Chapter 230 - 218: Base Rumors

Joel Bloom braced himself for another lecture from his sister, but he never expected her to say something like that. Something that made his heart pound.

"Sis? Can superpowers just awaken on their own?"

Flora Bloom shook her head. "Of course not." Seeing Joel Bloom’s eyes dim once more, she added, "But I have a way to help you awaken yours."

Hearing this, Joel Bloom immediately stared at his sister, searching her eyes for any hint of whether she was telling the truth.

"You don’t need to doubt me. Mr. Wallace and Old Mr. Monroe can both vouch for it. It’s just..."

"Sis, as long as I can awaken a superpower, I’ll endure any hardship! I’m not afraid!"

"What I mean is, awakening a superpower involves a lot of luck. Some people just wake up with one after a nap, while for others, it’s an incredibly difficult and life-threatening process. To awaken, you need to be in peak physical condition. Starting today, go find Lex Cross and have him train you." In his past life, Joel Bloom had been killed by Belle Bloom before he ever awakened. After he turned into a zombie, his genes were extracted by Dr. Vance and made into a serum that allowed Shelton Underwood to awaken his own superpower.

’As long as my brother doesn’t die in this life, he’ll surely awaken the superpower that Shelton Underwood stole from him in the last one.’

"Mr. Wallace, your superpower is close to Level 3, isn’t it?" Flora Bloom asked, looking at Neal Wallace. ’If his Fire Element reaches Level 3, our zombie-killing speed will increase.’

"For some reason, leveling up to Level 3 requires way more Crystal Cores than going from Level 1 to Second Level. But I’m close. Maybe just a few dozen more."

Flora Bloom nodded, a plan forming in her mind. She casually handed sixty or seventy Crystal Cores to Neal Wallace.

"Mr. Wallace, consider this your payment for helping me rescue my dad. Don’t refuse. Once you reach Level 3, it’ll give us a better chance of success on the mission."

It usually only took two or three hours for someone’s superpower to go from Second Level to Level 3. Flora Bloom had Neal Wallace start his upgrade in the villa while she pulled Ethan Monroe, Mark Sterling, and a few others aside. After she whispered to them for a moment, Ethan Monroe’s face lit up with understanding, and a mysterious smile spread across his lips.

"That’s the plan. If you run into any problems, don’t panic. Just wait for me to get back."

An hour and a half later, Neal Wallace had absorbed most of the Crystal Cores from Flora Bloom and finally reached Level 3. Flora Bloom then led Sherman Lynch, Neal Wallace, The Crown Prince, Tanuki, and Shauna Wallace out past the isolation wall. The moment they stepped out, they found about twenty or thirty people gathered outside. Most of them were Level 1 superpower users. Among them were four or five people with lumpy, bruised heads who kept their eyes fearfully fixed on the ground, not daring to look at Flora Bloom.

Many others, however, immediately started whispering amongst themselves.

"So that’s the woman who stole another’s fiancé? No wonder she’s so good at seducing men, she’s gorgeous!"

"I know, right? And she looks so young, yet she’s already doing things like that. Tsk, the world we live in!"

"Well, she’s a high-level superpower user and beautiful to boot. She must be very capable!"

"So what if she’s a superpower user?! Does that give her the right to steal someone’s fiancé?"

Seeing Flora Bloom’s group emerge, the people crowded around the isolation wall began to gossip openly, showing no regard for the fact that the subject of their discussion was standing right there. A few of the bolder ones even raised their voices, as if to make sure she heard every word.

Shauna Wallace, walking behind Flora Bloom, frowned and tugged lightly on her sleeve. "Flora, how can you not be angry when they’re saying all that about you?"

Flora Bloom just smiled. "Shauna, they’re complimenting me. Why would I be angry?"

"Huh?" Not only Shauna Wallace, but even Sherman Lynch and Neal Wallace were baffled by what Flora Bloom meant.

"Aren’t they just saying that I’m beautiful and powerful?"

"Pfft!" Even The Crown Prince and Tanuki, who were usually stoic, couldn’t help but burst out laughing. ’Our sister-in-law really is something else,’ they thought. ’Even her way of thinking is on another level.’

"People will talk. If they want to run their mouths, let them."

"Sister-in-law, aren’t you the least bit curious why the Boss is suddenly someone else’s fiancé?"

Flora Bloom shot a glance at Saul Sterling. "Of course I’m curious! Once I rescue my dad, I’m coming back to settle that score with him!"

With a nonchalant expression, Flora Bloom led her conflicted-looking companions out of the safe zone. Not far from the base, she released the Juggernaut. The little white tiger emerged with it.

After waking from its deep sleep, the little white tiger had emerged from a cocoon of light. Its body had suddenly grown larger, almost rivaling Vert in size. Furthermore, its distinctive tiger stripes had become sharper, and its fur was now a purer, glossier white.

"Huh? Snowy, why are your teeth so long?"

ROAR!

Flora Bloom felt the large teeth on either side of Snowy’s mouth. A prehistoric creature immediately sprang to mind: a saber-toothed tiger.

"You’ve eaten so many Crystal Cores, you must have evolved somehow, right? You got bigger, sure, but it doesn’t seem like anything else has changed."

ROAR!

In response to Flora Bloom’s question, Snowy let out a displeased roar, which was no longer the cub-like cry of before. With a light leap, the tiger shot into the air. Faint vortexes of wind formed beneath its four paws, holding it aloft. It actually hovered for several moments before dropping back down.

As its paws touched the ground, the vortexes of wind vanished.

"Wind Element? You evolved a Wind Ability?" Flora Bloom was astonished, patting Snowy’s head. She couldn’t sense any Wind Element energy coming from it. The tiger was now almost as tall as she was.

Sherman Lynch, Neal Wallace, and Shauna Wallace stared at Snowy in utter shock. Their expressions screamed disbelief. The little white tiger could fly now?

How could it stay airborne for so long without wings?

"Idiot! When your space evolves, the life forms bound to it by contract also evolve. This white tiger’s innate aptitude isn’t anything special, but lucky for it, your Spatial Energy is pure. While evolving, it got lucky and awakened a trace of its species’ ancient bloodline."

Flora Bloom plucked the Golden Crow from her hair. "What ancient bloodline? Explain yourself! If my space evolving also causes the creatures inside it to evolve, then what about the others?"

"..."

As she spoke, Flora Bloom casually peeked into her space and froze.

Inside her space, Vert, Monkey Two, and Monkey Three were fast asleep. So were the big and small peacocks, the little shelled bug, the golden cicada—even the non-evolving creatures like Monkey One, the earthworm, the venomous snakes she’d banished to the mountains, and a pair of grasshoppers. They were all in a deep slumber.

"They’re... all asleep?"

The Golden Crow gave Flora Bloom a very dramatic eye-roll. "When they wake up, they should all have evolved in some way."

The Golden Crow had been sleeping, hidden in the hair behind Flora Bloom’s ear, so Sherman Lynch, Shauna Wallace, and Neal Wallace hadn’t even noticed it. Now, as they watched Flora Bloom pull a three-legged crow out of her hair—a talking crow, no less—their jaws collectively hit the floor.

"Flora, this... this golden, three-legged crow... it couldn’t possibly be the mythical Sun God Bird, the Golden Crow from the legends, could it?" The expression on Sherman Lynch’s aged face was priceless.

"Hmph! You’re the crow! Your whole family is crows! What Sun God Bird? I’m far more powerful than that second-rate feathered nobody!" The Golden Crow flapped its wings, wriggled free from Flora Bloom’s grasp, and flew onto Sherman Lynch’s hand, where it gave him a vicious peck.

"Ssst!"

"Stop it!"

Flora Bloom was a step too slow. She knew just how nasty the Three-Legged Golden Crow’s attacks could be. She immediately checked Sherman Lynch’s hand. It was just a small, bleeding wound, which healed rapidly after she dripped some of her spiritual water onto it.