Su Wan’s mental power extended soundlessly like an invisible tentacle, resting upon Zhuang Heng.
His energy fluctuations were steady and heavy, like a boulder rounded by the passage of time.
Level 3 Late Stage. He was just a single step away from Level 4, but it was a step he had yet to take.
Behind Zhuang Heng stood five or six people.
The two men standing closest to him were tall and broad-shouldered, wearing deep blue combat suits with standard-issue sidearms holstered at their waists.
Their energy fluctuations were a notch weaker than Zhuang Heng’s, also at the Level 3 Late Stage, but their ripples were not pure, carrying a distorted, hybrid sense of unnaturalness.
Su Wan’s eyes narrowed slightly, a trace of coldness flickering within them.
They were all Gene-Modified Organisms.
They were stronger than Zhou Hu, but they couldn’t compare to the Butcher, much less that white-eyed youth whose genes had already collapsed.
Su Wan withdrew her gaze and walked toward the entrance.
Her pace was steady, her long hair fluttering slightly in the cold wind, and her entire being exuded a calm, almost indifferent composure.
Zhuang Heng’s gaze fixed on her, his pupils constricting slightly.
Su Wan stopped before the steps and looked up at Zhuang Heng.
Zhuang Heng looked back at her, his expression complex.
So this was the master of the Terminal Station.
She wasn’t the veteran he had imagined, nor the ruthless forty-something-year-old character he had expected, but a woman who was excessively young.
Su Wan spoke first. “Commander Zhuang?”
Zhuang Heng nodded slightly, his voice deep and steady. “Miss Su, I have heard much about you.”
A faint, thin smile tugged at the corner of Su Wan’s mouth. “Commander Zhuang is too polite.”
Zhuang Heng’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly before he regained his impassive expression.
“Commander Pei is waiting for you upstairs.” He stepped aside, clearing the path to the entrance.
Su Wan looked at Zhuang Heng but did not move.
Zhuang Heng maintained his posture for several seconds. Realizing Su Wan had no intention of stepping forward, his brow furrowed, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.
“Miss Su?”
The faint smile remained on Su Wan’s lips. Her voice wasn’t loud, yet it reached the ears of everyone present with perfect clarity.
“The one I want to see is Pei Su.”
Zhuang Heng’s frown deepened.
Su Wan looked at him and said, word by word, “Tell Pei Su to come and welcome me personally.”
In that instant, Zhuang Heng’s face darkened completely.
He understood exactly what Su Wan meant.
It wasn’t that she refused to enter; it was that he wasn’t worthy of leading her in.
A Vice Commander of the City Defense Force, here in the Inner City, at the very gates of the City Defense Force headquarters, was apparently not qualified enough.
Fury surged in the depths of Zhuang Heng’s eyes.
He held an extremely high status in the Inner City, second only to one and above tens of thousands. For all these years, no one besides Pei Su had dared to be so disrespectful to him.
Even the City Lord of Panshi City would be polite when meeting him.
Yet this woman, a mere leader of a vagrant shelter in the Ruin Zone, a young woman who looked barely in her early twenties, dared to humiliate him in public.
Zhuang Heng’s face was as gloomy as stagnant water, but he said nothing.
The people behind him felt Zhuang Heng’s suppressed rage, and their expressions soured as well.
They were equally dissatisfied with Su Wan’s insolence.
Without waiting for Zhuang Heng’s order, a lean man standing closest to him took a sudden step forward.
“Presumptuous!”
With a roar, his Level 3 Late Stage energy fluctuations erupted. His body turned into a streak of gray lightning as he lunged at Su Wan!
A distance of twenty meters was nothing more than a blink of an eye for a Level 3 Late Stage Gene-Modified Organism.
However, his method of attack was completely different from those Su Wan had encountered before.
In the middle of his sprint, his legs suddenly thickened, straining the fabric of his trousers. The muscles on the back of his calves bulged like two hard knots.
He looked very much like a locust about to leap.
Jump-type gene chimerism!
His speed increased several times over in that instant. He practically launched himself from the spot, leaving a string of afterimages in the air.
He leaped high, soaring over Su Wan’s head before making a bizarre mid-air turn to strike at her back!
His speed was so great that he was almost invisible to the naked eye.
The people behind Zhuang Heng even allowed cold sneers to touch their lips.
This man’s speed was ranked first among the City Defense Force’s Ace Team. Even a Level 4 Ability User would find it difficult to evade him if caught off guard.
Su Wan didn’t even turn around to face the attack.
On her right wrist, the silver-gray Dual-Mode Pulse Bracelet glowed faintly—
The Gene Disruption Wave was emitted silently.
The invisible frequency accurately struck the figure turning in mid-air.
The lean man’s body suddenly stiffened less than two meters from Su Wan’s back.
His legs began to tremble violently as the leaping ability granted by the locust genes collapsed entirely in that moment.
His muscles spasmed, his bones emitted sharp cracking sounds, and he fell straight out of the air like a kite with a severed string!
Thud!
The dull sound of the impact echoed through the silent street.
The lean man crashed onto the ground and curled into a ball, his entire body shaking uncontrollably.
He tried to struggle to his feet, but the gene sequence within him had become completely disordered. Every cell was frantically repelling the others.
Let alone standing up, he didn't even have the strength to lift his head.
A deathly silence fell over the scene...
Zhuang Heng stood frozen, his pupils constricted to pinpricks.
The people behind him stood with their mouths agape, their faces pale and their eyes filled with disbelief.
They knew all too well how strong the man who had charged forward was.
Level 3 Late Stage, with a gene chimerism rate of fifty-two percent—he was a standout even within the City Defense Force’s Ace Team and a combatant who could rank in the top five of the Inner City.
Yet such a man had fallen before he could even get close to Su Wan.
A layer of cold sweat broke out on Zhuang Heng’s back.
He looked up, re-evaluating the young woman before him.
She had delicate features and looked like a student who should still be in school.
Yet this person had effortlessly neutralized a Level 3 Late Stage Gene-Modified Organism.
No punches, no kicks, no visible combat movements whatsoever.
Level 4!
She was actually a Level 4 Ability User!
Zhuang Heng finally understood.
Su Wan dared to walk into the Inner City with such fanfare and head straight for the City Defense Force headquarters not because of some faction backing her or some bargaining chip.
It was because of herself.
It was her own unfathomable strength!
Zhuang Heng took a deep breath, suppressing the shock and anger swirling in his heart, and bowed slightly to show his apology.
“Miss Su, I apologize for the offense just now. It was my fault.” His voice was low, but every word was clear.
“Please wait a moment. I will go and invite Commander Pei personally.”
Su Wan looked at his bowed back and gave a faint, casual hum of acknowledgement.
Zhuang Heng straightened up and turned to walk into the building.
His figure disappeared into the depths of the porch.
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