Chapter 28
Shen Yuzhe was stunned. “What abilities?”
Kai used himself as an example. “Abilities that are different from regular people. Do you know why I always win? Because I have superior hearing and smell compared to you all. I can hear everyone’s conversations in the base and distinguish each person’s scent.”
Shen Yuzhe was left speechless. Although he had suspected that Kai was different in this regard, hearing it directly from him was still astonishing.
“I can also sense the location of certain things, including living beings, magnetic fields, and sources of sound. For example…” Kai squinted his eyes for a moment, then pointed in two directions, saying, “There are two giants about a hundred feet away from the base. One is responsible for cleaning and food distribution, and the other is a bodyguard for the Zois Club. There’s also a giant canine beast with them.”
Shen Yuzhe was shocked. Hearing this, he finally had a complete understanding of Kai’s usual behavior.
“Is your combat ability also very strong?” Shen Yuzhe asked. “I saw you easily handle Malta and his group last time.”
“Their movements were too slow, and their strength was weak. I didn’t use my full power,” Kai glanced at Shen Yuzhe, hinting that it was the same for him.
Kai continued, “But these abilities didn’t exist from the beginning. Six years ago, when I first woke up, I was no different from ordinary people. It was about half a year later when something happened, and my body changed.”
“What happened?” Shen Yuzhe stared at Kai, not wanting to miss any details.
“I was still in the primitive survival area with a companion, searching for food. On the way, we encountered a multi-legged worm. We ran in opposite directions. The worm was about two or three times the length of our bodies, had a hard shell, and pincers. It moved quickly. The worm targeted him first, and he couldn’t dodge it. The worm grabbed his neck, and when it swung its tail, it knocked me away. I happened to land under a pile of leaves… I watched in horror as that worm tore him apart bit by bit and devoured him.”
Kai closed his eyes, his face pale.
To this day, he still remembered that his companion was reduced to just a head at the end. Perhaps the skull was too hard to chew, so the worm pushed it aside, rolling it a couple of times. The hair was covered in blood and mud, and half of the face was missing. The whole time, the companion looked terrified, wide-eyed and unblinking—Kai made eye contact through the gaps between the leaves and the ground.
Shen Yuzhe didn’t know what Kai had remembered, but the expression he showed was rare.
However, it was unlikely to be a good memory, as Shen Yuzhe himself was horrified just imagining witnessing someone of his own kind being eaten alive. He couldn’t fathom what Kai must have felt experiencing it.
But Kai quickly regained his composure and continued, “I passed out, and when I woke up, I found out that a kind-hearted man had saved me. He took care of me for a while. But during my recovery, I always heard the sound of worms crawling on the ground. At first, I thought I was hallucinating due to the trauma. It wasn’t until I could get up and go outside again that I realized there were actually worms and beasts nearby every time I heard the sound.”
“…And then?” Shen Yuzhe asked nervously.
“I had broken my leg at that time and couldn’t move. I thought I’d be next… But that worm spared me. I don’t know if it was full or if my scent was masked by the leaves, but I heard it crawl around nearby before slowly leaving.”
“…What happened next?”
“I passed out again and woke up later to find that a kind-hearted man had saved me. He took care of me for a while. But during my recovery, I always heard the sound of worms crawling on the ground. At first, I thought I was hallucinating due to the trauma. It wasn’t until I could get up and go outside again that I realized there were actually worms and beasts nearby every time I heard the sound.”
“…And then?” Shen Yuzhe asked nervously.
“I had broken my leg at that time and couldn’t move. I thought I’d be next… But that worm spared me. I don’t know if it was full or if my scent was masked by the leaves, but I heard it crawl around nearby before slowly leaving.”
“…What happened next?”
“Died,” Kai said, lowering his eyes and speaking softly. “A young mouse entered the cave we were hiding in. I was a hundred feet away at the time, and I could already sense it, but I couldn’t get back in time.”
Shen Yuzhe was speechless. Even such a casual question had a history of such despair behind it. He didn’t know what to say because he feared that every word he spoke might peel open a long-healed scar on Kai and make a deep cut.
But he couldn’t help but ask. The questions and confusion in his mind wouldn’t let him rest until he understood everything.
Why did a place like M-7 exist?
If there was an M-7, were there also M-6, M-5, or M-8?
Were these places the mini-worlds that Mina mentioned as her birthplace?
Shen Yuzhe took a deep breath, suppressed his hesitation, and began asking Kai one by one.
Kai explained that there were indeed different regions, each with its own unique number, but M-7 was the largest he knew of and had the harshest environment.
The best environment was in the regions with the lowest numbers, with M-1 being the most developed mini-world, almost on par with the giant world in terms of culture and technological advancement. People living there often never encountered large beasts like earthcats throughout their lives.
Only when those exiled individuals committed serious crimes or contracted incurable diseases were they banished to M-7.
Shen Yuzhe was surprised. “Why weren’t you marked with a number?”
Kai shook his head. “I don’t know.”
He woke up there, facing the inherent fear of life and death and the pressure of survival of the fittest.
Shen Yuzhe had more questions. “Do you know why you have these abilities? Are there so-called abilities for every mini-person?”
Kai replied, “Probably not. I told the man who saved me about the changes in my body. He was from M-3, and he mentioned hearing about people like me in their region. Those people had undergone genetic modifications and were referred to as ‘superhumans’ or ‘mutants,’ but their numbers were limited, and each person had different abilities. They generally held high positions and enjoyed absolute protection, similar to regional administrators.”
Kai remembered the man being quite happy upon learning about his abilities, saying that he had found a treasure. He even speculated that the administrators might have made a mistake in exiling him because they confused him with those who needed to be exiled.
Shen Yuzhe was puzzled. “If not everyone has these abilities, why did you say, ‘Wait until my abilities awaken?’ How can you be sure I have abilities?”
Kai glanced at him. “Do you remember what happened the first time you participated in the Feeding Challenge?”
Shen Yuzhe certainly remembered, and the experience of nearly being choked to death by Malta had left a deep impression. Even now, thinking about it made him shudder.
Kai continued, “At that time, there was an anomaly outside the arena. All electronic devices malfunctioned, and it took a while for them to recover.”
Shen Yuzhe nodded, recalling that he had sensed something strange, but he wasn’t clear on the details. Kai’s sudden appearance, the intense questioning, and his bizarre behavior had consumed all of Shen Yuzhe’s attention at the time.
Kai said, “I suspect that the anomaly was caused by you.”
Shen Yuzhe was astonished. “Me?”
Kai explained, “Yes, I sensed a magnetic field at your location.”
Shen Yuzhe asked, “What was it?”
“It’s hard to describe, just think of it as energy,” Kai pondered for a moment and asked, “Did you feel anything strange or uncomfortable on your body at that time?”
Shen Yuzhe furrowed his brow, thinking carefully. There was a moment when his brain emitted something he didn’t recognize, and afterward, there was a constant buzzing in his mind. However, he had thought it was just a lingering effect of choking.
He described these sensations in detail to Kai.
“But it was only that one time, perhaps just a coincidence?” Shen Yuzhe said uneasily. After all, it had been two months since then, and this ability hadn’t resurfaced, nor had he experienced the same level of change and anomaly as Kai did during his awakening.
But Kai shook his head and looked at the air around Shen Yuzhe. He spoke with conviction, “No, when I was recounting those experiences just now, there was a faint electrical discharge around you.”
“What?” There was nothing around them, and Shen Yuzhe found this puzzling. “Can you see those things?”
“Yeah, it’s something I can see after my ability awakened. Different components in the air have different colors, including scents,” Kai explained. “The scent around you is a pale red, and there were tiny yellow sparks during the discharge.”
Shen Yuzhe was utterly bewildered. If he hadn’t known about Kai’s extraordinary abilities, he might have thought that Kai was playing a serious prank on him.
“Why do these things appear?” Shen Yuzhe looked around in confusion.
Kai furrowed his brow. “I think it’s caused by emotional fluctuations. When you’re extremely angry, fearful, or deeply shocked, your body reacts.”
“Then when you bit me just now,” Shen Yuzhe gestured awkwardly between them, “did you sense anything unusual around me? I was pretty angry at that moment.”
Kai paused, and then lowered his head. “I didn’t notice.”
