Chapter 31 (continued)

Including but not limited to...

After hearing Lu Zhaobei's words, his previously calm eyes narrowed "dangerously," the curve of his lips gradually tightened, and his jaw went taut... and so on.

He put on this entire performance in the space of an instant.

Lu Zhaobei had no idea Qi Yue was acting. All he saw was that, after he asked his question, Qi Yue showed no intention of answering it. Instead, his expression visibly darkened.

Damn it, my question crossed the line and upset Qi Yue.

Nervous, Lu Zhaobei instinctively swallowed twice.

Qi Yue discreetly watched Lu Zhaobei's Adam's apple bob. Though he couldn't see his expression, the body's instant, unconscious reactions couldn't lie.

His deliberate cold-face act had worked.

The next second, Qi Yue heard the words he had expected come out of Lu Zhaobei's mouth.

"Sorry, I... crossed the line. Just pretend you didn't hear what I said." Lu Zhaobei's voice was taut. He hadn't told Qi Yue his own purpose, so how could Qi Yue possibly allow him to speculate about why he had come?

Qi Yue: "..."

I fooled him. Just as planned!

The right amount of silence really could bring him unexpected results. This... was the self-cultivation of a riddler.

Qi Yue fought to keep the corners of his mouth from shooting up and suppressed the urge to blink. Blinking during a silent standoff wasn't just uncool; it would also weaken his imposing manner.

Besides, from the moment he had deliberately made his appearance before Lu Zhaobei seem "sudden," he had effectively placed himself in an "all-knowing" position. To Lu Zhaobei, he was therefore "unknown," and the unknown meant "infinite possibilities." Lu Zhaobei would subconsciously believe he was in a situation where he "knew nothing and was exposed before him."

In this standoff laced with subconscious psychological suggestion, Lu Zhaobei had been doomed to lose from the start, thanks to his buff as the comic's protagonist: "positive and sunny, always believing in truth, goodness, and beauty."

Conversely, it would have been hard for Qi Yue not to "win." Why else would people say those who played mind games were all dirty? So thought Qi Yue as he continued pretending to be "cold," maintaining his silence and fixing Lu Zhaobei with a "chilling" gaze.

Even after he apologized, Qi Yue still said nothing. His eyelids merely drooped slightly as he gave him a cold, scrutinizing look. Feeling guilty for probing him after receiving his help, Lu Zhaobei could only continue, "In that case..."

Lu Zhaobei didn't know why Qi Yue had saved him, but that didn't mean he could cross the line. They weren't friends, after all. He had known from the start that people like Qi Yue placed the greatest importance on "personal privacy," and that any question lacking a sense of boundaries would upset them, yet he had deliberately probed him anyway. It was only natural for Qi Yue to be angry. Fortunately, Qi Yue still had no intention of attacking him, so he had better take the hint and find a way out.

"I have my reasons, and you... have yours. We..."

Lu Zhaobei steeled himself and met Qi Yue's icy crimson eyes, which hadn't blinked once. "Let's go our separate ways here," he suggested.

Whatever Qi Yue's purpose for appearing here, judging by the certainty and confidence in his every move when he saved him, and the fact that he was here, Lu Zhaobei could conclude that Qi Yue was very familiar with this place.

Based on that conjecture, whether Qi Yue had come here to "see him" or do something else... it was fraught with danger. His own original purpose in coming here was merely to retrieve what belonged to him; he had no intention of taking risks. The decision to part ways was good for both of them.

Qi Yue: "..."

That... might not work.

Qi Yue knew full well that he wasn't familiar with this place. Lu Zhaobei, meanwhile, had once been a "test subject" here, and according to the coordinates, the person who had briefly possessed the slip of paper in his hand had once been a "test subject" here too.

How could that not count as something they have in common?

Perhaps the place Lu Zhaobei was heading to now had something to do with the test subject who had hidden the slip of paper.

So he had to follow Lu Zhaobei.

But...

He couldn't let Lu Zhaobei suspect that he was "following" him.

He could only wait for Lu Zhaobei to go first, then pretend he was "taking the same route" and shamelessly follow along.

In a few brief seconds, Qi Yue worked out a strategy and maintained a cold silence in response to Lu Zhaobei's suggestion.

Wasn't there a saying that "silence means consent"? He would let Lu Zhaobei take it that way.

Lu Zhaobei: "..."

It seemed Qi Yue still minded his overstepping and didn't want to acknowledge him. That was only natural.

"Then... goodbye." Believing he had offended Qi Yue after receiving his help, Lu Zhaobei wasn't surprised that Qi Yue didn't speak to him.

At least Qi Yue hadn't objected to his suggestion or attacked him, which meant he agreed with it in his heart.

After saying goodbye, Lu Zhaobei saw that Qi Yue's expression was still cold. Without further hesitation, he turned and walked into the curved metal tunnel.

In the past, Lu Zhaobei would never have exposed his back to someone who "wasn't a friend." But Qi Yue's strength was unfathomable, and he had helped him not long ago. That meant if Qi Yue really wanted his life, he wouldn't be able to escape. In other words, if Qi Yue really wanted his life, there would have been no need to save him in the first place.

He might as well steel himself and turn his back to Qi Yue, so Qi Yue wouldn't "look down on" him.

It was just that...

The eerie gaze that followed him like a shadow made him feel as though pins were pricking his back.

Once he finally stepped out of Qi Yue's sight, Lu Zhaobei couldn't help letting out a long breath.

Under Qi Yue's eerie, oppressive gaze, he had really felt the pressure!

Meanwhile, aboveground.

In the forest where Third Level Aberrants roamed, the same place Qi Yue had spent time the previous night.

When the Class F students who had come together reached their destination and saw the scene of "mountains of corpses and seas of blood," expressions of shock, admiration, and horror appeared on their faces.

Excitedly, they began exclaiming over and discussing the scene.

"My god..."

"Rotten flesh and blood, shattered into pieces and melted. Help, this is... way too terrifying!"

"That big rock is much cleaner than the area around it. That must be where Qi Yue stood last night. Judging by the splattered blood and scattered, melted flesh, those Aberrants started melting uncontrollably and exploding into scraps before they even got close to him. Hiss... Just imagining that effortless, one-sided slaughter makes my scalp tingle..."

"As expected, although Qi Yue's Esper Ability is similar to Beixing's, it's truly and completely stronger. Not only can he control its range and targets, he can also make his targets explode into pieces while they melt. That's something Beixing's passive Esper Ability can't do."

"What a bloody and brutal Esper Ability. No wonder Qi Yue had no intention of using it in our homeroom teacher's Superpower Potential Activation Class at school. This..." Looking at the scene, Zhou Wei spoke fearfully. "How could he use it?! There's simply no one who could withstand such a terrifying, heaven-defying Esper Ability attack. Qi Yue was thinking entirely of our safety..."

"Qi Yue treated Beixing differently from us from the start. Besides the fact that Beixing... was excluded by us, perhaps it was also because Beixing's Esper Ability was similar to his, but Beixing couldn't control it as freely as he could. Maybe Qi Yue felt some... pity for him because of that."

"Why bring up Beixing at a time like this?" Hearing Beixing's name, Jin Yuxuan reflexively retorted, feeling guilty.

"What's wrong with Beixing?"

"Beixing... is actually pretty cute and well-behaved. He knew he couldn't get close, so he obediently kept his distance all that time."

"Exactly. You couldn't be as lucky as Beixing now even if you wanted to. He's a friend under Boss Qi's protection."

Jin Yuxuan had never expected his words to be met with a chorus of objections.

Even the Esper students who followed his lead didn't speak up for him, instead pretending not to see and looking elsewhere.

Jin Yuxuan: "..."

Did something happen that I don't know about? Everyone's opinion of Beixing has improved way too fast.

With everyone frowning at him, and still needing the power of money to get the other students to help him, Jin Yuxuan could only awkwardly change the subject. "Although they've melted so much you can't tell what level the Aberrants originally were, I'd guess the vast majority here were Third Level Aberrants. After all, the highest-level Aberrants in Area F are only Third Level. What do you think?"

The few students who needed Jin Yuxuan's money chimed in to help change the subject.

"I think so too."

"That's right. I'm sure that if Qi Yue weren't in Class F, this whole 'mountain of corpses and sea of blood' would be nothing but fragments of First Level Aberrants."

The Class F students who had come all agreed with that.

"As expected of Qi Yue. He really is... terrifying to such an extent." Zhao Yu sighed from the bottom of the heart.

Zhao Yu's words once again met with everyone's unanimous agreement, and they nodded silently.

Naturally, Qi Yue had never told them where he had "fought," but judging by the successive bursts and roars they had heard last night, shrill enough to set their teeth on edge, the only person who could have caused such a tremendous commotion was their class's mysterious transfer student, Qi Yue, whose strength was unfathomable.

Naturally, based on the direction the commotion had come from, they could have figured out Qi Yue's location with their toes.

Thinking of the unapproachable aura Qi Yue had in class and his cold attitude toward them, none of them dared face him alone, so they had come together.

Even so, though so many of them had arrived together and hadn't seen Qi Yue himself, the scene of overwhelming slaughter still filled them with fear.

"Do you think... it's possible Beixing had a part in what happened here?"

"There's absolutely no way it was Beixing." The moment Zhou Wei said this, his classmates all looked at him.