“That bastard…” Huang Xiaoxian clenched its fists, wishing it could control its own body to go up and deliver a few punches.
Seeing a once ordinary office worker become so cruel after gaining abilities, a heavy feeling settled in her heart, leaving her deeply uneasy.
“It’s all over.”
Yun Ning removed his brass knuckles, his expression utterly cold.
With a sweep of his right hand at his waist, Yun Ning produced an oddly shaped, silver-white wristband from seemingly nowhere.
The wristband wasn’t a single, integrated casting. It featured a ratchet-like mechanism, similar to handcuffs, allowing it to be opened and closed.
Its overall cross-section was square. Inside the band, three slender, silver-white needles protruded.
Although Huang Xiaoxian was seeing such a wristband for the first time, its appearance alone suggested it was likely a special handcuff designed to restrict Awakened individuals.
“What are you going to do?”
Despite having already perceived what was about to happen through his abilities, Lin Wude felt an inexplicable, intense fear at the thought of being fitted with the wristband.
He attempted to curl back, but the severe injuries across his body rendered him immobile.
Yun Ning offered no explanation. He opened the wristband and stepped in front of Lin Wude, grabbing his right wrist and raising it high.
He then aimed the three silver needles inside the wristband at the underside of Lin Wude’s right wrist.
Yun Ning pressed the wristband upwards with a sudden, forceful motion. The sharp silver needles instantly pierced Lin Wude’s wrist, carefully avoiding the radial and ulnar arteries.
Amidst Lin Wude’s wails, Yun Ning clasped the wristband shut and stood up. He watched Lin Wude, whose face was contorted in pain as he frantically tugged at the wristband with his left hand, trying to pull it off.
“How does it feel now, you great villain?” Yun Ning asked softly. “The constant draining of Void Energy from your body must be quite pleasant, wouldn’t you agree?”
“You, what did you do?!”
Lin Wude’s face twisted, his eyes filled with profound terror. He could feel the miraculous energy that sustained his abilities slowly but steadily flowing out and dissipating through the needles embedded in his right wrist.
He was slowly losing his superpowers!
“We are all superhumans. Are you trying to destroy me? My superpower is very strong.” Lin Wude begged for mercy in a distorted manner.
‘Very strong? Can it beat my pointy-punchy fist? What a pathetic weakling!’ Huang Xiaoxian mocked with all its might. It held nothing but contempt for this ‘superhuman’ who only dared to wield his blade against weaker members of his own kind. A true powerhouse, Huang Xiaoxian believed, should be like itself, brave enough to challenge the strong.
Yun Ning turned to Huang Xiaoxian, then spoke softly to Huang Xiu, who was behind it: “The battle scene will be handled by the Jurisdiction Bureau. Let’s take him back to the Jurisdiction Bureau to hand over the mission.”
He had already contacted the Jurisdiction Bureau before initiating the operation; otherwise, he wouldn’t have obtained surveillance access to this area. Taking out his phone, he sent the pre-edited message to the Jurisdiction Bureau contact.
“They should be here in about five minutes,” Yun Ning said.
Huang Xiaoxian nodded gravely, imitating Huang Xiu’s tone as it replied, “Alright, Senior Male Student, let’s go.”
Yun Ning glanced at it, but whether he saw through the act or not, he simply hoisted the still wailing and struggling Lin Wude onto his shoulder and turned to walk out of the house.
* * *
*Smack!* Huang Xiu, having been preempted before she could even control Huang Xiaoxian’s body, immediately put a hand to her forehead, a look of utter exasperation on her face.
Ever since this fellow got a shoddy phone and started surfing the net intensely every day, it truly couldn’t stop. After getting online, it had become increasingly reckless.
‘I always feel like I’m being too lenient with it,’ Huang Xiu sighed. Raising this creature was unlike raising a cat or dog; it was more akin to raising someone with an incomplete mind. She truly had no experience in this area.
‘Just consider it preparation for adopting a child in the future.’ Huang Xiu still held onto her earlier plan of adopting a child to continue the Huang family line.
As soon as Yun Ning carried Lin Wude out of the house, she immediately commanded the mutated plants on alert outside to approach and take Lin Wude from Yun Ning’s hands.
The labor of mutated plants was not to be wasted. After all, she had already paid their wages: fresh blood and Void Energy.
* * *
*Click!* Seeing the mutated plants stuff Lin Wude into the trunk, Yun Ning nodded with satisfaction. He couldn’t help but admit that his Junior Female Student’s ability was truly useful.
He opened the car door, got back into the driver’s seat, and looked back. “You can lift the lockdown now, Junior Female Student. Remember to bring back all five Awakened Suppressors.”
“Understood.” Huang Xiu manipulated the mutated plants to begin lifting the lockdown at various street entrances.
“Speaking of which, I feel like this went quite smoothly.”
Although there was a minor unexpected incident during the battle, overall, it was a safe and sound operation. From start to finish, it had taken less than an hour.
“If I hadn’t brought you, Junior Female Student, this mission certainly wouldn’t have been so simple,” Yun Ning replied earnestly.
He wasn’t merely exchanging pleasantries. Without Huang Xiu, even the initial reconnaissance phase of the mission would likely have encountered complications.
Moreover, during the battle, if Huang Xiaoxian hadn’t displayed its might, it truly would have been impossible to stop Lin Wude from escaping the house. Originally, he had brought Huang Xiu along primarily because their teacher requested it, but now he felt an inexplicable sense of relief.
At the same time, an idea gradually formed in Yun Ning’s mind: should he… form a permanent team directly with his Junior Female Student? The benefits of forming a permanent team were numerous, but he wouldn’t elaborate on them for now.
However, there was one major problem: was Huang Xiu herself willing to form a permanent team with him? Yun Ning knew very well that, given Huang Xiu’s abilities and strength, she would never lack powerful teammates.
As long as she wished, countless people would want to be her teammate. At that point, she would be choosing people, not the other way around.
If he were to propose it now, given his relationship as Huang Xiu’s Senior Male Student and their pleasant cooperation this time, the chances of her agreeing would undoubtedly be significant.
However, as Huang Xiu’s Senior Male Student, he absolutely could not use this relationship to coerce her will. ‘It’s better to wait until the team-up season and then invite her with others, ensuring fair competition,’ Yun Ning thought, temporarily suppressing the idea.
The so-called team-up season occurred annually in the middle of the first semester. It was a period after many students had successfully passed school approval and gained the qualification to freely accept missions.
During that time, many students would seek out or be invited by others to form permanent teams. With her current strength, which was already close to that of a second-year student, his Junior Female Student could entirely attempt the test early.
“Senior Male Student, here you go, the five Awakened Suppressors.” A soft female voice from behind temporarily interrupted Yun Ning’s thoughts. He turned around, took the five silver-white metal discs, and carefully placed each one into his backpack.
The lockdown had been lifted. The idle mutated plants, summoned by Huang Xiu, gathered around the small car. Combat-type, reconnaissance-type—various kinds of mutated plants formed a green ocean there, with the small car as the solitary reef.
Huang Xiu rolled down the window, poked her head out, and waved, making a final farewell. “Thank you all for your help. Please return to your previous positions.”
The mutated plants knew this was likely their last time fighting alongside their Empress. They bowed in unison, seemingly thanking the Empress for granting them wisdom and life.
Even though their wisdom and life were as fleeting as the ephemeral night-blooming cereus, for them, who had lived in ignorance until now, it was the greatest gift.
Watching the mutated plants disperse, Huang Xiu savagely stroked the now bald Huang Xiaoxian, who had shed all its thorns, as a form of comfort. As per usual, she would only revoke their mutation, not reclaim the residual Void Energy within them.
This was the last compensation she could offer to the plants that had helped her. “May you all fare well,” Huang Xiu prayed in her heart, preparing to close the car window.
Just then, she suddenly noticed five mutated sugarcanes still standing outside, refusing to leave. Perceiving their thoughts through [Senluo], Huang Xiu’s expression immediately turned strange.
“You’re saying that since you’ll be eaten anyway when you go back, it would be your honor to be eaten by me and become one with me?”
The mutated sugarcanes nodded in unison, their purple-brown stalk-like faces filled with fanaticism. “Alright, alright,” Huang Xiu chuckled helplessly. Since this was their final wish, as their controller, she couldn’t very well refuse.
*Ahem*, it wasn’t that she just wanted to eat sugarcane.
So, as the vehicle drove away from the entrance of the cordoned-off street, five long, thick sugarcanes appeared on the back seat. “No knife. I’ll have to eat them back at the hotel.”
Huang Xiu caressed the thick sugarcanes, her mouth watering. She knew without a doubt they would be incredibly sweet. Looking at Yun Ning, who was driving with a serious expression, she suddenly remembered the wristband he had used earlier.
“Oh right, Senior Male Student, what was that wristband you had?” she quickly asked. “Oh, that? That’s a Void Energy instrument developed by Tiandu University specifically for criminal Awakened individuals. It’s called the ‘Emptying Wristband’.”
Yun Ning glanced in the rearview mirror. “You saw the needles inside the wristband, right? Those needles are key. Once they pierce an Awakened individual’s wrist, it’s like deflating a tire. They continuously release the Void Energy from the person’s body into the air.”
“Basically, in about five minutes, all the Void Energy of a Mercury Rank Awakened individual can be completely drained.” Void Energy was the foundation; without it, one naturally couldn’t use their abilities or Void Arts, thus restricting the Awakened individual.
Huang Xiu nodded knowingly, then asked a question that had been on her mind since the beginning. “Senior Male Student, how will the Jurisdiction Bureau deal with Lin Wude?”
Perhaps hearing his name, a muffled whimper emanated from the trunk. Yun Ning didn’t answer directly, instead asking, “Junior Female Student, how do *you* want him to be dealt with?”
“Me?”
Huang Xiu leaned back in her seat, turning to look out the window at the bright moonlight and the tranquil town of Shuzhong. It was small and dilapidated, with no entertainment facilities. Yet, without a doubt, this was her home! The place she had lived for nearly seventeen years! Every delicious breakfast shop held her footsteps. Every decent internet cafe had once seen her and her companions.
But in this very place, because of Lin Wude, three or four murders had occurred, and many people had died. Therefore, Huang Xiu didn’t need to think about her answer at all.
“I want him to be sentenced to death and have all his family assets confiscated to compensate the victims,” she replied coldly, not concealing her thoughts in the slightest. Forgiveness? Absolutely impossible!
The whimpering from the trunk grew louder, seemingly frightened by Huang Xiu’s chilling tone.
“Don’t worry, what awaits him is a fate worse than death.” Yun Ning glanced at Huang Xiu through the rearview mirror. Although her appearance had transformed into a soft, adorable short-haired girl, the heart and mind of his Junior Female Student remained that of the passionate yet realistic young man she once was.
Such a stark contrast between her inner self and outer appearance. Yet, for some unknown reason, Yun Ning found such a Huang Xiu far more appealing and to his liking than other girls.
“Do you know, Junior Female Student, that Awakened individuals are very valuable, in every aspect?” Yun Ning said with a smile, subtly hinting at Lin Wude’s future. Huang Xiu was not foolish; she understood.
Sending an Awakened individual who had committed murder for dissection and research—she felt no psychological burden about it, nor any sense of ‘the rabbit dies, the fox grieves’.
“That’s truly excellent.”
To scare Lin Wude and also to vent her anger, Huang Xiu deliberately spoke loudly, “Oh, Huang Xiaoxian, do you know that being experimented on is a very painful thing!”
“I don’t know,” Huang Xiaoxian shook its head.
“Researchers will cut open your body, test it in various ways, and study it.” Huang Xiu spoke with a grim expression, detailing all sorts of cruel research methods she had seen in movies and novels. As a result, Lin Wude wasn’t scared, but Huang Xiaoxian was.
It immediately hugged its head, squatting on the seat and trembling. Huang Xiu hadn’t expected Huang Xiaoxian to be so timid; she stroked its head, both exasperated and amused, comforting it for a long while.
“Wuwuwu…” The painful whimpering from the trunk never ceased, like someone facing a terrible death. Huang Xiu found it quite irritating and couldn’t help but ask, “Is this normal?”
‘She’s worried he might die before suffering enough.’ “Discomfort is a normal reaction, and the continuous draining of Void Energy exacerbates the pain,” Yun Ning replied.
Before his words even finished, the wailing from the trunk suddenly intensified, accompanied by the muffled thuds of fists hitting the car body. “And now?” Huang Xiu asked again.
“I don’t know. Let me check.” Yun Ning frowned. He pulled the car to the side of the road, engaged the handbrake, opened the door, and quickly walked to the rear of the vehicle.
Huang Xiu, curious, followed him. He remotely opened the trunk with the car key and peered inside. Lin Wude was curled up in the trunk, his face contorted in agony, veins bulging from around his temples.
His limbs were rigidly tensed, his fingers twisted, and his eyes were clouded and lifeless. Clearly, his condition was not right. “What’s wrong?” Huang Xiu had just extended her hand when Yun Ning seized it.
“Don’t touch him. In this abnormal situation, to be safe, we shouldn’t have any physical contact with him,” Yun Ning said calmly. He pulled Huang Xiu back and snapped the trunk shut.
“We’ll go straight to the Jurisdiction Bureau. They have the equipment and specialized personnel there. Let them examine him.”