Chapter 149: The Increasing Avengers

During the fight, it was Lu Xin’s instinctive action to deliver the fatal blow to Qin Ran.

Until now, his experience battling Ability Users was limited to that Puppet-Type Ability User, and when dealing with that Puppet-Type Ability User, he had detailed information in hand, with the Puppet-Type’s strengths and weaknesses analyzed thoroughly.

But Qin Ran was different.

Because in the documents from the Special Clean-up Department, Qin Ran’s abilities were all unknown.

So when fighting him, Lu Xin’s nerves were strained taut, with no room at all to hold back.

He only worried that Qin Ran would be too difficult to handle, but never expected Qin Ran to be exceptionally easy to deal with.

Because Qin Ran was exceptionally easy to deal with, Lu Xin killed him the moment they clashed, and then suddenly recalled another matter.

Special Contaminant-041 incident.

To this day, the Qinggang City Research Institute still hadn’t provided a definitive explanation for that event, but on the surface, it seemed that Cui Wang killed Qin Ran, then turned into Qin Ran, and afterward, countless people appeared seeking revenge against him.

The final investigation uncovered a Source of Contamination at the bottom of the lake.

And that Source of Contamination had already contaminated eight people at the time.

Everything began with killing Qin Ran.

So, upon realizing this problem, Lu Xin immediately placed Qin Ran’s heart back into the chest.

Unfortunately, it was already useless.

The blood vessels beside the Heart were torn, a fist-sized hole appeared on the rib surface, and blood gushed out from within.

Qin Ran’s complexion rapidly turned pale, and his life force vanished.

Only the death-smile frozen on Qin Ran’s face remained, growing stiff.

His eyes were still slightly open, staring blankly directly at Lu Xin.

The sensation of being watched made him feel deeply uneasy.

“Qin Ran has already died, what will happen?”

Looking down at the dead Qin Ran, Lu Xin pondered this in his mind.

In the next instant, he suddenly sensed something, his body tensed, and he leaped back three to four meters immediately.

In his view, the dead Qin Ran’s body began transforming; a tree sprouted from his form.

It resembled an ordinary tree, roots embedded in Qin Ran’s body, then extending into a trunk that grew upward, eventually bearing Vine as its fruit, but that Vine was alive, slithering like a snake.

“Swoosh…”

After the Vine emerged, it abruptly shot toward Lu Xin, its tip splitting open to reveal a mouth filled with sharp fangs.

The Vine moved incredibly fast, almost like a bullet.

But with Little Sister’s help, Lu Xin reacted quicker than the Vine; he tilted his head slightly and dodged it.

However, the Vine showed no hesitation, continuing its forward stretch, while about twenty meters behind Lu Xin stood a group of Small Town residents armed with various “weapons,” lurking in the shadows and watching them secretly.

The Vine wrapped directly around the foremost resident.

Lu Xin sensed something amiss and swiftly reached out to grab it, tearing the Vine in two.

But the Small Town resident was swiftly ensnared by the Vine.

He had been somewhat vacant-faced with a faint smile, but his expression shifted now; eyes rolled upward to display mostly whites, then his eyeballs rotated a full circle within their sockets before pupils reappeared.

By then, those pupils were fixed unblinkingly on Lu Xin.

“Zhang Sihuo, you dare harm me…”

He gurgled out a muffled phrase.

His eyes brimmed with hatred as he shouted Qin Ran’s other name, though directed at Lu Xin.

Amidst his loud cries, he waved his scythe and charged at Lu Xin.

In his gaze, Lu Xin appeared to become Qin Ran.

Seeing his stumbling approach, Lu Xin didn’t kill him but sidestepped and retreated two steps.

At that moment, his mind raced through every detail of Special Contaminant-041; when Cui Wang became Qin Ran, he faced similar events—people seeking vengeance, with each kill spawning two more in endless increase.

So Lu Xin knew he must not kill that Avenger now.

But before Lu Xin could devise a solution, the Avenger halted.

He seemed frightened by Lu Xin, advancing only two steps before stopping.

His eyes overflowed with hatred, locked on Lu Xin; he hoisted his scythe and sliced it across his own throat.

“Zhang Sihuo… I will definitely kill you…”

A hole had appeared in his throat, making his voice whistle strangely like leaking air, yet it was filled with an abnormal dread:

“Even if I die… I will definitely kill you…”

……

“Self-destruction…”

Watching this scene, Lu Xin abruptly remembered another thing.

According to the account given by Cui Wang himself when he had impersonated “Qin Ran”, after the number of people seeking revenge against him reached four, he had already dared not kill them outright, merely imprisoning them instead. However, once the four Avengers realized all hope for vengeance was lost, they instantly attacked each other, even consuming one another, thus completing the step of “seeking revenge” and being “killed”, consequently triggering the next phase.

Was this town resident committing suicide because he felt he couldn’t kill Lu Xin, thereby completing this step?

As this thought crossed his mind, Lu Xin saw the tree growing from Qin Ran’s body had sprouted a second Vine. Then, the two Vines shot forward rapidly, like two slithering serpents moving in parallel, charging once more towards the residents.

But this time, Lu Xin did not let them reach the town’s residents; he directly reached out and severed them.

However, the severed Vines, as if possessing their own Life, continued flying and entangled two residents.

Soon, they shrieked words of vengeance, glared viciously at Lu Xin, yet attacked each other instead.

Lu Xin’s Heart sank slightly.

Even after being severed, these Vines still retained some vitality.

Within such an extensive range, it was sufficient for them to capture, or rather, Contaminate some people.

This method of Contamination simply did not seem like something that could be interrupted by physical means.

The only solution was to first clear the surrounding area, depriving it of targets to Contaminate.

But the crucial point was, the area was now densely packed with residents from Happy Town. They seemed devoid of Fear; even after witnessing such intense fighting erupt around them, even after seeing three among them become abnormal because of it, even resorting to suicide, they remained foolishly rooted to the spot. Moreover, there was a vague sense they were tightening their circle…

“These residents are all too foolish…”

Lu Xin pondered this problem and recalled the second of the three major principles regarding Ability User combat from the dossiers:

Combat is never the key link determining victory or defeat; preparation for combat is.

……

Had Qin Ran chosen to hide in this Small Town precisely because its residents possessed this trait?

……

While Lu Xin was contemplating these matters, the Tentacles had multiplied to four.

The “Flesh-Blood Monster Tree” sprouting from Qin Ran’s body was visibly growing larger too. From an initial height of about one meter, it had now grown fourfold. The tree’s surface resembled the color of exposed flesh after skin had been ripped off. The Vines writhing all over its surface bore snake-like scales of a vivid crimson hue. They spread in all directions, amidst a swarm of countless tendrils fluttering around them.

A strong, metallic scent of blood filled the nasal cavity.

As if countless cries or sobs, furious shouts, or piercing laughter echoed between the densely packed houses.

Fine, scattered Psychic Tendrils already enveloped an area several dozen meters wide.

The light of the Crimson Moon cascaded from above. The air seemed to ripple like water, trembling minutely.

……

Whoosh…

Just as the bizarre tree on Qin Ran’s corpse grew at a frenzied pace, its range expanding wider and wider, the sound of shattering glass came from behind a row of rooms.

Immediately after, glaring brightness flared, and four Motorcycles sped rapidly towards the hills behind the town.

Those must be Qin Ran’s companions; recognizing the dire situation, they immediately fled the Small Town on bikes.

Lu Xin’s form twisted as he charged towards the group of Small Town residents. He snatched them up and threw them into a building. Since these residents didn’t know to take cover, he simply helped them do so. Spotting the fleeing Shadow of the Motorcycles, he couldn’t spare the attention to chase them immediately.

While his body moved, he pulled a Signal Flare gun from his bag and fired towards the sky in the direction they had fled.

The brilliant flare illuminated a patch of sky and cast light upon the Small Town.

Lu Xin knew Gecko would see the Signal Flare and intercept those people. As for himself, he needed to deal with Qin Ran.

……

“How can I interrupt this process?”

The instant after firing the Signal Flare, Lu Xin suddenly snapped his head up, looking towards the position of “Qin Ran’s” corpse.

His body tensed slightly, ready to pounce forward and tear the corpse to pieces.

But Mother, standing some distance away, gently shook her head: “Tearing it apart now would actually help it spread…”

Lu Xin narrowed his eyes and pulled back Little Sister, who was quivering with excitement to charge over.

He understood what Mother meant. Psychic Entities possessed characteristics of the living, but they were not truly living organisms. Their essence was a Source of Contamination. Thus, when their mass, or Psychic Magnitude, was relatively low, they could be easily shredded.

Once shredded, they would lose their living characteristics, and the fragmented parts would dissipate.

But when their mass reached a certain level, shredding them didn’t destroy them; it merely split them into two Sources of Contamination.

At that point, Qin Ran’s rate of Contamination might even double.

“But if I don’t shred him…”

Lu Xin frowned and abruptly looked up.

Right now, Qin Ran was proliferating rapidly.

The range covered by its Mental Fluctuation had already surpassed thirty meters. On the seven-to-eight-meter-tall monstrosity of flesh and blood, Vines and human-shaped “fruits” now numbered eight. They resembled the snapping limbs of a man-eating tree, struggling and flailing wildly.

The number of Small Town residents surging towards him now, wielding all sorts of weapons, had reached sixteen.

The unfolding events seemed eerily similar to the 041 Special Contamination Incident.

Yet this time, the rate at which “Qin Ran’s” Contamination was proliferating was far faster than back then.

Moreover, there was almost no interval between stages.

Though they were Contamination Incidents of a similar nature, the scale between them was completely different.

……

“How can I stop the contamination of the surrounding Small Town residents?”

“Why is this Contamination spreading so much faster this time?”

“What would happen if I directly destroy Qin Ran’s corpse, the Source of Contamination?”

“How can I resolve this?”

“……”

Lu Xin’s thoughts raced, but for the moment, he found no answer.

He looked towards Mother and saw her brow slightly furrowed, seemingly pondering the same question and temporarily lacking a solution.

Should he summon Father directly to resolve it?

Lu Xin contemplated this but quickly shook his head; the timing wasn’t right.

He knew Father’s temper. He wouldn’t tolerate the irritation of these “Avengers” chasing him; he would simply eliminate them all.

Judging by temperament and personality, Father and Qin Ran might almost become good friends.

He would help Qin Ran eliminate all the “Avengers” as swiftly as possible, thereby drastically accelerating the intensification of Qin Ran’s Contamination ability…