Chapter 41 Superpowered Self-destructing Crystal Core?

Chapter 41 – Superpowered Individuals Self-Destructing Their Cores?

One of the Country H superhumans really couldn’t catch his breath this time and blacked out cold.

The Jing City Base superhuman who had been pinning him quickly let go, raising his hands innocently. “Not my fault—he passed out on his own.”

Those still conscious were furious—wishing they could join him in unconsciousness.

A Country H superhuman gnashed his teeth and tried to make trouble. “They’re willing to pay huge sums to repurchase defective cores—not just one or two. Who’d believe there’s nothing shady going on here?”

The staff member sighed. “We said it’s voluntary—you can choose not to sell them back.”

“We’re willing to buy them back because the M Nation has admitted fault and is taking responsibility for compensation.” Zhou Qin—who had somehow arrived at the scene unnoticed and listened in silence among the crowd for an unknown amount of time—stepped forward slowly with his hands behind his back, smiling amiably. Gou Chong followed behind him.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!” Upon hearing that the M Nation had conceded, the previously subdued Country H superhumans began thrashing violently in agitation.

They absolutely refused to believe that the iron-fisted M United States would bow to a mere small base within a single country!

Unthinkable! That was a barbaric, hegemonic power that would start wars over the slightest disagreement!

What right did Jing City Base have? What leverage could possibly force the M Nation to yield?!

The Country H superhumans were so worked up, it was as if Zhou Qin had just insulted their dignity—or their entire nation.

Zhou Qin remained as genial as ever, even widening his smile slightly.

“Nutritional agents.” No further explanation was needed. Those three simple words seemed to carry some mystical magic, instantly silencing the superhumans.

Right—how could they have forgotten about the nutritional agents? This was like facing a pay-to-win player in a game—an entirely unfair advantage.

Damn it all! With such a cheat in play, how could they compete? Even a powerhouse like the M Nation had to bow for the sake of those supplements!

The Country H superhumans looked like muzzled dogs—no longer struggling, their spirits crushed, heads hanging low as if some eternal, unshakable belief had finally been defeated.

After a long silence, one of them seemed to finally rebuild his mental defenses. Probably trying to salvage some dignity, he stammered awkwardly before finally blurting out, “Even so… you’ve betrayed our trust. Even if the issue lies with the cores, your base’s irresponsible attitude makes me question whether other auction items might also be problematic!”

This was clearly nitpicking—were they raised on fish bones or something? Always looking for trouble!

“I’m not sure what items your base bid on during our auction. But today, I’ll make an exception just for you. Whatever you purchased, I’ll buy it back at the original price. We must ensure our foreign guests feel welcome.”

Zhou Qin said this deliberately. He already knew Country H was dirt-poor—what could they possibly bid on with their meager funds? Maybe enough for a few cabbages at most!

Sure enough, the Country H superhumans turned purple with rage but stayed silent. Stupid and arrogant as they were, Zhou Qin wouldn’t miss the chance to kick them while they were down. He pressed on with mock concern, “May I ask what your base bid on? I’ll buy it back at full price.”

The Country H superhumans stubbornly insisted, “Forget it. We’ll just take the loss.”

“Gou Chong, pull up the records of Country H’s auction bids. Our country has always valued etiquette—since ancient times, we’ve been a land of propriety. How could we let our ‘supposed friends’ from afar suffer losses?” Zhou Qin’s tone was laced with sarcasm.

“No need, really! We’ll just accept the loss, alright?” The Country H superhumans struggled to get up. “Let’s leave this place.”

Without explicit orders, the staff wouldn’t dare release them. They kept them pinned firmly, secretly enjoying the humiliation of these fools too.

Zhou Qin, fully aware that Country H hadn’t bid on anything, deliberately pretended to search for ages before feigning confusion. “Huh? That’s odd—I can’t find any record of Country H’s participation. Gou Chong, did you mess up? Did you forget to register them?”

Gou Chong played along perfectly. “Commander Zhou, I’ll verify immediately.”

He made a call to the auction team on the spot, then struggled to keep a straight face as he reported, “Commander Zhou, I’ve confirmed with the auction team. Country H didn’t participate in any bidding at our auction. However, they did purchase quite a bit of low-grade rice and cabbages at the supermarket.”

“Pfft—oh god—HAHAHA!”

The surroundings immediately erupted in a chorus of boos and jeers, the mocking laughter as loud as it could be.

Cong Xun, straightforward as any Northeasterner, was utterly baffled and blurted out, "Why would the H-country delegation embarrass themselves like this when they knew it was stupid?"

"Maybe they think it makes them look unique!"

How ruthless—they’ve even taken the bamboo shoots right out of pandas’ mouths!

Everyone around couldn’t help but laugh. The H-country superpowered agents, utterly humiliated, began struggling desperately. Only when Zhou Qin gestured did the staff finally let them go.

The H-country superpowered agents fled in disarray. One of them, at least somewhat decent, halfway turned back to help his stumbling companions before continuing their escape.

Zhou Qin watched the scene with a beaming smile, hands clasped behind his back, completely unruffled.

Observing their disgraceful retreat, Zhou Qin remarked leisurely, "To ensure our esteemed guests from afar feel welcome, our Capital Base will repurchase the low-grade rice and cabbage you purchased at the original price. We wouldn’t want to inconvenience you!"

The one helping nearly stumbled and fell onto a nearby rock. He turned back with a furious glare, but Zhou Qin merely grinned back, though a closer look would reveal icy coldness in his eyes.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention earlier—don’t leave just yet. There’s an execution later to deal with a few disobedient pests from M-nation and R-nation."

Almost all the H-country superpowered agents froze and turned back to stare at Zhou Qin, whose expression had turned chillingly cold, as if he’d shed his façade, revealing his true nature.

One of them quavered, lips trembling, "Impossible... M-nation would never let you execute their citizens! This can't be real!"

Yet despite their words, deep down, they believed it.

The execution was scheduled for today—no faking it. By then, the truth would be undeniable. The Capital Base wasn’t foolish enough to tell such a flimsy lie.

The H-country delegation weren’t the only ones stunned. Representatives from other bases exchanged glances, and those who had planned to leave immediately stayed to witness the execution.

The Luo City Base delegation, who had purchased Zombie Cores, happened to arrive for inspection and caught the entire scene.

Owen parted his crimson lips slightly and murmured, "The winds are shifting."

Even Jiang Fuzhong’s eyes flickered with concern. "The nutrient solution... truly a treasure. Whoever controls it holds the lifeline of humanity’s future. But from now on, our Luo City Base..."

He didn’t finish, but the sharp minds present understood.

History cycles between division and unity. Now that the Capital Base controlled the nutrient solution—a game-changing weapon—they gripped the lifelines of all. The bases would inevitably merge, and whether Luo City would be the predator or the prey remained uncertain.

Cong Xun, however, felt nothing but exhilaration, as if he’d taken a refreshing cold shower in the height of summer. "I thought they’d let it slide, but the Capital Base is the Capital Base—unyielding, full of spine! This is how you stand your ground! Can’t wait to see what happens next—how will they deal with those people?"

Guesses flew fast about who Zhou Qin’s "pests" from M-nation and R-nation referred to.

Many guessed it was the R-country troublemakers from the airport.

Someone wondered, "But who’s the M-nation pest? I saw Cruise at the auction today, looking unharmed—not a scratch on him."

"Not sure. Maybe they snagged a new troublemaker we don’t know about."

"No use speculating. We’ll find out tonight."

Meanwhile, Ji An was in the lab, testing the Zombie Cores acquired by several acquaintances, including the dual-attribute (lightning/wind) core Gu Jinsheng had purchased.

"No issues." Ji An ran the core through two tests before returning it to Gu Jinsheng with complete confidence.

Gu Jinsheng nodded. "What about the rest?"

Ji An handed over all the test reports to Gu Jinsheng. "Except for the Psychic Crystal Core provided by M-country, all other cores are fine."

In other words, the other bases had supplied Zombie Cores, or perhaps they didn’t intend to cause trouble. It could also be assumed that they were equally unaware of the technique that enabled both the antigen and antibody of the zombie virus to coexist within a single core.

Ji An slightly furrowed his brow, his gaze fixed on an invisible point in space. "I have a strong suspicion that M-country seems to be mass-producing high-level psychic superpowered individuals."

"Raising gu?" Gu Jinsheng asked.

Ji An nodded.

He felt that M-country might be stockpiling some Psychic-type superpowered individuals, then pushing them to advance rapidly by absorbing other superpowered individuals’ Crystal Cores, thus creating high-level superpowered beings.

After all, if Psychic-type superpowered individuals advanced on their own, even with plenty of Zombie Cores, there was still a chance of failure.

But absorbing Superpowered Crystal Cores was different. There seemed to be a natural compatibility when absorbing cores from the same type, which meant advancement faced almost no barriers: nearly a 99% success rate, with less than 1% failing. However, absorbing Zombie Cores did not offer this advantage; if one’s power wasn't stable, the failure rate was extremely high.

Gu Jinsheng said, "We can't rule out that possibility—they want to destroy our country's mental superpowered individuals."

Once brain-powered individuals absorbed these cores, their cognitive abilities would be completely destroyed. Without researchers, China's overall national strength would inevitably decline—economically, technologically, and militarily.

At that point, no matter how effective the nutritional supplements were, the Jing City Base—or even the entire Xia Nation—would be like a child carrying treasure through a crowded street, envied and forcibly robbed. And M-country would be the bandit!

Gu Jinsheng and Ji An exchanged glances, each seeing deep concern reflected in the other’s eyes.

Gu Jinsheng glanced at his watch. "It's time for the execution. Should we go?"

"Yes." Ji An definitely wanted to witness the comeuppance of those arrogant R-country nationals. If it hadn’t been for Wan Xueying’s timely intervention that day, Gou Chong might have burned to death right then. As for himself, without Gu Jinsheng’s timely arrival, he likely would’ve already lost his powers, reduced to a mindless zombie.

The execution site was a three-hour drive from the command center, held at the southern gate of the Jing City Base.

When they arrived, the southern gate was already packed. As far as the eye could see, people filled the area like sardines, countless heads densely packed together.

Thankfully, superpowered enforcers were patrolling the perimeter, their weapons manifested through superpowers clearly displaying their formidable strength.

The surrounding crowd was intimidated. Although many came to watch, no disturbances broke out.

Ji An and Gu Jinsheng drove in through an internal passage. Some observant onlookers tried to follow but were stopped.

They took the elevator directly up to the rooftop of a high-rise building over a dozen stories tall. There, Zhou Qin, Wan Xueying, Gou Chong, and several familiar superpowered individuals were already waiting, offering a bird’s-eye view of the entire execution grounds.

After brief greetings, Zhou Qin grinned. "Boss, I thought you wouldn’t show up."

Gu Jinsheng didn’t respond, so Zhou Qin winked at Ji An. "Don’t worry, Boss. Even if you weren’t here, we’d make sure Ji An stays safe."

Ji An snorted loudly through his nose, and a bow made of mental energy materialized midair. He drew the arrow and aimed it at Zhou Qin’s head. "I’m not weak. I don’t need protection like some defenseless rabbit."

Zhou Qin quickly dodged away from the arrow’s tip. "Mr. Ji, don’t aim that at me! One slip and I’ll end up a vegetable."

Zhou Qin moved aside, and Ji An didn’t pursue. Instead, he turned the arrow downward. His enhanced vision allowed him to clearly observe the scene below.

The crowd was packed, except around the execution area which remained slightly open. In the center stood a strange spherical device connected to a silver helmet of old-fashioned design. The machine was already powered, its surface crackling with blue arcs of electricity, occasionally sparking.

Superpowered observers looked at it with fear in their eyes, instinctively stepping back, as if afraid of touching it. Ordinary citizens, however, showed no such fear, stretching their necks to get a better look.

One ordinary person pointed at the spherical device. "Is that the legendary Power Nullifier—the machine that can strip superpowers from superpowered individuals?"

"Probably. It's my first time seeing it too. It looks kind of cool, don't you think? That sphere surrounded by blue electric currents—so surreal, right?"

A nearby superpowered individual gave them a strange look. "Don't think just because you ordinary folks haven’t awakened superpowers that you don’t need to fear the Power-Nullifier. Trust me, one touch and you’re toast!"

The higher the superpowered individual's level, the stronger their physical constitution—far surpassing ordinary humans.

Even the lowest-level superpowered individual can withstand currents that would instantly kill an ordinary person.

Let alone a machine specifically designed to nullify superpowers—it could fry an ordinary person on the spot.

The few ordinary people who had been speaking now looked frightened, subtly stepping back as their gazes shifted toward the superpowered individuals being escorted separately to either side of the Power-Nullifier, lined up for execution.

Of the eight offenders from T Base last time, one female superpowered individual had been cut in half right then and there and died, while another had been reduced to a drooling mess by Ji An’s arrow.

Now, only eight remained—four on each side, four men and four women. The four female superpowered individuals were all from China, while among the male superpowered individuals, only one was Chinese. The remaining three included two from R Nation and one from M Nation.

Someone from M Nation?

Ji An’s pupils constricted sharply as he blurted out, "Cruise?"

Quite a few others also recognized this M Nation super as well.

Cong Xun from North Base pointed at Cruise and said, "Wasn’t this guy strutting around the auction this morning with a bunch of M Nation delegates? How’d he get caught and dragged here for execution so fast? Did I see wrong this morning?"

Du Ruanlan from Luo City Base, who had been acting indifferent since arriving at the capital base, now shed her laziness, her eyes serious for the first time.

"Cruise got caught. The nutrient solution’s pull is no laughing matter."

Jiang Fuzhong glanced around. "M Nation’s gotta be seething after this. Why aren’t they here?"

Owen, his nails painted bright red, pointed to the rooftop of a small seven-story building behind them. "Over there."

Sure enough, several M Countrymen stood on the rooftop, accompanied by a few black-haired supers—likely from T Base in China, since those M Nation delegates had used T Base’s invitation to attend the auction.

Du Ruanlan smirked, her earlier solemnity vanishing as an unhinged grin spread across her face. Owen’s eyes also twinkled with real amusement. "Too bad it’s too far to see the expressions on those M Nation faces."

"Superpowered Crystal Cores," Gu Jinsheng said.

Ji An suddenly understood. There was no way the capital base would take such a massive L quietly—they had to get payback from M Nation.

Gu Jinsheng straight-up shredded the previously negotiated agreement to supply M Nation with nutrient solutions. The various bases within M Nation had never been truly harmonious—only maintaining surface-level peace. Once the capital base scrapped the pact, M Nation’s factions immediately turned on each other.

Though the decision to send psychic supers’ Crystal Cores to China wasn’t solely the idea of Cruise’s base but a collective decision by all bases, when it came to life-or-death consequences, the blame was conveniently pinned on Cruise’s base.

Their logic was brutally simple: They may have ordered it, but they didn’t tell him to fail. The current mess was entirely due to Cruise’s incompetence—they were going easy on them by not holding his base accountable.

The other bases united to pressure Cruise’s base, threatening to band together and wipe it off the map if they didn’t appease the capital base.

Left with no choice, Cruise’s base threw him under the bus, handing him back to the capital base. Cruise was knocked out in his sleep by delegation leader Dewitt and his team, delivered to Gu Jinsheng as an apology, along with a massive pile of reparations.

When Cruise woke up, he found himself at the execution ground. Though no one explained anything to him, he connected the dots fast.

At first, he cursed, then pleaded like a madman, and now he was back to cursing.

Once Ji An processed it, his lips curled into a smirk.

Standing atop the high building, Gu Jinsheng casually waved his hand. Immediately, someone behind him spoke into a walkie-talkie: "Proceed with execution."

The first one dragged toward the Power-Nullifier was an R Nation super. At this moment, the R Nation super had completely lost the born-to-rule attitude he once held over the Chinese.

At this moment, he was like a trapped beast, utterly disheveled, tears and snot streaming down his face, continuously begging. He no longer spoke his self-righteously noble R-country's language but instead begged in flawless Chinese, comparable to that of a native speaker.

"Don't do this to me, I beg you! You can't do this to me! I'm an R-national! They won't abandon me—they can't abandon me! I did all this for them, for my country!"

The R-national superpowered individual was terrified out of his wits, babbling incoherently, "R is the greatest nation! M's most loyal partner! How dare you touch me! M will never let you get away with this!"

Even now, the R-national superpowered agent still clung to hope in M, idolizing it, refusing to turn and see that Cruise, an M-national himself, was already struggling to save his own skin, cursing everything about M in a frenzy.

No one paid attention to the R-national superpowered individual's ramblings. They dragged him like livestock to the Power Nullifier, forced him down, and roughly strapped the helmet onto his head.

Before the R-national could even finish his "M," he lost the chance to speak forever. Excruciating, all-consuming pain surged through his brain, as if an invisible force had filled it to the point of bursting, swelling like a tide beyond the skull's capacity.

Just when the R-national thought the pain would be unbearable, that his brain would explode, the sensation of extreme expansion vanished, leaving only a dense, needle-like agony—as if thousands of needles were piercing his brain, stabbing directly into his marrow, his consciousness, his superpowered crystal core, voraciously devouring everything inside.

He could feel some energy rapidly draining from his mind, like water through a sieve.

What felt like a century to the R-national was only a minute in reality. When the helmet was removed, the R-national superpowered individual was already delirious from the pain, slipping into brief unconsciousness.

The operator callously tossed the R-national superpowered agent aside, indifferent to his sweat-drenched, ghost-white face.

The next R-national superpowered individual in line had already wet himself, reeking piss pooling at his feet, trailing in a winding path.

Han Zhiwei from the Southern Base remarked, "The Sword of Damocles—psychological warfare. They've truly broken these little men, both mentally and physically. This is undoubtedly the handiwork of that ruthless Commander-in-Chief of the Capital Base!"

"But it’s also incredibly satisfying! Serves them right!"

In the blink of an eye, it was Cruise's turn. He screamed and thrashed wildly, fighting like a rabid animal. Just as the helmet was about to be placed on his head, Cruise unleashed his power, knocking it away.

Instead of fleeing, Cruise viciously tore a chunk of flesh from his inner thigh, retrieving a specially-made capsule from the bloody mess and shoving it into his mouth.

The superpowered enforcer guarding Cruise reacted first, shouting, "No! He took a pill—he's going to blow himself up!"