【New member detected.】
【Scanning member information…】
【Name: Li Ruyue】
【Age: 22】
【Appearance Score: 90
(Currently reduced from 96 due to starvation.)】
【Figure Score: 91】
【Special Talent: Telekinesis (Unawakened)】
【Relationship History: 0】
【Overall Rating: 97】
Li Ruyue?
Of all people, she was the one who came out?
Her originally smooth long hair was now messy and disheveled, with strands sticking to her forehead.
Her expensive branded shirt had been torn in several places, exposing large patches of pale skin beneath her collarbone.
Her pleated skirt was also badly damaged.
As she walked, flashes of her long, jade-like legs appeared beneath the torn fabric.
“Li Ruyue, are you crazy?!” a girl beside her shouted while grabbing her arm. “Didn’t you see how Liu Qian and the others died? Lin Mao won’t save us!”
“If I don’t go with him, should I just stay here and wait to die?” Li Ruyue replied coldly.
“Stop disturbing everyone!” Song Leyi immediately interrupted.
Li Ruyue sneered.
“Song Leyi, how much food have you secretly hidden these past few days? Do you really think we’re blind?”
Song Leyi’s face changed instantly.
“That’s emergency food storage!” she snapped sharply. “It’s reserved for emergencies!”
“Enough,” Li Ruyue said impatiently. “I’m tired of your excuses.”
She had long been dissatisfied with Song Leyi’s behavior.
Using her position as class monitor to order everyone around.
Hiding food.
Distributing supplies unfairly.
And anyone who refused to obey her would immediately be isolated or receive less food.
Li Ruyue saw no future in a shelter like this.
Rather than rotting away here—
She’d rather gamble everything on Lin Mao.
Without another word, she turned and prepared to leave.
“Wait.”
Song Leyi suddenly stopped her.
“If you want to leave alone, I won’t stop you,” she said coldly. “But if you’re betraying us to join Lin Mao, then you need to leave your belongings behind.”
Li Ruyue frowned.
“What belongings? These torn clothes?”
“Your jacket and shoes were distributed by the school before the transmigration,” Song Leyi said mockingly while folding her arms. “They’re collective property.”
Then she sneered.
“Since we used to be classmates, I’ll generously let you keep your underwear.”
The cave instantly fell silent.
Several girls who normally followed Li Ruyue looked like they wanted to speak—
But in the end, none of them dared.
Li Ruyue bit her lower lip tightly.
Her eyes turned red, yet she stubbornly refused to cry.
One piece at a time, she removed everything until only a thin layer of thermal underwear remained on her body.
Even her shoes were left behind.
“Class Monitor Song,” Li Ruyue said with a trembling voice, “I’ve returned everything that belongs to the group.”
Her pale bare feet stepped onto the freezing ground as she walked out of the cave without turning back.
The moment she exited—
Wen Rou handed her a bowl of noodle soup.
Along with it came a contract identical to the one Wen Rou had signed earlier.
Li Ruyue stared at the shimmering oil floating on the soup and swallowed hard.
Without hesitation, she signed her name immediately before drinking the soup in huge gulps.
The sight made even Wen Rou feel heartbroken.
Any sympathy she still had for the people inside the cave completely disappeared.
They had lived together for four years as classmates.
Yet when Li Ruyue left—
They wouldn’t even allow her to take a single piece of clothing.
Not even the slightest trace of friendship remained.
【Congratulations! You have successfully recruited your second Goddess-tier member!】
【Reward distribution in progress…】
【S-Rank Talent Acquired: Telekinesis】
【Resource Rewards:
500 Boxes of Penicillin
5000 Bags of Wuchang Rice】
【Special Notice: All supplies have been stored in system storage and may be retrieved at any time.】
Excitement surged through Lin Mao instantly.
Rice!
After weeks of surviving in this world, he could finally eat actual rice again.
And medicine—
In the wilderness, medicine was practically priceless currency.
Li Ruyue truly had been worth recruiting.
Suppressing his excitement, Lin Mao coughed lightly and said:
“Finish your soup quickly. We’re heading back to the shelter soon.”
“Shelter?” Li Ruyue blinked in surprise. “This isn’t the shelter?”
She had assumed Lin Mao planned to stay here permanently.
After all, he had already set up cooking equipment.
“Stay here?” Lin Mao glanced toward the cave shelter nearby and snorted.
“At this rate, our food would probably get stolen on the second day.”
Immediately afterward, Lin Mao activated his newly acquired telekinesis.
The bonfire instantly extinguished.
The remaining supplies floated into the air before disappearing into his storage space.
He didn’t even leave behind a single noodle crumb.
…
Meanwhile, Li Ruyue didn’t know whether she was simply starving or genuinely stunned.
In just a few gulps, she finished the boiling hot soup and stared blankly at Lin Mao.
“Um… where are we going now?”
Lin Mao glanced over her appearance.
Her long pale legs were still exposed.
And she wasn’t wearing shoes.
“You won’t be able to keep up like this,” he said calmly. “I’ll carry you instead.”
Before either girl could react—
Lin Mao wrapped an arm around each of their waists and suddenly launched into the air.
Li Ruyue widened her eyes in shock.
The scenery beneath them blurred rapidly as they sped through the sky.
Was this his ability too?
Wasn’t his power supposed to be lightning?
Over the past few days, several people inside the shelter had awakened abilities.
But none of them were anywhere near as powerful or direct as Lin Mao’s.
Most only possessed minor physical enhancement or simple utility talents.
Looking at Lin Mao’s cold, handsome profile, Li Ruyue’s cheeks reddened slightly.
Maybe…
Choosing him really had been the correct decision.
ROOOOOAR!!!
Suddenly, an earth-shaking roar exploded from the forest below.
Lin Mao’s pupils shrank instantly.
Their movement stopped abruptly in midair.
At nearly the same moment—
A massive boulder over a meter wide shot upward from below, barely missing Li Ruyue’s face.
“W-What was that?!” Wen Rou’s voice trembled.
Lin Mao frowned and looked downward.
Below them stood a gigantic mutated zombie over two stories tall.
Its swollen muscular body was entirely green.
Rotten liquid dripped constantly from its mouth.
“A mutated zombie?” Lin Mao narrowed his eyes. “An elite type.”
“I heard Song Leyi mention it before,” Li Ruyue added nervously. “I think this monster is supposed to be the regional boss during the Blood Moon.”
“Oh?”
Lin Mao’s eyes suddenly lit up.
Perfect.
He had been looking for a proper opponent to measure his current strength against.
Now he could finally test how many attacks this zombie king could withstand.
Floating in the sky, Lin Mao stared directly at the monster below.
“Hold on tight,” he said calmly.
The two girls immediately wrapped their arms tightly around his waist.
The next moment—
Lin Mao dove downward like a human bomber.
Below them, the giant zombie roared again.
Its enormous arms slammed into the earth, ripping out an even larger boulder before hurling it toward the sky.
“Lin Mao, be careful!” Wen Rou shouted. “Move!”
But this time—
Lin Mao didn’t dodge.
He slowly raised his left hand and spread his fingers open.
Then—
The enormous flying boulder suddenly froze in midair four or five meters away from them.
Unable to move even a single inch further.