After Sheng An finished speaking, Jiang Yu visibly stiffened.
Clearly, this was not a subject she wanted to discuss. She was reluctant to reveal her personal cheat ability.
Sheng An looked at her and smiled again, perfectly amiable:
"Jiang Yu, as I said, we won't hurt you. You should know there'll be plenty of Superpower People in the future, and more than one Space Esper, right?"
She wasn't unique, so there was no need to be afraid.
Yet Jiang Yu still hesitated.
She actually was a little unique...
Hao Jingye caught on, his gaze turning suspicious:
"Could it be that you're not a Space Esper, and you have your space for some other reason?"
He recalled what he had learned while asking around downstairs.
Hao Jingye's eyes widened. "The jade bracelet! The bracelet you took back from your ex-boyfriend contains a space?"
His perceptiveness was frightening.
Jiang Yu: "?"
How did they know?!
Jiang Yu looked horrified.
Her reaction said it all.
Sheng An's expression turned strange. "Your ex-boyfriend betrayed you and hooked up with someone else. They stole your space, too, so you met a miserable end in your previous life. Now you've been reborn, taken your space back, and sworn to make that scumbag and that bitch die in pieces?"
Jiang Yu: "??"
Wait, how did these people know everything??
Where on earth had she let something slip?!
She had been so careful!
Realization dawned on Sheng An. She nodded, looked at Hao Jingye, and summed it up: "Shi Xiao."
Hao Jingye nodded in complete agreement.
Confirmed. She was the protagonist, "Shi Xiao."
At the same time, a message popped up on the phone.
[Old Zhang: Who's Shi Xiao?]
Jiang Yu: "Who's Shi Xiao?"
Sheng An explained, "Someone who isn't particularly well-adjusted."
Jiang Yu: "???"
What was any of this supposed to mean?
Sheng An gathered her thoughts, cleared her throat, and asked:
"Since you're not a Space Esper, your space must be different from an ordinary one, right?"
At the mention of this, Jiang Yu wilted.
First, she stressed, "I may not be a Space Esper, but the space is already part of me. The jade bracelet disappeared completely. Even if you wanted to steal it, you couldn't!"
Sheng An remained expressionless. "Relax. No one's going to steal it."
It made no difference who had the space, as long as they could use it.
Jiang Yu sounded listless. "It is different. It's not even as good as other Space Espers. Their spaces might be tiny when their abilities first awaken, but they can grow. I don't know whether mine can get any bigger."
"And their spaces keep things preserved so they don't spoil. Mine is exactly like the outside world. It's just empty black soil in there. Leave something inside for a while, and it'll still go bad. I can't stockpile anything!"
She even seemed a little dissatisfied.
Sheng An's expression, however, grew solemn.
Hao Jingye instantly sat up straight as well, raising his voice. "Black soil?!"
Jiang Yu nodded blankly.
Sheng An stared intently at her. "How big?"
Jiang Yu said, "Very big. There's fog all around the edges. I haven't measured it."
Sheng An slowly exhaled.
Hao Jingye sighed. "So your space has black soil, time flows exactly as it does outside, and it's huge, but all you planned to do was stockpile supplies in it? And you're complaining that it can't keep them fresh?"
He looked at her as though she were an idiot.
"Huh?" Jiang Yu was even more bewildered.
Utterly speechless, Hao Jingye turned to Sheng An.
Having already endured one shock from "Shi Xiao," Sheng An took this in stride. She said flatly, "Shi Xiao herself."
Wasn't this exactly the "Shi Xiao" Sheng An had looked down on?
That was black soil!
If the apocalypse truly reduced everything to scorched earth, they could grow crops on that black soil.
Moreover, it would be the ideal experimental site for agricultural research.
Sheng An and Hao Jingye exchanged a glance, each seeing the other's intentions.
Jiang Yu had the distinct impression they weren't saying anything nice about her.
But the space had reminded her of her previous life.
"You're not me. You don't know what I went through. Those two bastards, Yu Litian and Chen Jiaojiao, stole my space and ground me into the dirt, step by step. You don't know what they did to me!"
At this point, Jiang Yu's emotions surged out of control, her eyes blazing.
"When the apocalypse hit, Chen Jiaojiao used the space to store plenty of food. Yu Litian stayed with her and lived just as well.
"In my previous life, I never realized anything was wrong with Yu Litian. We still hadn't broken up when the apocalypse came. They kept me with them and treated me like a slave."
Her body trembled harder and harder, her voice hoarse and strained:
"They wouldn't give me food. If I wanted any, I had to pick it off the ground like a dog. They even handed me over to one Superpower Person after another to be raped..."
"I tried to run, but they caught me every time and beat me viciously."
"Later, mutants ran rampant in the temporary base. Chen Jiaojiao dragged me in front of her as a shield, and the mutants tore into me. I barely escaped, but they decided I was useless and threw me back to the mutants..."
After all that, how could she not hate that scumbag and that bitch to death?
Sheng An walked over and patted her shoulder.
Jiang Yu was on the verge of falling apart. Leaning against her and feeling the strength of her body, she finally managed to catch her breath.
Sheng An patiently patted and soothed her.
Jiang Yu leaned against her, tears streaming down her face, her voice filled with rage:
"The day I was reborn, I almost killed them outright! If I hadn't had any reason left, I wouldn't have swallowed my anger and settled for exposing their affair and breaking up with Yu Litian."
The world hadn't descended into chaos yet. She couldn't just kill people.
But the anger was suffocating!
Sheng An rubbed her head. "Of course you can hate them. And of course you should take revenge. They deserve it."
Her tone made it sound only natural.
Jiang Yu raised her head and met her eyes, finding a gaze that seemed capable of accepting everything.
The feeling of being understood, of having someone on her side...
It truly warmed her heart.
Jiang Yu leaned closer, as though drawing strength from her.
Sheng An patted her shoulder soothingly.
The corners of Hao Jingye's mouth twitched.
Sister Sheng...
Truly, she could be ruthless or gentle whenever she wished, earning someone's trust in an instant and breaking through their defenses.
Damn, she was good.
After taking a little time to compose herself, Jiang Yu drew a deep breath, regained her calm, and asked:
"I've told you everything I know. And I'm not really a Space Esper. What else do you need me to do?"
The phone chimed with a message.
[Old Zhang: Bring her back.]
Sheng An ignored it. She simply held Jiang Yu's hand lightly, gazing at her with her phoenix-shaped eyes as she asked gently:
"One last question. Can people enter your space?"
As soon as she spoke, the room fell so silent they could have heard a pin drop.
Elsewhere, the people in the conference room stared fixedly at the screen.
This was a crucial question.
How far they could put Jiang Yu's space to use depended on whether people could enter it.
If people couldn't enter, the Black Soil would be the only usable part of that land.
Jiang Yu thought for a moment. Under Sheng An's trusting gaze, she gritted her teeth and said-
"I can go inside, but other people can't."
After a pause, she added, "If other people could enter, I'd definitely put Yu Litian and Chen Jiaojiao inside, kill them, and dispose of their bodies without a trace."
She looked at Sheng An. "Believe me!"
Sheng An looked deep into her eyes, then curved her lips into a faint smile.
"Of course I believe you."
Her gaze was utterly sincere, as though she trusted her completely.
Under that gaze, Jiang Yu's eyes flickered. She looked away, conflict and guilt lurking deep in her eyes.
As though she hadn't noticed, Sheng An shifted her gaze away.
Hao Jingye frowned, about to say something.
Sheng An shot him a cold glance, and he immediately shut his mouth.
Jiang Yu was lying.
But it didn't matter. They had to make use of that black soil, and with so much land to cultivate, she would tell them the truth sooner or later.
Sheng An was in no hurry at all.
Their conversation drew to a close.
"Let's exchange contact information. Would you like to come take a look at the Special Affairs Office? If you don't want to, rest at home for a day and come tomorrow." Sheng An picked up her phone.
Jiang Yu hesitated. "What would I go there for?"
Sheng An smiled faintly. "We have some things to put in your space."
Jiang Yu's eyes lit up.
Right!
Now that she had turned to the government and joined the Doomsday Special Affairs Office, she didn't need to gather supplies herself at all. The government could prepare them for her!
Surely the government's supplies would be more comprehensive than hers?
And only the government could help her stockpile certain restricted items!
Guns, ammunition, all sorts of medicine-what couldn't the government get?
At the thought, Jiang Yu grew excited.
She could hardly wait.
Just as she was about to speak.
Footsteps sounded outside, and a man shouted, "Yu! Yu, are you home?"
Jiang Yu's expression changed, twisting with fury.
Sheng An asked, "Yu Litian?"
Jiang Yu nodded bitterly.
Sheng An asked, "Want to see him?"
She stroked Jiang Yu's head. "If you don't want to, I can make sure you never see them again in this lifetime."
"No. I want revenge. I want to see their misery with my own eyes!"
She took a deep breath and stood up. "Let him in."
Why should she suffer a year of torment while they got an easy escape before the apocalypse?
She had to make them live to suffer through the apocalypse!
With her mind made up, Jiang Yu had him let in.
Sheng An offered no opinion. She only needed to respect her choice.
Before you continue