No Gem Dependency

"Don't they have specialty stores selling these products?" Cheng Fuhua shook his head, "According to those bosses, this stuff won't be sold on the market. They recently held a business symposium in Senchuan City, and industrial bosses attending the meeting could receive a set. They said there are also mini electric cars, but they're not cheap, so few people buy them."

Mini electric cars. Tom turned his head and saw Zhao Yingying sitting with Xiao Bao in the electric car he had modified. "Maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe they got wind of it in advance. If they did get wind of it, I believe they must have specially built safe shelters. But going to the city center is too far, so we can only look for the nearest place."

"Are we leaving now?"

Tom shook his head, "Tomorrow. Whoever wants to come with me can, whoever wants to stay here, I won't force them."

Cheng Fuhua hesitated for a moment, "I'll go with you!"

Tom walked towards the crowd, "Let's see what others think first."

Bringing Li Zexin on this treasure hunt was beneficial. This so-called Mr. Li was still respected by the security guards at the club. His firsthand experience of the nightmare scenes with the giant spider and giant fly, coupled with his boasting after returning, immediately made those security guards who were originally undecided more convinced of Tom's words.

As for Zheng Shiyi, who had his arm broken, he could only stay outside the temporary testing room made of cardboard, glaring resentfully at everyone.

Tom noticed his gaze and specifically instructed Li Qiang to keep an eye on him. Although Zheng Shiyi was now isolated and couldn't make waves, precautions still needed to be taken against any radical actions he might take.

Li Qiang suggested canceling Zheng Shiyi's qualification for gem testing. After all, nobody cared about him now. However, Tom insisted on retaining his testing qualification. Firstly, since he had said everyone had a share, he should stick to his word. Secondly, having one more person meant one more sample, perhaps they could really test out the way of awakening.

Anyway, the control of the gems was in their hands. Even if Zheng Shiyi awakened, he would have to rely on them.

Zhao Yingying and Sasha had a great time playing with Xiao Bao, but Xiaomei started to become less sociable.

This treasure hunt, Tom brought Liu Lian along as a radar, but he surprisingly didn't hear the sound of the spider coming. Considering that spiders don't make sounds anyway, there was nothing he could do.

Liu Lian's ability could hear voices within a certain range. Tom tested it with him, and he could barely hear people talking at the bottom of the stairs from the second floor.

As for mutated rats and the like, it seemed he couldn't hear through walls.

And Xiaomei, holding the yellow gem, besides turning into a human light bulb, currently showed no additional abilities.

Even so, this technician Xiaomei was still somewhat arrogant. She felt she was superior to others. When Li Zexin approached her, she ignored him.

Tom wasn't good at comforting people, but he knew that sudden possession of superpowers could make one's ego swell. But he didn't know how to advise her. As long as she didn't cause trouble, and since she respected him, he let her be.

After dinner, Xiao Bao still didn't want to go upstairs. Compared to just having Ah Huang the orange cat, he wanted to stay where there were more people. The little guy was very cheerful, constantly saying he wanted to introduce his uncle and aunt to his Ah Huang and let Ah Huang protect everyone here. Zhao Yingying and Miss Sasha really wanted him to take them to see Ah Huang.

But Tom forbade such behavior. For some reason, he always felt distrustful of the sleeping orange cat. Although he communicated with Gecko Biscuit himself and could understand the trust between Xiao Bao and Ah Huang, perhaps it was his responsibility as the team leader, or perhaps it was his inherent distrust of cats, anyway, he felt it was better to stay away from the orange cat.

Later, Liu Lian ran over and said solemnly, "Ange, I have good news and bad news!"

Tom shook his head, "Go on."

"The good news is, someone really awakened superpowers, and it's the same as yours, strengthening strength like you!"

Tom, hearing this, felt it was a good thing. Having one more person with enhanced strength meant more help in battles. But when it came to the bad news, "The bad news is that the person who awakened is Zheng Shiyi?"

Liu Lian had a look of "I knew you could guess it". He leaned over and asked in a low voice, "What if... we... do something to him?"

This guy Zheng Shiyi was the most unstable factor in the team. Tom would rather have Li Zexin awakened than him. Even if Li Zexin was greedy, at least he was a savvy businessman who knew how to calculate gains and losses. Someone like Zheng Shiyi, who didn't consider external threats and only cared about himself, coupled with his resentment towards Tom for breaking his arm, might do something detrimental to the team.

"Let's not let him come into contact with the gems for now." Without the gems, awakening power would be useless.

Liu Lian shrugged, "The problem is here. He seems to... be able to activate power without needing gems."

Tom stood still, not needing red gems?

He then touched the ring on his arm, confirmed that the red gem could still be used for a while, and then went with Liu Lian to the cardboard house.

At this moment, Zheng Shiyi was extremely proud, holding a coin in one hand and playing with it vigorously, forcing Li Qiang to step back repeatedly.

"What's wrong, Brother Qiang? Weren't you tough before? You used to be Uncle Seven's dog, and now you're a dwarf's dog..."

At this moment, Li Qiang was sweating profusely. This coin was very hard and heavy. In the face of Zheng Shiyi's enhanced strength, it was quite damaging. He was exhausted from dodging and didn't have time to retort.

"Stop it!" Tom shouted and rushed forward.

"Good timing! Haha!" Zheng Shiyi laughed and turned, hurling the coin towards Tom. Tom firmly caught the coin with both hands, and the two began to struggle.

With one arm broken, Zheng Shiyi was no match for Tom at all. The coin was quickly snatched by Tom, and Zheng Shiyi immediately protested, "This isn't fair, I only have one arm!"

Tom's fist struck his nose. It wasn't enhanced strength, but it was enough to make him dizzy. Following that were several consecutive punches, causing Zheng Shiyi to cry out in pain. He struggled to retaliate but was firmly restrained by Tom.

Both of them were using only one hand to support themselves, but Zheng Shiyi's strength was no match for Tom's, and he was soon overwhelmed.

"Bring the rope!" Liu Lian quickly fetched some adhesive tape, and Tom, pinning Zheng Shiyi down, took the tape and wrapped it around his arm several times, tying it in a knot.

The enhanced strength from the ruby ​​was only effective for joint force. Even with triple strength, it couldn't break free when the arm was bound vertically. Tom was well aware of this.

"You lying scumbag! You have the guts to release me. If you envy me having powers like you, admit it, you're just a useless piece of trash without the gems, no superpowers at all. I don't need them," Zheng Shiyi ranted.

Tom looked at the coin, the kind used in the supermarket's amusement machines, heavy and made of iron. Being hit by it would easily cause head injuries. Zheng Shiyi's enhanced strength could definitely cause a concussion.

"The gems are gone?" Xiao Gao repeated, "Yes, there are only four, missing one red. Everyone else has one, except for Brother Zheng's."

Tom removed the cloth from Zheng Shiyi's mouth. "Where are the gems?"

With a proud twist of his head, Zheng Shiyi retorted, "Hmph, I don't need your crappy gems to have superpowers. You're just jealous. Admit it, you're useless without the gems, and I don't need them."

Tom scrutinized Zheng Shiyi for a moment before focusing on his abdomen. "Did you... swallow it?"

Zheng Shiyi closed his eyes and remained silent.

Gems needed skin contact to activate power, and ants and biscuits would eat them, although they seemed to select certain colors.

Tom had considered eating gems before but decided against it due to the unclear side effects. Now, Zheng Shiyi had actually swallowed one to activate his ability.

Upon hearing that eating gems could grant superpowers, everyone's eyes lit up.

Tom stuffed the cloth back into Zheng Shiyi's mouth and activated his power. "Everyone, hand over the gems!"

Li Zexin immediately led the outcry, "If eating gems gives superpowers, you're just jealous! You must have eaten one too, that's why you can use them."

"Yes! We want the gems!"

At this point, Xiao Gao, holding the four gems, was at a loss. Li Qiang rushed forward and stood behind Tom, grabbing the gems first.

"If eating them gives powers, why doesn't Li Qiang have any? He's the strongest among us!" Liu Lian interjected.

"Who knows if you're controlling him! Give us the gems!" a security guard shouted.

Tom threw the coin, hitting a shelf behind everyone with a loud clang. "If eating gems activates superpowers, I can provide them to you."

"It's obvious that Zheng has obtained them," the guard said, while Zheng Shiyi, even though his mouth was gagged, looked extremely satisfied.

"The ingredients of these things are unknown. Swallowing them rashly, who knows if there will be side effects? So, I've been hesitant to swallow them. Let's observe Zheng Shiyi and see if he has any side effects later. Then we can decide whether to swallow them or not. How about that?" Li Zexin sneered, "Who knows if it's your delaying tactic? If we agree, you might just turn around and swallow all the gems."