Save the world?
Xu Tui had neither the interest nor the ability.
But before danger arrived, saving himself—and pulling his best friend Cheng Mo along with him—was no problem.
Of course, if he got the chance, he would definitely help his classmates, too.
For now, he had discovered something strange about Cha Yifeng.
The simplest approach was to get close, catch him off guard, and launch a surprise attack.
A strike to a vital spot.
Knock Cha Yifeng out!
Pull out the false teeth that might be transmitting some kind of special signal!
Save the world? No—save himself!
After thinking it over, Xu Tui rejected the idea.
If he really did that, the most likely outcome was that they would mistake him for an enemy and injure him—or shoot him dead on the spot.
The two uniformed security men, each holding a gun and seated at the front and rear of the bus, weren't carrying their wartime regulations around for show.
The moment Xu Tui made a move to attack, they would identify him as the enemy and act—possibly by opening fire.
Shouting wouldn't help.
These days, who couldn't yell that they were on the same side?
Besides, Cha Yifeng was no ordinary target.
He belonged to the Inspection Division of the Jincheng Prefecture Education Bureau.
In the twenty-second century, the Inspection Division was one of the Education Bureau's few armed branches. Aside from inspecting academic affairs, its main responsibility was campus security.
Cha Yifeng had been assigned to escort them, the most important group of students admitted to Huaxia Gene Evolution University. He definitely wasn't weak.
He was a Gene Liberator, at the very least.
And a seasoned one.
Xu Tui figured that if he launched a rash attack, the most likely outcome was Cha Yifeng knocking him out instead!
All things considered, Xu Tui figured he'd be safer with a different approach.
Less heroics.
More caution!
He stood up, took his notebook and pen, and walked straight over to the female researcher. He stopped beside her.
An Xiaoxue looked up, her eyes questioning him.
"Teacher An, I'd like to sit next to you. Could you move in a little?" Xu Tui stared boldly at An Xiaoxue.
His words rang through the bus, and the students instantly perked up.
Scandal!
Now that was big news!
A newly admitted freshman to Huaxia Gene University hadn't even reached campus yet, and he was already trying to hit on one of its professors!
Teacher-student romances weren't unusual these days.
But this was way too blatant, wasn't it?
As the students eagerly watched the show, the ones who knew Xu Tui started jeering at him. Cheng Mo even whistled.
Gong Ling, seated in front of Xu Tui, looked at An Xiaoxue, then at herself, puzzled.
Wasn't this woman in a huge mask just a little long-legged?
Was that really all it took to be so charming?
Even Cha Yifeng glanced over. And yet his jaw kept working away.
"What, developed X-ray vision? A little expert at seeing through things?"
An Xiaoxue made no move to shift over. She stayed where she was, a hint of mockery in her expression.
She had only met this student, Xu Tui, a few times.
She didn't dislike him, but she couldn't say she liked him, either.
Of course, if she decided he had improper designs on her, she wouldn't mind showing the impure-minded fellow what it meant to be a professor of the Mysterious System.
The words "seeing through things" made the students around them start speculating about another mysterious scandal.
Xu Tui, though, looked so frustrated he could have spat blood.
Back then, he'd only made the same mistake any adolescent boy imagining superpowers was bound to make.
How had that turned him into an expert at seeing through things in An Xiaoxue's eyes?
He wanted to cry.
But there were more important matters.
Casually, Xu Tui held out a notebook page with a message he'd written in advance.
An Xiaoxue glanced at him without changing her expression, then suddenly stood up. After tucking her hair back, she moved to the window seat.
Xu Tui took the seat beside her.
A chorus of exaggerated jeers instantly erupted through the bus.
The talented students' eyes gleamed.
They'd actually gotten to watch this scandal unfold so easily?
The boys in particular were practically green with envy.
If they'd known it would be this easy, they'd have gone over to her ages ago.
While they were turning green-eyed, Xu Tui and An Xiaoxue were already exchanging quick handwritten notes.
Xu Tui had written this in his notebook beforehand:
"Teacher An, are there any other ways of transmitting signals within the range of the ultrafine particle radiation generator?"
"There are. But they're extremely rare, and the materials are highly unusual. They wouldn't get through today's security screening, either."
"Did you notice anything wrong?"
An Xiaoxue's handwriting was elegant, with a free and unrestrained grace. Beside hers, Xu Tui's own fairly neat writing looked like it was crawling—
"A little while ago, I accidentally sensed that Teacher Cha has two false teeth. Their material is something I've never seen in everyday life or in a textbook.
"Right now, those two teeth are continuously vibrating and knocking together.
"My perception tells me Teacher Cha's mental state is very tense."
Xu Tui listed the details one by one.
An Xiaoxue only glanced at them before standing up at once.
Xu Tui's "sensing" was unusual.
During the earlier incident when they'd been followed, he'd mentioned this ability to her. She'd planned to test it or ask him about it once they got to school. She hadn't expected him to bring it up again now.
But there was no time to ask about it.
Under the gaze of the students throughout the bus, An Xiaoxue stood and walked straight to Cha Yifeng, who was seated facing backward near the front door.
"Teacher Cha, please open your mouth!"
Cha Yifeng first looked startled. Then he instinctively stood up, bending slightly forward like a leopard about to pounce, every muscle on guard.
"An Xiaoxue, what are you doing? We're on an escort mission!" Cha Yifeng shouted, accusing her before she could speak. His yell made the two uniformed security men at the front and rear of the bus snap to attention, their guns instantly aimed at An Xiaoxue.
"An Xiaoxue, if you attack me—"
"Stay alert. Sit down!"
An Xiaoxue spoke those four words to the two uniformed security men, spreading the fingers of one hand slightly as she did.
Only then did Xu Tui notice the hair-thin silver rings on every finger of her slender right hand.
The two security men, faces full of murderous intent as they aimed their guns at An Xiaoxue, heard her words and sat down in an incredibly strange manner.
Like obedient little children, they seemed not to see what was happening in front of them.
Even more shocking to the students, when An Xiaoxue spread her fingers, Cha Yifeng—who had been on guard like a leopard—suddenly rose into the air.
It was as if countless invisible ropes had wrapped around him and hoisted him up.
His expression turned utterly terrified.
But he couldn't get a single word out.
The bus erupted in an uproar.
"Quiet. Teacher Cha may be involved. I'm going to check."
An Xiaoxue's voice held a strange power. In an instant, the startled shouts throughout the bus died away.
"Xu Tui, come here. Get his teeth!"
Those six terse words left Xu Tui no choice but to step forward.
Several sharp students suddenly realized that this might have something to do with Xu Tui going over to talk to Teacher An earlier.
When Cha Yifeng saw Xu Tui reach for his mouth, his eyes widened. He glared at him murderously, as if hoping to scare him off.
Unfortunately for him—
Xu Tui pried open his mouth, slipped in his fingers, and precisely located the two false teeth. He pulled them out at once and quickly brought them to An Xiaoxue.
An Xiaoxue didn't take them.
She examined them carefully.
Under the influence of some mysterious force, the two false teeth rolled over in Xu Tui's palm.
At that moment, Xu Tui suddenly realized something.
An Xiaoxue had called him over to remove Cha Yifeng's false teeth not because she needed his help, but because she couldn't stand the thought of touching them herself!
The saliva-smeared false teeth rolling around in Xu Tui's hand grossed him out, too.
"Magnetized tantalum alloy!"
"A type of Ultra-low Frequency Sound Generator!"
Having reached her conclusion, An Xiaoxue didn't even look at Cha Yifeng. She pressed her right hand down slightly, and Cha Yifeng dropped like a hammer, smashing into the stepped floor of the bus.
He let out a pained groan, his face instantly covered in blood.
An Xiaoxue showed no sign of stopping. She raised her fingers, then pressed them down again.
"The moment you tell us everything you know, I'll stop!"
As she repeated the motion, An Xiaoxue had already moved to the driver's side. "Contact the mobile command center. Now!"
"I'm already connected."
The driver was military, too, and sharp. The moment An Xiaoxue began dealing with Cha Yifeng, he'd started contacting the mobile command center.
At some point, the two uniformed security men An Xiaoxue had controlled were able to move again. They had already rushed over with their guns, taking positions on either side of Cha Yifeng as he was repeatedly slammed against the floor.
All the students were stunned.
The scene was not only surreal.
It was brutal, too.
Cha Yifeng's face had already been smashed against the floor until it was deformed, blood pouring from it, and An Xiaoxue was still grinding him into it.
The merciless scene made many of the boys think that Professor An Xiaoxue had transformed from a goddess into a female Asura!
"Command center, this is bus three. We've found a spy. We recovered false teeth made of magnetized tantalum alloy from him. I recommend we immediately leave the planned route."
An Xiaoxue's report was urgent and sudden, yet perfectly clear.
The command center fell silent for a brief moment.
During that pause, An Xiaoxue turned directly to the driver. "Leave the planned route."
"Now!"
The driver was a soldier by training. His duty was to obey orders.
But that didn't mean he had to obey An Xiaoxue's.
Even so, her voice carried a strange power.
The driver began to comply at once.
With a thunderous crash, the entire bus jolted and smashed through the guardrail, plunging off the highway.
Its chassis rose sharply, and a plow-like ram extended from the front. The bus began barreling wildly through the mountain forest.
The escort vehicle following behind immediately veered off course and followed.
At almost the same moment, Colonel Liu Tianhu's voice sounded over the channels of every vehicle.
"This is Liu Tianhu. I order all vehicles to leave the planned route at once and evade incoming fire."
"Repeat, this is Liu Tianhu. I order all vehicles to leave the planned route at once and evade incoming fire."
In an instant, all twelve buses and thirteen escort vehicles traveling along the highway swerved off the road at the same time.
Fortunately, they were all specially built vehicles. Otherwise, that order would have caused a serious problem.
"All vehicles, maintain evasive maneuvers for four minutes. The emergency aerial combat unit will arrive in four minutes."
Before Liu Tianhu could finish speaking, Xu Tui saw tiny sparks outside the bus.
They quickly grew larger.
BOOM!
Explosions erupted everywhere. The shock waves hurled chunks of highway, roadbed, and guardrails in every direction.
As dust and smoke billowed upward, Xu Tui saw that the highway as far as a kilometer away had been reduced to ruins.
Several buses and escort vehicles in exposed positions were flipped over and sent tumbling by the shock waves.
"Bastards!"
Colonel Liu Tianhu's furious voice came through the military channel.
"This is Liu Tianhu. The enemy has short-range precision-guided weapons. I order all personnel to abandon their vehicles immediately! Abandon your vehicles, form defensive units around each vehicle, and await rescue. Three minutes!"
"Repeat, this is Liu Tianhu. The enemy has short-range precision-guided weapons. I order all personnel to abandon their vehicles immediately! Abandon your vehicles, form up around each vehicle, and await rescue. Three minutes!"
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