Chapter 4 Psychic Superpowered

**Chapter 4: The Psychic**

Tang Tang ran away, and Chen Chen took the opportunity to release Ji An, calling out with deep affection, “Ah-An…”

Ji An turned and walked off without looking back. Behind him, he could hear the crowd murmuring in disapproval.

“Ji An is such an ingrate! How dare he act so disrespectfully toward the base commander when he’s just a mundane? He’s only getting away with it because the commander has a soft spot for him. In any other base, even a regular super would’ve taken him out by now—no way he’d be allowed to put on airs like this!”

“He’s just lucky. He got in good with the commander before the apocalypse even started. I heard they were high school sweethearts too.”

“I’ll say this much—he’s got our commander wrapped around his finger. You know how it is elsewhere—once one partner becomes a super and the other stays a mundane, they split. But our commander’s loyal, still head over heels for his old flame.”

“That’s exactly why Ji An’s so shameless! Without powers, he’s thriving only because the commander’s watching his back. Over the years, he hasn’t earned a scrap of supplies himself, yet he’s living the high life! All thanks to the commander’s support—and still, he’s not satisfied!”

“The commander shouldn’t waste his time on someone like that. Let him go out there alone and see how hard it is for a mundane to survive without a powered protector!”

“Exactly! Doesn’t he think about what would happen if the commander stopped shielding him? There’s no way a mundane like him could take down a Level 3 zombie. If he was lucky, he’d just get eaten. And now he won’t even hand over the crystal cores he got with the commander’s help? He actually had the nerve to come collect a reward too—I spit!”

“Ji An’s got looks going for him. Even among mundanes, he wouldn’t starve. He could always land a long-term meal ticket.”

“So basically… our commander *is* his meal ticket.”

Ji An kept walking, leaving the gossip far behind.

Truth was, he’d never relied on Chen Chen at all. The base residents didn’t know his real strength because Ji An never teamed up with strangers.

Every mission he went on included Chen Chen, Tang Tang, Song Pengcheng, and three of Chen’s inner circle.

These people were all loyal to Chen. With one word from him, none of them would ever reveal Ji An’s true abilities.

So everyone in the base assumed Ji An was a deadweight, coasting by under Chen Chen’s protection.

Back at the start of the apocalypse, both of them were mundanes. Back then, it was Ji An protecting Chen.

Chen came from a normal family, spoiled rotten by his parents, never exposed to the darker side of life. When the world fell apart, expecting him to pick up a knife and fight—it was more than he could handle.

Ji An was different. He was an orphan who grew up in a rough orphanage. The kids there saw everything—fights were common. Ji An got picked on a lot as a kid, and the first thing he did with his summer job money was sign up for taekwondo lessons.

Compared to Chen, who lived a sheltered life, Ji An adapted fast in those early days and looked after Chen more than once.

It was thanks to Ji An that Chen made it home safely from school and found his mother.

He taught Chen hands-on how to hunt zombies without powers, how to survive, and how to push through mental blocks.

Chen didn’t awaken his powers until the third year of the apocalypse. Before that, Ji An was the one keeping them both alive.

He was the one who protected Chen and his mother all along.

Even Tang Tang was saved by Ji An. That was right when the apocalypse began, before humanity showed its worst. *The Farmer and the Snake* was still just a story in those days—people still played hero on the run.

They rescued Tang Tang from a horde of zombies while heading back to Chen’s hometown to find his mother.

At the time, Chen couldn’t even bring himself to kill a zombie. Ji An was the one guarding him the whole way. When they saw Tang Tang surrounded, Ji An felt sorry for her and decided to step in.

Chen happened to agree and yelled to Ji An—who was fighting zombies while keeping Chen safe—to save her.

That one shout was what Tang Tang remembered.

She believed Chen was her savior—that if Chen hadn’t told Ji An to rescue her, she would’ve died that day in the zombie horde.

Leaving aside whether Ji An saved her willingly, it was always Ji An who fought and killed the zombies.

Chen Chen, someone who was always protected and had never killed a single zombie, how did he end up getting to play the hero?

Saved her with what—his big mouth?

If that were the case, then everyone in this world would be a savior.

Ji An himself awakened his powers in the fourth year of the apocalypse. At first, he didn’t realize he had awakened anything, thinking it was just an ordinary high fever.

Other superpowered usually manifested their abilities right after the fever, but after Ji An recovered, he showed no outward difference—he couldn't summon wind or rain, wield thunder or lightning, or raise unbreakable barriers like other superpowered could.

He seemed no different from ordinary people. But not long after, Ji An discovered what set him apart.

He could influence minds—psychic control, to be exact.

Ji An found that as long as he locked eyes with someone and focused his thoughts on a specific idea, he could make them do his bidding.

This ability was terrifying, even to Ji An himself. He realized he had become a psychic.

Logically, awakening a power should be a good thing, but Ji An dared not reveal it. The power was simply too frightening—being able to manipulate thoughts and actions at will was bound to provoke fear and suspicion.

Having grown up in an orphanage, Ji An understood the principle of "hoarding treasure invites disaster" better than anyone. He kept silent, pretending he hadn’t awakened any power, and focused on honing his combat skills.

Though he never explicitly told Chen Chen or Tang Tang, the three of them formed an inseparable trio, always working together on missions. Ji An never hid his capabilities—he could even single-handedly take down a Level 3 Zombie. With such terrifying combat prowess, how could Chen Chen and Tang Tang not notice something was off?

Yet, neither of them ever questioned Ji An about his anomalies. Had they asked, Ji An before his rebirth would never have kept it from them—he'd long thought of them as family.

Looking back now, maybe they'd known all along but chose to feign ignorance for their own reasons. Otherwise, Tang Tang wouldn’t have immediately gone for the psychic crystal core inside his brain after betraying him.

In the end, why a psychic like him fell victim to Tang Tang’s schemes was because he’d trusted her blindly—left himself wide open.

When someone unprepared goes against someone scheming, Ji An was doomed to suffer a crushing defeat.

At the time, he'd been worn out battling a zombie horde, too drained to fight back. Though he possessed psychic abilities, unless Tang Tang met his eyes, Ji An couldn't use his mind control on her.

Ji An returned to the house he shared with Chen Chen. At the door, Chen's mother was chatting with a neighbor, her face flushed from some heated discussion.

Just then, she looked up and spotted Ji An, and she flew into a rage: "Did you cause trouble for Xiao Chen again? You live off him—can't you straighten up and stop dragging him down?

It's just a stupid crystal core—one Xiao Chen got for you in the first place! Why can't you just hand it over?

And you dare claim mission rewards when everything you eat and drink comes from Xiao Chen's hard work? Shameless! Have you no pride? Why don't you take a good look at yourself—are you even worthy of it?"

"Shut up!" Ji An roared, shutting her up and startling her into silence.

No matter how difficult Chen's mother had been, Ji An had always treated her with respect—this was the first time he had ever snapped at her.

For a moment, she was too stunned to speak.

Ji An entered the room and locked the door behind him. But as he looked around, every corner of the space was filled with reminders of his life with Chen Chen, and his stomach turned.

Especially that bed—it made him sick. He remembered, as a ghost, how Tang Tang and Chen Chen had moved into this very room after their marriage, sleeping in the same bed he and Chen Chen had once shared, even making love on it. Didn't it disgust them?

If it didn't disgust them, it disgusted Ji An.

Even if the two hadn't yet used that bed in this timeline, just imagining it turned his stomach. There was no way he could bring himself to lie down on it now, so he simply took a seat on a chair instead.

Ji An closed his eyes, focusing on the psychic energy in his mind, trying to grasp it, to master it...

Ji An suddenly noticed his superpower felt different. If before it had been like a thin thread, now it flowed like a steady stream—vastly stronger than before he was reborn.

It seemed that after rebirth, his mental power had grown even stronger, advancing to the next level. He had now reached Level 2.

Ji An buzzed with excitement and eagerness to test his newfound strength.

At Level 1, his ability could "turn to stone" any living being that met his gaze and mentally control ordinary people or superpowered individuals of the same level or one level higher.

Now that his mental power had reached Level 2, he wondered—could he mentally control Chen Chen, who was two levels above him?

Some time later, the door opened again, and Chen Chen's mother started shrieking immediately. "Chen Chen, you have no idea how unreasonable Ji An has been! He just came back, and I only said a few things, but he yelled at me and gave me this murderous glare. That look was terrifying—it was like he wanted to kill me!"

She followed closely behind Chen Chen, trailing him wherever he went. "I heard from Auntie next door that Ji An had some episode today and even argued with Tang Tang?

Honestly, what’s wrong with him? Tang Tang is such a sweet, well-behaved girl—how could he possibly have a problem with her?"

Lowering her voice conspiratorially, she added, "Chen Chen, why don’t you just dump Ji An? He’s not worthy of you. Look at Tang Tang—she’s a dual-ability superpowered with space and healing powers, and as a girl, she could give us grandsons. Chen Chen, you’re our family’s last hope. With all the other men gone, if you keep messing around with a man, our family line will end!"

"Mom, can you please stop saying these things?" Chen Chen snapped irritably. "Where’s Ji An?"

His mother jutted her chin toward the master bedroom. "In there. He went straight in when he got back."

Chen Chen shot her a glare. "Then why are you still talking like that? I’ve told you before—don’t say those things in front of him!"

From inside the bedroom, Ji An heard every word of their conversation, his face darkening.

What century was she living in anyway? Worrying about continuing the family line at a time like this—how laughable! Clearly, she was too well-fed and idle.

"A An." Chen Chen pushed the door open, looking guilty. "I’m sorry, but I really don’t understand what’s going on with you. You’ve been acting so strange today. No matter what, you shouldn’t have treated Tang Tang like that—you’ll break her heart..."

Ji An felt sick, unable to bear hearing more from Chen Chen or even looking at him.

Locking eyes with Chen Chen, Ji An sent out a mental probe, swiftly piercing his mind as he commanded, "Don’t let me see you again today. Get out now. And don’t come back to sleep in this room tonight. Understood?"

Chen Chen’s eyes glazed over, his mind fogging as Ji An’s voice embedded itself in his thoughts, compelling obedience.

"Yes," Chen Chen replied slowly, his voice dragging.

The door clicked shut with a crisp sound, snapping Chen Chen out of it. He shook his head, disoriented. He must have been exhausted—why had he zoned out like that?

Wait—hadn’t he just gone in to talk to Ji An? Why had he left? It seemed Ji An wanted to be left alone to calm down.

But today’s incident wasn’t Tang Tang’s fault. He needed to make that clear to him.

Just as Chen Chen’s hand touched the doorknob, he hesitated.

Never mind. A An must have been in a bad mood today. Maybe he’d be better tomorrow.

Inside the room, Ji An sank against the door, sliding weakly to the floor as his head throbbed violently.

Mentally controlling Chen Chen hadn’t been easy. The gap in their abilities was too vast. It had only worked because Chen Chen had let his guard down completely. Had there been even a shred of wariness, Ji An would have failed.

Even so, the mental toll was crushing. He could feel his psychic energy completely drained after just those few seconds of control.

This must be the consequence of attempting to control someone beyond his level. If it had been another Level 4 superpowered, even exhausting all his energy wouldn’t have worked.

It seemed that if he wanted to leave the base, he’d have to slip away quietly—a direct confrontation with Chen Chen was out of the question.

Closing his eyes, Ji An sat on the floor, focusing on replenishing his mental power. Tonight, he had a hard fight coming.