Xia Chu Becomes Extraordinary

"This world is all wrong. The moon is alive!"

Lin Qi had considered ten thousand possibilities, but he had never imagined that the reason for the world's insanely high concentration of Extraordinary particles was the moon.

As a Wizard, Lin Qi could feel the mental pressure radiating from that pupil.

Extraordinary Items didn't give off an aura like that. Mental Power was a unique force possessed only by living things.

"Lin Qi, what's happening?"

In Lin Qi's arms, Xia Chu felt safe with him again for the first time in a long while. Ever since the Doomsday broke out, Lin Qi had seemed to avoid being intimate with her.

"Close your eyes." Lin Qi's voice trembled.

Even looking at the pupil in the sky through Psychic Vision put Lin Qi under unimaginable pressure.

Who knew how many survivors would die this time as the far side of the moon turned toward them?

How many people in this world were still alive?

Lin Qi didn't care about that. What concerned him was that if the moon kept watching them, there would be nowhere left to stay in this Doomsday World.

If anyone accidentally met the moon's gaze, they would be dead—even if they were a Wizard.

At the very least, they would need the Mental Power of a Third Rank Wizard to have any chance of surviving its gaze.

As for fighting back?

Could a Fifth Rank manage it?

Lin Qi thought probably not.

However, some weapons in the Cyber World might be able to inflict a certain degree of damage on the moon.

But they were beyond Lin Qi's reach for now.

Lin Qi was worried. If he lost the Doomsday World, an important source of Extraordinary Items, he could only lie low in the Cyber World and develop step by step.

With Psychic Vision, Lin Qi was confident he could eventually develop more advanced weapons.

X-level technology was something Lin Qi would get his hands on sooner or later.

As Lin Qi fretted, something else changed.

Another wave of surging Spiritual Energy Particles swept over them.

In the north, an icy-blue pillar of Spiritual Energy Particles shot into the sky, heading straight for the moon, which had transformed into a pupil.

Beneath the pillar, Lin Qi felt a surging mental force as well.

Another monster?

The mental force put less pressure on Lin Qi than the Crimson Moon did, but it still surpassed the limits of his understanding.

The pupil formed by the Crimson Moon seemed to notice the pillar of light and refused to meet it head-on.

The enormous eye slowly closed.

The pillar of light couldn't cross hundreds of thousands of kilometers in an instant either. As the eye shut, the pillar's power gradually faded.

The mental pressure coming from the north slowly eased, then finally vanished. The Crimson Moon's eye did not open again.

Lin Qi let out a sigh of relief.

Maybe it was his imagination, but Lin Qi felt that the presence in the north had been bluffing, while the moon seemed somewhat exhausted too.

It was a Wizard's instinct, and Lin Qi couldn't tell whether it was true.

"You can open your eyes now." Lin Qi released his arms, which had been resting gently around Xia Chu, and continued using Psychic Vision to observe the changes around them.

Two beings far beyond the Fifth Rank had faced off from afar, bringing an even greater flood of Spiritual Energy Particles to this world.

Their concentration was almost twenty times higher than in the Cyber World.

It was hard to imagine how many Extraordinary Items would appear in an environment with such a high concentration of Spiritual Energy Particles.

Lin Qi felt the pressure.

Part of it came from the two unknown beings; the rest came from the world itself.

With Spiritual Energy Particles at such a terrifying concentration, Lin Qi's advantage as an Extraordinary individual would gradually disappear.

No matter how foolish the survivors in this world were, some people would be born Extraordinary.

Not to mention, this world still had functioning governments.

Lin Qi's silence made Xia Chu feel hollow inside.

Tears slipped down her face before she realized it.

She sniffed and tried to stop the tears from falling.

As Xia Chu moved, the Spiritual Energy Particles in the room quietly shifted.

The tear rolling down her cheek turned into an Ice Crystal and floated in front of her.

"Lin Qi, look!"

Xia Chu repeatedly tapped Lin Qi's arm. The hard Exoskeleton made her palm ache, but she didn't notice at all.

"Lin Qi, is this what you meant by Extraordinary?"

Xia Chu instinctively made the Ice Crystal float in front of Lin Qi.

Feeling the Spiritual Energy Particles move, Lin Qi parted his lips slightly, then finally said, "Yes."

Had Xia Chu really become Extraordinary just like that?

She hadn't acquired an Extraordinary Profession with a formal system. She had become Extraordinary on her own under the terrifying concentration of Spiritual Energy Particles.

It was a sign of talent.

Perhaps the Cyber World had once experienced periods when Spiritual Energy Particles were just as abundant. Maybe the origins of Extraordinary Professions lay with those who had awakened their powers on their own.

Xia Chu was delighted. "Lin Qi, do you have powers like this too?"

Lin Qi nodded but didn't show her.

Psychic Vision and Blood Control—neither of those powers was suitable to demonstrate.

Xia Chu grew even more excited.

Lin Qi had Extraordinary powers too. When had he gotten them? Surely it had been after the Doomsday broke out?

Perhaps that was why Lin Qi had distanced himself from her.

But why wouldn't he show her?

Was Lin Qi's power too dangerous and hard to control? Was he afraid of hurting her, so he had deliberately kept his distance?

Maybe Lin Qi had told her about the Extraordinary because he wanted to come clean.

Without realizing it, Xia Chu found an explanation for Lin Qi's change.

Bzzzt...

The radio made from a modified phone crackled at an inopportune moment.

Lin Qi and Xia Chu turned their attention back to the phone.

"This is the Modu Rescue Command. All survivors are warned not to look up at the moon. I repeat: do not look up at the moon."

The warning had come a little late. Anyone who had seen the pupil in the Crimson Moon was probably already dead.

"All survivors, please remain silent from this moment on. The threat posed by Zombies has increased. Put up a rescue sign in a conspicuous place and wait for the Rescue Team to arrive."

"Additionally, survivors who have awakened powers are warned: the authorities are still here. Do not break the law. Do not break the law. Do not break the law. You have been warned."

"Residents of the Dragon Nation, please have faith that we are capable of resolving this crisis. We have weathered five thousand years of storms, and we will not fall now..."

Along with the broadcast, the sound of gunfire and artillery came from far away.

Everything indicated that rescue forces really were approaching.

Lin Qi frowned slightly. "Something's off about the authorities in this world too. It seems they weren't affected by the moon at all—or perhaps they knew in advance that the far side of the moon was turning toward us. But they didn't know early enough to warn everyone."

Lin Qi had deduced some information from the broadcast.

But...

The Dragon Nation was capable of resolving the crisis?

That was going a little too far, wasn't it?

Given how terrifying the moon was, even the Cyber World might not be able to handle it properly.

How would they resolve it?

With a Nuclear Bomb?

Lin Qi didn't believe a Nuclear Bomb could destroy a star.

Even the Cyber World hadn't developed star-destroying weapons, let alone this ordinary urban world.

"Could they be using Extraordinary methods? Perhaps the concentration of Spiritual Energy Particles in this world wasn't low even before the Doomsday."

If that was the case, Lin Qi would have to change his plans.

Even setting aside the Crimson Moon, he would have to reassess how dangerous this world was.