Su Su did not rush back to the Northern Base to confirm the truth. Instead, she drove southward along the eastern route, passing through several small and medium-sized bases along the way. She discovered that rumors about the Research Guild’s encirclement and annihilation of the two major unions had already spread like wildfire.
Everyone was watching the situation unfold, while also fearing the ways of the Northern Base.
Anyone daring to enter the Northern Base at this time was either a deaf person who had never heard the rumor or someone with ulterior motives. No matter the reason, they would undoubtedly attract public attention and be closely monitored.
Su Su had no way of sneaking into the Northern Base recklessly.
She could only linger around various bases in the vicinity, continuously gathering information.
“Accommodation price: three Grade 3 crystals per night. No electricity, candles provided. Limited hot water.”
Even so, the inn was far from being a decent place, with neither good living conditions nor guaranteed safety.
Su Su tossed down a Grade 3 crystal. “One room.”
“Room 3011. Go up to the third floor and walk straight.” The ability user at the front desk sized up the woman. Her entire face was wrapped in a headscarf, leaving only a pair of beautiful eyes visible.
Women hiding their appearance in the apocalypse was nothing unusual.
He withdrew his gaze lazily and said, “Don’t make noise at night. If you disturb the other guests, I won’t step in to stop any fights.”
“Mm.”
Su Su lifted her foot and ascended to the third floor.
As soon as she lit the candle after entering the room, the window silently slid open. A snake and a cheetah, taking advantage of the night’s cover, slipped into the room with practiced ease.
A pitch-black snake tail even cautiously shut the window behind them.
At the small table, Su Su held a serious meeting. “I gathered some information today—The Northern Base has already started enforcing strict entry and exit regulations.”
In the past, ability users who left the base could still bring out some fresh news. But now that the base had tightened its management, the number of people leaving had drastically decreased, and no new information was coming out.
In other words, no one knew the true current state of the Northern Base.
“Hiss!”
“Meow!”
Facing a snake and a cheetah that couldn’t speak, Su Su fell into deep thought.
Revenge was not something that could be rushed. The most important thing now was to find Pang Cancan and the others. Only then could she figure out what the Research Guild was up to and come up with a countermeasure.
Su Su murmured, “Cancan and the others couldn’t still be in the desert.”
During those two days, she had scoured an area spanning dozens of kilometers around the incident site. Using the cheetah’s keen sense of smell, she had even dug up several corpses buried beneath the sand… Yet, she found no trace of Pang Cancan and the others, nor could she track their scent.
If they had lost their survival resources, the most likely course of action would be to leave the desert first and return to the Northern Base to wait.
And now, something had happened at the Northern Base…
If she put herself in their shoes—if she had returned first and discovered that the Research Guild had massacred the two major unions, she certainly wouldn’t have dared to enter the city rashly. The most probable action would be to linger around the area…
Before she could think further, a sudden, violent knock on the old wooden door interrupted her thoughts.
Knock, knock, knock!
The force from outside shook the door panel, as if it would collapse at any moment, letting the uninvited guest barge in.
Xuan Mang at the table instantly twisted its head around, its gaze filled with hostility as it locked onto the door.
The cheetah leaped off the stool at the same time.
Su Su was also startled.
Once she recovered, her small, fair hand calmly pressed down on Xuan Mang’s back, her gaze shifting to the tense cheetah. She spoke in a hushed voice, “We might not have been discovered.”
Unless the Research Guild had informants in every base in the north, all of whom were familiar with her features, and had even set up a deliberate trap to wait for her, it wouldn’t be so easy to find her.
Su Su patiently waited for a few seconds.
The knocking on the door grew louder, accompanied by a few crude curses from a male voice.
She remained on high alert but had mostly guessed what was happening. “It’s probably just a drunkard acting up. You two hide first—I’ll take care of it.”
Ah Xuan and the cheetah had too distinctive features; she couldn’t let them show themselves.
“Hiss~”
Xuan Mang understood the situation. Even though it wanted nothing more than to burn the human outside to ashes, it reluctantly slithered into the bathroom.
Seeing them properly hidden, Su Su rewrapped her headscarf before walking to the door and pressing down on the handle—
The moment the door cracked open, the burly man outside forcefully barged in.
“Little lady, come out and let grandpa—”
Before he could finish his sentence, four sharp steel nails pierced into his limbs, and at the same time, a curved blade lunged toward his throat.
In that instant between life and death, the man broke out in a cold sweat, sobering up instantly!
Just moments ago, he had downed several bottles of alcohol. When he spotted a woman going upstairs at the inn, he had drunkenly staggered after her. But now that his intoxication had vanished, fear was immediately replaced by furious rage.
He yanked the steel nails out with a growl and roared, “You damned bitch! You think having a few weapons makes you special?! Watch me fuck you first and kill you later!”
He was a Tier 4 strength-type ability user. With a casual movement, he tore the wooden door off its hinges and lunged at the woman with a ferocious expression, aiming to crush her small frame.
Su Su swiftly dodged to the side.
The steel nails that had fallen around suddenly lifted off the ground, hovering in midair before piercing deeply into the burly man’s back, straight through to his heart.
His eyes widened in disbelief, his body freezing in place.
His final moment of consciousness was filled with the sight of the woman’s short blade slicing across his throat, blood spraying into the air in a breathtaking arc.
Bang!
The burly man collapsed along with the broken door.
The commotion startled several ability users staying in the inn. Some had planned to come out and watch the spectacle, only to witness this brutal scene unfold before their eyes.
The innkeeper arrived late, showing no particular reaction upon seeing the corpse on the ground. He even looked accustomed to such sights.
However, when his gaze landed on the destroyed door, his expression immediately darkened. “You damaged the room’s infrastructure. You need to pay for that.”
Su Su had plenty of crystals, but she wasn’t a fool.
She cast a cold glance at the dead body. “Ask him for it.”
The innkeeper, of course, refused. “You two were fighting, so you’re both responsible! Besides, he’s dead—how am I supposed to get payment from him?”
“If you want, I can send you down to ask him for it yourself?”
The innkeeper choked on his words.
The Tier 4 ability user on the ground had died so swiftly at this woman’s hands—who knew what tier she was?
Forget it. Just take the loss.
Grumbling under his breath, the innkeeper prepared to leave.
But the woman pushed her luck even further. “This room is damaged. Give me another one.”
“That’ll cost extra—”
Before he could finish, those beautiful eyes swept over him coldly.
The innkeeper took a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll get you another room!”
Su Su nodded.
Imitating Ah Xuan’s demeanor really was quite intimidating.
Reluctantly, the innkeeper led her to another room. As they passed the corridor window, a series of roaring engines suddenly echoed from below.
A quick glance down revealed four or five off-road vehicles pulling up at the inn’s entrance—clearly some big customers!
Su Su also glanced downward.
When she saw a familiar figure stepping out of the leading vehicle, her gaze froze.
That was… Si Zhe!
Even with a hat on, she could recognize him instantly!
Had his dantian recovered? No, that wasn’t the real question—why was he here? Was he working for the Research Guild?
A surge of killing intent rose within her.
But then she recalled a piece of information she had gathered a few days ago—the Tier 7 ability user who led the massacre of the two major unions that night was a lightning-type.
Could it be Si Zhe?!
Su Su forcefully suppressed the turbulent emotions in her heart. Her mind raced, and she immediately grabbed the innkeeper, who had just started to smile in delight.
“My man is here. Give me the room at the end of the hallway. That one has good soundproofing.”
The innkeeper waved her off dismissively. “Fine, fine, take it.”
He didn’t care what ability users did in their rooms.
Once Su Su successfully switched rooms, the innkeeper rushed downstairs, his face breaking into a welcoming grin as he greeted the important guests stepping into the inn.
“Gentlemen, one night costs one Grade 3 crystal per room. How many rooms will you be taking?”
Someone muttered discontentedly, “What a dump.”
The innkeeper’s smile didn’t waver. “This is a small base. This is the only inn around—please be understanding!”
“We’ll take seven rooms.”
The moment Si Zhe finished speaking, he fell into silence. Even as the innkeeper led them upstairs, he did not say another word.
The rest of the team was also unusually quiet.
The eerie stillness, coupled with the presence of more than a dozen ability users who clearly weren’t ordinary, made the innkeeper feel on edge.
When they reached the third floor, several ability users were gathered outside some rooms, speaking in hushed tones.
Even without listening closely, their conversation drifted into his ears.
“What tier do you think that woman was?”
“Five or six, maybe? I only caught that she was a metal-type. Her blade skills and hidden weapons were pretty good too.”
“That guy died miserably… The apocalypse has been going on for nearly two years, and there are still idiots who think they can pounce on a pretty woman without consequences. Serves him right for dying with his eyes open…”
Si Zhe, indifferent as he was, still caught a few key words.
Five or six-tier, blade and hidden weapons, pretty woman.
Passing by the room with the missing door, he glanced at the corpse on the ground—blood seeping from the back, throat slit, no excessive signs of struggle, and no hidden weapons left behind.
“Was there a fight here just now?”
The innkeeper, who had just made seven Grade 3 crystals, was desperate to assure his valuable guests that the inn was safe. He hurriedly explained, “Ah, just a drunkard causing trouble—tried to lay hands on a female ability user and got himself killed instead.”
It sounded like the most normal thing in the world.
But Si Zhe’s mind was no longer normal.
Anyone remotely connected to Su Su would ignite his pent-up rage and hatred. He wouldn’t let even the tiniest clue slip by.
“Oh? Was she alone?”
The innkeeper cursed inwardly.
What the hell? Are you bastards also getting ideas just because she’s pretty?
If they started a fight…
To prevent further destruction to his establishment, the innkeeper quickly added, “Her man is with her. They just asked to switch to a quieter room at the far end—to take care of some business tonight.”
The more Si Zhe listened, the less it sounded right.
He asked no more questions.
Only after everyone had entered their rooms did he glance at a particular ability user in his squad. “Shadow, tonight, go to the room at the far end and see what the woman inside looks like.”
Shadow frowned but still nodded. “Understood.”
Si Zhe originally wanted to describe Su Su’s features so Shadow could recognize her at a glance.
But now, just thinking about that woman—the murderer who caused Weiran’s death—made him feel physically sick.
His stomach twisted, and the urge to vomit surged uncontrollably.
What was there to describe? Just thinking of her tainted his mind.
Si Zhe shut his eyes with hatred. “Go.”