Fu Erdie quickly ran through everything related to her ability in her mind.
Her ability could promote further mutation in other mutated beings. Different targets might be influenced by her in different directions and to different degrees.
And when she influenced the other party, she would also be affected by the other party’s energy state.
Before Fu Erdie became aware of the existence of her ability, her blood and ability had fused together. So when she bled, her ability subtly acted on other mutated beings.
After she became aware of her ability, she no longer needed to bleed. She only needed to practise the daily push-and-pull like training, and she could promote both sides to evolve and mutate in a beneficial direction.
And if she did not want both sides to benefit together, then she could deprive the other party of energy and make them weak.
In the past, Fu Erdie had thought that once she stripped away all their energy, the other party would die. Now it seemed they would not die, but would instead become an ordinary person without an ability.
She looked at the despairing water-type.
Had she really become an ordinary person?
Fu Erdie had let her go only because she had not seen her personally kill or attack anyone. Besides, with injuries like that, she might not survive anyway. If she escaped, then that was simply her fate.
Even if she really did escape, Fu Erdie was not afraid that she would go outside and spread news of this place. After all, the abnormality of the residential complex could be seen at a glance. If word did not leak from here today, it would leak from somewhere else tomorrow.
And the water-type had endured her ability experiment. If she survived, that was also her fate.
But now… she could not be allowed to leave.
She knew about Fu Erdie’s ability.
Now she only had two choices: either die, or be kept by Fu Erdie for continued observation and experimentation, to see whether her ability truly was deprivation.
But… from their limited contact, Fu Erdie felt that this water-type seemed to have an astonishing premonition ability. If she kept her and her ability had not completely disappeared, she might not necessarily be able to control her.
Thinking this, Fu Erdie glanced toward the entrance.
From her current angle, she could not see the entrance at all. She could only hear the movement from that direction and imagine the scene over there.
Fu Erdie narrowed her eyes.
It seemed that the plant-type was the better research subject. On one hand, he could be handed over for her own research. On the other, he could be given to the plant cubs to study, making it easier to find methods to deal with similar ability users in the future.
Having made her decision, Fu Erdie raised the gun and pressed it against the water-type’s forehead. She pulled the trigger and sent her away.
She climbed back through the window and looked again at the battle near the entrance.
The succulent was still locked in a stalemate with the stone-type and plant-type. However, because of their breathing difficulties, the two ability users were only struggling like cornered beasts and would not last much longer.
Fu Erdie decided to go over and personally deal with them, ending it quickly and testing the deeper use of the ability she had just learned.
This time, she aggressively pierced her ability into the plant-type’s energy body. There was no testing, no tugging back and forth. She directly sucked his energy completely dry.
Using the same method to deal with the stone-type ability user, she only felt refreshed and clear-headed, truly getting the feeling of a villain cultivating some evil technique.
The succulent twisted the powerless, limp stone-type ability user into a pretzel and, together with the classmates beside it, secreted corrosive liquid to enjoy the freshly baked snack.
As for the collapsed plant-type, he was handed over to Tomato, tied into a pretzel, and placed to the side under guard.
Seeing that the overall situation was lost, the boss and the metal-type felt stifled and resentful. Even though they still felt that they had not used their full strength, they had no choice but to retreat. There would be other chances in the future.
But neither of them had fast and agile builds. Pothos swiftly grabbed their legs. Immediately after, all the plants exerted force together, all pulling at the boss and the metal-type.
By now, after fighting for some time, the boss and the metal-type had clearly realised one thing: most of these plants could only move within a ten-metre range in front of the building. As long as they got beyond those ten metres, they could shake off most of the restrictions.
They understood this, and the plants understood it even more.
Fu Erdie sat beside the door, one hand pinching Pothos’s leaf. With the other, she called Sang Wenhao over and quickly injected the energy she had absorbed from those people earlier into his body.
In just ten seconds, Sang Wenhao immediately returned to full condition and charged toward the already exhausted boss and metal-type.
As the battle grew increasingly intense, the metal-type was the first to fall. During the brief moment when her whole body was bound by branches and leaves and she could not move, a metal blade sliced across her neck, killing her instantly.
In front of the boss, the dense plant leaves and branches blocked every path. For a moment, he had the illusion that he had become a bird locked inside a cage of grass and trees.
Finally, he gave up on escaping. While all the plants were busy blocking his retreat, he turned around and viciously rushed toward a load-bearing wall of Building Seven that looked especially important, throwing a punch at it.
The succulent leaves guarding that spot were prepared for battle, setting up their “flesh shield” to resist the impact.
But just before that powerful fist wind fell, he suddenly changed the trajectory of his force. His entire body lunged toward Fu Erdie’s position.
It was her!
This plant ability user was the one who had caused such heavy casualties in his team!
She was the one who had trapped him here too!
If that was the case, then they could die together!
Fu Erdie looked at him calmly. There was no trace of panic in her eyes. Instead, there was an inexplicable certainty. She was clearly smiling, but to the boss, the look in her eyes seemed like she was looking at an idiot.
In that flash of lightning, Fu Erdie accurately grabbed the leaf belonging to Spider Plant and poured her ability into it.
As the most agile of the plant cubs, Spider Plant instantly burst out with astonishing speed and strength, wrapping around Fu Erdie and dragging her to the side.
Although it only moved her by one body’s width, it was enough to completely avoid the boss’s incoming punch.
His fist smashed into the ground, blasting a huge pit into the concrete.
He raised his fist and was about to smash down again, but suddenly felt a soft touch on his hand. Immediately after, a needle-like pain seemed to come from his arm, and also from deep within his body. It was so sharp he could not ignore it.
Instinctively, he curled his body, wanting to resist the severe pain, while his other hand continued to swing a fist toward Fu Erdie, whose entire body seemed full of openings.
But Sang Wenhao had already arrived. Pothos had also reacted. Even the dog, who had been on guard nearby the whole time, rushed over and bit down on the boss’s hand, refusing to let go.
Fu Erdie smiled.
Her face had turned pale because of the rapid consumption of her ability in such a short time, but just as her ability was about to be exhausted, she finally broke through the boss’s defence and began to feast.
The boss quickly became weak and powerless, while Fu Erdie was like a cat that had eaten its fill, unconsciously pressing her back molars together.
Three minutes later, the boss’s critical line was broken through.
He became a cripple.
The feeling of losing his ability was like a near-sighted person suddenly having their glasses knocked off.
The world that had originally seemed clear and controllable became completely blurry. Everything around him was filled with threats and danger. Even the rotten stench in the air, something he had long been used to in the apocalypse, suddenly became even more pungent.
In truth, if another normal person came to Building Seven from outside, they would probably feel that the air here was much better than the surroundings. But for a powerful ability user like the boss, after losing his ability and instantly becoming extremely unaccustomed to the environment, everything immediately felt out of control.
Although he did not understand exactly how it had happened, he naturally knew that he had lost his ability.
The succulent slowly but skilfully raised a fleshy leaf, wrapped it around the boss’s head, and twisted hard.
There was a crack.
His head broke.
The boss looked at the spinning sky and could not understand why a simple residential complex, a shabby apartment building, had become his burial place just like that.
He died with his eyes open.
There was no need to close them either, because the cubs were already impatiently secreting corrosive liquid and starting to eat their snack!
Fu Erdie leaned against the doorway, watching the cubs enjoy their snack. The calm, composed smile on her face slowly disappeared.
She had consumed the energy of so many ability users, so in truth, she felt very energetic. But she felt that she had become a little strange.
In the past, could she kill people without changing expression?
In the past, would she become excited because she had beaten or killed an enemy?
Why had she felt excited when she was strategising from the sixteenth floor?
And why had she felt so satisfied when she consumed the energy of so many ability users?
Rationally speaking, she felt that she had defeated the enemy and done well.
But emotionally, she seemed to have changed.
Was she always this cold by nature? Had the apocalypse changed her? Or had her ability subtly changed her?
She vaguely remembered that what she used to love most was curling up at home reading novels and comics. When she had commercial commissions, she would draw illustrations seriously and with full concentration.
She played very few games, only joining in for fun when she was bored and saw her friends playing.
When watching the news, she would consciously block out especially awful stories. She would read the news, know what had happened, and then avoid looking at the chaotic comment sections.
She had been an especially easy-going person, someone with no fighting spirit and no temper.
How had she become like this?
A hand suddenly reached over and covered her eyes.
“Don’t overthink. It’s a normal stress response.” A clear but slightly hoarse voice sounded.
Fu Erdie hooked his wrist and gently tugged, wanting to pull his hand away.
But Sang Wenhao, who had always followed whatever decision she made before, was rarely firm this time.
“You are normal. What’s abnormal is this world. You don’t need to feel frightened or sorry for your own changes. Trust the plants.”
After a pause, Sang Wenhao continued, “And trust me. Sleep and rest for a while. Everything will be fine.”
Fu Erdie’s eyes were covered, and they were warmed by the heat of Sang Wenhao’s palm.
She listened carefully, trying to distinguish his true emotions from his voice.
“You saw it too. My ability can not only strengthen both sides, it can also directly erase the other person’s ability. Aren’t you afraid?”
The other party was quiet for a very long time, so long that Fu Erdie’s already inexplicably low heart began to sink even deeper.
Then she heard the person opposite her say, “I should be afraid.”
He did not say the second half.
But Fu Erdie knew.
I should be afraid. But I’m not.
Fu Erdie gently leaned forward, pressing her eyes and forehead completely against Sang Wenhao’s hand.
Dry, warm, with no particular scent. Just like his expression, always faint and calm.
But suddenly, she realised with some amusement that before Sang Wenhao covered her eyes, he had specifically asked some unknown plant cub to clean his hand.
Most likely Spider Plant.
It was always the most agile and fastest cub. Whether Pothos, Fu Erdie, Sang Wenhao, or the little old lady asked it for help, it would curse and complain while still doing the task properly. But after finishing, it would demand a portion of its favourite mashed potatoes as a reward. After eating the mashed potatoes, it could happily and contentedly stay to one side and bask in the sun.
Thinking of this, Fu Erdie’s tense shoulders slowly relaxed.
She hugged Sang Wenhao’s arm, her forehead and eyes still pressed against his palm, allowing herself to sink into the darkness.
“Take me upstairs.”
“Okay.”
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