Upon suddenly seeing an old acquaintance, Su Su’s emotions were complicated, while Lin Weiran’s emotions were even more so.
Her lips moved slightly. “Why are you here?”
“Why can’t I be here?”
Compared to Lin Weiran’s disbelief, Su Su, after her initial surprise, quickly regained her composure.
She had long anticipated encountering them again. She originally thought it would happen at the Southern Base, but unexpectedly, they ran into each other prematurely in X City.
In her previous life, this had never happened.
Si Zhe and Lin Weiran’s group, fearing that X City would become a second C City, had only replenished their supplies in the outskirts before detouring southward.
But in this life… Su Su’s gaze fell on Si Zhe.
Perhaps something unexpected had happened. Their team had members injured and unconscious, and with their only medical kit left behind in her off-road vehicle, they had no choice but to take the risk and enter X City in search of medical supplies.
It wasn’t just Lin Weiran who was shocked; the rest of the team was also astonished. They even suspected they were seeing things.
“I thought you stayed in the town.”
Su Su found it amusing. “Stayed in town? Make yourself clear—it was you who abandoned me there.”
A teammate behind Lin Weiran, anxious to get the medicine, impatiently interrupted, “You were the one who made a big scene, insisting on severing ties with us. We just did as you wished and left. And now you’re trying to twist things around?”
“Enough, Weiran. Stop wasting time arguing with her—it’s pointless. Let’s grab the medicine and go!”
Lin Weiran was reminded that her teammates were still injured and urgently needed treatment. Her voice instantly turned cold.
“Whether you want to stay in the town or leave has nothing to do with us anymore.”
“Move aside now, or don’t blame me for being rude!”
Pang Cancan, who had been listening from the side, finally understood—these people were Su Su’s enemies, and not just that, but a bunch of shameless ones who dared to try and snatch what wasn’t theirs!
“Do you even have any shame? This clinic was discovered by me, and the zombies were lured away by Sister Su Su. What right do you have to tell us to move aside?”
At this moment, Lin Weiran’s mind was entirely preoccupied with the fever-stricken, unconscious Si Zhe. No matter how justified this young girl sounded, she could not abandon the benefits that were right in front of her.
For things without an owner, possession belonged to whoever had the stronger fist.
A towering flame, nearly a meter high, erupted from Lin Weiran’s palm, burning fiercely like an unspoken threat.
She was a Tier 2 fire ability user. The three men standing behind her were also all Tier 2 ability users.
An overwhelming aura crashed down mercilessly.
“Heh! You think you’re the only ones with abilities?”
Seven or eight vibrantly colored poisonous insects suddenly shot out, their wings buzzing loudly. Up close, one could even make out their slender, curved proboscises, as sharp as serrated blades.
After their master had reached Tier 2, these insects had grown to the size of ping-pong balls, appearing even more terrifying and menacing.
Pang Cancan smugly gestured, and a poisonous insect obediently landed on her palm.
“These little guys only need to break your skin, and you’ll die on the spot—completely beyond saving.”
“I’m Tier 2, and you all are also Tier 2. Unless you’re confident you can kill all my poisonous insects in one move, if even one slips through… one of you will die at random!”
The expressions of the people on the other side instantly turned grim.
Poisonous insects were different from humans. Their reaction speed was astonishing, and they moved incredibly fast. A single moment of carelessness could result in a fatal bite.
They hadn’t expected to run into such a tough opponent here!
Lin Weiran’s face turned pale, then green, then pale again.
She instinctively turned her head. The moment her gaze landed on Si Zhe, the urgency in her heart overpowered everything else.
“Alright then! Let’s see whether these bugs fly faster or if my flames burn hotter!”
With a whoosh, the flames surged high, quickly spreading outward like a compass in a calculus teacher’s hand. In the blink of an eye, they formed a circle of fire, enclosing Su Su and Pang Cancan within.
Before the poisonous insects could take flight, the surrounding fire walls twisted into an arc, forming a completely sealed fire sphere—airtight and impenetrable.
If the insects wanted to escape, they would have to charge through the flames. Even if they survived, they’d be severely damaged.
Not to mention, outside the fire, there were still three Tier 2 ability users who hadn’t even made a move yet… With just these newly advanced poisonous insects, at best, they could take down a few enemies while suffering even greater losses themselves.
“Damn! What a vicious trick!” Pang Cancan shouted. “Are they planning to suffocate us alive?”
Under the scorching flames, Su Su’s face grew increasingly warm. A flush spread across her cheeks and along her jawline.
The fireball’s enclosure wasn’t large. Oxygen was depleting rapidly, and even breathing became difficult.
Sizzle—
Before Su Su could take action, a hideous snake head impatiently pushed open the zipper.
“Xiao Hei? Do you have a way to deal with this?”
Sweat trickled down Su Su’s forehead, sliding off her chin. As she turned her head, the droplet landed with a soft plop on the black python’s head.
“Hiss—!”
The black snake, with the bead of sweat still on its head, slithered to the ground, circling the fire wall once. The moisture quickly evaporated.
For some reason, Su Su instinctively believed that Xiao Hei could solve this problem.
Sure enough, the snake stopped at a specific spot, opened its mouth, and a massive burst of blue flames surged forward, instantly scattering the orange-red fire wall, blowing open a gap effortlessly.
“Holy shit!!!”
Pang Cancan’s eyes widened in shock, but there was no time to dwell on it. She immediately waved her hand, signaling her poisonous insects to escape through the opening.
Moments ago, they had been on the verge of collapse from the heat. But now, as soon as they encountered fresh air, they regained their energy and swarmed out of the fireball eagerly.
That wasn’t all—the black snake, coiled with its lower half on the ground while its upper body rose high, unleashed another powerful breath, instantly scattering the fire walls in a full 360-degree arc.
Sparks flew in all directions, landing precisely on the people rummaging through cabinets in search of medicine.
Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—
Before they could even pat out the embers, the ominous sound of vibrating wings was already closing in.
“Insects! The poisonous insects are coming out!”
“Weiran, what’s going on?!”
The moment the fire wall was completely shattered, Lin Weiran was also thrown to the ground.
When she got back on her feet, all she could see was the massive python coiled at Su Su’s feet!
Was she hallucinating?
She instinctively blinked, then opened her eyes again. The black python, the kind that should only exist in tropical rainforests, was staring at her coldly… In broad daylight, Lin Weiran felt a cold sweat break out on her back.
Where did this python come from? Why was it coiled at Su Su’s feet? Why wasn’t it biting her?
As if seizing the moment when she was dazed, two poisonous insects flew straight at her, aiming directly for the only exposed part of her body—her face.
If they made contact with her skin, she would surely suffer severe damage.
Lin Weiran hastily staggered back a few steps, instinctively throwing out several fireballs.
Unfortunately, at only Tier 2, the heat and lethality of her flames were not enough to instantly kill the poisonous insects, which were also controlled by a Tier 2 ability user.
Forced to retreat repeatedly until she was outside the clinic’s entrance, Lin Weiran finally managed to burn the two relentless insects to death.
The others fared no better. All of them were forced to halt whatever they were doing and focus entirely on dealing with the deadly threats swarming around them.
In the blink of an eye, the situation had completely reversed.
Feeling reassured, Su Su crouched down and patted the black snake. “Xiao Hei, keep an eye on them for me. I’m going to get the medicine.”
“Hiss~”
The black snake neither agreed nor refused, but judging by its posture, it had already locked onto every single person present.
Su Su finally felt at ease.
The clinic’s medicine cabinets had already been ransacked by the others, and the remaining medicines were now piled on the counter, yet to be taken.
A perfect opportunity for Su Su.
Without hesitation, she swiftly swept all the medicine into her backpack, instantly filling the previously empty storage space.
“That’s our medicine! Put it down!”
One of the teammates roared in fury, eyes bloodshot, completely disregarding the poisonous insects still harassing them. With a flick of his hand, a razor-sharp wind blade materialized out of thin air and shot directly toward the back of Su Su’s neck.
Judging by the force behind it, if she was caught off guard, the result would be nothing less than decapitation.
“Sister Su Su! Watch out!”
Su Su instinctively turned her head, her pupils contracting as she clearly saw the wind blade rapidly expanding in her vision.
Her mind barely had time to process it before her body reacted on instinct, dodging on its own.
The wind blade failed to strike Su Su’s neck or the medicine counter. Instead, in midair, it was knocked aside by a blazing blue fire blade.
“Hiss!!!”
The black snake was enraged.
Someone had actually dared to try and kill its human!
The black snake possessed an instinct for hunting and aggression far beyond that of humans. In an instant, it mimicked the wind blade attack, using the same method to deflect the assault aimed at its master.
“An ability? A snake actually has an ability!”
The teammate who witnessed this scene stood frozen in shock, his fingers trembling with fear.
But the black snake was far from satisfied. It opened its mouth and spewed out massive waves of blue flames, rising on both sides like two giant hands, completely engulfing Lin Weiran’s teammates—everyone except her.
This move… was so familiar! It was almost an exact replica of Lin Weiran’s fireball technique!
Screams erupted one after another. Unlike Su Su and Pang Cancan, who had held their composure earlier, these ability users quickly panicked.
“Weiran! Save us!”
“Shit! This fire is way too hot! We can’t break through it!”
Lin Weiran stared in stunned disbelief at everything happening before her. Her gaze flickered between the python and Su Su.
A python having an ability wasn’t unheard of. What was unheard of… was that if she wasn’t mistaken, this python’s ability had already reached Tier 3!
Among everyone present, except for the unconscious Si Zhe, no one could match it!
Even that enormous blue fireball, a near-perfect replica of her own move—she, the original creator of the technique, couldn’t break through it.
Her eyes darted toward Si Zhe, who was still strapped to one of her teammates. He too was trapped inside the fireball… Lin Weiran had no choice but to yield. She bit her lip and looked at Su Su.
“Is this your pet?”
At the word pet, the black snake flicked its tongue in warning, then slithered a few paces closer to Lin Weiran, its cold eyes locked onto her.
“Xiao Hei!” Su Su immediately wrapped her arms around the massive python, coaxing it in a soft voice. “Don’t listen to her. You’re not my pet—you’re my best partner.”
Lin Weiran subtly withdrew her foot, barely restraining herself from taking a step back.
A sudden realization flashed through her mind.
In an instant, it all made sense. Her gaze toward Su Su grew exceptionally complicated.
“Wu Zhi’s death… it wasn’t an accident at all. You ordered this snake to bite him to death.”
Though it had only happened a week or two ago, to Su Su, it felt like a lifetime had passed.
She still remembered the despair of her rebirth, the sheer terror of being dragged into the woods by Wu Zhi once again.
But those weak, fearful emotions had long since faded. Su Su had no interest in explaining the past to Lin Weiran.
There was no need.