Abilities

Bai Yaoyao and Fat Brother practiced their abilities as they waited for their companions to wake up. Xiaomi was the second to regain consciousness.

Bai Yaoyao opened her mouth, unsure how to comfort Xiaomi.

Xiaomi hadn't awakened an ability in their previous life. Early on, his combat instincts and firearms had kept the difference from being obvious, but as time went on, they weren't enough. Xiaomi had always felt he was holding everyone back.

His cheerful nature had gradually given way to silence. Later, when everyone was surrounded by a Zombie Horde, he had charged into it with a bomb in his arms, blasting an opening that allowed the others to escape.

"Sister Yao, I feel... Aaaaaah!"

Bang...

Just as Bai Yaoyao was trying to figure out how to comfort Xiaomi, he jogged a couple of steps. Unable to control his speed, he crashed straight into the wall, knocking down a decorative painting.

Xiaomi clutched his head, in too much pain to stand.

But Bai Yaoyao suddenly burst out laughing. This was a speed ability! Xiaomi had an ability! She didn't know why he hadn't had one in their previous life but did now, yet that didn't stop her from being happy.

Fat Brother seemed to catch on and scooped Xiaomi up.

Xiaomi complained, "Sister Yao, you're so heartless! I'm in this state, and you're still laughing! At least Fat Brother..."

Before he could finish, Fat Brother tossed him onto the sofa.

Fat Brother belatedly scratched his head and said, "Sorry about that. If I'd known you were going to compliment me, I'd have tossed you more gently."

Xiaomi: ●﹏●...

While they were trading quips, Peiqi woke up too.

"Rawr! I'm a zombie! I'm coming to eat you!" Peiqi lunged at Fat Brother beside her.

Fat Brother held her back with a hand on her forehead. Her little hands flailed wildly, but she couldn't reach him.

"Sister Yao, Fat Brother's bullying me!"

"Sister Yao, I think my ability has a healing attribute."

Eager to test her ability, Peiqi pulled out a dagger and was about to cut her arm when Bai Yaoyao stopped her.

Bai Yaoyao smiled. "Don't hurt yourself. Go heal Xiaomi instead. He has a speed ability, but he couldn't control it and ran into the wall. Look at that huge bump on his head."

"Okay! Big sister's coming, little Xiaomi! Mwah, mwah, mwah! Come give me a kiss!"

"No thanks. The pain's fine. I like it." Xiaomi buried his head in the sofa.

Peiqi dragged him out anyway and rested her hand gently on his swollen, reddened forehead. A white glow grew brighter, then dimmed again.

The swelling on Xiaomi's forehead visibly disappeared, leaving it just as it had been.

"Holy crap, Peiqi! You're that amazing? I'm fine! It doesn't hurt at all!" Xiaomi exclaimed in surprise.

Peiqi, however, had gone a little pale.

Bai Yaoyao helped her sit down. "Adjust how much of your ability you use to the severity of the injury. If you overdo it, you'll get dizzy and lightheaded."

Peiqi nodded to show she understood.

Everyone was getting familiar with their own abilities when Doggie suddenly started barking nonstop. Bai Yaoyao picked Doggie up, set the dog on the table by the window, and examined Doggie carefully in the sunlight.

She discovered that Doggie had mutated too!

Not only had Doggie's coat become glossier, but the dog's entire body had grown a little larger. Bai Yaoyao pried Doggie's mouth open rather roughly. One look at those sharp fangs told her that Doggie had become a mutant beast!

What delighted Bai Yaoyao most was the gleam of intelligence in Doggie's eyes!

"Doggie, can you understand what I'm saying?" Bai Yaoyao asked.

Doggie lifted that chin high and let out a chaotic string of howls.

Bai Yaoyao felt she might have been overthinking it.

Intelligence? Ha! Forget it. That's not a word that belongs anywhere near a husky.

"Aaaah~"

Bai Yaoyao had wanted to learn more about Doggie's changes, but when she suddenly heard Monkey cry out, she hurried over.

Monkey's face was bright red, his expression utterly mortified.

"What's wrong, Monkey?" Fat Brother asked.

Monkey started to speak, then stopped. He got straight up and rushed into the bedroom, only coming out five minutes later.

"Holy shit, how the fuck did I just piss my pants?"

"Hahahaha! I don't want to laugh at you, but I can't help it." Peiqi was the first to lose it.

Bai Yaoyao kindly explained, "You idiot, you didn't piss your pants. That's a water ability."

"Uh... I know. I was just messing with you!" Looking embarrassed, Monkey strategically smoothed his hair, then ran over to ask Bai Yaoyao whether his ability was awesome.

"Water abilities are very powerful. Later on, you can freeze water into ice, which has tremendous offensive power," Bai Yaoyao said.

"Hahaha! I knew it! I'm freaking amazing!" Monkey immediately puffed up with pride.

With that, he went over to the wall to practice with Fat Brother. Fat Brother scattered handfuls of dirt while Monkey squirted little jets of water.

Bai Yaoyao suddenly thought those two would make the perfect farming team.

Gradually, Stone and Xiao Dai woke up as well. Both had awakened two abilities.

Bai Yaoyao found it strange. Stone had only awakened an earth ability in their previous life, but now he had Skin Hardening as well.

He was a pure tank now, with defense that was off the charts.

Xiao Dai had awakened a speed ability and a Darkness Ability. Darkness Ability was a Special-Type Ability. Ouyang Ning, who ranked second in the Combat Power Rankings, had one too. Nighttime was a Darkness Ability user's favorite combat environment; anywhere there were shadows, they could become practically invisible.

Paired with a speed ability, it was thrilling just to think about.

Bai Yaoyao kept watching Lulu and Chenxuan. Neither showed any sign of waking up, but neither showed any sign of turning into a zombie either. She couldn't help letting a little hope rise within her.

Keke, Xiao Shiliu, and Dada Juan were special cases. They hadn't awakened abilities at the beginning, only gradually developing them later. But in this life, they had awakened them right from the start!

Keke's wood ability, Xiao Shiliu's wind ability, and Dada Juan's fire ability were all nature abilities, perfectly suited to their team's circumstances. Early on, with everyone's combat skills and weapons, very few zombies, mutant beasts, or humans could threaten them.

Once their nature abilities developed later on, they would be devastating weapons in team battles!

Just then, Lulu stirred, and both Bai Yaoyao and Fat Brother tensed.

Lulu froze at the sight of Bai Yaoyao and asked, "What's going on? How am I still conscious after turning into a zombie? Did I not finish transforming?"

Bai Yaoyao threw herself forward excitedly and hugged Lulu tight. "Thank goodness, Lulu! You're okay!"

Lulu patted her chest too. "That scared me to death. With looks like mine, turning into a zombie would be such a waste."

Then Lulu touched that long hair. In an instant, the black, waist-length locks turned into Mei Chaofeng's wild hairstyle, leaving Lulu looking as though struck by electricity!

"A lightning ability!" Bai Yaoyao suddenly exclaimed.

"Awesome, Lulu! Sister Yao just said lightning abilities are the strongest nature abilities!" Peiqi said excitedly.

Lulu smiled too. Whether the ability was powerful or not, being alive and seeing everyone again was enough.

Chenxuan was the only one still unconscious now. He was young, only a little older than Xiao Dai, and was Master's "least favorite" disciple. He disliked fighting and killing, preferred reading, liked acting grown-up, and enjoyed practicing brush calligraphy...

When Chenxuan woke up and saw a whole circle of people gathered around him, he jumped. Had he turned into a zombie?

So he gathered his courage, waved, and quietly said, "Hi~"

Cheers and screams erupted instantly. This was wonderful!

Everyone was alive!

The little fool Chenxuan knew he had awakened an ability, but he didn't know how to use it. He tried every method one by one, but none worked.

Finally, while Xiaomi was practicing his speed ability, Chenxuan instinctively focused and released energy toward him. When Xiaomi crashed into the wall again, Bai Yaoyao understood: an augmentation ability!

Amid everyone's cheers, Xiaomi went whimpering to Peiqi.

"Little sister Peiqi, big brother's here..."