Su Su never expected to find news of a Tier 7 zombie so quickly.
She immediately couldn’t sit still and pulled Xuan Mang, rushing out of the beach.
At first, she was running on her own, but later… she was lifted off the ground, held firmly at the waist by Xuan Mang’s right arm, and carried straight to the Sun siblings’ guest hall.
She struggled multiple times along the way, but he insisted that her mobility was inconvenient. Su Su couldn’t refute—she could indeed feel a distinct friction when moving. After a moment of embarrassed frustration, she was carried to the destination, only to realize—
The guest hall was full of familiar faces: the Sun siblings, Sister Yun, Cancan who had followed along, and Zeng Zhuyue, who had taken time to come over…
Su Su’s thin-skinned face instantly burned with shame.
She struggled to jump down.
Inside the guest hall, only Sun Zhixia reacted belatedly, asking, “Is this your mate?”
Xuan Mang looked at Su Su.
He really wanted to nod proudly, but he was also afraid the female wouldn’t allow it.
Seeing Ah Xuan’s “cautious and careful” demeanor, Su Su stopped struggling, and a wave of guilt surged within her.
If not for her repeatedly retreating and always feeling apprehensive about how to handle their rapidly advancing relationship, he wouldn’t even have to wait for her to acknowledge it before confirming their bond.
Because of this, Su Su uncharacteristically gathered her courage, hooked her arm around Xuan Mang’s, and solemnly declared, “Mm, we’re mates.”
Unlike the world of beasts, human society required a formal acknowledgment of relationships.
Xuan Mang sought both intimacy and status, and now, his goal had been achieved.
Thanks to his naturally cold expression, the satisfaction and subtle scheming in the heart of a certain snake-man were perfectly concealed.
He had long since figured it out—this was exactly what the female responded to.
Thinking back, if he had transformed in the laboratory and put on a look of utter despair, even considering himself “ugly” and wanting to leave the female completely… she definitely wouldn’t have been so afraid of him. She might have even teared up and thrown herself at him, repeatedly assuring him that she would never abandon him.
Hiss—
Next time, he’d try it again.
No one could detect a flaw in his cold face.
But Su Su felt certain—Xuan Mang was definitely happy.
As for the people who had just been informed…
Zeng Zhuyue was completely indifferent.
Pang Cancan looked utterly calm.
Sun Zhichun wasn’t surprised at all.
Sister Yun’s expression was meaningful.
Only Sun Zhixia seemed somewhat astonished.
She only knew that Zeng Zhuyue and Lan Jing were a pair of human and battle pet partners, but she never expected that Su Su and Xuan Mang were also a pair.
To be honest… one looked soft and gentle, while the other looked like a ferocious beast cub that could make one cry. At first glance, it was hard to imagine how this pair of mates would live together.
Especially considering their size difference.
While everyone was processing this information, Su Su had already firmly insisted on being put down. Once her feet touched the ground again, the embarrassment came rushing back—these were all familiar people, and yet she had made such a solemn and formal declaration. It was… it was so awkward.
Fortunately, none of them were the type to tease others excessively. And those who did like to tease had already done so enough.
Su Su finally pulled Xuan Mang to sit by the table and got back to the main topic: “Where is the Tier 7 zombie?”
Sun Zhi Chun threw out a location that was both unexpected and expected at the same time: S City.
S City.
The largest fallen city on the northern route.
Because of its downfall, numerous small and large bases had sprung up around it, making it more chaotic than any place they had been to before.
Sun Zhixia immediately added, “A lot has happened around S City while you were gone.”
“Dozens of newly established small bases were overrun by zombie hordes. The survivors had no choice but to seek help from several mid-sized bases. Thanks to the presence of high-tier ability users in those bases, they barely managed to withstand more than a dozen waves of zombie attacks.”
“Later on, even the mid-sized bases ran into trouble. Some were poorly located—when zombies attacked from both sides, they couldn’t defend properly. Others had limited resources. After taking in more survivors, their supplies couldn’t keep up. Before the zombies even arrived, internal conflicts had already turned bloody…”
Seeing how nonchalantly Sun Zhixia described the shifting power dynamics among the bases, it was clear that she had grown significantly during her time managing the coastal base on her own.
“Eventually, the leaders of several mid-sized bases held a meeting and realized that if this continued, they would be forced to either move north or south to survive. But entering another base’s territory meant they would never have the same status they had now.”
“So, they decided—to reclaim S City.”
“Reclaim it?” Pang Cancan exclaimed. Although she had been back for a while, this was the first she had heard of it. “S City is overrun with mountains of zombies. How do they plan to take it back?”
Su Su also remembered the overwhelming sight of S City when they passed by before.
Even when the S City base was intact, it couldn’t withstand the zombie hordes. Now that it had been reduced to ruins, how could they possibly reclaim it?
Sun Zhichun sneered. “That’s why all their attempts have failed so far. But they refuse to give up. The former leadership came together and came up with a ridiculous plan. They decided to seek external reinforcements. Guess who they turned to?”
Su Su blurted out, “The Research Guild?”
“Exactly. The Research Guild.”
“They promised the Research Guild that once they reclaimed S City, they would contribute 60% of their resources to the northern base every month and comply fully with any orders.”
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone’s expressions darkened.
Sister Yun was the first to slam the table. “Do they have no backbone at all? Even if they rely on the Research Guild to take back S City, the future base will just become the Research Guild’s blood bank! In the end, it’ll be the ordinary people and low-tier ability users who get exploited!”
Everyone understood this logic.
But those high-tier ability users who came up with the idea didn’t care. No matter how much exploitation happened, it wouldn’t affect them. On the contrary, with the Research Guild’s help, they could kill the Tier 7 zombie in S City and ascend to Tier 7 themselves!
“Did the Research Guild agree?”
“They have no reason to refuse.”
Su Su frowned. “Do we know what kind of reinforcements the Research Guild is sending?”
Sun Zhixia shook her head. “I haven’t found that out yet.”
For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall fell into silence.
The Ability User Guild and the Battle Pet Guild had just been wiped out, the northern base was undergoing a complete reshuffle, and before this series of actions had even concluded, the Research Guild had already extended its reach toward S City.
If the cooperation between the two truly succeeded… the Sun siblings’ seaside base would be caught between two massive bases, with no privacy left whatsoever.
Sister Yun said bitterly, “We haven’t even gotten our revenge yet, and they’re already expanding their territory.”
Hundreds of battle pets and countless ability users within the guild—had they really just vanished in the internal struggle like that?!
Thinking of the deceased Jiang Hong, Sister Yun slammed the table again. “We can’t let them succeed. If worst comes to worst, I’ll take Ah Bao to S City and stir up that muddy water.”
At the very least, they needed to buy time for the remaining battle pets and surviving ability users to breathe.
But no one agreed with her.
Aside from Sister Yun, everyone present was a Tier 6 ability user—any one of them would be more effective than her.
However, Zeng Zhuyue and Lan Jing were seriously injured, and the Sun siblings couldn’t leave the base easily. After weighing the options… Su Su finally spoke up. “I’ll go.”
In an instant, many eyes fell on her.
Su Su repeated herself, this time bringing along Xuan Mang. “I’ll go with Ah Xuan. Besides, I want that Grade 7 crystal.”
At the same time, they could stir up trouble in S City and sabotage the Research Guild’s cooperation with the remnants of S City’s base.
If they succeeded…
Pang Cancan immediately raised her hand. “I’ll go too!”
“No, you have to stay behind.”
Pang Cancan pouted in disappointment. “Why? I can leave whenever I want, and I’m Tier 6 now too!”
Su Su said seriously, “Si Zhe is still searching for us everywhere. I ran into him once—he had seven or eight Tier 6 ability users with him, and he himself is Tier 7. If he finds this place while the other battle pets are still recovering and even Blue Whale still needs time to heal, Cancan, if you stay, at least you’ll be able to help everyone escape.”
If it really came down to that, they could flee south—back to the southern base. With over two thousand kilometers between them, the Research Guild wouldn’t be able to reach them so easily.
Pang Cancan was convinced immediately.
She nodded. “I’ll guard this place!”
Seeing this, Sister Yun added, “I’ll also focus on treating the injured battle pets. Restoring one means gaining another combatant.”
Finally, the group settled on their current plan.
No one was worried about Su Su and Xuan Mang’s strength. The two of them together had almost a 99% chance of securing that Grade 7 crystal.
The only concern was whether the personnel the Research Guild had lent to the remnants of S City’s base included any other Tier 7 ability users.
When Sun Zhichun voiced this concern, Su Su shook her head. “I think… at most, there will only be one.”
If the Research Guild truly had two or more Tier 7 ability users hidden away, they would have already massacred the base and declared themselves supreme.
Su Su was more inclined to believe—ascending to Tier 7 wasn’t that easy.
Even Si Zhe’s strength—she still had her doubts about it to this day.
For now, the entire seaside base was tightly united like a single rope.
After helping Blue Whale cleanse its energy impurities for the third time, the Sun siblings prepared a new off-road vehicle for Su Su, fully stocked with food that Pang Cancan had packed.
When they reached the outskirts of the city, Sun Zhichun and Sister Yun were still reminding her, “If you run into something you can’t handle, retreat immediately. Staying alive is the most important thing.”
Su Su smiled and nodded.
After all the reminders, Pang Cancan, with her messy bangs looking like a dog had chewed them up, clung to Sister Su Su reluctantly.
“Come back soon, wuwuwu…”
They had only just reunited a few days ago, and now Sister Su Su and Xiao Hei were leaving again.
And it was for such a dangerous, unpredictable mission.
Pang Cancan was both worried and certain—so long as it was Sister Su Su, she would definitely succeed!
By the time they returned, Xiao Hei would have become Niohulu1Niohulu (钮祜禄) is a prominent Manchu surname from the Qing dynasty, historically associated with nobility and the imperial family. It was one of the Eight Banners’ aristocratic clans, and several Qing empresses, including Empress Dowager Cixi, belonged to this lineage. · Transformed · Xuan Mang!
Everyone watched as the off-road vehicle disappeared from sight.
Inside the car.
In the end, Xuan Mang still refused to accept defeat and squeezed himself into the passenger seat.
He had to recline the seat all the way back… If only he had known about this function earlier, why did he let that stupid cheetah take over for so long?
His vertical pupils remained icy cold as he stared ahead.
Yet the slender tip of his snake tail silently curled around Su Su’s ankle.
“Hiss—”
Unlike Sun Zhichun and the others, who were filled with worry, the domineering snake man only felt a rare sense of peace and quiet.
After all, this was an exceptionally precious opportunity to be alone together!
According to the books, this was called a honeymoon.