And now, as he converted it to his own body, it remained invisible.
But because of this, the process became slow and strenuous. The previous time he helped An Xiaoran, controlling the Fire Element was challenging due to it not being his own body, leading to significant consumption.
By this point, he was finding it hard to hold on. The toxins in his body hadn’t been completely expelled, and he could only grit his teeth, hoping the Fire Element within would fully expel the toxins before being completely exhausted.
For over half an hour, Lin Beichen’s abdomen continuously exuded gray-black sweat. His clothes were drenched to the point where they could be wrung out, and fog swirled among his hair.
The Fire Element ran back and forth through his intestines, generating high energy to remove the toxins, which were expelled from his body through metabolism and sweat.
From the outside, Lin Beichen appeared motionless in his meditation. But internally, the dense Fire Element roamed through his body in a controlled pattern.
However, toward the end, this Fire Element gradually thinned until it completely disappeared.
Lin Beichen slowly opened his eyes. At this moment, even someone as powerful as him felt incredibly weak, with no strength left in his body.
Moreover, his mouth was particularly dry, as the body’s fluids had long been expelled, leaving him dehydrated.
As Lin Beichen opened his eyes from meditation and restored his vision, he found An Xiaoran’s face right before him, blinking her eyes as she stared at him.
"You’re awake?"
"Are you okay? Want me to call an emergency number?"
"Do you really have Inner Strength? Speak up!"
"Are you very thirsty?"
"Yes!"
An Xiaoran fired off a series of questions, but Lin Beichen had no time to respond except for nodding at the last one.
"Here’s some water, but first answer my questions!"
An Xiaoran looked resolute, having anticipated that Lin Beichen would experience what he went through upon waking. She prepared drinking water for him in advance, using her last bit of strength.
Lin Beichen glared at her. He wanted to get up but gave up after several attempts.
Perhaps if he had simply expelled the toxins from his own body, it wouldn’t have depleted the Fire Element, and his physical strength wouldn’t be exhausted.
"If I hadn’t just helped you expel those toxins, or if I had been selfish and helped myself first before coming back to help you, you might already be dead. If not dead, your organs would have failed, leaving permanent damage."
"And now you still want to make a deal with me?"
"You... I... Forget it, just don’t die of thirst!"
Faced with Lin Beichen’s barrage of questions, An Xiaoran had no reason to rebut, so she handed him the water.
Lin Beichen took the cup and drank it all in one go, letting out a rare sigh of relief before lying down on the carpet.
He had never felt so weak, which terrified him.
Standing up was extremely difficult.
And this was only the first day in Atlantis, where he had already encountered a series of events.
First, the bus’s four brake pads inexplicably broke, then he was delivered a whole roast duck from the Imperial Capital with dishes suited to his taste, and finally, he was poisoned.
An Xiaoran had inadvertently joined in, sharing the roast duck, which meant he had to expend a lot of Fire Element to help her expel her body toxins.
Upon reflection, it was clear that someone in Atlantis was targeting him, wanting him dead!
But who could it be?
"Move over, give me some of the carpet!"
"What are you doing?"
"Men and women should not be in close proximity. Are you going to sleep here with me at night?"
"Go back to your own room!"
An Xiaoran looked at the only piece of carpet Lin Beichen was lying on, which still had a cushion that could be used as a pillow. Naturally, she wouldn’t choose to lie on the bare floor.
"Do you think I want to? My limbs have no strength, and my last bit of energy was used up bringing you water."
"I don’t care, just move over a bit!"
"You can’t seriously... You can’t seriously make a girl sleep on the floor, can you? It’s easy to catch a cold and get damp. What if I get sick or develop rheumatism?"
An Xiaoran’s eyes started to blur, her tone filled with grievance. She held back her tears.
She had never been rejected like this since childhood. She had never been in a room with a boy late at night, competing for a small piece of carpet...
She was considered one of the campus beauties, with people chasing after her enough to fill a bus.
Her family was well-off, owning several properties in the Imperial Capital. Her father did business in Atlantis. She had never faced such coldness.
"Alright, alright, my bad, my bad."
"Here, the cushion’s for you too."
Lin Beichen saw her blinking, almost tearing up. He couldn’t stand this kind of pure girl being wronged.
Using the last of his strength, he turned over, making a bit of space for her.
"One rule: no one mentions what happened tonight, ever!"
"Who cares!"
"No, not only tomorrow, but we also never mention it again. Pretend it never happened."
"Sleep or not? If not, give me back the cushion."
"Sleeping, sleeping..."
...
...
In an imposing skyscraper in Atlantis.
"Hei Yi, are you sure the poison you gave him can kill him?"
"It’s not a poison, but a synthetic chemical."
"Colorless, tasteless, it corrodes the stomach, and makes limbs weak. It will cause a painful death without the strength to even walk out the door!"
"No one has survived this substance!"
In Griffin’s office, he conversed with a slim woman in black tight-fitting clothes.
Griffin had great faith in Hei Yi’s abilities. She had carried out many missions with zero mistakes and was well-liked.
She was one of his most prized disciples.
"How will you know if he ate your food?"
"I inquired with those computer guys in the hall before we left and learned about his preferences."
"Tonight, there’s no need to sneak in, to avoid leaving any trace. Just wait till tomorrow and see the medical staff carrying out his corpse with a white sheet. Then you’ll know the mission is accomplished."
Griffin nodded in satisfaction.
Poisoning was better for it didn’t involve indiscriminate killing or risk causing conflict between the two countries.
It was easy to administer and hard to guard against.
Even if he was a Superpower User, able to withstand bullets and possessing superior combat skills, it wouldn’t matter if you attacked from within, destroying his organs.
Every person has weaknesses; he couldn’t believe Lin Beichen wouldn’t die!
The night dragged on.
Many slept soundly; some stayed up, watching the night scene.
Griffin was among the latter.
The chance of capturing Lin Beichen alive was very small and would risk exposure.
Killing him and presenting the corpse was his final bottom line.
He silently awaited dawn, eager to see medics carrying Lin Beichen’s corpse out with a white sheet.
That scene played countless times in Griffin’s mind that night.
Finally, the sun rose as usual.
A ray of sunlight shone through the floor-to-ceiling window, hitting Griffin’s face.
He lifted his head and stared out the window, lighting a cigar and taking a heavy drag.
At that moment, Hei Yi walked in, handing him a steaming cup of milk.
She placed it on the desk, then started typing on the keyboard of Griffin’s desk, opening security camera footage of Lin Beichen’s hotel corridor on the second floor.
For a professional assassin, hacking into a hotel’s security cameras was child’s play, and they could do it without leaving a trace.
"Mr. Griffin, why don’t you rest? The cameras will record everything. I’ll call you when there’s an outcome!"
"No, I want to witness that moment myself."
Griffin declined Hei Yi’s offer.
He took a drag of his cigar, calculating in his mind how to respond if Lin Beichen’s autopsy revealed evidence of Superhumans in the Great Xia Kingdom.
Unbeknownst to him, Lin Beichen slept very comfortably in his room.
The night’s chill caused the two of them to unconsciously huddle together for warmth.
With only one cushion for a pillow, Lin Beichen had pulled An Xiaoran’s arm over for his head.
As a ray of sunlight came in through the window.
An Xiaoran woke up first. The sharp pain of a thousand ants gnawing at her arm roused her from sleep.
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