The Thunder Light from Nature, Prodigies of the New Era

"What are you afraid of? If he were truly severely injured, he wouldn't be able to talk so much."

Someone said this, and the other students realized it was true. A few of them stepped forward, lifted him up, and ran toward the infirmary.

"His social death is much worse than mine."

Sun Qiang watched Lei Fei being carried away, his eyes filled with a mix of complexity and joy. With Lei Fei gone, surely no student would keep their eyes on him anymore.

Lei Fei, what a good guy!

"Is that the point? Besides, are we sure we shouldn't run?"

"Run? Someone has to lead the way first. Without a leader, who has the nerve to be the first to run?"

"My instincts won't allow me to flee, you know what I mean? That instinct buried deep in the DNA of Huaxia people."

"Isn't it just wanting to watch the show? Why make it sound so mysterious?"

"..."

Bai Xuan listened to their chatter, momentarily at a loss for words. When faced with danger, their first thoughts were about watching the spectacle and not wanting to be the one to lead the charge for fear of losing face?

This mindset was truly student-like.

But students were one thing; why were the school leaders and teachers not taking any action?

And the security guards by the playground—is it really appropriate for you to be watching so leisurely with smiles on your faces? Are you sure you don't want to resolve this issue?

If Bai Xuan didn't know that this Fire Bird was coming for him, he would have thought this was a drill arranged by the school.

Everyone acted as if they knew exactly what was going on.

Forget it, forget it. If you won't step in, I will.

Bai Xuan shook his head, a flash of blue light crossing his eyes.

"BOOM!"

A roar echoed through Heaven and Earth. The sudden clap of thunder made everyone instinctively look up at the sky.

A bolt of blue-white lightning whistled down from the heavens, roaring like a Thunder Dragon. It tore through the sky and struck the Fire Bird directly.

The lightning blazed.

Blue-white electric arcs danced wildly.

When the lightning dissipated, the entire playground was filled with the pungent scent of something burnt.

The red Fire Feather Bird, once caught in the Thunder, had turned into a charred corpse, lying on the ground without a trace of life.

"Holy crap!"

"Justice from Above?"

Everyone stared in stunned silence at this incredible scene, using civilized language to express their shock.

They had imagined many ways the Fire Bird might be killed—police gunfire, a coordinated siege, or perhaps some genius Esper—but they never expected "Justice from Above."

What kind of sin did it commit to be struck by Justice from Above in broad daylight?!

It wasn't just the students; even the teachers and the security guards at the edge of the playground were dumbfounded. This wasn't right; it didn't seem to be what they had agreed upon.

They touched the bulging items at their waists, their eyes filled with surprise and bewilderment.

Wasn't it supposed to be their turn to show off in front of everyone? To let the students know that even if they awakened as Espers, they had to abide by the law, and that the power of technology was beyond their imagination?

They looked at each other, then shook their heads helplessly.

Better leave it to the superiors to handle.

At the same time, a woman in military uniform seemed to sense something and wore a look of surprise.

"Fire Feather, what's wrong?"

The man beside her looked at her, asking curiously.

"My Crimson Flame Bird is dead."

Fire Feather said, sounding somewhat strange.

"But didn't we arrange..."

The Crimson Flame Bird was meant to die anyway. Whether to warn the students or to demonstrate the power of firearms, its death was inevitable.

A creature that could only spit fire and had decent defense was not important at all.

With Fire Feather's ability, summoning a hundred Crimson Flame Birds was no difficult task. Therefore, neither in the eyes of Fire Feather nor the state was the Fire Feather Bird considered a significant resource.

"No, no, it didn't die by gunfire; it was thunder—thunder from nature itself."

"???"

"Are you sure it was natural thunder? And not a lightning-type Esper?"

If it were the latter, he could be excited that the country had produced a genius, but if it were the former... are you sure you aren't mistaken?

"I'm sure it was natural thunder."

Fire Feather nodded, then shook her head again.

"I cannot rule out the possibility that it is an Esper."

"But if it is an Esper, their ability is certainly no less than mine."

The ability she awakened was [Summoning (Fire)], which allowed her to summon fire-elemental living beings and inanimate objects from another world.

Moreover, her innate potential was extremely high. It was not as if no one else in the military had awakened summoning abilities, but not a single one could summon a hundred Fire Feather Birds as easily as she could.

Of course, there were other geniuses who possessed equally peerless abilities.

Qin Tian, who possessed the [Divine Dragon] ability, was capable of resisting firearms since the early stages of Reiki Revival and could control wind, rain, and thunder.

Ye Feng, who possessed the [Light of Life] ability, could dispel diseases, heal injuries, and even easily save those on the brink of death.

Chen Bing, who possessed [Extreme Cold Power], had caused the entire military camp to be shrouded in ice and snow upon his awakening, and the ice shields he condensed could not even be pierced by bullets.

There was also Wang Ming, who awakened [Mechanical Affinity], Ning Guang, who awakened [Mist], and Chen Changsheng, who awakened [Longevity].

Their abilities were truly terrifying!

Even Huoyu did not consider herself stronger than them; of course, she did not think she was inferior to them either.

Just as Lei Fei had said, Reiki Revival gave everyone the possibility to change their fate, but this did not mean everyone would become equal; instead, it would usher in even greater class disparities.

Talent was something no one could ignore.

If one could still minimize the gap with a genius through hard work and by pushing one's limits in academics, then superpowers truly widened the distance between the two.

Take Huoyu, for example: even a single Crimson Flame Bird she summoned could instantly defeat Lei Fei, whose talent was already significantly higher than others; yet, she could easily summon a hundred such Crimson Flame Birds.

Was such a gap something that could be bridged by hard work?

Even if it could be bridged, how much time would it take? One month? Two months? Or perhaps six months, or even a year?

During that year, would they not make any progress themselves?

No, their progress would certainly be much greater!

"Send me a copy of the ability registration from Hang City No. 1 Middle School once it's completed."

"Have the people at the Weather Bureau analyze the reason for the thunder in Hang City today."

Huoyu said indifferently.

"Understood."

After finishing his registration, Bai Xuan had thought he would be able to go home, especially after such an incident had occurred.

However, he did not expect to be stuck there listening to a meeting for an hour.

The general content was still about hoping the students would control their abilities well, not use them recklessly, and certainly not harm others.

After omitting the clichés, there were actually a few things that piqued Bai Xuan's interest.