The scene before her was simply too absurd.
Su Su gagged for over ten seconds, retching so hard that the black snake in her arms tried to wriggle out, only to be pressed back in place by her under the guise of patting her chest.
Guo Yingjun was even more alarmed, rushing over in panic. “Miss Zhou, are you alright?”
“…I’m fine.” Su Su straightened her back.
She was immediately met with the scrutinizing gazes of many.
Ding Zhengyang’s eyes held the look of someone appraising a rare commodity.
Luo Hong’s gaze carried wariness.
As for the few Tier 6 ability users from the Research Guild… their expressions were a mix of vigilance and barely concealed excitement.
On the surface, these ability users gathered in the living room seemed completely normal, even calculating each other’s power as bargaining chips.
Yet when faced with a whole table of “delicacies,” they could act as if nothing was amiss.
Crunch. Crunch.
Gao Yan had already chewed through his second eyeball.
Su Su’s gaze swept across the room before finally landing on the most enthusiastic, Guo Yingjun. “What dish is that?”
Following the direction she indicated, he looked over and replied cheerfully, “That’s ‘urine-filled beef balls’! Brother Ding and the others found them in the freezer of a supermarket in S City. A real treat!”
A chill crept up Su Su’s spine.
It had been two years since the apocalypse began, and S City’s base had fallen two months ago. Under those conditions, what kind of supermarket freezer could still store a bag of ‘urine-filled beef balls’ without power?
Even Guo Yingjun had started “lying with his eyes open.”
By now, Su Su had completely overturned her previous speculation—Ding Zhengyang and his group weren’t deliberately being cryptic.
There was something strange about the central district of S City.
These ability users, who had arrived earlier, had already been affected in some way. They had forgotten their original plans, refused to leave this “palace,” and genuinely believed this place was safe and well-stocked with food—like that warehouse filled with zombie remains.
Su Su slowly exhaled. “Didn’t you say this was a welcome feast? Why aren’t you digging in?”
As soon as she spoke, Ding Zhengyang was the first to step forward, pulling out a chair for her with a gentlemanly bow. “Miss Zhou, please have a seat.”
Su Su didn’t refuse.
As she sat down, she noticed Luo Hong’s wary and resentful gaze. When she looked his way, he quickly averted his eyes and led his people to take a seat on the opposite side of the long table with exaggerated nonchalance.
Ding Zhengyang and Guo Yingjun, on the other hand, took their places on either side of her, making it clear that they had already considered this newly arrived Tier 6 ability user part of their faction.
Lowering her gaze, Su Su looked at the table full of “delicacies” right in front of her.
The stench of rot hit her full force.
Yet no one else seemed to notice it.
Ding Zhengyang even eagerly dragged the plate of so-called “urine-filled beef balls” closer to her with a considerate smile.
“Miss Zhou, if you like this, I’ll have someone make more tomorrow.”
Seeing that he was about to personally pick up a piece and place it into her bowl, Su Su coldly refused, “No need.”
Her rejection was utterly merciless. Ding Zhengyang’s expression darkened a few shades, but upon recalling the woman’s stunning beauty and exceptional strength, he forcibly swallowed his frustration.
“Well then, Miss Zhou, help yourself to whatever you like.”
During their conversation, the others had already started eating one after another.
Beside her, Guo Yingjun was devouring his food with great enthusiasm.
Su Su’s peripheral vision swept over the room, noting that aside from herself, every single person had more or less put something into their mouths.
Some of the scenes were especially grotesque and blood-soaked… Just as she averted her gaze, a sudden roar and a shriek erupted from the end of the table.
“Roar!!”
“Ahh!!!”
Everyone turned their heads in shock.
A zombie with a bluish face had pinned down the person beside it, its sharp fangs viciously sinking into his neck.
It happened so suddenly that the attacked ability user didn’t even have time to activate his powers before his carotid artery was torn open. His eyes remained wide in death, utterly lifeless.
But it wasn’t over yet.
The biting zombie lifted its head, while the person on the ground emitted a ghastly gurgling sound from his torn throat. Moments later, he too raised his head.
The two of them simultaneously locked onto their next target.
Before they could pounce, a sharp wind blade sliced through the air and decapitated them both.
Luo Hong withdrew his hand with a grim expression. “Two more infected.”
They had been his people. Even though they were only Tier 5 ability users, losing them was still a painful blow.
Su Su, intent on probing the extent of their infection, seized the opportunity to ask, “How did they get infected?”
Luo Hong shot her a glance, folded his arms, and coldly ignored her question.
Instead, Ding Zhengyang enthusiastically explained, “It’s probably from when we were clearing out zombies the other day. They must have gotten injured, and the virus only erupted just now. The infection rate for ability users is low, but it’s not impossible. Ah, it’s just bad luck for the one sitting next to him.”
Though his words carried a sigh, his tone was full of schadenfreude.
Luo Hong’s gaze instantly turned murderous.
Ding Zhengyang, however, paid him no mind and continued inviting Su Su, “Miss Zhou, let’s have the others toss these two corpses into the warehouse and continue eating!”
Just as he said, the two zombie corpses were swiftly removed.
The others resumed their feast as if nothing had happened.
Su Su remained silent.
The explanation they had given sounded plausible, but she had clearly seen the ability user at the end of the table clutching a leg bone, obsessively sucking on it… And then there was Luo Hong’s accidental slip of the word “again.”
It was obvious that these people had consumed far too many zombie remains. No matter how low the risk of infection, prolonged exposure would inevitably turn them into the same kind of creatures…
Whoosh!
A black shadow shot out from within her clothes.
It was the black snake, now shrunk to the length of an arm. It had its eyes locked onto the plate of “braised rabbit legs” in the center of the table, its jaws opening wide in a savage attempt to swallow the entire thing.
“Ah Xuan!”
Su Su’s heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, she reached out to stop it—
“Hiss!”
Two sharp fangs sank into the base of her thumb, and two drops of fresh blood welled up from the puncture wounds.
The scent of blood awakened the black snake.
It instinctively coiled around her arm. Its narrow slit-pupils, which had contracted into a thin line, froze in place the moment it saw the two conspicuous bite marks.
Its pitch-black eyes gradually regained a deep green hue.
Shock, guilt, and distress surged through it, washing away every last trace of its desire for food.
The black snake anxiously lowered its head, its tongue flicking over the wound at her thumb’s base, desperate to heal it.
But Su Su paid no attention to the bite mark. Her first instinct was to retract her hand and stare at the small black creature coiled around her arm in bewilderment.
The black snake’s hissing carried an unusual note of remorse. It kept licking the wound again and again, until the blood faded, no longer seeping from the skin. Only then did it cautiously look up at her.
“Hiss—”
It was apologizing.
Su Su suddenly pulled the black snake tightly into her embrace.
“You… you…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence. The truth was painfully clear—Ah Xuan had also been affected. It, too, had perceived the food on the table as nothing more than normal meat!
Su Su’s heart pounded violently.
Ah Xuan was at the peak of Tier 6.
The only thing capable of affecting it would be a Tier 7 existence…
Either a Tier 7 ability user—or a zombie.
That hidden entity lurking in S City, the Tier 7 zombie that had supposedly been “slain” by the people present!
Su Su abruptly raised her head.
She wanted to say something. No—should she say something now?
Should she tell these people—You’ve already been influenced by the Tier 7 zombie. It wasn’t killed by you. It’s still lurking in S City, hiding in the shadows, using an unseen ability to toy with and deceive every human who enters—until you are all completely turned into its kind.
“Guo Yingjun.”
The man, hearing his name, lifted his head and looked at her blankly. “Miss Zhou, what is it?”
Su Su silently fixed her gaze on him, an invisible white light slipping into his body unnoticed.
“Take some people and drive the zombie horde in S City to the neighboring city.”
Guo Yingjun’s eyes flickered with confusion for a few seconds, then he fell into a struggle. A moment later, he firmly shook his head. “I won’t go.”
A Tier 7 ability had failed on a Tier 6 ability user!
There was only one explanation for this—the power of that zombie was stronger than hers.
Su Su changed her approach. “Dump the food in your bowl.”
This time, Guo Yingjun complied.
Even though he was clearly still craving the food, even though a flash of alarm passed through his eyes as he felt his body acting against his will, he could not resist her command.
So… it worked sometimes and failed at other times.
Su Su withdrew her ability and sat in silence for a long time.
She couldn’t pull these people back.
She couldn’t even pull back Guo Yingjun, who had only been here for half a day.
She could only deduce that the Tier 7 zombie possessed a mental-type ability, but she had no way of pinpointing its exact function—let alone finding a way to counter it.
“I’m full.”
Su Su stood up and left the dining table.
Not until Su Su’s figure disappeared beyond the doorway did the four Tier 6 ability users from the Research Guild exchange glances.
“That snake just now… and a Tier 6 mental-type ability… she must be the fugitive the Sage is after, right?”
“What’s her name again?”
“I think it’s Su Su.”
“Find a chance to capture her… But then what? What are we supposed to do after that?”
The group stared at each other in confusion.
What were they supposed to do? Take her and leave this city? But this place was a paradise for humans—why would they leave?
Then what should they do if they stayed?
Enjoy life… Reproduce and thrive…
Conveniently enough, there was now another woman here.
Having come to a consensus, they put down their chopsticks, carefully avoiding attention, and silently followed after her.
—
Night had already fallen.
Su Su held the black snake tightly in her arms, striding forward with purpose.
She wasn’t wandering aimlessly.
That Tier 7 zombie had to be hiding somewhere in S City. Narrowing it down, the most likely location was the central district. And if she were to narrow it even further…
It was most likely inside this very “palace.”
“Ah Xuan, you sensed something this afternoon, didn’t you?”
The black snake in her arms nodded. “Hiss—”
But just as its head moved halfway, the hissing abruptly stopped.
Su Su looked at it in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
The black snake suddenly shook its head a few times, as if trying to clear its mind.
Seeing this, an ominous feeling rose in Su Su’s heart. “Ah Xuan?”
The black snake stopped shaking.
It lifted its head, staring at her with vertical pupils. The affection and attachment in its gaze faded, replaced by something else—scrutiny and suspicion.
“Hiss—”
Before Su Su could react, the black snake suddenly broke free from her arms and shot forward at lightning speed, vanishing several hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.
“Ah Xuan!”
Su Su had no idea what was happening, but she bolted after it without hesitation.
Yet no matter how fast she ran, the snake ahead of her refused to stop.
Anxious beyond words, she gritted her teeth, and a brilliant white light surged toward the rapidly disappearing black figure.
“Ah Xuan, come back!”
Her command failed.
The black snake vanished completely into the darkness of the night.
Su Su was forced to stop.
Four ability users had appeared in front of her—pursuers. With a quick glance, she recognized them; she had encountered them before in that remote, old motel.
The most familiar among them was the shadow that had once clung to the wall outside her room, peeping in.
Su Su’s face turned cold. “Lapdogs of the Research Guild? Get lost!”
The expressions of the four darkened immediately.
The shadow was the first to shout, “Capture her!”
A Tier 7 against Tier 6—a complete power imbalance.
A surge of blinding white light instantly seized control of their bodies.
Su Su no longer had any mercy left for anyone from the Research Guild.
She didn’t care what they wanted. Taking advantage of their momentary paralysis, she raised her hand and sent out four razor-sharp steel nails.
Four piercing whistling sounds.
Four heavy thuds as bodies hit the ground.
No one was left blocking her path.
But the shadow of Xuan Mang had long disappeared.
Su Su hesitated only for a second before resolutely continuing her pursuit in a specific direction.
Until she reached her destination.
Breathing slightly heavily, she lifted her head and gazed at the familiar two-story villa.
Suddenly, Su Su’s gaze sharpened.
In the southwest corner of the villa, a pitch-black python was climbing toward a narrow balcony.
On the balcony stood a slender, unfamiliar figure, seemingly having waited for a long time.
At first glance, it looked no different from an ordinary human—aside from the occasional glimpse of sharp fangs peeking from its mouth, there were no obvious signs of zombification.
It was… a beauty.
Perhaps once, before S City fell, it had been one of the beauties who lived in this very villa.
At this moment, it clapped its hands excitedly and let out a shrill roar as it watched the python climbing toward it.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!!!”
It even spread its arms wide, as if welcoming the half-transformed snake man into its embrace.
Su Su stood frozen below.
In that instant, she understood exactly what this Tier 7 zombie wanted—it wanted Ah Xuan to lift it high, just as he had once done with her.
—Fun.
—Mine.
Dark and terrifying thoughts flickered through Su Su’s mind, as if something was trying to forcefully imprint them upon her.
She violently shook her head.
No! Ah Xuan was hers, her companion, her partner.
A burst of light, bright as daylight, engulfed the narrow balcony.
“Ah Xuan, come back!”
Xuan Mang, now in a half-human form, paused and turned its head slightly.
Soft, jet-black hair framed his brow, partially covering his sharp features. His downcast gaze held only a half-faded emerald hue in his vertical pupils.
He was looking at the person below.
Yet that wickedly handsome face, those dangerously fierce eyes, held no recognition—only the detached indifference one would have toward a stranger.
Su Su’s voice trembled. “Ah Xuan…”
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, the Tier 7 zombie suddenly let out an enraged roar!
It shattered the invisible restraint binding it and even had the audacity to hiss at Xuan Mang—
Unlike most zombies, its tongue had not rotted away.
It could even mimic human speech—
“Ah… Xuan…”
—The one below is just an insignificant human.
—I am her.
—You are mine.
Xuan Mang lifted his head, no longer looking at the figure below.
He slithered toward the Tier 7 zombie, as if he had truly mistaken that uncorrupted face for the one he had always longed for.
The Tier 7 zombie spread its arms in delight.
It wanted to be held, to glide through the air just like before.
This city belongs to me.
Everything inside it is mine!
The distance between them shrank—closer, closer still.
The Tier 7 zombie could barely contain its excitement. It even reached forward, attempting to climb onto the snake’s tail.
Clang!
A curved short blade sliced past the zombie’s neck, embedding itself deep into the wall behind it.
Startled, the zombie recoiled in shock, its once-proud expression twisting in fear. It instinctively clutched its throat, pale fingers trembling.
In that brief moment, Su Su had already climbed up to the second floor.
Her Tier 7 ability had long enhanced her speed and agility—within the blink of an eye, she had leaped in front of the half-serpent figure.
She did not turn to look at him.
Instead, she reached out and wrenched her blade from the wall.
The short blade pointed directly at the infuriated Tier 7 zombie.
Su Su said nothing.
She simply told herself—
Ah Xuan is hers.
Her companion.
Her partner.