Noticing Chi Ying’s thoughtful gaze fixed on the carrot in his hand, Gu Chi paused.
He suddenly recalled something—he’d overheard a conversation at headquarters. Someone had mentioned Yun Ling possessing an ability to boost others’ powers. That carrot had already seemed unusual at the time, and Chi Ying had mentioned it came from Yun Ling.
Could it really be… because of that carrot?
“Chi Ying.”
“Hm?” She blinked and came back to herself.
“That friend of yours?”
Chi Ying nodded. “Should be.”
She hadn’t expected that a single carrot could boost Mu Yu’s powers so drastically…
“What friend?” Lu Yunfei asked curiously.
“A girl from Ye Wuhan’s team,” Gu Chi explained. “She has an ability that enhances other people’s powers.”
Lu Yunfei raised an eyebrow. “Well, sounds like we owe someone a favor.”
Across the fire, Song Shi looked down at the soup in her hands—and suddenly lost her appetite.
How had Chi Ying, who’d just recently joined headquarters, made such powerful connections? Gu Chi aside, even this mysterious girl with enhancement powers… she’d never even heard of her.
Why did everything she wanted always seem to fall into Chi Ying’s lap?
Was it just because of her face?
She lowered her eyes, fingers whitening around the porcelain bowl as her grip tightened.
—
A few days later, both Lu Yunfei and Song Shi advanced to level five. But when Song Shi reached the milestone, her reaction was oddly subdued.
—
Their team finally arrived near their destination.
According to reports from the exploration team, the abnormal zombie activity was located some distance from the nearest B-level safe zone. To save time, they chose not to detour through the safe zone and instead camped in the wilderness.
Unlike before, when they arrived at the locator’s signal, all they found was empty, desolate land.
“Captain, this doesn’t look like the kind of place a leader would show up in…” Lu Yunfei trailed off as he glanced at Bai Qing behind them. He swallowed the word “leader” halfway through.
Gu Chi didn’t seem surprised. “Yeah, it’s not like the other sites we’ve seen… but it’s not impossible.”
The birth of a leader-type zombie was erratic. Sometimes they appeared in isolated places like this.
Lu Yunfei stopped the car. “So where do we go now? The locator shows it’s nearby, but zombies don’t stay in one place.”
Gu Chi considered the situation. “At first, I thought it was targeting the B-level safe zone nearby. But after contacting their director, there were no signs of anything unusual.”
“So… it has no clear goal?”
“Not necessarily,” Gu Chi replied. “Its objective may just be different from what we assumed.”
“Then what do we do?” Lu Yunfei asked, looking to him for direction.
They were caught in a dilemma. Continuing the search could waste precious time and resources with no results. But leaving now meant potentially exposing the nearby safe zone to danger.
“There have to be traces,” Gu Chi said. “It’s been nearly half a month since the alarm was triggered—something must have happened.”
“The most efficient approach is to find survivors. They might have seen something.”
“Understood.” Lu Yunfei restarted the vehicle.
—
C-level safe zones had no direct communication with the Alliance.
They spent the entire day searching, from noon until the sun began to set. They met several groups along the way, but all were heading toward the B-level zone in hopes of safety.
If any had encountered real danger, especially unarmed, they likely wouldn’t have survived to tell the tale.
Just when everyone was losing hope, a battered little car appeared ahead, crawling down the road. Three men were inside, the driver distinguishable by a deep scar across his face.
The vehicle was smeared with dried blood and dirt, its battered frame bearing the marks of impacts and age. Clearly, this wasn’t their original vehicle.
It stopped in front of Gu Chi’s SUV and idled without movement.
“Captain!” Lu Yunfei called as he prepared to approach.
Everyone’s guard was immediately up—vigilance had become second nature when meeting strangers. Gu Chi had already activated his ability, but a glance at Bai Qing in the rearview mirror—still motionless—prompted him to let the frost dissipate.
“They’re human,” Gu Chi said calmly.
He opened the door and stepped out. Chi Ying and Lu Yunfei followed close behind, and the others got out from the rear car.
Lu Yunfei approached the little car and tapped the driver’s window.
“Hey, brother, mind if I ask you something?”
The man with the scar rolled down the window. The old glass creaked and groaned as it descended, almost comically.
He gave Lu Yunfei and the SUV behind him a long look before snorting.
“You’re ability users, aren’t you?”
Lu Yunfei blinked. “Yeah.”
The man scoffed. “Tch. So mighty, and now you’re lowering yourselves to ask us for help?”
Lu Yunfei frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what I said,” the man snapped. “Aren’t you people supposed to be powerful? So why bother talking to us nobodies?”
“Come on, we haven’t done anything to you.” Lu Yunfei kept his tone civil, but his patience was wearing thin.
Behind him, Gu Chi stepped closer, sensing the tension.
“Haven’t done anything?” one of the other men in the car said coldly. “You ability users hoard all the food, steal supplies, kill whoever you want—and when zombies attacked our safe zone? You were the first to run!”
“Yeah,” the third man added bitterly. “My brother got this scar thanks to one of your kind.”
Lu Yunfei sighed. “Not all ability users are like that. Every group’s got its bad eggs.”
“Whatever. All we’ve seen are the rotten ones.”
Gu Chi’s eyes narrowed. “Zombies attacked your safe zone?”
The scarred man paused. “Yeah, so?”
“Can you tell us exactly where?”
“Why should I?”
As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the group behind Gu Chi—landing on Chi Ying. His eyes lingered longer than they should have.
Clicking his tongue, he muttered, “Figures. Pretty girl, already dragged into this mess by a bunch of ability users.”
Gu Chi’s expression turned cold.
Chi Ying: “…”
She looked down at her spotless, well-kept clothes and smooth skin.
…What kind of tragedy does it look like I’ve been through?
Lu Yunfei finally lost his temper. “Watch your mouth. She’s our teammate—not what you’re implying.”
Gu Chi glanced at Chi Ying. “Go wait in the car.”
“…Okay.”
“Wait!” the scarred man suddenly shouted, eyes wide.
“What did you just call her? Chi Ying?”
He stared at her, face filled with disbelief. “You said her name is Chi Ying?”
The two men in the back straightened up, their attitudes completely changed. “Did you say Chi Ying?!”
Chi Ying instinctively took a step back. “Uh… yeah?”
The man in the back pulled something from his pocket—a crinkled package of compressed biscuits.
“This name here, that’s yours, right?”
The moment she saw the bag, Chi Ying felt her heart drop.
She recognized it. The words printed on the bottom in bold text:
Donor: Chi Ying
Gu Chi took the package, inspecting it. It had been meticulously preserved—cleaned, flattened, folded neatly. Not something most people would bother to keep.
His eyes narrowed. “Is this you?”
Chi Ying stared at the sky, blankly.
“Nope. Not me.”
“Then why’s your name on it?”
“…Maybe just a coincidence? It’s not that uncommon a name.”
“Are you kidding? What a beautiful and rare name!” the scarred man shot back seriously.
Chi Ying: “…”
“Yeah… okay, it’s really not common,” Gu Chi said, folding the package and returning it.
“But even so, it might not be her.”
Chi Ying cautiously looked at Gu Chi’s expression—only to meet his eyes as he turned. There was something unreadable behind his gaze.
“…Oh,” the man said, clearly disappointed. “That’s a shame. I wanted to thank the person who gave us food.”
He smiled anyway. “Well, since you share her name, guess we’ll pay you back in her place.”
“Ask anything you want.”
Chi Ying: “…”
Author’s note:
Chi Ying: I have no choice but to press charges against myself.
Lucien On ABRWF Chapter 34.1