Chapter 23: The Lost Girl and the Ability Riot
Ye Bai wiped a streak of blood from the corner of his mouth, his neck stiff as he glared at Chen Yu.
In the end, he didn't say anything harsh.
Clutching his chest, he staggered out of the dojo.
"Just you wait. I won't admit defeat!"
Chen Yu watched his retreating figure and shook his head helplessly.
He turned to look at Wei Tianyi and asked, looking slightly embarrassed, "Elder Wei, I have a somewhat presumptuous request..."
Wei Tianyi waved his hand. "Speak freely. If this old man can help, he will."
Chen Yu rubbed his nose. "Can I stay here for the night? I can pay. Staying at the dojo for a while would be convenient for my training..."
Before he could finish, Wei Tianyi and Ling Wenhe's faces lit up. Such dedication!.
Wei Tianyi spoke first. "Just stay at the dojo! We have empty rooms. Aren't you the newly appointed Honorary Instructor of my Tianyi Dojo? I'll tell Little Zhao to advance your salary later. You can just live here from now on."
Chen Yu didn't decline. He bowed respectfully. "Many thanks, Elder Wei!"
Ling Wenhe looked at Chen Yu with newfound appreciation, impressed that the boy wasn't putting on a fake act of pride.
He nodded immediately. "Regarding the compensation for the annulment—what resources do you need? I'll have people gather them and send them over."
Hearing this, Chen Yu rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment.
"Weapons. Preferably swords or blades," he said.
After all, Roger's greatest strengths were likely his Haki and his swordsmanship.
"And anything else that can improve physical constitution—potions and the like. The more, the better!" Chen Yu added.
When he looked up, however, he found Ling Wenhe looking at him with a strange expression.
Oh no, Chen Yu thought. Is he going to flip out?
But then he heard Ling Wenhe hesitate. "That's... it? That's all?"
"???"
Chen Yu had a face full of question marks. "Did I ask for too little?"
Wei Tianyi patted Chen Yu on the shoulder and burst into laughter. "Hahaha! You brat, I'm afraid you truly don't know how rich the Ling family is!"
Ling Wenhe had a bizarre look on his face. "One weapon? Some potions? That's it? If people found out the Ling family offered this pittance as compensation for a broken engagement, they'd say we were bullying you."
"Let me put it this way," Wei Tianyi chuckled. "For the man standing before you, 'Head of the Ling Family' is actually his least significant title."
"You know of Zero Heavy Industries, right?"
Chen Yu nodded.
"The only industry in the Alliance capable of processing Sea Prism Stone, and the leader in cyborg technology across the entire Alliance."
"But I recall that isn't a Ling family property, is it?"
Wei Tianyi nodded.
"Correct. But Wenhe here is their Chief Technical Officer—a top-tier talent of the Alliance! He alone is worth the entirety of Zero Heavy Industries."
"So, ask boldly!"
Ling Wenhe didn't deny it. He smiled lightly. "Elder Wei is exaggerating a bit, but your request was indeed a little stingy. Be more generous."
"Hiss..." Chen Yu sucked in a breath of cold air.
Counting both his lives, this was the first time he had asked for money and been despised for asking for too little.
"In that case..." Chen Yu pondered for a long while before squeezing two words out through his teeth: "Expensive stuff?"
"Hahahaha!" Ling Wenhe laughed loudly. "Just like your old folks, just like them... You're really like your mother—looks and personality."
"How about this? Aside from the weapon and the physique potions, I'll make the decisions for the rest." Ling Wenhe waved his hand grandly.
"Just wait here for a few days. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
"Deal!"
With the negotiation finished, Chen Yu was quickly led to a clean guest room.
He had just laid down, planning out his next steps, when he suddenly shivered.
A bone-chilling cold spread from the corner of the room, moving so fast it was impossible to react.
Chen Yu bolted upright.
Borrowing the moonlight streaming through the window, he looked around, and his pupils instantly shrank.
In the corner of the room curled a young girl.
She was surrounded by swirling, pale blue frost. Ice patterns crawled across the floorboards, the windows were crusted with rime, and even Chen Yu's breath had turned into white mist.
"Why is it you again?" Chen Yu asked in shock. "Are you a fixed-spawn NPC or something?"
The girl didn't respond.
Her eyes were squeezed shut, her brows knitted tight as if she were enduring immense pain.
With every shallow breath, fine shards of ice drifted from the corners of her mouth.
"Who's there?" Chen Yu stood up warily.
Just as he was about to approach, rapid footsteps pounded outside the door.
"Daughter, is that you?! Why has your Vivre Card started burning?!"
Ling Wenhe smashed the door open and rushed in. When he saw the girl in the corner, his face went instantly pale.
"Ling Yue!" Ling Wenhe's voice trembled with panic. He rushed forward but didn't dare touch her.
The cold air around the girl had frozen the very atmosphere until it felt brittle. The moment his fingertip got close, a layer of thin ice instantly coated it.
"She just appeared out of nowhere," Chen Yu said, confused. "That's Ling Yue?"
What the hell is going on?
Ling Wenhe looked frantic. "Yes, she is my daughter."
"Dad..." Ling Yue's voice was barely audible.
Hearing her fragile call, Ling Wenhe was so anxious he was practically scratching his ears and cheeks, his dignified image completely gone.
At this moment, Wei Tianyi appeared as well. He frowned deeply. "Little Yue... is this an Ability Riot?"
"Yes."
"She was born with two innate abilities and has always controlled them well. But during yesterday's awakening ceremony, she actually awakened a third ability—and it's the SSS-rank Natural System: the Logia-type Ice-Ice Fruit!"
"This situation... it must be an Ability Riot..."
Wei Tianyi watched the frost around the girl grow thicker and denser, his brows twisting into a knot.
"An SSS-rank Ability Riot... ordinary methods can't suppress it. Forcible intervention will only hurt her...".
While the two older men spun around in anxious circles, Chen Yu suddenly took a step forward.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused his entire spirit.
In the next second, an invisible pressure exploded from his body!
The spreading ice in the room instantly stagnated.
This was not the aura of an Awakener.
This was the Conqueror's Haki—carrying the pressure of a King. Every wisp of it radiated an irresistible, commanding intimidation!
"This is..." Wei Tianyi's eyes went wide. "This is it! This is the power!"
It was the exact same aura Chen Yu had unleashed in the Chen family hall.
Ling Wenhe was so shocked his tongue couldn't move straight. "The riot... the riot is being suppressed..."
Chen Yu had no time to care about their reactions. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he poured all his mental energy into the Conqueror's Haki.
That invisible, kingly aura acted like a pair of heavy hands, slowly wrapping around the chaotic ice-blue energy surrounding Ling Yue.
The ice-blue energy was like a frightened beast, constantly ramming against the containment of the Conqueror's Haki.
The collision between the two forces created a constant zzzzzt-zzzzzt sizzling sound.
Chen Yu's fingertips began to go numb. His mental energy was draining at a terrifying rate, and his back was soon soaked with sweat, yet he refused to let the pressure of the Conqueror's Haki weaken by even a fraction.
"Get back!"
Chen Yu's pupils constricted into pinpoints as he let out a violent shout.
The ice-blue energy representing the Ice-Ice Fruit immediately retreated, scrambling back into Ling Yue's body like it was fleeing for its life.
Her tightly knitted brows finally relaxed, and the frost around her body gradually dissipated.
Only then did Chen Yu let out a massive sigh of relief. He instantly retracted the Conqueror's Haki, staggering slightly and grabbing the wall to steady himself.
"It actually..." Ling Wenhe's entire worldview began to collapse.
Chen Yu could directly force pure energy to "get back"?
What kind of ability is that?
(To be Continued)