TYMIMA Chapter 136

Popov’s deafening roar penetrated multiple floors, reaching Adrian’s ears.

 

Adrian’s eyes flashed cold. His left hand chopped at the guard’s wrist bone. The guard’s hand shook, the gun barrel shifted, and a rare lead ore bullet flew past Adrian’s ear!

 

Before the guard could react, Adrian grabbed his arm with both hands and twisted sharply, cleanly seizing the gun. The weapon spun in his palm—click—the trigger pulled, and as the barrel turned toward the guard, a bullet shot straight out, hitting the guard’s throat dead center.

 

Splurt!

 

Blood sprayed as the guard stared in shock, a gruesome hole appearing in his throat.

 

Simultaneously, bullets from the surrounding guards flew toward Adrian. He quickly pulled the dead guard’s body as a shield against the gunfire.

 

He shouted toward the lower floors: “I’m on the second level!”

 

He didn’t know if his voice would carry down, didn’t know when rescue would reach the second level. He had no energy to worry about such things. Pressed against the bullet-riddled corpse, he retreated step by step, sometimes returning fire, sometimes dodging bullets.

 

Lucas gripped the bars tightly with his newly healed hands, staring at Adrian’s back and roaring in frustration, “What the hell are you waiting for? Get out of here!”

 

He knew Adrian’s soul could return to his own body at any time. Once back in his S-level body, Adrian would be safe.

 

But Adrian didn’t respond. Every bullet that grazed him tore at his soul for an instant.

 

“Black Lantern Society found on the second level! In front of Mad Clown’s cell!”

 

“The enemy has taken the form of Doctor Bai—everyone be careful!”

 

“Mad Clown pheromone extraction failed! Mobility restored, requesting orders!”

 

“Execute Mad Clown on the spot!”

 

Benbu’s icy voice came through the radio, updating the command.

 

Of course he valued Mad Clown’s life—after all, the Federation’s ability storage didn’t yet contain teleportation, which was extremely useful. If possible, he’d prefer to keep Mad Clown barely alive as a “pack mule” providing pheromones.

 

But the situation had changed. Black Lantern Society had reached Mad Clown, and he feared Mad Clown would use his ability to teleport them all away.

 

If you can’t have it, destroy it.

 

Lucas heard the order clearly from his cell and froze, his hands sliding down the bars.

 

He finally understood why Adrian wouldn’t let his soul return to his body—without Adrian blocking the way, these people would kill him immediately.

 

“Brother…” Lucas murmured.

 

Adrian’s voice couldn’t reach the bottom level, but the radio requests gave the next wave—Zhan Pingchuan bursting from the elevator shaft—crucial information.

 

Light blue transparent barriers shielded Lance and Lily. Silver threads danced around Zhan Pingchuan like sword light, instantly slicing through a guard’s neck.

 

He snatched the radio from the guard before the body fell. “Hello, hello, second level? Thanks, brother, we’ll be right there.”

 

‘Brother’ didn’t acknowledge his thanks—the headless corpse slowly toppled to the ground.

 

Zhan Pingchuan adjusted his black hood and complained, “How rude.”

 

“Be careful not to blow your cover!” Lance warned.

 

Zhan Pingchuan’s personal style was too distinctive, and Si Hongche had seen them before. It was one thing for the Black Lantern Society members to be exposed, but Zhan Pingchuan was supposed to be one of the good guys.

 

Lance had only turned to shout that one sentence when Lily eagerly charged out, running up a wall and leaping onto a guard’s head, using her body’s rotational force to snap his neck with a crack.

 

“Woohoo!” Lily’s eyes lit up with excitement—she hadn’t enjoyed such a satisfying kill in ages.

 

Lance quickly snapped back, yanking Lily from the corpse’s head back into the barrier and ordering sternly, “No breaking formation on this mission!”

 

Without Duma’s guidance, they didn’t know the prison layout. If anyone got separated, it might take hours to find them, and the longer they stayed, the higher the danger. They had to stick together and rescue Mad Clown in one swift strike.

 

“Aw, got it,” Lily said sullenly.

 

Popov charged ahead like a tank—ramming alone was enough to send guards flying.

 

Now honest Abaddon and poison-covered Fata squeezed out too. Abaddon crouched and roared, ghostly light flickering around him as dozens of beast spirits leaped from his back, pouncing on the incoming guards.

 

Fata manipulated molecular condensation, synthesizing hydrogen clusters from thin air and hurling them into the guard formations. Mudeli’s laser eyes swept across, igniting massive explosions that shook the walls violently, causing heavy casualties.

 

The guards raised their rare lead ore weapons to counterattack, but Dream Witch lifted her gaze, her brown pupils glowing faintly. The Omegas in the guard ranks immediately turned their guns on the Alphas beside them in a trance.

 

The sudden fratricide threw the guards into chaos.

 

Zhan Pingchuan snapped his fingers, quickly adding a protective barrier around Dream Witch.

 

Kuhn hid behind Dream Witch, flinging playing cards like a magician. Anyone targeted by the figures on his cards would enter the card world and have to complete the card character’s trial to return to reality.

 

Some guards lost their lives as their souls departed during the blank-eyed trance.

 

Black Lantern Society’s assault was so fierce that the guards were caught completely off-guard and retreated steadily.

 

Popov, carrying Adrian’s body protected by Zhan Pingchuan’s barrier, charged up to the eighth level first.

 

“Come quick—”

 

His roar cut short as he looked down to see his abdomen wet with heat, bright red blood seeping through his coat.

 

A rare lead ore dagger had pierced his abdomen, easily penetrating flesh. He felt his ability draining rapidly, his steel-reinforced body reverting to mortal flesh.

 

But he hadn’t seen any enemy.

 

“I…”

 

“Popov!”

 

A guard appeared out of nowhere behind Popov, pulling out the dagger to stab again.

 

Lance threw Black Mamba’s Fang like a projectile, the blade striking precisely into the guard’s skull. The guard swayed and collapsed.

 

Popov fell with him, four stab wounds in his abdomen.

 

Popov gasped heavily, blood flowing freely.

 

“Painkillers!” Lance shouted.

 

Fata quickly crushed a painkiller pill and stuffed it in Popov’s mouth.

 

Lance tore open his shirt forcefully and warned, “Bear with it!” Then he shoved a transparent adhesive patch into Popov’s wound.

 

As an F-level Awakened, rare lead ore affected him least. He used the adhesive to extract the rare lead ore fibers from Popov’s wounds, then recovery-type Awakened Ling Qi immediately used his ability to heal the wounds.

 

Lance pulled Black Mamba’s Fang from the guard’s skull, frowning. “He can turn invisible.”

 

“And his ability’s identical to Li Bang’s.”

 

Li Bang’s invisibility had limitations—he couldn’t attack while invisible, and attacking would break the invisibility.

 

Zhan Pingchuan kicked over the guard’s corpse and searched him thoroughly, finding three transparent glass vials containing different colored aerosols.

 

These were similar to the pheromone vial his mother had given him.

 

“Damn.” Zhan Pingchuan ground his molars. “We’re not fighting a bunch of C-level and E-level cannon fodder—this is like randomly drawing high-tier abilities to play with.”

 

Fata: “Extracted pheromones only last five minutes, but that’s enough to change the tide at crucial moments. Everyone be careful.”

 

“The problem is these are useless even if we capture them—who knows what abilities they are.” Zhan Pingchuan was about to smash the three vials.

 

Oliver stopped him. “Wait, different ability pheromones have subtle color differences. With enough observation, we can find matches. With so many of us, someone must be color-sensitive.”

 

Fulunla: “Who’s color-sensitive? Not me—I drove my art teacher crazy.”

 

Dream Witch: “What? I’m only sensitive to gold.”

 

Oliver: “…”

 

Lance said casually, “No need for such trouble. Your [Heart Questioning] and my sister’s [Bewitch] aren’t decorations. Worst case, we can capture some weakling for interrogation.”

 

Fulunla and Wu Peng looked at Lance with sparkling eyes again.

 

Still had to be the young madam—how had they forgotten they could capture prison guards for questioning? There must be problems with the guild’s training system!

 

Oliver had an epiphany. “I almost forgot.” He still wasn’t used to using abilities to harm people.

 

So Zhan Pingchuan pocketed those vials.

 

Popov activated his ability again and led the charge forward, but the guards had regrouped and were no longer in chaos. Their trained coordinated attacks inevitably slowed Black Lantern Society’s advance.

 

Whoosh—

 

A wave of intense heat struck as magma rained down from above like droplets.

 

Erdiff’s second-tier ability [Magma Erosion]!

 

The heat wave scorched the prison, turning the black stone walls glowing red. Flames burned on the magma—even a single drop would burn straight through skin.

 

“Trouble—he’s above us!” Kuhn shouted.

 

Zhan Pingchuan quickly expanded his barrier range, forcibly catching the falling lava. Sizzling sounds filled the air as light blue energy waves flowed rapidly, and tiny burn marks appeared on Zhan Pingchuan’s arms.

 

Though not serious, the burning sensation was still unpleasant. He quickly shook off the magma, and Ling Qi immediately healed his burns.

 

Wu Peng roared angrily, his arms trembling violently. Electric charges crackled in the air, finally converging into a purple lightning bolt that struck at the guard who had turned into lava.

 

However, elemental abilities could make the body incorporeal—the lightning passed right through the lava man without causing any damage.

 

“Haha, you can’t hurt me! Die!” The lava man sneered and jumped down from above, transforming his body into a large splash of lava as he lunged at Black Lantern Society.

 

“Erdiff? Fucking disgusting.” Zhan Pingchuan’s face darkened as he tore a massive rift in the air with his bare hands. This time, the rift wasn’t pitch black—he could vaguely see craters of various sizes, and nothing else alive.

 

Lava man: “?”

 

His eyes widened in alarm. Seeing trouble, he frantically kicked his legs in midair: “Hey, hey, this isn’t the moon, is it? Holy shit…”

 

His shouts grew fainter until they disappeared into the depths of the rift.

 

Zhan Pingchuan was slightly stunned. He had indeed thought of the moon for a moment, and the rift he opened really did lead directly to space.

 

Was it an accident? Or was his third-tier ability gradually becoming controllable?

 

The surrounding guards were all dumbfounded. They’d thought this rare elemental pheromone would be highly effective, at least burning Black Lantern Society half to death. Instead, this guy made one appearance and was gone—just gone!

 

“Everyone be careful, don’t approach rashly! Black Lantern Society can send people to the moon—there’s no oxygen on the moon, you’ll die if you go!” a guard shouted.

 

“What a vicious ability, truly Black Lantern Society!”

 

“Kill them with ranged attacks!”

 

“Let me handle this!”

 

…

 

Abilities flew and bullets scattered chaotically at the eighth-floor stairwell.

 

In a corner of the ninth floor with a view of the central well, Si Hongche and Asmodeus openly observed the battle.

 

All the Black Lantern Society members wore black hoods, their faces invisible, but Si Hongche’s gaze remained fixed on one spot, unwilling to blink.

 

That figure was quite slender but moved with agility and quick reflexes. The vines he extended silently strangled guards to suffocation, clearing many obstacles for Black Lantern Society.

 

Unfortunately, he forgot to finish them off—his vines would retract after the guards fell, then attack the next person.

 

His attacks were clean, bloodless.

 

He seemed unable to learn how to eliminate threats completely, starting from when he couldn’t bear to kill that eagle in the Blue Pivot entrance exam.

 

These eighteen years had changed many things. Si Hongche could no longer remember what he’d been like originally. He seemed to have been gentle once, humble, naive, passionate about life—but these traces no longer existed in him. He seemed to have become the complete opposite.

 

Could hatred really turn him into someone like Asmodeus?

 

He didn’t know.

 

Perhaps he was purely evil by nature, but for those years, someone as brilliant as sunlight had illuminated and warmed him, leaving no room for darkness to grow.

 

Now no one would ever redeem him again, and he had become one with the darkness.

 

But sunlight was always sunlight. Even after eighteen years of deprivation, devastation, and humiliation, as long as given breathing space and gentle soil to grow, it would still revive, like spring grass growing again in the wind.

 

Si Hongche gazed longingly at that gradually distant figure. He was already feeling cold—the farther the sunlight went, the colder his heart became. He yearned for it yet feared to touch it.

 

Yes, he was afraid.

 

He feared seeing him, feared being seen by him. He couldn’t face it—he had no right to ask for forgiveness.

 

Asmodeus followed his gaze and bared his teeth in a sinister smile. “Director Si really has self-control. If it were me, I’d have already rushed up to drag him back.”

 

Si Hongche slowly clenched his fingers, remaining noncommittal.

 

Asmodeus rarely saw Si Hongche’s calm facade crack and his emotions fluctuate. He couldn’t help making snide remarks: “How come he looks in good spirits and health? Not at all like someone who came out of AGW prison. Could it be that Director Si took good care of him for those fourteen years?”

 

Si Hongche coldly spat out two words: “Shut up.”

 

Asmodeus chuckled lowly. “Director Si, tell me—from his perspective, are we the bad guys, or is Black Lantern Society?”

 

He delighted in having more antisocial personalities like himself in the world. He loved watching people collapse, go mad, live with lifelong regret, and be forced onto paths of no return.

 

If not for that accident, someone as proud and highly educated as Si Hongche would never mix with dark parasites like them who rose to power through abilities.

 

Elites always liked grandiose yet ridiculous things—fairness, justice, rights, ideals, changing the world.

 

He despised such people most. They defined the world’s light and dark, good and evil, making him an error that needed correction and discipline from birth.

 

Si Hongche’s knuckles cracked, but he still restrained himself from attacking Asmodeus, only saying coldly and tersely: “Get lost.”

 

“I am leaving. I heard the second level is still resisting stubbornly. I need to help Lord Benbu solve his troubles. I hope Director Si will also wake up soon and lend us a hand.” With that, Asmodeus left Si Hongche alone, his figure disappearing into the corridor.

 

The ability battles on the eighth floor woke the imprisoned criminals. These vicious thugs hadn’t seen such excitement in ages—they crowded against the bars, howling and cheering randomly.

 

The bars clanged loudly, wild laughter mixing with fighting sounds, as if providing accompaniment to this jailbreak battle.

 

“Kill! Kill them!”

 

“Hahahaha, be more ruthless!”

 

“Stomp his face, woohoo!”

 

“Brains are coming out! Look at the brains!”

 

When an ability accidentally hit near a cell door, the prisoners scattered in alarm, but upon checking themselves, they quickly discovered something delightful.

 

“Can’t hit us! We have rare lead ore handcuffs!”

 

Lance’s gaze swept over the dancing prisoners, and he had a flash of inspiration. “Break open the cells and let these people out!”

 

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. These criminals were tortured and abused by guards daily—they’d long reached their limit. Releasing them would only create chaos for the guards, allowing Black Lantern Society to rush to the second level.

 

As soon as Lance spoke, Zhan Pingchuan’s silver threads had already cut through several thick iron bars.

 

Oliver’s vines also squeezed the cell doors into gaps wide enough for passage, while Mudeli’s laser eyes instantly cut through a row of cell doors.

 

Popov simply used brute force to demolish them. Soon, the eighth-floor prisoners poured out, cheering and screaming as they joined the battle.

 

The guards at the battle’s center were still deciding which pheromone to drink next when a group of ability-immune thugs charged at them.

 

“Trouble! Prisoners escaping! Switch to guns!”

 

“Abilities don’t work on them—use guns!”

 

“Grenades, smoke bombs!”

 

“Shit! Don’t hit our own people—”

 

BOOM!

 

Several grenades thrown into the criminal crowd exploded in flashes of fire, instantly sending the now-ordinary criminals flying. Severed limbs splattered the walls as agonized screams flooded the corridors like a tide.

 

Meanwhile, the Awakened used various methods to block the explosion damage.

 

“Now’s our chance!” Lance shouted.

 

“Follow me!” Popov pushed Zhan Pingchuan’s barrier with both hands, charging toward the seventh level in one burst. “Supervisor, we’re coming! Ahh—”

 

Popov’s brute force was unstoppable, actually carving a bloody path through the explosion to reach the seventh level.

 

“Brothers, this trick works—let’s keep opening cells!”

 

Popov shouted excitedly, reaching out to tear open an iron door.

 

But when the door opened and he found himself staring at the prisoner inside, he suddenly realized something was wrong.

 

Behind him was dead silence—Mudeli’s lasers, Zhan Pingchuan’s silver threads, Oliver’s vines had all vanished. On the entire seventh floor, only he remained.

 

Popov spun around abruptly, only to discover that the staircase he’d climbed no longer existed. In its place was a damp, mottled black wall.

 

“What the hell?”

 

—

 

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 (advanced chapters available on kofi)