Chapter 8: The True Young Master's S-rank Talent? Sorry, I Made It Disappear with One Glance
The basement level of the Lin family villa, originally a storage room for miscellaneous items, had later been converted into a temporary home laboratory for the fifth daughter, Lin Zhishu.
At that moment, the heavy blast door was slammed open with a loud 'clang'.
Lin Zhishu wore a crumpled white lab coat, her long hair messily pinned up at the back of her head, even holding a ballpoint pen used for note-taking. She walked unsteadily, like a gaming addict who had just pulled three all-nighters in a row, supporting herself against the wall as she swayed her way inside.
"Data... my experimental data drive..."
She muttered neurotically, her fingers anxiously scratching her scalp, turning her already messy hair into a bird's nest.
Uncomfortable.
So uncomfortable.
Ever since she returned home yesterday and didn't see Lin Ji, she had slept extremely restlessly that night. The nerves in her brain felt like they were being gnawed on by hundreds of sharp-mouthed, skinny rats. The sense of peace she used to get just by hugging her younger brother had completely vanished, replaced by a skyrocketing level of agitation.
Even the scientific research data she was usually obsessed with now looked like a pile of garbled code, making her nauseous enough to vomit.
"Damn it... even inhibitors aren't working..."
Lin Zhishu pushed up the thick-framed glasses that had slid to the tip of her nose and was about to search for the hard drive containing important data when an untimely voice suddenly blocked her path.
"Fifth Sister! You're finally back!"
Lin Zhishu paused, her dead-fish-like, expressionless gaze slowly shifting downward.
There sat Lin Tian in a brand-new electric wheelchair, his right leg in a cast propped high, yet wearing an extremely confident, almost smug smile on his face.
"I've been waiting for you for a while."
Lin Tian maneuvered his wheelchair in a circle, blocking Lin Zhishu's way, his eyes burning with eagerness. "Mom said you're not in good spirits and often get headaches. Perfect timing—I just mastered the control method of 'Holy Light' in the training room today. I want to help heal you!"
He desperately needed to prove himself now.
With Eldest Sister going crazy searching for that impostor and the city-wide arrest warrant slapping him in the face, he had to demonstrate his value in front of his other sisters. He had to prove that his S-rank Talent wasn't just for show, that he was ten thousand times better than that Lin Ji who only knew how to cook!
Lin Zhishu stared at him expressionlessly, her eyes taking a long time to focus before recognizing him as the newly returned biological younger brother.
"Move."
Her voice was cold, carrying a heavy sense of exhaustion. "I'm in a very bad mood right now. I don't want to experiment, and I don't want to dissect a living person. Don't force me to act."
"Fifth Sister, you're just too tired!"
Lin Tian completely missed the danger in her words and instead grew even more excited. "Don't worry, my light-based talent is widely recognized as the king of healing! Just one touch, and you'll feel better!"
With that, he completely ignored whether Lin Zhishu agreed or not and abruptly raised his right hand.
"Holy Light Shines!"
Buzz—!
In an instant, a stark white glow lit up in the training room.
Lin Tian's face flushed red as he desperately channeled the energy within him. The light grew brighter and brighter, like an ignited magnesium flare, instantly illuminating the entire dim basement.
He felt he must look incredibly cool right now.
This was the imposing pressure of an S-rank Talent! This was the glory of the divine light!
However, from Lin Zhishu's perspective, this scene was nothing short of a disaster.
"Ah—!!"
Lin Zhishu covered her eyes and let out a sharp scream.
That was no warm, healing light. In the eyes of an ability user like her, already corrupted by abyssal power and with extremely sensitive senses, this light was like countless steel needles soaked in chili water, madly stabbing into her retinas and assaulting her fragile mental sea!
Blinding!
Turbid!
Filled with nauseatingly agitated particles!
"Turn it off! Turn it off now!"
Lin Zhishu staggered backward, her back slamming into the lab bench and knocking over a pile of test tubes with a clatter. She felt like her brain was boiling over, and the murderous intent she had suppressed for so long instantly shattered the last remnants of her rationality.
"Fifth Sister? Does it feel warm and cozy?"
Lin Tian was still lost in self-admiration, his eyes closed as he gave misguided instructions. "This is a normal detox reaction! Hold on a bit longer, I'll increase the intensity!"
"I told you to turn it off—!!"
Boom!
Lin Zhishu suddenly lowered her hands. Her originally dull eyes had now turned an eerie pure black, and a visible storm of telekinetic energy erupted around her.
Lin Tian, still glowing, felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if struck by an invisible heavy hammer.
"Pfft!"
He spat out a mouthful of blood, the light in his hand instantly extinguished. Both he and his wheelchair were sent flying five or six meters away, crashing with a loud thud against a sandbag in the corner.
"Cough, cough... Fifth Sister... what are you doing?!"
Lin Tian clutched his chest, staring in terror at the woman who was usually dorky but now resembled a demonic deity.
Lin Zhishu gasped for breath, leaning on the edge of the table, glaring at him intently.
She pulled a portable spectrometer from the pocket of her lab coat, scanned Lin Tian with it, then shoved the device's screen right into his face. Her voice was as cold as if she were reading an autopsy report:
"Wavelength is extremely unstable, photon arrangement is a chaotic mess."
"Effective healing wavelengths are less than 5%. The remaining 95% is all ineffective radiation and noise pollution."
"And this is the S-rank Talent you're so proud of?"
Lin Zhishu pushed up her glasses, a cold glint flashing across the lenses. Her eyes were filled with academic disdain and physical disgust. "Even a five-dollar flashlight bought on the street emits purer light than yours."
"No... impossible!"
Lin Tian was on the verge of a breakdown, struggling in his wheelchair. "I'm S-rank! The testing center said I'm S-rank! How could I be compared to a flashlight?!"
"An S-rank piece of trash is still trash."
Lin Zhishu coldly cut him off, turning around to pick up the hard drive from the floor as if looking at him any longer would dirty her eyes. "Stay away from me from now on. Your kind of light only accelerates my mental collapse. If you dare wave it around in front of me again, I'll slice you up and pickle you in formaldehyde."
With that, she walked toward the elevator without looking back.
Only after entering the elevator did that nauseating dizziness subside slightly.
Lin Zhishu leaned against the cold elevator wall, her hands trembling as she pulled out her phone from her pocket. Her current state was dangerous, extremely dangerous. If not for the last shred of rationality, she might have really twisted Lin Tian's head off and kicked it like a ball.
She needed Lin Ji.
Only the special bio-magnetic field around Lin Ji could calm this agitation surging from the depths of her genes.
The call connected.
An elegant yet somewhat weary female voice came through, with background noise of clattering keyboards and executives reporting.
"Hello, Fifth? Why are you calling at this hour?" It was Third Sister, Second Sister.
"Third Sister."
Lin Zhishu took off her glasses, rubbing the space between her eyebrows, her voice tinged with a suppressed sob. "I need Lin Ji. Now, immediately."
There was a second of silence on the other end of the line, followed by the sound of a chair being pushed back.
"You're having an episode too?" Second Sister's voice instantly tensed up.
"Yes. That newly returned Lin Tian just tried to heal me with his ability..."
"And the result?"
"The result nearly sent me to my grave." Lin Zhishu took a deep breath, her eyes becoming hollow and obsessive. "His ability is full of impurities. Compared to Lin Ji's pure, natural cleansing field, it's practically industrial wastewater."
"Third Sister, double the bounty again."
"Deploy all of the Lin Group's security and intelligence departments. If we don't find him and bring him back... I'm afraid I won't be able to control myself and might blow up the basement at home."
On the other end of the line, Second Sister took a deep breath, her tone instantly turning murderous:
"Don't worry. I'm going crazy too."
"Since that brat wants to play hide-and-seek with us, I'll just buy the entire Jinghai. Let's see which rat hole he can hide in then!"
"Hanging up now. I'm going to throw money at this."
Beep, beep, beep—
Listening to the dial tone, Lin Zhishu slowly slid down to sit on the floor, hugging her knees like an abandoned child.
"Lin Ji... where on earth are you..."
"The lab mice have all gotten skinny from hunger. Why haven't you come back to feed them..."