Chapter 155

Chapter 155

"Wow..." Amazed at Mixue's ability to recover even from such injuries, Number One, inexperienced in the world, let out a genuine exclamation of awe.

During the period of Nightfall, Number One had been intensively educated in general knowledge. He understood his unique ability to utilize many powers as an experimental subject. Livai, following Ark's instructions, had informed him about Mixue's abilities and existence, in case a situation arose where they needed to confront her.

After several battles, Number One perceived more clearly that Mixue was like him. This sparked a curiosity in him about her. How strong was her regenerative ability? Wouldn't it activate while her limbs were being surgically altered?

However, the current intense and critical battle was not the right moment to ponder these questions.

Curious yet decisive, Number One didn't hesitate in his actions. As Mixue slowed down due to her fatal injuries, he transformed the ground she touched into sharp blades, aiming them at her.

Mixue's eyes fixed on Number One as the blades, upon touching her, morphed back into their original form.

This was the last ability Livai had mentioned: the power to replicate the transcendent abilities of others she had seen. During the battle against Ark, when a black hole consumed half her head, Mixue had tried to replicate Ark's ability to create a sudden black hole.

However, her replication ability had a prerequisite: she needed to know exactly what power was being used to replicate it. After several guesses that all failed, she couldn't figure out how Ark did it, resulting in a failed replication.

But replicating Number One's abilities was like an open book test for Mixue; using them even once was effortless.

Contrary to Fiery Star's expectation, after healing her fatal throat injury, Mixue's attack frequency didn't decrease but increased, even utilizing her replication ability. Their actions had infuriated her, intensifying the murderous intent she radiated more than before.

Fiery Star, already no match for Mixue, couldn't suppress her for long even with Number One's help. Disrupting his ability was a significant strain, and his only remaining eye blurred due to the forced interruption of his power. Distracted, he was shot by a bullet. Only a whip created by Number One deflected the bullet from a vital point to his shoulder.

Repairing fatal injuries twice was not as effortless for Mixue as it appeared. She could feel a significant loss of her transcendent power in these life-and-death reversals. But her current focus was solely on killing Number One and Fiery Star, not considering the consequences of excessive use of her power.

Her unrestrained attack ceased only when she received a message from Agatha, snapping her back to reality. The inexplicable rage in her heart solidified.

"Mu'er is dead."

Mixue's heart sank. In just this short time, Ark had killed Mu'er!?

And what was she doing? She hadn't killed a single enemy and let these two hinder her progress. Ark might block her way to the lower levels, but that didn't mean they could. What was she really doing? Her primary objective was to complete the mission!

Just when Fiery Star and his companion thought they were doomed, Mixue's attack slowed. Hearing her repeat "Mu'er is dead," Fiery Star's expression, despite his painful wounds, was spirited.

This indicated that Ark was battling outside. He and Number One had played their part, distracting her from focusing on a more formidable enemy. She would succeed, as long as they didn't hold her back.

Fiery Star blinked; his vision was clearer than before, and the pain from his injuries had lessened. He glanced knowingly at Number One beside him.

Number One's left hand emitted a faint green light. He possessed a Class C healing ability, not as rapid as higher-level healers but sufficient for alleviating injuries.

As they prepared to continue battling Mixue, she gave them a deep look and tore open a rift in the ground beneath her, rapidly moving toward the lower levels.

Fiery Star's eyes widened: "This is bad!"

He and Number One hurriedly followed, but without Ark's daunting black holes as a defense, Mixue's descent was unimpeded. Even though Number One transformed the ground into water to follow her, they couldn't stop Mixue.

Worse, the alien creatures Ark had positioned outside couldn't stop all the central reinforcements. Some high-level transcendents had broken through the alien blockade and entered the headquarters, including the special squad leader Rui Pan.

Rui Pan's ability was to deprive any living being within five meters of their senses, rendering them unable to hear, see, smell, or touch. Most A-class or lower aliens were helpless against this power. She and her three-person team safely entered the first layer of Nightfall.

Her team members, Fu Ning Le and Xiang Meng, were lucky to encounter Eris but managed to escape with their lives, albeit incapacitated and already evacuated by the logistics personnel.

Fiery Star and Number One, below, sensed new enemies infiltrating. They didn't act rashly, immediately informing Ark of the situation through their communication devices.

Fiery Star: "World, Mixue is heading to the lower levels, and we can't stop her! There are intruders above too!"

From the other side came a whistling wind sound, and Ark responded, "It's okay, let her go. You two take the elevator directly to Xi Xiang's floor and continue the fight when she arrives."

The internal elevator of Nightfall had an emergency mode, which could rapidly descend to a designated floor. Mixue wouldn't be able to catch up with their speed.

Listening to the soft yet firm voice on the other end of the communicator, Fiery Star quickly regained his composure and followed Ark's instructions along with Number One.

Since Fiery Star and Number One didn't follow, Mixue glanced back a few times but then stopped paying them any attention.

Mixue descended three floors and briefly surveyed the environment of each. Gradually, her brows furrowed.

Why was there no one around? The layout inside was odd. The middle floor she was on had clearly been an experimental layer before. Instead of continuing downward, she decided to inspect this floor. Observing the scene, her gaze paused.

Had Livai left?

This thought quickly dissipated as she confirmed that the equipment inside had been moved out long ago, something not possible in just a brief period.

A sense of foreboding arose in Mixue's mind, and she descended another floor to confirm her suspicions.

This floor was neatly lined with white compartments, each equipped to detain alien creatures. Yet, not a single alien was present.

Mixue confirmed her suspicions and contacted Agatha: "...Colonel Agatha, the interior of Nightfall is almost empty. Most of them have already relocated. We likely arrived during their final evacuation."

Agatha inhaled deeply: "...I understand. Continue your search. They must have some key personnel left, or Ark wouldn't be negotiating with me here, trying to destroy the barrier device. Find and eliminate their member capable of spatial transportation. I'll continue to send more people in."

Listening to the orders from the other end, Mixue responded, "Okay, I got it."

After cutting off communication with Agatha, Mixue placed her hands on the ground, ready to tear it open and continue moving downward.

—No response.

Her attempt to rip open the ground surprisingly failed. Mixue was certain she had used her power and executed it correctly, yet why was the ground still intact as before?

Her Rending ability could tear apart anything, and even the Central hadn't developed a device to counter it. Nightfall certainly couldn't either. Mixue felt a surge of doubt and used Rending on the ground again.

This time, the ground tore open as usual, as if her previous failure was just an illusion.

This made Mixue question her own senses. Taking a deep breath and unable to pinpoint the cause, she couldn't afford to waste time pondering and continued downward.

As Mixue passed the eighth floor, a faint sound of flowing water came from a room at the end of the corridor. An alien creature, separated by Ark, was conveying external information to Wangchao. The blackness in his eyes gradually receded, revealing his natural amber irises.

He whispered to the alien creature, "I understand. Thank you. I'll keep an eye on the situation inside and reassure her."

……

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Ark was in a standoff with Agatha. The helicopter carrying Agatha hovered steadily overhead, impervious to any attempts to breach it. The moment she showed herself, bullets would graze past her, hitting the ruins behind.

Agatha's data firewall could be breached by an S-class hacker, but the defense she set up around the helicopter to ward off Ark's S-class abilities proved impenetrable.

She speculated this was related to the range of her deployed powers. The firewall covered a vast area, encompassing half of Mingang City, but she only needed to ensure the safety of this helicopter. Powers of the same class simply couldn't compete.

Even using Mu'er's power for neutralization required absorbing a vast amount of exchange energy in advance, and Ark didn't have the time to find and absorb something of such value.

The Central's reinforcements continued to grow. It had been twenty minutes since they were surrounded outside the mall, and Central agents from within Mingang City were arriving one after another. Ark knew the situation was worsening but remained remarkably calm despite the urgency.

The alien creatures she had separated were scattered, with several stationed inside Nightfall to observe and report. Therefore, Ark was immediately aware when Mixue began her descent.

After reassuring Fiery Star, Ark stirred the air currents, whipping up dust and sand caused by the mall's collapse, obscuring the vision of those around her as she moved towards the helicopter above.

The dust storm couldn't penetrate its outer defense but had no trouble covering the helicopter's external targeting cameras.

Unable to lock onto Ark with their bullets, she seized the opportunity to move towards a nearby high-rise building. Using the air currents, she swiftly ascended to the top, then leaped into the air, using the wind to lift and propel her body above the helicopter.

At that moment, her timing coincided with Mixue, who was moving to the sixth floor to continue her descent. The power Mixue had lost appeared in Ark's hands. With a flip, she aimed at the layer of defense outside the helicopter.

Following this, Agatha's impenetrable defense was breached by the "ability to tear apart anything," creating a crack.