Chapter 38
Methods to Suppress the Law of Causality
——HRG plan.
Bai Sheng was a little surprised, but Shen Zhuo obviously wasn’t surprised and asked her the first sentence after he came here:
“Why?”
There was a slight commotion in the abandoned factory courtyard, indicating that the dream had suddenly reached an extremely terrifying state. With several thumps, several people kneeled to the ground due to excessive fear, their bodies trembling and tears streaming down, crawling backward like defeated dogs.
The girl finally lifted her foot as if bestowing grace and casually kicked Zhang Zongxiao’s head aside.
The torturer was already too weak to scream in agony, his twisted body convulsing on the ground, blood spurting out in bursts.
“Because I am very afraid of them,” Chu Yan calmly said, her voice very light.
“I am afraid of those humans. They have the ability to harm everything, from the earth to ants, encompassing everything and being omnipotent. Abilities force me to hear the agonizing roars of elephants under the hunters’ guns and feel the desperate cries of orcas in the oceanarium day after day, but I can only watch helplessly, unable to do anything about everything happening around me.”
“Because my evolution does not come with any offensive abilities,” she said, “I cannot protect any life, not even save a hungry and frightened little cat from being dissected alive by the torturers, filmed in bloody videos to make money.”
“…”
Bai Sheng remembered the small cat claws he saw on that pile of grotesque torture devices. He wanted to comfort her with a few words but couldn’t bring himself to speak.
“I spent half a month searching everywhere and finally got a lead on the evolution source black market. They said there’s a gene rejuvenator called Rong Qi that can enable low-tier peers to undergo secondary evolution. But when I found him, he told me it was risky. Not long ago, someone named Liu, a D-class, forcefully jumped to A-class and soon died from gene tearing.”
“Helpless, I could only think of the last resort, the HRG plan. Luckily, I studied this specialty at the Central Research Institute, and I kept asking my mentor about it, knowing it was just a step away from success.”
Shen Zhuo met the girl’s gaze, showing no hint of emotion on his face.
Chu Yan reached out her fair palm upwards, looking up at him earnestly.
“Please, I just want the courage to face violence and the ability to protect other vulnerable lives. As an exchange, I can immediately tell you where Rong Qi is hiding. Even if it costs everything, I’m willing to help you get rid of him.”
The vast courtyard of the factory was eerily quiet, with only Zhang Zongxiao, writhing on the ground like a gourd filled with blood, scraping against the concrete floor, making chilling sounds.
After a long while, Shen Zhuo spoke, his tone devoid of emotion: “What if I refuse?”
The few seconds seemed to stretch into eternity.
Chu Yan stared straight at him, pointing to the group of torturers behind her:
“—Then you can witness it with your own eyes.”
“Killing is always easier than protecting. If I can’t have the ability to protect, at least I can use violence to counter violence and seek retribution.”
The vast mountain forest suddenly fell silent, the air eerie and quiet, without a hint of wind.
At that moment, a man with his back to the camera suddenly moved.
He moved as if in a trance, slowly lowering his head and looking at his arm, as if suddenly becoming very hungry, opening his mouth several times as if to bite, but seeming unable to make up his mind to bite down.
Then, several others had the same reaction, and the crowd echoed with chilling sounds of swallowing saliva.
Many people just talk tough, but Chu Yan clearly wasn’t one of them.
This “peaceful and gentle” sixteen-year-old girl, with her evolutionary mark not on her hand but on her chest, invisibly indicated many issues. Moreover, she had been tormented by her abilities for so long that even an adult would have gone mad, let alone a child.
Shen Zhuo stared at her calmly, as if an entire century had passed before he finally spoke:
“…The HRG plan doesn’t exist for this purpose, Chu Yan.”
His voice was very gentle, calling out the girl’s name with both her given and family names, like an elder, but there was no hint of softness: “You misunderstood something about me. I don’t make deals with anyone; I won’t make an exception for you, and I won’t allow you to stand here today, using lives to threaten me.”
Chu Yan’s pupils dilated sharply: “Do you still consider these people human in your mind?! Do you—”
“No, they don’t matter, but letting a child like you stain your hands with blood is our dereliction of duty as adults.”
Shen Zhuo took out a miniature metal syringe from the inner pocket of his chest. Inside the transparent tube were a few milliliters of pale blue liquid, and the metal cap was stamped not with S or ABCD but with the letter X:
“Fortunately, I anticipated this situation early.”
Chu Yan realized: “This is…”
“Rong Qi’s serum.”
In an instant, the girl’s face changed dramatically, and Bai Sheng also looked at Shen Zhuo unexpectedly, recalling everything that happened that day—
On the lower floor of the supervision office, the feigned-death Shen Zhuo suddenly opened his eyes, his left hand swiftly piercing into Rong Qi’s chest, and amid the incredulous cries of everyone, he gruesomely pulled out the heart, mercilessly crushing it into a bloody pulp.
The next moment, outside the supervision office building where all personnel were urgently evacuating, Bai Sheng supported the injured Shen Zhuo tightly in his arms. Amidst the chaos, he saw a supervisor in a white coat swiftly approaching, using a specially made chilled tube to collect the dripping blood from Shen Zhuo’s left hand.
…….
Bai Sheng held Shen Zhuo down and whispered, “Will it backlash?”
“No, it’s been diluted hundreds of times. It can only last for ten seconds.” Shen Zhuo flicked open the cap with his thumb and inserted the needle into his own neck, cleanly injecting all the serum into his bloodstream. “Stay back.”
A powerful surge of energy erupted from under Shen Zhuo’s feet. At almost the same time, Chu Yan took a quick step back, but it was too late.
Using the serum synthesized from Rong Qi’s blood, the genetic interferon was fully injected into Shen Zhuo’s body, completing a temporary evolution in just a few seconds. Shen Zhuo raised his hand, and an unimaginable, terrifying suction force caused Chu Yan to stagger forward. Then, countless azure lights broke free from her heart area, like shooting stars streaking across the sky.
—Whoosh!
The ability “Daydream” condensed into a brilliant sphere of light in Shen Zhuo’s palm, just like the night when Rong Qi forcibly borrowed Su Jiqiao’s ability in the hospital room!
In an instant, the situation was reversed. Those controlled by abilities froze simultaneously, some with their mouths open, about to bite their own arms, their teeth now solidified in the flesh, blood rapidly pooling at their feet.
Ten seconds passed, and the evolution ended.
The whirring of helicopter rotors approached from afar, and the helicopter descended onto the roof, kicking up a strong wind.
Supervisors rushed in, surrounding the abandoned factory yard, and began using stretchers to transport the dozens of mentally dazed individuals. Luo Zhen threw something over: “Supervisor!”
Shen Zhuo caught it, revealing a matchbox-sized metal device. When opened, a cold air emanated from it, exquisitely crafted. It appeared to be an energy storage device modeled after the ability eco-box.
“This girl knows about Rong Qi’s information.” Shen Zhuo put the azure fluorescent light into the storage device and nodded in Chu Yan’s direction, “Take her back to the supervision office and arrange a room for her to stay in. I’ll personally interrogate her later.”
“Yes, sir!”
Bai Sheng grabbed Shen Zhuo’s shoulder and scrutinized him up and down, from head to toe, with a hint of disbelief, “Are you really okay?”
“Don’t move around.” Shen Zhuo brushed off Bai Sheng’s hand that was trying to touch his lower back, “The serum from Rong’s blood wasn’t collected in large quantities, and the potion was diluted to a 1/600 ratio, not enough to cause side effects.”
Bai Sheng stopped and withdrew his hand, somewhat frustrated, “…You really are meticulous and efficient, Supervisor Shen, not wasting even a drop of blood.”
“Don’t flatter. Our staff are trained to be meticulous.” Shen Zhuo smiled faintly at him, “If you ever cut your hand while peeling apples, remember to call me; I’ll send someone to collect 200 cc of blood.”
Bai Sheng: “…”
Shen Zhuo handed the storage device to the supervisor and instructed, “Take it back to the laboratory and put it in the ability eco-tank. There’s a high possibility that ‘Daydream’ will automatically return to Su Jiqiao, so arrange for someone to watch it closely 24/7.”
“Yes, sir!” The supervisor nodded and took the small metal box.
At the same time, thousands of miles away.
Under the vast sky atop the mountain, a lone bird soared across the horizon, reflecting in Rong Qi’s dark eyes.
“Sharing perception with animals… So that’s how they found out where I am?”
He seemed amused, shaking his head with a smile, with the indulgence and helplessness of an adult toward a clever child, “But it doesn’t matter. At least we’ve reached this step according to plan.”
This was a grand hall in the Linhu Villa, where Yoko Noda stood solemnly, surrounded by dozens of evolutionists. All eyes were on Rong Qi’s open palm, where a small blue glow danced lightly.
——Daydream.
Rong Qi’s palm extended, and the orb halted in midair, then suddenly surged in all directions:
“It’s actually me who borrowed the ability. How could you think I forgot to retain control?”
In the courtyard, the metal square box held by the supervisor suddenly emitted bursts of light, and the energy orb rapidly expanded.
It all happened in just two or three seconds. Only Shen Zhuo was the first to realize what was happening. He decisively snapped! The metal box flew out of the supervisor’s hand with a snap: “Back away!”
The metal box traced a parabola in the air and then—
Boom!
Fragments splintered in the air, and the sudden force made everyone stagger and fall. The astonished supervisor exclaimed, “What, what’s going on?”
Even without instruments to measure, the needle-like radiation made the skin feel the increasingly intense heat. Chu Yan, supported by a female supervisor, turned back in astonishment: “It’s not me; I can’t control it. Could it be—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Shen Zhuo suddenly felt something amiss. The dramatically increased energy glow was clearly reflected in his pupils.
“Evolutionists from the Philosophy Department are immune to mental attacks below A-class,” Rong Qi murmured, “but what about beyond S-class?”
In that instant, Daydream streaked across the sky like a meteor, completely ignoring Bai Sheng and heading straight for Shen Zhuo.
—Even if Shen Zhuo had half a second more, he would have realized something was amiss, but it was already too late at the critical moment.
Bai Sheng grabbed Shen Zhuo and forcefully pushed him away, an instinctive protector’s action in a moment of crisis. Then, half a step too late, Bai Sheng was accurately hit by the ability, and millions of shattered lights burst into the air!
The lethal azure shards engulfed his entire body, and then the light completely merged into his body.
In that instant, everything turned blank, quiet, and seemingly endless. A rare expression appeared on Shen Zhuo’s face as he reached out his hand to Bai Sheng, and the surprised expressions of each other were clearly reflected in their pupils.
Bang.
The S-rank slumped to the ground, kneeling abruptly, then falling forward, caught by Shen Zhuo’s hand.
“Bai Sheng?!”
***
“Super S-class mental attack, Daydream.” Rong Qi stood by the window, watching the crimson halo in the air that had turned red from engulfing the dreamer, like overseeing a tame little pet in his palm. “The only way to break it is for the dreamer to use destructive power above S-class to disintegrate the dream from within within 24 hours…”
“Exceeding the time limit will result in brain damage and permanent mental disorders.”
The law of causality weapons cannot be cracked, restrained, or stripped away, but there is an important prerequisite for activating philosophical abilities: the ability holder must possess self-awareness and reasoning ability.
If it were natural abilities like water, fire, or lightning, even if the evolutionist’s mind became disturbed, they could still activate them, albeit becoming dangerously unstable. However, philosophical abilities are entirely different. If an evolutionist’s intellect is impaired and they cannot think, then the prerequisite for philosophical evolution is lost. Even if causality remains overwhelmingly powerful over the universe, it can only become the ultimate weapon locked deep in Bai Sheng’s brain, forever unable to be activated.
“But it still takes 24 hours,” Yoko Noda couldn’t help but worry, “That Bai Sheng is S-class; what if he activates the law of causality in his dream…”
Rong Qi smiled, his eyes reflecting the blood-like gleam of his abilities.
“The first rule of dream making is that the dreamer will relive the most painful experiences of their life in a loop until their brain neurons completely decay.
“The second rule of dreammakers,” he paused, speaking softly, “the dreamer will completely forget that they have evolved and possess abilities.”
***
A raging fire erupted, and Bai Sheng opened his eyes, his face reddened by the heat wave that hit him, staring in astonishment at everything before him.
A car crashed into a bridge pillar, its body almost completely deformed and engulfed in roaring flames and black smoke, yet faint, desperate cries for help could still be heard from inside:
“Help… help…”
“Someone, please help us; save us—”
In that moment, he almost instantly recognized the familiar voices.
They were the desperate cries for help from his parents as they faced death!
Amidst the billowing black smoke, numerous eerie shadows emerged, contorting and swaying, grotesque and inhuman, yet emitting eerie, shrill laughter: “Hahaha—” “No one will save you; die!” “Die!!” “Burn alive!!—”
Bai Sheng bent down, covering his ears tightly, but to no avail.
His body had reverted back to that of an eight-year-old child, his soul struggling and screaming in agony, his mind engulfed in pain and confusion. Yet, the cries for help and laughter grew sharper and louder, clouding his senses even further.
Who am I? Where am I?
Why are you all laughing? Why aren’t you helping?
The crackling flames couldn’t drown out the wailing cries, as if demons were coming from all directions, piercing his eardrums with countless scorching needles: “Save us, we’re still alive!”
“We’re your mom and dad!”
“Bai Sheng—Bai Sheng—!”
Dad, Mom.
As the last shred of consciousness faded away, eight-year-old Bai Sheng staggered to his feet, his thin chest heaving violently, his expression as pale and stiff as death. Then, disregarding everything, he lunged toward the towering flames—
