Chapter 6: Explosion

In the hall, the Awakened wore various expressions: some were full of anger, some deep in thought, some expressionless, some utterly excited, and some even looked with ill will at the officials beside them.

Watching the inhumane experimental footage on the screen, Yang Yi unconsciously straightened her back and looked at Director Zhou Jian.

Sensing Yang Yi's gaze, Director Zhou spoke with righteous indignation: "Our government has absolutely never organized any inhumane human experiments. Currently, all domestic research on superpowers is conducted using volunteers—you know? Even for those superpowered criminals sentenced to death, there were proposals to use them for experiments, but they were rejected by the higher-ups."

Feng Liancheng also stopped his fingers flying across the keyboard and said earnestly to Yang Yi: "After I awakened, besides cooperating with researchers for some basic blood draws and tests, I have not suffered any harm."

He had awakened a very useless ability—Clairvoyance; perhaps it would have been of great use in ancient times, but in modern society, ordinary people could achieve the same with a telescope. However, he had originally been a senior technical staff member among civil servants, later transferred to the newly established Awakened Management Bureau to continue his old trade: technical support.

Chen Chen Yushu, rarely, also spoke up: "Me too."

Yang Yi's expression relaxed; her mood was no longer so heavy.

The large screen suddenly switched images; it was still a similar laboratory, but this time the subjects were no longer Awakened, but some bizarre alien creatures. Some were clearly marine species, such as those with tentacles resembling octopuses or gills resembling fish;

some creatures looked eerie, including one with six pale, hook-like claws, its entire head a giant mouth from which extended a long, arrow-like tongue;

a black-red viscous creature was trapped in a sealed glass box, constantly changing shape and climbing on the glass walls;

a humanoid creature covered in eyes, these eyes blinking incessantly, making one's scalp crawl...

there were also some strange plants that, though they looked like vines, would actively attack animals and humans, secreting corrosive fluids to digest their prey;

inside a sealed glass dome, beautiful mushrooms grew on a corpse, while experimental personnel in fully sealed biohazard suits stood as if facing a great enemy...

Wade's voiceover sounded: "To be honest, I no longer expect humanity to hold loyalty and respect for the Gods. Look, just as the apocalypse is about to begin, humanity, without repenting, actually dares to dream of stealing the Gods' authority!

"The Gods opened Hell and inflicted punishment upon humanity; awakening is the Gods' final 'Ark' given to people.

"Fellow Awakened, have you truly 'awakened'? Why conspire with these old humans destined to be abandoned by the Gods? We are the God-chosen, the new humans selected by the Gods, the future of the world!"

Wade Davis stood in the center of the large screen, his face calm as water: "I was once just an ordinary psychiatrist, daily listening to those lost and faithless people recount their boring emptiness and pain. I thought my life would remain so forever. But one day I awakened, and I suddenly heard people's true inner voices, those ugly, selfish, greedy, hypocritical, cruel, jealous, and arrogant thoughts, worming their way into my brain like maggots. If you could hear the true inner voices deep within people's hearts, you would hate humanity, you would loathe humanity, this ugly beast.

"But I did not. I tried to use the knowledge I had learned, my profession, to help them, to help the lost make their true inner choices, to help the suffering find peace, to help those mired in the mud struggle out.

"But what did I get? The reward I received was that my patient, for a mere few hundred Cal-Yuan, sold information about my ability to the dark web. Afterward, I spent a year in a secret biological laboratory, just as you saw in the footage just now."

Wade Davis slowly closed his eyes, the muscles on his face twitching uncontrollably. Opening his eyes again, a fanatical passion exploded in them; his tone strained for calmness yet still trembled slightly: "I should thank that patient who betrayed me. I should thank the secret laboratory of Regeno Biotechnology. In their experiments that repeatedly challenged limits, my ability gained immense improvement. In a near-death experience, I received a divine oracle!

"I came to the Kingdom of the Gods. There live countless alien creatures; all alien creatures are His pets, and we new humans can become His closest subjects and servants! There, new humans possess the mighty power to overturn mountains and tread seas, gain infinite freedom, and are even granted immortality by the Gods!"

He shouted loudly again: "Awakened, have you truly awakened?

"Do you truly understand your mission?

"Do you truly wish to stand with these ants destined to be abandoned by the Gods?"

Silence fell over the hall. Those with weak wills had already been bewitched by his words; some were immersed in the cruel experiments targeting the Awakened just shown; some panicked at the apocalyptic scene he had created; some were thinking of how to break out; others were pondering his true purpose...

The dark matter energy around grew even scarcer; Yang Yi put down the pen hovering before her.

This psychiatrist, skilled at bewitching hearts, with just a few words could make most people fall into the atmosphere he created. If he were present on-site, activating his awakened mental field, the degree and range of his bewitchment would probably increase manyfold.

Why didn't he do so? Was he afraid of death, too scared to come to the scene? But this place was already entirely his home ground; he even had a method to block dark matter energy!

What exactly did he want to do?

If he wanted to expose the human experiments on Awakened by various nations and accuse the official hypocrisy and ugliness of governments worldwide, then he had already achieved that; if he wanted to recount his personal journey, this was not a suitable venue; if he wanted to preach some "Divine Punishment," advocate for Awakened to unite against "old humans," and create division among humanity, why cut off the United Nations building's communication signals and block the dark matter energy? This completely cut off the path for the Awakened inside the building.

Unless he simply didn't care about the people here; his purpose was not to preach, but to perform a grand "drama," with every person in the United Nations building as his acting "props," while the true audience was the whole world.

"Bombs! He installed bombs throughout the entire building!" In the Canadian camp, a red-haired girl slumped onto her chair, drenched in sweat, with blood slowly flowing from her nose and mouth.

The hall immediately erupted into a great uproar.

"What bombs? When did he install them?"

"Why didn't the UN staff discover them?"

"How do you know?"

"She is our Canadian B-rank Field-type Psychoreceptor; she just sensed a security guard." The Canadian delegation shouted frantically.

The red-haired girl slumped in her chair, clearly having overextended her ability. She shouted with all her might: "These security guards were hypnotized by him long ago. They have installed countless bombs throughout this building, intending to sacrifice us all to his God!"

Immediately, panic and chaos spread throughout the entire hall. People tried to break out toward the doors, but as soon as they stood up, heavily armed security guards mowed them down with machine guns, and a large number of people fell in the hall at once.

"Oh, poor lambs, since you have chosen to become the claws and teeth of these old humans, you must pay the price for it."

Wade Davis's eyes were indifferent, yet a priest-like, loving smile graced his face. This contradictory emotion appearing simultaneously on his face made one's hair stand on end.

"The Gods are about to inflict Their punishment; the apocalypse is imminent. To demonstrate loyalty to the Gods, we need a sacrificial offering, using these sinners who dared to steal the Gods' authority as sacrificial offerings."

"And now," Wade Davis raised his wrist and casually glanced at his watch, smiling as he turned to the people in the hall, looking at them like a flock of lambs about to be led to the altar: "Now we can begin the life countdown! In the remaining time, I hope you can repent for your sins... 10... 9..."

"No! I am an Awakened, I am a new human chosen by the Gods! You cannot do this to me!" An Australian Awakened shouted in panic.

"I am a B-rank Awakened; we are of the same kind! Let me leave here quickly!"

"Quickly deal with these security guards and charge out together! The building is about to explode!"

"This is the 24th floor; it's too late..."

Inside the hall, everyone was on the brink of despair. High-ranking officials from various nations frantically sought escape routes. A few agents who had hidden their identities knocked down security guards and seized firearms, but the situation was irreversible. Some Awakened resisted, some threw themselves directly at the doors and windows, while others expressed loyalty to Wade, hoping to defect...

Wade Davis calmly recited the numbers; the syllables spilling from his mouth were like calm yet death-laden charms: "6... 5..."

Director Zhou and Deputy Director Zheng, their faces ashen, constantly used their personal signal boosters to contact their home countries. They had already abandoned their own chances of escape, wanting only to report the situation here to their home countries as quickly as possible...

Feng Liancheng's hot sweat turned cold; his fingers flying across the keyboard almost left afterimages. He kept muttering: "Give me one more minute, just one minute, I can break through their defenses immediately..."

Chen Chen Yushu, using all his remaining strength, manipulated a pen to stab into a security guard's chest...

Watching the final madness in the hall, Wade Davis showed a faint smile: "... 3... 2..."

Yang Yi sighed deeply.

If I had known this would happen, who would want to come to the UN for a meeting? If not for hearing I could get a free trip on the company dime—along with seeing my male god—wouldn't it be better to just be a steady, ordinary worker?

What she actually longed for most was a simple, quiet, stable life; she had never thought she would experience such a life full of ups and downs, thrills, and excitement...

Is there really no one who can solve this mess?

She just wanted to be a simple bystander watching the drama unfold...

Amidst the final despair and madness of the people, Yang Yi slowly stood up, closed her eyes, and spread her arms.

The dark matter energy in the hall had become so thin it was almost imperceptible, but at this moment, a powerful energy suddenly erupted from Yang Yi, pure and thick. If ordinary Awakened perceived dark matter like smoking, the energy radiating from her now was like refined, high-grade heroin; consuming just a tiny bit would be enough to send someone instantly into a euphoric high.

The entire building's life force imprinted itself into her mind like red dots on a three-dimensional map; her telekinetic power split into countless threads radiating from her, searching for those within the skyscraper who were either panicking or bewildered and unaware...

Wade Davis lowered his wrist, cast one last glance at the assembly hall, and uttered a syllable representing the Grim Reaper: "... 1..."

This was an ordinary day in Xincheng, Ark Country; the weather was clear, with white clouds drifting.

Looking down from above the United Nations building, the windows of the thirty-nine-story skyscraper suddenly exploded; countless shards of glass flew through the air, reflecting ruthless cold light, and following closely behind the glass were countless human figures hurled into the sky.

First floor, second floor, third floor... up to the thirty-ninth floor; almost every floor had people thrown out from inside the windows, like a giant seed pod ejecting seeds, flung away from this skyscraper.

If the lens were zoomed in, one could see that the expressions of those hurled into the air varied: some looked utterly bewildered, some were so shocked by the sudden change they were nearly fainting, and others were screaming frantically...

"Boom—" An explosion echoed throughout Xincheng; this city, which had enjoyed a century of peace, welcomed its second explosion destined to shock the entire world—the first being the twin-tower terrorist attack that had shocked the world and nearly altered the entire international situation.

The glass of countless surrounding buildings shattered, birds in the sky were knocked down, and human eardrums within a five-li radius buzzed incessantly.

Flames, black smoke, shattered glass, and explosion debris, accompanied by the shockwave, surged toward the human figures hurled into the air; upon striking an invisible barrier, a wave of air rippled through the sky.

Yang Yi stood suspended in mid-air, arms outstretched; one hand protected the crowd as they slowly descended, while the other manipulated the invisible barrier to block the aftermath of the explosion, her expression indifferent.

The crowd fell to the ground like dumplings being dropped into a pot; they looked up, staring blankly at the burning skyscraper and at their companions falling from the sky alongside them, their faces filled with bewilderment.

Finally, all gazes focused on the human figure hovering in the air.

The figure stood in the sky like a deity; behind her roared towering flames and billowing black smoke, while the burning red sunset gently illuminated her from the side, dyeing her with a sanctity unlike anything of this world, resembling a medieval oil painting passed down to the present day—the Divine Child's arrival.

At this moment, having moved beyond the range of the building, mobile phone signals reconnected; the ringtone of everyone's phones rang out one after another, breaking the wordless solemnity.

The survivors expressed their unsettled feelings at this moment with words.

"Did she save us?"

"She saved everyone in the entire building!"

"Alright, I admit her A-Rank reputation is well-deserved..."

"The dark matter energy within the building has already been blocked; how could she..."

"Could this be the power of an A-Rank?"

"Is she really only A-Rank?"

When Yang Yi landed on the ground, Director Zhou stepped forward, patted her shoulder, and sighed with a complex expression: "I am glad I brought you to the United Nations for the meeting, yet I regret bringing you here."

Before Yang Yi could understand the meaning of these words, Feng Liancheng hurried over holding a mobile phone; his expression was solemn, and he displayed the live broadcast before Yang Yi and the Director. In the footage, Wade Davis smiled and said:

"A magnificent performance, dear Yang. You are the true Chosen of the Gods; why are you willing to be a pawn for these Old Humans? You should not betray the Holy Favor of the Gods. Come, for the true future of humanity, join our ranks..."

Yang Yi looked around, as if she could see some surveillance camera in the sky.

"I have no interest," she said, attempting to address the live broadcast screen.

"If we cannot be friends, then we can only be enemies. Do you truly wish to do this?" Wade's smile remained unchanged, still gentle and kind.

"I choose to stand with my country." Yang Yi glanced at Director Zhou beside her, cleared her throat, straightened her back, and firmly declared her stance: "I am now a glorious civil servant! Serving the people is my duty!"

Seeing Yang Yi's somewhat pretentious demeanor, even Director Zhou could not help but chuckle despite the tense situation.

Wade spoke with deep meaning: "Then, good luck!"

The live broadcast screen went black.