Volume Two: Life and Death at Speed in the Northern Realm - Chapter 167: The One Without Supernatural Abilities

In the non-existent 101st floor, Yu He leaned against the wall, his expression serious.

"It's already started over there... Honestly, in the end we still have to rely on Gustav."

Seeing him like this, his secretary, Ankri, seemed somewhat puzzled and asked, "President, forgive my bluntness, but isn't the World Crystal Tree supposed to suppress supernatural abilities? Even you are greatly suppressed; if it were Mr. Gustav..."

"Ah, there's absolutely no need to worry about that."

"But--"

"Don't forget, the World Crystal Tree mainly suppresses supernatural abilities, right? In other words, only we 'supernatural beings' will actually be affected."

"... Huh?"

Ankri was stunned for a moment, and it took her a few seconds to realize the meaning behind Yu He's words.

"You mean, Mr. Gustav, could it be...?"

"That's right," Yu He closed his eyes and gave a wry smile, "Gustav Menjos, the strongest person in the organization besides the Leader, and also the only one in the entire organization No Supernatural Ability."

The man caught the crystal giant's heavy punch with just one hand; his arm didn't tremble at all, and he didn't even shift his body's center of gravity.

I was stunned.

Wait a minute... In this space, aren't supernatural abilities suppressed by the World Crystal Tree? Why is this man still able to block a giant's attack?

The man narrowed his eyes slightly, curled his lip as if he had seen something dirty, and uttered two words:

"The weak."

The next moment--

The man's hand suddenly tightened, and with a squeeze, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the giant crystal hand! The cracks spread upwards at an extremely fast speed, and ear-piercing explosions rang out continuously from the giant's arm. In just a few breaths, the cracks covered the entire arm!

Boom!!!!

Under the man's indifferent gaze, the entire crystalline arm collapsed with a deafening roar! The massive crystalline arm shattered into countless crystalline fragments, raining down from the sky and instantly covering the palace floor! The giant clutched his shoulder and howled in agony, while the other three immediately followed suit, launching an attack on the man.

A gigantic hand slammed down on him, but the man showed no fear facing the mountain-like crystalline palm. He leaped up, meeting the giant palm head-on, and then—kicked it! Another terrifying impact followed, and the enormous palm was sent flying, crystalline dust spurting from the severed surface like blood!

"The only one No Supernatural Ability? This... are you serious?"

"It's not a matter of whether I'm serious or not, it's just a fact." Yu He shrugged, and his secretary's reaction was exactly as he expected.

"Without superpowers, how can he gain a foothold in the organization?"

"Who says you have to have superpowers to gain status? You just need to have real strength."

"But without superpowers, he can't do anything at all!"

Yu He burst into laughter, tears streaming down his face, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Can't do anything? A man who can shatter mountains with a single punch, cause land to collapse with a single kick, and crush thousands of troops with his mere aura—you say he can't do anything? Let me tell you! The collapse of the Huang Huo can't affect his physical body, the Void Realm dares not let him enter a non-existent space, the Lady refuses to sing for him, Blood Fiend hides at the sight of him, Little Nuonuo doesn't want to share a room with him, and even if I gave away all my wealth, I couldn't buy one of his arms! Gustav is that powerful!"

The man raised his other foot in mid-air and stomped hard on the air. Although he was stepping on air, he could leap up as if he were on the ground! He moved through the air at incredible speed, and I could only see a blurry shadow!

"Roar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The two giants, still intact, launched their attack simultaneously, their heavy fists striking from the left and right! One attacked the man from the front, while the other went straight for his back. However, the man neither met the attack nor turned around; he didn't even glance at the two punches.

Because someone else had already blocked it for him.

"... A clone?"

Two identical clones of the man appeared in front of and behind him, blocking the giant's heavy punch for him!

"Wrong..."

More than a dozen clones emerged from the man's body, each possessing a terrifying pressure no less than that of the original!

"That's... an afterimage!"

When someone's action is extremely fast, the effect does not disappear immediately, but rather causes visual persistence, or afterimage, for onlookers.

The afterimage was not a clone, nor a projection of Givinia's Consciousness Projection; at most, it could only be considered a remnant of high-speed movement.

That's all; it has absolutely no offensive power.

The afterimages swarmed forward, raining down countless heavy punches on the giant. Each punch created a dent tens of meters in diameter on the giant's body! The rumbling impacts were like machine gun fire, and shockwaves radiated in all directions. After this fierce storm, the crystal giant was riddled with holes!

The afterimages that separated from the man did not disappear immediately; instead, they fought under his control! The original man could shatter the arm of a crystal giant with a single punch, and although the afterimages' attack power was far inferior to the original man's, it was still extremely terrifying!

"Huh? Wait a minute..."

What am I spacing out for?

Both the crystal giant and the World Crystal Tree were completely absorbed by the man, who himself was utterly oblivious to the commotion below. Wasn't this... a golden opportunity?

"That's not all. Besides his unparalleled strength, speed, and physical prowess, Gustav also has a signature move."

"A special skill?" Ankri was still somewhat incredulous.

"That's right, it's his signature move, just like his trademark, called -- Afterimage Attack!"

"Afterimage... is that the residual image on the retina?"

"It's that afterimage, the visual persistence that occurs when a person moves at high speed. Logically speaking, afterimages are just illusions, but according to Gustav, he can infuse his 'killing intent' and 'battle spirit' into the afterimage, and when he infuses it to a certain degree, the afterimage becomes material. Heaven knows how he did it!"

"This kind of thing... it already falls into the category of superpowers!"

"Unfortunately, no," Yu He shook his head. "I've also had several 'True Sight Eye' ability users examined, and without exception, the results were negative. Whether it's strength, speed, physical strength, or Afterimage Attack, they are all things he developed himself; there is no involvement of any supernatural ability."

"Exercise!?"

"It's just training. Don't let his appearance fool you; he looks only in his thirties or forties. He's been with the Leader since before the organization was even founded. He must be at least several hundred years old."

"No ordinary human No Supernatural Ability could live this long!" Ankri was so excited that she even forgot to use honorifics.

"It is indeed impossible. Even Gustav could not escape the shackles of lifespan. However, he once said... he once begged the Leader to grant him 'a long enough lifespan'."

"He told you that himself?"

"Yes, it was decades ago. I met him while I was drinking alone, and somehow we started chatting. Although he was incredibly strong, he was actually quite serious."

"That's a bit hard to imagine..."

"Probably wanting to repay my good bar, he confided a little about his past to me... According to him, he met the Leader by chance when he was a teenager, Leader saw his potential and asked him, 'Do you want invincible power?' -- and then guess what?"

"What do you mean?"

"He refused without hesitation! He said to the Leader then—"

'Strength is something that can be acquired naturally through diligent training, so please grant me a long enough lifespan to give me sufficient time to become stronger.'

--As it turned out, our usually bad-tempered Leader not only didn't get angry, but actually granted him a long lifespan! After cultivating alone for hundreds of years, he actually returned in his strongest form, becoming the strongest person under the Leader's command!

Yu He became more and more excited as he spoke, but his secretary, Ankri, pressed her forehead to her hand, seemingly still unable to believe what she was hearing.

"I'm sorry, President, but I still can't understand... No matter how much an ordinary person trains, there are limits, right? The power they can unleash is limited by their internal energy reserves, their movements are limited by their body structure, and their physical strength is limited by the proteins and calcium that make up their body. It's simply impossible for an ordinary person to 'shatter a mountain with a single punch'..."

"Theoretically it is indeed impossible, but... it is precisely because he can constantly push the limits of the human body and turn the impossible into the possible that he is Gustav!"

Five steps remaining --

I gritted my teeth and withstood the immense pressure, staggering forward like the World Crystal Tree. To call it "staggering" was really no different from crawling.

Three steps --

As expected, the World Crystal Tree's attention was drawn to the man. I've gotten quite close, but the deadly crystalline rays still haven't appeared!

--step!

I finally reached the World Crystal Tree. The mountain-like pressure almost suffocated me, and my mouth was filled with the taste of rust. Without realizing it, I clenched my teeth so tightly that they bled!

"This is the Crystal Realm Fruit..."

Fortunately, the Crystal Realm Fruit didn't grow in the tree crown, but rather very close to the bottom. I observed the two fruits closely; they had now grown from the size of a ping-pong ball to the size of a volleyball, and they looked exactly the same—both were complex regular polyhedra with a bright blue hue, reminding me of the "shining trioctahedron" from the Cthulhu Mythos.

There's no way I could take it away directly with my own strength.

So, the Huang Huo and gave me the contract.

Of the two Crystal Realm Fruits, only one will survive; the other will self-destruct.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the blue light emitted by the Crystal Realm Fruit on the left is very stable, while the light emitted by the one on the right is sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and the whole fruit is trembling slightly, as if something is struggling to come out of it.

Given this unstable state... it seems that the Crystal Realm Fruit on the left "will be preserved," while the one on the right "will self-destruct."

I swallowed hard, looking at the crumpled contract.

The blood-red writing on the parchment remains eerie, like a demon's pact in a fairy tale.

I carefully placed the contract close to the Crystal Realm Fruit on the left.

Sa----

Suddenly, the blood-red characters spread out, staining the entire parchment red. The paper turned into blood-red fragments, clinging tightly to the Crystal Realm Fruit, and then slowly disappeared, as if absorbed by the fruit.

"..." Is that all?

"Well done."

"Whoa!"

The head of a middle-aged man with a full head of white hair appeared before me. His eyes were extremely sinister, and his voice was as hoarse as a broken radio.

"Huang Huo!?"

"This was set up by the collaborator. Once you complete the task, my avatar will appear to tell you that the task is complete."

"You scared me to death..."

"Stop talking nonsense! The other Crystal Realm Fruit is going to explode in less than three minutes. If you don't want to die, I advise you to run for your life!"

Upon hearing this, the phantom of Huang Huo flickered and vanished.