Chapter 26: Mysterious Station Upgrade

As soon as she finished speaking, a fist-sized transparent water ball materialized between them, hovering a meter above the ground. At the whim of Yue Chang's mind, a tiny whirlpool formed in the center of the water ball, resembling the spinning column of water in a washing machine. The next moment, Yue Chang placed the apple inside. Under the rotation of the vortex, the apple's skin spiraled off, revealing the sweet fruit beneath.

Now, it was Li Nianlong's turn to widen his eyes in shock.

Yue Chang was... an Esper!!

The peeled apple landed in her hand, and the skin followed the small water ball into the trash bin. Seeing Li Nianlong's stunned koala-like expression, Yue Chang couldn't help but chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand. Her lustrous eyes curved into crescents, making her look exceptionally adorable.

It wasn't surprising that Li Nianlong was astonished. While martial arts were prevalent in China and had bred countless masters, every master was born an ordinary person without any extraordinary abilities. Li Nianlong already found it fantastical to be possessed by the Dream System, but today, he was witnessing something even more fantastical: a real-life Esper.

"Are you a Water-type Esper?" Excitement outweighed his shock. How much experience would he gain by defeating such a 'strange creature'?

"To be precise…" Yue Chang's right hand clenched into an empty fist. Instantly, Li Nianlong sensed a surge of coldness emanating from her palm. The chill condensed, transforming into a gleaming ice dagger. Cutting the apple in half with the ice dagger, Yue Chang handed him one part and said with a smile, "I'm a mutated Ice-type Esper."

Li Nianlong silently accepted the half apple and observed the mirror-smooth cut, inwardly impressed by her steady hand.

Yue Chang bit into her apple, her eyes narrowing in satisfaction as she spoke in her soft voice, "Knowing that Big Brother is an Esper is fantastic. Now, Xi Xi and I don't have to hide it from you anymore."

"Why?" Li Nianlong wondered, what does my being an Esper have to do with anything?

"Don't you know?" Yue Chang was surprised instead.

Li Nianlong furrowed his brows. "Know what?"

Seeing that Li Nianlong's expression didn't seem fake, Yue Chang exclaimed in surprise, "Didn't your master tell you?"

"Master?" Li Nianlong was taken aback. "Do all Espers have masters?"

"Well…" Yue Chang tilted her head, thinking, then shook her head. "Not necessarily, but Xi Xi and I have been studying with our master since we were young, learning how to enhance and control our abilities. Our master said that without proper guidance, an Esper's power can't reach its maximum potential, so I assumed Big Brother had a master too."

The emphasis on 'also'!

Li Nianlong smiled faintly. "I'm self-taught, and I only recently acquired my abilities. I know nothing about the Esper world."

"I see." Yue Chang nodded, understanding now. She remembered her master mentioning that Espers weren't necessarily born with their abilities; some discovered them much later in life, although such cases were extremely rare, perhaps only a dozen in thousands of years. Of course, there could be many hidden Espers.

Yue Chang didn't look down upon Li Nianlong because of this. Instead, she looked at him very seriously and said, "Big Brother, although you've just awakened your abilities, now that you're an Esper, you need to understand the basics. Otherwise, you'll run into big trouble later."

Li Nianlong nodded. "Please enlighten me, Yue Chang."

"It's my pleasure." Yue Chang smiled slightly and raised a finger. "Esper Rule One: Never let ordinary people know we're Espers! If they find out, we must eliminate them immediately to prevent future troubles."

Li Nianlong's brows furrowed, then relaxed. He nodded. "Anything else?"

"Espers are too rare…" Yue Chang gazed at Li Nianlong and continued softly, "So we should unite. If a fellow Esper is in danger, we should offer our utmost assistance."

"That's only right." Li Nianlong was glad for this rule, as it indirectly offered him considerable support. Calming himself, he asked again, "Anything else?"

"No killing among Espers." Yue Chang emphasized this point sternly. "If someone is caught doing so, all Espers will unite to hunt them down relentlessly."

"An excellent rule." Li Nianlong nodded. If Espers fought amongst themselves, he might as well remain a mundane human.

Yue Chang resumed her soft smile, adding, "However, this doesn't apply to Espers who commit heinous crimes. Even if they're our own, it's better to have one less of such people."

"I like that." Li Nianlong grinned. "Anything else?"

"Nope." Yue Chang shook her head.

"I got it." Overall, the Esper community was small, so the rules were simple, but they were positive. However, there were still many details he needed to clarify.

Li Nianlong took a bite of the apple, about to ask more questions, when Dragonfly's voice echoed in his mind, "Detected abnormal energy within host's body. Initial assessment identifies it as mutated ice-water energy. System automatically decomposing energy… Decomposition complete. Decomposed energy converting to experience points… Conversion complete. Experience points merging… Merge complete. Congratulations, host has gained 5,000 experience points. Experience bar is full. Level up."

Golden light of upgrade flashed, and Li Nianlong instantly felt a stark difference in his state.

Li Nianlong was dumbfounded. What just happened? He hastily checked his status.

Li Nianlong: Level 6 (3620/4200)

Strength: 55

Speed: 40

True Qi: 65

Intelligence: 41

Unused Points: 10

Talent: Auspicious Avoidance: Innately possesses the power to sense fortune and misfortune, easily avoiding danger.

Skill: Frenzied Fist (Novice 16%): Random attacks confuse opponents, increasing strength by 10% and speed by 10% for 30 seconds. No cooldown, consumes 5 True Qi per use.

Money: 9925

Equipment: Omitted...

Life Profession: Architect (Advanced 10%): Skilled in constructing any building below six stories.

He leveled up so easily? And he was only 580 points away from reaching level 7. What happened just now?

It was when he bit into the apple... The apple!?

Yes! It must have been when he ate the apple. Dragonfly also mentioned abnormal energy within his body, and the only thing that entered him was the apple. It had to be the apple!

Li Nianlong stared at Yue Chang intently, his starry eyes filled with astonishment.

Feeling the sudden increase in Li Nianlong's aura, Yue Chang confirmed his status as an Esper. With a sweet, soft smile, she said, "Big Brother, do you feel stronger? "

Li Nianlong nodded repeatedly and asked again, "Yue Chang, what did you do? Why did I suddenly become stronger?"

Yue Chang took another bite of the apple and smiled. "While washing and cutting the apple, I infused a bit of water and ice energy into it. If Big Brother is a true Esper, this energy would nourish you. But if Big Brother lied to me and you weren't an Esper, this tiny amount of energy wouldn't kill you, but it would still cause significant harm."

"What!?"

Seeing Li Nianlong's eyes widen in anger, Yue Chang cutely stuck out her tongue, tapped her head, and said softly, "I'm sorry, Big Brother. I was afraid of being deceived. After all, there are only a handful of Espers in the world. If Big Brother had ill intentions, wouldn't I have brought great trouble to our kind? But now that I've confirmed Big Brother is one of us, consider that energy a gift and apology from your little sister."

Saying this, Yue Chang gazed at him pitifully, like a helpless little lamb. "Big Brother, will you forgive Yue Chang?"

"No way!"