Chapter 7: Settled

Chapter 7: All Square

Not only Ke Yuan, but even his teammate Zhou Ziqian, wanted to shake Qi He by the shoulders and shout, "Making people kowtow?! Isn't your superpower 'Strength'?!"

Zhou Ziqian paused: "...Huh, Strength?"

Yan Chuanbai cast a calm glance, as if he had already anticipated it.

Under everyone's gaze, Ke Yuan's blood rushed to his head. He snarled, "...I'll kill you!"

Lightning elements gathered around him, surging toward Qi He—

But a whip was faster.

The vine in Meng Yan’s palm transformed into a long whip, cutting precisely through the lightning and striking Ke Yuan across the face. *Smack!*

"...Damn!"

The lightning that had surged halfway through the air scattered from the pain.

"You dare attack my friend!" Meng Yan glared.

Behind her, Yan Chuanbai lowered his slightly raised fingertip.

The tension was palpable, ready to ignite.

The system blared in his mind: [It's a complete mess! The plot! The characterizations!!]

"Hey, that's perfect."

Qi He pointed with satisfaction. The three people opposite, who had been trying to remain invisible, were caught off guard and, with three loud *thuds*, knelt in unison toward Meng Yan.

"You guys, don't miss out either."

He then turned to Meng Yan, "Go ahead, whip them."

Meng Yan, "..."

Holding the whip, she looked at the group kneeling before her, feeling momentarily like a queen.

The surrounding crowd also fell silent for a moment.

Minimal harm, extreme humiliation.

The other side snapped out of it, cursing under their breath, and unleashed their powers toward them! Just as it seemed about to escalate into a full-scale brawl, a broadcast suddenly echoed from above the gray high wall:

"Fighting is prohibited within the base’s patrol range. Violators will be permanently expelled from Base I."

The young voice sounded quite gentle.

Yet, the superpowers that had surged into the air came to an abrupt halt—

Ke Yuan and the others nearly choked on their anger: Damn it! They said nothing when we were getting beaten, but now that it’s our turn to retaliate, they remember "no fighting"!

Qi He raised an eyebrow slightly as he watched their abrupt cessation of action.

A light cough sounded beside him. Zhou Ziqian whispered a reminder, "...You should rein in your powers too."

As if just remembering, Qi He suddenly withdrew his hand.

The others scrambled to their feet, their eyes fixed on them with murderous intent.

Ke Yuan mouthed: Just you wait.

It was now their turn to enter the base.

Yan Chuanbai coolly averted his gaze and handed over his ID card. The code was scanned: *Beep*. "Verification passed. S-Class Superpowered."

Ke Yuan's group froze: "...!"

Zhou Ziqian also scanned in: *Beep*. "Verification passed. A-Class Superpowered."

Not bad either.

Ke Yuan and the others hadn’t left yet, staring intently at Qi He and Meng Yan, waiting to see the results of their superpower tests.

Meng Yan stepped forward first, placing a hand on the device.

The device for testing superpowers was a temporary development.

Currently, it could only detect superpower levels. There were four lights on it, labeled from bottom to top: C, B, A, S.

The lights lit up one by one from the bottom: *Ding, ding, ding*... stopping at A-Class.

"Registration successful. Meng Yan, A-Class Superpowered."

Ke Yuan and the others’ expressions darkened: In their four-person team, only two were A-Class.

Lastly, it was Qi He’s turn.

After the earlier incident, all eyes were on him, waiting to see his level test.

Qi He placed a hand on the device.

A warm power surged from his palm. The small lights lit up from the bottom, finally stopping at: A.

...Only A? The crowd couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

Just as the registrar was about to record it, the A-Class light suddenly flickered rapidly. At the same time, Qi He felt his superpower surging uncontrollably. Frowning, the "Little Genius" on his wrist sparked and crackled:

[Qi He ▇▇ How do I ▇▇▇ feel ▇ Bzzt... bzzt...]

He instinctively pulled his hand back.

The next second: *Boom!!!*

The testing machine exploded.

...

After the gasps died down, silence fell.

Ke Yuan and the others, who had been waiting for a show, were stunned. The registrar, who had nearly been caught in the blast, was stunned. The onlookers were stunned too.

Qi He looked at the destroyed machine.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand from mid-air and lightly broke the silence: "It’s sentient. It exploded from how handsome I am."

Everyone fell silent: "…………"

-

There was still a line of people waiting for testing behind them.

Now that the machine had exploded, the line grew restless: "What happened? Could it be a Super S-Class?"

"Not necessarily, it might just be an equipment malfunction."

"What do we do then? We haven't been tested yet."

Ke Yuan said sarcastically, "Hmph, maybe someone deliberately broke it?"

Qi He turned around, puzzled, "Why are you still here?"

"..."

"Everyone, stay calm!" The registrar quickly brought out another machine. "We have a backup machine. Please line up in an orderly manner, and registration will continue!"

The line settled down again.

Just as Qi He was about to reach out to test again, the registrar suddenly stepped back warily, holding the machine: "Our base only has this one device left. For safety reasons, please don't test for now."

He sighed wearily, "It can't handle any more strain..."

Qi He, "..."

He asked, "Then how will my level be determined?"

"Either go to another base to test, or wait for the research institute to develop a more precise machine. For now, I'll register you as A-Class. We can update it later if there are changes."

An ID card was handed over: "Qi He, A-Class (Pending) Superpowered."

Qi He took it and pocketed it.

...

All four of them passed registration and got into the car to enter the base.

Once in the car, Zhou Ziqian finally couldn't hold back: "Wait, is the ‘power’ in your ability actually the ‘power’ of gravity!?"

Qi He nodded, "More or less."

More or less? So it basically is.

Zhou Ziqian took a deep breath, his focus shifting elsewhere. "Bro Yan, you're surprised too, right?"

"I'm surprised—" Yan Chuanbai’s shoulders relaxed as he drawled, then changed his tone, "that you didn't know."

"..." Zhou Ziqian.

After entering, they saw that the entire base was massive.

It was fully equipped with various facilities, divided into several functional areas. The most prominent were two buildings—

One was the research institute at the center of the base, heavily guarded and shaped like a bird’s nest, with an energy core powered by crystal nuclei floating above it. The other, not far away, was a tall building that looked like a high-end apartment.

Qi He leaned against the car window, "What’s over there?"

Zhou Ziqian explained, "That building is called the Tall Building. It’s where S-Class Superpowered individuals and other VIPs live."

Important figures.

Qi He thought for a moment, "Who was the person on the broadcast earlier?"

Yan Chuanbai only said a name, "You Tianxing."

"..." Qi He turned around. He left a smiley face in the fog on the window. He praised,

"That's a very detailed explanation. I can tell what he does just from that."

Yan Chuanbai smirked, "As long as you understand."

Zhou Ziqian quickly glanced in the rearview mirror to smooth things over, "Ahem! Currently, Base I is overseen by three S-Class Superpowered individuals. You Tianxing is one of them, but he’s not a combat type—he’s a researcher. The machine you... blew up spectacularly was developed by him."

Qi He understood—a key figure in Base I.

No wonder he had such influence.

In just a few words, the car stopped at a fork in the road.

"The left side is the residential area for A-Class Superpowered individuals. Bro Yan should head to the Tall Building. I’ll go park the car. You can get out first."

The three of them got out, and Zhou Ziqian drove away.

Meng Yan took out her communicator. "I need to go to the cultivation base. Let’s swap contact info first."

The communicator was provided by the base and could only be used for communication.

Meng Yan added Yan Chuanbai and Qi He separately.

After Qi He added them, he saw that Yan Chuanbai had already put away his communicator, seemingly not intending to add him. So he pocketed his communicator as well.

The cultivation base and Area A were in the same direction.

Meng Yan was about to leave but noticed Qi He standing still. She looked over and saw that Yan Chuanbai hadn’t left either. Her eyes shifted between them, and she understood.

"I’ll head over first then."

Qi He nodded, "Alright, see you later."

Meng Yan hurried off.

Qi He watched her turn the corner, then heard a voice beside him: "We’ll go our separate ways here too."

He turned and saw Yan Chuanbai lighting a cigarette, then turning his head to blow the smoke away from him. Two seconds later, he turned back to look at him, his scarred eyebrow lowered, his expression unreadable, his tone calm:

"As agreed, I’ve repaid my debt to Uncle Qi and Aunt Wen. From now on, we’re even."

Qi He shook his head, "We’re not quite even yet."

Yan Chuanbai paused, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Memories of being constantly pestered resurfaced, and his expression gradually cooled.

"What’s still unpaid?"

Qi He sighed helplessly, "You really are blessedly oblivious."

He pulled a bag of crystal nuclei from his bag and handed it over. "The crystal nuclei I promised to pay you. Check if it’s enough."

The hand holding the cigarette abruptly paused mid-air.

Ash fell, fingers curling slightly.

Yan Chuanbai seemed to come to his senses, staring at the bag of energy cores as if lost in thought. After a moment, he reached out and took it. "That's enough."

Qi He relaxed. "Alright, we're square now."

Yan Chuanbai looked at him for two seconds. "Mm."

He casually clipped the energy cores onto his belt, along with the communicator in his pocket, adding some noticeable heft.

"Then we'll go our separate ways here."

Qi He said, "Don't worry, I won't contact you again."

There was a beat of silence. Yan Chuanbai’s lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he held back and nodded casually.

"Alright."

Qi He turned and walked toward Area A.

Yan Chuanbai stood in place.

Only when Qi He’s figure disappeared at the end of the road did he coolly look away and turn toward the high-rise building.

-

On the road to Area A, sunlight dappled the ground.

Qi He followed the address numbers to find his residence.

[Why did you part ways with Yan Chuanbai?] The system, like a burnt-out employee, was freaking out. [How are we supposed to follow the key plot?]

Qi He recalled his past strategies. "I just got up and left."

"..."

The system sputtered indignantly, [You... After giving Yan Chuanbai the energy cores, you should've asked for his comms info! From the way he acted, I'm sure he would've added you.]

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Qi He reassured, "In romance games, situations like this often come up. You can't push too hard; you need to keep it chill, not pushy."

The system was shocked. [You play romance games!?] And applying that to Yan Chuanbai—isn't there something wrong with that?

"It's all part of the job. Keep it professional."

Qi He didn't see anything wrong with it.

He felt he'd done quite well. Yan Chuanbai hated being pestered, so why bother annoying him?

He found his residence quickly.

The last four digits of his identity code [1137] represented Building 11, Floor 3, Unit 7.

Housing and provisions in the base were tied to superpower level. Qi He was currently registered as an A-Class and assigned a one-bedroom apartment.

Pushing the door open, he found all basic amenities provided.

A booklet was placed at the entryway.

It was the Base I residency guide, including a map, move-in instructions, base rules, and more.

He read through each item and tucked it into his pocket.

After unpacking and resting for a while, it was nearly dinner time. Meng Yan messaged saying she still had things to do, so Qi He decided to eat alone.

As the door clicked open, two identical clicks came from diagonally across.

Looking up, three pairs of eyes met.

A fluffy-haired girl turned her head. "Captain! It's our temp teammate. He lives here too."

Ye Yi apologized to Qi He and chided, "Jia Yan, don't say that to his face. It's impolite."

"..."

Qi He thought: So it's fine to say it behind his back.

Having briefly teamed up before, and since the two were also heading to eat, they went together.

Outside the apartment building, Ye Yi introduced herself. "I'm Ye Yi, and she's Jia Yan."

After a pause, she added, "The name suits her."

Qi He glanced over: How so?

Jia Yan seemed to read his doubt and shyly said, "My surname is Mo."

"......"

Qi He took a few seconds to choose his words before complimenting, "You've certainly grown into your name."

They reached the cafeteria after a short walk.

Qi He noticed more eyes falling on him.

He caught snippets of conversation:

"Is that the one from today..."

"Took down a whole squad at the gate. His superpower is seriously messed up—makes people kneel and kowtow."

"He also wrecked a detection machine."

"...Get a grip. That probably had nothing to do with being cool."

Qi He, "..."

Ye Yi explained, "Those who entered the base today didn't have time to cook, so everyone's at the cafeteria now."

Qi He shook his head and let it go. "Well, you win some, you lose some."

The system chirped in: [That was then, now you're just known as the creepy guy.]

Qi He allowed its snarky comment, since it was harmless anyway.

...

Entering the cafeteria, it was spacious inside.

The first-floor hall was quite crowded, and several lines had formed in front of the food service windows.

Qi He and the others joined a line.

While waiting, he seemed to draw more stares.

Ye Yi noticed it too and pursed her lips in a smile, "The cafeteria is naturally the easiest place for gossip to spread, especially since half the people here are new arrivals to the base today."

Mo Jiayan said enviously, "You're really stealing the spotlight."

Qi He said regretfully, "If Yan Chuanbai were here, we'd have two stealing the spotlight."

"..." The two went silent.

As they were talking, a voice suddenly came from the entrance, "Huh? Boss, isn't that the strong one you’ve been thinking about?"

The voice sounded faintly familiar. Qi He turned around.

At the entrance were two men and a woman. The burly man was holding a tray, the woman had a soft whip at her waist, and the man leading them had an arrogant expression, with a streak of red in his hair that stood out boldly.

Beside him, Mo Jiayan seemed to stiffen slightly...

When their eyes met, the red-haired man raised an eyebrow.

He crossed half the cafeteria to stand in front of Qi He, stuck his hands in his pockets, and said, interested, "Oh~ It's you?"

Before Qi He could respond, the cafeteria went quiet.

Then came the clattering sound of trays and chopsticks being set down. People around them abruptly stood up, glaring daggers at that streak of red hair:

"—It's you!?"

The red-haired man, "...?"

Author's note:

Red-haired guy: Damn, what did I do to deserve this?

*Regarding Meng Yan's former teammates who abandoned him: They won't be let off the hook ^^ Meng Yan will also eat his words later [flower].