Chapter 434: The Clash of Mental Radiance

“Huh?”

When Qin Ran saw the Doll step forward beside Lu Xin, he furrowed his brows slightly.

Then, he saw the Doll gently pull out a parasol, its tip pointed directly at him.

In an instant, his expression changed dramatically.

“Bzzzz…”

The Doll’s movement was exceedingly simple—just a light reach for her parasol.

But with that action, the dark red mental radiation around her began to surge violently.

It was as if a vortex had formed around the Doll, exuding a terrifying pull.

The surrounding mental radiation, which had been moving in a set trajectory that structured this illusory world, suddenly began to shatter into pieces.

The chaotic eddies of radiation intertwined, emitting a grating, trembling sound.

It was as if countless strings were being roughly yanked in the air.

“Bang!”

The next moment, the Doll unfurled the parasol.

With that motion, a massive burst of mental radiation surged forward.

“Swish…”

In the world filled with dark red mental radiation, a huge void appeared in an instant. Countless people sleepwalking through that radiation felt its impact; their legs grew weak and they collapsed to the ground involuntarily.

In the real wasteland, the Doll had released only one Mental Impact.

But in that phony world, it was as if buildings crumbled and the earth shook—an earthquake ensued.

……

“How barbaric…”

At the first moment the Doll released her mental radiation, Qin Ran dashed sideways.

He had no choice but to run, as the attack was aimed directly in his direction.

Although the Doll was usually quiet and seemed indifferent to everything around her, she had noticed that Qin Ran and Lu Xin didn’t appear to be on good terms, so her attack was immediately targeted at Qin Ran, accompanied by a sweeping motion of her hand.

Thanks to his quick reflexes, the Mental Impact barely grazed him, but as he dodged it, his face showed a bitter grimace.

How did he end up dealing with these two unreasonable people?

……

It was undeniable that the Doll’s style was brutally direct.

It was completely at odds with her sweet appearance.

Once she decided to act, she acted immediately without the slightest hesitation.

Her massive Mental Impact surged forward like a force that could level mountains, violently colliding with the intricately interwoven mental radiation that had previously formed a precise, labyrinthine world, turning it into a tangled mess.

The chaotic radiation burst out in all directions.

As it grazed his skin, every hair on his body felt the slicing sting of a blade.

……

“Hmmm?”

Lu Xin had been watching the surrounding changes carefully as the Doll attacked.

He was certain that this field of mental radiation was far from simple; it had to be hiding some danger.

Sure enough, as the Doll’s Mental Impact obliterated the illusory world around her, a terrifying fluctuation of mental power rippled across the wasteland. In the distance, several unusual red figures emerged, their eyes glinting coldly.

These figures, some tall, some short,

were entirely composed of dark red, interwoven mental radiation, exuding an intimidating force.

Their shapes were bizarre—some were impaled by swords, others pinned to the ground by spears, and some had their chests brutally torn open.

They were the very sculptures Lu Xin had seen before in the Disaster Museum.

It was as if the destruction of the Disaster Museum had triggered their appearance in the wasteland.

Though they, too, were formed from dark red mental radiation, their forms were much clearer and more intense. Their imposing bodies and dense mental power created an overwhelming aura.

Their vacant eyes suddenly opened, and an icy glare shifted toward the Doll’s direction.

Then, one sculpture with a sword piercing its chest slowly extended a massive hand and gripped the sword that impaled it.

Bit by bit, it withdrew the sword, woven from mental radiation, from its chest.

In the next moment, it suddenly swung the sword.

With a tremendous roar,

it seemed that an explosion had formed in the air, as mental radiation radiated violently.

A massive sword measuring nearly two meters in length and twenty centimeters in width materialized before the Doll in the blink of an eye, seemingly intent on impaling her.

……

Compared to that massive sword, the Doll’s Mental Impact seemed faint in comparison.

It was like the difference between a raging storm and a gentle breeze.

The Doll’s reaction was slow; when the giant sword reached her, she appeared completely unaware of the need to dodge.

Her hollow eyes simply gazed ahead indifferently.

The violent mental radiation stirred by the flying sword whipped through her hair like a harsh wind.

“Snick!”

In that split second, Lu Xin dashed forward like an arrow and reached the Doll.

His eyes narrowed, and a distorted air current burst forth ahead of him, as if an invisible force had shot forward.

Lu Xin unleashed his own Mental Impact.

At that moment, it was clear that his attack differed from the Doll’s.

On the surface, his force was noticeably weaker.

But the invisible power surged ahead with greater density and strength, instantly blocking the phony mental radiance sword. Its tremendous force transferred to Lu Xin, causing his feet to skid along the ground and carve two deep furrows.

“Smack…”

The sword gradually slowed, coming to a stop less than ten centimeters from Lu Xin’s face.

Then, with a sharp crack, the sword shattered.

The fragments scattered, then gradually dissolved into intangible ripples of mental energy that merged with the surrounding radiation.

Without turning around, Lu Xin quietly said to the Doll behind him, “Don’t worry. I’ll take the hits for you.”

……

The Doll fixed a warm, steady gaze on Lu Xin.

Then her vacant eyes seemed to focus as she looked into the distance at that sculpture which had thrown the sword. Lifting her parasol slightly, a red hairpin on her head began to flash with a rapid, dazzling light.

More and more strands of mental energy swirled around her.

The magnitude of her mental power started rising at an alarming pace.

“Snap!”

The hairpin in her hair suddenly shattered into scattered fragments.

The next moment, the parasol in her hand pointed forward, launching a dark red spear straight ahead.

“Crash!”

The sculpture that had hurled the sword was pierced by the dark red light, and the wound in its chest expanded into a cavity the size of a basketball.

Cracks spread out from the edge of the hole until the entire body exploded into fragments.

“Swish, swish, swish…”

In response, the surrounding sculptures also reacted.

A dull, sluggish gleam flickered from their eye sockets.

Though varied in size, their movements were strangely synchronized.

They slowly twisted their bodies, drawing out various weapons from within—spears, decapitation devices, instruments of immolation, barbed hooks, and even saws with grotesquely uneven teeth.

They drew out these self-destructive weapons simultaneously, charging them with lethal intent.

“Bzzz…”

The multitude of trembling, high-pitched sounds merged into a piercing cacophony that shredded the silence.

Weapons from all directions surged toward Lu Xin and the Doll, like a swarm of angry bees.

Whether it was the turbulent mental radiation, the swirling weapon fragments,

or even the heavy, oppressive air thick with interwoven mental energy,

they all converged into a dark, relentless current.

Lu Xin and the Doll found themselves at the very center of this maelstrom.

It felt as if the whole world had been inverted, pressing down on them from every side.

……

“Get back…”

Lu Xin murmured to the Doll as he spread his arms, stepping in front of her.

As he took that resolute step, a twisted force field manifested around him, pushing outward. This barrier scattered the mental radiation that had been constantly clouding his thoughts and perception and, in doing so, enveloped the Doll as well.

Attacks coming from all sides couldn’t be blocked by simple Mental Impacts.

Thus, he activated the Zero Ability User’s Distorted Force Field.

Within this force field, every trajectory was swayed by his will.

How far his influence extended depended on the Zero Ability User’s own mental magnitude.

At that moment, Lu Xin’s intention was to have every weapon fall upon him.

Normally, Lu Xin wasn’t adept at handling the abilities of a Zero Ability User,

since most of the time he could rely on his Captain’s powers to manage things.

But now he had to be proficient.

Especially since being impaled by that sword was excruciating.

He refused to let the Doll suffer from these weapon attacks.

As Captain, it was his duty to protect his team when it mattered most.

……

Lu Xin’s plan succeeded.

As the force field expanded around him, weapons from every direction that entered it were drawn in by his will.

They moved as if they were nimble fish, circling around and bypassing the Doll standing behind him.

“Swish, swish, swish, swish…”

These weapons converged from all angles, and one by one, they impaled his body.

Though they were merely constructs of mental radiation, they effortlessly pierced through him.

Lu Xin could feel the ripping of flesh and the cold sting of weapons scraping his innards.

His blood gushed out like a spurting fountain.

The countless ‘weapons’ lodged in his body made him look like a porcupine.

……

These weapons were made up of mental radiation and held no physical substance.

However, when the density of the mental radiation was so high, there was little difference between them and real blades or arms.

Lu Xin spread his arms, enduring the pain of each weapon tearing at his body.

It was a novel sensation—every weapon that pierced him brought a powerful surge of impact, searing pain as flesh and nerves were lacerated, awakening a primordial fear of such lethal forces.

In truth, he wasn’t truly gored, but actual wounds did appear on his body.

These weapons made of interwoven mental radiation were primarily an assault on his perception.

He believed he was being attacked, and that belief manifested as actual injuries.

Yet even without that perception, the sheer density of the mental radiation could affect reality.

So when the weapons struck him, real damage was incurred.

“This is quite interesting,”

Lu Xin’s expression twisted slightly, as if he’d taken a swig of burning liquor.

Then he slowly extended both hands, took a deep breath, and swung them forcefully.

Smack, smack, smack!

The myriad weapons clinging to his body were swept away as if cleared of frost, falling to the ground.

They piled up like discarded scrap metal at his feet.

Only fragments remained embedded in his flesh, the wounds ghastly and bloodied.

……

Behind him, the Doll watched Lu Xin deflect every assault, a startled look on her face.

Her expression was somewhat blank.

But soon, with urgency, she floated over to Lu Xin and carefully extended a delicate finger to lightly touch a crack in the skin on his back. Immediately, her pale fingertip was stained with blood.

The Doll lowered her gaze at the drop of vivid crimson, tears welling in her eyes.

The parasol slowly drooped as the surrounding mental energy howled like a gale.

She was angry.

PS: Check out the latest novel by the renowned master Wu Zhi: “Feasting on Monsters at the Demon Suppression Bureau.”

Qin Shaoyou found himself transported to a world overrun by demons and fraught with peril.

And to make matters worse, he was reincarnated as one of the highest-incarnation members of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Facing bizarre painted visages, cunning fox demons, terrifying snake spirits, and shameless pseudo-deities posing as gods,

Qin Shaoyou couldn’t help but salivate at the sight.

Close the door, boil some water—it’s feast day today!