Use first and repay later: Advance the future cultivation fruits

Chapter 53: 53, Intangible Power

Sister Yang walked ahead in silence, and soon the two of them arrived at the office at the end of the corridor.

The office, decorated in a retro style, emitted an antique charm and was filled with the lingering scent of sandalwood.

After Sister Yang pushed the door open, she pointed to the wall behind the sofa and said, “The money is right there. The technique to open the secret compartment is quite complicated, and I need to do it myself.”

“Go ahead,” Lin Qing told her.

Only then did Sister Yang step forward, enduring the pain as she tapped on the wall repeatedly more than a dozen times before she managed to open the secret compartment, revealing the door of the safe.

She then authenticated her fingerprint and iris recognition. Clenching her teeth and exerting force with difficulty, she barely managed to press down the safety button on the safe door, finally opening it.

...

Indeed, a large number of coins lay inside the safe, seemingly made of rare metals brought by extraterrestrial civilizations.

“These coins are worth about forty-one million in total if sold on the black market,” Sister Yang said.

Lin Qing glanced at it and continued to point the gun at her, “Go get the Super Sensing Liquid.”

Sister Yang, however, turned around, silently looking at him without moving.

“Hm?” Lin Qing uttered a sound of confusion from his nose.

“…I know, once I take out the Super Sensing Liquid, I’ll be killed by you,” Sister Yang said through gritted teeth.

Lin Qing narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t want to die.”

Sister Yang took a deep breath and said, “So… if you want the Super Sensing Liquid, put away your gun and stay away from me. After I complete the iris and fingerprint authentication, I must be allowed to get the Super Sensing Liquid first.”

In a low voice, she said, “If I notice you’re going to kill me, I will immediately crush the Super Sensing Liquid. It evaporates quickly, and once it spills, you’ll have no chance to inject it.”

Lin Qing looked at her expressionlessly.

“If you won’t agree, then just kill me now.”

Sister Yang stared straight into his eyes as if she didn’t see the barrel of the gun, “Otherwise, the moment I open the safe, it will be the same as my death sentence.”

Lin Qing didn’t say a word but slowly backed off a few steps and put the gun back into its holster.

Sister Yang let out a slight sigh of relief, then stepped forward and opened another secret compartment in the wall, revealing the door of another safe.

After authenticating her fingerprint and iris, she was about to press the button when her body slightly swayed, apparently weakened from blood loss and pain.

At that slow moment—

“Whoosh!”

Sister Yang suddenly heard a swift sound of wind and felt a force hitting her body, sending her flying and crashing into the adjacent wall.

As she struggled to get up from the ground in pain, she was startled to find Lin Qing had already returned in front of the safe, with the barrel of his revolver now pointing at her.

“You!” Sister Yang’s face paled, staring hard at Lin Qing with a trembling voice, “You’re not keeping your word!”

Lin Qing glanced at her, “I never agreed to your terms, and you were too slow.”

Indeed, he couldn’t possibly let this woman go, but he needed to verify whether the Super Sensing Liquid really was in the safe before killing her.

Sister Yang gritted her teeth, her eyes filled with regret and unwillingness.

Lin Qing pointed the gun at her with one hand while the other reached towards the button to open the safe.

At this moment, Sister Yang, despite her dismal appearance, couldn’t help but sneer mockingly in her heart.

“People really do die from greed…”

She knew all too well.

The safe did indeed contain the Super Sensing Liquid.

But there was also a tiny device inside.

Apart from a fixed time each day, attempting to open the safe at any other time would immediately release a highly concentrated nerve gas at high velocity.

This toxin, originating from Intelligent Star Group, was lethal unless, like her, one has undergone poison resistance gene modification or mastered the Original Chaoyang Method. Anyone else exposed would likely die!

From the beginning, she had no plans to engage in a transaction to save her life.

She could tell that he wouldn’t feel at ease without killing her and was also extremely cautious, which is why she lured him step by step to this point, making him believe she truly wanted to take the Super Sensing Liquid from the safe for self-protection.

Adding to the trust was the fact that the other safe truly did contain money.

Until just then, she deliberately acted as if her slow movement was due to the injury and blood loss, giving him the chance to catch her in a mistake.

Every step was carefully calculated.

This whole process was a contingency plan she thought of a long time ago for dealing with such a situation.

Unless it was a legendary Telekinesis Awakener, who could directly penetrate the safe with telekinetic power, failure was almost impossible.

But the boss had told her that the free Telekinesis Awakeners were already extremely rare, each hiding and not daring to expose themselves; moreover, she wouldn’t attract enemies on that level.

Now, this young Patrol Officer had taken the bait!

Sister Yang watched as Lin Qing’s fingertip moved closer to the button to open the safe, her heart filled with anticipation:

“Go on, open it. The moment you open the door will be your death!”

Just then, Lin Qing suddenly stopped.

[Current Order Level decreased by 0.7 Level]

[Current Order Level increased by 0.7 Level]

A line of blood-red prompt and a line of green prompt consecutively appeared before his eyes.

This caused Lin Qing to be slightly taken aback.

Why had the Order Level suddenly dropped so much, only to recover immediately?

What was going on?

Lin Qing couldn’t help but take a glance at this woman named Zhou Yang beside him.

There were only the two of them, himself and Zhou Yang, left alive in the Underground Boxing Arena; the others had either fled or died.

But even previously, Zhou Yang only caused the Order Level to decrease by 0.6 Level, a threat level of a team leader, and with her now being crippled, she wasn’t much of a threat anymore.

If one were to claim there was a threat from another strong individual, it wouldn’t just appear now, only to disappear again.

Unless…

Lin Qing suddenly turned his head to look at the safe in front of him.

If there was a trigger-type bomb or something similar inside the safe, an attempt to open it might cause a substantial reduction in his Order Level.

However… Intelligent Star Group monitors globally; aren’t the use of bombs and other technological weapons banned?

Lin Qing tried to reach out again to open the safe.

But his Order Level did not decrease.

That inexplicable intuition did not warn him again either.

Lin Qing felt even more puzzled.

Beside him, Sister Yang was getting impatient.

The man was about to open the door just now; why did he stop again?

As she watched Lin Qing remain on alert, her impatience grew. Her State was deteriorating, and she was waiting for Lin Qing to be paralyzed by poison before striking him with her final, deadly move.

But if Lin Qing didn’t open the safe, she would have no chance.

“I can only risk it…”

Sister Yang took a deep breath, a resolute look flashing in her eyes, and she gently unscrewed one of her molars with the tip of her tongue.

Then she kept it poised on her tongue, as Mysterious Energy slowly started to flow within her body.

This was her last resort.

— The Divine Transformation Series “Combat Skill: Tongue,” apart from extraordinary taste buds, could also spit out hidden weapons from the mouth, with a force near that of a bullet, extremely fast, and under surprise attack, the threat was immense.

“Pfft!”

The next moment, a white afterimage shot explosively from Sister Yang’s mouth!

Lin Qing maintained the “Combat Skill: Agility” and immediately reacted, but with less than three meters separating them, the tooth, bursting forth like a bullet, would only need 0.01 seconds to bridge that distance!

By the time Lin Qing reacted, he could only back away in evasion.

However—

The target of the bullet wasn’t him, but the safe beside him!

“Success!”

Sister Yang sneered in her heart.

She had seen the young Patrol Officer’s speed and response, and even at close range, she couldn’t be sure of a successful surprise attack.

Thus, her aim was for the open button on the safe!

As long as she could open the safe door, the poison gas would erupt nearly at the speed of 100 meters per second under the extreme high pressure within. Even if Lin Qing inhaled just a tiny amount, it would be enough!

“Clang!”

The white afterimage struck the safe’s open button instantaneously, and the tremendous rebound force flung the door wide open!

Was there really a trick within this safe?

Lin Qing’s expression changed, and instantly turned into a blur, retreating backward at top speed!

At the same time, he also pulled the trigger in passing, firing a shot at Sister Yang as he backed away.

“Bang!”

The sound of the gunshot echoed.

Sister Yang’s chest burst open with a spray of blood, but her eyes were fixed on the safe that was opening, eagerly anticipating the spurt of pale purple gas at a high velocity.

However—

After the door of the safe flipped open, all was quiet; nothing was amiss, with only wisps of cold air seeping out.

Sister Yang froze.

Lin Qing instantly retreated to the office doorway, ready to close the door. However, his Order Level did not decrease, which reassured him, and he frowned at the opened safe.

In the open safe, on a transparent base, there was a light blue syringe.

Aside from that, nothing else.

Lin Qing couldn’t help but glance at Sister Yang with a frown. What was this woman playing at?

Was this sneak attack just to help him open a safe?

“Impossible… impossible…”

Blood foamed at the corner of Sister Yang’s mouth after being shot, but she fixated on the open safe, unable to believe what she saw.

Where was the high-pressure poison gas?

Where was her meticulously prepared, clever poison gas device?

Why didn’t it trigger???

No… Impossible!

Struggling to support herself with trembling hands, Sister Yang slowly got up from the ground, swaying towards the safe.

“Bang!”

Another gunshot, and her forehead burst open with a bullet hole as she collapsed headfirst onto the floor.

In her eyes, there lingered a profound terror and a glint of realization.

In her last moments, she understood the reason.

The spray nozzle of the poison gas device, which should have been flung open by the super-high pressure change, was faintly trembling earlier.

It was as if…

An unseen force was forcibly suppressing its eruption.