Zhong An looked somewhat different now.
After learning that the guests Pei Liang had shot were all either zombies or on the verge of becoming zombies, Zhong An had, in a sense, become conspicuous.
After all, once the zombie threat was excluded, he was the only guest besides the bandits who had been shot—and he was also the fiancé of Pei Liang, the current master of the ship.
Yet Pei Liang had openly gotten together with the bandit leader.
Although the apocalypse had arrived, the bandits and the guests had now become fellow passengers in the same sinking boat. The very people everyone had desperately wanted to get rid of had become a reassuring bulwark.
As a result, Zhong An’s situation had grown even more awkward.
At least, that was how he saw it. So these past few days, Zhong An had kept to himself, doing his best to minimize his presence. He was afraid that Chu Yebai or one of his men might remember what he had intended to do while Chu Yebai was unconscious.
But Zhong An’s entire demeanor was different now.
He was no longer leaning on a crutch. Standing there, both his legs looked straight and powerful. From his appearance alone, no one would have guessed that he had suffered a serious injury.
His upright posture was matched by the confident expression on his face. The timid, obsequious man who had cowered in the corner over the past few days was nowhere to be seen.
And the way he looked at Pei Liang was distinctly malicious.
He casually pulled out a chair and sat down at the table with Chu Yebai and Pei Liang.
Looking at Pei Liang, he wore a twisted smile filled with malicious satisfaction.
“You actually failed to gain an ability. That really surprised me.”
“Dancing Queen, Heaven’s Favored Daughter, the great hero who overpowered the bandits and saved an entire ship full of people.” With every title Zhong An uttered, the derisive smile on his face grew wider.
“I thought you were unquestionably Heaven’s Chosen Daughter, favored by the heavens themselves. How could you not even qualify for evolution?”
Pei Liang showed no reaction. She merely picked up a slice of sandwich and took a bite, looking utterly unconcerned.
Chu Yebai pushed a glass of milk toward her and smiled. “Don’t choke.”
Pei Liang washed down the sandwich with the milk, then glanced at Zhong An’s leg. “You recovered in a single night? How wonderful.”
The smugness on Zhong An’s face grew stronger. He did not hurry to respond. Instead, he extended the injured leg. “Thanks to you, I’m not crippled.”
“It was only a hole the size of a coin. With the great favor of the time you gave me these past few days, it was more than enough to recover.”
Pei Liang said, “I’m not being polite. Several people were shot, and even among those who awakened abilities, not everyone can recover from their injuries so quickly.”
She nodded toward several of the bandits who were eating breakfast. These unlucky men had been standing closest to her when they had first hijacked Chu Yebai.
To eliminate the immediate threat, she had shot each of them once in the hand holding a gun, temporarily disabling it.
As for those who had been in the most advantageous positions, they had taken bullets and collapsed on the spot. Although Pei Liang had controlled her aim carefully enough not to kill them, they had completely lost the ability to move. It went without saying that their injuries were far from minor.
Those men were still bandaged, and their movements remained somewhat sluggish.
Judging by the excited way they were discussing things, it was obvious that some of them had awakened abilities after getting up that morning.
Pei Liang had told Chu Yebai about this. There was no way he would fail to prepare his men in advance, so they could recognize their abilities at the first opportunity and quickly practice using them.
Pei Liang nodded, making no attempt to hide her recognition of Zhong An’s potential. “Your ability is quite good. This powerful regenerative ability alone can give you several times the survival rate of an ordinary person. Your movements are also less likely to be hindered by injuries. It’s certainly impressive.”
Chu Yebai added, “I’m not sure about your offensive power, but for now, your defenses should be the strongest on the entire ship.”
As he spoke, he smiled at Zhong An. “As long as infection isn’t a factor, you should be perfectly safe as long as you don’t get surrounded by zombies.”
“Congratulations!”
Zhong An’s expression grew increasingly ugly.
The two of them were calmly and objectively analyzing his situation, but their attitude made him feel as if they were handing out kindergarten certificates to a child desperate to show them off.
From beginning to end, their praise was condescending, as though he were nothing more than a harmless piece of trash who happened to have developed one useful trait.
There was no sign that they feared him, regarded him with caution, or even regretted what they had done to him.
That adulterous pair showed not the slightest trace of remorse. Even after everything that had happened, they still shamelessly acted lovey-dovey in front of him, treating him as though he were completely irrelevant.
Zhong An no longer bothered arguing with them. He stood up and abruptly flipped over the table in front of Pei Liang.
His strength was tremendous now. The sturdy solid-wood table snapped cleanly in two, and the tremendous commotion drew everyone’s attention in the dining hall.
Feeling the gazes of the people around him, Zhong An suddenly remembered how Chu Yebai first, and Pei Liang afterward, had taken control of the entire ship.
They had commanded everyone without question, wielding the power of life and death over so many people. They had been so imposing.
Now Zhong An seemed to understand the exhilaration that came with it. Since the world had fallen and order had collapsed, people like Chu Yebai and Pei Liang had established a simple rule: whoever had the strongest fists was the leader.
So why couldn’t it be his turn now?
Zhong An looked at Pei Liang and sneered. “Do you think a few casual words will make me forget the excruciating pain of having a bullet tear through my thigh?”
“Do you think I’ll accept your goodwill after a few perfunctory remarks and shake hands with the pair of cheating dogs who betrayed me?”
“Or do you think I don’t understand my own ability? That after you praise me a couple of times as though nothing happened, I’ll start doubting myself and lose the nerve to act?”
“Pei Liang, Pei Liang… Do you really think I’m that stupid?”
After realizing that his physique had changed the night before, Zhong An had been unable to sleep. He had spent the entire night studying and familiarizing himself with his ability, yet he still felt no fatigue.
But he was not an idiot. If something like this could happen to him, it could just as easily happen to Pei Liang, Chu Yebai, or the bandits.
Zhong An had been beaten too badly before. Before making his move, he had to make absolutely certain that he possessed an overwhelming advantage.
So, starting early that morning, he had gone around questioning everyone nearby.
Among the guests, some had gotten up early and only realized that their bodies had become lighter and their strength had increased after Zhong An pointed it out to them. They could now easily lift things they had previously been unable to move and had even displayed abilities beyond the limits of common sense.
But their abilities were generally very weak. Those who could control fire had to strain with all their might just to produce a tiny flame, no more impressive than a lighter.
Those who could control water sweated profusely just to make the coffee in a cup swirl on its own. Someone with the ability to control plants had spent a long time experimenting with the watermelon seeds served at breakfast before finally making one sprout.
Eventually, Chu Yebai’s bandits joined in after seeing what was happening. Two of them had also awakened abilities, both related to strength or attack.
If they had not already been extremely familiar with the limits of their own bodies, they might not even have noticed their abilities at first.
Thus, Zhong An concluded that, at the beginning of an ability awakening, almost everyone’s powers were incredibly weak. Most people had noticed them even later than he had, and they had not benefited from the entire night he had spent adapting to and developing his own ability.
Compared to ordinary people, his ability not only had a much stronger and more powerful starting point, but could even completely transform his combat prowess.
Then there was Pei Liang’s. He kept his head down and his mouth shut, deliberately minimizing his presence. He had noticed her the moment Pei Liang entered the hall.
Since nearly everyone in the living room had been discussing awakened abilities, even the bandit leader Chu Yebai naturally couldn’t pretend not to notice. Heaven was on his side—Chu Yebai had actually asked the question outright, and Pei Liang’s answer surprised him even more.
She hadn’t awakened an ability at all!
Zhong An knew that an advantage at any given moment might not mean much. Those who hadn’t awakened an ability yet might still awaken one later.
But he also knew that this was his opportunity.
Pei Liang sighed and answered him, “It’s not that I thought you were stupid. It’s that, five minutes ago, I still overestimated your intelligence.”
“Given how good you’ve always been at scheming and currying favor, I’ve always given you credit for knowing which way the wind was blowing and choosing the right side.”
“I didn’t expect that a mere ability would make you this arrogant.”
Zhong An sneered. “Believe it or not, I can twist your legs off, then tear this pretty boy into eight pieces and throw them into the sea one by one, right in front of you, to feed the sharks.”
As he spoke, his entire body turned metallic. The surrounding guests were startled and hurriedly backed away.
Several bandits who had been eating nearby, however, weren’t intimidated in the slightest.
Guan Tian placed a hand on Zhong An’s shoulder. He was a massive man, built like a professional bodybuilder from the West. Even after Zhong An transformed into metal, filling the room with a formidable presence, he still looked small beside Guan Tian.
It seemed as though the brawny man could crush Zhong An’s head between his enormous, fan-sized hands.
Guan Tian sneered. “Kid, getting a little full of yourself, are you? Do you think we can’t lift our knives or handle our guns anymore?”
As soon as he finished speaking, a metallic arm swung toward him. Guan Tian didn’t dodge. He simply clenched his fist and punched straight at it.
When it came to fighting technique, ten Zhong Ans wouldn’t be a match for Guan Tian. Guan Tian was the team’s human tank, whereas Zhong An had merely taken up boxing back when working out was fashionable.
But Guan Tian had clearly misjudged Zhong An’s current condition. He had assumed that no matter how intimidating Zhong An looked, even with skin as tough as bronze and iron, he was still flesh and blood underneath.
His fists were powerful enough to do far more than merely make someone’s skin itch.
Yet when their fists collided, a sharp, piercing pain shot through Guan Tian’s hand. He immediately felt that something was wrong with the bones in his fingers and wrist.
His heart lurched, but he reacted quickly. With his other hand, he drew his pistol and fired twice at point-blank range, the muzzle nearly pressed against Zhong An’s skin.
Two coin-sized dents appeared where the bullets struck the metallic flesh, but they instantly smoothed back into place.
Zhong An hissed and glared furiously at Guan Tian. “That really hurt—”
With that, he grabbed the large man by the throat with one hand and hurled him away.
Guan Tian crashed into several nearby tables and was thrown hard enough to spit blood.
Seeing this, several of his companions immediately opened fire as well. Without exception, the bullets merely punched shallow pits into Zhong An’s body. The metal on the surface of his skin possessed astonishing tensile strength.
Not a single bullet managed to penetrate his defenses, so the others gave up on wasting ammunition.
They scattered at once. Some lifted large marble ornaments, while others pulled out steel pipes from who knew where.
Then they surrounded Zhong An and launched a coordinated, highly efficient beating.
Zhong An’s technique was terrible, but relying on his indestructible body, he withstood every attack and sent his opponents flying one after another.
Some even tried to pin down his limbs. Even if they couldn’t kill him, they could at least keep him from moving.
But in his metallic form, Zhong An’s joints seemed to defy the laws of human anatomy. His hands could even transform into sharp spikes.
One of the bandits was careless and had his shoulder pierced straight through. Zhong An possessed overwhelming strength, nearly invincible defenses, and, for the moment, technique hardly mattered at all.
A few minutes later, the well-trained bandits had been beaten into disarray, while Zhong An was the only one still standing in the center of the room.
How could this still be the pretty boy who had cowered and cried when the bandits first threatened him?
Everyone around him looked at him warily. Zhong An revealed a smug grin and spat, “Trash!”
Pei Ning’s feelings were complicated. Setting aside his character, Zhong An’s abilities in her previous life truly had been impressive.
He had been among the earliest people to awaken an ability, and his power had been extremely practical and formidable in the initial stages. What was happening now had not occurred in her previous life. Back then, Zhong An had known how to read the situation; when the apocalypse arrived, he had immediately pledged himself to Chu Yebai. With his powerful defenses, he had been virtually impervious to most of the dangers in the early stages, and naturally performed exceptionally well.
That was why Zhong An, despite not being one of the original core members of Chu Yebai’s team, had quickly risen to the upper ranks and secured his position.
At the time, Pei Ning had enjoyed the sense of security that Zhong An’s strength provided. But after living two lives and seeing through his true nature, all she felt now was disgust and anxiety.
Zhong An hadn’t been this strong at the beginning of her previous life.
But according to the later research conducted by scientists, although a person’s ability and potential were determined by their genes, the mental state they were in at the moment of awakening also had a significant impact.
For example, if someone was experiencing intense emotional upheaval—grief, hatred, resentment, or some other powerful emotion—they could indeed unleash a stronger manifestation of their ability right from the start.
Although their rate of improvement would gradually stabilize and slow afterward, there was no denying that they held an advantage in the beginning.
Pei Ning knew Zhong An well. Given his vindictive nature, he must have been cursing her sister and Chu Yebai in his heart every moment over the past few days. The pain in his injured leg constantly reminded him of that hatred, and it had accidentally turned into a blessing in disguise.
Seeing Zhong An revel in his triumph, Pei Ning looked at her sister, who still hadn’t awakened an ability, and couldn’t help worrying even more.
Chu Yebai’s intentions were still unclear, and Zhong An had already made the first move.
But then the seemingly invincible Zhong An went flying. He slammed into one of the hall’s pillars, and several cracks spread across it.
Zhong An himself didn’t fare well either. Clutching his stomach, he curled into a ball. He had endured being beaten by several burly men wielding heavy objects without so much as a whimper.
Yet now, the pain was so severe that he couldn’t get back to his feet immediately.
Pei Liang’s languid voice rang out. “Don’t you know food is precious right now? If we weren’t lucky enough to be on this ship, those two sandwiches on the table would be enough to make you sell your ass for them, you piece of trash!”
Zhong An climbed to his feet and glared viciously at Pei Liang. A trace of panic flashed through his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
He had been careless. This woman was always good at launching surprise attacks. If he faced her head-on, there was no way she could hurt him.
And even if she did manage to injure him, with his powerful regenerative abilities, he could wear her down eventually.
With that thought, Zhong An felt fearless. He stamped against the floor and leaped forward, his entire body pouncing at her like an agile leopard.
Pei Liang had no intention of meeting him head-on. She seized his foremost wrist and pulled with his momentum.
Zhong An’s entire body was airborne, with nothing to brace against. He couldn’t bring his strength to bear, and she easily dragged him forward another meter or two.
Then came a sharp crack from his waist. His spine had actually snapped in two, leaving his entire body folded backward like a clay figurine someone had bent in half.
Pei Liang threw him to the floor with a dull metallic thud.
Normally, injuries inflicted from the outside caused him little pain, thanks to his metal body’s formidable defenses. But this time was different.
The agony of having his spine broken was bad enough, but he also felt a strange energy coursing through his body, as though it had magnified his sense of pain to the extreme.
Even so, his regenerative abilities remained powerful. Within a few minutes, Zhong An’s body had returned to normal.
He no longer dared to be careless. Keeping his eyes on Pei Liang, he backed away.
For every step he took back, Pei Liang took one forward. In front of him and everyone else present, she asked, “What made you think you had a sure chance of winning?”
“Your tough defenses? The strength and agility you gained overnight? Or the fact that you found out I haven’t shown any signs of evolving?”
“But from where I’m standing, your chances of winning are still pretty slim.”
Pei Liang planted one foot on Zhong An’s hand and ground it against the floor.
The floor was covered with a soft carpet, and his fingers were as tough as steel bars. Under normal circumstances, he shouldn’t have felt a thing.
Yet Zhong An still felt the pain in every finger as though it were connected straight to his heart.
Before he could even cry out, Pei Liang crouched down and looked down at him from above.
“You must have another trump card, right?”
“Come on. Show me.”
Zhong An’s eyes hardened. His fingers suddenly lengthened and curled around Pei Liang’s foot, pinning her in place.
His other hand formed a five-pronged spike and stabbed straight toward Pei Liang’s head.
The image of her skull being pierced seemed within reach, but in the next second, his hand could move no closer.
Pei Liang had caught him by the wrist. With a sharp twist, she rotated it a hundred and eighty degrees, turning the spike away from her and toward his own head.
Before making his move, Zhong An had even considered that if she caught his hand, he could simply extend his fingers farther and stab through her skull.
Now, all he could do was panic and desperately halt the motion, barely managing to keep the spike from piercing himself.
“Too slow. And your trajectory is so predictable even a blind man could see it coming.”
Pei Liang twisted his arm, then, while his fingertips were still sharp, seized his palm and dragged his hand forcefully across them.
Blood sprayed everywhere. Zhong An immediately reverted to his original form, his face twisting in pain as he stared at the spreading blood.
“See? Wasn’t that easy? Your defenses are broken.”
He tried to pull away, but Pei Liang grabbed him by the hair and forced his head up.
Smiling at him, she said, “Do you believe me when I say I could twist your metal head off and stuff it into your metal ass?”
“I believe you! I believe you! I was wrong! I won’t dare do it again! Pei Liang, Pei Liang, please spare me!”
Pei Liang clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Hang him outside and let him dry in the sun.”
Several members of the security team came over and hauled Zhong An away. He didn’t dare resist now; blood was still pouring from his body.
When Zhong An transformed into metal, that metal seemed to be anything but ordinary. After being cut by his own metal, his wounds were healing noticeably more slowly.
Zhong An wasn’t the sort of ruthless man who would fight to the death. Now that he saw himself bleeding without end, his face was filled with terror.
Pei Liang returned to her seat and muttered, “I just don’t understand why men these days can be so painfully ordinary and yet so confident.”
“His metal form can’t even last that long. Even without me, a few people could hold long poles or steel bars against him until his time ran out, then put a bullet in him and finish the job.”
“Or electrocute him. Or use firepower to drive him into the sea. There are plenty of ways.” As she spoke, she turned to Chu Yebai. “You agree, don’t you?”
Chu Yebai nodded. “Yes. At first glance, he looks invincible, but if the goal is simply to kill him, it actually wouldn’t be that difficult. You don’t necessarily have to fight him head-on.”
Pei Liang smiled. “How many ways can you think of?”
Chu Yebai’s heart gave a jolt. Judging from Pei Liang’s expression, there didn’t seem to be any deeper meaning behind her question. She sounded as if she were merely discussing the hundred different ways to kill a metal man.
But Chu Yebai knew very well that she knew he was behind this.
His gaze shifted past Pei Liang to the table behind her, where the authors, appraisers, and several other brothers who had never taken part in the fight were seated.
He had discovered his awakened ability quite some time ago. It was powerful and extremely useful.
Just as Pei Liang had predicted, after his physical strength reached a whole new level, he couldn’t help wondering whether he could now defeat her outright.
But Chu Yebai wasn’t stupid. The moment he decided to make a move, it meant their agreement would be completely broken, and the consequences would be extreme.
So he needed someone to test whether he was truly capable of challenging her.
He had known from the beginning that Zhong An would awaken an ability. To avoid suspicion, he couldn’t directly approach Pei Liang’s younger sister to gather information.
Still, there was nothing wrong with occasionally chatting with her about harmless topics. It was easy enough to infer seemingly unrelated information from her attitude.
That was why everything Zhong An had done since getting out of bed that morning had been guided by him.
That idiot’s thoughts were easy to read. As long as he nudged him in the right direction, continually inflated his confidence, added more and more reasons for him to believe victory was certain, and then let him find out that Pei Liang had not awakened an ability yet—
He would be unable to sit still.
What Chu Yebai hadn’t expected was that Pei Liang had known everything all along. What was more, she didn’t seem angry in the slightest about his test.
She didn’t care whether he was loyal to her. She didn’t even care that keeping him around was like raising a venomous snake.
She actually enjoyed the feeling.
Chu Yebai could even sense a hint of encouragement in her attitude.
That made things difficult. From now on, he would have to be even more cautious.
The bandit group, which had been itching to make a move after awakening their abilities, could only suppress their unwillingness and abandon their plan to rescue their boss, who had practically sold himself out.
Damn. Even with superpowers, they still couldn’t beat her.
At the same time, Zhong An’s provocation made quite a few people reassess their attitude toward supernatural abilities.
Zhong An was fairly strong now, wasn’t he? Yet he had still been beaten to a pulp by Pei Liang, who didn’t even have an ability.
For a while, those who had felt smug or dejected based on the apparent strengths and weaknesses of their abilities began to reflect. When all was said and done, this thing was simply another advantage—just like physical fitness, intelligence, experience, or talent.
What mattered was how it was used, and by whom.
Seeing that Pei Liang was still handling everything with ease, Pei Ning finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She found an empty table and sat down, but Pei Liang came over and asked, “How about you?”
Pei Ning knew she was asking whether her ability had awakened. She nodded honestly. “It’s already awakened.”
“But I told you, my ability is useless.”
Pei Liang smiled. “How could it be? In my eyes, it’s an ability of immense strategic value.”
Pei Ning’s expression stiffened. “You—you’re not going to…”
Pei Liang smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
Pei Ning nearly burst into tears. What kind of person was this?
In her previous life, she had desperately hidden her ability to stay alive, only relaxing after she had finally learned to control it perfectly.
She hadn’t wanted to tell anyone. Yet with just a few words, this woman had coaxed the truth out of her. There was no way to hide anything from her.
Pei Liang patted her on the shoulder, then rose and walked away in a cheerful mood.
Pei Liang couldn’t help sighing inwardly. This cheap little sister really was the heroine—she had actually drawn such an incredible trump card.
Pei Liang dared to bet that even if she had revealed her abilities in her previous life, Chu Yebai would have made good use of them given his capabilities.
Then she wouldn’t have had to spend her entire life watching Zhong An’s every expression and living in humiliation until the day she died.
What a pity. She hadn’t dared to do so, choosing instead to judge the powerhouses of the apocalypse through the narrow lens of her own understanding at the time.
Not long after breakfast, an announcement came from the captain’s cabin: they were about to reach their destination port.
They were still about an hour away.
Pei Liang went out onto the deck. With the naked eye, she could already make out the city in the distance.
The passengers weren’t allowed outside, for fear that overcrowding on the deck might lead to an accident. They could only look toward the distant city from their rooms or through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hall.
The ship’s network signal had remained active these past few days. Although most of the outside world had fallen, the internet had not completely failed yet.
Everyone knew exactly what the world had become. Although many people were worried about their families, the safety and comfort aboard the ship had also made quite a few of them dependent on it.
Thus, the moment most people saw the port city, their excitement vanished. Some began worrying aloud.
“Can’t we just stay on the ship?”
Zombies couldn’t climb onto a cruise ship this tall. As long as they carried out regular inspections, this place would be a safe utopia.
Someone immediately scoffed. “And what are we supposed to eat if we don’t get off? How long do you think the food can last with this many people? Don’t tell me you expect them to risk going ashore to bring back food and keep us fed?”
Naturally, “they” meant the people from the security department and the group of bandits.
Many of them hadn’t even realized that they had already become completely dependent on the very people who had once controlled them.
But aside from a small number of researchers and other academic specialists, most people aboard the ship had no way to make themselves useful.
Anyone could figure out that if they refused to go ashore, they were the ones without a future.
By now, the bandits who had previously been injured by Pei Liang or Chu Yebai had all recovered completely. Their injuries no longer affected their movements or combat abilities in the slightest.
Everyone knew that going ashore would mean a brutal battle.
One of the doctors had awakened an extremely valuable healing ability. Pei Liang had learned this from Pei Ning early on, which was why, when the radiation swept through the area, she had put the doctor under considerable psychological pressure.
The results had naturally been quite gratifying.
Guan Tian ripped off his bandages, waved his arm, and threw his head back with a roar. “Finally! That feels damn good. It was seriously inconvenient trying to hold a gun with my left hand.”
Pei Liang said, “Everyone’s loaded their bullets, right? Make sure you aim carefully. Our ammunition is limited.”
Guan Tian thumped his chest. “Don’t worry. I’ve never missed a shot when I’ve got my sights on something. I’ll bet my boss’s body on it.”
“Oh?” Pei Liang turned around, looking as if she were suddenly eager to give it a try.
Chu Yebai immediately kicked Guan Tian into the railing. His forehead struck it with a bang, the crisp sound oddly satisfying.
“Bet your own ass instead.”
Guan Tian got back up, baring his teeth in pain. One of the men beside him gave him a smack. “You’ve gotten pretty cocky after only a few days, huh?”
“Oh, so just because the boss seems to be doing fine now, you’ve forgotten what he went through earlier?”
“Quit rubbing salt in the wound.”
Chu Yebai: “…”
The group was still joking around when the cruise ship, which had been moving forward, suddenly shuddered and came to an abrupt stop. Everyone lurched forward from the momentum.
“What’s going on? Who hit the brakes? Are we giving a school of fish the right of way?”
Panicked voices came from the captain’s cabin. Something had wrapped itself around the ship, and there was a massive creature underneath.
Everyone was startled, but they didn’t need time to imagine what it might be. The thing revealed itself the very next second.
It was a gigantic tentacle. Dense rows of enormous suckers clung to the hull. The creature was so huge that its eight tentacles spread out and wrapped around half the cruise ship. The giant octopus that had once held the world record would have looked like a little squirt compared to it.
Its tentacles twisted and writhed as they climbed over the ship. Their immense strength made the entire vessel groan under the pressure.
The windows in the hall and even some of the cabins shattered. People aboard the ship screamed in terror and hurriedly backed away.
Fortunately, these waters were not particularly deep. Before mutating, the octopus likely hadn’t been especially large—or perhaps it simply hadn’t had enough time to grow.
Its strength was therefore insufficient to flip the entire cruise ship over and drag it beneath the waves.
Then the octopus attacked.
Despite its enormous size, it moved quickly. The people on the deck were its first targets.
Two of its tentacles suddenly lashed out, instantly wrapping around two people and preparing to drag them overboard.
Pei Liang had been on guard the entire time. The moment the creature moved, she reacted, sweeping her gun toward the tips of the tentacles that had seized the people.
The tentacles were simply too enormous, and the distance was too great. Even Pei Liang couldn’t cover both sides at once.
Fortunately, the others reacted quickly as well, desperately firing at the octopus. Chu Yebai made an even more decisive move and activated his ability.
On the other side, just as one of the octopus’s tentacles was about to retract, it suddenly seemed to be restrained by an immense force. With a heavy crash, it slammed down onto the deck.
Chu Yebai seized the opportunity and hacked down, severing the tip of the tentacle, which was already as thick as a man’s thigh. The people trapped by it were rescued.
The octopus shrieked in pain and fury. Several of its tentacles began thrashing about in a frenzy.
Everyone hurriedly dodged, but some were still flung aside, crashing to the deck and vomiting blood as they suffered severe injuries. The impact was almost like being struck head-on by a car.
Fortunately, the doctor was capable. As long as they still had a breath left in them, they should be fine.
Pei Liang shouted, “Stop wasting bullets! Fall back! Chu Yebai, help me!”
Even with her strength, trying to deal with such a gigantic octopus was wishful thinking. Compared to it, humans were no more than ants.
But Chu Yebai didn’t question her.
Pei Liang kicked a flagpole, and a human-shaped object slid down from it.
Who else could it be but Zhong An?
Zhong An had been scared half to death. The moment the octopus appeared, he had turned his body into metal and hadn’t dared make a sound, terrified that the creature might mistake him for something alive.
Sure enough, the octopus had ignored him. But now that Pei Liang had brought him down, he wished he were dead.
Seeing that Zhong An’s injuries had already healed, Pei Liang raised an eyebrow. “You really are durable.”
Then she put on a threatening expression. “Stretching your entire body out shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Tears welled in the corners of Zhong An’s eyes. “Huh?”
Pei Liang grabbed him by the wrist and ordered, “Stretch as far as you can. Imagine yourself as a forty-meter-long sword.”
“If you can’t do it, I’ll throw you straight into its mouth. You’ll still be useful for buying us time.”
Zhong An had no doubt that she was capable of doing exactly that. He hurriedly imagined himself as a strand of noodles and desperately stretched his entire body.
Then he transformed the area around himself into an incredibly sharp blade, sharpening the tip as well.
The people who had fallen back stared in utter disbelief.
He had really turned into a forty-meter-long sword.
But could anyone actually wield a sword that long?
They learned the answer the very next second.
The blade whirled through the air in Pei Liang’s hands with astonishing force, clashing with the giant octopus’s tentacles as they lashed about in all directions. The battle was a blur of flashing steel and writhing limbs.
Chu Yebai supported her from the side with his ability.
His power was extremely strong, yet simple and direct: telekinesis.
He had only recently awakened it, so he wasn’t powerful enough to crush such a gigantic octopus into a lump. But by working with Pei Liang, he could keep the wildly flailing tentacles from smashing into the cabins and causing unnecessary damage.
He could control two octopus tentacles at most, but that was enough to create openings and give Pei Liang the chance to attack.
At that moment, Pei Liang looked like an ant wielding a broadsword. Yet if anyone underestimated this particular “ant”…
Looking at the whole scene, everyone suddenly realized: What the hell, wasn’t this basically making octopus sashimi?
With those nimble slicing movements, and the coordination between the octopus, the two shameless pair, and the forty-meter-long blade, the creature lost five tentacles in one go. Realizing it had run into a tough opponent, it prepared to escape.
Pei Liang, however, had no intention of letting it off. She lifted her blade and leaped, soaring through the air like she could fly. With a thrust of the enormous sword, she stabbed the octopus twice in succession, blinding its eyes first.
Then she spun around its head. The octopus might have been powerful, but its head couldn’t fight back. It had only mutated less than a day ago—a fragile newborn that hadn’t yet evolved tougher skin or a hard shell to protect itself.
Although it had grown so huge overnight, the density of its flesh wasn’t especially high. For now, all its enhancements had gone into those highly aggressive tentacles.
The giant octopus’s head was enormous, but how could a mere ring of flesh withstand Pei Liang’s swordsmanship and inner force?
The giant octopus died. Even though its remaining three tentacles could still writhe, they could no longer consciously attack the cruise ship.
Everyone who had retreated returned to the deck. Seeing Pei Liang turn around and wipe away some blood, they heard her shout toward the people in the captain’s cabin, “Lower the nets and haul that thing aboard.”
“It’ll feed us for days!”
The appraiser and Guan Tian stood on either side of Chu Yebai and swallowed hard.
“This woman claims she hasn’t awakened any abilities?”
“Apparently—not?” Chu Yebai’s voice was uncertain as well.
“She can fly, and she still has the nerve to call that bluff?”
“Maybe she’s just really good at jumping. She studied dance, you know.”
“…”
After a long silence, Guan Tian said, “Boss, pay my tuition. I want to learn ballet.”
Chu Yebai and the appraiser couldn’t help imagining the scene, and both shuddered violently.
“Get lost! Go collect those octopus tentacles.”
Some doctors and scientists came running out and took a portion of the meat away.
The doctors needed to test whether it was poisonous, while the scientists wanted to study the animal’s mutated cells.
Zhong An stood naked on the deck, shivering violently. Naturally, his clothes had been torn to shreds when he transformed.
Pei Liang was very pleased with his performance. “Not bad. I told you that you’d be useful. Don’t disappoint my expectations.”
Zhong An cried, “Then can I stop hanging around like this?”
Pei Liang waved her hand grandly. “Of course you can.”
Zhong An hadn’t even had time to celebrate when Pei Liang continued, “We’re about to reach shore. With you wielding that blade, we won’t have to fear any number of zombies.”
Zhong An: “…”
So he had fallen from being a person to being a weapon?
He was sobbing as he prepared to go back when a voice suddenly came from nearby.
“So this is how people can be used?”
Everyone turned around and saw a man in a white lab coat, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looking every bit like a refined scumbag, standing on the railing.
