Maybe

Not only was there no expression on his face,

he even felt like laughing.

With Ye Chuan by her side, Wang Yanran wasn’t the least bit afraid. Instead, she spoke with keen interest, "Since you know who I am, do you understand what you’re doing?"

"Liberators?"

Wang Yanran was practically the public face of the Jianghai Superhuman Alliance now, and her own strength was nothing to scoff at. Did these guys really not fear her at all?

"You may be strong, but we’re no pushovers either," the leader of the group said coldly, his identity exposed. "We came to gather intel on this special rift, but we didn’t expect to run into you when all of us were together."

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

He wasted no more time on courtesy, signaling for everyone to attack at once.

"Ye Yue." Ye Chuan didn’t even feel like lifting a finger.

"Got it, brother." Ye Yue, her petite figure stepping forward, smiled sweetly, her crimson eyes flickering.

The men charging toward them saw a small girl approaching and thought they wouldn’t hold back—only to suddenly black out and collapse, one after another, twitching uncontrollably.

A few others went berserk, swinging their weapons wildly at their own companions.

All of this happened in the span of a second. The eerie scene even made Wang Yanran pause for a moment.

Soon, their bones turned brittle, their skin torn apart by something crimson, transforming them into grotesque, tentacled monsters.

The creatures writhed, murmuring incoherently, before exploding in front of Ye Yue, dissolving into corrosive chunks of flesh.

"Brother, done." Ye Yue observed the scene calmly, as if she’d merely crushed a few ants.

"So this is Cognitive Corruption?" Ye Chuan found it rather amusing. After effortlessly dealing with the ambush, he considered the whole thing barely even a minor incident.

The gap in strength was too vast. In the face of absolute power, ambushes were meaningless.

Especially ones as half-baked as this.

"Should’ve kept one alive for interrogation. Next time, then," Ye Chuan said to Wang Yanran.

"Ah? Right." Wang Yanran was still processing what had just happened.

Ye Chuan’s gaze shifted to the monsters in the distance. He decided to test out the ability he’d inherited from his sister. Compared to Ye Yue’s effortless group application, his first attempt would have to be single-target.

"Cognitive Corruption." Ye Chuan unleashed it on a rhino-like monster. The next second, the beast convulsed violently as if electrocuted, its body rupturing with blood before being tainted by a purple toxin.

Countless debilitations overwhelmed the creature, reducing it to a puddle of sludge in moments.

"Huh? There’s an instant-death effect too?" Ye Chuan checked the ability’s details again and noticed a ▽ symbol. Opening it revealed a dense list of negative effects—including a lethal attribute. Given the massive gap between his level and the rhino monster’s, Cognitive Corruption had obliterated it instantly.

"Brother’s amazing." Ye Yue clapped enthusiastically beside him, curious about how he’d learned the ability.

"Not bad." Ye Chuan was satisfied with the results. He proceeded to experiment on the remaining monsters, eventually figuring out how to apply Cognitive Corruption to multiple targets at once.

The horde of creatures outside the rift, once numerous, were systematically wiped out by Ye Chuan’s trial runs.

Not to mention, Ye Yue had also devoured several of them. Her tendrils stretched endlessly, wrapping around the monsters and digesting them clean in seconds.

Wang Yanran stood to the side, speechless.

…Why did these moves feel a little sinister?

"Alright, the outside should be clear now." Ye Chuan released his spiritual sense—the area around the purple rift was devoid of monsters, though the situation inside remained unknown.

"Should we head in now?" Wang Yanran asked.

"Nah." Ye Chuan checked the time. "It’s almost mealtime. Send some people in to scout first."

He’d only come out today to test Cognitive Corruption, and the results had exceeded his expectations. The red-tier ability was downright overpowered—especially the way it ignored level differences to inflict debilitating effects.

As for the rift itself, after the incident at the Mute Academy, Ye Chuan knew his magic immunity wasn’t foolproof. Better to let some unlucky souls take the risk first.

"Mealtime…?" Wang Yanran blinked but didn’t argue.

If he wanted to eat, then so be it.

Food was life, after all.

At this point, nothing Ye Chuan did surprised her.

"Let’s go."

…

They arrived home just in time for dinner. Luo Xi, seeing Ye Chuan and Ye Yue changing shoes at the entrance, asked curiously, "Where’d you two go?"

"Maintaining public order," Ye Chuan said.

"Exactly that," Ye Yue nodded.

Public order?

Since when did Ye Chuan handle that?

"But Ye Yue, why are you wearing your brother’s clothes?" Luo Xi’s attention shifted to Ye Yue’s oversized attire. "It doesn’t look good with your thighs exposed like that. His size might work as a makeshift nightgown, but that’s about it."

On Ye Yue, Ye Chuan’s shirt hung like a dress.

"I don’t have clothes," Ye Yue said. "And I like wearing brother’s."

"Why does it feel like no one in this house has proper clothes?" Luo Xi mused aloud. She’d recently been buying outfits for Qian Shuang, Xiao Ke, and even Ke Ning. Now with Ye Yue added to the list, she had another wardrobe to handle.

"Alright, I’ll take care of your clothes!" Luo Xi clenched her fists, stepping right up to Ye Yue and placing her hands on the girl’s shoulders.

"Come on, let me tailor something that fits you properly!"

"I—I’ll wear brother’s." Ye Yue seemed overwhelmed by Luo Xi’s enthusiasm, retreating a step before hiding behind Ye Chuan.

"I told you, his clothes don’t suit you."

"They do. Very much." Ye Yue wrapped her arms tightly around Ye Chuan’s waist. "I just like wearing brother’s!"

"They don’t fit."

"That’s not the point." Ye Yue was oddly fixated on wearing his clothes.

Luo Xi straightened up, tilting her head. "Hmm…"

Ye Yue stared at her, as if ready to snap if Luo Xi pushed further.

But Luo Xi’s next words caught her off guard.

"How about this—we alter brother’s clothes to fit you. What do you think?"

Ye Yue blinked. "Alter brother’s clothes?"

"Yep."

"Then… I don’t mind that." Surprisingly, Ye Yue was open to the idea. "Can… can I have more than one?"

"Of course! He’s got piles of unworn clothes lying around."

"I want the ones he’s worn."

"That works too."

Ye Chuan watched as Ye Yue and Luo Xi discussed how to modify his wardrobe, baffled.

"Shouldn’t someone ask for my opinion?"