Chapter 470: Awakening the Second Superpower

A spatial rift tore open from below, swallowing the train like a monster’s gaping, bloody maw.

After her vision was plunged into darkness for a few seconds, the world outside the window suddenly brightened. Jiang Qingli could now see the scenery clearly—

Before setting out, Jiang Qingli had memorized the features of every district on their route. She recognized that they were still in the Ninth District, but now in its largest and most remote swamp.

The swamp was known as the Evil Swamp. Because it was a convenient place to get rid of bodies, murderers often dumped their victims there. It contained no living creatures, only countless skeletal remains.

The train car jolted and plunged downward, only to be caught by a sudden force that slowed its descent, causing it to sway and tilt toward the shore.

"It’s a Gravity System user!"

Someone shouted, and immediately, Jiang Qingli heard more than half the intruders in their car charge toward Yi Nuo’s room, engaging the guards protecting him.

The man in charge of handling Qin Yu froze for a second. In that instant, Jiang Qingli twisted his arm back and kicked the nape of his neck from an incredibly awkward angle, knocking him unconscious.

Jiang Qingli grabbed the terrified Qin Yu and headed out. She then kicked open Lü Xin’s door, found a pair of handcuffs, and shackled the two women together before dragging them off to find Xie Youchen.

She couldn’t handle so many enemies alone; she had to regroup with the others as quickly as possible.

Passing under a large hole in the roof, Jiang Qingli glanced up.

The chaotic battle on the roof was still raging, with every one of the intruders’ attacks aimed to kill.

Someone ran up to their leader. "What do we do? Xie Youchen is here, too!"

A vicious glint flashed in the leader’s eyes. "All the more reason to kill him! If Xie Youchen makes it back alive, it’s all over for us!"

They bore a slight resemblance to Baili Jing. ’It seems that after Baili Chengyan, Baili Qing used the family’s genes to create more test subjects,’ Jiang Qingli thought. They were Death Warriors, created to live and die for the family. Their Superpowers ranged from B to S Level, and they were numerous. The several-hundred-meter-long spatial rift from before had been the combined effort of dozens of them.

’They must have been sent here to wipe us all out and pin the blame on the Ninth District.’

Jiang Qingli called out to 030 in her mind a few times, but the little system, which usually loved to be in the middle of the action, was suddenly silent. There was no response.

Not that she’d expected it to be much help. Most of the time, Jiang Qingli just thought of 030 as a digital pet.

Xie Youchen was in the foremost car. Weapon in one hand, dragging two dead weights with the other, Jiang Qingli struggled onward.

Her progress was slow; it took nearly an hour to traverse two cars, but she managed to avoid any major injuries.

Baili Jing’s Barrier was still active, having blocked three potentially fatal Superpower attacks. When more enemies appeared, Jiang Qingli simply shoved Qin Yu in front of her as a shield.

By now, Qin Yu knew her family wanted her dead, so she didn’t dare try to escape. Her only option was to stick with Jiang Qingli. Though she was on the verge of breaking down, she had no choice but to use her Superpower to defend herself when enemies charged, giving Jiang Qingli the opening to finish them with a bullet.

In contrast to the other two, Lü Xin offered a casual remark, "You two work together quite well."

Qin Yu shot her a furious glare. ’How can she still be making snide remarks at a time like this!’

Just as she was about to curse at her,

Lü Xin glanced outside and said to Jiang Qingli, "Your butler is quite skilled. To be able to alter gravity that much... I should extract his genes..."

She couldn’t finish her sentence. A torrent of fire roared toward them with the howling wind, singeing Lü Xin’s hair. Before she could react, Jiang Qingli shoved her to the floor.

The moment they fell, a shockwave tore the wall off the train. The car’s walls, built from high-density materials, could withstand S Level Superpower attacks, but not a reckless, overwhelming barrage. Glass shards melted in the intense heat, raining down like molten drops. An intruder kicked a steel beam, sending it flying straight at Jiang Qingli—

Yi Nuo stumbled into the car just in time to see it happen.

His face was pale. He had exhausted his spiritual power altering the train’s fall earlier. Now, straining with all his might, he could only make the steel beam vibrate slightly.

When the steel beam was less than a meter away from Jiang Qingli, time froze.

Xie Youchen rushed in, using his Superpower to pull Jiang Qingli to his side while casually tossing Qin Yu and Lü Xin to Chen Mi behind him.

Time resumed. The steel beam crashed at their feet. The leader of the intruders pointed directly at Xie Youchen, making them the new targets.

Dozens of Superpower users rushed them, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks.

Jiang Qingli retreated toward the car door, shielded in Xie Youchen’s embrace. She could feel he was covered in blood, though she couldn’t tell if it was his, his enemies’, or both.

The young man shielded her from the attacks. His voice, though weary, was still gentle. "The signal’s jammed. Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here—"

Before he could finish, his body suddenly went rigid.

Jiang Qingli looked down and saw a paper-thin vine piercing Xie Youchen’s heart. In the instant he went stiff, it swelled to the thickness of a thumb and continued to expand.

Jiang Qingli shot the vine and pulled him into her arms, pressing her hand firmly against the wound.

"Advisor Jiang, behind you—"

"Miss—!"

As the two shouts echoed, Chen Mi and Yi Nuo tried desperately to reach them but were swarmed by more enemies.

The sound of something slicing through the air came from behind.

Without so much as a glance, Jiang Qingli sidestepped and raised a hand, catching the vine that was stabbing at her heart from behind.

After taking one heavy blow after another, the Barrier left by Baili Jing had finally shattered.

The vine was covered in sharp thorns that pierced her palm, and blood trickled down her arm.

Upon absorbing her blood, the vine began to do what it did before—it swelled manically, coiling around her wrist and tightening its grip.

Countless red laser sights locked onto Jiang Qingli, and bullets flew.

However, as a single drop of Jiang Qingli’s crimson blood fell,

the air around her rippled like the surface of a lake.

An invisible barrier seemed to expand outward with Jiang Qingli as its epicenter. Everything in its path—people and objects alike—froze, as if someone had pressed pause.

The invisible barrier stopped spreading once it reached a diameter of one hundred meters.

[This is your second Superpower—]

[Domain.]

The familiar, robotic voice echoed in her mind.

Unlike its usual cute persona, 030’s voice was calm.

[When ’Domain’ is used, it creates a pocket space with you at the center. Within this space, you are the absolute ruler. Your word is law. If you want them to die, they will die.]

[Once you master it completely, your Domain could cover an entire district... hell, it might even be possible to cover the whole Empire.]

[For now, the range is a little small, and it only lasts for half an hour. But to deal with these guys, you won’t even need ten minutes. It’s more than enough time.]

After giving her a few pointers, 030 vanished, leaving behind a line of text art:

[You can do it, sweetie! ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ!]

The instant 030’s voice faded, the rain of molten glass began to fall again at a furious pace. Time was flowing once more.

No one realized what had just happened. Countless vines, like snakes with a mind of their own, danced with the bullets as they all streaked toward Jiang Qingli’s heart!

But a second before they reached her, Jiang Qingli slowly opened her eyes and raised her hand.

Blood still dripped from her hand. But every bullet, every attack aimed at her from all directions, suddenly reversed course as if obeying a command, flying right back the way they came!