Chapter Ninety-Eight: Why Don’t You Greet the Esteemed Councilor?

“What’s wrong, Acheng?” Luo Rao asked with concern.

The hand gripping her throat, though its veins bulged, was clearly restrained, not exerting its full strength.

She set the bottle of alcohol spray sideways on the table and supported Ji Cheng’s arm, gently stroking the veins in an effort to help him relax.

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, your sister is here.”

Luo Rao gazed at Ji Cheng with deep distress. The twisted furrow of his brow was so painful to see that tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

“Mm.”

Suddenly, the pressure on her throat intensified.

Luo Rao couldn’t help but want to cough, but the iron clamp of his hand grew tighter, forcing the breath in her lungs back with brute force.

Please, Acheng, you mustn’t have an accident!

The living cabin was at a comfortable temperature, the mist had settled and dispersed, and although the base vehicle had stopped, it still hummed quietly in a rhythmic pattern.

Yet the posture of the man and woman inside was strange.

Ji Cheng sat in the seat, his hand locked tightly around Luo Rao’s neck, his eyes vacant, as if shrouded in mist and veined with blood.

Luo Rao, meanwhile, held onto the seat back, her body crouched low, carefully aligning her neck with Ji Cheng’s shoulder to spare him the discomfort of raising his arm.

Now she could no longer speak, barely managing to touch the back of Ji Cheng’s hand before her strength gave out.

The scent of calla lilies filled the air, mingled with a faint hint of blood.

She scrutinized Ji Cheng, carefully observing the corners of his eyes, his arm, mouth, and nose, finally discovering that the source of the blood was the wound on her neck inflicted by his grip. Only then did she relax, if only a little.

Ji Cheng’s palm suddenly tightened again.

Had he failed?

The thought nearly sent Luo Rao into despair, but Ji Cheng’s expression soon relaxed, and the light returned to her eyes.

It seemed… as Acheng gradually released his urge to attack, his suffering eased!

Luo Rao felt the increasing pressure at her throat, almost able to hear the brittle sound of her neck bones under strain.

But beneath her obedient cascade of black hair, her pale, exquisite face was adorned with joyful eyes and slender, upturned lips.

She shifted her position, excitement renewing her strength as she wiped sweat from Ji Cheng’s body.

Her shoulders were beautiful, her neck gracefully curved, both flushed from asphyxiation.

Thankfully, events didn’t unfold as she had feared.

Once the force constricting her neck reached a certain intensity, it eased, Ji Cheng’s fingers trembling slightly.

As time passed, Ji Cheng released her, his expression settling into calm.

“My Acheng really does love me—he didn’t even manage to strangle me to death,” Luo Rao gasped for breath, then returned to her cheerful smile.

She didn’t need to guess; it was obvious Ji Cheng had succeeded in advancing.

Luo Rao, delighted, leaned in and planted a kiss.

She nestled close to him, her lips pressed against his cheek, breathing warm air and silently waiting for him to truly awaken.

…

Outside the living cabin, the ability users were already embroiled in heated debate.

“Clearly, he’s advancing to a second-tier ability user inside,” Lu Shangbai said with certainty, pointing to a droplet of water suspended in the air.

“Advancing here?” Zhang Jing’e glanced worriedly at the tightly closed cabin door, then at Lu Shangbai, still unable to believe it. When others injected second-tier gene prototypes, they did everything possible to protect themselves.

She had never heard of someone advancing in a base vehicle like this.

She moved her lips but didn’t voice the question that hovered there. Aside from Zhang Lingfei and Ji Cheng, she didn’t much care to socialize.

“But it’s so bizarre.” Centipede stared at the water droplet. “The vehicle stopped, and so many droplets floated up. Was it all because of that sound? How could that be?”

“That was a kind of force field, generated unintentionally during his advancement, likely due to the life resonance effect attached to his gene prototype.”

“Tsk, truly legendary—Ji Cheng became an ability user only days ago, and now he’s about to become a councilor,” Councilor Huang fussed with his sleeves and tidied his hair at the nape of his neck.

Everyone had been relaxing in their respective cabins, but after some vague murmuring, all three vehicles stopped simultaneously in a strange fashion, refusing to restart no matter what.

Once everyone disembarked, they found only Ji Cheng absent. When they tracked him down, they saw the tightly closed cabin door.

“But Captain… how could sound have such an effect?”

Huang Long smiled, “Sound, at its core, is the vibrational force produced by a medium, naturally forming a sonic force field. Theoretically, such a field can affect physical matter.”

“Oh, I think I get it,” Centipede recalled news stories of sound shattering glass cups. “Ji Cheng is so impatient, didn’t even wait to get back to the city—just started on the road, less patient than I am.”

“Hmph.” Yao Lun scoffed at this, “It doesn’t matter. Ji Cheng’s prototype assimilation rate is high; he’ll advance to second-tier quickly, probably just another day or two.”

Patience? Ji Cheng wasn’t lacking it—he was worried Yao Lun wouldn’t be able to resist making a move against him.

Huang Long thought to himself.

If Yao Lun struck before Ji Cheng advanced to second-tier, his status as a councilor would spare him the death penalty—he’d merely defy Chairman Zhang’s orders. But once Ji Cheng succeeded, there would be no opportunity left.

He glanced at Zhou Ze beside him, exchanging a look:

What should we do?

Zhou Ze’s response was resolute: Absolutely must not let him be disturbed.

Fine.

The two councilors moved unobtrusively toward the cabin door, subtly blocking the path.

“Relax, I won’t defy the chairman’s orders,” Yao Lun said, his face expressionless, evidently aware of their intentions.

Inside the living cabin, Ji Cheng looked at Luo Rao with an awkward smile.

“How embarrassing… The aftereffects of ‘Gene Prototype—Ghost Vine’ were too strong—I almost lost control.”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as you advanced successfully,” Luo Rao dabbed at the blood on her neck with Ji Cheng’s shirt. “Looks like a lot of people are outside. Why don’t you go deal with them first?”

She pointed at the cabin door; through the one-way glass, shadows of people clustered outside were visible.

“It’s fine. Let me disinfect your wound first.”

…

With a faint, indistinct command, the droplets of water suspended in the air suddenly lost their support and fell.

Plop.

They shattered on the ground.

Before anyone could react, the cabin door hissed, then silently swung open.

A casually dressed man stepped out—it was Ji Cheng, now a second-tier ability user.

“How could it be so fast!”

Everyone was shocked and incredulous.

Advancing to second-tier was supposed to take at least a day, wasn’t it?

Lu Shangbai, coming to his senses after a long moment, was both amazed and delighted. He pointed at Ji Cheng, but his words stalled in his throat.

“What’s wrong? Seeing a councilor, aren’t you going to say hello?” Ji Cheng looked at Lu Shangbai, in excellent spirits.

He had always felt a sense of urgency and danger, as if racing against something unseen.

Making money, surviving, growing stronger.

If not for his natural optimism, the tension would have snapped him long ago.

Now that he had succeeded, he could finally move at his own pace.

The only thing less than ideal today was accidentally hurting his sister.

“But… advancement should take at least a day or two, right? How did you… it’s only been a few minutes!” Lu Shangbai, bewildered and confused, stammered out the question on everyone’s minds.