Human Genius? Sorry, I’m a Deviant Chapter 13
“Look, who is that?”
“Li Yuqin, who doesn’t know her at Third Middle School? Let me tell you quietly... the night before last, she invited her classmates to her birthday party...”
“Do you even need to mention that? But I heard afterward her family compensated the victims’ families. You know, normally she wouldn’t owe any compensation since the casualties were caused by Aberrants, but her family still paid. That’s some kindness.”
“And everyone at Third Middle School knows this too, right? She deliberately got close to Su Zhan before, but it was obvious she was just looking for a scapegoat. Now that Su Zhan got into trouble, I bet she’s hiding as far away as possible.”
Su Zhan ignored these comments and stared at the elegant figure beside the Awakening Pod.
Li Yuqin wore an ordinary school uniform, but her graceful and noble aura was unmistakable.
A technician in a white lab coat opened the Awakening Pod.
Li Yuqin took a deep breath and lay inside.
The pod door closed.
Suddenly, a string note resonated within the pod, causing the entire metal shell of the Awakening Pod to vibrate faintly.
The monitoring screen’s data jumped wildly before stabilizing:
【A-Rank Life Soul, Cloud Pattern Guzheng.】
Everyone was stunned.
“A-Rank Life Soul!”
“I hate the rich, wahhh...”
“This... Third Middle School hasn’t produced an A-Rank Life Soul in three years, and now Li Yuqin caught up.”
Su Zhan’s eyes brightened with newfound respect.
An A-Rank Life Soul at this level was truly rare.
The pod door opened.
A translucent guzheng ghost floated behind her, glowing pale white all over.
The instrument’s body was intricately carved with cloud patterns; twenty-one strings moved as if blown by the wind, though there was none.
In the stands, Li Yuqin’s father suddenly stood up.
A-Rank! If properly cultivated, this could make the Li family more than just wealthy in Jiang City!
Li Yuqin slowly opened her eyes and gently brushed the ghostly strings.
In the distance, a branch of a parasol tree suddenly snapped, the break smooth as a mirror.
Those classmates who had mocked her reliance on her family were now speechless.
“Feeling salty, huh? The rich even cheat at awakening, don’t they?”
“But Su Zhan is still her dark history.”
“Heard Su Zhan was suspected to be an Aberrant, and he ran away faster than anyone else?”
“Why wouldn’t he run? If I had to walk with Su Zhan every day, would you go?”
“Just for fun, if it’s about life safety, what’s wrong with that? If it were you, you wouldn’t be happy either.”
“Alright, enough about that. Do you think Su Zhan can awaken?”
“There’s been a lot of drama online about him and Doberman. I want to see who wins this time.”
As time passed,
It was almost Su Zhan’s turn.
The atmosphere reached its peak.
“Next up is Su Zhan...”
“Doberman already made a military pledge. If Su Zhan really awakens...”
“Which side are you on? Don’t trust the Aberrant Purge Division?”
“Don’t put a fancy hat on me. Does Doberman represent the Aberrant Purge Division?”
“Is this even a question? Suspected Aberrant. The odds are obvious, no need to say more.”
At the same time,
Reporters nearly pressed their microphones against Doberman’s chin as camera flashes popped.
“Captain Du... if Su Zhan really awakens successfully, will you admit your previous remarks were slander?”
Doberman smiled faintly: “I’ve answered this once before, and I’ll say it once more now.
Daxia law must be followed by all. If he truly awakens, that will prove my slander. Whatever responsibility I must bear, I will not evade it.”
On the playground,
Cold mechanical sounds echoed.
【Final calibration complete, student Su Zhan, please enter the Awakening Pod.】
Everyone’s eyes fixed on the figure in the school uniform.
The technician looked at Su Zhan with wary eyes, quietly stepping back half a pace, seemingly ready to flee at any moment.
Suspected Aberrant—such news could never come from thin air.
It was safer to believe it than dismiss it.
Su Zhan had long been immune to such looks.
Right now, the chance to prove his innocence was right before him.
Yet he showed no excitement.
First, he was indeed an Aberrant.
Second, Aberrants could not awaken Life Souls, as Doberman said—these were two completely different evolutionary paths.
Knowing the awakening result in advance left no room for hope or nervousness.
“Please.”
Seeing him hesitate, the technician made a gesture inviting him in.
Su Zhan snapped back to reality.
What was meant to come would come—there was no escape.
He stepped into the Awakening Pod, and the door closed.
A faint blue gas slowly sprayed out.
It enveloped his body, bringing a strange suffocating sensation.
What would happen next?
He closed his eyes as countless possibilities floated through his mind.
Darkness.
Endless darkness.
No sunrise, no sunset, only eternal flight.
Every footstep could be the approach of the Aberrant Purge Division.
Every shadow could conceal a bullet.
He would dare not show his true face, nor stay anywhere for more than one night.
His voice needed to change, fingerprints corroded, even his breathing rhythm deliberately altered.
Trust would cease to exist.
No one could be trusted.
He could not appear as himself.
The mask was no longer a disguise but a second layer of skin.
Wearing the mask for too long, it would slowly merge with flesh and blood, never to be removed.
Would such days ever end?
They would.
Either pierced through the heart by bullets from the pursuing Aberrant Purge Division,
Or driven mad by his own increasingly twisted mind.
No surrender until death!
What if he awakened successfully?
This absurd thought flashed suddenly.
Su Zhan nearly laughed out loud.
Impossible.
The Aberrant gene sequence was naturally incompatible with awakeners; this was a strict law in Daxia textbooks.
His existence was itself a mistake, a cursed branch on the evolutionary tree.
The gas completely enveloped his head.
Su Zhan suddenly felt a wave of relief.
Taking Doberman down with him before dying had become his only wish.
The next moment,
He tensed sharply.
No, this feeling was wrong.
His body became scorching hot.
It was a strange, indescribable sensation.
Tick-tock.
The ticking of a pocket watch sounded in his mind.
All the images that had appeared in his brain suddenly froze.
Like a paused movie film.
Tick-tock.
The burning sensation vanished abruptly, replaced by a weird sense of detachment.
It felt as if his soul was floating above the Awakening Pod,
Coldly looking down on his twisted body.
At the same time,
The monitoring screen’s data skyrocketed wildly, values breaking thresholds.
【Warning! Energy Overflow!】
【Life Soul Level: SSS】
【Life Soul: Time Abyss Eye】
The Awakening Pod burst open with a boom, an invisible ripple radiating outward centered on Su Zhan.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Floating above Su Zhan’s hand was an ancient pocket watch.
Its cover was carved with intricate time wheel patterns.
At the center of the watch, a vertical pupil slowly opened!
The golden iris looked like molten gold.
Majestic and mysterious.
The technician’s voice trembled: “SSS Rank! It’s SSS Rank! Daxia awakens fewer than ten SSS each year! Su Zhan, he is an SSS Rank Life Soul!”
The live stream comment section blanked out for two seconds before erupting like a volcano.
Did I see things??? SSS Rank?!
Time Abyss Eye! What the hell is that!?
Where’s Doberman? Show Doberman’s expression!!
On the high platform,
Doberman’s expression froze, the curve of his mouth stiffening, only the bulging veins on his temple twitching.
“Impossible...”
His voice was extremely soft, but it sounded like he was using all his strength.
That was the look of a hunter whose prey had escaped the cage.
Shock, fury.
And...
deepest of all, fear.