Stepping Stone

After studying Xiao He's new abilities, the next step was to study the abilities of the newly joined member, Chen Ting.

And with that, Xiao He's mission came to an end, and the two of them boarded the car to go home.

Xiao He couldn't say whether the "Perfect Cube" ability was good or bad. An ability that could only be used for defense couldn't determine the outcome of a battle. Having a Superpower was good, but it was a bit of a loss that Chen Ting Superpower only provide one.

A good Trigger should be able to activate multiple of his Superpower.

Take Jin Shaokang, for example. He can provide Xiao He with three Superpower: physical strength, defense, and Psychokinesis. He's an excellent Trigger, but unfortunately... this guy refuses to cooperate.

However, because of Chen Ting's special abilities, Xiao He finds it difficult to let his guard down around this kid. This allows him to be used as a long-term Trigger in the future, which is believed to play a role in the Mutant Competition.

"Hey, Old Xiao, it's still early, shall we go to the supermarket?" Ye Wanqing said, glancing at the time.

"What do you want to buy?" Xiao He asked curiously.

"Let's go take a look. We finally got a membership card, so we should browse around and see if there are any special offers," Ye Wanqing said coquettishly.

"Okay, okay," Xiao He said, drawing out the words, then replied to Li Zhiqiang ahead, "Brother Li, let's stop at the entrance of the Hua L Supermarket up ahead later."

Twenty minutes later, the car stopped in front of the Hua L Supermarket near their home, and the two went inside to browse.

"Old Xiao, look at this." Ye Wanqing smiled at him, holding a box of chicken legs in her hand. "It's on special! Two big chicken legs for only ten yuan! Shall we buy them and make roasted chicken legs?"

Ye Wanqing's innocent and carefree appearance made Xiao He's heart race: she could be so cute and sweet, why did she always act like a sullen Little Pufferfish in front of him?

"Buy it," Xiao He nodded with a smile.

Ye Wanqing put the chicken leg into the shopping cart and continued browsing, but when she looked down, a cute little tuft of hair stuck up on her head, so Xiao He reached out and smoothed it down for her.

Ye Wanqing was already used to this and didn't pay any attention, continuing to focus on selecting her noodles, "Hey, this alkaline noodle is on sale too, but won't it be a bit stale after a day...?"

This girl is happier shopping at the market than at the mall; she's so adorable. Xiao He didn't disturb her, but simply held her hand while watching her talk to herself.

After finishing her shopping and arriving at the checkout counter to pay, Ye Wanqing secretly glanced at the shelves next to her.

"I wonder if Old Xiao will still buy me candy?" Ye Wanqing suddenly wondered, then she scolded herself, "Why am I thinking like that? I don't even like candy..."

However, after paying the bill, Ye Wanqing felt a little angry: This guy really doesn't understand romance at all...

But at that moment, Xiao He suddenly poked Ye Wanqing's face, and Ye Wanqing immediately became angry. "What?!"

"Here." Xiao He held up his hand, and Ye Wanqing then realized that Xiao He had used to poke her face was a lollipop.

"Grape flavored," Xiao He said with a smile. Ye Wanqing's lips curled up slightly, and she snatched the lollipop, huffing, "At least you remember... otherwise there won't be any braised fish to eat when we get back."

As she spoke, Ye Wanqing tore open the wrapper and put the lollipop in her mouth. The grape flavor was a little sour, but her heart was filled with sweetness.

After shopping, the two prepared to walk home. Since their apartment was near the school, as they passed the campus gate, Ye Wanqing suddenly tugged at him, pointed to the roadside, and said, "Hey, Old Xiao, that..."

Xiao He turned his head curiously and saw a Bentley that looked somewhat familiar.

"Isn't this...?" Xiao He frowned and thought for a moment. He only remembered that she was the school beauty, but he couldn't recall her name.

Ye Wanqing nodded. "Yes, it's the car of the school beauty's boyfriend. I didn't expect to run into it here."

"Yes, I'll go up and give it another kick," Xiao He said with a slight smile, and prepared to step forward.

"Hey! Stop it!" Ye Wanqing quickly grabbed him, frowning as she said, "I'll make you something delicious when we get back, okay?"

"Alright then." Xiao He shrugged and obediently followed behind Ye Wanqing.

However, Xiao He noticed that the other side of the car was surrounded by people, and he immediately became worried: Could this guy have really hit someone? If so, I'll definitely report him.

But after they went around to the other side, they discovered that on the other side of the car, Zhang Yuxin's boyfriend was proposing to her!

Hundreds of candles were laid out on the ground, arranged in the shape of a heart, and rose petals were used to spell out Zhang Yuxin's name. Zhang Yuxin's boyfriend held a bouquet of flowers and knelt on one knee in front of Zhang Yuxin. A large crowd of onlookers were taking pictures of the two protagonists and discussing the scene.

"Look at them, how romantic..." Ye Wanqing muttered under her breath, glaring at Xiao He. "Learn from them."

"What's so romantic about that? It's just burning money!" Xiao He rolled his eyes. "As long as you don't mind me bringing a few 'Lin Tiannan' along, I can even take you to the moon, have a candlelight dinner, and then come back. Isn't that romantic enough?"

"Pfft!" Ye Wanqing was immediately amused by him, then poked his cheek in an annoyed tone. "What's so romantic about bringing a few Lin Tiannan along? Are you stupid?"

"Well, you still laughed because I made you laugh," Xiao He said casually.

"Ugh, you're so annoying..." Ye Wanqing pinched Xiao He's arm and complained, but then she suddenly noticed the bouquet of flowers.

The bouquet Zhang Yuxin's boyfriend was holding wasn't roses at all, but a bunch of RMB notes tied together. Judging from the weight of that huge bouquet, it must have cost at least several hundred thousand RMB.

"It's lowered the class by a lot..." Ye Wanqing complained, lowering her eyelids. "It's so tacky... Shall we go, Old Xiao?"

Right now, Xiao He is observing Zhang Yuxin's boyfriend. He has met this guy once before, but the feeling he gets from this man today is a little different from the last time.

Last time, this man was arrogant and conceited, with a cynical look on his face, but now... he's as humble as a dog, staring at Zhang Yuxin in front of him with a dazed look, as if he's become a completely different person.

Zhang Yuxin, on the other hand, hadn't changed much. She remained as glamorous as ever, adorned with designer clothes, bags, shoes, and heavy makeup. She crossed her arms and looked at the man in front of her, her expression somewhat subtle.

Rather than joy and happiness, it was more like... smugness, even a sense of revenge, as if saying, "Finally, you've fallen at my feet!"

"The Little Pufferfish is better." Xiao He nodded. Although he didn't know how Zhang Yuxin's boyfriend had become so infatuated and changed his mind, he wasn't interested. So he waved to Ye Wanqing, "Let's go, let's go home."

"Don't you think her boyfriend is weird?" Ye Wanqing asked, linking her arm with his. "He's like he's bewitched."

"You noticed it too?" Xiao He asked curiously. Ye Wanqing nodded, a lollipop in her mouth. "That person didn't seem like that when they brought her to school last time."

"Never mind them, neither of them are good people..." Xiao He squeezed her small hand and urged, "Let's go home and cook dinner."

"Hmm." Ye Wanqing nodded, then turned to him and smiled, "What do you want to eat tonight? We still have fish at home, how about we braise a fish? And then pan-fry some tofu and stir-fry some water spinach."

"Great! With braised fish, I can eat three bowls of rice!" Xiao He nodded excitedly.

He gets so happy every time we talk about eating, so cute... Ye Wanqing couldn't help but think to herself as she looked at Xiao He.

After arriving home, the two went to their room to change clothes.

Ye Wanqing changed into a set of loungewear: a white knitted camisole underneath, a gray wool cardigan over it, and light orange loose-fitting capri pants. The outfit itself looked a bit matronly, but on Ye Wanqing, it made her appear petite and slender, while also highlighting her exceptionally large bust.

Most notably, Ye Wanqing had tied her hair up.

Because her hair was very short, she could barely tie it into a small bun at the back of her head, which made Xiao He's heart flutter: This little bun is so cute!

Xiao He couldn't help but reach out his index finger and gently flick the little braid at the back of her head, teasingly saying, "Oh, you've tied your hair up?"

"Yes, it's more convenient to do things this way." Ye Wanqing said as she rolled up her sleeves and tied on her apron.

Her movements were practiced and graceful, exuding a charming, mature woman's allure that captivated Xiao He, making it impossible for him to look away. Ye Wanqing, however, remained expressionless, inwardly gloating. "Fool, staring at her like that..."

"Old Xiao, help me get the cooking wine from up there, and then peel some garlic for me." Ye Wanqing stood in front of the stove, preparing to process the fish.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Xiao He said, rushing into the room, then grabbed two stainless steel finger cots and handed them to Ye Wanqing, smiling as he said, "Here, wear these, you won't cut your hand."

Ye Wanqing glanced at it and couldn't help but chuckle, "No, thank you, I can't feel anything when I wear that."

"I didn't feel anything, but it's safe!" Xiao He said, frowning.

"Oh dear, no, no, it'll affect my performance," Ye Wanqing said coquettishly, quickly changing the subject. "Okay, just hurry up and peel the garlic for me, and then chop some scallions. The sooner it's done, the sooner you can eat."

"Alright then..." Xiao He shrugged and began to help Ye Wanqing. The two of them started to work together more smoothly.

Although Xiao He couldn't cook, he was strong and patient, and could still help with tasks like peeling garlic and washing vegetables.

This reminded Xiao He of the warm and comforting scene of his parents cooking in the kitchen when he was at home.

After dinner was prepared, they sat down in the living room, and Ye Wanqing turned on the TV.

However, the television was currently broadcasting a news report about the "Mutant Competition," a tournament heavily promoted by the M Country. Judging from the broadcast time, it was a news item that had been recently released by foreign media just a few hours earlier.

Cui Man had already told them about this beforehand, so Xiao He wasn't too surprised. However, he didn't expect the M Country to announce it to the world so quickly. He had originally thought that such a large event would be discussed after preparations were complete...

"Are they planning to use the power of the media and public opinion to force other countries to submit..." Xiao He frowned and thought to himself.

Although the influence of M Country has been declining recently, it is still a formidable force. Under their various forms of coercion, R Country, H Country, most countries in the A Continent and O Continent have agreed to participate in this competition.

Furthermore, Y Country and E Country agreed to participate after being provoked, so although China has not yet given an answer, the competition is basically a done deal.

Currently, broadcasting these news items is merely for promotional purposes, since this competition will be broadcast live. Although the participating countries claim it's to facilitate communication among Mutant from different countries and to help the public better understand Mutant, they can't afford to miss this rare opportunity to make money.

After all, this is an unprecedented Mutant Competition. It has been less than half a year since Mutant first appeared. Most people's understanding of Mutant is limited to promotional videos. They have never even seen Mutant use their abilities, let alone watched a battle between Mutant in person.

Therefore, this event is like personally traveling into the Marvel universe to watch "The Avengers." This gimmick alone is enough to attract audiences from all over the world, and ticket prices will probably be astronomical.

Moreover, the Mutant participating in this competition are representing their own countries, just like in the Olympic Games, so naturally everyone hopes their own athletes will win.

The economic benefits generated by such a huge amount of attention are the fundamental reason why many countries agreed to participate: who would participate in such a competition if there was no money to be made?

That's why countries started promoting the competition early on, preparing to attract sponsorships and advertising.

"This competition is going to get really intense...," Xiao He said while eating. "I can't let my parents see this..."

"Hmm..." Ye Wanqing nodded, then added, "Don't talk while eating fish, be careful not to choke on a bone."

On the streets of J.J. Mountain in M Country, a decadent and dissolute young man stood blankly on the street, looking at the news about the "Mutant Competition," a twisted smile appearing on his lips.

"The Mutant Competition? That means all Mutant will participate, right? So Yinglong will be there too?" The young man clapped his hands, revealing a blue snake tattoo on the back of his left hand and a green snake tattoo on the back of his right. He gritted his teeth and grinned maliciously, muttering to himself, "Interesting... My chance to become a 'god' has finally arrived."

As he spoke, the young man walked forward. When he passed a magazine stand, he spotted a "M Country Hero Handbook," so he tossed the shopkeeper a banknote and grabbed the handbook.

Upon opening it, you'll find information about the Mutant currently existing in their M Country. Although the descriptions of their abilities are incomplete and their names are all given as code names, the information about each Mutant is very detailed, and the information for every publicly disclosed mutant is in this manual.

"Hmph, interesting..." The young man grinned. "Let's see who we should choose as the first stepping stone."

Then, the young man targeted one of them, laughing, "Oh? 'Morph Hero,' able to transform into other people's appearances... Such a useless ability dares to call you a hero? Be a stepping stone for me."

After saying that, the young man rolled up the magazine in his hand and stuffed it into his pocket, then put on his hood and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

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