Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

Chapter 5 Mimicry

At that moment, Li Yelai was unaware that as he signed his name on the document...

The girl codenamed Cheese had quietly left the ward and waved slightly towards the quiet corridor.

The next second, the elite soldiers who had been standing guard throughout the corridor quietly retreated. Several official psionicists also disappeared after waving their hands slightly.

Then, Cheese grabbed a few fructose candies from his pocket and popped them into his mouth. He then picked up a Bluetooth headset and contacted the other end, saying, "I used my ability. He wasn't lying. He did indeed encounter the Skinner by accident and unexpectedly became a psionicist during the battle. But to maintain secrecy, I didn't guide him to reveal more details."

"That's enough." A steady voice came from the other end of the earpiece: "What do you think of him?"

"He is indeed quite handsome, tall and thin, and looks quite honest," Cheese commented.

After a moment of silence, the other end responded, "I was asking if you felt anything was off about him, not asking you to go on a blind date with him."

After eating a few more candies, Cheese replied, "This guy is a bit stingy, which is related to his family's financial situation. That does lower the danger level a bit. There's nothing unusual so far. But clearly, he's still hiding something."

He glanced at Li Yelai's information as he spoke.

Li Yelai, 23 years old. Citizen of Border City No. 3. Nine years ago, her father left home, and her mother passed away three months later. She lives with her younger sister, Li Yunyan. Currently, she works at an antique shop. She has no criminal record.

"Based on the current situation, it's unlikely to be someone from the Church of the Ashes."

"The probability is indeed low, but we still need to be careful."

In the conference room of the Calamity Management Department located in Border City No. 3, several high-ranking officials who had just hung up the communication fell silent.

The white-haired old man at the head of the table spoke up: "This Li Yelai should be a psionicist of the Myriad Manifestations Path, right? Yet he instantly killed a Skinner who was also of the Myriad Manifestations Path. His background is definitely not simple, and his abilities must be extremely special. I wonder if it is the work of some King of the Forbidden Zone."

"If you suspect him, why invite him to join the handling department?" someone asked. "Are you planning to keep a close watch on him?"

“I’ve considered that, but I don’t think someone who would say in their last words, ‘Don’t scare my sister,’ could be a monster. Even if they do have some secret, as long as their heart is with humanity, we can accept them.”

An elderly woman spoke softly, "Of course, necessary vigilance and probing are unavoidable. Tell Yang Chen to keep an eye on him and take advantage of the training to understand his abilities."

On the other side, Li Yelai, who had officially become the calamity preparedness officer of Border City No. 3, was taken out of the private hospital by Yang Chen and Cheese.

Li Ye was unconscious before he arrived because his body was not used to the effects of psychic energy during his first awakening.

Now that everything was alright, Yang Chen planned to take Li Yelai to the nearest branch of the processing bureau so that Li Yelai could familiarize himself with his abilities in the training room there and receive corresponding knowledge and skills training.

Li Yelai currently lacks the technical skills required of a processor, so he is temporarily a probationary processor.

So, the three of them got into a black SUV with trepidation.

Throughout the journey, all three of them had very solemn expressions, fearing that Li Yelai's curse would be triggered and ruin the car!

Li Yelai was afraid that if things went wrong, he might have to pay money.

Fortunately, there were no problems with the vehicle. It drove smoothly on the highway.

"It seems your curse only lasts for a period of time after you use your ability, not all the time," Cheese in the back seat laughed. "That's a good thing, otherwise, you'd have to run there by yourself for any missions later."

"How do you usually suppress the curse?" Li Yelai, who was also sitting in the back seat, asked Cheese next to him.

The girl was young, beautiful, capable, and seemed unaffected by the curse. Her younger sister, Li Yunyan, however, couldn't even leave the house; she would show fear and terror at the sight of any stranger, or even small animals.

“Curses are all different. Compared to yours, mine is much easier.” Cheese looked at Li Ye and said, “Actually, every psychic’s curse is a secret, because it represents some kind of weakness. But I’ll tell you anyway, my curse is a sugar addiction.”

"Sugar? Is it the kind of sugar I understand?" Li Yelai was somewhat taken aback.

He'd heard of alcoholics, but never of sugar addicts. That curse was quite audacious.

“That’s right. I need to consume a lot of sugar every time I use my ability. Otherwise, my heart rate will drop.” Cheese opened the large pocket of his hoodie, took out a candy and handed it to Li Ye: “Here, a special candy. Although eating too much candy is painful, compared to the curses of my other colleagues, mine is nothing.”

Li Yelai took the candy, tore off the coating, and popped it into his mouth, immediately experiencing an unusually sweet taste that burst in his mouth.

Eating too much of this kind of sugar could lead to diabetes or other illnesses. Even if it seems like a minor issue, the body can't handle large doses.

Seemingly sensing Li Yelai's thoughts, Cheese replied with a smile: "Don't worry about that. Psionicists are physically stronger than ordinary people and can avoid many diseases. Of course, as a psionicist on the 'Whispering' path, my physique is not the strongest, so I still have to be careful."

"Path?" Li Yelai asked疑惑地问道, "What do you mean?"

"You'll get detailed information later," Yang Chen, who was driving, replied. "Simply put, this is a classification based on the psionic characteristics of psionicists. Each has different ability tendencies, and currently, the official authorities have seven paths. They are ranked according to the proportion of psionic energy and physical enhancement brought about by each awakening."

These are: Zero, Whispering, Divine Control, Myriad Phenomena, Netherworld, Spiritual Eye, and True Martial. Each awakening of the Zero path results in the greatest increase in spiritual energy, while True Martial strengthens the physique the most. As for the characteristics of each path, you will receive the information later.

Li Yelai silently memorized the names of the seven paths and paid attention to the myriad phenomena within them.

Does the fact that my ability is "All Things Without Faces" mean that I am a psionicist using the All Things Path?
"What is awakening?" Li Yelai continued to ask.

“That’s still a long way off for you. Simply put, awakening is a ritual for a psionicist to further expand their soul well and get closer to the Void Realm.” Cheese continued, “With each awakening, a psionicist will enhance their original abilities and gain new abilities along that path. But the risk is that it’s easier to become distorted.”

"Remember, never attempt to awaken unless you are absolutely certain. In the Mine City, an official psionicist went mad and twisted during his fifth awakening, tearing the city's high walls apart."

Cheese's words shocked Li Yelai: "Tear down the high wall?"
A high wall, over fifty meters high and nearly ten meters thick, made of reinforced concrete.
What kind of humanoid self-propelled cannon is this?

Are psionicists who have awakened multiple times really this terrifying?
At this moment, the vehicle slowly came to a stop.

Arriving at a clothing store on the edge of the old town, I saw that business was extremely slow. Not only the clothing store, but all the shops along the entire street were practically deserted.

Yang Chen and Cheese, however, were not surprised. After greeting the clothing store employees, they led Li Yelai straight to the fitting room inside the store.

"Isn't it inappropriate for two men and one woman to go into the same fitting room?" Li Yelai tried to say.

"What? You feel like you've been taken advantage of?" Cheese teased, rolling her eyes at Li Yelai.

"That's a different price!" Li Ye complained, just as Yang Chen opened the second door in the fitting room.

It was a bright passageway, and at the end of the passageway stood two steel giants.

They were clad in thick power armor, with billowing steam behind them, and their three-meter-tall bodies seemed to possess boundless power.

Li Yelai stared blankly at the two steel giants, then murmured, "Border. Iron Guard!"

These elite soldiers, clad in heavy powered armor, are the strongest military force in the border city.

Border Guards!

It is known to the residents of the border town, yet it is almost impossible to see.

According to the antique shop owner, who claims to be a veteran, in chaotic times, if an Iron Guard appeared on the battlefield, one should try to knock on one if given the chance. Because that Iron Guard might just turn the tide of battle and save your life.

When you see a well-organized border guard unit appear, take the opportunity to kowtow to yourself, and put the dog tag in your mouth so as not to cause trouble for your fallen comrades. This indicates that the upcoming war will be exceptionally brutal.

Unexpectedly, I encountered two Iron Guards right here. It seems... quite reasonable?
“They are reliable comrades-in-arms.” Yang Chen greeted the two guards as he walked through the passage.

The tank-like Iron Guard nodded slightly, his gaze fixed on Li Yelai.

"He's a newcomer, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, he should be one of my team members," Yang Chen introduced Li Yelai.

"Understood, welcome to the East City branch." One of the guards spoke in a metallic voice and opened the heavy metal door.

The Eastern Branch of the Bureau of Investigation is hidden underground, and the former clothing store was one of its entrances.

The interior space is quite large and fully equipped, including a lounge, training room, and cafeteria.
Psionicists belonging to the branch will train, equip themselves, or awaken here.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this will be Li Yelai's workplace from now on.

But Li Ye didn't have time to look at the layout of the branch before Yang Chen took him to a training room.

The training room was roughly the size of a basketball court. Various melee weapons were displayed along the edges. In the center of the court was a huge metal cube, covered with scratches and cracks.

Clearly, this is a target for official psionicists to practice their abilities.

"We just put the new ones on yesterday, how did they turn out like this?" Yang Chen clicked his tongue at the cube and said to Li Ye, "You can practice and familiarize yourself with your abilities here. I see you have long arms and a slender waist, you'd be good at learning to use a knife, go pick one out."

He then pointed to the weapon rack on the edge.

Li Yelai scratched his head and asked, "Why use cold weapons? Do we have to use cold weapons to deal with psionicists and sufferers? Times have changed, sir."

"Because every psychic is protected by a psychic barrier, only a very few firearms can efficiently deplete the psychic barrier." Yang Chen pulled out a large-caliber revolver from his pocket, changed the bullets, and shot himself in the forehead.

'boom'

The sudden suicide attempt nearly made Li Yelai jump up.

They discovered that the bullet was firmly fixed in mid-air, about five centimeters from Yang Chen's temple. No matter how fast the bullet spun, it couldn't get any closer to Yang Chen. Finally, the bullet ran out of kinetic energy and fell helplessly to the ground.

This reminded Li Ye of his initial attack on the Skinners, which was also blocked by a similar barrier.

So, this is the psionic barrier?

“If you have received specialized training, you can also block some bullets. This is the most basic use of the psionic barrier. Skilled psionicists can even use the barrier to jump through the air,” Cheese explained from the side.

Even a psychic like myself, who has only awakened once, can withstand bullets?

Li Yelai's heart skipped a beat; he couldn't imagine what a terrifying highly awakened psychic would look like.

“And the psionic barrier can be disrupted or neutralized by the barriers of other psionicists.”

"Therefore, using psionicists to fight psionicists is the optimal solution. Because close proximity is required, official psionicists must be proficient in using melee weapons, capable of neutralizing psionic barriers while killing the enemy with a single strike." Li Yelai nodded slightly, indicating his understanding.

Then, they went to the weapons rack to select a weapon.

He had no intention of hiding his abilities, and the official team even planned to design equipment for him based on his abilities.

And since they're already planning to join the official team, there's no need to hide their abilities.

As for the shadowy figure, Li Yelai is not yet ready to inform the authorities. He is still unsure of the authorities' attitude towards this strange existence.

Soon, Li Yelai followed Yang Chen's advice and chose a long-handled blade that he couldn't tell whether it was a broadsword or a horse-slaying sword.

Holding it with both hands, it is powerful and heavy.

If it were the previous Li Yelai, he might have had some difficulty lifting it, but after becoming a psionicist, his strength has increased considerably, and he can now swing it freely.

Meanwhile, several more official psionicists quietly arrived at the training room.

"What a handsome young man! Is he the one who took down the Skinner?" A muscular man in a black sports vest asked Yang Chen from the side.

Yang Chen nodded slightly: "One axe blow, and the man and his sword are cleaved in two."

The burly man's expression shifted slightly: "What path? Zhenwu?"

"Based on the testing, it seems to be Vientiane," Yang Chen responded.

"Are you sure?" The burly man frowned. "I am the Path of All Things. My first awakened skill was Beast Language, and my second was Mimicry Scythe. That's when I gained some combat power. You know that a psionicist's abilities are random, but the Path of All Things awakens mostly support abilities in the early stages. How could he possibly eliminate a Skinner who is also a Path of All Things in one strike? What, is he particularly lucky? Did he draw a divine skill?"

In his understanding, the ability of all phenomena can be summarized as the ability to drive and mimic extraordinary beings. What has Li Yelai mimicked? Can he defeat an enemy with a single blow using an axe?
"The answer will be revealed soon," Yang Chen said in a deep voice. His gaze swept across the area, where official psionicists were silently observing.

There was a handsome man wearing a silver cloak and carrying a shield and axe.

There was a doctor in a black robe carrying a briefcase and wearing a bird-beak mask.

There was a guy dressed as a frog mascot, holding an advertising sign.

It seems that headquarters is somewhat uneasy about Li Yelai, and has summoned almost all of the branch's captain-level combatants.

Meanwhile, Li Yelai arrived in front of the metal cube, carrying a large sword.

After taking a deep breath, he recalled the feeling when he used his ability before.

He reached out his left hand and wiped his face, instantly revealing a black and white mask.

That dual pupil has appeared in the world!

In an instant, almost all the psionicists' expressions changed.

Because Li Yelai's aura underwent a dramatic transformation in an instant, unleashing an overwhelming and domineering presence. It was as if he weren't a single person, but a vast army seasoned through countless battles!
After applying the mask, a large number of skillful combat techniques flooded into his mind. Li Yelai held the knife in one hand and slashed downwards and diagonally.

The ear-piercing sound of metal cutting echoed throughout the venue. The blade embedded itself into the metal cube as easily as cutting tofu, tearing open a huge crack!

"What did he mimic?" Yang Chen asked in a low voice.

Upon seeing those double pupils, the burly man suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"He mimicked the Spirit Eye Path!"

(End of this chapter)