Chapter 56: Individual Abilities

Just as Lin Tian had predicted, the moment the aircraft took off, Ye Yang realized something was terribly wrong. Outside the cabin was not merely turbulence; it was an absolute tempest! They had barely cleared Yanjing when the plane began to shudder as if stricken with Parkinson's disease.

Among the dozen or so people inside the cabin, apart from the stewardess, not a single person dared to utter a word. Ye Yang noticed that An Xin and An Jing had already closed their eyes, their faces completely drained of color. Damn it! They weren't heading to an elite training camp; they were playing a high-stakes game of Russian roulette with their lives!

Fortunately, the turbulence proved to be just a glancing blow. Shortly afterward, the aircraft stabilized somewhat. Though it still shuddered violently from time to time, it was no longer quite as terrifying.

"That was genuinely dangerous... Planes these days are definitely not meant for human beings," Ye Yang muttered, still lingering in the shadow of fear.

Ling Fengyan chuckled and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, scientists are currently researching passenger missiles exclusively for Hunters. Soon, we'll have an even more convenient mode of transportation."

"Pfft... Passenger missiles?" Ye Yang spat out a mouthful of blood metaphorically. "Don't missiles explode?"

"Not if you don't load them with explosives, duh!"

"Then... what about the landing?"

"Parachutes!"

"..." Ye Yang couldn't be bothered to engage with Ling Fengyan any further. If this conversation continued, he would die of a blood-spitting stroke before even encountering a plane crash.

Having survived the Parkinson's-esque ascent, the cabin gradually grew lively again. Although they were all Hunters, most were trainees—essentially children—and they immediately started chattering and messing around.

To Ye Yang's left sat Ling Fengyan, while on his right, across the aisle, sat Ouyang Yu, who was intently tapping away at a handheld gaming console.

Ye Yang didn't like this kid—not one bit. But since the blame for their previous clash ultimately lay with him, Ye Yang actually harbored a faint urge to apologize.

"What are you playing, KOF?" Ye Yang asked with a smile.

"Get lost, idiot!"

"Damn it!" Ye Yang immediately turned his head away. Apologize my ass! He and this punk would never reconcile; they were destined to be irreconcilable enemies.

"E-Excuse me," a timid little voice called out to him. Ye Yang turned his head to see the delicate, pretty boy named Jing Jing standing behind him with a flushed face.

"Is something the matter?" Ye Yang asked with a smile. He had an instinctive fondness for this kid; shy, pretty boys were simply endearing.

"Um, the teacher asked me to compile everyone's strength data so we can be assigned roles during the training, or to make coordination easier if we encounter danger," Jing Jing said softly. After saying just those few words, his face grew even redder.

"My name is Jing Jing, my rank is Level 3, Perception type, my demonic energy value is 800, and my ability is Mind Control."

"Mind Control?" Ye Yang blinked. What did that mean?

As if sensing Ye Yang's confusion, Jing Jing quickly explained, "It means I can control any living thing. For instance... I can control animals, mutants, and predators. But I can only control them if their demonic energy is lower than or equal to mine, and I can only control one at a time."

"Whoa... That's powerful!" Ye Yang couldn't help praising him. The others curiously drifted over, swarming around the pretty boy in a circle, which only made his face turn an even deeper shade of red.

"A-Actually, it's not that strong. My solo combat strength is very weak; I can only display any real power through collaborative combat," Jing Jing hurriedly clarified.

Ye Yang nodded. True, being limited to controlling just a single predator wasn't overwhelmingly powerful on its own. But in a group battle, if he could stealthily manipulate those monsters into slaughtering each other, that would be terrifying indeed.

Even worse! If he possessed a speed advantage like Gao Ting's, he could completely wipe out a massive horde of predators without spilling a drop of his own blood—controlling them one by one, butchering them one by one, without ever needing to lift a finger himself!

"Little brother, your ability is really amazing," An Jing and An Xin echoed with looks of envy. Everyone nodded in agreement. The kid was actually very strong, but perhaps due to his youth and introverted nature, he lacked self-confidence.

"I'm next! My ability is the Demonic Dao Cannon, Level 3, Strength type. As for my demonic energy value, I just tested it right before departure—it's already 860!" Sang Shi bounded forward looking immensely proud of himself. He loved showing off his strength more than anyone.

Still... in this cabin, aside from the stewardess, were there really many people weaker than him?

"My name is Tang Xiaobao, Level 3, Strength type, demonic energy 770. My ability is Gigantification. Hehe, I can make any part of my body grow infinitely huge," the fat guy declared, puffing out his chest with a booming laugh. Beside him, Lin Xiaotian chimed in with a lecherous grin, "That's right, that's right. Any part at all! Wanna see?"

"Yes, yes, I do!" An Xin bounced up with excitement. Tang Xiaobao immediately prepared to demonstrate, but Ye Yang yanked him back by the arm, having spotted the unmistakable gleam of perversion in the kid's eyes.

"I advise you not to transform certain areas. Girls generally don't like excessively sleazy men!" Ye Yang said, shaking his head with a wry smile.

Tang Xiaobao froze, then broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly thanked him. "Thanks for the pointer, Brother Ye. Phew, I was seriously thinking about transforming *that* place..."

"I knew it..." Ye Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This guy was hopelessly depraved.

Tang Xiaobao's ability was actually quite impressive. He could instantly expand his fists several times—or even tenfold—over. Once catalyzed by his ability, those fists effectively became massive iron hammers. Combined with his Strength-type physique, he certainly qualified for the elite training camp.

*Thwack!* Tang Xiaobao's iron-hammer fist was jolted high into the air as if a sudden gale had swept past. Yet that wind was sharp as a blade, leaving a distinct red welt even on his hammer-like fist.

"Stop messing around!" Ling Fengyan roared in fury. "This is an airplane! Don't go throwing your abilities around casually. Do you want to crash us?"

"Sorry, sorry..." Lin Xiaotian broke out in a cold sweat, crawling out from the crowd and dryly laughing. "That's my ability. Lin Xiaotian, Level 3, Speed type, demonic energy 760. My ability is manipulating air currents to form blades to attack opponents."

Next were An Jing and An Xin. To Ye Yang's surprise, the two girls truly lived up to being twins; even their demonic energy values and attributes were identical. Their demonic energy was 750, their attribute was Defense, and their abilities were strikingly similar.

The only difference was that the elder sister An Jing's ability was Sonic Hypnosis, while the younger sister An Xin's ability was Sonic Detonation. Neither of them could test their powers here, however, or the plane would surely plummet from the sky.

"Gao Ting, Level 3, demonic energy 920, Speed type. My ability is useless in combat," Gao Ting smiled, though her expression was somewhat unnatural. Her ability had zero utility for fighting, so she felt rather embarrassed to mention it.

However, Ling Fengyan leaned over and whispered a few words into Su Yi's ear. In his view, precise time calculation wasn't necessarily useless.

"Lin Muyang, Level 4, demonic energy 1010, Speed type. My ability is also non-combat oriented."

A small hand reached out, gently clasping Gao Ting's fingers and giving them a reassuring squeeze. Lin Muyang offered a faint smile. "We must be the same type—fighting with speed and technique. Consider us close-combat specialists."

Gao Ting was startled, an instinctive surge of goodwill welling up toward the girl. Even Ye Yang raised an eyebrow. This girl was so gentle, and remarkably empathetic. She must have noticed Gao Ting's embarrassment and stepped in smoothly to diffuse the awkwardness.

"My name is Ouyang Yu. You don't need to calculate my strength; just treat me as Level 5."

A chilling voice rang out, causing Ye Yang to furiously grind his teeth. This punk was far too arrogant! Expecting them to just count him as Level 5? Yet no one in the cabin dared to refute him; this guy's strength was common knowledge.

Su Yi hadn't been aware of this, but after Ling Fengyan muttered a few words in his ear, his jaw dropped wide open.

"He fought Wang Feng to a draw? That Thunder Emperor Wang Feng?" Su Yi's chin practically hit the floor. When he looked back at Ouyang Yu, he was utterly speechless. Lin Muyang and Jing Jing were equally struck with horror. A mere trainee could fight Wang Feng to a draw? Wang Feng was one of the strongest Hunters in the entire world!

Of course, Wang Feng was the Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Alliance after all, and might not have gone all-out against a child. But even so, Ouyang Yu's strength could not possibly be weak; otherwise, he wouldn't even be qualified to spar with Wang Feng.

"Ahem, guess it's my turn, right?" Ye Yang stood up with a wry smile, striking a pose. "My name is Ye Yang, everyone can just call me Yezi. My level is Level 3—well, technically. As for my demonic energy, it just barely hit 600. No special ability, no elemental attribute!"

With that declaration, Ye Yang scuttled away into the plane's lavatory like a greased pig. He simply couldn't bear to face them anymore.

"Idiot!" Ouyang Yu cursed with utter disdain. Through the cabin door, Ye Yang gritted his teeth in frustration, utterly powerless to retort.

"600? No ability and no attribute either? And this guy's an elite? What is the Chinese Alliance playing at? What is Wang Feng playing at?" Su Yi asked, completely bewildered. A Hunter like Ye Yang couldn't even really be considered Level 3; his actual combat strength might not even defeat a Level 2! And they called this an elite training camp?

Ling Fengyan laughed, and Sang Shi laughed along with him. The two of them laughed with such an uninhibited, flashy air that the rest of the group was left utterly baffled, until finally even Gao Ting couldn't help bursting into a giggle.

"Just what is so different about him?" Lin Muyang asked, puzzled.

"Nothing really, just like he said—that's the extent of his strength," Gao Ting said with a beaming smile. "However... he hasn't even been a Hunter for a full month yet."

"Not even a month?!" Su Yi's chin dropped to the floor once more, and he blurted out in disbelief, "His demonic energy grew to 600 in less than a month? Good lord, is this guy... even human?"

An ordinary person's demonic energy training was a gradual, step-by-step process starting from the moment evolutionary cells were implanted. If their potential was high enough, their growth over the course of a year would typically range between 100 and 200, and even a super genius wouldn't exceed 300.

Yet Ye Yang's demonic energy had surged to 600 within a single month. That was simply something no human being could achieve. It was no wonder Su Yi was dumbfounded. What he couldn't possibly imagine, however, was that during this very training camp, Ye Yang's demonic energy growth would reach a terrifying, astronomical figure.

The journey from Yanjing to Milan wasn't particularly short. Even with the vastly improved performance of modern aircraft, it still required about eight hours. And throughout those eight hours, Ye Yang was treated like a lab rat—poked and prodded from head to toe by Su Yi over and over again, until Ye Yang genuinely began to suspect the guy might be a homosexual!

"Are you done yet? Can you extract any money out of me by touching me like this?" Ye Yang asked, caught between laughter and tears.

Su Yi shook his head with a bizarre expression, muttering unintelligibly to himself. He was thoroughly defeated. He had originally intended to use Lin Muyang's Level 4 strength to intimidate the people of the Chinese Alliance and show off the prestige of the Yanhuang Capital, only to discover Ouyang Yu as a super rookie and then run into this freak of nature named Ye Yang.

Of course, the one truly losing face here wasn't even those two trainees—it was Su Yi himself.

"Um, Teacher? What is your ability?" Tang Xiaobao and Lin Xiaotian strolled over with matching smirks, dropping an intensely punch-worthy question.

"Uh... Water manipulation," Su Yi dryly chuckled.

"Oh..." A heavy silence fell over the group. They turned around and walked away without sparing him another glance, leaving the teacher so mortified he practically wanted to bury his head beneath his seat.

"What's wrong with water manipulation? Isn't that super strong?" Ye Yang asked in bewilderment.

Sang Shi rolled his eyes in exasperation. "It *is* strong, sure, but the problem is—where on earth are you going to find water during a combat mission? Besides, have you seen it rain once the whole time you were in Yanjing?"

"..." A strange expression crossed Ye Yang's face. Ah, right. Earth had long since been mostly covered by deserts; where on the mainland was there enough water for him to manipulate? People even had to conserve water just to take a bath in the cities, let alone in most combat zones out in the wilderness where water was utterly nonexistent.

And... he had stayed in Yanjing for over half a month, not to mention the half-month traveling with Qi Fang, and not a single drop of rain had fallen the entire time. Su Yi's ability might be powerful, but aside from the coastline, there simply wasn't any water left on Earth for him to control.

Looking back at Su Yi, Ye Yang's expression turned sympathetic. This guy's luck was even worse than his own. Still, the man was from Shanghai, which was close to the coast—he should at least be able to unleash his power there.

That was someone else's problem, though, and Ye Yang had no desire to meddle. With a full eight-hour flight ahead from Yanjing to Milan, catching up on some sleep was the most practical thing to do.