Xiao Pei

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

Xiao Pei served as the Ability Control Bureau’s chief captain and became its strongest A-rank ability user. Her earlier rescues included entering an A-rank Polluted’s lair alone to protect an entire building’s residents and protecting a school with her team 30 31.

Three years before the Mushroom Man crisis, witnessing the S-rank Stormbringer shattered her confidence. Her own strength had stopped increasing while the Polluted continued to evolve. Believing herself incapable of protecting humanity, she resigned, withdrew to City A—the safest city—and avoided becoming close to others 30 31.

She subsequently ran a small restaurant where Ye Jiang worked as a server. After the City A disaster, renewed growth in her ability index persuaded her that humanity still had a future. She closed the restaurant and announced her return to her former profession in City M 39 41.

Appearance

• Build: Tall and slender, with considerable strength beneath her wheat-colored skin 50.
• Features: Stern, hard facial features; her expression softens noticeably when watching people receive care 41 65.
• Hands: Rough-backed hands, noted when she reaches to touch Ye Jiang’s hair 232.
• Clothing: Wears an Ability Control Bureau uniform while on duty 78 104.

Personality

Xiao Pei’s lazy posture, yawning, blunt remarks, and dry humor contrast with her conduct during emergencies. She takes responsibility for wounded teammates and civilians even when exhausted, handles unfamiliar supply problems, and relieves a tired guard so he can rest 31 54 56 66. Her outward composure can conceal considerable fear and strain 54 66.

Her commitment to protection survives her periods of despair. Citizens’ gratitude confronts her with the lives she has already saved, while a child’s smile reminds her why she fights 31 39. She also insists on dignity for enemies who were once human: although she considers killing Blood Knight necessary, she is relieved to learn that the base’s defenders did not torture her to death 59.

Xiao Pei is deeply wary of monsters but capable of revising her judgment. She initially offers to risk her life to separate Ye Jiang from Wanderer; later, after recognizing Ye Jiang as nonhuman, she accepts her as the friend who repeatedly saved them 105 231 232.

Abilities & Skills

Corrosion Chains

Xiao Pei projects black iron chains that can strike, bind, pull, and intercept attacks. Their corrosive effect is explicitly demonstrated during the confrontation with Ghost Mother 31 108 226.

• Defense and rescue: Catches and redirects boulders, deflects Bandage Man’s scythe, and pulls endangered people out of attacks 31 32 63.
• Restraint: Binds opponents with multiple chains; later drags a flying S-rank eyeball Polluted from the sky 225 239.
• Mobility: Anchors a chain into a building and pulls herself upward. After reaching S-rank, she can reach an eighty-eight-story building’s upper floor from the ground 71.
• Speed: At full power, her chains move rapidly enough to leave afterimages 108.
• Limits: Bandage Man’s scythe can sever her A-rank chains. Ghost Mother’s masks repeatedly break her S-rank chains, and the plant-based Monster Level Polluted girl escapes their restraints 63 225 228.

Enhanced Physique and Combat

• Durability: Her high-level ability-user body is described as iron-hard when a falling object strikes her shoulder 36.
• Close-range strength: Defeats Yun Hua almost instantly and suppresses the eagle-man’s attempted wind-blade attack by forcing its beak shut 95.
• Combat awareness: Reacts to Ghost Mother’s emerging mask before Ye Jiang does 225.
• S-rank combat: Engages two ordinary S-rank Polluted simultaneously without immediately falling behind 239.
• Limits: She remains severely outmatched by monsters and Monster Level Polluted. She also cannot visually track Ye Jiang’s speed during the destruction of Invisible Man’s water arrows 109 225 227.

Investigation and Field Command

• Evacuation: Leads civilian convoys and stays behind against stronger opposition so others can escape 31 32.
• Tactical questioning: Isolates Yun Hua from civilians before confronting him about the missing contestants 94.
• Threat analysis: Recognizes that the flower-selling girl’s poisonous attacks depend on plants and attempts to remove her from the garden 228.
• Intelligence work: Identifies Wanderer’s power as illusion-related rather than painting-related and plans to correct Bureau records 92.
• Training and logistics: Trains City A’s rookies, organizes supply collection, and negotiates Ye Jiang’s treatment bill down to seventy percent 56 72 74.

Cooking

• Operated her own restaurant and is explicitly described as capable of both wielding chains and tossing a wok 41 50.
• Cooks during her farewell gathering with Ye Jiang before leaving City A 111.

Relationships

• Ye Jiang — Former employee and close friend. Xiao Pei habitually calls her “Waiter,” while Ye Jiang continues calling her “Boss.” Their relationship develops from puzzlement over Ye Jiang’s strength into trust that survives the revelation of her nonhuman identity 31 98 231 232.
• Ming Chun — Former server at Xiao Pei’s restaurant. Xiao Pei recognizes her as Mushroom Man, later helps find her alive, and eventually fights alongside her in the City of Flowers 36 106 222 239.
• Ming Xia — Bureau junior and mission companion. Xiao Pei entrusts civilian protection to her and works with her to investigate missing citizens 197 222 223.
• Qin Daichuan — Bureau colleague and investigative partner. They cooperate during the City A crisis, Yun Hua’s case, and the counterattack 39 96 102 239.
• Zhao Yi — City A junior whom she trains and frequently scolds for reckless or noisy behavior. They later reunite in the City of Flowers 74 97 104 239.
• Chen Zhuozhuo / Blood Knight — A hunted threat whom Xiao Pei discovers was a fellow Bureau investigator. She recognizes Chen’s final act as an attempt to protect civilians from guilt and prepares her body for burial 55 59.
• Dong Zhen / Wanderer — A monster she regards as dangerous despite clearing him of the contestants’ disappearances. She warns Ye Jiang about him but promises Bureau protection if Ye Jiang ever wants to leave him 92 95 105.
• Miao Qiao — A younger acquaintance whom Xiao Pei watched grow up through her ties with the Miao family. She responds to Miao Qiao’s distress signal and investigates her subsequent loss of ability ranks 89 96.

Story Role / Major Arcs

City A: Mushroom Man Crisis

When Mushroom Man approaches City A, citizens recognize Xiao Pei and recall her past rescues. She leads an evacuation convoy, then remains behind to confront the A+-rank Yan Pei, entrusting the convoy’s onward journey to Ye Jiang 31 32.

She subsequently joins the three A-rank ability users fighting Mushroom Man and recognizes the creature as Ming Chun. After Nurse kills Mushroom Man, Xiao Pei’s first index increase in years overturns her belief that human growth has permanently stopped 36 39.

City S: Blood Knight and the Writer

During the City S crisis, Xiao Pei pursues Blood Knight for more than half a month and fights her over fifty times. Unable to defeat her head-on, she attempts ambushes and eventually offers Ye Jiang paid work assisting the hunt 50 55 56.

Blood Knight’s death reveals the victim’s identity as Chen Zhuozhuo. Xiao Pei retrieves her work ID, prepares her burial, and connects her transformation into a killing machine with the Writer’s story-altering power 59 61.

Xiao Pei then investigates the unexplained assaults on the broadcasting center. She discovers that defeated anomalies revert to human ability users, while the attackers forget each expedition afterward. On reaching the empty top floor, she realizes the Writer has hidden among the crowd 66 67.

First S-rank and the City A Investigations

After advancing to S-rank, Xiao Pei investigates the City S battle’s aftermath and identifies Nurse as Ding Xuan, associated with monster No. 9 71. She remains in City A to assist its branch and train its personnel, where Ye Jiang’s displayed Ability System finally disproves her assumption that Ye Jiang is a concealed high-ranking healer 74.

During the competition disappearance case, Xiao Pei clears Wanderer of suspicion, isolates Yun Hua, obtains his confession, and defeats him. She later investigates the unexplained loss of ability ranks among Miao Qiao and Bureau personnel 92 94 95 96 98.

Invisible Man and Departure

Xiao Pei fights Invisible Man while Ye Jiang insists that he is her friend and is suffering after losing faith in Yun Hua. She witnesses Ye Jiang move faster than she can follow while destroying his water arrows 108 109.

Before returning to headquarters, Xiao Pei shares a farewell meal with Ye Jiang and apologizes for her part in Invisible Man’s presumed death, unaware that he remains alive 111.

Watch Mountain Range and the Historical Illusion

Headquarters reports Xiao Pei and Ming Xia missing in the Watch Mountain Range during Ghost Mother’s reappearance 197. Within the historical illusion, Xiao Pei secretly studies hospital research records and works with Ming Xia to locate missing citizens 221 222.

Facing Ghost Mother, Xiao Pei initially plans to sacrifice herself to give Ye Jiang an escape. Instead, Ye Jiang confronts the monster and assigns her to guard the caged girl, whose plant-based attacks prove far stronger than Xiao Pei expects 225 226 227 228.

After surviving the encounter, Xiao Pei accepts that Ye Jiang is nonhuman without rejecting their friendship. She subsequently identifies her with the Blood Moon and learns that Ye Jiang created the Blood Moon, Moon Tree, and Toy Mall to help humanity. Xiao Pei accepts her stated allegiance and prepares to report the revelation to the Bureau 231 232 236.

Return and Humanity’s Counterattack

On returning to City M, Xiao Pei learns that three years have passed since her mission began. World Destroyer’s offensive started half a year earlier, and more than half of humanity’s cities have fallen 237.

After briefing headquarters, she immediately volunteers to replace the support assigned to the out-of-contact City of Flowers operation. She joins Ming Chun, Qin Daichuan, and Zhao Yi, announces humanity’s counterattack, and fights the S-rank Polluted—rediscovering her own strength after battles against vastly stronger opponents 239.

Notable Quotes

“I don't pray to gods, but right now, I really hope she's a god on humanity's side.” 66

“Our Ability Control Bureau will risk our lives to help you.” — Offering Ye Jiang protection from Wanderer 105

“When we get back, have the Ability Control Bureau settle my treatment fees.” is Ye Jiang’s response to Xiao Pei’s heartfelt gratitude; Xiao Pei immediately recognizes the same familiar former employee despite her revealed identity 231.