Chapter 150: Undead Logging Squad, Move Out!

"We're all classmates here, so let me spin a clever excuse."

Liu Zixuan was dead.

Before losing consciousness, this was the thought that crossed her mind.

During the panoramic review of her life, Liu Zixuan recalled many things from the past.

Some had long since been forgotten, while others had happened only recently, such as the time she murdered a college classmate who trusted her...

"Your Highness, it was our fault..."

Sun Rong, Chu Zekai, and Yu Feng stood in place, filled with anxiety.

Her Highness Su Miao had given them an opportunity, but not only had they failed to seize it, they had even been wounded, allowing someone to break through right up to Her Highness Su Miao herself.

When all was said and done, they had brought this trouble upon themselves.

"Well, drink this."

Su Miao produced three paper cups from her magical space and dropped a heated small water ball into each of them.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Chu Zekai's eyes lit up. He was the first to step forward, pick up a cup of water, and drink it, almost burning his tongue.

Sun Rong and Yu Feng immediately followed suit, each grabbing a cup and drinking.

Moments after finishing, however, they were astonished to find that the injuries they had sustained in the battle were healing at a rapid pace.

Still, thinking about it now, that woman named Liu Zixuan looked delicate and pretty, but when she actually threw down, she fought with truly ruthless malice.

Especially that ability to reverse attacks—it was impossible to guard against, and it had nearly made them turn on one another.

Ultimately, it proved that their strength was too weak and their combat experience far too lacking.

That was an area that needed improvement going forward.

"Take me to see them."

Glancing at the corpse on the ground, Su Miao made a decision.

The person was already dead, and the enmity had been forged.

She was going to go see the rest of them.

If they were reasonable, then no one would come to harm.

If they refused to be reasonable, then she would simply have to kill them all.

Su Miao did not believe that the others were unaware of these three individuals following her.

Of course, she could leave these matters to be handled by Sun Rong, Chu Zekai, Yu Feng, and Guo Yixing, but the previous battle had made it clear that just a single Liu Zixuan had dealt them a heavy blow.

In case those people possessed even greater prowess, it would be beyond the group's ability to resolve.

Most importantly, Su Miao had decided to meet these strangers and attempt a slight change in herself.

Well, the goal this time was not high; managing to completely maintain an icy expression in front of strangers would count as success.

Sun Rong said, "Yes, Your Highness."

He cast another glance at the harvested corn, potatoes, and other crops in the vegetable plot.

Su Miao said, "Take them all."

Thus, the three of them bustled about briskly, packing all the freshly harvested corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes into bags, loading them onto the trailer, and accompanying Su Miao toward the villa where Doctor Fan Qing and his party were staying.

The myna bird circled overhead on patrol. Apart from cleaning up the villa, the remaining people had not engaged in any superfluous actions.

A few minutes later, the group arrived in front of the villa.

"Her Highness tells you all to come out!"

Before Su Miao could speak, the myna flew forward and shouted at the top of its lungs.

"Shut up."

Su Miao said.

Having the myna shout meant this wasn't normal communication, but rather direct taunting and stirring up trouble.

The myna shut its mouth instantly and flew back to land on the sacks of grain atop the snow trailer.

Sun Rong said, "Your Highness, I'll go call them."

Su Miao nodded slightly.

However, it seemed there was no need for Sun Rong to summon anyone, for the people inside were already coming out.

Fan Qing led the others out—twelve people in total, not a single one missing.

They noticed Su Miao standing ahead of Sun Rong and the rest.

The moment they laid eyes on Su Miao, they were struck dumb by her stunning appearance; she was extraordinarily beautiful.

At the same time, they were shocked by the fact that the clothing Su Miao wore was merely a very thin down jacket. Was she truly going to be alright like that?

Before the apocalypse descended, such an outfit would have been completely fine, but the temperature now hovered around minus seventy degrees Celsius.

If any one of them were to dress like that, they would undoubtedly freeze to death.

Even the highest-end cold-weather gear wouldn't suffice.

So, looking at it from another angle—this girl referred to as "Your Highness" was terrifyingly strong!

Furthermore, there was another issue: why hadn't Liu Zixuan and the others returned? Had something gone wrong?

Yet if something had gone wrong, why were these people dragging a trailer laden with sacks of corn and sweet potatoes?

Noticing the provisions on the trailer, they grew even more perplexed.

Despite their numerous doubts, Fan Qing, acting as the team leader, stepped forward voluntarily and said, "Hello, I am Fan Qing, a surgeon, and I suppose I serve as their leader for the time being."

He looked at Su Miao, sensing no oppressive pressure from her, yet he dared not let his guard down in the slightest.

However, the fact that Liu Zixuan and her group hadn't returned left Fan Qing deeply uneasy.

Su Miao stated, "I killed them. You don't need to look anymore."

Fan Qing's expression tightened, as if facing a formidable enemy.

The people behind Fan Qing instinctively assumed combat postures, but Fan Qing checked them just in time.

"Don't anyone act rashly!"

Fan Qing said, "It was our people who broke the rules, and I offer my apologies to you."

Within this group, regardless of whether someone harbored hidden agendas or played the fool, he was thoroughly aware of everyone's true strength.

Especially Liu Zixuan; her ability to reverse and redirect attacks allowed her to instantly slaughter weaker opponents and grow stronger against formidable ones while being entirely immune to group combat. She was undoubtedly the core pillar of their team.

Yet a Liu Zixuan of that caliber had been slain by the other party in such a brief span of time, which spoke volumes about the girl's power.

Moreover, and most importantly, Fan Qing could clearly perceive the abilities of all the ability users present—including Sun Rong, Chu Zekai, Yu Feng, and Guo Yixing—allowing him to estimate their combat strength and devise targeted countermeasures.

As for Su Miao, however, he could neither discern her ability nor gauge her strength; his insight simply failed completely.

This was not someone they could afford to provoke.

Fan Qing said, "It was my failure to keep them in line. Is there anything we can do? We hope to make amends to Your Highness."

At that moment, several individuals standing behind Fan Qing could no longer hold their tongues. "Doctor Fan, they killed Zixuan. How can you still apologize to her?"

"There are only five of them, and we have twelve."

"A life must be paid for with a life!"

"..."

Fan Qing roared, "Shut up, all of you!"

He couldn't suppress a slight shiver as he turned back. "Your Highness, please give your orders."

Su Miao was extremely nervous. Striving to maintain an icy facade, she said indifferently, "Have those five step forward."

The individuals she pointed out were the ones who had been spouting the most nonsense just now.

There were also two others who, though standing quietly in the back, habitually harbored secret infatuations for Liu Zixuan.

All of them directed distinct hostility and malice toward Su Miao, while the rest remained tense, primarily terrified that Su Miao's side might launch a sudden assault.

Fan Qing immediately understood what Su Miao intended to do and hastily pleaded, "Your Highness, please spare us. May we leave immediately?"

Su Miao blinked and said, "If they don't step out, then you kill them yourselves, and all of this food is yours."

The myna very cooperatively untied the sacks, exposing the corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes to the eyes of the crowd.

At that moment, the five targeted individuals began to panic.

"Don't listen to her! She just wants us to butcher each other!"

"Hey, hey, hey, we're all brothers here!"

"No, Qiu-ge, you..."

"Sorry, if you don't die, all of us have to die. We haven't eaten properly in ages."

Doctor Fan Qing stood at the front. As the team leader, his awakened special ability was insight; he functioned primarily as a commander rather than relying on brute strength.

Consequently, even though he wanted to intervene, he was utterly powerless to stop it.

Before he could even speak, members of the group had already moved, launching attacks against those who had been singled out.

Three of them were killed by their companions before they even had time to react.

The one who struck was Qiu Dahong, the strongest ability user in the group.

"We'll fight our way out!"

One man made a decisive move, pulling out a shotgun he had concealed for a long time and firing at close range toward Su Miao.

At the same time, the snow on the ground exploded as hidden, warped energy surged toward Su Miao.

Boom!

The ice and snow dispersed. That ability user stared in stunned disbelief at Su Miao, who remained completely unscathed, before lowering his gaze to look at the three icicles protruding from his chest. He collapsed stiffly to the ground.

At the instant he fell, he noticed another person who had tried to escape in the chaos; a similar icicle had pierced that person's neck, and they fell alongside him.

Why?

He could not comprehend it.

The battle had erupted and ended in the blink of an eye.

The survivors looked back at Su Miao with trembling hearts.

Because throughout the entire exchange, Su Miao had not even shifted her position.

The two individuals Su Miao had killed with her own hands were among the top tier of fighters within their team.

Doctor Fan Qing looked at the corpses on the ground, a question echoing in his own mind: Why?

However, that question no longer needed an answer.

One only had to reflect on the words those men had uttered to understand.

As for the two who hadn't spoken, Doctor Fan Qing could also make a fair guess.

They must have betrayed hostility in their gazes; otherwise, they wouldn't have been singled out.

Su Miao glanced at the remaining people. The survivors looked back at her, their eyes filled mostly with dread.

Gazing at the bodies on the ground, Doctor Fan Qing's hands trembled, and for a long time, he could not utter a single word.

"These provisions are a gift to you. You may stay here for the night, and tomorrow, whether you wish to head to the Siyhai Base or seek a more distant sanctuary, you are free to go."

Su Miao said calmly, "However, regarding what happened here, do not speak a word of it to anyone."

Sun Rong, Chu Zekai, Guo Yixing, and Yu Feng began unloading the grain from the snow trailer and piling it in front of Doctor Fan Qing.

Doctor Fan Qing looked dazedly at the delivered provisions, then up at Su Miao. He bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Watching comrades die before his eyes—with even his own people turning on them—he had no idea what he ought to do.

Su Miao stated, "Take the bodies away."

Sun Rong, Chu Zekai, Guo Yixing, and Yu Feng felt a jolt in their hearts, immediately comprehending what Her Highness Su Miao intended to do.

Without hesitation, they went to work, loading the several corpses onto the snow trailer.

In times like this, the bitter, freezing weather proved exceptionally convenient.

Once a person died, their blood quickly froze and solidified, and the corpses grew board-stiff, preventing them from soiling the snow trailer they had worked so hard to build.

Doctor Fan Qing asked anxiously, "Your Highness, what do you want with these bodies?"

Su Miao glanced at him without speaking, then waved her hand and led her people away.

Standing before strangers and maintaining an icy facade while saying so much had demanded her utmost effort; she had managed it brilliantly.

Yet, if she were to speak any further, she might lose her composure completely.

Therefore, Su Miao departed decisively.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't. They're dead anyway."

Chu Zekai, bringing up the rear, remarked to Doctor Fan Qing.

Doctor Fan Qing watched Su Miao and her entourage leave.

He felt a heavy obstruction in his chest, possessing a mountain of words he wished to voice yet unable to utter a single one.

As a physician, seeing the people who had followed him all this way perish before his eyes left him with a crushing sense of despair.

Yet, could he lay the blame upon Su Miao?

If he substituted himself through rational empathy, Su Miao had done nothing wrong.

When all was said and down, it was Liu Zixuan who had acted arbitrarily, insisting on following them out to scout and ultimately dragging so many members of the party to their deaths.

Hahaha...

Doctor Fan Qing felt a profound weariness in his soul.

Yet there were still so many people here, and his separated family had yet to be found; he had to survive.

"Are these sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes... aren't they a bit too big?"

"The corn looks like it was just picked, and the sweet potatoes and potatoes look freshly dug out of the earth. Isn't this a bit too absurd?"

"We haven't had a full meal in so long. With this much food, let's eat our fill today."

The survivors had been extremely tense and terrified just moments prior.

However, the instant Su Miao departed and they laid eyes on the provisions she had left behind, every single one of them grew ecstatic.

As for vengeance, it simply did not exist.

For the sake of this food, to say nothing of a few casual killings, they would have happily stayed and sold their lives away without a second thought.

They carted the grain into the villa as if celebrating the New Year.

Calculating the date, indeed, the New Year was fast approaching.

"Doc, let's go back inside."

Qiu Dahong walked over and clapped Doctor Fan Qing on the shoulder. "This isn't your fault. You tried to stop them, but they nearly got all of us killed."

Doctor Fan Qing said, "I am the captain; I bear the responsibility."

Qiu Dahong shook his head. "This is the apocalypse now. Everyone has to answer for their own actions."

"Doc, your heart is too soft. In the old days, I might have advised you to be ruthless when necessary, but how should I put it this time? It was probably your kindness that saved the rest of us."

Doctor Fan Qing paused, a deeper confusion lingering in his gaze.

Qiu Dahong continued, "Just now, I honestly thought I was going to die. That Highness is terrifying."

"She was prepared to wipe everyone out, but her gaze lingered on you at the very end. She spared us entirely for your sake."

Hearing this consolation that hardly felt like comfort, Doctor Fan Qing's mood grew even more tangled.

This Doctor Fan Qing was a genuinely good man.

Upon seeing Doctor Fan Qing, Su Miao couldn't help but recall the physicians she had encountered when her grandparents carried her into the emergency room as a child.

How should she describe it?

Perhaps because she had been sickly in her youth and had interacted with many doctors, she could tell at a glance whether someone was a good physician, especially given that kind of innate benevolence, which shone like a warm beacon of light amidst this apocalypse.

"Leave the corpses on the ground, you may return now."

Upon returning to their dwelling, Su Miao instructed Sun Rong and the others.

"Understood, Your Highness."

Sun Rong and his companions hauled all the bodies to the ground.

Including the three corpses killed earlier, they arranged them all together.

Having completed this task, they offered not a word of idle chatter and immediately took their leave.

Su Miao looked down at the seven corpses, blinked, and let her gaze rest on Liu Zixuan's remains.

She stretched out a hand, and a small blue fire-ball descended, reducing Liu Zixuan's body to ashes.

For the sake of their past ties as college classmates, this was the only thing she could bring herself to do.

Right.

A thought occurring to her, Su Miao flicked out another burst of blooming starlight to "purify" the immediate vicinity.

As for the remaining corpses, Su Miao raised a hand and cast Necrotic Resurrection.

Seven undead stood up.

Su Miao rummaged through her magical space, distributed logging tools to them, and assigned a snowmobile to each undead.

"Go chop wood, and pile enough timber right here."

"If any issues arise, follow the myna's orders."

The Myna: "..."

The seven undead accepted their logging tools and drove off on their snowmobiles.

Not daring to utter a peep, the myna fluttered its wings and hurried after them.

Finally, the world grew quiet.

Whenever firewood was needed, she could simply walk over at the appropriate time and store all the timber harvested by these undead straight into her magical space.

Originally, Su Miao had intended to deploy the undead from the Vulcan Base for this task, but considering that the remaining undead here were not easy to come by and might still carry traces of toxic hallucinogenic chemical agents on them, if they left even a tiny residue of that toxin on the firewood, it would turn into a hilarious catastrophe.

Thus, she had specifically required fresh undead for logging.

Having seven of them was just about enough.

Su Miao returned to the villa, tossed a few logs into the fireplace, and sat down to study and research defensive magic.

...

Sihai Base.

Pei Fu watched Yu YuanGui, whose condition on the bed was worsening by the moment, knowing this had reached the most critical juncture for him.

If he pulled through, Yu YuanGui would successfully evolve.

If he failed to pull through, Yu YuanGui would transform into a mutated monster.

Pei Fu would not hesitate to end Yu YuanGui's life with a single stroke—for the sake of the Sihai Base, for his own sake, and for his daughter's sake.

Those eerie crimson patterns surfaced across Yu YuanGui's face once more.

Every single time Pei Fu's patience wore thin and he readied his blade to hack him down, those bizarre crimson patterns would inexplicably vanish.

"Damn you, do you still have the leisure to play games with me at a time like this?"

Pei Fu gripped his blade tightly.

He didn't know how much longer he could hold out.

After an indeterminate lapse of time, Yu YuanGui abruptly snapped his eyes open, gasping heavily for breath.

The eerie crimson markings on his body began to recede until they vanished entirely.

Observing the blade resting against his neck, he offered an awkward smile. "Pei Fu, could you move that knife a bit? Standing guard over a patient like this isn't quite the proper bedside manner."

Pei Fu withdrew his weapon and said indifferently, "True to form, scourges really do manage to live the longest."

Since Yu YuanGui had successfully evolved, there was nothing left for him to do here.

In truth, whether evolution or mutation, both were essentially variants of mutation; the only difference lay in the labels of success and failure.

"There are numerous matters in the Sihai Base awaiting your handling. Once you've recovered, go find Mili; that child is reaching her breaking point."

Pei Fu strode out of the ward, slamming the door shut with a heavy thud.

For days, he had stood guard here practically without sleep, pushing his mental and physical limits to the absolute edge.

He was going back to sleep for days on end, and even if the heavens collapsed, it would be none of his concern.

"Thanks, Pei Fu!"

Sitting up on the hospital bed, Yu YuanGui sensed his evolved physique and the abilities under his command, feeling his physical condition to be better than ever before; even the hidden, severe injuries within his body had been resolved.

He was in luck.

An hour later, having consumed three massive bowls of spare-rib noodles in the cafeteria, Yu YuanGui walked toward Mili's office.

Before he had even covered half the distance, Yu YuanGui encountered an acquaintance.

It was Zheng Meng: "Yu YuanGui, long time no see!"

Yu YuanGui smiled faintly. "My lady, long time no see. I never expected you would become a priestess of the Ice God Cult."