GA: Chapter 180 – This Era Is My Era; Desire Unleashed
First Sequence aptitude—talent on par with the Dragon Emperor, the Ice Emperor, the Flame Empress.
Zhao Feng's eyes blazed with excitement.
As someone inside the Spiritual Qi Bureau, he had a clear understanding of what First Sequence truly meant. These were people who had possessed formidable strength from the very first spiritual qi revival.
Their power lay not only in their ability—but in their cultivation aptitude.
Only when both were present could someone truly be called First Sequence.
If your ability was powerful but your cultivation aptitude mediocre, you simply wouldn't have enough spiritual qi to manifest that talent to its fullest.
Take himself—even with the ability to Plunder, his cultivation aptitude was so ordinary that his actual strength barely differed from an average person's.
But that was about to change.
Petrification. First Sequence aptitude. They will all be mine.
As for whether he'd be hunted by the authorities afterward—pursued by Bureau personnel?
Zhao Feng let a thin smirk cross his lips.
In this era, would they truly bring themselves to kill an ability user with First Sequence aptitude?
And even if they did decide to kill him—as long as he killed some mutant creatures threatening the city first, rescued a few ordinary people, those people would be grateful. And with a little spin management… he had no idea how many people would line up to defend his name.
After all—had he actually done anything wrong?
He just wanted to become stronger. What was wrong with wanting to be stronger?
As for the little girl?
She couldn't even control her own ability. She'd turned her own parents to stone. Maybe she didn't even want her ability to begin with. Death might actually be a release for her.
He could spin it however he wanted. The rehabilitation practically wrote itself.
He could even claim the girl had told him as much herself—that she'd begged him to help her end it.
No one would know otherwise.
That was how reality worked. A living First Sequence ability user created immeasurably more value than a dead one. Even with nothing but words and no evidence, countless people would choose to believe him.
And if that still didn't change their minds—he'd just run.
Find somewhere to hide. Cultivate. Work toward catching up to the Dragon Emperor and the others.
Then use Plunder to seize the aptitude of a few more gifted ability users and enhance himself further.
When his strength reached a point where no one could threaten him—he'd be able to walk among people again without fear.
"This era. This era is mine."
"Everyone is selfish. I've done nothing wrong."
"Rather than waiting for an uncooperative little girl to slowly and passively develop control over her ability—why not let me inherit everything she has?"
"That's true maximum efficiency."
No one knew that within the Bureau, a researcher was on the verge of seizing a small girl's ability and aptitude. And that when her ability and aptitude were stripped from her, her frail body would be unable to withstand the backlash—and she would die.
As the most critical line of defense against mutant creatures in the city, the Spiritual Qi Bureau was beyond question the organization people trusted most. They might doubt themselves before they doubted the Bureau.
Let alone doubting one of its researchers.
Not even those within the Bureau had imagined someone would turn on them from the inside.
Right now, the vast majority of ability users with strong natural gifts had joined the Bureau—dedicating themselves wholeheartedly to eliminating mutant creatures appearing in the city. The smaller portion who had talent but preferred not to join were simply cultivating in peace. And occasionally, when they happened to witness Bureau ability users struggling against mutant creatures, they would step in and help.
But there would always be those who chose a different road. For them, ability and aptitude weren't just power setting them apart from ordinary people—they were poison that unlocked everything hidden within.
Their swelling hearts made them unwilling to follow the rules society placed on them. Unwilling to follow the laws humanity had made.
Mocked for how you look? Then die.
Scolded unfairly because a parent showed favoritism? Then die.
Bullied because you seemed weak? Then die.
Were they wrong? Not necessarily—but their actions were. And they were more extreme than anything that had come before the revival.
Why had it come to this?
Because they had gained power.
Many whose minds hadn't yet fully matured could easily do things in a moment of impulse that they themselves couldn't understand afterward. And it wasn't just the young—adults were the same.
The boss who made your life difficult. The relatives who sneered at you.
When emotions surged, who could guarantee they would always think clearly?
Especially after drinking.
Power made people lose themselves. Things they'd thought about once, things they'd never dared to think—all of it came flooding out at once.
The only way to suppress this phenomenon was to make them understand the gap between ability users—the gap between the weak and the truly strong.
That was the purpose of the early Crimson Flame Birds. That was why displaying Qin Tian, Huoyou, and Chen Bing's strength mattered.
They wanted these people to clearly understand that their own strength was nowhere near sufficient to realize their ambitions.
In practice, this had worked to a degree. Many whose inner darkness stirred had genuinely been shaken into restraint by the sheer power those figures displayed.
But suppression was suppression. There would always be those who refused to be suppressed—who held onto wishful thinking.
Dealing with mutant creatures was already difficult enough. No one wanted to also deal with internal "petty squabbles"—and least of all at a moment this critical, with people from within pulling at their foundations.
But there would always be those who didn't care about humanity's current situation. Who had no desire to understand what China was facing.
They only cared about themselves.
They wanted to overturn the era. To realize their own ambitions.
They never stopped to think: if not for the countless warriors holding the line across every corner of the nation, keeping mutant creatures from pouring into human cities—if not for Bureau ability user after Bureau ability user eliminating creatures that had already breached city limits—where would they have gotten the safety and time to sit here and scheme about how to "dominate the world"?
If not for heroes falling one after another, giving their lives to safeguard people's safety, where would the security they were enjoying right now have come from?
So toward those lurking in darkness who dared to challenge the order, who tried to ignite internal conflict—China had one and only one answer.
Suppression.
Suppression—complete and absolute.
Until not a single voice remained.
Meanwhile, in Ningcheng.
A city guarded by First Sequence ability user Ning Guang—a city that should have been among the most secure—had, on this rare occasion, suffered a casualty.
The deceased was a young woman. Twenty years old. By any measure, a face worth calling beautiful.
The cause of death was simple: blood loss.
If a mutant creature had mauled her, it would at least have been comprehensible. But a mutant creature hadn't done this.
"No matter the era—there will always be certain pieces of garbage who deserve to die."
Ning Guang's voice was cold, her eyes carrying a deep disappointment.
Even now, with humanity in this state—how could someone still do something like this out of lust?
She shifted her gaze to the paper in her hand and read what was written there.
[Target Name: Liu Yongsheng]
[Ability: Unknown (suspected to be constitution-related)]
[Current Location: Ningcheng, Sishui Nianhua Bar]
Beyond this, there were notes speculating on the nature of Liu Yongsheng's ability, estimates of his strength, and a record of the crimes he had committed.
This wasn't the first time. Using his ability to coerce others, forcing them against their will. This time, it had resulted in death.
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