AITAMITB Chapter 35

Dark, damp.

This was the initial impression of Lin Bai, Zhang Hongyi, and the others as they stepped into the hospital corridor.

Almost instantly, the group adjusted to a formation resembling their combat stance, and the vigilance in their hearts reached its peak.

The extraordinary power intensity alert in their earpieces incessantly sounded. Zhang Hongyi and Gou Rixin didn’t bother to mute it; they simply unplugged their earpieces.

Soon, they arrived at the door of the ward.

Zhang Hongyi approached, gently knocked on the door, received no response, and turned to look at his team. He cautiously turned the doorknob.

The scene inside the room was unexpectedly warm.

In the white ward, a girl in a black dress sat by the bed, holding Shen Zhifei’s hand. Their heads were leaned together as they slept soundly.

Sunlight streamed in from the window, and the small daisies on the bedside table bloomed brilliantly in a transparent glass vase.

Upon hearing the commotion, the girl raised her head. She rubbed her eyes, still carrying a trace of sleepiness, “Uncle Lin, Uncle Gou?”

“Uncle” Lin: “…”

“Uncle” Gou: “…”

Gou Rixin wiped his face, “Just call me Brother.”

No, no need to be so respectful.

Zhao Xiaokui’s skeptical gaze swept over Zhang Hongyi and the others. She could sense the vigilance in them, and it was apparent that Lin Bai and the others also noticed it. Zhang Hongyi signaled to Lin Bai with his eyes, and Lin Bai took the initiative to speak, “We came to talk to you about something. To avoid disturbing the patient, can we discuss it outside?”

Zhao Xiaokui’s gaze shifted between Lin Bai and Gou Rixin. She turned to tidy up her hair, pushed the accompanying chair back to its original position, and followed behind them.

Observing the scene outside, Zhao Xiaokui raised her eyebrows. She closed the door and heard Lin Bai say, “It’s obvious that the power within you is out of control.”

He actually had more to say. From the situation of losing control, it was evident how important Shen Zhifei was to Zhao Xiaokui. The ward, which should have been the epicenter of the storm, was unexpectedly calm, indicating that Zhao Xiaokui deliberately avoided harming Shen Zhifei even in a state of loss of control.

The external scene did surprise Zhao Xiaokui.

She remained silent for a moment and said, “I can control it.”

Without any visible action from her, the moisture in the air gradually dissipated. The walls, tinted with the color of water, became dry again.

Zhao Xiaokui’s control ability impressed Zhang Hongyi and Lin Bai. They had dealt with many extraordinary individuals losing control, and most of them were helpless and panicked in the face of the situations caused by their powers. Someone like Zhao Xiaokui, who could easily contain and release her power, even unintentionally, was the first they encountered.

“Are you here to capture me?” Zhao Xiaokui looked up and asked after resolving the chaos.

“We are here to help you,” Zhang Hongyi, with his experience in handling such situations, carefully addressed her, “When emotions fluctuate too much, our extraordinary powers are prone to go beyond our control. At such times, external assistance is often needed.”

Zhao Xiaokui scrutinized their expressions, confirmed that they had no malicious intent, and nodded slightly. “Thank you.”

With that, she looked at them, wearing an expression of seeing off guests.

Lin Bai noticed that Zhao Xiaokui today seemed more distant than the last time they met.

But this is not hard to understand; the person she cares about the most is lying unconscious on the hospital bed. It would be strange if she were still carefree.

The surrounding extraordinary energy indeed showed a declining trend. As Zhao Xiaokui claimed to have controlled her energy well, Lin Bai quietly informed Zhang Hongyi of this development, and Zhang Hongyi prepared to wrap up the operation.

At this moment, Hong Ying, who had been invisible all along, suddenly stepped forward. “Don’t you want to know who caused Shen Zhifei’s accident?”

“Hong Ying!”

Although Shen Zhifei’s injuries were caused by the Night Walker pursuing a fugitive, the Night Walker’s actions were classified, and not everyone, including Zhao Xiaokui, was aware of them.

Zhang Hongyi didn’t understand why Hong Ying would make such a mistake.

Zhao Xiaokui shifted her gaze to Hong Ying.

This woman, who was usually like an invisible person within the team, completely ignored her captain, and her brown eyes stared directly into Zhao Xiaokui’s amber eyes.

Zhao Xiaokui stared at her for a while. Just before the atmosphere was about to become tense, she nodded and asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s a fugitive with out-of-control extraordinary abilities. While being pursued by the Night Walker, he collided with Shen Zhifei’s car.”

Zhao Xiaokui asked, “Are you inviting me to join the Night Walkers?”

“Not an invitation,” Hong Ying said. “If you’re willing, we can invite you to join this pursuit as a special personnel.”

Zhao Xiaokui looked at Zhang Hongyi.

Zhang Hongyi nodded. “It’s possible.”

Zhao Xiaokui asked, “When?”

Hong Ying said, “The pursuit operation has never stopped. You can join at any time.”

Saying that, she snatched Lin Bai’s tablet, handed it to Zhao Xiaokui, and said, “This is the equipment temporarily assigned to you. You can use it to locate the suspect.”

Lin Bai didn’t understand why Hong Ying was acting so unusually, but out of trust in his teammates, he remained silent.

Zhao Xiaokui glanced at everyone, opened the door, turned around, and said, “Wish you success in the capture.”

Exiting the hospital gate, Hong Ying’s legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground. Zhang Hongyi quickly grabbed her arm.

“How are you? Are you okay?”

She shook her head weakly and said, “Get in the car.”

Seated in the car, Hong Ying took the water handed to her by her teammate, took a few sips, wiped her mouth, closed her eyes, and deeply exhaled.

Zhang Hongyi and the others stared at her, waiting for an explanation.

They all knew that Hong Ying was not the type to make baseless statements.

“Extremely dangerous.”

Zhang Hongyi asked, “What do you mean?”

“The feeling she gave me is even more terrifying than the feeling I get from Captain Yu.”

Recalling the confrontation with Zhao Xiaokui through that calm gaze, Hong Ying still felt a lingering fear.

Zhang Hongyi turned to look at his teammates, and they all had expressions of shock in their eyes.

Captain Yu, full name Yu Youmin, was the overall captain of the Night Walkers in the entire S city and the only first-tier extraordinary in the team.

They had witnessed the scene when Yu Youmin unleashed his full power. Now, Hong Ying was saying that Zhao Xiaokui was scarier than Yu Youmin. Did this mean that a young girl in her early twenties was more formidable than the entire captain of the city?

Gou Rixin said, “Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“I hope so too…” Hong Ying said, “You haven’t faced it directly, so you won’t understand that feeling. At that moment, I even felt that if Zhao Xiaokui wished, she could keep everyone in our entire team.”

“Super A-level seed.”

Lin Bai sighed softly.

They had underestimated Zhao Xiaokui.

At first, when they learned that Zhao Xiaokui had single-handedly killed a newly transformed vampire, they estimated her extraordinary potential to be at the A level, indicating a high possibility of advancing to the first tier in the future.

However, from today’s conversation, it seemed her extraordinary potential surpassed the A level.

Super A level – a future first-tier expert with certainty.

Could it be true for a seemingly ordinary 23-year-old girl?

Terms like A level and super A level usually referred to future potential, so initially, they didn’t doubt that Zhao Xiaokui intentionally concealed her strength.

Now, they started to understand Hong Ying’s actions.

The potential of the extraordinary was typically hidden until it burst forth. Until their small universe exploded, no one could discern it.

Night Walkers judged the potential of the extraordinary by observing the intensity of their energy surge during their initial awakening.

Most extraordinary unleashed an energy surge during their awakening that represented the limit they could reach in their lifetime. Only a few could surpass this limit.

Hong Ying sensed Zhao Xiaokui’s super A-level potential, indicating she was on the verge of an explosion, like an unpredictable bomb hidden among the crowd, ready to burst at any moment.

Unfortunately, they, the ones staying in S City, had no one capable of defusing such a bomb. They could only come up with alternative solutions to provide her with an outlet for emotional release.

Zhang Hongyi said, “Inform Old Wang’s team, explain the situation to them. When it comes to the final arrest, if Zhao Xiaokui agrees, make sure to bring her along.”

Wang Junwu naturally disagreed with Zhang Hongyi’s opinion. In his view, if Zhao Xiaokui was already a Night Walker, even if she belonged to another team, he wouldn’t have any objections.

However, Zhao Xiaokui was not part of any team yet.

Zhang Hongyi sneered, “Alright, you made your own mess, now figure it out yourselves.”

Wang Junwu frustratedly said, “Don’t you have some kind of injection? Can’t you just give her a shot?”

“How about this, you hand over the pursuit task to me, I guarantee to bring her back, and you can handle comforting her. Is that okay?” Zhang Hongyi proposed.

He made it sound easy, but dealing with an ordinary extraordinary uprising, giving them a sedative shot would usually be sufficient. But Zhao Xiaokui?

With these few people, they might as well be delivering takeout to her.

Wang Junwu also realized this and couldn’t help but curse, “Damn!”

What a mess they had stirred up.

Although all lives are equally precious, at this moment, he couldn’t help but complain. You could say that the brat knocked into anyone, but he chose to collide with Shen Zhifei’s car, bringing them big trouble.

…

As the door closed, Zhao Xiaokui’s extraordinary energy poured out like there was no tomorrow, filling the entire room.

Finally, she focused her gaze on Shen Zhifei, discovering a peculiar extraordinary fluctuation emanating from her.

This is… an awakening?

Joy appeared in Zhao Xiaokui’s eyes. Even the thought of catching the culprit faded away. She brought a chair to the bedside, her eyes shining brightly as she stared at Shen Zhifei.

Shen Zhifei had no extraordinary talent before. She had secretly tried several cultivation methods from the mermaid world for ordinary humans to advance to extraordinary, but none had succeeded.

She believed Shen Zhifei should also be aware of this because she knew she was knowledgeable, yet she had never asked about the methods for ordinary humans to advance to extraordinary.

Could this accidental collision have coincidentally turned her into an extraordinary?

Supporting her chin, Zhao Xiaokui casually thought, what kind of extraordinary ability would Shen Zhifei awaken? She hoped it was related to lifespan; the longer, the better. The combat strength didn’t need to be too powerful; having one person in the family who could fight was enough. She just wished Shen Zhifei could live a bit longer…

It was not easy for an ordinary human to advance to an extraordinary in human society. She was afraid Shen Zhifei’s lifespan would be too short, leaving her alone a hundred years later.

This matter was too cruel for her, so she had always avoided thinking about it. But now, seeing Shen Zhifei having the hope of advancing to an extraordinary, she couldn’t help but start thinking.

“Shen Zhifei, Shen Zhifei, you must evolve an extraordinary ability to live longer,” Zhao Xiaokui prayed softly.

Shen Zhifei seemed to have heard her voice; her eyelashes trembled like the wings of a butterfly. Sensing that Shen Zhifei was about to wake up, Zhao Xiaokui held her breath and couldn’t help but grip Shen Zhifei’s hand.

“Xiaokui…”

Shen Zhifei’s voice was hoarse, and Zhao Xiaokui quickly condensed a ball of water and gently fed it into her mouth to moisten her throat.

“Take it easy before talking.”

“Don’t move, don’t move. Just tell me what you want to say to me…”

Seeing her about to sit up, Zhao Xiaokui quickly pressed down on her shoulder. She knew about the situation where a concussion required bed rest.

Shen Zhifei looked towards the lower half of Zhao Xiaokui and asked, “Xiaokui, was your previous fish tail golden and a large piece of flesh taken away from the lower right?”

Seeing Zhao Xiaokui’s surprised expression, she lay back on the bed, knowing that she was right.

“Did I ever tell you about my disability?” Zhao Xiaokui had spoken so much that she couldn’t remember what she had told Shen Zhifei.

“I saw you,” Shen Zhifei said. “Xiaokui, I went to the mermaid kingdom you mentioned.”

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