First-Mover Ability User

After that, everyone chatted. Jiang Nian answered Huang Qian's other questions as he waited for Cheng Jing to finish integrating the ability.

The sound of water and the crackle of electricity came from the bathroom, and flickering firelight was faintly visible inside.

But Cheng Jing remained conscious, so Jiang Nian and Huang Qian weren't too worried. After eating something, they resumed sorting the supplies.

As they worked, Huang Qian said she would continue shopping tomorrow and have the others hurry and gather more supplies too.

Another two hours passed, and it was almost midnight. Cheng Jing's condition had stabilized, so he told Huang Qian to go home first and come back tomorrow after buying enough supplies. After that, she wasn't to go out again.

"Okay. Jiang Nian, remember to call if anything happens."

With the situation stable, Huang Qian knew she couldn't help by staying. After reminding Jiang Nian to stay safe, she left.

The apartment fell quiet. Cheng Jing, whose whole body was now covered in lightning, fire, and electricity, gave Jiang Nian another instruction:

"Nian Nian, go sleep next door. You don't need to wait for me."

"No, I'm not sleepy."

Jiang Nian stubbornly refused. His boyfriend was a first-mover ability user, and he was too excited to sleep.

"All right."

Cheng Jing had no choice but to let him be:

"If you get tired, get some rest. If you're not tired, tell me what happened next in your dream..."

"Okay. All kinds of natural disasters came one after another after the zombies appeared. The first was extreme cold..."

Jiang Nian went to the table and brought back some food. As he ate, he told Cheng Jing everything he could about what he had seen, heard, and experienced in his previous life.

The whole prophetic dream story had already gone this far, and Cheng Jing believed him anyway. It didn't matter if he said more.

Cheng Jing listened until he grew sleepy. Then he told the person outside the door that he wanted to sleep for a while and closed his eyes against the wall.

Sparks and lightning continued to flash over his body. After adjusting to them at the beginning, he no longer felt the heat. Instead, his whole body felt invigorated, rather like the body tempering in those cultivation novels.

Jiang Nian pushed an armchair over, curled up in it, and made do with a nap.

When he woke in a daze, it was already past five in the morning, and daylight had come.

He looked toward the bathroom door and found it very quiet inside. The water had stopped, and the firelight and crackling electricity were gone too. Wide awake at once, he hurriedly got up and asked:

"Brother Jing, how are you?"

After a moment, Cheng Jing's voice came from inside:

"I'm fine now. Go to the room and get me a set of clothes."

"Okay, okay, okay... wait a second!"

Jiang Nian quickly brought him clothes from next door: a suit and shirt. Because of his profession, Cheng Jing's clothes didn't vary much in style.

Just as Cheng Jing was getting dressed, Huang Qian bustled in carrying breakfast:

"I was so worried I didn't sleep well all night. Big bro, come out and walk a few steps."

Cheng Jing walked out of the bathroom. He looked no different overall, except that he seemed more alert, and his gaze was sharper.

Huang Qian looked him up and down and smacked her lips:

"I thought you'd gone bald."

Jiang Nian imagined Cheng Jing bald and couldn't help laughing:

"Brother Jing would be handsome even if he went bald."

Huang Qian rolled her eyes at him:

"Oh, give it a rest. You can praise him for anything..."

She had thought only Cheng Jing was love-brained, but it turned out they were a matching pair. Every pot really did have its lid.

Under their astonished gazes, Cheng Jing turned his right hand palm up, and a small flame appeared in it. With a thought, he covered his entire hand in lightning visible to the naked eye. Finally, the lightning and fire fused.

"Awesome, bro!"

Huang Qian's eyes lit up. If Jiang Nian hadn't been there, forcing her to maintain a bit of a ladylike image, she would definitely have said, "Bro, that's badass as fuck!"

Jiang Nian was happy too. He really hadn't expected Cheng Jing to be among the first to awaken abilities, let alone have rare, mutated dual attributes. No wonder he had obviously been doing well in his previous life!

He was so happy he wanted to cry. His boyfriend was so powerful that nobody could bully him anymore! And he wouldn't have to worry about being unable to protect their supplies!

After withdrawing his abilities, Cheng Jing shared how he felt after awakening them:

His five senses had become much sharper, he was no longer afraid of heat, and his whole body was full of strength.

"Big bro, remember to take me with you when you go around doing whatever you want!"

Huang Qian looked envious. She had been lucky enough to witness a miracle, and now, when the apocalypse really arrived, she had a golden thigh to cling to.

Cheng Jing nodded:

"All right, you should go buy supplies before dark. Tell the others to hurry too, and prepare plenty of warm clothing. Don't go out after the rain starts. Wait for my instructions. You know what to say. Jiang Nian and I have other things to do, so we'll get in touch later."

"Don't worry, bro, I know!"

As she spoke, Huang Qian had already started contacting the others. For a competent assistant, this was just a small task.

Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian went back to the hotel. First, they needed to get Jiang Nian's luggage. Second, neither of them had rested well the night before, so they would sleep at the hotel before returning to the safe house. After that, they would stay there.

"Nian Nian, if people can awaken abilities, can objects mutate and gain special functions too?"

Cheng Jing suddenly asked as he drove.

Jiang Nian paused for a moment before answering:

"They can, but it's uncommon. Most of the time, it happens because they're affected by the ability user's own energy. There's no pattern to it; it all comes down to chance."

In his previous life, he had met someone who had awakened the ability to control metal and turned a fruit knife he often used into a treasured blade that could cut through iron like mud. Jiang Nian had heard it happened because the man had been holding the fruit knife when his ability awakened, and the awakening energy had tempered it.

But the chances of that happening were still very low. Most objects, on the other hand, were destroyed by the impact of the ability.

"Oh."

Cheng Jing understood. Jiang Nian thought his expression was a little strange, and an idea suddenly struck him:

"Brother Jing, why did you suddenly ask that? Did something you had on you mutate?"

"I'll tell you later."

Cheng Jing gave a mysterious smile, piquing Jiang Nian's curiosity. But he remembered that Brother Jing hadn't been holding anything when his ability awakened.

After they returned to the hotel and tidied up, Cheng Jing took out a pair of men's matching rings:

"I specially ordered these before the business trip. I was going to give them to you last night, but my ability awakening got in the way. I had them on me the whole time, so the packaging burned away, and their color ended up like this too. I hope you don't mind."

"Of... of course I don't mind."

Looking at the once-bright white platinum rings, now a grayish dark gold, Jiang Nian's breath caught. What was there to mind? He was overjoyed.

Even if two grown men didn't need to be so mushy, who didn't like a little ceremony?

Cheng Jing went on:

"I didn't take them out while Huang Qian was here because I thought they'd become a little strange."

Jiang Nian seemed to think of something and hurriedly asked:

"How are they strange?"

Could they turn into Wind Fire Wheels? Then I'd be able to fly!

Cheng Jing said nothing. First, he slipped one ring onto Jiang Nian's finger, then had Jiang Nian put the other on him. Perhaps because the rings had been baptized by his abilities, the moment they touched their skin, it felt as though an electric current had flashed through them.

"They look good."

Jiang Nian spoke excitedly. What was more, Cheng Jing had chosen wedding rings, sized for their ring fingers. That damned possessiveness of his-Jiang Nian loved it.

With the rings on, Cheng Jing picked up the car keys from the table under Jiang Nian's expectant gaze:

The thought of putting them away flashed through his mind, and the keys disappeared from his palm. He thought of taking them out again, and they reappeared in his hand.