If she could manage to control him, then the entirety of North City would essentially fall right into her hands.
Unfortunately, Jin Chao’s awakened mental power happened to be her absolute natural counter.
She couldn’t get close to him at all; any Charm-type ability used against him felt like slamming headfirst into a solid wall, unable to breach even his basic mental barrier.
However, Lin Yao knew that in her past life, Jin Chao had taken extra care of Xia Qing.
It wasn’t out of romantic affection, but strictly because of the spatial storage ability Xia Qing possessed.
In an apocalyptic era where supplies reigned supreme, the value of a spatial ability user was beyond measure.
By now, Lin Yao had basically confirmed it:
Xia Qing was definitely reborn too.
Otherwise, there was no way Xia Qing’s mutant kills could be so clean, efficient, and ruthless.
In her past life, when Xia Qing had first awakened, she was terrified out of her mind—her hands trembled uncontrollably when killing her first mutant, and she was too frightened to sleep at night.
It had been Lin Yao who stayed by her side to soothe and encourage her.
Lin Yao had even intentionally pushed her behind the scenes, forcing Xia Qing into situations where she had no choice but to kill humans and mutants, slowly molding her into a warrior.
All to protect herself properly.
Since Xia Qing had awakened the memories of her past life, it was impossible for their relationship to ever return to a clean slate.
Lin Yao understood this all too well.
Having stolen Xia Qing’s spatial storage in this life created an unresolved death knot between them forever.
Even though she had seized the spatial storage ahead of time, if Xia Qing remembered everything, there was no way she could genuinely let it go.
Yet for now, neither of them had torn away the public facade.
Xia Qing hadn’t confronted her, and Lin Yao hadn’t laid her cards on the table, maintaining a delicate, quiet equilibrium.
Both were fully aware, yet neither took the initiative to speak first.
There was only one detail Lin Yao couldn’t wrap her head around: if Xia Qing knew she had stolen the spatial storage, why was there zero reaction?
It didn’t make sense.
Given Xia Qing’s personality in her past life, even if she didn’t blow up on the spot, she would never stay in the same squad this calmly.
Unless… Xia Qing had other plans?
Had she really been reborn or not?
Or was she reborn, but failed to realize that Lin Yao was the one who fired that fatal shot from behind?
Lin Yao racked her brain without finding an answer.
After some thought, she decided to take the initiative. The white energy core was right there in Xia Qing’s hands; she had to find a way to get it.
In the apocalypse, thick skin was the last thing to be afraid of using, especially since they hadn’t torn off their masks yet and were still “good relatives.”
At least in front of Xia Ran, Xia Qing wouldn’t make things too embarrassing for her.
Lin Yao stood up and walked over toward Xia Qing.
Xia Qing was leaning against the wall wiping her blade, catching sight of Lin Yao in her peripheral vision.
Her brows knitted slightly, but her face quickly returned to an expressionless mask.
“Qingqing.”
Lin Yao stopped in front of her, a warm, gentle smile plastered across her face, her tone affectionate as if nothing had ever happened.
“I saw that white energy core you dug out of the mutant earlier. Could you give it to me?”
Xia Qing looked up at her, offering a flat reply: “No.”
Undeterred by the blunt rejection, Lin Yao continued smiling: “You can’t absorb a white energy core anyway.”
“You aren’t a spatial user, so keeping it is useless to you. Giving it to me will actually put it to good use.”
The corner of Xia Qing’s mouth slowly curved into a subtle, playful smile: “How do you know I can’t absorb it?”
Lin Yao’s smile froze for a fraction of a second.
She hadn’t expected Xia Qing to say that. According to common knowledge from her past life, ability users of different attributes could only absorb energy cores matching their specific element.
This principle had been researched and established early on.
If Xia Qing wasn’t a spatial user, it was impossible for her to absorb a white core.
Unless… Xia Qing had awakened a completely different ability in this life?
No, impossible.
In her past life, Xia Qing was spatial-type, and in this life, Lin Yao had stepped in to snatch the spatial core first.
Xia Qing should have awakened Charm—which relied on pink special cores that were extraordinarily rare to find!
Yet Xia Qing’s remark sounded light and airy, almost hinting at something deeper.
Suppressing the unease in her heart, Lin Yao shifted her strategy: “Qingqing, you know I’m a spatial user now.”
“I happen to need white cores to absorb so my spatial energy can grow and expand the storage.”
“Otherwise, when it comes time to harvest supplies later, running out of storage space will cause massive trouble for everyone.”
She intentionally raised her voice, ensuring that the other people in the room—especially Jin Chao and Xia Ran—could hear every word.
She wanted to leverage public pressure to make it embarrassing for Xia Qing to refuse.
Xia Ran indeed heard it and raised his head to glance at them, though he remained silent.
The two cousins had competed back and forth since childhood…
Their mother had always favored the niece.
Xia Ran, naturally, leaned toward protecting his own biological sister.
Xia Qing remained completely unfazed, continuing to wipe her blade without even looking up: “That’s your business. What does it have to do with me?”
Lin Yao’s expression shifted subtly, but her smile returned almost instantly.
She bit her lip as if enduring an unfair burden, her tone softening: “Qingqing, we’re family. Why can’t we talk things through properly?”
“We’re traveling together and looking out for one another.”
“If my spatial storage gets bigger, it benefits everyone, doesn’t it?”
Xia Qing finally stopped wiping her blade, raising her eyes to look straight into Lin Yao’s.
Their gazes locked.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Under that piercing stare, Lin Yao felt an inexplicable surge of guilt.
Yet she didn’t back down; the smile remained fixed on her face, though the muscles around her eyes tightened slightly.
Xia Qing studied her for a few seconds before slowly sheathing her blade. Standing up, she tossed the white core lightly in her palm, saying nonchalantly: “Lin Yao, you’re right. I really can’t absorb this white energy core.”
Xia Qing added: “I just don’t want to give it to you.”
Lin Yao hadn’t expected Xia Qing to be so icy and unyielding.
Jin Chao frowned subtly and stepped over.
He had absorbed a yellow core himself, but his teammates often traded cores among themselves…
Jin Chao stated: “The color of the very first energy core you swallow determines your awakened element; you can only absorb cores of that specific color afterward.”
“I have one red and one green energy core. I’ll give you both in exchange for the white one in your hand.”
“…”
A two-for-one trade?
Lin Yao felt a surge of excitement.
True to her expectations…
Having awakened spatial storage made her invaluable!
She hadn’t expected Jin Chao to place such high importance on her.
Sure enough, in her past life, Jin Chao had aided Xia Qing precisely because of that spatial ability.
Now it was her turn.
This was the absolute biggest thigh to lean on in North City!
Xia Qing: “Deal!”
A two-for-one trade was a bargain.
She couldn’t absorb them herself, but her pet mouse certainly could.
Jin Chao tossed the white energy core over to Lin Yao.
“Absorb it right away.”
Overjoyed, Lin Yao voiced her thanks repeatedly. Casting a triumphant glance at Xia Qing, she hurried off to find a quiet corner to absorb the core.
Qiao Sheng watched Lin Yao’s retreating figure, murmuring: “Captain Jin, trading two cores for one? Isn’t that a huge loss?”
“Energy cores in the city are worth several times their weight in gold right now.”
“Besides, this doesn’t sound like your style at all, Captain.”
Jin Chao’s eyes darkened slightly: “Xia Ran’s younger sister is quite interesting.”
“…”
Qiao Sheng blinked: “You just traded two energy cores for one to give to Lin Yao, and now you’re saying Xia Ran’s sister is interesting?”
Qiao Sheng couldn’t wrap his head around what was going on at all.
Jin Chao knitted his brows faintly: “Lin Yao may have awakened spatial storage, but her baseline talent and internal energy capacity are far too weak.”
“If I don’t give her cores to absorb, she won’t even have enough spatial capacity to haul the laboratory equipment back.”