Team Members and Abilities

The static from the television instantly woke Yu Xiaoxiao from her light sleep.

Within the span of a single second, Yu Xiaoxiao had shifted from sleep to holding her dagger at the ready. Her eyes fixed on the television. If anything abnormal appeared, she would slice the television apart along with it.

"Zzzzt!"

The old-fashioned television covered in static was a product from forty or fifty years ago, and few people born in this era had ever seen one.

Yu Jing gestured for Yu Xiaoxiao not to act rashly. Amid the static, a clear image slowly began to emerge. It showed the four people in the room where Jiang Pengyu was staying, with the scene seemingly filmed from a corner of the room.

The four people in the image seemed to be discussing some decision. Three of them left the room, leaving behind only a seemingly seasoned man in his thirties.

At that moment, a humanoid outline slowly emerged from the corner of the room's walls. As time passed, the outline became increasingly distinct.

In the end, a four-armed woman Yu Jing had seen before gradually emerged from the wall. Her body crawled across the floor, caked with a little dirt, as she slowly approached the lone man in the room.

"Should we go down?" Yu Xiaoxiao immediately assumed a ready stance upon seeing this scene.

Yu Xiaoxiao was not concerned about the man's safety in the image. She had simply seen the monster's true form exposed on the television and wanted to use this opportunity to kill it.

"The surveillance footage playing on the television is fake. There's no way Jiang Pengyu and the others would leave one of their teammates alone in a room. Their decision to have four people share each room from the beginning makes that clear. They would never intentionally let a teammate be isolated..."

Although Yu Jing had made this deduction, his gaze remained fixed on the television. The scene felt far too real. The woman had already approached the anxious man sitting by the window without making a sound.

"Knock, knock!"

Just then, someone actually knocked on the door of Yu Jing and Yu Xiaoxiao's room.

Because plants covered the walls and provided him with sensory feedback, Yu Jing opened the door without hesitation. Standing outside was Jiang Pengyu's team. All four people were there, including the man in his thirties who had been in danger in the footage, proving Yu Jing's deduction that the television scene was fake.

"What? The two of you are both here?"

Jiang Pengyu looked at Yu Jing and Yu Xiaoxiao inside the room with some confusion.

"You saw the footage too?" Yu Jing asked in return.

"Yes. In the footage, you were left alone in the room, and a woman invaded through the window. Since the situation looked extremely dangerous, we came up to rescue you. We really didn't expect the footage on the television to be fake."

Jiang Pengyu scratched his head and gave an awkward smile.

From an ordinary person's perspective, they would naturally feel grateful that Jiang Pengyu had risked himself to come to the rescue. But Yu Jing could tell that all four of them had also recognized the footage as fake. They had come up merely to use the opportunity to propose cooperation.

"Come in and talk."

Yu Jing did not shut them all out. Under the current circumstances, cooperation was absolutely necessary. After Yu Xiaoxiao offered no verbal objection, the four entered the room, while Yu Xiaoxiao leaned alone against a corner with the yin-cold dagger in her hand.

Yu Jing suddenly said, "Our chances of survival will naturally be higher if six people work together. What do you have in mind?"

His words made Jiang Pengyu pause in surprise. He then answered in agreement, "Cooperation would certainly be good. After all, everyone is a complete novice when it comes to dealing with monsters. Our idea was simply to start with the old woman here. What do you think, Brother Yu Jing?"

"Judging from the current situation, whatever is hiding here has no intention of making a move yet. Let's act together tomorrow. By then, more newcomers might enter this area and make up for our current lack of numbers. For now, let's introduce ourselves and get a basic understanding of everyone's abilities."

"No problem. We'll start with the four of us."

From the conversation, it was clear that Jiang Pengyu was doing his best to echo Yu Jing. To a large extent, he was also trying to leave a good impression on Yu Xiaoxiao. Winning over a powerful fighter was extremely important.

"My name is Jiang Pengyu. I come from a small family in District Three, where we have inherited a body-tempering technique. I'm not considered a legitimate heir in my family, but I believed I had some ability, so I received the family's recommendation and came to the Dihua Ability Institute. My current physical capabilities are roughly twice those of an ordinary person. Breaking through the wooden walls of this inn with one punch would be easy."

After Jiang Pengyu finished introducing himself, the thin man standing barely over six feet tall gave an awkward smile. Somewhat bashfully, he introduced himself to everyone:

"My name is Men Qian. I'm a newcomer from the Medical School of the Dihua Ability Institute. I come from a small medical institution in Central District One. Because it had connections with the Dihua Ability Institute Hospital, I was recommended to study here... To be honest, I'm terrified of these unnatural things. I was bullied a lot growing up and am especially poor at fighting. My ability is ultra-fast precision surgery."

When the short, timid young man finished introducing himself, Jiang Pengyu patted him on the shoulder.

"Brother Yu Jing, you may not know this, but the Medical School of the Dihua Ability Institute only admits a quarter as many students each year as the other schools. He's also a recommended student. Fortunately, I recruited him into the team early and established a relationship with him. If we survive this, we'll need to rely on a Medical School disciple's support many times in the future."

"Healing abilities? To what extent can you use them?" Yu Jing asked curiously. After all, the plants inside his body could also repair themselves.

"Simple external injuries are no problem. I can perform a reattachment operation for severed limbs within seconds. Reconnecting a head is slower and takes several minutes, since nerves are difficult to deal with. Of course, I can't regenerate a severed limb. The separated limb has to remain intact."

At those words, even Yu Xiaoxiao, who was leaning against the wall, looked over with interest. Severed limbs could be reattached within seconds, and even a severed head could be connected again. It was simply unbelievable.

Next, the girl tightly wrapped in a coat spoke. She was fairly attractive, though there was an obvious gap between her appearance and Yu Xiaoxiao's, and she seemed rather delicate overall.

"Zhang Xingyue, a disciple of the Art School. I'd rather not reveal my family background. I'm skilled in hypnosis and some forms of mental perception, but I'm very inexperienced when it comes to spreading my mental influence. I'm only fairly good at controlling individuals directly."

What Yu Xiaoxiao disliked most was this calculating woman named Zhang Xingyue.

The remaining thirty-year-old soldier with dark circles under his eyes briefly introduced himself. Unlike the others, this soldier, who had climbed over the corpses of his comrades, possessed no special ability. His actual combat experience, however, was richer than anyone else's.