The scorpion corpses were buried by the wind and sand. Given some time, their bodies would be completely entombed beneath the layers of sand.
The off-road vehicle set off along the road ahead.
Su Su sat in the back seat and first took out the medical kit to apply medicine to the injured Xiao Hei. She carefully and gently smeared the medicine, her soft and warm fingers touching the snake’s body… Instantly, a familiar wave of heat surged within the black snake.
It endured silently.
After applying the medicine, Su Su wrapped layer after layer of white bandages around the wound. Finally, at the very tip of the snake’s tail, she tied a butterfly knot.
The black snake lifted its tail slightly, as if sensing something, and stared at the bow for a while before shaking its tail in a pleased manner.
Su Su still felt dissatisfied. “I remember that one of the independent ability user teams brought a Tier 5 healing ability user. Just bear with it a little longer. Once we catch up to the convoy, your injuries will heal.”
“Hiss~~~”
The snake’s hissing was unnaturally sweet.
Sitting in the back seat as well, Pang Cancan rubbed her arms, feeling that Xiao Hei in this state was truly unbearable to look at.
She spoke up to interrupt, “Sister Su Su, the Grade 6 crystal is already in hand. Aren’t you in a hurry to consume it?”
These two crystals were essentially spoils of war seized by Sister Su Su and Xiao Hei.
Now that they had them, what did they have to fear from the Ability Users’ Guild?
Su Su took out the two pale green crystals and handed one to Pang Cancan. “This one is yours.”
“Hehe.” Pang Cancan accepted the crystal, grinning from ear to ear. “What’s that saying? This is what it means to follow the right leader!”
After speaking, she suddenly remembered something and precisely tossed a bag of Grade 5 crystals onto Sun Zhichun’s lap.
His expression stiffened, his arm trembled, and the off-road vehicle skidded slightly, carving a small ‘S’ shape in the sand.
Once the vehicle stabilized, he forced a smile and said, “Cancan, a whole bag of crystals is a bit terrifying in weight…”
Pang Cancan scratched her head sheepishly. “Sorry, Brother Zhichun, I didn’t do it on purpose. I just missed my aim.”
“It’s fine.” Luckily, she missed.
Pang Cancan looked innocent for a couple of seconds, then leaned on the seat again. “Brother Zhichun, this bag of crystals is for you. Next time we run into a Tier 6 zombie, Sister Su Su and I will help you get a crystal!”
Sun Zhichun smiled.
He understood Pang Cancan’s concern—she was afraid that he would feel resentful, thinking that he didn’t get a share of the two Grade 6 crystals.
But the two young women were their own team. Along this journey, they didn’t need much protection from him—they relied entirely on their own strength. On the contrary, it was he who had actively sought to join their team and travel westward with them.
Sun Zhichun was not a greedy or petty person.
“Alright, when we encounter that zombie horde the Research Guild mentioned, I should be able to reach Tier 6 by then too.”
Seeing that he didn’t mind, Pang Cancan cheerfully returned to her seat.
When she turned back, she happened to meet Sister Su Su’s smiling gaze.
Pang Cancan’s face turned slightly red.
She knew that Sister Su Su had also seen through her thoughts—before, she never used to think about anything and simply acted on instinct. But after entering the Northern Base and suffering consecutive setbacks in just a few short days, she had finally grown up a little.
She still knew how to comfort her companions, maintain harmony within the team, and stand together against the Ability Users’ Guild.
Pang Cancan lowered her head in embarrassment and stuffed the Grade 6 crystal into her mouth.
As smoothly as always, the immense energy contained within the crystal surged in an orderly fashion along her meridians, converging at the spot two finger-widths below her navel. It was as if someone had already preemptively refined it for her, filtering out any harmful impurities.
She subconsciously sneaked a glance at Sister Su Su beside her.
Everyone believed that Sister Su Su’s ability was a mental-type power, but only those closest to her could sense that something was amiss. Like herself, and like Wei Yan—Brother Wei… Both of them had experienced Sister Su Su’s ability firsthand. They understood it clearly but had an unspoken agreement not to ask about it.
It wasn’t until they reached the coastal base and saw that Energy Disruption Device that Pang Cancan started to form some suspicions.
It was probably related to crystals in some way. But this was Sister Su Su’s secret, and she had no reason to pry further.
Just enjoy it! After all, she had a keen eye and followed the right leader!
Feeling at ease, Pang Cancan closed her eyes.
Once that sneaky glance finally disappeared, Su Su placed the remaining Grade 6 crystal into her mouth.
The abundant energy flowed into her body, and an excess of white light overflowed from her skin. The black snake, nestled in her lap, lazily flicked its tail.
The “warmth” that had initially drawn it to follow this strange human still made it feel incredibly comfortable, but it was no longer a compelling enough benefit to keep enticing it forward.
What attracted it the most…
When it wasn’t trying to intimidate others, the black snake’s smooth head was actually quite adorable. At this moment, it leaned in close to the female’s lips, and while she was absorbing the crystal’s energy, its tongue flicked out to lick her several times.
Su Su remained completely unaware.
With Xiao Hei guarding her side, she had never considered the possibility of any mishaps occurring during the crystal absorption process.
Energy continuously surged into her body. What was even stranger than before was that she seemed to feel a strange sensation of her meridians lighting up inch by inch?
Before she could examine it closely, the dantian area below her navel was filled to the brim.
Crack.
The bottleneck shattered, and her strength advanced from Tier 5 to Tier 6.
In an instant, her hearing became sharp, her vision clearer.
Dazed, Su Su opened her eyes. Her gaze instinctively landed on Sun Zhichun at the front—he had never received her ability’s refinement. Though she couldn’t see clearly with the naked eye, she could sense that his entire body was clogged with residual impurities left behind from absorbing crystals, especially a severe accumulation in his brain!
Even more strangely! She had a gut feeling—if she used her ability, she could drive out those impurities through his body from a distance!
Wait a minute.
Su Su fell into deep thought.
When she reached late Tier 4, she could barely control battle pets.
When she reached Tier 5, she could barely control humans…
Could it be that what she was manipulating wasn’t the creatures themselves, but the energy and impurities inside the crystals? The stronger her ability became, the broader her range of control?
Following this logic, the level of difficulty in controlling targets should be:
Zombies < Battle Pets < Humans.
Did this have something to do with how crystals were absorbed?
Su Su vaguely grasped a key concept but couldn’t fully comprehend it yet. While she was lost in thought, a sudden cheer erupted beside her—
“I’ve advanced to Tier 6!”
Pang Cancan excitedly pulled out her venomous insect pet.
The mother venomous insect, which coexisted with Pang Cancan through its toxins, had also transformed at this moment—its carapace now gleamed with a dark luster, and its razor-sharp mandibles looked even more menacing!
Su Su asked curiously, “Any changes?”
“Its attack power and defense have both improved! Most importantly, I can feel that in battle, it can continuously reproduce!”
Wow! Wouldn’t this make it the perfect weapon for siege warfare?
Seeing Pang Cancan’s excitement, Su Su suddenly recalled her past life—back then, the infamous ‘Poison Girl’ had seemingly relied on swarms of venomous insects to hold off an endless tide of attacking zombies.
It seemed that some things had changed, while others remained the same.
What about herself?
From possessing a speed-type ability to awakening an “unknown” ability, it wasn’t until she advanced to Tier 6 that the details of her ability had begun to reveal themselves. Moving forward, how much further would it evolve?
Would it be a blessing or a curse?
No point overthinking it—for now, it was definitely a good thing!
As the two of them successfully advanced to Tier 6, Sun Zhichun, who had been quietly driving, suddenly spoke up:
“There are two vehicles ahead. They seem to be the two teams that were following us earlier.”
Pang Cancan still remembered their ruthless escape, leaving them behind without a second thought. She scoffed, “They sped off so fast just now, why are they driving so slow now? Aren’t they afraid that if we failed to kill those venomous scorpions, we’d catch up and tear them apart instead?”
“Let’s go take a look.”
The off-road vehicle quickly closed in on the two vehicles ahead.
It seemed that the people inside had spotted them through the rearview mirror, as both vehicles came to a halt. The ability users inside appeared somewhat surprised that they had survived and caught up, their faces carrying an awkward expression.
Sun Zhichun took the lead in questioning, “Instead of speeding away, why are you stopping here?”
The people in the vehicle sighed, “We lost track of the convoy. We have no idea where to go now.”
The desert was vast and empty. The convoy’s tracks had been covered by shifting sands, and after wasting time lingering here, they had already lost sight of the leading convoy’s trail.
They were now in the most awkward situation possible—moving forward, they had no sense of direction; turning back would mean wasting all their efforts for nothing.
Moreover… They had already been driving through the desert for over a day or two—could they even find a safe route back?
“Do you have any solutions?”
Hearing this, Pang Cancan snorted coldly. “Whether we have a way or not—what does that have to do with you?”
She still held a grudge against these two teams for abandoning them as cannon fodder.
Someone on the other side muttered in dissatisfaction, “And whose fault do you think that is? If you hadn’t provoked the Ability Users’ Guild’s Huang Yongjun, would we have gotten dragged into this mess?”
“You—!”
Seeing that the situation was about to escalate into a full-blown argument, Su Su suddenly interrupted, “We have a way to track Huang Yongjun.”
Before the other side could show any sign of excitement, she immediately threw out the second half of her sentence.
“But we’re going to kill him—that means we’ll inevitably be making an enemy of the Ability Users’ Guild. You all need to think carefully. Are you coming with us, or are you leaving?”
The two teams’ faces instantly turned hesitant.
The Three Great Guilds essentially monopolized power in the Northern Base, and the Ability Users’ Guild was the strongest of them all. If they followed Su Su’s group to hunt down Huang Yongjun, they would definitely be offending the guild. Wouldn’t that mean they could never survive in the base again?
While they were still hesitating, the off-road vehicle had already driven away—clearly, they weren’t being given time to deliberate.
One of the teams gritted their teeth, hardened their resolve, and slammed on the gas to chase after them.
The remaining vehicle hesitated again and again but ultimately chose to retreat, turning around and preparing to leave the desert, completely distancing themselves from this dangerous situation.
Buzz! Buzz!
The two vehicles sped through the desert, following the scent of the venomous insect as they pursued their target. After traveling over ten kilometers, they finally spotted a vehicle below a sand dune as they crested the slope.
It was the modified vehicle that Huang Yongjun had driven.
He also seemed to have fallen behind the convoy, moving forward alone—making this the perfect opportunity for an ambush.
“Brother Zhichun, stop here.”
“Alright.”
The off-road vehicle stopped at the high slope. Su Su cradled Xiao Hei in her arms as she stepped out of the car, standing high above while looking down at the modified vehicle below—its driver completely unaware of the impending danger.
At this moment, the roles had completely reversed.
“Xiao Hei… Ah Xuan.” Su Su still wasn’t fully accustomed to the name, “Burn it!”
Hiss!
A massive fireball appeared out of thin air, igniting towering walls of flame around the steadily advancing modified vehicle.
The enemy was forced into an emergency stop.
Two figures, no larger than ants from the high ground, stepped out of the car.
Huang Yongjun immediately spotted the seven-seater off-road vehicle standing at the top of the sand dune—a vehicle he was all too familiar with!
“You’re still alive?!”
“Disappointed, aren’t you?”
Even separated by a sand dune, Su Su could clearly see the rage and powerless fury on Huang Yongjun’s face.
The scorching sun shone directly in her line of sight, making her squint slightly.
Just then, a massive venomous insect hovered above her, casting a shadow over her head to shield her from the sun.
A smile suddenly appeared on Su Su’s lips.
Like a pale red desert flower blooming amidst the sand, shaking off its dusty petals before stretching freely under the sunlight.
But in Huang Yongjun’s eyes, that smile was nothing but blatant provocation.
“If those scorpions couldn’t kill you, then I will!”
The man raised his hand. Just as the wind and sand began to stir and the ground beneath the dune trembled slightly…
Su Su’s gaze sharpened.
The overwhelming Tier 6 ability she had just awakened surged forth without restraint, lashing out at Huang Yongjun’s brain.
The impurities that had long been festering inside him were suddenly stirred up, instantly seizing control of his entire nervous system.
His movements froze.
His ability was abruptly interrupted.
The black snake in Su Su’s arms, sensing its mate’s offensive strike, instinctively intensified the flames, and in the moment when Huang Yongjun was controlled, the scorching blue fire engulfed his entire body.
“Brother Huang! Brother Huang, what’s wrong?!”
The lone subordinate who had followed him panicked and shouted, frantically trying to shake his leader awake.
But before he could even react, the blue flames had already reduced the Tier 5 ability user to ashes.
As for Huang Yongjun, being a Tier 6 ability user, he was naturally more difficult to burn compared to his subordinate.
But it didn’t matter.
Su Su was no longer who she used to be—her control over her ability had become more refined and effortless. Controlling an opponent of the same tier…
Was nothing more than child’s play.
Huang Yongjun’s consciousness remained intact, but his body and abilities were completely paralyzed. He could only watch helplessly as the raging flames consumed him.
He wanted to roar, roll, struggle, resist…
But it was all in vain!
He couldn’t move at all!
It felt as if he had fallen into a swamp, his entire body and soul seized by that terrifying woman!
How could this be? Why?!
How could a mental-type ability user be this terrifying?!
A flicker of fear appeared in Huang Yongjun’s eyes, followed by overwhelming regret.
If only he hadn’t acted on his own.
If only he had been more patient, waiting until the zombie horde arrived before dealing with this woman…
Then he wouldn’t have been caught in such a desperate situation!
But now—
The blue flames finally reached his head.
The last thing Huang Yongjun saw before his consciousness completely faded was Su Su standing high above, her expression calm and indifferent, as if she had merely stepped on an ant.
In the next moment—
Huang Yongjun was reduced to a charred corpse.
One second… Two seconds… Three seconds…
The atmosphere remained deathly silent for a full five seconds.
The vehicle that had followed behind had witnessed everything from start to finish—and once everyone inside snapped out of their daze, they collectively swallowed hard.
Holy shit.
This… This is way too terrifying!
Did the Ability Users’ Guild even know that the person they were targeting was this powerful?!