Chapter 32: Crispy Garlic-Infused Chicken Wings

Lin Weiran paused in her tracks.

For some reason, seeing Pang Cancan standing firmly in front of Su Su, she felt a moment of bewilderment.

These two had known each other for at most three or four days; how could they already trust each other enough to face life and death together? Even she, surrounded by so many teammates, could only truly entrust her life to Si Zhe.

Lin Weiran couldn't wrap her head around it as she took another step forward.

The sound of insects buzzing grew more rapid, and the little boy beside her condensed a screen of ice, bracing himself for the confrontation.

Lin Weiran felt a touch of amusement. "We have four second-tier ability users here. If we really wanted to do something, you—weak and small as you are—could you really stop us?"

As she said this, her gaze shifted with complex emotions to the unconscious Su Su.

In this apocalypse, strength was everything; the stronger your ability, the better your chances of survival. If that fourth-tier crystal were still available, she would have fought tooth and nail to seize it. But… it had already been swallowed.

Regrets were useless now. Lin Weiran continued forward. "I don't want any trouble. I just want to take my person back."

Only when she mentioned it did Pang Cancan realize that Si Zhe was still lying on her side. Glancing at the unconscious man, she felt both wary and disgusted, wishing she could simply kick him over to avoid having Lin Weiran walk any closer and pull some dirty trick.

Under Pang Cancan’s intense gaze, Lin Weiran helped the unconscious Si Zhe to his feet. Before turning to leave, she suddenly thrust her palm toward Su Su.

A scorching fireball shot from her hand, catching them off guard as it lunged toward Su Su’s shoulder.

"Damn it! Coward!"

Pang Cancan tried to block it, but her venomous insects were no match for the raging inferno! A small wall of ice materialized out of thin air, but it was melted into water by the heat the moment it drew near.

The fireball bore down on Su Su’s shoulder without obstruction. At such a blistering temperature, if it landed, it would at best burn through her clothes and backpack straps, and at worst, sear her skin!

At the critical moment, the black snake in Su Su’s arms snapped its eyes open.

"Hiss!"

A blue flame met the incoming fireball head-on. It was the last small burst the black snake could muster, far weaker than its usual power. Yet, it was enough to forcefully dissipate Lin Weiran’s fireball, continuing forward with unabated momentum to strike back at her shoulder.

"Ah!!"

Lin Weiran’s face contorted in pain. The blue flame danced on her, burning through a large portion of her jacket and exposing her scorched, reddened shoulder. Had she not patted it out immediately, the fire would have likely burned deeper into her skin.

Having failed her sneak attack, she gritted her teeth. Just as she prepared to strike again, the ping-pong-ball-sized venomous insects swarmed toward her. They didn't target the still-capable Lin Weiran, but instead darted viciously toward Si Zhe.

"Get away!"

Lin Weiran broke into a cold sweat. Had she not dodged quickly, the unconscious Si Zhe would have surely been bitten!

Thinking this, she gave up on the fight and retreated to her group, dragging the stumbling Si Zhe with her.

Pang Cancan’s chest heaved with rage. She hadn't expected Lin Weiran to be so despicable—claiming she wouldn't attack, only to launch a sneak assault!

"Bastard! Bitch!"

It was the first time the young girl had ever cursed so foully, showing just how infuriated she truly was.

***

Across from them, Lin Weiran pursed her lips and said coldly, "I only wanted to burn her backpack to get some medicine. You took all the medicine from the clinic yesterday."

Si Zhe was already injured and had just been ambushed by the Zombie King; he needed medicine to recover faster.

Pang Cancan laughed in anger. "That was the clinic I found, and we got that medicine through our own efforts… Forget it. There’s no point in wasting breath on people like you. I’m standing right here. If you dare to sneak attack again, I’ll let my babies bite your dying man to death!"

The atmosphere fell into a tense silence.

A teammate behind Lin Weiran tugged at her sleeve. "Weiran, let it go. The zombie horde has retreated. We can find medicine elsewhere; there's no need to waste time here."

If their group went all out, they might be able to subdue the woman and the child, but… the venomous insects were indiscriminate, and they weren't confident they could dodge them. Whoever got bitten would be a matter of pure luck. Dying from poison would be too pathetic and not worth it.

Lin Weiran pondered for a moment, then gritted her teeth and made her decision. "Let's go! We’ll find medicine elsewhere!"

Once the eyesore of a group finally left and they were sure they wouldn't return, Pang Cancan slumped to the ground.

"They're finally gone." She wiped away cold sweat. "If it had turned into a real fight, I might have had to give in to them."

Le Rui knelt beside the unconscious Su Su, his brows knitted in worry. "Sister Cancan, what should we do now?"

"Let me think."

The metal gates at the front and back had been smashed, leaving the entire stadium exposed like an undefended territory. Zombies could wander in and out at will; it was no longer a safe place. But to set out now… with the zombie horde in X City leaderless, Pang Cancan couldn't guarantee she could lead the others out safely.

"Let's wait for Sister Su Su to wake up first."

"But we need to find a new place."

She approached Su Su, intending to move her, when she met the vertical pupils of the cold-blooded animal.

They were dangerous and indifferent.

Pang Cancan lowered her posture and said humbly, "Little Black… ah, no, Lord Black Snake, I need to move Sister Su Su into the lounge. Would you mind moving aside?"

Seeming to understand her, the black snake slowly slithered out of Su Su’s arms and followed them into the lounge.

***

Su Su had a very, very long dream.

In the dream, things from her previous life occurred, interspersed with scenes from her current one, finally settling on the moment the zombie horde retreated. Then, the dream turned bizarre.

She plummeted from the clouds into a pitch-black cave, where she couldn't even see her own fingers. Su Su crawled through the tunnel for a long time, an indescribable creature constantly shadowing her. Just as the light of dawn appeared ahead, a thick, muscular snake tail wrapped tightly around her waist, dragging her back into the deepest part of the cave.

In the darkness, she couldn't see the creature entangling her, only feel her body being coiled by soft, segmented limbs, tighter and tighter, then loosening. After playing with her like this for a long time, a cool, serpentine hiss came from behind her neck. The dark creature opened its hideous maw and swallowed the prey it had dragged back, whole…

"Hiss~"

Su Su snapped her eyes open, gasping for air, her heart still racing.

The black snake coiled around her immediately nudged closer, its cool tongue licking her cheek as if cheering and rejoicing at her awakening.

Su Su instinctively hugged the increasingly heavy python, only to realize the two-meter-long body was wrapped around her from head to toe, its grip incredibly tight!

…No wonder she had that kind of dream.

Su Su stared helplessly at the ceiling, allowing the snake’s tongue to lick every inch of her face without reprieve.

"Little Black, stop it."

The black snake didn't care. It stared at the awakened human, eager and tempted, repeatedly nuzzling the corners of her lips as if addicted.

Su Su couldn't spare the energy to stop it; she was more anxious to check the state of her abilities.

The surging energy brought by the fourth-tier crystal had been fully absorbed, and the excess impurities had been thoroughly purged. Her body felt no discomfort, and her ability flowed with great fluidity… Su Su raised her hand, and a white light emerged from her fingertips.

The black snake, still licking the corners of her mouth, obediently moved closer, refusing to miss a single shred of "warmth."

It seemed she had successfully broken through to the fourth tier!

A flash of joy crossed Su Su’s eyes, and just then, Pang Cancan’s head suddenly popped into her field of vision.

"Sister Su Su, you’re finally awake!"

Seeing that the familiar faces were all safe and sound, Su Su couldn't help but smile, a beauty so radiant it almost dazzled the other girl.

Pang Cancan stared fixedly at the "Sleeping Beauty" on the floor, wiping away non-existent drool from the corner of her mouth. "Sister Su Su, do you have an older brother? Or a younger brother? Even if he’s ten years younger than me, I can wait for him to grow up. But any younger than that won't work; the time cost is too high to be worth it."

Su Su was deeply embarrassed. "No, I’m an only child."

The amorous young girl looked extremely disappointed. "Fine."

To avoid continuing this topic, Su Su pushed away Little Black’s head and struggled to sit up.

"Where are we?"

"Still in the stadium. We moved to the lounge, waiting for you to wake up before leaving. And you woke up just in time—we’re cooking instant noodles, come have a bowl!"

The spicy aroma of instant noodles lingered in the air, and Su Su instinctively sniffed. Classic braised beef flavor. Just thinking about it made her mouth water.

Pang Cancan was exceptionally observant and shoved a bowl of noodles toward her. "You’ve been unconscious for a day and a night, hurry up and eat something!"

Su Su was startled. "A day and a night? I was out for that long?"

"Yeah, we’ve already eaten three meals. If you didn't wake up, we would have run out of food soon."

The supplies they had scavenged from the supermarket were limited; she had a large appetite, and Le Rui needed nutrients, so the backpacks were emptying fast. And because Pang Cancan was very disciplined, she hadn't touched Su Su’s backpack while she was asleep.

Su Su held the bowl, ate a few mouthfuls of noodles, and drank some broth. Once there was something in her stomach, she pulled her backpack over and gave Little Black a look.

The black snake activated its spatial ability, and the empty backpack began to bulge once more. Su Su tipped the bag over, and food tumbled out with a clatter.

"I have more here."

"Wow!"

Looking at the bread, instant noodles, sausages… and even seven or eight cans of meat, Pang Cancan’s eyes lit up!

At this moment, in her eyes, Su Su was radiating a blinding light. She wanted to give Sister Su Su a fierce hug, but when her gaze met that petty cold-blooded animal, she choked, turning instead to scoop Le Rui into her arms and vigorously rubbing his little head.

"See that? I told you Sister Su Su had plenty of food, you didn't need to eat so sparingly!"

Su Su smiled slightly. "Mm, and there's more when that's gone."

She didn't explicitly explain Little Black’s spatial ability, but she didn't go out of her way to hide it either. If Pang Cancan had been observant, she surely would have noticed the anomaly of her constantly producing supplies. Since she didn't mention it, and Pang Cancan played dumb, the matter remained a secret.