Chapter 472: Obtaining the [Blast Flash] Talent

Chapter 472: Chapter 472: Obtaining the [Blast Flash] Talent

Paul Payne took a deep breath, forcing down the shock and excitement welling up inside him.

He pulled a notebook from inside his shirt. It was soaked with sweat but had clearly been well-protected.

He presented it to Seraphina Sullivan with both hands.

"Sullivan, this is all the information you wanted on Connor Webb."

His voice was a little hoarse, but firm.

"His routines, details on the women around him, which higher-ups he’s in contact with, and the place he visits every week... It’s all in here."

Seraphina Sullivan took the notebook, leafed through it casually, and gave a slight nod.

The handwriting was messy, but the notes were indeed detailed.

"Good," she said, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "You’ve done well."

Paul Payne didn’t sit. Instead, he stood even straighter.

He looked at Seraphina Sullivan, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes, but he finally gritted his teeth and spoke.

"There’s one more thing."

Seraphina Sullivan glanced up at him.

"What is it?"

Paul Payne took another deep breath and lowered his voice.

"I heard something. Connor Webb is targeting you."

"And it’s not just because of that disgusting fetish of his. He... he made a deal with one of the higher-ups at the Central Base."

He paused, then said, emphasizing each word,

"They’re going to... capture you. The higher-up wants your mutated Deer Herd."

The moment he finished speaking, Seraphina Sullivan’s eyes turned cold.

It wasn’t the cold of anger or panic, but... the chilling calm of a predator that had just been provoked.

"I haven’t even gone after him yet," she said softly, her voice devoid of emotion, "and he’s already scheming against me."

She lowered her gaze to the notebook Paul Payne had given her, flipping through the pages quickly.

Connor Webb’s name, his movements, the details of his deal with a mid-level official from The Resource Faction... Every entry was crystal clear.

"Excellent."

She closed the notebook and looked up at Paul Payne.

His heart clenched at her gaze, but he didn’t flinch.

"You’ve shown your good faith," Seraphina Sullivan said.

"Now I’ll fulfill my promise."

She raised her hand, and a translucent, crystalline candy materialized in her palm. Inside it, faint sparks of lightning seemed to dance.

[Flash Candy].

"Eat this." She held the candy out to Paul Payne. "It will give you power."

Paul Payne froze.

He stared at the small object in his palm. It looked no different from an ordinary piece of candy. A flicker of disbelief crossed his face.

’A piece of candy?’

’A piece of candy is supposed to give me power?’

’Let me get my revenge?’

He looked up at Seraphina Sullivan, but she just watched him calmly, offering no explanation.

Paul Payne gritted his teeth.

He thought of his sister’s face as she died, of that bastard’s smug smile, and of every humiliation he had endured to get here.

’What’s one piece of candy? Even if it’s poison, I’ll take it.’

He snatched the candy and shoved it into his mouth.

The candy melted the instant it touched his tongue, a warm sensation sliding down his throat into his stomach.

The next second—

Heat!

Every cell in his body was on fire!

The sensation wasn’t painful. Instead... power was surging into him, remaking his body, tearing his old self apart and forging him anew!

Paul Payne’s skin began to shimmer with a faint light as a nearly imperceptible layer of fluorescence flowed across its surface.

He looked down at his hands, his eyes wide with shock and elation.

"It’s... it’s really power!"

Seraphina Sullivan raised a hand, gesturing for him to calm down. "Don’t get too excited. You just received this power. If you can’t control it, you could cause an accident."

She pointed to his skin. "Right now, you’re basically a human lightbulb."

"If you get too worked up, you might turn into a flashbang and blind yourself along with everyone else."

Paul Payne took a deep breath, struggling to suppress the restless power within him.

The light on his skin gradually receded. It still flickered occasionally, but at least it was no longer blinding.

"[Flash Candy]. Eating it grants you the [Blast Flash] Talent."

Seraphina Sullivan explained simply, "It allows you to gather light and release it in an instant, blinding your enemies."

"Once you get the hang of it, you might even be able to focus the light into a beam for a direct attack."

Paul Payne nodded vigorously, the rims of his eyes turning red.

He opened his mouth to say something, but it felt as if a lump was caught in his throat.

Just then, Sean Chandler, who had been silently keeping watch by the window, suddenly spoke up.

"More people are here."

He paused, then added, "It’s Dexter Luther’s group of three. Matthew Dawson is injured."

Seraphina Sullivan frowned and immediately rose to her feet, moving to the window.

In the distance, three figures were stumbling toward the RV.

Dexter Luther was in the lead, practically dragging Matthew Dawson.

Matthew Dawson was clearly in bad shape. His face was ghastly pale, and his entire back was soaked with blood. Crystal Lynn was on his other side, supporting him, her face streaked with tears.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Seraphina Sullivan threw open the RV door and jumped out.

"Sullivan! Help Matthew Dawson, quickly!"

Dexter Luther practically screamed the words when he saw her, his voice cracking with a sob.

Seraphina Sullivan hurried forward and placed a hand on Matthew Dawson’s forehead.

[Flower Therapy], activate!

A gentle wave of Life Energy flowed from her palm into Matthew Dawson’s body.

The gruesome wound on Matthew Dawson’s back began to stanch, close, and heal at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Dexter Luther and Crystal Lynn watched nervously, hardly daring to breathe.

Paul Payne had followed them out of the RV. He stood to the side, watching the scene unfold, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes.

’So this is who she is.’

’She can grant power, and she can bring people back from the brink of death.’

He touched his own body, which was still faintly warm, and suddenly felt that coming here had been more than worth it.

"What happened to you?"

While channeling [Flower Therapy] to stabilize Matthew Dawson’s condition, Seraphina Sullivan looked up at Dexter Luther. "An injury like Matthew’s... it’s not something you’d get in an ordinary instance."

Crystal Lynn took over supporting Matthew Dawson, letting the gasping Dexter Luther catch his breath.

She spoke up, her voice thick with the exhaustion of a survivor and simmering with suppressed rage:

"The instance we entered was called Giant’s Doom. The mission wasn’t supposed to be hard; we just had to reach the safe zone within the time limit."

"We were so careful the whole way, trying our best to avoid those behemoths..."

She paused, her jaw tight. "Then, right at the end, we ran into another team of Players."

"After they finished the mission, they deliberately revealed their Abilities right in front of the giants and used their supernatural powers to slaughter the giants’ young!"

Dexter Luther, having caught his breath, chimed in, "The giants went absolutely berserk!"

"The difficulty of the whole instance shot up instantly. The giants, who had just been wandering around before, started hunting down every human in organized packs."

"We barely made it to the safe zone. Matthew was hit in the back by a giant’s counterattack as we were escaping..."

The movement of Seraphina Sullivan’s hand faltered for a second.

"They exposed themselves on purpose?"

She frowned.

’This situation feels... familiar.’