PSW - Chapter 139
Chapter 139
"Since you're so confident, young friend… why not give us a small demonstration?" Uncle Ji sized up Zheng Yi. Seeing how young she was, he sighed inwardly, figuring this was just another one of Zhou Xiyue's whims. But since they were already here, he spoke up and asked for a display.
"This… Miss Zheng Yi, may I ask what type of ability user you are?" another person asked curiously. He glanced at Yu Yinan, intuitively sensing that she was a rather powerful fire-type ability user. "This person next to you… she's a fire-type, isn't she?"
"I'm a water-type ability user," Zheng Yi answered with a smile. "I'm also something of a healing-type, and I have a personal storage ability." With her current Saint Point balance, she could have become an ability user of several other types as well. However, Zheng Yi had no great desire for other abilities, as they wouldn't be of much help to her, so she hadn't purchased any.
Water, healing, storage… The expressions on the faces of those present varied, but they couldn't help but have questions pop up in their minds. These… these abilities, no matter how shocked they were that Zheng Yi was a triple-type ability user, none of them seemed to have any combat potential! Was Zheng Yi a purely support-type talent? How could she possibly protect the entire shelter?
A symbolic protector? Using her healing ability to treat everyone's wounds, saving the dying and helping the injured, coupled with providing water and assisting with storage on missions, they could promote her as… an all-around support talent? Her codename was Saint, and Zhou Xiyue had mentioned using that as a promotional point…
Just as these people were getting completely sidetracked, Zheng Yi simply raised a hand. In an instant, four ice walls appeared in the corners of the conference room, sealing them off. They hadn't even seen how she had conjured the water, let alone how she had turned it into ice!
"This…"
A chill filled the air. Before they could even voice their thoughts, Zheng Yi tapped the table lightly, the soft sound drawing everyone's attention. The next moment, the four ice walls vanished instantly, replaced by twenty or thirty ice swords hovering behind Zheng Yi, poised to strike. In that instant, Uncle Ji, who was directly facing the swords, turned deathly pale.
They were clearly just swords made of ice, and Zheng Yi showed no intention of attacking. Yet, in that moment, he had the distinct illusion that his head could fly off at any second, that he was about to be pierced by a thousand blades. The feeling gripped his heart, making him breathe much more slowly. What was this? Sword intent? How was that possible? That was just mystical nonsense!
With a whoosh, the dozens of ice swords shot forward from behind Zheng Yi, piercing through the air above the conference table at a speed that was difficult to track.
"Ah!" Someone in the room cried out in alarm. Others were so terrified they trembled, unable to make a sound, the fear in their throats reduced to an inaudible gasp.
Just as they thought the room was about to be skewered by the ice swords, the ice suddenly lost its force and turned into a stream of water. It swirled back, and in a flash, a lifelike water dragon was "swimming" back through the air. Its two long whiskers flowed as it coiled around Zheng Yi's shoulder, wrapped in a watery light, and settled down obediently.
"…" For a moment, no one in the conference room dared to speak.
They stared blankly at the "water dragon" on Zheng Yi's shoulder. Its whiskers were ethereal, its claws retracted as it clung to her shoulder, and the scales on its body were so distinct they could almost see the reflection on each one. The water dragon didn't look like an inanimate object; even as it lay there, its body rose and fell as if breathing, its eyes slightly closed in a feigned slumber.
It wasn't just the others in the room; even Zhou Xiyue was dumbfounded. Her knowledge of Zheng Yi's power had come from Zhao Haiyue, and she had never witnessed it herself. Now that Zheng Yi had suddenly pulled a stunt like this, Zhou Xiyue found it hard to think. She stared at the water dragon on Zheng Yi's shoulder, unable to tell if it was truly a construct of her ability. But… where in the world would a real dragon come from?
"Just a few simple tricks, nothing worth mentioning. I hope you'll forgive the display~"
In the dead silence, Zheng Yi rose gracefully. The moment she spoke, the water dragon on her shoulder dissipated into the air without leaving so much as a single drop of water.
"Young friend, your exquisite control over your ability is the greatest we have ever witnessed. However, for a place as large as Humanity's Light, for you alone… protecting the entire shelter might still be a bit of a strain. No matter how you manipulate your water ability, it's still-"
Zheng Yi raised her hand and formed a high-pressure water blade. She conjured a block of ice in mid-air, and with a wave of her hand, the ice was sliced in two, the cut perfectly smooth. "Water is a substance of a thousand changes. There is still much room for exploration."
"What in this world can exist without water? Mutated beasts and plants also contain a great deal of it. Although there are barriers that prevent one from directly manipulating the water inside their bodies, but…" Zheng Yi gave a shy, embarrassed smile, her dark eyes as bright as stars. "My mental strength is also quite strong, you know~"
"If Humanity's Light has any mental-type ability users who have committed heinous crimes and are slated for execution, you might as well let them try their ability on me," Zheng Yi said with a smile. "With such a massive gap in mental strength, even if that person is a mental-type ability user and the one initiating the attack, they'll die from the backlash."
"…" The group was once again stunned into silence.
They had never heard of such a thing happening. But even with Zheng Yi saying it so confidently, and after all she had just demonstrated, it was impossible for them to believe her completely. Still, they were about eighty percent convinced, figuring that while death from backlash might be an exaggeration, severe injury was certainly possible.
In truth, the fact that Zheng Yi could control water to the point that it seemed alive, and even conjure a high-pressure water blade on her own… those two displays alone were enough to prove that her mental strength far surpassed that of an ordinary ability user. Humanity's Light had no shortage of water-types; there were quite a few, in fact, but none had ever been able to perform such feats.
Powerful. Almost overwhelmingly so.
They exchanged glances, their original ideas and arguments shattered by Zheng Yi's "small demonstration." But… even if she was this powerful, she was still far too young. Was it really a good idea to elevate her to such a high position, to promote her to such a status, and let everyone know that Zheng Yi was the protector of Humanity's Light?
"I imagine you all had your doubts about me before because you hadn't carefully considered the meaning of our cooperation." Zheng Yi chuckled softly, relaxing a bit as she looked at Zhou Xiyue. "Why don't we have Jiejie Xiyue explain it in more detail?"
Promote "Saint" Zheng Yi. All the high-level members of Humanity's Light would come forward to grant Zheng Yi an "official" position as a "guardian deity," letting everyone know of the existence of "Saint" Zheng Yi. The focus would be on publicizing the connection between the Saint and Zheng Yi, making everyone accept it.
In return, Zheng Yi would not interfere in any of Humanity's Light's internal affairs. Any decisions made within the shelter, as long as they didn't involve her, would not require her input. As the highly publicized super ability user, Zheng Yi would be obligated to act when Humanity's Light was in crisis, protecting the safety of the shelter and all its residents, doing everything in her power to resolve the crisis, such as the last zombie horde.
"Just for publicity, just for a title?" Uncle Ji confirmed again and again, unable to understand Zheng Yi's motives. "You… you will protect our shelter? Wait, do you mean you'll only act during a major crisis? Like the last zombie horde, or some future crisis?"
"Naturally. After all, it wouldn't make sense for me to clear out the area around Pujie for you and act as your hired muscle, conquering the nearby cities and handing them over to you, just because you promote me, would it? This is just a cooperative relationship." Zheng Yi nodded slightly, her voice calm. "It's up to you whether you're willing to accept."
With such immense power on display, they seemed to have no reason to refuse. The terms Zheng Yi offered weren't difficult either—just promote her and get the public to accept her. Beyond that, Humanity's Light didn't even need to provide any supplies or resources. But it was precisely for this reason that they felt a little uneasy. They didn't know why Zheng Yi needed this kind of publicity and feared she had ulterior motives.
But a partnership proposed by such a powerful ability user… If they hadn't witnessed Zheng Yi's strength, they might have dismissed it. But now that they had seen and experienced it firsthand, this offer was incredibly hard to refuse!
"You'll help us through a crisis… What if it's not on the level of a zombie horde, but would still result in heavy casualties if the shelter had to fend for itself? Would you intervene then?" they asked, carefully choosing their words. "Besides providing protection through force, will you offer us any other kind of help?"
"If I'm in the shelter, I naturally won't stand by and do nothing," Zheng Yi said with a light laugh. "As for other help… perhaps the personnel in your research institute have a deep appreciation for it? I've provided quite a lot of the materials for making those enhancement serums."
There were no more objections to the cooperation. After some thought, they listed out various plans to promote Zheng Yi. Once all these matters were discussed in detail, one of the elders couldn't help but ask curiously, "With your current strength… among the ability users in this apocalypse, would you be considered among the top tier?"
"No." Zheng Yi had already stood up to leave. Hearing the question, she paused, turned back politely, and offered a perfectly measured, faint smile. "Me? I'd say I'm probably the number one person in this apocalypse~"
Zheng Yi's eyes curved into crescents as she uttered what could be considered an arrogant statement in an extremely lighthearted tone. Yet, no one present questioned it.
"If there are no other questions, then~ Jiejie and I will be heading back to rest. It's freezing out, so you all should head home early too."
They watched Zheng Yi and Yu Yinan leave. The conference room remained silent long after their footsteps had faded. Only when a considerable amount of time had passed and the temperature in the room began to drop did they slowly calm down from their various emotions, replaying Zheng Yi's "demonstration" over and over in their minds.
Her strength… if she went all out, even without capturing a special zombie, could she… easily handle a zombie horde? And Zheng Yi's mental strength, just how powerful was it… could it really cause a mental-type ability user to die from backlash?
Too many questions, too much shock—these feelings were only now sinking in.
With such a young and powerful expert protecting Humanity's Light, they didn't know… if it was a good thing or a bad thing.
Their minds heavy with thoughts, they finally fixed their gazes on Zhou Xiyue, who was trying to sneak away. Uncle Ji cleared his throat. "Xiyue, since you were the one who recommended this Zheng Yi, why don't you tell us in detail… about her past deeds?"
Zhou Xiyue: "…" Help me.
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