"What was there to be afraid of? If he were really badly hurt, he wouldn't be able to say so much."
Someone said it, and the other students understood as well. Then, a few of them went over, lifted him up, and ran toward the infirmary.
"His social death is way worse than mine."
Sun Qiang watched Lei Fei being carried away, his eyes filled with complicated emotions and joy. With Lei Fei around, no students would probably keep their eyes on him anymore.
Lei Fei, what a good man!
"Is that really the point? Say, are we sure we're not running?"
"Run? There'd have to be someone to take the lead. Without a leader, who'd have the nerve to run?"
"My instincts won't allow me to flee, you know what I mean? It's an instinct embedded deep in Huaxia people's DNA."
"Isn't it just watching the excitement? Why make it sound so mysterious?"
"..."
For a moment, Bai Xuan did not know what to say as he listened to them. When facing danger, all they thought about was watching the show and not wanting to be the first to run because they were afraid of looking bad?
What a student mindset.
But never mind the students—why were the school leaders and teachers not doing anything at all?
And the security guards over by the field—was it really appropriate for them to watch so leisurely with smiles on their faces? Were they sure they did not want to deal with this?
If Bai Xuan had not known that this Fire Bird was coming for him, he would have thought it was some training exercise arranged by the school.
Every last one of them looked as though they knew something.
Forget it. If none of you are coming, I will.
Bai Xuan shook his head, a flash of blue light passing through his eyes.
Boom!
A rumble echoed between Heaven and Earth. The sudden thunder made everyone instinctively look up at the sky.
A blue-white bolt of lightning came roaring down from the heavens, like a Thunder Dragon bellowing as it tore through the sky and struck the Fire Bird directly.
Lightning blazed.
Blue-white arcs of electricity danced wildly.
When the lightning finally faded, the entire field was filled with a thick, scorched smell.
The red Fire Feather within the thunder had become a charred corpse, lying on the ground without the slightest trace of life.
"Holy shit!"
"Justice from Above?"
One after another, they stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable scene, expressing their shock in civilized language.
They had imagined many ways the Fire Bird might be killed—police firearms, being surrounded and attacked, perhaps some genius Esper—but they had never imagined it would be... Justice from Above.
What sin had it committed to suffer Justice from Above in broad daylight?!
It was not just the students. Even the teachers and security guards at the edge of the field were dumbfounded. This was not right—it seemed different from what they had discussed.
Touching the bulges at their waists, they looked bewildered and at a loss.
Had they not agreed that they would put on a show before the students? They were supposed to let them know that even after Awakening Superpowers, they still had to obey the law, and that the power of technology was beyond their imagination.
But they looked at one another, then shook their heads helplessly.
Better leave it to their superiors.
At the same time, a woman in military uniform seemed to sense something and revealed a surprised expression.
"Huo Yu, what's wrong?"
The man beside her looked at her strangely and asked.
"My Crimson Flame Bird died."
Huo Yu said oddly.
"Weren't we planning to—"
The Crimson Flame Bird had been meant to die in the first place. Whether it was to warn the students or display the strength of firearms, its death had been inevitable.
This sort of creature, which could only breathe fire and had decent defensive power, was not important at all.
With Huo Yu's ability, summoning a hundred Crimson Flame Birds was not difficult. Thus, whether in Huo Yu's eyes or the nation's, Fire Feather Birds were not an important resource.
"No, no, no. It didn't die to firearms. It was lightning—lightning from nature."
"???"
"You're sure it was natural lightning? Not an Esper with lightning-type Superpowers?"
If it was the latter, he could be thrilled that the nation had produced another genius. But if it was the former... was she sure she had not made a mistake?
"I'm sure it was natural lightning."
Huo Yu nodded, then shook her head again.
"Though I can't rule out the possibility that it was an Esper."
"But if it was an Esper, their Superpower is absolutely no weaker than mine."
The ability she had Awakened was—[Fire Summoning], allowing her to summon fire-element lifeforms and non-living objects from the Otherworld.
Moreover, her talent potential was extremely high. The military had others who had Awakened summoning abilities, but not a single one could casually summon a hundred Fire Feather Birds as she could.
Of course, there were also peerless geniuses with other abilities.
Qin Tian possessed [Divine Dragon]. At the beginning of the Reiki Revival, he could already withstand firearms and control wind, rain, and lightning.
Ye Feng possessed [Light of Life]. He could dispel illnesses, heal injuries, and even easily save those on the brink of death.
Chen Bing possessed [Extreme Cold Power]. When he Awakened, the entire military camp had been blanketed in ice and snow, and even bullets could not penetrate the ice shields he condensed.
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 Huo Yu did not think she was stronger than them. Of course, she did not think she was weaker than them either.
Just as Lei Fei had said, the Reiki Revival had given everyone a chance to change their Fate. But that did not mean everyone had become equal. Instead, it meant even greater class divides were coming.
Talent was something no one could ignore.
If studying allowed hard work to lower the gap between oneself and a genius as much as possible within the limits of one's potential, then Superpowers truly widened the distance between the two.
Take Huo Yu, for example. Even a single Crimson Flame Bird she summoned had instantly defeated Lei Fei, whose talent was much higher than most people's. Yet she could easily summon a hundred such Crimson Flame Birds.
Could such a gap really be overcome through hard work?
Even if it could, how much time would it take? One month? Two months? Or six months, perhaps even a year?
And during that year, would they make no progress at all?
No, their progress would definitely be far greater!
"Once Hang City No. 1 Middle School finishes registering abilities, send me a copy."
"Have the Weather Bureau analyze the reason for today's thunder in Hang City."
Huo Yu said flatly.
"Alright."
After completing his registration, Bai Xuan had thought he would be able to go home, especially after such an incident.
But he had not expected to be made to sit through an hour-long meeting.
The general content was still the same: students were expected to control their abilities, not use them recklessly, and especially not harm others.
After skipping over the usual clichés, there were some things that interested Bai Xuan.
Before you continue