Volume Five: Return from the Other Shore - Untitled
In place of Nid and Loxue, who had been involved in an accident, Xiao Wu temporarily assumed the position of head instructor in charge of training new recruits.
The soldiers, who had just suffered the blow of losing their leader, were initially somewhat happy upon hearing the news. After all, a super beauty of this caliber was extremely rare, and being trained by her must be incredibly exciting. A strict yet sexy female instructor—many of them started to have fantasies.
... As it turns out, Xiao Wu an instructor was indeed very exciting, but this "excitement" was completely different from what they had expected.
"Tsk... You ran 30 kilometers with a weight for over 40 minutes? You're all supposed to be Physical Enhancement System, are you all snails...?"
This is an open space Sadington City. The ground is mainly sandy, with many semi-weathered boulders, making it a natural training ground. Xiao Wu is in charge of leading a large team composed entirely of ability users, mostly Physical Enhancement System and elemental users, as these are the two most common types of ability users on Spirit Star.
Such a large unit would be a top-tier main force anywhere, and they have always been proud of being elites. Apart from a few regimental commanders and Nid, few people can convince them.
So the first thing Xiao Wu did upon arriving was to break her own hands and intentionally prevent them from healing. She then fought them with only her feet, and within a minute, she had beaten all of them, making them cry and scream for their mothers, so that they would obey her.
Now all of them lay dead before her, with large stones pressing down on them.
Each soldier had to run 30 kilometers on the sand carrying a ton of equipment – that was the task Xiao Wu assigned to the Physical Enhancement System. While the soldiers ran ahead, crying and shouting, she followed behind with her dual pistols. If she saw anyone trying to slack off or running slowly, she would shoot them. If she heard anyone cursing or complaining, she would shoot them too. She would also occasionally fire a few shots at those who hadn't done anything wrong as encouragement. After more than forty minutes, they finally finished the run.
"Get up! Do you think we have all the time in the world? Stop lying around like a corpse!"
"Reporting, instructor..."
A girl, barely able to speak, called out shakily.
"Explain!"
"I think if we did it again... everyone would completely collapse. We're not you; we can't handle that level of training..."
After she finished speaking, the girl collapsed face down on the ground as if all her strength had been drained, while Xiao Wu frowned.
"... It's not me who can't handle it? This level of exercise isn't even a warm-up for me. So, to help you get used to it, I've reduced the training I received as a child to one-tenth of what it used to be. Theoretically, it shouldn't cause too much damage to your body."
"But..."
"For those with Physical Enhancement System who want to become stronger, the best way is to push their limits through repeated trials! Becoming stronger when faced with stronger opponents—that's the greatest advantage of us superhumans! When will you be able to do that—"
With a thud, Xiao Wu on the ground.
However, the expected flying of soil and rocks did not occur.
Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, a lone, towering boulder a dozen meters away suddenly exploded with a loud bang, shattering into countless fragments.
"--You don't have to come to my training anymore, do whatever you want. If you can't do it, then humbly accept my guidance! Alright, the next item is combat skills training. I will teach you how to use the human body to its fullest potential! Now line up, I will dislocate the joints you won't be using one by one to reduce unnecessary movements, let's begin immediately!"
"No~~~~~ don't~~~~~~ ah~~~~~~~~"
"Stop talking! You only have two minutes to rest, get yourself back in shape!"
Xiao Wu sighed heavily.
Two minutes... That's enough to decide everything in a battle. But this is training after all, so in principle we should be a little more lenient. However, Xiao Wu still hopes they can move around more, preferably until they're too tired to think about anything else.
That way, at least temporarily they can forget the grief of losing Nid and Loxue.
Compared to the frenzied situation at Xiao Wu's place, things were much more normal at Haoyue's.
In the operations command center, Haoyue was sitting in Loxue's former spot—behind a simple long table, with mountains of documents containing military supplies and other materials piled up beside her. She was reviewing documents at an astonishing speed, issuing plans, stamping documents, and making instructions... handling everything in an orderly manner.
The female official beside her was stunned. She never expected that this girl, who seemed to have no connection with such matters, would be so shrewd and capable, even surpassing Loxue in ability.
And... look closely, it's really beautiful!
Her hair was jet black like a waterfall, her skin was as smooth as cream, and her beautiful face resembled the moon in the sky; every detail was perfect.
"Mmm... uh..."
Seemingly a little tired, she stretched, raising her hands above her head. Even this simple gesture exuded elegance and tranquility. The graceful curve of her arched back, the beautifully defined and full breasts accentuated by the cheongsam, the flawless white armpits visible through the sleeves, and the long, slender legs extending from under the table—even a woman would be deeply attracted by her beauty.
"That's Marian-chan, right?"
"..." "Hi?"
"... Ah! I'm sorry, I... I was a little distracted just now, I spaced out... I'm so sorry!"
"Stunned?"
"Eeeeeee, no, no, please pretend you didn't hear anything!"
"Hehe, don't be so nervous, I just want you to do me a favor."
"Miss Tartaglia ..."
"Just call me Haoyue, okay? Oh, I'm getting a bit off-topic. I just wanted you to help me get the tea leaves that were lying there."
"Okay! I'd be happy to!"
The female official eagerly brought over the tea leaves that had been placed on the windowsill. They were a gift from her subordinates to Loxue, but Loxue didn't have a habit of drinking tea, so they had just been sitting there unused.
"Here it is!"
"Thank you~ You're so thoughtful, you'll definitely make a good subordinate."
"No, no, it would be an honor!"
"I'll put it here. Having a cup of tea during a break from work is definitely the best thing ever!"
Watching Haoyue skillfully open the tea box, the female official couldn't help but imagine: such a stunning beauty must drink tea with unparalleled elegance.
"By the way, what about that small box of ice I asked you to get earlier?"
"Here!"
This is a small ice maker powered by ice crystals. You pour water into the compartments inside, and ice forms quickly. Why does Miss Haoyue want ice for her tea? Is it to make chilled tea? By the way... this teapot seems a bit big?
Haoyue gracefully took the tea, placed it in the teapot, poured in water, and heated it. Her movements were indeed extremely skillful and elegant, but for some reason, the female official had an ominous premonition...
Soon--
"Alright, it's about time to drink..."
Before the female official could react, Haoyue bent down, took something out from under the table, and slammed it onto the table with a thud.
It was a beer mug almost the size of a human head, made of glass, with a rugged shape and a curved handle.
...?
Wait, a beer mug? And it's this big?
Didn't you want to drink tea?
Haoyue picked up the teapot, facing the enormous beer mug, and gulped it down...
"Hello, hello? Miss Haoyue?"
A large pot of hot tea was quickly poured out, and the large beer mug was more than half full. Then Haoyue picked up the large box of ice and poured it all in. The ice cubes sizzled inside, and the hot tea in the half-full beer mug cooled down quickly.
Haoyue swirled the bizarre combination of beer, hot tea, and ice cubes, nodded in satisfaction, brought it to her lips, and tilted her head back!
Glug glug glug~~~~
"--Pfft, that feels so good~"
He finished the drink in one go, then slammed the empty cup down on the table with a loud clatter, before elegantly wiping his mouth with a beautifully handkerchief.
"..."
The female official seemed to hear the sound of her worldview crumbling.
Within the Starfall Mountain Range, the enormous blood sphere still floats silently, imprisoning the pink-haired creature and seven hundred million lives within. However, from the outside, its size clearly cannot contain so many things; obviously, its internal space and external volume are two different things.
"Creating such a compressed space must be an incredibly powerful spatial ability... But isn't the Void Realm supposed to be the pinnacle of spatial abilities? And the Void Realm's abilities don't include compressing the size of space..."
The lady gazed thoughtfully at the enormous sphere of blood.
While waiting for the pink-haired woman to come out, she began to think about Yusuo Zai's situation.
She had never paid much attention to Yusuo Zai before. His existence was like air; the higher-ups knew he existed, but no one had truly paid him any attention. Now, thinking back, that alone was very unusual. Even someone as proud as Madam wouldn't say something like "I'm the strongest in the world." She would at least maintain a certain level of vigilance towards someone of her own caliber. But with Yusuo Zai —she didn't even have the most basic sense of caution, which was tantamount to exposing herself naked in front of him.
"And... this guy has way too many superpowers, doesn't he?"
Suddenly, she gathered the red things hidden inside the mountain, casually compressed them into a space, created a bizarre doppelganger that looked like many leeches piled together, and inexplicably caused her own body to explode from the inside, only to recover in the next instant. She was certain that none of this was an illusion...
If all of this is due to superpowers, then Yusuo Zai is truly incredible; this is beyond the level of Hybrid Ability User.
"Wait, let's look at it another way. This isn't his superpower; he just 'can do' it..."
Just like how humans aren't surprised when someone can walk, because walking is a skill almost everyone possesses and isn't considered a special ability. It's precisely because most people can't create fire, generate electricity, fly, or teleport that these abilities are called "superpowers" or "extraordinary abilities," representing something unusual and extraordinary.
But what if, just what if... for someone these extraordinary abilities were merely a simple skill as basic as walking?
It's normal for humans to be able to read and write, but it would be unusual for a cat or dog to be able to read and write. It is precisely because humans have wisdom that many things that other animals cannot do are very simple and natural for humans, which is why humans are the most intelligent of all creatures and are superior to other animals.
Following this logic, wouldn't those who "naturally possess many abilities that other humans don't have" be beings superior to humans?
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I really can't think of a title...