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Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Dual Enhancement
In Lu Changyuan’s room, it was packed with people.
Han Yi and Han Jiaojiao sat on the only two chairs in the room, while Lu Changyuan sat on the edge of the bed, leisurely smoking. Yan Xiao, Xiao Jian, and others leaned against the walls or furniture, and many more gathered at the entrance.
Tian Xinyue stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, cautiously lifting her eyes to glance at the brooding man in front of her. She dared not look again after just one glance and shifted her gaze to the side, making eye contact with Han Jiaojiao, signaling for her to say a few kind words on her behalf, only to see a suppressed smile in Han Jiaojiao’s eyes.
Ah! The treacherous friend! A friend who forgets humanity at the sight of the opposite sex!
Lu Changyuan stubbed out his cigarette, his face wearing a helpless smile, "Thank goodness we’re not camping outdoors, or else, haha..."
Tian Xinyue felt even more embarrassed by that ’haha’ from Lu Changyuan and nearly burst into tears, "...I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional..."
She felt so wronged! She had only wanted to lull Tiantian to sleep, but who knew she would end up lulling the whole floor to sleep...
Han Jiaojiao blinked and said with a smile brimming in her eyes, "What kind of ability is this that Xinyue has? An enhanced voice?
"That should be the case," Lu Changyuan looked at Tian Xinyue, "Superpower Users don’t show fever symptoms during a second awakening of an ability. You might have awakened your new ability a while ago without realizing it."
Tian Xinyue murmured, "There were a few days when my throat felt uncomfortable, but I didn’t think it was related, because dual type abilities are said to be very rare." Who knew she would accidentally hit the jackpot?
Lu Changyuan shook his head after hearing this, "Dual Type abilities are indeed very rare, but recently, the occurrence of dual abilities within the same type has become increasingly common, especially for the Enhancement Type, which has the most dual abilities. Xiao Jian awakened enhanced speed and then high-speed vision, Yang Qi awakened strength enhancement and then body enhancement. Your ability is hearing enhancement, so awakening voice enhancement is complementary."
"Brother Lu, you’re so knowledgeable..." Han Jiaojiao’s eyes shone as she looked at Lu Changyuan. Even though he wasn’t a Superpower User, he had researched abilities so thoroughly.
Lu Changyuan smiled, "I’m not exactly an expert, but this information can be obtained with a bit of effort. There are more and more people awakening for the second time, so don’t be surprised if we start seeing triple or even quadruple abilities in the future."
Han Jiaojiao hugged Han Yi’s arm with a smile, "Who cares about triple or quadruple, no one is as powerful as my brother. My brother is an all-around Psychic Type!"
His sister’s admiration was gratifying to Han Yi. He wrapped one arm around Han Jiaojiao’s waist, his lips curling up slightly as he scanned the room, exuding an air of... smugness?
Lu Changyuan inwardly cursed: Childish!
Yan Xiao couldn’t help but laugh, leaning on Xiao Jian’s shoulder, his body shaking with stifled chuckles.
Xiao Jian also tried to hold back his laughter...
Han Jiaojiao glanced at Yan Xiao and Xiao Jian, puzzled, and muttered, "What’s so funny..."
Han Yi hugged her and said indifferently, "They’re just bored."
Lu Changyuan cleared his throat and said seriously, "Why don’t we include Tian Xinyue? The area is all mountains, and there are bound to be mutant beasts. Having a voice ability to help disperse them would save a lot of trouble."
Upon hearing this, Tian Xinyue felt a mix of excitement and nervousness, "Can I... can I really?" Oh my! Going on a mission with legendary MAX Superpower Users?!
"You don’t want to?" Lu Changyuan asked her.
"No, no! ... What I mean is... is..." Tian Xinyue’s face flushed red as she nervously glanced at Yan Xiao and Xiao Jian beside her, "Everyone has such high scores... I... I only have 390,000..."
Han Jiaojiao pulled at Han Yi’s hand and said, "Xinyue has an amazing Ability. She can hear things from far away, which can help brother share the burden of scouting."
"Mm, Jiaojiao makes a lot of sense," Lu Changyuan agreed. "That place is hidden deep within the mountain. Using hearing to scout the environment is easier than a Mental Search."
Tian Xinyue looked around and asked, "The mountain? Where is this mission going to take us? Do we need to climb a mountain?"
Han Jiaojiao winked at her, "It’s a nice place. Hurry up and pack your things. We’re setting off early tomorrow."
Yan Xiao teased as she watched the two, "Don’t sing any lullabies tonight, or we’ll have to delay another day."
"..." Tian Xinyue chuckled silently without a sound.
—The next day, Han Yi and his team finally set off.
With the addition of Tian Xinyue, there were now eight people, each of the two off-road vehicles carrying four passengers. However, the vehicle Jiaojiao was in was a bit more crowded because the back seat was also packed with three Space-Time Beasts. The reason there were only three was that Pepper didn’t like to stay with them and had chosen to lie on the seat next to Han Jiaojiao instead.
Since they were traveling together, the matter of the Space-Time Beasts naturally couldn’t be hidden from Tian Xinyue anymore, including the secret of the Ring Space, which would be inevitably exposed.
So far, only she, her brother, along with Lu Changyuan, Yan Xiao, Xiao Jian, and Bai Kairui knew about the Ring Space. Zhou Yan and Yu Wanxi might not have seen it, but they could probably guess a thing or two. Thus, when deciding on who would go on the expedition, Lu Changyuan and Han Yi had a long discussion to ensure the reliability of the travel companions.
Hao Boming was probably the least trustworthy among them all, but he was also the most suitable, as his wife and child were in their hands.
Han Yi’s group drove southwest for a while, and the road conditions started to deteriorate because the army didn’t regularly clear this area anymore, resulting in many congested roads. Abandoned vehicles haphazardly parked on the highway created blockages. In some places, there were only seven or eight vehicles blocking the way, which they could simply push through with their armored off-road vehicles. However, there were stretches of road that were blocked for kilometers, which forced them to turn around and find an alternate route.
It took them four bumpy days on the road before they finally reached the edge of the Taiyin Mountain Range, near a town still quite a distance from Baiyun Peak.
This area had experienced a landslide after an earthquake, causing large sections of the road to collapse, making it impassable for vehicles.
The road conditions were worse than they had anticipated.
At four in the afternoon, it was still early, but Han Yi and his team had no choice but to stop and decided to continue the next day.
They found a flat piece of land, quickly cleared it, and then Han Yi opened his Ring Space. With a thud, a row of prefabricated panel houses landed solidly on the ground.
The prefabricated houses had been ordered by Lu Changyuan at Lingchuan Base. They each had doors and windows, white walls and red roofs, and looked quite proper. The most considerate part was that Lu Changyuan had also prepared portable toilets for them. They just needed to find a spot to dig a hole, then align the toilet over it, and it was ready to use.
This was obviously considered for Han Jiaojiao, as it’s different for women than for men when outdoors—finding a suitable place to go to the bathroom can indeed be quite difficult.
Yan Xiao had already started a fire in front of the houses while Yang Qi and Zhou Xiaoliang set up a pot, added wood and water. Han Jiaojiao and Tian Xinyue were handling the food on the side.
The ready-made boxed meals that Yu Wanxi and Ye Jing had prepared were to be saved for when they entered the mountains because the situation there was still unknown.
Now, they tried to manage their meals themselves as much as possible; if short on time, they’d just boil water for instant noodles, but with plenty of time like today, they could put together a decent dinner.
