Naming Technique of the Night

Chapter 519 332. Test of the World

”There are no anomalies downstairs anymore, havenʼt seen any assassins,”

spoke Nan Gengchen in a low voice through the Bluetooth headset.

”No anomalies upstairs either,” followed Zhang Tianzhen, ”But I saw oil drums in a room on the 18th floor, it seems someone intentionally placed them there, I suspect there are more downstairs.”

”Hmm, Liu Dezhu and I will now come down to meet up with you. Tianzhen, you start heading downstairs too,” said Qing Chen.

Nan Gengchen said, ”Chen Brother, the fire below is already huge. It seems they want to burn us alive. Itʼs practically unbearable to go downstairs now.”

”Itʼs okay,” Qing Chen glanced at Liu Dezhu, then spoke into the Bluetooth headset, ”They donʼt know we have a C-Class Fire Element Awakener with us. Letʼs meet on the 9th floor.”

When the fire intensified, flames surged upward, incinerating everything in its path.

In such circumstances, the flames soared upward, making it impossible for anyone to pass through the flames below.

This might have been the Jindai killerʼs plan, if not killing the sniper, then burn him, no one could escape the building alive.

Qing Chenʼs expression had turned cold. The opposing side was too ruthless, considering there were thousands of office workers in the Borui Building, representing thousands of lives.

The opposition had also brought in oil drums.

If the fire wasnʼt stopped, everyone in the building would die.

While the crowd panicked towards the roof for safety, only Daytime members walked down unruffled, making the scene particularly eerie.

On the same staircase, left and right felt like distinctly separate worlds.

When Qing Chen reached the 9th floor, it was already filled with thick smoke, black smoke roiling along the ceiling like countless black faces screaming within.

They encountered no other assassins, everyone successfully convened on the 9th floor.

”Chen Brother, the smoke is too thick, we canʼt get through,” said Nan Gengchen.

Liu Dezhu also looked at Qing Chen, ”I can absorb heat, but I canʼt handle this smoke.”

Zhang Tianzhen looked at Qing Chen, but he didnʼt question him like the others.

Qing Chen looked at Zhang Tianzhen, ”Donʼt you want to ask something?”

”No need to ask, you asked us to come down here, so you must have a plan,” Zhang Tianzhen didnʼt know why he had such an inexplicable trust in Qing Chen.

Qing Chen said to Liu Dezhu, ”Open the toolbox I asked you to carry.”

Liu Dezhu was stunned for a moment. After opening the box, he was shocked to find it contained eight dust masks, which in thick smoke could last half an hour.

Zhang Tianzhen and the others were surprised, ”Did you guess in advance they would set the fire? And having Liu Dezhu carry a bomb disposal kit next to you, did you anticipate that too?”

Qing Chen corrected, ”The boss thought of it.”

But this time, Zhang Tianzhen began to doubt.

Not for any other reason, but because Qing Chen was too calm.

Only someone truly strategizing could display such calmness.

At that moment, Qing Chen glanced at them and said, ”Before the battle begins, no one can predict what the assassin will do or what price they are willing to pay, so itʼs always right to be extra prepared.”

He continued, ”This world never tests for what youʼve prepared, but for what you havenʼt.”

Being unprepared could mean death.

After speaking, Qing Chen put on the smoke hood, leading everyone toward the fire.

Liu Dezhu walked at the forefront, and suddenly, all the heat began to concentrate on him. It seemed as if the flames came to life, like dragons, diving into his fiery body.

Wherever he passed, the flames were quickly extinguished, leaving only the scorched traces on the ground.

The three behind him watched in amazement, even Qing Chen felt it was miraculous.

If Cultivators are inherently meant for battle, then Awakeners are inherently meant to amaze.

The capabilities of an Awakener are too bizarre and novel, eliciting unavoidable envy.

As Daytime members descended the building, the fire had just reached the 6th floor.

Liu Dezhu laboriously absorbed the flames into his body, taking over twenty minutes to extinguish all the flames.

Moreover, after the heat from the burning area was absorbed, the temperature throughout the building dropped significantly.

So much so, it felt cold.

Qing Chen suddenly thought, are Fire Awakened basically manipulators of energy, rather than just manipulators of flames?

The designation ʼFire Awakenedʼ he had been mislead by from the Inner World had not prompted much thought until now, making him realize how absurdly wrong this terminology was.

Burning is merely an intense redox reaction of a substance, and flames are just the manifestation of burning. Energy is the essence.

Since most phenomena related to releasing energy are associated with flames, and because itʼs most convenient for Awakeners to use flames as their ability, they are called ʼFire Awakened.ʼ

But this term isnʼt scientific, at least not pointing to the essence.

Qing Chen started to take it seriously.

In fact, when Liu Dezhu was defusing a bomb, Qing Chen thought, the essence of an explosion is a substance erupting with massive energy, and what Liu Dezhu absorbed into his body was actually energy as well.

Thinking this, Qing Chen looked at Liu Dezhu and asked, ”Do you feel like you have the ability to control energies, like electromagnetic or mechanical energy?”

”No, I can only transform some energy in my body into heat and release it. I can also absorb heat. The bomb was defused because I absorbed the heat before the explosives could fully combust, but before it ignited, my sensing was very weak,” Liu Dezhu explained.