“But even with my excellent eyesight, I couldn’t see clearly what flew past the porthole. However, I’m certain it wasn’t poultry, because it didn’t have wings and it wasn’t a missile. I think it must be a living creature… Oh right, I know what it is!!” Chen Jiaxuan said, then suddenly shouted excitedly as if she had thought of something.
"What is it?" the three asked in unison. Even Su Bingyan, who had been indifferent, became curious, thinking to herself, "When did this mischievous girl develop such keen observation skills?"
"They're aliens!" Chen Jiaxuan announced loudly.
"..."
If it weren't for concerns about their image, the three of them would have been tempted to pounce on him.
Xia Tian frowned and said to Li Lingling, "What do you think it could be? A living thing or a weapon?"
Li Lingling pondered for a moment: "The latter possibility is unlikely. If the Americans were testing a secret weapon, it shouldn't be here. Moreover, as far as I know, no missile test has ever exceeded 3,000 meters in altitude, unless it's a launch into outer space. We departed from Los Angeles at a speed of 803.2 kilometers per hour. Subtracting the wind resistance of 5.3, our current location should be..." She clearly and concisely recited a whole bunch of astonishing data. Her mental calculation ability left the three people dumbfounded and amazed, like a supercomputer performing a live demonstration. The final conclusion was that they were currently in the area above the forests of Seattle.
Chen Jiaxuan glanced out the porthole and her eyes lit up. She exclaimed, "Absolutely perfect! Lingling, you're amazing!"
Li Lingling smiled slightly, thinking that this was nothing. In the financial field, calculating the cumulative effects of countless leveraged financial derivatives was truly complex. However, compared to her own intellect, this was still simple. The girl's talent allowed her to become an expert in any field, even the most difficult ones, after just one try.
Thinking of her own special talent, Lingling's heart stirred slightly. She suddenly recalled the scene from high school when Lingyun first demonstrated his abilities to save her. Back then, she was just an ordinary pretty girl, far less beautiful and intelligent than she was now. It was then that the girl's heart was firmly tied to the boy.
Li Lingling only discovered her special ability after enrolling in school. However, this ability was different from Lingyun's. It had a slow transition process, gradually transforming her from an ordinary girl into a stunningly beautiful woman. Although this change surprised Lingling, it also caused her inexplicable panic because she did not know where the change came from and was very uncomfortable at first.
Fortunately, her superpowers changed not only her appearance but also her mind. Through her amateur study of biology and genetics, she deduced that her changes should come from some strange external force. However, Li Lingling's life had been smooth sailing, and apart from that tomb adventure, she had no other experiences. So, after calming down, she deduced that the tomb adventure must have been the main reason for her changes.
The reason is still unclear. Ling Yun should know the whole story, but he only rescued her without explaining the matter of the spirit entering her body and dissipating. In fact, even if Ling Yun had explained it, Li Lingling wouldn't have understood. Moreover, the two haven't seen each other since starting university, so Li Lingling has no way to verify anything. She can only gradually adapt to her changes. Fortunately, after gaining superpowers, her views and worldview have changed; otherwise, she would truly be at a loss.
This situation only improved after Zhang Yunfeng met Xia Tian. Hearing that she was Ling Yun's classmate, Xia Tian treated this icy little sister very well. To his surprise, Li Lingling was also an acquired superhuman. So Xia Tian slowly guided her until she became a qualified superhuman with a mental field and taught her all sorts of knowledge.
To Xia Tian's surprise, Li Lingling didn't show any obvious preference in terms of strength. Apart from psychic fields and ice-related supernatural arts like ice magic, she only reacted moderately to other supernatural arts. However, she had an extremely high talent for learning and comprehension. No matter how complex the subject or calculation, she could handle it properly and provide accurate answers. This puzzled Xia Tian. Supernatural abilities almost invariably manifested as physical strength, with intelligence being secondary. But he had never encountered someone like Li Lingling who valued literature over martial arts before.
In fact, if it weren't for the busy international affairs, Xia Tian would have already wanted to take Li Lingling back to the Superpower Headquarters for the instructors to evaluate her. In a sense, Li Lingling is a completely different type of superpower user, but her usefulness is no less than that of a strength-type superpower user. It's just that the Sihai Group is a waste of her talent. If she were to be the controller of the SkyNet at the Superpower Headquarters, it wouldn't be impossible for her talent to more than double its power. This would be a great thing that would benefit all superpower users.
Of course, Xia Tian also had his own selfish motives. Li Lingling's help to his career was self-evident. With Li Lingling, Xia Tian didn't have to worry about expanding overseas markets or international currency wars. He only needed to make decisions on the general direction, and Li Lingling would handle everything in an orderly manner. Such a talent was far more valuable than money itself.
"Anything is fine, it's all contributing to headquarters," the unscrupulous man thought, and thus felt at ease keeping Lingling by his side. For Li Lingling, it didn't matter what she did, as long as she didn't have to think about that heartless guy...
Looking at Xia Tian and Li Lingling's focused expressions, Su Bingyan suddenly realized something. Recalling the time Ling Yun saved her in the factory, Su Bingyan suddenly understood. These two people were probably like Ling Yun; no wonder she had that feeling. Perhaps there really was a group of people in this world unknown to her, possessing power far exceeding that of ordinary people. It seemed that was true; Ling Yun was one of those people.
A bitter feeling suddenly rose in Su Bingyan's heart. Ling Yun hadn't told her his secret. Although she knew that Ling Yun did it for her own good, and that it was better not to know some things than to know them, the fact that she couldn't enter his world still made the girl feel sad.
"I'd rather it were a weapon. If it weren't, we might be being targeted by some powerful being," Xia Tian said with a wry smile. As a superhuman, he was very sensitive to supernatural phenomena. What seemed absurd and abnormal could actually have different explanations in the eyes of a superhuman.
"You must be a special group of people?" After thinking for a moment, Su Bingyan still chose to ask, even though it was impolite. However, in order to understand the lifestyle of people like Ling Yun, Su Bingyan couldn't care less.
Li Lingling and Xia Tian exchanged a glance. They naturally knew what Su Bingyan meant by asking the question. Although they could tell that Su Bingyan was no ordinary girl and had probably experienced many incredible adventures, and should be considered among the top level of ordinary people, she was still far from the world of superhumans. In fact, there was a huge gap between superhumans and ordinary people, a gap that was insurmountable. Even the lowest level of superhumans still had a huge advantage over the strongest ordinary people.
Summer was quite interested in this aloof and beautiful girl, and asked with a smile, "What kind of special person are you referring to?"
Su Bingyan remained silent for a while before saying, "You should know that I inquired about something unintentionally, but I have a friend I haven't seen in a long time. He should be the same kind of person as you, so I really want to understand your world."
Chen Jiaxuan looked at Su Bingyan in surprise: "Bingyan, do you know who Xia Tian and Lingling are? What's so special about them? I don't see it. But Lingling, your skin is really fair. Do you have any secrets?" As she spoke, she grabbed Li Lingling's small hand and examined it, occasionally making sounds of admiration.
"Your friend?" Xia Tian quickly interrupted, "What's his name? If he's also Chinese, I think I should have heard of him." This was true; the Xia family had extensive connections and, while they couldn't say they were familiar with all the superhumans in the country, they were basically familiar with them all.
After thinking for a moment, Su Bingyan finally spoke the name she had longed for: "His name is Ling Yun. Do you know him?"
"Ling Yun!" Xia Tian and Li Lingling stood up involuntarily and exclaimed, "You know someone named Ling Yun?"
Seeing the two's shock, Su Bingyan and Chen Jiaxuan couldn't help but stand up as well: "Yes, his name is Ling Yun. You know him too?" A surge of joy welled up in Su Bingyan's heart. What a small world! If the two people in front of her also knew Ling Yun, then they might know where he was right now.
"Is the Ling Yun you know an ordinary-looking boy who is a bit introverted and doesn't talk much, and a student at Jinghua University?" To avoid having the same name as someone else, Lingling asked cautiously. Ling Yun is a very common name, and there might be other people with the same ability.
“Yes, yes, I was his college classmate. You know him too? That’s great! Do you know where he is now?” Su Bingyan said excitedly, overjoyed. She never expected that Ling Yun would know a senior executive of Sihai Group. This trip to the United States was truly worthwhile.
Li Lingling stared blankly at Su Bingyan, unconsciously biting her lip. Judging from the girl's ecstatic expression upon hearing Ling Yun's name, she was clearly another girl deeply in love with him. A pang of jealousy suddenly welled up in Li Lingling's heart. She had thought that after she became beautiful, Ling Yun might fall for her again.
But now... it seems that every girl who likes Lingyun is not ugly. What about Xia Zhen... Lingling had seen her picture before. She was also a beautiful elf. Thinking of this, Lingling's heart tightened again.
Seeing Lingling's expression, Su Bingyan immediately understood. She shook her head at Lingling with a wry smile: "Lingling, don't misunderstand. I... am just his friend and classmate. He once saved my life, so I care about him and want to know how he is now. That's enough for me."
Lingling forced a smile: "I didn't misunderstand. I'm also his classmate and friend. He once saved my life. Just like you care about him, I just want to know how he is now, whether he's doing well. It's just that we don't know where he is or what he's doing either."
Xia Tian exchanged a knowing glance with Chen Jiaxuan, then pursed her lips at the two heartbroken girls, as if they were two love rivals confiding in each other after a breakup.
"Ahem!" Xia Tian coughed lightly, about to say something, when his expression suddenly changed and he looked towards the back of the cabin.
Chapter 396: Vampire Viscount
"What's wrong, Brother Xia Tian!" Li Lingling immediately noticed Xia Tian's unusual behavior and stood up to ask. Su Bingyan and Chen Jiaxuan, seeing this, also stood up, not knowing what had happened.
Chen Feng and Zhao Yu removed their earpieces, straightened their posture, and focused intently on Xia Tian's direction. They were senior executives of the Sihai Group, but also Xia Tian's bodyguards. Although the bodyguards' abilities were far inferior to those of the person they protected, this did not prevent them from being responsible for their duties. In fact, their bodyguard duties extended to a great extent; many things did not require the boss's personal intervention, and only the bodyguards could handle them.
Xia Tian smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It's alright, you two chat, I'll go check." He then got up and headed towards the back cabin. He didn't want to tell Li Lingling what he had sensed. Although Li Lingling was also a superhuman, superhumans had different talents, leading to different achievements. Lingling's talent was clearly concentrated in her intellect, while her physical strength was pitifully weak. Such talent was a significant disadvantage in the world of superhumans, which was why Xia Tian was very protective of this icy little sister.
Of course, Lingling is also very well-behaved and ambitious. In fact, Lingling has changed a lot and is no longer the proud little beauty she used to be.
Su Bingyan was surprised to find that although Xia Tian's movements were extremely fast, they were completely silent. If you closed your eyes, you wouldn't be able to sense his presence at all. Although he didn't directly admit to being the special person, his actions undoubtedly revealed the problem, and Su Bingyan became even more convinced of her judgment.
Li Ling glanced at Xia Tian, a slight worry creeping into her heart. But if Xia Tian couldn't solve the problem, then she certainly couldn't. After a moment's thought, she shifted her gaze to Su Bingyan. This girl actually knew Ling Yun and had even been saved by him—almost exactly like her own experience. Could it be that she, too, had fallen for Ling Yun in the same way? Lingling suddenly felt a strong curiosity about Su Bingyan.
She looked at Su Bingyan, who happened to be looking at her too. Both girls wore wry smiles, and their shared experiences suddenly drew them closer. Both girls were eager to know what the other had done with Ling Yun, and to what extent. However, neither was comfortable asking, so they simply smiled politely and exchanged innocuous remarks.
"Lingling, do you also like that guy Lingyun? I can tell from your hesitant look! Sigh, just like Bingyan." Seeing the two girls' hesitation, Chen Jiaxuan became anxious for them and nodded directly to Lingling. "You two are both so infatuated, liking the wrong person. How small is the world? Everyone seems to like that guy Lingyun. It's driving me crazy. If that kid knew, he'd be ecstatic. It's so boring, so incredibly boring."
Her words immediately made the two girls blush deeply. It wasn't that they were embarrassed because their crushes had been exposed, but rather that their unspoken agreement had been revealed, making them feel somewhat awkward. However, they noticed a different message in Chen Jiaxuan's words, and forgetting their reserve, they asked in unison: "A lot of people like him? Who else?"
Chen Jiaxuan smiled at the two girls who looked expectant: "Well, I now know that you two have a crush on him, as well as Xia Zhen, the campus belle of Jinghua University, and Yuqi, one of the four beauties. I also heard that Lin Naimei and a girl from the English department are getting along really well with him..."
Chen Jiaxuan, completely disregarding the increasingly unpleasant expressions on the two women's faces, continued talking with increasing enthusiasm, making the most of her big mouth.