Chapter Twenty-Three: The Solution

Tang Yi paced back and forth endlessly, muttering to himself. Eventually, when he grew tired of walking, he sat down on the sofa and continued to brood. Lost in thought, he unexpectedly drifted off to sleep. Sitting nearby, Hua Ruoxue was speechless at this turn of events. Since he had fallen asleep, she fetched a blanket to cover him and quietly left the room, closing the door gently behind her. Yet the soft click of the door startled Tang Yi awake. Realizing he had dozed off, he thought he might as well continue sleeping, so he let his head loll to the side and slipped away into dreams once more.

The following morning, Hua Ruoxue was suddenly awakened by someone pounding fiercely on her door. She hurried to get dressed and opened the door, only to be startled by the sight before her: Tang Yi stood there, his face covered in stubble and his hair a tangled mess. Though he had slept, he had evidently been thinking with his extraordinary abilities for three days and nights after waking, and had finally found the answer just before Hua Ruoxue rose.

"Tang, what happened to you?" Hua Ruoxue asked with concern.

"What happened?"

"Your face... and your hair..."

"Wait, let me see!" Tang Yi pulled out a mirror. At the sight of his reflection, his hand trembled and the mirror fell, shattering on the floor.

"Never mind, just give me a second!" A moment later, Tang Yi was back to normal.

"Wow, Tang, you really are something!" Hua Ruoxue exclaimed admiringly.

"Alright, let's go inside. I've come up with a brilliant solution," Tang Yi said excitedly.

"Tang, have you had breakfast yet? No? Let's eat first! There's no need to rush, is there?" Hua Ruoxue suggested.

"Now that you mention it, I don't think I've eaten in days..."

After breakfast, Tang Yi led Hua Ruoxue to her room. He had her sit on a chair and, holding her hands, said, "Ruoxue, now you need to relax completely. Empty your mind of all thoughts. What I'm about to do might feel a little uncomfortable at first, but that will pass, and eventually, you'll come to enjoy this feeling. Are you ready?"

At his words, Hua Ruoxue blushed deeply, shyly nodding her head. Tang Yi, seeing her flushed cheeks, almost couldn't resist leaning in to kiss her.

"Not now—what matters most is letting Ruoxue gain superpowers," Tang Yi reminded himself firmly, over and over in his heart.

"Ruoxue, I'm going to begin. It would be best if you closed your eyes and kept your mind clear," he said again. Then, gripping her hands tightly, Tang Yi closed his own eyes as well.

The superpower Tang Yi was about to use was a rare ability that allowed him, through physical contact, to remove or implant superpowers in others or himself. Peter’s father, Arthur, had possessed this very gift; it was Arthur who once transferred Adam’s immortal self-regeneration ability to himself, causing Adam to turn to dust in an instant. Arthur, however, was later killed by a superpowered being who could absorb fear energy. As for Tang Yi, during the time Sera was missing, he had acquired this ability from a doctor while carrying out a mission. The doctor, upon discovering his own talent, would promptly transfer the abilities of dying superhumans to himself, since powers lingered for about five minutes after their owner's death. Tang Yi, passing through the hospital, noticed someone with over twenty ability spheres at the source of their power. At first, he thought someone else had the same skill as himself, but soon discovered this doctor could transplant both the trapezoidal ability structure and the spheres from the recently deceased directly into his own source. Astonished, Tang Yi wasted no time in absorbing this power, then notified the Shanghai Special Abilities Headquarters, and the doctor was later recruited after passing their vetting.

It is said that women are made of water, so Tang Yi decided to transplant Liu Shanquan’s water-manipulation ability and the power of invisibility into Hua Ruoxue, using his transfer ability. Since she didn’t possess a power source, he had to extract a chunk of the source land beneath the trapezoidal structure as well. The process gave Tang Yi a splitting headache, as if a drill were boring into his skull. But relief came when the powers settled into Hua Ruoxue; Tang Yi’s own source repaired itself, and a new trapezoidal structure formed.

Now, Tang Yi needed only to reabsorb and clone those two abilities for himself. After a few breaths, the two orbs of power appeared and glowed again at his own source.

During this process, Hua Ruoxue’s expression shifted constantly. When Tang Yi finally announced it was over, her face bore the innocent curiosity of a child encountering something new.

"Uh, Ruoxue, what kind of expression is that?" Tang Yi asked. Hua Ruoxue slowly opened her eyes to find Tang Yi drenched in sweat. She gently wiped his brow with her sleeve, whispering, "Tang, you’ve worked so hard."

Her tender voice, her gentle hands, and the look of concern on her face utterly disarmed Tang Yi...

"Tang, Tang! Wake up, you’re scaring me!" Hua Ruoxue called anxiously. Watching her mop his brow, Tang Yi had fallen into a daze, daydreaming with his eyes open and even drooling a little, much to Hua Ruoxue’s alarm.

"It’s nothing—just lost in admiration," Tang Yi replied, wiping his mouth.

"You’re impossible! I’m ignoring you!" Hua Ruoxue said, feigning annoyance.

"Now’s not the time to ignore me. I need to explain how this superpower works so you can master it. Once you’re familiar, I’ll give you a proper cultivation manual. I was going to teach you one I created myself, but it’s not complete yet and carries some risks, so let’s wait. Before you start training, I’ll also help you improve your physique. But let’s not worry about that now; I’ll teach you about your new powers and how to use them..."

At Hua Ruoxue’s command, a dragon of water surged up from the ground, soared into the sky, then scattered as a gentle rain over the garden, watering every plant precisely.

Clapping, Tang Yi entered the garden. “Ruoxue, I can’t believe you’ve mastered this power so quickly. How about the other one?”

Hua Ruoxue smiled faintly, then vanished on the spot. In an instant, she reappeared before Tang Yi. Of course, her invisibility was useless against Tang Yi, since he possessed it himself, but Ruoxue’s version seemed to add several panes of glass between them.

"Ruoxue, I’ve found a way to transform your body. It’s another one of my great inventions—worth a fortune! Let’s get started right away!" Tang Yi exclaimed, taking her hand and leading her away.