Chapter 471 - 467: Xiao Gu Has a Witness
Chapter 471: Chapter 467: Xiao Gu Has a Witness
"Mom." Xie Ning squeezed her mother’s hand, smiling broadly. "There’s really no need to be so intentional about it."
"From now on, we can just treat them like strangers. No need to pay them any mind."
"Easy for you to say." Song You’ai looked at her daughter, her heart aching for her. "Back then, you must have been hurting more than anyone, yet you refused to tell us anything."
"Sigh, forget it. It’s all in the past." Song You’ai’s expression then brightened into a wide smile. "Now that Xiao Gu is by your side, Mom can rest a lot easier."
Xie Ning really didn’t want to call out her mother, but after holding it in for a moment, she couldn’t resist. "Mom... about Xiao Gu. Did you know he’s hiding something from us?"
"What?" Song You’ai couldn’t hide her curiosity.
"He has a Dual Superpower. You didn’t know that, did you?" Xie Ning muttered in a low voice. "I’m only telling you, but in short, he’s not that reliable either."
Song You’ai nearly broke into a smile. She patted her daughter’s hand gently. "Well, Mom has a little secret for you too. Xiao Gu already talked to me privately about his Dual Superpower, even complained about it."
Xie Ning’s eyes flew wide. She was genuinely shocked!
"When?"
"A while ago, I think." Song You’ai racked her brain. "I don’t remember exactly when, but he definitely mentioned it to me."
"Then why didn’t I...?" Xie Ning nearly shot up from her stool.
"Calm down, calm down." Song You’ai patted her daughter’s hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Xiao Gu was just looking for an elder’s advice, that’s all."
"And me? Where was I?"
"You... you were probably busy in the... you know, the Space." Song You’ai waved her hand dismissively. "It’s not a big deal. Besides, that weird superpower of his is difficult to use, so you have no reason to be jealous, alright?"
Xie Ning gave her mother a wry look.
"Mom, whose mother are you, anyway?"
’And she tells me not to be jealous... Pfft! I’m a Three-System Superpower User who can call the wind and rain. Why would I be jealous of him? Hmph.’
’To put it bluntly, Xiao Gu is just a Dual System. He’s still leagues behind me, hmph!’
Song You’ai watched the myriad of expressions flit across her daughter’s face, trying hard to suppress her laughter. "Ningning, let me tell you, Xiao Gu’s second superpower is completely useless."
’Useless? But its Superpower Rank score was two points higher than mine?’ Xie Ning was still hung up on that.
"What two points?" Song You’ai didn’t understand.
Xie Ning’s face was a taut mask. "First, you tell me what the superpower is."
’I’d like to hear for myself just how useless it is.’
’How can something useless be so ridiculously overpowered that its overall score is actually higher than mine?’
’Pah! That moron of a system must have graded it wrong.’
"I don’t know," Song You’ai said, pulling two bottles of a calcium milk drink from her bag and handing one to her daughter.
"Let me tell you, sweetie, Xiao Gu’s superpower is really not as good as yours." Song You’ai took a sip and emphatically tried to convince her daughter. "No matter how strong that superpower is, it’s useless. It’s just not practical at all."
"What do you mean?" Xie Ning also took a sip of her milk drink, her curiosity completely piqued by her mother.
"Oh, it’s hard for me to explain. When Xiao Gu told me about it, he was rambling and couldn’t articulate it clearly at all."
Xie Ning deadpanned.
’She’d never seen the suave Young Master Gu be anything but articulate...’
"Okay, okay, this is what he said. Just listen."
"Aunt Song, the second superpower I awakened is incredibly weird, like there’s something seriously wrong with it. I don’t think it’s a superpower at all; it’s a disaster. What should I do? You can’t tell Ningning about this, okay? What if she finds me disgusting and leaves me? Aunt Song, you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone."
Xie Ning’s mouth twitched. "Mom, can you get to the point?"
Song You’ai smacked her lips. "Honestly, child. Xiao Gu just went on and on like that. I’m already giving you the important parts. Be patient."
"I’m telling you, the kid looked so distressed back then. I had to comfort him for a long time."
"So, did you see him use the superpower?"
"No, no." Song You’ai waved her hands frantically, her face twisting into a pained, fearful expression.
"I asked him to show me, and he made this exact panicked face." Song You’ai pulled her eyebrows down. "This exact expression."
Xie Ning almost burst out laughing.
"He kept insisting I not tell you, or you’d definitely find him disgusting," Song You’ai said, exasperated. "I told him Ningning wouldn’t be so shallow."
"So what exactly is this superpower that’s giving him so much trouble?"
"That’s the thing, I don’t know!" Song You’ai threw up her hands with a comical expression. "He talked for ages. It felt like he said everything and nothing all at once! I couldn’t figure out what on earth he was trying to say with all his jumbled, vague talk!"
"Looking at it now, that little rascal was just giving me a heads-up in advance!" Song You’ai slapped her thigh as realization dawned.
Xie Ning stifled a laugh and nodded. "Exactly. Now that the secret’s out, he has Mom to bear witness that he already came to you to confess. He can prove he wasn’t intentionally deceiving us."
Song You’ai was both amused and exasperated. "Ningning, don’t be too hard on him. Find some time to have a proper talk with him later."
"It seems that second awakened superpower of his is causing him a lot of distress, too, right? Why else would he be so tormented by it?"
Xie Ning truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
’So Xiao Gu anticipated I’d notice something was off about him, which is why he went to Mom first to secure a witness.’
"I’ll talk to him later. First, we need to deal with the matter of the parasitic Alien Species."
Song You’ai nodded repeatedly. "Oh my, that parasitic... Alien Species... just hearing the bizarre name is enough to give me goosebumps."
"Actually, Mom, these Alien Species might be even more formidable than Evolved People."
"Evolved People?"
"It’s the X Realm’s general term for Superpower Users."
"Oh, I see." Song You’ai nodded, only half-understanding. "Now that we all have our linked wristbands, can you send a copy of that information on the X Realm to our team’s group chat?"
"I think it’s essential for all of us to familiarize ourselves with the basic information about this X Realm."
’That way, when a fight breaks out, we’ll at least know our enemy and won’t hold our daughter back.’
"Okay!" Xie Ning nodded, tapping open a holographic screen to transfer the files on the X Realm.
’It was, of course, a good thing that her family was being proactive and wanted to learn more about the X Realm.’
’After all, there was no harm in being well-informed.’
「Meanwhile」
Gu Chen convened an emergency meeting with Lu Wei and the others to announce the sudden development.
His gaze swept over everyone’s face, his expression grim. "To be fair, we’ll start with our own Team A. You will all be scanned by Captain Xie, one by one."
"Yes, Captain!" everyone agreed without objection, their voices booming in unison.
Gu Chen had already scanned the expressions on his teammates’ faces.