Chapter 236: Ability

"Oh?" Tan Yougen looked at Zhang Wenda in surprise. He hadn’t expected the other man to lose his temper this time; he’d even prepared a speech to counter him.

"If you really think that way, then it seems you’ve matured quite a bit recently."

Just then, Zhang Wenda slowly raised a sickle. "However, I have a few suggestions for improving your plan."

’Hm? What kind of suggestions?’ Just as Tan Yougen was thinking this, he saw Zhang Wenda walk up to his side.

"The part of your plan that needs improving is..." Zhang Wenda’s monstrous body leaned down slightly, and he opened his fang-filled mouth to whisper into Tan Yougen’s ear. "That you can go fuck yourself! You dare fucking screw with me?!"

The moment those words erupted from Zhang Wenda’s mouth, the rage he had been forcefully suppressing was completely unleashed. He balled his right hand into a fist and, with all his strength, smashed it viciously into the left side of Tan Yougen’s face.

THWACK! The sound of the punch was loud and crisp.

No one present had expected this to happen. It all occurred too fast. By the time they reacted, they saw Tan Yougen, who had taken the full force of the punch to his face, get sent flying by Zhang Wenda.

Zhang Wenda watched Tan Yougen fall from the air, his face contorted in pain. It seemed he still wasn’t satisfied. He bent his reverse-jointed legs, preparing to strike again.

The next second, however, several people led by Ouyang Shuangdian acted at once. The space around Zhang Wenda instantly shattered, and fissures resembling broken glass suspended themselves in the air, completely surrounding him.

Accompanied by a thick, fragrant aroma, Zhang Wenda saw his own thought-cluster appear once more. He had clearly been pulled into a thought tide.

The ground melted rapidly, fusing Zhang Wenda’s legs with the earth.

Several different abilities had him completely surrounded. If he made another move, Old Tan’s people would immediately close in and attack.

It was the first time he had witnessed the power of the other members of Bureau 507. ’So they really do have a few tricks up their sleeves.’

But Zhang Wenda wasn’t the least bit afraid. He watched as Tan Yougen, clutching his swollen face, was helped to his feet by his secretary in the distance, and laughed wantonly. "Satisfying! HA HA HA!!"

In the past, Zhang Wenda might not have done this. But with the return of the color red, he’d suddenly had a moment of clarity about some things.

If someone pisses you off, forget everything else. First, you beat the hell out of them; then you can talk.

Even though his face was swelling up like a pig’s head, Tan Yougen’s expression remained calm, with a hint of iciness. "Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?"

The smile on Zhang Wenda’s face gradually vanished. Staring at the red within Tan Yougen’s body, which was weaker compared to the others, he said, "You won’t. You still need to use me as bait to lure out Qianxi. If you were the type to abandon your plan just because I punched you, you wouldn’t be the Tan Yougen I know."

"It’s all for the plan, right? Since I, the employee, have to suffer, what’s wrong with you, the boss, suffering a little too?"

Hearing Zhang Wenda’s disrespect toward Tan Yougen, the others glared at him, ready to say something, but Tan Yougen stopped them with a raised hand.

"I’m from your grandfather’s generation. I won’t stoop to the level of a junior. Go back for now. Come to my office tomorrow morning." His tone was stiff, but Zhang Wenda knew he’d guessed right—Tan Yougen didn’t intend to have a complete falling out over a single punch.

Under everyone’s furious glares, a defiant Zhang Wenda shot a middle finger high at Tan Yougen before leaving with the others.

Just then, Shuisheng came up from behind and said in a low voice, "You didn’t have to make things so ugly. Director Tan is highly respected at the Bureau. A lot of people look up to him. When word of this gets back, you’ll make a lot of enemies."

"Why didn’t anyone say Old Tan was going too far all those times he screwed me over? Whoever makes my life difficult, I’ll make theirs a living hell."

Zhang Wenda lifted the ceramic jar and stuffed it back into one of the hollows in his body. He looked out at the distant buildings, draped with prefabricated people, and the sea of them that was gradually spreading in their direction.

As he spoke, Zhang Wenda raised his right index finger. Specks of red light flew toward him from all directions, converging on him like a hundred birds paying homage to a phoenix, making the red within his heart grow stronger.

As the greasy, boneless sea of prefabricated people gradually submerged his lower body, he turned to look at Tan Yougen’s retreating back.

"It’s the same in any situation. If you’re a pushover, people will just exploit and bully you without a second thought. But this time, you made him suffer the consequences. Next time he pulls something like this, he’ll think twice."

Regardless of what had happened, the mission was complete.

Zhang Wenda and the others left Thought Tide No. 6 in an armed helicopter, heading back toward Bureau 507.

Zhang Wenda didn’t stay idle on the way. When he lifted his arm, he was surprised to find that the thin red line on his forearm had vanished, leaving only a tall yellow line and a short blue one.

’It seems that as soon as you master a color, its core disappears.’

But it hadn’t truly vanished. It had just taken on a new form. He now possessed some special abilities.

Zhang Wenda looked at the other, rather silent people in the helicopter cabin. With a subtle thought, he could clearly see the red within each of them, which resembled a ball of fire.

When he slowly opened his right hand—the one with five sickles—he could manipulate the red within them as if plucking strings, freely increasing or decreasing it.

As the red in their bodies increased, Zhang Wenda could clearly sense their faces flush, their blood rush, and their aggression begin to rise.

Noticing Zhang Wenda staring at him, an already blushing Song Jianguo glared back fiercely. "The hell are you lookin’ at?!"

But as the red gradually decreased, Song Jianguo, who had been agitated just a moment ago, became dazed and sluggish. He looked vacant, a bit like the prefabricated people from Thought Tide No. 6.

However, Zhang Wenda didn’t experiment with completely removing someone’s red. He had a feeling that doing so would have irreversible consequences.

This change in his abilities was indeed very useful. It significantly boosted his own power. Increasing an enemy’s red could make them impulsive and reckless, while decreasing it could make them sluggish. More importantly, it was an area-of-effect ability.

Anyone who couldn’t resist his influence would be severely handicapped when fighting him.

Not to mention, an ability like this would be miraculously effective in a situation like Thought Tide No. 6.

So far, Zhang Wenda had only explored a few ways to use the color red. As for other uses, if any even existed, he hadn’t figured them out yet.