Chapter 157
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Chapter 157: The Pardon Order
On an ordinary afternoon at the end of August, Councilwoman Nia, working in the spire’s chamber, received a new report awaiting her signature.
This was a pardon order.
Pardon orders in Hope City are issued under various circumstances, including but not limited to witness protections, valuable superpowered criminals, and matters of personal connections among some council members.
If more than half of the signing council members agree, the pardon order takes effect immediately; generally, few would deliberately oppose it.
Nia’s gaze swept across the electronic screen, and her eyes suddenly focused on a familiar name.
Shi Jin.
How could this be?
Nia felt an overwhelming shock at the reappearance of a name that had disappeared from the candidate list.
What kind of abilities did the girl, who had to steal and sell things to buy medicine for her ailing mother, possess to be on this pardon order?
Nia furrowed her brow slightly and set down the stylus she had intended to use to sign.
She opened the detailed profiles of the three pardoned individuals and copied Shi Jin’s information to her computer.
After a brief read, Nia fell into a state of bewilderment.
“Superpowered individual… superpowered individual…”
She repeated it over and over again, recalling her past observations of Shi Jin.
Up until her arrest, the seventeen-year-old girl had not shown any characteristics of having superpowers.
Her style of acting was cautious and restrained, completely lacking the recklessness typical of unregistered superpowered individuals.
Could it really be as the documents stated, that she awakened her superpower the night before her trial?
This…
Theoretically, it is possible, but the actual probability should be extremely close to zero.
Willpower does indeed influence superpowers, but that refers to those who have already awakened their abilities. If every ordinary person could awaken when facing life-and-death crises…
Nia wouldn’t mind triggering a towering wave in Hope City.
As long as it increased the number of superpowered individuals, history would remember her achievements.
But countless studies have proven that this is absolutely impossible.
Nia carefully examined the description of Shi Jin’s ability:
[Shi Jin (Superpowered Individual ID: 16000)
Ability: Bullet Time
Growth Potential: High (significant improvement after physical training, no obvious side effects, highly versatile)
Rarity: High (registered individuals with similar abilities 03882, 10122 are already deceased)
Overall Rating: A (Secondary Assessment)
Ability Description: The ability holder can subjectively accelerate their own reaction and thinking speed, achieving relatively complex changes in a very short time, consuming a large amount of physical strength.]
Nia’s eyes seemed captivated by the description of this ability; she could not look away after just one glance.
Such an ability, such a Young Man as blank as paper…
A phrase floated into her mind:
A natural-born assassin.
To have such a powerful individual not doing dirty work would be a sheer waste!
If this child’s mind is indeed trustworthy, then making her the next Nia would not be out of the question…
But…
Another issue emerged before Nia.
It was the obvious unreasonableness.
Ever since Shi Jin’s arrest, this Young Man seemed to show clear signs of manipulation…
Awakening, training, pardon, reformation… each step was so seamless.
Although she did not know who could have such extraordinary abilities that allowed an ordinary person to awaken their powers or perfectly disguise a powerful superpowered individual, Shi Jin’s life felt like a pre-written script, with her as just a puppet.
And now, this puppet had turned into bait to lure her in.
Before claiming this suspicious girl for herself, Nia needed to ensure that there were no signs of manipulation from other council members on Shi Jin.
From the assassinations in the black market to Shi Jin’s sudden awakening.
If there is any connection between these two events, Nia would be in even more danger than before.
If she chose Shi Jin as her successor, and then something happened to her, the new Nia would become a true puppet.
But if the two were unrelated, then Shi Jin would turn out to be Nia’s sharpest weapon against other council members.
The food is already served—should she eat it?
Nia pondered for a moment and came up with a good idea—let someone else eat first.
Though she felt urgency, she could afford to take her time.
After releasing a pardoned superpowered individual like Shi Jin, she would have to participate in an assessment conducted by the direct superpowered group.
The next assessment was scheduled for the last day of August, just two days later.
If she passed, Nia could secretly observe and confirm if her subsequent actions raised any suspicions.
If she did not pass, Nia could secretly arrange her role to eliminate any doubts.
If the final result showed no issues, she could use her authority as a council member to detach her from the group and make her completely her subordinate.
Nia confirmed her plan and added the matter to her memo.
Then she swiftly signed her name on the pardon order.
—
In the lower level of the spire, Luke’s office.
Having grown used to the orderly routine within the spire, Luke was rarely startled by the sound of hurried footsteps.
A panicked subordinate rushed in through the door:
“Captain, captain, we have a big problem.”
“Speak.”
“The Heart Snatcher has appeared in the inner city!”
“Crash!”
Luke slammed down the case file in his hand, which contained the profile results on the Heart Snatcher.
“Last night?”
“Yes, the case from last night was only discovered by noon.”
“Gather the team, let’s go.”
—
In the inner city, at Number 102 on Fourth Commercial Street.
The newly renovated mental health clinic had no customers.
Lin Qingliu’s new home was ready, and its layout was not significantly different from before.
It still consisted of the living area on the second floor and the examination room on the first floor.
The only issue was that there was no basement, but this perfectly suited Lin Qingliu’s expectations.
At this moment, in the first-floor examination room, Lin Qingliu was wrapping bandages around the arm of the young man in front of him.
“How did you get such a severe tearing wound? Didn’t you already master the Dimensional Shift?”
El looked hesitant to speak, finally revealing his difficulty as he said:
“I, um, got stuck.”
“…”
“Alright, let’s put that aside for now. What did you do this time?”
“Nothing much, just cleaned out a pest for the military.”
As he spoke about his actions, El perked up, ignoring the occasional pain that made him grimace, and went on to explain his plan.
