Chapter 427: Obstacles, Flare Signals, and Unyielding Boulders

“Alright, alright, get the car moving,” Lu Xin instructed.

Having made up his mind, Lu Xin scanned the road conditions around him with a trace of worry.

The earlier cleanup of the mental monsters had stirred up quite a commotion.

A nearby mountain had slipped, sending several massive boulders rolling onto the thoroughfare.

It wasn’t just that the already rough road was pockmarked with craters—it was that these boulders blocked the car’s escape route.

With that in mind, Lu Xin turned to look at his sister.

His sister was sprawled awkwardly in the backseat, remarking, “Why are you staring at me?”

Lu Xin replied, “Those boulders are blocking the road. Go remove them.”

She sat up, peered out, then flopped back down, “I’m not going.”

“You…”

Exasperated, Lu Xin looked down at his father.

His father let out a cold, mirthless chuckle before slowly fading away…

…He didn’t even say a word.

Mom sat gracefully in the backseat, clearly offering no help.

Feeling awkward, Lu Xin then glanced at Doll.

Doll looked from Lu Xin to the car, then to the boulders on the road.

What a clever girl.

She immediately grasped his meaning and floated lightly over to the towering boulders.

Tossing aside her umbrella, she planted both her small hands on the rock and began pushing it hard to clear the road.

…

Lu Xin sighed, “You can use your mental power to push them.”

Doll shot him a glance as the air around her began to warp, coalescing into a force.

This newfound power concentrated on the boulders, nudging them slightly.

But the rocks were stubborn; after a brief shift, they settled back down as if defiant.

Irritated, Doll picked up her umbrella and tapped the boulder again.

…

“Your mental power just isn’t strong enough…”

Lu Xin shook his head in resignation.

When mental power is concentrated enough, it forms telekinesis that can manipulate reality.

Doll, who often floats mid-air, functions on the same principle.

Whenever she appears, bystanders lend her their mental strength, enabling her to float effortlessly and even launch forces akin to a mental impact.

In short, flying isn’t an exclusive privilege for her.

With abundant mental power, any ability user can use telekinesis to lift off the ground.

But most people wouldn’t waste it that way.

Lu Xin mused that in a crowded area, Doll could probably tip over a building instead of just moving a boulder.

However, with the mental monsters gone and nowhere else to draw power from, Doll only managed to hover a few centimeters above the ground, draining her own strength.

She was so accustomed to floating that she didn’t mind the drain at all.

Simply put, she wasn’t one to live cautiously.

…

“What’s the point of getting angry at a rock…”

Watching Doll angrily tap the boulder, Lu Xin scratched his head.

He wondered why Doll hadn’t borrowed any mental power from him.

Glancing at Mom—who sat silently inside, watching Doll move the rock with no urge to speak—he accepted her quietude.

Lu Xin had long learned that when she wanted nothing to be said, no amount of questioning would change that.

So he opened the car door again, stepped over to Doll, and after a moment’s hesitation gently took her hand. Doll looked up at him curiously, puzzled as to why he was grasping her hand.

Smiling, Lu Xin said, “Can I lend you some of my mental power?”

Doll paused to think, then understood, letting Lu Xin hold her hand before turning her head.

She scrutinized the stubborn boulder, focused intently, and prodded it with the tip of her umbrella.

A gust of wind along the mountain road blew by, but the boulder remained unmoved.

Doll then turned, her expression blank and puzzled as she looked at Lu Xin.

Feeling awkward, Lu Xin examined the rock closely and asked, “Did you push hard enough?”

Doll nodded.

“Well…”

After standing there in resigned silence for a moment, Lu Xin reluctantly released Doll’s hand.

It seemed Doll couldn’t borrow his mental power after all.

If she couldn’t, continuing to hold her hand would only seem like taking advantage, and that wasn’t his style.

“I’ll handle it,” he resolved.

Seeing that the family couldn’t budge the boulders, Lu Xin took on the task himself.

He quietly rummaged through the back case and produced a crowbar.

“What power can’t be forced with this thing?” he mused.

…

After a strenuous effort, Lu Xin managed to pry several massive rocks aside, clearing the road about ten minutes later.

He climbed back into the car and drove along the mountain path with his family and Doll.

Once he was sure the high mountains on either side wouldn’t impede his way, he stretched his hand out the window and pulled the trigger of the flare gun.

Instantly, a smoke-billowing bullet soared high into the sky.

It resembled a red balloon trailing a thick, gray string rising over the plains.

This was part of the prearranged plan with Chen Jing and the others—to signal each other with a flare once the mission was complete.

Since the narrow path could have easily blocked the signal, he waited until he was clear before firing.

Moments later, as if in reply, a red flare also shot up from the deep recesses of the wasteland.

Lu Xin exhaled in relief; Chen Jing and her team had succeeded.

The original plan was simple: while he drove with Doll and used her influence to distract the armed forces, the Technology Church’s priest in charge of the second plan would take action—either proactively or reactively.

That, in turn, would give Chen Jing and her team the chance to capture him.

Though Lu Xin had initial worries, he didn’t contest Chen Jing’s decision.

After all, they were all colleagues and capable professionals.

Division of labor was perfectly normal.

Lu Xin never expected to shoulder every responsibility on his own.

…

Using the flare’s trajectory to pinpoint their location, Lu Xin floored the accelerator and drove toward them. Although he was anxious to reach Happy Town, he decided a rendezvous was more urgent.

Work can’t run on passion alone; it demands a plan.

Passing groups of dazed people in the wasteland, Lu Xin arrived near his colleagues in about forty minutes.

At first glance, he was slightly taken aback.

He saw that his colleagues had gathered inside a sturdy house where they had set up a temporary camp.

Besides Chen Jing, Gecko, Drunkard, and Bear Child, there was one extra person—the pretty woman he had met at a meeting in Qinggang, always with a mirror and lipstick. He remembered her codename as Godly Woman.

She appeared injured, with her shoulder wrapped in thick bandages.

Leaning in a corner was a man with an ability inhibitor strapped around his neck, his limbs injured and tightly handcuffed.

A silver suitcase rested on a table as Drunkard inspected it intently.

“How did he get injured again?”

With concern, Lu Xin walked in with Doll and asked, “That careless, huh?”

“Whoosh!”

Everyone in the room looked up at Lu Xin, their expressions strangely altered.

“What do you mean, he got injured again?”

Gecko, leaning against the doorframe with his sniper rifle, pleaded, “Captain, we nearly lost the entire squad!”

“Huh?”

Lu Xin widened his eyes and glanced at the priest-like man slumped in the corner, “Is he our opponent?”

Gecko nodded nervously, “Yes.”

Lu Xin chuckled, “And you’re still joking about a total wipeout?”

Gecko: “…”

…

“How’s your side coming along?”

Chen Jing inquired as Lu Xin stepped in.

As soon as Lu Xin and Doll entered, she meticulously examined Doll from head to toe.

Only after confirming there were no injuries did she relax enough to ask about the mission’s progress.

“It’s fine; those armed forces have been scattered across the wasteland,” Lu Xin replied quickly.

Chen Jing nodded, “Did you encounter any real dangers?”

“Not exactly—there were a few hiccups.”

After a moment’s thought, Lu Xin recounted, “We ran into about seven or eight mental monsters creeping out of the abyss, each with a psychic power of roughly three to five thousand. The tricky part was the open wasteland—almost letting them slip away.”

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, every eye in the room fixed on his face, their stares intense.

Feeling a bit flustered, Lu Xin pointed to Doll, “It’s true. Don’t believe me? Just ask her.”

Doll hurriedly nodded and gestured, making it clear: a huge, enormous monster.

Chen Jing took a deep breath, pressing down the unsettling feeling swirling inside her, “I need to record these unexpected events and report them to Headquarters. Although things seem under control for now, the Technology Church…”

She shook her head lightly, “It’s truly terrifying.”

“Imagine if we had deployed the military—the consequences would have been dire…”

“…

Lu Xin thought about the chaos if the military clashed directly with those armed forces in the wasteland.

A chill ran down his spine at the thought—it would have been a nightmare.

Those creatures would have posed a grave challenge for the military.

Shifting the conversation, he asked, “How’s your investigation coming along?”

Chen Jing replied, “We captured a man from the Technology Church—the ‘Wish Priest’ in charge of executing the second plan. After interrogating him, we confirmed that the source contaminating the gathered armed forces was this very box. Unfortunately, we currently lack the means to conduct an in-depth analysis and research on it.”

“A box?”

Lu Xin was somewhat startled as he glanced at the box.

Could such a small box really drive an entire armed force to madness?

“We dare not open the box, so we must study it externally.”

At that moment, Drunkard, who had been eyeing the box for a while, straightened up and lightly pounded on it, “My ability is to distort others’ features. I can sense mental power better than most. I have a feeling that inside this box is a mental entity akin to my own ability, but far more terrifying…”

“If you must say what’s in the box…”

“…

She frowned slightly, gathering her thoughts before murmuring, “A heart.”

Everyone in the room looked at her in confusion.

Drunkard nodded gravely, “I suspect that if we open the box, we might see a pile of hearts.”

“Beating, living hearts.”

“…

Suddenly, the room fell silent. Every gaze fixed on her looked strangely off.

The old man’s words hadn’t cleared up the mystery of the silver suitcase; instead, they made the atmosphere even more eerie.

“Living hearts from the dead? How could that be in a box?”