Transmigrating into a Wasteland Cannon Fodder Slag A [GL Yuri] - Chapter 18

The three men sprawled on the ground could only stare speechlessly. They were still bleeding out, yet these two were flirting right in front of them. Seriously, did they have to pick now of all times?

Still, they weren’t stupid. They knew full well the women standing over them weren’t people they could afford to provoke. Since they couldn’t win, they kept quiet. Truth be told, they weren’t particularly loyal to the man upstairs anyway.

When order collapses, most people prefer bullying the weak and shrinking back from the strong. With morality tossed aside in the apocalypse, that only became truer.

The bald man’s face twisted with pain as he forced himself to look at them. “That woman had just come in when we spotted her. Brother Qiang told us to bring her upstairs. If he doesn’t see us in half an hour, he’ll come down himself.”

It was obvious this group had cleared the mall to claim it as their territory. To them, newcomers like Gu Xia were nothing but intruders and with her looks, she’d clearly caught the wrong kind of attention.

******

In the chaos of the end times, beauty without strength was more of a curse than a blessing.

Thankfully, Gu Xia had awakened abilities. She could at least protect herself now. But she was still unfamiliar with conserving her strength. Instead of pacing herself, she’d slaughtered her way straight through the mall. By the time she hit her limit, she would’ve been easy prey.

With Yan An’s repairs, Gu Xia felt her mental energy gradually return. The bone-deep exhaustion receded, and she realized she could still fire off at least a dozen more air bullets.

It wasn’t that Yan An refused to heal her completely. It was simply that Yan An’s recovery skill (Healing) was only C-rank, while Gu Xia’s mental strength was B-rank. At best, she could patch a fraction of it back.

And who knew what else they’d have to face next? If her energy bar hit zero, she’d be nothing but meat on the chopping block.

Helping Gu Xia recover also confirmed something for Yan An—mental power corresponded to one’s highest awakened ability.

For example, Gu Xia’s Air Compression was only D-rank. Normally, a D-rank ability could be used maybe ten times before exhaustion. But with her B-rank reserves, she could fire off a hundred shots or more. Maybe even far beyond that.

Feeling her strength return, Gu Xia instantly understood who she owed it to.

So Yan An had awakened an ability too?

Reaching that conclusion, she said softly, “Thank you.”

“No need for thanks, girlfriend,” Yan An said with a smirk, practically begging to get smacked.

Gu Xia was speechless, but she let it slide.

Yan An knew better than to push her luck, and turned back to the bald man. “Who’s this Brother Qiang?”

Bl00d still streamed from his leg, and he didn’t dare hide the truth. Trembling, he said, “He’s our boss. Like your girlfriend, he awakened an ability.”

One month into the apocalypse wasn’t long, but it had been enough to awaken plenty of survival instincts and for the lucky few, abilities.

A stray thought flickered through Yan An’s mind: if an ability user turned into a zombie, would they keep their powers?

No way to test it now. They had more pressing problems.

“What kind of ability?” she pressed.

“Poison,” the man answered.

“Poison?” Yan An frowned. “What kind of poison?”

Before he could speak, a woman’s voice drifted from behind them. “Corrosion. It’s more like acid, really. Anything it touches—whether it’s flesh, bone, or steel—melts away. In severe cases, it reduces you to nothing but a puddle.”

Gu Xia stiffened, instantly on guard. A stranger’s behind us, and you’re not worried about that? You’re asking about the details of poison? Shouldn’t the first question be who this woman was, and what she wanted?

But Yan An had already glanced back. She sensed no hostility from the newcomer, and more importantly, the panel floating above her head revealed everything.

*******

【Base Attributes】
Name: Hei Ye
Physical Fitness: 90
Awakened Ability: C-rank Unmoving Mountain (Can manipulate earth to form barriers and walls, serving as defense.)

*******

“Unmoving Mountain?” Yan An couldn’t help but laugh. The description said it all. This was a tank ability if she had ever seen one.

And that so-called Brother Qiang upstairs? If his power was spewing poison… didn’t that make him a mage?

Hei Ye smiled slightly and answered the unspoken question. “Yes, his poison does come out of his mouth.”

“Ugh.” Yan An made a disgusted face. In her mind’s eye she pictured a fight with some guy spitting “ptui, ptui, ptui!” everywhere. Just imagining it made her skin crawl.

It wasn’t that she lacked curiosity about Hei Ye’s sudden appearance but the fact that the woman hadn’t stalked them in the shadows to reap the benefits spoke volumes.

She had clearly noticed them long ago. If she’d wanted to play vulture, she could have, but she hadn’t.

Her attitude said it all: she wasn’t here to pick a fight. At the very least, she was looking to cooperate and from her words, she’d heard their earlier conversation, knew they were wary of the people upstairs and likely had her own reasons for wanting their help.

Although the name sounded more like something you would give to a pet.

So she guessed Hei Ye either wanted to work with them to rescue Xiao Hua—or maybe just use them as leverage to trade with this so-called Strong Bro for Xiao Hua’s return.

But she didn’t ask. Gu Xia wouldn’t know that much anyway. Her guarded, wary gaze stayed fixed on Hei Ye as she was about to speak.

Yan An caught her hand, leaned close, and whispered in her ear, “Don’t rush.”

She held Gu Xia’s eyes, then smiled lightly. 

“We don’t mean to intrude. We just thought the mall was unclaimed territory and came to grab a few power banks.

“The mall still has electricity. Power banks aren’t much use to you, are they? Since we already got what we came for, we should be on our way.”

They had no plans to meddle in the mall’s internal disputes. If they could walk away, they would.

Gu Xia wanted to get home early too, so she had no objections.

“Leave? You hurt my men, took my stuff, and you think you can just walk out?” A brash voice rang out as a dark-skinned man in a baseball cap stepped in.

This man was an alpha. The bald guy earlier had been a beta, and Hei Ye was an omega.

So it seemed like, so far, the ones awakening abilities were either alphas or omegas.

Yan An hadn’t yet seen a beta awaken to anything.

“What kind of explanation are you after?” She instinctively stepped in front of Gu Xia.

More and more, whenever danger appeared, her reflex was to pull Gu Xia behind her.

The dark-skinned alpha sneered. “Either you leave your lives here, or you trade something else.”

His finger swung from Gu Xia back to her, the implication obvious another one with dirty thoughts.

Yan An’s expression went cold. She was getting more and more sick of people coveting Gu Xia.

“Try it.”

Basic Attributes:

Name: Fang Qiang
Ability: Corrosion (C-rank)

*******

So that was his confidence?

Hei Ye was also C-rank, one excelled in corrosion, the other in defense. Looked like neither could really overpower the other.

At that moment, Hei Ye raised her voice to draw all attention. “Fang Qiang, where’s Xiao Hua?”

“Relax. As long as you behave, I won’t hurt her.” Fang Qiang’s tone was mocking.

He didn’t notice that one of Hei Ye’s followers had quietly slipped toward the back kitchen. Where he was headed was obvious enough.

With the tiger away, how could they not seize the chance?

Yan An didn’t call it out. Her face stayed unreadable. Those who didn’t know her might think she was just furious.

Only Gu Xia knew. Yan An had taken her hand again, and this time, she didn’t let go right away.