Lu You witnessed everything unfold before her.
Her legs instantly went weak, and she collapsed into the muddy ground in terror.
Dad had assigned her a Guard Squad.
One member stayed inside the Base to handle daily matters, while the other two accompanied her to protect her safety.
Those three were the backbone of the squad.
Since this trip was for gathering supplies alongside the convoy, only the two escorts had come with her.
Just moments ago, Number Five had mentioned that Number Four was standing guard about a hundred meters away, keeping watch and serving as backup.
Which meant…
She was completely on her own now.
Remembering the order she had just given Number Five, Lu You looked at Cen Wu with overwhelming fear in her eyes.
Meanwhile, Cen Wu was looking at her Character Status Panel.
[Congratulations! Through Plunder, you have obtained a new Innate Ability: Super Lightspeed.]
[Super Lightspeed: Speed above all else. Surpasses every limit of dynamic vision and reaction speed.]
[Cen Wu]
[Age: 6]
[Innate Abilities: Plunder, Absolute Strength, Super Lightspeed]
[Halo Points: 25]
She hadn’t expected a thirty-percent success rate to actually be that high.
“Older Brother, did you use your ability to control him just now?”
If Super Lightspeed truly surpassed every limit of dynamic vision, then avoiding eye contact with Cen Yuxing shouldn’t have been difficult.
Cen Yuxing helped her to her feet and shook his head.
“After he kicked Chu Yueyue away, I gave him a psychological suggestion. The closer he got to me, the slower he’d become.”
So that was it.
“Help! Number Four! Number Four!!”
Before Cen Wu or Cen Yuxing could do anything else, Lu You screamed again.
“If you dare hurt me, my Dad will never let you off! He’s the Deputy Base Chief of Base No. 9!”
As she shouted, she hurriedly pulled out her communicator and dialed a number.
Cen Wu had disliked that communicator for a long time.
Taking advantage of Lu You’s distraction, she instantly appeared behind her.
She had originally intended to strike the back of Lu You’s head with one palm.
With her strength, a human skull was no sturdier than a sheet of paper.
Yet somehow, her strike veered off course.
It landed on Lu You’s neck instead, and the force behind it had weakened to that of an ordinary person.
It only knocked Lu You unconscious.
Realizing something was wrong, Cen Wu immediately destroyed the pink communicator in Lu You’s hand first.
From a short distance away, Cen Yuxing stared at her with his mouth hanging open.
“You can do that too?”
Thinking that Lu You might still have another guard nearby, Cen Wu grabbed Older Brother’s hand, dragged the Komodo giant lizard by its tail, hoisted Chu Yueyue onto her back, and ran toward the opposite direction.
“I’ll explain after we get back.”
At this point, there was no way she could keep Plunder a secret if they wanted to stay alive.
The best outcome she could hope for was that Cen Yuxing wouldn’t tell anyone else.
The guard called Number Five had only lost because he had underestimated them.
If several properly trained guards showed up, even with her three abilities, Cen Wu couldn’t guarantee she could protect both Cen Yuxing and Chu Yueyue.
They had to return to the campsite as quickly as possible.
As for her score with Lu You…
One day, she would settle it.
…
The principal and Teacher Jun had already returned to the campsite to take inventory.
The students under the principal’s group had captured one Mutated Rhinoceros and one Mutated Leopard.
They hadn’t gathered any plants.
Their outing had focused almost entirely on combat training.
Teacher Jun’s group consisted of younger children.
Their objective had mainly been gathering plants.
Wearing insulated gloves, they picked anything they came across, whether they recognized it or not.
Teacher Jun’s head was beginning to ache from sorting through everything.
Half the plants in the baskets had been heavily contaminated.
Not only were they inedible, but they had already been recorded in the official database.
In other words…
Not a single useful plant had been collected.
Zhao Zhao crossed his arms stubbornly.
“At least I brought back a whole basket. Chu Yueyue disappeared somewhere to slack off.”
“And Cen Yuxing suddenly vanished too. He’s so irresponsible. Teacher Jun, you really need to lecture him later.”
A group of children around the same age chattered noisily, their shrill voices making Teacher Jun feel like his ears were about to ring.
The principal happened to overhear them nearby.
His expression gradually darkened.
“Cen Wu and Cen Yuxing still aren’t back?”
His intimidating face frightened the children.
They scattered in every direction and ran over to inspect the newly hunted prey instead.
Teacher Jun shook his head.
“They’re not back yet, but they should be soon.”
The principal glanced at the time on his wristband.
A trace of anxiety appeared in his heart.
“I’ll go look for them.”
Just as he finished speaking, an unusual sound echoed through the dense fog.
The principal’s pupils contracted.
“Everyone, fall back! Stay on guard!”
The older students quickly shielded the younger children.
Everyone hid behind the bus, with only countless little heads peeking out.
The principal, Teacher Jun, and the accompanying driver stood at the very front, activating their abilities.
“Principal…”
It was Chu Yueyue’s voice.
“Nobody attack yet!”
The principal immediately gestured for everyone beside him to hold their positions.
The shadow in the fog was enormous.
How could such a massive silhouette produce the voice of a child?
Could it be one of those Mutated Beasts that deliberately imitated human voices?
When the apocalypse had first begun, many people had fallen victim to exactly that trick in their panic.
The scraping sound of something being dragged across the ground completely drowned out the footsteps of the three children.
Afraid of being attacked by mistake, Cen Wu shouted,
“Principal, it’s us! We brought prey back!”
The braver students crawled out one by one from behind the bus, standing on tiptoe to peer into the fog.
Zhao Zhao also stepped forward, pretending to be fearless.
“Hah. You’re bluffing. How could a bunch of little kids possibly hunt anything?”
Teacher Jun worriedly started walking toward the fog, only to be stopped by the principal.
The principal silently shook his head.
The fog was too thick.
Every student wore a navigation wristband.
If it really was Cen Wu and the others, they would naturally be able to walk out on their own.
If he simply rushed into the fog because someone called out to him…
That was exactly what an intelligent Mutated Beast would be hoping for.
Cen Wu couldn’t understand why they were willing to keep shouting back and forth instead of simply coming over to help.
It felt like they were singing across two mountains.
Lying on her back, Chu Yueyue snorted.
“That old principal really has no sense at all!”
Cen Yuxing nodded in agreement.
Was it because Big Sister wasn’t intimidating enough?
Or was the principal simply fearless in the face of power?
It really was a difficult little question.
A fog disperser had been activated around the campsite.
Everyone held their breath as they stared unblinkingly at the moving shadow within the mist.
Finally…
Cen Wu emerged from the fog.
Even with her immense strength, this ordeal had exhausted her.
“Teacher, Chu Yueyue is injured. Please treat him.”
Before returning, Cen Wu had already injected him with a dose of Regeneration Factor.
It had healed most of his external wounds.
However, the internal injuries from that kick still required a professional doctor.
The academy’s physician hurried over and took Chu Yueyue away.
The principal frowned as he looked at the Komodo giant lizard lying before them like a small hill.
His throat bobbed.
“You… killed this?”
Even he couldn’t confidently claim that he could lead students to kill a giant lizard.
Its venom was simply too deadly.
Its hide was incredibly thick.
Its offense and defense were both exceptionally high.
Cen Wu wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Principal, I don’t want to hand this giant lizard over. Is that alright?”
If any other student had asked, the principal would have immediately refused.
Most of the gains from academy-organized expeditions belonged to the academy.
After all, no student could normally kill Mutated Beasts without adult assistance.
The hide of a Komodo giant lizard could be crafted into armor.
It was priceless equipment that anyone would covet.
The principal was no exception.
“…Alright.”
“You can take it home if that’s what you want.”
After all…
They were the younger siblings of the Base Chief.