“Ha… I knew you’d ask that.” The pockmarked man let out a short laugh. “Once someone gains abilities, losing them is… unbearable. Now I understand how you feel.”
He paused, still unwilling to accept it.
“I can tell you everything I know—but you have to tell me how I lost my abilities.”
Ji Chen and the others exchanged glances.
There’s no way we’re telling him about Wen Qi’s miraculous pills…
Whether he lived after talking—that was another matter.
“Talk,” Ji Chen said simply.
So they agreed?
The man’s eyes flickered with calculation. As long as I’m still alive… I can make a comeback.
“I really am from this village…”
He began slowly.
Back when he was supposed to be working hard outside, he’d been squeezed out by colleagues and disliked by his boss. Unwilling to endure it, he returned home to freeload off his family.
That was when he met Chen Dao—the “boss.”
Chen Dao used to work in the city, but after committing a crime and serving time, no one would hire him. So he returned to the village.
When the apocalypse came, most of the villagers were elderly. Many died, many turned into zombies. In the end… only the two of them were left.
Chen Dao’s ability was plant-based. He could sense the properties of plants. That was how he discovered that an obscure wild herb in the village had mutated into something zombies wouldn’t approach.
Because of that, the village was almost completely free of zombies.
But not long ago, Chen Dao found another herb deep in the mountains—one that could suppress abilities.
As long as someone inhaled its scent for over 24 hours, they would lose the ability to use their powers. And the worst part? Humans couldn’t even smell it.
To test it, Chen Dao deliberately lured an ability-user squad.
It worked perfectly.
And the antidote? It grew right beside that herb.
So they planted the herb all over the village and carried the antidote in sachets. This way, everyone else would unknowingly lose their abilities—while only the two of them could still use theirs.
“Tsk… satisfying yourself by hurting others—pretty disgusting,” Liao Liao muttered.
“And the tree-men?” Ji Chen asked, clearly more interested in that.
The man glanced at the bound tree-men on the ground, his expression shifting.
“That…” His gaze turned distant.
“Mazi, I’ve created something that’ll make the whole world bow to us!”
That day, Chen Dao had come to him, brimming with excitement.
His “great plan”—
Was to raise a batch of slaves.
They would make all those who once looked down on them kneel.
Chen Dao had found another type of drug—a “mother-and-child” pair.
Those who took the “child drug” would lose their consciousness and obey absolutely anyone who had taken the “mother drug.”
So they lured in wandering survivors, let them inhale the ability-suppressing herb for 24 hours… and then force-fed them the drug.
Helpless. Powerless.
Easy to control.
Jian An frowned. He hadn’t expected such horrors to emerge this early in the apocalypse.
Ji Chen crouched beside a tree-man. “So these physical changes are from the drug too?”
The man looked at the tree-like skin covering their faces… their arms turned entirely into vine-like limbs.
He scoffed. “That’s just them being lucky.”
After about a week of taking the drug, their bodies began to change—bark-like skin, vine arms.
At first, even he had been afraid. These people had become neither human nor monster—just obedient puppets.
But Chen Dao didn’t care.
“What’s there to fear? They’re just tools! Puppets! Maybe one day they’ll even thank me—for making them stronger!” he had said, laughing madly.
He truly believed himself to be some kind of savior.
In this lawless apocalypse, killing was nothing.
“What about the pretty sisters?” Wen Qi suddenly popped her head out from behind Jian An.
The man spat. “Those women? They’re the ones who let you out, right? Ungrateful trash.”
Wen Qi didn’t fully understand the insult—but from his tone, it wasn’t anything good.
How dare he talk about the pretty sisters like that.
She clenched her fist.
Jian An quickly pulled her into his arms.
“Easy. Let him finish first. You can hit him later.”
Wen Qi paused.
Oh right…
And… she was in her fragrant one’s arms.
She happily snuggled closer, hugging Jian An.
“I’ll listen to you.”
“That… was actually an accident,” the man continued.
Even in the apocalypse, some beasts still clung to the idea of passing on their bloodline. No matter how the world ended, they still wanted sons.
So after an “incident,” they started what they called the land project.
They stopped randomly abusing women.
Instead, they kept them.
Raised them.
Turned them into tools for reproduction.
“What did they give you in return?” Jian An asked coldly.
He knew—no one worked this hard without benefit.
“Benefit?” The man laughed hysterically. “Nothing. I just enjoy watching them suffer.”
His eyes were filled with madness.
“I’ve told you everything. Now let me go.”
Jian An and Ji Chen exchanged a look.
Let him go?
And wait for trouble later?
Ji Chen understood immediately.
The killing intent in Jian An’s eyes was unmistakable.
“Don’t worry,” Ji Chen said, stepping beside him. “We’ll let you go.”
The man’s smile hadn’t even faded—
Bang.
A silenced shot.
He dropped dead.
Wen Qi looked over.
Jian An stood there, holding a silenced gun. His expression was cold—almost unreadable.
But the moment his gaze met hers, it softened.
“Do you think it was wrong… that I didn’t keep my word?” he asked quietly.
In front of someone he cared about, he suddenly wanted to be better… more perfect.
Wen Qi shook her head.
In the rules of spirits—never release a tiger back to the mountains.
Especially someone so vile.
Someone who enjoyed others’ suffering.
Jian An smiled faintly and pinched her cheek.
“We still need to save your ‘pretty sisters.’”
“Right! Let’s go!” Wen Qi perked up instantly.
Liao Liao crept to the door and opened a tiny crack.
…
Ji Chen looked at him, speechless.
“What are you even going to see through that?”
He stepped forward and widened the gap.
“Now you can actually see.”
Wen Qi watched the two burly men crouched at the door, peeking out, and asked curiously:
“Why don’t we just go out?”
“Good question.”
Jian An took her hand and pushed the door open directly.
Ji Chen and Liao Liao froze, exchanging awkward looks.
…What are we even doing?
We’ve got abilities back. We’ve got guns.
Why are we sneaking around like idiots?