Chapter 3198: Mutation
In the blink of an eye, Li Yao’s right arm turned from a monster python into a whip. With a crisp and melodious “Bang!” sound, the three nails on the palm of his hand shot out like the fragments of three meteoroids. The nail in the middle walked in a straight line, letting out a whistle that was sharper than a bullet. The two nails on the left and the right drew a mournful arc, sealing the imaginary escape route of the enemy. 0.1 seconds later, the three nails shot one after another into the wall of the factory. It was as easy as chopsticks stabbing into tofu.
Li Yao did not stop. Instead, he took out nails from his pocket and shot them at the wall in front of him. While he was shooting, he corrected the errors between his muscles and his fascia and adjusted his shooting trajectory. He also imagined all kinds of emergencies and emergencies to train his speed and accuracy in the wrong posture.
In the end, he emptied all the nails in his pocket, which were evenly distributed on the wall, forming a dense cross.
Li Yao clapped his hands in satisfaction. He jumped off the beam and walked to the wall to check the status of the nail.
Almost all the nails sank into the wall, leaving only the last nail cap exposed to the air—and that was when Li Yao had restrained two thirds of his strength.
He estimated that, if he went all out, he could easily shoot through the composite ceramic armor of ordinary rebar, concrete walls, or body armor. Of course, shooting the moving civilian vehicles was not a problem, either. Different from many movies and TV shows, civilian vehicles were the most fragile things. Whoever dared to dodge the bullets with the non-engine and tire parts of the civilian vehicles would be committing suicide.
It took Li Yao a lot of effort to dig out all the nails from the wall.
He had tried the techniques of controlling objects remotely, or rubbing his hands against each other at a high speed, hoping to summon a fireball or a bolt of lightning from his palm. However, it was a pity that his ‘strength of Cultivation’ had only just awakened. It was possible that there was some sort of ‘encryption’, ‘suppression’, ‘spiritual energy lock’, ‘genetic lock’, ‘true energy lock’, and the like on Earth. His capability was far from that of the ‘cultivator Li Yao’ in the novels. Even with all his strength, he could not make the nail in his palm float. There was not even a shadow of the fireball or the electric arcs. His hands were almost scratched to the skin, but all he could do was turn his palms into an abnormal crimson color.
Thankfully, he felt that he was still far from reaching his limit. He estimated that, as Zhang Daniu wrote more chapters of , his “Power of Cultivation” still had the potential to be greatly improved.
On the other hand, the enemies on Earth should not be as insane as the ‘Four Universities of Cultivation’, should they?
Li Yao packed everything up and left the abandoned steel factory along a winding road paved with fallen leaves. It was not until he walked for a long distance that he hailed a taxi and returned to Jiangnan University Town.
On the way, the car radio was still broadcasting the news of the super earthquake in the Western Pacific Ocean. The rumors that were flying everywhere in the beginning had been confirmed. Several nuclear power plants on the east coast of the island of Fusang had been hit by both an earthquake and a tsunami. Several units had suffered serious accidents due to the leakage of radioactive materials. Although the authorities had admitted the accident and guaranteed that everything was under their control, several international authorities had listed the accident as the most serious ‘level-seven nuclear accident’ and a.s.serted that the situation could get worse. It was impossible to control the situation without sacrificing tens of thousands of lives.
It was a pity that the islands today were not as fearless as they had been decades ago. It was impossible for the authorities to fill a nuclear power plant with tens of thousands of lives.
The news further validated the prophecy of the Dream Traveler. Li Yao felt that a storm was brewing.
If the ‘Ultimate Earthquake in the Western Pacific’ was not over yet, an even more intense earthquake that could sink all the islands was coming. It was not just the Pacific Rim that was going to be affected, but also… the entire Earth.
Li Yao returned to his dormitory with a heavy heart. He discovered that the door was ajar. Zhao Kai’s laughter came from inside.
His heart could not help but tighten as he thought of how he could explain to Zhao Kai the two large bags he was carrying.
However, when he pushed the door open and entered, he discovered that Zhao Kai was on the phone facing the wall. There was no telling what kind of joke the other party had said, but it made him burst into laughter. He did not notice Li Yao’s strange behavior at all.
Li Yao was somewhat relieved. He quickly packed up his belongings, especially those that could potentially expose his uniqueness, and packed up his laptop.
Now that everything was done, he was somewhat relieved. He took out his phone and looked at the time. It was 5 p.m.
He had accomplished so many things in one day. Everything was going well.
However…
Li Yao looked at the notification that popped up on the top of his phone. Another chapter of had been updated.
A few days ago, he had deleted the entire reading app. However, after talking things over with Zhang Daniu in the morning, he had installed the reading app again. He had only collected and subscribed to one book, , and had even opened an update notification.
Li Yao opened the reading interface and carefully checked the directory. He discovered that not only had Zhang Daniu posted all the chapters he had written during his sleepwalking last night, he had also written two new chapters while his brain, fingers, and a.s.s were all in excruciating pain.
“It can’t be that this guy is sleepwalking again in the middle of the day, right? Or are his thoughts really flooding?”
Li Yao tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Or maybe, there really is some kind of mysterious… connection between us. We are like magnets or quantum entanglement. Once the two of us get in touch with each other, it is easy for us to activate each other’s superpowers. When I read his novels, the ‘power of Cultivation’ inside my body gradually awakens, and when he meets me, he will be inspired and receive more ‘revelations’.
“c.r.a.p. I forgot to tell him that he shouldn’t have uploaded the chapter.
“If we do that, he might be in even more danger, just like the creators of the fantasy worlds who died miserably.
“The problem is, if he doesn’t write a new chapter, I won’t be able to awaken a stronger ‘power of Cultivation’. My body of flesh and blood, which is as tough as a monster’s, is not enough to fight against organizations such as ‘Ark’ or ‘Apocalypse’.
While pondering, Li Yao skimmed over the two chapters that Zhang Daniu had just published.
Very good. It was still the same as before. Every detail had to be described in detail. The style of the long conversation between the two proved that it was indeed written by Zhang Daniu. If he was not drunk, sleeping, or sleepwalking during the day, it meant that he could still receive the mysterious ‘information’ when he was sober.
However, when Li Yao flipped to the end of the latest chapter, he saw this paragraph:
“h.e.l.lo everyone, I am Master Snail. I’m very sorry that I haven’t updated recently, mainly because I have been involved in a soul-stirring, bizarre, and absolutely unbelievable mysterious event. My time is limited, so I can’t describe the full picture of the event to you for the time being. I can only say that it has to start from a female college student with fluttering long hair and a swaying skirt…”
“In short, in the coming period of time, this old bull’s updates may not be very stable. I hope that my dear brothers and sisters can forgive me. In addition, this old bull is carrying a very sacred and important mission. I am in dire need of an activity fund. I earnestly ask for all the rich and powerful to extend a helping hand. This old bull’s bank account is… This old bull will make a solemn promise to everyone here. After the matter has been successfully resolved, not only will I write down the story that the female university student and I had to tell, I will also give you a hundredfold in return for your support today. At that time, each of you will be given a villa!”
“It’s true. Believe in me and support me. I won’t be at a disadvantage. I won’t be fooled. I’m a man of integrity!”
“What the h.e.l.l is this?”
Li Yao stared at his phone in bewilderment for a long time. “This—this—this is too—”
Right then, Li Yao heard movement behind him. It was the sound of Zhao Kai climbing out of bed.
Zhao Kai seemed to have said something to him.
“Zhao Kai, what did you say?”
Li Yao hurriedly put away his phone and checked the things on his desk again. There were no loopholes.
“Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!”
Zhao Kai said.
“What?”
Li Yao’s pupils suddenly constricted. In an instant, the pores, muscles, and bones on his back all shrank to the limit. It was as if the person standing behind him was not his university cla.s.smate but a wolf that had been starved for three days and three nights.
Before his brain realized what was going on, his muscles, bones, and joints had already contracted under his control and dodged to the side like a crooked spring. The moment he dodged, Zhao Kai had already lunged to the place where he was just a moment ago and slashed at his neck with an extra-large utility knife in his hand. If he hadn’t dodged, it was very likely that the knife would have opened the artery on his neck!
“Zhao Kai…”
Li Yao looked at his university cla.s.smate in disbelief.
Zhao Kai’s hair was glistening with oil, and it was covered in hot sweat. Every muscle on his face was twitching, but it was condensed into an incomparably cold expression. His pair of eyes were clearly darting in two directions, making him look a bit like a cross-eyed clown. Yet, he had clearly scanned every detail in his surroundings.
Seeing that his first attack had failed, he seemed to have realized how awesome Li Yao was. He didn’t launch a second wave of attacks in a hurry, but he rolled his eyes and swallowed rapidly, uttering a series of rapid and rhythmic syllables.
It was a foreign language that was full of rapid tongue twisters. It was definitely not English.
Li Yao knew that Zhao Kai was the same as him. Zhao Kai was a “long live 60 points” slacker. Even after learning English for more than ten years, he was still unable to open his mouth, let alone speak a second foreign language… He was certain that Zhao Kai had never learned a second foreign language. It was even more impossible for him to speak as fluently as… his mother tongue!