Without any context, a random sentence, although Qiao Bai had doubts in his mind, he still translated it.
Maekawa Yumi was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.
Does it matter whether one is an Esper or not?
Those who can appear here are either newly awakened or not very powerful Espers.
Who wouldn't want to attend an Esper Academy if they could?
Ordinary people and Espers are from two different worlds.
She keenly sensed that the stunningly handsome boy before her wanted to confirm something through her words.
"What's wrong with her?"
Qi Yuan's unusual question didn't just catch Maekawa Yumi's attention, but also that of the others accompanying them.
With a shift in their thoughts, they immediately realized.
This girl had a high chance of having her mindset distorted by contamination.
"Why should we help you? Dealing with the monster first can help more people."
Soon, someone spoke up probing, and Qiao Bai, upon hearing this, also understood.
The girl's demeanor was hysterical, and their rejection seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"But we asked for your help, didn't we? If asked for help, you should respond, right?"
"What should happen to those who don't respond?"
"Not friendly enough, need to undergo modification."
As soon as these words came out, the girls around her all took a few steps back.
The girl who uttered those words was also stunned, staring in disbelief with wide eyes.
"How could I..."
Qi Yuan analyzed the intelligence in his mind.
Without any specific targeting, the monster had already been able to subtly contaminate and distort the mindsets of Espers through its domain. Its strength seemed stronger than what was shown in the information.
Thinking of this, he reminded everyone: "Be mindful of your thought patterns."
With a living example before them, the others dared not be careless.
The contaminated girl also fell into doubt, not wanting to be abandoned, but now whatever she proposed would be met with rejection and suspicion.
Then Qi Yuan added: "If we need to observe her symptoms and changes, then we'll take her along."
The person in charge of logistics in the team nodded, asking Qiao Bai to explain the situation to her.
If she was willing to be observed, they would take her with them.
The girl nodded vigorously, having no better choice.
After dealing with this little episode, the group headed towards the dormitory building.
It was almost the agreed-upon time.
...
On the other side,
Near an entrance of Xiaosaka City,
The Dragon Country personnel had already cleared an entire building and heavily guarded a certain office building.
A suit-clad Dragon Country man approached the muscular man dressed as a superhero, holding a stopwatch facing Johnson.
"Mr. Johnson, it's about time."
Johnson looked up and met the stopwatch, which showed they had been in Xiaosaka City for forty-five minutes.
Only five minutes left...
"Got it."
He downed the rest of the cola in one gulp, crushing the can into a ball with one hand and tossing it into the trash bin.
The can bounced off the edge of the bin...
"Dammit!"
Another miss, Johnson cried out in anguish while clenching his fist.
A strange force enveloped the soda can.
It changed its trajectory midair and successfully went into the trash bin.
"Mr. Johnson, don't forget the camera."
Their company's partnership with Johnson helped promote his reputation as the Dragon Country's superhero, with fans all over the globe.
Although the footage captured this time couldn't be shared with fans, it would still serve as good research material.
Johnson waved at him from behind, holding a pinhole camera in his hand.
Ten minutes before the agreed time between the five countries, he used his Esper domain to tear open the connection between the monster's domain and reality, entering the monster's domain.
As soon as Johnson stepped into the monster's domain, he heard the sound of a massive battle.
Johnson immediately realized that the other three countries had formed a smaller alliance behind Dragon Country's back.
The reason they were ten minutes early was that Dragon Country had formed a similar smaller alliance behind their Dragon Country's back.
The justification was based on the information they had gathered – Qi Yuan from the Dark Nine, had unfathomable power and an incredibly short battle duration, so there was a small chance that they might not even get a grasp of the monster before it was defeated.
Dragon Country had already gathered enough information from the Shen City incident and, if their strength permitted, they were highly likely to pull such a move.
And Dragon Country's eagerness to organize other countries to support Sakura Island was suspicious.
In that case, they would have made a trip for nothing.
When dividing the spoils, one sentence like "the monster was killed by our Dragon Country" would allow them to take the lion's share as a matter of course.
By then, they wouldn't get much in spoils or information, and they would have even helped Dragon Country.
The four countries would essentially become laughingstocks.
But Johnson never expected that there were others wary of their Dragon Country.
His strength was evident; there was no way he could defeat the monster immediately.
So the answer was clear – they didn't trust Dragon Country, which was why they wouldn't act according to the time set by Dragon Country.
"Damn it!"
He cursed under his breath and rushed towards the battlefield.
On the way, Johnson encountered the Armored Man also heading to the battlefield. The two giants exchanged glances.
It was obvious which two countries had formed the smaller alliance.
...
A thick blackish-purple mist lingered in the monster's domain, like a curtain obscuring the situation within.
"Boom—"
A cursed energy slammed into a shield, emitting a deafening roar.
Saint Jeanna stood on a giant war chariot, the clash happening right above her head, yet she remained unafraid.
Behind her were countless Holy Knights.
The Holy Knights' bodies were masses of warmly glowing nothingness, with only their war horses and antiquated armor appearing real.
Within the area covered by the Holy Knights was a battlefield.
Saint Jeanna waved her flag, and they obeyed her command, firing a volley of arrows into the sky.
Countless golden-glowing arrows, unlike ordinary arrows, did not follow a parabolic trajectory but shot straight up towards the monster above.
The monster hovered in mid-air, appearing as an indistinguishable youth figure from the outside.
At first glance, it wore a black hooded robe, its body composed of floating lines of text with a hollow interior filled with blackish-purple mist swirling and churning within.
Upon closer inspection, the black hooded robe itself was also made of densely packed lines of text, just like its body.
Two blackish-purple flames flickered where its eyes should be.
Facing the volley of arrows, it didn't move its body.
Instead, the mist within extended outward, causing the text forming its outline to swell and distort...
Soon, it transformed into a spherical object, with countless lines of text encircling the blackish-purple misty sphere like rings around a planet.
The surrounding blackish-purple mist dispersed, condensing into a sturdy shield protecting the center.
As the mist scattered, the empty small town came into view.
The two figures on the ground, the Priest and Saint Jeanna, were also revealed.
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
