Unknown Energy Attack

Yang Xuan flew into a rage when he heard that, feeling that his cousin had been insulted. "Fuck, you actually already have a beep—someone you like."

Before he could say the rest, a piercing beep rang through everyone's minds.

Shen Mo's head spun, and his throat felt a little itchy. Then he heard a system notification.

[System Notification: Absolute Defense was attacked by unknown energy. Attack neutralized.]

Everyone caught in the blast was dizzy for two seconds, but none of them had it as badly as Shen Mo. He could barely stay on his feet.

Just as he was about to collapse, a pair of hands steadily caught him. Shen Mo leaned against the person and dry-heaved weakly a few times before listlessly looking up. "Su Ze?"

He had thought it was his sister. Still, the other person had kindly helped him, so Shen Mo added, "Thanks."

"It's fine. Are you okay?"

Shen Mo nodded, indicating that he had recovered.

Su Ze helped him sit on the sofa nearby, then poured two cups of hot water. He handed one to Shen Mo and the other to Shen Yue beside him. "You two should drink some water and recover."

Only then did he look up at everyone. "Is everyone all right?"

Leng Shiyi could not help smacking Yang Xuan again. Lowering his voice, he warned sternly, "Try talking less when you've got nothing useful to say. Have you forgotten what I told you?"

He finally understood why that old fox Su Ze had told everyone to keep it from Shen Mo. With such an absurd reason—that saying it aloud would bring backlash—even if they told Shen Mo, he would not believe it.

Back when Shen Yue had shouted for someone on the third floor, the commotion had been quite loud. They had all been curious, but polite enough not to ask.

She had probably discovered this matter then.

Yang Xuan had nearly rolled his eyes from the sudden sound wave just now. At Leng Shiyi's words, he merely nodded.

Seeing his foolish expression, Leng Shiyi had no idea whether he had actually listened. He sighed helplessly and gave Su Ze a look that said there was nothing he could do.

He had a feeling that this might happen again in the future. After all, there were times when even he could not control his younger brother.

Su Ze narrowed his fox-like eyes behind his glasses and smilingly made a throat-slitting gesture at him.

Try it again, and you're dead. Got it?

Still not fully recovered, Yang Xuan accidentally caught sight of his gaze and instantly shrank behind his cousin's back, though he had no idea what he had done wrong.

I'll behave, so please spare me.

Shen Mo accepted the water Su Ze handed him and took small sips, finally suppressing the itch at the back of his throat.

He rubbed the rim of the cup, feeling somewhat strange.

Why does this feel strangely familiar?

It was as if he had experienced something similar before.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember it.

Shen Mo's brows furrowed slightly as a trace of doubt rose in his heart.

What just happened? Did someone awaken another ability?

That hurt like hell. I feel like I'm about to cough up blood. Good thing drinking some water can suppress it.

Su Ze really knows how to read the room. But don't think I don't know what he's after. He wants to pursue my sister, so he plans to start with me. Haha, then you've kicked a ball of cotton! There's no way through me.

After hearing those words, Su Ze met Shen Yue's probing gaze, and his smile gradually froze.

After all, Shen Mo's reasoning had some basis to it. It was no wonder he thought that way.

Ever since Shen Mo had come to this world, other than his sister, he had not actively tried to ingratiate himself with any of the other protagonists.

Those protagonists were probably guilty over having murdered the original owner of his body, so they had not taken the initiative to provoke him either.

Shen Mo did not know that others could hear his thoughts, so he had always assumed that everyone was maintaining this delicate balance. He had not thought much of it.

And Su Ze had suddenly changed his attitude and started treating him kindly. Shen Mo assumed it was because he had abruptly stopped causing trouble, combined with consideration for his sister, that Su Ze was taking extra care of him.

Shen Mo attributed all those unusual things to his sister's influence. He did not intend to dwell on them and promptly cast them out of his mind.

Someone was willingly waiting on him. He could not have asked for more, so what was there to agonize over?

The reason he had not connected what happened just now with the Heavenly Dao's backlash last time was not because he had forgotten after fainting. It was because the pain back then, as though his entire body were being torn apart, had been far more intense than this.

Compared to that, today's discomfort was nothing.

So he instinctively overlooked it.

Besides, that sensation just now had felt more like a mental attack, so Shen Mo suspected that one of the male leads had awakened another ability.

Seeing that he had already found himself an excuse, everyone secretly exchanged glances and went along with his explanation.

"Sorry, my ability malfunctioned just now. The electric current formed electrical waves and accidentally attacked everyone." Cui Yang stepped out to explain with a face full of black lines, unable to understand why he had to take the blame.

Shen Mo looked up at him, seriously suspecting that he was retaliating for what had happened yesterday.

Is this guy getting back at me for yesterday?

But that doesn't make sense. Everyone got caught up in it, including him. He shouldn't be that stupid. Then it probably really was just an accident.

Although that explanation made sense...

"How did you convert electricity into electrical waves?" Shen Mo asked curiously.

In the apocalypse, it was common for people with the same ability type to use their powers in completely different ways.

Cui Yang glanced at the others, who were avoiding his gaze. While cursing them internally for being unreliable, he could only step up with a stiff, zombie-like face. "I already said it was an accident. How would I know how I did it?"

He sounds so righteous about it. Not even a little embarrassed. His skin is even thicker than mine.

"Fine." Shen Mo curled his lips and continued drinking his water.

The others awkwardly rubbed their noses.

Once everyone had recovered, they got back into the cars and prepared to set off.