Gu Hua

Xia Lin liked Rapid Nourishment.

The skill's effect might look a little ridiculous, but it was a genuine hard crowd-control skill!

It also had a low cost and no cooldown. With his current Spirit attribute of 13, Xia Lin could easily use it twice. If he was fighting for his life, he could squeeze out a third use.

The instant the light entered Wang Ye and Li Qing, the nourishing effect took hold.

Fat rapidly built up, and their bodies swelled.

One thing was known: without a limit-breaking skill, a level-two Ash Zone Walker's attributes were capped at 20 points. A level-one walker was even worse off, unable to exceed the limits of an ordinary human.

So Wang Ye and Li Qing's attributes couldn't be very high.

It wasn't a question of whether they were immune to the skill's effect-Li Peipei hadn't escaped it, so there was no way these two could.

The question was whether the rapid weight gain would directly destroy them.

The answer was yes.

Their ballooning weight quickly placed a greater burden on their bodies. The fact that they hadn't dropped dead on the spot was a testament to their decent constitutions.

The sudden change in their bodies made it hard for them to move. Two enormous fatties weighing over a thousand jin each were crammed into the narrow cab, making for a hellish sight.

Incoherent howls came from the mountains of flesh, followed by heavy gasping.

Their obesity made it difficult to breathe...

One of the gasping sounds soon faded away. The level-one Wang Ye was destroyed by the obesity; his heart and blood vessels couldn't take the strain, and he died on the spot.

Li Qing's breathing, on the other hand, gradually steadied.

He looked around in confusion, but his eyes were buried in fat, obstructing his vision.

Suddenly, he felt something cold, thick and hard press against the back of his head.

Xia Lin's voice rang out faintly.

"I ask, you answer, OK?"

"Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat."

Crisp bursts of gunfire.

Then the truck's rear doors opened. Xia Lin made the sign of the cross over his chest as he tossed the woman's rifle back into the truck and murmured, "May you rest in peace. Amitabha."

After finishing his prayer for the dead, Xia Lin brightened again.

Because Backstab had taken effect once more...

[Backstab effect activated.]

[You backstabbed your affiliated faction. Effect assessment: extremely weak.]

[You have gained 0.01 points in all attributes.]

[As the attribute bonus is too small, it will not be reflected on the attribute panel or take practical effect. It will accumulate until it reaches a whole number, then be awarded.]

Xia Lin was human, so killing his own kind naturally counted as betraying his faction.

Made perfect sense!

"Now you're my favorite skill."

Xia Lin smiled and muttered to himself, then looked north.

Iron Rain Base was 130 kilometers to the north.

And Li Peipei really had put a bounty on Xia Lin, offering a full 10,000 Ash Zone Points!

Xia Lin simply curled his lip.

"Broke-ass bitch."

First I killed your teammates, then I stole your precious treasure and turned you into a fat woman, and all you put on my head was 10,000 Ash Zone Points.

You're obviously the type with no savings.

There was one thing Xia Lin found strange, though.

Two words had been prominently marked on the wanted notice.

[Capture alive]

Back at the Ash Zone entrance in Iron Rain Base, Li Peipei had wanted to capture Xia Lin alive. That made sense.

If she wanted to vent her anger, of course it was best to keep him alive.

But even after Xia Lin revealed his escape skill, A Thousand Li Apart at Parting, Li Peipei had still ordered him captured alive. That was what Xia Lin couldn't quite understand.

Killing Xia Lin was already difficult enough. Capturing him alive would be exponentially harder...

"Don't tell me she's fallen in love with me."

After tossing out that conceited remark, Xia Lin shook his head and stopped thinking about it, turning instead to look farther west.

There was another base there.

Its name was Ancient Splendor Base.

Its leader and protector was Gu Hua, human Sequence 56.

One mountain couldn't hold two tigers, unless one was male and the other female.

That was how it was with Li Peipei and Gu Hua.

As human Sequence 56 and the leader of Ancient Splendor Base, Gu Hua had just turned thirty. He was handsome and refined, with the air of a fashionable big-city man from before the disaster.

And everyone in both bases knew of Gu Hua's affection for Li Peipei.

Today, however, Gu Hua really couldn't bring himself to be happy.

In the living room of his residence, Gu Hua glanced sidelong at the mountain of flesh sitting nearby, then quickly looked away.

His face was full of hesitation, but in the end, he couldn't help asking the question he most wanted to ask.

"Peipei has grown fat. Can she still dance?"

Dragon Flash Dance was Li Peipei's signature skill...

Smack.

Gu Hua slapped himself across the face. Meeting the murderous gaze from between the folds of flesh, he hurriedly forced a smile.

"A slip of the tongue, a slip of the tongue. What I mean is... being fat isn't impossible to fix. For example, we could get you some liposuction. Don't you think so, Peipei?"

Liposuction wasn't a major operation. After the Ash Zone Walkers appeared, the cosmetic surgery industry had also made great strides with the help of skills.

Li Peipei had indeed grown so fat she was barely recognizable as human, but a few simple operations would be enough to restore her to the beauty she had been.

In response to Gu Hua's question, Li Peipei merely snorted.

Li Peipei's clear voice came from within the fat.

"I don't care about my looks."

Gu Hua thought, But I do...

He didn't dare say it aloud, and simply listened as Li Peipei continued.

"The Sequence Hegemony Battle is just around the corner. I care more about my strength."

With that, she raised a hand and looked at her arm, which resembled a lotus root. "That little thief used this method to disgust me, but he was being shortsighted. He's only just become an Ash Zone Walker and has no idea how many miraculous abilities there are in the Ash Zone."

Gu Hua paused, realizing something.

He lowered his voice and uttered five words.

"Sequence Three, Martial King Lie."

Martial King, Wang Lie.

Human Sequence Three.

His legendary story was known to all. He hadn't been among the first Ash Zone Walkers, entering the Ash Zone for the first time only after it had been open for over two hundred days.

Even more incredible, he had a debuff when he entered the Ash Zone.

-Grade C anomalous disaster: obesity.

This anomalous disaster caused everyone afflicted to gain weight uncontrollably, reaching the limits their genes could withstand within a week.

Yet Martial King Lie had used obesity as the foundation for a path no one had imagined.

"Martial arts."

"Learning and practicing martial arts consumes a great deal of energy, and the fat brought on by obesity is excellent fuel."

"On top of that, the Martial King was exceptionally gifted in martial arts. He caught the eye of the Three-Phase Martial Arts Hall in the Ash Zone and was taught the Blood Fiend Breathing Technique, allowing his limit-breaking progress to advance by leaps and bounds."

Gu Hua spoke slowly, then couldn't help letting out a long sigh as he recalled the Martial King's mighty display in the last Sequence Hegemony Battle, when he had been an Ash Zone Walker for less than a hundred days.

"Then you'll have to change classes..."

Li Peipei chuckled. "Then I'll change. It's no big deal."

I'll follow the Martial King's old path. Even if my martial arts talent is probably inferior to his, a lesser version of the Martial King can still easily claim a place in the top thirty of the Sequence.

"But there's one condition for all of this."

"That guy called Xia Lin."

"I want him alive."

Li Peipei looked at Gu Hua. Even through the folds of flesh, he could faintly make out the cold glint in her eyes.

Gu Hua gave a bitter smile.

"Things are rather different on my end from how they are at Iron Rain Base..."