Chapter Sixty-Nine: Spray for the Master

"..."

Sophia was speechless, a line of frustration appearing on her brow as she looked at Zhou Yi.

"Useless, you say? As far as I know, in all of Spacetime City, only the Lord possesses powers of the mind. As for spatial abilities, I've only heard rumors; apparently, the Prophet is a master of space, but no one else seems to have such power."

Zhou Yi smacked his lips and spread his hands slightly.

"I always thought spatial abilities meant having a personal pocket dimension—someplace to stash people or things, like a mobile warehouse. At the very least, when I nearly drowned in the 2015 world last time, I'd have had a way to escape."

Sophia shot Zhou Yi a glance and pondered for a moment.

"Spatial abilities do have such potential, but you must learn the techniques to use them, and I don't know how. For now, though, you mustn't reveal these two attributes. After all, the tallest tree draws the most wind. Since you also possess five weaker attributes—orange, green, cyan, blue, and purple—simply say you can manifest cyan and blue light, which are metal and water abilities."

"But these two powers are quite ordinary; metal is just perception, and water is only at the first level. In Base Seventy-Two, among the chosen, you’ll be notable but not too conspicuous."

"After all, Valden only has a single metal attribute, though his level is high. I don't know if he got it by sheer force or through some other means, but he didn't keep any spirit stones this time, which surprised me."

Zhou Yi rubbed his nose. That surprised him as well.

A ruler skimming off the top is understandable—that’s the difference between ordinary players and the big spenders; what you work yourself to the bone for, they can simply buy.

Sophia ignored Zhou Yi and took out a carved lipstick, which Zhou Yi knew to be her scepter—she had used it in the 2015 world.

She tapped Zhou Yi's wrist control panel, raised her scepter, and linked it to his panel, fiddling for a moment before apparently setting a new permission.

With a ding, Zhou Yi noticed a new blue button inside.

"Don't show this to anyone. This is your storage space, just as you imagined, though it’s small. It's meant to facilitate special missions in certain worlds. Our Base Seventy-Two has access to few such worlds, and I’ve never granted this permission to anyone else."

Zhou Yi tried it.

The controls were simple. Clicking the blue button, he saw a two-cubic-meter space appear before him, which vanished at another tap.

He suppressed his excitement. This was what he’d wanted most; now, if he found spirit stones, could he bring them back in this?

"Thank you. By the way, there's something I've always wanted to ask. Can I do it here?"

He glanced at Sophia, gestured at the white glass dome above them, still feeling a bit uneasy. Though Sophia had shared many secrets, who knew if Valden was in control.

"Go ahead. During upgrades, this place is sealed off from everything. It’s the safest spot."

"Fatty and Cheng Zhi, they're both my slaves now, bound with a mental contract. Will they gain attributes and become chosen?"

Sophia was not surprised by his question.

"It depends on whether you’re willing to give up some energy to unlock their potential. In theory, yes—they can become chosen even without a mark. As I said before, such chosen are like ticking clocks; they must constantly undertake missions to maintain their status, and leveling up is extremely hard. Frankly, they’re completely limited by you."

"If you’re only at level one, no matter how capable they are, their level is capped. Especially now, you must claim only metal and water at level one, and I’ll suppress your abilities further. Their path to advancement will be even tougher."

"The mental contract lasts a lifetime. For example, Dr. Laura, even though she’s a Prophet with spatial abilities, is wholly under the Lord’s control. If the Lord wanted her dead, a single thought would suffice."

"The same goes for you. Of course, if you’re killed by a Hunter or suffer some accident, the contract disappears. If they’re with you, they’ll die instantly; if not, the base will take them back and erase their memories."

Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes; he had no objections.

This way, Fatty and Cheng Zhi would be absolutely loyal, bound entirely to him. Their fortunes would rise and fall together, and they'd have to protect him fiercely; if anything happened to him, they'd become mindless slaves.

"So for metal and water, do I need to learn anything—like incantations? Right now, I’m in the dark, I don’t know a thing."

Sophia flipped her wrist and produced a cup from nowhere, half-filled with water and a golden coin in the center.

"Here, try it. I don’t know any incantations; it’s up to your own perception and fate. Now, focus on controlling the water in the cup, see if you can draw it out. Then try changing the shape of the coin. Don’t worry—give it a shot!"

Zhou Yi rubbed his hands, a little nervous.

But more than anything, he was eager to try. He really wanted to see what he could do. Until now, he'd only felt stronger and able to sense what was happening in nearby rooms. This kind of control seemed much more interesting.

He stared at the cup, concentrating, silently repeating in his mind:

Come out!

"..."

The water and coin in the cup did not move, not even a tremor.

Zhou Yi blinked, thinking maybe his method was wrong, or he wasn't exerting enough force—the water was beyond his perception. He cleared his throat, calming himself.

Once more, he fixed his gaze on the water in the cup.

Come out!
Come out!
Come out!

Still no response. Zhou Yi grew annoyed, glaring at the cup and shouting:

"Spray for me!"

With a bang, the cup in Sophia’s hand shattered to dust. The water burst free, shooting up like a fountain onto the white glass dome above.

Zhou Yi looked at Sophia. The water splashed onto the dome and, drawn by gravity, fell in a cascade onto Sophia’s face. Her long hair was soaked, dripping steadily, and Zhou Yi’s face filled with apology.

The coin spun on the floor.

"Sorry!"

Sophia waved her hand, brushing her hair aside, glanced at the coin, and stepped a couple feet away.

"Remember what you thought or shouted just before it worked. You can explore more later, and now try the coin!"

Zhou Yi nodded, not daring to ask any further.

He quickly crouched, picked up the coin, weighed it. He could sense it was real gold, but couldn't tell which country it was from; the script was strange.

Given his earlier mishap, Zhou Yi didn’t try anything fancy. He stared at the coin, pulled his hands apart, and the coin stretched like a noodle.

It looked a bit odd, so he smiled apologetically at Sophia, hurriedly balled the 'noodle' up, rolled it round, then shaped it into a five-pointed star. This time, it worked. Zhou Yi presented the star to Sophia.

"Sophia, look—is this considered control?"

Sophia nodded, glancing nervously at the dome. After all, things here were limited; outside, it would be a different matter.

"It counts. Just keep practicing. But remember, once I remove this shield, everyone in the base will be watching your every move, and Valden never takes his eye off you."

"As for the six other chosen teams in the base, each wants to know what abilities you possess. The powerful and useful ones will envy you; the feeble, non-offensive ones will mock you. Are you prepared?"