Chapter 440: The Shattered Field
by xennovel“Heavily polluted person?”
Qin Ran, seated in the car compartment, wore an unmistakable look of astonishment on his face.
He seemed to have so much to say, but his limited insight kept him from clearly voicing the questions swirling in his mind.
He slowly exhaled before saying in a deep voice, “Those two are nothing but monsters.”
“In their presence, I was utterly suppressed, but that isn’t the worst part—the worst is…”
“I don’t even understand why I was suppressed. I can’t even tell what I’m truly fighting…”
“You expect me to call someone like that merely a once heavily polluted person?”
“……”
The old man, his hat brim pulled low, only chuckled softly without further explanation.
Meanwhile, the Tech Priest in a white coat, his expression visibly startled and his gaze oddly fixed on Qin Ran, said, “Didn’t the Cardinal say that with help from the Disaster Museum your ability could reach a complete Third Stage?”
“Even you can’t stop them?”
“……”
“Third Stage is only relative…”
Qin Ran, frustrated and fearful, whispered, “I can only use scraps and collections from the Disaster Museum to rapidly boost my mental power through pollution. But once I enhanced my mental power, I began to despise myself. What’s the point of unlimited growth? I’m up against a monster completely immune to collections—what use is further pollution?”
As he spoke, someone knocked at the door.
Qin Ran flung the door open and fired a shot; instantly, another version of himself outside crumpled to the ground.
Wiping the blood from his body, Qin Ran muttered angrily,
“The only outcome is that more of me appear, and I have to clean them all up one by one. What a hassle.”
“……”
“When you’re off killing yourself, can you at least avoid splattering the car with blood?”
The scruffy man spat on the ground, stepped on it with the sole of his shoe, and said to Qin Ran, “That’s just disgusting.”
Qin Ran, wiping the blood from his clothes, glared at him in annoyance.
“He’s not immune, though…”
At that moment, the old man with his hat brim drawn low laughed softly, “He merely endured it.”
“Zero Ability Users all possess the capacity to withstand pollution, maintain their sanity, and self-regulate.”
“……”
“And you tell me a monster like that is a Zero Ability User?”
Qin Ran’s eyes turned resentful as he looked at the old man, a mix of indignation and helplessness evident in his gaze.
“He really is a Zero Ability User, unless you devise a new term for him.”
The old man chuckled patiently and explained, “There’s no need to panic. One is a Zero Ability User; the other is a princess-type with mental domination traits. In this environment, they’re truly a handful.”
“As for the Disaster Museum, I had already told Disaster long ago…”
“It’s less a weapon and more an artwork…”
“……”
Both the scruffy man and Qin Ran exchanged glum looks.
Finally, the scruffy man couldn’t hold back, “Isn’t now a bad time for such talk?”
“Are we just going to do nothing?”
“……”
“Of course we will, but it doesn’t need to be overly complicated.”
The old man smiled and remarked, “Anyone who treats mental abilities purely as combat skills is weak.”
“Mental mutation is an art form.”
“In the face of scientific analysis, raw strength isn’t everything.”
“Just think—since we can’t stop them, why not lend them a hand?”
“……”
Both the Tech Priest and Qin Ran paused, clearly not understanding.
The old man laughed softly again, “Don’t resist. Release this field.”
“What?”
Qin Ran, startled, dropped the cigar from his mouth onto his clothes and fumbled frantically to retrieve it.
The Tech Priest nearly choked on his coffee, eyes wide as he said, “The Cardinal is now using the field’s mental power to battle those two, and you want us to release it? Isn’t that like cutting his legs off?”
“If he’s smart, he’ll understand exactly why I’m doing this.”
The old man chuckled softly, “It’s hard to explain, but are you willing to trust me?”
Qin Ran and the Tech Priest exchanged looks; even the tiniest movement of their throats revealed their understanding. They knew the old man’s unique status—as a consultant invited by the Calamity Archbishop. Despite finding his proposal startling, after some thought they slowly nodded. Taking a deep breath, the Tech Priest said, “We’ll do as you say.”
Then he raised his hand.
Though his hand trembled slightly, he pressed a red button forcefully.
……
“The Queen is being parasitized. Her mental power—and even her ability—is being hijacked…”
“But now she’s trapped in that bottle.”
“We can’t stop her without breaking the bottle, but breaking it means she could get injured or even die…”
“In a situation like this, what are we supposed to do?”
“……”
Amid the swirling mental radiation, Lu Xin furrowed his brows in thought.
With a Doll by his side, it was impossible for the Cardinal to suppress both him and the Doll using mental radiation.
The Doll’s ability made her a magnet for mental power wherever she went. Especially now, as this man’s control over the mental energy around him was clumsy, he could barely gain any advantage in such a pure mental radiation field.
Yet the priority now was to resolve the Queen’s predicament.
Battles of mental mutation were never solely about strength. One had to uncover the true intent and methods of the Technology Church—much like deciphering the logic chain of a Pollution Source—to truly solve the problem.
Otherwise, even possessing world-shattering power wouldn’t help.
……
“Clack, clack, clack…”
Just as his mind was a tangled mess, Lu Xin suddenly lifted his head in alert.
He heard a flurry of mechanical clicks across this wasteland, distinct in the noisy chaos.
Spinning around quickly and focusing his gaze, he saw several mounds of earth cracking open around those luminous cocoons.
Beneath the mounds, silver metallic cylinders steadily rose from underground.
Adorned with dense patterns and bizarre carvings, these mechanical devices exuded an eerie aura.
One could clearly sense that they were somehow linked to the pervasive mental radiation.
It appeared that the stability of the surrounding mental field was anchored by these cylinders.
Assuming the opponent was about to strike, he braced himself.
But then, unexpectedly, as the cylinders broke the surface, the red lights on them began flickering out one by one.
With every light that went dark, the mental radiation around them grew increasingly chaotic.
Intense wavelengths spread outwards.
The once-stable mental field churned violently, as though it had lost its anchoring force.
……
“What’s going on?”
Intrigued by the sudden change, Lu Xin hurriedly stood up.
At the same moment, within the bottle-like light cocoon, the Calamity Archbishop—releasing an invisible, wailing aura through the grimacing face on his chest—opened his eyes in shock. The wail from the face ceased, and both faces showed sheer surprise.
With the ocean of mental radiation destabilized, he had undoubtedly lost control over this field of mental power.
He was even more panicked than Lu Xin.
But as his blue eyes scanned the area outside the cocoon, his shocked expression gradually shifted.
A sinister look began to creep over his face.
His gaze, silent and steady, swept over Lu Xin’s face before lingering on the Doll.
The face on his chest slowly sank within, and instantly more blood vessels emerged on his body.
One after another, they pierced into the Queen’s body—as if mosquitoes were sucking blood.
……
“This isn’t good…”
Lu Xin instantly reacted, spinning his head to look at the Doll.
The Doll’s small face had turned bright red.
Ever since she began dismantling this false world, a vast amount of mental power had converged around her.
She possessed a natural affinity for mental energy; stray power would always gravitate toward her.
In this world, she was uniquely blessed—more and more mental energy swirled and meandered around her.
That was initially a good thing.
It was thanks to the Doll’s immense mental power that Lu Xin and she had come this far.
But Lu Xin hadn’t anticipated that an overload of mental energy would trouble her.
The sheer surplus of energy had already begun to unsettle the Doll.
Now, as the silver cylinders lost their grip on stabilizing the surrounding mental field, the unleashed flood of energy surged several times over and, drawn to her, rolled closer.
“Ahem…”
The Doll coughed softly, hunching slightly as she clutched her skirt tightly; the back of her hand revealed emerging blue veins.
Her stark eyes began to show fine streaks of blood.
Beneath skin as pristine as porcelain, fine cracks started to appear.
It was an eerie sight—as if the beautiful girl might shatter like a delicate work of art.
She already looked tormented, yet even more mental power continued to flood toward her.
The once docile mental energy was growing volatile, slowly releasing around the swirling vortex near her and intensifying the pressure.
Backlash had begun.