Chapter 322: Chapter 310: The Stolen Seed Incident
When Neal Wallace arrived, he and Cynthia Grant performed a thorough physical examination on Joel Bloom. However, they still couldn’t find anything wrong.
Flora Bloom looked at Shelly. "Shelly, your superpower is rather unique. I need to know exactly what happened between you and my brother during that time. You have to tell me every single detail of what you did to him with your power. Otherwise, I’ll have a hard time determining his true condition."
Shelly lowered her head, her face a mask of guilt and tension, her eyes filled with worry. She thought for a moment before speaking.
"Joel has always looked after me, and I’m very grateful. After my superpower advanced to Level 3, I had originally planned to find some small insects or plants to practice on. But Joel insisted on practicing with me, telling me to use him as a subject..." As she spoke, Shelly looked at Flora Bloom. "Flora, I’m not lying to you."
Flora Bloom knew her brother’s character. She knew Shelly wasn’t lying. The possibility that her brother had volunteered to help her practice was extremely high.
"How did you train with him? Do you remember how you practiced on me the other day? When you were training, did you activate your superpower while looking at him? At a specific part of his body? Just like how you kept staring at my heart when you practiced on me."
Shelly racked her brain. Suddenly, it dawned on her. "I remember now! Yes, that’s it. But I focused on several places. His chest, for example. And the bones in his thighs and calves, his knee joints, and so on."
The more Flora Bloom heard, the more solemn her expression grew. ’If I’m not mistaken,’ she thought, ’Shelly’s superpower isn’t just X-ray vision. It’s an ability that, once it locks onto something, can completely shut down its vitality.’
This "shutting down" was, in reality, a state of command. It was similar to how Flora could control all the animals in her space. If she were to suddenly order them to do something specific, they would all obey.
Shelly’s superpower was similar, but it bypassed imprints and mental control, directly issuing a compulsory command to the target.
It seemed Joel Bloom had been forced into this passive, dormant state.
"Shelly, listen to me. We’ll need your help to wake Joel up. Your superpower is unique. If I’m right, your power is what caused him to fall into this deep sleep. Think back. When you were using him as a practice subject, looking inside his body with your superpower, what were you thinking?"
Shelly’s face flushed crimson. She whispered, "I... I... actually, I wasn’t thinking anything."
"What were you thinking? It doesn’t matter if you say it or not. What matters is that Joel still hasn’t woken up. I believe it has to do with your superpower, don’t you?"
"Then what should I do?" Shelly seemed to quickly grasp her role in the situation.
"I want you to try again. Use your superpower to look at the same places inside Joel’s body that you focused on during your practice. And as you’re looking, I want you to mentally command him to wake up. Understand?"
Shelly nodded gently, indicating she understood. Flora had everyone else move away from Shelly and Joel Bloom. That layer of golden light reappeared in Shelly’s eyes. The glow of a Level 3 superpower was far brighter and more profound than it had been at Level 1.
It was as if she was peering through the surface of Joel Bloom’s skin and into his body. Connected to her eyes, strands of golden energy floated out of Joel’s body and back into hers.
The streams of golden energy continued to flow out of Joel Bloom’s body until they had all entered Shelly.
Shelly swayed, her face instantly turning pale. Just then, she snapped her eyes shut as if finishing a task, took a deep breath, and opened them again.
"How was it?" Flora Bloom asked.
"I tried, but it doesn’t seem like anything’s changed!"
Flora Bloom’s powerful spiritual power swept over Joel Bloom. Although nothing seemed different on the surface, it was clear that the faint trace of Life Energy in his body had become active again.
"Who said nothing changed?"
Flora Bloom had barely finished speaking when Joel Bloom’s brows knitted together and his eyes fluttered open. He looked at the crowd, his gaze landing on Shelly, whose tear-streaked face showed a mixture of worry and joy. "Shelly, what’s wrong? Sis, why is everyone here?"
"It’s nothing. We’re just glad you’re awake."
Joel Bloom was only awake for a moment before he drifted off again. This time, however, he was merely asleep.
"You stay here and look after Joel," Flora said to Shelly. "The rest of us will head out. He almost died this time because of you. The responsibility of looking after him now falls to you. Any objections?"
Shelly hastily waved her hands. "No, no, no objections at all! Don’t worry, Flora, I’ll take good care of him."
Everyone filed out, leaving only Jade, who reluctantly glanced back at her son. Flora took her by the arm and led her out.
"Flora, why are you dragging me out! I used to think that Shelly, the young nurse, was sensible and cute, but who knew her superpower was so dangerous! And Joel, honestly, why would he just serve himself up on a platter for her to practice on!"
Flora sighed. "Mom, don’t worry so much. Joel is fine now, isn’t he?"
"But what if it happens again? What do we do then? Flora, let me go back and look after Joel. I’m still not at ease!"
"Mom! Give Shelly a chance! And give that blockhead Joel a chance, too! Can’t you tell your son likes her?"
Flora hadn’t been speaking quietly. Jade was stunned for a moment, then sighed. "I suspected as much. But who knew that foolish boy would actually risk his life for her to practice on!"
"Don’t worry. Trust Shelly. It won’t happen again."
Back in the room, Shelly had naturally overheard their conversation. As she was overwhelmed with guilt, she looked at the handsome, sleeping face before her, her heart fluttering.
Both Bloom siblings were blessed with looks that could make life feel worthwhile. Flora possessed a beauty that was unassuming from a distance but bewitching up close. Joel Bloom was the opposite; he had the kind of face that could make a love-struck girl fall for him in a single glance and be lost forever.
His good looks were a major reason Shelly had remembered him so clearly after just one glance at the hospital.
"Joel Bloom, why were you so foolish, letting me practice my superpower on you? If you had died, were you just going to let me drown in guilt and self-recrimination for the rest of my life?"
Shelly looked at Joel Bloom’s pale face, which still showed little sign of improvement. "You need to get better soon. Don’t make everyone worry."
As Flora Bloom was leaving the Villa 3 area to check the mission hall, she heard people in the base furiously discussing an incident. The fruit and vegetable seeds everyone had planted in their yards and plots had been dug up overnight. With the exception of the plots within Villa 3, which were untouched, all the newly planted seeds in the yards of the other villas and the plots near the low-rise apartment buildings had vanished overnight.
