Chapter 299: Chapter 287: Yue Mao, Kill
The streets and alleys of the safe zone had been mostly restored by the Earth Ability Users from the base’s various factions. But too many people were without a home, all of them crammed into unfinished buildings.
Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant were incredibly eye-catching as they walked down the street. It was simply because the two of them were too clean. They were so pristine they didn’t look like they were living in the apocalypse, but rather like young women out for a stroll after work.
The Mission Building was unusually quiet today. You could count the number of people in the first-floor mission hall on two hands.
When Flora Bloom and her companion reached the second floor, they found it was surprisingly crowded.
In addition to more than a dozen First-level Superpower Users, there were two Second-level users for each of the Fire, Gold, Earth, Water, and Plant elements. There were also several Level 3s: two Fire, one Gold, one Plant, and finally, Tianna Bloom, an Ice Ability User.
That’s right. It had only been a day, but Tianna Bloom’s Superpower Level had already broken through to Level 3.
’Looks like she came prepared.’
The moment Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant entered the hall, all eyes turned toward them.
"Flora, you’re here." Tianna Bloom was a completely different person today. Dressed in a sky-blue dress and white canvas shoes, she had a cool, aloof air about her, and her eyes were sharp.
"Yeah, just came to see if there are any suitable missions."
"Oh? Then by all means, have a look." The corners of Tianna Bloom’s mouth lifted slightly as she gave Flora a chilling stare from where she stood.
"Heh, what’s wrong? Can’t keep up the act anymore? Where did all that enthusiasm from the other day go?"
"Act? Hahaha! Flora Bloom, today is the day you die! I’m going to avenge my father!"
Flora Bloom gave Tianna Bloom a dismissive look, then led Cynthia Grant through the crowd of superpower users gathered around the screen.
At the sight of Flora Bloom and her companion, everyone in the hall reacted as if facing a formidable foe.
A strange golden energy suddenly coalesced around the exterior of the second-floor hall, encasing it like half a golden eggshell.
Flora Bloom tilted her head slightly to look at the energy shield, and her expression turned grim. ’This energy shield... it’s clearly a product of that laboratory’s research, something they didn’t develop until three years into the apocalypse. How can it be here now?’
"Tianna Bloom, what’s your connection to the laboratory?" Flora Bloom’s entire demeanor shifted in an instant. A cold, ruthless glint flared in her eyes as she stared straight into Tianna’s.
"Speak! Who gave it to you!"
The moment Flora Bloom finished speaking, the people who had been pretending to look at the mission board all looked away from it. One by one, they slowly closed in, forming a circle around Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant.
"Are you all the Doctor’s people?" Flora Bloom asked coldly.
"How do you know about the Doctor?" one of the men in the crowd surrounding Flora Bloom asked, his face a mask of surprise. "Who are you?"
"I’m Flora Bloom. Who else would I be?" she replied with a wide grin, exchanging a look with Cynthia Grant. At the same instant, an axe appeared in each of their hands, and a dense mist filled the entire second-floor hall.
Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant vanished from sight. But that wasn’t all. Everyone enveloped by the mist was completely blinded. All they could see was a thick fog, unable to even spot the teammates right beside them.
"Tianna Bloom, what the hell is this? This is the Water Ability you told us about? Are you screwing with me?"
A man yelled from within the mist, but his voice was swallowed by the fog. Even the person standing right next to him couldn’t hear a word.
Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant made their way to the edge of the energy shield. Flora swung her arm, bringing the axe down hard on the barrier. CLANG! The shield shuddered violently, and a crack instantly appeared.
’Just as I thought. This energy shield, which won’t be used to capture zombies and superpower users until three years into the apocalypse, is still in its early stages. It doesn’t take much to break through it... provided you have a weapon enhanced by a Level 3 Gold Ability User.’
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! After just a dozen more strikes, the golden energy shield was suddenly covered in a dense web of irregular cracks. With a final kick from Flora Bloom, it shattered completely.
"Yue Mao," Flora Bloom called out into the empty air near the second-floor entrance. "Kill!"
The moment Flora finished speaking, the energy of a Hidden Ability surged into the mist. Yue Mao was amazed to find that inside Flora’s fog, his entire body felt supercharged, his strength amplified, and his speed increased.
"You got it! Just watch me!"
Yue Mao’s dagger danced through the mist in a deadly flourish. Every slash took the life of another superpower user.
Seeing how fast he was, an idea suddenly struck Flora Bloom. She rushed forward. "Wait! Leave me two of them alive!"
’If these were ordinary superpower users, I might have spared them to preserve humanity’s strength. But most of the users from the laboratory have been modified by the Doctor; they didn’t awaken their powers naturally.’
Flora Bloom moved swiftly to the center of the mist. She placed a hand on Tianna Bloom’s shoulder, and a second later, Tianna vanished, reappearing inside Flora’s personal space.
’The fact that Tianna Bloom could get so many people from the laboratory here means she must have a significant connection to it. But based on their conversation just now, even with that connection, she doesn’t seem to know much.’
So, moving through the mist, Flora laid a hand on several of the surviving Level 3 Superpower Users, instantly pulling them into her space.
’Level 3 Superpower Users are still rare. It would be a shame for them to die; they’ll be a considerable fighting force in the future. Once they enter my space and are branded by it, they’ll tell me any secret I ask for, no matter how big.’
After Flora had secured her captives, Yue Mao finished off most of the remaining enemies. Still within the mist, Flora also collected the superpower users’ corpses, storing them in a corner of her space. ’This will be a great gift for the laboratory and the Doctor.’
For now, however, the most important thing was the matter concerning Lucia. Flora Bloom dispersed the mist. The floor of the second-floor hall, once bustling with people, now held nothing but a few pools of blood and the three of them. Yue Mao sheathed his dagger and vanished from sight. Only Flora Bloom’s spiritual power could sense the fluctuations of his Hidden Ability energy a short distance ahead of her; no one else would have been able to spot him.
As Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant walked down from the second floor, the people on the first floor had no idea what had just happened upstairs. All they knew was that no superpower users were allowed in the Mission Hall today, except for Flora Bloom and the people she brought with her.
As she was leaving the first-floor hall, Flora Bloom ran into an old acquaintance at the doorway.
Chester Sawyer was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and baggy shorts, a complete reversal of his usual shrewd-businessman persona. When he saw Flora Bloom, he pretended to walk past her casually, but then he turned his head conspiratorially and whispered, "There’s someone in the base who wants to capture you. They’re powerful, so be careful."
Flora Bloom and Cynthia Grant brushed past Chester Sawyer, neither party acknowledging the other. But as Flora’s spiritual power swept over him, her brow furrowed.
Chester Sawyer had originally possessed a Second Level Earth Ability. It had been a while since she’d seen him, and his ability had actually broken through to the Middle Level—reaching the second tier of the Middle Level, even. But what felt wrong to Flora was that the energy fluctuations coming from him were abnormal.
A Middle-level Superpower User’s energy should be powerful and stable. But Chester Sawyer’s energy felt as if it had been forcibly enhanced; it was extremely unstable.
One moment it was at the Middle Level, the next it was at Level 3.
When it dipped to Level 3, his energy was so faint it was weaker than that of a Second-level Superpower User. But when it surged to the Middle Level, it was powerful enough to rival the stacked energy of a High-level Superpower User.
