Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“Breaking news: Several people are currently trapped inside the Jiuzhou Mall. There seems to be a child among them! 119 has yet to arrive, and the fire is too big so no one has dared to enter to save the people within.”
Guo Xiaodong continued to report live.
Upon hearing that, the people in the chat group started to talk. Even more people joined the conversation.
Zhou Kai leaped up from the bed, his eyes burning.
After repeatedly checking the video, he was certain that he was not seeing things. If this was true, there was something amiss about this fire.
Combined with the arson incident that had happened previously in the Jiuzhou Mall, it was highly likely that this was a case of supernatural revenge.
A fire spirit?
A water spirit gave me the diving ability.
What can you do to surprise me?
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Zhou Kai immediately headed out, rented a bicycle near his building, and rushed to the mall.
There were three streets between the mall and the school. If one traveled through the narrow alleys, the traveling time would be shorter.
Zhou Kai sped through and arrived at the scene in seven to eight minutes.
The fire had grown bigger and had engulfed the entire building. It was even starting to spread sideways.
The firefighters had arrived and started to organize a rescue mission.
However, even the fire department’s fire-extinguishing methods could not save the building itself. Everyone could see that this mall could no longer be saved.
Unfortunately, the humans, and not the mall itself, were currently in the most danger.
The mall department had confirmed that there were a few dozen people trapped inside, including elderly people and children.
When Zhou Kai arrived, quite a few firefighters geared up in firefighter suits were heaving rescue equipment and attempting to enter and execute the rescue mission.
As he silently praised them, Zhou Kai continued to observe the fire.
The average person would see churning flames, expanding heat waves, and flaring fire sparks.
However, Zhou Kai saw a murderous face rolling in the flames, controlling the fire, and preventing the firefighters from rescuing the people. It looked very proud and arrogant.
Zhou Kai surveyed the spectating crowd, which was discussing heatedly but did not act as though they saw something strange.
He was surprised and doubtful. Could I be the only one who can see this face? In other words, am I the only person who can see the spirit?
This does not seem possible. Do I have a third eye or something? That’s not right either. If I did, why would I be able to see spirits now and not in the past?
It was strange, but he could not understand why no matter how much he thought about it.
However, this was no longer important.
Since the presence of a spirit had been confirmed, he needed to stand up against the spirit. Otherwise, how could it possibly notice him?
You wish to harm people, but I will purposely get in your way. Let us see who will be the last one standing.
The moment this thought entered his mind, Zhou Kai scrutinized his surroundings. He went over to a small shop nearby, opened a bucket of mineral water that was by the door, lifted it up, and doused himself with water.
“Hey, what are you doing?” The shop owner, who was a middle-aged fatty, ran over with an angry expression when he noticed Zhou Kai’s actions.
Zhou Kai replied, “I want to save people.”
The shop owner was momentarily stunned. He rolled up his sleeves and helped drench Zhou Kai in water as he said with a smile, “You are very brave, brother. I cannot run quickly now, and I have elderly and children to take care of so I cannot act like a hero. However, I respect heroes. You don’t have to pay for this water.”
After wetting his newly-changed clothes, Zhou Kai smiled and said, “You’re a very just person, brother. Thank you.”
Then, Zhou Kai turned and ran toward the mall.
A few firefighters were trying to dash through the entrance, which was covered in burning flames. However, they could not seize an opportunity to do so. Upon suddenly spotting Zhou Kai, one of them hastily hollered, “What are you doing here? This place is dangerous…”
“The mighty pioneers taught us that the greater the danger is, the more courage we should have to charge forward. The Chinese should be brave. Let’s not waste time chatting. I will open a path and you guys will save the people inside.” Zhou Kai interrupted the firefighter and rushed into the fire.
The firefighters were alarmed. They failed to stop him in time, so they could only watch as he entered the fire.
A young firefighter woke up from his stupor and exclaimed, “Good man!”
“Good my *ss. What kind of idiot is that?”
“Holy cow. Look, boss! The fire split into two!” a firefighter exclaimed.
Everyone else looked over in shock.
The fire, which had previously been blocking the entrance and could not be extinguished no matter what, suddenly changed direction. Then, the mall’s entrance was revealed.
The guy who had wanted to curse Zhou Kai directed the others resolutely. “Let’s head in and rescue the people.”
“Ding-Dong: A fire spirit attacked you. Fire resistance +1.”
“Ding-Dong: A fire spirit attacked you. Fire resistance +1.”
“Ding-Dong…”
As expected, being attacked by spirits improved his abilities.
His fire resistance improved when he was attacked by fire spirits. This was awesome! In the future, he would be able to travel through fire and be bathed in it.
Even though he was pretending to be running around in a frightened manner in the fire, Zhou Kai was secretly ecstatic.
In the past, a small flame would have caused him excruciating pain, yet the encompassing fire was now like a gust of hot wind. He could feel the heat but he suffered no damage.
In addition, this fire spirit seemed to be more formidable than the water spirit had been.
Previously, he had received one additional point after a very long time. On the other hand, while he was trapped in this fire, the +1 increase kept appearing. It appeared three times over a short period of time.
However, the frequency of the ‘Ding-Dong’ sound then slowed down, and it was not heard for a long time.
Meanwhile, Zhou Kai could clearly sense that the surrounding fire had transformed from extremely hot to hot, from hot to slightly hot, and from slightly hot to warm. He could even sense that some form of strange changes were happening in his body. He seemed to have an indescribable feeling of kinship for the fire burning around him.
“Ding-Dong: A fire spirit attacked you. Fire control +1.”
Yes, the ‘Ding-Dong’ sound was heard again, adding… Eh? This was… Fire control? What does this mean? Did the ability level up? Can I now control fire?
Zhou Kai was shocked but pleased.
The feeling of kinship grew stronger, prompting Zhou Kai to open his mouth and suck in deeply.
A magical scene played out a moment later. The churning flames condensed into Zhou Kai’s mouth like flowing water.
The fire spirit’s attacks grew more ferocious, and the speed of the flowing fire increased.
The fire engulfing the entire mall quickly dissipated until not even a single spark existed.
The countless spectators outside the mall were dumbstruck.
The firemen inside the mall, who had just found two of the trapped civilians and had been about to escape from this place, were dumbfounded as well.
Worst of all was the fire spirit controlling the fire and attacking Zhou Kai. Given that its body was one with the fire, its soul lost its fiery-red color and became transparent once again as Zhou Kai started to absorb the fire. It even seemed to be on the verge of dissipating.
Zhou Kai licked his lips, feeling unsatisfied.
Even his organs were warmed by the fire he consumed, giving him an extremely pleasurable feeling. Zhou Kai was pleased to find a ball of fire concealed in his chest, as it seemed that he could spit it out at any moment.
So this is the fire-controlling ability! How awesome! How satisfying!
“No, return my fire to me. Return it to me. Return it to me quickly!” The fire spirit suddenly hollered in fear and anger as it lunged at Zhou Kai.
Zhou Kai was about to speak when the fire spirit disappeared without a trace before it could reach him.
At a waterside villa several miles away from the Jiuzhou Mall, a ferocious two-headed, four-armed god statue stood on a pedestal. A row of pitch-black wooden tablets with red characters written on them was on a platform below it.
A white-haired old lady in a long bright-red robe was sitting cross-legged opposite the god statue. She suddenly opened her eyes, which shone with a green glow.