Scummy Alpha CEO Keeps Courting Death [Transmigration into a Book] - Chapter 24

Lu Xibie’s head rested against the laser gun as Chu Liruo’s hand slid off the trigger, pressing a button to turn the laser gun off.

Lu Xibie’s tone was surprisingly calm, as if that’s exactly what she intended.

Chu Liruo moved the laser gun and set it flat on the console. She formed her hand into the shape of a gun and aimed it at Lu Xibie: “Tell me, did you know that the laser guns here can only shoot and kill simulated mutated creatures?”

Lu Xibie looked at Chu Liruo and shook her head.

Chu Liruo lowered her gaze. A round mark still lingered on Lu Xibie’s brow, her neck line was smooth, and the special uniform faintly outlined the curve of her collarbone: “Then why did you tell me to shoot?”

“You could have shot,” Lu Xibie continued, looking at Chu Liruo, “Even if you were holding a real laser gun.”

“Then you would have died, wouldn’t you?” Chu Liruo’s cool hand gently tapped Lu Xibie’s forehead.

“Mm,” Lu Xibie nodded, “That would be perfect.”

“What’s ‘perfect’?” Chu Liruo saw the grey mist in Lu Xibie’s eyes and grabbed the special uniform near her shoulder: “What are you talking about? Come on up, I’ll teach you.”

“…This is the laser gun’s switch.”

“Now the laser gun is on. Adjust the sight…”

……

Lu Xibie quietly followed Chu Liruo’s instruction, operating the laser gun step by step as she was told.

“Yes, just like that. Pull the trigger and eliminate the simulated mutated creature…”

“Wow! You learn so fast!” Chu Liruo looked at Lu Xibie in admiration. She had only demonstrated the disassembly of the laser gun once, and Lu Xibie had completely mastered it.

“You’re a good teacher,” Lu Xibie handed the assembled laser gun back to Chu Liruo: “What made you think of teaching me this? The next Firearms Operation class is about this. If I learn it now, what will I do in class?”

Chu Liruo: “This is me giving you private tutoring. I wouldn’t teach anyone else. What? You’re not happy about it?”

Lu Xibie: “How could I be? Thank you, Teacher Chu.”

“Code 149, Tier 1 Talent Skill System, Qiao Zhengzhou concedes. Code 257, Tier 1 Talent Skill System, Lu Xibie is victorious!”

…

“Code 180, Tier 1 Talent Skill System, Shi Sinian concedes. Code 257, Tier 1 Talent Skill System, Lu Xibie is victorious!”

…

“Code 288, Tier 1 Heterogenesis System, Qi Qinglan concedes. Code 257, Tier 1 Talent Skill System, Lu Xibie is victorious!”

As mentioned in the plot summary, Lu Xibie was unstoppable, securing consecutive victories until her final confrontation with Tan Ruijing.

“Tier 1, Talent Skill System, Lu Xibie, Code 267.”

“Versus—”

“Tier 1, Heterogenesis System, Tan Ruijing, Code 51.”

Lu Xibie walked onto the competition platform and stood across from Tan Ruijing. She should have conceded as written in the “Plot Summary.”

But she held a sliver of hope. What if?

What if the protagonist of this book ended this book?

“Lu Xibie.” Tan Ruijing’s pink eyes shimmered with an eerie light. A mass of pink mist moved from behind her to above Lu Xibie’s head.

The dense pink mist rained down like a floral shower, seemingly harmless.

“What did you see?” a student anxiously asked their partner, whose talent skill was Eagle Eye.

“Lu Xibie’s passive defense is active. Tan Ruijing’s attack is likely ineffective.”

Lu Xibie watched a faint light shield instantly spread from her chest to her entire body. The pink mist stained the air around her, blurring her vision.

“The minute is up, why hasn’t Lu Xibie fallen?” An Alpha stared at the time on their optical computer. He had studied Tan Ruijing’s every match; opponents enveloped by the pink mist invariably lost mobility within one minute—collapsing to the ground.

“Does that even need asking? Lu Xibie’s talent skill worked, obviously.”

“Who do you think will win this match in the end?”

…

“I don’t know. Lu Xibie’s Absolute Defense is too formidable.”

“But Tan Ruijing has only been seen using one mass of pink mist since she entered the arena.”

“Lu Xibie has also only used her talent skill, hasn’t she?”

“Both of these people are too mysterious.”

Having failed with one strike, Tan Ruijing recalled the scene she had witnessed that day.

Could she freeze time?

If that was another one of Lu Xibie’s talent skills, did it mean she was a dual-talent-skill user, just like the strongest Alpha, Gu Ruyue?

“Lu Xibie, you’re a bit different now,” Tan Ruijing’s pink eyes brightened. A thick, green flower stalk sprouted from her right shoulder.

The stalk’s outer skin was slick and glossy. In the blink of an eye, it grew more than five meters long.

“W-w-what is that growing?!” A student from the Armaments Department involuntarily shrunk back.

“Ignorant. Haven’t you ever seen a Heterogenesis System match?”

“No…”

“It’s my first time too. Tell us about it.”

…

“What’s growing from Tan Ruijing’s right shoulder is the core body of the mutated creature she’s fused with. Similar to talent skill users, when the core body of a mutated creature emerges, it brings an amplification effect to the heterogenesist. The minimum amplification effect is threefold.”

“How much?!!!”

“The highest amplification for a talent skill user’s spirit core is threefold, but a heterogenesist starts at threefold!”

…

“Hearing you say that, it sounds like talent skill users aren’t all that great.”

“That’s just comparatively. Compared to them, we…”

The students from the Armaments Department, Battleship Department, Biological Exploration and Research Department, and Logistics Support Department fell silent.

Although the arena at Zhigu Military Academy was supposedly open to all students, most competitors were from the Heterogenesis System and Talent Skill System. Only they possessed strong close-combat abilities and were the main combat force for future battlefields.

From the moment she sat in the stands, Chu Liruo’s eyes hadn’t left the arena.

The two people she hated most in her past life were now in the field, even though teachers stood along the midline of the arena to prevent any life-threatening injuries to the students.

However, from the moment Lu Xibie and Tan Ruijing stood on the stage, the answer to who she hoped would win was clear.

“Here.” Zhu Xiaotao took out a packet of spicy dried tofu and offered it to Chu Liruo.

Chu Liruo didn’t take it. She was intently focused on the stage, seemingly blocking out all surrounding noise.

“Why doesn’t she want it?” Zhu Xiaotao tore open the packet of dried tofu, took a bite, and reached for another one to give to Chu Liruo, but Ji Ningyu stopped her.

Ji Ningyu: “Don’t bother. Can’t you see Liruo is worried?”

“I told you last time, there’s nothing to worry about,” Zhu Xiaotao chewed the dried tofu noisily: “Lu Xibie’s talent skill, no problem!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Ji Ningyu looked at the arena with a grave expression.

“Want some?” Zhu Xiaotao offered an open piece of spicy dried tofu.

Ji Ningyu took it but held it in her hand for a long time without eating.

The flower stalk on Tan Ruijing’s right shoulder continued to climb, five meters, eight meters, until it reached ten meters before temporarily stopping.

Then, several slender stems sprouted from the thick stalk. Each stem branched out, forming yellow, trumpet-shaped Datura flowers with calyxes. Eight Datura flowers opened and closed on Tan Ruijing’s right shoulder, almost obscuring half the light in the arena.

“My goodness!”

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, it would be hard to imagine that the mutated creature Tan Ruijing fused with looks like that.”

“I… I’m a little scared.”

“You’re an Alpha, what are you scared of?”

“It’s so big! Why can’t an Alpha be scared?!”

…

The typically overly noisy arena gradually quieted down as the mutated creature growing from Tan Ruijing’s right shoulder appeared, but it didn’t completely stop. The whole venue buzzed.

Tan Ruijing looked at Lu Xibie, who was still shrouded in pink mist, and pointed a finger: “Eat her!”

Tan Ruijing’s red lips were moist, and her pale pink pupils turned dark red the moment the Datura flower emerged. The seductive sound drew the gaze of everyone in the venue toward her.

As soon as she finished speaking, a Datura flower dropped from her shoulder. The five ridges of its trumpet moved in the air like legs. With a stride and a twist, it quickly leaped above Lu Xibie.

Lu Xibie looked up. The inside of the flower was pink, and fine, dense white bristles grew within it, clicking open and shut like human teeth. As it approached, Lu Xibie could see more clearly: each white bristle flashed with a sharp, cold light, extremely pointy.

The center of the Datura flower occasionally sprayed a yellow liquid that coated Lu Xibie’s protective shield.

“What’s that sound?”

“It’s giving me the creeps.”

…

The Datura flower opened its ‘mouth’ wide and plunged down, swallowing Lu Xibie whole.

“It ate her!”

“It looks exactly like a mutated creature feeding!!!”

“I watched a documentary about the Mutated Datura flower in class. They first paralyze their prey, then engulf it, and then digest it.”

“But… Tan Ruijing is a heterogenesist. A heterogenesist shouldn’t be as vicious as a mutated creature. This is just a match, after all.”

…

“Through continuous evolution, heterogenesists can become stronger than mutated creatures. You can understand them as humans with human minds but the power of a mutated creature.”

“Digestion…”

“What does ‘digestion’ mean?”

“The Mutated Datura flower can release hallucinogenic mist externally, which is the pink mist we saw earlier, capable of paralyzing and causing dizziness. Inside, it has corrosive liquid—that’s the yellow liquid dripping down. Don’t underestimate it; just a tiny bit can melt solid Heavenly Steel Stone.”

“No, no, I can’t look.” A student from the Armaments Department covered their eyes, peering at the scene through their fingers.

The Datura flower that had swallowed Lu Xibie continually contracted, as if it were digesting its prey.

Chu Liruo’s throat tightened, and her hands were slightly cold. She turned to look at Zhu Xiaotao, who was still enjoying her spicy dried tofu.

“Want some now?” Zhu Xiaotao pulled out a piece of dried tofu from her pocket and offered it to Chu Liruo.

Chu Liruo stared at the dried tofu for a moment, took it, and placed it on her lap. She glanced at the scene in the arena and couldn’t help but ask Zhu Xiaotao, “Lu Xibie, she…”

“Relax, she’s fine!” Zhu Xiaotao smoothly stuffed the packaging into the automatic recycling bin and pulled out a packet of spicy chicken to continue snacking: “That Absolute Defense of hers is super powerful.”

Before she could put the spicy chicken in her mouth, Zhu Xiaotao turned her head to Ji Ningyu, who was tugging at her: “What is it?”

Ji Ningyu: “Don’t talk nonsense. Focus on the match.”

Zhu Xiaotao’s words did nothing to reassure Chu Liruo. She straightened her back and leaned forward significantly. Although she couldn’t see what was inside the Datura flower, she still strained her eyes to look, trying to figure out what was happening.

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