Chapter 111 - 95: Telekinesis

*(Chapter 93 has been released.)*

Gotta say, that’s a pretty novel way to die.

The method was also unique—not something an ordinary person could replicate.

If those freaks from the Saw Murder Association saw this, they’d probably lose their minds, call it a work of art, and then pay a hefty price to have Jiang Che perform an encore. They might even take the body back to turn into a taxidermied specimen for their collection.

Twisting a human body into a pretzel... That wasn’t something you could do with brute force alone. No matter how strong you were, as long as you had a normal human build, it would be impossible to grab an adult man’s torso or both legs with one hand. Not even an Ascender could do it, unless they had an Ability like Gigantification.

"What’s your Extraordinary Ability?" Zhou Chen asked curiously.

"Spiritual Telekinesis."

Jiang Che didn’t hide it. She aimed her palm at the car’s wreckage and clenched her fist. With a shriek of metal, the wreck suddenly crumpled, compressing itself and the charred corpse inside into a single ball.

She looked at Zhou Chen. "Aren’t you surprised that I’m an Ascender?"

Zhou Chen scratched his head. "I’d already guessed... well, not guessed, exactly. I just had a feeling. Besides, I got all my surprise out of the way on the ride here... What Tier are you?"

"Tier Two."

"..."

’My desk-job superior is a better fighter than I am?’

Zhou Chen looked like he wanted to say something, but held back. He glanced at the car wreckage, now compressed into a ball of metal. He could accomplish a similar feat with Alchemy, but it definitely wouldn’t be as fast as Jiang Che doing it with a single thought, nor would it have the same destructive power.

He couldn’t help but analyze the situation in his head, wondering what his chances of winning would be if he had to face Jiang Che.

He came to the sad conclusion that even if he used the Wish Bottle, his odds of winning were probably less than ten percent.

The difference in their power levels was one factor, but the main issue was the difference in their Abilities.

To put it simply, Telekinesis was the Ability to manipulate matter with one’s mind. It could be used to control objects, fly, crush things, compress air, create telekinetic barriers, and more. One could even use the principles of a high-pressure water jet to create high-pressure air blades, or directly attack an enemy’s internal organs...

Of course, these were all high-level applications. The Telekinesis Type Ability was the kind with an extremely high ceiling and an extremely low floor. Some users could only bend spoons or move teacups, while others could perform incredible feats.

Jiang Che was clearly among the latter.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the two other bodies in the car had had their heads blown up. Presumably, they were Fu Qing’s bodyguard and Secretary, both of whom were also Ascenders.

An Ascender’s body was naturally tough enough to withstand bullets, yet their heads had been crushed from several meters away by Telekinesis. And then there was Fu Qing—even the body of a Tier Two Ascender couldn’t withstand that crushing telekinetic force...

If they were to actually fight, he probably wouldn’t be able to make a move before being instantly crushed to death by her Telekinesis.

"No wonder you hide your Ability..." Zhou Chen sighed.

An Ability that terrifying would definitely attract a lot of trouble if it were exposed. Telekinesis was a Power that could kill invisibly. If Jiang Che’s enemies knew about it, they would surely take precautions.

"You’ll keep this a secret, right?" Jiang Che stared at him quietly.

Zhou Chen smiled and nodded. "As much as I’d love to say, ’Miss Jiang, I’m sure you wouldn’t want everyone to find out you’re an Ascender, right?’... since you’re trusting me, I definitely won’t betray that trust."

This involved Jiang Che’s personal secret. The fact that she had called him over to clean up the mess showed she had a certain degree of trust in him. Trust was hard to build, so Zhou Chen wouldn’t betray it. The main reason, of course, was that he didn’t want to die young...

Jiang Che raised an eyebrow. "You just wanted an excuse to say that line, didn’t you?"

He could have just said, "I won’t," after all.

Zhou Chen wisely decided not to press the issue and turned to look at the body. "So, what kind of death should we arrange for him? Blown sky-high or burned to a crisp?"

"Make it clean. Leave no trace," Jiang Che said calmly.

"Blown sky-high then burned to a crisp it is. I guarantee there’ll be nothing left to see... You’ve arranged for everything else, right?"

"Mhm, I’ll write the report for you when we get back. Hurry up, we don’t have much time."

"Okay, mission accepted."

Ten seconds later, a loud explosion erupted. A flash of light, and a tornado of dust shot into the sky. Fu Qing’s body and the wrecked vehicle were instantly blown to smithereens, then gradually turned to ash in the ensuing Fiery Fire.

The blast carved a crater into the ground, and the top two inches of the dirt road within a several-meter radius were completely blown away.

All traces were annihilated in the explosion.

Jiang Che handled the cleanup flawlessly, leaving no loose ends.

The credit for killing the fugitive, Fu Qing, fell entirely on Zhou Chen’s shoulders. It was recorded as an anonymous contribution, as a form of protection.

Meanwhile, Jiang Che had secretly gone to the official operation site to direct the various tasks, giving herself a perfect alibi.

Upon returning to the Star Association, Zhou Chen was only called in to give a statement. He was then forced to rest for a night in the medical department, but he didn’t face any major interrogations.

「The next morning.」

After being discharged, Zhou Chen headed straight for the office.

Jiang Che was processing files related to the operation, and she seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

Even though she always wore the same, unchanging, indifferent expression, Zhou Chen just knew she was in a good mood. Perhaps it was because they’d been working together for so long.

Xiao Ju, who had been sleeping, heard him arrive and immediately sprang up. In a flash, the cat scrambled up to the top of his head and lay down, apparently finding it more comfortable than the sofa.

"By the way, Li Xiaoxiao escaped. What’s the plan?" Zhou Chen asked, getting straight to the point with the orange cat perched on his head.

"All part of the plan," Jiang Che answered calmly.

"The plan? What plan?"

Zhou Chen was baffled. No one had told him that letting Li Xiaoxiao escape was part of the plan.

’Optimist, Pessimist... and then there’s me.’ He felt like a complete outsider.

"The higher-ups decided to let out a long line to catch a big fish, so they changed the plan at the last minute. Otherwise, do you really think Gentleman and Li Xiaoxiao could have escaped?"

Jiang Che leisurely stirred her freshly brewed coffee. "Even after accepting the King of Chaos’s Power and embracing the Abyss, the most she can do is open a few Space Gates. The Minister of Alchemy and the Minister of Operations were secretly on standby at the scene. They’re both veteran Tier Three Ascenders with years of experience, and they even brought Alchemy Armaments... If we had actually made a move, none of them would have escaped."

Hearing this, Zhou Chen felt a strange sense of relief. ’Since the organization has a plan, I probably don’t have to worry about being targeted for revenge... right?’

"What’s the plan?"

"Classified."

"Seriously? I’ve already racked up several major merits. You still can’t tell me?"

Jiang Che’s expression turned serious. "This is a genuine top-secret matter."

"...Alright."

Zhou Chen didn’t press further, instead studying Jiang Che with a puzzled gaze.

’I can’t sense any Essence Fluctuation.’

’Strange, the Essence Fluctuation from Jiang Che has completely vanished, just like a normal person’s... You can hide Essence Fluctuation with an Alchemy Tool, but her body itself seems to have reverted from an Ascender’s to a normal person’s... How did she do that?’ Zhou Chen was utterly baffled.

Jiang Che could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression, but she didn’t offer an explanation. She just knocked on the table and said, "You have the Star Mango now. If you’re planning on using it for your Advancement, you should start preparing the Advanced Secret Ceremony now."