Chapter Forty-Six: Psychic Abilities

In the corridor, after Gu Sha zipped up his backpack, he dragged his Tang blade forward. He had barely taken two steps before he suddenly stopped and looked up, discovering a pinhole camera mounted at the top of the passage.

Gu Sha stared at the camera for a moment, then glanced at the now lifeless Tang Shanshan lying nearby. He touched his chin, a look of puzzlement flickering across his face.

When he had killed the white python just now, he sensed a surge of psychic power. He suspected that Tang Shanshan possessed psychic abilities, enabling her to control zombies and zombie beasts with her mind.

This was not uncommon in the era of superhuman emergence in the future.

“But...” Gu Sha’s doubts persisted. Superhumans appeared so early? And someone had already discovered the function of mutated bones this soon? Moreover, Tang Shanshan, a woman, managed to kill a zombie beast that had evolved a mutated bone at the very onset of the apocalypse, and even managed to refine it!

In his previous life, the official disclosure of superhumans' existence was made a year later, but Gu Sha never believed that superhumans only began to emerge then. Still, he hadn’t expected anyone to recognize the power of mutated bones so early.

...

Soon, after turning two corners, Gu Sha arrived before a large electronic door that exuded a sense of technological sophistication.

He stood before the door for a moment, confirming that it was locked with a code. Then, he took half a step back, raised his fist, and smashed it down.

With a resounding crash, the electronic door collapsed.

Inside, he found a vast laboratory filled with electronic equipment. A group of people in white lab coats were being chased by a horde of zombies, the scene utterly chaotic.

Without hesitation, Gu Sha charged in with his blade. With swift strokes, black blood splattered, zombie heads flew, and moments later, the zombies lay defeated across the floor.

The researchers slumped to the ground, breathing heavily as if they had narrowly escaped death. Instinctively, they edged closer to Gu Sha, yet dared not approach too closely, their eyes filled with apprehension.

“Is Academician Wang here?” Gu Sha asked loudly.

“Ac—Academician Wang is locked in the chamber,” one researcher stammered. “It was Tang Shanshan who locked him up.”

“Where? Take me there,” Gu Sha said.

The researcher pointed toward a room within the laboratory. “Inside there.”

Gu Sha glanced over and asked, “What’s the story with Tang Shanshan?”

At once, a researcher began to explain.

The situation was simple. Shortly after the apocalypse began, Tang Shanshan developed the ability to control zombies and zombie beasts. Ambitious, she sought ways to artificially unlock genetic locks since the source pearls were limited. Using her powers, she forced these researchers to carry out her experiments. Most of the rescue teams and superhumans sent by the Barrier faction ended up defeated by her.

“How did Tang Shanshan acquire the ability to control zombies and beasts?” Gu Sha asked.

“No one knows. She seemed to suddenly possess it. She’s always been with us, and nothing unusual was noticed,” a researcher replied.

“I see.”

Gu Sha’s expression remained calm, but inwardly he was filled with doubts.

In his previous life, official reports stated clearly that awakening superhuman abilities required mutated bones.

Yet now, these researchers claimed Tang Shanshan suddenly gained her powers, with no mutated bones involved.

Two completely contradictory accounts—one of them must be lying.

Gu Sha tended to believe that the official information he’d learned in his past life was false. He knew little about the authorities, having been too low-ranked to access such knowledge.

As for Tang Shanshan, the likelihood that she suddenly awakened her abilities seemed greater. Gu Sha didn’t believe an ordinary woman could kill a zombie beast with mutated bones at the start of the apocalypse, recognize the mutated bone, and refine it. That was highly improbable—unless she was also a reborn individual.

But if Tang Shanshan had been reborn, she would never have wasted her time in this laboratory.

While Gu Sha pondered, several researchers led him to a chamber. One quickly entered the code, and the chamber door opened.

Inside, all was pitch black, deeply shadowed, nothing visible.

Gu Sha frowned. “Is there no light in here?”

“Tang Shanshan destroyed it,” a researcher replied.

“I have a flashlight. You can use it to look inside,” another offered, handing over a flashlight.

Gu Sha looked at the flashlight but didn’t accept it. Instead, he asked, “Is there any danger inside?”

The researcher hesitated, then quickly shook his head. “N—no, just a bit deep and dark. It used to store equipment. Please hurry inside!”

“Oh, is that so,”

Gu Sha still didn’t take the flashlight. Instead, he raised his Tang blade and said coldly, “You go.”

“Huh?” The researcher was stunned.

Gu Sha pressed the blade against the researcher’s neck. “I told you to bring Academician Wang out.”

The researcher stammered, “I... I... I won’t go. Why should I go... If you want Academician Wang, you should go... you...”

Gu Sha narrowed his eyes. “Why are you so nervous? Is there danger inside? Are you trying to trick me in and harm me?”

“No, absolutely not. I’m just afraid of the dark! I’ve been scared of the dark since childhood!” the researcher protested desperately.

At that moment, Liu Ping, hidden among the crowd, grew anxious. He hadn’t expected Gu Sha, an official envoy, to be so suspicious. If this continued, Gu Sha would surely become even more wary. Liu Ping quickly urged the researcher, “Just go, it’s not a big deal—just bring Academician Wang out!”

Gu Sha, a formidable eighth-level warrior who had survived twenty years in the apocalypse, possessed extraordinary insight. The moment Liu Ping spoke, he noticed the researcher under his blade was terrified, his eyes betraying panic.

In that instant, Gu Sha realized something was wrong. He smiled at Liu Ping and said, “You go as well.”

Liu Ping hesitated briefly, then decisively stepped forward. “Alright, I’ll go.”

He took the flashlight and prepared to enter the chamber.

In that instant, Gu Sha suddenly slashed at Liu Ping’s head.

To Gu Sha’s surprise, just as his blade was about to strike Liu Ping’s head, a strange, invisible force intervened, forcibly diverting his blade.

The blow meant for Liu Ping’s head landed on his shoulder instead.

Even so, Gu Sha’s casual strike was no trivial matter—the force was immense. With a single swing, Liu Ping’s shoulder was severed, his arm dropping instantly to the floor.

(End of chapter)