Chapter 697: Desire Angel

Chapter 697 - Desire Angel

Yang Xinxin gave a playful smile, but spoke to Zhang Yi with gentle sincerity: “My ability… I’d never use it on you, Brother.”

Zhang Yi’s expression turned odd. Just what kind of ability is it…?

Yang Xinxin didn’t keep him guessing.

She said, “I’ve named my ability Desire Angel. Its power is the manipulation of human emotion.”

“Love, lust, hatred—any kind of feeling. Once someone is struck by the angel’s arrow, they’ll feel it from the depths of their heart.”

“And then, they’ll be completely controlled by that emotion.”

Yang Xinxin cupped her face in her hands, cheeks flushed with an almost sickly pink.

“To toy with people’s hearts at will—what a wonderful ability, isn’t it?”

Zhang Yi couldn’t help but swallow hard.

An ability that manipulates emotions… it fit this twisted, obsessive girl perfectly.

He immediately grew wary—if this girl took advantage of him and made him fall in love with someone, or hate someone else, that would be a nightmare.

Even though he knew Yang Xinxin wouldn’t hurt him.

But in the eyes of a yandere girl, “harm” and “help” could be defined in very... creative ways.

So he carefully circled back, subtly probing for more information about the specifics of her ability.

Yang Xinxin didn’t hide anything from Zhang Yi. She told him everything she currently knew about her power, in full detail.

After hearing it all, Zhang Yi fell silent for quite some time.

This ability, born through such a terrifying awakening method, had a sky-high ceiling… but also a dangerously low floor.

In the hands of an average person, it would be useless, even dangerous—easy to lose control and backfire.

But if used properly, at the right moment, it could create truly unbelievable results.

It really did suit Yang Xinxin’s personality.

Soon, the food was ready. Uncle You had also showered and came back to the living room, looking fresh and clean.

Though Zhang Yi hadn’t been gone long, everything he’d been through made it feel like he hadn’t seen everyone in forever.

That warm scene of a big family gathered around a round table, eating together in cheerful noise—it really touched Zhang Yi’s heart.

During dinner, the topic quickly shifted to Moon of Corrosion.

Clearly, everyone was very concerned about that foreign group.

After a moment of thought, Zhang Yi decided to tell them the truth.

One way or another, they needed to be mentally prepared.

Because he couldn’t guarantee that Moon of Corrosion wouldn’t show up in Tianhai City.

Zhang Yi calmly explained what had happened, including the fact that Jiangnan District Headquarters had failed to wipe them out.

As soon as he said it, the table filled with shocked and worried faces.

“Even the people from Blizzard City lost?” Fatty Xu looked completely stunned.

“Didn’t they send out an investigation team? That should be at least the same level as the Black Robe Investigation Team. Plus, with you and all those superhumans from other cities…”

“The Thirteen Guardians of Jiangnan District must’ve thrown in nearly everything they had, right? And they still lost?”

Zhang Yi took a deep breath and helplessly shook his head.

“I didn’t expect it either. Honestly, no one did.”

“It wasn’t just a loss—it was a total disaster. The Celestial Squad was practically wiped out. Captain Deng Shentong died in battle.”

Liang Yue added, “If Zhang Yi hadn’t charged in and taken down the western members of Moon of Corrosion, the battle would've been a total annihilation!”

Uncle You found it hard to accept.

He held his forehead, looking anguished.

“Those d***ed Neon punks... are they really that strong?”

Zhang Yi frowned. Deep down, he didn’t want to believe it either.

But facts were facts. Denying them wouldn’t change reality.

At that moment, Yang Xinxin suddenly spoke up: “I smell a conspiracy behind this.”

The entire table fell silent. Everyone froze mid-bite.

Fatty Xu silently put his chicken leg back in his bowl.

Zhang Yi turned to Yang Xinxin. “A conspiracy?”

What kind of conspiracy could there be in this?

Yang Xinxin dabbed her lips with a napkin and replied calmly:

“Brother, the only captain-level superhuman I’ve seen is Bian Junwu—and that was when he was already severely injured, near death.”

“Do you think someone at captain-level is easy to kill?”

Zhang Yi shook his head. “Are you kidding? If I don’t know their ability, even if they stood right in front of me now, I’d struggle to kill them.”

In battles between superhumans, intel is everything.

Suddenly, something clicked in Zhang Yi’s mind.

“You’re saying… without knowing Deng Shentong’s or the other Celestial Squad members’ abilities, there’s no way they could have been killed so easily?”

Yang Xinxin glanced at him and smiled. “At the very least, escaping should’ve been possible, right?”

Zhang Yi recalled Deng Shentong’s power.

He could manipulate light, which made him ideal for stealth, ambushes, and escape.

A captain-level superhuman, if dead set on fleeing, would be nearly impossible to kill—unless the enemy had an Epsilon-level superhuman.

But… did Moon of Corrosion have an Epsilon-level?

Based on what Zhu Zheng and others had reported, that didn’t seem likely.

If they did have someone that strong, they could’ve steamrolled the entire Neon archipelago before even bothering with Huaxu Nation.

And based on the intel, even in eastern Neon, they couldn’t take on the dominant Izumo group head-on.

Zhang Yi murmured, “But they had a superhuman with a prophetic ability. That could explain how they knew Deng Shentong’s powers in advance.”

Yang Xinxin tilted her head and gave a slight smile.

“Brother, if that prophet could predict someone’s superhuman ability to that extent, I’d say they’re already Epsilon-level.”

“Because in fights between superhumans, having intel beforehand affects the outcome by over 30%. In team battles, it’s over 50%.”

“If they really had someone that powerful, why didn’t they take out Izumo back in Kanto?”

Zhang Yi unconsciously put his chopsticks down.

These were things he hadn’t fully considered before.

But hearing Yang Xinxin’s analysis now, a creeping sense of dread began to take hold in his chest.

“You mean… there was a traitor in Blizzard City?”

Zhang Yi looked at Yang Xinxin, struggling to believe it.

“I don’t want to believe that either,” he said.

Zhou Ke’er also spoke up. “A traitor in Blizzard City? That seems unlikely. What would they even gain from working with ronin?”

Everyone else chimed in with similar disbelief.

But Yang Xinxin stayed calm. “I know it sounds outrageous. No matter how you look at it, Jiangnan District’s strength far surpasses that of some ronin gang.”

“So if we’re thinking normally, of course we’d never suspect Blizzard City of having a traitor.”

“But what if we look at it from a different angle?”

“What if someone in Blizzard City deliberately used Moon of Corrosion to get rid of the Celestial Squad?”

“To my knowledge, Blizzard City isn’t exactly a unified front.”

Her words instantly sparked something in Zhang Yi’s mind.

The Deng Family held enormous prestige and power within Blizzard City.

Deng Shentong wasn’t just their heir—there were even rumors that the family wanted to push him as Zhu Zheng’s successor.

In the apocalypse, death could come at any time. No one knew how long Zhu Zheng would survive.

So they needed to plan ahead, groom successors—just like the old days with crown princes.

Now Zhang Yi’s thoughts grew even more tangled.

If you took that perspective… things became much more terrifying and serious.

Because Zhang Yi had no idea how many factions existed inside Blizzard City.

There was even one terrifying possibility—

Zhu Zheng himself might have wanted Deng Shentong gone.

After all, he was still on the throne, yet someone was already eyeing his seat. That kind of power play was dangerously delicate.

Author's Note