Chapter 236
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Chapter 236: Moths to the Flame
“That branch has barbs; we can’t pull it out at all.”
Shi Jin activated her abilities, but it was in vain. Even slowing the flow of time couldn’t help her remove the spikes from Wang Xiao’s body.
After some thought, the quick-witted Shi Jin came up with an idea:
“Let’s just cut off another piece of Wang Xiao; he should still be alive.”
The other three people were taken aback by such a radical suggestion, but none of them immediately objected. Instead, they began to consider the feasibility of the plan.
After all, a bad life is better than a good death, and Wang Xiao’s abilities must not fall into the hands of those terrifying plants.
They hoped that the Analysis would start from the brain, so Wang Xiao’s remaining half wouldn’t become the target of the process.
At that moment, the surrounding branches began to close in again, ready to trap them once more. This time, they had no Wang Xiao, no Energy Battery, and no signal flares.
As they were about to turn Wang Xiao from half into a quarter for easier carrying and fleeing, the group suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over them, as if experiencing a strong sensation of weightlessness.
The five of them, or rather four and a half bodies, truly began to lift slightly off the ground, rising slowly yet steadily.
At the same time, all the surrounding plants and their branches seemed to be restrained by some force. The branches started to tremble, trying to evade that power, but it was futile.
This kind of ability, this method of manipulation, was quite familiar to everyone except Shi Jin.
They ascended to about one meter off the ground, and in the haze, a voice rang in their ears:
“Run!”
“Whoosh!” The group was thrown out by an invisible force.
This ability was all too familiar to them; it was Nian’s power, and that force was undoubtedly helping them escape.
Fresnel glanced back at the Puppet Master, confusion evident in his eyes.
“I think I understand; I’ll report to you later.”
The group landed in a parabolic arc, putting roughly twenty meters between them and the branches.
Then, Nian’s ability and voice vanished into thin air, and they no longer felt the sensation of being controlled by an unseen force.
Dazed and bewildered, Fresnel and the others climbed up from the ground, quickly checking each other and soon discovering a small problem—
Wang Xiao was gone…
Where’s my teammate?!
They turned back in the direction they had come from. Perhaps when Nian activated his abilities, there wasn’t enough power left to pull out that thorn, resulting in Wang Xiao being left suspended on it instead of flying with them.
Now, more and more branches were breaking free from the earlier restraint, moving toward the position where Wang Xiao was, as if they were moths drawn to a light source.
—
“Wow, you expect to graduate with this kind of writing? Just thinking about having someone like you treating patients makes me want to die.”
“……”
“I’m on duty for the next two days, let’s relax together the day after tomorrow. You’ll graduate soon; it’s rare to have a day off.”
“……”
“This meal is incredibly cheap; two thousand information coins won’t be a loss or a scam.”
“……”
“Thanks, man. If you hadn’t pulled me back yesterday, I definitely wouldn’t just be missing a leg right now.”
“……”
“Tell me, are you willing to sacrifice everything for Hope City?”
“……”
Memories flashed through Wang Xiao’s mind.
He could hear everything happening outside and had a vague sense of his surroundings.
But after confirming that all his teammates were alive, an overwhelming exhaustion surged through his body, making it nearly impossible to resist.
At that moment, Wang Xiao was like someone in a vegetative state—able to hear, feel, and think, but unable to truly wake up.
His abilities seemed to have reached their limit; they appeared dissatisfied with his actions, resisting the endless strain.
How could this be?
In that strange dream, he had gained this powerful ability precisely because he was willing to cut away a part of himself.
Was his choice wrong?
Did his actions have no meaning at all?
The surrounding branches tightened around him, and Wang Xiao felt that if this continued, he would wake up under extreme pressure and pain.
But in such a situation, even waking up would be meaningless.
If he couldn’t reconcile with the ability within him, which had nearly reached its limit, everything afterward would be nothing but empty words.
What did the "flesh" path truly represent? Was it near-endless regeneration? A breakthrough of human limits? Or perhaps infinite life?
The dream of sacrifice, the betrayal outside the dream, the divergence of abilities, and the nearly hopeless situation.
Amidst the overlapping thorns, Wang Xiao opened his eyes as life continued to drain away.
He understood the core of the "flesh" path.
It was a selfish path, and all its branches of ability existed solely to strengthen itself.
Everything required to wield these abilities had to be plundered from the outside—stealing to nourish the flesh, and the enhanced flesh enabling even greater plundering.
Before, it was through food; now it would be more direct.
Everything was for power; everything was for oneself.
As for so-called sacrifice, it was more accurately described as charity than true giving.
Wang Xiao realized the absurdity of his past and recalled Lin Qingliu’s advice during psychological counseling.
Whether it’s sacrifice or charity, it is a subjective act. To avoid being controlled, personal strength is the prerequisite, and to become powerful, the time to start plundering is now.
Wang Xiao, the "flesh" path, Third Level ability—"Absorb."
Inside the cage of branches, Wang Xiao suddenly opened his mouth wide and bit down on one of the branches, beginning to gulp down the potentially harmful sap within.
Just like a few months ago when he consumed the flesh blob, Wang Xiao understood the essence of his ability and what he needed to do.
Illusory life force began to pour into Wang Xiao’s body, and the thorns and branches coiling around him began to wither, rapidly collapsing into decay.
Those branches, which had been full of vitality just moments ago, now resembled burnt-out coal, crumbling into ash at the slightest touch.
At this moment, his pace of absorbing life force was several times—or even dozens of times—faster than the extraction of another team.
Yet the branches did not retreat despite the inner decay; instead, they tightened their grip. However, Wang Xiao’s body was like a vortex capable of holding infinite life force, continuously drawing in surrounding power and turning all nearby branches into dry ash.
As the branches withered, Wang Xiao’s body gradually recovered. Life and death intertwined in a relentless struggle for survival.
In the vast cage of branches, countless “moths” continued to fly toward the “flame.”
