The sea was calm. The Particle Man turned into a seagull and floated leisurely at the bow of the ship.
"The wind is a bit strong today," Lin Lan said. "Strong wind means active magnetic fields," Zhong Li said. "Strong wind means my fists can fly faster," Chen Mo said. "Strong wind means I need to put a lid on my tea," Hu Hao said.
He Xuan stood at the stern, time slowed down, and the wind moved around him in slow motion. Zhao Yang squinted: "This wind... something's not right."
Lu Ye stood in the center of the deck, a bloody scratch suddenly appearing on his face. He raised a hand to touch it, but the blood mist didn't have time to react.
"The enemy is here," Lu Ye whispered. "It is the wind."
The Particle Man's alarm activated, magnetic field scan—no life forms. "He has turned into the wind," Zhong Li said. "Not a Wind Element ability, but—the wind itself."
The next second, the air vibrated.
A wind blade slashed across, hitting Lin Lan's waist, and her Weather Membrane shattered. A second wind blade sliced towards Hu Hao, the teapot was smashed, and the man fell to the deck. A third wind blade cut through Zhong Li, sending his recording board flying and the magnetic field distorting. A fourth wind blade struck Zhao Yang, the blood mist exploded, separating his upper and lower body. A fifth wind blade penetrated the hull, heading straight for the deck below—Qin Hao. He didn't even have a chance to activate Life Reversion. The magnetic field snapped, and his consciousness layer collapsed.
It all took only—one second.
The wind stopped. The enemy did not materialize. The Particle Man turned into a question mark and floated in the air.
Zhao Yang leaned on his legs, putting his upper body back on, the blood mist surging around him.
"I'm still here," he whispered. "I'm a vampire."
His eyes glowed red, the blood mist automatically gathered, the magnetic field vibrated, and the air began to flow backward.
"Revert Reality."
The blood mist spread, covering the deck, the ship's body was reconstructed, and the consciousness layers returned. Everyone was back to five seconds ago. The wounds disappeared, and their minds were restored, but the memory was retained. They remembered being sliced at the waist, remembered Qin Hao being killed, and remembered the trajectory of the wind blades.
Zhao Yang braced his weakened body, and the blood mist spread again.
"Dark Hemodynamics."
The surrounding 20-meter space, including the entire ship, instantly dropped below sea level. Water pressure surged in, the magnetic field twisted, and air flow was restricted. The Wind Element user could not maintain their wind state; moving too fast made it impossible to dissolve into the water in time, forcing them to materialize.
He appeared as a semi-transparent wind blade structure, the edges vibrating at high speed, the form unstable.
Zhong Li: "He's materialized, but not in a human form." He Xuan: "This is his wind state. We need to hit him until he turns human."
Chen Mo raised his fist, Shattered Time Punch, Seventh Segment, his fist speed five times faster than normal. The first punch hit the enemy's chest, and the wind blade structure vibrated. The second punch hit the shoulder, and a piece of the cutting flow broke off. The third punch hit the head, and the structure began to break apart.
"You cut my waist," Chen Mo said. "I'll hit your face." "You killed my brother," Chen Mo said. "I'll hit your bones." "You're fast," Chen Mo said. "I'm meaner than you."
He punched continuously, non-stop, the sound of ora clearly audible even underwater. The Particle Man turned into a counter nearby, logging every punch.
"Seventh punch." "Eighth punch." "Ninth punch." "Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora! Ora!"
The wind blade structure shattered, the magnetic field vibrated, and the enemy showed a human form.
He was a tall, thin man with pale skin but sharp eyes. He was beautiful, with residual wind blade patterns on his body.
"Your reaction was too slow," he whispered. Zhao Yang: "You were too fast, so fast you didn't see who we were."
Chen Mo raised his fist: "Want to try again?"
The enemy took a step back, the magnetic field began to contract, trying to gather the wind again.
Zhong Li recorded: "Wind Element ability user. Ability: Wind Blade. Extremely fast, strength at human limit. Can switch between Wind and Human states. Weakness: Spatial suppression and continuous strikes."
He Xuan slowed down time. Lin Lan sealed the air flow. Hu Hao disturbed perception. Lu Ye constructed a Particle Shield. Zhao Yang locked the magnetic field. Chen Mo continued to warm up.
Once materialized, the enemy's body began to tremble, and his magnetic field was in disarray.
He tried to escape, but the space was still under the suppression of "Dark Hemodynamics," and his speed could not recover. He glanced at the sea, suddenly raised his hand, and tried to cut his own throat.
Qin Hao instantly made a move, Life Reversion locking his action. "You can't die," Qin Hao said. "You haven't answered the question yet."
The enemy struggled, trying to commit suicide again. Qin Hao stopped him again.
The third time, he used a wind blade to cut towards his heart, and Qin Hao forcibly froze his consciousness layer. "You can die if you want, but not now," Qin Hao said.
The enemy collapsed, kneeling on the deck, his magnetic field completely out of control, and finally fainted.
The air returned to calm. The blood mist retracted, the Weather Membrane stabilized, and the Particle Man turned back into a seagull.
Lu Ye walked over and squatted down to check the enemy's condition. "Everyone, calm down," he said.
He carefully examined the enemy's head, and just behind the hair, he found a slightly raised abnormal tissue. "A flesh bud," Lu Ye said. "At the back of the head."
Chen Mo walked over and squatted down. "I'll do it," he said.
He was the kind of Strength Element user with the greatest strength and the fastest speed. At the same time, his movements were also highly precise, capable of executing a fatal strike or precise operation in an extremely short time.
Strength Element espers are usually divided into three categories: Some have immense strength, capable of shattering a construction layer with one punch. Some have extreme speed, capable of completing five attacks in one second. Some have precise movements, capable of performing extreme operations in battle. These three focus on different aspects, but they have one thing in common: extremely strong mental power. Controlling strength, maintaining speed, and executing precise movements all require a high degree of mental focus. The stronger an esper's mental power, the more stable and deadly the performance of the Strength Element will be.
Lu Ye looked at Chen Mo, a memory flashing in his mind. —On the seventh day of training camp, Chen Mo used Shattered Time Punch to break the instructor's gun mechanism, with an error of less than 0.1 millimeters. The instructor said, "You're not hitting people; you're taking them apart." Chen Mo replied, "I just see accurately and move fast."
Now, he used two fingers to pinch the flesh bud, his magnetic field steady, his movements slow and precise. "This is not an ordinary anomaly," Chen Mo said. "It has a root."
It took him ten seconds to completely pull out the flesh bud. Then he threw it directly into the sea.
"Can't keep it," Chen Mo said. "Can't study it either."
The enemy woke up, opened his eyes, and his consciousness layer recovered.
"My name is Yun Zhou," he said. "I still remember your movements." "You are very strong." "I want to join you."
The team did not respond. Lu Ye stood to the side, his gaze calm.
"A person who is implanted with a flesh bud must have close contact with Herlens," he said. "It's not a remote infection, not random deployment." "They must have met, known his power, to be implanted."
"It's like someone won't invite you to dinner if they don't know you," Lu Ye said.
The air fell silent again. The Particle Man nudged Yun Zhou's shoulder, then jumped back into Lu Ye's hand.
Yun Zhou sat on the edge of the deck, his breathing recovered, and his consciousness layer stable.
"I went to Egypt before."He said.
"Egypt, is that where Herlens is?" Lu Ye asked.
Yun Zhou slowly replied, "Mm, yes, it is."
The team did not respond.
"I went there for travel," he said. "I didn't plan to expose my ability, but I was found anyway."
"Herlens was there. He was present at the time."
The air began to thicken.
"He doesn't just have abilities," Yun Zhou said. "He has something humans don't."
He didn't explain what it was. The team didn't ask.
"He asked me if I was willing to submit." "I refused." "I knew I couldn't beat him, but I didn't want my family to be implicated." "I said, if you're going to do anything to me, please send my family home first."
"He agreed." "He actually sent them away." "Then, he planted the flesh bud at the back of my head."
The deck was quiet for a few seconds.
Lu Ye whispered: "If it weren't for Zhao Yang's regeneration and ability, you would have wiped us out."
No one refuted him. They all remembered what happened in that one second.
Even a person like Yun Zhou was terrified by Herlens' strength. They dared not imagine how strong he truly was.
Chen Mo stood aside, his fists still slightly warm. Zhao Yang sat on the edge of the deck, the blood mist retracting, his face pale. Lin Lan checked her Weather Membrane, Hu Hao was silent, and He Xuan looked at the sea.
The Particle Man floated quietly at the bow.
Lu Ye: "We allow you to join." "But this time, it's not an easy joining." "We will treat you." "But you must accept surveillance."
Yun Zhou nodded: "I understand."
Zhong Li recorded: "Yun Zhou · Wind Blade System · Precision Type · Previously encountered Herlens · Implanted with Flesh Bud · Esper mental power extremely strong · Current Status: Joined Team, Under Observation."
They said no more. Nor did they relax. They simply continued forward.