Chapter 15: Durian Stir-Fried Ice Cream

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What was this supposed to mean? Two different abilities?

Before long, the black snake spat the table back out and lazily curled up on it again.

It seemed that what it had just done was merely to prove its newly awakened ability in front of Su Su.

The astonishing spectacle left Su Su completely stunned for more than ten seconds.

When she finally came to her senses, she had already dropped to her knees in front of the table, staring at Little Black without blinking. Her already beautiful and alluring eyes now shone brightly.

“Little Black, you have a space-type ability, don’t you?”

“Hiss.”

The black python arrogantly flicked its tongue.

Su Su received no answer, but that did nothing to dampen her excitement.

“Little Black! You’re amazing!”

A space-type ability!

There were hardly any people in the entire apocalypse who possessed such an ability—one that was practically a cheat code.

Su Su excitedly reached out to hug it, but the moment her hand extended, it froze in midair.

Hug it… How was she supposed to hug it? Wrap her arms around a python nearly two meters long?

The black snake keenly sensed her hesitation.

It coldly raised the tip of its tail and laid it threateningly across the human’s knees.

Su Su immediately understood.

“I’m not afraid of you.” She instinctively gathered its tail into her arms and gave it a sweet smile. “I’m just not used to you being so big.”

Hmph.

The human’s words were pleasing enough, and having its tail held felt rather comfortable too.

At last, the black snake, magnanimous enough to let bygones be bygones, reluctantly forgave the human who had “despised” it time and again.

Su Su quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

After spending so much time with the snake, she had gradually learned a little about its temperament—it held grudges and was petty…

If she wanted to become a trusted, long-term companion, she had to get used to Little Black’s python form as soon as possible.

“Su Su?”

The shout from outside interrupted Su Su’s thoughts. It was the mayor!

“The victory banquet has already begun. Why don’t you come along?”

“Little Black, get in here—quick!”

Su Su hurriedly opened her backpack and coaxed and tugged Little Black inside.

“Shh.”

Through the narrow opening, Su Su cautiously raised one finger before its serpentine eye.

“I’m taking you to the victory banquet. Everyone there is an ability user, so you can’t make a sound. Do you understand?”

The black snake seemed to understand her. Though somewhat reluctant, it obediently coiled up inside the backpack without moving.

Su Su let out a sigh of relief. She had the distinct feeling that after swallowing the third-order crystal, Little Black had become capable of understanding human speech.

Even some of its behavior had become far more human than before, when it had still been uncivilized.

“Are you in there?”

The mayor was still knocking outside. Su Su had no time to think about it, so she opened the door first.

“Your cousin and the others have already gone. I noticed you weren’t there, so I came to call you.” The mayor lifted a hand and gently brushed away the loose strands of hair resting against Su Su’s cheek. “If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the victory banquet.”

A man in his thirties who wanted to pursue a woman could be attentive in every possible way.

The fact that he had left everyone else behind and come to call Su Su personally was proof enough of his sincerity.

After all, he was an ability user. An ability user was lowering himself for an ordinary person!

Su Su could not help recalling something one of her companions had sighed in her previous life.

She should have felt honored, yet an involuntary shudder ran through her.

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Her subconscious wanted to refuse the banquet, but after hesitating for several seconds, reason ultimately prevailed.

No. She still had to go.

In her previous life, the mayor’s invitation had been like entering a wolf’s den or a tiger’s lair. She had wanted to avoid it but had been powerless to refuse. In the end, she had been brought to the victory banquet like a plaything.

Everyone had looked at her as though she were merely an ornament belonging to the mayor.

But in this life…

Su Su suddenly agreed.

“All right. I’ll be there in a moment.”

The mayor noticed nothing unusual.

As he looked at the girl standing before him with her head lowered and her brows demurely cast down, several traces of satisfaction passed through his eyes.

“We’ll go together.”

“Mm.”

Perhaps to accommodate Su Su’s pace, the mayor walked beside her unhurriedly the entire way and never once urged her on.

Su Su turned her head slightly and glanced at the man from the corner of her eye.

He was the mayor of a town, as well as a formidable second-order ability user in the early days of the apocalypse.

Before long, he would advance to the third order.

In her previous life, she had keenly sensed that his approach was motivated by ulterior purposes, but she had possessed no right to refuse.

It had been just like what happened with Wu Zhi. Everyone had assumed that she ought to remain in the town and depend on the mayor. Otherwise, she was simply being ungrateful and unable to appreciate a favor.

Under such circumstances, every gentle gesture from the mayor had seemed to Su Su like unspeakable ill intent—the executioner’s blade poised to fall behind his back.

But now…

Su Su raised her eyes and happened to meet the mayor’s gaze.

She neither dodged nor avoided him. Instead, she lifted her face and curved her lips into a faint smile.

There was nothing to fear.

So what if he was an ability user? She was one now too—a second-order user, no less. And she had Little Black!

She would not walk the same path as in her previous life. She would not meet the same fate, nor suffer the same disfigurement.

Su Su’s arrival caused the atmosphere at the victory banquet to turn cold for several seconds.

Zhao Zhenyu, who had always targeted her, merely sneered and, unusually, did not make a mocking remark.

“You can sit beside me.”

Faced with the mayor’s invitation, Su Su was not polite.

At this banquet table, nearly all the tougher dishes had been placed before the mayor and the several second-order ability users. For the sake of her own stomach, she had to shamelessly take the seat.

“This cup is a toast to all of you on behalf of the entire town!”

The mayor rose and lifted his wineglass toward the assembled guests.

“Thanks to everyone’s efforts, we successfully conquered the outskirts of C City. Not only did we obtain two third-order crystals, but we also brought back a large quantity of supplies! Without further ado, let’s eat while we divide the spoils!”

“Sun Wan, bring everything in!”

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone’s gaze turned toward the door.

Even Lin Weiran and Si Zhe, whose smiles were usually faint, immediately looked at the wooden tray in Sun Wan’s hands.

It held two wooden bowls filled with crystals of various colors—the spoils they had obtained from killing zombies that afternoon.

The mayor walked over to Sun Wan, grabbed a handful of crystals, and said with a smile, “That battle yielded a total of two hundred and eighty miscellaneous crystals, one hundred first-order crystals, forty-eight second-order crystals, and two third-order crystals.”

At the end, he looked toward Si Zhe.

“Ability User Si, you’ve already received that third-order crystal, haven’t you?”

Si Zhe gave a slight nod. “Third-order crystals are quite valuable. After killing that zombie, we put it away first.”

“Then that works out perfectly. I also acquired one third-order crystal. Although the harvest differs from what we expected, circumstances change faster than plans. This is already the best possible outcome. Ability User Si, Ability User Lin, wouldn’t you agree?”

Lin Weiran gave a false smile. “Of course. Obtaining one third-order crystal is already quite good.”

Only after hearing that reply did the mayor seem to truly relax.

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“Ultimately, it was my mistake. I let a third-order zombie escape and implicated everyone. How about this? As for the distribution of these crystals, we’ll abandon the original thirty-seventy split and divide everything equally. What do you say?”

Lin Weiran and Si Zhe exchanged a glance. The latter nodded in agreement.

When Lin Weiran looked back at the mayor, her smile had finally become a little more genuine.

“The mayor is generous.”

With an equal division, they would receive twenty-four second-order crystals and fifty first-order crystals. Though not as precious as a third-order crystal, it was still a considerable fortune.

Anything their teammates could not use could be traded with others.

All in all, this trip to the town had been immensely profitable.

Everyone’s faces brightened with delight. Even Si Zhe, although he suspected that the mayor had deliberately allowed the third-order zombie to escape, saw no need to tear relations apart now that the mayor had already suffered the consequences of his own scheme.

The heavy crystals were handed to Lin Weiran. The mayor then instructed, “Sun Wan, bring in the supplies as well.”

“Yes.”

Lin Weiran’s heart stirred.

What she cared about most was the third-order crystal, followed by the supplies the mayor had promised. Those supplies were the main reason their group had come here.

Before long, batch after batch of goods was carried into the reception hall.

“One hundred pounds of rice, three cases of instant noodles, fifty cans of meat, thirty pounds of sausages, fifteen smoked chickens…”

As the list was read aloud and the various goods were set down, shock flashed through the eyes of every teammate.

These foods would hardly have been considered lavish before the apocalypse.

But six months into the apocalypse, there were hardly any people who could produce such a spread.

There were staples, meat, and side dishes. Even the townspeople probably did not eat this well.

A trace of unease rose in Lin Weiran’s heart.

“Mayor, isn’t this rather too much?”

The mayor laughed unconcernedly. “Not at all. These are simply the goodwill of our town. In a moment, we’ll have them carry everything directly to your vehicle.”

That alone was not enough to dispel the unease in Lin Weiran’s heart.

The equal division of the crystals could be explained as an attempt to appease them.

But what about all these supplies?

They had heard long ago that only ability users in the town could eat meat at every meal. Ordinary townspeople could only exchange their labor for flatbread.

The town’s supplies could not possibly be so abundant that it could give away this much food to outsiders—unless the mayor had another motive.

Lin Weiran involuntarily looked toward Si Zhe, and a trace of wariness flashed through his eyes as well.

Perhaps noticing that their reactions were somewhat off, the mayor laughed heartily.

“Actually, there is one other personal favor I’d like to ask in exchange for giving you so many supplies…”

“What favor?”

The mayor’s gaze passed over everyone and settled on Su Su, who was eating beside the table.

She had her head lowered, quietly holding a bowl of rice as she ate. Her fair, exquisite profile seemed almost separated from the people around her by an entirely different layer.

Lin Weiran saw the mayor’s gaze. Everyone saw it.

The meaning contained within it was self-evident.

“Ability User Lin, I want Su Su to stay here. I guarantee that she will live a good life.”

He was asking Lin Weiran directly.

She opened and closed her mouth, unable to figure out how to respond.

Zhao Zhenyu, however, stared at Su Su, who was still eating with her head down, and loudly offered his opinion.

“Weiran, this is a good thing! Your cousin has no ability and is a frail woman. If she follows us south, she could end up dying in a zombie’s jaws someday. Wouldn’t it be better for her to stay in the town, where she’ll be safe and someone will take care of her?”

After hearing this, Lin Weiran carefully studied the mayor.

The man clearly had his own schemes, but his goodwill toward Su Su did not appear false. He was the mayor of a town and a powerful second-order ability user. Though he was somewhat older and had been divorced, in the apocalypse, strength and supplies were what truly mattered.

Lin Weiran was tempted.

In her view, Su Su’s best choice was to remain in the town. The farther south they went, the more dangerous it would become. Most of the time, Lin Weiran was already stretched too thin to protect herself, so how could she protect an ordinary person with no combat ability?