Ji Chen was just about to release an ice blade—only to realize he couldn’t use his ability at all.
The pockmarked man looked at their panicked expressions and sneered.
“Give it up. Stop struggling. You’ve been breathing it in all night—your abilities won’t work now.”
He didn’t bother wasting time talking. What he really wanted… was a night with the beauty at the back.
A cloud of toxic mist spread from him.
“Don’t worry—you’re still useful. This just makes you weak,” he said, waving his hand to signal the tree-men to take them away.
The moment the tree-men appeared, Wen Qi had wanted to take out her scythe—but Jian An stopped her.
If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you catch the tiger?
When Wen Qi slowly opened her eyes, she found herself in a room full of women.
But their faces… were numb, lifeless.
In the apocalypse, women were commodities. Without abilities or strength, the only option left was to sell themselves—true hell.
“You’re awake,” said a girl in a white dress, her belly slightly swollen.
Wen Qi didn’t speak—she stared straight at the girl’s stomach.
The girl instinctively covered it, a bit uneasy.
“Are you carrying a baby?” Wen Qi asked curiously.
Rabbits gave birth in litters.
But humans—with such small bodies—could carry a baby inside.
Humans are amazing…
“Run. You have to run—while you still can,” the girl said suddenly, almost hysterical.
In the corner, another woman gently stroked her stomach and said, “Run? Where would we go? We’re fed and housed here—why leave?”
“But how many times can you survive this? This is your fourth time already, isn’t it? How many more do you have left?” Lan Xin’s voice rose with agitation.
The woman snapped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “You—forget it, I won’t argue with you!”
“Listen to me. Take this key and go—now. If you’re any later, you’ll be ruined too,” Lan Xin pressed a key into Wen Qi’s hand.
It was still warm.
“What about you?” Wen Qi asked.
“I’m already ruined,” Lan Xin said dully.
She had once fled here during the apocalypse. Before that, she had been a beloved daughter, just starting college, with a bright future ahead.
Even after the apocalypse began, life had been hard—but with her parents by her side, it wasn’t unbearable.
Until she trusted the wrong people… and ended up like this.
Her parents were gone.
She had no hope left—only the wish that no other girl would suffer like this, and that those scum would die horribly.
As for the child in her belly—she only felt disgust.
Better not to exist than carry the child of a monster.
“This place is hell. I don’t know what they’re using, but it suppresses abilities—yet they can still use theirs. And those tree-men… they’re strange. Not quite human, not quite plant. They don’t think for themselves—they just obey orders. Take the key and run. If you see tree-men, don’t run—walk normally and they won’t react. Don’t go toward the main gate—find the ventilation ducts and escape from there,” Lan Xin told her everything she knew, everything she had planned.
She didn’t want another girl to suffer.
Wen Qi held the key tightly.
“I’ll come back and save you.”
Perhaps because the pockmarked man was too confident, they hadn’t even tied her up.
Fragrant one—I’m coming to find you.
If she killed all the bad people here, she’d find him, right?
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her and pulled her into another room.
“Why are you just standing there like that? So bold,” said a woman in red with long wavy hair.
Her name was Bai Zhi, a recent favorite. A strong scent clung to her.
“Lan Xin let you out, didn’t she?” she said knowingly.
“Escape through the ventilation duct,” Bai Zhi pointed upward.
“But I still need to find my fragrant one.”
“Who? The man who came with you?” Bai Zhi frowned.
Fragrant one? Is that really his name…?
“Mm! Where are they?”
“They’ve probably been turned into tree-men already,” Bai Zhi said bluntly.
Tree-men didn’t recognize anyone—they only obeyed commands.
“Then I still have to find him.”
If he’s a tree-man, even better—he’ll stay by my side and listen to me.
“You’re quite loyal,” Bai Zhi said, surprised. “Turn right when you go out—the third room.”
Wen Qi nodded and ran off.
“Hey—if you still want to escape, come back here and knock five times,” Bai Zhi called after her, unable to completely harden her heart.
She remembered watching her own brother being turned into a tree-man.
“Don’t worry. I’ll come back for you,” Wen Qi said.
And for Lan Xin… and the others.
When Jian An and the others woke up, the pockmarked man was already there, eating chips.
“You’re awake. Right on time,” he said, brushing crumbs off his hands.
Tree-men surrounded them—eyes empty, lifeless.
“What are you planning? Why can’t we use our abilities?” Liao Liao struggled against the ropes, but felt nothing.
“You? Soon, you’ll become my slaves,” the man said, gesturing to the tree-men.
Liao Liao stared in shock. These had once been living people—now reduced to puppets.
“Can I ask why we’ve lost our abilities?” Jian An leaned against the wall, quietly cutting the rope behind him with a small knife.
The man paused, then shrugged.
“Fine. You’re dead anyway.”
He took out a sachet.
So it really is the smell we couldn’t detect… But why could Wen Qi smell it?
“Normal people can’t smell it. That’s why you lost your abilities without realizing it. But we can still use ours—because of this sachet,” he said, inhaling it with obsession.
“And where did the sachet come from?” Jian An asked. Behind his back, the rope snapped. The knife disappeared.
“That’s not something you need to know,” the man said, his expression suddenly turning cold.
Clearly, that was a secret.
He waved his hand—and the tree-men began advancing toward them.
“Hahaha! Soon, I’ll rule this world!”
Turn everyone into tree-men.
Keep a few beauties as his consorts—
Bang!
“I’m here, my fragrant one!” Wen Qi kicked the door open.
No way I’m letting you turn my fragrant one into an ugly tree-man!
“!!!!”
“Oh my god—little Wen Qi is fierce! But so cool! Save me!” Liao Liao wriggled on the ground, shouting.
Seeing her overwhelming strength, he wasn’t worried at all.
The ones who should be worried… were them.
“Y-you—how did you get out?! Fine—then watch your boyfriend become a painless tree-man!” the man shouted, sending some tree-men after her.
Wen Qi flipped her hand, about to summon her scythe—
“Wait—good girl, don’t kill them!” Jian An stopped her.
They didn’t know whether these were still human or not.
If they were… he didn’t want her to bear that burden.
Wen Qi paused.
Since her fragrant one said not to kill—
Her hand shifted from summoning the scythe… to a fist.
She punched the incoming tree-man—
Boom!
It flew across the room and slammed into the wall, leaving a massive crater as it slid down.
“Holy—” Liao Liao glanced at Jian An in sympathy. Boss… your future looks dangerous. Can your body even take a few hits like that?
“Y-you—you have abilities?!” the man stared at Wen Qi in shock.
He immediately assumed she was a strength-type ability user.
But how could she still have powers?
Clearly… she should have lost them…