Esper X Family – Chapter 461 – A Small Gamble

Truthfully, Xia Lian felt a bit uncertain.

She had wasted too much time, never learning form skills, much less studying various skills under Lou Wei’s guidance like Mu Luo and the others.

Under Lou Wei’s instructions, Mu Luo and the others could comprehend powerful exclusive form skills.

But Xia Lian remained utterly clueless, lacking even the basic conditions to unlock an exclusive form skill.

Forget exclusive form skills, she couldn’t even utilize a single universal form skill.

Weak, utterly weak.

Before she knew it, she was already wriggling.

But Xia Lian wasn’t completely without a foundation.

As is well known, when an Esper’s mental power reaches S-rank, their ability undergoes a strengthening.

Xia Lian lacked the necessary fundamentals to use form skills, so she could only gamble on the ability strengthening brought by breaking through to S-rank!

If she won the bet, she could showcase her prowess!

If she lost, she could only transform into a wriggling worm and beg the White Catty for help.

As it turned out, she had won a small victory. Her ability received a major boost!

While she lacked the absolute confidence for certain victory, it was enough to temporarily transform from a worm into a dragon!

Xia Lian exuded an intense aura.

Her confident demeanor involuntarily convinced others that she was also a peerless powerhouse.

“Although she just broke through to S-rank, Jiang Huashen just broke through to S-rank as well! Perhaps she has a formidable trump card just like the one before her!”

After all, this was Sequence Zero, the source of endless surprises.

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As a member of Sequence Zero, Xia Lian surely couldn’t be far behind!

The battlefield Xia Lian entered was still in the midst of ongoing combat.

The S-rank Espers of the Countermeasures Bureau had held out against the enemy for a long time.

After Fang Ze alleviated the pressure of severe personnel shortages, a full five S-rank Espers had come to raid the powerful alien enemy!

But now, after fighting until this point, three S-rank Espers had already lost their combat capabilities, and the enemy showed no signs of injury whatsoever.

Even with Xia Lian joining the battle now, she was essentially facing the alien powerhouse at near full strength.

At this moment, Ye Yao was pricking up her ears, listening to the doxxing shared by Tu Sheng.

“It’s the Swarm Mother of an insectoid race. Its innate racial talent allows it to use mental power to create insect armies with various functions. Its mental power is close to sixty thousand…”

Suffice to say, it was a good thing that the developmental direction of these alien races differs significantly from humanity’s.

Even with such immense mental power, they use it solely to enhance their racial talents, unlike humans who release mental power outward for pure offensive output.

Perhaps in their instincts, that is the most wasteful use of energy, hence they never evolved in that direction.

Otherwise, humanity’s powerhouses would’ve long been crushed to death by the sheer brute force of overwhelming mental power impacts.

Ye Yao took another glance.

The Swarm Mother was rather disgusting in appearance. Its size wasn’t immense, at least not planetary in scale like in certain movies, yet its oppressive presence was no less significant.

Had this been the era before humanity awakened abilities, its capabilities alone could’ve turned the entire Bluestar into its nest.

After all, the swarm’s mechanism was truly vile.

Ye Yao observed briefly.

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The Swarm Mother was a master of tailoring its forces to counter specific opponents.

An insect army immune to fire, an insect army immune to mental power, and an insect army with extremely high physical defense.

In short, it seemed capable of birthing insects with nearly any function imaginable.

Not to mention insects capable of withstanding nuclear blasts and the like.

At present, the battlefield where the Swarm Mother resided was utterly blotted out by the sky-covering mass of variously shaped flying insects, a sight brimming with oppressive pressure.

It was into this very battlefield that Xia Lian stepped. A dense mist of blood swirled around, and the potent stench of gore instantly saturated the entire war zone.

Her participation naturally drew the attention of the vast swarm.

The two remaining S-rank Espers from the Countermeasures Bureau who were still struggling to hold on urgently issued a warning.

“Careful! These swarms are endless! Don’t reveal all your trump cards at once! Otherwise, the Swarm Mother will create a swarm specifically designed to counter your ability!”

Just as their attention wavered, the swarm displayed exceptional coordinated combat capability, preparing to devour their targets entirely in an instant.

Their mouthparts could undoubtedly breach mental power defenses.

Once an S-rank Esper was surrounded, not even bones would remain!

It was at this critical moment that an anomalous fluctuation rippled outwards.

“Eyes Obscured by a Single Leaf!”

Most of the created swarm carried only a minuscule amount of mental power and possessed even less intelligence, merely executing the Swarm Mother’s directives mechanically.

As this intangible ripple spread, they swiftly lost sight of their intended target, becoming disoriented and ultimately veering toward the Swarm Mother protected by the swarm.

Buzzzzz—

Trapped in an illusion, the swarm turned their mouthparts toward their creator!

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The two S-rank Espers gained a moment’s respite and finally realized who had saved them.

【Intruder: Luo Jianhua

Species: Human

Identity: Prodigy of the Countermeasures Bureau, Member of the Magical Girl Alliance

So weak… Possesses the power to ensnare living beings in illusions. Future prospects are promising. Currently unqualified to participate in the ceremony, but there is a familiar information pheromone on her. How terrifying, how terrifying. Who is she favored by?】

A girl with short black hair appeared at the edge of the battlefield, using her ability to intervene in the chaotic melee of S-rank powerhouses at the very last moment.

Although ineffective against the primary target, it was sufficient to disrupt the insects with weak mental power.

The onlookers were puzzled by the girl’s sudden appearance.

“Why is it another child?!”

“She’s a genius from the Countermeasures Bureau!”

“Wait, ignoring the first identity for a moment, what does ‘Member of the Magical Girl Alliance’ mean? Could she be connected to Lord Mercury?”

“That last part of the introduction… Could she also be related to the Great Emperor Tong Yao?”

“The Swarm Mother is doomed, trespassing into a celestial household!”

Meanwhile, the upper echelons of the Countermeasures Bureau felt nothing but headaches.

“Why is she there? Shouldn’t she be with Ye Yao?”

“She probably wanted to join the excitement…”

“Nonsense! This is hardly a place for joining excitement! People will die!”

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“She appeared alongside Xia Lian. Could Xia Lian have instigated this?”

“That inherently evil Xia Lian! How dare she abduct someone from our Countermeasures Bureau…”

“Bring her back!”

The two S-rank Espers still on the scene received orders and swiftly evacuated the wounded along with Luo Jianhua.

Severely injured themselves, they could only regretfully withdraw and let their S-rank colleagues take over while Xia Lian drew the enemy’s attention.

Faced with the forceful actions of the adults, Luo Jianhua could only obediently comply.

She indeed lacked the strength to truly participate in this battle. Saving two adults was already her limit.

Unless she had Ye Yao’s help, it was better to withdraw early.

But this should be enough, right?

Luo Jianhua didn’t possess a strong desire to show off, and she knew Ye Yao didn’t have high expectations of her performance.

Having shown enough, it was time to return and cuddle.

Luo Jianhua had always been self-aware. It was better to leave the stage to Xia Lian.

She seemed to be the one most in need of an opportunity to prove herself.

Otherwise, she would never escape her image as a weakling among weaklings in Ye Yao’s eyes.

Author Note

It really rained today, and the temperature isn’t as high anymore. No wonder it didn’t feel so hot when I woke up. I wish I could sleep a little longer.

Text: When faced with difficulties, sleep longer