Chapter 78: Chapter 78
The sudden, nonsensical remark from my sister took us by surprise, but before I had a chance to ask, I heard Lin Xue suddenly exclaim, “Aiya!” and she fell to the ground.
I looked at Lin Xue lying on the ground with an embarrassed expression, a mass of black lines over my head. I’d heard of some girls being so clumsy that they could trip over flat surfaces, but could that really happen to Lin Xue?
Or was it… slippery ground?
I examined the scientifically designed, non-slip pattern on the ground and Lin Xue’s travel shoes made specifically to prevent slipping, then decisively abandoned the idea.
“Aiya, Little Xue, you’re too careless. Haven’t I told you before…”
My sister reached out a hand to Lin Xue on the ground with an exaggerated tone and a hint of a triumphant smirk, to which the latter immediately shouted, “Stop! I surrender! Please don’t say another word!”
“Tsk,” my sister pursed her lips, looking like a prankster whose scheme had been foiled, “It seems your foreknowledge ability has indeed been enhanced.”
Lin Xue briskly got up from the ground and dusted off her non-existent dust, saying, “It wasn’t foreknowledge, just a sense of some abnormal energy flows.”
“What’s going on here?”
I seemed to see a clue, so I turned to Lin Xue, who obviously held the secrets of the heavens, for confirmation.
“It’s simple, I was just cursed by your sister,”
Lin Xue said, spreading her hands with a resigned expression.
This time Sandora spoke up, scanning my sister with a gaze filled with inquiry.
“It’s a superpower~” My sister held up a finger and waggled it before us, saying, “Although it’s still unclear how powerful this ability is, for now, it seems more than sufficient to deal with a certain thoughtless young lady.”
“Superpower? Sister, how do you have a superpower?”
I asked, utterly bewildered.
Seeing my eager eyes, my sister decided against keeping us in the dark any longer and detailed the events that had befallen her.
After visiting Bubbles in the Xyrin Nest, my sister and Qianqian discovered something had changed in their bodies, seeming to have undergone some enhancement, and odd phenomena began occurring around them. Initially unsettled, but with Sandora and I dealing with demonized creatures, and Asida and Asidora having no understanding of carbon-based life physiology, they had no choice but to discuss the matter with Lin Xue, the only person they could communicate with at the base. During the conversation, Lin Xue mentioned her superpower had been enhanced inside the Xyrin Nest, prompting Qianqian and my sister to devise a bold plan.
They went to the Xyrin Nest alone, and with Bubbles’ guidance, entered the heart of the Mother Nest, where they stayed for a full two hours!
Until in the end, they inexplicably fainted inside.
When they woke up, the superpowers appeared.
“It must be some kind of radiation,” Sandora surmised, her index finger on her chin, “The crystals within the Xyrin Nest carry a potent energy field, and the thought waves from Bubbles flowing through these crystals also create energy whirlpools. While such energy at low concentrations is harmless to carbon-based life, at certain intensities, it definitely exceeds the limits of what Qianqian and Chen Qian can withstand. At that point, mutations occur—looking at it now, your risky venture seems to have reaped some unexpected rewards.”
Even though I can see now that my sister is fine and there’s an unexpected gain, I couldn’t refrain from using a tone of reprimand. Just for the sake of an elusive possibility, to do such a dangerous thing—what if something unexpected had happened?
It seems that ordinary humans running around in this base will still face certain dangers. From now on, I’m afraid I’ll have to limit my sister and Qianqian’s movements within the base—right, and Lin Xue too. Though she never knows to be polite when talking to me, she is after all a friend. Who knows when she might decide to sneak into the base’s self-destruction control center, and then we’d really have something to worry about.
However, as soon as I announced this decision, I immediately encountered opposition.
“We just wanted to help you; we don’t want to always be your burden…” My sister’s eyes were brimming with tears as she launched into an emotional plea, “Besides, aren’t we fine right now? If there really is any danger, the base has so many high-tech rescue facilities to protect us.”
“Do you really want to deprive me of my only fun?” Lin Xue kicked out without hesitation but I dodged smoothly as always, “Also, sneak into the base’s self-destruction control center? Do you think I’m as silly as you… Forget it… Considering you have my best interests at heart, I’ll let you off this time.”
“The only reason Qianqian and Chen Qian were affected by the radiation is because their ordinary human bodies are really too fragile. Now that they’ve undergone a mutation, they are fully capable of withstanding the various types of energy radiations in the base. It’s the same with Lin Xue; she already has superpowers, so she fears this kind of energy even less.” Sandora also spoke up in defense of my sister.
Dingdang suddenly flew up to me and whispered softly, “Exactly, and with Dingdang here, even if someone dies, I can bring them back to life!”
…This little thing really doesn’t think before speaking…
Faced with the united opposition of several people, I finally retracted the grounding order for my sister and began to inquire in detail about her superpower.
“Just like Lin Xue said,” my sister seemed proud when mentioning her own superpower, “It’s a power similar to a curse. I can make what I say become reality on a target, but not just anything. It’s basically limited to negative but non-lethal things. However, that last restriction can be easily circumvented. For instance, I can’t directly curse someone to death, but I could curse them to be hit on the head by a meteorite with a diameter of more than one hundred kilometers when they step outside…”
…A one hundred kilometer diameter meteorite, sister, do you want to destroy the world?
Hearing my sister’s description, Sandora made a fair comment, “Without any limits, that would indeed be a quite heaven-defying ability—so there must be a lot of restrictions on using this curse, right?”
Speaking of restrictions, my sister replied somewhat reluctantly, “Indeed, there are many. First of all, I have to see the target of the curse, and the curse must be unique and specific when cast. In addition, the stronger the target, the weaker the effect of the curse. For example, the curse I put on Lin Xue was supposed to make her slide around on the ground for seven and a half circles and then slide out the front door at twenty meters per second. However, Lin Xue’s superpower clearly interfered with the power of the curse; she just fell down. Moreover, the larger the scale of the curse, the longer it takes to take effect, and the greater the chance of failure. For example, like that one hundred kilometer meteorite hitting the head I mentioned, even if the curse could be realized, by that time the cursed person would probably have died of old age…”
“Slide around on spot for seven and a half circles…” Lin Xue repeated, her mouth twitching.
“And at twenty meters per second…” Dingdang, ever eager to stir up trouble, flew up to Lin Xue’s head kindly reminding her.
I wiped the cold sweat off my forehead. Why had I never realized before that my sister could be so schemingly wicked?
At this point, the thoroughly defeated Lin Xue had slumped into a corner near the wall, her head buried deeply in her knees, muttering to herself and drawing circles on the ground. The resentment behind her almost seemed to take on a physical form, making her look pitiful indeed.
“What about Qianqian’s situation?” I suddenly thought, since my sister had developed such a powerful superpower, it meant Qianqian had also gained some kind of ability. But why haven’t I seen her appear yet? According to her personality, by now she should have already rushed into my embrace, right?
“Qianqian, she…” My sister suddenly showed a somewhat strange expression, as if this was a matter quite difficult to talk about, “Her situation is a little different…”
I tensed up immediately.
“It’s not that anything bad happened… Never mind, you should see for yourself…”