Chapter 46: Vengeance Brooked No Delay

"This..." Liu Changfeng and Xu Bancheng stared at Xu Bing, their eyes blank with astonishment.

"I say, my friend, if you blink for just a moment, Bingbing has already blossomed into a young lady!" Liu Changfeng exclaimed, eyes wide as he gazed at Xu Bing. "We grew up together, and we've been brothers all our lives. Why not deepen our bond and let me become your brother-in-law?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Liu Changfeng sensed the air grow heavy, an uneasy feeling stirring within him. Instinctively, he turned his head, only to see a fist the size of a clay pot expanding rapidly before his eyes.

"Xu Bancheng, you bastard!"

With a miserable howl, Liu Changfeng clutched his right eye and squatted down.

"Serves you right for your filthy mouth," Xu Bancheng said coolly, lowering his fist with an air of cold indifference. This scoundrel actually dared lay eyes on his sister; truly, he must be tired of living.

But in the next moment, both men were struck dumb.

From Xu Bing's body, faint glimmers of light began to flow, and ripples appeared in the air around her. As her long hair billowed, a wave of energy surged outward from her, rapidly spreading in all directions.

"What the—" Liu Changfeng cried out in alarm as he was sent sprawling backward by the blast. The wave was too strong; he stumbled, lost his footing, and crashed to the ground, skidding across the floor from the force of the shock.

With a muffled thud, he slammed against the fish tank, sticking to it like a dying toad, tongue lolling out.

"My bones are breaking!" Liu Changfeng groaned, his voice strained.

A second explosion resounded, and Liu Changfeng, ever the shameless one, began to laugh despite himself.

"Ha! Xu Bancheng, to think you'd end up like this too! How satisfying! Finally, I can relish this!"

He laughed heartily, but the movement pulled at his battered muscles, causing him to grimace and bare his teeth in pain.

"Serves you right!"

From inside the fish tank, Lin Qiu, playing dead, exhaled a long breath of relief. His gaze toward Xu Bing softened considerably.

"Though that coward doesn’t look like much, I have to admit, her looks and figure are quite impressive. The system was right too—pairing men and women makes any work easier!"

Lin Qiu comforted himself, flicking his tail rapidly.

He had forgotten one thing, though: he was just a fish now, not a man.

Gradually, the aura around Xu Bing faded and her wildly dancing hair settled. When she saw the chaos around her, shock filled her eyes—especially when she noticed the two men, stuck to the fish tank glass like frogs, her brother and Liu Changfeng both. She stood there in a daze, her mouth agape wide enough to fit a potato. Hurriedly, she clapped a hand over her lips and turned away, unable to look any longer. Still, her shoulders trembled, betraying her inner turmoil.

"Ouch, I can't get down! I'm stuck!" Liu Changfeng, with the shockwave gone, tried to peel himself off the glass, only to discover, to his dismay, that his cheek and arm were firmly affixed. No matter how hard he struggled, his face and hands wouldn’t budge. The rest of his body was protected by clothing, but that only worsened things, as his entire weight now pulled at his skin, eliciting a wail fit for a banshee.

"Help! My face is coming off—gone, gone forever!" Liu Changfeng shrieked.

Xu Bancheng fared no better. He gritted his teeth, refusing to scream, but the color was draining from his face.

Their cries finally drew Xu Bing’s attention. She turned, mouth dropping open again—easily enough for another potato. Their pitiful state made her want to laugh, but she managed to restrain herself as she hurried over.

"Serves you right, the two of you had it coming!" Lin Qiu watched from the tank with a vengeful gleam in his eye. The reason they were stuck to the glass was all his doing. As a level-two marine creature, his body coursed with a force akin to the internal energy of martial arts novels. The system had told him it wasn’t true qi, but rather the power of blood and vitality. To Lin Qiu, it made no difference—which was which.

Especially after completing his task and acquiring the skill to part water, he realized: there’s always moisture in the air. And where there’s water, he could control it.

So, as the two men crashed into the glass, his petty mind took over. He manipulated the moisture in the air, gluing them solidly to the tank.

"Bingbing, I can't take it—please, help your dear brother down!" Liu Changfeng’s voice was tinged with tears. A body of a hundred and some pounds stuck to the glass, with only his face supporting the fall—he had the terrible illusion that, if this went on, his face would soon be ripped away by his own weight. He was so handsome, so dashing, and still a virgin at that! If he were disfigured, to whom could he complain?

"Hold on, I’ll get my brother down first!" Xu Bing declared. Blood ties prevailed; in such moments, everyone else was an outsider, and Liu Changfeng’s tears flowed freely.

Xu Bing grabbed Xu Bancheng’s hand, braced a foot against the glass, and pulled with all her might.

"Stop! That hurts!" At last, Xu Bancheng couldn’t help but cry out in pain.

"This is odd—what’s going on?" Xu Bing let go, afraid to pull any harder for fear of ruining her brother’s handsome face.

Then her gaze landed on Lin Qiu, belly up, feigning death while his little tail flicked rapidly. Her eyes narrowed.

Now that she had evolved, she could only describe herself as an esper, specifically with water abilities, thanks to the marine genes she’d injected. The power one awakened depended on the genes chosen. Xu Bing focused, and sure enough, sensed an abundance of lively water energy in the air.

"Lin Qiu, was this your doing?" Her voice stretched out, rising two full octaves.

Lin Qiu knew she’d seen through him. After their mutation, marine creatures like him also began to evolve, developing the power of blood and energy—water element, in his case. The water control skill he’d gained only strengthened that power.

But he’d never admit it, not even under threat. His tail stopped moving, and his whole body, swaying, sank to the bottom of the tank.

"Lin Qiu, I know it’s you. If you keep this up, I’ll gut myself in seconds!"

Though Xu Bing’s threat was empty, Lin Qiu couldn’t help but fall for it.