Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 43 Superpower Showdown

A musty smell permeated the gloomy air.

The reception table and sofa in the lobby are still there, covered with a thick layer of dust. The floor is littered with trash, and every few steps you can see instant noodle bags and plastic water bottles. It seems that someone once used this place as a temporary haven.

"Why did the authorities fail to discover this intrusion point for so long?" Chen Xuan asked in a low voice.

Over the past two days, he had learned a great deal from Lin Qing about the otherworldly invasion and the ability users. No one knew exactly when this anomaly began; it wasn't until the early 21st century that it began to have a significant impact on the present world. It had to be said that this timing was somewhat unexpected, meaning the Dimensional Limitation Agency wasn't much older than him.

“There’s a machine in the security agency that can detect gravitational oscillations during an intrusion, but most of the time it only records clutter,” Lin Qing explained. “Only when the scale of the intrusion expands and it happens repeatedly, and the same waveform appears multiple times, will the machine be able to identify it.”

"Does that mean there are undiscovered intrusion points all over the world?"

"Therefore, there's a saying within the organization: the world is already riddled with holes, only the organization is patching them up. But don't worry too much, intrusion points have a rather peculiar attachment effect, tending to concentrate in one place, such as the city where you live."

He had heard Lin Qing mention this before.

Intrusion sounds mysterious, but when visualized, it's like a door or a room; passing through it allows you to enter another world. Moreover, it has corresponding relationships; for example, the rescue of Joan of Arc is more likely to occur in a medieval European setting. When Chen Xuan first heard this, he immediately thought of the much-criticized Window of the World in the city, where everyone joked that the owner was a country bumpkin. He never expected the underlying concept to be so fashionable.

The so-called other world is essentially Earth... all kinds of Earth.

He no longer has to worry about hosting aliens.

Climbing the stairs next to the lobby to the second floor, the light suddenly dimmed, and the musty smell became stronger. Slippers and towels were scattered everywhere in the corridor; clearly, these items weren't worth moving and had been left lying around. Chen Xuan glanced curiously into one of the rooms and noticed several unopened packs of condoms on the coffee table.

The point of intrusion has an adhesion effect.

The sign that was attached to the other side of that shady club probably wasn't a respectable place either.

"Am I right?" Chen Xuan thought for a moment and then asked.

"It wasn't mentioned in the intelligence, but judging from Fei Wu Niang's abilities, she should be a master of pleasure."

"Didn't the Weixian Agency go there to check?"

"Interfering in another world is always a major taboo in the eyes of the organization. The back-and-forth travel of ability users will also increase the expansion of the intrusion point, so unless it is for the purpose of capturing people or there is a special reason, they generally will not go deep into it."

In other words, Judy's transformation into a witch and her disruption of the court were indeed aimed at him, Chen Xuan thought.

However, they did not know that they did not need to use intrusion points to travel to and from the other world; they could instantly reach the location of their customers simply by staying in the shop.

Moreover, it seems that the opening of the shop will not be noticed by the security authorities, otherwise, given the frequency of his contact with Liu Shuyue, he should have been caught by them long ago.

He asked Lin Qing whether it was the ability users who brought the intrusion, or the intrusion that created the ability users, and her answer was the latter.

The reason for the emergence of intrusion points remains a mystery, but it is certain that each interdimensional invasion brings about mutations, with individual abilities being one of the manifestations. Many people, even after gaining these abilities, live out their lives in obscurity because they are unaware that they have become drastically different; these individuals are referred to by the organization as Lurkers.

In contrast, there are the Awakened, who actively use their abilities for their own benefit. Among the Awakened, there is a rare group who are attracted by intrusion points that induce mutations, allowing them to traverse two or more worlds, making them even harder to detect. The organization calls them Wanderers.

According to the authorities, the danger level of these three types of people increases in that order.

Fei Wuniang is a wanderer.

She was most likely born in that world. If she hadn't traveled back and forth between the two places multiple times, causing the intrusion point waveform to be screened out by the machine, she wouldn't have attracted the execution team of the maintenance agency.

Chen Xuan stopped at the doorway at the end of the corridor.

Behind the door was a spacious private room that could accommodate more than a dozen people exercising at the same time. The "intrusion point" mentioned in the intelligence report was on the bathroom door of the private room.

"I have arrived."

“Yes, now we just have to wait for her to show up,” Lin Qing replied.

To be honest, Chen Xuan really wanted to push open that door and take a look at the world on the other side. However, considering that doing so would prematurely attract the Limitation Agency, he ultimately decided to give up.

He looked around and found a relatively intact chair to sit down. "How long will this take?"

The time of Fei Wuniang's death was recorded as 9 p.m.

"She'll definitely show up today anyway."

"If it doesn't appear, it proves that your theory is wrong, right?"

Silence fell on the other end. For some reason, Chen Xuan suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for her. After all, her mission was to prevent the extinction of humanity, and she firmly believed that she could do it here. But if the two worlds were not the same, it would mean that the very foundation supporting her beliefs would cease to exist.

Can a person who has lost their faith still live a good life?

"Sigh...this is troublesome." He suddenly sighed.

"What happened?" Lin Qing's voice suddenly tightened.

"I looked around and found that only this private room has a toilet, but the toilet has been transformed into another world. If I need to pee, I'll have nowhere to go?"

"Huh?" The girl's voice suddenly rose eight octaves. "I thought the Security Agency had arrived! Couldn't you have just found an open space to handle this little thing!?"

"Right."

"...Mr. Manager, are you kidding me?"

"coming."

"You don't need to tell me if you need to use the restroom."

"It's Fei Wuniang."

Chen Xuan suddenly noticed that the broken door was open, and even with just a crack, he could see that the scene inside was definitely not that of an abandoned bathroom. Then a woman stepped out and stood in front of Chen Xuan. She was startled to see a stranger in the house, and the two stared at each other, neither of them making any further moves.

"..." The person on the other end paused for a moment before asking, "Are you sure!?"

Her tone was even more excited than Chen Xuan's.

The other party, of course, wouldn't show their ID card or introduce themselves. However, Chen Xuan knew that the woman in front of him was Fei Wu Niang from the intelligence report—she was even more beautiful and charming than in the photos. Even standing there still, she exuded a captivating, unspoken allure that made one want to get closer to her.

She was wearing a long, fitted dress. Judging by the style alone, it was impossible to tell which era it belonged to. The front of the dress was pulled down very low, connected in the middle by only a single silk thread, as if it could be completely opened with a simple pull.

"You..." The woman reacted, a hint of panic in her eyes, and covered her chest with one hand, saying, "...Who are you?"

"No matter what she says, don't be fooled by her!" Seeing that he hadn't replied for a long time, Lin Qing quickly emphasized, "She is quite good at seduction, disguising herself as a vulnerable victim."

Chen Xuan sensed it.

Although she didn't show any threat, her expression only revealed the panic and fear one feels upon seeing a strange man, the "Voice of Trust" conveyed an endless malice that sent chills down his spine. He had never experienced such intense malice before, ten times stronger than the colleague who had previously blocked him.

He didn't intend to completely trust the information Lin Qing provided; he needed to observe the other party firsthand before making a conclusion. However, Chen Xuan now had to admit that Fei Wuniang's inner self and outward appearance were completely different.

"You've killed so many people, didn't you ever think you'd end up like this?" Chen Xuan deliberately asked in a harsh tone, while simultaneously pointing a barcode scanner at himself and switching the voice of trust to Golden Cicada Shedding its Shell. The Thousand Thoughts Sword, Divine Eye Technique, Heavenly Glow Skill, and Golden Cicada Shedding its Shell were the four abilities he could currently assemble for the most suitable combat combination.

"Murder? I don't understand what you're talking about—" The other party appeared extremely surprised, but a cold wind quietly rose up, and something darted out from behind her, bypassed the roof, and pounced on Chen Xuan from above!
They've already started?
She really didn't hold back...

Chen Xuan could see it clearly; it was a semi-transparent chain.

It appears to be quite stealthy and swift, but under the gaze of the Divine Eye, it moves as slowly as a frame-by-frame animation.

This is probably what "plundering" ability means.

If an ordinary person is captured, they will die without illness, seemingly from cardiac arrest. If a person with superpowers is captured, they will lose one of their abilities and be used by their opponent.

The fact that she killed him after being questioned with just one sentence speaks volumes about what kind of person Fei Wuniang is.

Chen Xuan pretended to be caught off guard, staggering forward and falling to avoid the claw strike.

The woman didn't miss this opening. She pulled out a pistol from her waist and fired at the unsteady Chen Xuan!
It's supposed to be a battle of skills, so why does everyone seem to prefer using firearms?

Fortunately, his Divine Eye Technique had reached LV3 along with the shopkeeper's level, granting him a slow-motion effect of about two seconds. Before Fei Wu Niang even fired, he had already determined the direction of her aim: the first shot would miss, the second would hit her shoulder. He dodged the two shots by lowering his shoulder, and before she could pull the trigger a third time, he grabbed the woman's wrist with one hand, pulled her towards him, and simultaneously swung his right fist, slamming it solidly into her cheek!

Fei Wuniang was completely stunned by the punch. Her body spun half a circle, her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground, vomiting a mouthful of blood mixed with several broken teeth.

The two of them also happened to switch sides.

Chen Xuan was now standing in front of the intrusion point, while Fei Wu Niang was already in the center of the room. Even if she realized the situation was dire, she had no way to escape back to the other world through the intrusion point.

(End of this chapter)