Esper

"Ah!"

Lin Xian roared, blood surging as he charged headlong through the hail of bullets.

Boom!

Against the 200-ton heavy gas turbine locomotive's high-speed ram, the flimsy little car blocking the way was instantly crushed in half at the waist. Sparks flew, debris scattered, and in the cockpit, Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan only felt a slight jolt before they burst through.

Like driving over a flimsy cardboard box.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Rain-like bullets pelted the all-metal body, leaving only faint white marks. Instead, a stray ricochet punched clean through the thigh of one of Liu Wei's underlings.

"Ah!"

The thug clutched his leg in pain.

In that instant, the train roared away. Liu Wei, seeing this, felt his authority shattered and fury ignited. A green glint flashed in his eyes, his shirt burst apart, and four sickly-green tentacles unfurled from his back. They scuttled swiftly, like a nimble spider, chasing down the tracks.

Those tentacles held immense strength, enough to lift tons, and moved with startling agility. Through training, Liu Wei had found their power and speed could still grow, so he'd arrogantly dubbed himself the "Four-Winged Heavenly King."

Splash!

Just as Lin Xian and Chen Sixuan thought they'd broken through, a strange sound landed on the train's roof.

Lin Xian's expression tightened. He quickly eased off the speed, grabbing his short blade.

He had to slow down, or he wouldn't have the focus to handle a crisis.

Thump, thump, thump!

Something clung to the roof, scaring Chen Sixuan into curling up. Lin Xian listened, then stepped back sharply. At that moment, a middle-aged man with tentacles appeared at the windshield.

"Kid, got some guts, ramming through my checkpoint!"

Liu Wei, seeing only a youth in the cab, barked out a curse. But then his gaze swept past and landed on Chen Sixuan huddled in the aisle, and his eyes lit up.

"Oho, a pretty little thing too."

Chen Sixuan's face went white at the sight of Liu Wei's outstretched tentacles. He looked almost exactly like a movie monster—green-eyed, with four disgusting appendages writhing.

An Esper!?

Lin Xian's heart leaped. He hadn't expected one of the ambushers to be an Esper.

This was his first encounter with one, and it was nothing like he'd imagined.

After all, he never thought a person could sprout tentacles. Was this an ability or radiation poisoning?

Thud!

Without a word, Liu Wei slammed a tentacle into the windshield, spiderwebbing it with cracks.

Lin Xian jolted. The windshield was at least 10-15mm high-strength glass—rifle rounds only left white marks. Yet this guy cracked it with one hit? What terrifying force?!

Liu Wei was equally shocked. He knew his tentacles' power well; that strike should've punched through. This train's protection was no joke.

"Damn it!"

Lin Xian's face went cold. He slammed the brakes, bringing the train to a rapid stop.

But Liu Wei, seeing Lin Xian leave the console, hadn't expected the train to halt out of nowhere. Caught off guard, inertia flung him off.

"Lock the door!"

Lin Xian skirted past Chen Sixuan, short blade in hand, and opened the rear cab door.

Chen Sixuan, seeing him stop the train, gasped. "What are you doing?"

"Killing him!"

Bang!

Lin Xian leaped out and shut the iron door.

He knew well: an Esper like Liu Wei could chase the train, break its defenses. Cowering inside was just waiting to die. Better to take the bastard out before the windshield shattered.

If that glass broke, it'd take hours to repair. Come nightfall, with his scent exposed, running into that Strange Bug from last night might mean an even worse death.

Liu Wei tumbled into the mud, rose in fury, and saw the youth from the cab stepping down with a steel blade. He couldn't help but laugh.

"What, playing hero to save the girl, bro? Haha." He sneered, his tentacles spreading wide, towering and menacing. "Sorry, but today I'm taking your life, your train, and I'll take good care of your woman too."

Lin Xian's gaze hardened. Without a word, he raised his hand and fired a charged Wind Cannon straight at Liu Wei's face.

Whoosh!

The biting Wind Gun shot out. Liu Wei saw Lin Xian's hand move and tried to react, but a heavy hammer seemed to smash into his forehead, sending him flying backward.

"Shit! An Esper!"

Liu Wei's heart pounded. He realized the kid was an Esper too. He'd only just awakened his own ability, with no real combat experience. Caught off guard by Lin Xian's sneak attack, cold sweat poured down his spine.

But after awakening, his physique and reflexes had soared. In a flash, though airborne, one tentacle shot out like lightning, latching onto Lin Xian's ankle.

Beside the tracks was a deep, sloping valley. Liu Wei, midair, tried to steady himself with his other tentacles, but they only tore through the wire fence along the tracks, dragging both him and Lin Xian tumbling down the slope.

Lin Xian hadn't expected Liu Wei's seemingly bulky tentacles to move so fast, nor that his point-blank Wind Cannon would only knock the man back, leaving a shallow dent in his forehead. An Esper's defense was terrifying.

At this moment, his ankle was snared, a tremendous constricting force coming from it, and the pain made him suck in a sharp, cold breath.

If his strength and defense stats hadn't been somewhat enhanced, that single squeeze alone would have surely snapped his ankle.

Buzz buzz buzz!

The world spun. Along the way, Liu Wei's tentacles snapped off several bushes, but still couldn't stop his fall. Lin Xian simply dropped the short blade, covered his head with both hands, and was dragged by Liu Wei all the way down to the riverbank at the bottom of the slope.

Agony to the core!

When Lin Xian struggled to open his eyelids, excruciating pain tore through every part of his body. His first instinct was to search with his eyes, and soon he spotted Liu Wei, his tentacles flailing not far away, also staggering up from the ground.

Because Liu Wei was in front, his massive tentacled body had taken the brunt of all the sharp rocks and branches along the way. Now he was drenched in blood, utterly disheveled.

"Ugh! Son of a bitch!"

Though his defense had improved quite a bit, Liu Wei's back was now split open, and one leg's joint was dislocated. The pain nearly made him grind his back teeth to dust.

Burning with rage, Liu Wei looked up at Lin Xian, whom he'd dragged down. He dared not underestimate him now. The fact that the other party could send him flying with bare hands—what kind of ability was that? He couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Under these circumstances, he had to fight for his life, strike first!

But when his gaze locked onto Lin Xian lying on the ground, he found the man's eyes already open, and one finger was aimed right at his forehead.

Holy shit, not again!

Having already suffered once, Liu Wei's heart lurched. He immediately extended four tentacles to shield his face.

But the anticipated attack never came. Instead, the motion tore open the deep, bone-exposing wounds on his back again, blood gushing like a fountain, nearly making him pass out from the pain.

A feint?

Liu Wei had no time to cry out in pain. He opened his tentacles, only to see the young man with both hands on the ground, charging like a hunting dog at breakneck speed, throwing a desperate punch at his now-exposed face.

Thud!

Lin Xian's full-force punch nearly shattered Liu Wei's entire nose bridge, plunging his vision into darkness. His tentacles reflexively lashed out wildly in front of him, but all of them hit nothing.

He never expected that such a young-looking guy would be so sharp and ruthless, even pulling a feint. This was hardly something Liu Wei, a middle-aged man who'd spent years squatting in a vegetable market, could react to.

Having now suffered two hidden losses in a row, Liu Wei was starting to get scared.

His convoy had only been out for a single day, and already Liu Wei felt the Aura of Death rushing toward him.

New book—please keep reading!