Transmigrating into a Wasteland Cannon Fodder Slag A [GL Yuri] - Chapter 2

Yan An studied the woman in front of her. Gentle, composed, her calmness carried a faint chill when her face was expressionless, so striking that it was impossible to look away.

Compared to Yan An’s own tattered, filthy clothes, Gu Xia’s were only a little disheveled, with just a few smudges of dust. To be able to keep herself this clean in such a place… it showed how careful and how guarded she was.

Looking closer, Yan An could see the wariness and disgust lurking in Gu Xia’s eyes.

There had never been any affection between them, let alone trust.

Gu Xia had only stayed with her predecessor because of her good looks—young, pretty, and a top student.

Every school has that one girl: dazzling in her youth, bright smile lighting up her classmates’ memories, unforgettable even years later. Yan An’s predecessor had been that kind of girl.

Gu Xia, needing someone who looked dependable and respectable to use as a shield, chose her.

But the arrival of the apocalypse quickly stripped away the cheap disguise her predecessor wore.

At first, her predecessor treated Gu Xia well but it was conditional. Deep down, she was calculating, looking for a way to latch onto success, to use Gu Xia as a stepping stone.

So when the disaster struck, she didn’t hesitate to sell Gu Xia out.

If Gu Xia hadn’t awakened an ability at the last second, she would have been nothing more than a zombie fodder.

That was the heroine’s fate. But what if it had been any other girl?

Feigning loyalty and honesty cost nothing and unmasking such a façade always came at a price.

Yan An lowered her eyes, a mix of disdain for her original sumbag’s actions and a faint, inexplicable guilt toward Gu Xia.

******

The world’s order had collapsed. Power ruled. Strength was survival.

As for this so-called ABO world, Yan An had only one thought about becoming an Alpha: at least she wouldn’t have to endure the agony of a monthly period anymore.

Toward Omegas, though, she couldn’t help but feel a natural sense of empathy. After all, they were women too, but compared to Alphas, their position was far weaker.

It was one of this world’s many injustices.

So when the leader of the compound set his sights on Gu Xia, the first person he asked wasn’t her, but Yan An’s predecessor.

He even threatened her into drugging Gu Xia to get what he wanted.

If Gu Xia hadn’t been vigilant, she would never have escaped tonight.

When Gu Xia didn’t take the offered biscuit, Yan An silently set it on the table, then walked to the room’s only window.

The window was small, just big enough that anyone with a sturdy build could easily get stuck trying to squeeze through.

In the wilderness, the first step to survival was always the same: learn your surroundings. Was the area safe to set up a camp? What predators lurked nearby—large animals, venomous reptiles?

Outside the compound, zombies roamed. From the window, Yan An could faintly make out their stiff limbs and jerky, unsteady gait.

Inside, there was at least one awakened ability-user: someone with an F-rank ice ability who could hurl frost spheres and freeze anything they struck.

With her survival skills and the zombies still spread thin outside, Yan An could probably make it on her own.

But taking Gu Xia with her? With that untrained body? That would be another story.

If they stayed, refusing to poison her meant facing the boss’s retaliation.

From with the orignal’s memories, she knew the compound leader had once fended off several zombies at once without faltering. With Yan An’s current strength, she stood no chance.

Clenching her fist, she tested the frailty of her body but only to pause.

Wait… something was wrong.

When she had first woken up, her head had throbbed and her body was aching all over. But now, there was no pain at all.

And when she tightened her fist, there was strength there.

A healthy kind of strength, like when she had been eighteen before all the survival training, yet still bursting with raw energy.

This was nothing like the weakness she’d felt upon waking.

A cheat ability?

The thought had barely formed when a panel suddenly appeared before her eyes:

[Basic Attributes]

• Name: Yan An

• Physical Fitness: 100 (a body with no depletion—human perfection)

• Awakened Abilities: C-rank Healing (growth-type, can restore anything); F-rank Space (growth-type, currently one cubic meter)

• Innate Talents:

• Danger Sense (perceive threats in advance)

• Memory Storage (store anything seen in crystal-clear detail, recall at will)

• Know Yourself, Know Others (view basic attributes of those weaker than you)

• Rapid Adaptation (quickly adapt to any environment)

• Random Acquisition (luck-based; may gain abilities, treasures… or disasters)

Yan An blinked. A… system?

The moment she thought it, she felt the weight of Gu Xia’s stare, as if looking at an idiot.

Turning, Yan An’s mind stirred. She tried to check Gu Xia’s attributes… but nothing happened.

Something was off.

Awkwardly, she smiled at Gu Xia. No doubt she had just looked ridiculous, staring off into space like that.

Do I have to say it out loud? Goldfinger?

She whispered it again in her mind, but still nothing.

Maybe she needed to concentrate harder.

Fixing her eyes on Gu Xia, she repeated the word over and over: Attributes. Attributes. Attributes.

A second later, numbers appeared above Gu Xia’s head:

[Basic Attributes]

• Name: Gu Xia

• Physical Fitness: 98 (lightly depleted, regularly exercised, near-human perfection)

• Awakened Abilities: None

Her innate talents didn’t appear, which meant they were beyond her scope to view.

But this much was enough. Knowing whether she had awakened an ability was what mattered.

Sensing Yan An’s stare, Gu Xia’s face darkened. Her eyes flicked toward the biscuit on the table.

The packaging was intact. Drugging it seemed unlikely.

But what was with that piercing look Yan An was giving her?

******

“Where did you get the biscuit?”

There was no such thing as a free lunch. In this compound, every scrap of food belonged to Hao-ge (Brother Hao), the leader.

If you wanted to eat, you had to trade something useful or make a contribution.

Even inside, safety wasn’t guaranteed. The factory floor they were housed in had been cleared of zombies, but to stay there you needed to bring in supplies, hand over resources in exchange for food.

Anyone caught hoarding was thrown outside as bait. The bloodstains from yesterday’s example hadn’t even dried yet.

But Yan An’s predecessor had been too cowardly to scavenge outside, choosing instead to do grunt work in exchange for scraps. Because of that, the two of them only got half a bun or a small pack of biscuits each day.

Gu Xia herself had wanted to go out or at least take on labor but the boss had refused.

For an Omega, or even a female Beta, the price of food wasn’t work. It was their body.

Otherwise, Gu Xia wouldn’t have been the type to shy away from scavenging.

Yan An hesitated. Should she lie? Or tell the truth?

But Gu Xia had already heard part of the earlier exchange. Lying would only dig her in deeper.

If her abilities awakened later, any lie would just add to her debts and repeat the same mistakes.

So she walked over, took Gu Xia’s hand, and pulled her toward the window despite her resistance.

Away from prying ears, she said quietly, “Chen Hao forced me to drug you. I had no choice but to agree. That biscuit’s from him.”

Honesty was the only way forward.

“You… just told me that?” Gu Xia’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Shouldn’t she have hidden it, slipped her the drug in secret, and fulfilled the task?

Gu Xia had been watching Yan An carefully these past days.

Selfishness, at every turn.

Back when they had escaped school, Yan An had already used her as a shield more than once.

And once they reached the compound, she had hidden their shared supplies, rationed out scraps of food like a leash, and probably thought about selling her off long ago.

It hurt but not because she had chosen the wrong person. What stung was her own helplessness.

Better to escape at night, even if it meant dying at the hands of zombies, than to be humiliated here.

But she had never imagined Yan An would confess outright.

This wasn’t like her. Maybe it was just another trick to lower her guard before poisoning her.

Wouldn’t lying have been simpler?

Her suspicion was written all over her face and Yan An, of course, noticed.

“Don’t you want to get out of here?” she asked, dropping the big move straight away.

While the other pulled her cards out slowly, Yan An laid hers on the table in a single, decisive sweep; no chance for reaction.

How could anyone not want to leave? This place was short on water and food; even the electricity came from the factory’s generator. The outcomes were obvious either way: stay and be trapped in a living hell, or run and risk being eaten by zombies.

“Aren’t you afraid Chen Hao will catch you and throw you to the zombies?” Gu Xia countered, and the question hung heavy in the room.

Yan An glanced around. The room held plenty of inspection equipment. There were utility knives, some small hammers, and other light tools that fit the hand. But whether you were facing a human or a zombie, those items weren’t enough for a killing blow.

Then she noticed a Phillips-head screwdriver.

If there was a screwdriver, there must be a toolbox somewhere. Maybe a drill, a wrench or a saw. The handles of the utility knife, hammer, and screwdriver looked like they belonged to one set, which meant other tools were missing.

Yan An looked at Gu Xia. The other woman bit her lip, silent, as if she had figured something out.

Yan An pushed to the inspection bench and stuffed anything useful into her pockets. She rummaged a bit under the cabinet and pulled out a fruit knife. Something her predecessor had found when they first came into this room and hidden for fear it would be confiscated.

Chen Hao had been careful. To stop resistance, the compound kept any weapons with real lethality locked away.

Seeing her actions, Gu Xia’s surprise deepened.

Yan An was planning to fight Chen Hao?

Before either of them could say more, the door flew open with a kick.

A rough-looking Alpha strode in. His eyes looked at Gu Xia with leering appetite before he turned and fixed a vicious stare on Yan An. “Did you hit Xiao Qiang?”

Xiao Qiang? Yan An blinked, then remembered the scruffy guy. “Yes.”

“You worthless piece,” the man snarled, stepping forward with clenched, iron-hard fists. “If you’re bent on killing yourself, I won’t bother worrying about the boss. Kill you, and this woman won’t get away.”

The butterfly effect of a transmigrator had arrived—the script had been rewritten.

A small smile tugged at Yan An’s lips. That wasn’t in the original story.