Apocalypse: I'm the Landlady of the Refuge

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Someone Has to Lead

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Someone Has to Lead

As the Crystal Core underwent changes, the seemingly casual Ji Wanwan’s hands slightly tightened, her eyes unblinkingly fixated on Xu Siming.

Having learned from the previous experience of losing consciousness, Xu Siming highly concentrated his spiritual power this time.

The moment the pale blue energy column entered his body, the refreshing and comforting sensation nearly made Xu Siming comfortably hum out loud.

Qi Hao rubbed his chin on the side.

That expression, why does it look like he experienced something special?

Is absorbing a Crystal Core that exhilarating?

It made him want to try it too.

After seriously perceiving for a moment, Xu Siming stopped sensing the energy of the Crystal Core.

When he opened his eyes again, the pale blue luster in his eyes was especially enchanting, with a captivating beauty.

Similarly, absorbing the energy of the Crystal Core to enhance power, the people from the Baize Union had a red glow in their eyes unique to zombies after absorption, while Xu Siming’s eyes remained a light water blue.

Besides, the energy fluctuations emanating from Xu Siming were purely Water Element energy, without a trace of evil aura, starkly different from those people from the Baize Union.

Ji Wanwan and everyone present could clearly feel that Xu Siming had become stronger again.

He slowly raised his hand, forming a small water ball infused with Water Element energy in his palm.

Looking at everyone’s reflection in the small water ball, Xu Siming pondered, “My ‘Sea God’s voice’… has broken through to the Third Level…”

Ji Wanwan quickly asked, “Do you feel anything unusual?”

Xu Siming curled his lips slightly, “Well, how do I put it, I haven’t done drugs, so I don’t know what it feels like after taking drugs, but I must say, absorbing the Crystal Core energy really does give a thrilling sensation!

“This…” Qi Hao’s mouth twitched, “Old Xu, you’re experimenting out of loneliness, huh!”

Everyone: “…”

Wu Xun silently raised his hand on the side: “No need to try again, Brother Xu and the people from the Baize Union are different, showing no signs of zombie transformation.”

Qi Hao subconsciously retorted, “How do you know?”

There was a moment of silence among the crowd.

Having been with the Baize Union for so long, Wu Xun clearly understood their reactions after absorbing the Crystal Core and could easily spot the difference in Xu Siming.

Qi Hao, realizing his mistake, sheepishly rubbed his head, “Cough cough, never mind, let’s continue the meeting.”

Ji Wanwan with a hand to her forehead asked, “Brother Wu, is my senior’s method of absorbing the Crystal Core energy the same as that of the Baize Union?”

“This…” Wu Xun appeared troubled, “From the outside, there isn’t much of a difference, but I have never tried the Union’s method, so I can’t answer whether the internal energy circulation is the same.”

Wu Xun’s words were very cautious, leaving Ji Wanwan with no grounds for objection: “Okay, let’s put this issue aside for now and revisit it when we have new clues.”

She looked at her nearly empty milk tea, thought for a moment, picked it up, and drank the last sip: “Does anyone have any other ideas?”

Ji Xing timidly raised his hand: “Sis, I’m quite curious about that small blood pearl.”

The small blood pearl was an important discovery in this action, and naturally, it was on the agenda for this meeting.

Ji Wanwan nodded her head, took out the small blood pearl from System Space, and neatly placed it on the conference table.

On the left was the one from Xiang Rui, whom she had crushed to death, and on the right were the 22 pearls slyly taken from Baize.

Ji Wanwan, with her chin propped up, watched the small blood pearls intently: “Have any of you noticed any difference between the blood pearls on both sides?”

Everyone uniformly shook their heads.

Okay, Ji Wanwan didn’t figure it out herself.

She thought back to the two purposes Hu Peng mentioned back at the underground betting arena.

But now she only had one Blood Pearl, which wasn’t enough to confirm Hu Peng’s words.

Ji Wanwan felt somewhat of a headache, regretting that she hadn’t kept her uncle and aunt’s Blood Pearls.

After thinking briefly, she decided to first verify whether the Blood Pearl could enhance superpowers.

However, the Blood Pearl was different from the Crystal Core, and because it was unknown, it posed much greater risks, making Ji Wanwan hesitant again.

Xu Siming stepped up again, “Xiao Wan, let me do it…”

“No!” Ji Wanwan instinctively shook her head in refusal, “Right now you’re the person with the highest Superpower Level in the base. If something happens to you, it would be an irreparable loss for us!”

Xu Siming immediately retorted, “That’s exactly why I’m the highest level. I’m most likely to suppress the malign nature of the small Blood Pearl! That’s why I should take this responsibility without any reservations!”

Ji Wanwan still disagreed, “Senior, you…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Xu Siming interrupted her, “Xiao Wan, no more talking. As the saying goes, to accomplish great things, someone has to lead the charge. I’ve already tried the Crystal Core, why should we drag others into this as well?”

This time, Qi Hao was genuinely impressed.

He couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up, “Old Xu, I admire you, and this time it’s for real! If you don’t mutate after the test, I’ll lend you my Porsche to play with for a couple of days!”

Ji Wanwan couldn’t help but smile and gave Qi Hao a disapproving look, “That really shows you!”

Xia Li chimed in as well, “Exactly! Just shut up!”

Seeing Qi Hao sulking with his head hanging down, Xu Siming couldn’t help but curve his lips in a smirk, teasing him with a cocky eyebrow raise.

Distracted by Qi Hao’s antics, Ji Wanwan suddenly felt relieved.

Xu Siming’s high superpower level, her own Equivalence Healing nearby, and their unified determination made her believe that even if Xu Siming exhibited symptoms of Corpse Transformation after the test, they would find a way to restore him back to normal.

Because she had been too weak in her previous life, she was habitually cautious and careful. Sometimes, excessive caution could also appear indecisive.

She looked up at Xu Siming, “Okay, be very careful. If you notice anything unusual, you must tell me immediately!”

Xu Siming nodded slightly.

He picked up one of the 22 small Blood Pearls, and then, as described by Ji Wanwan, he swallowed it directly.

After the Blood Pearl entered his mouth, it didn’t change shape, remaining a solid little square chunk.

Xu Siming’s eyes shifted as he tried biting into it.

“Bang——”

A faint explosive sound spread from inside his skull, instantly filling Xu Siming’s senses with a strong bloody smell, casting him in a mask of agony.

After a moment of discomfort, a bizarre and absurd sense of pleasure spread from his skull to his limbs, making him uncontrollably excited and joyful, to the point of wanting to kill someone to enhance the feeling.

Everything in front of him turned blood-red, and the immense pleasure made him tremble with madness. For a moment, he felt he couldn’t control his own body, even though his thoughts were very clear.

Realizing this, Xu Siming immediately bit his tongue tip, using the intense pain to force himself to calm down.

Meanwhile, Xu Siming appeared quite different in the eyes of others.

In Ji Wanwan’s view,

after swallowing the Blood Pearl, Senior first showed a face full of confusion, followed by extreme pain.

Just as she was about to get up and help Xu Siming, she saw him suddenly stiffen, and then he froze completely…