the whip wasn’t playful; he was serious.

*Boom!*

Under the immense force, the whip in his hand collided with the half-remaining tree trunk, and both exploded simultaneously.

They shattered into dust, losing all signs of activity.

From the center of the explosion, power radiated outwards, engulfing all the previously whipped fragments scattered on the ground that still retained a trace of activity, completely annihilating them until they vanished into thin air.

Finally, only a lone face remained some distance away, its lips still twitching. “Wasteland… hauling goods…”

*Squish!*

Lu Xin walked over and crushed the face underfoot. Then he turned, staring towards the edge of the small town.

His eyes suddenly gleamed with a savage and excited light.

His slightly swaying body suddenly steadied. Then, he abruptly strode forward, charging towards the edge of town.

He charged straight through.

Blocking his path were the houses of Happy Town.

These houses were narrow and dense, packed tightly together in large numbers.

Previously, Lu Xin had considered opening the doors but had sensed that opening these houses would lead to something terrible. So, even after confirming Qin Ran was hiding in one of them, he hadn’t opened a single door.

This time, he didn’t open them either. He crashed right through.

*Rumble!*

The wall blocking his path distorted instantly upon impact with his body, then shattered and collapsed with a crash.

But even the falling debris didn’t touch him.

It was pulverized by the black shadow behind him, or rather, that mass of twisted telekinetic power.

The moment he crashed into the first house, he seemed to faintly sense something inside. It instantly released intense hostility, and a bizarre mental power unfolded, seemingly about to pounce on Lu Xin…

But it couldn’t reach him.

Lu Xin didn’t even look closely. He charged straight ahead, smashing the thing to pieces, and then rushed towards the next house.

House after house, monster after monster, simultaneously smashed.

It was as if an earthquake had struck the small town.

From the street at the back of the town where Lu Xin was, to the flower field at the edge where Qin Ran was located, countless houses stood in between. Each house contained eerie and terrifying entities. But now, a straight line pierced through the town. Along this line, nothing remained intact, no living creature with any activity survived…

The entire town was alarmed. All the residents snapped their heads up.

This time, the expressions on their faces were no longer smiles, but anger… and fear.

…

…

“I think I understand now…”

Hearing the continuous sound of houses collapsing in the town behind him, Qin Ran’s face instantly turned pale.

He suddenly looked up at the mother and daughter holding hands before him. More thoughts flooded his mind: the mission materials he’d seen about the ‘Escaped Lab,’ the strange and unpredictable nature of Qinggang City’s Ability Users, Lu Xin’s earlier comment after taking the item from the Big Head Ghost—”Sister has already gone to find him”—and this woman’s sigh:

“Why couldn’t you just die quickly?”

…

After figuring this out, Qin Ran found it both absurd and laughable. Countless words welled up inside him.

But what ultimately came out was a sentence filled with utter helplessness: “Who the hell gave you guys the codename ‘Mr. Lone Soldier’?”

The refined woman heard this and smiled silently.

Even the strange little girl showed a somewhat smug smile.

But neither of them answered his question.

Qin Ran also knew why they didn’t answer. He could already hear a buzzing sound, like static, coming from behind him.

…

…

Having smashed through countless houses and traversed the entire town, Lu Xin now appeared behind him.

Behind Lu Xin, the Red Moon’s color had deepened, becoming even more vibrant at some point.

And behind his thin body, the black shadow was more distinct, containing mental power so strong it inspired fear.

The flower field was full of vibrant, pink blossoms, brimming with life.

But in Lu Xin’s wake, all the flowers instantly withered, losing all vitality.

Caught in the middle, Qin Ran, even seven or eight meters away, could feel an indescribable despair enveloping his entire body.

“So this is the power of codename ‘Tyrant’? It turns out the experiments have already…”

An expression of extreme self-mockery appeared on Qin Ran’s face as he spoke slowly, somewhat weakly.

But as he said this, the Mother suddenly frowned.

Simultaneously, the heavy breathing behind him abruptly grew much coarser. The sense of danger rapidly approached.

…

…

“You can’t kill me…”

But at that exact moment, Qin Ran suddenly turned and screamed forcefully.

In front of him, Lu Xin’s hand had already reached him. Overlapping his arm was the arm of the black shadow behind him. However, a closer look revealed that the shadow wanted to grab downwards, while Lu Xin’s arm was actually holding it back.

He trembled, holding his arm suspended mid-air, preventing the shadow’s hand from grabbing Qin Ran’s face.

“Do you know why I chose to hide here?”

Qin Ran continued shouting, unaware of why the other hadn’t grabbed him, just screaming wildly.

His face looked somewhat twisted under the Red Moon, his scream sharp, almost distorted. “Because this is Happy Town! Because the Queen is sleeping here! Because everyone in this town are her subjects, including me now…”

“And now…”

He took a deep breath, looking towards the town.

The neat, dense houses of the town had been destroyed in countless numbers by Lu Xin’s charge, like a scar cutting across the town.

Qin Ran’s voice held a madness born from despair: “…You’ve woken her up.”