Chapter 283 | Chapter 284 | Chapter 285
Chapter 283: Bai Yu’s Ability
The team member, carefully pinching off scallion tips, gave a smug smile.
The reason they respected Bai Yu as their commander wasn’t just her ability, but also her seemingly casual yet actually meticulous mind—until now, none of her teammates had figured out exactly where she hid all those seeds on her body. But that didn’t stop everyone from having suffered under her tricks before.
Now, watching someone else fall into the same trap… it felt pretty satisfying.
Until Huai Yu stood gently at the side and sighed softly:
“Brother, do you not know how to prep vegetables? You didn’t even peel off the outer layer of this scallion… Let me do it.”
That made the team member feel quite embarrassed.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how—he had just gotten too absorbed watching. As he hurriedly resumed working, he couldn’t help but ask curiously:
“Your brother is losing. Aren’t you worried?”
Huai Yu stared for a moment, puzzled.
“He’s not losing.”
The creeping vine on his leg might only act on instinct, but it was quite strong—especially after drinking ginseng-root water several times. Its ability had been steadily improving. Otherwise, Zhou Qian wouldn’t have managed to injure that mutated macaque at the Daoist temple last time without even having abilities.
Right now, the vines binding his legs were so thin and tender—it was obvious they hadn’t had enough time to fully grow—
And sure enough.
Just as Huai Yu finished speaking, Bai Yu seized the moment and launched another attack! Her strongest points were also her waist and legs—her sweeping kick came like a whirlwind, knee and shin striking straight toward Zhou Qian’s neck. He instantly leaned back to dodge!
Before Bai Yu could fully retract her move, Zhou Qian stomped down hard and broke free of the vines!
But the moment his foot hit the ground, the other leg was instantly entangled by newly sprouted vines that had appeared at some unknown time.
Even Zhou Qian found it troublesome now.
“Any other killing moves?”
Bai Yu nodded.
“In real combat, if it’s a tree trunk, it will quickly coil and constrict. If it’s an animal, the vines will burrow into any openings—eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and below…”
She glanced at Little Yu standing nearby and tactfully didn’t finish the sentence.
But Huai Yu immediately understood.
“Ah—maybe stop fighting? What if Brother Zhou Qian ends up traumatized about going to the toilet?”
Everyone: …
No matter how intense the fighting spirit had been, it vanished instantly.
As Bai Yu tied her hair back up again, she asked curiously:
“Some of your habits don’t look like unarmed combat—did you use blades before?”
“Mm.” Zhou Qian nodded. “Field knife or claw blade.”
Alloy ones were easy to find, but now many mutated creatures had extremely tough defenses, so the military preferred weapons fused with new materials—expensive ones that required formal applications to obtain.
He had returned his old weapons after retiring.
At that time, he had planned to spend the rest of his life farming, so he hadn’t prepared new ones. But the trip to Sanqing Palace had made him wary, so he had recently asked former comrades to help him exchange for two blades again.
He just hadn’t brought them out for today’s sparring.
At the same time, he asked,
“Even though your entangling is troublesome, you didn’t fully let loose with your attacks, did you?”
Bai Yu didn’t hide it.
“I’m carrying about six thousand seeds on me. I just used 120. Among them, 600 are poisonous, and another 400 produce oil after growing—very effective when paired with fire-type abilities.”
She smiled.
“Of course, this can’t be used on the wastelands—otherwise, you’d attract attacks from both plants and animals. But when fighting mutated creatures alone, it’s very useful.”
Huai Yu, who had been listening for a while, came back holding a handful of milky-white garlic from the team member, still puzzled:
“If you’re hiding this and not using that, then what’s the point of fighting?”
She was the kind of weakling who got out of breath after running two kilometers—naturally, she couldn’t grasp what kind of evaluation had just taken place in that spar.
But Zhou Qian was impressed.
“You’re very strong.”
Bai Yu was also satisfied—her ability was powerful. But if she encountered someone like Zhou Qian, who had no ability, and made even the slightest mistake, he could close in with a blade and slit her throat in an instant—no ability could save her.
In short, this kind of talent—she wanted him.
But bringing up recruitment right after sparring would be too eager. Better to talk more first.
Meanwhile, the team member hesitated and asked,
“I’d like to spar too…”
Huai Yu asked curiously,
“What kind of ability do you have?”
“Water-type.” He lifted his chin proudly, thinking: little girl, now you see how diligent and hardworking I am, peeling garlic for you, right?
But Huai Yu frowned.
“If you’re water-type, then when you were peeling garlic and scallions earlier, why didn’t you wash them with water at the same time? That way it’d be easier for me, and your hands wouldn’t smell.”
She tilted her head.
“Do ability users have to practice only in serious settings? Like special training rooms or something?”
That question left him dumbfounded.
“Uh…”
Not really—but using abilities just to peel garlic… wasn’t that a bit overkill?
Bai Yu, however, agreed.
“Practicing anytime, anywhere is correct. My growth speed wasn’t this fast at the beginning. Later, at home, I used vines to manipulate everything I picked up. After a period of hard training, I became proficient.”
But Huai Yu clearly wasn’t that interested in their fighting. She quickly dragged the team member over to the woodpile, her eyes full of expectation:
“Then could you help cut these into smaller pieces? These logs are too big—it’s hard to control the fire in the stove. Sometimes I need a big flame, sometimes a small one—it’s troublesome to manage.”
The team member blinked, confused.
“Me?”
He pointed at himself.
“I’m water-type!”
“I know.” Huai Yu looked puzzled, then traced a circle in the air with her finger.
“That thing… you know, high-frequency vibrating water blade—just lightly slice the wood, and it’s done, right?”
She said it so casually.
For a moment, the team member was completely stunned. Compressing water into a high-frequency vibrating blade that could cleanly cut through dry, hard wood with a light swipe…
Who exactly could do that?!
His stunned expression only made Huai Yu more confused. She looked at him carefully and asked: “Sorry… are you logistics? If you’re just a mobile water tower, then not knowing this is normal, right?”
She apologized sincerely: “Sorry.”
The team member’s face nearly cracked!
He was a full combat member! Only those who weren’t good at fighting transferred to logistics! He had plenty of merits!
His face flushed red.
Bai Yu, however, laughed. “Little Yu, you misunderstood. Fang Ze is combat-type—he’s very skilled at using water to kill enemies.”
Seeing Huai Yu’s confused look, she explained: “He can instantly extract all the water from a target’s body. It’s a very strong ability.”
“Oh.” Huai Yu half-understood.
“Then how many people or plants can he drain at once?”
Chapter 284: Weapons
That was a good question.
Fang Ze fell completely silent.
He thought back to how, after gaining his ability, he had trained hard, fought his way through countless challenges, and finally became a core member under Commander Bai…
But now, for some reason, it all felt a bit… hard to show off.
Still, looking at Huai Yu’s sincere eyes—she probably wasn’t mocking him, right?
So he straightened his chest and spoke with confidence:
“For someone like you, I can drain 60% of the water in your body within three minutes!”
Huai Yu: …
She turned to look at Zhou Qian, then back at him.
“But in three minutes, my Brother Zhou Qian could kill you several times over.”
“I’m ranged!” Fang Ze finally broke down. “Water can turn into mist, mist can block vision! I interfere, then silently deliver a big move—like a sniper in a combat team!”
“Not the same, right?” Huai Yu grew even more curious. “I know a jiejie from the Construction Department. She said if earth-type abilities are strong enough, they can set traps underground and instantly swallow enemies into the soil—or just crush them flat.”
“And metal-type… I heard they can remotely control bullets.”
She didn’t understand combat, so her questions came naturally:
“So if all of you are ranged, who handles close combat? Isn’t there anyone for defense?”
Even in that game Boss Tang plays, Master Sword, the protagonist has defense, can shoot arrows, and can also fight in close combat!
This defense force ability team… isn’t it a bit unbalanced?
Fang Ze was utterly defeated, beyond miserable. He could only cast a pleading look toward Bai Yu, who seemed thoughtful, hoping she would explain things properly to this girl who clearly didn’t understand combat—
Reality wasn’t like that at all!
Bai Yu had come with recruitment in mind, so she didn’t want them to seem incapable. She smiled and said,
“It’s not like that.”
“In fact, to protect everyone as much as possible, every member of the team has solid close-combat ability. It’s just that sometimes their abilities only reach their full potential when used in coordination with tactics, so it’s hard to explain strength purely with words.”
“For example, Fang Ze—during team combat, he interferes with vision and extracts water from opponents. Even if he can’t drain them completely, it’s enough to weaken them. He’s an indispensable part of our team.”
Huai Yu half-understood.
Fang Ze puffed up his chest again.
After a while, she asked,
“Then if you bring dried vegetables or jerky to the wasteland, can you instantly rehydrate them—make them plump and tender again?”
If that were possible, the ability would be really useful!
After all, some dried foods need to soak for hours before they’re usable.
Fang Ze felt like crying.
Extracting water was a skill he had painstakingly mastered—but rehydrating plants was a completely different technique.
He wasn’t some genius who could learn everything at a glance—why were the standards for his ability so harsh?
…He even felt like an uneducated failure now.
Zhou Qian, watching them, more or less understood.
In the past, hearing about abilities would make him imagine countless combat possibilities and fill him with anticipation.
But ever since he had fought alongside that yu-huang mushroom, and after seeing the burned corpse of the mutated macaque, that sense of anticipation had also burned away.
—Someone like Fang Ze? Even without using spore powder, Zhou Qian could finish him off before the water was fully drained.
So how exactly were the defense forces so formidable on the wasteland?
He was curious now.
But the most urgent matter was still getting a suitable weapon.
Meanwhile, Huai Yu, back in the kitchen smashing garlic, was also thinking about Zhou Qian’s usual field knife and claw blade…
She didn’t have knives—but she did have several blades!
After thinking, she asked:
“Commander Big Sister, can your metal-type ability users forge weapons?”
The eggshell fragments from Da Zai and Er Zai were too inconspicuous. Aside from leaving countless scratches on Zhou Qian, they hadn’t been used for anything else—Huai Yu didn’t even dare use them for cooking, afraid she might accidentally slice off her own fingers.
But if a metal-type ability user could control metal to fuse onto those fragments, then Brother Zhou Qian would have a weapon!
Bai Yu smiled.
“Metal-type users don’t necessarily do that. Although electricity and mechanization for civilian life are still difficult nowadays, frontline forces have never lacked these. What weapons to use, how to match them, or even custom orders—there are specialized personnel responsible for all that.”
As she spoke, she glanced at Zhou Qian.
“For example, your brother—if he joins the defense forces, he can apply for the latest and most suitable materials for his preferred weapons.”
Seeing the disappointment on Huai Yu’s face, she thought how simple and cute young girls’ ideas could be, and added:
“Of course, they do know some basics. For example, temporarily fusing shields, weapons, or arrowheads on the battlefield—that’s not a problem.”
“That’s great!”
Huai Yu turned happily to Zhou Qian.
“Brother Zhou Qian, let’s go to the Construction Department tomorrow and ask for a metal-type ability user! I have some materials that should be perfect for making you a knife.”
“What materials?” Zhou Qian was tidying the table, sounding casual. “Are they sturdy?”
“Very sturdy!” Huai Yu nodded repeatedly. “Back then, it took several pokes just to break them!”
Now Zhou Qian was interested.
Da Zai and Er Zai’s shells had a natural “armor-piercing” property—they could silently pierce through hospital tile walls and even stainless steel bed frames! And something that strong still needed multiple attempts to break…
Wasn’t that far better than any alloy or new material?
He nodded. If there weren’t guests at home, he would have already rushed off to try it.
Bai Yu, however, fell silent.
Ever since arriving here, whether in sparring or conversation, she hadn’t managed to gain the upper hand even once. Especially Fang Ze, who was now practically emo in the corner—his ability wasn’t even valued by this little girl. It was a complete defeat.
And now, when the siblings talked about asking a metal-type ability user for help, their first thought was the Construction Department! Were the defense force’s metal-type users not supposed to be stronger?
They had come here, eaten, sparred—if asked for help, would they really refuse?
But… given how poorly they had performed, what could she say?
Bai Yu suppressed her thoughts, deciding to wait until they were more familiar at the dinner table before gradually bringing up what she wanted to say. At the very least, the defense forces offered far better food and benefits than anywhere else.
At that moment, the oil in the kitchen began to crackle loudly, and a rich fragrance suddenly filled the air.
Chapter 285: Where’s My Meal?
It really… smelled amazing.
Even Fang Ze, standing off in the corner, sniffed the air and muttered,
“This egg… really smells like an egg!”
It sounded a bit strange, but Bai Yu immediately understood what he meant.
Their defense force cafeteria also provided eggs, but those boiled eggs were bland and carried a strong fishy smell. Even if they used oil, they probably wouldn’t taste this good.
And that smell couldn’t be avoided—chickens with a mutation level of 13 laying eggs at all was already a blessing. What more could they ask for? It wasn’t like they could say, please taste better.
That would be ridiculous.
So now, as hot lard fried the eggs to a golden, fragrant crisp, Bai Yu’s heart instead felt a little cold.
How were these siblings living so comfortably? Such good eggs, eaten so casually… would the defense force’s benefits even be enough to attract talents like them?
With such complicated thoughts, Zhou Qian had already brought all the dishes to the table.
To entertain his lifesaver, Huai Yu had gone all out. As the final dish—sour stir-fried mung bean sprouts—was served, not just Fang Ze, even Bai Yu couldn’t help swallowing at the tangy aroma.
Then she looked at the rest of the table—
Braised tiger-skin green peppers, eggplant stewed with beans, shredded potatoes stir-fried with pork cracklings, sour mung bean sprouts, and even stir-fried yardlong beans!
It was already October, and they still had this?
Most importantly, everything smelled incredible. The mutation levels must be very low—these were expensive ingredients!
That made Bai Yu feel a little embarrassed.
This meal was too generous. The siblings relied on each other to live, yet her visit alone had cost them so much…
As she thought this, her eyes drifted to the vehicle parked outside, and she paused.
Well… someone who could afford a car like that probably didn’t need their concern.
She had an easygoing nature. Since that was the case, she might as well enjoy the hospitality! Once everyone was well-fed, she could bring up recruitment. When they realized how high living costs were, they’d likely agree.
Hmm… what kind of benefits should she offer?
With Zhou Qian’s skills, he could easily lead a team of his own.
With this in mind, she picked up a bite of food.
“…”
The sour, spicy, and crisp mung bean sprouts were incredibly satisfying. Bai Yu kept a serious face, already calculating how to apply for better benefits. Otherwise, why would someone give up such a life of good food at home just for that bit of salary and go fight in the wastelands?
Meanwhile, Zhou Qian and Huai Yu were eating heartily, also thinking—could they get some wasteland routes, information, or maybe a pass permit from the defense force? They ate and thought, completely immersed.
And in that immersion, it felt like they had forgotten something.
The two exchanged a glance—both equally blank.
Since neither could remember, they simply urged their guests to keep eating.
…
At the same time.
Near the deserted Rose Corridor, bamboo rustled in the wind. Sheets of plastic outside were covered with drying melon seeds, and the vegetable garden was lush and thriving.
Gao Ming stood alone at the empty house entrance, silent, staring at Ke Taro, who cautiously approached while holding a kelang ball.
Living freely in this wild land with no worries about food or clothing, Ke Taro had grown even more sleek and glossy. Its originally pitch-black body now shimmered like a starry sky—under different angles, faint sapphire fluorescence could even be seen.
Its antennae twitched slightly, snapping Gao Ming back to his senses.
—He had pulled two all-nighters in a row. Skipping a meal now made his heart race and his hands tremble. Otherwise, he would’ve already turned back.
But—
“Where’s my meal?”
he asked blankly, raising his wrist communicator to call. Just then, a green palm-shaped leaf nearby moved, and a plump ginseng poked its head out from the flowerpot:
“Y-you—you n-no, no food to e-eat?”
It patted its chubby white body proudly.
“I—I store n-nutrition f-for autumn and winter. I h-have l-lots to e-eat!”
Da Pang was a simple and kind-hearted ginseng. Quite familiar with Gao Ming, it couldn’t help but feel sympathy seeing him standing there hungry.
“C-come w-with me—I’ll t-take you to f-food!”
Gao Ming reacted—were they eating at Zhou Qian’s place? Or had they gone out?
But Da Pang seemed trustworthy enough, so he followed with a straight face.
He watched as the top-heavy ginseng struggled to push its flowerpot across the uneven wild terrain, passing the vegetable garden, the open field, a small slope, and down below…
Gao Ming frowned.
Where was this place?
“Where’s my meal?” he asked again, expression unchanged, voice flat.
At worst, he’d just been tricked by this ginseng. After all, everything Huai Yu kept—whether animals or plants—was strange. A little scheming wasn’t surprising.
At most, he’d just seize the chance to pluck a couple of its ginseng whiskers.
The next moment, the plump ginseng pushed its pot back and forth at a steep slope. The wheels rolled noisily, the grass swaying up and down.
Gao Ming: …
So dumb.
This ginseng was always clumsy—yet he actually followed it here. Being fooled didn’t matter, but it was embarrassing.
Then suddenly, the grass rustled, revealing a small dark hole. A glossy field mouse poked its head out:
“Chi chi chi!”
Gao Ming’s face remained cold.
“I don’t eat field mice.”
At once, the little mouse squeaked rapidly, almost like it was scolding him.
But Gao Ming remained expressionless.
Instead, Da Pang panicked:
“N-no—not e-eat! I-I told it t-to g-give you f-food!”
It turned to the mouse:
“L-little Tian, g-give him s-some f-food! H-he h-has no m-meal!”
Then added:
“H-he’s b-been a-abandoned!”
The autumn wind swept through, blowing Gao Ming’s hair across his face, making his situation seem especially bleak.
But Gao Ming still showed no change in expression. Instead, he looked at the mouse with disdain:
“There’s everything in the kitchen. Why would I need you?”
He turned to leave, but after a few steps, seemed to remember something. He came back, reached out with his long arm, and plucked two ginseng whiskers from Da Pang—then strode off.
No food, can’t endure hunger—might as well brew some ginseng tea. Maybe he could pull another all-nighter!
Thinking this, he immediately perked up, eager.
Behind him, Da Pang froze:
“???”
It hadn’t even felt pain—the whiskers weren’t that precious.
But…
“Y-you—you r-really h-have n-no f-food?!”
