With Qin Ze possessing an ability, the longer he stayed in combat, the more obvious the difference between him and Nan Fei became.
His body enhancement made him stronger and gave him better stamina. In the same half hour, Nan Fei was already exhausted, while he only had a thin layer of sweat on his skin.
When it was others’ turn to rotate in, Nan Fei finally realized how boring it was.
She sat on the steps, her body slowly tilting to one side, until she simply leaned against the railing.
Lin Runxin sat nearby, watching the battle in the distance, his clean and handsome face filled with seriousness.
Time gradually passed, and the number of corpses near the escalator kept increasing.
Qin Ze finally grew tired from killing.
He switched Lin Runxin in.
Nan Fei yawned and slowly straightened her body a little.
Lin Runxin was the mutated wood-type ability user who, in the original plot, was betrayed to the research institute by the original host and nearly tortured to death.
The novel described that when he killed zombies, vines would grow from his hands, pierce into the zombies’ bodies, and instantly drain their flesh and blood, leaving behind only black-purple skeletons.
Lin Runxin’s fighting style was different from Nan Fei’s. He raised his hand, and slender green vines grew from his palm. First, he used them to block the escalator entrance, then began attacking.
Before the zombies could approach, his right hand controlled the vines to pierce their bodies. Once the zombies withered, his left-hand vines would fling them away while he continued attacking the next one.
Because his range was wide enough, the zombies were eliminated before they could even get close.
Nan Fei, stimulated by this method, became alert and narrowed her eyes to observe closely.
Lin Runxin’s vines had heart-shaped leaves, with serrated edges like rows of fine teeth.
What was worth noting was that when the zombies were being drained, the exposed sections of the vines remained smooth and stem-like.
After the flesh and blood were fully absorbed, the exposed inner sections would show leaves stained red, becoming especially vivid and bright.
Looking at those red vines, Nan Fei felt a little envious.
As expected—long-range control abilities were really convenient.
The alternating battle rotations always left those who had just fought bored, while those waiting grew increasingly excited.
Lin Runxin had not killed for long before someone called him down, and the remaining three young men were as energized as if they had taken stimulants, all competing to take a turn.
Nan Fei only found them noisy. She looked at Lin Runxin and said:
“Your vines are pretty interesting.”
Lin Runxin paused, then broke into a sunny smile.
“Thank you. You’re the first person to say that.”
Nan Fei returned a faint smile, understanding what he meant.
Because of the nature of his ability, most people who saw it would feel fear rather than admiration.
This was also why, in the original story, he eventually joined the female lead’s team—because Yun Jiaoyue genuinely liked him and his vines.
After a while, the others finished their turns. Just when it seemed it would be time to quickly finish up, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.
“I… I want to try too.”
Nan Fei turned her head—it was Zhou Wenqian. Unlike Wang Qianqian, who was an ordinary person, she was a water-type ability user.
It was precisely because of this that she had been able to push Nan Fei down earlier.
Seeing the injuries on her face, the others felt a bit sympathetic, but seeing her determined expression, they still agreed.
Zhou Wenqian also had a weapon—a watermelon knife.
She carefully walked toward the zombies. To prevent accidents, a man followed closely beside her.
Considering she was a beginner and a girl, the man first chopped off the zombie’s limbs, leaving it struggling on the ground.
Before Zhou Wenqian even acted, she was already sweating all over. She gripped the knife tightly, but her hands still trembled uncontrollably.
Finally, the blade pressed against the zombie’s head. She bit her lip, closed her eyes, and stabbed down with force.
The knife pierced the zombie’s skull, and a mixture of red and white brain matter gushed out.
She was so frightened that she staggered backward.
Then she collapsed onto the steps.
Nan Fei didn’t have a good impression of anyone who had harmed her. Seeing that Zhou Wenqian was done, she stood up, walked past her, and casually kicked the corpses blocking the escalator away.
“Ah!”
Zhou Wenqian cried out in fear and backed away.
Everyone watched Nan Fei’s back with complicated expressions.
Only Lin Runxin, as if missing a few screws in his head, followed her toward the third floor.
“Lin Runxin, can you clear a path?” Nan Fei asked.
Lin Runxin looked at the struggling zombies mixed among the corpses and nodded.
Slender vines shot out, piercing through the center before sweeping left and right. The bodies were pushed aside, leaving only a path stained with blood.
After gaining real combat experience, Nan Fei felt even more confident.
She walked ahead first. Blood stained her white Mary Jane shoes, forming a red base color, and paired with her battle-damaged princess dress covered in scattered bloodstains, it created an oddly striking beauty.
“Tch…”
Gu Kaiwen, who had previously scolded Nan Fei over the chocolate incident, stared fixedly at her back.
Zhou Wenqian and Wang Qianqian noticed his gaze and clenched their fists, their nails almost digging into their palms.
Why.
Why did they go through so much effort to isolate her, only for her to effortlessly capture attention again?
Nan Fei was completely unaware of their resentment. She held a golden blade and walked straight into a nearby women’s clothing store.
Neatly arranged clothes were now stained with dirt. Ignoring the shop assistant whose corpse was stuck behind the counter, Nan Fei picked up a shopping bag and slowly began browsing.
“You’re wasting time,” Qin Ze frowned and said unhappily.
At that moment, something inside Nan Fei snapped. She stopped, looked up at him from bottom to top with a calm gaze, and said coldly:
“Who are you? What gives you the right to control me?”
After speaking, she rolled her eyes, ignored his reaction, and continued shopping.
It was midsummer, and most of the store was filled with dresses. Nan Fei reluctantly picked out a few tops and pants.
She stuffed them all into the shopping bag, then took a cropped top and shorts and went into the fitting room.
Seeing this, Zhou Wenqian and Wang Qianqian also followed suit and started picking clothes.
Only a group of men remained sitting on the chairs, sighing emotionally.
Nan Fei chose a black halter top paired with black shorts. She tied her hair into a bun using a hair tie she got from a blind box store.
With the innocent look gone, her sharp aura was fully revealed.
Looking down at her impractical ten-centimeter Mary Jane heels, Nan Fei felt helpless.
She could only make do for now.
Thinking this, she glanced at Zhou Wenqian and Wang Qianqian, who were still picking clothes, and sat lazily in a chair.
Out of the corner of her eye, Wang Qianqian noticed Nan Fei and whispered to Zhou Wenqian:
“She’s already done picking. We should…”
Zhou Wenqian’s hand stiffened slightly on the clothes. Her usually gentle face darkened with a hint of gloom.
“Let her wait.”
“Won’t they think we’re too slow?” Wang Qianqian hesitated, her earlier arrogance gone as she nervously curled her fingers.
“I’m an ability user,” Zhou Wenqian cut her off.
Hearing this, Wang Qianqian opened her mouth but said nothing more.
Nan Fei glanced at the two of them whispering, then her gaze swept over Qin Ze.
How could she forget?
Ability users didn’t just have enhanced strength—vision, hearing, perception, everything improved as well.