Chapter 224
by Need_More_SleepChapter 224: Earth Scroll
[Memory Fragment:]
Under the same thick fog, alarm sirens blared.
Prisoners in hospital gowns cheered as they rushed outside, howling like monkeys. Even with their sallow, emaciated faces, their joy was unmistakable.
Some idiots even ran to release inmates from the intensive care unit, triggering indiscriminate attacks by deranged, tyrant-like mutants who had long lost their sanity.
Researchers and staff struggled to drag them back, but after tasting fresh air again, their longing for freedom outweighed their fear of death—even if they had to paint their path with blood.
They charged into the fog, accompanied by the chaotic sound of gunfire. None of them ever returned.
Mi Xiaoliu stood frozen in place, unmoving.
Someone approached her with a freshly dismantled steel pipe, but after a moment of hesitation, clicked their tongue and veered around her to find another target.
She remained there, dazed, until someone finally noticed her in the chaos and issued the brutal order to execute all escapees.
“Don’t mind him.”
A white-haired woman took her hand and led her down a hidden path known to no one else.
“Just keep moving forward. Don’t look back.”
“Soon, Xiao Mi, you’ll be able to receive a proper education like other children…”
But the next second, an old man—far more terrifying than her grandfather—descended from the sky and landed before them.
“The Second Fractal…”
[Memory End.]
A deafening explosion shattered the memory.
Even from a great distance, Mi Xiaoliu could hear it—though the commotion came from somewhere far away.
At the Lasvedo residence, everyone except the old master and the Okulet family had rushed out to hunt someone down.
Not just those on active duty—even the semi-retired had joined the chase.
Gloria had wanted to go too, but Okulet stopped her, much to the old man’s displeasure.
How can a flower sheltered in a greenhouse ever learn to weather storms?
The group moved like a tide, some inexplicably carrying melee weapons as if they were thugs heading for a street fight.
The scene was roughly this: an uncle brandishing a spear, an aunt swinging a curved blade—both armed to the teeth while pedaling away on bicycles.
How big was the Lasvedo family? Not very. Excluding distant relatives like “seventh aunts and eighth uncles,” the main household barely numbered over twenty. But across the entire clan, the number of orange-eyed individuals far exceeded that.
As a major superpowered police dynasty, this generation’s strength lay not just in Okulet—a Level 5—but also in over a dozen Level 4 ability users.
All told, they could swarm a fight with overwhelming numbers and still have two people left to strike poses for the cameras.
Though regulations required at least two Level 4s to remain stationed in every city, meaning not all of them were in the metropolis, trying to snatch someone right under Okulet’s nose still took a special kind of stupidity.
“That guy’s really unlucky, pissing off a family that holds grudges.”
The thief girl was busy cleaning up shattered wine jars on the floor, inexplicably reminded of those cliched “overprotective elder” villains from novels.
Except this little girl in front of her didn’t seem the type to stir up trouble.
She glanced around—no cameras in sight.
Nothing to prove I broke these jars. The law demands evidence, after all.
“So, missy, why’re you wearing knockoffs if you’re loaded? Where’s the basic trust between people?”
Mi Xiaoliu turned her head. “Not talking to thieves.”
“The hell’s wrong with you, kid?” The thief girl actually got angry. “Nobody steals unless they’ve got no choice!”
“Stealing and still acting righteous? Sign this.” The old man shoved a contract at her.
“What’s this?” She skimmed it.
Holy shit, a debt bondage agreement?
Ten years of servitude to the Lasvedo family to pay off the wine debt—room and board included, no wages. Why don’t you just pick an ugly lamppost and hang yourself instead?
Mi Xiaoliu tugged at Okulet’s sleeve and pointed outside.
She wanted to leave.
————————
“My entire squad was wiped out. His ability’s range is beyond what I imagined. It’s almost certain he’s the one behind the typhoon—though his control isn’t very precise.”
Nikita hid behind a pillar at Central Hospital’s entrance, staying out of sight.
The thick layers of fog had no effect on his abilities whatsoever.
Can plants grow out of thin air?
No. All life in this world arises from something—nothing comes from nothing.
Can plants grow on a human body?
Excluding internal organs, according to old-world botanical records, is impossible.
But ability users can break this law.
As for seeds—many people who frequently go outdoors inadvertently carry seeds on them, sometimes more than one type.
Willow catkins and dandelion fluff drifting in the wind, or even beyond plants, fishermen wading through water often end up with fish eggs or apple snail eggs clinging to their pants.
If these things could ignore natural laws, using human flesh and blood as nutrients to grow at speeds surpassing bamboo, then these ordinarily insignificant particles would become the deadliest weapons.
Because plants, when absorbing nutrients, are utterly voracious.
The idea was sound, but…
The faceless man carried no seeds on him. This was nearly impossible.
It was September, the season when willow catkins filled the air, even affecting urban air quality.
A recent rain had soaked the fluffy catkins into the ground, but before that, it was inevitable to have some cling to you. Willow catkins were practically a plague during this time, making people reluctant to go outside.
Had he investigated me in advance?
Big Cousin was an ability user who recorded “colors,” also a Level 4, capable of finding things by sensing hues.
If he had truly scouted Metropolis beforehand, he should have known that Big Cousin was his greatest counter in the fog. Yet he wasn’t wearing garish colors to disrupt her ability—clearly, his intel was specifically targeting me…
The pooled water at his feet contained numerous willow seeds, their fluff soaked by rain, making them nearly invisible to the naked eye.
It was a perfect opportunity for a sneak attack.
But even as the thought crossed his mind, he didn’t recklessly seize the chance.
It could be a trap. If he acted, it might reveal his position, inviting a large-scale area attack.
He needed an opportunity no one would notice.
“He has no tree seeds on him. Be careful. Get into position and wait for the others before acting.”
“Roger.”
Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi rushed to the scene, seeking vengeance for the last time.
Despite her outfit, she didn’t actually have the powers of a tokusatsu hero.
But her ability wasn’t weak either.
Vacuum—this was the phenomenon she had recorded. Though “phenomenon” might not be the right word.
She couldn’t make things vanish like Second Uncle, but she could forcibly create a vacuum space of up to twenty cubic meters.
Another ability that was nearly always lethal upon use.
They said reinforcements were coming, but if she could handle this alone before they arrived, it’d definitely become bragging material for the old man and his drinking buddies.
Who didn’t want to be their family’s pride?
Last time, she’d been careless and got knocked out by an electric shock. But if she struck first this time, things might be different. In ability battles, the one who attacked first usually won instantly.
Upon arriving, Vivi noticed something strange through her fog-penetrating goggles.
She saw a twenty-meter-wide, jagged hole torn through the center of the E-Commerce Tower, as if smashed through by brute force, with no smooth edges. Through it, she could see the shopping plaza across the street.
The shopping plaza’s building had an identical hole.
Neither building had collapsed, but they were now structurally compromised.
And the faceless man stood below the tower, staring at them, deep in thought.
Beside him, a terrified mother clutched her daughter as they hurried away.
It looked as if he’d punched straight through both buildings.
That was probably the source of the earlier explosion.
Vivi: ???
Punched through two skyscrapers?
She froze, hesitation creeping in.
“Uncle, uh, my period just started leaking. Can I take a quick leave?”
“If you’re chickening out, the old man will hang you from a tree and whip you.”
“I’m only Level 3…”
“Vivi, stop spacing out! Find cover!”
Nikita’s warning was right. While Vivi hesitated, the faceless man moved.
He leaped toward her—calling it a jump would be an understatement. He was practically flying.
Vivi immediately activated her ability.
No effect. While she created a vacuum, he could also manipulate airflow.
I’m dead!
She crossed her arms, bracing for close combat.
Wait—why was the faceless man constantly looking back mid-flight?
Before she could think further, he was upon her.
Then, over twenty people abruptly appeared in front of her, forming a wall between her and the faceless man. Among them was even an orange-eyed, plump auntie holding a grocery basket, fresh from shopping.
Faceless Man: ???
“What’s the meaning of this?”
He stopped, pulling out his phone to compare the list with the crowd before him.
“No meaning. Just wanted to see who’s bold enough to mess with a Lasvedo child.”
“I see. Motherfuckers.” His mechanical voice turned icy.
A crushing wind pressure made the city’s windows tremble.
Just as both sides tensed for battle, the faceless man suddenly shot backward at the same speed he’d arrived. Someone in the crowd roared.
“EVERYONE, FALL BACK!”
The entire street’s ground split apart as soil and buildings were ripped upward, swirling like a mudslide that engulfed everything at the center. The superpowered police force abandoned their assault on the faceless man, scrambling to evacuate the residents.
The mud and debris spiraled inward, coiling like a twisted rope, compressing and rising into a towering pillar that pierced the sky.
The faceless man flew through the air, holding the mother and daughter he had just rescued, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
At that moment, drifting willow catkins—from who knows where—finally clung to him.
And took root.
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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