Urban Powers After the Apocalypse

The car slid for several meters before coming to a stop, and Xu Mo was immediately flung out, but it wasn't as though he had been hit and thrown; instead, he had been bounced off the car's front, which had somehow been restored.

Being hit by an airbag traveling at 120 miles per hour wasn't much better than being directly hit by the car. It wasn't fatal, but it was still a violent impact. Xu Mo was first shaken violently by the crash, his organs almost displaced, and then he was thrown five or six meters away, crashing to the ground. Although he wasn't dead, he was in excruciating pain, unable to do anything but groan on the ground.

But the shock he felt in his heart was no less than the pain in his body. He hadn't expected the information that had suddenly appeared in his mind to be real. Just as the crash happened, he had actually activated his supernatural power!

"Damn it! How could this happen now? Monkey, how did you drive this car?"

The door of the car opened, and two men jumped out. The taller, slimmer man went around to the front of the car, letting out a quiet "huh," clearly puzzled by the fact that the car's front was completely unharmed.

"Huh, my ass! Come here and help me carry this guy!" The man with a thick beard grumbled impatiently, glaring at the slimmer man.

The slimmer man paused, scratching his head in confusion. "Bro, when did you get so kind-hearted?"

"Kind-hearted my ass! I couldn't care less if the kid lives or dies! But if we just leave him here, the cops will be able to track us down! Help me get him into the car, now!"

The two men grabbed Xu Mo by the head and feet and threw him into the car, before jumping into the unlicensed white van and quickly speeding away from the scene.

After being roughly tossed again, Xu Mo became a little more alert. Though he had temporarily lost his ability to move, he hadn't lost consciousness. He clearly heard every word of the conversation between the two men.

These two were definitely not good people!

Xu Mo understood clearly that since these two men had gone to the trouble of taking him along in the car, it meant they were worried he had seen their faces during the crash. This meant he had been taken as a witness, and in situations like this, the fate of the unlucky witness was always the same: death to silence him!

His heart pounded wildly, cold sweat drenched his back, and the overwhelming fear actually allowed him to regain a bit of his ability to move.

The two men in the front seats had obviously misjudged Xu Mo's injuries, paying little attention to him as he lay in the back. Xu Mo, however, didn't dare move and pretended to be unconscious with his eyes closed. His mind raced as he quickly considered his next steps.

Call the police? The glow from his phone would be extremely noticeable in the pitch-black interior of the van. Doing that would be a death wish.

Escape? But they had a car, and even if Xu Mo managed to escape while they were distracted, they could easily catch him with a simple turn of the wheel and a little gas.

Fight back? That was even harder. Xu Mo knew his own limits. The two petty criminals had nearly killed him, and these two men, who were clearly gangsters, were far beyond his ability to confront.

Suddenly, Xu Mo remembered the mysterious "Gentle Touch" power. After quickly searching through his mind, his face darkened.

While previous experiences had proven the authenticity of this power, Xu Mo now realized that this ability could only soften non-living objects within a limited range. It was clearly useless in this dangerous situation.

After thinking it over, Xu Mo realized he was in a deadlock. The only thing he could do was stay calm and wait for the right moment.

He carefully opened his eyes just a crack and observed his surroundings. He discovered that the van's interior had been modified. The original two rows of seats had been removed, leaving only a smooth floor. Nearby, a bulging burlap sack shifted a little, as if it contained something alive.

Kidnapping?!

From the shape of the sack, it seemed like it contained a curled-up person. It could only be a kidnapped victim.

The van traveled for about two hours before stopping in front of an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Shangshan City.

"Monkey and Bro are back!"

Upon confirming the identity of the drivers, a small iron gate on the factory's door opened, and two men came out to meet them, one handing over two cigarettes.

"How did it go? No one saw you, right?"

"Did you even need to ask? With me, Old Bro, at the wheel, I never miss! It was just a little girl, what kind of big waves could she cause?" The man known as Old Bro, with a thick beard, lit a cigarette with a grin, giving a thumbs up as he waved behind him. "The kid's in the car. Get a couple of brothers to help carry him inside."

"I knew our Bro would be this awesome!" The man handing over the cigarette gave a thumb's up and then opened the car doors in surprise. "Huh? Why are there two people?"

Old Bro took a satisfied drag from his cigarette and waved dismissively. "It's no big deal, Monkey ran into someone on the road. I was worried he might recognize us, so I brought the guy back with us. We'll tie him up and throw him in the warehouse. If he wakes up, maybe we can get something out of him. If not, we'll handle him the usual way."

"Got it!"

The two young men eagerly agreed and began hauling Xu Mo and the bulging sack into the factory.

This abandoned factory had once been a large car repair shop, but due to poor management, most of the equipment had been sold off, leaving only a large, empty building.

The two men dragged Xu Mo and the sack into a small makeshift room constructed from wooden planks inside the factory. After tying Xu Mo up with a greasy rope, they left the room.

Xu Mo opened his eyes and sat up, carefully shifting to the door to peek outside. After confirming there were no guards nearby, he finally relaxed.

The situation seemed far worse than he had anticipated. Although Xu Mo had kept his eyes closed, he had clearly heard several people moving and talking inside the factory. It was obvious that this was a gang operation, and the number of kidnappers was at least six. Moreover, they were thorough. After the car stopped, they had searched his phone and backpack, so calling the police was now out of the question.

The other side of the room had a window that faced the factory's main entrance, giving Xu Mo a clear view of the kidnappers' movements. He crouched by the window and observed for a while, confirming that no one would be coming back to check on him in the short term. He then began working on freeing himself.

The "Gentle Touch" power, although previously activated in a moment of urgency, had felt almost natural. However, when Xu Mo tried to consciously use it now, he realized that while the power felt instinctive in his mind, actually using it was still clumsy. He could only maintain the effect for a second or two while concentrating, but any lapse in focus would cause the power to fail.

It took Xu Mo ten minutes to finally pull his hands out of the rope, which had temporarily become as soft as rubber. But the repeated use of his power left him exhausted, and he had to bite his wrist hard to force himself back into focus.

Once his hands were free, the rest was easy. Xu Mo quickly undid the rest of the ropes in just a few seconds.

After regaining his freedom, Xu Mo crouched back by the window and observed again. He confirmed that there were six kidnappers in total. Four were sitting around an empty gasoline drum, playing poker. One was on the factory's second-floor iron rack, standing watch, and the last was sitting on a pile of junk, talking on the phone, seemingly reporting to someone.

Carefully stepping back from the window, Xu Mo began to seriously consider his next move.

The makeshift room was built with wooden planks, and the walls were not solid—there were gaps about an inch wide between the planks. Using the "Gentle Touch" power, he could easily soften the material and squeeze through these gaps without alerting the kidnappers. On the other side of the room, there was another window facing a blind spot, just a few meters away. Although it was barred, he could use the same method to escape again.