Chapter 135: The Favored One

Judging from what had happened before, Zhang Ning had assumed that he and his master would soon be forced into a life on the run, constantly evading pursuit. He had even planned out the next three or four years in broad strokes. After accepting the notion that they were a pair of fugitive lovers, Zhang Ning had begun to look forward to what lay ahead.

He simply had not expected his master’s strength to recover to this extent after only a week.

Nor had the past week been particularly dangerous. After the two of them left the farmhouse, they changed lodgings several times in Blin City. Yet all Zhang Ning ever saw his master do was meditate or sleep in. She had barely stepped outside her room a few times, and somehow her strength had already returned? At first, Zhang Ning thought she was teasing him.

But on closer consideration, it was only natural. What position had Chu Hanyu held in the Azure Realm? Could anyone who reached such a position possibly be ordinary? In a world of relatively low difficulty, recovering from this little setback was hardly worth mentioning.

Cultivating was naturally easy for Chu Hanyu. Modern technology, however, was another matter entirely. She was hopeless with it, especially mobile phones. After several smartphones had been rendered completely useless, Zhang Ning searched through a number of phone shops before finally finding an old-fashioned keypad phone. It was even pink. He could only brace himself and hand it to his master, mentally preparing to be struck.

Fortunately, Chu Hanyu did not seem to mind the color. She clutched the phone and plunged into another campaign of conquest.

One thing Zhang Ning found particularly amusing was that the writing in this world was broadly similar to Chinese, though not quite the same. He therefore had to explain certain characters to his master. It reminded him of the time before they had come to this world, when his master had taught him to read in the Azure Realm. The wondrous ties of fate contained within those memories never failed to bring a sincere smile to his face.

Still, compared with mastering the programs inside the phone, deciphering the written language was nothing. Thus, even after they had established a foothold in this world, Chu Hanyu was still unable to do anything with the phone after three days.

The outskirts of Blin City.

On the highway.

While Zhang Ning and his master were leisurely eating breakfast, a fierce chase was unfolding on the highway. It was like something out of a film—or perhaps even more intense. The roaring engines thundered so loudly that they nearly shook people’s ears numb.

From the frontmost car, which was speeding along at an astonishing pace, the upper body of a beautiful woman emerged through the window. She wore a tight, alluring leather outfit, and her expression was exuberant.

“Officers, you’re really determined to catch me, aren’t you? Are you in such a hurry to die?”

She giggled lightly, her expression as relaxed as if she were strolling through a marketplace and chatting with friends.

On any ordinary day, most men would have found it impossible to look away from her. But to the people pursuing her from behind, she inspired nothing but a chill of dread.

“Bang, bang, bang!”

A burst of gunfire rang out. Yet, as if by some miracle, every bullet veered away before striking either her body or the car. Completely unharmed, she slipped back inside and laughed even louder, her amusement growing wilder by the second.

“Damn it!”

Captain Xing cursed viciously. Fury and helplessness filled his chest.

They were already struggling so badly against a single Favored. Was the gap between ordinary humans and espers truly that vast? Were they really destined only to accept their fate?

Among those who knew at least part of the truth about espers, a saying had circulated for years:

“There are two hundred espers, but three thousand Favored.”

It meant that the number of espers had remained roughly two hundred from ancient times to the present, never changing by much. Yet the Favored created through their influence could number as many as three thousand.

The origin of esper abilities was still shrouded in mystery. Generations of researchers had spent years studying them without uncovering the true principles or mechanisms behind them.

The Favored, however, were different. The reason they appeared was perfectly clear. So long as an esper placed extraordinary trust in and affection for someone, or maintained prolonged physical intimacy with them, that person could temporarily use a portion of the esper’s ability. Such people were known as the Favored.

Some Favored were even more reckless than the espers who commanded immense power.

Perhaps it was because they had gone to extreme lengths to obtain their special abilities for only a brief time. Perhaps it was because they had spent too long suppressing themselves in the presence of espers. Whatever the reason, a large proportion of the Favored possessed truly appalling personalities—like the woman they were pursuing, whose codename was Twin Tails.

According to the intelligence reports, she had climbed into an esper’s bed and thereby gained the temporary ability to sever things. Yet instead of using that hard-won power to secure some advantage, she indulged herself in the sensation of possessing overwhelming strength. She had committed countless vicious acts, earning the hatred of every informed person with a sense of justice.

When Captain Xing learned that she had fled to the vicinity of Blin City, he had secretly sworn to capture her. Unfortunately, determination alone was not enough.

The experience and talent that had enabled him to solve countless cases, along with all the training he had received, seemed like a joke in front of this woman. She did not need to devise any plan. All she had to do was smash straight through their defenses.

At a time when the vast majority of ordinary people still knew nothing about espers, Captain Xing and the others could neither use nor obtain overly extreme measures. The highest level of support they had been able to request amounted to rocket launchers.

But even rocket launchers were useless against this woman. All she needed was a moment to recover her breath—

Everyone remained on guard when a pair of hands extended from the car window. Wearing fingerless gloves, the woman raised one hand toward those behind her and made a gesture.

“Rattle, rattle.”

Her voice was not particularly loud, and in the chaos it could not possibly have carried very far. Yet Captain Xing and everyone else pursuing her suddenly felt an inexplicable terror rise from the depths of their hearts, despite having heard nothing.

Then the horrifying event truly occurred.

The police car that had been chasing closest behind her, unable to change direction in time, suddenly came apart. It disintegrated into countless fragments that drifted backward, slamming into the police cars behind it and triggering a violent explosion.

The two people seated in the front seemed to remain in their seats even after the vehicle vanished. Carried forward by inertia, they continued through the air for a short distance before falling into the blazing explosion behind them and disappearing amid the flames.

As their commanding officer, Captain Xing did not even have time to see whether the expressions on their faces had been ones of terror or resolute defiance.

No one knew how much effort they had expended to become useful in situations like this, nor that they had once been the best of the best. With their deaths, none of that mattered anymore.

And this was not even the first time it had happened.

The rockets fired at her moments earlier had likewise disintegrated in midair. They had poured in efforts beyond what outsiders could imagine, only to find themselves as powerless as a mantis attempting to stop a chariot.

“Bang!”

Captain Xing slammed his fist against the steering wheel. He snatched up the radio and shouted, “Abort the pursuit! Abort the pursuit!”

Yet he did not slow down. Instead, he pressed the accelerator to the floor. The highway filled with the shriek of tires grinding against asphalt, and soon even the smell of something burning drifted through the air.

Captain Xing switched off the radio and hurled it onto the passenger seat.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he continued after her.

And the road they were traveling led directly toward the heart of Blin City.