Chapter 299: Coma

Shangguan Ying sighed, "What can we do? We can't let M Guo drag the whole world to death. Nowadays, aside from M Guo, only we have the strength to handle a disaster of this level. Jinli, I… hope you can temporarily suppress your anger toward M Guo. If the island base explodes, it endangers the whole world; think of the billions of innocent people who might be caught up. Please help, okay."

Ning Jinli took several deep breaths, "Sister Ying, I understand. Tell me, what do you need me to do."

Shangguan Ying thought for a long time before speaking, "I need you to go to the island base, enter its seabed, sever the connection between a damaged reactor and the other reactors in the power station. That way, there may still be a chance to prevent the whole island base from exploding."

"Fine, I'll go." Ning Jinli did not hesitate, calmly agreed.

Ten plus hours later.

Ning Jinli arrived at a military reef several tens of kilometers from the M Guo island base.

This was a temporary structure built by M Guo.

It can serve as a temporary docking point for fighter jets and warships.

Even from dozens of kilometers away, Ning Jinli could feel the massive energy spreading from afar; the surrounding sea was calm, the sky clear, but looking far out, the horizon was shrouded by a large area of eerie black clouds and thick fog.

The reef where Ning Jinli currently stood was relatively safe within a radius of several tens of kilometers.

But countless fish and seabird corpses floated on the surface.

Near the reef's port, several badly damaged warships were moored.

These warships were lucky, having escaped the island base's vicinity, but many parts of their hulls were melted and broken, internal structures severely damaged, rendering them unusable.

The other warships that couldn't escape, according to survivors, were either devoured by some black lightning‑like energy or directly melted into molten steel by high‑energy blasts.

Based on several heavily loss‑laden probes, the maximum approach distance for small transport equipment to the island base is about one kilometer.

The so‑called small transport equipment refers to ordinary fishing boats used by local fishermen.

Because these vessels have very little power, they are less affected by abnormal energy interference than large energy‑driven devices.

Without delay, Ning Jinli quickly followed an M Guo military escort squad, boarded a small boat, and set off.

The escort squad consisted of M Guo elite special forces, all fully aware of the seriousness of the situation, so they exchanged no words along the way, merely executing their mission with solemn expressions.

Two hours later, several small fishing boats stopped.

Ning Jinli said nothing, rechecked her diving gear, rose to the ship's side, and leapt toward the azure sea.

Just before entering the water, she vaguely heard a few M Guo Special Forces say, "May God protect you."

——

Relying on her body quality far beyond ordinary humans, Ning Jinli swam toward the island base while descending into the depths.

When she dived past two hundred meters, the crushing water pressure forced her to circulate Internal Strength to resist.

Around her was darkness, a death‑like silence, with no marine life in sight.

It seemed as if she had entered an alternate dimension.

Here, the surge of energy was even more evident; any electronic device was useless.

Ning Jinli didn't need external navigation; by sensing the direction of the incoming energy, she could find the right spot.

She didn't know how long, how deep she had been diving.

Ahead and slightly below, a faint blue glow appeared.

Around the blue light, black, lightning‑like energy flickered intermittently.

Ning Jinli drifted down, picked up a piece of coral, and threw it toward the black current.

The moment the coral touched the black current, more than half vanished into thin air, the other half instantly melted from the intense heat, and a dense ring of bubbles erupted around it.

Ning Jinli dared not be careless, steeled herself to avoid the black current, and slowly entered the blue‑lit area.

At this point she had already activated all her Internal Strength, otherwise the terrifying pressure would have crushed her into mush, especially with the surrounding extremely high and unstable abnormal energy.

Soon she slipped through a crack in the damaged hull of the power station; the deeper she swam, the bluer the light became, eventually turning into a white glare bright enough to blind an ordinary person.

Even wearing protective goggles, she still needed to circulate Tian Xuan Heart Method to marshal Internal Strength so her eyes wouldn't be injured.

Searching within the white light, she indeed found a damaged cable exposed outside the protective layer.

That cable was thicker than the combined bodies of two or three adults.

The safety device at the cable joint had failed; it could not automatically disconnect, requiring manual handling.

Of course, reaching this point from the seabed and manually disconnecting the damaged cable, any link in the process could only be done by Ning Jinli.

This is precisely why Shangguan Ying had to turn to her.

According to the relevant officials on the M Guo side, cutting this cable would stop the abnormal reactor from operating, preventing it from affecting the several hundred other reactors that were still normal.

Ning Jinli thought nothing more, swam to the cable, circulated Internal Strength, wrapped both arms around the cable, and pulled hard backward.

Boom—

Accompanied by a muffled thud.

The cable joint separated smoothly.

The dazzling white light vanished at the same moment, and the surroundings returned to an impenetrable darkness.

Ning Jinli exhaled silently, the mission was completed; it hadn't been very difficult for her.

Just as she released her hands and prepared to leave, another flash of light suddenly ignited.

Turning around, she saw a segment of the cable spouting white light, the light leaping toward the interface like a current; before she could react, the previously severed energy link reconnected itself.

Moreover, the energy leaking from the cable was several times stronger than before.

The moment the energy reconnected, a massive shock hurled Ning Jinli ten meters outward; the compressed seawater slammed onto her like a mountain, stopping her heart in an instant and leaving her mind blank.

All this happened in less than half a second.

Before she could react,

Boom!!!

The blinding white light engulfed her whole body…

……

……

Ning Jinli felt she had lost her sense of time, and it was like she had blacked out for a moment and then regained consciousness; in short, this feeling was very unusual.

She struggled hard to open her eyelids just a slit.

What came into view was still a blinding white light.

She suddenly recalled the mission she had been carrying out before losing consciousness…

Could it be, I failed?!

The next second, the blinding white light softened gradually, and slowly a scene appeared before her eyes.

The bright ceiling, sunlight streaming in from outside the window—everything told her this was a room.

Upon closer feeling, she also realized she was indeed lying on a soft, comfortable bed.

She could also gradually hear birds chirping outside the window.

Sight, hearing, and touch all felt so real, yet…… she clearly remembered she had just been underwater, how could it suddenly……

She tried to move her body, but found she could hardly exert any strength.

Although she felt no pain, it was as if this body didn't belong to her, and even moving a finger required all her effort.

Ning Jinli patiently tried for a while, and finally managed to sit up with difficulty from the bed.

Looking around again, this room wasn't it just a bedroom in the Ning Family Ancestral House's grand villa?

"I… I'm back? How did I come back?"

Ning Jinli rubbed her temples, trying to recall carefully.

But she couldn't remember anything, so she could only slowly get off the bed to see if anyone was home.

As her feet touched the ground and she was about to take a step, she nearly collapsed completely.

"Hss… how… am I this weak?" Ning Jinli, incredulous, held onto the bed and looked up at the dressing mirror beside her.

Upon seeing her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't help but startle.

Although her appearance wasn't different, she was… far too thin, her skin pale as if she hadn't seen sunlight in eight hundred years, with blue veins visible clear as day.

Her arms, legs… her whole body were slimmer than she remembered by a noticeable amount.

A strong sense that something was wrong welled up in her heart.

She took several deep breaths, trying to sense her internal strength and circulate the Tian Xuan Heart Method.

Fortunately…

Aside from her internal strength currently being exhausted, her cultivation remained, and it could recover later.

"Is anyone there?"

Ning Jinli opened her mouth and uttered a weak call, "Dad… Mom? Are you… are you there? Foster Mom… are you there…"

She shouted while leaning on the wall and shuffling toward the door.

Reaching the door, about to reach out to unlock it, she discovered there was no handle on the door panel.

Immediately she also realized that not only was there no handle, the door panel itself wasn't as she remembered.

She didn't know when it had been replaced.

"No… changing the door is fine, but… how do I open it? Is anyone there?" Ning Jinli pounded on the door panel while continuing to shout.

But she was out of breath and weak, so her voice was very faint.

Just then, the spot where her palm touched lit up, and the door automatically began to open slowly.

"Huh?" Ning Jinli withdrew her hand, surprised, "So it's fingerprint unlock? When did this new gadget that unlocks with a touch on the door panel appear?"

She, feeling bewildered, left the room and then passed through an open-air corridor.

Habitually, she glanced at the lower garden outside the corridor.

The garden was still the same garden, layout unchanged, yet she was somewhat dumbfounded.

Because she remembered that a few of the trees there were planted by her parents after they returned from crossing over and reclaimed all the Ning Family's assets, together with her dad and mom.

The nanmu saplings, originally no thicker than an arm, how… had they grown into towering trees?

That wasn't a fast‑growing variety; no matter how, it couldn't have become like that in less than a year.

After a brief moment of dumbfoundedness, Ning Jinli muttered, "Surely my parents didn't sneak those saplings out behind my back, pull them up, and transplant a few fully grown trees, right?"

"Ah! Miss Ning! You really are awake!" a cry of surprise rang out from the other end of the corridor.

Ning Jinli looked toward the sound.

She saw several young women in high‑end uniforms, faces full of excitement, hurrying over, two of them pushing a wheelchair that looked very high‑tech in style.

Ning Jinli examined them carefully and asked doubtfully, "You… who are you?"

"Miss, please sit down." The young women gently helped her onto the wheelchair.

Then they told her that just now they had detected her awakening via the monitoring system, so they had rushed over immediately, and had also already sent someone to notify Mr. Ning, Madam Ye, and Ms. Su.

"Mr. Ning… Madam Ye… Ms. Su…" Ning Jinli looked up at these young unfamiliar faces, "You mean my dad and mom and foster mom? Then who exactly are you, and why are you in my home?"

"Miss Ning." The leading girl tried to keep her excitement in check, hands clasped in front, head slightly bowed, "We are all servants in your household; we few are mainly responsible for looking after Miss Ning, and after so long… you have finally awakened."

Ning Jinli carefully recalled the feeling of her unconsciousness, it seemed… like she had slept a very long sleep, so she tentatively asked, "How long was I unconscious?"

The several young maids exchanged glances, not answering right away, seeming somewhat hesitant.

This only made Ning Jinli more doubtful.

"Xiao Li… Xiao Li!" Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.

Ning Jinli hurriedly looked over, only to see Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan both there.

The two nearly sprinted at a hundred‑meter dash speed to her side, then knelt beside the wheelchair, tears streaming as they reached out to touch her gaunt cheeks.

"Xiao Li…"

"Daughter… you've finally awakened, finally awakened!"

"Uuu…"

Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan were so excited they couldn't stop crying, startling Ning Jinli, who stood there dazed.

"Mom, godmother... what's wrong with you?" Ning Jinli grasped both of their hands and said softly, "I just fainted a bit, I'm fine now, don't cry..."

Suddenly, Ning Jinli sensed something was off again.

She noticed that there were obvious white hairs at the temples of both Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan.

Looking more closely, their hairstyles, attire, and clothing were all quite different from what she remembered.

Amidst all the familiar feelings, unfamiliar elements kept appearing one after another, causing Ning Jinli's mind to become confused and her temples to throb faintly.

"All right, all right, Qing Lan Jie..." Ye Zhiqiu struggled to steady her emotions, took out a handkerchief to wipe Su Qinglan's tears, and said with a smile, "Let's not keep crying; Xiao Li waking up is great news—we need to inform everyone who should be told."

"Okay, okay, I'll take care of it." Su Qinglan nodded repeatedly.

Ye Zhiqiu held Ning Jinli's hand and said softly, "Just now, after learning you had awakened, I immediately called your father; he should be rushing back as soon as possible."

Ning Jinli hurriedly asked, "Did you two remarry?"

Ye Zhiqiu blinked, laughed, and shook her head, saying, "What remarriage? It's been so long; your father spends most of his time abroad now. I'm essentially his business partner, handling Ning Group's overseas operations—in fact, last year he opened branches in several African countries, keeping him very busy."

"You opened branches in… Africa? Last year?" Ning Jinli widened her eyes, "No, Mom, how come I didn't know about this?"

Ye Zhiqiu said, "You were lying in bed unconscious—how could you possibly know?"

Ning Jinli's face showed shock as she hurriedly asked, "You mean I was unconscious for a year?"

"No…" Ye Zhiqiu looked into her eyes and said word by word, "You were unconscious for fifteen years…"