Top Predator

Ten minutes earlier.

Gu Qing had been cultivating when his mind suddenly stirred!

It was a very strange sensation.

He could feel something like a vortex in the distance tugging at his consciousness.

"Is this... the power of the mind?"

The telekinetic seeds brought about by the crystal radiation held even greater potential than Gu Qing had imagined.

They could not only use the mind to affect matter and manipulate objects through telekinesis.

They could even develop applications for psychic power!

At this stage, however, that power was still in its infancy and could not be controlled at will.

It could only be passively triggered now and then.

Only the four of them in the entire world who had undergone crystal radiation possessed such immense mental strength.

It caused them to resonate and stirred their psychic power.

"That direction seems to be... Andrew!"

Steve walked over, wiping his nose with a tissue.

"Hey, Erik, do you have a strange feeling too?"

Gu Qing glanced at his nose.

It was bleeding nonstop, quickly staining the tissue in his hand red.

This was a side effect that occurred when someone could not bear the strain of their ability.

Would merely triggering psychic resonance passively cause side effects right away?

"Yes."

"Should we go take a look? I have a feeling something happened."

Gu Qing looked at the rainy weather outside the window.

He answered bluntly, "No."

Steve shook his head helplessly and said nothing more.

"All right. I'll go take a look. If everything's fine, I'll be back soon."

When the rain stopped.

Steve returned.

Matt came back with him.

"The situation's pretty bad, man."

Matt's expression was grave as well.

"I can't believe Andrew... Forget it. Maybe I should've expected this day to come."

Steve did not fully understand what had happened and looked at Matt. "Why? What exactly happened?"

A trace of amusement flashed through Gu Qing's eyes. "So, who's going to tell me what happened?"

Steve looked at him. "Sorry, I'm a little overwhelmed... This is what happened..."

He went on to recount how he had rushed to Andrew's house that morning, happened to stop Andrew's punch, accompanied Richard to the hospital in the ambulance, and then contacted Matt to search for Andrew together.

"I swear, Andrew really meant to throw that punch. Oh, damn it! He should know how heavy his fists are! Richard would've died! He definitely would've died!

Matt, why? They're father and son!"

As Andrew's cousin, Matt knew something about his family situation, though he did not know the more detailed circumstances.

At that, he could only give them a rough account of Andrew's home life.

Steve sighed after hearing it. "No wonder. No wonder Andrew was always... But why did he never tell us any of this?!"

Matt said, "Andrew actually has a lot of pride, and... sometimes he's a little sensitive, so..."

Gu Qing asked, "So what are you planning to do now?"

Steve said, "We need to find him quickly. Something's wrong with him. I'm worried about what happened last time..."

He did not finish, but everyone knew what he meant.

After that incident, their lives had gone smoothly, and the police had never come looking for them.

As time passed, they gradually forgot about it.

But after witnessing Andrew nearly beat his own father to death, that incident immediately resurfaced in Steve's mind.

Matt's eyes were heavy with concern as well.

"Erik, we need your help!"

Naturally, Gu Qing would not refuse again.

"All right, but how do you plan to find him?"

Steve said, "We split up. I don't think he could've gone too far!"

The three of them split up.

They flew through the air, searching for Andrew.

The first to find him was neither Steve nor Gu Qing.

It was his cousin Matt.

Andrew was standing in the clearing where they had once explored the cave.

But the cave had now been completely buried by the earthquake.

Andrew stared blankly at the spot, lost in thought.

The moment Matt spotted him, he flew over.

"Andrew!"

Andrew startled and turned toward Matt.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Hey! Man, are you okay? I was just worried about you."

Andrew shook his head. "I'm fine. I just... figured some things out."

Matt said, "No matter what you figured out, Andrew, you betrayed our agreement and broke the rules!

That was your father. How could you raise your fist against him?!"

At the mention of Richard, Andrew's emotions visibly flared.

"Enough, Matt! You don't understand. You don't understand anything!"

Matt's heart burned with anxiety. He was truly worried about his cousin.

But seeing Andrew so agitated, he did not know how to comfort him.

After Andrew gradually calmed down, he said flatly to Matt, "I did a lot of research online. Do you know anything about evolution and survival of the fittest?

There's something called a Top Predator!

Basically, it's the strongest animal in an entire ecosystem!

As humans, we're considered Top Predators, but that's only because we have guns, technology, and other things...

That's why the animals in nature can only submit to our control, right?

It's like locking them in zoos and letting people watch and tease them. They have no ability to resist at all!"

Matt sensed something was wrong and wanted to try talking Andrew down.

But Andrew cut him off with a loud shout. "Matt! Listen to me!"

He stared intently at Matt.

"When a lion kills an antelope, it doesn't feel guilty, right?

Just like when people swat flies, they don't feel guilty either.

And me—my power over ordinary humans far surpasses a lion's power over an antelope.

We're the real Top Predators. Even guns can't hurt us.

Matt, we don't need restraints. We can do anything we want!"

Pain filled Matt's eyes. He truly did not want to see Andrew like this.

"No... That's not how it is... We're human. We need restraint, laws, morality. We aren't animals... We need rules!"

Andrew roared, "Bullshit! Only power matters! Only those with power have a voice and can get everything they want!

Rules? Fuck the rules! I'm going to smash through every rule! I'll do whatever I want!"

Having finally shouted the words buried in his heart, he suddenly felt his mind become crystal clear.

The electric current surging through his body instantly grew far more powerful!

Lightning flashed wildly from his fingertips as it broke through to Fifty Thousand Volts!

This change made him even more convinced that his beliefs were right!