An orange Grade 3 crystal. In her past life, Su Su had only ever possessed one.
She had painstakingly dug it out from the head of a Tier 3 zombie after awakening her useless speed-based ability and teaming up with other ability users.
Now, only half a year into the apocalypse, she had already obtained one.
“Xiao Hei, this is your achievement.”
The black snake flicked its tail nonchalantly.
“Hiss~”
Su Su put away the Grade 3 crystal and turned her gaze to the corpses of the two other ability users.
One had his heart gouged out, the other had been poisoned to death. The “wealth” on them had now become unclaimed spoils.
Supporting herself, Su Su stood up and first picked up the crystal pouch Zhang Er had dropped. Inside were three Grade 1 crystals and one Grade 2 crystal, all given by Zhao Zhenyu.
She stared at them for a few seconds before suddenly letting out a cold laugh.
See? In the end, she was the one who profited.
Su Su didn’t linger and proceeded to search Zhang Er’s body for a few more Grade 1 crystals, then took a few Grade 2 crystals from Zhang Da.
After some thought, she put back a few Grade 1 crystals along with one Grade 2 crystal.
This way, at least the people collecting the corpses wouldn’t notice anything unusual.
Next was cleaning up the aftermath. Su Su swept away the pile of ashes and disguised Zhang Er’s death to look like a zombie attack.
Once everything was done, she returned to the back seat of the car and locked the doors.
The people at the bridgehead had not returned yet. They were still fighting the zombies.
Taking advantage of this time, Su Su took stock of her gains:
Grade 1 crystals, three Grade 2 crystals, and one Grade 3 crystal.
When she held the Grade 3 crystal, Su Su hesitated for a moment.
In her past life, those ability users who were overly eager and consumed high-tier crystal nuclei beyond their level had all exploded and died without exception.
With her current ability level, not even at Tier 1 yet, there was no way she could absorb it in the short term.
“Hiss~”
Before she could react, the black snake, still weak from battle, suddenly stretched its head over, opened its mouth, and swallowed the Grade 3 crystal whole!
“Xiao Hei!”
Su Su was shocked. “Spit it out! You can’t…”
Can’t it?
But it also had an ability. In theory, it should be able to consume crystals as well.
Su Su’s panic suddenly froze. She stared blankly at the black snake that had just swallowed the crystal nucleus.
One second, it was completely fine. The next, it was writhing in pain, rolling around on the backseat cushion.
A burst of blood instantly exploded at the seven-inch mark!
“Hiss!!!”
“Xiao Hei!”
Su Su panicked once more. She wanted to help but had no idea where to start.
At this critical moment, she suddenly recalled the scene when Xiao Hei first appeared—at that time, Wu Zhi was gripping its body, and the exposed flesh at the seven-inch mark was a bloody mess, exactly like it was now…
Exactly like it was now!
A sudden realization struck Su Su.
She quickly swallowed a Grade 1 crystal, rapidly absorbing it in a short time, causing her ability to jump to Tier 1.
The white light she had exhausted earlier finally had some surplus.
With trembling hands, Su Su placed her palm on the black snake, sending white light into its body.
A miracle soon unfolded. Under the “healing” of the white light, the mangled flesh at the seven-inch mark healed at an astonishing speed!
The black snake’s pain also eased somewhat. Its hissing gradually weakened until it disappeared entirely.
“Xiao Hei?”
The wound had healed, but the black snake had fallen unconscious.
Su Su anxiously lifted it, calling out several times, but received no response.
Before she could continue her “treatment,” the roar of an engine passed over the bridge, and a vehicle was about to arrive at the bridge’s end.
Su Su hurriedly stuffed the unconscious black snake back into her backpack and discreetly hid the crystals she had taken.
“What happened?!”
The mayor got out of the car, clutching his arm, and was shocked to see the two corpses on the ground.
Since he got no response, his gaze shifted to the only person who was still safely hiding in the car—Su Su.
Seeing them return, Su Su, both startled and frightened, quickly opened the car door and grabbed the mayor’s arm.
“They’re dead! They were killed by a zombie that suddenly ran over!”
At this moment, she looked exactly like a survivor who had barely escaped death.
Sure enough, the mayor didn’t suspect her but instead wore an extremely grim expression.
“Where’s the zombie?”
“It ran away.”
As they spoke, Lin Weiran, Si Zhe, and the others also got out of the car.
At this moment, the expressions of everyone present were strange.
The mayor’s face was dark.
A flicker of shock and paleness flashed in Sun Wan’s eyes.
Lin Weiran cast a complicated glance at the two corpses on the ground, then looked toward Si Zhe.
The latter was also somewhat surprised.
Only Zhao Zhenyu sneered and said, “Mayor, is this the result of you deliberately letting the Tier 3 zombie escape? Causing two ability users to die unjustly!”
“Zhenyu!”
“Ridiculous!”
Lin Weiran and Sun Wan’s voices rang out simultaneously.
Sun Wan glared at Zhao Zhenyu. “Who deliberately let the zombie escape? I saw the mayor was about to be injured by the zombie, so I went to support him!”
Having lost a Grade 3 crystal that he had been determined to obtain, Zhao Zhenyu was now furious, glaring at her. “Whatever you say, huh? Who knows what you were really thinking!”
“Then what do you expect me to do?” Sun Wan sneered. “Ignore the mayor’s life and death and go with you to kill that Tier 3 zombie? Sure, if we had killed it, you all would have gotten two Grade 3 crystals. And what about us? Was our mayor just supposed to die in the zombie’s mouth?!”
“You—”
“Zhenyu! Enough!”
“Enough, Sun Wan.”
Two voices rang out simultaneously, and the two people in confrontation instantly fell silent.
Lin Weiran pulled Zhao Zhenyu away, while Sun Wan instinctively moved behind the mayor.
The mayor lowered his head, saying nothing, but his gaze flickered as he stared at Zhang Da’s corpse.
This was the third Tier 2 ability user in town, yet he had now died under his arrangements.
There shouldn’t have been any gaps. Zhang Da’s ability should have been enough to break through to Tier 3. What exactly caused…
Su Su suddenly wiped away tears. “It’s all my fault.”
The mayor narrowed his eyes. “Why is it your fault?”
“If I had just gotten out of the car when they tried to pull me out, they wouldn’t have been distracted by dragging me, and they would have noticed the zombie sneaking up from behind…”
Su Su sobbed in lingering fear.
“But I really didn’t know why they were pulling me out of the car at the time. I was really scared. If a zombie had come, I wouldn’t even have been able to run.”
As soon as she said this, the mayor immediately looked at Zhao Zhenyu.
His sharp gaze, coupled with the imposing presence of someone in power, made Zhao Zhenyu instinctively explain.
“It had nothing to do with me!”
Whether it had anything to do with him, the people who knew the truth understood in their hearts.
If he hadn’t incited Zhang Da and Zhang Er to “teach Su Su a lesson,” perhaps things wouldn’t have ended up this way.
And that third Grade 3 crystal would have smoothly ended up in the mayor’s pocket.
Seeing the mayor’s gaze grow colder and colder, Si Zhe suddenly spoke up. “It was all just an unfortunate accident. When we go out to fight zombies, everyone has to be prepared for the possibility of dying at any moment.”
“I know the mayor is deeply pained by the loss of ability users in town, but this was unavoidable.”
“Besides, in the end, it’s only our loss. After all, the Grade 3 crystal you wanted is already in your hands.”
The implication was clear: since they hadn’t even complained about losing that Grade 3 crystal, what right did the mayor have to rage here uselessly?
Lin Weiran also chimed in, “Since the zombie escaped, it escaped. We got one crystal, and we can divide the rest. This trip’s harvest isn’t too bad.”
The mayor took a deep breath and, in an instant, returned to his usual mild demeanor.
“I was just thinking that you all came to help but didn’t receive the agreed-upon reward, so I got a bit anxious.”
“You’re right. What’s done is done. There’s no point in getting worked up. We should hurry back.”
The group exchanged a few insincere smiles before getting into their respective vehicles.
No one but Su Su noticed the fleeting trace of venom in the mayor’s eyes as he looked at Lin Weiran and the others.
“Get in the car.”
“Yes.”
No one paid any attention to Su Su. She kept her head down and silently climbed back into the driver’s seat, driving herself to follow the convoy.
Inside the car, she was alone. Watching as the other vehicles passed her one by one, thinking about the frustrated expressions of those two groups… Su Su wiped away the “fear” she had been pretending to show and let out a soft chuckle.
“Xiao Hei, who would’ve thought we’d be the ones to pick up the leftovers?”
She didn’t know what exactly had happened in her past life that allowed Lin Weiran and Si Zhe to successfully obtain two Grade 3 crystals and both advance to Tier 3.
But in this life, they only had one Grade 3 crystal.
Su Su was quite curious—people don’t worry about having too little, they worry about unfair distribution. Who would they choose to use this crystal to strengthen?
But no matter who used it, nothing could stop what was coming—she, through this adventure, was about to advance to a Tier 2 ability user.
With some time left on the road back, Su Su steeled herself and swallowed three Grade 2 crystals in one go.
A surge of energy flooded her body. As she focused on driving, she also did her best to absorb it.
Half an hour later, the energy within her gradually stabilized and fully merged into her own.
Su Su could feel it—she had broken through a certain barrier and had become a Tier 2 ability user.
That wasn’t the most important part. The most important part was that she had vaguely grasped the true nature of her ability.
She couldn’t control humans, but she could control zombies at will!
She couldn’t heal injuries, but she could “treat” the internal damage caused by consuming crystals!
Realizing this second point, Su Su couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
In her past life, she had heard of many high-level ability users who, after consuming too many crystals, accumulated a large amount of residual impurities in their bodies. Once it reached a critical level, it would either constantly torment their nervous system or cause them to explode and die instantly!
And her ability… could actually cleanse those impurities!
No wonder the white light she released had saved Xiao Hei from exploding when it was on the verge of death. No wonder her ability could soothe Xiao Hei, making the black snake that once eyed her hungrily never attack her.
Because it had mistakenly consumed a crystal beyond its level. Because there were residual impurities in its body. That was why it obediently stayed by her side.
Su Su inexplicably let out a breath of relief.
She was actually feeling reassured just because a snake had intentions toward her.
“After swallowing a Grade 3 crystal, there must still be a lot of residual impurities.” Su Su reached for her backpack. “I will help you cleanse them properly, but you must also promise me—”
She paused, biting her lip, and said, “Stay by my side, okay?”
Whether in her past life or this one, Xiao Hei had been her benefactor—her “grateful snake”. Moreover, in this life, it was the only companion that didn’t despise her for being weak and powerless.
Su Su unzipped her backpack.
She wanted to take a look at the unconscious black snake, to confirm that it was safe.
But as soon as the zipper opened, a python thicker than her upper arm shot out of the backpack and tightly coiled around her arm!
“Hiss!”
Su Su nearly died of fright right there in the driver’s seat.
“X-Xiao Hei?”
How—how did it turn into Da Hei (Big Black)?!