Su Su crawled out from under the counter. The scent of a living human immediately drew the zombie’s attention.
It stopped pounding on the door and shifted its target.
This was a power-type zombie, its body charred in large patches from earlier attacks—marks left by those ability users.
Unfortunately, they had all been too weak to inflict any real damage. The zombie remained vigorous and ferocious, charging forward with unrelenting aggression.
“Stop!”
As Su Su’s command rang out, a white light enveloped the zombie.
The Tier 3 zombie, which had been raging moments ago, instantly became as stiff as a “mummy.”
Su Su didn’t dare to relax. She could feel the zombie’s instincts clashing violently with her consciousness. If she lost focus for even a moment, she would lose control over it.
“Hiss~”
The black snake had already slithered onto the floor, its gaze locked onto the immobilized zombie, ready to strike at any second.
“Xiao Hei…”
Beads of sweat formed on Su Su’s forehead. Controlling a Tier 3 zombie with a Tier 2 ability was a tremendous strain.
But she wanted to hold on a little longer—to see just how long she could exert control beyond her tier.
“Just a little longer, okay?”
Xiao Hei flicked its tail but remained still.
Su Su breathed easier and focused entirely on developing her ability.
—Step back.
The simple command was met with resistance. The Tier 3 zombie didn’t move; instead, it let out an angry growl.
So there were limits.
Right now, she could completely control Tier 2 zombies, but she couldn’t make a Tier 3 zombie obey her commands.
Three minutes later, Su Su’s strength gave out.
“ROAR!!!!!!”
The zombie instantly regained its mobility. The moment it lunged forward—
Blazing flames engulfed it.
The blue flames that easily incinerated Tier 2 zombies didn’t kill the Tier 3 zombie immediately. Instead, they burned for a full two minutes before reducing it to ashes.
Plop.
An orange crystal core tumbled to the ground, landing right in front of the black snake.
Lowering its head in satisfaction, it flicked its tongue toward the crystal—
But just before it touched the core, a pale hand snatched it away.
“HISSS!!!”
Xiao Hei snapped its head around, fixing its gaze on the human who had stolen food from its mouth.
Su Su pressed her lips together.
She knew this was Xiao Hei’s prize. If not for it, she wouldn’t have gotten this Tier 3 crystal.
But she wanted it too.
“Xiao Hei.” Su Su blinked. “Can I have this crystal?”
No.
The nearly two-meter-long python narrowed its eyes dangerously and slithered toward her. It was clearly on the verge of reclaiming its prize by force.
Su Su knew her request was unreasonable.
Even a bit audacious.
If she were still in Lin Weiran’s team, even as an official teammate, she would never dare ask for something like this.
She had no right to. She would only be mocked or ignored.
But… this was Xiao Hei—the companion who had been by her side for over ten days.
Su Su reached out in a placating gesture, her ability quietly flowing into the black snake’s body, effortlessly purging the impurities from the crystal cores it had just consumed.
“Xiao Hei, you kill the zombies, and I help you cleanse the filth. That counts as contributing too, right?”
“Since I did my part, how about letting me have this crystal?”
“If I absorb it, my ability will improve, which means I can serve you even better. Don’t you think so?”
Three rhetorical questions successfully stopped the black snake in its tracks.
Its dark green slit pupils locked onto the pocket where the crystal was stored. As a cold-blooded creature fiercely protective of its food, it wasn’t so easily convinced.
But… if this human insisted on keeping it, could it really bite her to death?
The black snake’s mind worked rapidly.
No, killing her was impossible. If she died, where would it find a second servant?
So should it just give it to her?
Xiao Hei was extremely displeased. Nothing it set its eyes on had ever been taken away before.
The silent standoff stretched on.
Su Su, seeing it remain still for a long time, assumed it had agreed.
“Xiao Hei, you’re the best!”
Before the black snake could react, she hugged it and pressed a light kiss onto its head.
“Hiss?”
The black snake froze, momentarily dazed.
Its forked tongue instinctively flicked out, accidentally brushing against the human’s cheek. Her soft, bouncy skin… somehow made it want to bite down and leave two little tooth marks.
“Thank you, Xiao Hei~”
After the kiss, Su Su felt a little embarrassed.
After all, Xiao Hei wasn’t a cat or a dog—it was a python. Kissing it felt a little weird.
“I’ll treat you even better from now on!”
Xiao Hei was set down, but instead of dwelling on the fact that its crystal had been taken by a human, it remained preoccupied with recalling that soft, fleeting sensation from earlier.
Su Su walked ahead.
The black snake slithered along behind her.
After a few steps, it twisted its head to stare at her in a probing manner, its gaze oddly peculiar.
After a while—
Xiao Hei figured it out on its own.
Considering that this human was at least somewhat pleasing to the eye, this time, it would allow her to take its prey.
Su Su, unaware of the complex thoughts running through Xiao Hei’s mind, had already reached the storage room and stood staring at the dented door for a few seconds.
The person inside was cautiously calling out.
“The zombie… is it gone?”
“Zhao Qiankun? Lin Wenzong? Zhang Qiang?”
“Did you guys come back?”
Locked inside, Pang Cancan had no idea what had happened outside—only that the zombie had abruptly stopped pounding on the door and gone silent.
What was happening out there?
She didn’t dare open the door to check, afraid that the zombie was still lurking, waiting for her to step out and get ambushed. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. Her calls grew louder, both to summon courage and to probe the situation outside.
She would never get a response from the zombie.
This small supermarket still had some scattered supplies left on the shelves—obviously, it had been raided several times before.
The fact that anything remained was likely due to the Tier 3 zombie “guarding” the place.
Su Su ultimately remained silent.
She deeply empathized with Pang Cancan’s situation—after all, in her past life, she had always been the one abandoned and sacrificed.
But saving someone didn’t mean she trusted them.
The less she got involved, the less trouble she would attract. Sooner or later, Pang Cancan would realize that the danger had passed.
With that in mind, Su Su turned away and walked to the shelves.
There were still plenty of household supplies. She picked out tissues, sanitary pads, pots, bowls, and other essentials, piling them up in front of Xiao Hei.
Before the snake could even open its mouth, the items vanished into thin air.
Su Su looked at it with envy.
A dual ability—something she had rarely seen in humans, yet Xiao Hei possessed it with ease.
Of course, the most important thing when scavenging was food.
The staple food section was nearly empty, but the snack aisle still had some leftovers. Without being picky, Su Su cleared out about 80% of it.
Then, when she reached the instant food section—she was in for a surprise!
Bending down, she picked up a box of self-heating hotpot from the floor. Then, from under the shelves, she pulled out two bags of luosifen (river snail rice noodles). On the very top shelf, two packs of instant curry cubes had tipped over and lay there untouched.
Su Su couldn’t help but salivate.
She was already planning to cook luosifen for dinner, maybe even add two sausages. Hmm, the sausages weren’t expired yet…
Just as she was enjoying her zero-cost shopping spree, a faint sound of a door opening came from behind.
“Xiao Hei.”
Without needing further prompting, the black snake automatically slithered back into the backpack.
Click.
The storage room door cracked open slightly.
First, a pair of cautious, bright eyes peeked out, scanning the surroundings for a few moments. Seeing no movement, a head with braided hair slowly emerged.
“Huh? Where’s the zombie?”
She looked left and right but saw no trace of the Tier 3 zombie—only a pile of ashes on the floor and the surrounding area scorched black.
Mustering her courage, Pang Cancan stepped out halfway. As her gaze swept the room, she finally noticed Su Su standing behind the shelves.
“It’s you!”
“Did you kill that zombie?”
Su Su lowered her gaze and zipped up her backpack, neither confirming nor denying it.
But Pang Cancan had already made up her mind—her savior was none other than the beautiful sister she had traded a bowl of meat porridge with two days ago!
She excitedly ran over. “Beautiful sister, thank you for saving me! If you hadn’t been here, I would’ve been eaten by that zombie!”
She was too enthusiastic, and Su Su wasn’t quite sure how to respond.
“No need to thank me.” After a two-second hesitation, she added, “I’m leaving. You… should be more cautious from now on.”
Don’t just join any random team. Who knows what kind of animals your teammates might turn out to be?
At the mention of this, Pang Cancan huffed and put her hands on her hips.
“Beautiful sister, you saw it too, right? Those bastards threw me to the zombie on purpose to buy time for themselves… Pah! If I ever run into them again, I’ll make sure they regret it!”
Su Su silently sidestepped her, ready to leave the supermarket.
“Hey! Wait for me!”
Seeing her savior about to leave, Pang Cancan panicked.
At the end of the day, she was just an eighteen-year-old girl. The only reason she had dared to team up with three grown men without fear was her confidence in her venomous insect abilities. She wasn’t afraid of people—only of being alone on the road.
Pang Cancan shamelessly ran after her, flashing a fawning smile. “Beautiful sister, I’m all alone, and you’re alone too. Since fate has brought us together again, why don’t we team up?”
Didn’t seem like she had learned her lesson.
Su Su politely declined. “Sorry, I’m used to being on my own.”
She had Xiao Hei to take care of, and her ability was too unique—traveling with others wasn’t suitable.
Pang Cancan looked devastated.
But she wasn’t the type to be clingy or shamelessly persistent. After being rejected, she could only watch her beautiful savior leave with a pitiful expression.
Then, suddenly, she raised her hand and shouted—
“Beautiful sister, my name is Pang Cancan! My ability is raising venomous insects, but don’t worry, I only use them to scare bad guys, not harm good people!”
“If you don’t want to team up now, that’s fine! But if we meet a third time, then it’s fate—you better think twice before turning me down again!”
Pang Cancan?
Raising venomous insects?
Su Su suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She recalled something from her past life—an extremely well-known ability user at the Southern Base, nicknamed “Poison Girl.”
It was said that her entire body had been transformed by deadly toxins, erasing any trace of a living human’s scent. Even if zombies stood right in front of her, they wouldn’t attack.
Beyond that, she could summon swarms of venomous insects capable of devouring zombies’ brains and bodies. Zombies didn’t dare provoke her—and neither did humans!
Logically, Su Su’s past self would never have had any interaction with someone like “Poison Girl.”
But by some rare coincidence, she knew the woman’s real name—Pang Cancan.
Because once, Lin Weiran and Si Zhe had a massive falling out, so much so that word of it even reached her.
In the story of that so-called “protagonist couple,” Pang Cancan played the role of the vicious, scheming third party, constantly stirring up trouble over jealousy.