270: Chapter 270 What exactly are those two doing in there?

That blast had truly blown the roof off.

But for the two people at the center of the storm, all the clamor outside had ceased to exist.

Lin Yuan felt as if he had jumped into an erupting active volcano.

Violent, scorching, destructive.

The energy of the Titan Crystal was like a prehistoric beast that had lost its mind.

It was rampaging through Qin Ziyan's already fragile meridians.

If it were an ordinary person, or even an S-rank Ability User, they would have long since been burned to ashes by now.

"This foolish woman, she's truly ruthless to herself."

Lin Yuan gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

Not only did he have to use his own flesh and blood to endure the high temperature that felt capable of melting the soul.

He also had to divert a portion of his Spiritual Power to forcibly blast open Qin Ziyan's sealed sea of consciousness.

This feeling was like trying to pry open a red-hot clam shell with his bare hands.

Lin Yuan let out a low roar, and a surge of immense Spiritual Power erupted from the center of his brows, transforming into an invisible heavy hammer that smashed fiercely against the barrier of Qin Ziyan's sea of consciousness.

"Crack—"

A crisp cracking sound echoed deep within their souls.

The next second, Lin Yuan's consciousness was forcibly sucked into a bizarre and surreal world.

This was a burning ruin.

The sky was blood-red, the ground flowed with scalding magma, and the air was filled with the scent of sulfur and despair.

Here, Lin Yuan saw countless "Qin Ziyan"s.

Some were swinging their swords frantically, hacking at invisible enemies until they collapsed from exhaustion, only to crawl back up and continue hacking.

Some were curled up in corners, hugging their knees and shivering, muttering, "I am not trash."

Others were facing themselves in a mirror, slapping their own faces over and over again.

"Weakling!"

"You are too slow!"

"You will hold him back!"

"He doesn't need a vase; what he needs is a sword! The sharpest sword!"

Every Qin Ziyan was torturing herself.

And in the center of this ruin stood a "Little Ziyan" who looked only seven or eight years old.

She was wearing a military uniform that was far too large for her, dragging a heavy sword taller than herself, trudging arduously through the magma while crying.

The magma burned through her shoes and scalded her ankles, but she dared not stop.

Because in front of her, a blurred figure was walking further and further away.

That figure was Lin Yuan.

"Wait for me... Brother Lin Yuan, wait for me..."

"Little Yan can't run anymore... But Little Yan doesn't dare to stop..."

"Don't leave me behind..."

The little girl cried heart-rendingly, leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind her with every step.

Seeing this, Lin Yuan's heart felt as if it had been fiercely gripped by something.

Is this her inner demon?

A woman as righteous as Qin Ziyan.

Actually harbored such a little girl, humble to the point of dust.

So it turns out, all her strength, all her efforts, and even risking her life to consume the Titan Crystal, were all just because of... fear.

The fear of being abandoned.

The fear of not being able to keep up with his pace.

"What a... fool."

Lin Yuan sighed.

His figure flashed, instantly crossing that scalding magma and appearing behind the little girl.

Then, he grabbed that heavy greatsword.

"Who?!"

Little Ziyan turned back in terror, her tear-stained little face full of defensiveness, like a wounded little beast.

"Let go! I want to practice the sword! I want to become stronger! Otherwise, he won't want me anymore!"

She tried desperately to snatch the greatsword back, even though her hands had already been ground to a bloody pulp.

"Stop practicing."

Lin Yuan said softly, his tone gentler than it had ever been.

"Why? Are you going to stop me too? You all look down on me for being weak, don't you?!"

Little Ziyan screamed hysterically, the flames in her eyes almost bursting forth.

"No."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

He let go, allowing the greatsword that symbolized "responsibility" and "pressure" to clatter into the magma, instantly melting into molten iron.

Then, under the little girl's dazed gaze, he crouched down and gently wiped the soot and tear stains from her face.

"Because you don't need to chase."

Lin Yuan pointed to himself.

"I am right here."

"And..."

He reached out and pulled the scarred little one into his embrace, resting his chin on the top of her head, his voice low and powerful:

"I have never thought about finding a sword."

"If a sword is broken, it can be replaced; if it snaps, it can be thrown away."

"But my Ziyan, there is only one."

Boom—!!!

As these words fell, this burning world of consciousness seemed to have been pressed with a pause button.

Those illusions of frantically swinging swords, shivering, and self-torture all stopped at this moment, then transformed into countless red light particles, rushing madly into Little Ziyan's body.

The little girl's body began to grow.

From seven or eight years old, she instantly transformed into that peerlessly elegant Qin Ziyan.

She looked at Lin Yuan blankly.

The madness and violence in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by tenderness like spring water, along with a hint of disbelief.

"Is it... true?"

"I am not a tool? Not a burden?"

"Of course not."

Lin Yuan cupped her face, looking into those still somewhat dazed eyes, a wicked smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"Of course you have great use."

"For example... with this 100,000 volts of electricity, you can chill my watermelon in the summer and warm my bed in the winter; isn't that much better than some divine sword?"

Qin Ziyan: "..."

The originally touching and heartfelt atmosphere was instantly destroyed completely by this lewd remark.

The tears that had been welling up in her eyes were forced back, eventually turning into an annoyed eye-roll.

"Bastard..."

"You're the one who warms the bed! Your whole family warms the bed!"

"Hahahaha!"

Lin Yuan laughed out loud, his figure beginning to fade.

"Alright, since you're awake, then cooperate."

"Outside... it's urgent."

The real world.

Inside the special lounge.

That violent aura that seemed capable of destroying the world suddenly became docile.

The fire elements that had been rampaging, now seemingly having found an outlet, began to flow along their connected limbs, forming a perfect closed loop.

Yin and Yang generated each other; water and fire reached a state of perfect harmony.

The dark-attribute Superpower within Lin Yuan was like a massive black hole, greedily and domineeringly devouring every bit of excess energy overflowing from Qin Ziyan's body.

But this was not plundering.

After being converted and purified by Lin Yuan's body, this energy became even more refined and substantial, feeding back into Qin Ziyan's body.

With every cycle, Qin Ziyan's aura grew stronger.

With every cycle, the impurities in her meridians were burned away completely.

This was a mysterious and profound feeling.

Their souls seemed to have completely merged at this moment; there was you in me, and me in you.

Qin Ziyan only felt her entire being floating.

That feeling was like a small boat struggling alone in the turbulent ocean, suddenly being accepted by a massive aircraft carrier.

Not only did she no longer have to worry about the wind and waves, but she could even use the carrier's power to ride the winds and waves, sailing straight toward the horizon!

"Mmh..."

A low moan, suppressed to the extreme but filled with a certain indescribable meaning, spilled from her clenched teeth.

This sound was like music from the heavens.

It made Xia Muqing, who was eavesdropping... ah no, monitoring data outside the door, shiver all over.

"Eww—"

Xia Muqing hugged her arms, vigorously rubbing the goosebumps off her skin.

"This sound... why does it sound more like the kind I watch..."

Beside her, the innocent Ye Qingyue blushed.

She covered her ears but couldn't help stealing glances through her fingers at the doorknob that had already been burned red.

"Can you... can you be serious! Brother Lin Yuan and the others are saving lives!"

"Saving lives?"

Xia Muqing adjusted her glasses.

Looking at the energy curve on the detector in her hand, which was skyrocketing madly yet remaining abnormally stable, she wore a smile that said "I see it but I won't say it."

"Hehe, little Qingyue, you're still young, you don't understand."

"This is indeed saving a life. But well... this method of saving a life, the academic name is 'High-Energy Particle Collision Experiment', commonly known as... hehehe."

Ye Qingyue: "???"

Although she didn't understand, she felt it was some kind of lewd language!

Just then, the value on the detector suddenly broke through a critical point!

"Beep—!!!"

A sharp, long sound pierced the night sky.

"Holy crap! The peak has been broken!"

Xia Muqing's expression changed; this time she was truly shocked.

"This value... they've even touched the threshold of SSS-rank?! What on earth are those two doing inside?"

Rumble—!!!

This time, it was no longer a column of fire.

Instead, a massive phantom of a phoenix, entirely composed of flames, shot up from the ruins of the lounge into the sky!

The phoenix had a wingspan of a hundred meters, its entire body burning with golden-red flames, and it let out a long cry toward the sky!

"Chirp—!!!"

The phoenix's cry shook the heavens!

At this moment, the entire base, and even the zombies and Mutated Beasts within a hundred-mile radius, felt a trembling from the depths of their bloodlines!

That was... the pressure of a superior being!

Inside the lounge.

All clothing, furniture, and even the floor had disappeared.

The two were suspended in mid-air, wrapped in a cocoon of golden-red light.

Qin Ziyan suddenly opened her eyes.

Her originally pitch-black pupils had now transformed into two burning golden flames!

Her long hair flew, every strand seeming to be on fire, and her skin was crystal clear, shimmering with a glaze-like luster.

The bottleneck that had once troubled her, the shackles that had made her despair, were at this moment shattered like window paper!

SS-rank!

At this moment, she felt every cell in her body cheering and burning.

That feeling of being filled with power made her want to roar toward the sky.

But she didn't.

Because at this moment, what made her more intoxicated than the power was the man in front of her.

Lin Yuan was looking at her.

Those eyes that were usually indifferent now held a hint of appreciation, and... was that unfinished business?

"Congratulations."

Lin Yuan's voice was slightly hoarse, yet incredibly sexy.

Qin Ziyan looked at him.

Looking at this man who had pulled her back from the edge of hell and personally sent her up to the clouds.

The love in her heart finally overcame all her reserve and pride at this moment.

What military character? To hell with it!

Now, she only wanted to be a woman.

To be his woman.

"It's not over yet..."

Qin Ziyan suddenly curled her lips, revealing a smile capable of turning the world upside down.

It was a unique charm that mixed heroism and allure, dangerous and fascinating.

She stretched out her arms, wrapping them around Lin Yuan's neck like a beautiful serpent, breathing like an orchid in his ear:

"Instructor Lin... just now you were guiding me. Now... it's my turn, right?"

"My 'fire'... is still burning very brightly."

Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? It seems the intensity of the 'special training' just now wasn't enough?"

"Since you want to play with fire... then I will accompany you to burn to your heart's content!"

Outside the door.

Xia Muqing looked at the ruins of the lounge, from which a fire phoenix had just rushed out, and which was now starting to shake rhythmically, constantly emitting sounds like a "demolition site construction zone."

She silently took a pair of sunglasses out of her pocket and put them on.

Then she took out two balls of cotton and stuffed them into Ye Qingyue's ears.

"Let's go, little Qingyue."

"Where to? Are we not going to care about Brother Lin Yuan?"

Ye Qingyue asked, looking completely confused.

"We can't care, he's beyond saving, just wait to die."

Xia Muqing waved her hand, looking at the moon in the sky with a weary expression.

"Let's hurry to the cafeteria and grab some late-night snacks. Otherwise, when these two 'humanoid Titans' finish and come out to forage for food, we won't even be able to lick the plates."

"Ah? Why would they be hungry?"

"Because... intense physical activity burns calories! Dummy!"

Xia Muqing dragged the reluctant Ye Qingyue away, making a quick escape.