Chapter 64: Mini Explosions & a Sob Story
Translator: Pluto Editor: Tehrn
“Lucky.”
The same word was said at the same time by two different people at two different locations. One of them was Hu Changzai who was facing Hai Tianqing, the other was Fang Dan who was facing the yuppie.
3:02 am, northeastern corner of Oasis.
“Twerp, you think you’re lucky?” A blue vein on Hai Tianqing’s forehead starting throbbing, while he held an axe. The blood vessels on the back of his hand also started bulging. He spat so hard on the floor that his spittle hit the ground like a bullet, to the extent that it raised a small cloud of dust. “Let’s see if you still think so in five minutes,” he threatened as he looked down at Hu Changzai contemptuously.
Hu Changzai pushed up his spectacles, pretending that he was calm but he took two steps backward. His neck felt a little numb because he had to look upwards to see Hai Tianqing’s face — this was his first time standing so close to someone of that stature. [Can someone with such an enormous frame still be considered a human?]
Hu Changzai wasn’t considered tall by any means, but he was at least 1.78m. Despite that, when he stood in front of Hai Tianqing, the top of his head barely reached his opponent’s waist. That man’s shoulders were so wide that it was thrice the length of Hu Changzai’s, and the rippling muscles of his neck and back resembled a small mountain. At first glance, it was obvious that the man possessed an incredible amount of physical strength.
Even that axe in Hai Tianqing’s hand was a marvel as it was the same height as Hu Changzai. Hu Changzai wondered how Hai Tianqing even managed to find something like that.
“Well… Executive Hai,” Hu Changzai called Hai Tianqing by his title, unable to immediately change his habit. “To be honest, I still haven’t developed any physical enhancements,” Hu Changzai confessed.
The man in front of him, who resembled a small mountain, fell silent for a second. “What? You’re telling me that your physique is still that of a normal person?” Hai Tianqing said in astonishment as he planted his large face beside Hu Changzai.
Hu Changzai nodded grudgingly.
“So, you are planning to just surrender?” Hai Tianqing thought of this possibility.
“I can’t. If I get captured, it would be troublesome for the others.”
Hai Tianqing straightened his back, “Alright. Don’t blame me for being merciless since you chose to side with those traitors of humankind.” He lifted the axe and asked, “Do you have any last words?”
Hu Changzai shook his head, he could feel his calves trembling. As he watched the axe being raised higher and higher, he clenched his teeth and rushed head first toward Hai Tianqing’s waist. Hai Tianqing didn’t even raise a brow. With his left hand, he grabbed Hu Changzai’s neck and lifted him off the ground.
Hu Changzai kicked his legs as he hung in mid-air. He could literally feel the oxygen being squeezed out from him. His face turned purple in less than two seconds. He continued struggling, feeling his consciousness slowly fading. He tried to pull himself away by grabbing on to Hai Tianqing’s muscular wrist — however, that bit of resistance, was but a drop in the bucket, it felt like nothing to Hai Tianqing.
A puzzled look appeared on Hai Tianqing’s face, this was most likely because he could not understand why Hu Changzai would even bother struggling at this point. Just then, he heard the young man, who he held like a small sparrow in his hand, mumbling something. He could not hear him clearly.
“What?”
“You lied yesterday,” Hu Changzai said weakly through his gritted teeth.
Before Hai Tianqing could react, he felt as if there was something within his left wrist. A visible bump appeared under the skin of his arm, and it moved toward his shoulder following his blood flow.
Hai Tianqing quickly threw down his axe and tried to stop the lump using his right hand. “BOOM!”
The bump moved too quickly for him, as he tried to press down on it, the area near his left shoulder was torn open by a small explosion. Blood, flesh, skin, and pieces of tendons flew outwards with the sound of an explosion creating a rain of blood. Blood spattered all over Hu Changzai.
Hai Tianqing’s entire left arm was now deformed. He sat on the ground and managed to painfully utter a question. He was not concerned about his wound, nor the weird bump. Instead, he asked: “How did you know about that lie?”
Hu Changzai fell to the ground. He coughed a few times feebly, he could still feel his lungs burning with pain. "I don’t know what you lied about. But from the looks of your wounds, that must be quite a big lie.”
Hu Changzai’s ability: 【Truth Bomb】
Introduction: After Hu Changzai’s Lie Detection ability advanced, he can now detect if anyone has lied in the past 24 hours. Once it is confirmed that the target has lied in the past 24 hours, Hu Changzai can plant a Truth bomb through skin contact. The greater the gravity of the lie and the shorter the time passed, the more powerful the explosion of the Truth Bomb would be. The Truth Bomb would travel to the target’s heart but would explode on the spot if something interfered with it.
Hai Tianqing’s wound was relatively close to his heart. He breathed heavily and grinned mockingly at himself. “Who would have known? I thought that I was quite good at combat, but I was defeated so quickly by a person like you. I underestimated you. Will I… die?”
Hu Changzai could not tell. Even though he survived alone for some time before he reached Oasis, he had never killed anyone. If Hai Tianqing really died, that man would be the first living person he had murdered... When he thought of this, Hu Changzai expression worsened. He caught his breath and managed to stand, planning to just walk away.
“Ha!” Hai Tianqing exclaimed abruptly when he saw Hu Changzai turning his back to him, he covered his own eyes with his uninjured arm.
“I can’t believe it… I’m going to die like this without a chance to take revenge…” he mumbled softly to himself, “and by the hands of this traitor of humankind…”
Hu Changzai paused and turned his head. His face was still slightly purplish from the lack of oxygen, “I’m just curious. What did you lie about yesterday?”
3:02 am, Oasis (west).
Fang Dan didn’t say a single word as she looked at the man in front of her. It wasn’t because she had nothing to say, but she couldn’t speak and couldn’t move because the yuppie was too close to her.
She could feel the man’s warm breath by the side of her ear. The yuppie held a lock of long black hair between his fingers. “You’re Fang Dan, right?” he sounded indifferent as he said this. “From the information we have on you, you arrived very early at Oasis. Even though you are a natural posthuman, you don’t have any outstanding abilities. Neither do you have any physical enhancements.”
Fang Dan bit her lips as she tried her best to keep her legs from growing weak. The yuppie was one of the five Executives after all. He appeared to be narcissistic and unscrupulous. She could feel her blood rushing as she sensed the threatening aura he exuded.
The yuppie sashayed toward her again. Just as Fang Dan reacted, she received a violent blow to her stomach. It felt as if she was rammed by a car. The impact threw her backward by four to five meters, and she landed heavily on the ground.
The man did not follow up with an attack even after a few seconds had passed. Fang Dan was also unable to sit up. She felt as if she might have a hernia. She tried to open her mouth, but it was as if something in her abdominal cavity had been damaged, so she couldn’t even make a sound.
“Huh? I didn’t expect that you really didn’t develop any physical enhancements.” The yuppie seemed genuinely a little surprised. Following which, he shrugged showing his slight boredom. “This is too easy. How pointless. Um, should I let you live?” He circled Fang Dan twice as she laid on the ground like a dead fish. “Nay. You are too dirty. I will get dirty if I carry you back…”
[He would kill someone for that reason?] Fang Dan winced with a contorted expression. She wanted to move badly. She wanted to run away, but her body was just like a rag. She couldn’t even muster a bit of energy.
The yuppie hummed an unknown tune and kicked Fang Dan’s stomach violently without warning. Fang Dan, who initially thought that she couldn’t make another sound, let out a soft groan.
“Since you are going to die, you can be the guinea pig for me to try out my ability!”
The yuppie’s face suddenly lit up with excitement and anticipation under the darkness. He nudged Fang Dan’s head with the tip of his foot and saw that her eyes were opened and that they were still moving. With that, he chuckled, “Good. As long as you can hear me.”
“God is really unfair. There are people like you who don’t even have the basic physical enhancements. Then, there is me. I just gained a new ability yesterday…” The yuppie straightened up his vest and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Activate 【Third-rate Author】,” he said with a lowered voice.
The yuppie’s new ability: 【Third-rate Author】
Introduction: To gain readers, one’s story must at least have a consistent logic. This is the fundamental standard that every third-rate author should have for themselves, unlike N.Heller [1] who doesn’t have a bottom line. Using the target as your protagonist, make up a short story about him or her. If the story follows a proper logic and is accepted by the people involved, the target will end up like the protagonist at the end of the story.
“Let me try this.” The yuppie half-closed his eyes as he stared at the woman at his feet, who had curled up on the ground.
“After you graduated from college, you met a handsome, young superior at your workplace. That’s me. After both of you dated for some time, you found out that he actually had another girlfriend overseas. You felt that you were cheated, so you resigned from your job in a rage and hid yourself. However, you did not expect that the girlfriend was just a woman that his family chose, and he still loves you deeply… He found you and cleared up the misunderstanding. Thus, both of you fell in love again.”
Even though it was nearly impossible that such a rubbish, cliche story would happen in real life, tears suddenly welled up in Fang Dan’s eyes. She opened her mouth and muttered in wretched happiness, “I know, I know… Our relationship must be real…”
The yuppie was stunned for a moment and stared at Fang Dan. Shortly after, he laughed out loudly: “Haha! This is fun! This is fun!”
He waved his hand and decided to change the direction of the story. Fang Dan’s expression reverted back to normal. She felt her ears turning red and then her entire face. She was not embarrassed, but rather she was extremely angry. “Just kill me… don’t toy with my emotions!” Fang Dan said in a coarse voice.
The yuppie ignored her and continued.
“You were finally taking the last step toward marriage with the boyfriend you have loved for seven years. Your new house was ready, and you were preparing for the wedding. You felt very blessed. After all, you have gone through a lot together with him, and now, what you longed for was just within your reach…”
Fang Dan’s anger dissipated. She looked at the yuppie with an indescribable expression. The latter was thoroughly enjoying himself, entertained by his new ability. He merely glanced once at her and did not stop.
“But at that moment, your boyfriend told you that he fell in love with another woman. He begged you to let him go. For a long time, you tried to make him stay. You pestered him, you begged him, and you even threatened to kill yourself. Despite whatever methods you used, he still left you for another woman. But then, you realized that you were pregnant.
“You hesitated for a long time, but you decided to keep the child… the child was innocent after all. And if you thought about it carefully, the child’s father couldn’t do anything about it. It wasn’t his fault for falling in love with another woman. Who could control love? You kept the child for nine months and even engaged a great gynecologist. But in the end…”
The yuppie edged toward Fang Dan, and his voice grew cold.
“Your child was stillborn. You held your child and commit suicide by jumping off a building.”
Everything fell silent. The man and woman looking at each other did not say a word. They could only hear the howling night wind sweeping up the yellow clouds of sand.
The more detailed the story was, the more powerful its effect. The yuppie watched the expressionless face of the woman in front of him, his smile grew wider...
All of a sudden, just like a magic trick, the yuppie’s body was flung up into the air.
“Splat!”
He fell to the ground sprawled out in an odd position like a splattered watermelon. His arms and legs were contorted, and blood slowly seeped out from the side of his mouth.
Fang Dan struggled for awhile and managed to stand up. Their roles had been reversed. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the yuppie. He was in a terrible condition, just like he fell off a building. “You really don’t understand women,” she whispered.
“Why… Why… This shouldn’t happen…” The yuppie coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood. That sort of woman should exist in reality, right?
Fang Dan smiled coldly, she seemed to have understood his thoughts. “Idiot.” Her brow furrowed and she looked disgusted. “The first half of the story did really happen to me.”
The yuppie’s eyes widened.
“After my boyfriend cheated on me, I found out that I was pregnant. Do you know what I did? When I was three months pregnant, I chose an illegal abortion clinic. I got an abortion and placed the dead fetus into a box. Then, I sent that box to them as their wedding gift. Of course, I was mentally unstable then. After that, I went to visit a psychiatrist.”
The yuppie’s arms trembled, he was unable to speak.
“I really hate conceited men.” Fang Dan followed what the yuppie did and nudge the man’s head with the tip of her foot. “From your current condition, your ability can backfire on you, right? When a storyline is not logical and doesn’t fit the target, you will end up like the protagonist instead. This is indeed a third-rate ability.”
The man on the ground could no longer hear her. A puddle of blood slowly extended outward from his motionless body.
TN: [1] The author of this web novel, by the way!