Chapter 34 Japanese

Chapter 34: R Country

"This is the Capital Base, right?" As the day of the auction drew closer, representatives from various bases began arriving at the Capital Base one after another.

Jiang Fuzhong stepped off the plane and immediately started looking around curiously. "I always wanted to visit the capital before the apocalypse, but I never had the time or money. Never thought I’d actually make it to Beijing after the world ended."

Owen flipped her big, bouncy curls, her bright vintage-red nails making her slender, ivory fingers look even more elegant. She dragged a finger across her lips like dew gliding over a blooming rose, radiating deadly charm.

Jiang Fuzhong unconsciously swallowed hard. Owen let out a low chuckle, snapping him back to reality as he quickly looked away.

Owen stopped teasing Jiang Fuzhong and swayed gracefully toward Du Ruanlan, linking arms with him. Every movement oozed charm. "Darling, this place feels both familiar and completely changed."

The airport, usually empty and seemingly abandoned for ages, was now filled with planes and people coming for the auction—but still felt strangely empty.

Du Ruanlan gazed into the distant horizon where blue skies met white clouds, and suddenly smiled. His expression wasn’t cheerful or bright—it carried a wicked vibe that was impossible to define.

Owen loved that edge. She smacked a loud kiss on his cheek. "Darling, you’re just too tempting like that."

"Is that so? Glad it pleases you," Du Ruanlan replied lazily.

Jiang Fuzhong quietly rubbed the goosebumps rising on his arms. "Boss, look—those must be the people from the Capital Base here to meet us. They seem tied up with something?"

Du Ruanlan’s eyes gleamed like a hunter spotting prey. "Looks like the show’s about to start!"

"Sorry, sir, please go through security screening," said a superpowered guard from the Capital Base, holding a device resembling a pre-apocalypse metal detector, preparing to inspect a delegation.

The group consisted of sixteen members—eight men and eight women. Seven had East Asian features, while one stood out as a tall European with a strong build and deep-set eyes. Towering above the others, his exposed muscular frame made him look intimidating.

"Gibberish, jibber-jabber..." A short man in the group, dragging a suitcase, ranted loudly in an unfamiliar language. The two superpowered guards exchanged confused glances—they couldn’t understand a word.

Seeing their confusion, the man only became more excited, speaking faster and louder.

Still clueless, the two guards glanced at each other and pressed the button on their walkie-talkies.

"Commander Zhou, we’ve got someone from R Country here talking nonstop in some foreign language. You know most of us didn’t get much schooling before the apocalypse—we're just blue-collar workers. None of us can understand his language."

Whether the R countryman understood them or not, his frustration grew. He suddenly swung his suitcase straight at one of the guards' heads.

The guard naturally dodged, and the R countryman unleashed his power—a tongue of fire erupted from his palm, shooting straight toward the two superpowered guards.

They raised their hands to defend. One was a wood-type user who summoned thick vines, but the moment they touched the flames, they caught fire like dry timber. The fire raced up the vines and onto his arm in seconds.

The burning pain made the wood-user shriek in agony. He pulled back his ability and frantically shook his arm, trying to put out the flames.

Embers flew everywhere, igniting anything they landed on—metal chairs melted in seconds, even the X-ray scanner burst into flames, and the blaze kept growing stronger.

Panic spread among the crowd as screams echoed and people ran in all directions, plunging the area into chaos.

Though the wood-user managed to shake off some of the fire, the remaining flames clung like a curse, burning even hotter.

Within moments, the smell of charred skin filled the air.

His partner, a water-type user, stopped attacking the R countryman and instead turned his power on his ally’s blazing arm, blasting it with streams of water.

A massive amount of water poured onto the burning limb—enough in theory to extinguish ten times the fire.

But reality proved otherwise. Instead of dying down, the fire exploded even fiercer. What had been limited to his arm now crept toward his face, threatening to engulf his head.

"Ahhh! AHHH!" The screams of agony rang out through the security hall, raw with terror. "Stop! Stop! Stop the water!"

The water-powered security officer now realized the flames were unusual and quickly stopped, momentarily frozen.

Just then, a stream of transparent water shot over from afar. Before anyone could blink, the water had already covered the wood-powered individual's skin.

It rapidly spread and flowed, instantly enveloping him entirely like a second skin, clinging tightly to his body.

The wood-powered individual was completely wrapped in water, with only two small holes left for his nose so he could breathe.

The water covering him wasn’t still—it pulsed like liquid life, moving continuously across his body.

The water released earlier by the water-powered security officer had not only been ineffective but had backfired spectacularly, acting like gasoline and intensifying the flames on his companion. At first, it seemed as though the fire-powered individual’s flames had something special about them. Now, it was clear the difference was due to an overwhelming difference in power.

Even opposing elements were useless here.

The flames on the wood-powered individual were extinguished, and his body was wrapped in cool, flowing water. The icy sensation helped soothe his burns and eased his pain.

His screams had stopped. Only his heavy breathing and the face contorted in pain beneath the watery shroud revealed the immense suffering he endured.

Wan Xueying strode forward, her beautiful face flushed with anger. As she used her ability to put out the flames spreading through the hall, she coldly demanded, “What is the meaning of this, sir?”

The R-national, seeing his powers neutralized, realized he was no match for this powerful woman and ceased attacking. He merely shrugged casually, as if he had done something trivial, then launched into more rapid-fire foreign words.

Wan Xueying didn’t understand the R-national language. Although she had graduated from graduate school, studying it hadn’t been required, so she couldn’t understand a word.

But Wan Xueying was fluent in Y-language—she had studied it in college and was fairly proficient—so she repeated her question in Y-language.

Whether the R-national understood or not, he continued speaking in his own tongue.

Wan Xueying’s expression darkened further. Just as she was about to act without restraint and detain him, a voice as clear as a mountain spring rang out.

“Sir, may I ask if our security personnel offended you in any way? Why did you suddenly attack them?”

Wan Xueying turned and relaxed slightly when she saw Ji An approaching.

The R-national could no longer feign ignorance and replied in his native language, “Yes, they offended me. They tried to take my bag.”

“What did he say?” Wan Xueying asked, suppressing her rising fury.

“He said the security officers wanted to inspect his bag.”

This was standard procedure—everyone going through security had to undergo this check.

Before the apocalypse, this had always been the process. Ji An didn’t believe the R-national was unaware; clearly, he was looking for trouble.

Wan Xueying said to Ji An, “He’s definitely doing this on purpose. What’s his goal? Picking a fight? We’re not afraid of him. Ji An, tell him either cooperate with the inspection or get lost!”

Ji An nodded slightly. “Sir, please cooperate with the inspection. Otherwise, we’ll treat this as deliberate provocation, and we reserve the right to detain you.”

The R-national grumbled something under his breath before finally placing his bag on the inspection table. Ji An turned to the water-powered security officer. “Inspect it thoroughly. Leave nothing unchecked.”

The officer, already seething, went over the bag with a fine-tooth comb, as if he wanted to tear it apart molecule by molecule. After running it through the scanner again, nothing was found.

The R-national lifted his chin, his pencil mustache quivering with self-satisfaction. His beady little eyes looked around arrogantly, making him seem utterly contemptible.

“Scan him,” Ji An said to the security personnel.

“Got it.” The officer scanned him from head to toe—only the metal buckle on his belt triggered a response.

The R-national’s eyes dripped with disdain and arrogance. Even standing on the inspection platform, he was shorter than Ji An and the officers, yet he still tried to stare down his nose at them. “Satisfied? Can I go now?”

"Found nothing?" Wan Xueying persisted, asking the inspector.

"Nothing." The inspector replied resentfully. Thinking of their companion's recent grim fate only deepened their frustration.

"Give it to me!" Ji An took the handheld detector from the inspector and continued scanning the R-national thoroughly.

The R-national spread his arms in cooperation, his small eyes filled with disdain.

Ji An's inspection this time was extremely painstakingly slow, moving as if through molasses—unlike the earlier check that had been a hundred times faster. He even removed the metal belt that would trigger the detector's alarm.

A superpowered onlooker watched curiously, "Why is he checking so slowly? Does he think the detector will go off this way?"

No one around answered. Ji An scanned inch by inch over the R-national's body, his eyes fixed on the man's micro-expressions, not missing a single detail on his face.

Ji An's detector slowly slid down to the R-national's waist, then to his hips. The disdain in the R-national's eyes grew more pronounced, "How many times are you going to check? Nothing means nothing. I'm not a metal superpowered; are you expecting to find metal elements inside me? I don't have that function."

After speaking, the R-national thought he had made a hilarious joke and let out a grating laugh.

Wan Xueying narrowed her eyes in annoyance, her expression dark, "What's he yammering about?"

By now, Ji An's detector had reached the R-national's groin area. He didn't proceed further but straightened up and put the device away.

The R-national sneered at Ji An, unconsciously glancing at one of his companions, "That's right, put that stupid thing away. There's no metal element on me—"

"Wan Xueying, take them in for full-body scans. I suspect these people have hidden items inside them," Ji An pointed at one of the R-national's companions, "Especially him, check him thoroughly!"

"No! This is slander, false accusation!" The R-national immediately shouted, his expression clearly panicked.

Ji An's face turned colder, "I just spoke to my colleague in Chinese. Weren't you claiming not to understand Chinese? How come you suddenly do now?"

Ji An became even more certain, "Wan Xueying, seize them. That companion of his must have something hidden inside, probably swallowed and stored in his stomach. Give them all gastric scans."

"On it." As Wan Xueying responded, she struck out. The ten-member squad didn't wait to be captured and fought back simultaneously.

Wan Xueying's water-based superpower, though soft, was firm. It transformed into a transparent nine-segment whip.

With a flick of her wrist, the whip twisted like a snake, snapping through the air with a sound as if it could split mountains, lashing toward the R-national's nine remaining companions.

The nine superpowered individuals clearly varied in level. The four male superpowered rolled away, dodging entirely.

The five female superpowered, evidently lower in level, dodged clumsily, barely avoiding the strikes but left with lash marks deep enough to reveal bone. Two were vomiting blood, likely injured internally.

One fared even worse—she couldn't evade Wan Xueying's simple strike at all and was bisected at the waist, her upper and lower halves separating in a shower of blood, a gruesome sight.

Simultaneously with Wan Xueying's attack, Ji An cooperated by shaping his mental energy into a bow and arrow. His arrow shot straight toward the R-national's head.

The R-national, focused on dodging Wan Xueying, was a peak level-four superpowered and didn't regard Ji An, just a mid-level three superpowered, as a threat. Seeing the arrow approach, he showed no fear and casually conjured a flame.

The flame met the arrow, quickly engulfing it entirely.

"A psychic superpowered, mid-third level?" Du Ruanlan, watching from the sidelines, had eyes alight with keen interest, "Combat-oriented?"

Owen crossed his arms, his lips redder than the flaming arrow, "Impressive psychic superpower, stronger than others of the same level. Good combat ability."

"Never thought a mental superpowered could be this formidable in battle. I heard the Capital Base highly values mental superpowered, keeping them under lock and key. How come they’re letting one fight?" Jiang Fuzhong remarked, "But it's a pity. Though his superpower is strong, the level gap is too wide. That perfect arrow won’t land?"

Cong Xun from the Northern Base delegation said, "The Capital Base truly has talents hidden up its sleeve. Even a low-level mental superpowered, not known for combat, is this formidable! Truly not to be underestimated."