Chapter Seventy-Seven: The X-3 Serum (Part Two)

What exactly is a gifted individual? They possess abilities, they exceed ordinary people, they transcend them. It is a concept that is both clear and elusive—indeed, unless you witness it firsthand, it is difficult to fathom the true difference between a powerful gifted person and a mere mortal.

Now, Del finally experienced this terrifying disparity for himself. He watched as his subordinates raised their guns and changed magazines with lightning speed, the whole process taking no more than three seconds. Ordinarily, such speed would be considered remarkable in any context, yet before the man in black, it seemed sluggish as a snail's crawl. As they lifted their weapons, Del saw, with absolute clarity, that Ferren’s body swayed gently like a scarecrow caught in the wind. When his men reached for their magazines, Ferren had already vanished from sight. In the blink of an eye, before the magazines were even replaced, Ferren’s figure appeared right before them. In the next instant, Del didn’t even catch how his men tried to resist—he simply saw them topple to the ground, their heads severed from their necks, bouncing across the floor like balls, rolling until they merged with the foul blood spurting from their bodies.

Witnessing this, Del’s face turned pale, his entire body trembling. At that moment, seeing Ferren before him, Del felt transported back to his childhood—a powerless, fragile self, collapsed on the ground with a pallid face, trembling as he watched that terrifying gifted individual, like a demon, crush his mother, then gaze at him as one would a filthy bug…

“Fire!! Fire!!! Hold him back!!”

Del screamed in near panic, retreating as if mad, shouting orders while hastily withdrawing, desperate to escape from this demon. No, this was not a human being—it was a demon, a true demon! They could never win, were no match for him, there was no possibility of victory, no matter what!

At that moment, fear and despair shattered his reason, and Del completely broke down. He screamed his orders, spun around, and fled without looking back. Del no longer cared if Ferren noticed him; he cared nothing for the old men in the laboratory—they were doomed, and perhaps he would die as well! But he didn’t want to die, he refused to die!

Bang!!

Del slammed open the door, stumbling toward the emergency exit. His trembling hand reached out and pressed the emergency release button. The door quickly opened. Without waiting for the spiral staircase to lower, he threw himself from the platform. Before him stood a train, long prepared. Originally meant to transport ore from the town, after the Federation occupied the area, it had been repurposed as a secret way out. Del’s plan had been to use the convoy in the outside tunnel as a distraction, then seize the opportunity to escape by train. But he hadn’t anticipated the man’s astonishing speed… Damn it! Damn it all!

“Sir?”

Seeing Del in such a wretched state, the soldiers guarding the train were stunned. Before they could question him, Del raised his head, glaring fiercely at them.

“Hurry up and start the train! We must leave immediately!”

“But, the research director and the others…”

“They’re all going to die! Quick, quick! That’s an order—depart now!”

“Yes…”

Faced with Del’s near-hysterical state, the soldiers dared not delay. They hurried onto the train. With a deafening roar, the train slowly pulled out of the station, speeding along the tracks.

Phew…

Once convinced no one was chasing him, Del exhaled deeply, slumping into his seat and staring ahead. His mind was a blank, unsure of how to proceed. Zero Base was finished, yet he knew nothing about their attacker—not even the number of adversaries. If the Federation questioned him, he might well face a military tribunal.

But Del didn’t care. Ferren’s presence had revived his deepest, most fearful memories. He feared and hated gifted people. It was why he joined the Federation, why he fought for them. He had sent squads against gifted individuals many times, watched them die. In those moments, Del felt good—he believed he had conquered his childhood nightmares, no longer feared these gifted ones. He was no longer a bug to be crushed, but an equal, perhaps even stronger.

Yet Ferren’s arrival rekindled Del’s terror, and no matter how he recalled his “mighty” command over crushing gifted foes, he could not suppress his anxiety and dread.

He could no longer stay with the Federation, perhaps should find an opportunity to leave for a small settlement. With his skills, at least he could survive. But… as he thought of this, Del glanced at the soldiers beside him. He was no gifted individual, had never undergone those strange “experiments.” He had no idea what the soldiers thought. If they were unwilling, he could say nothing more, or perhaps… forget it, he would see how things unfolded.

The landscape ahead was gradually brightening. Del sat up straight, staring forward. His sole desire was to leave this cursed place; as long as he could escape alive, everything else was irrelevant.

Yet at that moment, Del suddenly sensed something wrong. Eyes wide with surprise, he stood and looked ahead.

What was that?

Woo——!!

The train blasted its whistle, its powerful headlights cutting through the darkness. Derlin stood calmly in the middle of the tracks, her left hand gripping a spiked club, gazing serenely at the speeding train. The train accelerated, showing no sign of stopping, but the cat-eared maid was unconcerned. Instead, she raised both hands, tightened her grip on the club, and swung it forward with force.

Boom!!

The spiked club collided heavily with the train’s engine. In the next instant, the ground beneath Derlin’s feet sank with a thunderous crash, and the rails and ties behind her flew up under the violent impact. The train, just emerging from the tunnel, reared its head like a metallic serpent stomped by a giant, then crashed to the ground with a wailing roar.

What had just happened?

Lying inside the carriage, Del was utterly bewildered. He stared through the shattered glass, watching the maid-dressed girl approach the train step by step. No one fired, no one resisted. The engine was almost obliterated, and the body of the train, unable to withstand the fall, lay twisted and broken, its shape ruined. The fate of those inside needed no explanation.

The cat-eared maid halted, gazed at the train, then raised her right hand and pointed forward. With her gesture, a bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air and struck the wreckage. With a thunderous boom, flames engulfed the train, billowing thick black smoke. Derlin stood quietly, tilting her head as she closely observed the fire. After a moment, she turned and melted back into the darkness.

Behind her, the flames burned ever more fiercely.