Chapter 169: Youyou Awakens, Zhang Li Returns
Faced with two options, Liu Jianjun couldn’t decide. Either choice would cause him great damage.
However, he still had time to think and see if he could come up with a better plan.
Su Ning had no idea what problems Liu Jianjun was dealing with. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t care.
At this moment, Su Ning was staring at the Heaven’s Secret Lock necklace in her hand. This item was truly extraordinary—far more powerful than the Ghost Pearl she already had.
The Ghost Veil ability was useful, but it could be seen through by her own [Scavenger’s Eye], and she imagined Mu Feiyu’s identification skill would expose it just as easily.
Although Su Ning now possessed the [Super Bad Luck] ability, which protected her from being probed by others, it also indirectly exposed the fact that she had something to hide.
If someone tested her and was immediately cursed with misfortune, once or twice might be written off as coincidence, but if it happened repeatedly, they’d start to suspect something.
People weren’t fools—Pei Xuan’an and his group had already noticed patterns in Su Ning’s behavior and suspected she had a unique power.
They might not know exactly what it was, but they knew not to mess with her lightly.
But the Heaven’s Secret Lock was different—it could conceal her fate and aura completely. Even her [Super Bad Luck] ability could be hidden.
Su Ning was quite satisfied with this item.
“How did Yan Liuxing get his hands on this?” she wondered. “Still, I’m grateful he did—I wouldn’t have gotten it otherwise.”
After forming a contract with the item, the originally golden-eyed pendant transformed according to her will—becoming a fine bracelet around her wrist. The golden eye patterns subtly adorned the bracelet. It once radiated an obvious aura, but now, unless Su Ning allowed it, others would only see a simple accessory.
Su Ning smiled. “Those Yan brothers really were treasures—each of them gave me special gifts.”
One dropped the [Mind Control] skill fruit upon death.
The other dropped the [Heaven’s Secret Lock] and even the [Parasitic Mutation] skill fruit!
She now held the gray-black fruit, the product of Huahua devouring Yan Liuxing.
“Another powerful skill,” Su Ning murmured.
Without hesitation, she swallowed it and absorbed a new, formidable ability.
“If Yan Liuxing could create monsters with it, then I definitely can too.”
No one could have guessed that a terrifying legend was about to be born because of this ability—one that would spread across many worlds.
But that’s a story for another time.
Su Ning didn’t immediately dive into researching [Parasitic Mutation].
Right after she reviewed the skill, her once-quiet residential area was suddenly disturbed by outsiders.
Youyou, who was lying at her side, instantly warned her through its perception.
Su Ning looked at the majestic black-and-white tiger that was now Youyou.
Its body had grown stronger—it had awakened again.
[Monster: Ghost Soul White Tiger] (Youyou)
Innate Abilities:
Ghost Soul: Can move through shadows.
Earth Echo: As long as its feet touch the ground, it can sense any movement within a radius of one mile. The stronger it becomes, the wider the range.
Skills:
Shadow Step: By stepping on a target’s shadow, it can restrict their movements.
Earth Spikes: Controls earth elements to create sharp spikes for attack.
Owner: Su Ning
Youyou had clearly powered up—and that was because Su Ning had finally fed it the last Star Fruit she had in her backpack.
She’d planned to give it to Youyou after it hatched, but with so much happening lately, she never found the time. Now that she had left the shelter, she had a moment to breathe, and Youyou could finally grow stronger.
She hadn’t expected it to awaken a perception-type ability—but the bonus was welcome.
“Youyou’s original powers were already strong, and now it has a detection talent too. That’s the cherry on top,” Su Ning thought.
She wasn’t disappointed at all.
After all, she couldn’t carelessly use Zombie No. 3 for scouting in the real world—she could be reckless in dungeons, but revealing her ability to control zombies in reality was still too risky.
That’s where Youyou came in handy.
Thanks to its Earth Echo ability, it had detected someone entering the residential complex.
Su Ning frowned. “Who’d come here in this freezing weather? The snow’s almost buried the place.”
She tidied her apartment, stashing all her valuable items and leaving only a few Temperature-Controlled Flowers and the couch.
Before long, two figures appeared in the stairwell.
Su Ning glanced over and was surprised—it was Zhang Li and Zhao Fuqing.
Each carried a large backpack, and a steel case floated behind Zhao Fuqing. Clearly, they’d brought everything they owned.
Zhang Li was just as shocked to see Su Ning.
“Su Ning! I didn’t expect you to be here!”
“Sister Su!” Zhao Fuqing chimed in.
Zhang Li quickly figured it out. Su Ning had been driven out of the shelter, so naturally, she would return to her old home.
But what Zhang Li didn’t expect was that even after being expelled from the shelter, Su Ning was still living comfortably.
Then again, that wasn’t hard to understand—Su Ning had her own Planting Space, after all.
Zhang Li herself had only come back to say goodbye to her family’s home before heading to Shelter No. 5. Running into Su Ning was a happy surprise. Maybe she could even convince her to come along.
Thinking this, Zhang Li suddenly felt energized despite her exhaustion.
Seeing how rough they looked, Su Ning let them in.
“You two leaving Shelter No. 6?” she asked, noticing their moving-house setup.
Once inside Su Ning’s apartment, Zhang Li visibly relaxed.
She sighed.
“Su Ning, you might not know—Shelter No. 6 has been through a lot lately. You probably heard the explosion a while back, right?”
Su Ning nodded. Not only did she know about it, but she knew exactly who caused it—after all, the culprit had become one of her skills now.
Zhang Li hadn’t talked to Su Ning in a long time and now began pouring out everything that had happened in the shelter.
Lowering her voice, Zhang Li added:
“Remember the two messages on the communication channel about the next disaster? I heard a rumor that Shelter No. 6 might be severely affected by the next one—something to do with flooding. The upper ranks are in total disarray, and everyone’s panicking.”
“Now, there are two opposing voices at the top: one from Liu Jianjun—the head of the shelter—who insists on staying and building stronger defenses to survive the next disaster. The other is from the second-in-command, who wants to evacuate all residents to Shelter No. 5.”
“The leadership is locked in a power struggle, and it’s thrown the entire shelter into chaos.”
