Chapter 233
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Chapter 233: Sweet Dreams
In the distant Hope City, a peculiar sensation enveloped Lin Qingliu.
Energy from another world, akin to that of myths and legends, began to saturate his being.
【Bestow a Blessing】 has been upgraded.
Follower Shi Jin has achieved advancement.
Current Level: Two
Current Path (Unique): 【Time】
Manifested Abilities: 【Ephemeral】, 【Slow Time】
【Triggered feedback effect of 【Bestow a Blessing】: You have acquired a new ability:
Path: 【Time】
Manifested Abilities: 【Ephemeral】, 【Slow Time】, 【Stasis】
【Time — Stasis: Apply to a single object or a small area to halt its flow of time. It can be sustained for an extended period by channeling mental strength.】
“Fascinating, truly fascinating.”
Lin Qingliu, lying in the basement, opened his eyes and felt the surge of power in his hands and throughout his body.
Around him, the entire basement and the adjacent space had effectively entered a state of stasis.
In this zone, Lin Qingliu was the sole entity capable of moving freely.
This marked the inaugural use of the ability 【Stasis】 post-awakening, with its range expanded to the utmost.
Lin Qingliu rose from the bed, the creases on the sheets remaining undisturbed.
Each particle of dust in the air seemed anchored by an unseen force, fixed in its original position. At this instant, every object forfeited its liberty to move, immobilized as the ability’s name implied.
Unlike the subjective acceleration of 【Ephemeral】 or the spatial deceleration of 【Slow Time】, the Third Level ability 【Stasis】 in this path resembled a superpower-grade refrigerator.
With this ability, Lin Qingliu needed only a trifling amount of mental strength to sustain the vitality of the arm Luke had left behind, rendering the nutrient solution obsolete.
Even the One-Armed Blade next door would be envious.
In matters of preservation, Lin Qingliu, now an adept with this ability, need not fret over the scarcity of fresh produce and meat.
However, the present moment was not opportune for such contemplations; otherwise, Wang Xiao and his teammates might inadvertently become the inaugural subjects of this ability.
After acquainting himself with his newfound power, Lin Qingliu began to gradually retract the ability that had extended to its maximum range, methodically reducing the area of stasis.
Ultimately, as he reclined once more on the basement bed and linked to Fulan’s communicator, he fine-tuned the ability to synchronize his flow of time with Shi Jin’s.
—
North of Hope City, within the woods.
Perched atop the treetops, Shi Jin opened her eyes. Her mismatched eyes appeared slightly unfocused, her gaze bewildered, reflecting a phantom-like clock.
Her two abilities activated in unison; the manipulation of the flow of time was not additive but multiplicative.
The fireball she wished to observe further expanded at a significantly reduced pace, appearing to her as if in slow motion, akin to a child at play.
Yet, even so, Shi Jin remained unable to extricate her teammates from peril, as the explosion triggered by the impact on the Energy Battery had not yet fully demolished the cage formed by the branches.
Shi Jin had to bide her time, waiting for the gap to widen enough for her to slip through, waiting for the moment she could rescue all her teammates.
The wait was agonizingly slow. As she was still mastering her new abilities, Shi Jin dared not recklessly deactivate either 【Ephemeral】 or 【Slow Time】. She could only observe the unfolding events with meticulous care, searching for the right opportunity.
However, Wang Xiao, the shield of her teammates, who was encircled by the branches that formed the Energy Battery’s cage, seemed unable to hold on any longer.
The searing flames and shockwave were closing in on him.
In slow motion, Wang Xiao’s face began to burn, and his body started to undergo horrifying distortions.
The intense heat was scorching him, while the shockwave was crushing his body.
In the blink of an eye, before Wang Xiao’s face could even register pain, it had already carbonized, rendering his features unrecognizable.
This sight filled Shi Jin, waiting on the periphery, with a sense of urgency. At the same time, she keenly sensed the opportunity that was hers to seize.
As the shockwave pulverized Wang Xiao, it also shattered the final layer of branches. The mycelium on the ground had completely disintegrated under the intense heat and shock, leaving no trace of ash behind.
Shi Jin rushed forward, leveraging the slow effect of her abilities to widen the crack in the cage. After what felt like an eternity of focused effort, she finally made the crack large enough to be useful for the rescue.
Shi Jin slipped inside, and the first person she reached for was not Wang Xiao or Fresnel, but Beacon, whose ankle was still exposed.
This teammate had been shoved into the life pod backward by Wang Xiao, completely oblivious to the chaos outside. Yet, her instinctive sense of danger was evident in the terror etched on her face.
Shi Jin grabbed the viewing window of the damaged life pod and began dragging the one-person-high object to safety.
She dared not free her teammate before moving; such a maneuver would waste precious time and risk injuring the person during the high-speed evacuation.
After placing the damaged life pod on the ground about ten meters away, Shi Jin swiftly returned to dismantle the life pod containing Puppet Master Su Xiaogu and carried it out.
Lin Qingliu, who had synchronized with Shi Jin, observed her actions closely and silently commended her performance.
At this moment, Fresnel was in the best protective state, while Wang Xiao had borne the brunt of the explosion. Given the size difference, Shi Jin prioritized rescuing the two more mobile teammates.
Finally, it was Wang Xiao’s turn. Shi Jin pulled him out of the flames and shockwave of the explosion, only to find that this strong man was far lighter than she had anticipated.
Shi Jin didn’t look back; she could roughly guess what had happened.
As she dragged her incapacitated and nearly unconscious teammate out of the cage, which was still reeling from the shockwave, Shi Jin suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.
Her ability experienced a momentary lapse, causing the explosion’s radius to expand by nearly a meter.
Fortunately, she quickly regained her composure and reasserted control over her ability, ensuring it matched the previous rate of expansion.
However, as she felt her energy draining, Shi Jin began to sense a foreboding premonition.
She and Wang Xiao had not yet escaped the shockwave’s range, while Fresnel, despite his armored protection, was still perilously close to the explosion’s epicenter.
But it was too late.
“Boom!”
Time resumed its flow, and the massive explosion, as if having been suppressed for too long, unleashed its full fury upon the surroundings.
The damaged branch cage was utterly obliterated, and the fully-armed Fresnel was hurled by the shockwave toward the two life pods.
Shi Jin, still within the danger zone, felt her body jolted violently as Wang Xiao, regaining consciousness, shielded her from the impact.
Flames roared skyward, and smoke engulfed the area.
The Fresnel team seemed to have narrowly escaped death’s grasp.