BXBX NOVEL Chapter 94: Leech
Chapter 94: Leech
Adam\'s loud cries finally attracted the attention of the majority of people around him, and all of the school administrators and adapters who were maintaining order gathered around him, asking him why there was suddenly a change of plans.
"What\'s going on?"
"Why can\'t we go to the lake?"
"It\'s dangerous over there!" Adam reiterated. "The psychic mutants are lurking underwater!"
Adam took a glance at the representative the southern congress as he spoke, and the representative was avoiding his gaze slightly, but that still wasn\'t enough to serve as definitive proof of guilt.
Upon noticing Adam\'s intrusive gaze, he immediately put on a calm fa?ade before asking, "How do you know there are psychic mutants underwater?"
Adam scrambled momentarily for a justification before making one up on the spot.
"My special ability allowed me to detect them!"
"Really? Have any of you felt anything off? We\'re still quite a distance away from the lake. Even for someone with exceptional telegnosis, surely it\'d be very difficult to detect anything. I have to say, your claims are a little suspicious." Orster was also speaking up now, and she immediately sided with the representative from the southern congress. "We were patrolling the same level of the school building, and he never left the building the entire time. I reckon he\'s just feeling insecure as a young student among all of us seasoned adapters, and he\'s making up this story to draw some attention to himself."
"I know we don\'t really see eye-to-eye with each other, but have you considered the consequences of outright dismissing me like this?" Adam\'s temper was also beginning to flare up in the face of Orster\'s obnoxious arrogance. "Are you going to risk the lives of so many people just to spite me?"
"I agree with Adam." Shi Feng of the northern congress also joined in on the conversation, and he was siding with Adam. "It may be a little cramped over here, but there\'s still enough room for everyone. Even if Adam\'s claims are a little contentious, we should still err on the side of caution, seeing as the lives of so many students are on the line, wouldn\'t you agree?"
"But it\'s way easier to hide people in the school building, and they\'ll have a vantage point now that we\'re on the ground level. Hey! What are you filming for?"
The representative of the southern congress was just about to raise her opinion when she noticed a steam-powered robot adapter hiding at the back of the group, filming her with a piece of special equipment.
"I\'m just keeping some records of what\'s happening here," Hook explained as he continued to film without pause.
With a camera trained on her, the representative of the southern congress didn\'t speak any further, and as a result, Orster was also left high and dry without any support, unsure of how to proceed.
Thus, Shi Feng suggested, "If we want to know what\'s happening, then all we need to do is send out a scout. I have to stay here to protect the students. Who wants to go and scout out the lake?"
"..."
His question was met with silence from everyone.
Adam definitely didn\'t want to go. He was certain that there was danger afoot there, and he had witnessed the power of psychic mutants before. They were adapters who had fused as one with their emotional anomalies, and the ones in question had been locked up in a maximum security asylum before their escape. No matter how one looked at it, they had to be far more powerful than the average adapter.
He was no match for them, and he didn\'t have a death wish.
"Why\'s no one saying anything? Wasn\'t that old hag over there really convinced that there\'s no danger beside the lake?" Shae said in a goading voice to break the silence. "What? You don\'t even believe yourself now? All you do is run your mouth, but you can\'t back it up? Didn\'t you say that we\'re just a bunch of useless students? Surely you can\'t expect our incompetent selves to scout out the lake!"
"No way, surely she\'s not that spineless! Didn\'t you see how arrogant she was when she was talking trash earlier? Why is she suddenly such a coward when it\'s time to put her money where her mouth is? Is this what everyone in the Psychic Church is like? Also, if I recall correctly, didn\'t these psychic mutants escape due to your Psychic Church\'s negligence? Are you hoping for others to clean up your mess for you because you\'re too scared to do it yourself? If you\'re that shameless, then your skin really is as thick as your ass!"
Orster was furious to hear this, and she immediately opened her mouth to retaliate, only to be interrupted by Shae again.
"Are you just going to keep bickering with a bunch of incompetent students like us? There are so many people watching, why don\'t you show us what you\'ve got?"
"Fine, I\'ll scout out the lake!"
Orster was so enraged that her psychic body was warping slightly, and she didn\'t hesitate any longer as she immediately made her way toward the Mirror Lake.
The school building was roughly 800 to 900 meters away from the Mirror Lake, and Orster strode directly toward the lake after departing from the group.
After reaching the lake, she examined the entire shore of the lake, but didn\'t discover anything amiss.
"There\'s nothing here!" she yelled from the lake. "What did I tell you? It\'s perfectly safe over here! Continue with the original plan!"
"What do you think, Adam?" Shi Feng asked as he approached Adam. "Are you sure there are psychic mutants hiding there?"
Shi Feng was speaking very quietly in a voice that was reserved for close allies. He wanted to know if Adam was just doing this to prove a point, or if he actually felt like there was danger afoot by the lake.
"I\'m almost certain there are psychic mutants in the lake. Even if that\'s not the case, all we have to do is stay here and stall for a while. A lot of time has already passed, and the psychic mutants can\'t afford to wait much longer. Let\'s just stall for a few more minutes, and they\'ll be forced to strike sooner rather than later."
While Adam and Shi Feng were quietly conversing with one another, they were approached by the representative of the southern congress.
"There are no issues with the lake. Let\'s proceed as normal."
"We still haven\'t checked underwater yet!" After hearing what Adam had to say, Shi Feng immediately began employing stall tactics. "We need to examine the entirety of the lake to be sure, not just the shore. Only after confirming that it\'s safe there can we proceed as normal."
"Everyone is way too densely packed here! If we get attacked now, we\'re definitely going to suffer severe casualties. Everyone, listen to me and continue toward the lake!"
The representative of the southern congress was trying to sway everyone to her side, but at this crucial juncture, all of the teachers turned to the principal, Zhou Tan, for his opinion on the matter.
As teachers of the school, there was no need for them to follow the instructions of any outsiders. They shared no personal ties or superior-subordinate relations with these adapters, so they naturally turned to the principal for instructions on how to proceed.
As for the students, they had no opinion of their own. The average age of these students was only eight years old, and in their eyes, their teachers held absolute authority. Aside from their teachers, they didn\'t follow anyone else\'s instructions.
"Look at this situation right now, Principal Zhou. With so many children packed so tightly in one place, if an explosion takes place now, the consequences will be catastrophic!"
The representative of the southern congress was beginning to apply pressure to Zhou Tan.
"Let\'s just wait for a few more minutes. A few minutes isn\'t going to change anything. I still say it\'s better to err on the side of caution given what\'s at stake here."
Shi Feng\'s voice rang out to oppose the representative of the southern congress, and his opinion clearly held more weight than one that was raised by a student like Adam.
Just like Shi Feng said, it was only a few minutes, and Zhou Tan could afford to wait out that duration before making a decision.
"Everyone, remain where you are. Teachers, make sure to keep a close eye on your students and ensure everything remains in order..."
As soon as Zhou Tan\'s voice trailed off, a resounding boom suddenly rang out from the Mirror Lake.
Perhaps the psychic mutants lurking in the lake had heard the decision that was being made, or they had simply run out of patience. In any case, they sprang up from the lakebed and out into the open.
The psychic mutant was in the form of a massive leech-like monster, and it was clear just from the degree of mutation that they had undergone that they were far more powerful than Mice King.
Not only did the leech possess no humanoid traits, it was far more massive than the average person as well.
As soon as the giant leech monster appeared, it immediately opened the mouthpart on the top of its head, releasing a tongue that was as sharp as a sword.
The tongue shot out at an extremely alarming speed. In fact, this was the fastest attack that Adam had ever seen, and all he saw was a blur flash past his eyes before Orster\'s chest was completely pierced through, leaving a massive gaping hole.
She didn\'t even get a chance to attack before she was killed on the spot.