The mutant paused for a few seconds.
Taking advantage of the pause, Xia Qing struck and severed its head…
The mutant’s brain instantly began to shrivel, and an energy core materialized inside it.
To her surprise, it was a pink energy core.
After awakening an ability, there was only one way to upgrade: by absorbing the energy cores found inside the brains of mutants.
Moreover, it had to be an energy core of the exact same attribute.
A huge part of the reason why Lin Yao failed to level up in their past life was because pink energy cores were exceptionally rare.
Xia Qing felt a surge of excitement. This…
Just killing one single mutant yielded a pink energy core?
She quickly picked it up, shoved it into her pocket, and resolved to absorb it as soon as she had a free moment.
The mutant’s attack had clearly stalled for a few seconds just now. It seemed her charm skill had a mild effect on mutants.
Not only was it effective against humans, but it also worked on male mutants.
In her past life, Lin Yao had completely failed to discover this.
After all, if Lin Yao never went out to hunt and hack down mutants, how could she ever unlock this hidden potential?
Besides, everyone’s innate talents were different.
Even among those who awakened the water-type ability, individual strengths varied wildly from weak to strong!
Xia Ran had also finished off two mutants. One of them yielded an energy core, but regrettably, it was a blue energy core.
Xia Ran: “Keep the energy cores. Even if we can’t absorb them ourselves, once we reach the base, these things are as good as cash!”
Xia Ran called Lin Yao down.
Seeing Xia Qing’s uninjured arm, Lin Yao stared in utter astonishment: “Xia Qing, you didn’t get hurt?”
Xia Qing: “Why would I get hurt?”
Xia Ran frowned slightly.
Shock gripped Lin Yao’s heart. Seeing Xia Qing completely unscathed, this was entirely different from their past life.
Could it be that because I chose the spatial ability instead, the timeline changed?
Then does that mean the one who gets injured won’t be her?
With that thought, she anxiously scanned her surroundings, terrified that another mutant might pop out.
Xia Ran frowned slightly, feeling somewhat annoyed by Lin Yao’s previous remark, and urged impatiently:
“Alright, Lin Yao, hurry up and collect the food. Once you’re done, we need to leave this place as soon as possible and get you two to the main group. They’re setting out at five this afternoon.”
If they missed the main convoy, it would be dangerous for him to escort his two younger sisters back alone.
Lin Yao nodded and immediately swept all the items inside the supermarket into her spatial storage.
A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her…
She hadn’t expected that gathering items would consume physical energy.
That’s right—after awakening, abilities drained the body’s internal energy.
For now, the primary way to replenish that energy was through calorie intake.
Since everyone’s metabolic calorie capacity varied, the number of times they could release their skills each day differed as well.
High-calorie foods were destined to become hot commodities in the future.
Once they reached the base, all ability users would be issued an energy wristband.
It appeared that her own baseline caloric threshold was much higher than Lin Yao’s; in her past life, after clearing out the supermarket supplies, she hadn’t felt this kind of strain at all.
Lin Yao: “Xia Qing, I already have spatial storage. Aren’t you tired carrying that heavy backpack around?”
Xia Qing shook her head: “It’s best not to expose your spatial ability too early. A backpack serves as a good cover.”
Lin Yao: “I don’t need anything like that!”
Xia Qing had merely offered a casual reminder. Her backpack was entirely for her own use, packed strictly with high-calorie foods.
Xia Ran thought about it, figuring his sister’s advice made sense, and said: “Lin Yao, it won’t be too late to reveal your ability once we reach the North City base. Along this journey, we’ll be traveling alongside military trucks, and there will be plenty of refugees.”
Thinking back to their past life, so many people had chased after Xia Qing, begging her for help, while she wore that arrogant, condescending look that was truly irritating.
Countless refugees had come knocking at her door.
Treating her like a savior.
Lin Yao was far from satisfied: “I know.”
Military trucks waited downstairs, and both of them climbed aboard.
Upstairs, someone spotted Xia Ran wearing his special police uniform.
“Help! Help me, please save me!”
Trapped survivors remained in the upper floors, but her cries for rescue didn’t summon Xia Ran’s rescue team—they drew a mutant instead.
Mutants possessed exceptionally acute hearing.
One mutant clung to the outer wall, scrambling rapidly toward the balcony.
As their vehicle pulled away, Xia Qing glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that the woman who had just cried for help had fallen to the ground, her skull crushed and empty.
Her body was smashed to pieces.
A heavy silence filled the car.
Xia Ran’s capabilities were limited; managing to rescue his sisters was already a remarkable feat.
Having endured so much along the way, his heart had grown somewhat hardened.
To save others, one had to do so within the limits of one’s own capabilities.
He glanced into the rearview mirror. Both of his younger sisters seemed remarkably composed.
Lin Yao remained completely absorbed in her own spatial storage, while Xia Qing didn’t even spare a glance for anything else.
After all, she was the one who obtained the spatial storage in this lifetime.
Meanwhile, Xia Qing slipped the pink energy core from her pocket into her sleeve, and when neither of them was paying attention, popped it into her mouth.
Instantly, pink energy surged through her entire body, heightening her senses and attuning her to her ability.
She felt the charm skill awakening deep within her.
So the pink energy core wasn’t a fluke.
It was a result of her charm skill: the hidden ability to charm mutants had altered the attribute of the mutant’s core.
Of course, it only worked on male mutants.
She had unconsciously desired a pink core, so the attribute of the mutant core she charmed had shifted to pink.
Xia Qing suppressed her racing heart, careful not to let her excitement show. After all, Lin Yao didn’t seem to realize yet that she wasn’t the “Xia Qing” of the past life.
She decided to keep a low profile for a while.
In this short span of time inside the car, Xia Qing’s skin grew even more delicate and smooth. The acne on her face faded away, leaving only faint marks.
Beauties were an extreme rarity in the wasteland world—what woman didn’t love being beautiful?
Chaos reigned on the streets of Jiangcheng; explosions even rocked buildings in the distance.
Because electrical grids and gas lines had gone completely unmaintained…
In barely a day or two, the city had transformed into this.
Witnessing such a scene once more, Xia Qing’s heart stirred with a complex mixture of emotions.
Such a beautiful city was a rare sight in the wasteland world.
All she ever saw there were rusted cities buried beneath yellow sands.
Knowing that such a magnificent city would be completely destroyed by mutants in the future felt like an absolute catastrophe.
She had to survive!
Not only survive, but live more radiantly and beautifully than ever!
The main convoy from Jiangcheng was stationed along the highway outside the city. Jiangcheng had four major highway exits, and four distinct military units were deployed to escort the city’s residents.
Suburban residents surrounding Jiangcheng had long since evacuated ahead of time.
The radio inside the truck blared: “Attention citizens and military personnel, please make your way to the fourth highway exit as quickly as possible. The main convoy departs in one hour.”
In truth, the majority had already begun setting out in succession; there was no way they could wait around for stragglers.
Even so, countless people remained trapped inside Jiangcheng.
They still foolishly believed someone would come back to rescue them.
What they didn’t know was that Jiangcheng had already been abandoned, reduced entirely to a breeding ground and habitat for mutants.
Before long, the mutant population would multiply exponentially.
The first three highway exits had already seen successful evacuations.
The only reason Xia Qing and Lin Yao hadn’t left earlier was because they had been trapped.
Lin Yao recalled the captain of the final special military squad: Jin Chao. He had awakened a rare mental-type ability.
He was the only person capable of rendering her charm skill completely ineffective.
Lin Yao looked at Xia Qing. Sunlight streamed across her skin, and her charm skill was taking effect.
She was growing more and more beautiful…
A wave of sour resentment churned inside Lin Yao, mingled with a dark, burning hatred.
Heh…
You think this is the beginning of good fortune, but it’s actually the abyss of sin.