From a distance, Li Sula watched the scene and couldn’t help twitching the corner of her mouth.
Those three really were cautious to the bone. Even after seeing photos, they still insisted on calling her. Just how paranoid were they about her?
Her phone in her pocket lit up at the right time. She quickly ducked behind cover and answered, deliberately forcing her tone into something sharp and impatient.
“Shen Jianchen, what the hell are you going crazy about now?”
Shen Jianchen gripped his phone and listened carefully. There was complete silence on the other end—no background noise at all. He pressed, his voice low.
“Where are you?”
“What does it have to do with you? Who do you think you are?” Li Su snapped, while simultaneously pulling out a second phone.
It was the one she had taken from the private detective. She opened a pre-saved audio file labeled “son,” and a soft childish voice immediately came through.
“Mommy…”
She casually responded, “Be good, Yangyang. Mommy’s on the phone. I’ll play with you later.”
The moment her voice fell, the call on the other side ended abruptly. The screen went dark.
Li Su let out a breath of relief.
Good. She’d fooled them. The shorter the call, the less chance of exposure.
She looked up again and indeed saw Shen Jianchen showing his phone to Lin Tianrou.
“She’s at home, with a kid. Where else could she be? It’s quiet everywhere around her. She definitely didn’t go out.”
Lin Tianrou finally relaxed, a smile appearing on her face.
“Good. Then let’s board the ship.”
Shen Jianchen turned to Wu Xiaomei. “Xiaomei, you go load the oil first. The Paramount is in the cargo hold—just mention my name. We’ll wait for you on deck.”
Originally they intended to go together, but Wu Xiaomei’s attitude disgusted them, so they sent her alone. After all, there was no danger on the ship.
“No problem!” Wu Xiaomei said excitedly and headed straight into the hold.
Li Su also followed quietly behind.
She wouldn’t climb the ship stairs—too obvious. Instead, she found a hidden corner, used her perception to scan the deck, confirmed no one was there, then pushed off the ground and leapt up in one smooth motion.
She landed silently on the ship.
Keeping her perception active, she avoided everyone and quickly made her way toward the fuel storage area. Soon she spotted Wu Xiaomei’s back in the corridor.
Wu Xiaomei walked briskly, not noticing the footsteps behind her at all. In her mind, the ship was full of crew members—why would anyone else be here? And certainly not that useless Li Su.
Unbeknownst to her, Li Su was right behind her, just a few steps away, calm and composed. When she passed crew members, she even nodded politely as if she belonged there.
The crew found it slightly odd, but since they had been told guests were boarding today, they didn’t think much of it and let her follow Wu Xiaomei all the way in.
Li Su didn’t enter the oil compartment. She simply waited at the corner.
Wu Xiaomei had a storage space ability—she would definitely fill it completely before coming out. Li Su had patience.
As expected, after a short while, Wu Xiaomei came out of the fuel storage room and headed toward the cargo hold, her target clear: the Paramount off-road vehicle.
Perfect.
Li Su smiled and followed.
She kept her distance until she reached the cargo hold entrance, where security checks were in place. She stopped and waited.
Wu Xiaomei entered smoothly. The moment she saw the powerful off-road vehicle, her eyes lit up with greed and excitement.
In her past life, the apocalypse meant starvation and chaos. No decent vehicles, constantly fleeing from zombies, living like rats in ruins.
But now was different.
She had been reborn. She had ditched Li Su, stored a full space of supplies, and now even had this beast of a vehicle.
A 15-ton monster—what zombie horde could stop it? She could just crush through them.
Her hands trembled slightly as she signed for the vehicle.
Once the workers left, she immediately activated her spatial ability and stored the entire vehicle. Then she happily turned back toward the deck, even humming softly.
She was going to meet Shen Jianchen and Lin Tianrou and return to their base.
Right—there were supplies in the mine too, as Li Dadong had said. Combined with what she had now, it would be enough to last forever.
The more she thought about it, the happier she became.
But she didn’t notice the cold shadow closing in behind her—silent, lethal.
That gaze on her back was as cold as ice.
She still remembered how she first met this person.
It had been a pitch-black night. In a narrow alley, she was being dragged away by several men, muffled cries and desperate struggling echoing in the darkness. Passersby either ignored it or hurried away.
Only she had picked up a stick, turned on her phone flashlight, and charged in shouting, “Police! Stop!”
She had driven the attackers away. Only then did she see the truth: Wu Xiaomei was badly injured, her head bleeding, barely breathing.
She rushed her to the hospital. The doctor said she had arrived just in time.
When Wu Xiaomei woke up, she knelt and swore lifelong gratitude.
But that “gratitude” ended in betrayal.
When the zombie tide came, Wu Xiaomei stabbed straight through her lung without hesitation.
And whispered into her ear:
“Didn’t you save me from rapists? Then save me again.”
Back then, she had no strength left to answer—only watched her blood soak the ground.
This time, her answer would be different:
Debt repaid? Not yet.
Girl, start by repaying your “favor.”
Li Su followed unhurriedly, her steps steady but pressure rising.
Five meters… four… three…
At close range, her Piercing Eye ability clearly revealed the blue text above Wu Xiaomei’s head:
Ability: Spatial Storage (A-rank)Skill: 10,000 cubic meters of storage space. Non-living items only. No time limit. Free access.
A storage space—and A-rank at that.
Li Su’s eyes darkened.
She stepped forward abruptly.